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Un des symboles suivents apparaitra sur la darniire image de cheque microfiche, salon la cas: le symbole ^^^ signifia "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, pisnches, tableeux, etc.. peuvent dtre film6s A des taux de reduction diffirants. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atra reproduit en un seul clichi. il est filmi 6 partir de Tangle supArieur geuche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'imeges nicessatre. Les disgrammes suivents illustrent la mAthode. 32 X 1 2 3 4 5 6 POI i • mm ON 'JO /^jtcc ia5jfti ' LJUgru i :!ii i' ...r» i!* w SPEECH WM. 1 ¥ ¥ m-' m AT 3f . THOMAS, On Iho 12ll| NovenJber, 1869, ON tllE PRESENT AND FUTtJKE WITH AN APFENDJX, m^tmim T«E LETTBKS OF THE REV. 3T. (JEbfi«E tAULFEILD ON THE IRISH QUESTION.^ WITH MU. MttLS' KEPLiES TlfKKBTO. LOKDON:.. ^fc-^^-tu^J*^ —p. 1870 1^1 National Archives Archives Rationales ot Canada du Canada SPEECH ON THE PRESENT AND PUTURK POLITICAL ASPECTS OF CANADA, BY DAVID MILLS, M. P., BOTHWELL, At ST. THOMAS,UthNov. 1869. Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : When you extended to me an invitation to address you upon the political prospects of the country, my time was then so fully occupied thatf ouTd not. at once, avail myself of the pleasure of complying with your requisition I am hei^ to-mght to fulfil the promise I made several weeks'ago, 2T 'si that what I may have to say will not have ceased to be important in onnl quence of the delay. "aponant in conse- When Hook at your pleasant town, and the fine agricultural district wh.VI, l.es about it, I am reminded of the observation of TcZ^tliit^^. moi. true that we learn from the Physical Sciences TolSl « Z attributes of the Creator, than it is true that we learn from t Jn. . progre^of a country something of the characteristics of irpeope^ome' thing of their industry, their energy, their enterprise, their geneSVi their aesthetic sensibilities. Judging my audfence b/cha^LSf l^^^^^ sort, I do not feel that I need be in much dread of the x^T^^ol^ ^ those who may differ from me upon questro^^ of uirpXHs^tllly from that most hopeless, because most Conservative kind .f , * ^ prejudice an unshaken faith in the superior wisdom ro^rtceso?'"' Everybody has heard the story of the Brahmin who broke thT mt. because it showed him that his religious system was LlZZt ^'ZZ a spunous but a genuine Conservative. Now we not unfrequent^meerwith many similar instances in politics; persons whose Dreiudic«\ni all progress, and who hate all who do not worship fhllXls b^^^^^^^^^^ above all others those who have half convinced'them t a M^^^^^^ thi Irt T Tt *r 'r ^^"^ ^' *'^^^ P^J"^-' ^-bt the souTdneLT their pol^cal faith, .nd the wisdom of bringing, not the knowlZ bu* the preindices and vain-rrlnrirtna k«.,„*: ? -- ■ ■ *""'*'«''kO, but modern political questiW"""' —^''^ "i'-^ ^^'' - the solution of / 2 I confess I feol some embarassment in speaking to you npon the politics of theZ; not because there is little to be said, but from the number of i^portit public questions that have recently been dealt with, and from^^e XThat still await solution. It will not be possible or me even to ^e Cmost cursory view of them, much less to fully notice the tendency of each p^cdar act o> pubUc importance. Some of those questions have not yet J^fL the domain of speculative politics, where, however it xs impo^ . JZthey can long remain; and of this class of political questions, by far the tl important islwhat is to be the future political status of th»B country ^e present period is a most important one in the history of the Bnt^h North American colonies. Our colonial condition has. m a great deg^, ^aTd W are in the midst of a revolution, all the consequences of which we ToTot clearly foresee. We are graduaUy reaching a condition of puberty in wWch we ^ becoming conscious of more enlarged views of nationa life Ind of a growing desire to share in. if not ourselves to assume, nationd Z>olbih^ies. Nations, like individuals, have their periods of infancy and ZCty What is pleasing in one ago ceases to be so in another. We rr^Sgrown onr infantile condition. W3 have thrown away our rattles an Uubles, they have lost their charm for us. We have broken our teing Btiings. We are every day acting with more confidence m ourselves. m have not^eserted our mother. I trust this is not our wish. We canno S)^ 'he fact, that many able men believe we can not only walk without eX^al aid. but that it is indispensable to our prospen^ T, f^'^^t !f I do not hesitate to say that, if we continue to walk with her m the fa;are it must be as an ally, and not as a dependent Theremay be somewho wSuteTe present relations to last forever; who regard all change as ZZb However thatmay be, we have grown diflferent from what wo were. ZTTtin no longer a question of doubt that we cannot be governed as we ™ mLh leL a! were our fathers. I do not share in those evil forebodings TcSh^ t timorous. The changes which must taevitably come, like fomer changes, are the necessary consequences of our progress. Inourpast wC St disabilities disappeared. Special privileges were t^en away frSoXou whom tiiey h^, at an earlier period, been conferred, and we we^ told S changes would ruin the country; but our country was not '^^Sr^rXrtnr; ol ttX whenleadingpoUti.ans ' ^Tattte^dviceofrMinistry. responsible to a Provincial legislature, S^ oUeLg ^^ X^^^^ to theSecreteiT of Statefor the Colonist How i^'^l.fbe preserved throughout the Empire, if there are Provincial minui;«"controlled by Provincial legislatures? It was mainlainea in one o^ Tmort careft^Uy written pamphlets ever given to the Cauadm pubUc. that if the re] would b the opii became grown nj When th as an uni Lookit governme disputed, tho systeu of 1841 public wo closed ag8 public lac majority the same t properly looked up( aiistocracj enterprise rivals for ; private pr punishmen we find tha against roc emigration the desceni Not fewer i more conge well govern increase of of responsi ratio of th( increase of Permit m efiected und the reform c removal of t in King's 0( oftheOlerg; cipai refftruu ment of poli 8906t3 J politics of number of id from the ven to take mcy of each ave not yet it is impofr' I, by far tlie J country, the British preat degree, of which we f puberty, in national life, ne, national ' infancy and aether. We ay our rattles J broken our in ourselves. We cannot walk without NQ should do ithher in the r be some who all change as what we were, jvemed as we ril forebodings ibly come, like In oar past sre taken away iferred, and we )untry was not ling politicians JBh connection, he Governor is cial legislature, olonies? How I are Provincial taiaed in one of iau public, that If the representatives of the Canadian people controlled the Ministn. Canada would be sepamted fiem the mother countiy. This was. atthat^me ^ ^e opimon of many British statesmen, and it was no untilL cLtj became convulsed by a civil war, in consequence of the abuses wlich^^ grown up under an irresponsible executive, that any change was assented to When the principle of responsible government was conceSed, many Xwed ii as an unwise concession to existing discontent Looking at o«r country as it was before the introduction of re«,onsible gover^ent and the coastitution of 1841, I do not state what is liZ to be d,q,uted. when I say that much has been done, of a beneficial character. nJev the system of government which waa then introduced. When the Const tuS of 1841 was conceded, we had not a mile of railwav Wb hnA . public works We had a State Church. ^I Z^Ii t,Ti^f^?Zl closed against all who were not members of that church. One-seven^ of thT public lands were reserved to perpetuate reUgious strife-to^mTnd a !^', majority of the people that they were in a position of political iSoritf!t thesame time six millionsofacresof the OrowndomainLb^o^^^^^^^ E^ °f «Pf •''^•^tors. The Government had fallen into the hands of men who looked upon themselves as heaven-born rulers; but they were in C « hi !^ aiistocn^cy who adopted a policy intended to prevl'^; ^2 ' Lt^ enterprise from immigrating to the countiy, lestthey might becomoTZ^- rivals for political influence and power. The public funds weT^S^^Z private property of those to whom they w^re intrusted. witt^W^^f pumshment or disgrace. If we look at the old Govemmen of Lower Zjl we find that it was even worse than that of Upper Canada. It IZ^cT against race, and reUgion against religion. ItC J^waythe d^^M emi^tion from that Province, and the consequence hJKthltotSJ the descendants of the French are an imme^e majority T ie nil. V ^ Not fewer than 160.000 persons left theProvinrS to is' "?lt°°* more congenial field for industry and enterprise in the United States Tn aS well governed countries the increase of wealth more than keeps pa^ wi Jh the increase of population, but in Lower Canada, before tfe ^Ltr^tct^o' of ^sponsible government, notwithstanding the large efflux of 3e t^! ratio of the increase of population was more than twice as Z^^' H increase of wealth. * "" *°® Permit me for a moment to remind you ofthe many reforms wW^i, „ tT^^'^T ^VT ^'^ -^'"3hment^,S^^^;ftit^^^^ the reform of the election law; the extension of the elective franchirS removal of the disabilities in the solemnization of marriaire- a .^S^' in King. College; the establishment of Common So^^h^^ SrtZ of the Clergy Reserve lands ; an elective Second Chamber. Th««« JUITTS^ cip« rewms ; aii «r them of the greatest importance in the progressFv; dive W ment of pohtical liberty. So you see that much was accompS u^X 4 „h.,flP« ffrew up as wo advanced, and Conati- old Union, and. although many ''^UB^Jf^j^P ^y-and-by Bpeak. it cann.t tional defects became apparent;;/ ™^ „uch better governed, and much be doubted that, under that Upion, we w more prosperous than we ^a^ be«n^« ^'^^^^^^^^ f„,„. We have departed We have in our onward "»«;^J"7 ^.^^ ^hat union waa theoreUcally essentially from the pnnc.ple of ^h^ old un ^^^ uasymmetrical , Legislative union. .I^P;- ' ^.^rSation'of a new nationality upon rasTd:pir;r:i^^^^^^^^^ --- ^^^ which we adhere to f f;^^":-^ P";^^^^^^^^^^ Confederation is but a prepara- There are those who think tb"« P«««^^ ^^^.^ ^Wnk this is a neces- tion for a separation from Great Bntai- Now ^^^^^.^, ^^^ „y consequence of Confederahon. jl^« --^.^^,.^„, ,„a the correction of establishmentofimproved n^eans of com ^^^ ^^^^^.^^ ^^^ defects in our New ^^^f ^^«";;;;2e^^^^^^^ consider this question :-How Bome time to come. But we ""'^^''^^ '"^^^^^t state, and at the same ,, we to exercise all the P^J- ^ Jj^^^^^^^^^ „y mind this question time remain a portioa «f *^« ^^^ ^'^^^^^^^^ narrow prejudices, and that does not present insuperable d"e«- formidable barriers to union, meaner kind ^f pat"oUsm which - t^e most ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ,,,„opolitan. are broken down as society ^dv^";;f ^^^^^^ ^^^ moralman of Pagan Rome, I have no doubt that to many ^ ^^ J^l^o^ could have been more who looked upon religion as an ^^J ^^ ^^f JJ '' .f How," he would ask, perplexing than the P^^^lTTl^S o ^ ^^^« ^»* ^'' nationalities, rJan this new faith which appa^ahl-^^ ^.^^^ .^^ ..which invites the friends and the enemi^^^^^^^^ not occur to any ■ . pale, be reconciled w^th loyal^ fJ^^S; —cribing the functions Boman stateem- that it couW be r c^^^^^^^^ ^^^.^^ ^^^ of the state. And so we find in every s^^ ^.^. questions presenting themselves which startle men ^^^ ^ ^ ^.^^^^^ Unities that are m-^^-ily m^o.u^^^^^^^^^^ ^-^ P^^^^^ ^, j.,g. ties at all because of defects ^^f "^f,X^^^^^^^^^^^^ what powers must land, as well as of Canada wil soon b^f^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^.^^^.^^^ ^^ ttrrwtxi--^^^^^^^^^ -^-^ ^^ -t^al prominent politicians of the Pro.^e of Q.b.c h.e^..^y declaredthemselvesinfavor of the nd^pe^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ M,. __x .vi,v«p+ViPflfiareSir A. 1- waii, nou. xii'- e- ^ Jt IB an unimportant question, asliedto-day unci to be forgotten to-morrow. There are grout natural laws by which society is impelled onward. We may not be able always to trace all the vital forces which are operating upon it. and which render its march irroHistable.-I have already said that our present Btato .