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THE 
 
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 5 
 .t 
 
 
 COLONIES OF ENGLAND: 
 
 A PLAN 
 
 FOB 
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF SOME PORTION 
 
 OF OUR 
 
 COLONIAL POSSESSIONS. 
 
 BY 
 
 - JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK, M.P. 
 
 ^^ 
 
 -t^ 
 
 A land there lies 
 Now void ; it flu thy people; thither bend 
 Thy course j there shalt thou And a lasting scat: 
 There to thy sons shall many Englands rise 
 And sUtcs be bom of thee, whose dreadful might 
 Shall awe the world, and conquer nations Imld. 
 
 ^ 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND. 
 
 MDCCCXUX. 
 
5 
 
I 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In the truth of the main conclusions which the following 
 
 work seeks to establish, I have myself a most sincere and 
 
 earnest faith; but I cannot hope that, to others, they 
 
 will appear equally correct ; neither do I expect that my 
 
 plan will be at once adopted, and followed. There are 
 
 so many interests, fancied and real, opposed to every 
 
 reform in our colonial management — there is so much 
 
 ignorance (I must be pardoned the word) respecting 
 
 everything connected with our Colonies, tht ( ao plan 
 
 could be devised which would not, on the instant of its 
 
 promulgation, be met with a storm of violent abuse. 
 
 Some would be angry because a profitable abuse was 
 
 pointed out for extirpation ; some, because the means of 
 
 a fancied benefit were to be removed ; others, because a 
 
 real advantage would erroneously be deemed in danger; 
 
 and lastly, all the timid, all those who hate chan^ 
 
 because it is change, would be in arms against the plan. 
 
 For all this opposition I am prepared, and shall be 
 
 A 2 
 
w 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 delighted to experience it. What I most dread is, that 
 my scheme may be assumed to be impossible, because it 
 appears large, and be at once laid aside, with the 
 favourite phrase of official condemnation — " impracti- 
 cable ;" and that being so put by, my proposals, and my 
 reasons, may be together forgotten. 
 
 The effect of my proposed scheme would, I allow, be 
 great ; but the real objection to it, on the part of official 
 people, will be, that it leaves them, and their office, very 
 little to do. It would take from them the power of 
 meddling — of which, for the most part, their functions 
 now consist. 
 
 But I earnestly entreat my countrymen to draw a broad 
 distinction between the interests of the Colonial Office and 
 of England. The men of a particular office naturally 
 endeavour to make that office important. In the case of 
 the Colonial Office, the means of doing this have been 
 unfortunately large, but mischievous. It was easy to find 
 pretexts for interfering with the affairs of the Colonies ; it 
 was very difficult to make interference anything but an 
 evil to the colony, and thereby to England. On this topic, 
 however, I will not enlarge. My work is not written 
 for the purpose of prosecuting a quarrel with the 
 Colonial Office, but solely for the purpose of explaining 
 a plan of proceeding which I sincerely believe would, if 
 adopted, be greatly serviceable to the Colonies, and to 
 
TREFACE. 
 
 the mother country ; and I mention the Colonial Office 
 now simply in order to ask those who read the following 
 pages to leave that office, and all that it contains, wholly 
 out of consideration while they are discussing with mc 
 the subject of the Colonies. 
 
 Throughout my work I have carefully abstained from 
 all discussion of any actually existing grievance or 
 dispute in any colony. My conclusions rest on large 
 results. The petty squabbles of petty people I have no 
 desire to mix in. But wishing to deal with systems, I 
 have sought for results in the history of colonization ; 
 from that history — from the teaching and experience of 
 centuries, my deductions are made, and on that founda- 
 tion, my proposals rest. 
 
 In the more general conclusions to which my examina- 
 tion of the past has led me, as I have already said, I 
 have great confidence. This plan, however, while it is 
 based on these general propositions, contains many 
 specific details. In these my faith is by no means so 
 great. They are, without doubt, in many instances, 
 imperfect, and susceptible of great improvement. I hope, 
 however, the candid reader will not permit himself 
 "to stick in the incidents," but go at once to the 
 principle, lay hold of, and abide by it. Let us make 
 this step, and I have no fear of conquering all difficulty 
 of detail. 
 
w 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The reader will see, that throughout this whole work 
 my object is to lay a ground for legislation — that from 
 the first to the last page I have an act of parliament in 
 my mind ; and he will be of opinion, if my reasoning 
 produce upon his mind the effect that I desire, that 
 without systematic preceding legislation, all attempts at 
 systematic colonization will be useless, and doomed to 
 fail. Before we can act according to a plan, we must 
 frame the plan. Such a plan to be framed must be 
 written, put down, and recorded. Men will then see 
 what the plan is. And what it is, it will remain, when 
 once recorded in writing. If we decide that a particular 
 course is the right one, the next object should be to 
 make those adopt it who act under our rule. The only 
 effective means of doing this is to give to our recorded 
 plan the authority of law. In short, we must frame and 
 pass an Act of Parliament. 
 
 In procedure, the teaching of experience is more 
 needed than in any portion of the field of law — and 
 in administrative procedure, no less than in judicial. 
 I was therefore anxious to ascertain what had already 
 been done by ourselves and others in the planting and 
 governing of colonies ; and as the reader will see, I have 
 made constant use of the example afforded by the con- 
 duct of the Congress of the United States of America in 
 this particular. In one instance, however, I propose to 
 
 
rUEFACK. 
 
 Vil 
 
 to 
 
 jlepart very widely from the plan that Congress adopts; 
 and I do so, because I believe our own more favourable 
 position enables us to do once for all, what Congress 
 does upon every occasion of establishing a new Terri- 
 tory and State. Upon the formation of such new 
 Territory, and the reception of a new State into the 
 Union, a specific act of Congress has been passed ; ex- 
 cept, indeed, in the case of the Territories which were 
 created under, and by virtue of the authority of the 
 ordinance of 1784, wliich will be found quoted in cxtenso 
 in the body of my work. That ordinance provided for 
 the government of the territory belonging to the United 
 States, north west of Ohio, and contemplated from the 
 beginning the carving of many states out of that vast 
 tract of country. I, looking in the same way upon all 
 the wild lands in the several portions of our Colonial 
 Empire to which my work relates, as one whole, propose, 
 as Mr. Dane did, by his celebrated ordinance, to make 
 one law for all. The separate interests whicli press 
 upon Congress and obstruct its legislation, do not, after 
 the same fashion, lie in our patTi ; so we may, if we 
 legislate at all, legislate safely, for the whole of the 
 colonies and wild lands in the several possessions of 
 which I speak. 
 
 One observation is necessary, in order to guard my- 
 self against the imputation of incorrectness in the 
 
VIU 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 statistics quoted which relate to the United States. 
 Everything in her new Territories and States changes, 
 and advances so rapidly, that the descriptions and the 
 figures which are accurate this year are wholly incorrect 
 for the next. I have done what I could to obtain the 
 latest statistics, and where I am able, I state the year to 
 which they belong. But my conclusions will, I believe, 
 in no case be found affected by the sort of inaccuracy 
 here spoken of. 
 
 Ashley Arnewood, 
 
 April 23, 1849. 
 
 I 
 
tes. 
 ges, 
 the 
 rect 
 the 
 r to 
 5ve, 
 acy 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAor. 
 Object of the work — A colony, what? — English colonies classed 
 
 — What classes treated of in this work — What objects 
 sought in founding and maintaining colonies — Surplus 
 population carried away — Trade — How proposed benefits 
 are to be obtained — Examples — Of two systems of coloni- 
 zation 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 English colonization in America — Virginia, 1606 — Maryland, 
 1632 — New England, 1620 — Massachusetts — Connecticut 
 — ^Rhode Island — Carolina, 1663 — Pennsylvania, 1681 — 
 Georgia, 1732 20 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 American colonies — General description — Comparison — 
 Boundaries of the United States in 1783 — Boundaries in 
 1849 — American system — Some results — Power of Con- 
 iCTess as to Waste lands — Territories — States — An ordi- 
 nance quoted — General conclusions 75 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Section I. — General view — Plan — Nomenclature — Settle- 
 ment — ^Province — System 113 
 
 Section II. — Settlement — Mode of establishing — Survey — 
 First sale of land — Government — Extent of interference 
 by the mother-country — Colony self-sustaining — Means, 
 land, etc. — The money of the colony, how dealt with — 
 Census — When settlement becomes a province — Frame of 
 
 the government — Powers of — Judicature 1 1 5 
 
 Digression concerning Land Fund 129 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 Section III. — Province— Declared — Tripartite constitution 
 — Of what composed — Powers of — Civil list— Land fund 
 — Trade — Disputes respecting powers — The church — 
 Education 142 
 
 Section IV. — System — What — New Zealand excluded — 
 Provinces included — British North America — Australasia 
 — South Africa - Boundaries and extent of provinces — 
 Objections stated and answered — The united legislature — 
 Form of — Legislative — Administrative — Judicial — 
 Powers of legislature — Powers of the administrative body 
 — Powers of judiciary sketched 163 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 British North America — Circumstances peculiar thereto — 
 Provinces existing — Danger of separation imminent — Plan 
 for the union of provinces previously proposed — Lord 
 Durham — Memorandum of plan — Changes proposed — 
 Desires of American politicians with respect to British 
 America — Mode of defeating them — Conclusion . . .186 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 A. 
 
 An Act to establish the territorial Government of Oregon . 227 
 
 B. 
 
 A Bill for the admission of the State of Wisconsin into the 
 Union 242 
 
 C. 
 
 A Graduated Table, showing the comparative amount of 
 money appropriated by the different counties in the State, 
 for the education of each child, between the ages of 4 and 
 16 years, in each county of the state of Massachusetts . . 246 
 
XI 
 
 EXPLANATION OF THE ANNEXED MAP. 
 
 Tub whole that is marked with the shades of Green, consti- 
 tutes the present United States of America. The dorkest 
 shade of Green shows the present extent of the Old Thirteen 
 States who declared themselves independent in 1776. The 
 nrxt shade shows the extent of the States and Territories that 
 have been added to the Union since the year 1783, when the 
 United States were by us acknowledged to be independent. 
 The liglitest shade of Green shows the Wild Lands belonging 
 to the United States not yet constituted Territories according 
 to their system. 
 
 The Red shows the extent of the English possessions in 
 North America. 
 
 On the Green, there are now dwelling nearly 25,000,000 
 of souls — excluding Indians. On the Red, there are less than 
 2,000,000 of souls, also excluding the Indian Tribes. 
 
THE 
 
 COLONIES OF ENGLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OBJECT OF THE WORK— A COLONY, WHAT? — ENGLISH 
 COLONIES CLASSED — WHAT CLASSES TREATED OF IN 
 THIS WORK — WHAT OBJECTS SOUGHT IN FOUNDING 
 AND MAINTAINING COLONIES — SURPLUS POPULATION 
 CARRIED AWAY — TRADE — HOW PROPOSED BENEFITS 
 ARE TO BE OBTAINED — EXAMPLES — OF TWO SYSTEMS 
 OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 nPHE object of the present work is to bring into some- 
 ^ thing like a system the principles which ought to 
 prevail in the government of some portion of our colonies. 
 Hitherto, those of our possessions termed colonies have not 
 been governed according to any settled rule or plan — 
 caprice and chance have decided generally everything 
 connected with them ; and if success have in any case 
 attended the attempts of the English people to establish 
 colonies, that success has been obtained in spite of the 
 mischievous intermeddling of the English government, 
 not in consequence of its wise and provident assistance. 
 In the following pages an attempt will be made to discover, 
 if possible, a means of preventing the continuance of this 
 evil system — if system that can be called which has no 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 A COLONY — WHAT? 
 
 rule or order. I shall endeavour to ascertain the mode 
 in which the metropolitan authority can be best employed 
 in the planting and government of those communities 
 which we term colonies, so that they may be rendered 
 prosperous and happy, in so far as their prosperity and 
 happiness are dependent on the government to which 
 they are subject — and while thus flourishing within 
 themselves, may become useful to the mother country 
 from which they have sprung. 
 
 A Colony — what? 
 
 There are many dependencies under the control of 
 our Colonial Office which are not colonies in the present 
 English acceptation of that term. Ceylon, the Ionian 
 Islands, Malta, are not considered colonies. The idea 
 of settlement is not connected with them. Their lands 
 are already occupied. They have for their limits a 
 sufficient, a dense population, which population are not 
 emigrants from another land, but belong to the country 
 in which they live, and look to no mother country, no 
 metropolis for which they feel affection, and to which 
 they are willing to render obedience. 
 
 There are two leading ideas which enter into our 
 conception of a colony — the one is, that the territory 
 itself is, or within recent memory has been, for the most 
 part, wild and without inhabitants; and the other, that 
 the inhabitants for which it is eventually destined, or 
 which it has in part already received, are to go to it from 
 our own country, or have gone from us or from some 
 other mother country. The relation to, and supervision 
 by, the mother country is the great distinctive mark of a 
 
A COLONY — WHAT? 
 
 colony, and is that which will be kept in view through- 
 out the following pages. The present work, in fact, is 
 an attempt to turn that relation to use for both the 
 parties concerned. 
 
 If we advert to Ceylon, and inquire why it is that we 
 do not consider it a colony, we shall find that there is no 
 belief on our parts, or on that of any one else, that there 
 are wild or unoccupied lands within the island, which 
 are fit for, or likely to receive, any body of English 
 settlers who will go there with the intention of founding 
 a new community in that distant country, transmitting 
 the language, the habits, and the manners of England to 
 generations yet unborn, who will there find a country 
 and a home, but who will always look back to England 
 as their origin and parent. The tribes who now occupy 
 Ceylon are so numerous, that very little land is left for 
 a new comer; and even if there were large unsettled 
 territories which had no owners, yet the climate almost 
 precludes the possibility of planting there an English 
 population. 
 
 If on the other side of the globe we look to the United 
 States, we shall find there all the elements necessary for 
 the complex notion of a colony except one. The relation 
 to the mother country no longer exists. They have 
 ceased to be colonies. 
 
 Taking, then, these conditions, such as here described, 
 we are to inquire in what way, under what system, can 
 we render useful both to the mother country and her 
 colonies that tie and relationship — that peculiar domi- 
 nion which is understood when we speak of our Colonies 
 and our Colonial Empire. 
 
 b2 
 
I' 
 
 !l 
 
 4 CLASSIFICATION OF ENGLISH COLONIES. 
 
 The colonial dominion of England must, for my pre- 
 sent purpose, be viewed under two separate aspects. We 
 have colonial possessions lying in various parts of the 
 globe, forming distinct systems, or countries. Each of 
 these systems must be considered by itself, and with 
 regard to the interests and circumstances peculiar to 
 each. But there are certain matters which are common 
 to all these separate systems which can be well discussed 
 together, and general rules established concerning these 
 common interests, before we come to the specific consi- 
 derations which belong to the distinct divisions of our 
 colonial empire. 
 
 What is here meant by distinct systems, may be best 
 explained by making at once the division intended to 
 be adopted when the more specific detail is given : — 
 
 1. Our territories in North America, all lying north 
 
 of the United States, including Newfoundland, 
 form one system. 
 
 2. Australasia forms another separate system. 
 
 [By Australasia I mean the whole of the vast 
 island sometimes called New Holland, and also 
 the island of Van Diemen's Land, together with 
 all the islands which cluster round the coast, 
 both of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land.] 
 
 3. South Africa forms also one. 
 
 [By South Africa, I mean all that we do, all 
 that we may, acquire at the southern end of the 
 continent of Africa. We have already an im- 
 mense and fertile territory there, which promises 
 to increase.] 
 
WHAT CLASSES TREATED OF. 
 
 5 
 
 4. New Zealand. 
 
 5. The islands commonly called the West Indies, 
 
 together with Guiana, and our territories on the 
 main in that part of South America. 
 
 6. Borneo, and our possessions in the Indian 
 
 Archipelago. 
 
 My present work relates exclusively to the four first 
 mentioned of these systems. 
 
 The principles which I shall endeavour here to esta- 
 blish are applicable, in my opinion, to all these territories. 
 
 The West Indies, and the other territories which I 
 include with them, are, in many essential circumstances, 
 different from these, and require for their proper 
 management a different system or arrangement of the 
 powers of government. To frame such an arrangement 
 for them would not, I fancy, be difficult. But at pre- 
 sent, I lay them out of consideration ; not because they 
 are unimportant possessions, but simply because I have 
 enough before me, in the task which I have undertaken. 
 The peculiar modification and complication of interests 
 existing in the West Indies would require a volume to 
 themselves, if they are to be satisfactorily provided for. 
 
 So, also, I put aside, and for similar reasons, Borneo, 
 and the circumjacent territories possessed by us. Our 
 knowledge of those countries is besides so scant, that we 
 are yet ignorant of the uses to which they can be turned. 
 I intend, therefore, not to discuss any question relating 
 to them, or the interests connected with them. 
 
 The subject matter, then, of the present work is the 
 plan of government which ought to be adopted for the 
 
 X, 1 
 
 < i 
 
MANAGEMENT OF COLONIES. 
 
 ]• 
 
 four separate territories which I have above described 
 and named ; that is to say — 
 
 1. British North America. 
 
 2. Australasia. 
 
 3. South Africa, and 
 
 4. New Zealand. 
 
 These territories, though they lie in very distant parts 
 of the globe, the one from the other, are in many im- 
 portant particulars alike. They possess, all of them, 
 similar attributes and capabilities, which render them 
 to England valuable, and the principles according to 
 which they ought to be governed are alike. While 
 they thus in their distinctive characteristics resemble 
 one another, they are in certain other things unlike 
 each other. The mode, then, of treating the question 
 of their management suggests itself naturally : — 
 
 1. The principles which are common to all of them 
 
 may be treated of, once for all — and this ex- 
 planation and discussion will serve as a proper 
 preliminary to the, 
 
 2. Second exposition, which will relate to those 
 
 circumstances which are peculiar to each. 
 
 [To prevent mistake, let me observe now, that when I 
 use the word colony, without any further explanation, I 
 mean the colonies comprehended in the four above-named 
 territories — or colonies exactly like them in all those 
 essential particulars which have led me to class under 
 one head the different possessions which form the subject 
 matter of the present work.] 
 
FOUNDING AND MAINTAINING COLONIES. 
 
 lescribcd 
 
 int parts 
 any im- 
 •f them, 
 jr them 
 diug to 
 
 While 
 esemble 
 
 unlike 
 uestion 
 
 •f them 
 lis ex- 
 proper 
 
 those 
 
 vhen I 
 tion, I 
 named 
 those 
 under 
 ubject 
 
 The statements which will be given in the first of 
 these two proposed expositions ought, in my opinion, to 
 be embodied in an Act of Parliament. They will be 
 found to constitute a general plan of government for 
 the class of colonies of which I treat, and require to be 
 put into an authoritative shape in order to produce the 
 effect which I anticipate. Should the opportunity be 
 afforded to me, this Act I purpose framing, so that it 
 may be submitted to the scrutiny of Parliament. 
 
 Of the second and more specific details and exposition, 
 I shall not be able to give more than relate to British 
 North America. Time must determine whether I can 
 fill up the sketch here made. 
 
 Before we endeavour to frame a polity, there ought 
 to be in our minds a clear conception of the ends we 
 seek to attain : and this preliminary question, on the 
 present occasion, is — What are the purposes for which we 
 plant and maintain colonies? — Why do we seek, why do 
 we keep, at a great expense of trouble, of wealth, and of 
 blood, our colonial empire? 
 
 This question is the more important on the present 
 occasion, because there are philosophers and statesmen, 
 of no mean authority, who consider our colonial pos- 
 sessions an unnecessary burthen. They believe them to 
 be costly and mischievous additions to our dominions — 
 maintained partly from pride, and partly from a false 
 notion of gain resulting from them. They assert, and 
 truly, that hitherto our colonies have been to us a source 
 of constant quarrel with other nations, and of unpro- 
 fitable expense to ourselves ; and they say, that it would 
 be better for us to be without colonies, than, to keep 
 
BENEFIT DERIVED FROM COLONIES. 
 
 them, as wc have done hitherto, to be a perpetual cuusc 
 uf strife und waste. But having arrived at tliis accurate 
 conclusion, the statesmen and philosophers to whom I 
 allude draw one other inference, which appears to me 
 far from correct — and this inference is, that colonies 
 must necessarily be thus mischievous and costly. I 
 perceive that this conclusion is favoured by political 
 economists generally, (not by all indeed, for there are 
 some remarkable exceptions,) and I also perceive that 
 the members of parliament who arc classed as the Man- 
 chester and Yorkshire party have a tendency towards 
 this belief, though they have not yet very definitely 
 stated their views on this interesting subject, and I 
 suspect have hardly yet made up their minds upon it. 
 I am therefore the more anxious to state clearly, though 
 briefly, the benefit which I believe may be derived from 
 colonies if they be properly administered — and the mode 
 in which that benefit may be obtained. The people of 
 this country have never acquiesced in the opinion that 
 our colonies are useless ; and they look with disfavour 
 upon any scheme of policy which contemplates the sepa- 
 ration of the mother country from the colonies. For 
 this opinion, the people have been seldom able to render 
 an adequate reason ; nor have they been accustomed to 
 describe with accuracy the way in which the colonies 
 prove useful to us; still they believe them beneficial, 
 and so believing, they regard with suspicion those who 
 roundly propose " to cut the connexion." On the other 
 hand, the economical statesmen clearly perceived that 
 the cry of " Ships, colonies, and commerce," was a 
 monopoly anti-free-trade cry, and they therefore regard 
 
SURPLUS POPULATION. 
 
 with jealousy every scheme for the preservation and 
 miinagcmcitt of our colonies. ^Vow to me it appears 
 possible to concilia! • the pujMilftr feeling, and economical 
 views — that colonies may he created and maintained 
 without waste, and that u lasting benefit may l)c de- 
 rived from their existence — both for England and the 
 new communities she establishes; but that this good 
 can only be accomplished by means of free-trade and 
 self-government. 
 
 The mother country may hope to derive advantage — 
 1st, from colonizing — and, 2nd, from her colonics. The 
 one ailvantage is immediate, the other prospective. 
 
 The first advantage is to be derived from sending oflf 
 a surplus or inconvenient population. 
 
 The population upon some Irish estates, where more 
 people are asserted to be than are needed for the proper 
 cultivation of the land, may be deemed a surplus popu- 
 lation. 
 
 I have, however, great doubts as to this excess. The 
 area of Ireland, with adequate capital, could profitably 
 employ a very large population. Hitherto this capital 
 has not been found. A miserable pittance of capital has 
 been used by the peasant farmer, his land has been not 
 half tilled, and the produce, now that the potato has 
 failed, is inadequate to support himself and his family. 
 For himself and his family, emigration to another land 
 may be a happy change, and perhaps the absence of a 
 turbulent and ignorant peasant farmer may make room 
 for a peaceful and industrious labourer, who, receiving 
 weekly wages, will make the land, under the guidance 
 of an instructed capitalist, far more productive than it 
 
10 
 
 SURPLUS POPULATION. 
 
 now is, and able eventually to support a more numerous 
 population than that of which Irish proprietors now 
 complain. The unfortunate emigrant may also, by the 
 change, become a new man. His new country may, and 
 probably will, create in him new habits ; hope will make 
 him cheerful and industrious; a chance of success will 
 make him self-dependent, and convert a discontented 
 mendicant into a worthy, self-relying, and self-maintain- 
 ing labourer. 
 
 The inconvenient population is, however, of two sorts. 
 The one has been here described and illustrated by the 
 Irish peasant — that which is deemed a surplus, but which 
 is really a troublesome dweller on the land. The other 
 class of inconvenients are the criminals. With these 
 last the present work has no concern. The principles 
 which should direct the conduct of government towards 
 a convict settlement are entirely diflferent from those 
 which ought to preside over our policy and acts in 
 colonization. 
 
 I mention the subject of criminals and transportation 
 on the present occasion, only for the purpose of at once 
 removing it out of my path, and separating it entirely 
 from my system of colonial policy.* 
 
 After the mother country has obtained what benefit 
 
 * English statesmen and writers, when discussing the subject of 
 colonies, almost exclusively consider them with reference to English, 
 or rather, metropolitan interests. The Irish famine, for example, 
 makes the population of Ireland a burthen, and straightway our 
 statesmen endeavour to discern what can be done with this trouble- 
 some, because starving race. A colony, with politicians of this 
 order, is a favourite subject of contemplation and discourse. They 
 look at it as an admirable mode of getting rid of the people — and 
 
TRADE. 
 
 11 
 
 numerous 
 tors now 
 Oj by the 
 may, and 
 »rill make 
 >cess will 
 lontented 
 aaintain- 
 
 wo sorts. 
 i by the 
 Lit which 
 he other 
 ih these 
 'inciples 
 towards 
 n those 
 acts in 
 
 )rtation 
 at once 
 sntirely 
 
 benefit 
 
 bject of 
 English, 
 xample, 
 vay our 
 trouble- 
 of this 
 They 
 le — and 
 
 flows from removing some portion of her population, she 
 may look forward to the more distant but far greater 
 advantages which will come from the existence of a 
 thriving and friendly community, dwelling in one of her 
 outlying territories. Having, by the fact of Colonizing, 
 relieved herself from the inconvenient pressure of a 
 superabundant population, if such have existed, she now 
 reaps from the Colony all the good which a growing 
 market can supply. If the mother country, while she 
 thus extends her dominion, thus carries her name, lan- 
 guage, institutions, and manners to distant lands, and 
 increases the number of her people and the amount of 
 her wealth — if, while she does this, she retains the aflfec- 
 tion of these outlying portions of her people, and makes 
 them consider themselves integral parts of her empire, 
 she may, by means of her colonies, acquire a power and 
 influence which her own narrow territory might not 
 permit her to attain. 
 
 According to the present feelings and opinions of 
 men, no direct benefit, by way of tribute or payment of 
 any sort, can be derived by England from her colonies. 
 The ever-memorable struggle with the present United 
 States has happily precluded the possibility of our 
 attempting to convert any portion of our people into 
 
 the difficulty. When they bring the subject of colonies before par- 
 liament, you always find them endeavouring to win attention by a 
 long preamble detailing the miseries of the existing surplus popula- 
 tions. (See the speech on Colonies by the late Mr. Charles Buller, 
 and the many speeches about what is called systematic colonization, 
 for example.) But this mode of looking at the subject is fraught 
 with injustice: it produces plans unfair towards the colonies, and, 
 in the end, injurious to England. 
 
m 
 
 TRADE. 
 
 I 
 
 1 h: 
 
 In 
 
 
 1)1 
 
 tributaries to our dominion. The difficulty of creating 
 a new settlement is of itself sufficiently great, without 
 the addition of a metropolitan tax. To raise up a new 
 community in the wilderness — to create civilized homes, 
 and establish all the arts and all the necessities of 
 civilized life — to supply the one and cherish the others 
 — this is indeed a task, in the performance of which the 
 stoutest heart may quail, will often sink, and be ready 
 to despair. Painful regrets beset him who applies him- 
 self to this trying business. Home, with all the many 
 sentiments which that word inspires, (and which none 
 can fully appreciate but the wanderer who has renounced 
 home, the home of his youth, for ever,) comes in the 
 hours of weariness and disappointed hope, and seems in 
 the distance, as home is to the settler, a land of fairy 
 enjoyment. The courtesies and amenities of the life he 
 has quitted rise up to contrast themselves in his mind 
 with the coarse and harsh realities which are all around 
 him. Sickness comes, and sorrow comes, and want 
 too — and for what, he asks himself, " am I thus a 
 wanderer and an outcast?" The eflfect of such thoughts 
 and of all the real difficulties and troubles which beset 
 the early settler, is great upon the firmest men ; we may 
 easily conceive what their influence is likely to be upon 
 women. But women must share in all the trials, and 
 aid in resisting all the miseries, which the new life of 
 of an emigrant brings. From people who have to 
 combat all these difficulties and resist all the influences 
 which induce despondency and despair, it is useless to 
 expect any tribute to the country from which they have 
 emigrated, and in which they could not live. But still 
 
TRADE. 
 
 13 
 
 in many ways it may be useful to the mother country 
 to have her people employing their energies and their 
 capital in the formation of new communities. If they 
 could be as profitably employed at home, we may be 
 assured that the misery which ever attends an emigrant 
 would not be braved by him. The capabilities which the 
 new country possesses enable him, by industry, to main- 
 tain himself, to increase his substance, and to provide 
 for his family. The present great difficulty once con- 
 quered, his future is more assured than it would be at 
 home, and his children grow up with feelings of attach- 
 ment to the adopted home of their parents, which is, 
 probably, their natal place, and is their home, in short. 
 But in countries destined to be great, to grow into 
 powerful and increasing communities, there will never 
 be found any means of acquiring sudden wealth and ex- 
 travagant fortunes. There, where steady labour is 
 needed to live and to thrive, will be found the habits 
 which are needed to make a great people. The gold 
 that lies in the soil of California, or is found in the 
 mines of Potosi, may for the moment attract cupidity 
 by holding out the promise of vast and sudden wealth 
 to the adventurers who seek those lands ; but in these 
 auriferous regions, useful colonies, the solid foundations 
 of great nations, are not to be created, unless the soil 
 shall cease to afford gold, and the mines come to yield 
 only a scant return to labour and to capital. In the 
 gradual progress which is won by steady labour, the 
 mother country which is wise will see her most promis- 
 ing return for the protection she has afforded ; for the 
 assistance she has given to her adventurous sons, who 
 
14 
 
 PROPOSED BENEFITS : 
 
 m 
 
 :' i 
 
 have dared the difficulties of creating a new community 
 in a wild, uncultivated region. As the new community 
 grows, the wants of the inhabitants increase also, and 
 with them the desire and the power to purchase the 
 commodities which the metropolis can produce more 
 easily and more cheaply than the colony for itself. Thus 
 a new market is created for the produce of the mother 
 country. Trade between people so intimately related is 
 sure to arise, and needs no coercive laws to force it into 
 being. With unfettered trade there will arise a commu- 
 nity of interests and of feeling. Instead of hostile and 
 envious rivals, we shall have made willing and friendly 
 customers, into whose ports we can enter without restric- 
 tion and untaxed ; who will not be desirous of placing 
 upon our productions the check of a hostile tariff, or 
 eager to refuse to us the benefits of an untrammelled com- 
 merce. If in a spirit of true liberality we regulate our 
 whole conduct t wards the new nations which our people 
 from time to time create, they in their turn will deal 
 generously and in a spirit of friendship with us. But 
 if we permit the narrow views of a protective policy to 
 be the guides of our system, and by restrictive laws 
 thwart and check the energy and ingenuity of the grow- 
 ing communities while subject to our sway ; if we force 
 upon them the monopoly implied and really expressed in 
 the shibboleth of "ships, colonies, and commerce," we 
 prepare our colonies for a race of rivalry and hostility 
 when they are able to cast off our dominion. Unfortu- 
 nately this course we have hitherto pursued, and we 
 see the fruits in the conduct of the United States. We 
 taught them, while colonies, to believe restriction wise 
 
now TO BE OBTAINED. 
 
 16 
 
 policy, and we proved to them that we were selfish 
 enough to insist upon a cramped and restricted trade, 
 though it was plainly mischievous to the colonies, and 
 though it was at every stage of their history strenuously 
 resisted by them. They naturally believed what we 
 taught, and imitated the example which we had so per- 
 tinaciously set. The doom, however, of this protective 
 policy is sealed. We are bound, if wise and just, to 
 begin at once, and give the world a proof of our sin- 
 cerity, by establishing with all our colonies, in every 
 part of the globe, a perfectly free trade ; by allowing to 
 the whole world free access to our colonial ports. We 
 thus shall lay the sure foundations of a lasting inter- 
 course by means of a thriving, because unrestricted 
 commerce. 
 
 The object of all the succeeding inquiries of this 
 work will be to ascertain in what way the mother 
 country can best use her powers, in order to create 
 thriving communities of her own people in the terri- 
 tories which she possesses in various parts of the globe, 
 but which are now in a state of nature — the wild home 
 of a few wild tribes — how she can most easily convert 
 a howling wilderness into the secure home of a busy, 
 thriving, happy people. 
 
 That she can do this without expense I believe, and 
 shall, I think, be able to prove ; and to that proof I now 
 apply myself. 
 
 The English, with much self-complacency, call them- 
 selves a practical people; and so calling themselves, 
 they are accustomed to search for precedents, as a 
 means to regulate their conduct. This looking for 
 
16 
 
 EXAMPLES OF 
 
 precedents, and trusting to authority, means, in so far 
 as it is a wise mode of conduct, simply inquiring 
 whether mankind have already had the teaching of ex- 
 perience upon the matter in hand, and whether there 
 are records of this experience, from which rules of con- 
 duct for the future may be deduced. Knowing this habit 
 of my countrymen, I naturally, for my own teaching, as 
 well as the persuading of others, have inquired, what 
 examples history offers on the subject of colonization? 
 To ancient history, the philosopher and the scholar may 
 refer with advantage and with pleasure ; but the practical 
 politician had better confine himself for the most part 
 to modern experience, and even, if possible, to English 
 experience. Fortunately, there are ample records for 
 his purpose — and records of a most special and useful 
 character. We have the means, if we so wish, of com- 
 paring the modes adopted by different nations in similar 
 regions, and in similar countries. As for example, the 
 mode pursued by France in her vast North- American 
 territories, with that adopted by Englishmen in the same 
 regions, though in a more restricted field. But we are 
 able to compare the different modes adopted by the 
 same people in the same regions, or by the same people 
 in different regions. As, for example. Englishmen in 
 Massachusetts, and in Maryland and Carolina, and 
 Englishmen in Sydney. The experience and the records 
 of it are so vast and multifarious, that a selection be- 
 comes absolutely necessary ; and this selection I purpose 
 making, in order to lay before the reader an authority 
 for the conclusions to which I have arrived, and to which 
 I ask his assent. 
 
TWO SYSTEMS OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 17 
 
 Of the examples, then, which modern history aflfords, 
 I have selected two, both of which have been distin- 
 guished eventually, and the first, after various for- 
 tunes, with success ; and in this first example, there will 
 be seen almost every possible scheme attempted, but 
 success attending only one condition of things, and 
 attending just in proportion as that condition was 
 adopted or departed from. 
 
 The conditions upon which success thus depended, were 
 the existence, first of self-government and self-mainte- 
 nance, and next of free trade. Where there were com- 
 plete self-government, and an entirely unrestricted 
 trade, there success, even with an adverse soil and 
 climate, was most rapid and extensive ; where there was 
 no self-government, there was no success; where there 
 was self-government, but so far checked as a restricted 
 trade implied, there was only a partial, and slowly- 
 advancing improvement. The authority in favour of 
 this statement is so extensive, as to create difficulty 
 only by its profusion. I shall content myself by ad- 
 vancing some of the more remarkable portions of this 
 evidence. 
 
 The two examples of which I speak, and which I 
 intend now to instance, are as follow : — 
 
 1st. That of England, when she established in Ame- 
 rica the thirteen colonies, which afterwards became the 
 celebrated United States of America. They were — 
 1. Virginia; 2. Maryland; 3. Massachusetts Bay; 
 4. Connecticut; 5. Rhode Island; 6. New Hampshire; 
 7. New York; 8. New Jersey; 9. Pennsylvania; 10. De 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 EXAMPLES OF 
 
 laware; 11. North Carolina j 12. South Carolina; and, 
 13. Georgia. • 
 
 These were all English colonies, though some of them, 
 as New York and New Jersey, were begun by,* but taken 
 from, the Dutch. Emigrants came to them from various 
 parts of Europe ; but still their institutions are English ; 
 and, with very slight exceptions, their people all even- 
 tually spoke the English language. We may say, with 
 accuracy, that this is an English example. 
 
 This great scheme of colonization began in the year 
 1606 with the foundation of Virginia. It was termi- 
 nated in 1776; when the thirteen colonies (the last of 
 which, Georgia, was founded in 1732) declared them- 
 selves independent, and thus put an end to their colonial 
 existence. Between these two years of 1606 and 1776, 
 thirteen communities were called into existence; and 
 they contained, at the last mentioned period, a popula- 
 tion of about three millions of souls. 
 
 2nd. The second example is that of the United States 
 of America, when, being a sovereign people, they esta- 
 blished many new states, and added them to the great 
 federal union. All these new communities, which thus 
 became members of the republic, were originally colonies, 
 planted and maintained by the United States. 
 
 This second instance has seldom been considered in 
 the light in which I now place it. The new states of 
 the union have not hitherto been deemed colonies ; yet 
 such they truly were ; and the system according to which 
 
 * Sweden, also, had a share in this attempt. 
 
TWO SYSTEMS OF COLONIZATION. 
 
 19 
 
 they have all been planted and governed is the only 
 regular and predetermined plan for such a purpose which 
 any government has laid down for its guidance ; and as 
 might have been expected, the plan being a wise one, the 
 result is the most successful example of colonization 
 ever yet aflforded by mankind. 
 
 c2 
 
20 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ENGLISH COLONIZATION IN AMERICA — VIRGINIA, 1606 — 
 MARYLAND, 1632 — NEW ENGLAND, 1620 — MASSA- 
 CHUSETTS — CONNECTICUT — RHODE ISLAND — CAROLINA, 
 1663 — PENNSYLVANIA, 1681 — GEORGIA, 1732. 
 
 rPHE first of these thirteen American colonies, \'irginia, 
 -*- was begun in the year 1606; the last, Georgia, in 
 the year 1732. From the beginning to the end of this 
 period nothing like a system — a regular plan with prede- 
 termined rules of action, can be found in the conduct of 
 the government. Some of the colonies were planted, in 
 the hope of gain, by associations of lich and powerful 
 proprietors in England ; such was, for example, Virginia : 
 some were established by men who fled from religious 
 persecution to the wilds of America, intending there to 
 found an empire in which true religion should be the 
 ruler, and the Bible their code of laws. The pilgrims 
 who laid the first foundations of New England were the 
 most remarkable of this class of settlers ; and New Eng- 
 land still exists and flourishes, a monument to their 
 many great qualities, and some mistaken views. 
 
 The early settlements of Virginia were formed in con- 
 sequence, and by means of powers granted in charters 
 from the crown. The object was immediate gain to the 
 projectors ; the means by which this gain was sought to 
 be botained were the mines of gold and silver, which in 
 
VIKOINIA. 
 
 21 
 
 those days every adventurer fancied were to be found 
 throughout all the regions of America. But there was 
 in that age something of grandeur and magnificence 
 pervading men's minds, and ennobling even their meaner 
 thoughts, and feelings. Their conceptions were large, 
 though their aims were sordid. They intended and ex- 
 pected to found empires even while seeking for gold. 
 Their cupidity was thus hidden by the brave garb in 
 which it was clothed. By the charter, under which the 
 first successful settlement was established in Virginia, 
 " a belt of twelve degrees on the American coast, em- 
 bracing the soil from Cape Fear to Halifax, excepting, 
 perhaps, the little spot in Acadia, then actually possessed 
 by the French, was set apart to be colonized by two 
 rival companies. Of these, the first was composed of 
 noblemen, gentlemen, and merchants in and about Lon- 
 don ; the second of knights, gentlemen, and merchants 
 in the west.* The London adventurers, who alone suc- 
 ceeded, had an exclusive right to occupy the regions 
 from thirty -four to thirty -eight degrees of north latitude 
 — that is, from Cape Fear to the southern limit of Mary- 
 land. The western men had equally an exclusive right 
 to plant between forty-one and forty-five degrees. The 
 intermediate district, from thirty-eight to forty-one 
 degrees, was open to the competition of both companies. 
 Yet collision was not possible; for each was to possess 
 the soil extending fifty miles north and south of its first 
 
 * Virginia was planted by the London Company; New England 
 was, in part, the fruit of the powers granted to the Western, or 
 Plymouth, Association. See below, page 49. 
 
22 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 settlement, so that neither could plant within one hun- 
 dred miles of a colony of its rival.* The conditions of 
 tenure were homage and rent; the rent was no more 
 than one-fifth of the net produce of gold and silver, and 
 one-fifteenth of copper. The right of coining money 
 was conceded, perhaps, to facilitate commerce with the 
 natives, who, it was hoped, would receive Christianity 
 and the arts of civilized life. The superintendence of 
 the whole colonial system was confided to a council in 
 England; the local administration of each colony was 
 intrusted to a council residing within its limits. The 
 memhers of the superior council in England were ap- 
 pointed exclusively by the king, and the tenure of their 
 office was his good pleasure. Over the colonial councils 
 the king likewise preserved a control, for the leaders of 
 them were from time to time to be ordained, made, and 
 removed according to royal instructions. Supreme legis- 
 lative authority over the colonies, extending alike to 
 their general condition and the most minute regulations, 
 was likewise expressly reserved to the monarch. A hope 
 was also cherished of an ultimate revenue to be derived 
 
 f , 
 
 * Yet the western limits of these colonies were never accurately 
 defined. The terms permitted the colonists to take the whole 
 breadth of the continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, between 
 the degrees mentioned. So much for the precision of the grant. 
 " Several of the old or original states claimed large tracts of wild 
 lands in the west and northwest parts of the country, before the 
 war of the Revolution, on the supposition that their respective ter- 
 ritories extended to the farthest lakes, and the Mississippi, if not 
 to the Pacific ocean, for their patents were limited only by the 
 "Western ocean." — History of the Federal Government, p. 42, by 
 A. Bradford, LL.D. 
 
i J 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 2a 
 
 from Virginia. A duty to be levied on vessels trading 
 to its harbours was, for one and twenty years, to ])e 
 wholly mployed for the benefit of the plantation, at the 
 end o< that time, was to be taken for the king. To the 
 emigrants it was promised that they and their children 
 should continue to be Englishmen — a concession which 
 secured them rights on returning to England, but offered 
 no barrier against colonial injustice."* 
 
 The historian, Mr. Bancroft, himself an American — 
 one who has carefully considered the whole of the early 
 history of his country, and the effect upon its fortunes 
 produced by the several enactments, legislative and 
 administrative, made in England, thus remarks upon 
 this charter, and the nature of its provisions : — 
 
 " Thus the first written charter of a permanent 
 American colony, which was to be the chosen abode of 
 liberty, gave to a mercantile corporation nothing but a 
 desert territory, with the right of peopling and defending 
 it, and reserved to the monarch absolute legislative au- 
 thority, the control of all appointments, and a hope of 
 ultimate revenue.f To the emigrants themselves, it 
 conceded not one elective franchise, not one of the rights 
 of self-government. They were subjected to the ordi- 
 nances of a commercial corporation, of which they could 
 not be members ; to the dominion of a domestic council, 
 in appointing which they had no voice; to the control 
 of a superior council in England which had no sympathy 
 
 * Bancroft, History of America, vol. i. p. 121-3. 
 t The worst sort of restrictive laws respecting navigation was 
 also in the charter. 
 
 
24 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 with their rights ; and, finally, to the arbitrary legislation 
 of the sovereign. Yet, bad as was this system, the re- 
 servation of power to the king — a result of his vanity 
 rather than of his ambition — had at least the advantage 
 of mitigating the action of a commercial corporation. 
 The check would have been complete, had the powers of 
 appointment and legislation been given to the people of 
 Virginia."* 
 
 The King, besides this charter, in the plenitude of his 
 royal benevolence and wisdo*n, added a code of laws 
 framed (it is said) by himself. Some of the provisions 
 which adorned this precious production, are thus de- 
 scribed by Mr. Bancroft : — 
 
 " The superior council in England was permitted to 
 name the colonial council, which was constituted a pure 
 aristocracy, entirely independent of the emigrants whom 
 they were to govern ; having power to elect or remove 
 its president, to remove any of its members, and to 
 supply its own vacancies. Not an element of popular 
 liberty was introduced into the form of government. 
 Religion was especially enjoined to be established ac- 
 cording to the doctrine and rites of the Church of 
 England : and no emigrant might withdraw his allegiance 
 from King James,f or avow dissent from the royal creed. 
 Lands were to descend according to the common law. 
 Not only murder, manslaughter, and adultery, but dan- 
 gerous tumults and seditions were punishable by death ; 
 
 * Bancroft, History of America, vol. i. p. 122. 
 t This provision was unnecessary; the rule of our common law 
 being the same. Nemo potest exuere patriam. 
 
1 1 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 25 
 
 SO that the security of life depended on the discretion of 
 the magistrate, restricted only by the necessity of a trial 
 by jury. All civil causes requiring corporal punishment, 
 fine, or imprisonment * might be summarily determined 
 by the president and council, who also possessed full 
 legislative authority in cases not affecting life or limb. 
 Kindness to the savages was enjoined, with the use of all 
 proper means for their conversion. It was further and 
 most unwisely, though probably at the request of the 
 corporation, ordered, that the industry and commerce of 
 the respective colonies should for five years at least, be 
 conducted in a joint stock. The King also reserved for 
 himself the right of future legislation."! 
 
 Severe misfortunes attended the infimt colony; the 
 practical proceedings of its founders being no wiser than 
 their scheme of its political institutions. Visions of 
 glory and of gain — sanguine hopes of great wealth and 
 honour attained without labour, and at once, led the 
 daring, the reckless, and the idle — broken-down spend- 
 thrifts, and gay gallants of the court, to form part of 
 the company of emigrants by whom the new community 
 was to be established. The celebrated Captain John 
 Smith, the real practical founder and saviour of this the 
 first settlement, knew well what was the class of man 
 needed for the work — and clearly understood the benefit 
 that would follow well-selected emigrants — " When you 
 send again," said Smith, in a letter written to his supe- 
 
 • This is a curious description oi civil causes; punishment being 
 that thing which is the essence of criminal, as distinct from civil 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 f Bancroft, History of America, vol. i. p. 123. 
 
26 
 
 VIKGINIA. 
 
 riors at home, " I entreat you rather send but thirty 
 carpenters, husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, black- 
 smiths, masons, and diggers up of trees' roots, well pro- 
 vided, than a thousand of such as we have."* He was 
 averse to all schemes for the attainment of sudden wealth 
 by gold finding and mining — " Nothing," said he, " is to 
 be expected from Virginia but by labour." 
 
 The misfortunes of the first attempts stimulated the 
 nation to yet greater efforts. Raleigh, who had originally 
 conceived the scheme, and laboured with great patience 
 and energy in the cause which had excited his sanguine 
 and enthusiastic spirit, was now a ruined man and a 
 prisoner. But Cecil, his enemy, adopted his plans, and 
 brought all his own influence in aid of the company. 
 The company itself was enlarged, powerful nobles and 
 rich citizens were added to the list of its shareholders, 
 and as they supposed that the previous failure had re- 
 sulted from defective institutions, they desired to have 
 supreme power in their own hands. Their wishes were 
 gratified — and the power of supervision and legislation, 
 which the King had reserved to himself, he now gave to 
 the corporation. This alteration rendered the political 
 constitution (if I may use the term) under which the 
 scheme of colonizing was to be attempted, as inefficient 
 and mischievous as possible. The supreme power was 
 in the hands of a body of persons in England, whose 
 great object was to attain wealth and influence in Eng- 
 land, by means of the power which, through others, they 
 were to exercise in America. These others — viz., their 
 
 * Bancroft, vol. i. p. 135. 
 
VIRGINIA. 
 
 27 
 
 servants and ofl&cers, appointed by them to rule over the 
 emigrants — were responsible in name to the supreme 
 council in London ; but exercised, in reality, uncontrolled 
 authority over the emigrants. These last, through 
 whose labour and skill the colony was to be actually 
 founded, were left wholly out of consideration. They 
 had no means of checking the governors and other officers 
 of the company, but were obliged to submit in silence to 
 every species of oppression and cruelty, and injury, which 
 cupidity, tyranny, and ignorance could bring upon an 
 unhappy people. The necessary result was dissensions, 
 open quarrels, violence, and failure. 
 
 After many valuable lives had been lost, many terrible 
 hardships undergone by the survivors, and constant and 
 large additions had been made to the numbers of the colo- 
 nists, by direct importation from England into the colony 
 of men and means, the j&rst step was taken in the right 
 direction — private property was established. " But the 
 greatest change in the condition of the colonists resulted 
 from the incipient establishment of private property. 
 To each man a few acres of ground were assigned for 
 his orchard and his garden, and to plant at his pleasure 
 and for his own use. So long as industry had been 
 without its special reward, reluctant labour, wasteful 
 of time, had been followed by want. Henceforward the 
 sanctity of private property was recognised as the surest 
 guarantee of order and abundance."* 
 
 Another change was made, and, in a certain sense, for 
 the better, in what I have called the political constitu- 
 
 Bancroft, History of America, vol. i. p. 145. 
 
28 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 ii! 
 
