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A LETTER 
 
 TO 
 
 THE RIGHT HONOUEABLE 
 
 THE EAKL OF CARNARVON, 
 
 PRINCIPAL SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE 
 COLONIES. 
 
 BT 
 
 THE HON. CHARLES TUPPER 
 
 In reply to a Pamphlet entitled 
 
 CONFEDERATION, 
 
 CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO THE INTERESTS OF THE 
 
 EMPIRE. 
 
 
B^i^HM 
 
TO THE EIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 THE EAEL OF CARNAEVON, 
 
 Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 My position as Leader of the Government cf Nova Scotia, 
 and one of the Delegates appointed, under the authority of the 
 Legislature, by the Lieutenant-Governor, to arrange with Dele- 
 gates from Canada and New Brunswick, and with Her Majesty's 
 Government here, a plan of Union for the British North Ameri- 
 can Provinces, renders it my duty to offer some observations 
 upon a pamphlet entitled, " Confederation, considered in relation 
 to the Interests of the Empire," recently sent by the Hon. 
 Joseph Howe to the Colonial Office. Mr. Howe has rested his 
 arguments largely upon his own unsupported statements. In the 
 obeervations I have to make on these statements I shall take 
 the liberty of quoting, among other authorities, one which that 
 gentleman ought to respect, for it is his own. I shall produce 
 to yoar Lordship, from Mr. Howe's previous public speeches 
 and writings, the most elaborate refutation of all the reasoning 
 by which he now endeavours to obstruct the Urion of the 
 British North American Colonies. 
 
 Permit me, my Lord, at the outset briefly to state the 
 present position of the Confederation question. 
 
 A little over 2,000 miles from Ireland lies Nova Scotia, a 
 province covering an area of over 18,000 square miles, indented 
 with the finest harbours in the world, enjoying a healthy 
 climate, possessing a fertile soil, immense deposits of excellent 
 coal, iron ore in abundance, equal in quality to that of the best 
 Swedish, and mines of gold and other minerals of great 
 extent and value. 
 
 To the west of Nova Scotia lies New Brunswick, with an 
 
area of about 28,000 square miles of superior land, with forests 
 of the most valuable timber, and also rich in minerals. 
 
 Behind New Brunswick lies Canada, with an area of 331,000 
 square miles, celebrated as a wheat-growing country, and rich 
 in all the various elements of unbounded prosperity. 
 
 Jutting out into the Atlantic, Nova Scotia forms the nearest 
 point of communication with the Old World. Its spacious 
 harbours invite the commerce of the globe. Its geographical 
 position and mineral deposits show that God and nature intended 
 that it should be to America what these British Islands are to 
 the Continent of Europe — the great emporium of commerce 
 and the highway of nations. 
 
 The construction of 400 miles of railway from Truro, in 
 Nova Scotia, through New Brunswick, to Riviere du Loup, in 
 Canada, is all that is required to complete an unbroken line of 
 railway, 1,400 miles long, extending from Halifax, on the 
 Atlantic, to Sarnia, at the foot of Lake Huron. The construc- 
 tion of other 1,600 miles, from Lake Superior to the shores of 
 the Pacific, would furnish a steam communication across the 
 Continent, all on British territory, and intersecting throughout 
 its entire extent a country possessing a fertile soil and an 
 invigorating climate. 
 
 Yet Nova Scotia has progressed so little with all the advantages 
 she possesses, that, after the lapse of more than a century since 
 she became a permanent possession of Great Britain, her popu- 
 lation numbers but 350,000. 
 
 New Brunswick, notwithstanding the extent of her land and 
 her invaluable forests of timber, intersected for some four 
 hundred miles by the beautiful river St. John, which empties 
 into the fine harbour of St. John, has but 280,000 inhabitants. 
 Its trade is restricted by the custom-houses of Nova Scotia, on 
 the one side, and of Canada on the other. 
 
 Canada, great as has been the developement of her boundless 
 resources, is for several months of the year shut out from access 
 to the ocean, and her 3,000,000 of people depend upon a foreign 
 power for their postal communication with the parent state. Is it 
 strange, my Lord, that, under these circumstances, the policy of 
 uniting these Colonies under one government, thus striking 
 down the hostile tariffs and diverse currencies, and other impedi- 
 
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 ments which ohstruct their trade, and giving them rapid and 
 easy means of communication with each other and witli Great 
 Britain, should long since have attracted the attention of public 
 men interested in the welfare of them all, and of the empire of 
 which they form a not unimportant part ? 
 
 So long ago as 1814, Chief Justice Scwell of Quebec, 
 animated by these views, addressed a letter to His Royal High- 
 ness the Duke of Kent, in which he proposed a Federal Union 
 of British North America. The father of our sovereign in his 
 reply, dated Kensington Palace, November 30th, 1814, says : — 
 
 " My dear Sewoll, — I have this day had the pleasure of receiving your 
 " interesting note of yesterday. Nothing can be better arranged than 
 '* the whole thing is." 
 
 In 1839 Earl Durham, after the most thorough personal 
 examination of the British North American Colonies, submitted 
 a masterly report to Her Majesty the Queen, in which he advo- 
 cated, in the most conclusive manner, the advantage and neces- 
 sity of a Union of those Colonies under one government. A 
 careful study of the monument thus left of the perspicuous 
 statesmanship of that distinguished nobleman, will show that 
 while he, in the first instance, advocated a Federal Union, and 
 aubaequently inclined to one of a Legislative character, he has 
 outlined a scheme of government almost analogous with that 
 arranged by the Conference recently held at Quebec. Lord 
 Durham said : — 
 
 ^ I « 
 
 II 
 II 
 
 II 
 II 
 
 K 
 II 
 II 
 II 
 II 
 
 *' The views on which I found my support of a comprehensive Union 
 have long been entertained by many persona in those Colonies , whose 
 opinion is entitled to the highest consideration. ♦ ♦ * 
 
 " I know of but one difficulty in the way of such an Union, and that 
 arises from the disinclination which some of the Lower Provinces might 
 feel to the transference of powers from their present Legislature to that 
 of the Union. 
 
 " As the mere amalgamation of the Houses of Assembly of the two 
 Provinces would not be advisable, or give at all a due share of repre- 
 sentation to each, a Parliamentary Commission should be appointed, for 
 the purpose of forming the Electoral Divisions and determining the 
 number of members to be returned, on the principle of giving repre- 
 sentation, as near as may be, in proportion to population. I am averse 
 to every plan that has been proposed for giving an equal number of 
 members to the two Provinces, in order to attain the temporary end of 
 
6 
 
 outnnmhcrinf,' llio French, liocauso I think tho samn ohjcct will bo 
 oV)taino(l Avitliout any violncinn of tho principlos of roprosontatinn, and 
 without any sucli appearance of injuHtire in tho scheme as wonld set 
 puhli(! opinion, both in Kngland and America, stron^'ly against it; and 
 because, when einif,'ration shall have increased the I'lnglish population 
 in the Upper Province, tlie adoption of 8U(di a prin(!iplo would operate 
 to defeat tho very purpose it is intended to serve. It appears to mo 
 that any sutdi electoral arrangement, founded on the present I'rovincial 
 Divisions, would tend to defeat tho purposes of union, and perpetuate 
 tho idea of disunion. 
 
 " Tho samo Commission should form a plan of Local Oovernmont by 
 elective bodies subordinate to tho General Legislature, and exercising a 
 complete control over such local affairs as do not come within the 
 province of General Legislation. Tho plan so framed should be made 
 an Act of the Imperial Parliament, so as to prevent the General Legis- 
 lature from encroaching on the powers of the local bodies. 
 
 " A General Executive, on an improved i)rinciplo, should be estab- 
 lished, together with a Supreme Court of Appeal, for all tho North 
 American Colonies. The other establishments and laws of the two 
 Colonies should be left unaltered until the Legislature of the Union 
 should think fit to change them. 
 
 " The objection to thjs would arise principally, I imagine, from their 
 not liking to give up the immediate control which they now have over 
 the funds by which their local expenditure is defrayed. I have given 
 such a view of the evils of this system, that I cannot be expected to 
 admit that an interference with it would be an objection to my plan. 
 I think, however, that the Provinces would have a right to complain if 
 these powers of local management, and of distributing funds for local 
 purposes, were taken from the Provincial Assemblies only to be placed 
 in the yet more objectionable hands of a General Legislature. Every 
 precaution should, in my opinion, be taken to prevent such a power, by 
 any possibility, falling into the hands of the Legislature of the Union. 
 In order to prevent that, I would prefer that the Provincial Assemblies 
 should be retained with merely municipal powers. But it would be far 
 better, in point both of efficiency and economy, that this power should 
 be entrusted to the municipal bodies of much smaller districts ; and the 
 formation of such bodies would, in my opinion, be an essential part of 
 any durable and complete Union. * * * * * 
 
 " In existing circumstances, the conclusion to which the foregoing 
 considerations lead me is, that no time should be lost in proposing to 
 Parliament a Bill for repealing the Wst Geo. III., restoring the Union 
 of the Canadas under one Legislature, and constituting them as one 
 Province. 
 
 " The Bill should contain provisions by which any or all of the other 
 North American Colonies may, on the application of the Legislature, be 
 with the consent of the two Canadas, or their united Legislature j 
 
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» 
 
 " admitted into the Union on such terms as may be agreed on between 
 " them." 
 
 In 184'.) tho British American League, a body of able and 
 intelligent men, met at Toronto, and discussed the question of 
 Colonial Union at great length. The plan they agreed to submit 
 for the consideration of the Provinces is set out in detail, as 
 follows : — 
 
 " The Canadas, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, P. E. Island, and 
 " Newfoundland, to be joined in a Federal Union, under tho nanio of 
 " British North America, with u Secretary and Office in Dowiiing Street, 
 " and a Vice-llegent and Federal Lcgialature. 
 
 " Each Province to have its local Legislature, the Legislative Council 
 " to be elected. 
 
 " The Federal Government to be vested in a Viceroy or Governor- 
 " General, a Legislative Council appointed by the Crown, or elected by 
 •' the Legislature of the Provinces for six years, one-third retiring every 
 " second year ; and an Assembly chosen by the Provincial Legislature 
 " from their own members by u special electio]i, a deputation of members 
 " from the Legislative Council and from the House of Assembly to have 
 " seats in the House of Commons. 
 
 " The powers of the general Government to be the imposition of 
 " taxes, duties, and imports, which should be uniform throughout the 
 ," Provinces ; to assume and pay the debts of the severnl Provinces, and 
 " provide for the peace and welfare of the Union ; to establish uniform 
 •' commercial relations between the different Provinces and foreign coun- 
 " tries, not repugnant to the laws of the United Kingdom ; determine 
 " disputes, regulate navigation of the rivers and lakes, promote internal 
 " improvements, regulate post offices, militia, &c. A Supreme Court 
 " being also a Court of Appeal, &c., &c. A subsequent resolution passed 
 " against the election of the Legislative Council." 
 
 In the Legislature of Nova Scotia, the Hon. J. W. Johnston, 
 the present Judge in Equity, February 22nd, 1854, moved the 
 following resolution : — 
 
 " Resolved, That the Union or Confederation of the British Pro- 
 " vinces on just principles, while calculated to perpetuate their connection 
 " with the I'arent State, will pi'omote their advancement and prosperity, 
 " increase their strength and influence, and elevate theii* position." 
 
 Mr. JohnstoEi said on that occasion : — 
 
 " I do thisj sir, that at the outset it may be seen to be my deaiiv iiuw. 
 
8 
 
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 " tho Imporial and Colonial Govommonts should be drawn to oonflidor this 
 " groat quoatioii, and to mould it, after full doliboration, into some form fit 
 " to ho 2>resenUd for the coHxideration of the several Leg Matures, and that 
 '* I pruHumu not at thlH Htago of tho enquiry to offer any Hpociiio Bcbome 
 •' of my own." 
 
 Speaking of the proposala of the British North American 
 League at Toronto, iu 1849, Mr. JohDston said : — 
 
 •' Hero i8 presented a Hchomo of Confederation evidently prepared 
 with care, and worthy of consideration, which, it is to be regretted, had 
 not boon pressed upon tho notice of the different Provinces. * * 
 
 " It only remains that a fuw words should be said on the nature of 
 tho Union. This muy be eitlior by — Ist, Confederation; or, 2ndly, 
 by Legislative Unicm, including all tho Provinces ; or, Urdly, by Legis- 
 lative Union, including the Lower Trovinces, with Confederation with 
 Canada. 
 
 " In all tho instances which I have quoted, wo do not meet with the 
 scheme of Legislative Union until Lord Durham's Report in 183B, and 
 therefore example favours Confederation. 
 
 '* I stated at the outset that I did not think that this was the time to 
 spend much consideration on details ; but though the mode of Union is 
 hardly the question for present deliberation, I will not here withhold 
 my strong conviction, that a Legislative Union would best promote the 
 common interest, and the objects to be attained. 
 
 " But with this there must be connected a mature and perfect system 
 of Municipal Coi'porations,— giving to the people in every county not 
 only the control and management of their own immediate affairs, but 
 much of that which is now the subject of legislative and executive 
 functions." 
 
 Mr. Howe delivered on that occasion a speech, proposing an 
 organization of the empire by means of Colonial representation 
 in the Imperial Parliament ; but the readers of that speech will 
 find that he strongly favoured a Union of a Federal character, if 
 such representation in the House of Commons could not be 
 obtained. Mr. Howe said : — 
 
 " By a Federal Union of the Colonies we should have something like 
 " the neigh jouring llepublic, and if I saw nothing better I should say at 
 " once let us keep our Local Legislatures, and have a President and Central 
 " Congress for all the higher and external relations of the United Pro- 
 •« viuces. Under a Federal Union we should form a large and prosperous 
 " nation, lyi between the other two branches of the British family, and 
 '* our duty would evidently be to keep them both at peace." 
 
r 
 
 
 9 
 
 The lion. W. Young, now Chief Jugtico, in a very able 
 addrcoB upuu Mr. Jolinston's roBoUition, auid : — 
 
 " A Loj,'islutivo Union eoMti'inpliitcs tlio ontiro ahulition of our Local 
 " LoffislaturoH , and tho triinsf'oroncu ol" tlioir power to a unitcil I'arliaiiiont 
 " witting many iiundrcil niiloH from this Province, and for this reason , 
 " although I do not fool mysolf called upon to givo a decided opinion, I 
 " do not hesitate to avow that my i)ro-iont impressions, in opposition to 
 " those of the raovor, lour strongly towards a i-'odorol and not u Legia- | 
 
 "lative Union." ' 
 
 Mr. Young concluded his very oloquent speech as fol- ' 
 
 Iowa : — i 
 
 " It will bo apparent, Mr. Chairman, from tlieso views, that whilo I j 
 
 " am favourable to an Union of those Colonies, and keenly alive to the • 
 " benefits that may bo expected to llow froin it, I am also of opinion that 
 
 " we aro not prepared to pass any resolution that should bind us at tho ^ 
 
 " present moment. Till wo can at all events decide wht^ther tho Union ' 
 
 " wo desire shall be federal or legislative, it is wiser for us to say nothing. j 
 
 " That cardinal point being t)nce agreed on by tho Colonies, the details | 
 
 " must be settled by a Convention of the ablest and most experienced I 
 
 " men. Their report would come back to the respective Legislatures for f 
 
 " revision or contirmation ; and in place of a precipitate movement, a [ 
 
 " Union might be consuirmated by general consent, after a deliberate and \ 
 " calm review, and give to British America, under the old flag and 
 " surrounded and endeared by the old associations, a Government formed 
 •• on the most approved model, which Republicans might envy and a free 
 " people would venerate and defend." 
 
 I have here shown your Lordship that three of the most 
 able and prominent men that have been called to discharge 
 public functions in that Province, so long ago as 1854, made 
 this question, the Union of the Colonies, familiar to the public 
 mind of Nova Scotia, as well as to the ret of British North 
 America, and that a remarkable agreement is to be found by 
 a close examination of the views of all, in favour of such a 
 scheme as is now proposed. And this important fact will also 
 be noticed, that all were in favour of the scheme being submitted 
 to the Legislatures to be passed upon and finally disposed of. 
 
 During 1855 and 1856, P. S. Hamilton, Esq., the present 
 Commissioner of Mines, published two forcible and well-written 
 pamphlets upon the Union of the Colonies, and again in 1860 
 addressed a letter to His Grace the Duke of Newcastle upon the 
 
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 10 
 
 same subject. In that letter, to which I shall have occasioii 
 again to refer, it will be seen that a scheme of Government not 
 unlike that recently arranged, was proposed. 
 
 Shortly after the change of Government in 1867, the adminis- 
 tration of which T had the honour to be a member, cha^-ged 
 two Delegates to the British Govemmtnt, the Hon. Messrs. 
 Johnston and Archibald, to confer with the Secretary of State 
 for the Colonies upon the subject of Colonial Union, 
 
 The following year, the Hon. Mr. Gait moved in the Canadian 
 Legislature in favour of a Colonial Federation, and Hon. Messrs. 
 Cartier, Ross, and Gait were deputed by the Governor-General 
 to bring the subject again before the Imperial authorities. 
 
 On these occasions the Home Government refused to act, 
 because Delegates had not been duly authorized by all the 
 Provinces interested. 
 
 During the autumn of 1860, when a member of the Oppo- 
 sition, I was invited to deliver the opening lecture of the Me- 
 chanics' Institute at St. John, N.B. In that address, upon " The 
 Political Condition of British North America," which was subse- 
 quently repeated at Halifax, and in other parts of Nova Scotia, 
 I advr>'<ated, to the best of my ability, a modified form of Federal 
 Un' of British North America, as the great desideratum of 
 these Colonies, as will be seen from the following extract from 
 my lecture, which was reported fully at the time in the St. John 
 papers : — 
 
 " The more important consideration, undoubtedly, is the Union of 
 the Provinces at the earliest practicable moment. It would be pre- 
 mature to decide definitely on any particular plan by which taat might 
 be accomplished, until the subject is discussed, as discussed it must be, 
 and that at no distant date, by the leading men of all these Provinces, 
 and of all parties, in conclave; but the suggestion thrown out by Mr. 
 Hamilton recently, in his letter to the Duke of Newcastle, is evidently 
 worthy of attention, although it is not unlikely that it would be found 
 susceptible of some modification and improvement. »"lth your i)er- 
 mission, I will quote his observations on this point. He says : — ' The 
 ' writer will only venture to observe as an individual opinion, that a 
 
 • Federative Constitution similar to that lately accorded by Imperial 
 ' Act to New Zealand, dividing the whole United Colonies into a number 
 
 • of Provinces, each with an elective Superintendent and Council to 
 ' adm'inistef and legislate upon certain defined and exclusively local 
 
 • affairs ; the whole being subordinate to a Viceroy, appointed by the 
 
11 
 
 ' Crown or hereditary in n, branch of the Royal Frmily, and a metro - 
 ' politan Parliament of two houses, to deal with all matters of general 
 ' interest, and to possess the power of exercising a general supervisicn 
 ' over the local legislation of the Province, so as to harmonize their 
 ' action, would seem to combine the greatest degree of security to local 
 ' interests, with the greatest unanimity upon all matters of importance 
 ' affecting the wholo United Colonies.' 
 
 " The desirability of the Union ^n any form being once arrived at, 
 there is l:ttle reason to doubt that it could be arranged in a manner 
 satisfactory to all sections of the Confederation, and giving to the whole 
 advantages of the highest character not now enjoyed, while it would 
 not materially detract from any privileges of a local character at present 
 in their possession." 
 
 Near the close of the Session of 1861, the Hon. Mr. Howe, 
 then Leader of the Government of Nova Scotia, moved the 
 following resolution, which passed unanimously : — 
 
 " Whereas the subject of a Union of the North American Provinces, 
 or of the Maritime Provinces, from time to time has been mooted and 
 discussed in all the Colonies : 
 
 " And xohereas, while many advantages may bo secured by such a 
 Union, either of all these Provinces, or a portion of them, many and 
 serious obstacles are presented, which can only be overcome by mutual 
 consultation of the leading men of the Colonies, and by free com- 
 munication with the Imperial Government : 
 
 " Tlierefore resolved, That His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor 
 be respectfully requested to put himself in communication with His 
 Grace the Colonial Secret-sry and His Excellency the Governor- General, 
 aud the Lieutenant-Governors of the North American* Colonies, in order 
 to ascertain the policy of Her Majesty's Government, and the opinions 
 of the other Colonies, with a view to the enlightened consideration of 
 a question involving the highest interests, and upon which the public 
 mind in all the Piovinces ought to be at rest." 
 
 In transmitting this resolution to the Colonial Office in 1862, 
 Lord Mulgrave said : — 
 
 " As an abstract question, the Union of the North American Colonies 
 " has long received the support of many persons of weight and ability, 
 " but as far as I am aware, no practical mode of carrying out this Union 
 " has ever been proposed. 
 
 " The question has asbumed various shapes and proportions, some 
 " advocating a Federal Union of the whole of British North America ; 
 " some a Legislative Union of the Lower Provinces. With all this 
 
12 
 
 " diversity of opinion as to the character which the Union should assume, 
 " the feeling in favour of a Union of some sort is decidedly on the 
 " increase iu this Province. 
 
 " Under these circumstances my Government are of opinion that a 
 " meeting of the leading men of the different Provinces should take 
 ♦' place, in the hope that, after full deliberation and discussion, some prao- 
 " tical scheme may be devised to which puhUo attention may be directed 
 •' in the future consideration of the subject." 
 