«. a transitaon one. I do not believe it possible, and if it were possible, I believe It would be highly undesirable, that wo should continue simply a dependency of England long after Confederation is completed. I believe there are certain conditions necessary to the highest srccesfl, that are unat- tamable while the colonial condition continues. I have already mentioned some objecte that are sufficient to fully occupy our attention for th. present; but when this task is done, we will all ask ourselves what next? The young man who grows up at his father's hearth, if he be a man of any capacity is not content to remain forever his father's ward; never thrown upon his own resources; never taught to rely upon himself. As it is with persons so is it with nations. We are not yet permitted to appear ,n society. Scotland, with her three millions of people, elects members who are to discuss qUes- tions of peace and war; who enter into treaties with foreign states, who send ambassadors abroad to all quarters of the globe. We with our four millions do none of these things. The horizon of our political world is bounded by ourownterritoriallimits. Theirs extends to the remotest comers of the world. Who will say that the wider field and the greater responsibilities that devolve upon them are not better calculated to rouse up their energies, and to call forth every latent power of the mind. -Mr. McDougall, in speaking of the powers of self-government which we exercise, asks us "what moro could we desire." For the present, I ask for nothing more; for the present, 1 think them sufficient. But, let me ask, would England think w*ii . °"'**^'' *** 8«"ender her control over her foreign relations? Would her statesmen feel it was not a humiliating condition if she were forced into a war without her consent? Is that which she would not willingly surrender, of no consequence to us to acquire? Are questions like these of no consequence in a nation's life? Do they afford no scope to states- manship? We may deceiv -^ intellect, but we cannot deceive the heart of man; and the time must co> 3 when tlie people of this country will claim their right to share in the exercise of national power. There are but four possible conditions: Ist-To remain as we are. 2nd- To establish an Independent Government 3rd~Annexation to the United T T ^ ^^~^'' *'^°°'"® * P'»t «f a re-organized Empire. The first, I have said, I don t think can long be continued. Nor do I think that the estab- ishment here of an independent govermnent, would enable us to develop those latent powers which would make us in reality something mo?e than colonists. If we occupied, geographically, an insular position, our maritime power might prove an adequate protection. Bni, wn ar« ^»'>'■;'^" - p^-i ---•-« speaking the same language and possessing similar institutions, eeainst whom our maritime strength, for the purpose of self-protection, would be utterly unavPilin«. Now the spirit of nationality would wither in the pni- ^ senco of a superior power. Wo would havo the ever present coiiBciousnew, tm. we were independoiit by the forbearance of a powerful neighbor If at Bome future period the United States should bo divided into two or more countries, the question of independence would be entirely changod We are not in the posiUon of an European country of the sumo resources. The pow- erful states of Europe are jealous of each other, and are generally readVto come to the rescue of the smaUer stated. This is not our position. There is no such balance of power here, and it is imposaiblo to establish it. It appears to me that the course most acceptable to the people of Canada would be a Confederation of the British Enpire-a Confederation in which the British Isles will have retained all the powers of local self government that we now possess, and will have surrendered to an Imperial Legislature the regiilation of foreign commerce, the external relations of the Empire, and the maintenance of an army and navy. When this Confederation was formed, each Province was obliged to purrender a portion of the power it possessed to bg shared by the United Provinces in common. Now, in my opinion, the time is near at hand when the question r/hether we shall continue aporUonof the BriUsh Empire or not, will be pressed upon the attention of British Statesmen; and whether we do so continue wiU depend upon their willingness to share with the colonists the exereise of Imperial power. The age in which we Uve is an age of self reliance and of progress. We see in every part of the globe the isolated and di^ointed frapnents of a " Greater Britain," rapidly rising in importance. The colonies of England have no representative relationship with ewh other The Government of Great Britain, for Imperial purposes, except for the mother country, is not a representative government I believe the Empire is near that point where the road parts, and there our relations must be changed If we continue to travel together. I trust, when that point is -eached the Btatesmen of England will prove equal to the occasion, and in the spirit uf broad patriotism they will surrender something for the good of the whole I trust they will be able to exercise that self denying patriotism that thev pressed so earnestly upon the unwilling people of Nova Scotia. Long, lon/before the new Union has attained the age of the old, the relation of England to her colonies will be first among equals, or it will be nothing at all In order that I may bring before you as vividly as I can our present political relations with the mother land, permit me to give you an illusb«tion We have at present a local legislature for Ontario; but, besides this she is •represented in the ParUament of the Dominion. Now what would ydn think 'Of th3 proposal to abolish the Federal Parliament, and confer upon the Local Legislature of Quebec federal powers, in addition to her local powens ? -TiO Out: ill bis senses could for a iiioiueut entertain such a proposition Yet uch is the relation of England to her colonies. So far, then, aa she does for 1 - US whftt wo are not f I liberty to do for ovinielvefl, her Govornment ui not for UH a representative Govornment, but an absolute ohe. The relation ia one to . which we willingly submit, Ihjcuudo it hax always fxistou. Because we \t*A A * not outgrown the childhood of our national life, it has been beneficial to us; but when that condition ceases, this relation of dependence, If it were poMible to continue it, instead of being au element of strength, would become a badge of inferiority, and a mark of humiliation. I shall not here enter into a discussion of the practicability of such a union. I know that men of g»t*at ability and iufluenco in England have prononnced against it Mr. Mill gave the subject a passing notice in his work on Repre- Bt)nt»tive Government wWch was written ten years ago; but, during ten years, important changes take place in a nation's life and in men's opinions. This is an age of change, of revolution. We stand in the presence of great events :— «« Wo live in deeds, not years; In thoughts, not in broaths; In feelings, not in figures On a dial." And it may be, that even to so profound a thinker as Mr. Mill, there are elements of union visible to-day which did not seem to exist when ho expressed an opinion upon the subject I do not think that the objections stated by Mr. Mill, to a federation of the British Empire, are as applicable to-day as when he wrote. He states three conditions as essential to federation: — ^The first is mutual sympathy among the population; the second is that the indivi- dual states be not so powerful as tc be able to rely upon their individual strength; and the third condition stated is, that there be* not a marked inequal- ity of strength among the several contracting wtates. Now, I don't think it veould be difBcult to show that every one of theso propositions requires important qualifications to reconcile it with existing facts, and Mr. Mill is not a philosopher of that school which would exclaim — " So much the worse for the facts." Mr. Mill says, in speaking of the union between England and her colonies, that countries separated by half the globe do not present *'\e natural condi- tions for being under -one Government or even members of one federation. If they had sufificiently the same interest, they have not and never can have, a sufficient habit of taking council together. They are not parts of the same public ; they do not discuss und fleliberate in the same arena, but apart, and have only a most imperfect knowledge of what passes in the minds of each other. I may not have given you Mr. Mill's exact words, but I have given you his idea correctly, and there cannot bo a doubt that the greatest obstacles to a union of England and her colonies, under one federal sovemment, are those stated by Mr. Mill. I believe we have snffiniently the Mkme interests. Wo may acquire the habit of taking counsel together; and we CRU 'oecome parte of the same public. The views expressed by Mr. Mill possibility. He tells «« thrZ?!. 1 ^^'''" "^ P''"P«*"''J t»t«4e is .^ except that derived fro^^! t a^^I^^ ^ expense they cost her, and th^^diSZt!^^^^^ '' '^"'*" '^^'^Sm by the militaiy force, which in cZTZr T ^ ''T'''''^ '^ ^'' '^^''^^ ^^^ requires to be double, or treble y^hJll ,T *■? ^PP'^^ension from it, alone. To me it apU^. not mot tr„r" 2 T' '' '' ''''• ^'^^ ^""^'^ !«>« aIone,"thauitistruethaVvr. !'*'•"''"'''''"»«* live by br^ad another in this wa™ Therare dim r™''' *'^ '^"^^^^ ^^ «- ^'o^ntrTS lire of man thataw'aJt:^ fo^^t-^^^^^ ^»'*^« greatness ; that effect every subseauent ao .> it "^'^ "^ "^'^ ^^^^ *« effects of the enlarged expeL„ce3 tt in f ^'^'- ^'''^' '''' "« ^he dominion. Who will prite ^to 2 ^ T"" r^°"«'^>'"ties of colonial her colonies v I think I cotid poLf tlrn L^^f "'"" '^^^ '^^'^ ^"^out •chool of political liberty Engl a'ndll St ^ ""' .J^'r'''* ^^^^^" ^'^ '"^^ ««t learned from contacLith Jer deldenciir 7tu'' ^''"'^ ^''^ '"^'^^'f evidence of a progressive tendency tordaaonH-r f "'' ^''' "''"'=« *^« confederation, further than to ob^rve thl^^^^ """^'^ *" " ^^'^^^l into by independent Btates,brgsrout to a I J ''"''' '' ^''"'"^^'^^ «"t«™d the states that a,* partie toT and ' ^ r " '^*'"*' " »»i«« between power making it our'inte^ ? to seek a si T 'V^'^'^''' wealth and nterest of the mother cou2 to LerT .^ ?'"' '''"*'"''^' " «"« intimate our commercial relatfon with Enln'd r*' '^''^"°°^' '''' "«- grow tho ties that bind us together i Sit ^""T *'" ''''''^' ^'" relation must, at an early day, take pil. / If f '*''^ ^^^* '"^^ *h«t except the commercial one, it must I fhTr? ^'" *^' ''''^•"*« "^ «»io«» thought upon the questioi that the 1?' f'"'" *« every one who ha forward a long way I3anllelffi^^^^^ *"^« '^^^ ^'^ried n politan doctrine. It is as wide ^CLf^^^^^^^ ^^ trade is a cosmo- one people commercially. It renders m .'' ^^^"^ ^^** ««=* «Pon it that the mercantile system produced ItZ' '^°'" P°"««^' J«^«»«ie8 men who inhabit the eartr'o tal LZ!T'7'''''''''''"'^'^<^^o{ commerce.-When I consider thrinT^'" '^ ''*'''«^ '" "tatters of - intimately connected :;ttt\Sr^^^^^ -^«^^ -^'^h It ultimately rests, I confess I fail to ^rl ^''^'' ^"^ "P«" ^hich federation. Once admit even nlm or! .^ •"'"P''''^^" ''^"•''^^ *« « ^"'nder the commercial intereslf Eo^^rnf ^^^^ ^^^ ^-e T^d^that are already possessed of a poweS instlment T 7° '^' ^'^'"*'' '^"^ ^^^ riew which are ignorantly reaTd L ! T I '^^"^ '^^^ *^°«« bar- beoause it can Ven no^therlra 1^'^^'^ *^^ ^ all peoples, and all nations, w^o hav^i: r^-.'^:^^'^.' ^ " ^^^^ ^" - P-P«% Of each other, and thuslec^-m^aTro^iT; tZZ 3'ngle exception, Jtiial tutelage is a •om her colonies iveighed by the )f her naval and >nsion from it, *e British Isles t live by bread one country to nounted in the p new ways to h. too, are the ties of colonial 3 been without It lesson in the ich she herself lere notice the le to a general merce entered mion between g wealth and )tence, or the US, the more stronger will mtform that Its of union, one who has « carried us ' is a cosmo- t) act upon it »I jealousies iou8 races of matters of ciety which upon which > a grander Trade, that le, and you those Ibar- exclusion, it gives to ua iatereet the arts of m» M their in J,^te t^d „*. ,1 U,'"b:'"' Tf '' Tl"'*'""^° fam.b the firet condition tralCMnlt^ ""'"i- "'" *" °'°™ '" r;rtr\xru^-r=sr:f^^^ thrown them open to mankin 3cause she feels that she thus les stimulates her own people to put forth renewed efforts to exert stiil greater 11^'^ greater skill; and while iu this way contributing to thn~ri ^^f th« Empire, she no less contributes to the prosperity o'f nat ons X^tl I consider her past history and present position' I cannot pertni 'to doubt that when she is forced to consider the question, she will doTin a manner not unworthy its importance. With regard to Mr. Mill's second on ilnn' i^r/;^«"b*^t^«"ld hold good if the proposal was to n^Z adependent states; but to change the form of an existing union is a d^ffeiTnt thing, and because England may be powerful enough to maint^h her^„dl pendence I don't believe will be a serious barrier to\ federation She wt choose between such a severance and sharin'^ with fhpm Tn,,,. • i T • she will feel the latter to be the lesser sSe '"""' ''""'""'°' At a recent meeting of the Social Science Congress, the subject ot th« relation of England to her colonies, occupied a large share of' at en io^ of w'^iJ '''*^""^"^*"^ "^'^"^f « '^^^-r --"^ suggested he; of which m my opinion, could work satisfactorily. The one mode i^ o li v the colonies representation in the Parliament of Westminster Z I'^^f formation of a Colonial Council, with the Secre^ of 's rfoTh Colomes. at their head for the Government of the Colonies L il he first of these plans, it would give to colonial rep^sent^ts ' power of nnnnfT'""^ ".- w.uu.a: i^prusuuiauves 10 ussist in defeating a Min^strv upon tteir educational policy for England? Are they to have their twS a double m^ority ? Is a Ministry to retire from office upon an aTveJe Tote 10 of the whole House, while enjoying th« confidence of a majority of the BrUish members whose constituents alone, it may be, are effected by the Bill upon which mmistera are defeated? As for a Colonial Council it would fail in the principal object for which any mich organization should be had ; namely, making all parts of the empire acquainted with their deliberations; making the people of the whole empire one public by interesting them, in every portion of it, in the proceed- Bhou d be informed of the general wants and interests of the Empire; the people, a. one public, must be informed, and they only can be so informed by the public discussions of a representative legislature. I have said this much of a matter that is still in the ftiture; but I thought as 1 had been recently discussed, both in this country and in England, by pubhc journals and by members of parliament, it could not be improper on my part, to give expression to opinions which I have for some years enter- tamed and which recent discussion have tended to confirm. I have done so wuh the less hesitation because, I regret to say, there ha. been exhibited for some time m this country a disposition to look with contempt upon trans- cendental politics; that Government is an applied science, and has, therefore, underlying Its organization, its relation to society, and the subjects with which It should deal, certain first principles which ought to be understood, 18 entirely ignored, except in the limited field of political economy, where it has received but a partial recognition. There is a class of gentlemen who are proud of being considered practical men who despise what they call theoiy-that is first principles-who place legisation on a level with book-keeping. They forget that the practical questions m which they take an interest, are not without a theoretical bases and ,t IS only by a recognition of these theoretical bases that obvious defect^ are corrected. The man who can praise a ministir or add up a column of figures, and show that too much has been spent here, and too little there, is held to be quite com netent to legislate ^visely and well. But even this much may not be required; ».d I