for the manufactures of Europe and the commodities of other countries. This traffic too will be carried on by a people of a different race, already exceeding them in numbers in British America, and far excelling them in all the qualifications that create the power and prosperity of states. Towards the Atlantic Ocean are the provinces of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, New Brunswick, Prince Edward's Island and Newfoundland, with an English population estimated at upwards of 400,000. The population of British origin in Lower Canada itself is not less than 150,000 at the present time*, and in Upper Canada the official returns made to the House of Assembly in 1833 state the population in that province to be 296,5447, while the neighbouring American states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York, possess an aggregate population of English descent, of between three and four millions f. The mere statement of these facts is, we conceive, sufficient to show how futile every attempt must eventually be which seeks to preserve the manners, the language, and customs—the nationality, in fact-of the French Canadians; but it does more; it casts upon us the duty of encouraging their amalgamation with the British population by all lawful means ; for if a heavy responsibility already attaches to us for the policy we have pursued towards these provinces, a heavier still will be incurred by measures introduced now, which leave either partially or altogether untouched the causes which have produced the late disastrous events. Thus we have endeavoured to establish our second proposition, in favour of a union of the provinces and an amalgamation of the two races.

IV. THE CHURCH. To complete the resemblance in Church and State between the “ British Constitution ” and that intended to be conferred on the Canadian Provinces, it was provided by the 36th Section of Mr. Pitt's Bill, that when any appropriation of land should take place in an unsettled parish or township, one-seventh should be reserved for the support

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and maintenance of a Protestant clergy. The words “ Protestant Clergy" are used in this section, but it is apparent, from the subsequent provisions, that the clergy of the Church of England were contemplated. At the time when this enactment was proposed and passed, the great majority of the inhabitants of Canada were French Canadians, professing the Roman Catholic religion. Even amongst the British population, the members of the Church of England were a small minority ; the larger portion consisting of Presbyterians of the Kirk of Scotland, or of dissenters from that church and from the Church of England.

It is not our intention to discuss this portion of Mr. Pitt's Bill; every impartial person, to whatever persuasion he belongs, admits its impolicy; and its practical effect on the prosperity of the province, is recorded in the following recital of the Act of Parliament (7th and 8th Geo. IV. c. 62.) providing for the sale of these “clergy reserves ” :

“Whereas, by an Act passed in the Thirty-first Year of the Reign of his late Majesty King George the Third, it is amongst other things enacted, that it shall and may be lawful for His Majesty, his heirs or successors, to authorize the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor of each of the provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada respectively, or the person administering the government therein, to make, from and out of the lands of the Crown within such provinces, such allotment and appropriation of lands as are therein mentioned, for the support and maintenance of a Protestant clergy within the same; and it was further enacted, that all and every the rents, profits or emoluments which might at any time arise from such lands, so allotted and appropriated as aforesaid, should be applicable solely for the maintenance and support of a Protestant clergy within the province in which the same should be situated, and to no other purpose whatever : And whereas, in pursuance of the said Act, such allotments and appro. priation of land as aforesaid, have from time to time been reserved for the purposes

therein mentioned; which lands are known within the said province by the name of the Clergy Reserves : and whereas the said Clergy Reserves have in great part remained waste and unproductive, from the want of capital to be employed in the cultivation thereof, and it is expedient to authorize the sale of certain parts of such Clergy Reserves, to the intent that the monies arising from such sale may be employed in the improvement of the remaining part of the said Reserves, or otherwise for the purposes for which the said lands are so reserved as aforesaid. Be it therefore en. acted ”-(Here follow provisions for the sale of the Clergy Reserves, and the investment of the proceeds of such sale.)

We cannot, however, touch upon this important subject, without expressing our belief, that the bitterness of religious

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dissension has been to a very slight degree, if at all, mixed up with the late unfortunate events in Canada; but if this element of discord is to be excluded for the future, it will be by the rejection of every proposal, for the establishment of a dominant church in connexion with the government. The members of the Church of England, even now, form but a minority of the Canadian community, and the other sects in the province will demand perfect religious and civil equality. Without, therefore, stating reasons which would far exceed the space which remains to us, we reluctantly dismiss this momentous part of the question, by recording our deliberate opinion, that if charity and good-will are hereafter to be maintained in Canada, it will be by the equal payment of all persuasions of Christians under the authority of the law, or by the introduction of the voluntary system.

