into their flocks. It is not therefore, as we said before, quite so clear, that 76,000 men in arms (not scattered, like the Americans, over a vast extent of country, but thickly settled on the banks of the St. Lawrence, and easily assembled) will be disposed to crouch under a new-fangled power towards which they have an hereditary enmity, and which maintains no regular army worth mentioning.

'It is a fact, too notorious to be disputed, that so far from dreaming of persevering in the attempt at the conquest of Canada, the American government, when the peace took place, had not the means of putting their troops in motion for another campaign. Had the war been continued for another year, a separation, in all human probability, would have taken place amongst the states of the Union. The wisest of them saw the folly of the attempt upon Canada, and had already begun to deliberate upon the propriety of not furnishing their proportions of men and money demanded by the general government for the continuance of the war. If then we may judge of the future by the past; if we reflect upon the character of the Canadian-moral, religious, influenced by his curé, and that curé perfectly happy and satisfied with the British government, and dreading all connection with that of the United States, which allows no church establishment whatever; if we, moreover, avail ourselves of the moment of profound peace, to occupy judiciously such military points as experience has shown to be necessary, with a view to give confidence and support to the Canadians, and to make the Americans pause before they think of again attempting to invade a country evidently prepared for defence; surely the conquest of Canada by the government of the United States may be pronounced a most improbable, if not an impracticable event.'-Re flections, p. 24.

From the same author we learn, that Upper Canada contains a population of about 160,000 souls, and has 44,000 men enrolled and embodied as militia; and though this colony is yet in its infancy, the fertility of the soil, the comparative mildness of its climate, and the luxuriance of its vegetation, must unquestionably render it, ere long, a province of the greatest value. The population of New Brunswick is stated at 70,000; the militia, 11,000. Nova Scotia contains 86,000 inhabitants, and has 12,000 very respectable militia. On account of the harbour and dockyard of Halifax, this province is rapidly improving, and being the nearest and readiest point of communication with Great Britain, is of the utmost importance. Prince Edward's Island, near its coast, has a population of about 24,000 souls, and 4,000 embodied militia. Thus, the five colonies of Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward's Island, have an armed force of able-bodied militia, amounting to no less than 147,000 men.

If it be clear that, with such a force, assisted by a few regular

troops

troops from home, our North American provinces must be conquered by the arms of the United States, whenever it may be convenient for them to attack those provinces-we acknowledge ourselves ready to subscribe to the opinion of the political economists we have now to deal with, that the sooner the former merge in the latter that the sooner we abandon them, so much the better.

There is still a third possible case; to wit-that the Canadians. may throw themselves into the hands of the United States. To this we answer, that neither force nor flattery were wanting on the part of the American government, in the last contest, to overcome or undermine the resistance and the loyalty of our colonists, left, as they necessarily were, for a time, to their own resources. Had they been then disposed to quit the side of the mother-country, the declaration of that wish would then have ensured its accomplishment. Since that time restrictions have been removed from their commerce, and other benefits conferred. In fact, they know of what little influence or importance they would be, if merged in the confederation of the United States; and all their habits and feelings induce them to look for protection from Great Britain. Why indeed should our North American colonies feel any desire to sink themselves into the states of New York and Maine, when these states are themselves complaining of their little influence in the confederation;-when they see the power of the supreme government rapidly travelling westward; and when it is evident that, should the Union continue to subsist, the Atlantic states must reconcile themselves to receive laws from the leading men of that immense valley, which is watered by the Ohio, the Missouri, and the Mississippi?. ⚫As to their voluntary separation from the parent state, and becoming independent, no man acquainted with their feelings and condition could for a moment entertain such an idea; and Mr. Hume may be assured that he will not get the thanks of the natives of our Northern colonies, for an officious interference in a matter so contrary to every wish of their hearts.

We have all along been supposing, according to old-fashioned ideas, that colonies created commerce, commerce shipping, and shipping seamen; it used to be so in olden times, but on a changé tout cela;' the modern school shows the fallacy and the futility of such a doctrine. It has been usually supposed,' says the great northern teacher, that an extensive mercantile marine is absolutely necessary to the possession of a great warlike navy, and the most vexatious and injurious restraints have been laid on commerce for the sake of forcing the employment of ships and sailors.' We are satisfied, however,' he con

6

tinues,

tinues, that this idea is wholly without foundation. All that is required for the attainment of naval power is the command of convenient harbours, and of wealth sufficient to build and man ships. However paradoxical it may appear, it is nevertheless unquestionably true, that the navy of Great Britain might be as formidable as it now is, or, if that was desirable, infinitely more so, though we had not a single merchant ship.' This, we will venture to say, is one of the grandest discoveries that the most exact of moral sciences has yet brought to light; why, indeed, take that 'roundabout method,' as it is termed, of manning the fleet with sailors trained in merchant ships, instead of breeding up sailors in men of war'? The thing is so self-evident, that the great teacher recommends, instead of keeping so small a force as twenty or thirty thousand able-bodied seamen afloat, during peace, that number ought to be increased to at least fifty or sixty thousand.' To be sure, it is admitted, that it would cost a few hundred thousand pounds (a few millions?) more than the present system; but then it would be a very miserable species of economy (and of course contrary to the infallible principles of political economy) to hesitate about incurring such an expense.' This notable plan, we are assured, has been highly approved by many distinguished naval officers.' We should rather think that some jocular old admiral has been playing off a hoax on the great teacher. Did it never once occur to him that, after we had abandoned our colonies and our shipping, and entrusted ourselves entirely to the loving-kindness of foreigners for every article of foreign supply, this great fleet of his would have nothing left to protect--would be wholly useless?