could name more than one constitueacy. represented bv gent lemon who are satisfied with endeavors to look wise, and who Z^kll that It would be quite as rational to expect them to lecture upon the phS^ sophy of Bpictetus, as to discuss any question of public importance. Ifthere be any politicians of thi. school here, I have no. doubt but they will think it as Idle to discuss the probable form our future relations with England will take, as to discuss the origin o** a belief in fairies. Well, I shall not trouble you further with speculative questions. There is nothing about which we are more likely to err, than in our conclusions as to the future of a nation. New elements frequently appear which have not Wn ^Kcn into account, and the facts of histoiyare made to falsify the deductions" of pohtical philosophy. In this matter of our fiiture relations with England. m^ority of the beted by the BiU bject for which all parts of the le of the whole in the proceed- 3 of a council e Empire; the ae so informed but I thought in England, by e improper on le years enter- I have done leen exhibited apt upon trans- has, therefore, subjects with 36 understood, >my, where it lered practical !s — who place i the practical oretical bases, bvious defects a column of little there, is this much may represented by ho would feel on the philo- nce. Ifthere will think it England will J8. Thwe is BioDS as to the ive not been ho deductions ith England, 11 how difibwnt might be the result if the colonies generally wem to adopt a pro- tective pohcy to such an extent as to destroy them as markets for the producL of Bn jshmdushy. Who can doubt that England would bo anxious to br^ak the present connection and seek new territories upon which to plant her surplus population, and to find new customers fir her merchant There i. sti 1 before her the immense regions explored by Dr. Livings one ltd numerous islands in the Eastern Archipelago, as invitin'g, and it miy "; «^ well suited to ho British people, as any they have yet occupied. Now it Z clea. to my mind, that if the colonista feel a protective poliJy to be nece^a^ to their prospenty, they will not desire a closer union with England, anTS desire to put an end to all union will become mutual. What would h« fh! dftct upon US, I shall not discuss, but this we do know,^': wid:^ an^ ^i wider would spread our language and our race. We can deal with the present with more confidence. The first Parliame«f of our New Dominion still exists. The first Ministiy is miTn^ZT^ If I did not express to you any opinion upon the work performed, a^d of what still remains to be done, I should. I am sure, greatly disappoint you You are aware that, at the last election, we had two parties, a Reform party* and a hybrid party, formed by the OoaUtion of Conservatives and millenary,; Reformers who scarcely knew whether it were best to say "good Lord or good devi^ m their anxiety to worship success. These gentlemen were calmed by the assurances of their new allies, who declared there were no definite issues between parties before the country; that party divisions, which owed their existence to public questions which had been settled by the coalition of parties, ought not to be perpetuated; that the past ought to be forgotten that we were beginning a new order of things with loftier pretensfons t^ higher political aims, with cleaner hands and with purer hearts. I never had any doubt as to what all this pretention to moderation meant-that it meant success by artifice instead of by open and manly opposition. This hylrW party everywhere h^ possession of the Government, and it sought to obtain sympattiy by pretending to refuse to have any contest; by asking to be left n peacab^ possession of -the Government. A victory walobtain^ed braptal" In! ^f^T.5 rK,''''"'™"*^'"'^ "^''''''' ''^ ty carefully kZng out of vrew the probable consequences of success. The electors wer« warned against being misled by the often told tales of exfa^vagance and corruption which had, by certain Reformer., been repeated to sate y. Speeches it was said, reiterating statements aflectlng the probHy of public men had lost their potency in carrying men to Parliamenri^ was declared the country required rest from political turmoil; that tho" It.^.t^!/!fr.\^.r ^PP^^r^ °f .^^« -w Government wer; men who ...^,^ XX. u.i=-cuic; ; men wno amm nothing so much as public strife an^ the succe«, of our new Confederation i^uired that they shoi^d b d f"L at the polls and driven into retirement I dare say. •repr;^ntations of this sort \ 12 were made here, and that here, as elsowhero, a large number of electors were induced to support Ministerial candidates who are opposed to the policy of the Government , ' I confess I would much rather see the Reform party succeed in secnrinia: a majority by the excellence and popularity of their measures, than by the ascribed baseness and unpopularity of their opponents. It may be true that maty honest men sincerely regretted that charges of extravagance and reck- lessaess in dealing with' the public funds were made against the leaders of tho hybrid party, and I can feel a very great deal of respect for men who take a generous view of human nature, and who, in consequence, dislike to hear anything which may bring prominently forward its more ignoble features; but these who do this are not men who are careful of the conduct of public men of a particular party only; but who are never tired misrepresenting tho acts and impugning the motives of those who may belong to an opposing political party. We should not be ' ' swift " to believe charges involving moral turpi- tude, but when specific charges are made it is quite as necessary that the public should know whether such charges are true, as to know how often they have bsen repeated ; and it may be that those who regret that there has been any occasion are quite as candid, and quite as rational, as those who are indignant at hearing them. He is indeed a laggard who would sooner be robbed than di8turb<»d by a faithful sentinel, and something worse than a laggard who would call upon the burglar who robbed him to assist him in punishing tho sentinel who had warned him. But I do not purpose to-night to discuss the personal misdeeds of public men, and although, in addressing you, I shall freely criticise the conduct of our opponente, I shall assume that their inten- tions are upright, and that in all their acts, legislative and administrative, they were doing that which they believed to be best for the public welfare, and after doing this, I don't think it will be difficult to show you that the Govern- ment would be better in other hands. There are always two general ques- tions before the people— What shall be done ? and by whom shaU it be done and the Government carried on ? The first mainly concerns the legislative action of Government ; the second relates to its administrative action and it islbecanse this is the case, that society naturally divides iteelf into two n^rties —those who think the golden age is past, andthcdo who believe it has not yet come. The former are Conservatives ; the latter Reformers. The man who 8 constitutionally conservative fights against all change as an evil in itself. He sees a clew sky nowhere except in the diaance behind him. He thinks modern progress, if per ,ist«d in, will again lead to barbarism. Now in a free state, such a party has its functions. It gives stability by the strength of its prejudices, to tho political institutions of a country. It gives to society time to reflect and consider the propriefy of the chanTCg proposed bv a Rpfnrm party. It prevents any alteration in the Government until the proposed reforms have been discussed, and the public mind haa been made to under •f electors were ) the policy of 1 in securing^ a I, than by the ay be true that iiice and reck- leaders of tho len who take a dislike to hear le features; but of public men nting the acts (osing political g moral turpi- that the public ften they have B has been any > are indignant ler be robbed a laggard who punishing tho to discuss the you, I shall lat their inten- listrative, they welfare, and it the Govern- general ques- all it be done, ;he legislative action and it to two parties (it has not yet 'he man who evil in itself. • He thinks Now in a free rength of its ) society time the proposed ie to under 13 stand their utility. A Conservative party does nothing by way of positive im- provement It may sometimes prevent mischief. All its legitimate functions are negative. Not only do we see this Conservative element everywhere manifesting itself in civil society, but each individual, however liberal he may be, possesses it to a greater or less extent. Were this not tho case, there could be nothing like fixity of opinion. Men would change their opinionn upon every topic every time they met in discussion any person possessed of greater dialectical skill than themselves. They would take no time to coi-rect one opinion by another. Generalization would become imposeiblo. They would frequently be found holding antagonistic opinions upon cognate subjects. The world of thought would become a chaos, every moment presenting some new effect of light and shade, aiming at nothing and ending in nothinr-, except change. I have thus admitted freely that a Conservative party has a necessary place in the f?tate. Its existence as one of the parties in a representative government, shows that society exists, not aa a mere mechanism, but that it has become organic, and as an organic body it possesses those vital forces which will repair the wastes that time and change are ever making. But allow me to say a Conservative party alone can do nothing. Tho energies of a peo- ple would perish if there was no other political party. The government and the people would become as fixed and as stupid as Atlas. No modem nation, not having a most corrupt government and a most ignorant and super- stitious people, has long submitted to Conversative rule. France was thus cursed before the first revolution, and what was the result. At first every channel of progress was closed by the universal dominance of the spirit of conservatism, then the floods came and the waters rose high, and swept away all the ancient institutions of the state. The body politic under a representative system can no more perform its proper functions without opposing parties, than the human body can perform all its various motions without antagonistic muscles. We have been accus- tomed of late to hear a great deal said by shallow writers and declaimers of the evils of party. Many of these blind guides frequently speak and write as . if parties consist of multitudes of unthinking men, enlisted under rival chief- Ifeins, who are artfully creating differences among the people, that they may the more effectually use them to forward their ambitious designs. Others of them admit that parties do occasionally perform useful public services. Where ~ great public questions are undecided, we are told that those who wish to settle them in this or that way do well to combine, and thus form parties ; but that when the object for which the combination was formed is accomplished, parties should be dlabaadcu. I need not tell you that lor all such notions I feel no great amount of respect. They deny a fundamental principle of our system; for cabinet government ia eminently a government by party; and to deny the 5 ; !■■ f Sc^bSrO^vZr "^"^^"'^^^^ i« in effect to condemn the s.a- " Mock philosophera." says Earl Russell, in his excellent work on the B„t,sh Constitution " are always making lamentations over political div^^ Bions and contested elections. Men of nobler minds know they 1 the workshops of national liberty and national prosperity. It is froT he -.XIl'' ''''' fi^dom receives :ts shap'e. i'^ temper/ a'dtt: Now, while it is quite true that a party consists of persons who are pener- ally agreed in promoting by their joint endeavors the national -interest upon some particular principle upon which they are agi^ed, yet it does not follow because there IS agreement upon a particular question, that those who Je thus agreed are of the same party. Men may agree upon a legislativrpolicT and may differ widely as to a proper administrative policy. Agreemen or d.»greement upon practical issues in legislation, is the evidence rather than the origin of parties. I c^not give you a better illustration of this than bo referring to the observations made by Mr. Pope, of Compton, and Mr. Mc" Dougall, of Three Rivers, during the discussion, in. the House of Commons upon dual representation. Both admitted dual representation to be an ev" • but both declared they would vote against the bill f»r its abolition because' they did not wish to vote against their party. Now they must have und^ stood party to mean sometiiing else than mere agreement upon a particu- lar question. Party is due to those mental tendencies which ife at the hZ nllSt, r'""- ,fr°'' ^^^'"S'^''yl^"°wledge of the subject Of pohtica philosophy, would hesitate a moment in classing Gladstone, Bright and Mill among Liberals, even though they may differ widely upon certain questions of practical politics. The drift of their political theorii is in the tCfdfcnceT'''' '''"^ *''''' '^"P^*^''^'"^*''«tJ^e same, notwithstanding In a new countiy, like this, where we all begin on the same level, in which there are no political privileges of an hereditary character, tiie elements of progressmustbe necessarily strong; and in speaking for the existence of parties I speak speciaUy for the conservative party; for if either party is amiihilated' It must be the conservative party. It is largely in the minority in the coun- try. It IS strong in parliament beyond what its numbers warrant, because ik received the support of a section of the reform party. Parties are not Uke summer flowers that spring up for a season and then pass away. Parties in a period of general political enlightenment grow spontaneously out of innate differences in the mental constitution of men; they may be chauged but they cannot be destroyed by poUtical revolutions: they wai always be found an indispensable accompaniment of popular govern- ment Soiacumos hero or thei« will be found a man changing from convic- tion; for