 In hia reply to this despatch, His Grace the Duke of 
 Newcastle observed : — 
 
 " No one can be insensible to the importance of the two measures 
 which are alluded to ; and I am far from considering that they do not 
 form a very proper subject for calm deUberation. They are, however, 
 of a nature which renders it essentially fit, that if either of them be 
 proposed for adoption, it should emanate in the first instance from the 
 Provinces, and should be concurred in by aU of them which it would 
 affect. I should see no objection to any consultation on the subject 
 amongst the leading members of the Governments concerned; but 
 whatever the result of such consultation might be, the most satisfactory 
 mode of testing the opinion of the people of British North America, 
 would probably be by means of resolution or address proposed in the 
 Legislature of each Province by its own Government." 
 
 Under the authority of that despatch, Mr. Howe addressed 
 the following letter to each of the other provinces : — 
 
 " Provincial Seci'etary's OflBce, 
 
 " 14th August, 1862. 
 
 " Sir, — The subject of a Union of the British Provinces of North 
 America having been, since the publication of Lord Durham's report, 
 discussed in all of them from time to time, it was thought desirable by 
 the Legislature of Nova Scotia, in the session of 1861, that the question 
 should be set at rest by such a formal discussion and decision as would 
 promote such a Union, if there was any general desire to effect it, and 
 save much time if there was not. 
 
 " The resolution a copy of which I have now the honour to enclose, 
 was submitted and passed unanimously during that session. 
 
 " As a general election occurred in New Brunswick in 1861, and aa 
 the Island of Prince Edward was much occupied with a controversy 
 that engrossed public attention in that year, the Government of Nova 
 Scotia thought it prudent to wait for a more convenient season before 
 inviting the attention of Her Mtyesty's Ministers or of the Colonial 
 Governments to a question of such magnitude and importance. 
 
13 
 
 > ■• r 
 
 " The resolution was transmitted to the Colonial Secretary in May 
 last, and His Grace's answer, which reached His Excellency the Earl 
 of Mulgrave hy last mail, I have now, by command, the honour to 
 enclose. 
 
 " You will perceive that the Colonial Governments are left free to in- 
 vite the leading men of all the Provinces concerJied to a discussion of 
 the question of Union, either of all the Provinces, or of the Maritime 
 Provinces only ; and Her Majesty's Government, it would appear, are 
 disposed to give due weight and consideration to any resolutions in 
 which the Colonial Legislatures may concur. 
 
 " It must be obvious that there can be no great progress made towards 
 an adjustment of this question unless the resolutions to be submitted 
 to the Colonial Legislatures are in substance the same, and in order 
 that uniformity in spirit, and, if possible, in language, may be secured, 
 I am charged to invite, from the Government of Canada, a prompt 
 consideration of the subject, and to respectfully request that you will 
 advise me whether its members are prepared to discuss the question of 
 Union, and whether, if Delegates are appointed by the other provinces, 
 it will be convenient to have a meeting in some central place about the 
 middle of September. 
 
 " I have the honour, &c., 
 
 " (Signed) JOSEPH HOWE. 
 
 " The Hon. A. A. Dorion, Provincial Secretary of Canada, 
 
 •' Quebec ; also to 
 " The Hon. S. L. Tiixey, Provincial Secretary, Fredericton, 
 
 " New Brunswick ; and to 
 " Wm. H. Pope, Esq., Colonial Secretary for P. E. Island, 
 
 " Charlottetown." 
 
 In 1864 the Government of Nova Scotia, despairing of seeing 
 the Union of all the British North Amerit.an Provinces at once 
 efiFected, and regarding the Legislative Union of the three 
 Maritime Provinces as a step toward the accomplishment of the 
 greater and more important Union, submitted the following 
 resolution to the Legislature of that Province : — 
 
 " Besolved, That an humble address be presented to His Excellency 
 " the Administrator of the Government, requesting him to appoint Dele- 
 " gates (not to exceed five), to confer with Delegates who may be ap- 
 " pointed by the Governments of New Brunswick and Prince Edward 
 «' Island, for the purpose of considering the subject of the Union of the 
 " three Provinces under one Government and Legislature ; such Union 
 " to take effect when confirmed by the Legislative enactments of the 
 " various Provinces interested, and approved by Her Majesty the Queen," 
 
14 
 
 t.;. 
 
 !!■ 
 
 In moving this resolution, I stated my anxious desire for a 
 Union of all the British North American Colonies in the most 
 explicit terms, and explained at length my reasons for despairing 
 of seeing it then accomplished, as will be seen by reference to 
 the following extracts from the speech with which the debate 
 was opened : — 
 
 " But difficulties have been found — and I may say insuperable diffi- 
 culties — in grappling with that which so many of the ablest minds in 
 this country have advocated in connection with this subject. * * 
 
 " I think, therefore, we may put aside, for the present at all events, 
 the greater question which has engaged the attention of public men in 
 this and the other Provinces in British America in connection with 
 this subject. Whilst I believe that a Union of the Maritime Provinces 
 and Canada — of all British North America — under one Government, 
 would be desirable, if it were practicable — I believe that to be a 
 question which far transcends in its difficulties the power of any human 
 advocacy to accomplish, I am not insensible to the feeling that the 
 time may not be far distant when events which are far more powerful than 
 any human advocacy, may place British America in a position to render 
 a Union into one compact whole not only practicable, but absolutely 
 necessary. ******** 
 
 " Hostile as 1 believe the sentiments of Canada are at the present 
 time to a TJnion with the Maritime Provinces, the day is not far distant 
 when it will be for the interest of both to unite, and Canada will, I have 
 no doubt, seek in that Union the solution of those diflBculties that are 
 now found insuperable in the government of the country. These Pro- 
 vinces, I am proud to know, would present sufficient area, population, 
 and resources to exercise no small amount of influence in the scale 
 between the two sections in which Canada is divided. * * 
 
 " Looking, then, at the position which this question occupies, I think 
 it is not unlikely that the time may not be remote when circumstances 
 may accomidish that which, as I said before, apart from the influence of 
 powerful events, no human advocacy at the present time may be able to 
 grapple with." 
 
 I have taken the liberty of giving these extracts to show 
 that my views have undergone no change, — that I stated whilst 
 I believed a union with the Canadas to be desirable, yet I saw 
 difficulties which I thought interfered with taking up that 
 question. Subsequently to the passage of that resolution — sub- 
 sequently to the evidence given by the Legislature of Nova 
 Scotia, that they were disposed to seek in a Union of the Mari- 
 time Provinces a wider field for the commerce and enterprise of 
 
 >'l'^ 
 
 
15 
 
 
 the country than it at present enjoys — the public men of Canada 
 came to the patriotic resolution to sink their political differences 
 in an attempt to obtain a sounder and better Constitution for 
 their country, and an unforeseen and unexpected combination 
 took place between the two parties into which Canada was 
 divided, based upon a proposal to confederate all British North 
 America under one common Government, and, in failure of that, 
 to form a Confederation between Upper and Lower Canada. I 
 have no doubt that the action of the Legislatures of Nova 
 Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island — the desire 
 evinced to break down the barriers that separated one from the 
 other — induced the public men of Canada to turn their attention 
 to the practicability of accomplishing the Confederation of all 
 the Colonies. 
 
 '' ne Conference at Charlottetown took place ; but, previously, 
 the Lieutenant-Governors of the three Provinces received a dis- 
 patch from the Governor-General, asking whether that Conference 
 would receive a deputation of the Canadian Government, who 
 were desirous of expressing their opinions on the subject of 
 Colonial Union, 
 
 The several Governments answered the question that was 
 put to them in the affirmative, and the Canadian deputation came 
 down ; not to take an official position in the Conference ; but to 
 express their views on the subject of Colonial Union. As the 
 discussions proceeded, it became evident that a Union of all the 
 Provinces might be achieved, and it was decided to adjourn the 
 Conference until that question could be dealt with officially. 
 
 In October 1864, at the instance of the Governor-General of 
 Canada, the Governments of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, 
 Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island, sent Delegates to 
 Quebec to confer on the question of Colonial Union. The reso- 
 lutions arrived at by this Conference, composed of representatives 
 of every sectioL, race, religion, and party, in British North 
 America, are contained in the Appendix. The spirit in which 
 these resolutions were framed, and the objects of the Conference, 
 are well described in the following extracts from a despatch of 
 the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 
 Mr. Cardwell, addressed to Lord Monck, under date of December 
 3rd, 1864:— 
 
16 
 
 " With the sanction of the Crown, and upon the invitation of the 
 Governor-General, men of every Province, chosen by the respective 
 Lieutenant-Governors without distinction of pitrty, assembled to con- 
 sider questions of the utmost interest to every subject of the Queen, 
 of Avhatover race or faith, resident in those Provinces, and have arrived 
 at a conclusion destined to exercise a most important influence upon the 
 future welfare of the whole community. 
 
 " Animated by the warmest sentiments of loyalty and devotion to 
 their Sovereign, — earnestly desirous to secure for their posterity through- 
 out all future time the advantages which they enjoy as subjects of the 
 British Crown, — steadfastly attached to the institutions under which 
 they live, they have conducted their deliberations with patient sagacity, 
 and have arrived at unanimous conclusions on questions involving many 
 difficulties, and calculated, under less favourable auspices, to have given 
 rise to many differences of opinion. ***** 
 
 " Her Majesty's Government anticipate no serious difficulty in this 
 part of the case, since the resolutions will generally be found sufficiently 
 explicit to guide those who will be entrusted with the preparation of the 
 Bill. It appears to them, therefore, that you should now take immediate 
 measures, in concert with the Lieutenant-Governors of the several 
 Provinces, for submitting to the respective Legislatures this project of 
 the Conference; and if, as I hope, you are able to report that these 
 Legislatures sanction and adopt the scheme. Her Majesty's Government 
 will render you all the assistance in their power for carrying it into 
 effect." 
 
 On the meeting of the Canadian Parliament, an address to 
 the Crown was carried by overwhelming majorities in both 
 branches, praying Her Majesty for the passage of an Act by the 
 Imperial Parliament to give effect to those resolutions, and unite 
 the Provinces under one Government. 
 
 In New Brunswick an appeal to the people having taken 
 place before the subject had been discussed in the Legislature, 
 the Government were defeated, and a large majority were re- 
 turned opposed to Confederation. 
 
 Under these circumstances, lying as New Brunswick does 
 between Nova Scotia and Canada, rendering union with Canada 
 impossible without the concurrence of New Brunswick, the con- 
 sideration of the question was postponed in the Legislature of 
 Nova Scotia, on the ground that immediate Union was then 
 made impracticable. 
 
 After more than a year's subsequent discussion of the 
 question in the Legislature, at public meetings, and in the press, 
 it became evident that the public sentiment in New Brunswick 
 
17 
 
 i 
 
 
 had entirely changed. The Government formed to oppose Con- 
 federation committed themselves to the policy of Union in the 
 speech with which the Legislature was opened in February 18G6, 
 and the Legislative Council of that Province passed a resolution 
 approving of Confederation. 
 
 It being now evident that all obstruction in New Brunswick 
 would be speedily removed, I moved the following resolution on 
 the 10th day of April last, in the House of Assembly of Nova 
 Scotia : — 
 
 " Whereas, in the opinion of this House it is desirable that a Con- 
 " federation of tl ^ British North American Provinces should take place : 
 
 '• Resolved therefore, That His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor 
 •' be authorized to appoint Delegates to arrange with the Imperial Govern. 
 •' ment a scheme of Union which will effectually ensure just provision for 
 " the rights and interests of this Province : each of the Provinces co- 
 •' operating to have an equal voice in such Delegation ; Upper and Lower 
 «' Canada being for this purpose viewed as separate Provinces." 
 
 On the 18th day of April, after full discussion, this resolu- 
 tion was carried by a majority of thirty-one to nineteen ; an 
 amendment, to defer action until the question had been referred 
 to the people at the polls, having been first negatived by a ma- 
 jority of thirty-one to eighteen. In the Legislative Council a 
 similar resolution was carried by a majority of thirteen to five. 
 In New Brunswick, the House of Assembly having been again 
 dissolved specially on this issue, thirty-three members were 
 elected pledged to support Confederation, while but eight 
 members opposed to it could obtain seu*3 throughout that 
 Province, and the Union party having been returned to power, 
 a resolution, nearly identical with that passed in Nova Scotia, 
 was triumphantly carried. Under the authority thus given by 
 the Legislatures of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the Lieu- 
 tenant-Governors of those Provinces, as your Lordship is well 
 aware, have appointed the Delegates who now await here the 
 arrival of Delegates from Canada, in order to carry out the 
 views of those three Colonies. The co-operation of Newfound- 
 land and Prince Edward Island, although desirable, is, from their 
 separate and insular position, by no means indispensable to the 
 effective Confederation of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova 
 Scotia, 
 
 9 
 
18 
 
 I 
 
 Incredible aa it seems, my Lord, Mr. Howe has described 
 the constitutional action of both branches of the Legislatures in 
 those three Provinces by immense majorities, sanctioned by the 
 representatives of the Crown and by Her Majesty's Government 
 in the following terms : — 
 
 " "When Prussia overran Schleswig-Holstein all Europe cried shame, 
 and the moral sense of England was deeply wounded. When the 
 Emperor of the French took Nice, in return for the service rendered to 
 Italy, the Press of England indignantly protested against that appro- 
 priation of territory. However anxious the Emperor may he at the 
 present moment to extend his dominion and rectify hie frontiers, he 
 wisely spares Belgium, and does not advance his boundaries to the 
 Rhine. If he did, a bloody war would convulse the Continent, and we 
 aU breathe more freely when he yields to the dictates of prudence and 
 moderation. 
 
 " The public sentiment of England ought as religiously to respect 
 the boundaries and rights of large communities on the other side of 
 the Atlantic as on this ; and yet, strange to say, a measure of spoliation 
 and appropriation, on a more gigantic scale than any that has startled 
 Europe, and which for two years has convulsed society io British 
 America, seems to have advocates and defenders here." 
 
 How weaL and untenable Mr. Howe must have felt his own 
 position, in attempting to oppose the Union of British North 
 America, must be apparent from this introduction. It was 
 scarcely complimentary to the intelligence of those ho might 
 hope to influence, to presume to tell them that there was any 
 analogy between the voluntary action of the constitutional repre- 
 sentatives of three British Colonies, asking the Imperial Legis- 
 lature to unite them under one Government, and with one 
 Legislature, and the forcible seizure by a foreign pow er of States 
 which owed it no allegiance, and by which the balance of power 
 in Europe was to be affected. 
 
 Mr. Howe has ventured to affirm throughout his brochure, 
 that this policy of a Union between Canada and the Maritime 
 Provinces is an ambitious and unscrupulous attempt at '* spoli- 
 ation" and "appropriation" on the part of Canada. What 
 must be thought of his temerity in making such a statement, 
 when viewed in the light of the fact, that when Mr. Howe was 
 Leader of the Govenment of Nova Scotia, in 1861, he moved 
 the resolution above quoted, declaring " that many advantages 
 
 r ■ f 
 
19 
 
 'If 
 
 ') 
 
 I 
 
 may arise" from such a Union, and wrote an official letter to the 
 Government of Canada, based npon that resolution, which had 
 been unanimously carried in the Assembly of Nova Scotia, 
 asking Canada to entertain his overtures for Union, and pro- 
 ceeded to Quebec, in 1802, a Delegate to press his suit? 
 
 Now, when the policy of Union, for which for many years 
 h*. professed such devotion, is likely, in other hands, to be more 
 Buccessful, he denounces it as an attempted " spoliation." If 
 this Union of the Provinces be a "spoliation" on the part of 
 Canada, no man has more to answer for in connection with it 
 than Mr. Ilowe. For twenty jears . . has been advocating the 
 construction of an Intercolonial Railway and the Union of the 
 Provinces, as the best means of advancing their interests, pro- 
 moting their prosperity, and the only means of securing, in any 
 part of British America, ilie permanence of British institutions. 
 He has now, after a long visit to Washington, discovered that 
 Union instead of strength will be weakness; that Union will 
 cause ruin instead of prosperity ; and that the construction of 
 the Intercolonial Railway, which, in 1802, he officially assured 
 the Colonial Minister would render British North America im- 
 pregnable, would be unworthy of the countenance or support of 
 the Imperial Government. 
 
 Mr. Howe endeavours to show that Canada is indefensible. 
 He says : — 
 
 " But Canada is not compact. She has yet only three millions of 
 " inhabitants, or about eight to everj' square mUe of territory. She has 
 •• an exposed frontier of one thousand miles, with no natural defences 
 " for eight hundred miles above Quebec. Along the whole of this frontier 
 " line she is menaced or overlapped by the great Republic, with thirty- 
 " four mUlions of inhabitants and a million of trained soldiers who have 
 " been under fire. Those troops, accustomed to obey officers of great 
 " ability, familiar with the art of war, could, by means of twenty railroads 
 " pointing to the Canadian frontier, be massed in a week, and thrown 
 " into the Pro\ince. Whether, when they got there, the Canadians could 
 " drive them out, with their comparatively small force of volunteers and 
 " militia, even when assisted by the troops this country could spare, is a 
 '* military question which I will not undertake to decide. Distinguished 
 " Members of Parliament declare they could not ; and that if Canada, 
 " thus overrun, is ever recovered to the British Crown, it must be after 
 " campaigns in other directions, and a successful naval war, in which it is 
 " evident that that Province, being frozen up for five months of the year, 
 '* and having uo ships or sailors to spare, can render no assistance. * * 
 
20 
 
 •• They are shut in by frost from the oiit«r world for five months of 
 the year. Thoy are at tlie mcroy of a powerful neighbour whose popu- 
 Ifttion already outniiinluTH them by more than eight to one, and who a 
 quarter of a century hence will probably present sixty-eight millions to 
 six millions on the opposite side of a naturally defenceless frontier. 
 Surely such conditions as these ought to repress inordinate ambition or 
 lust of territory on the part of the public men of Canada. The wisdom 
 of Solomon, and the energy and strategy of Frederick the Great, would 
 seem to be required to preseiTo and strengthen such a people, if formed, 
 as it appears they desire to form themselves, into ' a new Nationality.' 
 While thoy discharge their duties as unobtrusive good neighbours to the 
 surrounding populations, and of loyal subjects of the Empire, Great 
 Britain will protect them by her energy in other fields should the 
 Province become untenable ; but it is evident that a more unpromising 
 nucleus of a new nation can hardly be found on the face of the earth, 
 and that any organized communities, having a reasonable chance to do 
 any thing better, would be politically insane to give up their distinct 
 formations and subject themselves to the domination of Canada." 
 
 On the important question, whether Canada can be defended, 
 the opinion of Lieut.-Col. Jervoise, who was sent by Her 
 Majesty's Government to investigate this matter, ought to count 
 for something even in opposition to Mr. Howe's. That officer 
 says in his Report that — 
 
 "Although, owing to the length and nature of the frontier of 
 Canada, it was impossible to protect it throughout its whole extent, 
 an enemy must nevertheless acquire possession of certain vital points 
 before he could obtain any decided military advantage ; — that there are 
 only a few such points, — and that if proper arrangements were made 
 for the defence of those places by the construction of fortifications, the 
 provision of gunboats, and the improvement of communications, the 
 militia and volunteer forces of the country, if properly organized, and 
 aided by British troops, would be enabled to hold them during the 
 period (only about six months in the year), when military operations 
 on a laiye scale could be carried on against them, and thus those forces 
 could resist an attack with the best possible chance of success." 
 
 That the United States have developed a large amount of 
 military and naval power no one will deny, but Mr. Howe seems 
 to have forgotten that, in another part of his pamphlet, he sum- 
 marily disposes of his own argument in the following manner. 
 He says of the United States, p. 8 : — 
 
 " Railroads, canals, steamers, and telegraphs then came in and as- 
 " sisted to bind the country together; but in eighty years, with all these 
 
21 
 
 aids and appliances, the Ramo was played out; and the same canscB, 
 which in every quarter of the old world, and in almost every age, have 
 asHortod themselves, came distinctly into view, marking the subjection 
 even of the Great Repuhlic to the laws which the Creator, for some 
 wise pui-pose, has estahlished for the government of the universe. It 
 is true that, by the expenditure of a million of lives and of nearly four 
 thousand millions of dollars, the country is still nominally kept toge- 
 ther; but when hearts are estranged and interests are adverse, when 
 communities, baptized in blood and t<!ars, find in a great calamity ever 
 recurring elements of discord and reproach, the time is rapidly drawing 
 on when separation is inevitable, and when new combinations will grow 
 out of the play of the passionate ambitions which the wit of man has 
 hitherto been found powerless to control. Anybody who spends an 
 hour on Pennsylvania Avenue will see as many varieties of human beings 
 as in Constantinople. A Kentuckian is no more like a Bostonian than 
 a Virginian is like a man from Maine ; and every year the distinctions 
 are becoming more marked; and interests are growing up which, while 
 possessed of political power, one section or another is ever tempted to 
 override. Providence may cairn th3 tempest of angry passions which 
 the late Civil War threw up, and the Republic may stagger on for some 
 years ; but the signs of the times do not encourage us to break down 
 a system of government which is working well, that we may try another 
 experiment on a grand scale, without being driven by the necessity that 
 coerced, or encouraged by the accessories that aided, the founders of 
 the great Republic." 
 