 I ! 
 
 tion of the colonizing body. The supreme council in 
 England was made responsible to the majority of the 
 corporation. Vacancies in the council were now to be 
 filled by those who obtained the majority of votes given 
 by members of the corporation, and four several courts 
 of the body of proprietors were directed to be held 
 during the year, in order to elect officers and make laws. 
 In fact, the company — that is, the colonizing body, — 
 had now a democratic in place of an aristocratic govern- 
 ment. This was an improvement, but the colonists 
 themselves seemed as far from having a voice in their 
 own concerns as ever. These courts of the company 
 were afterwards employed by the great liberal party of 
 those days as a means of opposition to the arbitrary 
 measures of the king; the debates which took place in 
 these assemblies being made subsidiary to the debates in 
 parliament. But whatever influence these courts might 
 have in aiding the establishment of English liberty, they 
 lent very little assistance, did very little if any good, to 
 the colony which they attempted to govern. That 
 colony, though it might seem firmly established, and 
 since private property had been re-instituted, appeared 
 in some measure to thrive, was still, in fact, endowed 
 with but very little vitality, and threatened every hour 
 to droop and fade away from the land. " In May, 1614, 
 a petition for aid was presented to the House of Com- 
 mons, and was received with unusual solemnity. It was 
 supported by Lord Delaware, whose affection for Virginia 
 ceased only with his life. " All it requires," said he, 
 " is but a few honest labourers burdened with children," 
 and he moved for a committee to consider of relief. 
 
VIRGINIA. 
 
 29 
 
 ,^f 
 
 ■'1 
 
 But disputes with the monarch led to a separation of 
 the Commons, and it was not to tottering or privileged 
 companies, to parliaments or to kings, that the new 
 State was to owe its prosperity. Private industry, 
 directed to the culture of a valuable staple, was more 
 productive than the patronage of England, and tobacco 
 enriched Virginia."* 
 
 The manner of this statement may not be agreeable 
 to the taste of Englishmen, and probably would not 
 have been adopted by Mr. Bancroft were he an English- 
 man, even though he were as deeply versed as he now 
 is in all that appertains to the early history of his 
 country. He would nevertheless have expressed the 
 same opinions, aud would have insisted as urgently as 
 at present on the importance of the conclusion to which 
 he had been forced by a study of this history ; and now, 
 when we see attempts making to revive that old form of 
 company, by which our forefathers vainly endeavoured in 
 ancient days to found colonies ; when we hear the final 
 success of those colonies attributed to this mode ot 
 directing the enterprise, and skill, and energy of our 
 people, when laying the foundations of what are now 
 mighty states, it behoves all who really know how false 
 are these statements, and how mischievous these com- 
 panies were in fact, how seriously they impeded the 
 progress of adventure, and retarded the growth of the 
 colonial communities, to lay this experience with ear- 
 nestness before the world ; — not to be nice as to phrase 
 while insisting upon the value of the knowledge which 
 
 * Bancroft. 
 
30 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 can be obtained from our former colonial history, — and 
 at all proper times fearlessly to expose the grave errors 
 which are daily propagated on this important subject 
 by interested projectors, who pretend to be philosophic 
 discoverers of great moral truths in political science, 
 instead of assuming the more modest character of his- 
 torians, in which, if they were honest, they might bring 
 to light the valuable experience which the past has 
 garnered up for our use. 
 
 In the history of our American colonies, we find in- 
 deed ample experience of every form of mischievous 
 schemes for the planting of colonies ; and more especially 
 does that hist ry teem with evidence to prove, that evils 
 always followed when the oflfice of planting a new settle- 
 ment was intrusted to a chartered company ; that so long 
 as such connexion existed between the company and the 
 colony, the evil continued, and success was impossible; 
 and that the colony never fairly flourished, till that con- 
 nexion was completely severed. The company has 
 always sat like an incubus on the new community. It 
 has been a mill-stone round its neck — a drag upon its 
 wheels — a weight upon its springs— in short, every 
 example and illustration of evil retardation and mis- 
 chievous restraint may be employed with truth, when 
 speaking of the influence of a privileged company upon 
 the fortunes of a colonial settlement. 
 
 Virginia affords, indeed, a remarkable illustration, 
 at every step of her history, of the mischiefs re- 
 sulting from a distant control, and of the increase of 
 the mischiefs when the distant control was in the 
 hands of a mercantile corporation. I know that I may 
 
VIRGINIA. 
 
 31 
 
 1-rl 
 
 be met by the example of the East India Company, and 
 asked if I apply this reasoning to their case. My answer 
 is two-fold — first, I certainly do so apply the reasoning, 
 and can, out of the story of British India, fearfully prove 
 its accuracy; but, secondly, the East India Company 
 have never been colonizers. They were first merchants, 
 then conquerors and rulers. They had a country densely 
 peopled to rule over, and that dense population were in 
 a state of civilization very unlike and very inferior to 
 that of England. But what I am now speaking of is a 
 colonizing company, and of subject colonists having the 
 habits, feelings, intelligence, and capacity of the people 
 of England ; and my assertion is, that a mercantile com- 
 pany is wholly unfit to exercise legislative and adminis- 
 trative functions over such a body of colonists ; and that, 
 in the first instance, such a company would be a mis- 
 chievous instrument if employed to plant a colony ; and 
 in the next, if employed as an instrument to rule over 
 it, when with difficulty and danger it has struggled into 
 life, the evil will be increased ten-fold ; and these asser- 
 tions, I assert, are remarkably borne out, no'^ only by 
 the history of Virginia, but by the history of every one 
 of the proprietary governments established in America. 
 Some of those governments were far superior to others ; 
 but the worst of all were those which took the form of 
 chartered companies of mercantile adventurers ruling 
 the colony from England.* I now proceed, however, 
 with my historical illustrations. 
 
 * In a subsequent part of this work I shall endeavour to explain 
 in what way a company may be of use in the work of colonizing. 
 
 
32 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 Ijjijil 
 
 M 
 
 ,: I h 
 
 1 i, ; 
 
 i^ 
 
 For a time, martial law was established in Virginia. 
 This system of coercion did not improve the condition 
 of the colonists. Then it was thought that probably 
 mild measures might be more successful, and Mr. George 
 Yeardley, who had previously been deputy-governor, was 
 appointed governor — a mild and benevolent person, 
 though not distinguished by any great ability. Under 
 his rule, great political changes occurred. In the early 
 days of the settlement many mistakes were naturally 
 made in the various modes of cultivation adopted. 
 Vineyards were planted. The colonists attempted to 
 make soap, and glass, and tar, and ashes; but were 
 unable to compete with the people in the north of 
 Europe in the production of these things. The sect of 
 gold-finders died out about 1615. At length, tobacco 
 was discovered, and the fortunes of Virginia improved ; 
 but with improvement came a desire on the part of the 
 colonists for the power of managing their own concerns. 
 The martial law did not suit the convenience of English- 
 men, and successful Englishmen were not likely to sub- 
 mit to such a rule without a struggle. With Yeardley, 
 under the direction of the London Company, a council 
 was associated, and shared his authority; and he, with- 
 out any direction, but of his own motion, conferred on 
 the colonists a share in the government. This circum- 
 stance is memorable, as the first step taken on the 
 American continent towards the establishment of a 
 popular rule — the rule that, over every part of the vast 
 territories which the English race has occupied on that 
 quarter of the earth, is now firmly established. The 
 exj riment which, at the present moment, those young 
 
VIRGINIA. 
 
 88 
 
 communities are making in the science and art of 
 government is of the highest interest to the whole of 
 mankind. We are, indeed, living in times when all 
 appears prosperous with respect to it. In the early days, 
 however, of which we are now speaking, there were 
 doubt, and resistance, and fear. The beginnings of so 
 extraordinary a trial and result cannot fail to interest 
 every reflecting mind. 
 
 In June, 1619, the first colonial assembly met in 
 Jamestown, Virginia. This consisted of the governor 
 and his council, and two representatives from each of 
 the eleven boroughs then established, which representa- 
 tives were called burgesses. The adoption of this popu- 
 lar portion of the government marks the predominant 
 feelings of the time ; and though Yeardley's sanction was 
 necessary, the proposal to elect burgesses evidently came 
 from the colonists themselves. In this assembly all 
 matters were debated appertaining to the colony. Their 
 laws, however, required to be formally ratified by the 
 company in England.* The consequence of this change 
 was immediately apparent. " They fell to building 
 houses and planting corn, and fearlessly resolved to per- 
 petuate the colony." 
 
 The next circumstance to which the historian refers 
 
 * Bancroft, vol. i. p. 153. I may say at once, that I shall quote 
 Mr. Bancroft throughout, when referring to this early history of 
 America. He most carefully adduces his authorities, and is con- 
 scientious in the use of them. A safer guide could not be found. 
 The history of Virginia is a curious chapter in the history of Eng- 
 land, and illustrates the latter in a remarkable manner. Mr. Ban- 
 croft does not state whether the burgesses sat apart from the 
 council, or whether they assembled in one chamber. 
 
 D 
 
 1 
 
84 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 ^1 
 
 is of the highest interest, and tends to show that all the 
 great questions respecting the planting of colonies were 
 discussed carefully by the sagacious men who then 
 founded ours, and who have left us little to discover in 
 the so-called " art of colonization." I will quote again, 
 in this instance, the words of Mr. Bancroft. The sub- 
 ject is of primary importance, and deserves to be sup- 
 ported by the most weighty authority : — 
 
 " The patriot party in England now possessed the 
 control of the London company, engaged with earnest- 
 ness in schemes to advance the population and establish 
 the liberties of Virginia ; and Sir Edward Sandys, the 
 new treasurer, was a man of such judgment and firm- 
 ness, that no intimidations — not even threats of blood — 
 could deter him from investigating and reforming the 
 abuses by which the colony had been retarded. At his 
 accession to office, after twelve years' labour, and an 
 expenditure of eighty thousand pounds by the company, 
 there were in the colony no more than six hundred per- 
 sons, men, women and children ; and now in one year he 
 provided a passage to Virginia for twelve hundred and 
 sixty persons. Nor must the character of the emigra- 
 tion be overlooked. * The people of Virginia had not 
 been settled in their minds ;' and, as before the recent 
 changes, they had gone there with the design of ulti- 
 mately returning to England, it was necessary to multiply 
 attachments to the soil. Few wome^i had as yet dared 
 to cross the Atlantic ; but now the promise of prosperity 
 induced ninety agreeable persons, young and incorrupt, 
 to listen to the wishes of the company and the bene- 
 volent advice of Sandys, and to embark for the colony, 
 
VIBGINU. 
 
 35 
 
 11 
 
 where they were assured of a welcome. They were 
 transported at the expense of the corporation, and were 
 married to the tenants of the company, or to men who 
 were well able to support them, and who willingly defrayed 
 the costs of their passage, which were rigorously de- 
 manded. The adventure, which had been in part a mer- 
 cantile speculation, succeeded so well, that it was designed 
 to send the next year another consignment of one hun- 
 dred ; but before these could be collected, the company 
 found itself so poor, that its design could be accomplished 
 only by a subscription. After some delays, sixty were 
 actr 'lily despatched, maids of virtuous education, young, 
 handsome, and well recommended. The price rose from 
 one hundred and twenty, to one hundred and fifty pounds 
 of tobacco, or even more, so that all the original charges 
 might be repaid. The debt for a wife was a debt of 
 honour, and took precedence of any other ; and the 
 company, in conferring employments, gave a preference 
 to the married men. Domestic ties were formed, vir- 
 tuous sentiments and habits of thrift ensued ; the tide 
 of emigration swelled; within three years, fifty patents 
 of land were granted, and three thousand five hundred 
 persons found their way to Virginia, which was a refuge 
 even for puritans."* 
 
 The formation of a popular power in the colony was, 
 though not openly approved, silently permitted by the 
 company. At length, the company, in 1621, by an ordi- 
 nance dated July of that year, promulgated a constitu- 
 tion for the colony. Every constitution framed by Eng- 
 
 * Bancroft, History of America, vol. i. p. 155-157. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 ■W^ 
 
 i Ml 
 
 Mil' 
 
 K 
 
 
 land for a colony since that period has followed the model 
 of that which this company adopted. It set forth, as a 
 preamble, " that the object sought was the greatest com- 
 fort and benefit of the people, and the prevention of in- 
 justice, grievances, and oppression." 
 
 The administrative body was composed of a governor, 
 appointed by the company, and a permanent council, 
 also appointed by the company. The legislative body 
 was a general assembly, composed of the governor, the 
 council, and burgesses to be elected from each of the 
 several plantations by their respective inhabitants. 
 This assembly was to be convened once every year, and 
 had full legislative authority — a negative voice being 
 reserved to the Governor; and no law or ordinance was 
 to be valid unless ratified by the Company in England. 
 One step, of a peculiar nature, followed, and pointed 
 most significantly to future events. The Company 
 solemnly bound itself not to impose laws on the colony 
 without the consent of the Colonial Legislature. When 
 afterwards the King superseded the Company, and the 
 Imperial Government occupied the relative position of 
 the Company to the colony, this promise was not con- 
 sidered binding. The Imperial Parliament deemed itself 
 supreme, struggled with the colony, and eventually lost 
 it, because the prudent and long-sighted resolution of 
 the Company, which founded the new community,* had 
 been disregarded. 
 
 In addition to the Legislative, there was also a judi- 
 cial body instituted ; and their proceedings were ordered 
 
 * Bancroft, vol. i. p. 157. 
 
 \] 
 
VIRGINIA, 
 
 37 
 
 \- 
 
 to be in all things conformable to the laws and manner 
 of trial used in the realm of England. 
 
 The next succeeding years were, as regarded the 
 colony, years of prosperity. But, at this time, the great 
 obstacle to American happiness was reared by English 
 hands. Those men who had contrived and fashioned a 
 rational plan for the preservation of liberty, and security, 
 and happiness, forgot, in their eager pursuit of wealth, 
 the dictates of justice, as well as of policy ; and slavery 
 was allowed, in her most degrading and degraded form, 
 to raise her horrid front amid a people of freemen. I 
 need not dwell upon this painful spectacle. Such an evil 
 cannot be brought again to life in an English community. 
 Hereafter, we are to expiate the evil deeds of our 
 ancestors, by labouring without respite in the great cause 
 of human freedom, and by spreading a race of freemen, 
 hating black as well as white slavery, over the many 
 vast territories that belong to England. We are destined 
 to be the chief and most eflfective opponents of a system 
 which once we too successfully supported. 
 
 The King, finding the Company unwilling to listen to 
 his behests, and refusing, at his dictation, to elect their 
 officers, determined to overturn the Company, and re- 
 sume the powers granted by the charter. Commissioners 
 were sent to America, to inquire into the condition of 
 the colony. These Commissioners seized the records, 
 imprisoned the deputy-treasurer, examined witnesses, 
 and intercepted private letters. They easily found 
 evidence against the Company ; some of which evidence, 
 though thus collected, was honest. Smith, well known 
 in Virginian history, was examined by them; "his 
 
38 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 ii 
 ;i 
 
 I! 
 
 ■ ! 
 
 *l 
 
 i:'l 
 
 honest answers," says Mr. Bancroft, " plainly exposed the 
 defective arrangements of previous years, and favoured 
 the cancelling of the charter as an act of benevolence to 
 the colony." Hereupon, the King determined to remodel 
 the charter — in fact, to subvert the Company — and take 
 back the powers which the first charter had reserved to 
 the Sovereign, but which, under the advice of Cecil, had 
 been granted to the corporation. A quo warranto was 
 issued ; and the Company was called upon for its defence. 
 Commissioners were now again sent to the colony ; there 
 they found the colonists ready to throw oflf the Company, 
 but utterly averse to submit themselves to the govern- 
 ment of England, or the arbitrary will of the King. A 
 remarkable distinction was now insisted on for the first 
 time, which exercised a most potent influence through- 
 out the remaining colonial existence of these commu- 
 nities. The King was spoken of as the King of Virginia. 
 The supreme power in the colony was said to reside in 
 the. hands of the colonial parliament, and the King, as 
 King of Virginia. This principle was never forgotten 
 by the colonists, though it slumbered for many years 
 after the revolution of 1688. The sturdy republicans 
 of New England carried it still further : they, from the 
 first, insisted upon their independence, and resisted, as 
 long as they were able, the acts of the English Parliament; 
 by which the celebrated system of our colonial monopoly 
 was erected, and our Navigation Laws were enacted. 
 The colonies yielded, indeed, to the superior force of 
 England on that occasion ; but, in due time, they renewed 
 the contest, and with a different result. They not only 
 withstood the enforcement of our law, but recurring to 
 
 i 
 
VIRGINIA. 
 
 39 
 
 to 
 
 their ancient doctrine, and dearly prized independence, 
 cast off for ever the dominion of England, and culled 
 into existence the gigantic republic, which will ever 
 remain the lasting memorial of our glory and our 
 humiliation. 
 
 In Jun^:, 1624, the Court of King's Bench, during 
 Trinity Terra, gave judgment on the quo warranto 
 against the Company. The House of Commons even 
 did not attempt to protect this unpopular corporation. 
 Its patents, therefore, were cancelled, and the Company 
 was dissolved. Such was the first experiment of 
 colonizing by a chartered company ; and this experiment 
 suffices to condemn the system. 
 
 A more favourable opportunity was never afforded for 
 the successful employment of such a machinery. The 
 company was composed of men of great power, wealth, 
 and intelligence. The country to which colonists were 
 sent was fertile, blessed with a healthy climate, and was 
 found to possess a staple commodity, which proved the 
 source of great and steady wealth; but a wealth that 
 could only be attained by care and labour. There arose, 
 therefore, none of the mischief that befalls a colony which 
 gambles in mines. Steady habits of industry and thrift 
 were acquired by the people ; who, as a community, were 
 likely to flourish, if permitted fairly to exercise their 
 ingenuity and industry in the production of the fortunate 
 commodity, tobacco, by which they could obtain an 
 ample reward for their labour and capital. But the 
 company could derive no advantage from the mere 
 comfort and happiness of the colonists; they, as land- 
 lords, could hope for very small returns in a country in 
 
40 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 ]- 
 
 
 ■ ! 3 
 
 which new and fertile lands could be obtained without 
 limit. In any other shape, there was no chance of a 
 return, except by the sale of the lands ; and by this sale 
 very little could be expected,* and that little could be 
 acquired only with great trouble, and great discontent. 
 The people might very naturally ask, why a company 
 should derive a dividend from the sale of land which 
 properly ought to form a portion of the community's 
 wealth. Complaints, as we have seen, were rife; the 
 colony were glad to see the company dissolved, hoping 
 that the rule of a nation would be less onerous than that 
 of a mercantile corporation ; — that a King and a 
 Parliament would not look for a dividend; would see 
 that a tribute was impossible ; and be content with the 
 national benefit resulting from having an increasing and 
 thriving body of customers for English productions, for 
 which the colonists were able to pay in produce desired 
 and prized by the people of England. But notwithstand- 
 ing all the advantages under which the attempt was 
 made, this chartered company failed in every way. It 
 failed first as a mercantile speculation ; it failed next as 
 an instrument for the planting of a colony ; and lastly, 
 it failed egregiously as a means of governing the rickety 
 thing they had called into life. After such an ex- 
 perience, may we not wonder when we see attempts 
 made to revive this exploded scheme, and descriptions 
 
 * Mr. Bancroft, when speaking of the extinct company, says, 
 " that the members were probably willing to escape from a concern 
 which promised no emolument, and threatened an unprofitable 
 strife."— Vol. i. p. 193. 
 
MARYLAND. 
 
 41 
 
 hazarded which assume the plan never to have been 
 before essayed? 
 
 But if this instance be not sufficient, we have yet 
 more to learn from the attempts made by our forefathers 
 in schemes and adventures for the planting of colonies. 
 
 Under the fostering care of the imperious Strafford, 
 taking its name from the proud and fierce Henrietta 
 Maria, the ruler of her hen-pecked husband, Charles I. 
 — by the active labours of a papist peer, the colony of 
 Maryland was founded, and in itself and its institutions 
 afforded an example of a happy, free, and tolerant com- 
 munity. Sir George Calvert, member for Yorkshire, and 
 s'^cretary of state, had been early charmed and excited 
 <he stories of American adventure. He longed to be 
 ^'.: ibunder of a state. His power, his wealth, his own 
 exertions were employed to plant a colony on the Avalon, 
 a river in that island of fish and fog — Newfoundland.* 
 He failed, but turned his attention to Virginia; but 
 Virginia hated Popery, and no sooner was Sir George 
 Calvert known to be within her territories, than he was 
 pestered and persecuted by demands to take anti-catholic 
 oaths, and thereby forced to leave this vineyard of the 
 saints — this chosen seat of Protestant purity. Virginia, 
 however, having experienced the tender mercies of 
 James I.'s obsequious judges, lost her charter, and with 
 it her rights to the enormous territories which that 
 charter conveyed. Charles conferred, from a portion of 
 
 ii 
 
 * There are persons who say that neither the fish nor the fog 
 are to be found in Newfoundland, though they abound around it. 
 This may be true — the climate is, nevertheless, bleak and miserable; 
 the soil wretchedly poor. 
 
42 
 
 MARYLAND. 
 
 W' 
 
 \ :• ii 
 
 i i; 
 
 the recovered domains, the site of a new state upon Sir 
 George Calvert, now created Lord Baltimore. Lord 
 Baltimore, dying soon after, bequeathed his estate in 
 America, and his wish to found a province, to his son. 
 Before his death, however, he was able, as it is said, to write 
 for that province, not yet even begun, a constitution, as a 
 guide for his son, and a rule of government for his future 
 dominions. By this charter, the power of self-govern- 
 ment was conferred on the colonists, and perfect liberty 
 of conscience was established, and — the colony flourished 
 from the first. The enthusiasm of the historian leads 
 him thus to describe this remarkable event in the history 
 of colonies — an event occurring in the reign of Charles I., 
 under the auspices of Strafford, and by the immediate 
 command of a Roman-catholic peer : — 
 
 " Calvert deserves to be ranked among the most wise 
 and benevolent law-givers of all ages. He was the first 
 in the history of the Christian world to seek for religious 
 security and peace, by the practice of justice, and not by 
 the exercise of power; to plan the establishment of 
 popular institutions, with the enjoyment of liberty of 
 conscience; to advance the career of civilization, by 
 recognising the rightful equality of all Christian sects. 
 The asylum of papists was the spot where, in a remote 
 comer of the world, on the banks of rivers which as yet 
 had hardly been explored, the mild forbearance of a 
 proprietary adopted religious freedom as the basis of the 
 state."* 
 
 " It is a singular fact, that the only proprietary 
 
 * Bancroft, vol. i. p. 244. 
 
MARYLAND. 
 
 43 
 
 charters productive of considerable emolument to their 
 owners, were those which conceded popular liberty. Sir 
 George CaJvert was a Roman-catholic; yet far from 
 guarding his territory against any but those of his per- 
 suasion, as he had taken from himself and his succes- 
 F"^rs all arbitrary power, by establishing the legislative 
 franchises of the people, so he took from them the 
 means of being intolerant in religion, by securing to all 
 present and future liege people of the English king, 
 without distinction of sect or party, free leave to trans- 
 port themselves and their families to Maryland. Chris- 
 tianity was by the charter made the law of the land, but 
 no preference was given to any sect, and equality in 
 religious rights, not less than in civil freedom, was 
 assured."* 
 
 The King renounced by the charter all power of super- 
 intendence, expressly covenanting that neither he, nor 
 his heirs, nor his successors, should set an imposition or 
 tax on the people of the colony. 
 
 The proprietary, as he was called, had certain powers 
 granted him which were never seriously exercised. The 
 advowson of all the churches was his ; so also was the 
 power to create manors and courts baron, and of esta- 
 blishing a sort of feudal aristocracy. But aristocracy 
 was a plant not destined then, or in our time, to flourish 
 in America. The brother of the second Lord Baltimore 
 led the first band of colonists. "No sufferings were 
 endured — no fears of want were excited ; the foundation 
 of the colony of Maryland was peacefully and happily 
 
 * Bancroft, vol. i. p. 242. 
 
44 
 
 NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 P 
 
 laid. Within six months it had advanced more than 
 Virginia had done in so many years." Lord Baltimore, 
 indoed, liberally aided his new subjects, and in two years 
 ei '^ ?nded for them upwards of forty thousand pounds. 
 EviTy thing prospered under the tolerant sway of the 
 papist lord; and, says the New England historian, 
 " Protestants were sheltered against Protestant intole- 
 rance."* The colony had a legislative assembly; the 
 second time it met, which was in 1638, it rejected the 
 code of laws made by the proprietary, asserted their own 
 right to make laws for themselves, and enacted a body 
 of laws. Of this code, however, no record remains, as 
 it was not ratified.f Shortly after, a regular system of 
 representation was adopted, the House of Burgesses was 
 separated from the Council, and the new colony advanced 
 cheerfully under the rules of its own government, till 
 English quarrels disturbed their peace, and for awhile 
 overturned their free system, and ousted the proprietary. 
 After a series of troubles, all arising from this cause, the 
 people of the colony took the matter into their own 
 hands, settled their own government, and in the year 
 1660, declared that the only lawful authority in the 
 colony were the Assembly and the King of England. 
 
 The colonies of New England exhibit in a yet stronger 
 light the eflfect of private interest, and of self-govern- 
 ment upon the happiness of a colony. The pilgrim 
 fathers, and all who laboured in the arduous task of 
 establishing a new community in the regions which they 
 
 • Bancroft, vol. i. p. 248. 
 t I have a shrewd suspicion that this code exhibited symptoms 
 of intolerance, and that Mr. Bancroft was glad not to find it. 
 
 » 
 
 • 
 
NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 45 
 
 selected for their new home, found a severe climate, 
 and a sterile soil, and fierce and hostile tribes of savages 
 to oppose them in all their efforts. Moreover, they 
 were poor, and they were cruelly intolerant. They, 
 nevertheless, were possessed of an unconquerable will; 
 for many years they had the inestimable benefit of 
 neylect on the part of government, to aid them, and, 
 spite of all opposition, they succeeded. On the very 
 spot where they established a colony, which was des- 
 tined, more remarkably than any of the other colonies 
 of the celebrated union to which they belong, to give 
 the new people of America a distinctive and peculiar cha- 
 racter, in this very region, the corporation of western 
 knights and gentlemen of which I spoke above, utterly 
 failed. " While English monopolists were wrangling 
 about their exclusive privileges, the first permanent 
 Colony of New England was established without the 
 knowledge of the corporation, and without the aid of 
 King James."* This permanent colony was that now 
 famous in story as the home of the Pilgrim Fathers. 
 Its history contains within itself the whole epitome of 
 the difficulties, the means of success, which attend on 
 the planting of every new community. The early 
 settlers had poverty to contend with ; they had also a 
 sterile soil, a severe, though healthy climate, opposing 
 proprietors, contending and contentious monopolists, a 
 meddling, though fortunately an inert and indiflferent 
 King, a savage and a civilized enemy — viz., the Indians 
 and the French. Besides these diffii^ulties, they had 
 
 Buncroft, vol. i, p. 274. 
 
 m 
 
46 
 
 N£W ENGLAND. 
 
 within themselves all the conceit, hate, cruelty, and igno- 
 rance, which so often attend those men who have borne 
 persecution for the sake of their religion ; yet, in spite 
 of all these things, they were enabled at length, after 
 singular toil, with great patience, and prudence too, and 
 by a mighty courage, to win their way against hard 
 fortune. They did this because they governed them- 
 selves, and for many years were so poor as to offer no 
 temptation to the government at home to notice them. 
 While left to themselves to live as they could, and 
 succeed as they might, they acquired not only the habits 
 of independence, but the habits of self-government. 
 They learned to be obedient to the determinations of the 
 majority, and to acknowledge the supremacy of the law. 
 They also, by bitter experience, learned to know the 
 proper limits of the majority's power. Learning those 
 limits, the majority ceased to trench upon the wishes of 
 the minority, in all cases not involving the general 
 weal. They, in their own persons, had vindicated the 
 sacred rights of conscience. But they had done so, 
 because they believed that they alone were in the right 
 — that they alone had been enlightened by the true 
 faith. Conceiving themselves to be thus particularly 
 blessed, and especially favoured, they desired to com- 
 municate their peculiar blessing, belief not being a 
 riches that becomes less by being shared, so they in- 
 sisted upon all who came within their dominion accept- 
 ing their word for the true gospel wisdom ; and when 
 they found stubborn people who did not put implicit 
 faith in these pretensions — people who were very like 
 themselves, and also conceived that they alone had the 
 
 k 
 
tn 
 
 NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 47 
 
 » 
 
 right insight into mysterious things — our worthy friends, 
 the liberty-seeking puritans, began to persecute, show- 
 ing that their resistance under persecution by no means 
 was accompanied by a hatred of persecution. They did 
 not blame the persecutors of themselves because they were 
 persecutors, but because they persecuted the truth, which 
 they, the persecuted, believed to reside in their own 
 persons alone. When they obtained the upper hand, 
 they therefore persecuted in their turn. But in time, 
 they learned that such conduct was folly, as well as 
 wickedness. Thus, by degrees, they affixed due limits 
 to power; and learning accurately what these limits 
 ought to be, they submitted themselves cheerfully to all 
 the decisions of the majority made within these limits, 
 which limits the majority, on the other hand, in con- 
 sequence of this same teaching of experience, learned 
 never to pass — never to wish to pass. This teaching 
 has given the New Englander his peculiar fitness for 
 self-government — a fitness which shows itself most 
 strikingly when he is called upon to brave the difficulties 
 of a new settlement, and which has consequently made 
 him the pioneer of the western wilds — the real founder 
 of the Prairie States. A new settlement of men from 
 New England, all brought together by chance, and with- 
 out any predetermined arrangement, at once, by a sort 
 of instinct, fall into order. Suppose a band of veteran 
 soldiers — men long accustomed to discipline, and to act 
 with one another — these men, after a day's march, halt, 
 pile their arms, and prepare to encamp for the night ; 
 one is here cutting wood, another is there bringing 
 watei* from the stream, some are making a fii'e, and pre- 
 
 il\ 
 
 i|.! 
 
 \^n 
 
 *>(] 
 
 m 
 
48 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 paring their evening meal, and some are arranging 
 their lodgings for the night; — on a sudden, while they 
 are thus engaged, separated and all (not in disorder) 
 but without order, an alarm is given, the enemy is 
 near. Watch these men, and count the minutes it takes 
 them to be in line, each one occupying his proper posi- 
 tion. All as if by magic is now order ; the officer com- 
 mands, the force is in array, and the great military 
 instrument, a body of men drilled to act in concert, and 
 in obedience to a law, is there in a moment to be seen, 
 a beautiful, compact, and regular mass, formed at once 
 out of elements apparently confused and heterogeneous. 
 Such is an accurate illustration of a new settlement by 
 new England men, and of old Englandmen also, for they 
 have the same habit of obedience in the right place, and 
 capacity for command, when to command is necessary. 
 This inestimable quality is possessed by no people in 
 the same degree ; a Frenchman, for example, has it not. 
 With him, all government is force. When in command, 
 he transgresses the limits which every majority ought to 
 set to its own power ; and when he is to obey, and thinks 
 himself oppressed, he fights. The consequence is, and 
 the evil thereof is a misfortune for mankind, the French 
 nation has not yet acquired the faculty of self-command. 
 That faculty can only be acquired by experience, and 
 that experience is a slow and dangerous process when 
 the learners are a powerful, energetic, and in other 
 things, an intelligent nation. 
 
 The Charter of Massachusetts was granted by 
 Charles I. in 1629, and constituted, as a body politic, 
 the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay. 
 
 .: 
 
MASSACUUSETTS. 
 
 49 
 
 The administration of its affairs was intrusted to the 
 governor, deputy-governor, and eighteen assistants, who 
 were to be ebcted annually by the stockholders of the 
 corporation. Of the stockholders, there were four quar- 
 terly meetings in the year, in which laws were passed, 
 and supervision exercised; but the affairs were under 
 the immediate direction of the governor and assistants. 
 The laws of the Company needed not the king's approval, 
 because they were looked upon as the bye-laws of an 
 ordinary corporation ; and as this corporation was 
 created for the purpose of planting a colony, the laws 
 which it made respecting that colony, and the regulation 
 of its affairs, were bye-laws of the Company made in 
 pursuance of the end for which the corporation was 
 chartered, and such bye-laws were therefore within the 
 purview of the corporate powers. By a general clause 
 of the charter, (which, however, was not necessary, 
 because the effect of the clause is a rule of common law,) 
 the Company was forbid to " make laws repugnant to 
 the laws and statutes of the realm," — a sort of vague 
 rule which answers little purpose, creating doubt, in- 
 deed, but in no way guiding the Company, or the 
 Courts of Law, who might have to decide whether the 
 Company had transgressed the law. The observations 
 of Mr. Bancroft on this charter are pertinent to my 
 present purpose. He says — 
 
 " The political condition of the colonists was not deemed 
 by Charles a subject worthy of his consideration. Full 
 legislative and executive authority was conferred not on 
 the emigrants, but on the company, so long as the charter 
 of the corporation remained in England. The associates 
 
 m 
 
 n 
 
 ;4| 
 
60 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 
 
 in London were to establish ordinances, to settle forms 
 of government, to name all necessary officers, to prescribe 
 their duties, and to establish a criminal code. 
 Massachusetts was not erected into a province] to bo 
 governed by laws of its own enactment : it was reserved 
 for the corporation to decide what degree of civil rights 
 its colonists should enjoy. The charter on which the 
 freemen of Massachusetts succeeded in erecting a system 
 of independent representative liberty, did not secure to 
 them a single privilege of self-government, but left them 
 as the Virginians had been left, without one valuable 
 franchise, at the mercy of a corporation within the 
 realm. This was so evident, that some of those who 
 had already emigrated, clamoured that they were become 
 slaves." * 
 
 The charter contained no provision for the residence 
 of the rulers of the company. It was supposed that they 
 would remain in England, and hold their courts there ; 
 but there was no direct provision by which they were 
 compelled to do so. " What if the governor, deputy, 
 assistants, and freemen should themselves emigrate, and 
 thus beat down the distinction between the colony and 
 the corporation ? The history of Massachusetts is the 
 counterpart to that of Virginia ; the latter obtained its 
 greatest liberty by the abrogation of the charter of its 
 company ; the former by a transfer of its charter, and a 
 daring construction of its powers by the successors of the 
 original patentees." f 
 
 * Bancroft, vol. i. p. 344. 
 t Idem, 345. 
 
 i 
 
MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 51 
 
 There is a touching scene described of the band of 
 emigrants leaving England, under the powers of this 
 charter, and taking their way to the desert lands of a 
 far-distant continent, in the hope of there finding peace, 
 and the power of worshipping God according to the mode 
 they believed correct. The love of their native land was 
 still fervent in their breasts. Homo — that home in 
 which these people had felt shar^ persecution— was still 
 the beloved home of their childhood and youth, and, to 
 many, of their manhood; for aged n-on '.vere quitting 
 their native land. Stern men — men of g: j,ve thr: ght — 
 and even ascetic, rigid, harsh feelings, melted ". u shed 
 tears when this land of their forefath^^rs sank dowr* 
 below the horizon; and then, in the age ny <^ their griet, 
 there was no indignant word of parting, but the mournful 
 and touching exclamation, " Farewell, dear England — 
 farewell !" It required a long course of folly, wickedness, 
 and much unreasoning tyranny, to eradicate this strong 
 affection, and in the place of an emotion so tender, to 
 plant a fierce and bitter hate. But our rulers have 
 succeeded once in accomplishing this feat — they seem 
 resolved to lose no opportuniiv aTorded for repeating it. 
 
 This emigration must have been a matter of re- 
 markable and general interest. Of this we have a 
 curious proof. The en: grants amounted altogether to 
 about three hundred souls ; and having left England in 
 search of religious freedom, and because they had been 
 persecuted, they no sooner lost sight of the shore than 
 they began to quarrel, and to persecute one another. A 
 division took place, and some returned home. These 
 persons published an account of their proceedings, which 
 
 £2 
 
 il^ii 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 I t.T 
 'I 
 
I '' 
 
 52 
 
 MASSACUUS£TTS. 
 
 ii'i 
 
 had been written by Higginson, the leader of the 
 emigrating band. This little work ran through three 
 editions in a few months.* 
 
 A scheme was now devised in England to transfer the 
 seat of the company from England to America, and an 
 agreement was entered into at Cambridge by certain men 
 of fortune and education, to emigrate, if the transfer of 
 the government could be legally made. The company 
 debated this point with great earnestness, and at length 
 determined that the government and the patent should 
 be transferred beyond the Atlantic, and settled in New 
 England.f By this means the company became a 
 colony, with power to govern itself; the inhabitants of 
 the colony were members of the company, and in that 
 capacity voted and acted ; — a lucky idea, and leading to 
 much good, but clearly an evasion of the law. Of the 
 persons who had thus resolved, when the time came for 
 acting upon it, many grew frightened. A man now cele- 
 brated in the history of Massachusetts had been chosen 
 governor in October. This was John Winthrop; and 
 by his courage and determination, the greater part of 
 
 i 
 
 * When afterwards Boston was founded, Massachusetts Bay was 
 thronged with vessels containing emigrants, because these first 
 were but pioneers, many people intending to follow. " The emi- 
 grants had from the first been watched with intense interest;" a 
 letter from New England was venerated " as a sacred script, or as 
 the writing of some holy prophet, and was carried many miles, 
 where divers came to hear it." — Bancroft, vol. i. p. 382. 
 
 t Mr. Bancroft quotes a resolution " to take advice of learned 
 counsel, whether the same may be legally done or no," on Sept. 29, 
 1629. I know not whether such advice ever was taken, but sure 
 I am that the proposal was illegal, though for the colony beneficial. 
 
MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 53 
 
 the emigrants were kept together, and induced to abide 
 by their first intention. When they were come to 
 Southampton, in order to embark, more again became 
 alarmed, and turned back; of these, some were officers 
 who had been chosen by the company. Their places had 
 to be filled up ; and a court of the company was held on 
 board the ship which took them out. Seventeen ships 
 were employed during the season, and took out, as was 
 computed, fifteen hundred souls. The first band who 
 carried out the charter, and who were headed by their 
 governor, Winthrop, amounted to eight hundred. These 
 were Puritans in religion and Independents in politics — 
 many of them " men of high endowments, large fortune, 
 and the best education : scholars well versed in all the 
 learning of the times, clergymen who ranked amongst 
 the most eloquent and pious of the realm." These men 
 thought it right to publish the reasons for their 
 emigration, and to " bid an afiectionate farewell to the 
 church of England, and the land of their nativity." 
 They arrived in America in June and July, and on their 
 arrival, found the emigrants who had preceded them 
 starving, and sufiering from disease. The miseries to 
 which all these new comers, as well as they who had been 
 some time on the land, appear to have been subjected, 
 was most trying, and to us, at this day, can hardly be 
 accounted for, excepting by the fact that they were persons 
 wholly unfit for the task of commencing a settlement. 
 Many of them had always been accustomed to the 
 comforts of a civilized life, and were not able to work 
 with their hands, or to brave the vicissitudes of heat and 
 cold to which the climate of Massachusetts is subject. 
 
 I' Ti 
 
i 
 
 54 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Two hundred died before December; and from the 
 descriptions given of death-beds and pious ejaculations, 
 and exhibitions of faith, &c., from which fanatics of this 
 class are accustomed to derive much of the only excite- 
 ment in which they are permitted to indulge, and in 
 which, consequently, they passionately delight, it is more 
 than probable that much of the sickness and mortality 
 ■which occurred was owing to the melancholy and 
 despondency which had been occasioned by leaving 
 England. The notion of duty which had induced them 
 to desert their homes, could not protect them from the 
 sadness and dejection which was the natural result of 
 obeying a sudden impulse of this description. 
 
 This body of settlers founded the city of Boston, and 
 set themselves to the task of legislating for the rising 
 colony. The story of the persecuting laws which they 
 enacted, and the persecutions of which they were guilty, 
 has been often told, and need not be here repeated. The 
 results of their various struggles, as exhibited in the 
 political institutions which they at last obtained, is all 
 that I desire to describe ; and this may be briefly done. 
 The colonists very soon found that their plan for trans- 
 planting their charter did not relieve them from diffi- 
 culties connected with their government. They who 
 formed the coiipany, when they came to the settlement, 
 were not willing to divest themselves of exclusive power, 
 and share it with the whole body of settlers. These by 
 law had no title to any such privilege, and the actual 
 proprietors did not change either their nature or their 
 rights by emigrating to America. The people were dis- 
 appointed, and resisted the dominion of the stock-holders: 
 
MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 55 
 
 
 And as th'3 latter were comparatively few, and present on 
 the spot, they were the more open to the effects of persuasion 
 as well as force. In 1635, the people demanded a written 
 constitution, and a commission was appointed " to frame 
 a body of grounds of laws in resemblance to a Magna 
 Charta." The ministers of religion insisted that God's 
 people (which they declared themselves especially to be) 
 should be governed by the laws which God gave to 
 Moses. This suggestion was not adopted, but a dispute 
 commenced which continued for ten years; and one 
 thing deserves peculiar remark. These saints who left 
 England because of persecution, and who describe one 
 another in fulsome terms of mawkish praise, were no less 
 averse to parting with exclusive power than a company 
 who sought only the mammon of unrighteousness could 
 have proved. They did not at once, on landing, enact 
 a liberal constitution such as the papist and peer. Lord 
 Baltimore, had voluntarily drawn up and granted ; but they 
 carped, cavilled, quibbled, and held by what power they 
 had, and grasped at more. Some of the modes of attain- 
 ing their illiberal ends are more ludicrous than edifying. 
 A dispute had continued for years between the assistants 
 and the deputies. Both classes were elected by the 
 people. But the assistants were the " patricians," being, 
 in fact, the remains of the old company, and members of 
 the richer portion of the emigrants. The two bodies 
 acted together in convention ; but it appeared that the 
 assistants claimed to have, as a body, a negative on all 
 the proceedings. This would appear to mean that they 
 sat with the deputies, spoke and acted with them, and 
 then, when the majority had decided, they, the assistants, 
 
 m 
 
 ist 
 
 hm 
 
 
56 
 
 RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 i 
 
 ;i I 
 
 1 1 
 
 asserted that they had the right, sitting by themselves, 
 to re-consider and decide upon the resolution to which 
 the majority of the convention had arrived. A shorter, 
 simpler, and, indeed, more honest proposal, would have 
 been to sit in a separate chamber, and form a distinct and 
 separate body. The representatives resisted their pre- 
 tensions, " yet," says Mr. Bancroft, with a sort of grave 
 slyness, that rather smacks of the puritan school, " yet 
 the authority of the patricians was long maintained, 
 sometimes by wise delay, sometimes by a * judicious 
 sermon ;' * till at last a compromise divided the court 
 into two branches, and gave to each a negative on the 
 other." 
 
 A serious quarrel afterwards separated the emigrants, 
 and Poger Williams, in consequence, led away a certain 
 number to Bhode Island, and laid the foundations of a 
 new town and a new colony. He had declared openly 
 his opinion on the subject of religious freedom, and 
 stated that, in his belief, the excluding doctrines and 
 conduct of the saints of Massachusetts were erroneous 
 and wrong ; so they persecuted, imprisoned, and in the 
 end, banished him. Though the sentence of exile was 
 passed, he had asked and obtained permission to remain 
 at Salem, where he had hitherto been the minister, until 
 the spring should come, it being winter when the sen- 
 tence was pronounced against him. But his former 
 flocks were strongly attached to their pastor, and 
 
 * The inverted nmas over the yrords judicioits sermons are not 
 mine. They are in Mr. Bancroft's text, and the words, I suspect, are 
 taken from some grave reverend historian, whose name Mr. Ban- 
 croft has not in this particular instance given. 
 
 :i 
 
 'I 
 
 I 
 
RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 57 
 
 thronged his house to hear the last exhortations he was 
 permitted to afford, or they to hear from him in that 
 place. This enthusiasm created fear in the magistrates 
 of Massachusetts, who were aware of the iiitention of 
 Williams to proceed in the spring to Rhode Island, in 
 order there to lay the foundation of a new settlement. 
 This now appeared a dangerous project — dangerous to 
 Massachusetts; as so beloved a pastor might prove in 
 many ways a formidable rival. They therefore deter- 
 mined to seize and transport Williams to England : fear 
 or hesitation was not a weakness which these men ever 
 evinced ; they determined boldly, and as boldly acted. 
 Upon hearing this, Williams, who well knew the men 
 he had to deal with, left Salem secretly, and took refuge 
 with an Indian named Massasoit. The Sachem of the 
 same tribe, the Narragansetts, named Canonicus, after- 
 wards, with his son, Miantonomoh, gave him a large 
 tract of land in Rhode Island. Here, in the next June, 
 Williams, with five persons, landed ; and beside a spring, 
 near the spot, laid the foundations of Providence, " as 
 a shelter for persons distressed for conscience." The 
 liberty Williams preached, he granted to others. Even- 
 tually, Rhode Island received a charter from Charles II., 
 which was supposed to have been drawn by Clarendon. 
 Thai charter remained, long after Rhode Island became 
 independent, the constitution of the state.* 
 
 * By a singular fatality, they who in Europe acted as despots, 
 and the friends of despots, were among the chief friends of freedom 
 in America during her early days. They who had in Europe 
 struggled for freedom, and insisted upon their right to be free 
 mentally and physically, were the chief persecutors who figure in 
 early American annals. 
 
58 
 
 NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 <^>, 
 
 1 
 
 til; 
 
 lii 
 
 ^, 
 
 '1 
 
 f s 
 
 The increasing wealth and success of Massachusetts 
 attracted the attention of many in England of birth, 
 station, and large fortune. The severe proceedings of 
 Charles induced them to look abroad for a home. Vane 
 actually proceeded to Massachusetts, and lived there 
 many years, and was chosen governor of the state. But 
 not only was the attention of the noble and rich, as well 
 as poor, directed to Massachusetts — the King's, also, was 
 drawn towards the colony, as to a nest of Puritans ; and 
 he proceeded to root out, and, if possible, to destroy 
 it. A quo warranto was issued against Massachusetts in 
 Trinity term of 165§^ This charter, however, unlike 
 that of Virginia, found defenders — and stout defenders, 
 too — in the people of the colony ; simply because there 
 was really no English company now concerned in it ; 
 but the people and company were one. This result was 
 fortunate for all parties, and was happily arrived at, 
 after continued discussions and quarrels, before the royal 
 mind became interested concerning them or their insti- 
 tutions. Charles was, however, unable to pursue his 
 design against the offending colony, having his own 
 crown and life to defend against these puritans whom he 
 so bitterly hated, and had so deeply injured. 
 
 In the long interval which elapsed from this period to 
 the recall of Charles II., in 1660, a happy neglect at- 
 tended New England. In those years (really a quarter 
 of a century) they governed themselves — asking England 
 for nothing — receiving from her nothing, for which she 
 did not receive ample return. 
 
 Massachusetts was a favourite with Cromwell, and, while 
 he "ruled, met with the utmost indulgence. From 1640 
 
 , 
 
 ■ 'ii 
 
NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 59 
 
 to 1660, it approached very near to an independent 
 Commonwealth. The House of Commons, in a me- 
 morable resolution, on the 10th of March, 1642, passed 
 in favour of it, gives New England the title oi Kingdom. 
 The Commissioners for New England, sent over by 
 Charles II., assert in their narrative, that the colony 
 solicited Cromwell to be declared a free state — which is 
 not unlikely."* 
 
 The rapid increase of the inhabitants excited alarm 
 in the minds of the native tribes who surrounded the 
 plantations; and fierce conflicts had to be waged with 
 the Indian, who attempted to expel these ever-encroach- 
 ing invaders of his wilderness. The danger, which was 
 great for many years — the alarm, which was constant, 
 made the whole body of the people a hardy, brave, and 
 energetic race. The soil — as I have already remarked 
 — was so sterile, as to return but a niggard harvest to 
 the husbandman; who was forced, therefore, to severe 
 and unceasing toil, in order to win from it even a scant 
 subsistence. But the sea was more beneficent: the 
 fisherman found in the bays and rivers of the country a 
 means of obtaining subsistence and wealth. This led 
 the people to become fishermen and sailors; and the 
 ships of New England were soon seen in every sea ; and 
 her hardy seamen, as whalers, in the language of Burke, 
 soon pursued their gigantic game from the Equator to 
 the Poles. Up to the time of our Revolution, in 1688, 
 the reigning feeling in NewEngland was that they were, 
 in fact, an independent people. To the King of England 
 
 ^1 
 
 m\ 
 
 '■I 
 
 * Gordon, History of America, vol. i. p. 32. 
 
 
60 
 
 NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 i ii > 
 
 they faintly acknowledged themselves to owe some sort 
 of allegiance — what sort, and to what extent, was difficult 
 to be ascertained. Under this notion of independence 
 they acted, pursuing their own interests as to them 
 seemed fit, and establishing with every customer and 
 country that offiired, such traffic as their capabilities 
 permitted. They consequently rapidly improved in 
 substance. Increasing wealth brought with it softened 
 feelings and gentler habits. The good and sterling 
 portion of the Puritan remained, and produced its 
 admirable fruits in the energy and virtue of the people ; 
 while all the sterner and cruel characteristics of their 
 class were, by constant collision with their neighbours 
 and the world, so checked and subdued as to seem 
 almost effiiced, leaving traces only of a certain gravity of 
 deportment, and harmless asceticism in their religious 
 observances, which, to this hour, belong to, and dis- 
 tinguish, this singular people. They form, by far, the 
 most remarkable portion of the American people, and 
 have given to the character of the whole nation those 
 traits, whether attractive or the reverse, which dis- 
 tinguish them as a people from the re t of mankind. If 
 by some unfortunate combination of circumstances the 
 colonists of New England could have been with- 
 drawn from America, and directed elsewhere ; and if, in 
 consequence, New England had never arisen, and taken 
 her place in the great federation of America, we should 
 not, at this moment, behold the wonderful spectacle 
 which that vast continent now exhibits. People, and 
 provinces, and wealth, there would undoubtedly have 
 been, but not the people we now see — not that busy. 
 