men are brought, sometimes, into one party by education who tdemn the sjg- '■ work on the political divi- ' they are the t is from the tnper, and its ho are gener* • interest upon loes not follow hose who are islative policy, Agreement or ce rather than ' this than bo and Mr. Mc- of Commons, be an evil; ition because have under- )n a particu- at the basis he subject of itone, Bright upon certain ies is in the withstanding ^el, in which elements of 5e of parties, annihilated, 1 the conn- , becaase ii n and then ment grow 3Q of men J revolutions; Jar govem- rom convic- atiou, who 15 naturally belong to another party. When the elder Peel introduced his son Robert to Lord Liverpool, he said, " I have educated my son a tory, but he " is by nature a whig; you must try and keep him on our side. " I defy those most narrow-minded and most zealoub party-men— the decriers of party— to name a period in the history of England since the days of the Stuarts, when there were not at least two political parties in the state. I do not pretend to maintain that party is an unmixed good. Like eveiy other useM institution, it is liable to abuse. It has somotimeH aroused evil pas- sions It has divided fellow countrymen into opposing parties, actaated by feelings of the bitterest hostility. It has caused the conduct of public men to be miqndged and their motives to be misrepresented. Those are but the inci- dents of human frailty, and u-e found in the most essential institutions of society. But the good achieved bj party organization far more than out- weighs the evil. There were not even the germs of party discernable before the time of Elizabeth; and Fym, in the time of Charles the first, may be regarded as the first leader of a regular parliamentary opposition. Before the ejdstence of party, abuses were corrected by classes that wc-e oppressed who asserted their :iatural rights. There was often a resort to arms before con- cession could be obtained. Important rights were conceded by the triumphs of treason over tyranny. But no one familiar with English history can be ignorant of the fact, that those rights which were conceded at one time to one parliament that menanced the person of the monarch, were surrendered by another parliament, the most abject, without complaint; so that the government osciUated in practice between an oligarchy and absolutism. Why do we not feel the same dread of a standing army that was felt in the time of the Stuarte, and of William of Orange? Why, but because there is a regularly brganiz^ par- liamentary opposition, who see that the executive in administering the law respectathelaw, who let the light of day into the darkest recesses of the' state; who have created that new power which we call public opinion by which ministers are justified or condemned; and who, by their ceaseless dili- gence give to the progressive reforms of to-day a stability unknown to our ancestors. It is not truQ, as stated by Lord Brougham, that party shuts out •ne-half of the statesmen from the service of the state. An honest and enlight- ened opposition may serve the country as faithfully and as well as a ministry I say, therefore, withLordJeflTey:-"Withregard to the tumult, the disorder " the vexation and the discomfort which certain sensative pereons and great "lovere of tranquility, represent as the fruits of our political dissensions I " cannot help saying I have no sympathy with their delicacy or their timidity " What they look upon as a frightful commotion of the elements, I consider "as nothing more than a wholesome agitation; and I cannot help reeardin? ••ineeontenuonsmwiiich freemen are engaged by a conscientous zeal for " their opinions as an invigorating, and not a« ungenerous exercise What "serious breach of the public peace has it occasioned? To what inirarrec- / i\. I! «!• 16 " tions, or conspiracies or prescriptions has it ever given rise? What molj ' ' even, or tumult, has been excited by the contention of the two great parties " of the state since the constitution has been open, and their weapons appointed <' and their career marked out in the free lists of the constitution? Suppress " these contentions indeed— forbid these weapons and shut up these lists, and " you will have conspiracies and insurrections enough. These are the short- " sighted fears of tyrants. The discussions of a free people are the preven- " tions and not the indications of radical disorder, and the noises which make " the weak-hearted tremble are but the murmurs of those mighty and mingling «' cun-ents of public opinion which are destined to fertilize and unite the " country, and can never beccrae dangerous till an attempt is made to obstruct •' their course, or disturb their level." " For the base retainers of party indeed— those marauders who follow in " the rear of every army, not for battle but for booty, who concern them- " selves in no way about the justice of the quarrel, or the fairness of the " field—who plunder the dead and butcher the wounded, and desert the " unprosperous and betray the daring; for those wretches who truly belong to " no party, and are a disgrace and a drawback upon all, I shall assuredly " make no apology nor propose any measure of toleration. The spirit by " which they are actuated is the very opposite of that which is generated by the "parties of a free people; and accordingly it is among the advocates of " arbitrary power that such persons, after they have served their purpose, by " a pretense of patriotic zeal, are ultimately found to range themselves." "By argument and discussion," says May, " truth is discovered, public opinion is expressed, and a free people are trained to self-government We feel that party is essential to representative institutions. Every interest, prin- ciple, opinion, theory and sentiment finds expression. The majority governs; but the minority is never without sympathy, representation and hope; who can doubt that good predominates over evil? Who can fail to recognize in party the very life blood of freedom?" Every administration is surrounded by a class of men seeking places of emolument, and the fear of exposure, and the loss of power consequent thereon, enables a government to resist importunities to which they would otherwise yield. Parties, therefore, at a time of comparative political quiet, have important public functions to perform, and even in such a period, they do a great deal to prevent the public funds becoming an object of plaader, ' and a source of personal corruption. % The poUcy of the Ministry at last election was an attempt to create a new and powerful party without any well settled principles upon which concerted action might be taken. The basis was of the most latitudinarian character, and the most contradictory views may be entertained bv its aiinnorfArfl wJfh out being open to the charge of political infidelity. The elections had no sooner ended than personal jealousies began to be exhibited, and from that What mob great parties >us appointed .? Suppress lese lists, and are the ahort- the preven- I which make and mingling id unite the to obstruct follow in neern them- noas of the 1 desert the ily belong to ill assuredly \ie spirit by Brated by the Ldvocates of purpose, by selves." 3red, public iment We iterest, prin- ity governs; hope; who recognize in ? places of consequent they would [itical quiet, •e'riod, they of plunder, reate a new ih concerted n character, ?rt6rSj with ons had no d from that 17 moment until this the Cabinet of Hm n«.«:..- i dissolving views. Everv man hi tn , T. ''"' P'"'"'""^*' " ^°"''« «f MinisterffromtheSerdl I^^^^^^ J^""^ ^- -' been a in his own party ready to trip ^0'" The r " T '°^°"' '^ "'''' follow in the wako of tl.o ZernlTi, !""^° '"'^ '""^'''^ "^''^ ^^^^ the joint influences ot;:;;^ra:rh.ni:ta^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ tents who meet in cabal to devise means to sCi !», . ' ""^ "'"''''"■ the first favorable onportunitvTrr '*"*°^ " ^'^'^ ">' ^^at Minister at into which t.eambiC';SJ.^;J^:^^^^^^^^ ^^-mo ^ caravansera, into profitable retirement. The effect of ihTV I ""'"'^ '^'P*'** that they feel sufficiently 8tron7to d e.ard th„ '""' ''''''^ ^'' '^'^^ ,opponent«. The Minis^y are^l^X tt^r;:^^^^^^ '^^'^^^ They now suffer . an " anonlertip niofi.1- - " "^"^^^"^^^ ot thejr success. Now, if we look at the Ministerial policy we will find it tn h for failure in everything which has been undertaken In T„l ^ " '^"•^"^™ way, by an extraordinary provision such a,, 11! Intercolonial Rail- a fundamental law in any othe ZntTv ^ ^^' "'''' '^'""'^ ''^ ^''^ '"^to pact, and instead of uSinl ex LCL^ T T"" °' *'" ^ederaf com- no portion of which is the^ a y ef^^^^^^^^^^ over millions of dollars beyond whatTwo | he;wi:e h "I "" "^^ "'^"^ spend. Now, I shall not charge T. r ""^ ^'°" "'^'^««'»'-y to deliberatelytoabusetLpubl cTdit andtl^^^^^ ""'"^ ^« --^^ dous folly, but this will unquestiona y be t e ff t " ^n', 'f"" '^ '^ ^^"P^"" outward and visible eWsion of the'vi i X^^^^'es of " ""f- *^ ""''^ cians. This much we do know that it «r:n 7-, ^ Pn»ctical pojiti- burden-the cost of ^^o:t^Z:^^l\:^^^^^^^ ^^""^^^ « '^'^^^ public work; and o.f boththese burden thrkov^'eXr ""'"'*^'''' benefitted to the extent of a farthinrr ^ni kI u ' "'^ ^^" "''^^r bo .toe «,,„«. le, Preportrrr™:^^:^^:;-'*^ "^ " bers of the House of Commons and r,]JJT t ^""ctions as mom- of Minist... The Opposition we o -"Id tX ""™^^ " *'^ ^^"'^" Cabinet upon the selecUon of the r7urandfcl^^ ^" '^« those who wer. willing that otherho^ld o ^S^^^^^^^ ^\^«^'- -'^ selves, voted that Minister might select the roHl t rl'J' ,'"''"'• ■mice, ana enter iuto contracts for ite onnot,^^^- ' ■.'/ •"■F^'iai guar- Parliament. It was well known that OnZ^; T'""' '^' ^^"'^^'°'^ '^^ but few members from Ontadow t^ LSn'to /.f?" ""^' '""^ . - "^ ^'"'°g to make the Northern route, i:, *■■ 1'" 18 by their votes, the one over which to build the road. Now look at the facte. The Governmeut ask for more time, that they acquire fiirthcr information. But when the papers are brought down the following session, it is seen that no further information is had; that Ministers had agreed without that information which we were assured was essential to agreement. It was well known, too, that Ihe Beloctiou of the Northern route would be exceedingly unpopular in New Brunswick, and by the story of disagreement in the Cabinet, the New Bruns- wick members were induced to hope for a favorable selection from Ministers, and were thereby entrapped into voting to place the matter beyond the control of the House Mr. Tilley was thus saved the humiliation of being op- posed by the whole of his supporters, and they felt they had been compromised and betrayed. Mr Cartier was strengthened, and so was Mr. Kinney. There is a spirit of rivalry existing between Halifax and St. John, and those Nova Scotians who are opposed to the construction of a road by which it ■ would be possible to benefit St John, arc, no doubt, satl Idd. Now, let me ask you, looking at all tho facts, did not the Minsterial supporters from Ontario know when they voted to place the whole matter in the hands of the Ministry, that they were in ctBjct voting for the Northern route ? Did they not, in this way, seek to shirk the responsibility of an act which they indi- rectly supported ? But we have been told by tho apologists for this transaction that had we j.y^chosen Major Robinson's route, the Imperial guarantee would not have been obtained. I deny this. Had this been the case tho fact would have been stated in the Imperial Act promising a guarantee upon a certain condition ; but suppose this were true, is it cheaper to borrow twenty millions, for three- fourths of which tho Imperial Government have become our surety,' than eight millions on our own account? The next act of ministers to which I shall refer is tho annexation of the North-West Territory. By the British North American Act it is provided " that it shall be lawful for the Queen by and with the Advice of Her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council on Addresses, from the Houses of the Parliament of Canada, to admit Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory, or either of them, into the Union, on such Terms and Conditions as are in the addresses expressed, and as the Queen thinks fit to approve, sub- ject to the provisions of the B. N. A. Act, and the provisions of any Order in Council in that Behalf, shall have effect as if they had been enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland!" No one, who looks at the Act, and the manner of its origin, can fail to perceive what was intended: can fail to perceive that it was intended to pro- vide for the organization of a Government, and the distribution of power between tke Local Government and the Government of Canada. This section of th? British North America Act, in effect, says this :— The Imperial Gov- Brument are in favor of the Confederatic.i of the Provinces on the plan pro- &t the factfi. lation. But at no further latioa which ;oo, that Ihe lar in New New Bruna- 01 MiniBters, beyond tho of being op- jompromiaed Vlr. Kinney, n, and those by which it Now, let me iporters from hands of the Duto ? Did ich they indi- that had we )t have been Id have been in condition ; ns, for three- ty,' than eight itioQ of the is provided Ivice of Her le Houses of orth-Western } Conditions approve, sub- of any Order nacted by the 3!" in, can fail to nded to pro- ion of power This section Imperial Gov- the plan pro- Imperial 4 .M„7 The IZTa'' ""' *'™' "" """-^'^ "< ""^'•<" embraced in Her Maiestv's f)r.l«. T'^'^^sf «• ^ heso i)rovi8ioii8 are to be Order in CWiufcretparf o t^o SS ^ H T '■ "^'"'^"^ ^' ""^^ as the Hudson's Bay Territory « coLornod ^'''\''"'''r ^'^^ «« ''^^ assout is required Wha did La' ^ " '" ' ' "^'"^''^^'^ who.se They propoL not J '^ ^ov^r ^7 U ^' ^'^^^^ '^ transferor the soverei<.nty subiocrtnl. ♦ • , ^ ""^"'^ "'"'J^'^ '"«'■ « that the address was no^ i:^t:::Z2:t^J I^r *^« !'- could be taken unon if 'in,« ^u- ^ . ' ' "* ^"'^^ "» action m dependent too „„oh ever to ac. boldly or efflln. ^ T. w„„uZl':r bo e„«.ohed upoo, „„d i. ,„„ld l..« „„ power to ri,. eor.cl,me„ t' .huc™or;b;iirber«d';hrttr.