 If, my Lord, this be a true picture of the United States,-^ 
 and it is drawn by one who has spent much time there in carefully 
 studying their condition, — we need not be paralyzed by any 
 unmanly fear for the safety of British America. If, as Mr. Howe 
 declares, the American Government, with all their energies un- 
 fettered, were four years in subduing a few millions of Southerners 
 shut out from communication with any country, and that victory 
 cost them " four thousand millions of dollars," and the " sacrifice 
 of a million of lives," how long does he think it would take 
 them, when thus oppressed by a debt so gigantic, and paralyzed 
 by internal convulsions, and with the South still in their rear, 
 desiring separation as unitedly as ever, to conquer four millions 
 of free men in the North, not less hardy and brave, nor less 
 devoted to their institutions than were the people of the Southern 
 States, and sustained by the power of the mightiest empire in the 
 world ? 
 
 Having drawn your Lordship's attention to the significant 
 
' 
 
 22 
 
 fiifit that, in order to hUow tlio indefonsibility of Canada, Mr. Howe 
 liiiH boon obliged, on one page of hiH pamphlet, to portray the 
 United States as a gigantic and consolidated power, which will, a 
 quarter of a century hence, number sixty-eight millions; yet, 
 on another page of the same pamphlet, ho has described the lie- 
 public as piostratcd by debt, shattorod by internal " discord," and 
 declared that the " time is rapidly drawing on when separation 
 is inevitable;" and that nothing but a direct interposition of 
 " Providence " will enable it to " stagger on for some years," 
 I will now place before you the deliberate opinions enter- 
 tained by the same gentl man before he undertook the difficult 
 task of opposing the Union of British North America. 
 
 So lately us December 18G1, Mr. Howe addressed a state 
 paper to His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, from which I make 
 the following extracts :- - 
 
 " The Northern States ho,ve now at least a quarter of a million of 
 
 " embodied troops upon the Potomac, considerable numbers under arms 
 
 " in various States, and 50,000 three months men, who have returned 
 
 " to their homes, with some degree of discipline and some knowledge 
 
 •' of camp lite. The whole of the Northern States is one vast recruiting 
 
 •' ground. Should the present civil war continue, it is contended by 
 
 " some that there will be full employment for these forces at the South ; 
 
 " but vulnerable as Canada now is, she invites attack from that surplus 
 
 " force which now exists. But when this contest ends, and end it must 
 
 " (even should no conflict with us mark the interval) either by exhaustion, 
 
 " by conquest, or by the interference of foreign powers, there wiU remain 
 
 " in the Northern States two or three hundred thousand trained soldiers, 
 
 " with a fail" proportion of ambitious military chieftains, emulous of dis- 
 
 •' tinction ; or, it may be, not indisposed to wipe out, in foreign fields, the 
 
 " remembrance of discomfitures experienced in civil strife. Besides dis- 
 
 " ciplined masses of soldiers, the United States will have accumulated 
 
 " vast stores of warlike material. Enormous quantities of small arms 
 
 " and of cannon have been purchased or manufactured, and the establish- 
 
 •' ments, founded by a lavish expenditure, can readily supply as many 
 
 " more. The United States thus have been suddenly transformed from 
 
 " peaceful communities, pursuing lawful commerce, to a Militaiy Re- 
 
 " public. 
 
 " The British Provinces survey these phenomena without fear, but 
 " not without emotion ; and they ask, as the first measure of indispens- 
 " able precaution and obvious defence, that the Intercolonial Railroad 
 " shall be completed without delay. 
 
 "Without that road the Provinces are dislocated, and almost in- 
 " capable of defence, for a great portion of the year, except ut such a 
 
■ 
 
 23 
 
 
 uacrillco or lifo nml prnporty, ami at Hticli nn ciiormoutt cohI lo tho 
 mother country, uh niakoH thu kiiiuU contribution whicli hIiu iH UHked to 
 give towanlH itH coristruntion nink into inHigiiitlcanco. With thiit niiU 
 road wo can concentrate our forct^s on tlie menaced jioints of our frontier, 
 guard tho citadolH and workH which liavo been oroted by Great liritiun 
 at vast oxpenHe, covor our cities JVom surprise, and hold our own till 
 reinforcements can bo sent across the sea ; while, without tho railway, 
 if an attack wore made in winter, tho mother country could put nu 
 army worthy of tho national honour, and adequate to the ojiigency, upon 
 tho Canadian frontier, without a positive waste of treasure, fur greate^ 
 than tho principal of the sum, the interest of which she is asked to 
 contribute, or rather to risk. 
 
 " The British Oovernment ^ave built expensive citadels at Halifax, 
 Quebec, and Kingston, and have stores of lauoitions and warlike material 
 in them. But their feeble garrisons will be inadequate for their de- 
 fence unless tho Provincial forces can bo concentrated in and around 
 them. An enterprising enemy would carry them by coups-de-main be- 
 fore they could be reinforced from England, and once taken, the ports 
 and roadsteads which they have been erected to defend, would not bo 
 over safe for the naval armaments sent out too late for their relief. ♦ 
 
 " Therefore, we desire to strengthen our frontier by the completion 
 of a work indispensable to its defence. It is not too much to say that 
 tho construction of the Intercolonial Railroad might save us the coat 
 of a war; for the Americans are thomsclves sagacious enough to see, 
 that with that work completed, surprise is impossible, and the results of 
 a protracted war at least extremely doubtful. Without it Canada and 
 the Maritime Provinces may be cut asunder and outflanked at any 
 moment without the possibility of their population leaning upon com- 
 mon points of support, and aiding and strei. gthening each other. * 
 
 " The war which, in the Provinces, wo have long foreseen as likely to 
 arise out of complications between the Mother Country and the United 
 States of America, is now imminent. The frontier, which would ha /e 
 been defended by means of rapid communication, is unprotected, and 
 exposed to the concentration of troops upon the termini of at least 
 seven railroads. Winter is upon us, and a hundred thousand men can 
 be thrown by the enemy upon the frontier, with more ease than a single 
 battery can be transported to Canada, or a single barrel of flour can be 
 brought down to the seaboard Provinces : which, cut oflf by war from 
 the United States, and by ice from Canada, must depend upon Europe 
 for Breadstuffs, with the granaries of half a continent in their rear. 
 
 •' If those events and strategic contrasts, now patent to all the world, 
 do not plead the cause of British America, and finally settle this ques- 
 tion, the undersigned feel that anything they could add would be a 
 needless intrusion upon the patience of the Cabinet. 
 
 " The undersigned do not believe, that in presence of the perils 
 which all Her Majesty's subjects are called upon to confront, an hour 
 should be lost in deciding upon a question which lies at the very basis 
 
24 
 
 i'». 
 
 i"'i 
 
 " of national defence. If the Proviucea are to be plunged into a wal*, 
 " without the cheap defence which they have urged was indispensable to 
 " their protection, let theiu have at least the satisfaction of reflecting that 
 '• it is for the last time ; and if our commerce is to be imperilled, and our 
 " cities exposed to pillage and conflagration, let us not have to defend 
 " both with the depressing )avictioa on our minds, that Her Miyesty'a 
 " ministers are indifferent to our position, and care less for the security 
 " of our frontier than they do for that of their island homes." 
 
 These opinions were not hastily formed. Throughout his 
 public life, Mr. Howe has been the earnest advocate of an 
 Intercolonial Railway, which can only be obtained by Union, 
 as the best means of rendering the position of all the British 
 North American Colonies secure. He has again and again 
 emphatically declared that in this way only could the citadel of 
 Halifax be made safe. New he j^roposes to strengthen the tuou- 
 Band miles oi unfortified sea coast of Nova Scotia, by leaving the 
 three hundred and fifty thousand inliabitants of that Colony without 
 the support of three millions and a quarter of their countrymen 
 in Canada and New Brunswick, whom he would abandon to the 
 United States. 
 
 In a speech at Southampton in 1851, Mr, Howe thus 
 graphically described the result of the policy he now advocates : — 
 
 " But suppose the Northern Provinces neglected, and ultimately 
 lost; imagine the territories of the Bepublic extended to Hudson's 
 Bay ; and that the spirit generated by two wars, and which a word, a 
 single act, so readily revives, pervaded the continent, strip Englana of 
 every point on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans ; leave her without a ton 
 of coal for her steamers or a spar to repair a ship — Fancy the five 
 thousand vessels that we now own added to the enemy's fleet, and the 
 four hundred thousand men that we could arm to-morrow added to her 
 forces ; the enemy's outposts and arsenals would then be advanced five 
 hundred miles nearer to England, and the West India Colonies over- 
 powered and lost, as a matter of course. Would not the balance of 
 power in Europe be thus fearfully disturbed, because England had failed 
 to maintain the balance of power in America ?" 
 
 II 
 
 II 
 
 (I 
 
 li 
 
 II 
 
 II 
 
 li 
 
 II 
 
 II 
 
 II 
 
 II 
 
 In the same year Mr. Howe wrote to Earl Grey :— 
 
 " Look now, my Lord, at the map of America. A very common idea 
 " prevails iii this country that nearly the whole continent of North 
 " America was lost to England at the revolution, and that only a few 
 " insignificant and almost worthless Provinces remain. This is a great and, 
 '• if the error extensively prevail, may be a fatal mistake. Great Britain, 
 
26 
 
 your Lordship is well aware, owns up to this moment one-half the 
 Continent, and, taking the example of Europe to guldens, the best half. 
 Not the best for slavery, or for growing cotton and tobacco, but the best 
 for raising men and women, the most congenial to the constitution of the 
 northern European, the most provocative of steady industry, and all 
 things else being equal, the most impregnable and secure. * * 
 
 Suppose the Republic coiUd extend her tariflf over the other portion of 
 the Continent, she could then laugh at the free-trade policy of Eng- 
 land." 
 
 Referring to the construction of the Intercolonial Rail vay, 
 Mr. Howe wrote to his constituents in 1861 : — 
 
 " Upon the great issue now presented to the constituencies of Nova 
 " Scotia hangs not only their material interests, but the security and 
 " advancement of all the British North American Provinces." 
 
 In his speech in the Assembly, in 1854, on Mr. Johnston's 
 resolution for a Union of the Colonies, Mr. Howe said : — 
 
 " Is the balance of power in America an unimportant consideration, 
 and how is it to be preserved except by preserving that half of the Con- 
 tinent that belongs to England, and that can only be done by elevating 
 the inhabitants of tuese Provinces in their own opinion and in that 
 of the world at large ? I know that it is fashionable in England to 
 count upon the sympathies and cordial co.operation of the Bepublic. 
 A year ago Cobden and other apostles of hia school were preaching and 
 relying upon universal peace. Now all Europe is arming. They 
 preach day by day that Colonies are a burthen to the mother country . 
 The reign cf peace, of universal brotherhood, may come. Should it 
 not, and should Republican America throw herself into the contest 
 against England, when engaged with other powers, as she did in 1813, 
 what, then, would be England's position should the noble Provinces of 
 North America have been flung away for the want of a little foresight 
 and common sense ? 
 
 •• The power of the Republic would be broken if our half of the 
 Co: "Hnent maintained its allegiance. But if that were thrown into the 
 other scale, what ^hen ? Fancy the stars and stripes floating over our 
 six thousand vessels. Fancy five hundred thousand hardy North 
 Americans, with arms in their hands, in a defiant attitude. Funcy 
 hJfa Continent, with its noble harbours, and five thousand miles of 
 sea coast, with all its fisheries, coal mines, and timber gone. Fancy 
 the dockyards and depots and arsenals of the enemy advanced 1000 
 miles nearer to England. Oh, Sir, I have turned with disgust from 
 the eternal gabble about the halance of power in Europe when I have 
 thought how lightly British statesmen seem to value the power that 
 can at once balance their only commercial rivals One subsidy to somo 
 
26 
 
 hi 
 
 « 
 
 (I 
 <i 
 >( 
 (I 
 
 i< 
 
 <i 
 
 petty European potentate has often cost more than all our railroads 
 would have cost, and Jyet they would have developed our resources in 
 peace and formed our best security in war. * * » * 
 
 "How often have we heard that our republican neighbours were 
 going to overrun the Provinces. They have attempted it once or twice, 
 but have always been beaten out, and I do not hesitate to sa^ that the 
 British Americans, over whom the old flag flies, are able to defend every 
 inch of their tenitory, even though Her Majesty's troops were with- 
 drawn. 
 
 " Taking our population at two millions and a half (it is now nearer 
 four millions), every fifth person should be able to draw a trigger, 
 giving 500,000 men capable of bearing arms. Such a force would be 
 
 " powerluss as an invading army, "out in defence of these Provinces in- 
 
 " vincible by any force that could be sent from abroad." 
 
 "When, in 1863, the Hon. T. D. McGee came on an invi- 
 tation to Halifax and delivered an address on the Union of 
 British North America, Mr. Howe seconded a vote of thanks to 
 Mr. McGee in these words, as reported at the time : — 
 
 " It would be injustice to tho lecturer to say more, further than he 
 was with him in all he said. He was for a Union of 9\i the British 
 North American Provinces, but he was for an Intercolonial Bailroad 
 first. Then the road would bring about the Union. It would enable 
 the Canadians to see our faces, to become familiar with us, and to see 
 the number of 1000-ton ships which we were building, which, with 
 our other wealth and resources, we are willing to throw into the one 
 great stock. He thought a Union should not be delayed till we had 
 drifted into difficulties. How shortsighted were the English statesmen 
 of old who lost them the thirteen states, when the diflioulty could 
 have been arranged in a month, the horrors of the revolutionary war 
 prevented, and all our race living at peace and harmony at present 
 without the bickering and animosity which prevail in their midst. Talk 
 of the fall of Quebec being a source of sorrow to the inhabitants of 
 ' this Province. It would be more. If . iie St. Lawrence were in the 
 ' hands of our enemies, we should be compelled to beg permission to 
 
 • tear down the British flag. What he wished for Nova Scotia was, that 
 
 • she may be the frontage of a mighty Colony ; upon which it may be 
 ' truly said the sun never set. No man can look upon Halifax and its 
 
 • environs, its harbour, its citadel, and say it was made for this Province 
 alone. 
 
 " The United States have drifted into a civil war; and we may drift 
 
 • into a tight place, from which it may be difficult to extricate our- 
 ' selves. The States might assail us ; but if we had a raUwoy by which 
 ' troops could bo sent from Quebec or other military staions to the 
 
 • threatened point, we would be saved. He hoped when Mr. MoGee 
 
 1 I r 
 
 i- 
 
 
27 
 
 " returned to Canada he would he able to say, * I have been down among 
 " ' those people, and there I have seen keen politicians bickering upon 
 " ' small topics, but when the great subject of national Union was 
 " ' brought before them, then all minor difference was disregarded, and I 
 " • found them uniting and pushing and cheering me on in this labour of 
 " ' love.' " 
 
 Three years ago, then, Mr. Howe declared to the people of 
 Halifax that if the St. Lawrence and Quebec were in the hands 
 of an enemy, •* they would be compelled to beg permission to 
 tear down the British flag;" now, with equal vehemence, he 
 endeavours to convince the people of Great Britain that the 
 abandonment of Quebec and the St. Lawrence would be the 
 best means of preserving Nova Scotia. 
 
 In 1862 Mr. Howe signed the following record of his opinions 
 on this question at Quebec, and pledged Nova Scotia to pay the 
 cost of three and one-half twelfths of the Intercolonial Railway 
 on the grounds stated : — 
 
 " That with an anxious desire to bind the Provinces more closely 
 " together, to strengthen the connection with the mother country, to 
 " promote their common commercial interest, and to provide facilities 
 " essential to the public defence of those Provinces as integral parts of 
 " the Empire, the undersigned are prepared to assume, under the imperial 
 " guarantee, the liability for the expenditure necessary to construct this 
 " great work." 
 
 Great as are the commercial advantages to be derived by all 
 the Provinces from the expansion of their trade which would 
 follow Union, the leading object of the representatives of all 
 the Colonies was undoubtedly a desire to unite their resources 
 and consolidate their power, for the purpose of being better able 
 to maintain, with the aid of this country, the British institutions, 
 to which the whole population of British America of all parties 
 and classes are loyally devoted. Canada, Nova Scotia, and 
 New Brunswick, cordially concur in the sentiments contained 
 in the following extract from Mr. Oardwell's despatch to the 
 Governor of Nova Scotia : — 
 
 " You will at the same time express the strong and deliberate opinion 
 " of Her Majesty's Government, that it is an object much to be desired 
 " that all the British North American Colonies should agree to unite in 
 « one Government. In the territorial extent of Canada, and in the 
 •< maritime and oommercial enterprise of the LoTrer ProTinces, Her 
 
 
nif 
 
 d8 
 
 n 
 
 " Mtyesty's Government see the elements of power, which only require to 
 " be combined in order to secure for these Provinces, which shall possess 
 " them all, a place among the most considerable communities of the 
 " world. In the spirit of loyalty to the British Crovm, of attachment to 
 " British connexion, and of love for British Institutions, by which all these 
 '• Provinces are animated alike, Her Majesty's Oovemment recognize the 
 •' bond by which all may be combined under one Oovemment. Such an 
 •' Union seems to Her M^esty's Government to recommend itself to the 
 " Provinces on many grounds of moral and material advantages— as 
 " giving a well founded prospect of improved administration and in- 
 " creased prosperity. 
 
 " But there is one consideration which Her Mtyesty'g Government 
 " feel it more especially their duty to press upon the Legislature of Nova 
 " Scotia. Looking to the determination which this country has ever 
 " exhibited in regard to the defence of the Colonies as a matter of Ln- 
 " perial concern, the Colonies must recognize a right, and even acknow- 
 " lodge an obligation, incumbent on the Home Government, to urge, with 
 " earnestness and just authority, the measures which they consider most 
 •• expedient on the part of the Colonists with a view to their own defence. 
 
 " Nor can it be doubtful that the Provinces of British North America 
 " are incapable, when separate and divided from each other, of making 
 •' those just and eflEicient preparations for national defence which would 
 " be easily undertaken by a Province, uniting in itself al the population 
 «' and all the resources of the whole." 
 
 Mr. Howe next draws the following picture of the disloyalty 
 of Canada, and the incompetency of her public men : — 
 
 " One would suppose that the pubUc men of a country so placed — so 
 entirely at the mercy of the chapter of accidents, so unimproved and 
 sparsely populated — would not be over anxious to enlarge their terri- 
 tory or increase their responsibilities, even if they had displayed, in the 
 past, a fair average acquaintance with the science of government. Let 
 us see if they can claim credit for much more. From the conquest by 
 Wolfe, in 1769, to the flight of Papineau and McKenzie, in 1837-8, with 
 the exception of the two periods when the fear of invasion stilled the 
 voice of faction, the history of Canada is but the history of internal 
 strife between parties more or less acrimonious and uncompromising. 
 In the Lower Province thd French and English parties divided the 
 Legislature and society, and in the Upper, to the ordinary rivalries be- 
 tween Liberals and Conservatives, common to the Mother Country and 
 to all the Colonies, interminable strife between the Orange and the 
 Irish factions has been added. So bitterly have these feuds been main- 
 tained, that Toronto has sometimes been disturbed by armed organiza- 
 tions, while at Kingston the Prince of Wales was prevented ftom land- 
 ing by an uncompromising assertion of Protestant ascendency. In 
 1837 and 1838 both Provinces were convulsed by open InsurrectionB, 
 
29 
 
 '♦ which were only put down by the shedding of blood, the suspension of 
 «' the Habeas Corpus Act and of the Local Constitutions, and by the ex- 
 " pendituro, at the cost of the British Government, of more than a 
 " million sterling. 
 
 " In 1841 the two Provinces were united, and it was hoped that the 
 " severe lessons of the past would not be lost upon the pubUc mun of 
 " Canada ; but, eight years afterwards, their national antipathies and per> 
 *' sonal rivalries culminated again in acts of open violence." 
 
 That certain parties in Canada carried to an extreme length 
 their struggle for constitutional privileges, which have since been 
 frankly conceded, must be admitted ; but the charge of disloyalty 
 has been disproved by her whole history. So long ago as 1 776 
 the overtures of Franklin, Chase, and Carroll, sent by the revolt- 
 ing States to turn the Canadians from their allegiance to the 
 British Crown, proved unsuccessful; and those emissaries had 
 to return home discomfited. These diplomatic efforts were 
 followed up by hostile armies led by Arnold and Montgomery, 
 two of the ablest American generals, whom, with but a handfal 
 of soldiers sent from England to assist them, the Canadians suc- 
 cessfully resisted, raised tne siege of Quebec, and recaptured Mon- 
 treal. The struggles of 1812, 1813, and 1814, when Canada was 
 attacked at every point, again proved the indomitable courage 
 and loyalty of Canadians, who, unheeding the specious allure- 
 ments held out to them, met and drove back the enemies of 
 England, and Canada was once more saved to the Empire. 
 
 Canad? may now safely put the following well-earned tribute 
 to her loyalty uttered long after these events by His Grace 
 the Duke of Wellington, alongside of Mr. Howe's detraction. 
 His Grace said : — 
 
 " That the Canadians had, by their vigorous exertions in the war, 
 " carried England through a period of great difficulty and danger, and 
 " had, by their gallant conduct at a time when England's hands were tied 
 " in European wars, raised a monument to their power equal to that 
 " which any country in the civilized world could boast of." 
 