CAROLINA. 
 
 61 
 
 hardy, adventurous, shrewd, and enlightened race, whose 
 swarms are spreading from the Atlantic Ocean to the 
 Pacific — who will push up to the Pole, and down to 
 the Equator. Without New England, and New 
 Englanders, the Americans might, and probably would, 
 have proved a more winning and attractive people than 
 they now are, but they would not have proved themselves 
 that great people we now behold. 
 
 Rapacity was not, however, easily satisfied. The 
 courtiers of Charles II. believed, as their fathers had 
 done, that great store of wealth might be obtained in 
 the regions of America ; and the most powerful nobles 
 of the court of Charles united to plant a colony, to 
 which they gave the name of their royal master. Such 
 were the auspices under which Carolina became a 
 colony. Lord Clarendon, Monk, from a republican 
 general become Duke of Albemarle, Lord Craven, 
 Ashley Cooper Lord Shaftesbury, (he and Monk must 
 have looked significantly at each other sitting at 
 the same council table,) Sir John Colleton, Lord John 
 Berkeley, Sir William Berkeley, and Sir George Carteret, 
 were, by royal charter, constituted the proprietors, and 
 immediate sovereigns of the province, extending from 
 the thirty-sixth degree of north latitude to the river 
 San Matheo. Their rule was nearly absolute under the 
 charter which they had obtained from the dissolute and 
 reckless Charles, under the pretence " of a pious zeal for 
 the propagation of the Gospel." In 1665, another 
 charter was obtained from the crown by Clarendon, 
 which charter gave him and his associates all the ter- 
 ritories from the Atlantic to the Pacific, lying between 
 
 
 fV 1 
 
 f ; I 
 
es 
 
 CABOLINA. 
 
 'I ! 
 
 twenty-nine degrees and thirty-six degrees thirty 
 minutes of north latitude. This extravagant gift in- 
 cluded what are now the States " of North and South 
 Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, 
 Louisiana, Arkansas, much of Florida and Missouri, 
 nearly all Texas, and a large portion of Mexico."* For 
 this territory Locke was asked by Shaftesbury to frame 
 a constitution. The proprietors had received with the 
 land ample powers from the Crown. 
 
 " An express clause in the charter for Carolina opened 
 the way for religious freedom ; another held out to the 
 proprietaries a hope of revenue from colonial customs, to 
 be imposed in colonial ports by Carolina legislatures; 
 another gave them the power of erecting cities and 
 manors, counties and baronies, and of establishing orders 
 of nobility with other than English titles. It was 
 evident that the founding an empire was contemplated ; 
 for the power to levy troops, to erect fortifications, to 
 make war by sea and land on their enemies, and to 
 exercise martial law in cases of necessity, was not with- 
 held.f Every favour was extended to the proprietaries ; 
 nothing was neglected but the interests of the English 
 Sovereign, and the rights of the colonists."}: But these 
 great powers availed nothing. Colonists had already 
 come from Virginia and Massachuserts, men determined 
 to govern themselves after their own fashion. They 
 
 * Bancroft, vol. ii. p. 138. , 
 
 t The Crown had clearly no power, legally, to make such a 
 grant. Clarendon deserved to be impeached for having put the 
 great seal to so flagrant a violation of the law. 
 I Bancroft, vol. ii. p. 138. 
 
PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 63 
 
 rejected the complicated scheme of Locke — they resisted 
 the proprietary. They quarrelled with every governor 
 that was sent ; and, in 1G88, their parliament formally 
 deposed Colleton, the brother of the proprietary Sir 
 John Colleton, and who had been created Landgrave, a 
 title in Locke's scheme, and sent out as governor over 
 these refractory colonists. Having deposed, they banished 
 him the province. From this period to the revolution, 
 strife continued between the people and the proprietary. 
 The latter were a clog, and did nothing but mischief. 
 The colonists did everything for themselves, and would 
 have been able to do more, had they not been crossed, 
 vexed, harassed, and plundered by the proprietary. 
 With the revolution the proprietary necessarily ended in 
 name, as they had long ceased to rule in reality. They 
 had failed in every endeavour from the commencement. 
 The history of Penn's doings is not so disastrous ; simply, 
 because he was compelled to follow the rule which he at 
 the outset laid down for his own conduct : "Whatever 
 sober and free men can reasonably desire for the security 
 and improvement of their own, I shall heartily comply 
 with." He found within the territories granted to him 
 by Charles, many settlements already made ; and he had 
 the good sense to see that if he expected any kind or 
 degree of profit, he must allow the people to govern 
 themselves, and watch over and advance their own in- 
 terests. He made and published a frame of government, 
 but he left to the people the power to decide whether 
 they would adopt it. " I purpose," he said, " for the 
 matter of liberty — that which is extraordinary — to leave 
 myself and successors no power of doing mischief; that 
 
 t 
 
 -'I m 
 
 ill 
 
 -HI 
 
 li 
 
 
64 
 
 P£NNSYLVANIA. 
 
 f i 
 
 the will of one man may not hinder the good of the 
 whole country." This was in reality the great benefit 
 he rendered this new people — he stood between them and 
 meddling — they throve because left alone, and he re- 
 ceiyed advantage because he left them alone. Yet his 
 rule was not borne without complaint, and his rights, 
 like those of all the proprietary governments, came to 
 an end. Having founded his colony and city, he sailed 
 for England — and what says his admiring historian, 
 " His departure was happy for the colony and for his 
 own tranquillity. He had established a democracy, and 
 was himself a feudal sovereign. The two elements in 
 the government were incompatible; and, for ninety 
 years, the civil history of Pennsylvania is but the 
 account of the jarring of these opposing interests, to 
 which there could be no happy issue but in popular 
 independence."* 
 
 The colour given by Mr. Bancroft to all these pro- 
 ceedings of Penn is far more favourable to the Quaker 
 legislator than that given by other historians. I own 
 for myself I have no faith in any great pretensions made 
 to sanctity and peculiar virtue. That Penn was a time- 
 server and a hypocrite, I have no doubt, and that he was 
 avaricious, is plain, from all his doings in America. He 
 pestered the Duke of York into giving him large grants 
 of territory in that country. It was for the interest of 
 James to make and keep friends with this dissenter, and 
 Penn wanted not the sagacity to understand the full 
 value of his position. He aflforded James the advantage 
 
 * Bancroft, vol. iii. p. 395. 
 
PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 05 
 
 of his countenance, which to a Papist was in those days 
 valuable : but he required full payment for this service 
 so rendered. 
 
 " Mr. Penn," says Gordon, " desirous of carrying his 
 region southward to the Chesapeake, was continually 
 soliciting the Duke of York for a grant of the Delaware 
 colony. The prince, at length wearied out, conveye<l in 
 August the town of Newcastle, with a territory of twelve 
 miles round, as also that tract of land extending 
 southward from it upon the Delaware to Cape Henlopen. 
 It was known to both parties that the title of what was 
 now granted was extremely exceptionable, as the Duke 
 could transfer no other right than mere occupancy in 
 opposition to the legal claim of Lord Baltimore. Penn, 
 however, who was intent on his own interests in these 
 parts, immediately assumed the powers of jurisdiction."* 
 
 His life in America is, by romancing history, made a 
 series of touching events, evincing what in the regular 
 language employed on these occasions, is called a beautiful 
 benevolence. Yet, in 1684, what did happen? The 
 moment he returned home and left his colony, the people 
 rose against him and his dominion. 
 
 " He departed for England. The most violent dissen- 
 sions followed almost instantly upon it, the provincial 
 council and the assembly contending eagerly with regard 
 to their mutual privileges and powers." f 
 
 When the revolution of 1688 came, Penn was in 
 danger. William did not like the Quaker friend of his 
 
 'W 
 
 W f M 
 
 • Gordon, History of American Revolution, vol. i. p. 84. 
 t Ibid. p. 86. 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 -? 
 
 !■ 
 
 father-in-law. But, nevertheless, Penn obtained the 
 restitution of his colony, which for the moment had been 
 withdrawn from him, and returned to Pensylvania. He 
 met the representative assemblies, promising much. They 
 disbelieved and distrusted him, and required further 
 securities. " He gave," says Gordon, " evasive answers," 
 but oflered to leave the nomination of the deputy -governor 
 to themselves. They declined it, and went Upon a new 
 charter of privileges." In consequence of this, Penn, 
 after resisting as long as he was able, granted a second 
 charter; and what approbation his conduct, as respects 
 this so granted charter, was supposed to deserve, the 
 people of the province shall declare for themselves. The 
 practical conclusion from all such dissension is, that no 
 subject ought to be intrusted with any of the powers of 
 government. 
 
 " Notwithstanding that Mr. Penn is celebrated as the 
 wisest of legislators, the assembly, about the year 1704, 
 unanimously came to nine resolutions, in which they 
 complain with great grief of hira, ' for undermining his 
 own foundations, and by a subtle contrivance laid deeper 
 than the capacities of some could fathom, finding a way 
 to lay aside the Act of Settlement, and dissolve his second 
 charter.' He was likewise charged with having extorted 
 from the province great sums of money. They complained 
 also of the abuses of surveyors, the clerks of the courts, 
 and justices of the peace, who, they said, were all put in 
 by the proprietary, so that he became his own judge in 
 his own cause. These and other matters were the heads 
 of a representation, or rather remonstrance, drawn up 
 and sent to Mr. Penn, then in England, in which he is 
 
J> 
 
 Igein 
 heads 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 67 
 
 represented as an oppressor, and as falsifying his word, 
 in almost every respect, with the provincials."* 
 
 In this dispute there seemed to be w.ong on both sides, 
 but the practical result for my purpose is the same. 
 
 While Penn was doing the least mischief, and most 
 good, that a proprietary ruler could effect, James, Duke 
 of York, his friend and patron, carried confusion, and 
 distress, and trouble into every colony he could possibly 
 meddle with. With hiji and his grasping avarice, and 
 cruel bigotry, my purpose does not lead me to deal. 
 The vices and errors which he evinced we need not fear : 
 from the experience of liis failures, therefore, we cannot 
 derive any instruction. Direct, open, barefaced tyranny, 
 like his, will not be in our times attempted. The danger 
 which besets us takes the shape of mischievous meddling 
 — a pretended beneficence, but real mischief — a pursuit 
 of gain under the guise of philanthropy and patriotism. 
 Colonizing and other societies, pretending pious and 
 charitable aims, and extraordinary sympathy with 
 suffering humanity — this is the shape the evil genius of 
 colonization assumes in our days, and is unfortunately 
 but too successful in duping the ignorant and unwary. 
 The scheme is usually carefully devised, and artfully 
 conducted. The projector of some such scheme, while 
 enunciating to all the separate instruments he intends 
 eventually to employ, the peculiar benefit each is to 
 derive from his proposal, invariably begins with the 
 capitalist who must set them all in motion, and whispers 
 in his ear, that this admirable project is sure to be a 
 
 * Gordon, History of American Revolution, vol. i. p. 91. 
 
 f2 
 
 ii 
 
68 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 1 
 
 i • I 
 
 safe and profitable mode of investment for his unem- 
 ployed thousands. The wily projector then proceeds to 
 whiten his nose by pouring into the enchanted ear of 
 some amiably ambitious prelate winning descriptions of 
 rising churches, and multiplied parishes, and troops of 
 ordained clergymen, and young hierophants seeking 
 ordination. From the lordly diocesan he next turns to 
 Sir Thomas Leatherbreeches, the squire, and explains 
 how, by selected couples taken from his troublesome 
 parish, he can keep down the powers of increase, and 
 check alike population and the rates. To the gentlemen 
 of small fortune and a large family he is touchingly 
 eloquent on the subject of the uneasy classet;. In the 
 fairy lands which lie so far away, young would-be hus- 
 bands line the shores, and breathe soft sighs to the 
 advancing bark which brings them wives, and perhaps 
 a cargo of assorted goods. The girls whom he sees 
 fading and cheerless, and wan and miserable, he fills 
 with ecstasy, by vivid pictures of this new paradise for 
 marriageable maidens; while the youths of the house 
 are lured by histories of solid fortunes made with " ease 
 and alternate labour," by gay scenes of exciting sport, 
 diversified and relieved by just so much of highly 
 profitable business as is needed to make a man happy 
 and rich. To the unemployed engineer he talks of sur- 
 veys without end, and canals, and bridges, and railroads, 
 and mines. The over-stocked profession of the law, in 
 both its branches, is not safe from the witchery of his 
 delusions: judges are needed in new colonies, and every 
 young barrister soon rises to wealth and power. And 
 disease will come into fairy-land, but only just enough 
 
PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 69 
 
 iw, m 
 
 If his 
 
 jevery 
 
 And 
 
 lOUgh 
 
 to make it the happy home of the young doctor and his 
 too teeming wife. The clever artisan is quickly made 
 to understand that these are the very circumstances 
 which confer importance and dignity on the man of real 
 knowledge. In these happy lands men take their rank 
 by their usefulness and true science ; and who possesses 
 that in a degree to compete with the skilful artisan? 
 At last, the poor ignorant, hard-handed, ill-fed working 
 man is touched by tales of unceasing beer, and illimitable 
 cheese, and beef and mutton at discretion, and live 
 shillings a day, and a master hat in hand. This 
 series of enticements skilfully, and by the great con- 
 juror, is prepared to lay the ground for a scheme of 
 shares, in which premiums, and discounts, and fluc- 
 tuations, and fabulous wealth, and crowds rushing to 
 be shareholders, are all made to perform their part, and 
 the public are pleased, the projector succeeds — and all 
 the misery that follows — who knows it — who cares 
 about it ? The game has been played, and the miserable 
 dupes are disregarded and forgotten. 
 
 This game, fraught with severe disappointment to 
 thousands, and the cause of great sufiering and loss, as 
 well as disappointment, was several times enacted during 
 the colonization of America. Exactly the same lures 
 were held out as we have witnessed of late years, and 
 the very plans which were then tried and failed, are 
 again attempted. We have seen nothing like the great 
 Carolina scheme of Empire, with its caciques and land- 
 graves, and other orders of nobility ; but we have before 
 our eyes every day deceptive promises of great wealth 
 easily attained, pious professions, such as were pretended 
 
70 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 i ll 
 
 by the vicious courtiers of Charles II., and vain devices 
 for the relief of great distress. But we may be assured, 
 that under the most favourable circumstances, they who 
 plant a colony have much severe labour to undergo, great 
 privations and suffering to encounter. By labour and 
 patience, courage, prudence, and skill, a comfortable home, 
 and cheerful prospects, may be attained. In this there is 
 no romance ; but here we see the hard realities, from which 
 we cannot escape, by going to a new colony, no matter 
 how beautiful the climate, how fertile the soil, how wise 
 the government of that colony may be. That a great 
 difference results from the mode in which the colony is 
 managed is certain ; but the really important result 
 which ever recurs upon inquiry into the history of every 
 colony is, that from the management of the concerns of 
 the colony, the colony cannot be relieved ; and that all 
 who, under any pretence, pr j^^ose to do this for a colony, 
 mislead the j^ pie who go out as colonists, as well as 
 those who expend their money to send them there. A 
 joint-stock company which makes the attempt will fail, 
 and will do mischief; and so will all separate projectors 
 who seek to form a proprietary government. The 
 whole history of American colonization proves this 
 assertion, if we begin with Raleigh, and end with Ogle- 
 thorpe. The last of these was almost a man of our 
 days ; our grandfathers certainly might have seen him. 
 He was sincerely benevolent, and active, as well as well- 
 intentioned. He wished to make his good wishes effec- 
 tive, and, like all who had preceded him in the planting 
 of colonies, he failed, because he undertook to do for 
 the colonists what they could do best for themselves. 
 
GE0B6IA. 
 
 71 
 
 '1 M 
 
 Greorge II. granted a charter to certain persons, who 
 were constituted a corporation, and to them Georgia 
 WPM given for twenty-one years " in trust for the 
 poor." The date of this charter was June 9th, 1732. 
 By it, the country lying between the Savan .h and the 
 Alatamaha, and from the head springs of those rivers due 
 west to the Pacific, was erected into the Colony oi' 
 Georgia. This last of our royal charters granted within 
 the territories of the United States, was nearly as 
 wild in certain of its provisions, as the first which our 
 English King (Henry VII.) conferred respecting those 
 regions. Without the slightest reference to the claims 
 of other nations, two lines were drawn across the whole 
 continent of America, from points utterly uncertain, and 
 probably impossible of discovery or determination. This 
 is the mode from which we were destined never to depart. 
 Our blunders stuck by us to the last day of our dominion. 
 The whole powers of government were for twenty- 
 one years given to the trustees under the charter, and 
 to their assigns, and to such persons as they might 
 appoint.* They began by excluding papists. The 
 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
 Parts was exceedingly anxious to aid the colony, and 
 caused this intolerant rule to be adopted ; and parlia- 
 ment conferred on it at one time the sum of ten thousand 
 pounds, Oglethorpe gave himself to the colony, and 
 laboured in his benevolent scheme — which was, to take 
 out poor people, and establish them in a new and happy 
 home — with an activity and perseverance deserving of 
 
 :i • A 
 
 i tti 
 
 i 'i 
 
 W^H 
 
 * Bunci'uft, vol. iii. p. 419. 
 
Ill 
 
 72 
 
 GEORGIA. 
 
 our highest admiration. The Society for the Propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel invited over certain poor Moravians, 
 Protestants who had been persecuted in Germany, and 
 sent them to Georgia, where papists in turn were per- 
 secuted. The personal exertions of Oglethorpe were of 
 infinite service, for he was really interested in his work, 
 and devoted himself entirely to it ; but the trustees and 
 their legislative authority were only mischievous in as 
 far as the prosperity of the colony was concerned ; and 
 no trace remains of them in the legislation of Georgia. 
 Oglethorpe had no thought of gain ; he reserved nothing 
 for himself; he never looked to making a property, as 
 Penn and Lord Baltimore had done. He held the colony 
 in trust, and when he gave up that trust, he gave 
 up everything with it, not having one acre of land, and 
 having spent his own substance in assisting the colonists. 
 The trustees attempted three things, and in all they 
 failed : two of these were mischievous ; one a great good. 
 In the evil and the good they failed alike. They desired 
 to introduce a feudal tenure for the holding of land: 
 the people resisted this proposal, and were successful in 
 their opposition. The trustees desired to exclude ardent 
 spirits from Georgia, and were so unwise as to prohibit 
 their existence in the province : smuggling throve, and 
 ardent spirits were drank in Georgia, in spite of all the 
 legislative provisions of the trustees. And lastly, they 
 desired to prevent the introduction of slavery ; the good 
 Moravians resisted temptation for a long time, and 
 obeyed the wishes of their masters by resisting slavery. 
 But the torrent was too powerful to be resisted. Slavery 
 was introduced, and now Georgia stands, in the anion. 
 
 ' 
 
GEORGIA. 
 
 73 
 
 pre-eminently a slave state. Thus we see that, for good 
 or for evil, they were alike impotent. But they were 
 not impotent for evil in another sense. They retarded 
 the political education of the colonists ; and they created 
 dissensions, by attempting to exercise arbitrary power. 
 This government of Georgia was among certainly the least 
 mischievous forms of a proprietary, because its power was 
 limited to so short a period ; and, fortunately, a more 
 virtuous creature never existed than Oglethorpe. He 
 would, however, have led a happier life, and would have 
 proved a more successful colonizer, had he made his 
 colonists take care of themselves, in place of forcing 
 them to receive him as their lawgiver. 
 
 From Gordon we learn that the Bank of England 
 aided this colony, and that parliament gave money to it 
 three several times ; so that, besides private benevolence, 
 the nation paid through parliament, for this colony, 
 £56,000 ; which large sum was exclusive of what it 
 received from the Bank of England, and other private 
 sources of benevolence. The remarks of Gordon, when 
 summing up his account of the formation of the several 
 colonies, deserve consideration : — 
 
 " On the review of what you have read, you will note 
 that the colonists were very t^rly in declaring that they 
 ought not to be taxed, but by their own general courts ; 
 and that they considered subjection to the acts of a par- 
 liament in which they had no representatives from them- 
 selves as a hardship; that, like true-born Englishmen, 
 when grievously oppressed by governors or others, they 
 resisted, deposed, and banished ; and would not be 
 quieted, till grievances complained of Avere redressed; 
 
 
 ' }i-i 
 
74 
 
 GEORGIA. 
 
 
 II 
 
 and that not a colony^ Georgia excepted, was settled at 
 the expense of government. Towards the settlement of 
 the last, parliament granted £56,000 at three different 
 periods."* 
 
 From this history, it is plain that the government 
 could take no credit for any aid rendered, except in the 
 case of Georgia : it meddled, however, at different times, 
 with all of these colonies, and always mischievously. The 
 inherent vigour of the people, however, and the spirit of 
 independence, then strong among them, enabled them to 
 overcome the difl&culties of nature, and to withstand the 
 evil influence of the government. The time at length 
 arrived when there was no alternative between submit- 
 ting to the constant supervision and unjust exactions of 
 the English government, and resisting and throwing off 
 its authority. I'he colonies took the great but dan- 
 gerous resolution, and rebelled. Fortunately for them- 
 selves — fortunately for mankind — the government blun- 
 dered as grossly when dealing with rebels, as when they 
 sought to govern obedient subjects. The colonists 
 achieved their independence, and in their turn afforded 
 an example of a colonizing and mother country. To 
 that example let us next apply ourselves. 
 
 * Gordon, History of American Revolution, vol. i. p. 95. 
 
n 
 
 75 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 AMERICAN COLONIES — GENERAL DESCRIPTION — COMPARISON 
 — BOUNDARIES OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1783 — 
 BOUNDARIES IN 1849 — AMERICAN SYSTEM — SOME RE- 
 SULTS — POWER OF CONGRESS AS TO WASTE LANDS — 
 TERRITORIES — STATES — AN ORDINANCE QUOTED — 
 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 TTAVING thus rapidly described the one scheme of 
 -'-'- colonization to which at the outset I alluded, I 
 now proceed to the exposition of the second scheme, from 
 which I wish to derive instruction. 
 
 This second scheme of colonization is that which the 
 United States have adopted and acted upon, since they 
 became an independent and sovereign people. The 
 colonies which they have planted are the new states, 
 which, since 1783, have been added to the union, and 
 the territories which are now in progress towards that 
 position. 
 
 These new states, though while in the condition of 
 colonies (which they are while they continue Terri- 
 tories) they look to the United States as their metro- 
 polis, yet receive, as did the colonies, while subject to 
 our sway, emigrants from other nations. Tne leading 
 mind has, almost in every instance, been furnished by 
 the New England States, the greater part, perhaps, of 
 the population, by the British Isles. 
 
 1,1 
 
 ^i 
 
76 
 
 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF 
 
 The constitution of the United States contemplates 
 distinctly, and provides for the colonization of the im- 
 mense unpeopled wistes which belong to the nation 
 called the United St..tes; and contemplates not only the 
 colonization of these wild regions, but also the change 
 of the communities so formed, from the condition of 
 colonies into that of sovereign states, and the reception 
 of them into the great Federal Union, when they become 
 integral portions of the great Empire, known to foreign 
 powers as the United States of America. 
 
 So soon as the United States became in fact in- 
 dependent, and were so acknowledged by England in the 
 year 1783, two great questions arose, which are inti- 
 mately connected with our present subject. The one 
 was, what were the boundaries of the several states ? and 
 the second, those having been determined, what was to 
 be done with the immense territory which lay beyond 
 the boundaries of the several states — territories which 
 belonged to no one of them, but was the property of* the 
 political entity styled the United States.* 
 
 1^ 
 
 i; 
 
 i! 
 
 GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND COMPARISON. 
 
 The result of the determinations of the statesmen of 
 tlie United States, and the comparison of that result 
 with that brought about by the doings of English states- 
 
 • I am not required on the present occasion to enter into any 
 description of the disputes which arose among the separate States 
 on the subject of these wild lands, nor of the intricate questions to 
 which the complication of state interests gave rise. Those disputes 
 are hardly yet arranged, and constitute a part, and no inconsider- 
 able or insignificant part, of the difficulties which lay in the way of 
 congress, when forming their colonial systems — a difficulty which 
 England has escaped hitherto. 
 
AMERICAN COLONIES. 
 
 77 
 
 men on the same continent, with respect precisely to the 
 same matters, and within precisely the same period, 
 constitute one of the most instructive, though to us the 
 most humiliating parallels which our annals afford. If 
 such another could be discovered, we might indeed 
 tremble for the future destiny of England.* 
 
 A line drawn across the continent, from the Atlantic 
 on the one side to the Pacific on the other — a line which 
 for a large portion of ^he whole distance, takes the 
 course of the great waters which form the chain of 
 the great lakes, divides the whole of what may be 
 termed North America into two parts ; one of which — 
 viz., the pertion of the continent lying south of this 
 line, belongs to the United States ; while the other — viz., 
 that lying to the north, is the property of England. 
 The first or southern portion is certainly, in almost 
 every particular, superior to the northern portion of 
 this vast continent. The great advantages derived from 
 this superiority of climate, soil, and means of communi- 
 cation, have undoubtedly much aided the American 
 statesmen, and in no small degree contributed to the 
 success which they have obtained in this mighty strife. 
 Making, however, every allowance for the advantage 
 conferred by the natural superiority of the territory 
 itself, still there is much to be accounted for, which can 
 only have resulted from the difference of the system 
 adopted on the two sides of this long boundary line. 
 
 * I am not now speaking of what England achieved before 1783, 
 butsince. — Leaving the consideration of our old colonies, as colonies, 
 I now proceed to speak of British North America, as at present 
 existing, and of our doings there since 1783, by way of contrast to 
 the American colonies formed since the same year. 
 
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 WIBSTH,N.Y. MSIO 
 
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 78 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF 
 
 The northern shores of the great internal waters which 
 find their outlet to the sea by means of the magnificent 
 St. Lawrence, are for the most part equal to the southern 
 shores of the same waters. The natural capabilities — 
 the mineral wealth, for example — of the English terri- 
 tory have been as yet but imperfectly inquired into. 
 Our rulers have been at no pains to learn what could be 
 accomplished in those vast regions, yet wild and without 
 inhabitants; so that no plan for the future settlement 
 could be formed, and has indeed never been thought of, 
 except, I believe, in one instance, which will hereafter 
 be related. Still, we know thus much. The land is 
 fertile, — is capable of maintaining an enormous popula- 
 tion, — and fit to be the comfortable and happy home of 
 many millions. It is nevertheless still, for the greater 
 part, a howling wilderness. Since the year 1783, no 
 new state or province has been formed. Canada, Nova 
 Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward's Island, lie 
 north of the boundary. They existed in 1783. Since 
 that year, the population has slowly increased; so 
 slowly, indeed, that at this moment we have not two 
 millions of people in the whole of the provinces which 
 constitute what is called British North America.* 
 
 * I have lying before me an account of the population of all 
 British North America in 1833. It is as follows: 
 
 Lower Canada 626,429 
 
 Upper Canada 322,005 
 
 "Nova Scotia 154,400 
 
 New Brunswick 101,830 
 
 Cape Briton 31,800 
 
 Prince Edward's Island 32.676 
 
 Newfoundland 77,551 
 
 Total .... 1,346,691 
 
AMERICAN COLONIES. 
 
 79 
 
 ' 
 
 Hudson's Bay is still a mere hunting ground ; and no 
 scheme of colonization in North America has ever yet 
 been entertained by English statesmen, beyond the 
 sending out a few thousand settlers, and placing them 
 within a few miles of existing settlements. Canada has 
 been divided and reunited, and for aught any one 
 knows, may be again divided. For in our colonial 
 legislation, "chance governs all." But no system exists 
 which contemplates extension ; no new communities or 
 provinces have been created. The population, though 
 thousands have gone out every year, has not increased 
 at a rate much beyond what the natural rate of increase 
 would have reached : and this strange, torpid, wretched 
 condition of things exists actually in sight of another, 
 which I will thus in a few words describe. 
 
 When the United States became independent, in 
 1783, the territories of Great Britain bounded them on 
 the north ; the Mississippi was their western boundary ; 
 and on the south, Florida hemmed them completely in. 
 The Atlantic ran along their whole eastern frontier. 
 Within this square, the whole of the United States' ter- 
 ritories were then confined.* Their present boundaries 
 are very different. Their northern, which is our southern 
 boundary, runs now from the Atlantic, commencing at 
 the south-eastern point of Nova Scotia, to the Pacific 
 Ocean, where Cape Flattery forms the north-western 
 point. The western boundary commences where the 
 
 * See the treaty of 1783, of peace with America, and that of 
 1763, of peace with France, for these boundaries. The free navi- 
 gation of the Mississippi was, by the treaty of 1783, assured both 
 to England and the United States for ever. 
 
BOUNDARIES OF 
 
 ■>:9 t 
 
 I 
 
 northern ends on the Pacific, at cape Flattery, and runs 
 down along the whole coast, till it reaches the extreme 
 southern point of New California. Starting from this 
 point, the southern boundary runs towards the east 
 across the continent, dividing the United States from 
 Mexico, until the line reaches the Gulf of Mexico; it 
 then runs along the whole coast of that gulf eastward, 
 till it reaches the south-eastern point of Florida. And 
 lastly, the eastern boundary, commencing where the 
 southern ends, at the south-eastern point of Florida, 
 runs northward along the whole Atlantic coast, till it 
 reaches the south-eastern point of Nova Scotia, from 
 which we originally started. Thus making, as before, 
 a square, but one of dimensions enormously increased. 
 These are the vast acquisitions of territory made by the 
 United States since 1783. They are destined to ex- 
 tend still further.* These acquisitions have not been 
 made, however, in order that they may be contemplated 
 with an idle and complacent vanity by the citizens of 
 the United States when looking at a map. All that an 
 Englishman can do, when considering the possessions of 
 his country in America, is to run his finger across the 
 map, and say, " This is ours." If asked to what end it 
 is ours, he can only answer, " God knows ! What may 
 be done with it no one can tell ; all that we do really 
 
 * Of the manner of this acquisition I am not called upon by my 
 subject to say a word. My concern at present is with the remit : 
 which is, what I have above described. One great purpose of this 
 my present work, is the explanation of a scheme which will, if 
 adopted, prevent all further acquisition by the U.S. noirth of their 
 present boundary. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 81 
 
 know is, that nothing, or next to nothing, has been 
 done with it." Such, however, is not the sort of account 
 which an American can render of the conduct of American 
 statesmen. 
 
 He would say — " Look you, at our north-eastern 
 frontier — behold our citizens have multiplied, and step 
 by step have advanced till they have reached your 
 boundary. The states of Vermont and Maine are there 
 with their hardy and industrious population — a fine 
 race of intelligent farmers, who have proved that the 
 disadvantages of a cold climate and a soil by no means 
 fertile, may yet be overcome by industry and courage : — 
 and that a powerful and a happy community may be 
 formed under auspices far less favourable than those 
 which attend the Canadas, more especially Upper 
 Canada." Keeping his finger still in the northern 
 boundary, he '•omes to the St. Lawrence, and running 
 along that beautiful river, he shows you the whole shore 
 from the point at which the boundary line first strikes 
 the St. Lawrence, up to Lake Ontario, dotted with 
 thriving towns and villages. Carrying his finger still 
 onwards, still westward, he shows you the growing com- 
 munities along the lakes Ontario, Erie, Michigan, 
 Huron. He now spreads out his hand, and sweeping 
 it down to the south, he says as it passes over tiie map, 
 " this is the broad basin of the Mississippi, teeming now 
 with life — the busy hum of civilized men — look you, 
 here is Iowa, just made a state. Here is also Wisconsin, 
 a yet younger state. Here is Ohio, now the fourth, if 
 not indeed the third state of the Union ; which, wlien 
 Washington was a soldier in the English army, was a 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 BOUNDARIES OV 
 
 ii 
 
 wilderness, and the scene of a defeat of an English force, 
 by the French from Canada aided by a band of savages. 
 Now I come to Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, &c., more 
 states than I need now enumerate. Here, on the west 
 of the Mississippi, is the State of Missouri — on land 
 which did not belong to us, till years after we ceased 
 to be your subjects. Now come Alabama, Tenessee, 
 Louisiana, &c., and there away to the west is Texas — 
 and still away, away till you reach the great Pacific, you 
 must stretch your eyes of the body, and the mind's eye, 
 till you come to California, with its gold-bearing soil, 
 and its quicksilver mines. " These," he might say, 
 ** these are our colonies." 
 
 Without allowing you time to pause and take breath, 
 he says — " When you drove us into rebellion we hardly 
 amounted to three millions of souls — we now surpass 
 seventeen millions. We were then thirteen states, we 
 are now thirty* We had then no settlement west of 
 the Mississippi and no state west of the Alleghanies. 
 We are now filling the valley of the great father of 
 waters from his source to the sea — and our adventurous 
 people are following the Missouri to its source, and 
 planning routes across the Rocky Mountains — esta- 
 blishing settlements on the Columbia, where it reaches 
 the Pacific — and will soon fill the beautiful Californian 
 peninsula with American citizens." He might then 
 place the following table before you, saying, " before a 
 
 ♦ At this moment I believe the number may be greater by two or 
 three. Every day calls some new community into existence. 
 What territories exist I am at this moment unable to say. Oregon 
 is probably a state. 
 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 •Il 
 
 
 year passes away some additions will require to be 
 made." 
 
 THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL 
 STATES. 
 
 1. Virginia. 
 
 2. Maryland. 
 
 3. Massachusetts. 
 
 4. Connecticut. 
 
 5. Rhode Island. 
 
 6. New Hampshire. 
 
 7. New York. 
 
 8. Delaware. 
 
 9. Pennsylvania. 
 
 10. North Carolina. 
 
 11. South Carolina. 
 
 12. New Jersey. 
 
 13. Georgia, 
 
 THE STATES ADDED SINCE 
 1783. 
 
 14. Ohio. 
 
 15. Kentucky. 
 
 16. Indiana. 
 
 17. Illinois. 
 
 18. Missouri. 
 
 19. Alabama. 
 
 20. Tennessee. 
 
 21. Louisiana. 
 
 22. Mississippi. 
 
 23. Maine. 
 
 24. Michigan. 
 
 25. Arkansas. 
 
 26. Florida. 
 
 27. Vermont. 
 
 28. Iowa. 
 
 29. Texas. 
 
 30. Wisconsin. 
 
 31. Oregon Territory. 
 
 Columbia.* 
 
 * The census of the United States is taken every ten years — 
 and since 1790 has been as follows : — 
 
 1790 3,939,827 
 
 1800 5,305,940 
 
 1810 7,239,814 
 
 1820 9,638,191 
 
 1830 12,866,020 
 
 1840 17,068,666 
 
 An official table in the year 1 846 makes this statement : — " The 
 last census was made in 1840. Adding an increase of three per 
 cent, each year (based upon the average increase of previous years) 
 the total population in 1846 is estimated at about 20,000,000 
 exclusive of Texas, of which no census has been taken." 
 
 g2 
 
 1 
 
it 
 
 84 
 
 BOUNDARIFS OF 
 
 II i' 
 
 Herein he would observe I have not put Texas, neither 
 have adverted to the rising territories. But the seventeen 
 states here named have been added in a period of sixty- 
 six years. Within that same period our numbers have 
 risen from three to above twenty millions — and the 
 extent of our territory has been quadrupled. 
 
 A statement of this nature begets serious reflexion. 
 And we are led to inquire, by what machinery, by what 
 favouring circumstances such a result has been brought 
 about. 
 
 The people, be it remarked, are the same as our- 
 selves — the original thirteen states were the work of 
 Englishmen. English heads, and English hearts, and 
 English hands brought those new communities into ex- 
 istence. No longer connected by government with us, 
 they, nevertheless, retained the characteristics of the race 
 from which they sprang, and, proceeding in the great 
 work to which they were destined, they strode across 
 the Continent, the fairest portions of which they could 
 now call their own. In planting new settlements, they 
 were aided by our own people — the very elements out 
 of which we endeavour to frame colonies, and with 
 which we do produce sickly miserable communities, that 
 can only be said to exist and to linger on in a sort of 
 half life, without the spirit of a young, or the amenities 
 and polish of an old community ; and above all, with- 
 out any spirit of independence. They are eternally 
 looking for aid from others, and not from themselves. 
 The great object of their only hope is to escape from the 
 country of their adoption, and their only notion of dis- 
 tinction is to be an Englishman and not a colonist. If 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 85 
 
 they ure in puwcr, they doniineei' uver and insult the 
 colony and the colonist ; if they are not of the favoured 
 few to whom power is confided, they truckle, and fawn, 
 and cringe, in the hope of sonic day obtaining the means 
 of tyrannizing in their turn. 
 
 Such are the diflferent results from precisely the same 
 elements. From the same materials one architect has 
 raised a plain bold, broad, foundation, magnificent in 
 conception, and in its execution simple and secure. The 
 other has built, only that what he rears up to-day may 
 fall to pieces to-morrow — he has worked without a plan 
 — building a little here one day — a small piece a mile 
 away the next; nothing advances, money is spent, good 
 materials are spoiled, time is irrevocably lost; disgust 
 and discontent attend his blundering, his blustering, 
 boasting, and ignorance. This is the accurate but pain- 
 ful description of the two systems. These are the results 
 of the English and the American systems of colonization. 
 
 But what is the American system? Have they a 
 colonial officer? have they a secretary of state for the 
 colonies! have they colonial governors, u.!ioiiial judges, 
 colonial secretaries, and attorneys-general and collectors? 
 Indeed, they have none of these things, but they have 
 that which is worth them all — they have a system of 
 procedure well adapted for the end in view ; and they 
 have a government responsible to those who are the 
 persons really interested in the proper performance of the 
 duties which the government is required to fulfil. 
 
 If the reader will take in his hand any common map 
 of North America, he will see there laid down. Lake 
 Ontario, with the Niagara river, and Lake Erie; then he 
 
 it 
 
86 
 
 AM£K1CAN SYSTEM: 
 
 r 
 
 I, 
 
 will see a river joining Lake Erie to Lake Huron, and 
 also he will see Lake Huron itself. The tract of land 
 which lies to the north of these waters belongs to Eng- 
 land, and forms a portion of what was formerly Upper, 
 but is now called West Canada. The tract itself is in 
 all respects equal to the corresponding tract which lies 
 on the American side of the waters I have named, and 
 is in fact among the most beautiful portions of territory 
 upon the whole continent. The reader will perceive 
 that the most southern part of the whole tract of water to 
 which his attention has been solicited, forms the northern 
 boundary of the state of Ohio. This state did not exist 
 in the year 1783. It is now the third state of the 
 union. Its population amounted at the last census to 
 1,519,467, and it now sends nineteen* members to con- 
 gress as members of the House of Representatives. No 
 traveller in the United States fails to express his asto- 
 nishment at the rapid progress of this state — and the 
 beautiful towns and villages which now exist, and are 
 daily rising in every part of it. But let us remember 
 that in nothing is Ohio naturally more favoured than the 
 tract of Canadian territory which lies north of Erie 
 and opposite to Ohio. In order hereafter to come to 
 some specific results, I will now describe the steps by 
 which Ohio gradually but rapidly passed from its 
 state of wilderness to its present condition, which thus 
 excites the wonder and admiration of every beholder. 
 This contrast between the two districts is remarkable, 
 
 * This number, however, was regulated by the census of 1830, 
 which gave as the population at that time 937,903. The number 
 of the representatives mat/, therefore, be now greater. 
 
SOME RESULTS. 
 
 87 
 
 because their nntural condition was so wonderfully 
 similar. I simply tukc the state of Ohio, in order to 
 be able to point out the steps of the American pro- 
 cedure. Here is no pretence of making an accurate 
 statistical statement, or of writing a history of Ohio. 
 An instance and a name were wanted for illustration — 
 and a name saves circumlocution. 
 
 " Although the claims of Virginia to the country 
 north-west of the Ohio were thus gaining strength (this 
 was in 1779) from the rights of conquest, in addition to 
 those derived from her original charter, they were not 
 suffered to pass undisputed by some of the other States, 
 who insisted that all the lands, the title of which had 
 originally been in the crown, and had never been alien- 
 ated, were the common property of the confederation, by 
 the right of conquest, inasmuch as the revolution had 
 transferred the supreme power from the British sovereign 
 to the United Republic. This ground was supported 
 with great earnestness and ingenuity on their part, and 
 was warmly resisted by Virginia in a spirited remon- 
 strance to Congress in the October session of 1779. 
 But this delicate question was happily settled by a 
 voluntary cession from Virginia to the United States of 
 the country in dispute, on certain conditions; and the 
 territory thus ceded comprehends the three flourishing 
 states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, which already con- 
 tain more than thrice as many white inhabitants as are 
 in the state which ceded them."* 
 
 * Life of Jefferson, by Tucker, vol. i. p. 142. This statement 
 in the text was made in 1836. The startling effects produced by 
 political institutions are instructively illustrated by a comparison 
 
88 
 
 AMERICAN SYSTEM: 
 
 ; i 
 
 It 
 
 i" 
 
 ii 
 
 Certain adventurous persons, " the pioneers" of civi- 
 lization, wishing to make new settlements beyond the 
 boundaries of Virginia, and Pennsylvania, upon wild 
 lands belonging to the United States, made formal ap- 
 plication to the government of the United States of 
 Washington, who, being bound to afford all possible 
 facility, thereupon take steps to have the lands surveyed 
 and properly laid out into counties, townships, parishes. 
 The roeus are also indicated, and at once the law exists : 
 and security, guaranteed by the authority of the United 
 States, immediately follows, both for person and pro- 
 perty; and all the machinery known to the common 
 law, and needed for the maintenance of this security, 
 and the enforcement of the law's decrees, is at once 
 adopted. — A municipal authority comes into existence; 
 a court house — a jail — a school room — arise in the wilder- 
 ness; and although these buildings be humble, and the 
 men who exercise authority in them may appear in some 
 degree rude, yet is the law there in all its useful majesty. 
 To it a reverent obedience is rendered ; and the plain 
 magistrate who, in a hunter's frock, may, in the name of 
 the United States, pronounce the law's decree, commands 
 an obedience as complete and sincere as that which is 
 paid to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at Wash- 
 
 of Ohio and Upper Canada on the one hand, and Ohio and Ken- 
 tucky on the other. Kentucky is the older state of the two: her 
 lands are quite as fertile, and climate the same as Ohio, yet slavery 
 being in Kentucky, the effect appears by the population, which is 
 as compared below : — 
 
 Whites. SUves. Total. 
 
 Kentucky. . 597,870 182,258 779,828 
 
 Ohio . . . 1,519,464 3 1,519,467!! 
 
SOME RESULTS. 
 
 89 
 
 18 
 
 1 
 
 ington, or to the crmincd jiulgo who presides in the courts 
 of our Ludy the Queen, in Westminster Hull. 
 
 The people are nccuHtomed to self-government, and 
 the orderly arrangements of society are adopted by them 
 as mere mutters of course. If a township is marked 
 out on the map, and inhabitants, having purchased the 
 lands, go and live therein, an organization by mere 
 operation of law exists in the township. Magistrates 
 and officers have to be chosen — and arc chosen, and 
 society starts at once, like a well made watch the 
 moment it is put together and wound up. The fact of 
 the inhabitants, and that of the township, being given, 
 all the rest follows of course, without any aid or direc- 
 tion of any body but the people themselves. 
 
 The wild lands of the United States were increased by 
 various means, and from various causes, immediately 
 upon the States becoming a nation : and conjrress, under 
 the Constitution, having power to deal with these lands, 
 proceed<^d so to do. The fourth clause of the fourth article 
 of the Constitution declares, that " new states may be 
 admitted by the congress into this Union. But no new 
 state shall be formed or created within the jurisdiction 
 of any other state ; nor any state be formed by the junc- 
 tion of two or more states, or parts of states, without the 
 consent of the legislatures of the states concerned, as well 
 as of the congress." " Under this clause, besides Ver- 
 mont, three new states formed within the boundaries of 
 the old States — viz., Kentucky, Tennessee, and Maine — 
 and nine others — viz., Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missis- 
 sippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, and 
 Michigan, formed within the territories ceded to the 
 
 IN 
 
 7h 
 
do 
 
 POWER OF CONGRESS 
 
 ^:i 
 
 : i 
 
 I 
 f 
 
 United States, have been already admitted into the 
 Union." 
 
 " By the second clause of the same section, it is de- 
 termined that * Congress shall have power to dispose of 
 and make all needful rules and regulations respecting 
 the territory, or other property belonging to the United 
 States. And nothing in this constitution shall be so 
 construed as to prejudice the claims of the United States, 
 or of any particular State.' ... At the time of the 
 adoption of the constitution, the general government had 
 acquired the vast region included in the North-western 
 Territory ; and its acquisitions have since been greatly 
 enlarged by the purchase of Louisiana and Florida. 
 The two latter Territories of Louisiana and Florida, sub- 
 ject to the treaty stipulations under which they were 
 acquired, are of course under the general regulation of 
 Congress, so far as the power has not been, or may not 
 be, parted with by erecting them into States. The 
 North-west Territory has been peopled under the ad- 
 mirable ordinance of the Continental Congress of the 
 13th of July, 1787, which we owe to the wise forecast 
 and political wisdom of a man whom New England can 
 never fail to reverence."* 
 
 This ordinance I now here give entire, in order to 
 show the mode adopted by the United States, when pre- 
 paring for colonizing a large tract of ^^ountry. This is 
 really a specimen of a systematic colonization ; and is the 
 
 * These extracts are made from an exposition of the American 
 Constitution by Dr. Story. An excellent work in itself, but 
 remarkable as an indication of what in America is thought neces- 
 sai'y for the education of youth in schools; this being a school book. 
 Seep. 139. 
 
I ' 
 
 AS TO WASTE LANDS. 
 
 91 
 
 more remarkable, because it is really the first instance 
 on record of a government providing for the gradual 
 creation of many independent nations by a carefully- 
 considered and regular system ; a system which we must 
 imitate, if we desire to produce any great eflfect as a 
 colonizing power. We have immense territories, and an 
 expensive and meddling Colonial Office; but a system 
 we do not possess. This ordinance will give some idea 
 of that Act of Parliament upon which, in the course of 
 this work, I shall have so often to insist, and without 
 which no regular plan of colonization can be attempted. 
 
 m 
 
 AN ORDINANCE 
 
 I^or the Government of the Territory of the United States, 
 north-west of the River Ohio. 
 
 Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, 
 That the said territory, for the purposes of temporary 
 government, be one district; subject, however, to be divided 
 into two districts, as future circumstances may, iu the opinion 
 of Congress, make it expedient. 
 
 Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, Tliat the estates 
 both of resident and non-resident proprietors in the said 
 territory, dying intestate, shall descend to, and be distributed 
 among their children, and the descendants of a deceased 
 child in equal parts ; the descendants of a deceased child or 
 grandchild to take the share of their deceased parent in 
 equal parts among them ; and where there shall be no children 
 or descendants, then in equal parts to the next of kin, in 
 equal degree; and among collaterals, the children of a 
 
 i 
 
92 
 
 AN ORDINANCE. 
 
 In 
 
 \\ 
 
 I'i 
 
 deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have, in equal 
 parts among them, their deceased parent's share ; and there 
 shall, in no case, be a distinction between kindred of the 
 whole and half blood ; saving in all cases to the widow of the 
 intestate, her third part of the real estate for life, and one 
 third part of the personal estate ; and this law relative to 
 descents and dower, shall remain in full force, until altered 
 by the Legislature of the district. And until the governor 
 and judges shall adopt laws as hereinafter mentioned, estates 
 in the said territory may be devised or bequeathed by wills 
 in writing, signed and sealed by him or her, in whom the 
 estate may be, (being of full age,) and attested by three 
 witnesses : and real estates may be conveyed by lease and 
 release, or bargain and sale, signed, sealed, and delivered 
 by the person, being of full age, in whom the estate may be 
 attested by two witnesses, provided such wills be duly 
 proved, and such conveyances be acknowledged, or the 
 execution thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one 
 year after proper magistrates, courts, and registers, shall be 
 appointed for that purpose ; and personal property may be 
 transferred by delivery ; saving, however, to the French and 
 Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskies, 
 St. Vincent's, and the neighbouring villages, who have 
 heretofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia, their 
 laws and customs now in force among them, relative to the 
 descent and conveyance of property. 
 
 Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there shall 
 be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor, 
 whose commission shall continue in force for the term of 
 three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress : he shall 
 reside in the district, and have a freehold estate therein, in 
 one thousand acres of land, while in the exercise of his 
 office. 
 