It is not our intention to inquire minutely into the struggles which took place between the House of Assembly and the colonial executive government. It would indeed have been strange, if such an incongruous mass of legislation as Mr. Pitt's Bill, had produced any other result than confusion. But we charge the imperial government, and this without reference to a Tory or a Whig administration, with a heavy responsibility for their policy towards these provinces. Every one connected with the country has known for years, that the business of government was practically suspended, and that a crisis was gradually but surely approaching, which might involve the descendants of two high-spirited nations in bloodshed and civil war. What, we ask, was done to avert this approaching catastrophe? Committees of the House of Commons sat, inquired, and reported. An extravagantly-paid Commission proceeded to Canada, made further inquiries, and in due time produced further reports upon matters which every person of ordinary industry could make himself acquainted with, from sources of information already in existence. The only approximation to an enlarged and enlightened legislation, suited to the pressing exigencies of the province, was made by Sir Robert Wilmot Horton in 1822, when he introduced his Union Bill-a bill which failed, however, under the assaults of party in the House of Commons. In contrast with this attempt stand out in strong relief the re

solutions of Lord John Russell in 1837-memorable examples of the hard measure of justice dealt out by England to her colonial subjects, for a state of things produced by her own misgovernment. The facts recorded in these resolutions are an historical epitome of this misgovernment-a condensed record of the practical results of Mr. Pitt's Bill—the Whig commentary of 1837 on the Tory policy of 1791, and as such we insert them here.

"• The Resolutions' proposed by Lord John Russell and carried in the

it is expedient that measures be adopted for securing to that branch of the Legislature a greater degree of public confidence.

5. “ That while it is expedient to improve the composition of the Executive Council in Lower Canada, it is unadvisable to subject it to the responsibility demanded by the House of Assembly of that province.

6. “ That the legal title of the North American Land Company to the land holden by the said Company, by virtue of a grant from his Majesty, under the public seal of the said province, and to the privileges conferred on the said Company by the Act for that purpose made in the fourth year of his Majesty's reign, ought to be maintained inviolate.

7. " That it is expedient, that so soon as provision shall have been made by law, to be passed by the Legislature of the said province of Lower Canada, for the discharge of lands therein from feudal dues and services, and for removing any doubts as to the incidents of the tenure of land in free and common soccage in the said province, a certain Act made and passed in the sixth year of the reign of his late Majesty King George IV., commonly called “The Canada Tenures Act;' and so much of another Act passed in the third year of his said late Majesty's reign, commonly called “The Canada Trade Act,' as relates to the tenures of land in the said province, should be repealed ; saving, nevertheless, to all persons, all rights in them vested under or by virtue of the said recited Acts.

8. “ That for defraying the arrears due on account of the established and customary charges of the administration of justice and of the civil government of the said province, it is expedient that, after applying for that purpose such balance as shall, on the said 10th day of April, 1837, be in the hands of the Receiver-General of the said province, arising from his Majesty's hereditary, territorial, and casual revenues, the Governor of the said province be empowered to issue from and out of any other part of his Majesty's revenues in the hands of the Receiver-General of the said province, such further sums as shall be necessary to effect the payment of the before-mentioned sum of 142,1601. 148. 6d.

9. “ That it is expedient that his Majesty be authorized to place at the disposal of the Legislature of the said province the net proceeds of his Majesty's hereditary, territorial, and casual revenue, arising within the same, in case the said Legislature shall see fit to grant to his Majesty a Civil List for defraying the necessary charges of the administration of justice, and for the maintenance and unavoidable expenses of certain of the principal officers of the civil government of the said province.

10. " That great inconvenience has been sustained by his Majesty's subjects, inhabiting the provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada, from the want of some adequate means for regulating and adjusting questions respecting the trade and commerce of the said provinces, and divers other questions wherein the said provinces have a common interest; and it is expedient that the Legislatures of the said provinces respectively, be authorized to make provision for the joint regulation and adjustment of such their common interests.”

These decisive proceedings, on the part of the ministry, produced a strong effect upon the public mind in Canada, and