 It is quite true that, at the time of the Unioi between Upper 
 and Lower Canada, the trade of both was paralyzed, the country 
 stagnant, and their finances in a ruinous condition. A glance 
 at what has since been achieved will enable your Lordship to 
 estimate the value of Mr. Howe's sneers at the public men of 
 Canada. The records of the Legislature of that country show 
 
 -'v: 
 
30 
 
 that Parliamentary Reform and the Registration of Voters have 
 been secured ; a jystem of Municipal Institutions of the most 
 advanced character established ; education, both in the highi./ 
 departments, and as regards the common schools of the country, 
 provided for by enactments which Mr. Howe throughout his 
 public career did his best in vain to adopt in Nova Scotia ; the 
 Clergy Reserve question, fraught with immense difficulties, has 
 been effectually settled ; and the system of feudal tenure 
 abolished ; while the simplification and codification of their laws 
 have given them statute books of which any country might be 
 justly proud. 
 
 A glance at the statistics of Canada will show that her 
 material progress has kept pace with her Legislation. The 
 population of Canada rose from one million eight hundred and 
 forty-two thousand two hundred and sixty-five in 1861 to two 
 millions five hundred and six thousand seven hundred and fifty- 
 six in 1861. Montreal has a population of one hundred and 
 ten thousand, and Quebec of sixty-five thousand ; in 1831 they 
 each had but twenty-seven thousand. The population of Toronto 
 has risen since 184:2 from thirteen thousand to eighty thousand . 
 inhabitants. 
 
 The trade of Canada in exports and imports increased in 
 twelve years, between 1862 and 1864, from thirty-four millions 
 three hundred and forty-two thousand four hundred and sixty- 
 six dollars to ninety -one millions one hundred and sixty-five 
 thousand five hundred and twelve dollars. 
 
 The number of acres of land held in Canada by private 
 owners in 1862 was nine millions eight hundred and twenty -five 
 thousand five hundred and fifteen; in 1861 it had risen to 
 thirteen millions three hundred and fifty -four thousand nine 
 hundred and seven. 
 
 In 1862 Canada had three millions seven himdred and two 
 thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight acres of land under 
 cultivation; in 1861 she had thirteen millions three hundred 
 and fifty-four thousand nine hundred and seven. 
 
 In 1862 Canada produced twelve millions eight hundred and 
 two thousand five hundred and fifty bufihels of wheat; in 1861 
 twenty -four millions six hundred and forty thousand four hundred 
 and twenty-five, 
 
 ^"* a ^ 
 
 . 
 
31 
 
 6ho has expended twenty millions of dollars on her canals, and 
 contributed an equal amount to promote the construction of the 
 two thousand miles of railway with which the country is inter- 
 sected in all directions ; and four thousand miles of telegraph 
 in Canada now place almost every considerable village in that 
 great country in immediate communication with London, the 
 commercial metropolis of the world. 
 
 These facts and figures, my Lord, will efifectually meet 
 Mr. Howe's disparagement of Canada and her people, but I will 
 also add his own testimony as regards both. 
 
 Having visited Canada in 1841, he thus recorded his opinions 
 of that great country : — 
 
 " The question has been put to U3 twenty times a day, ' What do you 
 think of Canada?' and as it is likely to be many times repeated, we take 
 this early opportunity of recording our convictions that it is one of the 
 noblest countries it has ever been our good fortune to behold. Canada 
 wants two elements of prosperity which the Lower Colonies possess, — 
 open harbours for general commerce, and a homogeneous population,— 
 but it has got everything else that the most fastidious political economist 
 would require. * * The mere extent of the country 
 
 would not perhaps impress the mind so strongly if there was not so 
 much of the vast, the magnificent, the national, in all its leading 
 features. It is impossible to fancy that you are in a Province — a 
 Colony. You feel at every step that Canada must become a great nation, 
 and at every step you pray most devoutly for the descent upon the 
 country of that wisdom and foresight and energy which shall make it 
 the great treasury of British institutions upon this continent, and an 
 honour to the British name. * ♦ * Canada is a 
 
 country to be proud of, to inspire high thoughts, to cherish a love for 
 the sublime and beautiful, and to take its stand among the nations of 
 the earth, in spite of all the circumstances which have hitherto retarded, 
 and may still retard, its progress. * * # Chief 
 
 among the resources of Canada must be regarded her boundless tracts 
 of rich and fertile land. For many miles below Quebec the soil is 
 excellent, and the further you proceed onward the better it becomes, 
 until, in the Western regions of Upper Canada, it is found inferior to 
 none on the continent of America. No man can estimate the numbers 
 that Canada could feed, or form the least idea of what its agricultural 
 export might be if all the land capable of improvement were under 
 cultivation." 
 
 Mr, Howe now rebukes the " vaulting ambition " which would 
 
 
I 
 
 
 attempt to ensure nationality to British North America ; yet, in a 
 speech in the Assembly of Nova Scotia, in 1864, he said : — 
 
 " Sir, the first question which we men of the North must put to our. 
 selves is, have we a territf^ry broad enough of whioh to make a nation ? 
 I think it can be shown that we have. Beneath, around, and behind 
 us, stretching away from the Atlantic to the Pacific, are four million 
 square miles of territory. All Europe, with its family of nations, 
 contains but three million seven hundred and eighty thousand, or two 
 hundred and ninety-two thousand miles less. The United States include 
 three million three hundred and thirty thousand five hundred and 
 seventy-two square miles, or seven hundred and sixty-nine thousand 
 one hundred and twenty-eight less than British America. Sir, I often 
 smile when I hear some vain-glorious Kepublican exclaiming — 
 
 " ' No pent-up Utica contracts our powers, 
 " ' The whole unbounded continent is ours I' 
 
 forgetting that the larges*^ portion does not belong to him at all, but to 
 us, the met., of the North, whose descendants will control its destinies 
 for ever. Sir, the whole globe contains but thirty-seven million square 
 miles. We, North Americans, living under the British flag, have one. 
 ninth of the whole, and this ought to give us ' ample room and verge 
 enough ' for the accommodation and support of a countless population. 
 
 •* I am not sure. Sir, that even out of this discussion may not arise 
 a spirit of Union and elevation of thought that may lead North America 
 to cast aside her colonial habiliments, to put on national aspects, to assert 
 national claims, and prepare to assume national obligations. Come what 
 may, I do not hesitate to express the hope that from this day she will 
 aspire to consolidation as an integral portion of the realm of England, 
 or assert her claims to a national existence" 
 
 Mr. Howe, in a speech at Halifax, in 1861, thus eloquently 
 dealt with the great subject upon which his mind now appears to 
 have become so dwarfed : — 
 
 " But, Sir, daring as may appear the scope of this conception, high 
 as the destiny may seem which it discloses for our children, and bound- 
 less as are the fields of honourable labour which it presents, another, 
 grander in proportions, opens beyond ; one which the imagination of a 
 poet could not exaggerate, but wliich the statesman may grasp and 
 realize, even in our own day. Sir, to bind these disjointed Provinces 
 together by iron roads ; to give them the homogeneous character, fixed- 
 ness of purpose, and elevation of sentiment, which they so much require, 
 is our first duty. But, after all, they occupy but a limited portion of 
 that boundless heritage which God and nature have given to ua and to 
 
f 
 
 88 
 
 7 ■ V 
 
 our children. Nova Scotia and New Bninswick are Imt tlie frnntn,','o of 
 a territory which inchides f<nir millions of sqnaro niilos, stretching' 
 away boliind and hoyond tlioni to tlii> frozen roffions on the one side 
 and tlio I'liciftc on the other. Of tliis f,'rc'at section of tlie k'oIjc, all the 
 Northern Provinces, includinf,' Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, 
 occupy l)Ut four hundred and eiglity-six thouKatul square miles. The 
 Hudson's Bay territory includes two liundred and fifty thousaml miles. 
 Throwing aside the more bleak and inhospitable regions, we iiave a 
 magnificent country between Canada and the Pacific, out of which five 
 or six noble Provinces may be formed, larger than any we have, and 
 presenting to the hand of industry, and to the eye of speculation, every 
 variety of soil, climate, and resource. With 8U(;h a territory as this to 
 overrun, organize, and improve, think you that we oihall stop even at 
 the western bounds of Canada? or even at the shores of the Pacific? 
 Vancouver's Island, with its vast coal measures, lies beyond. The 
 beautiful islands of the Pacific, and the growing commerce of tlie ocean, 
 are beyond. Populous China and the rich East are beyond ; and the 
 sails of our children's children will reflect as familiarly the sunbeams of 
 the South as they now brave the angry tempests of the North. The 
 Maiitimo Provinces which I now address, are but the Atlantic frontage 
 of this boundless and prolific region ; the wharves upon which its 
 business will be transacted, and beside vhich its rich argosies are to lie. 
 Nova Scotia is one of these. Will you, then, put your hands unitedly, 
 with order, inteUigence, and energy, to this great work ? Eefuse, and 
 you are recreants tu every principle which lies at the base of your 
 country's prosperity and advancement; refuse, and the Deity's hand- 
 writing upon land and sea is to you unintelligible language; refuse, and 
 Nova Scotia, instead of occupying the foreground as she now does, 
 should have been thrown back, at least behind the Rocky Mountains. 
 God has planted your country in the front of this boundless region ; see 
 that you comprehend its destiny and resources — see that you discharge, 
 with energy and elevation of soul, the duties which devolve upon you in 
 virtue of your position." 
 
 When, in 1864, the Hon. Mr. McGee was entertained in 
 Halifax, as a member of a Government formed to promote a 
 Confederation of the Colonies, Mr. Howe made the following 
 speech : — 
 
 " He was not one of those who thanked God that he was a Nova 
 " Scotian merely, for he was Canadian as well. He had never thought 
 " he was a Nova Scotian, but he had looked across the broad continent, 
 " at the great territory which the Almighty had given us for an inherit- 
 " ance, and studied the mode by which it could be consolidated, the mode 
 " by which it could be united, the mode by which it could be made strong 
 " and vigorous, while the old flag still floated over the soil. He was de- 
 
 
 
84 
 
 •' lighted to Bee rucIi a sreno as this, which gave promise that that which 
 " was tlio (lieiun ol' his boyhood would be realized before he died. 
 
 " 'I'hank (lod the timo had conio when Her Mi\)eHty'8 subjects, whether 
 " English, Frencli, Scotch, or Irish, might meet together under the old 
 " flag, and maintain common sentiments of unity, and look forward to 
 " the time when we should make a new England hero ; not a now England 
 " with republican institutions, but a new England with monarchical in- 
 ** stitutions. Ho had always been in favour of the Intercolonial Railway. 
 " He wished every now and again to see the seething falls of Mont- 
 •• morenci, to see the Indians of Lorette dancing about the silvery stream ; 
 " he wanted to visit Canada, not once in a lifetime, not once in five or six 
 " years, but once or twice a year. 
 
 " With the territory of Canada, with the rivers of Nova Scotia, with 
 •' the inexhaustible fisheries, what a country to live in I And why should 
 " Union not be brought about? Was it because we wished to live and 
 " die in our insignificance, that we would sooner make money rather than 
 " that our country should grow ? God forbid ! Ho felt that it was too 
 •' late to say much, though there was much to say. He knew that the 
 " Canadian gentlemen would take in good part what he was going to say. 
 " He had always been in favour of uniting any two, three, four, or the 
 " whole five of the Provinces. Well, they knew the history of the past 
 •' in Canada; they knew what division had produced there, and how, 
 " under the divine dispensation, they at last became united into one 
 " magnificent colony. There now came rumours across the If.nd that 
 " they were going to split Canada into two parts again; that they were 
 " going to reduce that country to its low status of two Provinces instead 
 •' of one. 0, my friends, said the hon. gentleman, go hack to your 
 '* homes, and say that there is at bast one Nova Scotian honest enough 
 " to say to you this, — that, if you do that, you will commit an act of 
 " political suicide ; and although I ought not perhaps to give you the 
 *' advice, I would rather see every public man upon both sides of politics 
 " crucified, than I would divide Canada now that Canada is united. Join 
 " the Maritime Provinces if you can; but, at any rate, stick together — 
 " hold your own. Let the dog return to his vomit rather than Canada 
 " to division. In conclusion, Mr. Howe said that he was pleased to think 
 " the day was rapidly approaching when the Provinces would be united 
 •• with one flag above their heads, one thought in all their bosoms, with one 
 " Sovereign and one Constitution." 
 
 Mr. Howe, at Port Kobinson, in Canada, in 1862, thus elo- 
 quently defended the Canadians against any who would dare to 
 traduce them : — 
 
 " And still some few sad thoughts arose on this occasion when he re- 
 " membered the insulting manner in which such Canadian people as those 
 " present had been spoken of in England. Certain Lords at home had 
 " been slandering these fine people. Yes, the Lords and Commons of th^ 
 
 » I f 
 
 I 
 
' 
 
 »"* 1 /» 
 
 80 
 
 " British Pariiamont, topffither with a professor of Hf.me University, and 
 " two or three newspaper oditorH, hnd boon slamli'ririf^ Canada. * 
 
 " * * * The80 very flelds around, in tiif vicinity of 
 
 " this very meeting place, — tlieso vorj' fleldH witli their Htorrny recollections, 
 •' —wore a sufficient testimony apainst sucli a Hupposition that the people 
 " of Canada wore not worthy of dofcnco. The erudite noblemen of 
 " England ought to have known better than to have sent forth such 
 " slanders. * * * * * As to the attaokg 
 
 " made upon Canada in the ■British Parliament, as to the imputation that 
 " the Provinces were no longer worth fortifying, he would remind her 
 " slanderers that Canada had been loyal to the Crown for more than a 
 " centurj'. Ho would tell them that it was the local militia of Canada 
 " that twice put down disturbances. He would remind those Lords and 
 " Peers that if Canada desired to sever her allegiance to Britain, she 
 " could very readily have crushed the handful of troops in the Provinces 
 " when the disturbances broke out. By doing as she had done, Canada 
 " worked herself on to her present great position. Their old battlo-flelda 
 " near at hand had been the scenes where Canada had testified her loyalty. 
 '• * * * Fresh as he (Mr. Howe) now was from 
 
 " Lower Canada, from pleasant intercourse for a few days with French 
 " Canadians, — fresh from their homes and places of business, — fresh from 
 " a people who stood high in intelligence and business abilities, and whose 
 " manners were inviting and their society agreeable, — he could testify that 
 " those French Canadian gentlemen, and their French Canadian popula- 
 " tion, were in a position of strength and prosperity which at once pro- 
 " nounced those English statements as slanders. * * * 
 
 " He looked hopefully forward to the time when the great Provinces of 
 '• Canada would be connected with the Provinces below, and when a 
 " man would feel that to be a British American was to be the citizen of 
 " a country which included all these fertile lands, all these inexhaustible 
 *' fisheries, all this immense marine, — carrying to all seas the flag of Old 
 '• England, if she would let us; if not, the flag of British America." 
 
 What must your Lordship think of any public man who 
 could, after thuB lauding Canada and its people, in their presence, 
 only four years ago, now assail them before the British public 
 with detraction so unqualified? 
 
 The action of Canada, when recently threatened with invasion, 
 has given the best answer to all that Mr. Howe has said against 
 her loyalty. A call for ten thousand volunteers was so eagerly 
 responded to, that in twenty -four hours fourteen thousand armed 
 men were ready to march in any direction to defend their 
 country and their institutions. 
 
 Mr. Howe next undertakes to show that the antagonism of 
 
36 
 
 Mco formfl a fatal objection to tho propoBcrl Confederation. Tie 
 BAVB, p. '» : — 
 
 " 'I'lid liislory nf ('iiiKidii, Hlnco tlio paH^uRo of tlin llnicm Act, lias 
 " il<'\(l()p(cl u HtniiiK'' niitiiK'niiiHiii liotwccii flic riiprr iiinl f.fiwir I'lovinco, 
 •' with vvdidi Mic itopuliitiuii hi;Hi<l<) tin' Mt-ii iimy lie iiunloiiod if tlicy dcHiro 
 <* t,o liavo n()tiiiii(< wlmUwor to do. There Ih waniitiK in tho antaKonitirn 
 " of raccH ftrltitnuily houml to^othcr, Hlmkru by iiicoiiipatihility of tom- 
 " por, till tho iiioiiiont of Hcparatioii, iih in tho case of llcl^ium and 
 " IloUaiul ; and hintory in full of exaniploH to provo how indcliltlo are the 
 " lines which divide lar^o niaHHCS of men Hpeaking diflferont languageB, 
 " and HprinKing from sourct's whoHO originai wator-Hhod (to borrow a 
 " flguro from tho geogniphers) has boon niaikod by impassable barriers. 
 •• Tho hihtory of Canada, for tho last twenty years, is but the history of 
 " one long Htrut,'gle between the two nationalities of which the Province 
 " is composed. ♦ * ♦ * Thoy are not, as wo have 
 
 " shown, a very harmonious or hornogoneous community. Two fifths of 
 " tho population are French and throo-lifths English. They are there- 
 " fore porploxod with an internal antagonism wiiich was fatal to tho 
 '< unity of Uolgium and Holland, and which, unless tho i\ision of races 
 " becoines rapid and complete, must ever bo a source of weakness. ♦ 
 
 " Tho coiitlict has been aggravated by another anomalous contrivance 
 •' which is a pure Canadian invention. In England, and in all the other 
 " Colonies where her institutions have been copied, a Cabinet is formed 
 " by a gentleman, who leads the Government and directs the policy of the 
 " country for the time being ; but this simple mode rarely satisfies the 
 '• conflicting races and rival sectionalism of Canada. For many years 
 " they have had two leaders, resting on double majorities, each side of 
 " the Cabinet responsible to its own division of the Province; and, as 
 " might readily bo supposed, the consequences have been interminable 
 " deadlocks, a great obstruction to business, and an exasperation of the 
 " ordinary conflicts incident to a representative system of government, 
 •• often ludicrous and vexatious in the extreme. 
 
 •' From all these complications and difficulties the Mailtime Pro- 
 " viuces are now free, and surely they may be pardoned if they have no 
 " desire to be mixed up with them. Their sysiom is veiy simple. They 
 " govern themselves as completely as any otl.oi' Ivritish Provinces, or any 
 " States of the American Union, in perfect su ijrdination to the Govern- 
 " ment and Parliament of the Empire." 
 
 The following speech, made by Mr. Howe, at Quebec in 
 1851, affords an amusing contrast to the foregoing extract: — 
 
 " Eefore I close, let me allude to one topic which is often referred to 
 " as unfavourable to our future progress. The distinction of race is the 
 •' invidious theme upon which alarmists love to dwell. Perhaps you will 
 " bear with me when I say, that to a stranger coming among you, these 
 •' very distinctions supply most of the variety which charms. We Anglo- 
 
 *» /» 
 
il 
 
 'I * 
 
 t 
 
 67 
 
 " SuxoriH, proud of our rtnu\ ami tliiir acliidvuuiotitH, uro too apt to t'or^i't 
 " how liirKoly till) Nonniiii-FnMich ohMucnt eiitored into tluxMimpoHitioii of 
 " tliiit mco. \Vi) for^i't tluit L'rt'iicliiiiun lonlud it ovor MiikIuhiI lor ei'ii- 
 "turioH; tliiit tiioir luwrt woro udiiiiiiivLtirctl in liur triliiiiiiils, mid llicir 
 " ian(<ua^)i Hpokuii in liur courts, (imduttlly ttie 'liHtirictioiH fudod, mid 
 " out (d" II conmion ancestry ciimo a now ra<'i3, which hiin Kivtii lawn and 
 •' civilization to tho world. So it will ho now. SpriniK from two of tliu 
 " foroniost nations of tho oarth, Mpoakiiij^ two nohlo lannua^^os, copying 
 " fruni each othor the artH of lifo, tho varying lights and HhudoK whioh 
 " p'lvo it oxprt'HHi<tn, who doiihts that a raco will grow up in North 
 " Aniorioa oqual to the roiiuiroiiiuntH of tho country, and proud uf tho 
 *' charactoriHtic» of tho groat faiailios from which thoy have aprung." 
 
 Again, in a speech delivered in the Uouse uf Assembly of 
 Nova Scotia, Mr. Howe said : — 
 
 •' Geutlemen should hoar in mind that tho Fronchmon of Lower 
 " Canada were right almost up to tho tiino they had turned out witii arras 
 " in their hands. ******** 
 
 " An idea now started was that the French of Lower Canada should 
 " be Anglitled. It was urged they should bo either driven out ot the 
 •' Province or be forced to speak the English language. One, no doubt, 
 " could be as easUy etlected os the other. This however was not the 
 •' policy after Wolfe's victory. It was then thought wise to keep the 
 " Colony tilled with Frenchmen, as a barrier to the United States. This 
 " policy was well rewarded at a subsenuent period, when those FrenoUmea 
 " turned out zealously to repulse the enemy and resist invasion." 
 
 In 1862, Mr. Howe said, in a speech in the Legislative 
 Assembly : — 
 
 •' I venture to say that any gentleman who saw Canada seven or eight 
 " years ago, and who sees her now, will tell us that sho has sprung forward 
 " with a bound, and has felt an immediate impulse from the operations 
 " of her free institutions. All lier public measures have been carried with 
 " a spirit of unprecedented harmony*." 
 