 There shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, 
 a i^ecretary, whose commission shall continue in force for 
 
• / 
 
 AN ORDINANCE. 
 
 93 
 
 four years, unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the 
 district, and have a freehold estate therein, in five hundred 
 acres of land, while in the exercise of his office ; it shall be 
 his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by 
 the Legislature, and the public records of the district, and 
 the proceedings of the governor in his executive department ; 
 and transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings, 
 every six months, to the secretary of Congress : There shall 
 also be appointed a court, to consist of three judges, any 
 two of whom to form a court, who shall have a common law 
 jurisdiction, and reside in the district, and have each therein 
 a freehold estate, in five hundred acres of land, while in the 
 exercise of their offices ; and their commissions shall continue 
 in force during good behaviour. 
 
 The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall 
 adopt and publish in the district, such laws of the original 
 States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary, and best 
 suited to the circumstances of the district, and report them 
 to Congress, from time to time ; which laws shall be in force 
 in the district until the organization of the General Assembly 
 therein, unless disapproved by Congress ; but afterwards the 
 Legislature shall have authority to alter them as they shall 
 think fit. 
 
 The governor for the time being shall be commander-in- 
 chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in 
 the same, below the rank of general officers; all general 
 officers shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress. 
 
 Previous to the organization of the General Assembly, the 
 governor shall appoint such magistrates, and other civil 
 officers, in each county or township, as he shall find neces- 
 sary for the preservation of the peace and good order of the 
 same. After the General Assembly shall be organized, the 
 powers and duties of magistrates and other civil officers 
 shall be regulated and defined by the said Assembly ; but 
 All magistrates and other civil officers, not herein otherwise 
 
 ■'-'I ■ 
 If 
 
 n .i 
 
 ! 
 
94 
 
 AN ORDINANCE. 
 
 %i 
 
 III 
 
 directed, shall, during the continuance of this temporary 
 government, be appointed by the governor. 
 
 For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be 
 adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, 
 and for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the 
 governor shall make proper divisions thereof; and he shall 
 proceed from time to time, as circumstances may require, to 
 lay out the parts of the district in which the Indian titles 
 shall have been extinguished, into counties and townships, 
 subject, however, to such alterations as may be thereafter 
 made by the legislature. 
 
 So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inha- 
 bitants of full age in the district, upon giving proof thereof 
 to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time and 
 place, to elect representatives from their counties or town- 
 ships, to represent them in the General Assembly : Provided 
 that, for every five hundred free male inhabitants, there shall 
 be one representative, and so on, progressively, with the 
 number of free male inhabitants, shall the right of represen- 
 tation increase, until the number of representatives shall 
 amount to twenty-five, after which the number and propor- 
 tion of representatives shall be regulated by the legislature : 
 Provided that no person be eligible or qualified to act as 
 representative, unless he shall have been a citizen of one of 
 the United States three years, and be a resident in the 
 district, or unless he shall have resided in the district 
 three years; and, in either case, shall likewise hold in 
 his own right, in fee simple, two hundred acres of land 
 within the same : Provided also, that a freehold in fifty acres 
 of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the 
 States, and being resident in the district, or the like freehold 
 and two years residence in the district, shall be necessary to 
 qualify a man as an elector of a representative. 
 
 The representatives, thus elected, shall serve for the term 
 of two years ; and in case of the death of a represent^ttive, 
 
I I 
 
 ( ' 
 
 AN ORDINANCE. 
 
 95 
 
 to 
 
 rm 
 
 ve, 
 
 4 
 
 or removal from office, the govc^or shall issue a writ to the 
 county or township for which he was a member, to elect 
 another in his stead, to serve tot the residue of the term. 
 
 The General Assembly, or Legislature, shall consist of the 
 Governor, Legislative Council, and a House of Representa- 
 tives. The Legislative Council shall consist of five members, 
 to continne in office five years, unless sooner removed by 
 Congress, any three of whom to be a quorum; and the 
 members of the Council shall be nominated and appointed 
 in the following manner — to wit, as soon as representatives 
 shall be elected, the governor shall appoint a time and place 
 for them to meet together; and when met, they shall nomi- 
 nate ten persons, residents in the district, and each possessed 
 of a freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return their 
 names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and 
 commission to serve as aforesaid ; and whenever a vacancy 
 shall happen in the Council, by death, or removal from office, 
 the House of Representatives shall nominate two persons, 
 qualified as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their 
 names to Congress, one of whom Congress shall appoint and 
 commission for the residue of the term. And every five 
 years, four months at least before the expiration of the time 
 of service of the members of Council, the said House shall 
 nominate ten persons qualified as aforesaid, and return their 
 names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and 
 commission to serve as members of the Council five years, 
 unless sooner removed. And the Governor, Legislative 
 Council and House of Representatives, shall have authority 
 to make laws in all cases for the good government of the 
 district, not repugnant to the principles and articles in this 
 ordinance established and declared. And all bills having 
 passed by a majority in the House, and by a majority in the 
 Council, shall be referred to the governor for his assent ; 
 but no bill or legislative act whatever shall be of any force 
 
 .1 , 
 
 i " 
 
 ii 
 
 >v 
 
 ;i 
 
96 
 
 AN ORDINANCE. 
 
 t II 
 
 ; I 
 
 without his assent. The governor shall have power to con- 
 vene, prorogue, and dissolve the General Assembly, when in 
 his opinion it shall be expedient. 
 
 The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and 
 such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, 
 shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity and of office ; the 
 governor before the president of Congress, and all other 
 officers before the governor. As soon as a legislature shall 
 be formed in the distiict, the Council and House assembled 
 in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a 
 delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, 
 with a right of debating, but not of voting, during this tem- 
 porary government. 
 
 And for extending the fundamental principles of civil and 
 religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these re- 
 publics, their laws, and constitutions are erected, to fix and 
 establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitu- 
 tions, and governments which for ever hereafter shall be 
 formed in the said territory : to provide, also, for the esta- 
 blishment of states and permanent government therein, and 
 for their admission to a share in the Federal Councils on an 
 equal footing with the original states, at as early periods as 
 may be consistent with the general interest : 
 
 It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority afore- 
 said that the following articles shall be considered as articles 
 of compact, between the original states and tlie people and 
 states in the said territory, and for ever remain unalterable ; 
 imless by common consent, to wit: — 
 
 Art. 1. No person demeaning himself in a peaceable and 
 orderly manner shall ever be molested on account of his 
 mode of worship or religious sentiments in the said territory. 
 
 Art. 2. The inhabitants of the said territory shall always 
 be entitled to the benefits of the writ of Habeas Corpus, and 
 of the trial by jury ; of a proportionate represc^ntation of the 
 people in the legislature, and of judicial proceeidings accord- 
 
AN OfiDINANC£. 
 
 97 
 
 ing to the course of the common law. All persons shall be 
 bailable, unless for capital offences where the proof shall be 
 evident, or the presumption great. All fines shall be mode- 
 rate ; and no cruel or unusual punishment shall be inflicted. 
 No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property, but by 
 the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land, and should 
 the public exigencies make it necessary for the common pre- 
 servation to take any person^s property, or to demand his 
 particular ser>'ices, full compensation shall be made for the 
 same. And in the just preservation of rights and property, 
 it is understood and declared, that no law ought ever to be 
 made, or have force in the said territory, that shall, in any 
 way whatever, interfere with or affect private contracts or 
 engagements, bondjidey and without fraud previously formed. 
 
 Art. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary 
 to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools 
 and the means uf education shall be for ever encouraged. 
 The utmost good faith !uii! always be observed towards the 
 Indians : their lands anu property shall never be taken from 
 them without their consent; and in their property, rights, 
 and liberty, they never shall be invaded or disturbed, unless 
 in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress ; but laws 
 founded in justice and humanity shall, from time to time, be 
 made for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for pre- 
 serving peace and friendship with them. 
 
 Art. 4. The said territory, and the states which may be 
 formed therein, shall for ever remain a part of this Confede- 
 racy of the United States of America, subject to the articles 
 of confederation and to such alterations therein as shall be 
 constitutionally made, and to all the acts and ordinances of 
 the United States in congress assembled, conformably thereto. 
 The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory shall be 
 subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted, or to be 
 contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of govern- 
 ment, to be apportioned on them by Congress, according to 
 
 H 
 
 ■;! I 
 
■ i 
 
 98 
 
 ▲N ORDINANCE. 
 
 I? 
 
 [|| 
 
 the same common rule and measure by which apportionments 
 thereof shall be made on the other states ; and the taxes for 
 paying their proportion, shall be laid and levied by the au* 
 thority and direction of the legislatures of the district or dis- 
 tricts, or new states, as in the original states, within the time 
 agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. 
 The legislatures of those districts, or new states, shall never 
 interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United 
 States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Con- 
 gress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil 
 to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on 
 lands the property of the United States; and in no case 
 shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. 
 The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. 
 Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall 
 be common highways, and for ever free, as well to the inha- 
 bitants of the said territory, as to the citizens of the United 
 States, and those of any other states that may be admitted 
 into the Confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty 
 therefor. 
 
 Art. 5. There shall be formed in the said territory not less 
 than three nor more than five states ; and the boundaries of 
 the states, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession, 
 and consent to the same, shall become fixed and established as 
 follow — to wit, the western state in the said teiTJtory shall be 
 bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and Wabash Waters ; 
 a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Port Vincents, due 
 north, to the territorial line between the United States and 
 Canada, and by the said territorial line to the lake of the 
 Woods and Mississippi. The middle states shall be bounded 
 by the direct line, the Wabash, fi:om Port Vincents to the 
 Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line drawn due north from 
 the mouth of the Great Miami, to the said territorial line, 
 and by the said territorial line. The eastern state shall be 
 bounded by the last mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Penn- 
 
AN ORDINANCE. 
 
 99 
 
 sylvania, and the said territorial line, provided however, and 
 it is further understood and declared, that the boundaries of 
 these three states shall be subject so far to be altered, that if 
 Congress shall hereafter find it expedient they shall have 
 authority to form one or two states in that part of the said 
 territory which lies north of an east and west line, drawn 
 through the southerly bend or extreme of lake Michigan. 
 And whenever any of the states shall have sixty thousand 
 free inhabitants therein, such state shall be admitted, by its 
 delegates into the Congress of the United States, on an equal 
 footing with the original states, in all respects whatever ; 
 and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and 
 state government, provided the constitution and government 
 so to be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to 
 the principles contained in these articles ; and so far as it 
 can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, 
 such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and 
 when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the 
 state than sixty thousand. 
 
 Art. 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary 
 servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punish- 
 ment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly con- 
 victed ; provided always, that any person escaping into the 
 same, from whom labour or service is lawfully claimed in 
 any one of the original states, such fugitive may be lawfully 
 reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her 
 labour or service as aforesaid. 
 
 Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the reso- 
 lutions of the 23rd April, 1784, relative to the subject of this 
 ordinance, be, and the same are hereby repealed and declared 
 null and void. 
 
 Done, &c. &c. 
 
 Iii.l 
 
 
 h2 
 
 ! 1 
 
I' 
 
 ■ I 
 
 Ifl 
 
 ,1 
 
 100 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 " Such," says Mr. Story, " is this most important 
 ordinance, the effects of which upon the destinies of the 
 country have already been abundantly demonstrated in 
 the territory by an almost unexampled prosperity and 
 rapidity of population, by the formation of republican 
 governments, and by an enlightened system of juris- 
 prudence. Already five states comprising a part of that 
 territory have been admitted into the union, and others 
 are fast advancing towards the same grade of political 
 dignity. * The five states are — 
 
 Ohio, with a population, in 1840, of 1,519,464 
 
 Indiana „ „ 685,863 
 
 Michigan „ „ 212,267 
 
 Illinois „ 475,862 
 
 Iowa „ „ 
 
 Wisconsin added since. 
 
 It will be seen that there are two stages in the system 
 adopted by America: the wild land becomes first a 
 territory, and afterwards is admitted into the Union 
 as a state. Two Acts of Congress are placed in the 
 Appendix, for the purpose of giving a complete idea of 
 the difference of their two conditions of political ex- 
 istence. The one act provides for the government of the 
 territory of Oregon; the other, for the admission of 
 Wisconsin to the Union. 
 
 What, then, are the general conclusions which this 
 twofold history, brief as it has been, compels us to draw ? 
 In my opinion, the canons which it establishes respect- 
 ing colonization are these : — 
 
 * Story's Exposition, p. 141. 
 
i 
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 101 
 
 1. Any supervising power retained, and to be exercised 
 with respect to a colony, should be retained entirely in 
 the hands of the imperial government alone. No part 
 of it should be entrusted to a company, or to a single 
 proprietor. A company may be made useful as a means 
 of collecting many minute portions of capital into one 
 large and effective mass, and may be permitted, by the 
 aid simply of the advantages which that combined wealth 
 confers, to act as private persons, and in that capacity 
 to promote the plantation of the new settlement. But 
 to the company there should be confided no government 
 powers, no mercantile monopoly or privileges. Such 
 facilities as a joint-stock company requires to avoid 
 mere legal obstructions, may be granted to a company 
 wishing to carry on commerce, or effect any legitimate 
 purpose of gain, but not one atom of political power. I 
 will not clog this assertion with one particle of excep- 
 tion; the rule ought to be as I have laid it down, 
 stringent and universal in its negation. 
 
 That which is true as respects a company, is just as 
 true and as necessary in the case of an individual, no 
 matter what may be his wealth, no matter what may be 
 his virtue. Were Lord Baltimore, with all his real 
 wisdom and goodness, his unostentatious and thoroughly 
 modest and tolerant spirit, to appear again, and with 
 the same benevolent aims and sanguine hopes, ask for 
 the privileges which his family enjoyed in Maryland, 
 and so worthily employed, he would meet from me with 
 the same peremptory refusal that I should give to a 
 grasping, mere money-getting company. The powers 
 of government must not be delegated. If they are to 
 
 If 
 
102 
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 be in any hands, those hands must be of the government 
 itself. To none others ought such powers to be con- 
 fided. 
 
 2. Having determined that the supervision should 
 never be delegated to a company or an individual, but 
 should always be reserved by the government, the next 
 canon commands us to reduce this supervision as much 
 as is possible, retaining only what is needed to maintain 
 our metropolitan rule, and to confide to the colony the 
 government of its own aflfairs. The more completely 
 this is done, the more certain and marked will be the 
 prosperity of the colony. 
 
 3. The next rule is, that, certain extraordinary cases 
 being excepted, the metropolitan government should 
 confine its office to attracting settlers to a colony, and 
 ought not to occupy itself in actually carrying them out, 
 and thereby take part in the active business of planting 
 the settlement. The duty of the government is to create 
 those facilities on the spot to be settled which, being 
 known to exist, will of themselves bring the population. 
 The manner of doing this I shall soon attempt to de- 
 scribe. 
 
 4. The next rule which I think my short history 
 justifies, is, to insist upon the colony being self-support- 
 ing, in everything except defence against hostile aggres- 
 sion. It is the duty of England to say to all of her 
 subjects that plant settlements within her colonial terri- 
 tories, " I will defend you in the quiet possession of 
 your homes, and of the produce of your labour. No 
 enemy shall attack you from without But this perfect 
 defence being afforded — and that it be afforded, the 
 
GENERAL CONCLUHIONS. 
 
 10.1 
 
 government must provide — -y^^u must yourselves bo the 
 architects of your own fortunes. My government has 
 made tlie way clear fur y ju in tho first instance : there 
 are the limits of the colony; make youiiiiolves a com- 
 munity; sustain yourselves, and govern yourselves. 
 Trade with other nations, with all whom you wish, that 
 you may; fight with other nations or yourselves, that 
 you shall not. Such is my will, and to it I shall enforce 
 obedience." 
 
 These general rules, or conclusions, I shall now pro- 
 ceed to enlarge into something like a system. The 
 description I am about to attempt is what might well 
 precede a specific act of legislation, which would make 
 law of what is here only suggestion. All my observa- 
 tions in this work, those which I have already made, 
 those which I am about to make, point directly to an 
 act of parliament, which I believe the necessary pre- 
 liminary to any rational system. Our brethren on the 
 other side of the Atlantic have adopted, as we have 
 seen, this prudent course; and her colonies exhibit 
 fairly the result of this wise act of legislation by Con- 
 gress. They have had great difficulties to overcome — 
 far greater than any which lie in our path as legislators. 
 Those diflSculties they have not feared to face; having 
 faced, they have conquered them. Their seventeen or 
 eighteen colonies, with their millions of thriving people, 
 attest the practical wisdom of this conduct, and afford 
 us an admirable reason for imitating and surpassing it. 
 That we have the means of surpassing all that America 
 has done or can do, I shall now attempt to prove. She 
 may, indeed, create one gigantic nation ; that it should 
 

 104 
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 be and remain only one, will be their greatest triumph. 
 But we, if we be wise, and use the advantages which as 
 a people we possess, (a tithe of which no other people 
 ever enjoyed) — we, I say, may create mani/ vast nations 
 — nations which must be separate, and may be of almost 
 fabulous greatness. Let not the reader call me a 
 dreamer, till he has read the very unpretending scheme 
 which I now proceed to explain; and which I believe 
 would produce the great effects I describe, because it is 
 unpretending, easy to be understood, and, if once put 
 into motion, self-supporting. 
 
 There are two things which always present themselves 
 to the mind of an emigrant, or one thinking of becoming 
 an emigrant, and are always placed by him among the 
 circumstances which are deemed to be reasons against 
 expatriation: the one is the uncertainty that attends 
 every step of his progress ; the other is, the inferiority 
 of the position which, as a colonist, he is to occupy. 
 
 When I speak here of uncertainty ^ I do not mean that 
 uncertainty which attends, and ever must attend, an igno- 
 rant man; but I intend by it, that which every man, 
 even the most instructed, must labour under, who en- 
 deavours to ascertain the various steps necessary to be 
 taken by those who desire to become settlers in any of 
 our colonies, and who endeavours also to discover the 
 probable consequences to himself and his family of the 
 acts which he is about to perform in the character of an 
 emigrant. Let any one attempt to form for himself a 
 conception of what would probably occur if he were to 
 associate himself with a body of settlers, just about to 
 emigrate, for the purpose of taking possession of a tract 
 
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 105 
 
 man. 
 
 of land purchased of the New Zealand Company.* Let 
 us suppose that a band of friends have said to one 
 another, "We will buy from the company a tract of 
 land; we will together expatriate, and make on that 
 land a new home for ourselves and our children." The 
 land is bought, — it is some distance from any existing 
 settlement, — and when they reach the chosen spot, in 
 what condition will they be? I do not mean what con- 
 dition as to material, but as to social things. Friends 
 though these men and their families may be, yet they 
 cannot, as they are not angels, but merely men and 
 women, live without law — without some rule, some 
 order. Well, but where are they to learn what this 
 rule or order is? Where are they to learn if there 
 really be any rule ? The fact is, that nowhere can they 
 find it. Law will grow up in their new settlement, 
 after the fashion in which it grew up among our savage 
 ancestors — by degrees, and be brought into existence, 
 and reduced to shape, by necessity. At once this little 
 band of adventurers will step out of light into darkness, 
 out of the dominion of regularity and reason, into the 
 domain of anarchy and chance. They do not simply 
 leave a well-cultivated country, in which art and labour 
 have conquered the powers of nature for man's service, 
 and go thence to an uncultivated land, whose powers, 
 though not yet brought under command, are in the 
 vigour of youth: they do much more than this; for 
 they go into a lawless, as well as a wild waste. The 
 
 * This Company has resumed its land sales, after years of most 
 unnecessary, most unjust delay, created for it by the mischievous — 
 gratuitously mischievous— opposition of the Colonial Office. 
 
 f ;i 
 
 1 1 
 
 : hi 
 
 •■ ■ '' I 
 
 
 i 1 
 
106 
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 
 forms and the spirit of social life have disappeared from 
 their eyes, and are only to be recalled after much diffi- 
 culty, and often much distress, and not seldom of crime 
 also. The real mischief of this condition of things, 
 however, is not the circumstance to which I wish at this 
 moment to draw attention, but to the effect of it, in the 
 shape of uncertainty and doubt, upon the mind of the 
 emigrant; particularly upon the mind of an emigrant 
 with a wife and children, and some of those children 
 daughters. He will, he must, shrink from braving the 
 difficulties which he perceives before him. The rude 
 and the reckless will feel least hesitation ; but the rude 
 and reckless are not the best elements for the formation 
 of a new community. Industry is indeed needed, but 
 industry in conjunction with thrift and order, gentle 
 manners and intelligence. The colony that does not 
 begin with these will advance but slowly. You do not 
 desire to impose on yourself the double task of rescuing 
 your colonists, as well as your colony, from a rude, un- 
 cultivated condition. But your wish is to plant at once 
 a civilized community upon a virgin soil; and you 
 ought to make your emigrant population feel that such 
 is the task they will be called upon to perform ; that by 
 changing the spot in which their life is to be passed, 
 they have not changed that life itself; that they are not 
 required to create civilization, but simply to cultivate 
 an untouched soil ; and that with themselves, they have 
 taken out a polity to which they have always been 
 accustomed ; and that while they acquire the advantage 
 of a fresh and fertile soil, they do not lose the inestimable 
 benefit of civility, and of its ever necessary precursor 
 
 I 
 
GENERAL CONCLUSIOKS* 
 
 107 
 
 and attendant, security. The only way of creating this 
 general understanding, and thereby really performing 
 the part which a wise and provident government can 
 and should perform, is to make and publish a predeter- 
 mined rule for the state of things which the planters of 
 a new colony must encounter. The law should be like 
 the atmosphere, and attend them wheresoever they may 
 go ; and they should feel that it does follow and surround 
 them. And when the little band that I have supposed 
 first find themselves standing upon their newly-acquired 
 territory, they should know its boundaries, its name, the 
 parish in which it is placed, the township to which it 
 belongs, the county of which it forms a part. With a 
 map in one hand, and an Act of Parliament in the other, 
 they ought to feel themselves at once, though in a new 
 country, still surrounded by all that of old produced for 
 them order and security, — still, as formerly, possessed of 
 powers and rights, and subject to duties and obligations, 
 defined, clear, and known, or easily to be ascertained. 
 Every step taken by them should have been taken in 
 security, in peace, and with ease; and now the new 
 community is born, its pulse begins to beat; life, and 
 civilized life, is there. 
 
 Let that portion of our people who are wishing and 
 destined to be emigrants know that such is to be their 
 future lot, and the government will find no difficulty in 
 procuring a people for its successive colonies. 
 
 Thus having by the formation of a rule removed un- 
 certainty, next let it be the object of the mother country 
 to make her people feel themselves not abased by becom- 
 
 i; 
 
108 
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 ill 
 
 III 
 
 1 1 
 
 #1 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 ing colonists. The character of a people is always 
 determined by that of the educated classes, and indi- 
 viduals belonging to them. The mass of the population 
 must always be destined to win their daily bread by 
 daily toil. They may pass a quiet and happy life, but 
 it must be in a certain sense monotonous and obscure. 
 Beyond the narrow horizon of their ordinary hopes, they 
 seek not to look. Their desires are limited to a wish 
 for the means of comfortable subsistence, which they only 
 hope or desire to attain by steady toil, and which they 
 hope also may be the happy and quiet lot of their chil- 
 dren after them. But the educated man, and they who 
 are above the pains and anxieties of absolute want, and 
 the fear of want, are rendered happy or miserable by 
 hope. If they may hope to win renown, gain power for 
 themselves — if a career by which these may be achieved 
 lies before them, they will as a class be content, and love 
 the country whicli affords this field for their ambition. But 
 there is yet something wanting ; — this class of man desires 
 to derive honour from his country. As he and his ge- 
 nerations derive advantage from the wealth which preced- 
 ing generations have stored up, and left in various shapes 
 to posterity; so all men desire to enjoy the benefit 
 derived from the glory, and great deeds achieved, stored 
 up, and left in many shapes, by their predecessors, to 
 be the estate of renown for generations yet to come, who 
 bear the same name and will be the same people. In a 
 petty colony there is really no such career, and the halluci- 
 nation by which sometimes minute and utterly insignifi- 
 cant dots of land, and handfuls of men, are led to think 
 
but 
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 109 
 
 themselves important, and assume airs of consequence and 
 grandeur, has long been a subject of ridicule and con- 
 tempt. In such circumstances of real insignificance, to 
 revel in ideas of fancied greatness is a folly of which no 
 sane and sensible person can be guilty. The intelligent 
 members of such a community are therefore discontented 
 with their position, and curse the fate which has thus con- 
 demned them to hopeless inferiority. Generally speaking, 
 such is the usual lot of a colonial gentry — and if as colo- 
 nists they have no hope of escaping from it, the educated 
 classes of colonists will bend their eyes towards the 
 future, which is to bring them independence, and open 
 to them the path of renown and power. The career that 
 lies before two men, one of whom has been born and 
 lives upon the southern shore of the St. Lawrence, and 
 the other on the north of that river, is a striking ex- 
 ample of the observation here made. The one is a 
 citizen of the United States, the other a subject of Eng- 
 land, a Canadian colonist. The one has a country which 
 he can call his own; a great country, already distin- 
 guished in arms, in arts, and in some degree in litera- 
 ture. In his country's honour and fame the American 
 has a share, and he enters upon his career of life with 
 lofty aspirations, hoping to achieve fame himself in some 
 of the many paths to renown which his country offers. 
 She has a senate, an army, a navy, a bar, many powerful 
 and wealthy churches ; her men of science, her physicians, 
 philosophers, are all a national brotherhood, giving and 
 receiving distinction. How galling to the poor colonist, 
 is the contrast to this, which his inglorious career affords. 
 He has no country — the place where he was born, and 
 
 i (I 
 

 110 
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 where he is to linger out his life, unknown to fame, 
 has no history — no past glory, no present renown. 
 What there is of note is England's? Canada is not a 
 nation — she is — c colony — a tiny sphere, the satellite of 
 a mighty star, in whose brightness she is lost. Canada 
 has no navy, no army, no literature, no brotherhood 
 of science. If, then, a Canadian looks for honour in 
 any of these various fields, he must seek it as an 
 Englishman; he must forget and desert his country, 
 before he can be known to fame. We must not then 
 wonder if we find every intelligent and ambitious 
 Canadian with a feeling of bitterness in his heart — 
 because of his own inferiority of condition. Few will 
 own to entertaining this feeling if they be prudent, 
 even to friends ; some, indeed, contrive to hide it from 
 themselves; nevertheless, there it is — and must be, so 
 long as his country remains a colony. But by care 
 the painful part of this condition may be greatly 
 diminished, if not entirely taken away, and what little 
 remains may be, perhaps, more than compensated by the 
 benefits which the colony may derive from England, by 
 whose friendly aid and honourable kindness she may be 
 enabled to hold a higher position among nations, than 
 she could do, were she entirely independent. The first 
 step to take in every case, in order to reach this end, 
 is to make the colony the manager of its own con- 
 cerns; the next is to increase these concerns in vari^^ty 
 and extent, so that they may become important, not only 
 to the colonist, but to the nations of the earth. The 
 plan which I am now about to lay before the reader^ has 
 these ends especially in view. I seek to frame a polity 
 
 ! A 
 
6ENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 which contemplates the colony in its commencement — in 
 its infancy — and onward in its course, till it becomes an 
 established and self-governing community; my polity then 
 seeks to unite this self-governing state with others, hav- 
 ing the same interests, and living under the same laws 
 and according to the same rule of government. Thus 
 my plan proceeds preparing for a continually increasing 
 power and importance — providing a secure and com- 
 fortable subsistence for the humble millions who con- 
 stitute the large majority of the people — and opening a 
 career of honourable ambition for the more aspiring 
 leaders, by whom the people will be guided, ruled, and 
 led. 
 
112 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 If. 
 
 T17ITH these njmarkable examples before our eyes, 
 there is no great difficulty in framing a plan for 
 the effective management of our Colonial possessions. 
 Three of the systems above mentioned — viz., 
 
 1 That of British North America, 
 
 2 That of Australasia, 
 
 3 That of South Africa, 
 
 are in themselves so vast, as to require to be separated 
 into many distinct pkovinces; and the separate pro- 
 vinces of each system may be united into one federal 
 union. 
 
 New Zealand is not so extensive as to require such 
 separation; it ought to be one province. But as such 
 PROVINCE it will need the organization which is required 
 in the cases of the separate provinces of the systems 
 above mentioned, and will, therefore, in the following 
 statements, be so far a subject of consideration. 
 
 My plan will, therefore, directly relate to the four 
 separate portions of our Colonial possessions here named 
 
 — viz.: 
 
 1 British North America. 
 
 2 Australasia. 
 
 3 South Africa. 
 
 4 New Zealand. 
 
GENERAL VIEW. 
 
 113 
 
 Section I. 
 
 GENERAL VIEW — PLAN NOMENCLATURE — SETTLEMENT — 
 
 PROVINCE — SYSTEM. 
 
 As I do not intend to adopt the nomenclature em- 
 ployed by the United States, I shall make one for my 
 purpose, and explain the terms as I proceed. 
 
 Every colony ought to go through two stages of 
 political existence. 
 
 It ought to be first in a condition similar to that of a 
 TERRITORY, as Contemplated in the system of the United 
 States, in which condition or stage of its political ex- 
 istence I shall call it a settlement. 
 
 Its second stage of political existence ought to be 
 similar to that of a state in the system of the United 
 States, and in this second stage or condition I shall call 
 
 it a PROVINCE. 
 
 When certain provinces are grouped together — united 
 for certain federal purposes — each group or federation I 
 call a system.* 
 
 The first step with respect to the formation of a 
 
 * This term is employed by modern astronomers very much in 
 this sense with respect to groups of stars and constellations. — See 
 Nichol's Architecture of the Heavens. I am by no means wedded 
 to this my nomenclature. Some words were needed for the purpose 
 I had in view: The above* have been chosen not because they are 
 the best, but because they are sufficient. If any small wit feels at 
 all inclined to assail them, all I ask is, that he will replace them by 
 some others, and adhere steadily to those he selects. 
 
 I 
 
lU 
 
 SYSTEM. 
 
 'I 
 
 *i. 
 
 C">v should be a survey — a survey not merely to 
 dc ""^"ne the boundaries of private property, but with 
 reference to its political existence and government. 
 
 Territorial divisions are necessary for the purposes of 
 government, and the same system of division should be 
 adopted throughout. 
 
 The first point is to determine the boundaries of the 
 colony itself. 
 
 The next is then to divide the colony — that is, the 
 lands contained within the determined boundaries — into 
 
 COUNTIES. 
 
 Then the counties should be laid out into towksiiips. 
 And lastly, the townships should be divided into 
 
 PARISHES. 
 
 For the purposes of deciding upon the rights of pro- 
 perty, each parish should be divided into lots, and sold 
 by authority. This would enable a pe/loct registration 
 of landed property to be at once established, and thus 
 most materially contribute to economy and justice in all 
 judicial decisions on civil rights, resulting from or con- 
 • nected with the land. 
 
 With respect to British North America, Australasia, 
 and South Africa, immediate steps should be taken to 
 determine the boundaries of the existing settlements 
 and provinces, which have been formed in these three 
 systems. 
 
 All the lands which lie beyond the boundaries of these 
 settlements and provinces I shall for the moment con- 
 sider vested in the Crown, and all the unappropriated 
 lands lying within the boundaries of these settlements 
 and provinces as belonging to the governments respec- 
 
 I 
 
SETTLEMENT. 
 
 115 
 
 ilasia, 
 ten to 
 
 [ENTS 
 
 three 
 
 these 
 con- 
 
 riated 
 lents 
 
 jspec- 
 
 I 
 
 l| 
 
 tively of each of them, subject to certain conditions, to 
 be hereafter described and explained. 
 
 We have now, then, spoken of colonies as to be con- 
 sidered and provided for as settlements, provinces, and 
 SYSTEMS. The two last conditions are permanent, that 
 of a settlement is a state or condition of transition. 
 
 Section II. 
 
 SETTLEMENT — mode op establisuino — survey — first sale 
 
 OP LAND — GOVERNMENT — EXTENT OP INTERFERENCE BY THE 
 
 MOTHER-COUNTRY COLONY SELF-SUSTAININO MEANS, LAND, 
 
 ETC. — THE MONEY OP THE COLONY HOW DEALT WITH — CENSUS 
 — WHEN SETTLEMENT BECOMES A PROVINCE — FRAME OF THE 
 GOVERNMENT — POWERS OP — JUDICATURE DIGRESSION CON- 
 CERNING LAND FUND. 
 
 The earliest condition of the colony is that of a settle- 
 ment. It is that in which it receives the greatest aid 
 from the mother- country, and during which it is most 
 subject to her direct authority — her immediate inter- 
 ference. All interference, however, is not of the same 
 description. The mother-country may interfere by 
 means of the executive — that is, of the administration 
 who act by the Secretary of State for the Colonies in 
 the name of the Crown — or she may exercise her 
 authority through parliament. Theoretically, the last 
 mode of interference can be subjected to no rule — par- 
 liament is omnipotent in theory, and may do what it 
 pleases — but such is not, either in fact or in theory, the 
 case with the Colonial Secretary, acting for the Crown. 
 His interference ought in all instances to be according 
 
 i2 
 
ii' 
 
 I' 
 
 I ii 
 
 116 
 
 MODE OK ESTABLISHING A SETTLEMENT. 
 
 to a predetermined rule, and if he bo given any dis- 
 cretionary authority, tlie limits of that discretion ought 
 to be carefully settled, and definitely stated. 
 
 Hitherto the interference on the part of the Crown, 
 though directed according to some vague notion of law, 
 has been without any system — and has been in no two 
 cases alike. The earlier colonics were all settled in con- 
 sequence of certain powers conferred by the Crown in 
 the form of a charter. These charters of the Crown 
 were sometimes very rational, and judicious delegations 
 of power — and liberal and wise grants of territory — on 
 other occasions they seemed rather the results of some 
 disordered dream, than the sober dictates of royal reason. 
 For example, what has been termed " the most ancient 
 American state paper of England,"* was a patent or 
 charter granted by Henry VH. to John Cabot," em- 
 powering Cabot himself and his three sons or either of 
 them, their heirs or their deputies, to sail into the 
 eastern, western or northern sea, with a fleet of five 
 ships at their own proper expense and charges ; to search 
 for islands, countries, provinces, or regions hitherto 
 unseen by Christian people; to affix the banners of 
 England on any city, island, or continent, that they 
 might find; and as vassals of the English Crown, to 
 possess and occupy the territories discovered." ♦ ♦ ♦ The 
 exclusive right of frequenting all the countries that 
 might be found was reserved unconditionally and without 
 limit of time " to the family of the Cabots and their 
 
 * Bancroft, History of the United States of America, vol. i. p. 9, 
 and note 1. 
 
 
 ti 
 
MODE OF ESTAlliaSIIING A HKi'TLEMENT. 
 
 117 
 
 assigns." A wilder tlocuinent could hardly have boen 
 devised, ha<l the author been the narrator of the stories 
 of Th' Thousand and One Nights, and not of the grave 
 and aatute Henry VII. If, hovkrever, we look at the 
 charter granted to Rhode Island by Charles II., or 
 rather by Lord Clarendon in his name, we shall find a 
 constitution established, which Rhode Island retained 
 almost unaltered when she became an independent state. 
 Such were the wide oscillations of the royal will. Hut 
 in the present times such vagaries are not likely to 
 occur — though there has been as yet no approach to 
 anything like a system, or rule.* The fact being that 
 the persons who have exercised power, whether open and 
 avowed, or hidden and circuitous, have never looked 
 upon the subject with any view or purpose of estaMishing 
 a rule for the continued guidance of colonial ministers 
 in the great and noble duty of increasing indefinitely 
 the colonial dominion of England. What we need, 
 however, is a rule. We want an authorized explanation 
 of the steps necessary to be taken by those who propose 
 to lay the foundations of a new colony — we need also an 
 Act of Parliament which, contemplating men laying such 
 foundations, shall before-hand determine accurately what 
 laws, and what authority, shall at once, upon the formal 
 declaration of the boundaries of a new colony, obtain, 
 and have power within those limits. Such an act we 
 want, for without it, there is no hope of escaping from 
 
 * If we are to judge by sorae late doings of our Colonial Office, 
 I fear we must allow that the days of vagaries have not entirely 
 passed away. New Zealand has been a favourite field for the 
 freaks of Colonial Secrataries of State. 
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
118 
 
 MODE OF ESTABLISHING A SETTLEMENT. 
 
 our present wretched, lame, and mischievous condition 
 of irresponsibility, ignorance, and jobbing. 
 
 For the purpose of illustrating my meaning and esta- 
 blishing, as accurately as I can, the principles which 
 ought in my opinion to preside over these proceedings, 
 I will suppose a case, and lay the scene in Australasia. 
 
 Very lately a company, composed of persons of the 
 highest respectability and intelligence, obtained an im- 
 mense tract of land north of Sydney, and they are 
 endeavouring to the best of theu ability to form a new 
 colony, in the hope (a very legitimate hope) of giving a 
 value to their land, by making a new and flourishing 
 community. Now, instead of this imperfect mode of 
 proceeding, my plan would have been as follows : — 
 
 These gentlemen being desirous of planting a new 
 colony, would have applied, according to a set form, to 
 the Colonial Minister in England.* The minister deter- 
 mines to permit the planting of this new colony. But 
 I in my plan assume, that the boundaries of the Settle- 
 ment! of Sydney have been ascertained, and that Sydney 
 is in the transition state of a Settlement, but proceeding 
 
 * As we advance in the exposition of the whole of my scheme, 
 this first application will receive important modifications. 
 
 t Why this colony is here called a settlement and not a province, 
 will hereafter appear. And I introduce here a mention of Sydney 
 for two reasons: 1st The land given or sold to the company above 
 mentioned lies north of, and conterminous with, Sydney, and there- 
 fore the question of boundary between the new colony and Sydney 
 will arise; and 2nd, I desire to explain the mode in which such a 
 question of boundary in all cases would be provided for. Sydney 
 under my plan would long since have been a Province. 
 
 S 
 
 \ 
 
 M 
 I 
 
SURVEY. 
 
 119 
 
 rapidly to the condition of a Province. The minister, 
 that is, the Secretary of State, having so determined, lie, 
 according to the provisions of the general act, which I 
 assume to have been passed, gives notice in the Gazette, 
 " that a Settlement, called ( ) is hereby de- 
 
 clared to be founded from the date of the present pub- 
 lication: That its boundaries are ( ,) That a 
 commission has been issued, appointing ( ) com- 
 missioners, for the purpose of surveying the territories 
 lying within the limits herein above stated, and which 
 territories will hereafter constitute the Settlement of 
 ( )* above-named. That so soon as the survey 
 so commanded has been duly performed, notice thereof 
 will be given in the Gazette, and a day appointed for the 
 sale of lands in the said Settlement — of which land so 
 surveyed, maps will be duly published." 
 
 The commission for the surveying the new colony 
 having been issued, the commissioners, with the sur- 
 veyors, &c., are at once despatched to their work. The 
 expense of this survey will be covered by the sale of the 
 lands, as hereafter to be described. 
 
 The survey is a most important proceeding. It need 
 not indeed be actually performed of the whole new out- 
 lying, and unappropriated wild territory ; but whatever 
 is done, must be done with a view to the whole eventual 
 survey, and with a comprehensive regard to the great 
 
 * I have not ventured on a name for my imaginary colony, but 
 wouldsuggest that some rational system of naming should beadopted. 
 Really new, and thereby distinguishing names ought to be employed. 
 We pursue at present Dandie Dinmont's plan with his dogs. 
 
 
f^-^ 
 
 120 
 
 SURVEY. 
 
 physical features of the whole territories, and with distinct 
 and constant relation to the political as well as the pri- 
 vate purposes for which the survey is instituted. For 
 the efficient and accurate fulfilment of this all-important 
 preliminary, the experience of the United States affords 
 ample instruction. There is no pretence for saying 
 that any difficulty exists which cannot be easily over- 
 come. 
 
 For political and social ends, the country must be 
 divided into Counties, Townships, and Parishes, and 
 roads must be indicated : for private purposes — for the 
 purpose of giving metes and bounds to private and 
 public property, the land to be sold must be divided 
 into LOTS. 
 
 To the minister there is of necessity much confided — 
 and upon his intelligence much will in the commence- 
 ment depend. Under the circumstances here supposed, 
 the whole is yet in its mere infancy. As we advance, 
 indeed, we shall see the ministerial influence becoming 
 less ; while that of the communities already formed, and 
 near to the spots about to be newly planted, and whose 
 interests would be greatly involved in the success of 
 every such new enterprise, will increase, and in the end, 
 render the welfare of the whole set, or group, or System 
 of colonies very little dependent upon the capacity or 
 knowledge of the Colonial Secretary. In the commence- 
 ment, however, we cannot possibly escape from the 
 necessity of some dependence on his activity, intelligence, 
 skill, and honesty. 
 
 The minister must decide where the first town shall 
 be placed — and the first town lots laid out — where, for 
 
FIRST SALE OF LAND. 
 
 121 
 
 I I 
 
 the first few years, the seat of government shall be 
 established — the court of appeal be holden. 
 
 The Gazette now declares the survey to be perfected, 
 the maps are published, and a day of sale of the land is 
 appointed. 
 
 We may now suppose the company of which mention 
 has been made, to be large purchasers of land, purchasing 
 like any other person, excepting that as they bring a 
 common purse, they are able to purchase more than 
 isolated individuals. 
 
 Now, also, ought to be experienced the full effect of 
 that Act of Parliament of which I spoke above, and 
 which I stated should act by a predetermined rule, at 
 once introducing law, and the machinery of government 
 into the Settlement. By that Act of Parliament a 
 system of municipal, that is, local management of local 
 concerns would be at once established. There would be 
 a parish, a tov»nship, a county organization. The 
 vestry, the township court, and the county council: 
 The various parish ofl&cers, such as constables, relieving 
 oflficers, way-wardens, {churchwardens?)* &c. : The 
 township officers, such as the magistrates of petty or 
 township sessions — select men who are sent from the 
 parishes, and other officers needed to superintend matters 
 interesting to the larger sections of the country, and, 
 lastly, sheriffs, and the members of the county council, 
 who would exercise for the county the same sort of juris- 
 diction that is now exercised in England by Town 
 
 * The reason for putting a query here will be seen when I dis- 
 cuss the question of a state church for the colony. 
 
ff -^1 
 
 122 
 
 GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Councils in boroughs, would all be described and provided 
 for. Such an organization* as this, being created by 
 a general Act of Parliament, every man in the new 
 colony would, on the instant of his arriving, and becom- 
 ing a settler, not only feel interested in the success of the 
 new community, but in some measure responsible for 
 it; he would also acquire a confidence in himself and 
 his position. In fact, that spirit of activity, that energy, 
 which have been so manifest in all the American colonies, 
 would appear in ours, and their prosperity would be 
 commensurate. 
 
 By the same Act of Parliament — ^not only would this 
 internal, domestic organization, if I may so call it, be 
 provided ; but so also would that by which the general 
 government of the new community would be carried on. 
 
 The metropolis — or, to speak English and not Greek, 
 the mother country — is bound to protect her colony 
 from all external aggression. With a warlike navy, 
 therefore, a colony has no concern. The case is not quite 
 the same with respect to the army : as regards foreign 
 enemies, the mother country must deal with them, and 
 for her army the colony is not called to contribute any 
 thing. But for many purposes a militia is useful ; as a 
 police, it is of great use, and if there be wandering and 
 
 * In a work like the present, every provision required in so im- 
 portant an act of parliament need not be set forth. What is now 
 necessary is simply to indicate the field of legislation, and give some 
 general idea of its extent and character, reserving for the framing 
 of the bill itself the systematic and complete exposition of all its 
 requisite provisions. But such a bill passed into an act is an in- 
 dispensable preliminary to any general or comprehensive policy, 
 or line of conduct. 
 

 r 
 
 INTERFERENCE Bf THE MOTHER-COUNTRY. 
 
 123 
 
 dangerous natives, the defence supplied by a militia 
 organization is indispensable. For a militia organization, 
 therefore, the general act should provide. 
 
 The new colony should not (except in the way of re- 
 quiring protection from foreign aggression) cost the 
 mother country anything.* This is a rule to which 
 there ought to be no exception. If a colony cannot 
 sustain itself, it is useless as a colony. For other poli- 
 tical ends, an outlying possession may be needed, and 
 has, therefore, to be provided for, as, for example, 
 Gibraltar, Malta, St. Helena, and Norfolk Island.f But 
 when we have to speak of colonies, and to deal with any 
 country in that character, we are not acting wisely, 
 unless, from the first, we insist upon the inexorable rule, 
 that it must be self-sustaining. In such cases, we ex- 
 clude all consideration of the expense resulting from our 
 army and navy. These are purely metropolitan expenses 
 — a price paid for the colony, but not by it. If the 
 colony be not worth the expense of protecting it against 
 foreign attack, we are bound at once to cast off the 
 colony — to sever the connexion between us and it. If 
 the colony thus left by us is able and willing to be in- 
 dependent, it will constitute itself an independent state. 
 
 * I shall devote a chapter to the consideration of a church esta- 
 blishment, and the expense thereof. 
 
 t I mention Norfolk Island, because I consider it simply a part 
 of the English prison system: And convict colonies, as they are some- 
 times called, colonies to which convicts are sent, should be always 
 regarded strictly in that light; attention being paid to the object of 
 ultimately raising the population to a higher and happier condition. 
 This, however, is a question of difficult detail, and deserves to be 
 carefully and systematically treated. 
 
124 
 
 COLONY SELF-SUSTAINING. 
 
 Si 
 
 li 
 ■ •i 
 
 il 
 \> 
 
 II 
 
 If it is not so able, it may, and probably would, be 
 seized upon and made a portion of some stronger power. 
 By the hypothesis, we are not willing to be at the ex- 
 pense of preventing this result, and we should not inter- 
 fere; neither should we have the right to do so, if the 
 colony chose in such a case to seek the aid, and submit 
 herself to the dominion of a more powerful state. If, 
 however, we think the benefit of the colonial connexion 
 sufficient to justify the expense of protection, we retain 
 the colony at our own cost and charge.* Such is the 
 fair result, and common sense view of the case. 
 
 The colony, then, is to maintain itself; maintaining 
 itself, common justice requires that she should tax 
 herself, and should manage her own money concerns. 
 
 In every colony there is, at the moment of its com- 
 mencement, a property from which a fund may be ob- 
 tained nearly sufficient in all cases for every colonial 
 necessity. If the fund supplied by this source is not 
 sufficient, the colonists must tax themselves for their 
 own exigencies. The property which is to supply the 
 colony with funds is the wild Land — which, from the 
 moment of the proclamation in the Gazette — ought to 
 
 * To keep land unsettled, because we are anxious to retain it at 
 little expense, is a most unjust and dog-in-the-manger policy. 
 While the land is unsettled, foreign nations do not think its pos- 
 session worth a war; if settled, they might desire it; and in case of 
 a war, might attack the territory. As we do not like the expense 
 attendant on protecting and retaining it, we keep it waste. This 
 policy has, in cases to which I could refer, guided our colonial 
 ministers; and opportunities of forming important communities 
 have thereby been lost. 
 
I 
 
 COLONIAL FUNDS. 
 
 125 
 
 be deemed and dealt with as the property, the national 
 property, of the colony so called into existence. 
 
 For some time, it is evident that there is no colonial 
 authority to deal with this fund. I have spoken already 
 of a sale of land, and of expense incurred in the survey, 
 but as yet no colonist exists — a colony has been meted 
 out — it has been named — the territory within those 
 bounds has been, by act of parliament, provided with 
 a law — within those boundaries the law reigns as com- 
 pletely as in England, but, as yet, there is no popu- 
 lation. Still there is a colony — the political entity is 
 there — and, moreover, there is money in existence be- 
 longing to it — the proceeds of the land sold. This sum 
 is to be dealt with. My supposed act of parliament deals 
 with it. The Secretary of State, acting in the name 
 of the colony about to be a Settlement, is directed to 
 open an account with the Bank of England, and to pay 
 in the money derived from the sale of the land to the 
 account of the colony. And in future, whensoever land 
 is sold by the authority of the Secretary of Str e, be- 
 longing thus to the Settlement, the procaeas, minus 
 simply the expense of the sale, are to be at once paid to 
 the account of the Settlement at the Bank of England. 
 
 The first settlers now proceed to their destination, 
 and the Settlement exists in fact as well as in name. 
 
 But we have not yet explained in what way that 
 which is usually called the government of the Settle- 
 ment is to be constituted. 
 
 The settlement is, as I have already said, a transition 
 state, in which the colony must continue until its popu- 
 
1 '■ 
 
 I ! 
 
 *'1; 
 
 
 126 
 
 CENSUS. 
 
 lation, of which a census is to be taken every five years, 
 reaches the number of ten thousand;* when, by this 
 quinquennial census the population is found and declared 
 to be a number beyond that of ten thousand, if it be 
 only one beyond, then ipso facto the Settlement becomes 
 a Province, and the consequences of that change will 
 hereafter be explained. 
 
