136 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



The resolutions are as follows : — 



Resolved, That the Union or Confederation of the British provinces on just 

 principles, while calculated to (perpetuate theAr connection with the Parent 

 State, will promote th^ir advancement and prosperity, increase their strength 

 and influence, and eflevate their position. 



Resolved, That His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor by address be 

 respectfully requested to make known to Her Majesty the Queen, and to the 

 Governments of the sister Provinces of Canada, New Brunswick and Prince 

 Edward Island, this opinion, and the desire of the House to promote the 

 object ; and that Hjs Excellency by icorrespondence with the Imperial and Pro- 

 vincial Goverrumenits, and by all means in His Excellency's power urge and 

 facilitât-? the consideration of a measure, which, if matured on principles satis- 

 factory to the several Provinces and calculated to secure their harmony, and 

 bring into action their consolidated strength, must result in lasting benefits 

 of incalculable value. 



Mr. Chairman, if the desire to improve his circumstances and raise his 

 condition be a sentiment natural to a man having under proper control bene- 

 ficial effects upon the race — the same principle when applied to national ele- 

 vation must rise to a higher order, and become a duty of greater obligation 

 just as the object is freer from selflshn'Sss and the benefits are more extensive 

 and more enduring. 



That the dispositions and tendencies of nations are moulded and directed 

 by their Government and in.-^titutions, is a truth whioh reason approves and 

 nature confirms. Yet national characteristics being but the concentration of 

 the prevailing propensities of individuals they become the reflex of eaoh other, 

 and alike derive tone and complexion from the habits of thought and feeling 

 and action engendered by the laws. 



I do not forget that religion is the great minister — the effective agent in 

 the amelioration of man and the exaltation of nations. Yet do her influences, 

 like rays of light passing from one nnedium into another, fall more or less 

 directly and powerfully according to the moral atmosphere that surrounds 

 the subjects of her action. 



But, Sir, I freely admit that the obligations resulting from these truths 

 are controlled by a duty no less plain — which forbid needless alterations In 

 the Government and laws. The occasions which call for fundamental 

 changes should be grave, and the conclusions sought, free from reasonable 

 doubt. 



If, therefore, a view of the condition and prospects of the British North 

 American Provinces does not justify the conviction that in all their relations, 

 political and material, social and moral — 'their union is called for, or at least 

 is a measure demanding deliberate examination, then. Sir, the objects for 

 which I solicit the favour of the Committee are unwise and ought to be rejected 

 promptly and decisively. But if the condition and the prospects of these 

 Colonies do force that conviction, then it is the duty of every man according 

 to his influence and ability to be an instrument in urging the accomplishment 

 of their union. 



This is a question that reaches beyond the present moment and oversteps 

 the boundaries of sectional claims. Not that I would be taken to mean that 

 the palpable Interesits of the pre.sent are to bo sacrificed to the visions of a 

 distant and uncertain future ; or any rights, however, small, disregarded for 

 the sake of theory and speculation. No, Sir, the future of Uiiese Colonies- 

 that we have especially to deal with, is that which the shadows of the past 

 distinctly pourtray ; and which the analogies of nature, and the testimony 

 of experience with clearness reveal ; the Interests to be sacrificed, if there 

 shall be such are those that shall be compensated by larger benefits and 

 greater eood. 



The adage that " Union is Strength," and the homily illustrative of that 

 adage in the bundle of sticks lie at the foundation of the proposal before thie* 

 Committee,— the beginning, — the middle and the end of the argument. 