^T^^ .b. Ord„ i„ Council .h„„ld e-nbraoo, 1. . Territorial oZr^lt or potr I M4; 20 to create oi", suVyoct to these roBtrictions — the condition upon which the terri- torial state shall termim^'e, the powers with which she may become a province und the number of apvi'^^ra she is to have. It ought not to be in the power of any government either to liasten or to delay her admission as a province into tho union. I can easily conceive a stat© of things when the maintenance of a govornmont in power might depend upon hastening or retard- ing the admission of tho North Wes-t Territory as a province. Shall she have Senators or members lupmseuting her in the House of Commons during her territorial condition, ought to bo determined by tho House and sat forth in tho Order in Council. All this ought to havo been done last session; but it waj not done, nor was there auything done, except to mako contingent and foru- porary provision for an arbitrary system of government in a territory tbat wo did not take tho proper constitutional steps to have transferred to us. Bat the act of tho prcsout Ministry that will prove the most mischievous is that relating to tho special subsidy to Nova Scotia. There is no public rea- ■on for tho act, except to bribe the people of Nova Scotia to ceaso agitating for repeal. The negotiations were a bungle, and the act itself worse than a crime. Everyone knows that the agitation for repeal was dead, or at least dying, from the time that the delegates of Nova Scotia failed in their mission to England. I say tho negotiation was a bungle. It was not a negotiation with the proper parties, if a negotiation was necessary. It was not entered into so much to conciliate Nova Scotia as to conciliate Mr. Howe, and to make it possible for him to enter the Cabinet and desert hisjparty, with some prospect of success. Now it must not be forgotten that Mr. Howe is not a represen- tative of Nova Scotia, but of Canada; He is in neither the Government nor the Legislature of Nova Scotia. He has not the expenditure of a dollar entrusted to the Nova Scotia Government We were told the money voted would reconcile Nova Scotia to the Union, but we had not a single communi- cation from any member of tho Nova Scotia Government We have now no assurance that as tho money is placed i ', '-a disposal of the enemies of Confederatiou, it will not be used to prnmn'o disafiTec (fn Nova Scotia was not entitled to any further su ' ; 'Ju uio receivea her subsidy upon a fixed population. The subsidy provided for Nova Scotia increases with her population. Had any wrong been done Nova Scotia, it was a wrong, therefore, that would correct itself. She received more in proportiou to her pooulation than Ontario before this special subsidy was had. Mi sb'? contributes less. But worse than his subsidy of two millions is tho ])i'\azue involved. It overturns the stability of all the financial arrangements n. lift Union -*r'. The Act says thai, an annual grant of 80 cents ner head of the populai; a of Nova Scotia shall be paid until the population amounts to 400,000 Souls, at which rate such grant shall thereafter remain. The Gov- tich the terri- le a province bo in the nisflion as a ^s whoD tho ng or retard- lali she have 1 during her : forth in tho ; but it wad nt and ;"m- srritory tliat (I to US. ischiovous is ) public rea- iso agitating orse than a least dying, r misaion to on with the ered into so 1 to make it >me prospect t a represen- ernment nor of a dollar noney voted le communi- e have now )sal of the disafiec " n receives her Nova Scotia a Scotia, it ?od more in idy was had, illions is tho rrangementa nts per head ion amounts The Gov- 21 ernmout have declared it shall not remain at 80 cents per hf^f..}, and it may be t7ZVf! T "" ""' !"" """'"' • '"'•''' ««'"^- '"'^^y "- « taught^hl people of the Prov.ucos to look to the tnjasury'for those special grants which they should obtain by thoir local powers from local m.urces. The; have changed the priuciploH of the Constitution, and opened a broad road o abuses similar to those which wo thought had forever pa-ssod away with our old They toll u. wo have not got rid of providing for the local" improvements hat an> roqv.red. Thoy toll us we still uro, hound to provide llu, mean that we havo ^nly got rul of the powor to control the expenditure; onr pow«r' 18 d.mmished but our burden is increased by tho auditions to tho farailv that Confederation know you did not. No sane man in this Province could have so understood .t, knowing tho abuses wo sought to correct y its adon- tion I trust the Local Legislature of Ontario, as tho representatives of the people of Ontario, will declare the.r un.lorstanding of tho matter n no am- biguous terms. 1 trust, if tho Premier of the Ontario Gover.mo,. has not the courage to stand up tor the rights of^ho people of this Prov ce that there will, at least be sufficient honesty an.l courage in (ho Legi.slatu e 'to do so. I trust the friends of the right will be enabled to refer the matter to you for your opinion. Nor ought wo to ceaso our agitation until all do .bt is removed, and it is placed beyond the power of any Canadian Farliamr-nt to grant to any Province, from the Treasury of Canada, one dollar more than the supreme law authorizes. I shall ask your attention to but one other matter relating to the poll, of Eetabhshed Church in Ireland. It is true we had no power to Wis. Z upon the subject It is true that it was a matter which directly c ..corned 'he people who resided in Ireland alone. But we had a very great iridire- t interest in the question. England had created a nuisance, which serious y affected tho peopie of tWs country, and the Ministry said, it doe.<, not matte- hu w seriously it affects you, you have no right to say anything upon the subject Now this position, I hold, is altogether unworthy the people of Canada Why have we had to arm and drill our volunteers? Why have we been obliged to incur what has hitherto been, for us, unprecedented expenditures for military purposes, and to call away our young men from peaceVul avoc a- tions to guard om- frontiers ? Why, but because of the crueRy and injustice that have po.sono.l the minds and exasperated thefeelings of the Irish Nation Theaovernmeot of Ireland has bug been a disgracelo the British Parlia"- vTut Ja^:::^^:::!^^?^ 5^ ^--•' -^ i^^ me ask ;„„ ^„„ .' -;.'■• -■■^"' "°"^' ^^'^"Ptia spam, against the Moors, felony for a Roman Catholi.' to teach a school. It .s felony to go abroad iir 22 to bo educated. No Roman Catholic could be guardian of any child. The . Roman Catholic father might be deprived of his property by his Protestant son. The Roman Catholics of every county were liable to be charged with all losses sustained at sea by any Protestant neighbor, during a war with any Roman Catholic prince. These barbarisms have passed away, but others still remain. It is no uncommon thing at this day for a Roman Catholic pea- sant to 1)0 horsewhipped by a squireen or his coachman, if he does not leave the way as rapidly as either wishes, or fails to lift his hat ; and for him there is no redress. A voice — Shame, shame; it is not true, it is false. Mr. Mills continued. — A gentleman says it is not true. T would refer hi:n to Parnel, to the Rev. Sidney Smith's Peter P'/mley letters, and to the las* chapter of Hallam's Constitutional History of England, in confirmation o what I have said of the penal Code; and to the work of a learned Oxfard Professor, as to the conduct of the inferior magistracy. He is not more earnest in his convictions than I am in mine. I was proceeding to say when intertupted, that the administration of the law by the inferior magistracy is partial, and it is also corrupt. T^JB have the best authority for saying that while justice may be on the whole fairly administered between parties of the same caste — (for Ireland is divided into ranks, scarcely less strongly marked than Indian caates) — there is no chance for justice against one of superior rank. An Irish squireen who would entertain a suit against a fellow magistrate, brought by a Roman Catholic peasant, would be expelled from the society of those with whom he usually associciated, and might him- self become a victim of shat species of punishment which owes its origin to the gross and notorious norvisiou of justice in. Ireland. The legislation for Ireland has been of such a character as to array race against race, and the administration of the law has ever been in the hands of one of the hostile parties. Need we then be surprised that the other party looked to conspi- racy and to private revenge for that redress which they knew it would be vain otherwise to expect ? Need we wonder that such a practice, being never free from strong passion, became the instrument of terrible crimes? Well, we saw in the accession to power of the present English ministers hope for Ireland and the Irish people. We saw that there was a Ministry whose reverence for justice was stronger than their reverence for ancient abuses. We saw that the storm and the darkness which had so long rested upon Ire- land might be driven away, and we felt it was the duty of the Parliament of Canada, in opposition to certain synods in this country, to do what we had a right to do on behalf of the oppressed. Our resolution was a respectful expression of our opinion upon a measure is which wC had u gfCut iatoi-ost. it that the iiien proposeu iuSusuic .for the Disestablishment of the Irish Church was the first of a series of neces- sary reforms. We knew there was no comer of the globe where ambition child. The ! Protestant barged with ar with any t others still itholic pea- es not leave r him there Id refer hi :t> 1 to the last firmatioa o' •ned Oxford 3 not more to say when lagistracy is saying that irties of the 83 strongly ice against suit against be expelled might him- its origin to ^islatioa for ice, and the ' the hostile 1 to conspi- it would be being never nes? Well, ers hope for istry whose siont abuses. 3d upon Ire- arliament of lat we had a D a measure )3ed inesstirc ries of neces- !ro ambition 23 or enterprise had carried the British flag, that there wa« not found the Irish 'Catho he sokher standing by for its defense. Their blood had been shed like water to mamta>a its honor, and yet, in their own country, they had b en made tenants by suffrance-there was nothing left them but the air and t e luthoritv on' "' f° ' "T "' ''''' ''""''*• '''''' '" 'Wathy, under the authority of law, by ojectmcut suits, to expel as many millions from the Teated ^r "T"^"' ''"' T ''""' '' ^'°""' '^"^ ^'-" "^"-^ -broad birfhln n , , T T' '^' ^^'*'"^' of oppression in the land of their birth, should declare eternal enmity against those who had wronged them Hol^rrf '' 'T'^ Justice was attempted, and we saw, too' that t" just to Iieland. How d.d mnustors meet m reasonable a proposal ? Thev matter^ They, hi effect, sa.d-If we vote against you we shall offend our eTvatS: f r^:^? '"'■• '' "^ '''' "'^^ y-' - ^^^^ offend our Cou- sevative fnends m England, who have made us Knights and Baronets. We w char. ';,--r^-t *o -1-- any opinion^upon the' subjec We w 1 charge the Opposition with moving a buncombe resolution to atch Irish Catholic voters. I deny this; but were it true, what then ? Have our onpo mathtir" '''"V'T '''''' •"^^"^ '''' ^"'^'^>'^^ forthi:;urpoT? What has been our past relations to the Irish Catholics ? There was a time when they were in this countiy, found in the Reform ranks. We strugZ Bide by side against an established church; we struggled Bide by side for the establishment of responsible government, for the etblishmcnt'o n unilipa institutions, and for an Elective Second Chamber. Then came the school ques ion and we differed. Our difference, like the misunderstrd L^ among Aends. became bitter, and bitter things were said by each against the Ze!. That questmn of difference has been finally settled. Are we to become fac tions, fighting against each other at every election, when we no longer hav^ any cause? Why should wo not, when the occlaion offers, hw'to thole with whom we had falle. out by the way that we were men and no^ ^em that we thought and felt as Liberals should feel; that we harbored no mean spirit of resen.ment? But if the Irish Catholics should remain in the anks of our opponents, I shall still have n. reason to doubt the wi dom o t curse upon his question. If they, who in their own country, have long been the victims of gross injustice and cruel oppression, chose hereto range themselves against the party of progress, it can only show all the mo^ how mischievous that injustice and that oppression have been. I pis by th^ tion. I pas^ by the promised boon to retail dealers-Mr Roo.'. .u^.r.,.