 The population have as yet not reached ten thousand, 
 and therefore the colony is still a settlement, and must, 
 for some years, be governed as a Settlement. 
 
 So long as the supposed country remains in the con- 
 dition of a colony, whether as a Settlement or a Pro- 
 vince, there must exist some connecting link in the 
 government between the mother country and the colony. 
 The governor is usually that link, and is appointed by 
 the Crown. But so long as the condition of Settlement 
 exists, the amount of the salary of the governor, and of all 
 the functionaries appointed directly by the Crown, is also 
 determined by the Crown. The judges of the superior 
 courts and colonial secretary are, with the governor, 
 probably the only functionaries that need be so ap- 
 pointed. 
 
 The governor and assistants compose the legislature 
 of the settlement. 
 
 The assistants are, 1st, ex-officio the colonial secre- 
 tary ; 2nd, a treasurer to be appointed by the governor, 
 removable on the representation of the court of assistants ; 
 and, 3rd, one representative sent by each county, and 
 chosen every third year by the freeholders of the county. 
 
 * This number, will, I think, be found sufficient. 
 
WHEN SETTLEMENT BECOMES A PROVINCE. 
 
 127 
 
 H 
 
 This court of assistants to have legislative power in 
 the settlement, and power of taxation. 
 
 The court to sit all in one chamber, the governor 
 when present presiding, and to have the casting vote 
 and no other. The rule of presidency, supposing the 
 governor absent and a quorum present, might easily be 
 framed. 
 
 The governor to have a veto on all legislative acts, 
 and a power to reserve all such acts as he thinks fit for 
 approval by the Secretary of State. 
 
 While the colony continues a Settlement, the Secre- 
 tary of State may direct sales of land belonging to the 
 colony, to take place in England upon advertisement 
 duly given in the Gazette. The money to be paid into 
 the bank of England to the account of the settlement. 
 
 If the salaries of the governor, colonial secretary, and 
 judges are refused by the Court of Assistants, who are 
 annually to provide for the expenses of the settlements, 
 then the Secretary of State may, after notice given in 
 the Gazette of the refusal of the Court of Assistants, 
 order the bank to pay the said salaries out of any money 
 in their hands belonging to the Settlement. This 
 power is, I allow, a dangerous one; but I think ex- 
 perience shows that some such power is necessary in the 
 peculiar condition of a new community as here contem- 
 plated. It will be exercised, subject to the supervision 
 of Parliament, and cannot long exist. So soon as a 
 Province is constituted, all such power ceases. 
 
 The Court of Assistants shall have power to appoint an 
 agent in England for the sale of lands, and fron^ time to 
 time, as they see fit, to order sales of land, the Secre- 
 
 1 . 
 
 ! » 
 
 1 1 
 
 ( 
 
128 
 
 JUDICATURE. 
 
 ! 
 
 .! ( 
 
 k 
 
 1 
 
 tary of State sanctioning such orders of the Court of 
 Assistants. 
 
 The proceeds of such sales, after the payment of the 
 expenses, and the salaries of the governor, secretary, 
 and judges, to be applied to the purposes of the settle- 
 ment as the Court of Assistants shall think fit : — Such 
 appropriation of the settlement funds being by act of the 
 court, duly sanctioned by the governor on behalf of the 
 crown. Acts of appropriation, like all other acts of 
 the court, are to be subject to reservation, approbation, 
 or refusal by the governor acting in the name of the 
 Sovereign. Accounts of all lands sold, whether by order 
 of the Secretary of State or by the agent of the colony, 
 to be duly kept and regularly submitted to the Court of 
 Assistants. 
 
 Judicature The judicature of the Settlement 
 
 should be a regular system of courts. 
 
 1. There should be magistrates appointed by the 
 governor, with the powers generally of justices of the 
 peace. 
 
 2. Magistrates sitting in sessions every week in each 
 township, with a summary jurisdiction over petty debts 
 and cases of assault. 
 
 3. County courts of judicature. The court here 
 should consist of the county magistrates with a chair- 
 man appointed by the governor, and the jurisdiction 
 should be unlimited with respect to civil suits, and in 
 criminal matters to extend to all cases except of capital 
 crimes. v 
 
 4. An appeal court to consist of one judge appointed 
 by the Crown. This judge to try, also, all capital charges. 
 
DIGRESSION CONCERNING LAND FUND. 
 
 129 
 
 There has been a great deal said of late years con- 
 cerning the application of the funds derived from the 
 sale of wild hind in our colonies, and various schemes 
 respecting it have been propounded, till at length the 
 whole art of colonization (as the matter has been termed 
 with some alfectation) has, apparently, been supposed to 
 rest upon this mode of getting money, and the manner 
 of applying it to the service of the colony. The whole 
 of the leading scheme, however, when briefly and simidy 
 described — when robbed of the false importance which 
 many words and favourable and unfavourable preju- 
 dices h'.ve given it, is simply this: — 1. A high upset- 
 price, for the purpose of eoncentratimi the population of 
 the colony, is to be affixed to the wild land, and — 2. 
 Thv money derived from the sale of the wild lands is to 
 be applied in sending out well-selected settlers to the 
 new colony. There is nothing more — nothing less — in 
 this much talked-of, much abused, much praised scheme. 
 A great mystery has been created about it — a sort of 
 conjuration solemnity has been employed when describing 
 it. This, however, it is : — And, like most schemes of san- 
 guine projectors, it is based on a one-sided view ; has 
 been altogether exaggerated ; has misled many who have 
 supposed wonderful effects would follow the plan if 
 adopted, and will mislead many more, if people will 
 trust to excited and sanguine imaginations rather than 
 their own reason. 
 
 A colony certainly cannot be planted without inha- 
 bitants. If its first settlers are persons fitted to bear 
 the hardships and overcome the difficulties attendant 
 upon the formation of a colony, success will undoubtedly 
 
 K 
 
 r 
 
130 
 
 DIGRESSION CONCERNING 
 
 bo rendered more probable, than if a host of idle, decre- 
 pit, and ignorant persons, attempt to plant a settlement. 
 This was perceived by John Smith, in Virginia, as early 
 as the year 1608, just as clearly as by any person at the 
 present day; and they who were careful to send out 
 young, handsome, and " incorrupt" maidens, were well 
 aware of the benefit resulting from well-selected emi- 
 grants. 
 
 But inhabitants are not all that is required, as the 
 very statement allows which insists upon the necessity 
 of selection and concentration. Let us illustrate this, 
 and then judge of the wisdom of insisting upon the appli- 
 cation of the whole of the land-fund to the sending out 
 inhabitants. Suppose, when the first sales have been 
 made, there is in the bank, paid to the account of the 
 settlement, say the round sum of 10,000/. Apply this 
 fund, says this new system, to emigration — use it all, and 
 place upon the strand of the new settlement as many 
 settlers, well chosen, as the money will enable you to 
 export. Is this a wise proceeding? The moment the 
 colony begins to exist — the moment a new community is 
 formed — there are wants which at once arise, and are 
 felt by every man in the community. These wants must 
 be provided for at the common expense. First — and I 
 place it in the very front — there is the want of a govern- 
 ment. You need security to be established immediately ; 
 for without security there will be no steady labour, and 
 without steady labour there will be no success. Let 
 any one who wishes to learn the influence of govern- 
 ment, in this sense, upon the fortunes of a new commu- 
 nity, read the early history of Virginia and the New 
 
 \ 
 
LAND FUND. 
 
 IHl 
 
 , dccre- 
 lemcnt. 
 IS early 
 <i at the 
 ind out 
 ire well 
 3(1 ciiii- 
 
 , as the 
 ecessity 
 te this, 
 e appli- 
 iing out 
 ve been 
 t of the 
 ply this 
 all, and 
 } many 
 you to 
 lent the 
 unity is 
 md are 
 ts must 
 —and I 
 govern- 
 liately ; 
 ur, and 
 i. Let 
 ^overn- 
 :ommu- 
 e New 
 
 England States. Not only was security needed for their 
 success, but the stimulus of individual interests, which 
 could only Ikj created by the institution of private pro- 
 perty, was needed also. They (the colonists of Virginia 
 and Massachusetts) began with having all things in 
 common, and could never advance; the right of private 
 property was after wards established, and from that moment 
 the colonies began to prosper. But the right of private 
 property means, that there is somewhere a power which 
 will protect each individual, and insure him the privi- 
 lege, unmolested, of enjoying his own — his private pro- 
 perty This power is the government. 
 
 But government costs money ; and, I ask, would it 
 not be wise to limit the number of your settlers, and 
 apply some of your funds to the maintenance of a 
 government which will insure security? This should 
 be, indeed, a frugal government, and there is no means 
 of making it effectually a frugal government but intrust- 
 ing it to the people themselves. 
 
 But I have not by any means exhausted my catalogue 
 of wants. No new settlement can succeed without roads; 
 but roads are expensive. Bridges are equally necessary ; 
 these also are expensive. A wharf will be needed. Now 
 these are common wants — that is, wants which all 
 feel — but it is not wise, particularly in a new settle- 
 ment, to throw the burthen of making roads, bridges, &c., 
 upon private enterprise ; and no application of the com- 
 mon money could be devised more conducive to the 
 common weal, than the making good roads at the very 
 commencement of the settlement. 
 
 A court-house, a jail, are absolutely needed, and they 
 
 K 2 
 
 < i 
 
' I 
 
 \ 
 
 \'}\ 
 
 132 
 
 DIGRESSION CONCERNING 
 
 who seek to frame successful colonies will limit the 
 number of the inhabitants, and supply all their absolute 
 necessities, rather than send out double the number of 
 selected emigrants without any provision of the kind. 
 
 But if here it is said : — "No such thing as employing 
 all the money derived from the sale of land in sending 
 out emigrants was ever intended or proposed; all that 
 you have said, we mean ;" — if this be so, then I answer, 
 Let us reduce tliis supposed great discovery to its true 
 dimensions. You mean merely this*: — "It is wise to 
 sell the wild land of the colony, and apply some of the 
 money to sending out a certain number of selected 
 emigrants." 
 
 Even this statement, narrowed to this insignificant 
 condition, must be received with many saving considera- 
 tions. In the very infancy of the colony, the goveim,- 
 ment of the colony may find it a wise policy, not simply 
 to attract emigrants, by offering great facilities and 
 advantages to the settler, who seeks to procure for 
 himself and his family a comfortable home, and the 
 means of subsistence, and a chance of advancement in 
 life ;— It may be, I say, a wise policy in the government 
 of the colony to go beyond this at the very outset, and 
 not only attract, but actually to take out, a number of 
 selected emigrants : But this will, and must, soon cease 
 to be wise policy. If the colony be well conducted, 
 fertile, and enjoying a good climate, such attractions 
 will quickly bring out voluntary emigrants in large 
 numbers. There will be no need to swell the tide of 
 emigration to such a country ; you will have enough, 
 and more than enough. Tlie application of the country's 
 
LAND FUND. 
 
 133 
 
 wealth ought to be left to the prudence of the people 
 themselves. If to them it seems the wisest application 
 to bring out emigrants, we may be assured that they 
 will act upon this opinion ; and if it should not seem tlie 
 wisest course, I, in that case, would rather put my faith 
 in the wisdom of the community most interested in the 
 matter, than in the opinions of any person who cogitates 
 upon the question, without experiencing one of the diffi- 
 culties which have to be dealt with. 
 
 There is, however, something which is kept back and 
 veiled in this proposed and vaunted scheme — a thing 
 understood^ but never openly avowed. This plan is pro- 
 posed to the rulers of England as a useful scheme, by 
 means of which the population of this our own country 
 may be kept down. This may be a useful end for England ; 
 but we are not justified in attempting to attain it at 
 the expense of the colonies. If England need this thing 
 — which for my part I doubt — let England pay for it ; 
 and not shabbily, by a device, shift the expense on 
 others ; and let her not lend her ear to those who come 
 with a scheme of gain in their hands, as a temptation 
 for her to quit the straight plain path, and follow the 
 crooked ways of a policy that cannot be called honest. 
 
 Great stress has also been laid upon the evils of allow- 
 ing a population to be scattered over the country ; upon 
 the misery resulting from high wages of servants, their 
 insolence; the horrors of an American aid^ or help; the 
 loss of harvests from the want of hands to gather it ; 
 and all the many mischiefs attendant upon what the 
 Americans, quite alive to the inconveniences of the 
 thing, call a sparse population. Upon all these things 
 
134 
 
 DIGRESSION CONCERNING 
 
 m ! 
 
 .^ 
 
 i i 
 
 M i 
 
 11 V: 
 
 :i 
 
 
 II 
 
 the same class of politicians have descanted; and in 
 opposition to this dismal picture have placed a rhetorical 
 description of the benefits of concentration. And having 
 thus properly possessed the hearer's mind with a horror 
 of one condition of things, and delight when contem- 
 plating the other, a scheme is proposed for his approba- 
 tion — a scheme for the purpose of preventing this mis- 
 chievous scattering^ and by compulsion producing con- 
 centration and all its attendant benefits. The scheme 
 consists of a rule by which a high upset price is affixed 
 to all the wild land offered for sale in the colony. I 
 own that I look with great suspicion upon every attempt 
 by a government to direct men in the application of 
 their capital, and in their pursuit of wealth and happi- 
 ness. The interest of the parties themselves to take 
 the wisest course, whatever that may be, is so strong, 
 that I would rather trust to its influence than to the 
 wisdom of any government, were it composed of philo- 
 sophers the wisest the world ever saw. Philosophers, 
 too, are very apt to make terrible mistakes when they 
 deal with men, in place of propositions. Locke failed 
 egregiously when he attempted to frame a constitution 
 for Carolina ; but the settlers themselves devised one of 
 great practical worth — one which has made the people 
 of Carolina a very happy community. 
 
 We, also, living in the midst of the most complicated 
 state of civilization which the Avorld ever beheld, ar6 
 apt to judge very erroneously when we look at men in a 
 society surrounded by circumstances of so novel and 
 peculiar a character as that of the new States of North 
 America. The pleasures which that state of society 
 
LAND FUND. 
 
 135 
 
 
 affords are to us unknown. The strange — the stirring 
 life — the rapid advance, the activity, the eagerness, the 
 strife even, the absence of all the constraint which 
 besets us in our mode of living — the roaming and the 
 freedom — these are exciting, intensely exciting enjoy- 
 ments, of which we know nothing, and which we cannot 
 appreciate. Yet they who have tasted of this magic 
 cup are for ever after slaves of " its brewed enchant- 
 ments." They feel, when brought into the subjection of 
 our civilization, like a wild animal confined in a cage 
 — his waking hours are hours of misery, because of the 
 narrow limits of his enforced home ; and in his sleep, he 
 dreams of the distant wilds which he has lost for ever, 
 1' • s regain his life of happy freedom, and wakes, to find 
 I {>i.fif in the miserable thrall of his narrow prison.* 
 All the inconveniences which in a drawing-room are 
 talked of with intense disgust, are passed by without 
 comment, or are heeded only for a moment ; they add to 
 the excitements, and heighten the enjoyments, which 
 that state of society affords. 
 
 A class of men, moreover, has been brought into 
 existence in America by the necessities of a rising 
 country, whose life is passed as the pioneers of civiliza- 
 tion. When they have rescued the land from the wilds, 
 they grow tired — they become sick of the ** clearings ;" 
 
 ■^ ^ 
 
 r, 
 
 * See the confessions, on this subject, of the young Ruxton, 
 an Englishman and an officer, who was so enamoured of this wild 
 existence, that he left England to enjoy it, and died shortly after hia 
 return to America. The ''Far West" is the title of his work, 
 and gives the bright side of the picture. 
 
IP 
 
 tl 
 
 
 1' 
 
 ''! 
 
 '1 ' 
 
 
 136 
 
 DIGRESSION CONCERNING 
 
 ' 
 
 k 
 
 (it was no exaggeration of the old hunter, who said he lost 
 his way in them;) and they pass on, and are succeeded 
 by the farmers of the country, a race very unlike our 
 tenant-farmers, but a hardy, active, shrewd race, never- 
 theless, well fitted for the task they have to perform. 
 And wonderful are the results. These are best to be 
 seen in the Western or Prairie States, which, if the doc- 
 trine of concentration had been acted on by the United 
 States, would still have been the untilled wastes which 
 they were half a century since, with the wild Indian for 
 an inhabitant. The old states would not, however, have 
 been at all improved by this hopeful scheme. The riches 
 of the west have reacted on the older states ; the rising 
 young communities have supported and buoyed up their 
 older brethren. Fortunately for the United States, 
 practical wisdom has presided over their colonization. 
 They, fortunately for themselves, have not been ob- 
 structed by an inert and jealous colonial office ; nor have 
 they been encumbered by futile schemes, — by which the 
 private interests of the people are subjected to the 
 supervision of the State, and individual prudence super- 
 seded by government wisdom. 
 
 Throughout the plans and arrangements which I pro- 
 pose, I look to the one object of planting successfully a 
 colony — nnd promoting its success to the utmost, after 
 it has been planted. By this means, I assume that the 
 welfare of the mother country is most fairly, as well as 
 most effectively promoted. My object is not to obtain 
 a means of cheaply getting rid of a troublesome 
 population. I offer no scheme to my countrymen for any 
 such purpose ; neither do I propose to them a scheme of 
 
LAND FUND. 
 
 137 
 
 money-getting, or a speculation by which a large per 
 centage is to be obtained on their capital. I address 
 myself to the statesmen of England, and submit to them 
 for consideration a system of arrangements, by which 
 our waste dominions may be made the happy homes of 
 future generations — of millions who will speak the Ian- 
 gua^^e — be proud of the name, of Englishmen — and con- 
 tinue in close connexion with the parent state, because 
 united to her by a strict community of interests. Viewed 
 with reference to these considerations, this question of 
 the application of the money produced by the sale of 
 the waste lands, though an important, is by no means 
 the most important subject of inquiry. Some of the 
 early difficulties which arise in planting a colony are, by 
 means of the fund supplied by the land, rendered less 
 formidable. But many things must be thought of be- 
 sides this one. It is an item, indeed, not inconsider- 
 able in itself, but if looked at with reference to all that 
 must be taken into the account, will be seen to have 
 been greatly overrated, and to have withdrawn conside- 
 ration from other and yet more important matters, 
 without which the means furnished by the land will 
 be of no avail towards attaining the great national end 
 we are now seeking. 
 
 The fashion of the present day is very much to deride 
 all ancient (classic) experience ; but I cannot avoid, when 
 seeking for experience upon the subject of colonization, 
 looking sometimes to the endeavours of the great fore- 
 runners in all human improvement, the Greeks, and 
 asking what they did as the founders of colonies? Their 
 colonies were very unlike those of the Roman. There 
 
 f V ,! ' 
 
 ^H 
 
 M 
 
 I •; 
 
 
 M: 
 
II 
 
 Ir' 
 
 138 
 
 DIGRESSION CONCCRNING 
 
 was much more in them of the circumstances which be- 
 long to a modern English colony, than can be found in 
 any cclonies of Rome. The iron lords of Rome thought 
 only cf extending Rome as Rome — the dominant, en- 
 forcing, tyrannous Rome. Greece did not seek this end. 
 There was in her colonies the kindly, gentle feeling of 
 tht) mother city — a word which we have adopted with 
 the feeling which it enunciates. That gentle, kindly tie, 
 we also wish to exist, and we endeavour to create it. 
 Now, then, let us look to Greek experience — let us look 
 ai- the great colonies of Sicily, and let us overlook the 
 injustice done to the aborigines — the Sikels and the 
 Sikans — as we overlook the aborigines in Asia, Africa, 
 and America. That we — we Englishmen— do so, cannot 
 be denied ; and it is nothing but a base, shuffling hypo- 
 crisy that attempts to hide this fact. I acknowledge it; 
 and I say, that for the mass, the sum of human enjoy- 
 ment to be derived from this globe which God has given 
 us, it is requisite for us to pass over the original tribes 
 that We find existing in the separate lands which we 
 colonize. When the European comes in contact with any 
 other type of man, that other type disappears. Let us 
 not shade our eyes, and pretend not to see this result. 
 Hypocrisy is by such a proceeding added to all the evils 
 which we must encounter. The result is the same. 
 1\\Q dkhov\gmQ& disappear. \ ^ 
 
 The Greeks aflford us a remarkable example, if we 
 read their history with carefulness, and with attention to 
 things, and not to words. What says their latest, and, 
 though Thucydides has written their story, I may say 
 their most thoughtful historian — one who brings to his 
 
LAND FUND. 
 
 139 
 
 '!v 
 
 task a remarkable combination of qualities— one who 
 in these days of progress has been a merchant — a pupil 
 of a philosopher — a democratic representative of the 
 people — and is a scholar — need I say, that I mean Mr. 
 Grote? What, then, is his statement as regards Grecian 
 colonies? The concentration of the Greek Sicilian colonies 
 was complete. The outlying and hostile population forced 
 them to a remarkable concentration. The land was 
 fertile, the climate exquisite, the people of the finest type 
 the world has ever known ; and when I say so, I take 
 the Anglo-Saxon type into the comparison. What does 
 Mr. Grote say of the Sicilian colonies of Greece ? 
 
 " Their progress, though very great, during this most 
 prosperous interval (between the foundation of Naxos, in 
 735 B. c. to the reign of Gel6n at Syracuse, in 485 B. c.) 
 is not to be compared to that of the English colonies in 
 North America ; but it was nevertheless very great, and 
 appears greater, from being concentrated, as it was, in 
 and around a few cities. Individual spreading and 
 separation were rare, nor did they consist either with 
 the security or the social feelings of a Greek colonist. 
 The city to which he belonged vf^s, the central point of 
 his existence, where the produce which he raised was 
 brought home to be stored or sold, and where alone his 
 active life, political, domestic, recreative, &c., was carried 
 on. There were dispersed throughout the territory of 
 the city small fortified places and garrisons, serving 
 as temporary protection to the cultivators in case of 
 inroad; but there was no permanent residence for the 
 free citizen except the town itself. This was, perhaps, 
 even more the case in a colonial settlement, where every- 
 
 '\ i 
 
 ;■; ! 
 
 
 
\f' 
 
 
 fjl 
 
 1 
 
 140 
 
 DIGRESSION CONCERNING 
 
 thing began and spread from one central point, than in 
 Attica, where the separate villages had once nourished a 
 population once politically independent. It was in the 
 town therefore, that the aggregate increase of the colony 
 palpably concentrated itself — property as well as popu- 
 lation — private comfort and luxury not less than public 
 force and grandeur. Such growth and improvement was 
 of course sustained by the cultivation of the territory, but 
 the evidences of it were manifested in the town ; and the 
 large population, which we shall have occasion to notice 
 as belonging to Agrigentum, Sybaris, and other cities, 
 will illustrate this position."* 
 
 Here then we have an instance of a very peculiar 
 concentration — and that, too, of a people in every par- 
 ticular enjoying a high state of civilization, and them- 
 selves intelligent, active, brave, and prudent. Still the 
 historian, well versed in modern as in ancient history, 
 as familiar with the adventures of Raleigh as of Archias 
 — as conversant with the story of Virginia as of 
 Syracuse,! declares that the progress of these Grecian 
 colonies, though eminently successful, was not to be 
 compared with that of our North American colonies. If 
 then they were inferior to the thirteen old colonies, how 
 much inferior must they be to the seventeen new colonies 
 
 * Grote's Hist, of Greece, vol. iii. pp. 487-8. 
 
 t Mr. Grote is evidently attentive to all that is going on around 
 him at the present moment, though he be no longer member for the 
 city of London. The historian of Greece watches, as he ought to 
 do, the fortunes of England. He is not less intent upon the fate of 
 New Zealand than upon that of Sicily. See p. 486, vol. iii., of the 
 Hist, of Greece. 
 
LAND FUND. 
 
 141 
 
 which have been founded since 1783. Why should wc 
 then suppose that any peculiar and magical effects are 
 to be attributed to concentration ; and why should we 
 attempt, by legislative provisions, to enforce a concen- 
 tration, which private interest would not induce? why 
 should we coop people within a rigid circle of restraint, 
 who desire to follow the suggestions of their own hopes 
 and anticipations — and, under the influence of this 
 powerful stimulus, to brave all the difficulties of the 
 wilderness, and to extend the area of a civilization, im- 
 perfect if you will, yet still far superior to anything 
 which these wild regions ever yet knew ? There may be 
 loss, there may be folly, there may be disappointment — 
 yet, after the struggle, there will be found a town, a 
 district, a people of civilized beings, securely placed, and 
 enjoying happiness which they could not hope for in 
 their ancient state — and there will be seen to be the 
 broad foundations of a thriving, self-supporting, and 
 constantly improving community. These surely are 
 great results, sufficient to compensate us for the petty 
 inconveniences to which, undoubtedly, the inhabitants of 
 every rising community are subject, in which land is 
 cheap, and labour highly rewarded. We should, how- 
 ever, remember the fable of the lion and the man. Ask 
 a working man what he thinks of this state of things. 
 
 Having thus described the administrative and legisla- 
 tive machinery, we proceed to the next step in the 
 government destined for our new community. 
 
 t) 
 
 '1 V 
 
 'I 'l 
 
'I 
 
 II 
 
 142 
 
 
 1 
 
 ifi 
 
 Section III. 
 
 PROVINCE — DECLARED — TRIPARTITE CONSTITUTION — OF WHAT 
 
 COMPOSED-^POWERS OF CIVIL LIST LAND FOND TRADE 
 
 DISPUTES BESPECTINO POWERS THE CHURCH — KDUC\TION. 
 
 Now, let US suppose our Settlement to have existed five 
 years, and that, its census having been at the legal time 
 completed, the number of its inhabitants is found already 
 to exceed ten thousand. It now becomes the duty of 
 the governor, in obedience to the provisions of our Act 
 of Parliament, to notify to the Secretary of State that 
 the population of the Settlement of ( ) now 
 
 amounts to the number, say, of eleven thousand souls. 
 
 The Secretary of State, also, in obedience to the Act, 
 publishes that fact in the next Gazette, and notifies that, 
 in consequence of this increase of the population, and in 
 pursuance of an Act passed in the year of our Lady 
 the now Queen, the said Settlement of ( ) has 
 
 now become the Province of ( ), and entitled 
 
 to all the rights and privileges by the said Act conferred. 
 
 The Settlement is now the Province of ( ). 
 
 We have seen that, in the case of the territory of the 
 United States passing from the condition of a Territory 
 to that of a State, and becoming a portion of the great 
 federal Union, an act of Congress is needed; and the 
 people themselves frame their constitution. This mode 
 of proceeding is hardly compatible with the relative 
 position of a colony and its mother country ; and would, 
 besides, be in some measure disagreeable to the people of 
 this country, because opposed to their customary habits 
 
A PROVINCE DECLARED. 
 
 143 
 
 of feeling and of conduct. I therefore propose to obviate 
 every difficulty arising from this source by providing 
 beforehand, and by Act of Parliament, for the case which 
 I have here supposed. I would so provide by general 
 provisions — provisions cautiously considered, and appli- 
 cable to every colony planted by Englishmen, as I have 
 already supposed, whether in British North America, 
 Australasia, or South Africa. To New Zealand, also, 
 these provisions ought to apply. 
 
 The fact of the Colony becoming a Province has not 
 severed the relation between the colony and the mother 
 country — it has merely modified the forms, and clianged 
 some of the incidents of that relation. 
 
 Secretaries of State for the Colonies, and the 
 Colonial Office, (very different things, by-the-bye,) are 
 much in the habit of reasoning upon colonial constitu- 
 tions, after forced analogies between them and that of 
 the mother country. They make two houses of par- 
 liament, and call one the upper, the other the lower 
 house ; and the governor they will talk of as if he were 
 the King. Now, none of these analogies will bear 
 examination. The so-called upper house, which they 
 are ever talking of as a House of Lords, has none of the 
 attributes of a House of Lords. The members of this 
 upper chamber are not an aristocracy of wealth or birth ; 
 they have none of the social importance which wealth 
 gives, neither have they that which is derived from a 
 long line of ancestry, and the prestige of noble birth. 
 They are men suddenly lifted by the Crown from the 
 situation of plain subjects, and gifted with legislative 
 powers ; but they exercise no influence over the people, 
 neither are they the objects of such respect as we see 
 
 i 1 
 
 •f '! 
 
144 
 
 TRirARTITE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 1)1 
 
 I 
 
 paid to noblemen, or men of largo landed possessions. 
 So, again, with the governor — no man in a colony looks 
 upon the governor as the King. There is no personal 
 regard felt towards him, like that which is called 
 loyalty, and which is really entertained for the Queen ; 
 and which Englishmen feel for the King of England, 
 though he may be individually wholly unworthy of 
 respect. The King of England — the Sovereign repre- 
 sents, for certain great purposes, the great nation of 
 England — bowing to him, respecting him, is really 
 bowing to and respecting England, and England's mighty 
 power. But who looks upon Governor Thomson, or 
 Governor Johnson, as any thing but Thomson and 
 Johnson? Very good men, perhaps, in their way, but 
 representing no idea, no feeling, associated in men's 
 minds with a long line of royal ancestors — with a mighty 
 power — with a wide-spreading dominion. Let us not 
 be led into the use of idle analogies — let us keep our 
 minds intent upon the real difficulty of the problem to 
 be solved, and the peculiarity of the case with which we 
 have to deal. The peculiar relation we have to main- 
 tain is that of mother country and colony. The two 
 things we have to keep in harmony, are the two interests 
 of the one country and the other. We have to provide 
 a good government for the colony, and yet preserve un- 
 diminished the metropolitan power of England. 
 
 In England, we are accustomed to our tripartite con- 
 stitution ; and we have not only imported it into our 
 colonies, but we have inculcated the feelings we ourselves 
 entertain upon the minds of the citizens of the United 
 States. Nowhere will you find stronger supporters of 
 
 
TRIPAKTITE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 145 
 
 
 two legislative chambers than in America. A re- 
 markable instance of the growing strength of the 
 opinion in favour of two houses, or chambers, has been 
 afforded lately in the instance of Rhode Island. By the 
 charter granted by Charles II., a constitution was de- 
 vised for the new colony, and, in that constitution, there 
 was only one legislative house; and Rhode Island, when 
 she renounced her allegiance to England, retained her 
 old constitution under the charter of Ciarles II. Biit a 
 few years since, she altered her model, and made her 
 constitution similar to that of all the other states, by 
 instituting another legislative chamber; she, up to th, ^ 
 moment, having been the sole state of the whole thirty 
 with a legislature of one legislative body only, } there- 
 fore yield to the feeling which I find so stoutly main- 
 tained in England and America.* The example of the 
 National Assembly of France, I own, has given me no 
 confidence in my own preconceived opinioUj that one 
 chamber was sufficient, and that two (hambers were 
 merely a clumsy addition. The facility with which the 
 people of France change opinions, feelings, institutions. 
 
 * During the late discussions in France on the subject of a 
 single, as compared with two chambers, I have reason to know 
 that many intelligent Americans were greatly interested in the 
 matter, and urged with great en 'n .siLness the national assembly to 
 adopt the plan of two chambers. One of the most distinguished of 
 the Americans, now in England, wrote warmly to me on the sub- 
 ject, because, by an expression I had used, he had reason to believe 
 that I approved of the plan adopted, which is, as we all know, that 
 of one chamber. He cited the experience and feelings of his own 
 country, and naturally dwelt upon it as most weighty testimony in 
 favour of two legislative bodies. 
 

 146 
 
 TRIPAUTITE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 H 
 
 
 fli 
 
 fcil 
 
 ' i 
 
 Si 
 
 dynasties, utterly destroys their authority in matters of 
 legislation. I feel not at all sure that, before this work 
 of mine appears in print, the proposed French constitu- 
 tion may not be swept away by another revolution, and 
 that an Emperor for life may not be by acclaim substi- 
 tuted for an elective President. I would rather stand 
 in the ancient ways of our own constitution, than fol- 
 low so fleeting and dismal a meteor as a French institu- 
 tion. 
 
 I propose, then, that the constitution of the new 
 Province should consist of — 1. A legislature, composed 
 of — 1. A Governor, to be appointed by the Crown, for 
 such time as to the Crown seems fit. The Crown may ap- 
 point whom (being a subject) it pleases, when it pleases, 
 and for so long as it pleases. 2. A legislative Council 
 to be elected for five years by the freeholders of the 
 country, each county returning one member. And, 
 3. A House of Assembly, elected for three years by the 
 freeholders, each county sending two.* [I shall imme- 
 diately discuss some points connected with the powers 
 of the legislature.] 
 
 2. Next of an administrative body called the 
 Executive Council, to be appointed entirely by the 
 Governor, and selected, like our own administration. 
 
 m 
 
 * I do not dwell here on the constituency, or the mere forms of 
 voting, &c. ; but the constituency ought to be as wide as possible, 
 and the elections should occur at times predetermined by the con- 
 stitutional law. The ordinance above quoted will, I suppose, 
 somewhat surprise those who look to America for democratic 
 examples. The property qualification, both for electors and repre- 
 sentatives, being by that law stringently enforced. 
 
CIVIL LIST. 
 
 147 
 
 from such persons as can command a majority in the 
 two Houses of the Legislature. 
 
 3. Of a Judicature. The judges to be appointed by 
 the Crown, acting by means of the Governor. The 
 number of the judges must be decided, in the case of 
 each Province, by its necessities. The legislature must 
 for themselves decide upon tliis question. 
 
 It is not necessary for me to give a precise and com- 
 plete enumeration of the powers to be possessed by the 
 Legislature of the Province. Some observations, how- 
 ever, are needed on a few separate and peculiar ques- 
 tions: — On the Civil List — On the Land Fund — and 
 Trade. I will briefly remark on these three subjects, 
 and in the order I have named them here. 
 
 1. The Civil List has always proved a stumbling 
 block for Colonial Secretaries, simply because they insist 
 upon following false analogies. In England, when the 
 Sovereign mounts the throne, a civil list is voted by 
 parliament for the life of the Sovereign. The colonies 
 have constantly demurred and hesitated when the pro- 
 posal has been made to them to follow the example of 
 England, and in the same way provide a civil list for 
 the life of the new Sovereign. The objection of the 
 colonists has not yet been answered ; it is this : — they 
 say, there is no danger in passing the civil list in 
 England for a Sovereign's life, as it forms so very 
 small an item of the whole expenditure of England, and 
 because full power and control are retained by parliament, 
 not merely by the annually-voted expenditure, but by 
 the Mutiny Bill, which is renewed from year to year. 
 Parliament, by refusing that bill, or by refusing to pay 
 
 t 2 
 
 M ^\ 
 
 i : 
 
 .^1 
 
 r;' 
 
 ■m 
 
148 
 
 LAND FUND. 
 
 the army, can compel obedience to its wishes. But we, 
 say the colonists, if we pay our civil list, can have no 
 guarantee for our having a parliament for years ; and if 
 the governor chooses to set us at defiance, we have no 
 longer any effective check upon him. 
 
 This argument I think valid. On the other hand, 
 there is certainly an evil in making the judges dependent 
 on a popular assembly from year to year for their salaries 
 and subsistence. There is a road out of this difficulty. 
 We may adopt the plan of the Belgian legislature — a 
 very grave, sedate, and rational legislature — and vote 
 the civil list, including therein the salaries of the 
 judges and the governor, for ten years. If there are 
 any other officers who need to be included in the civil 
 list, they may be easily placed there. I do not, however, 
 see reason why any should be so placed, except the 
 judges and the governor. 
 
 2. So soon as the Province is constituted, all power 
 of the Secretary of State over the wild lands of the 
 colony ought to cease. The account at the Bank of 
 England is closed, and the money belonging to the 
 Settlement should be paid into the Exchequer of the 
 Province; the agent of the Settlement no longer 
 exists, and all subsequent regulations concerning the 
 land, the sales, aiil the agent, must now emanate from 
 the Legislature and Government of the Province. 
 
 The governor still possesses the power, as representing 
 the Sovereign, and, in her name, of assenting to, of 
 reserving for approval, or of refusing, any measure or 
 bill passed by the two legislative houses. This power, 
 to be exercised by the governor appointed by the Crown, 
 is the link connecting the colony and the mother country. 
 
LAND FUND. 
 
 149 
 
 
 The above statement as to the land within the colony, 
 and the control of the colonial legislature over it, and 
 its whole revenue and expenditure, will, I have no 
 doubt, appear to the casual reader a very fair, and not 
 unexpected proposition. But they who are conversant 
 with the Colonies and with the Colonial Office, well know 
 the sort of bitter opposition with which it would be met, 
 if the Act of Parliament I have so often spoken of were 
 now a Bill before parliament. The fierce, pertinacious 
 opposition of the Colonial Office, when this proposal was 
 made on behalf of the Canadas, or rather on behalf of 
 Lower Canada, I well know. The House of Assembly 
 demanded, and wisely demanded, the control, not merely 
 of the nett produce of the Land Fund — the produce which 
 the authorities chose to pay into the provincial exchequer 
 — but they asked for the accounts of the gross sums ob- 
 tained — they claimed to have a voice respecting every 
 farthing which the Land Fund supplied, and a control over 
 the expenses of collection. But they were met by the old 
 tale of analogies, — the wild lands and other public estates 
 were Crown lands — they were like the hereditary property 
 of the King in England, and could not be touched without 
 an invasion of the prerogative. A rebellion broke out 
 before this foolish opposition ceased. It ceased as to 
 Canada, because the Colonial Office was afraid to con- 
 tinue it. The hidden rulers of that mysterious precinct 
 were frightened into compliance. But in those cases 
 where no fear exists, control over the wild lands will be 
 firmly retained. This mischievous power is the bane of 
 our colonies. The persons who exercise it may be, and 
 I dare say are, very well intentioned — I say nothing of 
 their motives. They are, however, too far ofi* — too 
 
 
 ')i :i 
 
 1. ; ' 
 
 1 i ■• 
 
i I ■' 
 
 I 
 
 
 I !■ 
 
 150 
 
 LAND FUND. 
 
 much occupied with other matters — to be able properly, 
 or even fairly, to deal with interests like these. We 
 are all of us accustomed to hear very sharp criticisms 
 upon the system of centralization which pervades every 
 part of the government of France. Napoleon at Moscow, 
 and in the Kremlin, regulating the opera at Paris, may 
 be a more ludicrous exaggeration of this system, but he 
 certainly is not a more complete or mischievous instance 
 of it than a clerk of the Colonial Office in Downing-street 
 deciding upon the steps to be taken for the survey and 
 sale of lands in South Australia, New Zealand, Port 
 Philip, Natal, in the townships of Lower Canada, or 
 away on some far distant liver that may fall into Erie 
 or Ontario. Yet such, by the theory, is his power. The 
 probability is, that in any case of the sort, he would be 
 profoundly ignorant of the very name of the place,* and 
 without one atom of knowledge which could guide his 
 decision upon the matter respecting which he would 
 
 Yi 
 
 ::l. if 
 
 * A celebrated Chancellor of the Exchequer, now no more, once 
 asked a friend of mine, when discussing with him the subject of 
 the timber trade, if Montreal was not the capital of Upper Canada. 
 My astonished friend, who had before the interview very exalted 
 ideas as to what a Chancellor of the Exchequer was, came to me 
 breathless to relate the story. I myself was malicious enough to 
 ask a young gentleman, sent to a Committee of the House of 
 Commons by the Colonial Office, in order to instruct us benighted 
 legislators, the question, " What are the King's posts, sir." The 
 committee was inquiring into the grievances of Canada, and the 
 question related to that country. The King's posts are, in fact, 
 certain distant establish ?nts far beyond the limits of civilization, 
 kept up for purposes of intercourse with the Indians. The answer 
 was, " Oh, they are the mail, in fact, and carry letters ! !" Yet this 
 gentleman would have considered himself a much more competent 
 
LAND FUND. 
 
 151 
 
 have to decide. The reason, however, of all this evil 
 opposition, is a sort of vague fear, that mischief will 
 follow their own loss of power. The certain mischief now 
 done they cannot perceive ; but on the dangers to English 
 connexion from conceding to the people power over their 
 own money, the whole host of the Colonial Office can he 
 violently eloquent. The abstract idea of a colonist, in 
 the mind of a colonial official, is of a man ever on the 
 verge of rebellion, and always manifesting his disloyalty 
 by complaining of official expenditure. And colonies, 
 by the same worthy class, are looked upon as patronage 
 ground. They are not established for any of the strange 
 ends which I have supposed. The notion of extending 
 the blessings of civilization to lands now waste — of in- 
 creasing the numbers of a happy and intelligent people 
 — of rendering our distant and now useless territories a 
 means of adding to our power, and securing the well- 
 being of our industrious population, — all these, and similar 
 ideas, he treats as mere idle pretences, unmeaning words, 
 
 person to rule over the crown lands than the legislature of the 
 country. The particular instance of ignorance was the more re- 
 markable, because the existence of the King's Posts Company was 
 connected with one of the grievances of which Lower Canada com- 
 plained. Why her representatives complained, will be seen from 
 the following extract and description : — " There is an establish- 
 ment called the King's Posts Company's Establishment, at the mouth 
 of the Metabetshuan, which enters Lake St. John on the south. . . . 
 Nearly the whole of the country east of Saguenay, and a large part 
 of the country west of it, ai'e called the Domaine, and comprehended 
 in a lease from the Crown to the King's Posts Company, who have 
 the exclusive privilege of bartering, hunting, and fishing within the 
 limits of the Domaine^ — Page 442 of the " Geography of America," 
 published by the Useful Knowledge Society, in 1841. 
 
 >>r., 
 
 'V i 
 
 1J is 
 
 \ !': 
 
 M' 
 
li . 
 
 152 
 
 TRADE. 
 
 and nothing more. But colonies are good things, because 
 they are supposed to need governors with large salaries, 
 and secretaries, and judges, and commissioners, — all ad- 
 mirable means of providing for young gentlemen who 
 have nothing in England except many wants — who 
 want to live without much trouble — who want to marry 
 — who want to give parties, and keep houses, and to 
 maintain pretty establishments. A colony is a place 
 which is destined to supply this class of wants for a 
 certain class of people. Therefore, there is a Colonial 
 Office, and a Secretary of State for the Colonies, and 
 two under-secretaries, and himself and A, and B, and C, 
 as clerks, and the porters and the messengers, and 
 green boxes, and the house in Downing-street, and 
 debates in parliament, and committees, and despatches, 
 &c. &c. Patronage and the Colonies are indissolubly 
 united in his mind, and his whole conduct is governed 
 by the one great guiding principle, — viz., extend and 
 retain patronage. Unfortunately, while patronage 
 flourishes, the Colonies are ruined. 
 
 We shall see hereafter, that to the federal government 
 I shall propose to intrust the power of regulating com- 
 merce. This power will, therefore, materially restrict 
 the power of the provincial legislatures on this im- 
 portant subject. But in the case of New Zealand, where 
 no federal government is contemplated, the question of 
 the power and its limitations comes to be considered as 
 one of the attributes of a provincial legislature. On 
 that account, what observations are required respecting 
 it, without reference to federate rights, may now be 
 made. 
 
 
TRADE. 
 
 153 
 
 Parliament, when giving this power, should clog it 
 with one most important restriction ; neither for 
 purposes of regulation or taxation should any power be 
 given to tax the produce and manufactures of the mother 
 country or of her colonies; and the mother country 
 ought to resolve not to tax the produce of the colonies. 
 
 Among the canons of colonization I enumerated one 
 that laid down the rule that the mother country should 
 restrict her aid and assistance to defending the colony 
 against attack, and to attracting emigrants to the colony, 
 by doing all that was in her power to make the colony a 
 desirable place of residence. The only legitimate mode 
 of doing anything towards this, really in the power of 
 the mother country, is by establishing a completely free 
 trade in the colony. If the colony be in itself naturally 
 fertile, and possessed of a healthy climate ; if she enjoy 
 security from all foreign attack ; if person and property 
 are also safe from any domestic aggression ; if there be 
 perfect liberty of conscience, and rational freedom for the 
 declaration of opinion ; if there be no unjust distinctions 
 drawn between man and man ; and, lastly, if her ports 
 are free and open to receive the produce of every country 
 not actually at war with us, then, indeed, the colony 
 will be, in so far as by human means it can be made so, 
 a desirable place for the emigrant and the settler ; and 
 they who have determined to try their fortunes in a new 
 land will look with confidence and hope to such a country 
 as I have described. If the imperial government make 
 and insist on a perfect free trade between herself and the 
 colonies, she has done all that in the present state of our 
 knowledge she can safely attempt. If we could rely 
 
 \ 
 
154 
 
 TRADE. 
 
 ■|-' t 
 
 upon the efficacy of direct taxation in bringing into the 
 Exchequer a sum sufficient for the exigencies of Govern- 
 ment, then all customs and excise, and all regulation of 
 commerce might be prohibited. But we are hardly so 
 assured. Some means, therefore, must be left through 
 taxes on commodities within reach of the federal govern- 
 ment. To the New Zealand legislature, then, and to the 
 federal legislatures of the three systems, the power of 
 taxing foreign commodities might be confided. The 
 people if they please, if they think it wise, will adopt 
 this mode of providing for their own necessities. Their 
 interest will quickly teach them that a free trade with 
 the whole world is a most grateful condition of things, 
 but in the case of the mother country's produce and their 
 own, the mother country would do well to insist upon 
 free trade without asking their consent. 
 
 There will arise a question of power between the 
 province legislatures and that of the federal legislature. 
 Let us suppose, for example, a federal legislature is in 
 existence in Australasia, and determines to admit duty 
 free the wines of France. The province legislature of 
 Van Diemen's Land, say, needs money, a^d thinks it can 
 advantageously raise a revenue from a small tax on 
 wines generally, including those of France. By our 
 proposed constitution, would the provincial legislature 
 have power to lay a tax on their own enjoyment of 
 foreign wines? American jurists in this case draw a 
 distinction between the power of taxation and making 
 regulations concerning commerce, and would answer to 
 my question by saying that Van Diemen's Land might 
 put on the tax as a tax, but not as a commercial 
 
THE CHURCH. 
 
 155 
 
 m 
 
 can 
 
 on 
 
 our 
 
 ture 
 
 t of 
 
 w a 
 
 ing 
 
 ■ to 
 
 ght 
 
 cial 
 
 regulation. In some cases, this would be a distinction 
 without a difference, though there is in principle a great 
 difference in the imposing a tax for the purpose of 
 revenue, and for the regulating commerce. Difficulties 
 and quarrels have arisen in consequence of clashing rights 
 in this case, and I therefore am inclined to believe that 
 the safest course would be not to concede the power of 
 taxing foreign produce to the provincial legislatures, and 
 to allow it only to the federal legislature of the System.* 
 
 THE CHURCH. 
 
 In the preceding section I have spoken of the governor as 
 the only connecting link between the mother country and 
 the colony, when at length the colony reaches its destined 
 condition of a province. This declaration may excite 
 surprise, and I can fancy some one who has been ac- 
 customed to read of, perhaps to think of, and wish to be, 
 a colonial bishop, asking, " Is not the church established 
 by law a link in this happy chain? or do you, in your 
 wild spirit of v^hange and destruction, contemplate a 
 severance of church and state? do you propose to have 
 free trade in religion as well as in corn and other 
 commodities?" My answer is, that for a name I care 
 very little, but that I am not accustomed, though some 
 others are, to connect the idea of a church and religion 
 with profit. I know that colonies are but too often 
 considered as a field for spiritual as well as la.j patronage^ 
 and that many who have no hope of living by the pro- 
 
 * This question has been raised in many shapes before the 
 Supreme Court of the United States, and the decisions have all 
 tended to place the power exclusively in the Congress. 
 
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 156 
 
 THE CHURCH. 
 
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 ■'^ 
 
 fession of the church at home, still believe that possibly 
 in the colonies some good thing may be obtained. They 
 who think of the matter in this light are not very likely 
 to be particularly anxious in their inquiries about the 
 probable good they may effect in their vocation. But 
 this inquiry I am forced to institute, because the sole 
 object I have in view when treating of this subject is to 
 ascertain the most effective mode of forming a happy 
 colony; and I therefore am bound to ask, will the 
 establishment of a state church in our colonies be a 
 benefit, or the reverse? 
 
 If the colonists were all of one religion, and likely 
 always to remain so, much indeed might be said in 
 favour of an established clergy in a colony. If by any 
 arrangement, a well-educated man, bound by the very 
 tenour of his duties to watch over the morals of the 
 community, and to preach a humanizing creed, and 
 enforce a pure and exalted morality, could be placed in 
 every parish of the new country, and the public, at the 
 same time, believed it their duty to listen to his teach- 
 ing, and render obedience to his virtuous admonitions, — 
 then, indeed, I should be among the most earnest and 
 eager supporters of an establishment, and more especially 
 in a colony. I say, more especially in a colony, because 
 there, for some years, the tendency is for the inhabitants 
 to degenerate, as respects the courtesies, amenities, and 
 elegancies of life. They who have travelled in America, 
 must often have remarked, in the distant settlements, 
 two and sometimes three generations of one family, 
 under one roof. The old grandfather — the patriarch of 
 
THE CHURCH. 
 
