213 



l>ecai]SP, in the first plnce, of the many thonsnncli? who nnnnnlly come 

 irom Europe to America, but a small proportion land on the shores of" 

 these colonies, and because the most of those who do, soon leave for 

 "the States," notwithstanding the inducements held out to emigrants 

 by the colonial and home gf)vemments to settle on the territories of tlie 

 crown. J^ut w(^re it otherwise, the force of the remark is in no degree 

 diminished, f()r the obvious r(\ason, that, had we pursued a. wise course 

 at the peace of 'S3, people of American origin would not have become 

 our rivals in ship-building, in the carriage of our great staples to Eu- 

 rope, in the prosecution of the fisheries, and in the production of wheat 

 and other breadstuffs. Nor is this all. We should not have had the 

 hatred, the influence, and the talents of persons of loyalist descent, to 

 contend against, in the long and vexed controversy relative to our 

 northeastern boundary, nor continual difficulty about, and upon, the 

 fishing grounds. It is to be observed, moreover, that the operation 

 of these causes has been, and will continue to be, no slight obstacle in 

 the way of adjusting such questions, since the children and kinsmen 

 of the loyalists have no inconsiderable share in determining colonial 

 councils, and in the shaping of remonstrances and representations to 

 the British ministry. And whoever takes into view the fact that the 

 pufferings and sacrifices of the fathers are well remembered by the 

 descendants, and that, under the monarchical form, hereditary descent 

 of official station is vciy common, will agree with me in the belief, 

 that evils from this source are far from beino: at an end. There are 

 still those in the colonies, who, remembering only that they are de- 

 scended from the exiled losers in the revolutionary strife, would keep 

 alive, and perpetuate for generations to come, the dissensions of the 

 past; but their number, we may hope, is rapidly diminishing. To ex- 

 tend and strengthen the sj^mpathies of human brotherhood is a 

 Christian duty; and to unite kinsmen, who were severed by events 

 which dismembered an empire, is a work in which all may now en- 

 gage, without incurring the reproach of disloyalt}" on the one hand, or 

 of the want of patriotism on the other. 



These remarks explain, and account fi)r, the pertinacity of the colo- 

 nists, and serve to indicate tliat tliey, and not the British government, 

 are the real party opposed to us in this controversy. As we progress 

 in our inquiries, we shall find abundant evidence to show, that England 

 has moved with great, with avowed reluctance, against us; and that 

 while the colonies of Canada, Prince Edward Island, and New 

 lirunswick, have remained almost indifferent, down to a very recent 

 day. Nova Scotia, on the contrary, lias pressed the subject of "Ameri- 

 can aggressions" upon the attention of the ministry, with hardly an 

 intermission, for a term of years. The last named colony, it may be 

 pertinent to observr-, maintains extreme opinions upon all political 

 <jucstions, demanrling concessions and privileges entirely inconsistent 

 with colonial dt.-pcndence, and asserting nnd insisting on doctiines 

 which no whig of our Ilcwolution, in his loftiest mood, even so much 

 as wrote or spoke to his most cherished friend; as the letters of the 

 Hon. Joseph Howe to Lord John llussell, in 184G, and the course of 

 the "Lib( rals," generally, prov(! bcvnnd disj)utc. 



Some well-informed persons have expressed the opinion, that, until 