^ scheme for driving out American silver. We were toldTo' wait "and v'iewTts glonoii. consummation. It was to be kept like a militaiy campaign secret from the enemy. We waited, but saw nothing. We hal too, a^aSg m ill, 24 scheme submitted, which frightened the country with its lurid light, and went out in the darknosH. The Cabinet hns from the first been in a dilapidated condition, and in con- stant need of repairs. Old politicians and young politicians have been taken ill. Forgotten men have been recalled and placed in front as the forl«rn hope of a strong government, that is nevertheless every moment in a condi- tion of dissolution, but only to hear an adverse public judgment upon acts that have become facts of history. Every thing has been tried, but a vigor- ous public policy, in keeping with the spirit of the ago, and suitable to our present condition. AVo have gained one thing, a more accurate knowledge of the exact meaning of a fai r trial. And onr experience has been of such a character that it will be a long time before so vague a plea will secure to those who make it the control of public affairs. The people of this country have generally favored the permanency of subor- dinate office holders. But there cannot be a doubt that all the departraei ic have become so crammed as to have cfeatcd nuisances which require abate- ment. I believe any reform government coming into powei would fi id them- selves surrounded by men who would seek in every possible way to frustrate their policy; eo that it becomes a question, whether it would not be better to authorize a complete change so as to enable any government to surround them- selves with those who sympathised with their policy, and to dispense with the service of useless employees who have been forced upon their predecessors by the importunity of supporters. Let me give you an illustration. When the dominion parliament first met, a contingent committe was appointed to reor- ganize, what I suppose may be called, the speaker's department. That com- mittee worked vigorously; and although a few of its members sought to throw obstacles in the way of reform; they succeeded, in diapensipg with the aemces of, I think, upwards of one hundred employees, and efifected a savingof $35,000 a year. Xow I believe other public departments are filled in the same way. Wo all know of the peace offering to Sir A. Mc- Nab, and the frauds of EeifiFenstein, which are a disgrace to the audit depart, ment of the government if not something worse. Should this parliament live out its full term, it will have taxed the people of the country to the enormous amount of $'?0, 000, 000, while it has been making provision for running in debt at the rate of 14,000,000 a year. Now no one can believe there is anything like a corresponding increase in our re- sources. At this moment, the most necessary undertakings are neglected by the government for the want of funds; and like an embarrassed debtor they are pressed on all sides for aid they cannot give, and they find themselves creating hopes which cannot be realized. Time advances. A fair trial is being had. You will bye-and-bye be called upon for your verdict. I trust it will be such a verdict as the highest interests of the country demand, Let the reform party not lose faith in the power of truth or in the victories of patience. t, and went 25 and in con- been taken the forlern in a condi- ; upon acts but a vigor- ible to our knowledge 3n of such a ;ure to those icy of subor- departraeri- quiro abate- d fi id thorn- to frustrate be better to round them- nse with the Jecessora by "When the ited to reor- That com- 3 sought to I dispensigg and effected rtments are 3ir A. Mc- .udit depart. the people t has been 'ear. Now I in our re- eglected by )tor they are Ives creating jye be called best interests :he power of APPENDIX. LETTER I. purchase from the Government Wm the St the? n^^ « '«"S°-^ef "■ "^ Ineh peasant well knew where to find a true fripr.l tpp„U • v~® culty he knew his way well to fl,o ^Io^^» m! , If Paddy was m diffi- starvinff Romanist? fWcv u i. * i ? , "' ^"^ fevcMtricVen and It is trutylpTorabb ^ ^nd an alSe o?7ft" '' *?f- 'T*"-"^^'^ '''^^'^'^ coming forward to j^tiffor eLut^^^^^^^^^ P^^-^^,!" F^"^^'* 01 m !•' 4 , ■ 1 26 political leader to use ! Aad we are blamod because as a people we did not act on such a cowardly, dastardly motive ! But, air, " the wild justice of revenge ;" does the lecturer know what it means? I sincerely hope he does not A Scotch or English capitalist pays hard cash for an estate in Ireland; on it he finds tenants; he naturally expects that those tenants will fulfil their engagements, as would be done in the land from which he came, in fact in any land except Ireland; he demands his rent, but soon a hired assassin from behind the plantation hedge proceeds to teach him justice in Ireland by put- ting a bullet through him, We arc told that the poor man, more especially if a Romanist, need not expect to find justice. Now what is the fact; by far the greater portion of the judges, (I believe all except two) are Romanists; the police, almost to a man, are Rominists. Yes, it is hard to administer justice in Ireland; it ia hard to bring to justice the assassin and the robber; it is hard to enforce the just payment of rents; but the blame rests with those who found such r warm-hearted advocate last night. We are told of the peasants' carts being forced into the ditch by the carriage of the rich man and the coachman's whip being laid across their backs and faces. Alas, sir, the truth is, that the hunting-whip, with its heavy lash, when used for such pur- poses, was generally wielded by clerical arms, as we have seen in our boyish days. I am happy, kowever, to be able to state that such a state of things has passed away and belong to a by-gone age, as well as the obsolete penal enactments and disabilities referred to with such unction as illustrative of the present state of Ireland. But will a tenant-right-bill calm down the agitation on the land question? — Any one who knows Ireland well knows that there will be no peace there, or at least the Fenian agitation will not be satisfied, ^until — not the king receive his own again — but tho so-called original owners of the soil are reinstated. Now who is prepared to go that length? Who is prepared to say that in order to render justice to Caiiada, it would be neces- sary to declare invalid all the patents issued by the Crown, and all subsequent deeds by purchase, drive out the men who have cleared her broad acres, raised her cities and built her railroads, Bnd restore the Indians their original hunting-fields! Is prosperity to have no rights in Ireland! If a man attempts to do what he likes with his own, his own purchased land, is " the wild justice of revenge'" to step in and shoot him? Is that the political doctrine we are to be taught in St. Thomas in this enlightened age! Really, I was sony to hear such sentiments from one who on other points seemed to have read up his subject most carefully. If Conservatism and prejudice are synonymous, then, sir, on Irish questions the lecturer must be regarded as a most outspo- ken Conservative, at least he has plenty of prejudice, or its synonym — ignor- ance. Yours sincerely, St. George Caulfield. St Thomas, Nov. 10, 1869. H LETTER II. To THE Editor — I have read with some care the letter of the Rev. Dr Caulfeild, in the Home Journai, of last week. The writer is, I understand, the same gentleman who inten-upted me while speaking with cries of ' ' shame, shame;" "it is not true;" " it is false;" and his letter is, I must say, not more courteous than his interruptions. He imputes to me " gross ignorance" of Irish affairs; but, I thinlc, in this matter. I shall be able" to show that the stool of the novice, and not the chair of the critic, is the proper plaee for him; that was he not possessed of a large share of prejudice against Irish 5 we (lid not ilil justice of lope he does te in Ireland; vill fulfil their in fact in any assassin from iland by put- M"e especially le fact; by far Romanists; to administer d the robber; its with those 3 told of the rich man and \.las, sir, the for such pur- n our boyish ate of things bsoJele penal trative of the 1 the agitation Ns that there it be satisfied, iginat owners ?th? Who is uld be neces- all subsequent broad acres, their original .man attempts le wild justice !triue we are was sorry to have read up synonymous, most outspo- onym — ignor- ULFIEIiD. the Rev. Dr I understand, )s of " shame, say, not more ignorance" of show that the )per i)]&ie for against Irish 27 t^nt he woS'b„'"'l? * ''"■^'' '•'"'■" ?•'■ ^S"'^'-?»ce of the present causes of discon- Li Z ^^11 ^'"^^" "'"'■^ ''''"*'°" '" tl^" expression of his opinions if not more courtesy la the expression of his dissent. "J""'ons, u not '•f ho^Wrifw^T '"^•'"""^ ^^ "'° chairman, when I was interrupted, that nit™i, i •^\*^'''Ti?" *i ^"y*'^'"'^ '■» "'y 'i'^^'^^' the fullest opportu- mty would be given him at the doso. Now it jeems to me the doctor ouffht not then and there disabuse the minds of those w lo heard my "false" statements made '°w ''' n'" 'r^T'^'r^ ^^™°<^«"« ^Prcsions St n^t hale bem made? Wa.s Dr. Caulfeild afraid that his])ro^ound acquaintance with mo Srelv^S^vtl'^'^"'*' ff ^'' -* '--aUablein 2 pTblrdLu^lr?" wS'i r^''^'^''"^'' ""^ ^^^ P'""''''^"* ^^^^ ''f [reland was " so -ross it woud have been an easy task for Dr. Caulf ,ild to have confuted m°y state ments, and relieved his pain. •' I)r. Caulfeild insinuates that I am an advocate of Fenianism I will not follow hm example. I shall not deal in insi. nations ; I tell Wm boldly tha Pemanism owes its origin to men of his views. It is another of the Lefu S7a W? t ^'^ ^^'''- ''^'''y "'^'^ f"'- -S^^ been'sowing thetnd Dr CaX?d enS • "^ '* '' "ow covered with enemies that have sprung np JiL .. ?i ^""^^J^T^ a '^o'-dial hatred for Irish Roman Catholics. He sei<, them restless and discontented in Ireland. Too prejudiced to mderata^d JiJ ^''.'i'""'. '^^ '' ''■"*"^''^ '^^^'' than softened by the?r suffeSs and dec ares they have no good grounds of complaint. They have he declares shot good landlords for cimply doing what they liked with their own prperty- fr endirL?^'^ 'f'"' clergy-their best friends-to be robbed E/TnS: Jriendly government ; they are still discontented : they are like the fabled monster that guards the gates of hell. He says they are no more entit^d to any interest in the lands of Ireland than the Indians^ to ?etrn and poseesa iSiotS iusS^et' ir- f^'^'V ^""^^^'^- "° ^en\7ratTh'eCn! istration ot justice by the infenor Maffistracy h partial, because Superior Court Judges are of the Roman Catholic faith ! It woSd indeed be haS?o find compressed in so small a space, elsewhere, either To Iny misreprSta- tions or so many examples of inconsequential reasoning ^ ""srepresenta- p08Uion°51?r^' '^^^ ^'- ^""'f^'^? '^'' ''" "<> ^'^^^^nce. between the S\u^ ? ^'''^"^^ "P°" °"'' "orthern frontiers, whose ancestors once out £' l.T"*"^' "?t *?' Pl'^^°*'-y «^ ^'■^''^"d- Had ^e sought to dr^e ■«?ii f -^'''"'' ^""^ ^^^ ^^^^^"^ but partially successfiil; had we carried o" a series of aes.^erate wars against them, in which myriads were slaugEd oJ iTdins aid t-'^'''-"-^"";P''^?'^ '« P^y'^'"' who would sue eSrkilling ladians and bringing in Indians heads; had we, after this and other desneratf S^i?fi„^-''T/'*''''!"""?P'^^'^ *^"*^^ them and Subjugated their country ?et still finding them ten times more numerous than ourselves left them in nof session of the land, to cultivate and improve it, liaSe to pay s a rent Zl f„ thL f'i'' be removed; if, years l.ter,' we gradually enlaced our prL^^^^^ n the land^ithout their consent, until they liad no^ights in the soTbu^ . were teuan 3 by our sufferance, there wouM be some analogy between the ^ol .^irV'^i" ^"^n^ ^"'^ ^^'-^t «<"tbe Irish peasantry; and ifsuch were the Stl J f •"?,; ^ '•'^ "?^ ^'''^^^' ^' «^y that no patent from the Crown 3rtU \"irf Jra^Li.! rtr t-^^^ i»- n ,-.--- --■^'•* -^ "•.'d^-' "O^rce — fruirt luwr creator, thp Fpntn f ^"^'''^' ^L^i "^'''°= ^''' Jisestablishmeut on the ground that Sm ° W^l''^'^'^^ "' ^'^""' '^"•^ ''' '^'''^^ PJ«*«« them; and he exclaims, What a high-souled argument for a political leader, " and we (i7 28 the opponents of dlaestablishment) are blamed for " not acting upon such a cowardly, dastardly motive." Now, I never used any such argument. It is simply a pious fraud to catch a little patriotic sympathy — a deliberate mis- representation by Dr. Canlfeild. I did say, and I here repeat it, that Eng- land had, in establishing the Irish Church, created a nuisance, and it '..as her duty to abate it ; that it had affected us injuriously, and, therefore, we had a right to ask her to abate it. Can the doctor see no difference between my argument aud the one he has sought to put into my mouth ? Can he admit my premises, aud yet maintain that the conclusion is a "cowardly, dastardly argument" I have no right to remonstrate with my ueigbor for destroying hie property, if he chooses to do so foolish a thing, unless he thereby endangers mine; biit if ho does this, then I have a right. Now the principle upon which Mr. Holtoc's resolution was based is one well recognized in international law. Why are you fortifying Cherbourg ? asks England of France ; why are you Bending troops to Luxeubourg ? asks France of Prussia ; why are you sending a fleet to the West Indies ? asks Spain of the United States ; and, in fact, whenever the conduct of one people affects another people injuriously, they have a right to have the wrong redressed. I believe the late Established Church of Ireland, as a State institution, tha most disgraceful that ever ex- isted, not even excepting the Spanish establishment among the Moors ; but the people of Canada had no more right to remonstrate with England con- cerning it, than with Russia concerning the misgovernment of Poland, had its consequences not been felt here ; but if by either our government is rendered more costly and difficult, we have a sufficient ground for asking for reform. This is so elementary a principle of politic law that it is strange that any one can be found who cannot understand it. I alluded to the past government of Ireland, not as an illustratioa of the present state, but to make the matter intelligible. It was the policy of statesmen of the hist century to make the Roman Catholics of Ireland what the Helots were in Sparta; what the negroes were in Carolina. There were laws to keep them in ignorance. There were laws forbidding them to become owners of real property. There were laws forbidding them to become mer- chants or traders. There were laws which forbade them to hold tenancies beyond a certain value, and which punished them with forfeiture if they were 80 industrious as to have more than a certain percentage of profits. All these laws were enacted to reduce the Roman Catholic population to beggaiy. There were laws to degrade them socially. They were excluded from the professions. They were deprived of the right to sit in parliament. They were deprived of the elective franchise. It waa made a capital offence for one of their clergy to unite one of them in marriage to a Protestant. • They struggled desperately against the policy of an inhuman government ; they struggled in vain. The government triumphed. The Catholic Irish were made ignorant; they were were made poor; they were pressed down in the social scale. They now struggle ; on in their poverty. The penal code has been repealed, but the consequence remains. The penallegislation of the last century did its work. The people have been crushed down, whence they can never rise unaided. Had the penal legislation still remained in force, it is difficult to see how it could much increase the misery of the people. The events of one age are taken up in the form of permanent results in the next which succeeds; and, it is because this is ao, that it is impossible to give an adequate idea of the present state of Ireland without somo reference to past legislaticn. I did not pretend to draw a full picture. I sketched a few ? upon such a juinent. It is deliberate luia- t it, that Eng- ce, and it v. as 1, therefore, we irenco betweeu uth ? Can he a "cowardly, g hie property, jers mine; but on which Mr. Tnational law. ; why are you .royou sending : and, in fact, iuriously, they te Established i that ever ex- e Moors ; but England con- P Poland, had ent is rendered ing for reform. iDge that any tratioa of the the policy of Ireland what There were hem to become become mer- lold tenancies •e if they were ' profits. All m to beggaiy. ded from the iment. They al offence for 38tant. • They rnment ; they ic Irish were down in the mal code has ion of the last ence they can a force, it is people. The s in the next )Ie to giv3 an rence to past ;etched a few 2& prominent features. I will venture to say this-It was suoh a sketch thatmv hearers were enab ed to get an intelligible idea of the causes of Irish discS tent. It 18 sometimes a difficult thing to give a correct idea of the effS of a bygone policy, without going into detail and pointing out all the various consequences whether transitoiy or permanient. It is an art, a difficult art and Dr. Caulfeild complains because 1 confirmed to its principS whldl alone prevented my brief outline from being a mere daub. ^LKe^kyoS fh^'r'i'*''^ they learn from my censor's letter? Simply this: that tW Ca- tholic Irish are robbers and assassins, who shoot honest men for wanting their plunderlhrrrcr ''"'^'""^ '' revolutionise the government, that thefmay r^omv^''"^'"?