 It cannot be disputed that the provision in the prenent con- 
 stitution of Canada, which makes the number of representatives 
 equal in Upper and Lower Canada, irrespective of their popu- 
 lation, has been fraught with all the difficulties so fully foretold 
 by Lord Durham when it was originally suggested ; but, surely, 
 Mr. Howe ought to be able to see that the Confederation of tho 
 British North American Colonies, upon the basis of representation 
 by population, not only disposes of that difficulty, but that in 
 the antagonism of race, language, and religion, which lie asserta 
 
I 
 
 38 
 
 exists between Upper and Lower Canada, and the "indelible 
 character" of such causes of difference, the Maritime Provinces 
 have an undoubted assurance that with forty -seven members in 
 a House of Commons of one hundred and ninety-four members, it 
 is quite impossible that their interests can ever be ;>ndangered. 
 
 It ought not to bo necessary to inform Mr. Howe that the 
 anomalous arrangement which required "double majorities," 
 upon which he, again and again, in his pamphlet, lays so much 
 stress, has no existence save in his own imagination. It was 
 abandoned years ago in Canada, and the practice of England 
 adopted. 
 
 The other portions of the foregoing extracts have been 
 already so thoroughly refuted by the quotations I have given 
 from Mr. Howe's speeches as t > require no further attention ; 
 but I cannot pass by the asseidon, that all these constitutional 
 difficulties have existed in Canada alone, and the boast that the 
 Maritime Provinces have been entirely free from them, without 
 contradiction. 
 
 The archives of the Colonial Office will prove, that since 
 
 free institutions were conferred on Brit: sh North America, each 
 
 of the Maritime Provinces has been the scene of struggles 
 
 on constitutional questions in which the interference of the 
 
 Imperial Government has been invoked much more frequently 
 
 than Canada. In fact, it has been abundantly shown that the 
 
 difficulty of working the British Constitutional system is in an 
 
 inverse ratio to the size of the Colony to which it has been 
 
 applied. Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward 
 
 Island, have, within the past half-dozen years, been the theatre 
 
 of more bitter political contests on religious questions than have 
 
 ever convulsed Canada. 
 
 No one, my Lord, in the least acquainted with political 
 science can doubt, that just in proportion as you extend the 
 field of enterprise, and the minds of public men are occupied 
 with large and important questious, the moral status will be 
 elevated and the intellect exalted above the narrow, personal, 
 party, sectional, and sectarian influences, that often detract so 
 much from the character of those upon whom the conduct of 
 public affairs is devolved. 
 Mr. Howe says : — 
 
 * i 
 
a9 
 
 " Many people beliere that the British Empire is too large. This 
 " may or may not be true, but there seems only too much reason to fear 
 " that it must collapse whenever the dominion of the sea is lost ; and 
 " how to retain it would seem to be the question for us all to consider at 
 " the present time." 
 
 No man, except Mr. Howe, is likely to entert&in the extra- 
 ordinary idea, that Nova Scotia, with a thousand miles of un- 
 fortified sea coast, can be better held when New Brunswick and 
 Canada, now British Provinces, have been abandoned to the 
 enemy. It is obvious, therefore, that the loss of Canada means 
 the loss of New Brunswick ; and that when they fall into the 
 hands of a foreign power Nova Scotia must inevitably share 
 their fate. Need I then ask your Lordship whether the cause 
 of civilization, of human progress, and of the peace of the 
 . arid, to say nothing of the security of this Empire, renders 
 it desirable that the United States should acquire these Colonies ? 
 British America has an area of four hundred thousand square 
 miles, and a population of about four millions. Her revenue 
 exceeds fourteen millions of dollars. Her trade in imports and 
 exports amounts to one hundred and fifty millions of dollars per 
 annum, and she has more than one million tons of shipping, and 
 is building ships at the rate of a quarter of a million of tons per 
 annum. She is developing, as fast as lies in her power, the same 
 free-trade policy which is now accepted on all hands as the 
 great source of Britain's prosperity. But I \\ill not refer to the 
 disadvantage to this country of having these great and rising 
 Colonies embraced in the exclusive and protective policy which 
 prevails in the United States ; but, taking a more cosmopolitan 
 view of the question, confidently ask, whether there is any other 
 country in the world that would be willing to see the power 
 of the United States extended over British America ? 
 
 That the acquisition of the British Provinces is desired by 
 the Government and people of the United States is, I think, 
 apparent. The great counteracting influence of slavery in the 
 Southern States is gone. While slavery existed, the South was 
 hostile to the acquisition of northern and anti-slavery territory. 
 Now that objection is removed, and the United States on every 
 account are anxious to acquire those Colonies. This would bring 
 to their aid, in sustaining the enormous debt and taxation that 
 
40 
 
 ii' 
 
 have been thrown suddenly upon them, a prosperous country 
 as large as their own. It would remove the ccmtrast which the 
 free and untaxed people of British America will furnish to their 
 American neighbours, and which must attract population, capital, 
 and skill, that would otherwise flow into the United States. 
 It would give them possession of the valuable timber forests 
 of Canada and New Brunswick, the great coal-fields of Nova 
 Scotia, and the priceless fisheries of British North America. It 
 would swell their marine to truly gigantic proportions. It 
 would strike down the Free Trade policy of British America, 
 which gives to the manufacturers of England advantages ao great, 
 and interferes so largely with the fiscal policy of the Republic. 
 And, above all, it would enable the Americans to attain the great 
 object of their ambition — the away of the entire continent. 
 
 Influenced by such considerations as these, the Government 
 and Congress of the United States abrogated a Reciprocity 
 Treaty at an enormous commercial sacrifice. Under the opera- 
 tion of that treaty, the commercial intercourse between British 
 America and the United States had assumed proportions twice as 
 great as would otherwise have existed. The balance of that 
 trade was largely in favour of the States. The Eastern States 
 depended upon Nova Scotia for gas coal, and were largely en- 
 gaged in the prosecution of the fisheries in British waters. Yet 
 every commercial consideration was sacrificed to the desire to 
 produce a feeling in favoiir of Annexation by embarrassing the 
 trade of the Colonies. The reception on the floors of Congress 
 of Fenian Leaders, and the recent expressions of the President 
 of the United States, show the extent to which even the threatened 
 invasion of Canada obtains the sympathy of the people of that 
 country. 
 
 All that, in my opinion, is required, my Lord, to meet 
 effectually this condition of affairs, and secure not only British 
 America, but preserve a lasting peace between Great Britain and 
 the United States, is the Confederation of the Provinces and the 
 firm but temperate assertion by the British Government of the 
 admitted rights of this country. A policy of concession is certain to 
 be misunderstood, and attributed to anything but magnanimous 
 and generous motives. A feeling of profound devotion to the 
 Crown of England, of unqualified attachment to British institutions, 
 
41 
 
 
 < ■ * 
 
 pervades every portion of British America, including all races, 
 religions, and parties. They have the same pride in all that has 
 made the Empire glorious that is felt by the inhabitants of tl^ese 
 islands, and they are all animated with the conviction that, unaer 
 the free institutions that prevail in British America, there is a 
 security for life, and property, and personal freedom, which is to 
 be found neither under the despotic Governments of Europe nor 
 the republican institutions of America. Our greatest incentive 
 to a Union of British America is that we may be better able, as 
 an united people, to discharge our duty to our Sovereign, and 
 that we may hand down more securely, to our children, the 
 priceless blessings of the British institutions which we so highly 
 value. The Province of Nova Scotia annually calls out for 
 several days' driir no less than fifty thousand able-bodied and 
 intelligent men, who cheerfully respond to this call of duty 
 without a farthing's remuneration. The readiness with which 
 they acquire a knowledge of military evolutions has excited the 
 admiration of the highest professional authorities. An artillery 
 corps, of a thousand strong, is trained at Halifax, to man the 
 fortifications ; and a naval brigade is now being formed in all 
 the principal ports of the Province. 
 
 If the three hundred and fifty thousand inhahitants of Nova 
 Scotia can make such an efifort in the defence of their country, 
 what may not be expected of the four millions of British Americans 
 animated by the same feelings of loyalty, braced by an invigo- 
 rating climate, inured to camp life and the use of the axe and the 
 rifle ! That the loyal spirit of my countrymen will meet with 
 the encouragement and co-oprration from the Parent State to 
 which it is entitled I entertain no doubt, and if it do, my Lord, 
 no one need entertain any fear for the peace and security of British 
 America when once united. The prompt adoption of the British 
 policy of Confederation, when it was proposed by the Quebec 
 Conference, in 1864, and heartily concurred in by the British 
 Government, would, I am confident, have prevented the abroga- 
 tion of the Reciprocity Treaty, and would have avoided all 
 trouble from the Fenians. 
 
 The Annexationists who are endeavouring to obtain the 
 British Colonies by political means, and the Fenians and their 
 sympathisers, were alike deceived by the false impression tha( 
 
42 
 
 the reason why Confederation had not been accepted was that a 
 large portion of the people would prefer to join the United States. 
 The subsequent action of the Legislatures of New Brunswick and 
 Nova Scotia, where, by very large majorities, the Union policy has 
 been adopted, will undeceive these people ; and if the Union of 
 the Provinces is now consummated, in twelve months hence the 
 American Government will, in all probability, sue for a similar 
 Treaty, and the designs of the Fenians upon British America 
 will, doubtless, be numbered among the things of the past; as with 
 the Union of the Colonies, all hope of their acquisition, either 
 by diplomacy or force, will speedily disappear. 
 
 Mr. Howe says that " the English did not aspire to govern 
 subject communities when they were only three millions of 
 people, and were without a navy." Does he not know that the 
 American States ) ' ■'^•^ed their independence with a smaller 
 population, less tra^ jss revenue, and infinitely less shipping 
 than British America — which only wishes to perpetuate, in Union, 
 its present form of government — can now boast ? 
 
 The purchase of the Hudson's Bay Territory I need not 
 touch upon, as the question of Confederation is quite inde- 
 pendent of it, but it is only necessary to read the following ex- 
 tracts from Mr. Howe's pamphlet to show that something ought 
 to be done to remove what he declares " is a standing reproach 
 to the British Government, and a blot upon our civilization : " — 
 
 " Between Canada and the Rocky Mountains, and divided from her 
 " by a belt of comparatively sterile country, lies a magnificent region, 
 " which is a standing reproach to the British Government and a blot 
 " upon our civiUzation. The Republicans have shown their appreciation 
 " of the value of this territory by providing, in General Banks' Bill, that 
 " it shall be organized at once into two Territories, and presently into 
 " two States of the Union. What has England ever done with it ? While 
 " the Government of the United States has, within the past half century, 
 •' formed out of their great West one noble State after another, which 
 " have become the granaiies of Europe; the Government of England, 
 " having a West of great extent and fertility, have done nothing national 
 " or statesmanlike with it, but have allowed it to be locked up as a hunt- 
 " ing-ground, for the exclusive benefit of a Fur Company, who, monopo- 
 " Uzing the consumption of Indian tribes reduced to a state of subjection 
 " akin to slavery, have maintained to this hour, in the face of the free 
 " ideas and advancing civilization of Europe and America, a job so 
 " gigantic that men stand aghast when they contrast the unpeopled 
 " wilderness which these persons have got to show with the noble States, 
 " populous cities, and waving cornfields on the other side of the line." 
 
43 
 
 ; » 
 
 That the inhabitants of the Red River country should long 
 with eager desire for the same security for life and property 
 which Canada enjoys, is but natural, and that all the British 
 North American Colonies, both on the Atlantic and the Pacific, 
 should look with intense jealousy upon the prospect of seeing 
 forty millions of acres of the most fertile land in the world 
 lying between them overrun and appropriated by a foreign 
 power, can surprise no one except Mr. Howe, who seems to have 
 arrived at the conclusion that the presence of British subjects 
 on the Northern Continent of America is only tolerated by the 
 giant Republic during " good behaviour." 
 
 Lest your Lordship may suppose I am not doing justice to 
 the spirit of Mr. Howe's pamphlet, let me invite your attention 
 to the following passage. Referring to the desire which has in 
 some quarters been expressed to see a member of the Royal 
 Family, at some future day, at the head of a great British 
 American power, Mr. Howe says : — 
 
 " In thus respecting our rights, the American Government have had 
 to withstand pressure at all times from those who adhere to the Monroe 
 doctrine. Of late this party has been reinforced in two directions, by 
 the financiers who see in a long line of frontier a certain loss of revenue 
 while high duties prevail, and by the Fenians who affect to have dis- 
 covered in the Provinces the shortest road to Ireland. Hitherto the 
 Government of the United States has loyally resisted this pressure. 
 If matters remain as they are, I think they will loyally resist it still ; 
 and will not, in the face of the world, assume the responsibility of 
 provoking a great war by any attempt to rectify boundaries, or interfere 
 with poUtical arrangements which they have for eighty years solemnly 
 recognized. 
 
 " But if we begin in a spirit of menace (which has been too prevalent 
 throughout these Confederation discussions) to build up new nation- 
 alities, and to plant Crown Princes beside them, who can tell what may 
 happen? How long will the American people, thus challenged, be in- 
 different, and how long will their Government be able to withstand the 
 pressure ? No sooner is the Quebec scheme launched than we are met 
 by another, far more comprehensive and seductive, to incorporate the 
 Provinces into the EepubUc, and by a proposition sustained by an 
 unanimous vote of the House of Representatives for a repeal of the 
 Neutrality Laws. These propositions are naturally born of the other, 
 and those who desire to see the two countries vmited in the bonds of 
 peace should pray that all may be thrown into the fire. 
 
 "Before we seriously entertain the policy of making one of our 
 
44 
 
 Royiil Princes Viceroy or King of Canada, let us ponder what is passing 
 in Mexico at tlic present tiTne. Louis Napoleon, in America's hour of 
 sore distress, thought to huild up a ' New Nationality,' and Maximilian 
 accepted the throne. He has worn what one of the newspapers aptly 
 describes as a ' Crown of Thorns ' for a few brief years ; his Empress 
 is now in France, and the Emperor can only sustain him on his tot- 
 tering throne by risking an expensive and bloody war with a very 
 doubtful issue. Will he do this ? We shall see. But come what will, 
 " enough is already known to warn us from repeating the Imperial blunder 
 " at the instance of certain purblind Canadian politicians, who certainly 
 " have an original way of manifesting their attachment to the Sovereign 
 " by proposing to overwhelm her family with humiliation and disgrace." 
 
 Mr. Howe commenced his argument by treating the Union 
 of Canada and the Maritime Provinces by an Act of the Im- 
 perial Parliament, passed at the request of the Legislatures of the 
 Colonies, as " spoliation and appropriation on a more gigantic 
 scale than any that has startled Europe," and compared it to 
 " France extending her borders to the Rhine ; " here he delib- 
 erately proposes to Englishmen the humiliating doctrine that, 
 trembling in the presence of a power so gigantic as the United 
 States, British institutions in British America must be moulded 
 in conformity with the views of the Republic, and that the 
 British Government have no more right to carry out the 
 monarchical principles of England in their own territory in 
 America than Louis Napoleon to found an empire in Mexico for 
 MaximiUan. 
 
 Whether, my Lord, the day will ever arrive that British 
 America, grown into an empire, may venture to ask for a 
 king from the house of Brunswick, it is not necessary now to 
 inquire. The name and rank of United British America may 
 safely be left where the Quebec Conference left it — in the hands 
 of Her Majesty the Queen ; but I cannot believe that the craven 
 sentiment contained in the above extract will find any response 
 in the hearts of any loyal subjects of the Crown in this country ; 
 I can boldly say it will not in those of my own. When, my Lord, 
 the dark hour for England's greatness arrives, in which it will 
 become necessary for her to ask permission from any power in 
 the world to maintain monarchical principles in all their purity 
 and greatness in any portion of her empire, the magic words 
 Britannicm sum will have lost the talismanic influence which 
 
 !> I » 
 
: 
 
 V I t 
 
 -4 li| ^ 
 
 46 
 
 now attacheB such value to them throughout the civilized 
 world. 
 
 The Bill introd" ? d by Mr. Banks into Congress, and which 
 .appears to be so *' . jdnctivc " to Mr. Howe, providing for the 
 admission of the Bvitish Provinces into the Union, has been only 
 regarded as a piece of vulgar insolence, and treated with the 
 same intense ridicule, both in this country and in America, 
 as would be excited by a proposition from a member of the 
 French Chamber to annex the British Islands. The expression 
 of these extraordinary and insulting pretensions now put forward 
 by Mr. Howe, of the right of the United States to dictate what 
 institutions shall be permitted in British America, has not even 
 the merit of originality to excuse it. 
 
 The Annexationists of New York and the Fenian organization 
 have both published manifestoes and issued proclamations to the 
 opponents of Confederation in British America, containing 
 language almost precisely similar to that quoted above. The 
 proclamation from the Annexation League, dated New York, 
 August 1866, says : — 
 
 " It is fixed by the inexorable logic of events that Canada must 
 " become a prominent and distinguished part of the United States. The 
 " establishment of a monarohy upon the northern boundary of the United 
 " States is contrary to its policy, inimical to its vast interests, and the 
 " expressed views of its thirty-six millions of people." 
 
 In the Irish People, the organ of Fenianism in New York, 
 I find the same sentiment now so fully put forward by Mr. 
 Howe : — 
 
 " England knows that she must lose Canada unless, by some leger- 
 " demain, she can convert it into a monarchy for Prince Alfred. But 
 " then that ugly Monroe doctrine stares her in the face, and America is 
 " not to be bullied or trifled with any longer." 
 
 Again the New York Herald, equally the enemy of England, 
 and zealously co-operating with the Annexationists, the Fenians, 
 and Mr. Howe, in opposing Confederation, says : — 
 
 " There is another reason xoliy the mission of the Fenians is identical 
 " with that of the United States. It is opposed to the Confederation or 
 " Consolidation of the Canadian Provinces with a Guelph upon the throne, 
 " and it is also opposed to Imperialism in Mexico, with an Austrian or any 
 
46 
 
 " other European Prince upon the throne. The policy of the Feniam, like 
 " that of the jimt Napoleon, is Anti-Annlican. It oppose* English vun 
 " and English measures from all points and all nationalities." 
 
 Mr. Howe Bays truly that the Fenian excitement produced a 
 strong feeling in favour of Confederation in the Maritime Provinces, 
 and contributed to its adoption. Nor was it surprising that loyal 
 men of all classes should have been rallied under the flag of 
 British Confederation, when the Fenians boldly proclaimed that 
 they were prepared to co-operate with the enemies of Union in 
 preventing the Consolidation of British power in the North 
 American Colonies. 
 
 Mr. Howe predicts that — 
 
 •' The first session of the Confederate Legislature would not have 
 " closed hefore the logical results of the false step wo are asked to take 
 " would be apparent, and the Colonial Secretary would be informed that 
 " he might withdraw his Viceroy, and the Foreign Secretary that we had 
 •» sent our own Minister to Washington." 
 
 I will not say that the wish is here father to the thought ; but 
 it would certainly not be unnatural if it were so, with one who 
 seems so deeply imbued with an overpowering sense of the great- 
 ness of the United States, and the impotency of England and 
 her Colonies to preserve the latter, as again evidenced by the 
 following extract : — 
 
 " If British America, organized into a nation, could stand alone, 
 " free to cherish and to act upc her hereditary attachment to these 
 " Islands, and if the Parliament of Great Britain, with the consent of 
 " the Crown, after full review of the interests of the Empire, were to 
 " absolve us from our allegiance, we might with cheerful spirits set about 
 " the task, however unwisely and prematurely imposed. We might have 
 " attempted this with a chance or two of success in our favour ten years 
 " ago, when the United States presented the aspecit of a great industrial 
 " community, indisposed to war, with whom we had diplomatically adjusted 
 " every irritating question, and whose standing army numbered but ten 
 " thousand men. But now the whole chequer-board has changed. The 
 " United States have suddenly become a great Military and Naval Power. 
 " When the Union is reconstructed and the Southern States are brought 
 " again within the fold, tlieie will be a million and a half of disciplined 
 " soldiers and a powerful navy for Lord Monck's new nationality to con- 
 " front ; and what is more, the Reciprocity Treaty has expired, the 
 " Alabama claims are unsettled, and a million of Fenians have sprung up 
 " to give an aggressive turn to American diplomacy, and to hang Uke a 
 " war-oloud over the frontier." 
 
 V ■ e 
 
 
47 
 
 Who would Buppose that this was the Bame Union in which 
 the "ganae was played out," to use Mr. Howe's graphic ex- 
 pressions on page 8 of his pamphlet ; that this was the same 
 power in which, from " ever recurring elements of discord and 
 reproach, the time is rapidly drawing on when separation is in- 
 evitahle," and when " new comhinations will grow out of the play 
 of the passionate ambitions which the wit of man has hitherto been 
 found powerless to control?" But, seriously, assuming, as 
 Mr. Howe does, that a special interposition of " Providence may 
 calm the tempest of angry passions which the late Civil War 
 threw np, and the Republic may stagger on for some years," 
 I need not remind your Lordship of the entire fallacy of 
 Mr. Howe's premises, as we neither desire to form an indepen- 
 dent nation, nor ask to be absolved from our allegiance to the 
 Crown. Our highest ambition is to preserve intact the glorious 
 privileges we now enjoy under the free institutions which have 
 been already conceded, in order that we may, under one Govern- 
 ment, be better prepared to maintain amicable relations with all 
 Foreign States, and co-operate more effectually than we other- 
 wise could with the Imperial Government in any contingency 
 whereby British power in America might be endangered. 
 