 157 
 
 the family — a gentleman, perhaps a soldier — probably 
 left his native country comparatively a young man ; the 
 next — his son — a youth when his father emigrated, has, 
 since that period, dwelled wholly in the colony — has 
 married there; and the third — his son, who is now a 
 young man. When these circumstances have been 
 found, the traveller is sure to be struck by the manners 
 of the old head of the family. They retain the indelible 
 traces of his early habits, which the rough life he has 
 led in the wilderness has not erased. The ease, com- 
 posure, politeness — the manners, in short, of a well-bred 
 man — of a gentleman — still remain. In the son, all 
 these traces of gentle manners are fainter : he has ac- 
 quired much of the roughness to which for so many 
 years he has been accustomed ; and his son, the grand- 
 son of the house, is like all the rude settlers around, and 
 in nothing to be distinguished from the descendants of 
 the peasant who emigrated with his grandfather. This 
 result is inevitable. Time, indeed, brings matters, in 
 some measure, to the point from which they started. 
 The community thrives ; the rude habits of a rude life 
 by degrees disappear ; and as generations arise and pass 
 away, the growing wealth of the people induces the 
 wants, and with the wants, the pleasures, and habits, 
 and elegancies of civilized life. The length of the in- 
 terval depends entirely on the rapidity of improvement, 
 and the increase of the means of the people. In some 
 happy instances, the growth of the new community has 
 been so quick — it has so soon shot up into the condition 
 of a rich as well as thriving state, that time for deterio- 
 

 
 
 
 
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 ! 
 
 
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 158 
 
 THE CUUHCIl. 
 
 ration has not been given.* On the other hand, places 
 may be seen where the fight against the difficulties of a 
 new life has been so hard — to win more tlian a bare 
 subsistence has been so difficult, that every trace of the 
 old stock, and the habits they brought with them from 
 their native country, have entirely ceased from the land, 
 and a rude and boorish race has descended from ancestors 
 of gentle manners as well as gentle blood.f Now, the 
 existence in each parish of an educated pastor would 
 have a strong influence against this downward tendency, 
 and would thus prove a great benefit to the whole com- 
 munity. But unfortunately there are, on the other 
 hand, many counteracting influences. The probability 
 is, that by establishing a state church, among a com- 
 munity formed by any portion of our countrymen, you 
 would establish a source of contention and strife — a 
 never-failing cause of animosity — and therefore an 
 efficient check upon all improvement. Dissent in Eng- 
 land is so prevalent, and so organized, that you cannot 
 expect to have any body of settlers without finding 
 among them men of various creeds; and these creeds 
 having each an organized ministry ready to take up the 
 quarrel against the church, and to carry bitter dissension 
 into the new community. In this community, where 
 everything has to be begun — where all are equally new 
 to the land, a feeling of injustice is immediately aroused 
 by any appropriation of funds to a peculiar class of the 
 
 * These fortunate communities are almost all American^ and not 
 subject to England. 
 
 t If any one travel in Upper Canada, he will find instances, and 
 too many, of this statement. 
 
THE CUURCII. 
 
 15U 
 
 settlers, or by any favour shown them. Such a pro- 
 ceeding is thought unjust, and the unfairness and in- 
 equality are loudly complained of, and warmly resented. 
 In England, the church was established ages before 
 there was any notion of dissent ; and men often boar 
 with an ancient abuse who would rise up in arms were 
 it established to-day. I believe, therefore, that for the 
 sake of peace and true religion, we ought, in every new 
 colony, to allow the voluntary system full play, and 
 abstain from all attempts to impose an establishment 
 upon an unwilling community. 
 
 A colony, in all things, I have assumed, is to be self- 
 sustaining. I therefore object to any proposal which 
 will have the effect of bringing a charge upon the people 
 of this country — of England — even for the maintenance 
 of a church in the colony. If societies in England 
 voluntarily establish a church, and maintain it in the 
 new colony, no one has a right to complain — nobody 
 would complain. This is no charge on the people of 
 England by act of parliament. If I pay, I do so be- 
 cause I like it, not because I am forced ; and as nobody 
 else is compelled to follow my example, no complaint 
 will arise. When the service is left to voluntary efforts, 
 there is seldom any want either of pastors or money. 
 
 I may, however, be asked whether provision for the 
 clergy may not, without difficulty, be found in the waste 
 lands of the colony; whether, in each parish, it would 
 not be easy to allot a certain portion of land for the 
 church and the clergyman. My answer is, that cer- 
 tainly the thing is easy, but would be deemed unjust. 
 In Upper Canada, every tenth lot of land was reserved, 
 
 II 
 
!' 
 
 ft; f| 
 
 ■ i 
 
 : I 
 
 160 
 
 THE CHURCH. 
 
 U 
 
 and called a clergy reserve : a magnificent provision, 
 assuredly, for the church. But what was the result? 
 A universal outcry — discontent in every part of the 
 country, because of the mischief and injustice of this 
 appropriation. Mischief and injustice? Yes. Every 
 tenth lot reserved for the clergy lay as a sort of incubus 
 upon the people. They — the reserves — were not one- 
 lialf — nay, not one-hundredth of them, appropriated. 
 Yet roads had to be made past them at the cost and 
 trouble of the whole people of the parish ; fences had to 
 be put up, also at the cost and trouble of the people ; 
 and after all, the clergy were not provided for. A 
 piece of uncleared land will not of itself maintain any- 
 body. Capital and labour must be bestowed on it, 
 neither of which could be bestowed by the clergy. They 
 had, therefore, to be provided for by other means ; and 
 means can only be supplied by some sort of tax — some 
 taking of money which belongs to the people. You 
 might, indeed, sell land, and invest the proceeds, and 
 by the interest maintain the clergy. But this is plainly 
 to take of the substance of the whole people, to provide 
 only a part with religious benefits. There is no medium, 
 if we wish to escape the imputation of injustice, between 
 paying all, or paying none. Vit the outset I should 
 propose paying none. When power comes to the 
 people, as it will do by the Settlemj:-nt becoming a 
 Province, they may, if they think fit, provide for the 
 clergy. What the majority decides upon, the people 
 will acquiesce in; and the mother country will escape 
 the obloquy of having wrought an injustice, and thereby 
 checked and delayed the success of the colony. 
 
 l! I: 
 
161 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 These objections, however, do not hold in the case of 
 education — that is, in the case of secular and industrial 
 education. By establishing a school in each parish, and 
 placing therein a schoolmaster, you do what I desired to 
 have accomplished in the case of the clergyman. You 
 have placed an educated man in every parish, and 
 thereby opposed an obstacle to tliat downward tendency 
 which belongs to all new communities. All the people 
 are willing to permit their children to be taught such 
 elementary knowledge as can be imparted in a school. 
 Land, therefore, might, without any danger of an im- 
 putation of injustice, be devoted to the purposes of such 
 education. In every parish, a central plot of ground 
 might be set aside for the school — for the house of the 
 schoolmaster — and a lot might even be reserved as a 
 farm for industrial teaching. Besides this, other lands 
 might be sold, for the purpose of obtaining a fund for 
 the purposes of education generally. A wise legislator 
 (and he who founds a colony ought to be a wise legislator) 
 would in an infant society, when he has really the means 
 in his hand, provide amply for a system of education, 
 com'nencing with infant-schools, advancing upwards to 
 indu:^ trial and normal schools, and even to a university. 
 The funds of a people could not be more wisely employed ; 
 and the Secretary of State, who in the time of the 
 SETTLEMENT thus laid the broad foundations for the 
 education of the pkovince, would deserve and would 
 receive the grateful thanks of the generations who, through 
 all coming time, would inhabit the land. I am not in 
 
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 162 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 1" 
 
 this case indulging in a mere flight of the imagination. 
 A system of the species I am speaking of exists in all 
 the New England States, and in New York a still more 
 magnificent provision has been made for the purposes of 
 education. The state legislature has dedicated to that 
 object landed property already of immense value, and 
 which bids fair to be worth many millions annually. In 
 Massachusetts the infant and other state schools are 
 so excellent, that the children of all classes attend them, 
 to the great benefit of all, as the attendance of the 
 children of the rich insures for the children of the poor 
 the best education that can be attained ; and the associa- 
 tion of the little children to"?ether creates amon? them 
 feelings of kindly sympathy which last through life, and 
 make the people truly brethren.* What these states 
 have done, we surely may do in our new colonies, where 
 the field before us is without obstruction, and an efiicient, 
 ample revenue in our power. 
 
 * In the " Geography of America," published by the Useful Know- 
 ledge Society, in 1841, there are various tables of statistics, very 
 carefully compiled; among them Number XII. relates to Education 
 
 — I give some of the items. 
 
 States. 
 
 Connecticut . 
 New York . 
 Virginia . . 
 Ohio . . . 
 
 Massachusetts 
 Tennessee 
 
 Permanent School 
 Fund. 
 
 U ,902,957 
 1,735,175 
 1,590,823 
 169,460 & lands 
 
 400,000 
 
 Annual Tax for 
 Schools. 
 
 ^188,384 
 
 an ad valorem tax 
 163,929 
 
 I have now before me the twelfth annual Report of the Board 
 of Education in Massachusetts, kindly sent to me by Mr. Charles 
 Sumner, of Boston, and from this I learn that the sum of money 
 appropriated by the State of Massachusetts is much Inrger — 
 
163 
 
 Section IV. 
 
 !S, very 
 
 SYSTEM WHAT NEW ZEALAND EXCLUDED PROVINCES IN- 
 CLUDED BRITISH NORTH AMERICA AUSTRALASIA SOUTH 
 
 AFRICA BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT OF PROVINCES — OBJEC- 
 TIONS STATED AND ANSWERED THE UNITED LEGISLATURE 
 
 FORM OF LEGISLATIVE — ADMINISTRATIVE — JUDICIAL POWERS 
 
 OF LEGISLATURE POWERS OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE BODY 
 
 POWERS OF JUDICIARY SKETCHED. 
 
 From the explanation which has already been given, 
 the reader must have seen that I contemplate something 
 more than the existence of one single colony — something 
 more than the existence of several separate colonies. It 
 so happens that the three divisions of our colonial 
 possessions, of which mention has before been made, are 
 all in different states of advancement, and surrounded by 
 very dissimilar circumstances; but they resemble one 
 another in one particular : they are all so large as to 
 require to be divided, and yet so compact in themselves 
 as each to form one complete country. I shall have, 
 therefore, hereafter to advert to what I moy call the 
 peculiar political condition of each, but I now proceed to 
 give a description of the circumstances and arrangements 
 which are and may be made common to them all, and 
 which, indeed, result from that common property of 
 vastness of which I here speak. 
 
 rgei" 
 
 as will be seen by a table placed in the Appendix, and marked (C). 
 A perusal of this report excites in my mind two feelings — one, 
 of painful humiliation — the other, a hope that we also, though it 
 be late in the day, may labour in the right way ; put down sec- 
 tarian opposition, and educate our people in spite of all opposition, 
 whether of interest or ignorance. 
 
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 164 
 
 NEW ZEALAND EXCLUDED. 
 
 It appears to me that New Zealand, on the contrary, 
 is not of a size to need more than one provincial govern- 
 ment. Though there are three islands, yet the two 
 southern islands arc only nominally divided, if I may so 
 speak. The strait of the sea which divides them is so 
 narrow as easily to he bridged, and the two islands are 
 no more divided than Middlesex and Surrey — certainly 
 not more than the Isle of Wight and Hampshire. Cook's 
 Strait, which divides the northern island from the others, 
 is a more marked division, and really separates the 
 islands. The strait, however, is not so wide as the Irish 
 Channel, and now, when steam makes the two shores as 
 near, in fact, or perhaps nearer, than two places on land 
 at the same nominal distance, we need not adopt institu- 
 tions which, in spite of every precaution, induce a notion 
 of separate interests. We have all of us seen the 
 evils arising from the existence '^•'^ an Irish, as distin- 
 guished from an English legislature. We ought to take 
 warning by that experience, and not plant England 
 and Ireland anew, with a channel between them, in the 
 southern hemisphere. The people who are destined to 
 inhabit those countries will speak the same language, 
 they will enjoy the same institutions, they spring from 
 a common stock, and, while they remain colonies, will 
 probably be subject to the same metropolita.i dominion. 
 The institutions which I have already described would 
 be amply sufficient for the good government of this 
 country — the parisii, the township, the county organiza- 
 tion, will provide all needful security, and so soon as 
 the united population amounts to the number requisite, 
 the islands will constitute a province, and have a 
 legislature which will fairly represent the whole country. 
 
BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 165 
 
 from 
 will 
 
 and be able completely to govern the people. What I 
 am, therefore, now about to describe in no measure 
 applies to the islands called New Zealand. 
 
 British North America, Australasia, and South A "'-ica, 
 are in a very different condition. These are enormous 
 portions of the globe — centuries may pass away, not 
 only before they are settled, but before they are even 
 marked out into colonies — before they are in my language 
 even settlements. Take Australasia for example, as I 
 have before described what I mean by that word. The 
 territory thus designated is as large as Europe : already 
 we have planted several colonies within it. There are 
 already existing therein Sydney, Van Diemen's Land, 
 South Australia, Port Philip, Western Australia, and 
 Swan River — and lately a new colony north of Sydney, 
 intended to be called, I believe Newcastle, has been 
 established. My present plan contemplates, not only the 
 union of these several colonies into one federal community, 
 but also the reception into that union of all such colonies 
 as may hereafter be formed, and become provinces 
 within the territory called Australasia. 
 
 So, also, British North America is so vast as to 
 require to be divided. Already, within the territories 
 denominated British North America, several colonies have 
 been formed, and, indeed, communities exist within them, 
 which, though consisting of descendants from Europeans, 
 subjects of England aud Christian people, yet are really 
 subject to no one of the governments which have been 
 established by us in British North America, but are at 
 this moment left to take care of themselves, without law, 
 and without any organization. The consequences of 
 such a state of things must be in the highest degree 
 
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 166 
 
 SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
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 dangerous and mischievous. The provinces are Canada, 
 Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward's Island — 
 Newfoundland. The bands of people without laws 
 are within the territories of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
 and on the Pacific, north of the Columbia River. 
 
 South Africa is likewise so extensive as to need 
 division, and already several colonies exist there: the 
 Cape of Good Hope, and Natal, &c. 
 
 These are three separate divisions of territory lying 
 far apart upon the globe : they can never in any way 
 be united, though they are subject to one metropolis. 
 Each division, indeed, may by England be treated in 
 the same way, and accordipg to the same rules — as I shall 
 immediately endeavour to show — but though they be 
 treated in the same way, and may become each a 
 system, still each will be a distinct and separate system. 
 I am about to contemplate them as three separate 
 Federal Unions. 
 
 Taking them one by one, I propose that all the 
 colonies in each of them, formed and to be formed, shall 
 be united into a System. There will thus be three 
 Systems: — 1. The System of British North America; 
 2. The System of Australasia; 3. The System of South 
 Africa. 
 
 As in each of tliese territories a new Settlement 
 becomes a Province. I propose that, after proper steps 
 are taken, it shall be admitted into the System to which 
 it belongs, and form a Province of that Federal System. 
 
 As a preliminary to this scheme, and as a preparation 
 for it, the question of what should be the extent of t!ie 
 several Provinces which are eventually to be thus 
 united, should be carefully considered. The United 
 
EXTENT OF PROVINCES. 
 
 167 
 
 ring 
 
 States, which have become, hy a fortunate chance, 
 united into one Federal Union, vary greatly in size; 
 and, by this variation, aro subject to many difficulties, 
 which, by forethought, might have been avoided. When 
 the colonies were originally planted, all sorts of blunders 
 were committed. Virginia was planted under a charter 
 that gave her a territory almost without limits. As we 
 have already seen, when in 1783 she had established her 
 independence, her boundaries were not settled, and were 
 about to become, not merely a subject of dispute, but 
 not improbably of war. The various charters given by 
 our kings invaded the territories of each other. The 
 charters of the Kings of France encroached on territories 
 ceded by the charters of the Kings of England, and 
 vice versd. The boundaries of New Hampshire were 
 the cause of actual litigation ; and we shall live to see 
 much perplexity and mischief arise from the want of 
 precision and accuracy in the description given of our 
 separate colonies in British North America. Between the 
 Canadas and Hudson's Bay, no properly defined line 
 exists. The western and northern limits of Upper 
 Canada have never been stated. The stations north of 
 the Columbia have no boundaries — all is confusion ; and 
 mischief must arise, unless an act of parliament shall 
 prudently, and before disputes have arisen and interests 
 sprung up, carefully set out the limits of each colony. 
 At present, there are no difficulties except physical 
 ones. If the matter be neglected, population will 
 advance, and the diffisrent colonies will find themselves 
 disputing as to the limits of their several jurisdictions. 
 Nova Scotia and Canada will quickly begin to feel this 
 difficulty. The railroad proposed to be made from 
 
168 
 
 BOUNDARIES AND 
 
 w> 
 
 it; 
 
 i. 
 
 m 
 
 iti 
 
 if 
 
 m 
 
 Quebec to Halifax, must bring the question of their 
 several boundaries before the Courts of Canada, Nova 
 Scotia, and New Brunswick. This is the mode we 
 adopt in almost all our proceedings ; we never provide 
 against distant disputes, by the predeterminations which 
 common prudence and forethought suggest. 
 
 There is, however, a class of considerations very 
 different from these. I mean that respecting the 
 question which I have above stated — viz., what should 
 be the extent of our proposed Provinces? Should they 
 differ in size from each other? Should they be of 
 different sizes in the different Systems ? Rhode Island 
 bears about the same relation to New York that the 
 county of Rutland does to Yorkshire. Rhode Island 
 sends two members to the Senate of the United States — 
 so does New York. The Senate represents state rights. 
 The House of Representatives represents the people of 
 the United States, and each member represents the same 
 number of people. We shall probably — and, if we act 
 wisely, we shall certainly, be called upon to lay out many 
 more colonies, and all the divisions I am now speaking 
 of; and we ought, therefore, to ascertain what is the 
 most convenient size, where the face of the country is of 
 an ordinary description, for the purposes of government. 
 If there be fine navigable rivers, plains over which 
 roads — more especially railroads — can be easily made, 
 the size may extend very largely without inconvenience. 
 If, however, great mountain chains fill the country, to 
 pass from one part to another will be difficult ; so, also, 
 if there be no navigable rivers, and large sandy deserts 
 which drift over and obliterate roads. These circum- 
 
EXTENT OF PROVINCES. 
 
 169 
 
 stances form the necessity in each case of actual survey ; 
 and the late and continuing experience of the United 
 States must afford us great assistance in this most 
 interesting inquiry. 
 
 One rule we might and ought to adopt at once. No 
 land should be sold that is not within the limits of some 
 surveyed Settlement — that is, a Settlement of which 
 the boundaries are determined, and mapped as above 
 described.* 
 
 Another rule should be, that when two settlements or 
 colonies are side by side, the dividing line should be 
 immediately decided, so that hereafter no difl&culty may 
 arise ; and if no settlement be begun without being pre- 
 ceded by a survey of the boundaries, none can hereafter 
 arise. There should be no unappropriated land lying 
 between colonies, unless, indeed, there be land enough to 
 form a new colony ; conterminous colonies should, in so 
 far as they are conterminous, have the same, and that 
 a surveyed boundary. In this case there would be no 
 unappropriated land lying between them, and no de- 
 bateable land. 
 
 The boundaries of all the existing colonies being in 
 each of these systems accurately defined, we should then 
 proceed to consider by what means they may be best 
 united into three great Federal Unions. 
 
 But I shall here be met with this question — why 
 should any such union be attempted? Supposing we 
 grant all that you have said as to the necessity of soixie 
 predetermined rule for the settling and after manage- 
 
 * See pages 119, 120. 
 
170 
 
 OBJECTIONS STATED 
 
 1 
 
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 I 
 
 I 
 
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 ment of our colonies, why should we thus unite, and 
 prepare them for independence ? Would it not he a safer 
 and more politic conduct for English interests tr> keep 
 all these colonies separate? I'hei/ would be happy and 
 well governed — and we should be secure in our dominion ; 
 they no less happy by being separate — and we certainly 
 more secure. 
 
 Now I answer to this — that there are reasons, and 
 those I shall in this place adduce, which on general 
 grounds, in my opinion, call for and justify such a pro- 
 ceeding; there are also, in each case, specific reasons, 
 which I shall separately describe hereafter, when I shall 
 speak of each system by itself. 
 
 Every colony ought by us to be looked upon as a 
 country destined, at some period of its existence, to 
 govern itself. There may be, and there are, certain 
 small islands, which, favoured by position, climate, and 
 soil, we have thought it profitable to people and to cul- 
 tivate, which are so small as to be unable at any time 
 to defend themselves against aggressive foreigners with- 
 out the aid of England. The islands called the Antilles 
 are of this description — united even, they would be un- 
 equal to self-defence, except under very peculiar and 
 very favourable circumstances. But these are excep- 
 tions. The colonies which we are founding in America, 
 Australasia, and Africa, will, probably, at some future 
 day, be powerful nations, who will also be unwilling to 
 remain in subjection to any rule but their own. But 
 this withdrawal from our metropolitan rule ought not to 
 offend or wound us as a nation ; we should feel in this 
 case as a parent feels when a child has reached unto 
 
AND ANSW£RED. 
 
 171 
 
 manhood — becomes his own master, forms his own sepa- 
 rate household, and becomes in his turn the master of a 
 family. The ties of affection remain — the separation is 
 not the cause or the effect of hostility. Thus should it 
 be with a mother country and her colonies. Having 
 founded and brought them to a healthy and sturdy 
 maturity, she should be proud to see them honestly 
 glorying in their strength, and wishing for independence. 
 Having looked forward to this ti e, as sure to come, she 
 should prepare for it; she should make such arrange- 
 ments in her system as to put all things in order for this 
 coming change in the colony's condition, so that inde- 
 pendence may be acquired and friendship retained. The 
 colony would, in such a case, continue to feel towards 
 the mother country with kindness and respect; a close 
 union would exist between them, and all their mutual 
 relations would be so ordered as to conduce to the wel- 
 fare of both. In the instance of the United States, a 
 very different course was pursued by us; we fiercely 
 resisted, and resented their desire for independence — we 
 drove them into rebellion — waged with them an un- 
 natural, cruel, and disastrous war, and begat among 
 those who ought to have been, and desired to be, our 
 dearest friends, bitter feelings of active hostility and 
 hate. When, at length, they achieved their independence, 
 years were required before this animosity could be 
 softened ; and now, when more than half a century has 
 passed away, they are still our jealous rivals in com- 
 merce — often the friends of our enemies — and ready, 
 when a favourable occasion offers, to become open 
 enemies themselves. I say this with pain — I say it, 
 
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 OBJECTIONS STATED 
 
 however, because I believe it to be true, and desire to 
 guard against such an evil result in all other cases in 
 which the same circumstances may occur. With the 
 United States, I wish to see the closest and the kindest 
 ties existing; and that we should frankly, and without 
 any lurking suspicion, resume, not the old relations, but 
 all the friendship and good will which those begat, and 
 which folly, a blind folly, destroyed. But I cannot hide 
 from myself the truth, and I cannot attempt to deceive 
 others. There is, in the United States, an involuntary 
 and unwilling respect for England. They think more 
 of our opinion respecting themselves than that of any 
 other nation in the world — nay, more than that of all 
 other nations ; but with all this, they feel jealousy and 
 lurking animosity towards us, which is the mischievous 
 consequence of our own impolitic and unjust conduct. 
 A repetition of this history we ought seriously to guard 
 against ; we can best do so by gradually preparing our 
 great colonies for independence, and this can be properly 
 done only by establishing beforehand arrangements which 
 shall be consonant to this new and coming condition. 
 
 When the United States found themselves a sovereign 
 people, they claimed all of them separately to be con- 
 sidered sovereign and independent. Fortunately the 
 men who at that moment were at the head of their 
 affairs, were of great ability, accustomed to legislative 
 proceedings, and well versed in the workings of a repre- 
 sentative government. The complicated relations of 
 the new States did not bewilder them, though they were 
 sufficient to have confounded all who had not been early 
 trained, and largely experienced in the peculiarities of 
 
 
AND ANSWERED. 
 
 173 
 
 
 such a polity. The great problem which they had to 
 solve was to reconcile state rights, — that is, the interests 
 of the separate states, with federal rights, — that is, the 
 interests of the United States. A more difficult problem 
 was never submitted to any body of legislators ; and 
 now, when looking back at that difficulty, every man 
 who can really appreciate it, wonders at the patience, 
 the prudence, the skill, and the forbearance which the 
 framers of the American constitution of 1787 evinced 
 in the performance of their delicate and perilous task. 
 Every American owes to that small band of wise and 
 earnest and virtuous men a debt of gratitude, which 
 time will only increase; and all men of other nations 
 to whom the welfare of mankind is dear, must also feel 
 grateful to them for the great service which they ren- 
 dered to the peace and good government of mankind. 
 We should not, however, trust again to the chance of 
 such men appearing at the head of affairs during so 
 remarkable a change in the condition of a great nation ; 
 and we ought therefore, by care beforehand, so to arrange 
 the separate interests of our separate Provinces, as to 
 make them easily unite into one great Federal scheme, 
 and thus preclude the danger of division, and the mis- 
 chiefs of anarchy. 
 
 But are you not enticing these, your united Provinces, 
 to desire too early the independence which you thus 
 prepare for; and do you not thus weaken our colonial 
 rule, and pave the way towards an early destruction of 
 our colonial empire? Far from it. The many benefits 
 resulting to the Provinces from their relation to so great 
 and industrious a nation as England, would be the most 
 
 
 )l SI 
 
174 
 
 OBJECTIONS STATED 
 
 powerful tie which any policy could frame. Give them 
 cause for discontent, and then, as the Provinces increase 
 in power, their desire for separation will increase also. 
 Let the connecting link be a strong mutual interest, 
 and we shall in reality have multiplied England — not 
 reared up hostile and dangerous rivals. By my pro- 
 posed plan, we shall create three great nations of friends 
 and brethren — nations to which Englishmen will go as 
 to their own home — where they will find the language, 
 the manners, the feelings of Englishmen, while the 
 inhabitants of these great Provinces will always look to 
 us to lead them in arts and science. They will share 
 in all that we learn, all that we acquire; our honour 
 will be theirs; our name will be theirs; and we shall 
 then see that magnificent spectacle of which I have 
 already spoken, — viz., England really extending her 
 empire over the world, not as a name, but as a potent 
 thing — an empire, not over barren wastes and howling 
 wildernesses, but over countless millions of Englishmen 
 who have reduced and brought into cultivation a ter- 
 ritory which almost encircles the globe. And this, men 
 now born may live to see, if beneficence and intelligence 
 preside over our future colonial policy. 
 
 I propose, then, that we should fairly place before 
 our own minds, as a thing to be not merely contem- 
 plated, but to be actually performed, the formation, in 
 the three separate countries I have named, of a great 
 Federal union of the several Provinces which are now 
 there, and which may hereafter be created in those lands. 
 This union should be so conceived, as to perform, not 
 merely the ofl&ces which the existing provinces require, 
 
AND ANSWEKED. 
 
 175 
 
 but to aid, and call into existence new provinces. Its 
 functions should constantly, steadily, and strongly tend 
 to bring into cultivation the whole territories now lying 
 unprofitably waste, presiding over them while needing 
 extraneous support and protection, and receiving them 
 as equals so soon as they can govern and maintain them- 
 selves. If we do this, we may see at once arise in 
 Northern America a powerful, increasing, and really 
 English federation, the counterpoise of that other federa- 
 tion, whose mighty wings seem as if about to be un- 
 folded, and then to overshadow the whole of that vast 
 continent, of which already she has acquired but too 
 large a portion. We may see another great Federation 
 arise in the southern hemisphere — a federation of friends 
 — of Englishmen — and so in Africa also. Our blood, 
 our treasure, will not be then wastefully expended in a 
 thankless office, nor our industrious millions here in 
 England be called to give of their substance (which is 
 rcaily needed for their own comfort, and even existence,) 
 to maintain great armies abroad, to protect lands which 
 affiard us no return, which are but a wretched home for 
 the few hundreds of people who are now scattered over 
 those wastes; and who are dissatisfied, because without 
 hope; and without hope because they are but the deni- 
 zens of a pitiful colony, and destined to be domineered 
 over and insulted for the term of their natural lives. 
 
 The form of that government which is to unite these 
 separate colonies may be settled without much difficulty, 
 now that we have before us the American constitution. 
 The mode of conciliating the conflicting interests of the 
 separate provinces, and of the united provinces, should 
 
176 
 
 FORM OF 
 
 . I 
 ,1 
 
 in 
 
 •: 1 
 
 be that which sheer necessity drove the framers of that 
 system to think about and devise. The legislature must 
 be composed of elements which shall represent these 
 interests — and by representing, conciliate them. 
 The united legislature should consist — 
 
 1. Of a governor-general, appointed by the Crown, 
 and removable by the Crown whensoever to the Crown 
 may seem fit. 
 
 2. A legislative council, composed of members elected 
 by the legislatures of the separate provinces, for Jive 
 years; each province choosing two members. 
 
 3. A house of assembly, composed of members chosen 
 for five years by the people of the provinces. The 
 census of each province is taken every five years; and 
 it should be made to full for each and all on the same 
 year ; and this year should precede the year upon which 
 the members of the house of assembly are elected. Thus 
 the exact population of each province and all the pro- 
 vinces would be known. Each province to send one 
 member for every twenty thousand inhabitants. 
 
 The members of the two legislative bodies being 
 elected only for five years, the two houses are both 
 dissolved on the first of January of every fifth year. On 
 tlie first of December preceding this January of the fifth 
 
 yoar. 
 
 the election of members for both bodies of the 
 
 legislature is to take place in the separate provinces; 
 the legislature of the province choosing the legislative 
 councillors, and the people of the province the members 
 of the house of assembly of the united legislature. 
 
 In an exposition like the present, I need not enter 
 into more detailed explanations of the mode of election, 
 
THE UNITED LEUISLATUKE. 
 
 177 
 
 or of the qualifications either of electors or of tiie 
 elected. 
 
 I may remark, however, that I have not followed, 
 upon this matter, the example of the constitution of the 
 United States. The House of Representatives in Con- 
 gress is elected for two years, and the senators are 
 elected for six years ; but it has been so arranged that 
 one-third of the whole senate goes out, and that one-third 
 of the senate is '^lected every second year. 
 
 This continued change appears to me attended by evils 
 which more than counterbalance the benefits derived from 
 it. The term of five years does not seem too great for 
 a body of the nature of this united legislature, and the 
 simple renewal of it every five years will ensure re- 
 sponsibility. 
 
 The senate of the United States is, however, an exe- 
 cutive authority, and shares many of the powers of the 
 executive with the president, and therefore requires to 
 have a continued existence ; but to the legislative council 
 I do not propose to intrust such powers ; they need not, 
 therefore, be a permanent body. 
 
 I do not perceive any advantage to be derived from 
 making the qualification of age different in the case of a 
 member of the legislative council and a member of the 
 assembly. The legal age of majority — viz., twenty -one 
 — will be sufficient in both cases. There is no proba- 
 bility of any person being chosen too soon. 
 
 We now come to the important consideration of the 
 powers which are to be conferred upon this united body ; 
 and hereupon, and at the outset, I must insist upon one 
 rule of construction, which must be imperative and 
 
 N 
 
 i 
 
178 
 
 FORM OF 
 
 III 
 
 iflif 
 
 
 without any exception : that is, only such powers as arc 
 expressly given are to be considered as belonging to this 
 united legislature. In ordinary cases, when the powers 
 of a legislative body are being enumerated and defined, 
 all power is supposed to be giv^'n, excepting those which 
 are expressly reserved. But in the present case the 
 very reverse is the rule. No powers are given except 
 those which are expressly stated. This is a most im- 
 portant distinction, and of absolute necessity in the case 
 of a federal legislature — which has to act in conjunction 
 with other legislatures — which have powers within cer- 
 tain narrower limits, indeed, than those to which the 
 powers of the united legislature extend — but which 
 narrower limits, nevertheless, form part of those of the 
 more extended limits of the united legislature. They 
 both thus come on the same field of action ; and there is 
 an absolute need of precision in the statement which 
 describes the powers of the federal legislature, if we hope 
 to avoid strife and litigation. 
 
 I shall not here attempt to make any complete enu- 
 meration of the functions of the united legislature, but 
 shall content myself with such an indication of the more 
 important particulars as shall give a clear idea of the 
 nature of the authority sought to be established. 
 
 The Congress of the United States exercises, with 
 respect to the separate states, most of those functions 
 and that authority, which the imperial government 
 performs and assumes with respect to her colonies. 
 All that regards the intercourse with foreign nations 
 conies under the cognizance of Congress; for to 
 
THE UNITED LEGISLATURE. 
 
 170 
 
 I 
 
 foreign nations there is but one political entity — 
 one sovereignty known — and that is the sovereignty 
 known as that of the United States. The state of New 
 York has no existence among the nations. There is no 
 comity between the state of New York and them ; but 
 her citizens are known to other nations as citizens of 
 the United States. The other distinction — viz., that 
 of a citizen of the state of New York — is a domestic 
 distinction, of importance to themselves and their fellow- 
 citizens of the United States, but to foreigners is un- 
 cared for and unknown. All, then, that relates to war 
 and peace, to armies and to the navy, to treaties, and 
 other communications with foreign nations — all that 
 regards treason, and attack upon that sovereignty known 
 to the nations — all these things which appertain to the 
 imperial government of England, appertain to and come 
 under the cognizance of the Congress, as regards the 
 United States; but of this class of powers none will 
 be confided to our united legislature, for the united 
 legislature will, like the legis'.vture of the state of New 
 York or Pennsylvania, be ul known to the nations. 
 There are, however, Inany things which, even in a 
 colonial condition, may well be confided to one united 
 legislature, as affecting the general interests of the separate 
 states ; and of these a rude sketch may here be given. 
 
 1. There are two great leading objects which ought 
 to be sought by means of this united legislature, and 
 united government — the one is to extend the colonizing 
 the now wild territories within their dominion, the other 
 is to bring all the separate parts, as they arrive, and 
 
 N 2 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
180 
 
 FORM OF 
 
 r1i 
 
 i 
 
 como into cxistonco, together under one system, so as to 
 make them component purts of one distinct und in- 
 creasing whole. 
 
 It lias already been said, that the wild land lying 
 within the limits or boundaries of a Settlement, or 
 Province, is to be deemed the property of that Settle- 
 ment, or Province; and, up to this time, all the lands 
 lying beyond these limits T Imve spoken of, and treated, 
 as the property of the Crown; but just as by the forma- 
 tion of a Settlement, and giving it boundaries, I create 
 a title to all the lands within those boundaries for the 
 Settlement ; so I propose to do for the System. All 
 the wild lands not included in a Settlement, or Province, 
 but yet within the broad limits of the system, I would 
 consider the property of that system, and allow the 
 united legislature to deal with it for the welfare of the 
 whole System. I would confer on the united legislature 
 the power of laying out new settlements under the act of 
 parliament. In this there is no defalcation of power from 
 the Crown, but simply a modification of it. No settle- 
 ment could be made without the Crown's approval, 
 because every act of this legislature must receive the 
 governor's assent; and he is to have all the right of 
 refusal, delay, and assent, which the governor of the 
 Provinces possesses. The Crown, therefore, really gives 
 away no power. But a body is created, having a power- 
 ful and active interest in turning to use the wild terri- 
 tories within their dominion — a body which, in addition 
 to this interest, is likely to be possessed of appropriate 
 knowledge and skill. The power of the Secretary of 
 State for the Colonies to lay out new colonies in the 
 
Tll£ UNITED LEUISLATUKE. 
 
 181 
 
 ' 
 
 lands not yet appropriated would still continue. The 
 rule, also, that no lands can be legally sold which do 
 not lie within the described limits of some colony, should 
 still remain in force. This provision would have the 
 1)eneticial effect of giving all parties an interest in 
 erecting new Settlements. Besides this power of 
 determining the sites of new settlements, &c., the super- 
 vision of the post-oflBce, and the post roads, should be 
 confided to the united legislature; and under their 
 superintendence should also be placed the militia of all 
 the separate provinces. In South Africa and Austra- 
 lasia, this power is of immediate importance with 
 respect to the savage and hostile natives. The same 
 would be the fact in British America, if settlements 
 were carried, as they ought to be carried, up to the 
 West, and North ; and a power to raise and maintain 
 certain bodies of militia, for general purposes, ought to 
 be confided to the united legislature. 
 
 To the same end, the power of regulating commerce 
 between the separate colonies of the system, and to 
 impose taxes for general purposes and interest of the 
 whole. 
 
 In connexion with this subject is the power of re- 
 gulating the laws of Bankruptcy^ and naturalization, 
 and the law regulating banks and banking. 
 
 In order, also, to promote the welfare of the whole 
 System, the legislature ought to have power to establish 
 and endow universities. 
 
 If any law of impeachment were deemed necessary, 
 the united legislature would be an apt tribunal. 
 
 They ought also to have power to constitute certain 
 
 I 
 
 
; !r 
 
 182 
 
 FORM OF 
 
 inferior tribunals, as connected with the system of judi- 
 ciiturc, to which I shall immediately refer. 
 
 The law of copyright and patents, as matters of general 
 concern, should be confided to them. 
 
 The act of parliament by which this legislature can 
 alone be created, would do wisely not to determine the 
 question of remuneration or payment of the members, 
 but to leave it to be settled by themselves, by an act of 
 their own. 
 
 The times of meeting should be fixed by law, with 
 power to the governor to convoke the legislature upon 
 extraordinary emergencies, of which he must be the 
 judge. 
 
 The power of adjournment to be in each house 
 respectively, of prorogation in the governor. 
 
 The executive authority is to be in a governor- 
 general, selected and appointed by the Crown. He is to 
 be aided by an executive council selected and chosen by 
 himself, and by two secretaries of state chosen by 
 himself, one to be called secretary of the interior, the 
 other of commercial relations. In the absence of the 
 governor, the senior secretary to act as lieutenant- 
 governor. 
 
 The governor-general to be the commander-in-chief of 
 the militia. 
 
 [The army to be as at present, entirely subject to the 
 Crown.] 
 
 The secretaries of state renioveable on the joint address 
 of both houses. 
 
 The governor to appoint the judges, the officers of the 
 treasury, customs, excise, militia officers, and generally 
 
TUE UNITED LEGISLATURE. 
 
 183 
 
 all public servants, not commanded to be otherwise 
 chosen and appointed. 
 
 The judiciary of this federal government is of the 
 highest importance, and is, in fact, the key-stone of the 
 arch. 
 
 The federal judichiry is to be composed of a supreme 
 court,* and such inferior courts as the united legislature 
 shall appoint. The judges to bo appointed by the 
 governor -general, to hold their office during good 
 behaviour, and removable on the joint address of the two 
 legislative bodies. 
 
 The powers confided to the supreme court would 
 require a most careful enumeration. The words of the 
 American constitution would not suffice, as they are 
 certainly too wide, and might possibly in some instances 
 be found too narrow. All cases of law or equity arising 
 under the constitution itself must come under its cog- 
 nizance, as for example, disputes arising between indi- 
 viduals or provinces, as to whether the powers of the 
 act of parliament which created the constitution have 
 been transgressed. Questions of litigation arising between 
 two provinces, and also between inhabitants of one pro- 
 vince and another provincial government, ought also 
 to be submitted to this federal judiciary. But 
 although there may be a reason for submitting to it a 
 question or dispute arising between a province and an 
 
 * There is often much in a name. Men's affections are not 
 seldom under the dominion of names ; perhaps, then, this court 
 might well be designated, the Court of Queen's Bench, for the 
 United Provinces of British North America, or Australasia, or 
 South Africa, respectively. 
 
 
 H, 
 
 II 
 
 • i 
 
184 
 
 FORM OF 
 
 II 
 
 inhabitant of another province, I do not see why, because 
 persons being inhabitants of two provinces happen to 
 have a dispute, their litigation should be submitted to 
 the federal court. If A., living in Sydney, have a claim 
 on B., who lives in Van Diemen's Land, let A. sue B. 
 in the court of Van Diemen's Land; there is no 
 necessity for a federal judge or court to try this question. 
 If a Frenchman claim a debt from an Englishman, he 
 comes and sues the Englishman in an English court. 
 In the same way, and a fortiori, the inhabitant of 
 one province ought to sue the inhabitant of another 
 province in the ordinary court of the defendant's place 
 of abode. 
 
 The federal court offers an admirable appellate juris- 
 diction, from the several province courts, and from the 
 ordinary bankrupt courts. 
 
 Although an English-born subject possesses all the 
 rights of an Englishman, no matter in what of her 
 Majesty's dominions he happens to be, yet in new 
 colonies the laws respecting naturalization ought to be, 
 and indeed are, very different from what they are in 
 England. This law of naturalization requires to be 
 general, as it affects the whole union, and questions 
 arising upon it, therefore, are properly subject to the 
 cognizance of the federal courts. 
 
 Alterations of the fui^damental law ought by the act 
 of parliament to be provided for. Conventions by the 
 provinces themselves would be operose, and opposed to 
 our habits. Parliament might safely allow such changes 
 to be made at the discretion of the united legislature, re- 
 quiring only certain formalities and a certain majority ; for 
 
 ii 
 
THE UNITED LEGISLATURE. 
 
 185 
 
 example, the formality of the Queen's assent beforehand, 
 as in the case of a bill to tax the people, which assent 
 might be formally communicated by a secretary of state ; 
 and also two-thirds of both houses might be required to 
 sanction the proposed change. 
 
• f 
 
 186 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Vii': 
 
 1 
 
 1 : 
 
 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA — CIRCUMSTANCES PECULIAR 
 THERETO — PROVINCES EXISTING DANGER OF SEPARA- 
 TION IMMINENT — PLAN FOR THE UNION OF PROVINCES 
 PREVIOUSLY PROPOSED — LORD DURHAM — MEMORANDUM 
 OF PLAN — CHANGES PROPOSED — DESIRES OF AMERICAN 
 POLITICIANS WITH RESPECT TO BRITISH AMERICA — 
 MODE OF DEFEATING THEM — CONCLUSION. 
 
 TTAVING thus stated those reasons aid arrangements 
 ■*--'- which pertain to the general question of union into 
 federate systems — I proceed now to detail some more 
 specific considerations, which belong separately to the 
 systems I have mentioned — and begin with that of 
 British North America. 
 
 The provinces which already exist in our North 
 American territories must each be considered separate 
 communities — and we must suppose them to have been 
 each and all of them prepared, as I have already 
 described in the preceding pages with respect to Settle- 
 ments and to Provinces — I assume that their boundaries 
 have all been determined ; — and that those of the Canadas 
 have not only been determined, but greatly narrowed. 
 In all of them the population transcends 10,000 — and a 
 representative government exists in all. But there is 
 already a very large population scattered over the wild 
 lands that lie in the basins of the rivers flowing north- 
 
 
 :. > 
 
BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 187 
 
 \ 
 
 ward, and falling into Hudson's Bay. The climate in 
 this interior we have every reason to believe is not so 
 rigorous as that of Quebec — and the land is described of 
 the highest fertility. Of late, discoveries have been 
 made of great mineral wealth on the shores of Lake 
 Superior, and a large and growing population is there 
 requiring the restraints of law; but unfortunately no 
 provision exists — no thought is given to these people — 
 they lie out of the usual routine of the Colonial Office — 
 and everything connected with them is left to chance 
 and to force. The strong hand rules — and every pos- 
 sible atrocity is being enacted, where nominally the 
 dominion of England extends — and where her law is 
 said to be paramount. 
 
 When all that I assume to have been, has actually 
 been accomplished, I propose to unite into one federate 
 system the following separate colonies : — 
 
 Population. 
 
 1. Nova Scotia and Cape Breton 199,906 (1837) 
 
 2. New Brunswick . . 
 
 3. Prince Edward's Island 
 
 4. Lower Canada . . . 
 
 5. Upper Canada . . . 
 
 156,162 (1840) 
 
 47,034 (1841) 
 
 777,129 (1848) 
 
 714,964 (1848) 
 
 6. Newfoundland?* .... 96,506 (1845) 
 
 And now the reasons may be stated which justify this 
 specific proposal. 
 
 * I have placed a quisre here, because, though to me it appears 
 evident that Newfoundland by interest is linked with the continent 
 adjoining — ^yet such may not appear to be the case to the people of 
 Newfoundland themselves: I would therefore give them the option 
 of joining the union if they desired. 
 
 
 f 
 
188 
 
 DANGER OF SEPARATING PROVINCES. 
 
 h. > 
 
 ft 
 
 : . ! - 
 
 I? I 
 
 in 
 
 No one disputes at this time the assertion, that our 
 provinces in North America must soon be independent. 
 A few years since, and I was nearly hooted out of the 
 land for stating this disagreeable truth. But now the 
 world forgets its own injustice, and quietly and com- 
 placently acquiesces. 
 
 But when I did make that statement, it was always 
 with the carefully-expressed proviso — if you do not take 
 steps immediately of a peculiar and decided character. 
 The separation of the British North American colonies 
 from England, in itself, never to me appeared a calamity 
 — provided: 1. First, that the separation was amicable. 
 2. And second, that they were not added to the United 
 States, but were formed into one independent federation 
 — governing themselves, and united in bonds of friend- 
 ship with England. 
 
 The extension of the power of the United States to 
 the North Pole I have always considered an event fatal 
 to the maritime superiority of England. Possessed of 
 the St. Lawrence, the United States would, in fact, have 
 no frontier to defend. Her offensive and defensive 
 power would be increased by that acquisition to an 
 extent, that would render her influence dangerous to the 
 general liberty of the world. I seek, therefore, to pre- 
 vent that acquisition. We cannot do it by doggedly and 
 tenaciously attempting to keep things as they are on the 
 American Continent — but we ought to look forward — and 
 so prepare for the future, as to render the existence of a 
 new confederation not only probable but certain — a con- 
 federation which would prove a counterpoise to the 
 gigantic empire and influence of the United States — a 
 
DANGER OF SEPARATING PROVINCES. 
 
 189 
 
 confederation, in whicli there are really no hostile in- 
 terests. — No slavery exists there to separate north 
 from south ; — no variety of climate, by producing 
 different commodities, renders necessary different nmrkets, 
 and thus tends to separate interests. The chief pro- 
 ducts of British North America find their best market 
 in England, or the dependencies of England, and there 
 is, therefore, no jealousy between the separate provinces 
 created by different commercial connexions and neces- 
 sities. Geographically, they are one people — and may, 
 in despite of their rigorous climate, form by union a 
 really powerful federate community — which, with the 
 friendship and alliance of England, may not only easily 
 maintain itself independent, but constitute a formidable 
 counterpoise to the United States. 
 
 If we, however, are determined to consider our colo- 
 nial dominion immortal ; — if we do nothing to relieve 
 the people now living in those provinces from the 
 humiliations of a contrast between their own inferior 
 position and that enjoyed by the citizens of the 
 republic by their side, we shall alienate the now colonists 
 from our rule; — they will seek to obtain independence 
 in the readiest way which offers, and that will then be, 
 by joining the United States as separate and independent 
 states, and becoming members of the republican federation. 
 They will leave us with a hostile feeling — they will leave 
 us probably after a rebellion and a war — they will throw 
 themselves upon the United States for assistance. That 
 assistance will be given, a war with the United States 
 will follow; and whatever may be the valour of our 
 armies, or the skill of our generals, the result is in- 
 
I 
 
 8 J' 
 
 ^i! if ) 
 
 11 
 
 n^ 
 
 I 
 
 V \ 
 
 f ; t I 
 
 tin I I 
 
 k r 
 
 190 
 
 PLAN FOR THE UNION OF 
 
 evitable; the whole continent will be violently wrested 
 from our grasp, and we shall remain shorn of our pro- 
 vinces, seriously injured in our means, gasping and 
 bleeding at every pore, with a world made our bitter 
 foes — and without a friend or ally, either in Europe or 
 America. This language I have always held — and in 
 order to prevent such a fatal catastrophe, I have pressed 
 upon the attention of successive colonial ministers the 
 necessity of preparing the colonies for emancipation and 
 independence, not only with respect to England, but to 
 the United States also. They have either been unable 
 or unwilling to adopt or to frame any scheme for that 
 purpose. But I did myself once propose a plan with 
 that end in view — under very curious and important 
 circumstances, but without any success. I now lay it 
 before my countrymen. 
 
 The plan, as originally conceived, was in some respects 
 different from that which is now proposed. There are 
 some reasons, however, which induce me to lay the exact 
 scheme itself, in the very terms which were first employed 
 to describe it, now before the world. The circumstances 
 which induced me to propound it were, as I have said, 
 curious and important, and I betray no confidence by 
 relating the secret history connected with my proposal. 
 