*?'^^' "It is truly deplorable to find an advocate of a large political party m Canada coming forward to justify or excuse the 'wild ius- tice of revenge.'" I said nothing about the «' wild justice of revenge "I • tPn«,f= «P T 1 ^ i" ' ^ ""'' ""^ °'*'^ '• ^^^^ t^" combination among the tenants of Ireland, to prevent eviction, is simply a struggle for the ri^ht of existence. It iswel known that many of the murderTstyleS agrarian are not agarian at all. It is conceivable when a man is a bad man other reasons for shooting him may exist besides the land question. We have had two famous trials in Canada, that of Brogden, in Ontario, and Chaloner,Tn oTe^ dS« ""ThpnTrf"' T ^''^"J^^'f '"^ ^^^ ^^'=« •'f ^^^ admission of their deeds. The public in each case has done more than excuse— it has eiven its moral approbation. Why need we wonder at similar deeds in Ireland. The late Chief Justice Pennafather said in one of his charges-and I suppose he will be accepted by Dr. Caulfeild as an impartial authority-" The whole code relating to landlord and tenant in Ireland was framed with a view to the nterest of the landlord, and to enforce the payment of rent The inrerest of the tenant never once entered into the contemplation of the legislature " We need not wonder then that the power of the landlord is frequently abused. }i^^T ^T^f ""* ^7 Archbishop Leahy, and it is unquestionably true, t,hat WiUiam Scully was to blame for the outrage at Ballycohev. The mon- strous lease which he forced on his tenants has been published (see Modern Ireland, by an Ulsterman, page 406). After the outrage there waa a general disapproval of the lease and the attempt to enforce it. But let this be niarked- this disapproval was not shown by the law. The law enabled Scully bv a detatchment of police, by issuing placards offering rewards for the apprehen- sion of those who resisted, and by a police tax upon the district to enforce his unjnst acts. The people were driven to despair; they committed a fearful crime; but It was not done because a family's honor had been tarnished, but Kl! j^ \ /"'/'^%?'^l^' "°* P^'^'^- ^* '« ""^^ ^'^^ Scully's that make the landlord s hated. It is because the law sustains the landlord in his unjust acts that the people are seditious. It is said that on one of Lord Derby's estates 120 lease holders, who had enjoyed their lands for two generations were turned out upon some technical defects discovered in their leases In Ireland there are 20,000,000 of acres in the hands of 8,450 men The original title of these proprietors was simply a right to certain rents and pro&ts. By successive usurpations their right of property has been extended til it 13 as near to absolute property as our law allows— 95 per cent of the present occnpanta bein"' ten.int^ at "'ill ' I have said that the present condition of the Irish peasantry is one from wtu£iLthejicarjDptjiseimaided, and I shall try and make this plain. Of the ^ Irish peasantry 275,00(>;^occupy between fifteen and thirty acres, and 246,000 itt 30 farailiee are holding an average fifty-six acres to each family, includiug bog laods. Now, it is eaey to perceive that the familiea who are liviug on less . than fifteen acres of land each, must often bo in circumstances of great des- titution, and it must often occur that they are unable to pay rent It is, accordingly, in this class class that we find the greatest number of evictions, which some years have reached the appalling number of 17,000 families, turned out to perish. In 18-47 the average amount of laud to each tenant was about sixteen acres. It is now something more, but it is yet too small to enable him to pay rent and emerge from poverty. In England the borough population is 44 percent. ; in Ireland it is 14 per cent. In P]ngland 61 per cent, are liviug in towns: in Ireland 80 per cent, live in the country. Now, the land does not grow, so that the increase of population means more certain degradation, as it necessitates a further divi- sion of land — an increased inability to pay rent — an increased number of evictions — an increased number dying by the wayside. Wo are told that if property waa more secure in Ireland manufactories would t;pring up. It is not because property is insecure they do not, but because the centres of in- dustry have become fixed elsewhere. When manufactories were in their in- fancy Irish producers were excluded fiom the British markets and from the colonies, by Impertal legislation. Why are the Avoollen manufactories fouad at Leeds; the cotteu at Manchester; the hardware at ShefiBeld ? Because the necessary skilled labor is now found at those particular centres. The man who wishes to engage in arty branch of manufacturing industry will begin where he can obtain the necessary skilled labor. Why, for instance, should an English capitalist, wishing to engage in woollen manufacture, go to Cork or Waterford rather than to Leeds ? There is no reason. He secures no addi- tional profits by a protective tariff, ane he does not do so. In only one of two .ways can manufactories grow up in Ireland, and relievo the pressure upon the laud. First, by an exceptional tariff which would ex- clude for a number of years British and foreign manufacturies, so that foreign capitalists might establish manufactories in the country ; second, by termin- ating the titles of non-resident proprietors, and permitting the profits from the land, now sent abroad in payment of rent, to remain in the countiy; and this I think the preferable. It is not any more objectionable than to compel a proprietor to sell to a railway company a right of way. We did quite as arbitrary a thing in Canada when we put an end to Seignorial property by Act of Parliament And this I believe will be done. I am not disposed to discuss here, whether territory ever can become property iu the same sense in which the products of human industry-are property. I have said enough to indicate the the nature of the land question, which still awaits solution. I shall now briefly revert to the conduct of the inferior magistracy. Mr. Arthur Young, the eminent agriculturist, in his Tour through Ireland, says: ' ' The landlord of an Irish estate, inhabited by Roman Catholics, is a sort of despot, who yields obedience, in whatever couperns the poor, to no law but his will. A long series of oppriassions, aided hy many very iU-judged\ laws, have brought landlords into the habit of exerting a very lofty superiority, and their vassels into that of an hou'^st submission. Speaking u language that is abhorred — and being disarmed, the poor find themselves slaves in a land of written liberty. Nay, I have h'.ard anecdotes of the lives of the people being made free with, loithout any ajiprehens ion from the justice of a jury. The execution of theUv.p.lie-^vrry ■s-ixiekiv.-the havds of justices of the peace, many of whom are drawn, from the most illiberal class in the kingdom. If a poor man lodges a complaint against a gentleman, or any animal that L^IJ icludiug boj? iviug on leas - of great dea- rent. It is, of evictions, )00 families, each tenant I'et too small d it is 14 per 80 per cent. 3 increase of further divi- [1 number of ! told that if ig up. It is entres of in- 3 in their in- nd from the [Stories found Because the 'he man who begin where 3, should an to Cork or ires no addi- , and relievo h would ex- that foreign , by termin- fits from the tiy; and this to compel a did quite as property by disposed to ime sense in 1 enough to ution, tracy. Mr. eland, says: is a sort of QO law but \idged\ laws, iriority, and uage that is n a land of )eople being jury. The tiiS pedes, tgdom. If mimai tJiat 31 fTV ""'^ l^irm^.l/aRentUman, and the justice imiies out a summons for his appearance it ts a fired offence, and he mil infallihly be Si^t The V'otanry^ow their situation too well to thtnLf it^ ThZhavrL om^Mw-- « ^T ^""^^""'^t ^'^*°^ «f I^«''»«'^' ^0'-'. PaRO 221. )Vhe work Of Godwin Smith upon the authority of which I made the statement I did as to the treatment of peasants, is styled: " Scetches of Irfsh Historv aid Irish Character. " It was first publisid, I think, seven yeara ago Sji^ tions it a« one of the ev Is most difScult to conect. Dr. CaulS may rdter the^tith^eT''''"YeT\'« ^7i" ""^ °°^ r''' J'^"* '■°'' y'^"" the tenant ha« paid tlie tithe I Y es, he has always paid the tithe. Bv Lord Melbourne's Bill I thes were changed into rent charged upon the land, payablfin money bu It 10 less ultimately came out of th% pocket of the t' nant. It may he he w. have no less to pay to the landlord, yet he knows that a large propiftion will go to purposes that will lessen taxation, and improve his ?ond ff J have said that Ireland still feels the consequences of the penal leS ation of the eighteenth century. How far has the government undone wh^ was Then done I They have no only repealed the penal laws as to educaTion but they have established schools. They have removed the socia lbarrie;g They have abolished the religious inequalities. They have still the caTs of ex^ isting poverty to remedy, and a better c'ass of inferior magistrates to find and then the mischief that was done wih be undone, and ti£ will cure dis- content No one expects that the mischiefs produced by the nSule o7 age will pass away at once, but they cannot long survice good government ^ I have now very briefly alluded to thepoints raised by Dr. Caulfeild's letter except the single one, the desertion and persecution of the ChS This i will pass by. The religion and the loyalty of the Irish peasantiy alike bear testimony o the character of her labors, and upon this double testimony I rat^t-felTeS^tr ^^^^'^^^h-h'^^to^ -"1 Judg/trU W' .1ft« X?'^ ^"'' KT'^' ^'•°" ^'' "^'•^ P°P"1«»« rival can now'bring her g fts all their own She can recall her 205 ministers, who wander through he pictiire galleries of Paris, Florence and Rome, because th^y have no oS to preach to at home, and find something useful for them to do Her min"s! ters who preach to native Jrishmen against the use of a litany in an unknown meT' The 3^?•".°^"'^"^ *t^P^«P>«' ^^» ^^^ rnore\ Jul emjfoy- Inui, +?f ' '" of indolence has fallen. Its inmates are scattered. The wealth that was so long squandered by the idle, goes to relieve utfayddable calamity among the poor. By so much, and more, has Ireland gained, Your obedient servant, Nov. 23rd, 1869. David Mills. ^•,^"~?.^^\^ ^fT' T th® P'^°^ of land reform by J. S. Mill; the Irish Dec. iJ8, 1867; and Lord DufiTenn's examination of Mr. Mill's plan. It is impossible/or me to give your readers a full exoosition of rheir vi«w« The J^^Z-f/' rrr';*'i', '^■'^ ''*''?''^ ^^ ^^^'■^^terizad as " anarchicaff by Dr. Caulfeild. rhe following points of the resolutions adopted by the farmers of MuuBter, delegates being present also from the counties of Cork, Limerick ll 32 Olare, Tipperary, Macrooii and Mallow, show what tho tenants theniBelvcM demand: — 1. Fixity or perpetuity of tenure, based upon a fair rental to oe deter- mined by an agricultural board or other body. 2. The purchase of absentee's estates and their Hale to the Government, to be let to tho tenants with a view of giving them proprietorship eventually, 3. The Prassian land-bank system, with loans to tho tenants, much same as Mr. Bright'a plan. 4. Tenants to be permitted to soil their interests or good-will, f). That an abaentcn tax of 2a. in the pound be levied, anc taxes be divided between landlord and tenant. 6. Xo rent beyond valuation and allowance in the valuation for improve ments and for tenant right 7. No leases, no rents, and permanency under good behavior, then 31 years leases. tho and that certain f not that, o. M. LETTER III. Sib,— I shall not follow Mr. Mills in his long essay. As tr. tho Church question, there is no use of discussing its justice or injustice: the doed is done; it only remains to look at the consequences. Has the movement given the desired peace to Ireland? I say nat: Cardinal CuUen says not: Mr. Mill passes that point by. Mr. Mills Lupposes that because I am a clergyman of the Church of England 1 must hate my Roman Catholic fellow-countryman. I deny the insinuation. They were the friends of my youth : and I willingly bear testimony to their patience, charity and honesty: they have all the qualities to mako an excellent people, were t'.