 Mr. Howe not only treats the proposed Confederation as an 
 attempt at " spoliation " on the part of Canada, but says the am- 
 bition of her public men overleaps that of " Bismarck or Louis 
 Napoleon." Does he not perceive that if it be true, as he asserts, 
 that Canada is shut out from the sea during the winter months, 
 and can never become a really great country, and that the equally 
 balanced state of the Legislature between Upper and Lower 
 Canada made a change in her Constitution indispensable, it 
 was not strange that she should seek, in a Confederation, the 
 means of obtaining access by railway to the ocean, and of re- 
 moving that embarrassing provision of her present Constitution 
 by which the two great sections of the country were equally 
 represented in the Legislature irrespective of their growth or 
 population? The reflection that Mr. Howe had himself en- 
 deavoured to induce Canada to unite with the Maritime Pro- 
 vinces, for the obvious reason that it would make the latter the 
 " ocean frontage " for a great country lying behind them, teem- 
 ing with wealth and industry^ ought for ever to prevent him 
 
48 
 
 t 
 
 from charpfing Canada with attempted " Bpoliation." That 
 neither Canada nor the Maritime Provinces can ever attain any 
 real greatnefis, except in such a combination as is now proponed, 
 cannot bnt bo seen by anybody in the least acquaint od with the 
 position they occupy relatively to each other. With a differcMit 
 geographical position, and with diverse natural productions, they 
 are formed for mutual co-operation and support, and, under the 
 influence of an united interest, will, I believe, exhibit a rapidity 
 of development which will astonish the world. 
 
 It' will not be necessary for me to meet the statement that 
 the proposed Confederation will diminish the power of England 
 by transferring the seamen of Nova Scotia to Ottawa, founded 
 as it is upon the baseless supposition that Confederation, which 
 has ever been regorded by its promoters in the Colonies, and by 
 the Imperial Government, as the best means of cementing the 
 bonds of union between them, means the formation of a sepa- 
 rate and independent power. 
 
 Mr. Howe endeavours to excite hostility against Canada 
 among British manufacturers by saying : — 
 
 " Then certain persons in the manufacturing towns had been dis- 
 " gusted with tlie high duties wliich Canada ha<l imposed on British 
 " productions. They were angiy and did not stay to reflect that, if Canada 
 " were in en-or, the Maritime Provinces ought not to be punished for her 
 " faults, seeing that they had never followed her example." 
 
 It would only have been ingenuous had Mr. Howe repeated 
 what he said on this subject a year ago at Detroit, when defend- 
 ing the Canadian Tariff : — 
 
 '• Now in the Provinces our people are naturally anxious to improve 
 " their internal communications, and bring them up to a level with other 
 " portions of the continent. Yielding to this pressure, the Government 
 " of Canada has expended large sums in the construction of railroads and 
 " canals. But the money being expended, of course the interest has to 
 " be paid, and that this might be done, clianges have been made in the 
 " tariff" from time to time. The necessities of Canada from these large 
 " expenditiu-es compelled her to raise her import duty." 
 
 He might have added that, when Nova Scotia and New 
 Brunswick have completed the public works contemplated under 
 existing enactments, their indebtedness per head will be as large 
 as that of Canada. But assuming that it be true that the policy 
 
49 
 
 of the Maritime Provinces is much more in favour of Froe-trado 
 than that of Canada lias been, is it not the interest of every 
 British manufacturer to tlirow that free-trade leaven into the 
 Canadian Legishvtion ? It would have been but just had Mr. 
 Howe admitted the well-known fact, that from the date of the 
 Quebec Conference down :i the present hour, the greatest strides 
 have been taken in Canada in the direction of Free -trade, and 
 that the opponents of Union have enpecially denounced Mr. Gait, 
 the late able Finance Minister of Canada, for having carried a 
 measure through the Legislature at the last sitting, putting in 
 the free list the goods charged 30 and 25 per cent, duty, and 
 reducing the 20 per cent, tariff to 15. No one thing has been 
 so held up to public reprobation in the Maritime Colonies by 
 Mr. Howe and the opponents of Union, as any attempt to sub- 
 stitute direct taxation in lieu of a duty on imports ; and yet he 
 ventures to appeal for aid to the sympathy of the manufacturing 
 interests of this country. 
 
 Mr. Howe says : — 
 
 " When Herod and Pilate coalesced there was a sacrifice, and when 
 " Mr. Gait ond Mr. Brown, after years of personal bitterness and ma- 
 •' lignant vituperation, consented to clasp hands, it was with the under- 
 " standing that the Lower Provinces, which had had nothing to do with 
 " their disputes, were to be sacrificed to illustrate their reconciliation." 
 
 Suppose this to be true, as Messrs. Gait and Brown only 
 adopted the policy proposed by Mr. Howe, I might ask, were 
 I disposed to pursue this rather profane figure, whether he was 
 not the Judas who had betrayed the Maritime Provinces? 
 
 In referring to the imposition of a duty on American flour 
 by Canada, which is a large exporter of breadstuffs, Mr. Howe 
 ought to have stated that Nova Scotia adopted the same policy, 
 as the best means of promoting the renewal of the Reciprocity 
 Trenty ; and he might have added that the price of flour cannot 
 thus be enhanced in the Maritime Provinces, as Canada exports 
 annually to the States the eight hundred thousand barrels of 
 flour which the Maritime Provinces import. The effect, there- 
 fore, of this policy will be, to lead to a mutually advantageous 
 interchange of articles among the Provinces, without enriching 
 our Republican neighbours by the charge levied in transitu, and 
 teaching them, at the same time, the useful lesson that their 
 
60 
 
 It ' 
 
 voluntary obstrnctionfl to tho trade which had grown up under 
 tho Reciprocity Treaty will injure no one bo much as themselveB. 
 Apparently anxious to unnay everything ho had previously 
 uttered, Mr. Howe next endeavours to obtain the co-operation 
 of a very Bumll class of public men in this country looking for 
 Colonial Governorships. Tho Quebec resolutions provide that 
 tho Governor-General of British North America, selected by 
 Her Majesty, shall in Council appoint the Lieutenant-Governors 
 of tho Provinces of which the Confederation is composed. Re- 
 ferring to this proposal, Mr. Howe says : — 
 
 " The single ' golden link,' an it is sometimes called, which binds us 
 to the mother country, is to be rudely severed, and the only piece of 
 piitroniige reserved to the Crown in return for the protection which the 
 ' New Nationality ' cannot do without, is to be wrenched from the 
 Sovereign and dispensed from some bureau at Ottawa. The pretension 
 is modest. Looking down the long line of Governors who have been 
 sent to us from England, there may have been one or two not overwise, 
 or who were indiscreet, but at all events they were gentle*\^"S, and 
 many brought with them ladies trained in the accomplishments and 
 pure domestic life of this country. I can remember Lord Dalhousie, 
 Sir James Kempt, Sir Peregrine Maitland, Sir John Harvey, Sir Gaspard 
 Le Marchant, Lord Normanby, and others, who had acquired expe- 
 rience or won distinction in the service of the Crown. The example 
 set by such people and their families is to be traced in the social cul- 
 tivation and gentle manners difi'used from our capital to the shire 
 towns, and all over the country. But all this is to be changed. Of 
 course no such people will be eligible under Confederation. No noble- 
 man or gentleman, who has served his Sovereign by land or sea, need 
 apply. Even the Victoria Cross would be no recommendation." 
 
 Your Lordship will not fail to perceive that, with a view to 
 harmonious action between the General and Local Governments 
 of the Confederated Provinces, it is indispensable that the repre- 
 sentative of the Queen in British North America should be • 
 empowered to appoint the Lieutenant-Governors. Nor do I 
 believe that the prospect which this arrangement presents of 
 providing in the Colonies posts of honourable distinction to 
 which valuable servants of the Crown, who have devoted their 
 time and talents in the service of their country, may properly 
 aspire, will be regarded by any patriotic mind in Great Britain 
 y^ith any but feelings of unalloyed satisfaction, 
 
51 
 
 5 • 
 
 T will not Bfiy ono word to detract from the high charactor of 
 tho Oovornorrt sont hy tlio Crown to tlits Colouiea. Thoadmiiiiu- 
 tratio!! of tho diHtiiiguishod nohloinun, Lonl Monck, vvlio now 
 presidoa over Cunadn, liaH been niiukeil by tho niostHignii! ability 
 and HUCCC88. The honour of the Crown hns been maintuinod, 
 and tho best interests of the country promoted during years of 
 unusual difficulty and danger. In Nova Scotia, men of all 
 classes revere tho charactor of tho intrepid Sir Fenwick 
 Williams, whoeo military genius shed such lustre on British arms 
 at Kara ; while his regard for cotiHtitutional usages commands 
 the confidence and respect of all political parties in the Colony. 
 The gallant General Doyle, who now administers the govern- 
 ment of Now Brunswick, has for long periods, on two occa' 
 sions, represented Her Majesty in the Government of Nova 
 Scotia. Both during the Trent difficulty and tho Chesapeake 
 affair he proved equal to every emergency, and all parties in the 
 Legislature joined in an unanimous address, congratulating him 
 on the success which marked his administration. But, my Lord, 
 while bearing my humble testiiifny to the worth of these dis- 
 tinguished men, I would be guilty of the greatest injustice to 
 the public men of British America did I permit this imputation 
 upon their attainments and position to pass unnoticed. No 
 country in the world has, in proportion to its progress, produced 
 more men whose unselfish devotion to the best interests of their 
 country has not only elevated and advanced the Provinces to 
 which they respectively belonged, but also proved their fitness 
 for the discharge of the highest gubernatorial duties in any 
 portion of Her Majesty's Colonial Empire. I am quite ready to 
 admit that the wives of the Lieutenant-Governors sent from 
 this country have been graced by all the accomplishments which 
 lend such a charm to society in England ; but it would be both 
 unmanly and unjust did I conceal the fact, that in British 
 America they have found themselves associated with ladies who 
 were not their inferiors in refinement of manner or intellectual 
 culture. 
 
 The following extracts from Mr. Howe's writings and speeches 
 will show your Lordship that his estimate of British North 
 Americans has not always been so low, or his sycophantic admi- 
 ration of English gentlemen so unqualified, as the above would 
 
62 
 
 s ■ 
 
 • 1 ' 
 
 indicate. In the prospectus of the British North American 
 Association, written by him in 1802, the following pas8?\ge 
 
 occurs : — 
 
 *• The loyal Provinces of British America are unrepresented here, 
 either in tho Government or in society. No provision is made for them j 
 and upon the sfint courtesy of any administration they have no claim. 
 When queens are crowned, princes buried, parliaments opened, treaties 
 framed, or wars declared, their existence is ignored, and tbeir feelings 
 are never respected. Governors are sent to them of whom they never 
 heard, — who are unknown to the higher walks of British parliamentary 
 life, science, literature, diplomacy, or war; and nt , with war impend- 
 ing along a frontier of fifteen hundred miles, the two largest Provinces 
 have been intrusted to two officers who never saw the countries to be 
 defended, and are without any local knowledge or expeileuce." 
 
 Mr. Howe, in his speech on Mr. Johnston's resolution in 
 favour of Union in 1854, said : — 
 
 " The time will come — ^nay, sir, it has come — when these degrading 
 distinctions must no longer peril our allegiance. Will any man say 
 that North America does not produce men as fit to govern States and 
 Provinces as those who rule over Maine or Massachusetts at this hour ? 
 —as most of those y/ho are sent to govern the forty Provinces of the 
 Empire — as many that we haA'e now sent to darken, counsel, and 
 perplex us in the West? How long will North Americans be content 
 to sae their sons systematically excluded from the gubernatorial chairs, 
 not only of the Provinces that we occupy, but of every other in the 
 Empire? Not long. If monarchical institutions are to be preserved, 
 and the power of the Crown maintained, the leading spirits of the 
 Empire must be chosen to govern the Provinces, and the selection 
 must not be confined to the circle of two small islands, to old officers, 
 or broken-down members of Parliament." 
 
 Twenty years ago Mr. Howe said, in a letter to Lord John 
 Russell : — 
 
 " There are men now in North America who, if these Provinces were 
 " States in the Union, would be generals, senators, governors, secre- 
 " taries of state, or foreign ambassadors. I have seen and heard those 
 " who figure in the State Legislatures and in Congress, and, with a few 
 " exceptions (formed by the inspiring conflicts and great questions of a 
 " vast country), ] could have picked their equals from among Her Ma- 
 " jesty's subjects on this continent at any time within the last ten or 
 " fifteen years." 
 
63 
 
 The following extract is from the report of a speech made 
 by Mr. Howe in New Brunswick' in 1851 : — 
 
 " Having very adroitly sketched some of the prominent public 
 men of New Brunswick, and brought out in bold relief the pro- 
 portions of that great field of honourable emulation and exertion 
 which they would tread, when Union of the Provinces by iron 
 roads had been followed by the political organization which 
 would be the immediate result, he said : — 
 
 " If the sphere were wide enough here, what would j'ou do with such 
 " men ? You would send Judge Wilmot to administer justice. Where ? 
 '• To a small Province? No: but to an American Empire. You would 
 '• place Mr. Chandler on the bench of the United Provinces; you would 
 " hold out to the young men of your country a sphere and a field for 
 " their exertions and their ambition which none of them have open to 
 •• them now. How? By violence? Uy rebellion? By bloodshed? No. 
 " You would seek to live under the old flag. You would seek not sepa- 
 " ration from the mother country — that would be madness, folly, bad 
 ** faith; but with the cottsent of the Sovereign, and the acquiescence of 
 " the Imperial authorities, by the united action and good sense of all the 
 •' Provinces. You would seek by union to elevate them all to a higher 
 " status than any of them separately can ever enjoy. I believe that rail- 
 " ways will be of great use to these Provinces, but I believe also that it 
 " is necessary, nay almost indispensable, to produce a social and political 
 " organization of the people, to raise these Provinces to a higher position 
 " than they can ever singly attain." 
 
 Having now noticed in detail most of the leading points in 
 Mr. Howe's pamphlet, I will examine the question he has raised 
 touching the Constitutional right of the Imperial Parliament to 
 enact, at the request of the Legislatures of all the Colonies 
 interested, a Union between Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova 
 Scotia. 
 
 Afte..' full examination and discussion, both branches of the 
 Legislature in Canada, in New Brunswick, and in Nova Scotia, 
 by overwhelming majorities declared themselves in favour of 
 Confederation, and now ask the Imperial Parliament to give eflfect 
 to their wishes. Notwithstanding this Constitutional declaration 
 of the wishes of the people of these British North American 
 Provinces, Mr. Howe says, p. 24 : — 
 
 " The noblemen and gentlemen who were members of the last Ad- 
 " ministration are of course committed to this scheme. But let us hope 
 
54 
 
 10 
 
 
 m 
 
 EV 
 
 " that they are not too old to unlearn errors, or so unpatriotic as to 
 " persist in a line of policy that can no longer be defended ; and that 
 " they will not lightly value the pledged faith of England to loyal and 
 " devoted communities, who have done no wrong ; nor, in the face of 
 " such petitions as liave been sent here from Nova Scotia and Newfound- 
 " land, attempt to sacrifice those Provinces at the shrine of Canadian 
 " ambition, without regard to the forms which in all free countries pro- 
 " tect from rash innovation institutions which the people value." 
 
 Seriously, my Lord, it Is difficult to understand how any 
 one in the least degree acquainted with Constitutional usages 
 under the British Representative system of Government could 
 commit himself to a proposition so utterly at variance with every 
 principle it embodies. 
 
 Sir W. Blackstone, treating of the power of Parliament, and 
 quoting from Coke, says : — 
 
 " The power and jurisdiction of Parliament, says Sir Edward Coke, 
 is so transcendent and absolute that it cannot be confined, either for 
 cause or persons within any bounds. And of this high court, he adds 
 it may be truly said, ' Si antiquitatem spectes, est vetustistima, si 
 ' dignitatem, est honoratissima, si jurisdictionem, estcapacissima,' It 
 hath sovereign uncontrollable authority in the making, confirming, 
 enlarging, restraining, abrogating, repealing, revising, and expounding 
 of laws concerning matters of all possible denor. ^'nations, ecclesiastical 
 or temporal, civil, military, maritime, or criminal ; this being the place 
 " where that absolute, despotic power, which must in all Governments 
 " reside somewliere, is entrusted by the constitution of these kingdoms. 
 " AU mischiefs and grievances, operations and remedies, that transcend 
 •' the ordinary course of the laws, are within the reach of this extra- 
 " ordinary tribunal. It can regulate or new model the succession to the 
 " crown." 
 
 May, in his work on the privileges of Parliament, says :— 
 
 " The Legislative authority of Parliament extends over tho United 
 «' Kingdom and all its Colonies and Foreign Possessions, and there are 
 " no limits to its power of making laws for the whole empire other than 
 " those which are incident to all sovereign authority — the willingness of the 
 " people to obey, or their power to resist. Unlike the Lej>islatures of 
 " many other countries, it is bound by no fundamental charter or con- 
 " stitution ; but has itself the sole constitutional right of establishing 
 " and altering the laws and Government of the Empire." 
 
 The power of the Imperial Parliament being thus con- 
 clusively established, I need not remind your Lordship that, 
 
65 
 
 I ' 
 
 under the Liberal Constitution which has been conceded to the 
 British North American Provinces, the same powers are enjoyed 
 by the several Local Legislatures, subject alone to the sovereignty 
 of Great Britain, as are here possessed by the Lords and Com- 
 mons of Great Britain. As Mr. Howe does not venture to 
 question the wishes of the people of Canada, and as the people 
 of New Brunswick, at the polls, have elected the present As- 
 sembly by a majority of thirty-three, pledged to support Con- 
 federation as opposed to eight dissentients, the question is 
 narrowed down to Nova Hcotia alone. In that Province, my 
 Lord, at the last general election, Mr. Howe, the then Leader 
 of the Government, was defeated at the polls, and has not since 
 obtained a seat in the Legislature. Only thirteen members were 
 returned out of fifty -live to support the Government of which 
 he was the Leader. He was therefore compelled to resign, and 
 his opponents were called upon to form an Administration. 
 That Government has, up to the present time, been triumphantly 
 sustained in the Legislature, having carried the most difficult 
 measures by very large majorities. The resolution in favour of 
 Confederation was passed by a majority of thirty-one to nineteen 
 in the House of Assembly, and of thirteen to five in the Legis- 
 lative Council. No one acquainted with Nova Scotia will 
 venture to assert that the Legislature of that Province does not 
 fairly represent the education, property, independent spirit, and 
 industry of the Colony. In that jte the Government were 
 sustained by the leaders of tl Opposition, both in the Upper 
 and Lower Chambers. The gentlemen who had held the oftices 
 of Attorney-General, Solicitor-General, Chief Railway C^m- 
 missioner, and Receiver-General, in Mi. Howe's Government, 
 in fact, every former member of his Adminiotration novv in the 
 Legislature, except two, remained true to the principles vith 
 which he had so zealously indoctrinated them, and iustaineu the 
 resolutions in favour of Union. 
 
 On page 7 of Mr. Howe's pamphlet he says, speaking of the 
 Maritime Provinces : — 
 
 *' Their system is very simple. They govern them> s as com- 
 " pletely as any other British Province or any States ol' the American 
 " Union, in perfect subordination to the Govemzuent and Parliament of 
 " the Empire." 
 
56 
 
 k>S. 
 
 Again, page 12: — 
 
 " These Provinces now govern themselves, and do it well." 
 
 Now, my Lord, what is the theory or practice of the British 
 Constitution ? Where is the limit which bounds the power of 
 Parliament, and says, thus far and no farther shalt thou go? 
 Where does Mr. Howe find the principle laid down in the 
 British Parliamentary System that Constitutional changes can 
 only be made by the " people at the polls," passing upon each 
 individual question before it can have the force of law ? Now, 
 my Lord, it has been ths boast of Mr. Howe for twenty years, 
 that, subject to the power of the Crown to disallow, we had the 
 British Parliamentary System as perfectly as the Parent State. 
 In 1840 a message was sent by the Governor-General to the 
 Parliament of Canada, informing them "that he had received 
 " Her Majesty's commands to administer the Governments of 
 " the Provinces in accordance with the well -understood wishes 
 " and interests of the people, and to pay to their feelings, as 
 " expressed through their representatives, the deference that is 
 " justly due to them." 
 
 Mr. Howe said in a speech in the Legislature, in 1840 :— • 
 
 " This House had asked for a Government responsible in local affairs 
 " before his Lordship (Earl Durham) saw thia continent. He would refer 
 " to the address of 1837 ; in that they asked for such responsibility as 
 «' would assure to the Provinces the fair influence of its Legislature in aU 
 " matters and the spirit of the British Constitution." 
 
 In support of this principle, Mr. Howe quoted the eloquent 
 language of the great Mr. Fox, as follows : — 
 
 '• Had not a majority of the House of Commons, almost from time 
 immemorial, governed this country ? Was it not a confidence in the 
 House of Commons that gave energy and effect to every administration ? 
 Was it not the countenance and concurrence of the House of Commons 
 which gave popularity and stability to the throne ? Was it not in 
 clashing with this radical and primary principle that so many calamities 
 had happened in some of the reigns prior to the Revolution ? Was it 
 not to the influence of this principle that we owed aU the glorious and 
 memorable things that had been acliieved during the war before last? 
 What could be the reason for relinquisliing a principle which ever since 
 its prevalence has been marked with the most striking advantages ?" 
 
