194 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



peace, of universal brotherhood, may come. Should it not, and should Repub- 

 lican America throw hei-self into the contest against England, when engaged 

 with other powers, as she did In 1812 ; what then would be England's position 

 should the noble Provinces of North America have been flung away, for want 

 of a little foresight and common sense ? 



The power of the Republic would be broken if our half of the continent 

 maintained its alleg-iance. But if that were thrown into the other scale, what 

 then ? Fancy the stars and stripes floating over our six thousand vessels ; 

 fancy Ave hundred thouvsand hardy North Americans with arms in their hands 

 In a defiant attitude ; fancy half a continent with its noble harbors and five 

 thousand miles of sea-coast, with all Us fisheries and coal naines and timber 

 gone. Fancy the dockyards and depots and arsenals of the enemy advanced 

 1,000 mile^ nearer to England. Qh ! sir, I have turned with disgust from the 

 eternal gabble about the balance of power in Europe, when I have thoug'ht 

 how lightly British statesmen seem to value the power that can alone balance 

 their only commercial rival. 



One subsidy to some petty European potentate has often cost more than 

 all our railroads would have cost ; and yet they would have developed our 

 resources in peace and formed our best security in time of war. A single war 

 with half this continent added £120,000,000 to the national debt of England. 

 What would a war with the whole of it cost ? And yet these Provinces are 

 so lightly valued, tihat a loan for public improvements cannot be guaranteed 

 or a single seat In the National Councils yielded, to preserve them. Sir, 

 ■whatever others may think, I pause in the presence of the great peril which 

 [ foresee. I pray to God that it may be averted. 



Here, sir, is work for the highest intellects — for the purest patriots, on 

 both sides of the Atlantic. Here is a subject worthy of the consideration of 

 the largest minded British statesmen now figuring on the stage of public 

 life. In presence of t'his great theme, how our little squabbles sink into 

 insignificance, as the witches' cauldron vanisihes from the presence of Mac- 

 beth. How insignificant are many of the topics which they debate in the 

 Imperial Parliament compared with this. I have seen night after night wasted 

 j\'hile both Houses discussed the grave question whether or not a Jew should 

 sit in the House of Comimons ? a question that it would not take five min- 

 utes to decide in any Legislature from Canada to California. How often 

 have I said to myself : — I wonder if it ever enters the heads of those noble 

 Lords and erudite Commoners, who are so busy witli this Jew that there 

 are two millions and a half of Christians in British America who have no 

 representation in either House? A little consideration grfven to that subject, 

 I have thought, would not be a waste of time. Wihen I have seen them 

 quibblinpr with the great questions of a surplus population, mendicity and 

 crime, I have asked myself: — Do these men know that there is, within the 

 boundaries of the empire, within ten days' sail of England, employment for 

 all ? freehold estates for all, with scarcely a provocative to crime ? I have 

 often thought, sir, how powerful this I'mpire might be made ; how prosper- 

 ous in peace, how invincible in war, if the statesmen of England would set 

 about its organization and draw to a common centre the high intellect which 

 it contains. 



With our maritime positions In all parts of the globe ; with every variety 

 of soil and climate ; with the industrial capacity and physical resources of 

 two hundred and sixty millions of people to rely on ; w^hat might not this 

 empire become if Its intellectual resources were combined for its government 

 and preservation ? If the whole population were united by common interests, 

 no power on earth ever wielded means so vast, or influence so irresistible. But, 

 sir, let the statesmen of England slumber and sleep over the field of enterprise 

 whlcTi lies around them ; let them be deluded by economists who despise Col- 

 onists, or by fanatics who preach peace at any price with foreign despots ; 



