trast of luxury and starvation. What! such a being would exclaim, do you call this government? This is not a fair division into classes, founded upon birth, industry, or intellect. It is a horrible perversion of the gifts of Heaven. But what legislator considers this? He is the perfection of a great man in the present day, who shall bequeath his charge in a state not worse than he has found it—an improvement, he dares not aim at. He holds but the seal and the keys of expediency. The luxury of a country like England ought alone to bear its taxes. It is in party strife, fomented by the press, that great principles are lost sight of. The present session of Parliament is convened to battle between corn and cotton-one class against another. But to whom reverts the benefit? Has the Government any right to sacrifice the tillers of the ground? We will not increase the circle of disaster at present, beyond this class, although the waves caused by this rock of discord plunged into the social sea, will extend, till they take in every class that floats, and finally beat upon the shore of Revolution. It would be as fair to sweep one-half the funded property of the nation into the coffers of the Government, as to mulct the land of 50 per cent., without remuneration. We must not look to the acquirement of property. Descent is purchase. There are alien and foreign fundholders sharers in British faith. But the farmer and landowner are, also, tenants by faith in protection. Which is the best, the most useful, the most honest class of men? has the greater claim to our consideration, forbearance, and care? We say, arrive at the last sacrifice first; for the last will follow. No, rather in the organization of a mighty scheme, by which we may treat with the evil as it is found, avoid all sacrifices.

Which

In the present unburdening of the load which oppresses us, in the successful effort to upheave the nightmare of stagnation which rides upon the country, we shall have time to unweave the net and unrivet the chain. It will give an opportunity of gradual reform. The classes of men, who live by others, must be corrected, not destroyed, as in France; for from thence springs chaos, and it is long ere the spirit of truth dawns upon the waters. A nation rises better from nothing than from anarchy. An old renegado never prospers.

destruction of farming Whence do tithes arise?

It is plain to us, that, by the interests, the church must fall. Religion may be the daughter of privation, as she is the step-daughter of prosperity; but when was she not driven from the lap of degraded ruin?

All these considerations are forgotten by journals, that misquote prices and misrepresent facts, in the carelessness of venality, or the hurry of blind conviction. They are overlooked in party strife; and a Cobden, who cries peace, when there is no peace, and invites England not to sheathe, but to break, her sword, in the front of contending nations, whilst the very frenzy of bloodshed seems to animate the world,—such a man may easily be supposed to be misled, or to mislead, with his eternal chatter about trade: he, whose paradise is a factory by a mill-stream, with a mechanics' institute for the tree of useless knowledge, to teach the head of orphans, at whose expense the hands are spinning. Can such a man as this argue? Unfortunately, yes-from minor premises, from illiberal views, from obstinate self-interest: his very ears stopped with cotton! But deal with first principles?—Yes, in their false application. And with sound measures ?—Yes, in their exhibition of false prin

ciples. We shall make no apology for thus speaking at some length, in an Introduction, on this subject; because it is one of vital and pressing interest, and because it bears hard upon our views in showing the necessity of doing something. We do not stop the leak of the vessel, but we rig a gallant jury-mast to bring her into harbour. There arrived, let us careen, caulk, and copper her, at our leisure.

When poor-rates are at an end, when convicts pay, not prey upon, the Government, when paupers cease, when the full tide of the Pacific Ocean pours commerce on our shores, when we have free-trade with our colonies, and dictate to the market of the world,* holding, as we do, the patent in our hand, when we have established the foreign exchange of the world at the standard value of our own productions, and finally with universal and reciprocal free-trade, then England will be, what she ought to be, the commercial mistress of the globe. Through all this, may her constitution be preserved; since it is the most perfect that has ever been known to man. It may be, that it is time for our glories to cease-that we have arrived at our perihelium to the sun of prosperity, that it is not fated for nations to continue strong, and that we are on the brink of the decline and fall of the British empire. All things alternate, and alternations grow within each other, the small in the great, till the cycle of events be fulfilled. The poles of the earth change, and the sea takes the place of land at mighty intervals of time. So, perhaps, civilization and nations

*

"We, as a nation, are in the situation of the holder of a patent right. The produce of other nations must come to us, as there is not a demand for it elsewhere, and we can make our own terms for it."Boydell, on Landed Property.

fluctuate. The productive power is worn out, and the decay is in proportion to the bloom and vigour. There may be the hand of the Deity in this, who, for his mysterious purposes, may cloud the eyes and darken the understanding, as well as guide the course of events. But, at any rate, it is our duty to ponder and to act, to dare, to struggle and invent, to grapple with the means extended to us, and mould them to our own salvation. Let the heralds of the mock divinity Peace, and the rabid manufacturers, reflect that such a plan as this will do more of necessity to regenerate the universe, and to effect the purpose they pretend to aim at, by bringing the four corners of the earth together, and making nations necessary to each other for existence, luxury, and comfort, than if London were roofed in by Exeter Hall, and a diet of cotton lords determined that no man should carry colour in his face, and that the height of men should be worked down to the standard of Spitalfields a generation of Louis Blancs and suffering educated ape-dom, melancholy for angels to look down

upon.

One more word about the Canadas. It is impossible to imagine that any good friend of this country can seriously recommend that their loss be allowed. We conclude that the pretended view taken by some to this effect is to intimidate the Canadians by saying, "See what will become of you without us. Only try." But it is bad policy to open the window to the young bird and preach of kites. It is better to liberate the prisoner, but retain him by good treatment. Our plan is to conciliate Canada, and make her our own for ever. This can only be done by giving her all the advantages of our own constitution and our own laws and privileges.

Why should we not fully recognize our own child as worthy of its inheritance? Our policy, if that can be called policy which gains only to lose, and makes success the harbinger of deprivation-our policy has hitherto been to nurse and suckle with our own blood a giant progeny, which we abandon at the moment a return is fairly to be anticipated. The French are bad colonizers. The better for them, if the end of things is to be looked at. They, at any rate, preserve respect within their own boundaries, whilst we, grasping at all, and losing all in turn, forfeit the infallibility of Englishmen. And that is much to a country situated as we are.

The late speeches in the House on the subject of colonies are the perfection of failures. What do they announce?-A lament over impossibilities, which statesmen should never admit, and which Napoleon rightly banished from the vocabulary of governments. What! recede from the Canadas? Let us show that it is frenzy, nay, imbecility, to do so!

The conduct of statesmen appears to be now to toss their oars, and wait for the current of popular feeling to land them somewhere-in a haven, a harbour,—or the mud. The pride of members of Parliament appears to be to look out for, and eagerly pick up, hints from the Press. Formerly, the newspapers followed the proceedings, and commented upon the conduct of legislators. Formerly, public opinion was reserved to estimate, approve or censure the measures of statesmen for the public good. The highest aim of British policy appears now to be, not to commit so gross a political error as to draw down the sneers and laughter of the whole continent. There is a prevalent cant about justice to the world and Europe, whilst we abandon our own interests, like a foolish old Lear.