 In 1849, the British American League, embracing a great 
 
 
67 
 
 body of able and leading men in Canada, undertook to suggest 
 important Ooastitutional changas. Mr. Howe, on that occasion, 
 gave Mr. Chapman, the chairman of that body, the benefit of 
 his opinions as to the propriety of Parliament alone dealing with 
 such matters, as follows : — 
 
 " A Confederation of the Colonies maybe the desire of your Conven- 
 tion. If so, the object is legitimate; but it must be pursued by legitimate 
 means. Believe me, it can only be wisely attained by and through the 
 Provincial Legislatures, not by self-elected societies acting independently 
 and in defiance of them. Suppose to-morrow propositions were sub- 
 mitted to the Lower Colonies for a Legislative Union or General Con- 
 federation. If made by the Government and Parliament of Canada 
 they would be treated with deference and respect. If made by a party 
 in opposition they would not be for a moment entertained. * ♦ 
 
 * We desire free-trade among all the Provinces under one 
 
 national flag, with one coin, one measure, one tariff, one post office. We 
 feel that the courts, the press, the educational institutions of North 
 America, would be elevated by Union; that intercommunication by 
 railroads, telegraphs, and steamboats, would be promoted; and that if 
 such a combination of interests were achieved wisely, and with proper 
 guards, the foundations of a great nation in friendly connection with 
 the mother country would be laid on an indestructible basis." 
 
 In 1842, Mr. Howe, ia the Legislature, thus vindicated the 
 rights of the Representatives of the People :— 
 
 " But when Eepresentatives have been elected, though they are con- 
 " sidered the peculiar guardians of the places whence they were returned, 
 " by the theory of the British Constitution, which we claim for our in- 
 " heritance, and, according to the views of the highest minds in the Empire, 
 *' the moment a man takes his place in Parliament he is not a Bepresen- 
 " tal'vp of a part of the country, but of the nation at large." 
 
 On the journals of the Legislative Councils for 1861, your 
 Lordship will find the following minutes in Council, signed by 
 Mr. Howe: — 
 
 •' A vast majority of the people of England are not represented in 
 " Parliament at all, yet the Executive Council need not inform your 
 " Excellency that a public man would be laughed at who claimed to seize 
 " the Government because he had thoir support. Forty counties in 
 " England, with a population, in 1841, of nine million, one hundred and 
 •' nine thousand, two hundred and eighty-one, had but one hundred and 
 " forty-three members, while one hundred and eighty-seven cities and 
 " boroughs, including but five million, eight hundred and seveuty-uine 
 
 
hi 
 
 " thousand, three hundred and twer.+y-seven, had three hundred and 
 " twenty-three. Now what would be thought of any statesman, with the 
 •• county members at his back, if he claimed to rule England, or compel 
 " the Sovereign to dissolve, with the Representatives of the cities and 
 " boroughs against him? What Repiasentative of the smallest constitu- 
 " encyin Great Britain would yield to the member returned by the largest 
 " any more influence than he had himself; or admit before a ministry 
 " was turned out that it was necessary not only to count the members in 
 " the lobbies, but their constituents also ? * ♦ * At 
 
 " this moment a majority of the people, of the constituencies and of 
 " their representatives, support the Administration, and we have a larger 
 " proportionate majority to sustain us than Lord Palmerston has in the 
 •' mother country. Under these circumstances we are not very much 
 " afraid of the interference o^ the Imperial Parliament. 
 " January 29, 1H61— Minute: — 
 
 " Mr. Hatfield and Mr. Campbell are the best judges of the soundness 
 " of their own views and the propriety of their conduct. They are not 
 " Delegates but Members of Parliament, and from the moment of their 
 " election they were bound to represent, not only Digby or Argyle, but 
 " the whole Province, whose great interests were committed to their care. 
 " This doctrine laid down by Mr. Burke at Bristol, in 1774, has never 
 •' been questioned in the Imperial Parliament : and Mr. Horsman, member 
 " for Stroud, though recently called on by his constituents to resign, has 
 " asserted his rights, and illustrating this sound British doctrine, posi- 
 *' tively refused. If members were to resign whenever for a moment they 
 «• displeased their constituents, the calls would be frequent — personal in- 
 '* dependence would be rare, and questions would be discussed by requi- 
 " sitions rather than by fair deliberation and manly debate. If Parliament 
 •' were to be dissolved whenever a gentleman changed sides, or a discon- 
 " tented constituency petitioned, free institutions would become an endless 
 " distraction, and no man would ever dare to deliberate or run the risk of 
 " being convinced." 
 
 March 30th, 1861, Lord Mulgrave, by the advice of the 
 Government, of which Mr. Howe was the Leader, said in a 
 despatch to the Colonial Secretary : — 
 
 " It is the undoubted principle of the British Constitution that a 
 " member once returned by a constituency has to consider what he believes 
 " to be the interests of the whole country, and not the simple wishes of 
 " his own constituency. He is elected a Representative and not a Dele - 
 " gate, and the constituency have given to him for the limited period fixed 
 " by law for the duration of Parliament, the power which they possessed. 
 " They have a right to represent to him their views, and to refuse to re- 
 " elect him at the end of the Parliament, if they are dissatisfied with his 
 *' oouduct; but they have no right, pending the duration of the Parliament, 
 
 
59 
 
 " I « 
 
 •' to coerce his actions ; still less have they the right to expect that the 
 " Royal Prerogative should be used because they are dissatisfied with the 
 " choice they have made." 
 
 In advocating the policy of direct taxation for the support 
 of schools, Mr. Howe, in the Legislature, thus forcibly illustrated 
 the sacrifice at which this boon must be obtained, and asserted 
 the Condtitutional right and duty of the Legislature to serve the 
 best interests of the country even in opposition to the wishes of 
 the people : — 
 
 " An objection which pressed on many minds was the unpopularity 
 of direct taxation. It was unpopular in every country, although less 
 so where it was experienced than where it was only spoken of. A 
 change to direct taxation for general purposes would not be advisable, 
 yet even under such a system the country might prosper as well as 
 under the present. But for the sacred purposes of education, ibr 
 founding a provincial character, for the endowment of common schools 
 for the whole population, no hesitation need be felt at coming to direct 
 taxation. Few perhaps were more worldly than himself, or more alive 
 to the value of popularity, yet he would willingly take all the blame, all 
 the unpopularity that miglit be heaped on him as one who had a share 
 in establishing that which he proposed. They were representatives of 
 the people, and he put it to them as they were greatly honoured should 
 they not greatly dare ? They were sent to do their duty to their con- 
 stituents, whether their acts always gave satisfaction or not. They 
 were sent to represent the opinions of the country when they believed 
 the people were better informed than the House, but to exercise their 
 cwn judgments when they felt convinced they were better informed 
 than the people. He called on gentlemen not to be too timid in risking 
 popularity, and not to reckon too carefully the price of iloing their 
 
 " They should look to the ultimate benefit, and in some degree coerce 
 the people ; that was a duty the House owed them as their Represen- 
 tatives. * * * Should it be said that Nova Scotians 
 were not prepared to pay the penalty of loss of seats in that Assembly 
 to do a great good to the Province." 
 
 I have already shown your Lordship that this question of 
 a Union of the Provinces has been a subject of much dis- 
 cussion for many years in Nova Scotia ; that all the leading 
 men of both the political parties into which the Province has 
 been divided have avowed themselves the advocates of such 
 Union ; that when Mr. Howe was in power in 1861 he obtained 
 the unanimous approval of the Legislature to that policy ; that. 
 
M- 
 
 60 
 
 previously to the last general election, I had publicly advocated 
 the same system of Confe»leration now proposed, and gone to 
 the hustings pledged to it in the strongest manner. A reference 
 to the history which I have already given of 'his project will 
 show that Lord Durham, His Grace the Duke of Nowcasitle, the 
 Right Hon. Mr. Cartlwell, the Hon. Chief Justice Young, the 
 Hon. Equity-Judge Jolinston, and Mr. Howe himself, have all 
 recorded their deliberate judgment, that the proper Constitu- 
 tional mode of settling this question is by the action of the 
 Legislatures of the Colonies and of the Imperial Parliament ; 
 that British Constitutional practice has been followed: and yet 
 after all this, Mr. Howe ventures to demand an appeal to the 
 people at the polls from the deliberate action of an immense 
 majority of both Houses of Parliament. 
 
 The defeated gambler is of course always ready to play the 
 game over again for the stakes already lost ; but I have yet to 
 learn that, under our system of Representative Institutions, it 
 is incumbent upon a Government to dissolve a Legislature so long 
 as they are handsomely sustained by large majorities in carrying 
 measures considered indispensable to the prosperity and security 
 of the country. 
 
 No one, my Lord, knows better than Mr. Howe, that if the 
 Legislature were dissolved to-morrow, expressly on the Con- 
 federation question, it would be impossible to obtain the unbiassed 
 judgment of the Province. The measure providing for the 
 support of common school education by direct taxation, which 
 Mr. Howe advocated so ably, but never ventured to peril his 
 administration by passing, has been put on the statute-book by 
 the present Government, in a spirit of self-sacrifice, at the shrine 
 of the public good. For every vote that would be influenced in 
 a general election by the question of Confederation, two would 
 be given on the obnoxious subject of direct taxation, so revolting 
 to all young countries. 
 
 The provision in the Quebec scheme, which placed the con- 
 trol of banking in the hands of the General Government and 
 Legislature, arrayed a large number of gentlemen interested iu 
 some half-dozen local banks against Confederation — and capital 
 can always find agents ; but I am proud to be able to say that 
 the great body of the educated, intelligent, thinking men of the 
 
61 
 
 Province, of all parties, including almost the entire clergy and 
 minicters of all denominations, are warmly in favour of the 
 Union of British North America, and have no hesitation in 
 asserting that no power on earth could induce the moat insignifi- 
 cant proportion of my countrymen to assume an attitude of the 
 least hostility to the Imperial Government or Parliament in 
 consequence of the passing of an Act to consummate this Union. 
 
 Were Mr. Howe to succeed in convincing the British Govern* 
 ment and people that Nova Scotia is yet unfit to enjoy the free 
 institutions which were conceded to her a quarter of a century 
 ago, and that it is necessary that the Imperial Government 
 should interpose and override the constitutional action of her 
 Legislature, it is not very likely that the first exercise of such 
 ♦an authority would be used to antagonize a policy which hag 
 been recommended by your Lordship's immediate predecessor, 
 as best calculated to perpetuate British power on the Continent 
 of America. But I have no such fear. Mr. Howe may pro- 
 perly be told, in the language of his pamphlet, " When self- 
 government was conceded, it could never afterwards be with- 
 drawn, unless upon ample proof, elicited by legal forms or 
 deliberate Parliamentary enquiry, that it had been grossly 
 abused." * # # « giy^ it is unfair for you to come 
 here and attempt to mix the Government and Parliament of 
 England up in your disputes; you possess ample powers to 
 mature a scheme of Government." 
 
 But Mr. Howe says, " The present House is sitting upon a 
 
 franchise which expired a year ago, and had not, according to 
 
 British mage, the right to pass any resolution at all. Parliament 
 
 in this country is invariably dissolved when a new franchise is 
 
 adopted." 
 
 It is quite true that Mr. Howe, in 1863, just previous to the 
 last general election, obtained the enactment of a law under which 
 more than a quarter of the electors of the Province will be 
 disfranchised; but in introducing the Bill to the Legislature, 
 the Attorney-General of his Government distinctly declared 
 that it would not involve a new general election until the usual 
 period. Now, my Lord, I have yet to learn that it is at all in- 
 dispensable, under the British system, that a general election 
 pbould take place when the franchise has been extended. Such 
 
\> 
 
 62 
 
 has not been the practice in Nova Scotia ; bnt, even were it so, 
 I challenj,'e Mr. Howe to bIiow a single instance in " British 
 u.sage " where an appeal to the people took place in consequence 
 of the franchise having been narrowed, and a large portion of 
 the electors deprived of the privileges they had hitherto enjoyed 
 under the law. 
 
 The impossible nature of the task to which Mr. Howe ad- 
 dressed himself is well illustrated by the extravagant hyperboles 
 and incongruous statements with which his pamphlet abounds. 
 Its readers cannot fail to be impressed with the fact, that every 
 argument advanced is not only in distinct contradiction with 
 every sentiment in which, in a truly British American spirit, Mr. 
 Howe has advocated a Union of the Colonies throughout his 
 public career, but, what is still more striking, that the reasons* 
 he now advances to sustain the various points of his present 
 position effectually refute each other. 
 
 No man, my Lord, who had a substantial Constitutional ob- 
 jection to urge against the proposed Union oF British America 
 by an Act of the Imperial Parliament, at the request of large 
 majorities of both branches of the Legislatures in all the Pro- 
 vinces interested, would require to characterize such an Act as 
 " a measure of spoliation and appropriation on a more gigantic 
 scale than any that has startled Europe," or to compare the found- 
 ing of a British monarchy in British America with the establish- 
 ment of an Imperial despotism in Mexico by Louis Napoleon. 
 
 When Mr. Howe wishes to prove that Canada, Nova Scotia, 
 and New Brunswick, dependent upon each other for the advance- 
 ment of all, and drawn together by a common interest and a 
 common danger, had better remain isolated, he presents the 
 United States as riven by internal discord and breaking 
 up into a half-dozen different and antagonistic Governments; 
 yet on the next page, when he endeavours to prove that Great 
 Britain and a United British America will be unable to protect 
 and preserve the latter, he reunites the scattered fragments of 
 the Great Republic and declares with equal confidence that it 
 will not only " stagger on for some years," but that a quarter of 
 a century hence the American Union will exhibit a consolidated 
 power, numbering sixty-eight millions" of people. 
 
 It is obvious that both of these statements cannot be pro- 
 phetic. If there be any truth in the former, no one need fear 
 
 ife 
 
63 
 
 for the safety of British America ; and, if the latter should be 
 more accurate, Biitiah America ought not to bo a cause of 
 jealousy to a power so ffigniitic. On one page of his pamphlet, 
 Mr. Howe shows conclusively that Canada, with all her re- 
 sources, cut off from conimunication with the sea, can never be 
 a great country ; and yet he charges her public men with 
 overweening " ambition," bocause they are endeavouring, by 
 Union with the INIaritime Provinces, to obtain access to the 
 ocean, and rapid and easy communication at all seasons of the 
 year with the Parent State. In like manner Mr. Howe ex- 
 aggerates the antagonism of race, religion, and language be- 
 tween Upper and Lower Canada, rendering, as he says, govern- 
 ment all but impossible; and yet fails to perceive that, if 
 his premises be correct, the Union, which will remove this 
 diflBculty, must commend itself to the cordial support of every 
 man who desires the advancement of British America. Again, 
 Mr. Howe, regardless of the fact that he has endeavoured to 
 show that Upper and Lower Canada must for centuries be 
 strongly opposed to each other, proves equally to his own satis- 
 faction that, by the cordial union ond co-operation of the two 
 Canadas, the Maritime Provinces, with their forty-seven Mem- 
 bers in a House of Commons of one hundred and ninety-four, 
 will be swamped, and their interests sacrificed ; and that an Upper 
 Chamber, in which they are represented equally with either Upper 
 or Lower Canada, will be powerless to obtain for them fair 
 consideration. 
 
 Volunteering his advocacy for Nova Scotia, Mr. Howe has 
 nothing better to propose than that it be made a Gibraltar 
 for Great Britain ; yet, putting out of sight the impossibility 
 of holding eighteen thousand square miles of country, with 
 only three hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, and an un- 
 fortified sea coast of a thousand miles in extent, with all the 
 rest of the American continent abandoned to the "giant Re- 
 public," where, I would ask, can he expect to find another 
 Nova Scotian who would be content with a position of isolation 
 80 utterly fatal to that progress and importance to which, with 
 her great natural resources and position, as the Atlantic frontage 
 of British America, she may now look confidently forward ? 
 But, my Lord, it is not necessary to dwell upon this point, as 
 the power that is not ftble to aid Bucceesfallv four millions of 
 
64 
 
 A 
 
 energetic and bravo men in Britiflh America to maintain con- 
 nection with tlio Crown to wliich they nro nil so loyally devoted 
 must ohviouBly fail in prfserving Nova Scotia. The dlHastroug 
 effects of the loss of British America to Great Britain is thug 
 graphically described by Mr. Howe, on p. 33 : — 
 
 " When this was done, the parties in this country who take un. 
 " English views of overytliinj? might bo satisfliMl and consoled. But how 
 " would it stand with these Islands? When their only formidable com. 
 •• mercial rival ruled the whole Continent of America, from tlie Gulf of 
 " Mexico to Hudson's Bay, — when her Mercantile Marine was increased 
 *' hy a million of tons of shipping, — when England was left without a 
 " harbour of refuge, a spar, or a ton of coal on the whole Continent of 
 " America, — when four millions of British subjects had been drawn 
 " behind the Morrill Tariff, and every h)yal Irishman in British America 
 •' had been converted into a Fenian, — when the outposts of the enemy 
 " had been advanced HOO miles nearer to England by the possession of 
 «' Nova Scotia and Newfoundland,— does anybody believe that American 
 " diplomacy would be any the less aggressive, or that the coasts of this 
 " great centre of our civilization would be any the more secure ? No I 
 " England tliat now fights for Empire would be compelled to fight for ex- 
 " istence ; and Ireland, now tolerably steady, impressed by the odds 
 " against England, might become a doubtful ally; and what would be 
 " worse, millions of loyal subjects, trained in love and devotion to the 
 •' Mother Country would be coerced into a contest in which victory would 
 " be even more heart-rending ond degrading than defeat." 
 
 Deeply impressed with the truth of these opinions, apart 
 from the great interest which, as a British American, I feel in 
 this question, I should be a traitor to the Crown and to the 
 Empire if I did not endeavour to promote the Union of the 
 British North American Colonies, as the only means by which 
 this great national , isfortune may be averted. 
 
 That a policy alike demanded by the best interests of the 
 British American Provinces and of the Parent State, may meet 
 with the approval of Her Majesty's Ministers and obtain the 
 sanction of the Imperial Parliament ; and that an United British 
 America may, under the segis of Great Britain, rapidly advance 
 to the position among the nations of the earth, indicated by her 
 great natural resources and the indomUable character of the race 
 from which her, people are sprung, arc. the earnest aspirations of 
 
 Your Lordship's most obedient humble Servant, 
 
 CHARLES TUPPER, 
 
 Alzxamdra Hotel, Htoe Park Cobneb, 
 October 19th, 1666. 
 
«5 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 • ' 
 
 REPORT 
 
 Op Rbsolutions adopted at a Conpbrenok op Dbleoateb 
 PROM THE Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New 
 Brunswick, and the Colonies of Newfoundland and 
 Prince Edward Island, held at tub City of Quebec, 
 10th October, 18f»4, as the basis of a proposed Con- 
 federation of those Provinces and Colonies. 
 
 1. The best interests aud present and future prosperity of 
 British North America will be promoted by a Federal Union 
 under the Crown of Great Britain, provided such union can be 
 effected on principles just to the several provinces. 
 
 2. In the Federation of the British North 'American Pro- 
 vinces, the system of Government best adapted, under existing 
 circumstances, to protect the diversified interests of the several 
 Provinces, and secure efficie;icy, harmony, and permanency in 
 the working of the union, would be a General Government 
 charged with matters of common interest to the whole country, 
 and Local Governments for each of the Canadas and for the 
 Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward 
 Island, charged with the control of local matters in their 
 respective sections, — provision being made for the admission 
 into the Union, on equitable terms, of Newfoundland, the North- 
 West Territory, British Columbia, and Vancoiiver. 
 
 3. In framing a Constitution for the General Government, 
 the Conference, with a view to the perpetuation of our connection 
 with the Mother Country, and to the promotion of the best 
 interests of the people of these Provinces, desire to follow the 
 model of the British Constitution, so far as our circumstances 
 will permit. 
 
66 
 
 
 4. The Executive Authority or Government shall bo vested 
 in the Sovereign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
 Ireland, and be administered according to the well understood 
 principles of the British Constitution, by the Sovereign person- 
 ally, or by the Representative of the Sovereign, duly authjrized. 
 
 5. The Sovereign, or Representative of the Sovereign, 
 shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Land and Naval Militia 
 Forcta. 
 
 6. There shall be a General Legislature, or Parliament, for 
 the Federated Provinces, composed of a Legislative Council and 
 a House of Commons. 
 
 7. For the purpose of forming the Legislative Council, the 
 I'ederated Provinces shall be considered as consisting of three 
 divisions : — Ist — Upper Canada ; 2nd — Lower Canada ; 3rd— - 
 Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, — each 
 division with an equal representation in the Legislative Council. 
 
 8. Upper Canada shall be represented in the Legislative 
 Council by 24 members^ Lower Canada by 24 members, and the 
 three Maritime Provinces by 24 members, of which Nova Scotia 
 shall have ten, New Brunt v.-jk ten, and Prince Edward Island 
 four members. 
 
 9. The Colony of Newfoundland shall be entitled to enter 
 the proposed Union with a representation in the Legislative 
 Council of four members. 
 
 10. The North-West Territory, British Columbia, and 
 Vancouver, shall be admitted into the Union on such terms and 
 conditions as the Parliament of the Federated Provinces shall 
 deem equitable, and as shall receive the assent of Her Majesty ; 
 and in the case of the Province of British Columbia or Vancou- 
 ver, as shall be agreed to by the Legislature of such Province. 
 
 11. The Members of the Legislative Council shall be ap- 
 pointed by the Crown under the Great Seal of the General 
 Government, and shall hold office during life. If any Legisla- 
 tive Councillor shall, for two consecutive Sessions of Parliament, 
 fail to give his attendance in the said Council, his seat shall 
 thereby become vacr-r t. 
 
