256 BERMUDA. 



ever interrupt. Three quarters of a century ago, 

 England had sought, by means of the sword, to win 

 back her intractable American colonies ; and it was 

 a thing earnestly to be desired, that the peaceful 

 victories of intellect and science might be able to 

 effect, in a far different manner, that which brute 

 strife had failed to accomplish ; — binding free Ame- 

 rica to the mother country in a union closer and 

 more lasting than had ever existed before. We had 

 fondly trusted that this close alliance of Britain and 

 America would be the means of connecting all parts 

 of the world, and of incalculably hastening the 

 triumphs of Christianity and of civilization. The 

 people of Bermuda still eagerly look forward to 

 this glorious consummation ; — since it is closely con- 

 nected with the future advancement of these islands ; 

 but it remains for them to* turn all their resources 

 to account, so as to prove to the foreigner that it is 

 to his own advantage to visit these shores : 



" Those leafy islets on the ocean thrown, 

 Like studs of emerald on a silrer zone." 



It was a lamentable act of the Home Government, 

 when, with the view to perform a laudable deed in 

 favour of free trade, it so seriously compromised the 

 character of great and free England, by inflicting 