 Shortly after Lord Durham was appointed Governor- 
 General of Canada, and before he left England, a sugges- 
 tion came to me, that I should please Lord Durham by 
 waiting on him, and explaining to him my views with 
 respect to the government of Canada, under the peculiar 
 circumstances then existing, more especially in the pro- 
 vince of Lower Canada. I had for some years acted as 
 
 ! I 
 
PROVINCES PREVIOUSLY PROPOSED. 
 
 191 
 
 the agent of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, 
 was well acquainted with the country and the people, 
 and enjoyed the confidence of their representatives. To 
 this suggestion, however, I turned a deaf ear: when 
 pressed, my answer was, " If Lord Durham desires to see 
 me, and receive what information I can give, the plain, 
 proper mode is to request me to wait on him. But I was 
 not prepared," I said, " to make the world believe that 
 I sought to thrust myself on Lord Durham ; and did not 
 intend to give him or any one else the opportunity of 
 saying that I had done so." 
 
 My refusal brought the result which, knowing the 
 character of the Governor-General, I was sure would 
 arrive. The late Mr. Charles Buller came to me direct 
 from Lord Durham, saying that Lord Durham was 
 exceedingly anxious to see me, in order to ascertain 
 the views and wishes of those whom I had so long re- 
 presented in England. I went, and was startled, and 
 certainly not pleased, by the proposal which was made to 
 me by Lord Durham, whom I had never seen before, 
 and whom I was destined never to see again ; though I 
 was destined to deal, and not altogether without eflfect, 
 with some of his doings in his character of Governor- 
 General. 
 
 Lord Durham assumed that I, together with all the rest 
 of the world, must be exceedingly interested in his career 
 as Governor-General of Canada: — not meaning that I 
 was anxious for the welfare of the people, but that he 
 should be successful; and he proposed to me, without 
 circumlocution, that I should forthwith leave England, 
 transport myself through the United States, and take up 
 
li/f 
 
 If. 
 
 1 1 
 
 i 
 
 Irr - 
 
 ; 
 
 192 
 
 LORD DURHAM. 
 
 a position somewhere near the frontiers of Canada, but 
 not within them, and put myself into a secret correspon- 
 dence with him. To this extravagant proposal, dictated 
 ^\ by an overweening self-estimation, I gave a peremptory 
 refusal ; stating that secrecy was wholly foreign to my 
 nature, and was in this case particularly opposed to my con- 
 ception of what was prudent, and honest ; that my advice 
 — open and disinterested advice — and all the information 
 I could give, were at the entire disposal of the Governor- 
 General ; that I was really interested in the well-being 
 of my clients ; and on that ground, and on that ground 
 alone, what assistance I could give he might command ; — 
 but this advice, information, or aid, must be given 
 openly, both for the sake of Canada and myself. I was 
 then asked what my views were — I explained them in 
 detail — would I put them on paper? I at once said. Yes; 
 "N^ and forthwith returned to my home, and wrote a paper 
 
 which now lies before me. It is marked with this me- 
 morandum: — 
 
 " Mem. Written for Lord Durham just before he 
 went to Canada, by J. A. R." 
 
 My plan seemed at the moment so large, and so likely 
 to throw a sort of dclat upon him who should really 
 succeed in executing it, that Lord Durham gave me 
 the strongest assurance of his most sincere approval of 
 the scheme, and of his determination to propose it for 
 adoption. The paper I wrote I begged might be re- 
 turned after it was copied. It was so; and here is the 
 original plan as I then proposed it. 
 
 Lord Durham, on his arrival in Canada, published a 
 proclamation, in which many of the principles of my 
 
MEMORANDUM OF PLAN, 
 
 193 
 
 plan were hinted at with approval. The newspapers of 
 the country were, however, for the most part, I believe 
 entirely, then in the hands of the Anti-Canadian-party ; 
 and this proclamation no sooner appeared, than a storm 
 of disapprobation followed. This disapprobation ex- 
 pressed the feelings of those who hoped to put down and 
 keep down the colonists, and Lord Durham was not a 
 man to brave a newspaper clamour at any time of his 
 life ; and no more was heard of the scheme, or the prin- 
 ciples which it enunciated, from that day to this.* 
 
 Mem. Written for Lord Durham, just before he went to 
 
 Canada, by J. A. B. 
 
 All the proposals of the present plan rest upon the 
 following assumptions : — 
 
 1. That the extent to which it is proposed to carry 
 reform, is just that which the temper of the English 
 Parliament will permit. It is assumed that the pro- 
 posed reforms would meet with the approbation of Par- 
 liament, but that any more searching or extensive would 
 be rejected. 
 
 2. That the supremacy of England and the well-being 
 of the colony are completely compatible. 
 
 * In consequence of the proclamation, certain persons came from 
 the separate provinces, at Lord Durham's invitation, to discuss with 
 him the difficult and important subject of a union of them. When 
 they arrived at Quebec, they found Lord Durham too angry with 
 the government at home to pay attention to this scheme, or any- 
 thing except his own wounded dignity. He dismissed the gentle- 
 men whom he had invited after a scene, which at the time was 
 described as almost pathetic. 
 
 
 
 ! , 
 
I 
 
 n 
 
 ! 
 
 h i 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 194 
 
 ENDS SOUGUT TO BE ATTAINED. 
 
 It will thus be seen, that the proposed scheme does 
 not profess to be the best which, under any circum- 
 stances, could be devised for the government of Canada, 
 and our other American provinces. All that is now 
 attempted, is to make the best of existing circumstances 
 — to do all the good which jarring interests and con- 
 flicting prejudices will permit. 
 
 No reference is here made to the manner in which the 
 present opportunity for legislation has been created ; an 
 opportunity exists, and may be used for good or evil. 
 The object of the present paper is to turn it to good. 
 However painful may have been the circumstances by 
 which it was preceded, it is needless here to recur to 
 them. Our indignation as respects the past, ought not 
 to paralyze our efforts for the future : and the best way 
 of providing for future good is, as far as possible, to 
 consider the present the starting point of our legislation, 
 and thus at once and directly to effect all such changes 
 as can be effected suddenly, and by the mere exercise of 
 power. 
 
 ENDS SOUGHT TO BE ATTAINED. 
 
 The ends proposed are twofold ; but, though separate, 
 are intimately connected. 
 
 1. The first and main end is to propose such a govern- 
 ment as may produce content and happiness in Lower 
 Canada. 
 
 2. The second, more extensive but yet subsidiary 
 purpose, is, to fashion a general, or rather federative, 
 government for our colonies in North America ; which, 
 while it protects and advances the common interests of 
 
 I 
 
 ■i. 
 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 195 
 
 ine does 
 circum- 
 Canada, 
 ; is now 
 nstances 
 md con- 
 
 hich the 
 ited; an 
 
 or evil, 
 to good, 
 mces by 
 recur to 
 light not 
 best way 
 ssible, to 
 islation, 
 
 changes 
 ercise of 
 
 jparate, 
 
 govern- 
 Lower 
 
 )sidiary 
 erative, 
 which, 
 rests of 
 
 all the colonies and the mother country, shall also 
 peculiarly, in the present state of things, contribute to 
 the re-establishment of order and confidence in Lower 
 Canada. 
 
 The whole of the succeeding scheme, as here detailed, 
 is formed with these two objects simultaneously in view. 
 If the scheme fail in attaining either of the two, the 
 whole plan is a failure. No one part is proposed by 
 itself. It is one indivisible whole, and is proposed 
 entire, or not at all. 
 
 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 British North America is, in fact, the whole continent 
 of North America north of the boundary which separates 
 the United States from our territories, excepting only 
 that small portion which is claimed by Russia. 
 
 Of this enormous tract, only a small portion is even 
 formed into provinces. The territories of New Bruns- 
 wick, Prince Edward's Island, and Nova Scotia, are 
 known and defined.* But the limits of Lower Canada 
 and Upper Canada, to the northward and westward, 
 have hardly been deemed worthy of a passing thought. 
 Still, fixing the vague limits of their separate territories 
 where we will, an immense, important, and almost un- 
 known tract remains yet to be converted into provinces. 
 At present, it lies like the wild lands of the United 
 States before they become territories. But the United 
 States have wisely, and with great forethought, provided 
 
 ■■■ 
 
 n 
 
 * Excepting only in so far as this provision is disturbed by the 
 American boundary question. 
 
 o2 
 
 . 
 
196 
 
 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 ' • l 
 
 for these now wild tracts becoming gradually, and by 
 duo course of law, constituent parts of their mighty 
 empire. Each tract of wilderness, as it becomes a tcrri- 
 tory,* lias its limits carefully defined. Its inhabitants 
 are made subject to law; and when they reach a certain 
 number, they may, upon certain stated conditions, join 
 the Federal Union. We, in North America, have done 
 nothing of this sort. We have left the limits of both 
 Canadas so vngue and undetermined, that disputes are 
 certain, whenever the question of their boundaries shall 
 be agitated. No provisions have been made for the 
 formation of new and separate provinces. This tract, 
 nevertheless, stretches to the Pacific ; and the shores of 
 that sea are destined to be the site of great nations, and 
 the birth-place of a mighty commerce. Why, then, do 
 we so neglect our own English interests, and the interests 
 of all those who are to be the future citizens of that 
 immense territory now called British North America, 
 as not to look beyond the present boundaries of our pre- 
 sent provinces, — as not to provide for the creation of 
 new ones, — as not to do this upon one general and com- 
 prehensive scheme, which shall wisely regard the future 
 as well as the present hour? This is no wild or idle, 
 visionary consideration. The Americans are now look- 
 ing anxiously to their western coasts, and contemplating 
 a new commerce with Asia from their western border. 
 
 * The word Territory here has a technical signification. It is a 
 tract of land inhabited by citizens of the United States, but which 
 tract is not yet admitted as a ^tate into the federal union. Thus 
 you have the territory of Arkansas. Lately, the territory of Alabama, 
 and so on. 
 
MEANS. 
 
 197 
 
 com- 
 uture 
 idle, 
 look- 
 ilating 
 order. 
 
 
 We, who have an empire already in the East, ought not 
 to bf' hehin(Uiand in forging the links of this great 
 chain of cnminerce. To do it effectually, we must, like 
 the Americans, look forward to the in<lefinite increase of 
 OUT federate communities within our American territory, 
 and provide beforehand wise regulations, by which such 
 new communities may be provided with laws, with pro- 
 tection, and icith definite limits. Our great error in the 
 formation of colonies has always been, an utter disregard 
 of their limits. We have looked upon the wild lands as 
 so much waste, to which neither time nor labour could 
 give value. We have consequently lavishly thrown away 
 the best means of improvement, and most successfully 
 planted the seeds of future discord. The practical result 
 of these observations, here and for the present purpose, 
 is this, — He who seeks to form a great and compre- 
 hensive plan, by which British North America may be 
 rendered the seat, in future times, of a powerful and 
 happy people, must, 1st, carefully consider and accurately 
 determine the limits of the existing colonies; 2, He 
 must frame some scheme for the division into provinces 
 of the land or territory remaining unappropriated; 3, 
 He must also frame some general plan of government 
 for the existing colonies, and provide for the reception 
 into the federative union of all such future provinces as 
 may arise within British North America. 
 
 |i 
 
 It is a 
 
 which 
 
 Thus 
 
 abama, 
 
 MEANS. 
 
 The best, and apparently the only mode of attaining 
 the ends above proposed seems to be the following ; — 
 1. To provide such a special government for each 
 
■:i 
 
 198 
 
 GOVERNMENT OF 
 
 colony or province, as will enable the inhabitants thereof 
 exclusively to control their own peculiar or local aflfairs. 
 
 2. To provide such a general or federal government 
 for all the provinces in British North America, as will 
 control and regulate all matters which are common to 
 all, or to some two or more of the existing or future 
 colonies.* 
 
 The supremacy of England or the metropolis being 
 maintained by means of a governor appointed by the 
 Crown for each separate colony, and also by a governor 
 appointed by the same authority for the federal govern- 
 ment: These governors forming integral parts of the 
 legislatures of the colonies over which they preside, and 
 having a veto upon all legislative acts. 
 
 For the purpose of the present paper it is necessary, 
 of all the special or provincial governments, to consider 
 only the case of Lower Canada. By describing one 
 provincial government, and its relations with the general 
 or federal government, a sufficient illustration will be 
 afforded of all the important particulars of the scheme 
 before us. 
 
 GOVERNMENT OF LOWER CANADA. 
 
 All our colonies in North America, Lower Canada 
 excepted, are peopled for the most part by persons 
 speaking the English language ; and it is the fashion to 
 consider persons who speak the English language as 
 bound together by a peculiar interest, called the English 
 
 * The colonies which are contemplated as composing the new 
 federal body are Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, New 
 Brunswick, Prince Edward's Island, (and perhaps Newfoundland.) 
 
LOWER CANADA. 
 
 199 
 
 3 thereof 
 1 affairs, 
 ernment 
 ,y as will 
 nmon to 
 ? future 
 
 is being 
 i by the 
 jovernor 
 govern- 
 5 of the 
 ide, and 
 
 cessary, 
 ponsider 
 ing one 
 general 
 will be 
 scheme 
 
 !!anada 
 persons 
 hion to 
 age as 
 jDglish 
 
 the new 
 ia, New 
 tdland.) 
 
 
 interest. For the present purpose, it may not be neces- 
 sary to expose this idle fallacy at any length, still it 
 may not be unprofitable to explain the classes of interest 
 which do really exist. 
 
 In every colony, reference being had to the relation 
 with the mother country, there will be found under the 
 most favourable circumstances, two classes of interest 
 peculiar to colonies, and common to all of them, viz. — 
 the interest of the metropolis, as opposed to and differing 
 from the interests of the colony. It is not meant by this 
 to be asserted, that this opposition of interest may not 
 be more than compensated by the advantage mutually 
 derived from the colonial connexion, still it is true that 
 there is a colonial as opposed to a metropolitan interest, 
 and that this opposition exists in every colony. This 
 opposition exists, no matter whether the language of the 
 metropolis and the colony be the same or not. Thus 
 in Upper Canada, in New Brunswick, in Van Diemen's 
 Land, in New South Wales, there is — there must be — a 
 colonial interest opposed to the interest of England. It 
 is a necessary result of the nature of things, and in this 
 sense, and only in this sense, is there in Lower Canada 
 an English interest as opposed to a Canadian interest. 
 
 But in Lower Canada, it appears that above three- 
 fourths of- the whole population are of French origin, and 
 speak the French language. The remaining portion of 
 the population, composed of heterogeneous materials, 
 being English, Irish protestants, Irish catholics, Scotch, 
 Germans, Americans, are all lumped together, and 
 classed as English, and called the English party, having 
 English interests. Clear it is, that in the correct sense 
 
 
 m 
 
I* ? 
 
 II 1 ■ 
 
 200 
 
 GOVERNMENT OF 
 
 of English interests, that is metropolitan as opposed to 
 colonial, these parties cannot be said to have English 
 interests. They are, or most of them are, colonists — in- 
 tending to remain in Canada, and have interests identical 
 with those of the other colonists, whether they speak 
 French or English. Their interests as colonial are 
 opposed to English or metropolitan interests, just as 
 much in the case of the English inhabitants as of the 
 French Canadians. What then is really intended when 
 the words English party and English interests are used 
 in Lower Canadian disputes? Just this: a small body 
 of persons in Canada, as elsewhere, desire to rule over 
 their fellows without responsibility. In order to obtain 
 this, their desired object, they seek to acquire the sup- 
 port of the Colonial Office — and naturally take advantage 
 of every circumstance which the nature of the case 
 permits, to conciliate the favour of the all-powerful 
 colonial secretary.* Lower Canada afforded an excellent 
 pretext — an admirable means of deceit. The population 
 is divided into English and French. The French are 
 the overwhelming majority — the parties really entitled 
 to the power of government — consequently, the natural 
 opponents of any set of persons seeking exclusive do- 
 minion in Lower Canada. Advantage has been taken 
 of this state of things. Those desiring exclusive do- 
 minion have pretended exclusively to English feelings — 
 have pretended to be the advocates of the English in 
 Canada, and have thus endeavoured to sow dissension, 
 where in reality no opposition of interests existed. The 
 existence of French laws has been used in the same way, 
 
 * By colonial secretary, here is meant secretary of state for the 
 colonies. 
 
LOWER CANADA. 
 
 201 
 
 posed to 
 English 
 sts — in- 
 dentical 
 jy speak 
 lial are 
 just as 
 ; of the 
 id when 
 re used 
 all body 
 lie over 
 ) obtain 
 the sup- 
 vantage 
 he case 
 owerful 
 ccellent 
 ulation 
 ich are 
 ntitled 
 latural 
 ve do- 
 taken 
 ve do- 
 ings — 
 ish in 
 nsion, 
 The 
 3 way, 
 
 for the 
 
 and to the same end. Thus by recent circumstances, 
 the old prejudices of English and French have been 
 revived : and for base party or rather personal purposes, 
 the most ridiculous prejudices, the worst passions have 
 been resuscitated, and discord created where, if men 
 could but see their own interests clearly, they would 
 behold only reasons for strict and perfect alliance. 
 
 The legislator who seeks the happiness of Canada 
 must himself be superior to this wretched and vulgar 
 feeling; — he must be able to appreciate the policy of 
 those who have blown the coals on this occasion ; and to 
 distinguish between those interests which are really 
 English or metropolitan, and those narrow sinister 
 interests which have assumed the name, without ac- 
 quiring the character. The sinister interests in Canada 
 which have assumed a favoured name, are nothing more, 
 nothing less, than the sinister interests known all the 
 world over as those of the minority — seeking to 
 domineer by force or by fraud over the suffering 
 majority. In every country they who advocate these 
 views, endeavour to grace them by fine names, and fine 
 pretences. In all countries, however, the end is the 
 same, but the pretences differ : and that end is power 
 without responsibility. 
 
 The question to be now answered is the following; in 
 what way, by what form of government, can the two 
 interests — viz., the metropolitan, and the colonial be 
 placed in such relation, as that both may be properly 
 provided for, and a fair and equitable compromise be 
 effected ? The answer given in the present paper is the 
 following description of the government proposed for 
 Lower Canada. 
 
 '' ;i 
 

 n 
 
 pi 
 
 I!' 
 
 111 
 
 1 1 •(.' 
 
 202 
 
 LEGISLATION. 
 
 The government so called consists necessarily of three 
 parts : 
 
 1 The administrative. 
 
 2 The legislative. 
 
 3 The judiciary. 
 
 It is proposed that in Lower Canada the administra- 
 tive body should be composed of two parts : — 
 
 i. A governor to be appointed by the Crown. 
 
 ii. An executive council to be appointed by the 
 governor. The council to consist of not more than 
 five councillors. 
 
 Into a detail of the administrative powers of the 
 governor it is not now necessary to enter; and the more 
 important functions proposed to be exercised by the 
 executive council, will come to be mentioned under a 
 different head. 
 
 The only question now necessary to be raised is the 
 mode of paying the governor. 
 
 It is here proposed, that the amount to be paid by 
 the colony should be determined by the colonial legisla- 
 ture — that the salary should be fixed for six years : and 
 that within that period it should not be subject to 
 increase or reduction.* 
 
 The same proposal is made with respect to the 
 executive councillors. 
 
 It is proposed that the legislative body should consist 
 of three parts, with the annexed functions : — 
 
 ♦ The plan I have propoaed for the civil list of the Provinces 
 is a decennial appropriation; and this would, I think, be a safer 
 course. [1849.] 
 
LEGISLATION. 
 
 203 
 
 of three 
 
 linistra- 
 
 by the 
 re than 
 
 of the 
 le more 
 by the 
 ander a 
 
 i is the 
 
 aid by 
 legisla- 
 s: and 
 ject to 
 
 the 
 
 ;onsist 
 
 VINCES 
 
 i. safer 
 
 First of the governor, who should have the power — 
 
 i. Of convoking extraordinary meetings of the 
 legislature. 
 
 ii Of assenting or objecting, without assigning 
 cause, to any legislative enactment. 
 
 iii. Of laying before the assembly, by speech or 
 message, as to him shall seem meet, his views upon the 
 general condition of the province, and on such matters 
 respecting which information may be asked by the 
 Assembly. 
 
 iv. Of reserving all bills for approbation by the 
 colonial Secretary. 
 
 Second, of the executive council.* 
 
 The legislative functions of this body to consist solely 
 in the revision of the legislative measures of the 
 Assembly. 
 
 All legislative bills passed by the assembly should be 
 sent to the council, who may alter and amend any 
 measure, but not reject it. They should be bound within 
 a certain period to return every bill to the assembly 
 altered, or amended, or untouched, as the case may be. 
 This single revision to constitute the whole of their 
 legislative functions.f 
 
 Thirdly, of an assembly, respecting which body the 
 following are the most important matters : — 
 
 1 Manner in which it is to be constituted. 
 
 * [1849.] It will be recollected that my present proposal is, that 
 two legislative elective bodies should constitute the legislature. 
 See above, p. 146. 
 
 t [1849.] This provision was intended to conciliate the hostile 
 feelings of that day. 
 
 I 
 
•'• i 
 
 204 
 
 EXTENT OF CONTROL 
 
 i 
 
 I' 
 
 2 The extent of the control to be exercised by it 
 over the revenues. 
 
 3 The term of the assembly's existence. 
 
 ^ And lastly, as to the time of their meeting and 
 prorogation. 
 
 As regards the first point there seems no need to 
 depart from the existing state of things, except that the 
 ballot ought to be introduced. 
 , Any attempt to alter the character of the present 
 assembly, by changing the elective franchise, or the 
 qualification of the elected, would prove utterly useless. 
 The overwhelming majority are French Canadians; 
 they possess the land of the country ; and if the fran- 
 chise be narrowed by raising the qualification, the only 
 result would be to render still more exclusively French 
 the House of Assembly. The poor of Canada are emi- 
 grants from Europe; and the consequence of such an 
 attempt would be to exclude all those from the exercise 
 of the franchise. The rich English are but a handful.* 
 
 2 Experience has shown, that if any portion of the 
 expenditure is to be defrayed by the Assembly, all must 
 of necessity be subject to its control. It is proposed, 
 therefore, — and on this too much stress cannot be laid, 
 — to give up, without any reservation or subterfuge, 
 the whole provincial revenue to the control of the As- 
 sembly. In this it is intended to include every por- 
 tion of the provincial revenue, no master from what 
 
 
 !, ( 
 
 * [1849.] Lord Sydenham attempted to introduce a system of 
 corruption and rotten boroughs. He died just in time to save him- 
 self from an ignominious defeat. The present parliament proves 
 how accurately I judged of events. 
 
 Ii; if 
 
OVER REVENUE. 
 
 205 
 
 id by it 
 
 ing and 
 
 need to 
 that the 
 
 present 
 or the 
 useless, 
 adians ; 
 le fran- 
 le only 
 French 
 re emi- 
 uch an 
 ixercise 
 QdfuL* 
 of the 
 must 
 posed, 
 laid, 
 rfuge, 
 le As- 
 por- 
 what 
 
 source derived — customs, rents, Land and Timber Fund, 
 &c. — everything. 
 
 It is idle to attempt to make a distinction between 
 net and gross revenue. If you subject the revenue at 
 all to the supervision of the assembly, you do so wholly, 
 and any half doing of what ought to be done frankly 
 and fairly, is but a pitiful and short-sighted policy, 
 worthy, indeed, of those who have hitherto governed the 
 colonies, but utterly unworthy of any one who pretends 
 to the character of a far-sighted statesman. 
 
 It has been proposed by some to reserve a portion of 
 the revenue, and to place it wholly beyond the control 
 or inspection of the Assembly. This scheme, however 
 plausible may be the reasons by which it is supported, 
 is a dishonest one. It is a side-wind attempt to escape 
 from responsibility — a specious method of keeping the 
 executive free from wholesome control. All that is 
 needed in this line has been conceded above when it 
 was proposed to give the governor a salary permanent 
 and fixed, (see also the provisions hereinafter stated 
 for the payment of the judges,) and to provide the same 
 for the executive councillors. Anything more than this 
 ought not to be desired by the legislator. Responsi- 
 bility, we all know, is not pleasant; but as pleasure to 
 the governors is not the end of government, we must 
 even put up with the evil.* 
 
 3 The term of the assembly's existence comes next 
 
 item of 
 e him- 
 proves 
 
 * [1849.] All I wish here to remark is, that the report of Lord 
 Durham, so called, was written long after this paper was in Lord 
 Durham's possession. 
 
I 
 
 I ;' 'I 
 
 \: 
 
 I? 
 
 V "M* 
 
 i! ■ 
 
 1 II: 
 
 .1 il 
 
 y 
 
 ., ; \ 
 
 206 
 
 GENEBAL OBSERVATIONS 
 
 to be considered. At present, or rather previous to the 
 late act, the parliament of Lower Canada might exist 
 for four years; and the governor, like the king in 
 England, could call, prorogue, or dissolve it when he 
 pleased. 
 
 It is proposed now, however, to shorten the duration 
 of the parliament — to make it triennial ; to take away 
 the power of prorogation, and dissolving the parliament, 
 from the governor, and to make the sittings of the 
 legislative body as much as possible the result of the 
 predetermination of the law. For example, thus : 
 
 Let the election of the assembly take place regularly 
 on the 20th of September of every third year, com- 
 mencing, say at 1840. In the year 1843, on the 20th 
 of September, a fresh election would take place ; and the 
 governor ought not to have the power of dissolution 
 within that period.* 
 
 4 The session of the provincial parliament ought to 
 commence at a stated period — viz., 1st of November in 
 each year, and to continue till the 1st of May, if the 
 house be not prorogued by the governor before that time, 
 on request of the house. But of necessity the session 
 ought to end on the 1st of May, if no such prorogation 
 have been requested. 
 
 The house not to have the power of adjourning more 
 than one week at a time. 
 
 This legislative body, thus constituted, ought to 
 possess all powers that are not expressly conferred on 
 the federal or general government. The diflference in 
 
 * [1849.] My present plan is stated above, p. 146. 
 
ON THE POWERS OF PARLIAMENT. 
 
 207 
 
 lis to the 
 ;ht exist 
 king in 
 when he 
 
 duration 
 ,ke away 
 •liament, 
 I of the 
 t of the 
 s: 
 
 •egularly 
 ir, com- 
 the 20th 
 and the 
 ^solution 
 
 ught to 
 mber in 
 
 if the 
 at time, 
 
 session 
 •ogation 
 
 g more 
 
 ght to 
 'red on 
 snee in 
 
 this respect between the local government and the 
 general one, may be thus expressed: The general go- 
 vernment has no power not expressly conferred on it; 
 the local governments lose no powers not expressly taken 
 away. 
 
 Within the limits of each separate colony, the local 
 government ought to be deemed sovereign; except in 
 those cases in which their powers have been expressly 
 taken away, or controlled by the powers of the general 
 or federal government. Much confusion, dispute, and 
 litigation would thus be prevented, while no real danger 
 would arise to the supremacy of England. For it should 
 be recollected, that the power of parliament must, while 
 we have power to enforce the commands of parliament, 
 over- ride every other. If we lose this power of enforce- 
 ment, we need not be solicitous about the name under 
 which the colonies may determine to be independent. 
 Further, no law can pass without the direct sanction of 
 a crown officer, so that in fact, this proposed sovereign 
 body includes the Crown of England as a constituent 
 part. Any danger from this proposal seems wholly 
 illusory. 
 
 The whole of the present judiciary of Lower Canada 
 requires complete revision ; no department more loudly 
 calls for reform, and in no department is reform so dif- 
 ficult. In Canada, as in England, the giant grievance 
 is the law and its administration. In Canada, as in 
 England, the great obstruction to reform is ignorance, 
 supported, and that stoutly, by sinister interest and 
 prejudice. In no case could the extraordinary powers 
 vested in the Governor General be so beneficially era- 
 
■« ^ 
 
 hi: 
 
 ; f 
 
 208 
 
 JUDICIARY. 
 
 ployed, as in thoroughly remodelling the whole judicial 
 establishment of the country, and in laying the founda- 
 tion at least for a complete revision and codification of 
 the law. It would be difficult to find in any part of 
 the world, a system of law more confused, uncertain — 
 more completely buried under learned rubbish — than 
 that of Lower Canada. Great ingenuity has been em- 
 ployed, to weave into one tangled and inextricable mass 
 of confusion, the different systems of France, Rome, and 
 England. This wonderful mess har received its final 
 excellence from the conjoint labours of the Imperial and 
 Provincial Parliament, aided by the labours of the pro- 
 vincial judges. The result has been, that now, nothing 
 short of Omniscience can possibly divine what the law 
 intends. Added to this happy state of things, as respects 
 the law itself, is the mode in which it is administered. 
 If the decisions of the courts could be obtained easily, 
 cheaply, and quickly, most of the mischief of ambiguity 
 and confusion in the law itself would in process of time 
 be avoided. But unfortunately, the proverb of the law's 
 delay is true in Canada. Justice is there dilatory, un- 
 certain, vexatious, and dear. Nothing but a searching 
 reform, a complete removing of the present system, 
 before any attempt to reconstruct a new one, will afford 
 a chance of benefit. This reform, however, cannot be 
 effected without the concurrence of those in whom the 
 people have confidence. Justice is that which the people 
 believe to be justice, so that if by the stroke of an en- 
 chanter's wand, you tomorrow were to create a perfect 
 system, you would have effected little good unless you 
 could persuade the people, that your system was a just 
 
JUDICIARY. 
 
 209 
 
 judicial 
 founda- 
 ation of 
 part of 
 irtain — 
 1 — than 
 een em- 
 )le mass 
 me, and 
 its final 
 rial and 
 :he pro- 
 nothing 
 the law 
 respects 
 listered. 
 1 easily, 
 biguity 
 of time 
 le law's 
 )ry, un- 
 arching 
 system, 
 afford 
 inot be 
 )m the 
 people 
 an en- 
 perfect 
 ss you 
 a just 
 
 one. Unfortunately, the prejudices and the interests 
 of the lawyers stand in the way of law reform, while by 
 lawyers alone can such reform be effected. Still we 
 ought not to despair. The code of Louisiana bids us be 
 of good cheer; and there is no reasonable cause for 
 believing that Canada cannot, like Louisiana, furnish 
 enlightened and patriotic jurists to reform her defective 
 laws. If the Governor General evince earnestness and 
 steadfastness in this great cause, he will soon find as- 
 sistants. Let him at the outset propound a scheme of 
 judicial establishments, which shall attempt to bring 
 cheap and expeditious justice to every man's door — let 
 him openly invite criticisms and suggestions — let him 
 appoint a commission of inquiry composed of the leading 
 men of the country, and he will find difficulties succes- 
 sively overcome, which at the first sight appeared almoat 
 insuperable.* 
 
 The inquiry ought to be two-fold — 
 
 The first and immediate object ought to be to provide 
 an efficient judiciary. 
 
 The second, to revise the law. Revising the law being 
 intended to signify, ascertaining what the existing law is, 
 and placing it in lucid order ; and where the enactments 
 of the positive law are deemed faulty, suggesting specific 
 alterations, which alterations ought to be submitted to 
 the consideration of the legislature. 
 
 When the judicial establishment is properly organized 
 
 * [1849.] Lord Durham was about as capable of understanding 
 these suggestions as I am of reading Cherokee, of which I do not 
 know the letters; indeed, I do not itnow whether there are any 
 Cherokee letters. 
 
210 
 
 JUDICIARY. 
 
 t i 
 
 two questions arise, to which past events have given a 
 peculiar importance — 
 
 1 . How are the judges to be paid ? 
 
 2. How are the judges to be made responsible? 
 
 Two modes, among others, may be suggested of paying 
 the judges, either by a fixed salary for a fixed period of 
 time; or, adopting the American method, giving each 
 judge a fixed salary, which cannot be increased or dimi- 
 nished during his continuance in office. The first, in the 
 present case, seems the better plan. Fixed periods of 
 revision, say every ten years, create a feeling of general 
 responsibility, without infringing in any particular case 
 upon the independence of the judge. There is much 
 talk of the danger of subjecting judges to the dominion 
 of a popular assembly. The fear, for the most part, 
 in this matter is assumed, being one of the many devices 
 employed for the purpose of warding off responsibility. 
 What there is of truth, however, in the suggestion is 
 sufficiently guarded against by making the salary not of 
 annual, but ten years' duration ; and a wholesome degree 
 of control is still retained, by making the time of re- 
 vision, though distant, certain. 
 
 2. Responsibility on the part of the judges ought 
 further to be increased, by making them liable to im- 
 peachment. At present the judges in Canada are ap- 
 pointed by the Crown ; hold their offices during pleasure ; 
 receive their salaries year by year, and are not answer- 
 able before any legal tribunal for any misdeeds which 
 they may commit as judges. This system ought to be 
 wholly altered. 
 
 > 
 
JUDICIARY, 
 
 211 
 
 ?iven a 
 
 ? 
 
 ' paying 
 eriod of 
 ig each 
 )r dirai- 
 b, in the 
 riods of 
 general 
 lar case 
 s much 
 sminion 
 st part) 
 
 devices 
 sibility. 
 
 stion is 
 not of 
 
 degree 
 of re- 
 ought 
 
 to im- 
 
 ire ap- 
 
 easure ; 
 
 mswer- 
 which 
 to be 
 
 > 
 
 1. The judges, though still appointed by the Grown, 
 ought to hold their offices during good behaviour. 
 
 2. Their salaries ought to be fixed by the assembly for 
 a certain fixed period, say decennial. 
 
 3. And a tribunal ought to be created to receive im- 
 peachments promoted by the Plouse of Assembly. (In 
 the scheme of a federal government, a tribunal for this 
 purpose is provided.) 
 
 In every judicial system, attention is usually too much 
 confined to the superior judges; and yet if we weigh the 
 importance of each class of judges in the balance of 
 utility, it will be found that they who determine the 
 small but numerous cases of the poor, hold by far th*^ 
 most important office — an office, to» •, which, while it is 
 thus important, too often, from its apparent insignifi- 
 cance, escapes all real responsibility. A local court 
 which settles the small disputes of a small neighbour- 
 hood — little debts and little quarrels — seldom attracts the 
 attention of the public. The great safeguard, publicity, 
 in short, is here wanting — and it is difficult to supply 
 its place — consequently, the following questions respect- 
 ing the judges of the local courts become of great, nay 
 painful importance. 
 
 How are they to be appointed? 
 
 How to be paid? 
 
 How to be made responsible? 
 
 It will be discovered that the real answer to these 
 questions nmst be given by means of an appellate court. 
 If an appellate jurisdiction be wisely framed, much of the 
 difficulty connected with the insufficient responsibility of 
 
 p2 
 
 It 
 
ii I ; 
 
 212 
 
 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 local judges will be overcome ; and all that remains yet 
 to be conquered may be fairly brought under control by 
 means of the bodies hereafter to be spoken of, as the 
 means of local government. Every local judge, though 
 not elected by the people of the district, ought to be re- 
 movedj on petition from the majority of the inhabitants.* 
 If, for local purposes, the inhabitants be represented by 
 any body of persons, to that body the power of petition- 
 ing for the removal of a judge ought to be confided. 
 
 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Into the history of the many attempts made by the 
 House of Assembly of Lower Canada to introduce a 
 popular system of local government, it is not now neces- 
 sary to enter, further than this — every attempt has failed, 
 and Lower Canada is now without anything like county 
 or district government. The necessary consequence has 
 followed ; the vital interests of the country have been 
 neglected; improvements which, across the border, are 
 of daily occurrence and easy accomplishment, linger 
 on in Canada at a snail's pace, and require to effect 
 them a continuous energy, and patience, and sacrifice, 
 which can seldom be found, and ought never to be 
 counted upon. A comparison between Maine or Mas- 
 sachusetts and Canada, will tell the history of this 
 struggle better than any words here ; such a comparison 
 may also suggest the true remedy for the evil. The 
 
 * [1849.] I think that this had better be decided by the legis- 
 lature. If they address the crown against a judge, he ought there- 
 upon to be removed. 
 
ains yet 
 ntrol by 
 F, as the 
 , though 
 to be re- 
 bitants.* 
 mted by 
 petition- 
 led. 
 
 e by the 
 oduce a 
 )w neces- 
 las failed, 
 ;e county 
 lence has 
 ive been 
 rder, are 
 t, linger 
 to eflFect 
 sacrifice, 
 r to be 
 or Mas- 
 of this 
 nparison 
 il. The 
 
 the legis- 
 ;ht there- 
 
 6£NEBAL FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 213 
 
 
 habits of the Lower Canadian people will be found very 
 similar to those of their American neighbours ; the cir- 
 cumstances by which they are surrounded are the same, 
 and their feelings are very similar on all matters of a 
 political character. Nothing that could be done would 
 have so powerful a tendency to create confidence in the 
 present extraordinary government,* as an honest and 
 well-directed attempt to frame a scheme for a popular 
 local government throughout the province. The feelings 
 and wishes of the people ought to be consulted. The 
 laws which their faithful representatives passed ought 
 carefully to be considered. A commission, formed of 
 men in whom they (the people) have confidence, might be 
 empowered to draw up a scheme, and this local govern- 
 ment might immediately be put into action, to the great 
 benefit of the whole community. When the people again 
 have power in the legislation of the country, they will 
 of necessity resume the power of revision; but at the 
 present moment no mischief could possibly arise, and 
 incalculable good might be effected, by the immediate 
 introduction of local administration and local courts. 
 
 THE GENERAL FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 The general government ought to consist of three 
 distinct parts : — 
 
 * [1849.] Lord Durham fancied himself a dictator, and was 
 surprised to find the English parliament inquiring whether his acts 
 were legal. His powers were extraordinary, though not without 
 limit; and as he and all his advisers were utterly ignorant of law, 
 we need not be surprised that he, with his notions of his powers, 
 soon blundered into illegality. 
 
 m 
 
214 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS. 
 
 ri! 
 
 k 
 
 1. Administrative body — viz., a governor-general to 
 be appointed by the Crown, and a council appointed by 
 the governor. 
 
 2. A legislative body, to be appointed by the several 
 provinces, as hereafter described. 
 
 3. Judiciary, to be the joint appointment of the admi- 
 nistrative and legislative bodies, as hereafter described. 
 
 ii:J 
 
 \ 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS. 
 
 The first great difficulty which suggests itself in the 
 formation of this constitution, is that which exists in 
 the mere formal description of it. Great accuracy will 
 be indispensable; great mastery over language, and 
 great jurisprudential skill. The government ought to 
 have no powers not expressly conferred by the Act 
 creating it. Nothing must be left to implication; what 
 is not granted is excluded. It is evident, then, very 
 great care must be taken to include all the powers 
 intended to be conveyed, as well as to avoid including 
 such as were not intended so to be given. 
 
 The next point which arises for consideration is — ^how 
 ought such a document to be ratified? It is clear 
 that an Act of Parliament will be needed. But this pre- 
 liminary inquiry ought to be considered. Should a 
 convention be called of the various provinces, and a 
 plan submitted to them for their consideration and amend- 
 ment? or, should a plan be framed at once and passed 
 into a law, leaving it as an option to the several pro- 
 vinces to join it? 
 
 The latter course would appear the more practicable 
 
GENERAL REMARKS. 
 
 215 
 
 neral to 
 nted by 
 
 ! several 
 
 le admi- 
 icribed. 
 
 ■ in the 
 xists in 
 acy will 
 ge, and 
 ught to 
 the Act 
 i; what 
 sn, very 
 powers 
 eluding 
 
 s — how 
 s clear 
 lis pre- 
 ould a 
 and a 
 imend- 
 passed 
 al pro- 
 
 ticable 
 
 one. The following is the course which appears to be 
 the easiest. 
 
 Frame a plan for the federal union of Upper and 
 Lower Canada — make this imperative — and allow the 
 other provinces to join if they think fit; exclude them 
 from the benefits of the union if they do not join. 
 ^ Kespecting the Governor General's powers little need 
 be said. They ought to be, as respects the general 
 government, the same as those of the separate provincial 
 governors with respect to the provincial government.* 
 
 An Executive Council, of the same description as that 
 above explained, would be needed for the Governor 
 Greneral, with the same powers annexed.f 
 
 The legislative assembly has many difficulties con- 
 nected with it ; and the first that arises is. How is it to 
 be chosen? 
 
 In the federal government of the United States there 
 are two legislative bodies. The one, viz., the Senate, 
 representing the separate sovereign states of the union ; 
 the other, the House of Representatives, representing the 
 population of the whole United States. 
 
 It is not, however, proposed in the present plan to 
 have two bodies, but one only, and the questions that 
 arise are as follow : — 
 
 * The whole legislature is composed of the governor, executive 
 council, and assembly, as in the case of the separate provinces. 
 It is not necessary again to go over the explanation. 
 
 t [1849.] The mode of creating a second legislative body, and 
 making it represent the provinces, supersedes this part of my old 
 scheme. (See p. 176.) 
 
 !1 
 
216 
 
 POWERS OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 1. Ought the separate provinces to send an equal 
 number of representatives? 
 
 2. Ought their representatives to be elected by the 
 state legislature or the people? 
 
 Prince Edward's Island, New Brunswick, and Nova 
 Scotia, do not altogether possess so large a population 
 as Lower Canada — are they, nevertheless, to send each 
 the same number of representatives? The following 
 plan proposes to meet this difficulty in this fashion — 
 
 1. Let every province, by its House of Assembly, 
 send five members. 
 
 2. Let a census of the population of each colony be 
 taken ; and for each 50,000 inhabitants, let there be sent 
 by the House of Assembly one additional member.* 
 
 \\ M 
 
 1*1 
 
 Ir 'f 
 
 i 
 
 POWERS OF THE GENERAL FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 It must be carefully kept in mind, that the general 
 government is to possess no power not expressly con- 
 ferred on it. The necessary consequence is, that a very 
 accurate and full enumeration of these powers must be 
 contained in the instrument constituting this govern- 
 ment. 
 
 It should also be remembered, that this government is 
 a federal^ and not a general government, in the strict 
 sense of the latter term. A general goverament would 
 override all subordinate ones ; all the local governments 
 would then bear the relation of corporations to the general 
 government, and not that of separate and peculiar 
 governments. This is a vital distinction, and, if not 
 
 [1849.] This suggestion comes very near my present plan. 
 
i^il 
 
 ENUMERATION OF POWERS. 
 
 217 
 
 attended to, confusion will follow. For example : if the 
 people of Upper and Lower Canada should believe that 
 the federal union here contemplated was, in reality, 
 such a union of the two provinces as would supersede 
 their local governments, they would be opposed to the 
 whole scheme. Whereas, if it were clearly shown to be 
 a federal union — a government created merely to settle 
 common matters — matters expressly confided to its 
 management — then, in place of opposition, there would 
 be great interest felt in its favour. 
 
 It should not, however, be supposed that a federal 
 government is to act through the subordinate legis- 
 latures. Its action on the whole population must be 
 direct, and through its own o'^cers. If the action were 
 by means of the subordinate legislatures, the consequence 
 would be, that those legislatures would be constituted 
 judges, in fact, of the wisdom of the conduct of the 
 general federal government, and when it pleased them, 
 they would oppose it. To prevent this, i ..'. ect action 
 on the people by officers of the federal government will 
 be found absolutely necessary.* 
 
 I!' 
 
 lent is 
 strict 
 I would 
 ments 
 leneral 
 iculiar 
 if not 
 
 ENUMERATION OF POWERS. 
 
 All matters relating to peace and war are beyond the 
 consideration of the federal government. The powers 
 connected with these subjects are in the hands of the 
 metropolitan government, and of themselves are suffi- 
 cient to mark and maintain the supremacy of England. 
 
 Man. 
 
 * The first American government split upon this rock. See the 
 Federalist. 
 
I 
 
 1|M 
 
 ! i 
 I 
 
 ^ li 
 
 !: 
 
 i 
 
 
 t 
 
 I ^ 
 h i 
 
 liii 
 
 it;;a 
 
 l> > 
 
 .. 1 
 
 t 
 
 11 '1 
 
 If- I 
 
 218 
 
 ENUMERATION OF POWERS. 
 
 No attempt will be made here to enumerate the powers 
 which ought to be confided to the general government. 
 The principle upon which they should be selected need 
 alone be stated. The colonies have many matters which 
 a£fect the common or joint interests — these, if possible, 
 should be brought under the general control. Such, for 
 example, as the regulation of the circulating medium, 
 bankruptcy, inter-communication, post-office, vice-admi- 
 ralty, (perhaps, as a means of general defence, the 
 militia,) and many matters relating to trade generally. 
 These might well be subject to general control, and great 
 benefit would be the result. 
 
 Among the most important of the functions of the 
 federal government are those of the judiciary. 
 
 The points for consideration are — 
 
 1. The judicial establishment — its form, and mode in 
 which it is created. 
 
 2. The field of its jurisdiction. 
 
 There should be a superior court, to be composed of 
 one (or more) judges. 
 
 And throughout the country there are needed certain 
 inferior tribunals, acting in subordination to the superior 
 court. 
 
 The judge (or judges?*) of the superior court ought 
 to be appointed by the governor, and sanctioned by the 
 Assembly, or vice versd, recommended by the Assembly, 
 and appointed by the governor. 
 
 * A query is put to this, because it is a received maxim with a 
 certain class of jurists, that single judges ought always to constitute 
 a court. Bentham presses this point under the phrase single seated- 
 ness. 
 
GENERAL UEMAUKS. 
 
 219 
 
 3 powers 
 rnment. 
 ed need 
 rs which 
 3ossible, 
 ich, for 
 aedium, 
 e-admi' 
 iCe, the 
 oerally. 
 id great 
 
 of the 
 
 aode in 
 
 >sed of 
 
 ertain 
 perior 
 
 ought 
 )y the 
 mbly, 
 
 v<rith a 
 stitute 
 ieated- 
 
 It may hereafter be found that inferior courts are 
 needed; it is certain that they will be so. The judges 
 of such courts must receive their powers direct from the 
 general government. 
 
 The supreme court, among other matters subject to it, 
 would have the following : — 
 
 1. Disputes arising between separate colonies. 
 
 2. All questions involving an invasion upon province 
 rights, or invasion upon the rights of the general govern- 
 ment. 
 
 3. Impeachments of judges and other officers preferred 
 by the province legislatures. 
 
 4. Piracy? 
 
 5. Treason? 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS. 
 
 A judiciary of this sort would be of absolute neces- 
 sity to prevent the federal government transgressing 
 the limits of its dominion, and converting the province 
 legislatures into mere corporation^ The mode in which 
 all questions involving this delicate inquiry would be 
 tried, would be in the shape of a suit between individuals, 
 so that no great political movements would be eflfected by 
 each decision. (See, on this head, de Tocqueville, who 
 on this point makes some judicious observations, though 
 generally his book is the book of a system-monger of the 
 last Parisian fashion.) 
 
 It has not been thought necessary to go minutely over 
 the several points already touched when speaking of the 
 Lower Canadian government; such, for example, as the 
 time of the assembly's meeting, dissolution, prorogation, 
 
220 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 i;: 
 
 !l . '; 
 
 &c. The same principles govern both cases, and repeti- 
 tion is unnecessary. 
 
 Neither has anything been said of the place of hold- 
 ing the sessions of the General Assembly. These are all 
 inferior topics, and best settled on the spot. However, 
 Montreal, by common consent, seems to be the spot 
 which ought to be selected for a general government. 
 
 
 Subsequent consideration has very little modified the 
 views I entertained in 1838; but the time that has 
 elapsed has greatly changed the opinions of my country- 
 men. I, at that time, was marked as with the brand 
 of Cain, and was obliged in all I proposed, to bear in 
 mind, that I was addressing men who listened with re- 
 luctance, who were really ignorant of the actual condition 
 of affairs, and to whom interested people were daily 
 bringing false accounts and holding out false hopes. I 
 therefore was at every step compelled to ask myself, will 
 this proposal have any chance of success? I might have 
 spared myself the trouble. One beneficial reform was 
 just as likely to succeed as another — none had the least 
 chance of favour. Now, however, things are changed. 
 The Colonial Office has been fairly beaten in Canada, 
 and Canada is on the high road to independence. This 
 they who govern in the dark nooks of that favourite 
 resort of tortuous politicians well know : they are per- 
 fectly aware of what I am now stating, and they sit with 
 folded hands, content now that Canada cannot longer be 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 221 
 
 il repeti- 
 
 of hold- 
 e are all 
 lowever, 
 the spot 
 nent. 
 
 ified the 
 
 hat has 
 
 Bountry- 
 
 e brand 
 
 bear in 
 
 with re- 
 
 ondition 
 
 •e daily 
 
 •pes. I 
 
 self, will 
 
 ht have 
 
 rm was 
 
 he least 
 
 langed. 
 