^v let alone by political and religious agitators. Perhaps ray affection and (Viendship is fur greater than that of some who would appear their friends — for a purpose. As to the land question, it is far too deep for solution by my powers, or even those of Mr. Mills. Tho greatest statesmen of Britain atknowledgo themselves at a loss ppon it. If Mr. Mills has a practicable plan, he had better let it be known at Downing Street, and if it be approved of there, I should say a new and enlarged career in the world of politics will open up to him. May I venture to 8ugge.st that he should previously digest a little better tho scheme he has propounded, lest, instead of honorable mention, one of our M. P. 's be classed among communists. I scarcelj- think it would do to propose to the Imperial Parliament to set aside patents from tho Crown and rights to property, estab- lished not by twenty one years' possession, but that of centuries : or to act upou the cry of those who, h'ving nothing to lose, would upset existing arrangements, in hope of uomin? in for something in the scramble. When Mr. Mill's political judgment li more matured, he may see that his present views aro "anarchical." I would be the last person to deny that there is much need for action in the lend question. Indeed, in my judgment, this, and not tho Church, is the queidon of Ireland. But it is far easier to see the evil than to propound the remeoy. Has Mr. Mills adduced one signal penal enactment in force at present: cv any di.sability under which Romanists suffer ? A little light seems to have dawned upou his mild since his lecture. He sees it is a matter of the last centun- "the penal code has been repealed. " He says he was only describing tbe present state by allusion to a by-gone state of things. It is a pity he was not a little more explicit on this point in his lecture. As an IrishmnD-. I could not hear mv cnjintrv miRrnnroHPnt^d W'*h- out a word. It appeared to mo that to rake up these*^old evils, which every one must deiilore, could only have an injurious effect Yours sincerely, St. George Caulfeild. themselves i)(! deter- ernmerit, to vontuully. , much the « thac certain for improve- if not that, u. M. the Church loed isdoue; it given the .Mill passes STnan of the itryman. I I willingly ave all the lolitical and greater than I to the land hose of Mr. 3S at a loss t be known f a new and ly I venture eme he has 's be classed he Imperial erty, estab- : or to act 3et existing )le. When his present lat there is fment, this, 3r to see the ignal penal [lists suffer ? 3. He sees 1." He says )ne state of oint in his vhich every FEILD. 33 LKTTKR IV. Sir,— I shall briefly notico the contcntn of Dr C.iiilCoil.r. i„h appeared in your i)aper of tlm ;{rd in.sl. l)r (W (i'ilrl . . rf ' "''r ''''"='* a controversy of iin own neoki. g, wiir;.' "'f'^ '"';?''- his superior knowledL'o than ho .vinnui -■ *'»"'"1'''H'o in that he' ha.s not .Io„o^o n 'a wav tla would inf T""- ^ ''^"''' a reply. His pride nmde him fc(/ ttt n do u VT ."^T'''"'^'"^ ting, and he has sought to hide the igno Lice I o ovl.i 1 l' JT- """''"" by misrepresenting nie. The Dr sav^ Zf f h • ^. ' J'^'^'' "^ ^'■'**'' """•'•^ me sinceW lecture; that have dSvSn^^^^^^ ''^''" /'f '^"''''"^ ^'P»« last century; that the penal code has be^ ctal " Vt \'''' 7''/'^ ^''^ •' cr of the Supremo dounci I of India for judicial purposes — in his p.\(;()llent work oti Ancient Law, observea tliat "joint ownership, and not separate owntTHhip, "is the really archaic institution. * » » Kiidi of the villuRo coinmuni- " tics of India is at onco an orj,'ai\i7,od patriarchieal Hociety and an asH0niblaj,'0 " of co-proprietors. The jjcrsonal relations of the men who compose it aro " iudistinpuishably confounded with the proprietary ri^htH, and to the at- " tempt of EiiRlish functionaries to separate the two, may be traced some "of the most formidable miscarriaf^os of Ani^lo-liidian administration.**** "A great number of intelligent and obse.-vant writers, most of whom liad no "theory to support concerning its nature and origin, agree in considering it " the least destructible institution of a society which never willingly surreii- " dera any of its images to innovation. ComiiiesLs and revolutions seem to " have .swept over it without disturbing it or displacing it, and the most heni- •' ficent gystemt of Oovtrnment in ludia have alwa>/s been those which have '^ recognized it a» a basis of Administration. * * * The Indian village "community is more than a brotherhood of relatives, it is more than a soci- " ety of partners; it is an organized society, and besides providing for the "management of the conimon fund, itsekiom fails to provide by a complete "stuff of functionaries for internal government for police, for the adminis- " tration of justice." In Russia, in Sorvia, in Ooutia and in Au.strian Kcla- vonia, the villagers are co-proprietors of the land, and the system is like that of India. The system is based upon the maxiMn found in the jurispnidenco of Eastern Europe — that the property of families cannot he divided for n perpetuity. And this blending of property is found perfectly compatible with a separation of rights. (Ancient Law by II. S. Maine, ch. 8.) It is well known to every well read English lawyer, that more than half the popn- lation of the British Empire aro living under this system of co-proprietorship. It is equally well known that, practically, the system produces none of those mischiefs that it is said would result from a system of communism, English administrators of the Indian Government have learned that it is not the pro- vince of a government either to create or to destroy the organization of soci- ety. 1 have not suggested the adoption of this system elsewhere; I have only here alluded to it for the purpose of showing that it is the system of mil- lions, and it is of late so well understood by English jurists and statesmen, and the conditions favwable to its existence are so well understood, that even were its adoption proposed in Ireland, as it has been by Mr. Spencer, it could only be made a bugbear to frighten the ignorant. " In the law of per- sons," says Mr. Maine, " our studies seem to show us the family expanding " into the agnatic group of kinsmen; then the agnatic group dissolving into "separate households; lastly the households supplanted by the iudividuals. " Each step in the change corresponds to an analogues alteration of owner- *'ship." I expressed a doubt as to whether land ever can be property in the same sense in which the product of human industry ia property, and it is in this incidental allusion which seems to have startled Dr. Caulfeild. I will here make a citation or two and leave Dr. Caulfeild to urge upon the authors the necessity of " political digestion." Mr. Mill says, '• Lauded property Is felt even by those most tenacious of •'its rights to be different from other property; and where the bulk of the ' community have been disinherited of their share of it, and has become the i^ ill 36 "is, or can be, the private nronertv of linv nnL i^- S'^ento our nation ' ' similar to slavery.^ The sCmster^Sl. S,,, J V', "" "^"''P^^O" ^-^^ctly ■•.pptatolaml.' (Lectures™ Pilitfcal tonoL „ IH'^ ? ?"Tr"^ " now the dilemma to which it leads Sunnn.Jn,; fi?I ! v , u . ^^'«erve "enclosed, it follows that if thelioSwe f X "^^^^^^^^^ ^t '" "all who are not landowners have m^ZT^luTL^t. rr '"'''^*''^' " caii exist on the earth by sufferance onfv Thiv ni i. f ' ^^•'"^^ '"^^ "by permission of the lofds of the soil, VhaveTo 0!^/'^^^^^^^ , ^"^'^ "their feet. Nay, should the others thnk fit tolnv ZTJZ}^ '"'? «^" and leases to Svldu^l ^He nilinta ns tf etpn'/'''" -'l'" ^^^'^ ownership, vanced upon the Irish land question *"" ''"^^'''"^ ^ '^'^^^ «d- So far as I can gather from the letter of Dr. Caulfeild it h thp »,.««. 1 . right of €7«mett« rfomam can be defended tL t i '• if ^^^ ^^^""^'^^ «^ ^^^e ?o?s^rS'£rtSrSsK£c^^^^^^ orally tried to^recon- h duties to it, and al. But if the State ictionariea, it is only discard them. The subordinate to the gives them no right 'hatever portion of lem of." (Political Newman, "a crude 3 given to our nation I usurpation exactly e-owner, and pleads »uuced slaves to be , and that no num- • All this equally • 132-3.) This is y a Cambridge pro- icer, "one portion f an individual, and ag to which he has I's surface may be 9 hands. Observe ire globe to be so ?ht to its surface, 'face. Hence such resspassers. Save )m for the soles of Ji a resting place, earth altogether." 1 State ownership, wards this condi- f goods than leases inions of men by they depart mnch pthing I have ad- is the proposal to strongly objects. JOgnized rights to confounding the claims of persons eminent domain. he exercise of the i, notwithstanding vays, for canals, mot let him fix he way of a great Jstice can it be ade, but wrong overty und social >y? The title of I telegraph com- 87 pany to its property. The Legislature of England haa made pronertv in tele- graphs the property of the State, and ha^ compelled the compS to accep compensafaon. In what respect is this more defensible than whTl propoSd with regard to non-resident Irish landlords' proposea Does Dr. Caulfeild suppose that should the Indians of the N. W Terri- tory refuse to sell their interest in the lands of that territoiy ou; governSt Zt\V^TT f^ ^^^f^J"^^ effi'rts at colonization? U^on whft pr nSplo Sri oTJ^nwl^r""'? fJei'-.Property without their coLnt? t£ S mors of Lower Canada had riguts in the soil as sacred as those of the Irish landlords. Our government, however, compelled them to accent a fa?r com Zri?. ^Tl^"^' 'ntereste, and vested the fee in the censita^r?s They 2S the r patents from j.ou:s 14th; but they did not perpetuate their property in that form against the public interest This is a policy eLctly anaCus to what I suggested might be pursued in dealing with the hnd in Ireland ex cept m one particular-the evil which called for the change was of much leS aggravated character in Lower Canada i«n"^°J;!''°**''''*^/?''l'™i'^®'t*'''^^™^'"0'^ble instances remarkably like the and question of Ireland. In all these instances the remedy proposed w^ like the one I suggested. In two instances the measure waTcaS^ SlTlnv compensation to the great proprietors, and so far, was eS defensTble buru did giye contentment and prosperity to the peoples. ''"^nsible, but it Ihe first to which I shall refer is the seisachthdia, or relief law of Solon ZT.Z^l u , 1 ^i".' '^ng'^emente. They were being reduced to slav- «cnu uwu- *^^^'^*"'^''^^^' ''^® t"^*** now existing in Ireland was the ^i;ir?'*^'^^'^'''T'--^"'^^^««««ta"°«^ed t? any more P^werfrl State hat was disposed to enforce the rights of the new proprietor Th^ '• I^^IaT ? '°'P"i.o°'. «' t« enslave, or extort work from hie debtor and ^ ^ confined him to an effective judgment at law. * * *"* ' *°; " leftTtlte^rom *«n °""f °" ■ '"'"^W P'"'*™ ^^^ *•>« ^"^^^ i" Attica, and Thfii„^? 1 mortgage tLeirlmcis, and to sell their children into servitnde' The people londly complaued. Nehemiah called a popular a«mbl", £ 88 which it wan determined by the general suffrage that what had been exacted Bhould be returned; that all the lands, vineyards, olive yards and houses, should be released to their original owners, (Nehemiah, ch. 5. ) According to Dr. Caulfeild, Nehemiah forced upon the wealthy an ill-digested and anarchial measure. He played the part of a political agitator, and urged the people on to overawe the usurers. He justified his conduct on moral grounds, and by a reference to the law of Moses; but it must not be forgotten that Judea was at this time a Persian province, and the law of Mosea was not then the law of the land. The third instance is the political and social condition of Rome during the period of Grachii. I shall not, at this moment, discuss the nature und resulta of that agitation. The circumstances of the poor in these three ctic ^s „ere so strikingly similar to the present condition of the Irish peasantry, and the remedies proposed so like the one I mentioned in my former Istter, that I thought well to call the attention of your readers t* them, that they might see what the charge of Dr. Oaulfeild, as to my suggestion being ill-digested and anarchial, involved. I thought well to do so further, because others besides Dr. Oaulfeild have, parrot-like, and without reflection, been taught to charge the restless condition of the Irish people upon reform politicians and upon the Catholic priesthood. We see precisely the same results among the three most illustrious peoples of antiquity— the Jews, the Greeks, and the Romans. It is not because of the unprincipled conduct of either political or religious agitators that Ireland is discontented, but it is becaus. there is in man a sense of justice and a sense of self-respect that make it impossible that he can be content with poverty and oppression, There is implanted in his fellow-man a feeling of sympathy for his suffering. And it is because this is so that tyranny has its limits, and injustice has an end. These are the high parantees given by God against the perpetual degradation of our race, and by which its progress is secured. He who charges Irish discos lent upon liberal politicians closes his eyes to the forces by which society proffresses, and finds fault with his Maker. ^ r e . What I suggested is not anarchial. Ireland is in a state of anarchy already. But it is a simple and direct wav out of a condition of anarchy. A way to a more healthful, social and political condition; a condition in which life and property will be more secure, the people more prosperous and contented; one which will make the people of Ireland a source of strength and not a source of weakness to the empire. Your obedient servant, December 6, 1869, David Mills. V ti t bad been exacted yards and houses, ch. 5.) According an ill-digested and Itator, and urged the ct on moral grounds, t be forgotten that of Moses was not of Borne during the he nature und results e three ct»c;a ..ere so peasantry, and the trmer letter, that I Q, that they might n being ill-digested lier, because others ition, been taught to >nn politicians and ]e results among the le Greeks, and the )f either political or becaus. there is in ie it impossible that is implanted in his I it is because this is rhese are the high in of our race, and ih discoid cent upon society progresses, 3 of anarchy already, irchy. A way to a in which life and and contented; one th and not a source Mr .jH, jrvant, Datid Mills.