 12. The Members of the Legislative Council shall be British 
 Subjects by birth or naturalization, of the full age of thirty 
 years, shall possess a continuous real property qualificatica of 
 
 V 
 
 A 
 
v!, 
 
 67 
 
 four thousand dollars over and above all incumbrances, and shall 
 be and continue worth that Lain over and above their debts and 
 liabilities ; but in the cas«> of Newfoundland and Prince Edward 
 Island, the property may be either real or personal. 
 
 13, If any question shaU arise as to the qualification of a 
 Legislative Councillor, the same shall be determined by the 
 Council. 
 
 Ix. The first selection of the members of the Legislative 
 Council shall be made, except as regards Prince Edward Island, 
 from the Legislative Councils of the various Provinces, so far as 
 a sufficient number be found qualified and willing to serve; such 
 members shall b^ appointed by the Crown at the recommenda- 
 tion of the General Executive Government, upon the nomination 
 of the respective Local Governments, — and in such nomination, 
 due regard shall be had to the claims of the members of the 
 Legislative Council of the Opposition in each Province, so that all 
 political parties may, as nearly as possible, be fairly represented. 
 
 15. The Speaker of the Legislative Council (unless oth'jr- 
 wise provided by Parliament) shall be appointed by the Crown 
 from among the members of the Legislative Council, and shall 
 hold office during pleasure, and shall only be entitled to a casting 
 vote on an equality of v"t 
 
 16. Each of the twen*^-four Legislative Councillors repre- 
 senting Lower Canada in the Legislative Council of the General 
 Legislature, shall be appointed to represent one of the twenty- 
 four Electoral Divisions mentioned in Schedule A of Chapter 
 First of the Consolidated Statutes of Canada, and such Councillor 
 shall reside or possess his qualification in the division he is ap- 
 pointed to represent. 
 
 17. The basis of representation in the House of Commons 
 shall be population, as determined by the official census every 
 ten years ; and the number of members at first shall be 194, 
 distributed as follows : — 
 
 Upper Canada 82 
 
 Lower Canada 65 
 
 Nova Scotia 19 
 
 New Brunswick 15 
 
 Newfoundland 8 
 
 and Prince Edward Island ... 5 
 
68 
 
 V ' 
 
 18. Until the official census of 1871 has been made up, 
 there sliall be no change in the number of representatives from 
 the several sections. 
 
 19. Immediately after the completion of the census of 1871, 
 and immediately after every decennial census thereafter, the re- 
 presentation from each section in the House of Commons shall 
 be re -adjusted on the basis of population. 
 
 20. For the purpose of such re-adjustments, Lower Canada 
 shall always be assigned sixty-five members, and each of the 
 other sections shall at each re-adjustment receive, for the ten 
 years then next succeeding, the number of members to which it 
 will fee entitled on the same ratio of representation to population 
 as Lower Canada will enjoy according to the census last taken 
 by having sixty-five members. 
 
 21 . No reduction shall be made in the number of members 
 returned by any section, unless its population shall have decreased 
 relatively to the population of the whole Union, to tho extent of 
 five per centum. 
 
 22. In computing at each decennial period, the number of 
 members to which each section is entitled, no fractional parts 
 shall be considered, unless when exceeding one-half the number 
 entitling to a member, in which case a member shall be given 
 for each such fractional part. 
 
 23. The Legislature of each Province shall divide such 
 Province into the proper number of constituencies, and define the 
 boundaries of each of them. 
 
 24. The Local Legislature of each Province may, from time 
 to time, alter the electoral districts for the purposes of representa- 
 tion in the House of Commons, and distribute the representatives 
 to which the Province is entitled in any manner such Legislature 
 may think fit. 
 
 26. The number of members may, at any time, be increased 
 by the General Parliament, regard being had to the proportionate 
 rights then existing. 
 
 26. Until provisions are made by the General Parliament, 
 all the Laws which, at the date of the proclamation constituting 
 the Union, are in force in the Provinces respectively, relating to 
 the qualification and disqualification of any person to be elected 
 or to sit or vote as a member of the Assembly in the said Pro- 
 
 V • 
 
69 
 
 vinces respectively, and relating to the qualification or diaquali" 
 fication of voters, and to the oaths to bo taken by voters, and to 
 returning officers and their powers and duties, and relating to 
 the proceedings at elections, and to the period during which such 
 elections may be continued, and relating to the trial of contro- 
 verted elections, and the proceedings incident thereto, and relating 
 to the vacating of seats of members, and to the issuing and exe- 
 cution of new writs in case of any seat being vacated otherwise 
 than by a, dissolution, — shall respectively apply to elections of 
 members to serve in the House of Commons for places situate 
 in those Provinces respectively. 
 
 27. Every House of Commons shall continue for five years 
 from the day of the return of the writs choosing the same, and 
 no longer, subject, nevertheless, to be sooner prorogued or dis- 
 solved by the Governor. 
 
 28. There shall be a Session of the General Parliament once 
 at least in every year, so that a period of twelve calendar months 
 shall not intervene between the last sitting of the General Parlia- 
 ment in one Session and the first sitting thereof in the next 
 Session. 
 
 29. The General Parliament shall have power to »n:ike Laws 
 for the peace, welfare, and good Government of the P'ederated 
 Provinces (saving the Sovereignty of England), and especially 
 Laws respecting the following subjects : — 
 
 1. The Public Debt and Property. 
 
 2. The Regulation of Trade and Commerce. 
 
 3. The imposition or regulation of Duties of Customs on 
 
 Imports and Exports, except on Exports of Timber, 
 Logs, Masts, Spars, Deals, and Sawn Lumber, and 
 of Coal and other Minerals. 
 
 4. The imposition or regulation of Excise Duties. 
 
 5. The raising of money by all or any other modes or 
 
 systems of Taxation. 
 
 6. The borrowing of money on the public credit. 
 
 7. Postal Service. 
 
 8. Lines of Steam or other Chips, Railways, Canals, and 
 
 other works, connecting any two or more of the 
 Provinces together, or extending beyond the limits 
 of any Province. 
 
70 
 
 9. 
 10. 
 11. 
 
 12. 
 13. 
 14. 
 15. 
 16. 
 17. 
 18. 
 
 19. 
 20. 
 
 21. 
 
 22. 
 23. 
 24. 
 25. 
 26. 
 27. 
 28. 
 29. 
 30. 
 31. 
 32. 
 
 33. 
 
 a- 
 S3 
 
 Lines of Steamships between the Federated Provinces 
 and other countries. 
 
 Telegraphic Communication and the Incorporation of 
 Telegraph Companies. 
 
 All such works as shall, although lying wholly within 
 any Province, be specially declared by the acts au- 
 thorizing them to be for the general advantage. 
 
 The Census. 
 
 Militia — Military and Naval Service and Defence. 
 
 Beacons, Buoys, and Light Houses. 
 
 Navigation and Shipping. 
 
 Quarantine. 
 
 Sea Coast and Inland Fisheries . 
 
 Ferries between any Province and a Foreign Country, 
 or between any two Provinces. 
 
 Currency and Coinage. 
 
 Banking — Incorporation of Banks and the issue of 
 Paper Money. 
 
 Savings Banks. 
 
 Weights and Measures. 
 
 Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes. 
 
 Interest. 
 
 Legal Tender. 
 
 Bankruptcy and Insolvency. 
 
 Patents of Invention and Discovery. 
 
 Copy Rights. 
 
 Indians and Lands reserved for the Indians. 
 
 Naturalization and Aliens. 
 
 Marriage and Divorce. 
 
 The Criminal Law, excepting the Constitution of Courts 
 of Criminal Jurisdiction, but including the procedure 
 on Criminal matters. 
 
 Rendering uniform all or any of the laws relative to 
 property and civil rights in Upper Canada, Nova 
 Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Prince 
 Edward Island, and rendering uniform the procedure 
 of all or any of the Courts in these Provinces ; but 
 any Statute for this purpose shall have no force or 
 authority in any Province until sanctioned by the 
 Legislature thereof. 
 
- 
 
 71 
 
 34. The Establishment, of a General Court rf Appeal for 
 
 the Federated Proviuoes. 
 36. Immigration. 
 
 36. Agriculture. 
 
 37. And generally respecting all matters of a general cha- 
 
 racter, not specially and exclusively reserved I'ur the 
 Local Governments and Legislatures. 
 
 30. The General Government and Parliament shall have 
 all powers necessary or prop^ir for performing the obligations of 
 the Federated Provinces, as part ot the Britisn Empire, to 
 Foreign Countries, arising under treaties between Great Britain 
 and such countries. 
 
 3L The General Parliament may also, from time to timei 
 establish additional Courts, and the General Government may 
 appoint Judges and Officers thereof when the same shall appear 
 necessary or for the public advantage, in order to the due exe- 
 cution of the laws of Parliament. 
 
 32. All Courts, Judges, and Officers of the several Provinces 
 shall aid, assist, and obey the General Government in the exer- 
 cise of its rights and powers, and for such purposes shall be held 
 to be Courts, Judges, and Officers of the General Government. 
 
 33. The General Government shall appoint and pay the 
 Judges of the Superior Courts in each Province, and of the 
 County Courts of Upper Canada, and Parliament shall fix their 
 salaries. 
 
 34. Until the Consolidation of the Laws of Upper Canada, 
 New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Prince Ed- 
 ward Island, the Judges of these Provinces appointed by the 
 General Government shall be selected from their respective bars. 
 
 35. The Judges of the Courts of Lower Canada shall be 
 selected from the bar of Lower Canada. 
 
 36. The Judges of the Court of Admiralty now receiving 
 salaries shall be paid by the General Government. 
 
 37. The Judges of the Superior Courts shall hold their 
 offices during good behaviour, and shall be removable only on 
 the address of both Houses of Parliament. 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 
72 
 
 
 IM 
 
 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 38. For each of the Provinces there shall be an Executive 
 Officer, styled the Lieutenant Governor, who shall be appointed 
 by the Governor General in Council, under the Great Seal of 
 the Federated Provinces, during pleasure, — such pleasure not to 
 be exercised before the expiration of the first five years, except 
 for cause ; such cause to be communicated in writing to the 
 Lieutenant Governor immediately after the exercise of the plea- 
 sure as aforesaid, and also by message to both Houses of Parlia- 
 ment \\'ithin the first week of the first Session afterwards. 
 
 39. The Lieutenant Governor of each Province shall be 
 paid by the General Government. 
 
 40. In undertaking to pay the salaries of the Lieutenant 
 Governors, the Conference does not desire to prejudice the claim 
 of Prnce Edward Island upon the Imperial Government for the 
 amount now paid for the salary of the Lieutenant Governor 
 thereof. 
 
 41. The Local Government and Legislature of each Pro- 
 vince shall be constructed in such manner as the existing 
 Legislature of such Province shall provide. 
 
 42. The Local Legislatures shall have power to alter or 
 amend the constitution from time to time. 
 
 43. The Local Legislatures shall have power to make laws 
 respecting the following subjects : — 
 
 
 1. 
 
 2. 
 8. 
 
 4. 
 6. 
 6. 
 
 Direct Taxation and imposition of Duties on the export 
 of Timber, Logs, Masts, Spars, Deals, and Sawn 
 Lumber, and of Coals and other Minerals. 
 
 Borrowing money on the credit of the Province. 
 
 The establishment and tenure of Local Offices, and the 
 appointment and payment of Local Officers. 
 
 Agriculture. 
 
 Immigration. 
 
 Education — saving the rights and privileges which the 
 Protestant or Catholic minority in both Canadas may 
 possess as to their denominational schools, at the 
 time when the Union goes into operation. 
 
 '#!> 
 
r 
 
 73 
 
 7. The sale and management of Public Lands, excepting 
 
 Lauds belonging to the General Government. 
 
 8. Sea Coast and Inland Fisheries. 
 
 9. The establishment, maintenance, and management of 
 
 Penitentiaries, and of Public and Reformatory 
 Prisons. 
 
 10. The establishment, maintenance, and management of 
 
 Hospitals, Asylums, Charities, and Eleemosynary 
 Institutions. 
 
 11. Municipal Institutions. 
 
 12. Shop, Saloon, Tavern, Auctioneer, and other Licenses. 
 
 13. Local Works. "* 
 
 14. The incorporation of private or local companies, except 
 
 such as relate to matters assigned to the General 
 Parliament. 
 
 15. Property and civil rights, excepting those portions 
 
 thereof assigned to the General Parliament. 
 
 16. Inflicting punishment by fine, penalties, imprisonment, 
 
 or otherwise for the breach of laws passed in relation 
 to any subject within their jurisdiction. 
 
 17 The administration of justice, including the constitution, 
 maintenance, and organization of the Courts — both 
 of Civil and Criminal jurisdiction, and including 
 also the procedure in Civil Matters. 
 
 18. And generally all matters of a private or local nature, 
 not assigned to the General Parliament. 
 
 44. The power of respiting, reprieving, and pardoning 
 prisoners convicted of crimes, and of commuting and remitting 
 of sentences in whole or in part, which belongs of right to the 
 Crown, shall be administered by the Lieutenant Governor of 
 each Province in Council, subject to any instructions he may 
 from time to time receive from the General Government, and 
 subject to any provisions that may be made in this behalf by the 
 General Parliament. 
 
It"*' 
 
 74 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 46. In regard to all subjects over which jurisdiction belongs 
 to both the General and Local Legislatures, the laws of the 
 General Parliament shall control and supersede those made by 
 the Local Legislature, and the latter shall be void so far as they 
 are repugnant to or inconsistant with the former. 
 
 4G. Both the English and French languages may be employed 
 in the General Parliament and in its proceedings, and in the 
 Local Legislature of Lower Canada, and also in the Federal 
 Courts and in the Courts of Lower Canada. 
 
 47. No lands or property belonging to the General or Local 
 Government shall be liable to taxation. 
 
 48. All Bills for appropriating any part of the Public 
 Revenue, or for imposing any new tax or impost, shall originate 
 in the House of Commons or the House of Assembly, as the case 
 may be. 
 
 49. The House of Commons or House of Assembly shall 
 not originate or pass any vote, resolution, address, or bill, for 
 the appropriation of any part of the public revenue, or of any 
 tax or impost to any purpose, not first recommended by message 
 of the Governor General or the Lieutenant Governor, as the 
 case may be, during the session in which such vote, resolution, 
 address or bill is passed. 
 
 60. Any bill of the General Parliament may be reserved 
 in the usual manner for Her Majesty's assent, and any bill of 
 the Local Legislatures may in like manner be reserved for the 
 consideration of the Governor General. 
 
 6L Any bill passed by the General Parliament shall be 
 subject to disallowance by Her Majesty within two years, as in 
 the case of bills passed by the Legislatures of the said Provinces 
 hitherto ; and in like manner any bill passed by a Local Legis- 
 lature shall be subject to disallowance by the Governor General 
 within one year after the passing thereof. 
 
 62. The seat of Government of the Federated Provinces 
 shall be Ottawa, subject to the Royal Prerogative. 
 
 63. Subject to any future action of the respective Local 
 Governments, the Seat of the Local Government in Upper 
 
IMP 
 
 75 
 
 Canada shall be Toronto; of Lower Canada, Quebec]; and the 
 Seats of the Local Governments in the other Provinces shall be 
 as at present. 
 
 V 
 
 PROPERTY AND LIABILITIES. 
 
 64. All stocks, cash, bankers' balances and securities for 
 money belonging to each Province, at the time of the Union, 
 except as hereinafter mentioned, shaU belong to the General 
 
 Government. 
 
 66. The following public works and property of each Pro- 
 vince shall belong to the General Government, to wit : 
 
 1. Canals. 
 
 2. Public Harbours. 
 
 8. Light Houses and Piers. 
 
 4. Steamboats, Dredges, and Public Vessels. 
 
 6. River and Lake Improvements. 
 
 6. Railway and Railway Stocks, Mortgages, and other 
 
 Debts due by Railway Companies. 
 
 7. Military Roads. 
 
 8. Custom Houses, Post Offices, and other public buildmgs, 
 
 except such as may be set aside by the General 
 Government for the use of the Local Legislatures 
 and Governments. 
 
 9. Property transferred by the Imperial Government and 
 
 known as Ordnance Property. 
 
 10. Armories, Drill Sheds, Military Clothing, and Muni- 
 
 tions of War, and 
 
 11, Lands set apart for public purposes. 
 
 66. All Lands, Mines, Minerals, and Royalties vested in 
 Her Majesty in the Provinces of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, 
 Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, for 
 the use of such Provinces, shall belong to the Local Government 
 of the territory in which the same are so situate ; subject to any 
 trusts that may exist in respect to any of such lands, or to any 
 interest of other persons in respect of the same. 
 
76 
 
 57. All Hums duo from purchasers or leasees of such Lands, 
 Mines, or Mineruls, at the time of the Union, shall also belong 
 to the Local Governments. 
 
 t)H. All assets connected with such portions of the public 
 debt of Riiy Province, as are assumed by the liocal Government, 
 shall also belong to those Governments respectively. 
 
 o'J. The several Provinces shall retain all other public 
 property therein, subject to the right of the General Govern - 
 niont to assume any lands or public property required for fortifi- 
 cations or the defence of the country. 
 
 00. The General Government shall assume all the debts and 
 liabilities of each province. 
 
 Gl. The debt of Canada, not specially assumed by Upper 
 and Lower Canada respectively, shall not exceed at the time of 
 
 the Union .' ^62,500,000 
 
 Nova Scotia shall enter the Union with a debt 
 
 not exceeding 8,000,000 
 
 And New Brunswick, with a debt not exceeding 7,000,000 
 
 .G2. In case Nova Scotia or New Bruns\\'ick do not incur 
 liabilities beyond those for which their < rnments are now 
 bound, and which shall make their debts, ul ihe date of Union, 
 less than ^8,000,000 and ^7,000,000 respectively, they shall be 
 entitled to interest at 5 per cent, on the amount not so incurred, 
 in like manner as is hereinafter provided for Newfoundland and 
 Prince Edward Island ; the foregoing resolution being in no re- 
 spect intended to limit the powers given to the respective Gov- 
 ernments of those Provinces by Legislative authority, but only 
 to limit the maximum amount of charge to be assumed by the 
 General Government. Provided always, that the powers so 
 conferreu by the respective Legislatures shall be exercised within 
 five years from this date, or the same shall then lapse. 
 
 63. Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island not having 
 incurred debts equal to those of the other Provinces, shall be 
 entitled to receive, by half-yearly payments in advance from the 
 General Government, the interest at five per cent, on the 
 difference between the actual amount of their respective debts 
 at the time of their Union, and the average amount of indebted- 
 ness per head of the population of Canada, Nova Scotia, and 
 New Brunswick. 
 
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 64. In conBiVleratioTi of the transfer to the General Parlia- 
 ment of tho powers of taxation, nn annual j?rnnt in aid of each 
 Province Hhall h(> made, equal to 80 ccntH. per head of tlio popu- 
 lation, as estnltliHlu'd hy tlu! cciiHua of I8()l, tlii! pojmlution of 
 Newfoundland hein^ eatinmtod at lliU.OOO. Such aid shall bo in 
 full Bettlement of all future demandH upon tho General Gorern- 
 ment for local purposes, and shall ho paid half-yearly in advance 
 to each Province. 
 
 66. Tho position of New Brunswick being such as to entail 
 large immediate! charges upon her local revenues, it is agreed that 
 for the period of ten years from the time when tho Union takes 
 effect, an additional allowance of ^Jf^ 3,000 per annum shall he 
 made to that Province, But that so long as the liability of that 
 Province remains under ^7,000,000, a deduction equal to the 
 interest on such deficiency shall be made from the ^')3,000. 
 
 66. In consideration of tho surrender to tho General Govern- 
 ment by Newfoundland of all its rights in mines and minerals, 
 and of all the ungranted and unoccupied lands of the Crown, it 
 is agreed that the sum of ^^1 60,000 shall each year be paid to 
 that Province by semi-annual payments. Provided that that 
 Colony shall retain the right of opening, constructing, and con- 
 trolling roads and bridges through any of the said lands, subject 
 to any laws which the General Parliament may pass in respect 
 of the same. 
 
 67. All engagements that may, before the Union, bo entered 
 into with the Imperial Government for the defence of the country 
 shall be assumed by the General Government. 
 
 68. The General Government shall secure, without delay, 
 the completion of the Intercolonial Railway from Riviere-du- 
 Loup, through New Brunswick, to Truro in Nova Scotia. 
 
 69. The communications with the North- Western Terri- 
 tory, and the improvements required for the uevclopment of the 
 trade of the Great West with the Seaboard, are regarded by this 
 Conference as subjects of the highest iuipurtauce to the Federated 
 Provinces, and shall be prosecuted at the earliest possible period 
 that the state of the finances Avill permit. 
 
 70. The sanction of the Imperial and Local Parliamentl 
 shall be sought for the Union of the Provinces, on the principles 
 adopted by the Conference. 
 
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78 
 
 71. That Ilor MftJMty the Queen be solicited to determine 
 the rank and name of the Federated Provinces. 
 
 72. The procoedinKs of the Conference Hhall be authenticated 
 by the signatures of the Delegates, and Biibniitted by each Dele- 
 gation to its own Government, and the Chairman is authorized 
 to submit a copy to the Governor General for transmission to the 
 Secretary of State for the Colonies. 
 
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