Canada, its Defenses, Condition, and Resources: Being a Third and Concluding Volume of My Diary, North and South

I began to write this book by way of sequel to “My Diary North and South,” with the intention of describing Canada as I saw it at the close of my visit to North America, but the subject grew upon me as I went on, and at last I discarded much personal detail, and set to work with the view of calling attention to the capabilities of the vast regions belonging to the British Crown on the American Continent, and of pointing out the magnificent heritage which is open to our redundant population. But the subject was too great for the compass of one volume, because connected with it, too intimately to be overlooked, were the questions of the defence and of the future of countries, which the establishment of a Monarchical principle on an imperfect basis, and their dependence on the Crown, exposed to the hostility of a great Republic. I was, therefore, obliged to contract my own experiences, small as they were, and to omit many topics included in the original scope of my writing. The book was nearly finished when suddenly, as it seemed, the whole of the Provinces, yielding to a common sentiment of danger, sent their delegates to consider the policy and possibility of a great Confederation, which had been strongly recommended in the pages already written. The idea of such a Confederation was an old one; but the prompt resolve to carry it into practical effect, and the words spoken and acts done in consequence, rendered it necessary to cancel the work of many hours, as much of what I had written would have been anticipated by what has been printed. There are many dangers inherent in the nature of the proposed Confederation; there are many obstacles to its harmonious and successful working; but on the whole some such scheme appears to be the only practical mode of saving the British Provinces from the aggression of the North American Republicans.

What is to become of the existing Governments of Provinces? How regulate the contentions which may arise between Provincial Parliaments and Provincial Ministers and Provincial Governors by the action of the Federal Parliament and of the representative of the Crown at the seat of Government? The difficulties we foresee may never come to pass, and others far greater, of which we have no foresight, may arise; but for all this the Confederation presents the only means now available, as far as we can perceive, for securing to the Provinces present independence and a future political life distinct from the turbulent existence of the United States. A glance at the map will reveal the extent of the Empire which rests upon the Lakes with one arm on the Atlantic and the other on the Pacific, whilst its face is wrapped in a mantle of eternal snow; but it tells us no more. No reasoning man can maintain that the people whom a few years will behold as numerous as the inhabitants of these islands, will be content to live permanently under the system of the Colonial Office. That system is probably the only one our Constitution permits us to adopt; but it is nevertheless the policy, if not the duty, of this State to foster the youth and early life of the colonies we have founded, and to protect them, as far as may be, from the evils which shall come upon them in consequence of their present connection with Great Britain. Despised, neglected, and abandoned, the Provinces would feel less irritation against their conquerors than against their betrayers, and England might regret with unavailing sorrow the indifference which left her without a foot of land or a friend in the New World. Generosity not inconsistent with justice may yet lay the foundations of an enduring alliance where once there was only cold fealty and unsympathising command. A powerful State may arise whose greatest citizens shall be proud to receive such honours as the Monarch of England can bestow, whose people shall vie with us in the friendly contests of commerce, and stand side by side with us in battle. And when the inevitable hour of separation comes, the parting will not then be in anger. A Constitutional Republic, in which Monarchy would have been possible but for the prudence of the mother-country, may exist without any hatred of Monarchy or of England; and the people, born with equal rights to pursue liberty and happiness, would love the land from which flowed the sources of so many substantial blessings.