But why, it may be asked, should we waste words on the daydreams of a drivelling projector, whose profoundest speculations might be the laughter of children? The ludicrous character of the visions does not escape us-but when we find them coupled, in the vehicle which sets them forth, with a persevering and inveterate abuse of all our institutions, whether moral, religious, or political, we cannot help thinking that the conductors and contributors of that journal are not working without a design. Thus, we are triumphantly told, in their very last publication, that the lower orders are making prodigious progress in the wonderworking science of political economy; and a very broad hint is given that the working classes are likely, through means of it, and Ricardo's lectures, and 'mechanics' institutions,' to become 'more intelligent than their employers ;-and that this will end, undoubtedly, as it OUGHT to end, in a mutual exchange of property and condition; but could not fail, in the mean time, to give rise to great and unseemly disorders,' The meaning of all this is obvious

enough;

enough; to wit, that the new philosophy, and its institutions, and its lecturers, are to inculcate into the minds of the lower orders, principles of insubordination and sedition, in order that, when a proper occasion arrives, they may be found in a fit state to insist upon, and by their numerical force to compel, a 'mutual exchange of property.' And, in sober truth, we know of nothing that would contribute more directly to such a catastrophe as these persons contemplate, than the loss of our foreign commerce, which would most infallibly and most rapidly follow the loss of our colonies, and the consequent destruction of our shipping.

Let us have something more weighty than a few sounding assertions to place in the balance against the whole history of the civilized world, before, as the author of one of these pamphlets expresses it, we 'SPORT WITH OUR PALLADIUM.'

ART. VII.-Report of the Select Committee appointed to inquire into the Wages of Labour. 1825.

AMONG the members of a certain school of political economy, it has been for some time the fashion to rail very bitterly at the system of laws which in this country makes a compulsory provision for the impotent poor. We are assured that these laws form a canker which secretly and unceasingly corrodes the vitals of society; that they swallow up the property of the rich, while they undermine the comfort, the happiness, and the independence of the poor; and that there is no good to balance all this evil.

An investigation of the effects which have been produced on society by the English poor laws involves something more important than the gratification of speculative curiosity; it is a discussion from which practical consequences may ultimately spring, as it may happen to confirm or allay the fears of those whom the diatribes and the prophetic denunciations in question have alarmed-to promote or defeat the wishes of others, who not only think the result of these laws, where they already exist, beneficial, but would willingly see the same system-under certain modifications which experience has pointed out-introduced into other countries.

The origin of these laws is sometimes ascribed to the distress among the poor, occasioned by the dissolution of monasteries. But although it cannot be denied that the suppression of the establishments in question did, at least for a time, aggravate the evils which these laws were intended to remove, still it is manifestly incorrect to ascribe their introduction to this cause.

The

most

most cursory inspection of our statute book will show that laws for the regulation and sustenance of the vagrant and indigent poor had been enacted some centuries before that great revolution in ecclesiastical property deprived them of the assistance which they received from monastic liberality. In the 12 R. 2. (anno 1388) an act was passed providing punishment for beggars able to serve,' and making provision for impotent beggars. This was followed by other acts passed for a similar purpose in the 11 H. 7. 19 H. 7. 22 H. 8. In the 27 H. 8. it was enacted

'That all governors of shires, cities, towns, hundreds, hamlets, and parishes, shall find and keep every aged, poor, and impotent person which was born or dwelt three years within the same limit, by way of voluntary and charitable alms in every the same cities and with such convenient alms as shall be thought meet by their discretion, so as none of them shall be compelled to go openly in begging; and also shall compel every sturdy vagabond to be kept in continual labour; and that a valiant beggar or sturdy vagabond shall at the first time be whipped and sent to the place where he was born or last dwelled by the space of three years, there to get his living; and if he continue his roguish life he shall have the upper part of the gristle of his ear cut off; and if after that he be taken wandering, he shall be adjudged and executed as a felon; and that no person shall make any open or common close, nor shall give any money in alms but to the common boxes and common gatherings in every parish upon pain to forfeit ten times as much as shall be given.'

Somewhat later in the course of the same session was passed the act for the dissolution of monasteries; hence it is clear that, at the passing of the above poor law, the effect of the suppression of religious houses could not have been felt by the public; some other cause must therefore be sought for to account for the gradual multiplication of vagrant beggars which appears to have provoked a gradual increase of legislative severity. The increased number of vagrants and paupers, indicated by the more frequent attention of the legislature to this subject between the year 1388 and the year 1601, is, we think, very naturally accounted for by the vast alteration which was effected in the condition of the peasantry, and the extraordinary revolution which took place in the management of landed property during the reigns of the princes of the House of Tudor. During the prevalence and vigour of the feudal system the power and importance of each baron depended mainly upon the number of vassals whose services he could command and the retainers whom he possessed the means of maintaining. Hence it became the natural and anxious policy of these lords to augment, by every means in their power, the multitude of followers whom on any emergency they could array in the field. The halls and castles of these rude, turbulent, and ambitious chieftains offered a ready asylum to able-bodied vagrants,