 Canada, 
 
 This 
 
 .vourite 
 
 re per- 
 
 dt with 
 
 iger be 
 
 continued as a field of Colonial Office patronage, to let 
 her slip from our dominion, and become an integral 
 portion of the United States. Talk with any of the 
 politicians who, in 1838, would have been well pleased 
 to have indicted me for high treason, and learn what 
 they now say and think : " It is quite clear that inde- 
 pendence must come — and soon, though we cannot 
 exactly say when. And, in truth, why should it not?" 
 they inquire. " The parliament of Canada, with respon- 
 sible government is really independence ? " Why she 
 should not be independent in the sense they mean, / 
 well know. She should not, because she ought not, for 
 England's sake, to form a portion of the United States. 
 We have seen what American statesmen have done in 
 the south towards an unoffending but weak neighbour. 
 They have stripped Mexico of her fairest provinces — 
 waged with her an unjust war, under all sorts of false 
 pretences, but really, for the sole purpose of extending 
 their territories, and obtaining safe and commodious har- 
 bours in the Pacific. They will not be backward to foment 
 disputes between England and her colonies if there be 
 any chance of adding those colonies to the Union. The 
 language which the statesmen of America are accustomed 
 to employ when speaking of Canada, saying, " they have 
 no desire to have any addition made to the Union on 
 that side," is as hollow as that which they employed 
 respecting Texas. All politicians now in America are 
 willing, many are intensely anxious to obtain Canada. 
 The large addition to the ^outh, made of territory in 
 which slavery is not prohibiteu by the constitution, has 
 given to the slave states a chance of increasing their 
 
 pJ 
 
 H 
 
222 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 
 power, by establishing new and slave-holding states, and 
 recovering their preponderance in the Union. The anti- 
 slave party, therefore, seek for more non-slave-holding 
 territory and states. In Canada and all British Ame- 
 rica, there are territories and communities of this 
 description. The whole northern and abolition parties 
 are eager to add Canada to the Union. In their self- 
 denying protestations I put no faith. They have now 
 precisely the same wishes and feelings as those which 
 influenced their forefathers in 1774 and 1776. The 
 statesmen of the united colonies viewed with jealousy 
 and suspicion the first Canada act passed in the four- 
 teenth year of the reign of George III., which they 
 described as part of a scheme " for abolishing the free 
 system of English laws in a neighbouring province, 
 establishing therein an arbitrary government, and 
 enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an 
 example and fit instrument for introducing the same 
 absolute rule into these colonies."* And when they 
 constituted themselves a confederation, they carefully 
 provided for the reception of Canada. " Canada," says 
 
 * This is a paragraph in the celebrated declaration of American 
 independence, 4 July, 1776. What by American politicians is 
 called the Missouri compromise, has made the interest of the aboli- 
 tion party in the acquisition of Canada stronger than ever. When 
 Missouri came to be admitted as a state, the question arose, should 
 slavery be permitted in the ne^v state? This question nearly 
 severed the union; but a Compromise was made by the opposing 
 parties, by which a line drawn at thirty degrees thirty minutes of 
 kiorth latitude was made the line of demarcation. Slavery was not 
 to be permitted in any state formed north of that line. If a state 
 was formed south of that line, the question of slavery was open, 
 (see the message of President Polk on this subject;) all territory, 
 therefore, acquired in the north added strength to the abolitionists. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 223 
 
 says 
 
 the ninth article of the Act of Confederation, " acceding 
 to this confederation, and joining in the measures of the 
 United States, shall be admitted into, and be entitled to 
 all the advantages of this Union. But no other colony 
 shall be admitted to the same, unless such admission be 
 agreed to by nine States." What the Americans desired 
 when this confederation was passed they desire now. I 
 look, therefore, at the apathy of our own statesmen with 
 alarm — seeing clearly that not only is Canada and 
 all North America lost for England, but that these 
 provinces will be added to the United States, unless 
 the public mind of England is roused by having the 
 real state of things exposed — the difficulties laid bare 
 — and also the mode pointed out by which the 
 impending mischief may be avoided. The time for 
 effecting this great object is not yet passed, though the 
 difficulty is greater, and the benefit likely to result from 
 it not so certain as when, in 1838, I pressed the subject 
 upon Lord Durham's consideration. A bitter feeling of 
 animosity has been created among a large portion of the 
 Canadian population, just that portion upon whom Eng- 
 land might have placed her chief reliance — viz., the 
 French Canadians. The population speaking English, 
 have among them many persons coming from the United 
 States, and entertaining the opinions, political and 
 social, of the citizens of that republic. The population 
 of Upper Canada, all by degrees assimilate to that of 
 the United States, and they will be the first to seek a 
 union with the republic. The French Canadians are 
 devout catholics — their literature is the old literature of 
 France, and they have no sympathy with the active, 
 stirring, go-a-head American. Had we treated them 
 
 m 
 
224 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 N' 
 
 ii 
 
 with common justice they would have remained con- 
 tented under our sway ; and being as gallant a race of 
 Frenchmen as ever existed, they would, as they have done 
 before, still fight side by side with us to repel American 
 aggression. By care and fairness, the affections of these 
 people, I hope, may be regained; they would form a 
 great item in the federal union I have proposed, and that 
 federal union, by giving dignity and hope to all who 
 form a portion of it, would effectually check the tendency 
 of Upper English Canada to Americanize — would knit 
 Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward's Island, 
 and Newfoundland, into one powerful confederation, 
 which would for centuries be a bulwark for England, and 
 to all time a check and counterpoise to the advancing 
 power of the United States. 
 
 Such, then, is my plan for British North America. I 
 contemplate an extension of our dominion across the con- 
 tinent ; the formation of new States immediately north of 
 Lake Superior, where copper mines of unexampled fertility 
 have, during late years, been discovered. Besides this, 
 the fertile lands which lie on the basins of the rivers 
 which flow into Hudson's Bay, and to which a popula- 
 tion is daily hastening, by my proposal would be at once 
 brought under rule as a Settlement ; and thus a new 
 life would be inspired into the premature decrepitude of 
 Canada. Let her statesmen feel themselves the rivals of 
 those of Washington, and able to meet them on equal 
 terms ; and then in Nova Scotia, in Lower Canada, 
 in Upper Canada, in the new States that might im- 
 mediately arise on their long frontier line, and also 
 beyond the Rocky Mountains north of the River 
 Columbia — you would soon see them with expanded 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 225 
 
 2(1 COll- 
 
 race of 
 ve done 
 nerican 
 of these 
 form a 
 md that 
 nil who 
 Bndency 
 dd knit 
 Island, 
 leration, 
 md, and 
 ivancing 
 
 Tica. I 
 the con- 
 north of 
 fertility 
 es this, 
 rivers 
 popula- 
 at once 
 a new 
 litude of 
 rivals of 
 equal 
 Canada, 
 jht im- 
 |nd also 
 River 
 manded 
 
 views and daring conceptions, the really formidable op- 
 ponents of that encroaching republic which is destined 
 to usurp dominion over the whole continent unless 
 checked and circumscribed by a spirit as bold and free 
 as her own. That spirit we may awake, by calling 
 into existence a great northern confederation of 
 British American Provinces. 
 
 I have now accomplished the task I proposed at the 
 outset. Australasia and South Africa deserve and re- 
 quire a careful inquiry into their present condition, and 
 might need specific provisions to meet peculiar exigencies. 
 That inquiry at some future period I hope to make, and 
 thus complete the scheme of government I have devised. 
 But our North American provinces must be dealt witli 
 at once, if we wish to retain our dominion over them. 
 I therefore now, and without further delay, propose the 
 only plan by which I believe they can be preserved to 
 England. 
 
 W 
 
 % 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 A. 
 
 AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 
 
 OF OREGON. 
 
 B. 
 
 A BILL FOR THE ADMISSION OF THE STATE OF 
 WISCONSIN INTO THE UNION. 
 
 c. 
 
 A GRADUATED TABLE, SHOWING THE COMPARATIVE 
 AMOUNT OF MONEY APPROPRIATED BY THE DIF- 
 FERENT COUNTIES IN THE STATE, FOR THE EDUCA- 
 TION OF EACH CHILD, BETWEEN THE AGES OF FOUR 
 AND SIXTEEN YEARS, IN EACH COUNTY OF THE STATE 
 OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Q 2 
 
 'T: 
 
4 
 
 A. 
 
 AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 
 
 OF OREGON. 
 
 Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of 
 the United States of America in Congress Assembled^ That from 
 and after the passage of this act, all that part of the territory 
 of the United States which lies west of the summit of the 
 Rocky Mountains, north of the forty second degree of north 
 latitude, known as the Territory of Oregon, shall be organized 
 into and constitute a temporary government by the name of 
 the Territory of Oregon : Provided^ That nothing in this act 
 contained shall be construed to impair the rights of person 
 or property now pertaining to the Indians in said territory, 
 so long as such rights shall remain unextinguished by treaty 
 between the United States and such Indians, or to affect the 
 authority of the government of the United States to make 
 any regulation respecting such Indians, their lands, property, 
 or other rights, by treaty, law, or otherwise, which it would 
 have been competent to the goveniment to make if this act 
 had never passed. And provided also. That the title to the 
 land, not exceeding six hundred and forty acres, now occupied 
 as missionary stations among the Indian tribes in said terri- 
 tory, together with the improvements thereon, be confirmed 
 and established in the several religious societies to which 
 said missionary stations respectively belong : And provided 
 furthcTf That nothing in this act contained, shall be con- 
 strued to inhibit the Government of the United States from 
 dividing said territory into two or more territories, in such 
 manner and at such times as Congress shall deem convenient 
 and proper, or from attaching any portion of said territory 
 to any other state or territory of the United States. 
 
■IS 
 
 230 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 II 
 
 
 ■f !^ 
 
 'h Ills 
 
 j 
 i 
 
 , 1 
 
 Sec. 2. .^nc? be it further enactedy That the executive power 
 and authority in and over said Territory of Oregon shall be 
 vested in a governor, who shall hold his oflfice for four years, 
 and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, un- 
 less sooner removed by the President of the United States. 
 The governor shall reside within said territory, shall be com- 
 mander-in-chief of the militia thereof, shall perform the duties 
 and receive the emoluments of Superintendent of Indian 
 Affairs; he liiay grant pardons and respites for offences 
 against the laws of said territory* and reprieves for offences 
 against the laws of the United States until the decision of 
 the president can be made known thereon ; he shall com- 
 mission all officers who shall be appointed to office under 
 the laws of the said territory, where, by law, such com- 
 missions shall be required, and shall take care that the laws 
 be faithfully executed. 
 
 Sec. 3. And be it further enactedy That there shall be a 
 secretary of said territory, who shall reside therein, and hold 
 his office for five years, unless sooner removed by the Presi- 
 dent of the United States ; he shall record and preserve all 
 the laws and proceedings of the Legislative Assembly here- 
 inafter constituted, and all the acts and proceedings of the 
 governor in his executive department ; he shall transmit one 
 copy of the laws and journals of the Legislative Assembly 
 within thirty days after the end of each session, and one 
 copy of the executive proceedings, and official correspon- 
 dence, semi-annually, on the first days of January and July, 
 in each year, to the President of the United States, and two 
 copies of the laws to the President of the Senate and to the 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives, for the use of Con- 
 gress. And in case of the death, removal, resignation, or 
 absence of the Governor from the territory, the Secretary 
 shall be, and he is hereby authorized and required to execute 
 and perform all the powers and duties of the Governor during 
 such vacancy or absence, or until another Governor shall be 
 duly appointed and qualified to fill such vacancy. 
 
 Sec, 4. And be it further enactedy That the legislative power 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 231 
 
 ive power 
 1 shall be 
 )ur years, 
 ified, un- 
 id States. 
 I be com- 
 the duties 
 >f Indiau 
 ofTences 
 r offences 
 ecision of 
 hall com- 
 Lce under 
 uch com- 
 b the laws 
 
 hall be a 
 and hold 
 the Presi- 
 eserve all 
 )ly here- 
 igs of the 
 ismit one 
 Assembly 
 
 and one 
 orrespon- 
 and July, 
 
 and two 
 nd to the 
 e of Con- 
 ation, or 
 Secretary 
 ) execute 
 or during 
 
 shall be 
 
 ve power 
 
 and authority of said territory shall be vested in a Legislative 
 Assembly. The Legislative Assembly shall consist of a 
 Council and House of Representatives. The Council shall 
 consist of nine members, having the qualifications of voters 
 as hereinafter prescribed, whose term of service shall con- 
 tinue three years. Immediately after they shall be assembled 
 in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as 
 equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the 
 members of Council of the first class shall be vacated at the 
 expiration of the first year ; of the second class at the expi- 
 ration of the second year; and of the third class at the expi- 
 ration of the third year ; so that one-third may be chosen 
 every year ; and if vacancies happen by resignation or other- 
 wise, the same shall be filled at the next ensuing election. 
 The House of Representatives shall, at its first session, con- 
 sist of eighteen members, possessing the same qualifications as 
 prescribed for members of the Council, and whose term of ser- 
 vice shall continue one year. The number of representatives 
 may be increased by the Legislative Assembly from time to time, 
 in proportion to the increase of qualified voters: Provided, 
 That the whole number shall never exceed thirty. An appor- 
 tionment shall be made as nearly equal as practicable, among 
 the several counties or districts, for the election of the Council 
 and Representatives, giving to each section of the territory 
 representation in the ratio of its qualified voters, as nearly 
 as may be. And the members of the Council and of the 
 House of Representatives shall reside in and be inhabitants 
 of the district, or county, or counties, for which they may be 
 elected resp^^ctively. Previous to the first election, the 
 Governor shall cause a census or enumeration of the inhabit- 
 ants and qualified voters of the several counties and districts 
 of the tenitory to be taken by such persons, and in such 
 mode, as the Governor shall designate and appoint ; and the 
 persons so appointed shall rec jive a reasonable compensation 
 therefor; and the first election shall be held at such time and 
 places, and be conducted in such manner, both as to the 
 persons who shall superintend such election, and the returns 
 
232 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 i ii 
 
 I J 
 
 n 
 
 11 ' I 
 
 I i^' 
 
 .1 !i^ 
 
 thereof, as the Governor shall appoint and direct; and he 
 shall at the same time declare the number of members of the 
 Council and Plouse of Representatives to which each of the 
 counties or districts shall be entitled under this act ; and the 
 governor shall, by his proclamation, give at least sixty days 
 previous notice of such apportionment, and of the time, places, 
 and manner of holding such election. The persons having 
 the highest number of legal votes in each of said council dis- 
 tricts for members of the Council, shall be declared by the 
 Governor to be duly elected to the Council ; and the per- 
 sons having the highest number of legal votes for the House 
 of Representatives shall be declared by the Governor to be 
 duly elected members of said house : Providedf That in case 
 two or more persons voted for shall have an equal number 
 of votes, and in case a vacancy shall otherwise occur in either 
 branch of the Legislative Assembly, the Governor shall order 
 a new election, and the persons thus elected to the Legisla- 
 tive Assembly shall meet at such place, and on such day, 
 within ninety days after such elections, as the Governor shall 
 appoint ; but thereafter, the time, place, and manner of hold- 
 ing and conducting all elections by the people, and the appor- 
 tioning the representation in the several counties or districts 
 to the Council and House of Representatives, according to 
 the number of qualified voters, shall be prescribed by law, 
 as well as the day of the commencement of the regular ses- 
 sions of the Legislative Assembly : Provided, That no session 
 in any one year shall exceed the term of sixty days, except 
 the first session, which shall not be prolonged beyond one 
 hundred days. 
 
 Sec. 5. And be it further enacted. That every white male 
 inhabitant above the age of twenty-one years, who shall have 
 been a resident of said territory at the time of the passage of 
 this act, and shall possess the qualifications hereinafter pre- 
 scribed, shall be entitled to vote at the first election, and 
 shall be eligible to any office within the said territory ; but 
 the qualifications of voters, and of holding office at all subse- 
 quent elections, shall be such as shall be prescribed by the 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 233 
 
 male 
 have 
 iage of 
 r pre- 
 and 
 but 
 ubse- 
 y the 
 
 Legislative Assembly : Prwidedy That the right of suffrage 
 and of holding office shall be exercised only by citizens of 
 the United States above the age of twenty-one years, and 
 those above that age who shall have declared on oath their 
 intention to became such, and shall have taken an oath to 
 support the Constitution of the United States, and the pro- 
 visions of this act : And provided further. That no officer, 
 soldier, seaman, or marine, or other person in the army or 
 navy of the United States, or attached to troops in the ser- 
 vice of the United States, shall be allowed to vote in said 
 territory, by reason of being on service therein, unless said 
 territory is and has been, for the period of six months, his 
 permanent domicile : Provided further. That no person be- 
 longing to the army or navy of the United States shall ever 
 be elected to, or hold any civil office or appointment in said 
 territory. 
 
 Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the legislative power 
 of the territory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legis- 
 lation, not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the 
 United States; but no law shall be passed interfering with 
 the primary disposal of the soil ; no tax shall be imposed 
 upon the property of the United States; nor shall the lands 
 or other property of non-residents be taxed higher than the 
 lands or other property of residents. All the laws passed by 
 the Legislative Assembly shall be submitted to the Congress 
 of the United States, and if disapproved, shall be null and of 
 no effect : Provided, That nothing in this act shall be con- 
 strued to give power to incorporate a bank, or any institution 
 with banking powers, or to borrow money in the name of the 
 territory, or to pledge the faith of the people of the same for 
 any loan whatever, either directly or indirectly. No charter 
 granting any privilege of making, issuing, or putting into cir- 
 culation any notes or bills in the likeness of bank-notes, or 
 any bonds, scrip, drafts, bills of exchange, or obligations, or 
 granting any other banking powers or privileges, shall be 
 passed by the Legislative Assembly ; nor shall the establish- 
 ment of any branch or agency of any such corporation, de- 
 
rr" 
 
 234 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 r 
 
 Ml: 
 
 V ■ 
 
 rived from other authority, be allowed in said territory ; nor 
 shall said Legislative Assembly authorize the issue of any 
 obligation, scrip, or evidence of debt by said territory, in any 
 mode or manner whatever, except certificates for services to 
 said territory ; and all such laws, or any law or laws, incon- 
 sistent with the provisions of this act, shall be utterly null 
 and void ; and all taxes shall be equal and uniform, and no 
 distinction shall be made in the assessments between different 
 kinds of property, but the assessments shall be according to 
 the value thereof. To avoid improper influences which may 
 result from intermixing in one and the same act such things 
 as have no proper relation to each other, every law shall em- 
 brace but one object, and that shall be expressed in the 
 title. 
 
 Sec. 7. Jnd be it further enacted^ That all township, dis- 
 trict, and county officers, not herein otherwise provided for, 
 shall be appointed or elected in such manner as shall be 
 provided by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of 
 Oregon. 
 
 Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That no member of the 
 Legislative Assembly shall hold, or be appointed to any 
 office which shall have been created, or the salary or emolu- 
 ments of which shall have been increased, while he was a 
 member, during the term for which he was elected, and for 
 one year after the expiration of such term; but this restriction 
 shall not be applicable to members of the first Legislative 
 Assembly ; and no person holding a commission or appoint- 
 ment under the United States, shall be a member of the 
 Legislative Assembly, or shall hold any office under the 
 Government of said territory. 
 
 Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That the judicial power 
 of said territory shall be vested in a supreme court, district 
 courts, prohate courts, and in justices of the peace. The 
 supreme court shall consist of a chief justice and two asso- 
 ciate justices, any two of whom shall constitute a quorum, 
 and who shall hold a term at the seat of government of said 
 territory annually, and they shall hold their offices during 
 the period of four years, and until their successors shall be 
 
try ; nor 
 e of any 
 ^, in any 
 rvices to 
 , incon- 
 3rly null 
 , and no 
 different 
 rding to 
 lich may 
 h things 
 hall em- 
 1 in the 
 
 hip, dis- 
 ided for, 
 shall be 
 ritory of 
 
 er of the 
 
 to any 
 
 r emolu- 
 
 le was a 
 
 and for 
 
 striction 
 
 gislative 
 
 ippoint- 
 
 of the 
 
 der the 
 
 l1 power 
 district 
 . The 
 vo asso- 
 ^uorum, 
 ; of said 
 during 
 hall be 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 235 
 
 appointed and qualified. The said territory shall be divided 
 into three judicial districts, and a district court shall be held 
 in each of said districts, by one of the justices of the supreme 
 court, in such times and places as may be prescribed by law ; 
 and the said judges shall, after their appointments, respectively 
 reside in the districts which shall be assigned them. The 
 jurisdiction of the several courts herein provided for, both 
 appellate and original, and that of the probate courts, and of 
 justices of the peace, shall be as limited by law ; Provided^ 
 That justices of the peace shall not have jurisdiction of any 
 case in which the title to land shall in any wise come in ques- 
 tion, or where the debt or damages claimed shall exceed one 
 hundred dollars ; and the said supreme and district courts, 
 respectively, shall possess chancery, as well as common law, 
 jurisdiction. Each district court, or the judge thereof, shall 
 appoint its clerk, who shall also be the registrar in chancery, 
 and shall keep his office at the place where the court may be 
 held. Writs of error, bills of exception, and appeals, shall 
 be allowed in all cases from the final decisions of said dis- 
 trict courts to the supreme court, under such regulations as 
 may be prescribed by law ; but in no case removed to the 
 supreme court shall trial by jury be allowed in said court. 
 The supreme court, or the justices thereof, shall appoint its 
 own clerk, and every clerk shall hold his office at the pleasure 
 of the court for which he shall have been appoi^ited. Writs 
 of error, and appeals from the final decisions of said supreme 
 court shall be allowed, and may be taken to the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, in the same manner and under 
 the same regulations as from the circuit courts of the 
 United States, where the value of the property or the 
 amount in controversy, to be ascertained by the oath 
 or affirmation of cither party, or other competent witness, 
 shall exceed two thousand dollars; and in all cases where 
 the Constitution of the United States, or act of Congress, or 
 a treaty of the United States is brought in question, each of 
 the said district courts shall have and exercise the same 
 jurisdiction in all cases arising under the Constitution and 
 laws of the United States and the laws of said territory, as 
 
 II 
 
236 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 
 ;i 
 
 is vested in the circuit and district courts of the United 
 States. Writs of error and appeal in all such cases shall he 
 made to the supreme court of said territory, the same as in 
 other cases. Writs of error and appeals from the final de- 
 cisions of said supreme court shall be allowed, and may be 
 taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, in the 
 same manner as from the circuit courts of the United States, 
 where the value of the property or the amount in controversy 
 shall exceed two thousand dollars; and each of said dis- 
 trict courts shall have and exercise the same jurisdiction in 
 all cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the 
 United States, as is vested in the circuit and district courts 
 of the United States, and also of all cases arising under the 
 laws of the said territory and otherwise. The said clerk 
 shall receive, in all such cases, the same fees which the clerks 
 of the district courts of the late Wisconsin Territory received 
 for similar services. 
 
 Sec. 10. And be it further enacted. That there shall be 
 appointed an attorney for said territory, who shall continue 
 in office for four years, and until his successor shall be 
 appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the 
 President, and who shall receive the same fees and salary as 
 were provided by law for the attorney of the United States 
 for the late territory of Wisconsin. There shall also be a 
 marshal for the territory appointed, who shall hold his office 
 for four years, and until his successor shall be appointed 
 and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President, and 
 who shall execute all processes issuing from the said courts, 
 when exercising their jurisdiction as circuit and district 
 courts of the United States : he shall perform the duties, be 
 subject to the same regulations and penalties, and be entitled 
 to the same fees, as were provided by law for the marshal of 
 the district court of the United States for the present territory 
 of Wisconsin ; and shall, in addition, be paid two hundred 
 dollars annually, as a compensation for extra services. 
 
 Sec. 11. And be it further enacted. That the governor, 
 secretary, chief justice and associate justices, attorney, and 
 marshal, shall be nominated, and by and with the advice 
 
 1 ! 
 
United 
 shall be 
 me as in 
 final de- 
 l may be 
 !S, in the 
 d States, 
 itroversy 
 said dis- 
 iiction in 
 s of the 
 ct courts 
 nder the 
 lid clerk 
 he clerks 
 received 
 
 shall be 
 
 continue 
 
 shall be 
 
 by the 
 
 alary as 
 
 d States 
 
 so be a 
 
 is office 
 
 pointed 
 
 nt, and 
 
 courts, 
 
 district 
 
 ties, be 
 
 entitled 
 
 Irshal of 
 
 erritory 
 
 undred 
 
 fvernor, 
 
 3y, and 
 
 advice 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 287 
 
 and consent of the senate, appointed by the President of the 
 United States. The governor and secretary, to be appointed 
 as aforesaid, shall, before they act as such, respectively, 
 take an oath or affirmation, before the district judge, or some 
 justice of the peace in the limits of said territory, duly 
 authorized to administer oaths and affirmations by the laws 
 now in force therein, or before the chief justice or some 
 associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 
 to support the constitution of the United States, and faithfully 
 to discharge the duties of their respective offices ; which said 
 oaths, when so taken, shall be certified by the person by 
 whom the same shall have been taken, and such certiiicatcs 
 shall be received and recorded by the said secretary among 
 the executive proceedings ; and the chief justice and associate 
 justices, and all other civil officers in said territory, before 
 they act as such, shall take a like oath or affirmation, before 
 the said governor or secretary, or some judge or justice of 
 the peace of the territory, who may be duly commissioned 
 and qualified, which said oath or affirmation shall be certified 
 and transmitted, by the person taking the same, to the 
 secretary, to be by him recorded as aforesaid ; and, afterwards, 
 the like oath or affirmation shall be taken, certified, and 
 recorded, in such manner and form as may be prescribed by 
 law. The governor shall receive an annual salary of fifteen 
 hundred dollars as governor, and fifteen hundred dollars as 
 superintendent of Indian affairs. The chief justice and 
 associate justices shall each receive an annual salary of two 
 thousand dollars. The secretary shall receive an annual 
 salary of fifteen hundred dollars. The said salaries shall be 
 paid quarter-yearly, from the dates of the respective appoint- 
 ments, at the treasury of the United States ; but no such 
 payment shall be made until said officers shall have entered 
 upon the duties of theii* respective appointments. The mem- 
 bers of the Legislative Assembly shall be entitled to receive 
 three dollars each per day, during their attendance at the 
 sessions thereof, and three dollars each for every twenty miles' 
 travel in going to and returning from the said sessions, esti- 
 mated according to the nearest usually travelled route. And 
 
' 
 
 238 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 11 
 
 ' !^ 
 
 a chief clerk, one assistant olerk, a sorgeant-at-arms, and 
 (loorkeopor, may bo chosen for each house ; and th(! chief 
 clerk shall receive five dollars per day, and the said other 
 officers three dollars per day, during the session of the 
 Legislative Assembly ; but no other officers shall bo paid by 
 the United States: Provided^ That there shall be but one 
 session of the Legislature annually, unless, on an extra- 
 ordinary occasion, the governor shall think proper to call the 
 Legislature together. There shall be appropriated, annually, 
 the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, to be expended by the 
 governor, to defray the contingent expenses of the territory, 
 including the salary of a clerk of the executive department ; 
 and there shall also be appropriated, annually, a sufficient 
 sura, to be expended by the secretary of the territory, and 
 upon an estimate to be made by the secretary of the treasury 
 of the United States, to defray the expenses of the Legislative 
 Assembly, the printing of the laws, and other incidental 
 expenses. And the governor and secretary of the territory 
 shall, in the disbursement of all moneys intrusted to them, 
 be governed solely by the instructions of the secretary of the 
 treasury of the United States, and shall semi-annually 
 account to the said secretary for the manner in which the 
 aforesaid [sum] moneys shall have been expended ; and no 
 expenditure, to be paid out of money appropriated by 
 Congress, shall be made by said Legislative Assembly for 
 objects not specially authorized by the acts of Congress 
 making the appropriation, nor beyond the sums thus appro- 
 priated for such objects. 
 
 Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That the rivers and 
 streams of water in said territory of Oregon, in which 
 salmon are found, or to which they resort, shall not be 
 obstructed by dams or otherwise, unless such dams or 
 obstructions are so constructed as to allow salmon to pass 
 freely up and down such rivers and streams. 
 
 Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That the sum of ten 
 thousand dollars be, and is hereby, appropriated to be 
 expended under the direction of the President of the United 
 States, in payment for the services and expenses of such 
 
 
ms, and 
 ;h<; chief 
 lid other 
 ™ of the 
 1 paid by 
 but one 
 n extra- 
 ) call the 
 mnually, 
 I by the 
 territory, 
 artinent ; 
 sufficient 
 tory, and 
 I treasury 
 egislative 
 ncidental 
 territory 
 I to them, 
 iry of the 
 annually 
 hicli the 
 
 and no 
 iated by 
 nibly for 
 
 ongress 
 s appro- 
 vers and 
 which 
 
 not be 
 lams or 
 
 to pass 
 
 of ten 
 
 to be 
 
 United 
 
 of such 
 
 AFPRNDIX. 
 
 2af) 
 
 persons as have been engaged by the provisional government 
 of Oregon, in conveying communications to and from the 
 United States, and for purchase of presents for such of the 
 Indian tribes as the peace and quiet of the country requires. 
 
 Sec. 14. And be it further enacted^ That the inhabitants of 
 said territory shall be entitled to enjoy all and Hingular the 
 rights, privileges, and advantages granted and secured to the 
 people of the territory of the United States north-west of 
 the river Ohio, by the articles of com^iact contained in the 
 ordinance for the go ornment of ^aid territory, on the 
 thirteenth day of July, jeventeenl undred and eighty-seven; 
 and shall bo subject to all t' ? conditions, and restrictions, 
 and prohibitions in said articles of con-i act iinposcd upon 
 the people of said territory ; and the < •> 'sting laws now in 
 force in the territory of Oregon, undt? the authority of the 
 provisional government estab?; ;^' d by the p 'ple thereof, 
 shall continue to be valid and ipei tive therein, so far as the 
 same be not incompatible with the constitution of the LiuU I 
 States and the principles and provisions of this act ; subject, 
 nevertheless, to be altered, modified, or repealed by the 
 Legislative Assembly of the sail territory of Oregon; but all 
 laws heretofore passed in said territory making grants of 
 land or otherwise afTecting or encumbering the title to lands, 
 shall be, and are hereby, declared null and void, and the 
 laws of the United States are hereby extended over, and 
 declared to be in. ir -^e in, said territory, so far as the same, 
 or any provision th^ : jf, may be applicable. 
 
 Sec. 15. And be it further enacted. That the Legislative 
 Assembly of the Territory of Oregon shall hold its first 
 session at si'- li time and place in said territory as the 
 goveiiior thereof shall appoint and direct ; and at said first 
 session, or as soon thereafter as they shall deem expedient, 
 the Legislative Assembly shall proceed to locate and establish 
 the seat of government for said territory at such place as 
 they may deem eligible ; which place, however, shall there- 
 after be subject to be changed by said Legislative Assembly. 
 And the sura of five thousand dollars, out of any money in 
 the treasury not otherwise appropriated, is hereby appro- 
 
r 
 
 ?::i 
 
 240 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 il 
 
 '/ i 
 
 ■ .1 
 
 'I I 
 
 ? |i ft ;1 
 
 "t ! 
 
 • 
 
 I w \ 
 
 V 
 
 iff li 
 
 Hi 
 
 i 1 
 
 I 
 
 111-- 
 
 priated and granted to said territory of Oregon, to be there 
 applied, by the governor, to the erection of suitable buildings 
 at the seat of government. 
 
 Sec. 16. And be it further enacted. That a delegate to the 
 House of Representatives of the United States, to serve for 
 the term of two years, who shall be a citizen of the United 
 States, may be elected by the voters qualified to elect 
 members of the Legislative Assembly, who shall be entitled 
 to the same rights and privileges as have been heretofore 
 exercised and enjoyed by the delegates from the several 
 other territories of the United States to the said House of 
 Representatives ; but the delegate first elected shall hold his 
 seat only during the term of the Congress to which he shall 
 be elected. The first election shall be held at such time 
 and places, and be conducted in such manner, as the 
 governor shall appoint and diiect, of which, and the time, 
 place, and manner of holding such elections, he shall give at 
 least sixty days' notice by proclamation ; and at all subse- 
 quent elections, the times, places, and manner of holding the 
 elections shall be prescribed by law. The person having 
 the greatest number of votes shall be declared by the 
 governor to be duly elected, and a certificate thereof shall be 
 given accordingly. The delegate from said territory shall 
 not be entitled to receive more than twenty-five hundred 
 dollars at any one session of Congress, as a compensation 
 for his mileage in going to and returning from the seat of the 
 government of the United States, any act of Congress to the 
 contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 Sec. 17. And he it further enacted^ That all suits, process, 
 and proceedings, civil and criminal, at law and in chancery, 
 and all indictments and informations, which shall be pending 
 and undetermined in the courts established by authority of 
 the provisional government of Oregon, within the limits of 
 said territory, when this act shall take effect, shall be 
 transferred to be heard, tried, prosecuted, and determined in 
 the district courts hereby established, which may include the 
 counties or districts where any such proceedings may be 
 pending. All bonds, recognizances, and obligations of every 
 
n 
 
 APPEiNDIX. 
 
 241 
 
 be there 
 uildings 
 
 te to the 
 serve for 
 ! United 
 to elect 
 entitled 
 jretofore 
 several 
 louse of 
 hold his 
 he shall 
 ich time 
 , as the 
 ;he time, 
 11 give at 
 11 subse- 
 Iding the 
 a having 
 by the 
 shall be 
 )ry shall 
 hundred 
 ensation 
 at of the 
 ss to the 
 
 kind whatsoever, valid under the existing laws within the 
 limits of said territory, shall be valid under this act ; and all 
 crimes and misdemeanors against the laws in force within 
 said limits may be prosecuted, tried, and pimished in the 
 courts established by this act ; and all penalties, forfeitures, 
 actions, and causes of action, may be recovered under this 
 act, in like manner as they would have been under the laws 
 in force within the limits composing said territory at tho 
 time this act shall go into operation : Provided^ That the laws, 
 penalties, and forfeitures, and punishments by this section 
 required to be enforced by the courts provided for by this 
 act, shall not be inconsistent with the constitution of the 
 United States: And provided furthery That no right of action 
 whatever shall accrue against any person for any act done in 
 pursuance of any law heretofore passed by the temporary 
 government, and which may be declared contrary to the 
 constitution of the United States. 
 
 Sec. 18. And he it further enacted^ That all justices of the 
 peace, constables, sheriffs, and all other judicial and minis- 
 terial officers who shall be in office within the limits of said 
 territory when this act shall take effect, shall be, and they 
 are hereby authorized and required to continue to exercise 
 and perform the duties of their respective offices, as officers 
 of the territory of Oregon, until they, or others, shall be duly 
 elected or appointed and qualified to fill their places, in the 
 manner herein directed, or until their offices shall be abo- 
 lished. 
 
 Sec. 19. And he it further enacted. That the sum of five 
 thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby appropriated, 
 out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appro- 
 priated, to be expended, by and under the direction of the 
 said governor of the territory of Oregon, in the purchase of 
 a library, to be kept at the seat of government, for the use 
 of the governor, liCgislative Assembly, judges of the Supreme 
 Court, secretary, marshal, and attorney of said territory, and 
 such other persons, and under such regulations, as shall be 
 prescribed by law. 
 
 Sec. 20. And be it further enacted^ That when the lands in 
 
 R 
 
?1 
 
 242 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 PA 
 
 said territory shall be surveyed, under the direction of the 
 government of the United States, preparatory to bringing the 
 same into market, sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six, 
 in each township in said territory, shall be, and the same are 
 hereby, reserved for the purpose of being applied to schools 
 in said territory, and in the states and territories hereafter to 
 be erected out of the same. 
 
 Sec. 21. And be it further enacted. That, until otherwise 
 provided for by law, the governor of said territory may define 
 the judicial districts of said territory, and assign the judges 
 who may be appointed for said territory to the several 
 districts, and also appoint the times and places for holding 
 courts in the several counties or subdivisions in each of said 
 judicial districts, by proclamation, to be issued by him ; but 
 the Legislative Assembly, at their first or any subsequent 
 session, may organize, alter, or modify such judicial districts, 
 and assign the judges, and alter the times and places of 
 holding the courts, as to them shall seem proper and con- 
 venient. 
 
 Sec. 22. And be it further enacted. That all officers to be 
 appointed by the President, by and with the advice and 
 consent of the Senate, for the tenitory of Oregon, who, by 
 virtue of the provisions of any law now existing, or which 
 may be enacted during the present Congress, are required to 
 give security for moneys that may be imrusted with them for 
 disbursement, shall give such security at such time and place, 
 and in such manner, as the secretary of the treasury may 
 prescribe. 
 
 Sec. 23. And be it further enacted. That all the ports, 
 harbours, shores, and waters of the main land of the territory 
 aforesaid, shall constitute a collection district, to be called 
 the district of Oregon ; and a port of entry shall be esta- 
 blished at Astoria, near the mouth of the Columbia river, 
 and a collector of customs shall be appointed by the Presi- 
 dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to 
 reside at such port of entry. 
 
 Sec. 24. And be it further enacted. That the President of 
 the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to esta- 
 
 m 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 243 
 
 n of the 
 iging the 
 lirty-six, 
 iame are 
 > schools 
 eafter to 
 
 (therwise 
 ay define 
 e judges 
 I several 
 r holding 
 h of said 
 lim; but 
 bsequent 
 districts, 
 places of 
 and con- 
 
 ers to be 
 
 vice and 
 
 who, by 
 
 or which 
 
 quired to 
 
 them for 
 
 nd place, 
 
 ury may 
 
 le ports, 
 territory 
 De called 
 be esta- 
 jia river, 
 le Presi- 
 enate, to 
 
 llish such ports of delivery in the district created by this 
 act, not exceeding two in number, one of which shall be 
 located on Puget's Sound, as he may deem expedient, and 
 may appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the 
 Senate, surveyors to reside thereat. 
 
 Sec. 25. And be it further enacted, That the collector of 
 said district shall be allowed a compensation of one thousand 
 dollars per annum, and the fees allowed by law ; and the 
 compensation of any surveyor appointed in pursuance of this 
 act shall not exceed five hundred dollars per annum, in- 
 cluding in said sum the fees allowed by law ; and the amount 
 collected by any of said surveyors, for fees, in any one year, 
 exceeding the sum of five hundred dollars, shall be accounted 
 for and paid into the treasury of the United States. 
 
 Sec. 26. And be it further enacted, That the revenue laws 
 of the United States be, and are hereby, extended over the 
 territory of Oregon. 
 
 Sec. 27. And be itfurtlier enacted, That the sum of fifteen 
 thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, 
 out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appro- 
 priated, to be expended under the direction of the secretary 
 of the treasury, for the construction of light-houses at Cape 
 Disappointment and New Dunginess ; and for the construc- 
 tion and anchoring of the requisite number of buoys, to 
 indicate the channels at the mouth of the Columbia river, 
 and the approaches to the harbour of Astoria, the said buoys 
 to be placed and anchored under the direction of such person 
 as the secretary of the treasury shall appoint. 
 
 sident of 
 to esta- 
 
'h 
 
 ■I" 
 
 244 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 B. 
 
 A BILL FOR THE ADMISSION OF THE STATE OF 
 WISCONSIN INTO THE UNION. 
 
 ■s-i 
 
 j s m 
 
 i m 
 
 Whereas the people of the Territory of Wisconsin did, on 
 the first day of February, eighteen hundred and forty-eight, 
 by a convention of delegates called and assembled for that 
 purpose, form for themselves a constitution and State govern- 
 ment, which said constitution is republican, and said con- 
 vention having asked the admission of said Territory into 
 the Union as a State, upon an equal footing with the original 
 States : 
 
 Be it enacted^ Sec, That the State of Wisconsin be, and is 
 hereby, admitted to be one of the United States of America, 
 and is hereby admitted into the Union on an equal footing 
 with the original States, in all respects whatever, with the 
 boundaries prescribed by the act of Congress approved 
 August 6, 1846, entitled " An act to enable the people of 
 Wisconsin Territory to form a constitution and State govern- 
 ment, and for the admission of such State into the Union." 
 
 Sec. 2. And be it further enacted^ That the assent of Con- 
 gress is hereby given to the first, second, fourth, and fifth 
 resolutions adopted by said convention, and appended to 
 said constitution, and the acts of Congress referred to in the 
 said resolutions are hereby amended, so that the lands 
 granted by the provisions of the several acts referred to in 
 the ^Qxdi first and fourth resolutions, and the proceeds of said 
 lands and the five per centum of the net proceeds of the 
 public lands therein mentioned, shall be held and disposed 
 of by said State in the manner and for the purposes recom- 
 mended by said convention; and so that, also, the lands 
 re: -ved to the United States by the provisions of the act 
 entitled " An act to grant a quantity of land to aid in the 
 improvement of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, and to con- 
 nect the same by a canal in the Territory of Wisconsin ;" 
 and also the even-numbered sections reserved by the pro- 
 
 li 'I K 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 245 
 
 
 visions of the act entitled " An act to grant a quantity of 
 land to the Territory of Wisconsin, for the purpose of aiding 
 in opening a canal to connect the waters of Lake Michigan 
 with those of Rock River," shall be offered for sale at the 
 same mininura price, and subject to the same rights of pre- 
 emption, as other public lands of the United States : Pro- 
 vided, however, That no person shall be entitled to a preemp- 
 tion by reason of the settlement and cultivation of any quarter 
 section or other subdivision of said even-numbered sections, 
 which tract, before the commencement of such settlement, 
 shall have been claimed by any other person cultivating and 
 improving the same in good faith, and which shall have con- 
 tinued to be claimed, cultivated, and improved in like good 
 faith by such person, his representatives, or assigns, until 
 the sale of said tract, and of which said prior claim, cultiva- 
 tion, and improvement, the person so claiming preemption 
 shall have had notice at the time of his entry and settlement. 
 Neither shall any preemption be allowed to any tract to the 
 injury of any person, or of the representatives or assigns of 
 any person claiming and occupying the same, or any part 
 thereof, in good faith, in his or her right at the passage of 
 this act, and owning valuable cultivation or improvements 
 thereon, which cultivation or improvements shall have been 
 assigned by the person so claiming preemption ; or, if com- 
 menced subsequently to the entry and settlement of such per- 
 son, shall have been made with his consent or acquiescence. 
 Sec. 3. Atid be it further enacted, That the purchase of any 
 tract of the said even numbered sections mentioned in the 
 preceding section, and sold since the reservation thereof, at 
 the minimum price of two dollars and fifty cents per acre, 
 shall be entitled to receive from the Commissioner of the 
 General Land Office a certificate of the quantity of land so 
 purchased, and of the amount of the excess paid therefor 
 over and above the value of said land, at the rate of one 
 dollar and twenty-five cents per acre ; which certificate, to 
 the amount of such excess, shall be receivable from the 
 holder thereof, or his assigns, in like manner as so much 
 money, in payment of the public lands of the United States. 
 
li 1 ■! 
 
 t-m f 
 
 I 
 
 n 
 
 \-4 
 
 it 
 
 
 246 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 That, in the event of the death of any such purchaser before 
 the issuing of such certificate, the same shall be issued in 
 favour of the lawful representatives of such purchaser. 
 
 Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the judge of the 
 district court for the district of Wisconsin, shall hold a term 
 of said court in each year at the seat of government, to com- 
 mence on the first Monday of July, and another term of 
 said court in each year at Milwaukie, to commence on the 
 first Monday of January. He shall also have power to hold 
 special terms for the trial of causes, and for the determina- 
 tion of all suits or proceedings in said courts, at either of 
 the aforesaid places, at his discretion, as the nature and the 
 amount of the business may require. The said court shall 
 be open at all times for the purpose of hearing and deciding 
 cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, so far as the 
 same can be done without a jury. The records and papers 
 of said court may be kept at either of the places therein 
 designated for the holding of said court, as the judge in his 
 discretion shall direct. 
 
 Sec. 5. And he it further enacted. That the clerks of the 
 district courts of the Territory of Wisconsin shall, before 
 their term of office expires, certify, under seal, and transmit 
 to the clerk of said court, all records of all unsatisfied judg- 
 ments and of suits pending in said courts respectively, 
 attaching thereto all papers connected therewith, in all cases 
 arising under the laws or Constitution of the United States, 
 or to which the United States shall be a party ; and they 
 shall forward the same to the clerk of said district court of 
 the State of Wisconsin, who shall enter the same in his 
 docket, and the said district court shall proceed therein to 
 final judgment and execution, as if such suits or proceedings 
 had originally been brought in said court. 
 
 Sec. 6. And be it further enacted. That the clerk of the 
 supreme court of the Territory of Wisconsin shall deliver 
 over to the clerk of said district court, all records and papers 
 in the office of the clerk of the said supreme court relating 
 to proceedings in bankruptcy under the late bankrupt law 
 of the United States. He shall also certify under seal, and 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ser before 
 issued in 
 er, 
 
 ge of the 
 Id a term 
 t, to com- 
 f terra of 
 ce on the 
 jr to hold 
 Btermina- 
 either of 
 3 and the 
 »urt shall 
 deciding 
 ir as the 
 d papers 
 8 therein 
 ge in his 
 
 247 
 
 deliver to said clerk, all records of judgments and of pro- 
 ceedings in suits pending, and all papers connected there- 
 with, m cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the 
 United States. 
 
 Sec. 7. Arui be it further enacted. That from and after the 
 fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and forty-nine, and 
 until another census and appointment shall be made, the 
 State of Wisconsin shall be entitled to three Representatives 
 in the Congress of the United States. 
 
 cs of the 
 11, before 
 transmit 
 iedjudg- 
 )ectively, 
 all cases 
 d States, 
 and they 
 court of 
 e in his 
 lerein to 
 ceedings 
 
 k of the 
 i deliver 
 i papers 
 relating 
 rupt law 
 leal, and 
 
248 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 c. 
 
 A Graduated Table, showing the Comparative Amount of money appropriated by the 
 different Counties in the State, for the Education of each child, between the ages 
 of^ and IQ years, in each County of the State of Massachusetts. 
 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 13 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 13 
 
 14 
 
 14 
 
 Counties. 
 
 a appropriated 
 
 counties for 
 
 child between 
 
 I6yearsofage. 
 
 
 i^ii 
 
 Suffolk . . 
 
 *7 98 
 
 Nantucket . 
 
 5 44 
 
 Middlesex . 
 
 3 98 
 
 Norfolk . . 
 
 3 89 
 
 Essex . . 
 
 2 80 
 
 Bristol . . 
 
 2 76 
 
 Plymouth . 
 
 2 76 
 
 Worcester . 
 
 2 59 
 
 Hampshire . 
 
 2 4& 
 
 Hampden . 
 
 2 42 
 
 Duke's Co. , 
 
 2 25 
 
 Franklin . 
 
 2 12 
 
 Barnstable . 
 
 2 00 
 
 Berkshire . 
 
 1 79 
 
 f a • 
 S id's 
 
 ^^ 
 
 11 
 
 'I 
 
 *215,760 91 
 
 9,775 37 
 
 127,203 13 
 
 69,204 37 
 
 80,135 50 
 
 51,149 85 
 
 36,384 59 
 
 72,424 20 
 
 19,470 00 
 
 25,399 00 
 
 2,575 00 
 
 16. 3 53 
 
 18,108 00 
 
 20,879 96 
 
 
 S 
 
 m "1 
 
 e s 
 
 \t 
 
 • •« 
 
 #373 64 
 
 695 72 
 
 553 20 
 
 259 52 
 
 521 20 
 
 374 49 
 
 641 98 
 
 273 94 
 
 • •• 
 
 224 00 
 
 730 78 
 
 220 41 
 
 Total. 
 
 No. of chUdren 
 between 4 and 16 
 years of age. 
 
 • •• 
 
 27,041 
 
 ... 
 
 1,797 
 
 4ri 27,676 77 
 
 32,077 
 
 59,900 09 
 
 15,417 
 
 80,688 70 
 
 28,833 
 
 51,409 41 
 
 18,644 
 
 36,905 79 
 
 13,391 
 
 72,798 69 
 
 28,191 
 
 20,111 98 
 
 8,206 
 
 25,672 94 
 
 10,596 
 
 • •• 
 
 1,144 
 
 16,697 53 
 
 7,893 
 
 18,838 78 
 
 9,416 
 
 21,100 37 
 
 11,790 
 
 I 
 
 g'S'3 
 
 B S-d 
 
 *139 58 
 
 6 00 
 
 40 00 
 
 2,993 82 
 
 2,322 10 
 
 821 12 
 
 4,816 25 
 
 6,029 49 
 
 5,342 27 
 
 2,539 72 
 
 10,845 25 
 
 AGGREGATE OF THE STATE. 
 
 14 Counties . 
 
 3 54 
 
 754,943 45 
 
 4,868 88 
 
 759,812 33 
 
 214,436 
 
 35,894 60 
 
 Savill & Edwards, Printer!), 4, Cliandos-street, Covent-garden. 
 
jpriated hy the 
 tween the ages 
 
 I 
 
 1^9 
 
 077 
 
 *139 58 
 
 417 
 
 5 00 
 
 ,833 
 
 40 00 
 
 .644 
 
 2,993 82 
 
 391 
 
 2,322 10 
 
 191 
 
 821 12 
 
 206 
 
 4,816 25 
 
 596 
 
 6,029 49 
 
 144 
 
 
 893 
 
 5,342 27 
 
 416 
 
 2,539 72 
 
 790 
 
 10,845 25 
 
 ,436 
 
 35,894 60 
 
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