wise serves the different settlements.

Although Newfoundland is the nearest to us of all our American possessions, none of them has been so much isolated, and perhaps on this account it was the last of them to pray for the boon or the burden of responsible government. Its actual constitution has had a trial of seventeen years, and the question of greatest gravity which has occurred to the Legislature is, whether the Island should or should not cast its lot with the Dominion. In the spring of 1869, the local Assembly was dissolved, and candidates sought the suffrages of their constituents on this issue. The Ministry, which was in favour of union, had already arranged the terms with the Canadian Cabinet, which, as they were favourable to the islanders, it was thought and believed would be accepted by them. The elections took place in the summer, a season peculiarly favourable to the movements of certain strangers whose private interests conflicted with the change, and the result of their exertions amongst the fishermen was the return of a majority of two members pledged to support the status quo. Newfoundland, therefore, like Prince Edward Island, still retains its idiosyncracy.

The machinery of government consists, as usual, of a Governor and two houses an Upper House, or Legislative Council, of 15, and a Lower House, or Assembly, of twice that number. The advisers of the Governor, or Executive Council must not exceed seven. The Governor, whose patent further styles him Vice-Admiral and Commander-inChief, has jurisdiction over Labrador, where a few fishermen of French and British descent, a remnant of aborigines, and a little band of missionaries are supplied with justice, a post-office, and an apparatus for the collection of dues.

After this digression let us re

turn to the words of the Queen's Speech at the opening of Parliament in 1859. With regard to Colonial affairs it announced (1) the erection of the district between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific into a Crown Colony under the name of British Columbia, (2) the projected acquisition of the Hudson's Bay Territory, which was to be placed under a similar government, and (3) the formation of the two Canadas and the maritime provinces in one federal system. The fall two months later of Lord Derby's Administration prevented the fulfilment of the second part of the programme, and postponed that of the third. came the civil war in America, which seemed so to absorb all the thoughts of our statesmen as to leave them little spirit for carrying out the changes in our territories, which were so much needed. Not so with our subjects who were so much nearer the scene of strife.

Then

In 1863 the three maritime provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, called a conference at Charlottetown for the discussion not of a federal but a legislative unionthat is to say, a complete incorporation of the three Colonies. What might have been the result it is not so easy to say, for while the session was in progress delegates arrived from Canada, who submitted a wider scheme; the Charlottetown meeting was dissolved, and in the following year the the representatives of the four continental colonies adopted a series of resolutions which provided for a federal union. These, after a few modifications, were accepted by the Secretary of State, and all that remained to ensure the accomplishment of the scheme was the consent of the local Legislatures. The maritime provinces, by an adverse vote, showed their indisposition to the change, or their dissatisfaction with the conditions, and confederation was for a moment retarded.

In 1866, however, the Legislatures of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were more agreeable, and in the autumn of that year the leading ministers of the four colonies arrived in London, where, in conjunction with the Secretary of State, they framed the Act which in the first week of the session of 1867 was introduced by the Earl of Carnarvon, and received the royal assent seven weeks later. The labours of the Westminster Conference-as it will be remembered in history-being at an end, the Governor-General of the Dominion was able to announce this great event in the life of our American Empire, and on the 1st of July, 1867, Lord Monck opened the first Federal Parliament.

The principal features of this important piece of legislation deserves description. After repealing the Act of Union of 1861, it proceeds to empower the four Colonies of Ontario (formerly Upper Canada), Quebec (formerly Lower Canada), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick to form a confederation for specific purposes, each province retaining so much of autonomy as is consistent with the general working of the larger scheme; in other words, being allowed the management of concerns purely domestic. Thus the defences of the country, the administration of justice, the fisheries, custom and excise, navigation beyond the bounds of a province, legislation for railways, canals, and other intercolonial highways, the post office, banking, and public works and buildings connected with the welfare of the nation belong to the central authority. On the other hand, the Crown Lands, with their minerals and timber, buildings and thoroughfares for strictly local uses, the police and the whole of the municipal organisation are provincial. Each of the four States receives forits maintenance from the Federal Treasury a definite annual grant, and the loans contracted by the maritime States anterior to 1867

comers.

are guaranteed by the Dominion. The Federal Parliament, which sits at Ottawa, is composed of two Chambers-the Senate, created by the Crown for life; and the House of Commons, the aggregate number of members in each being defined. When the new constitution was launched, the Upper House contained 72 seats, which were apportioned in three equal divisions to Ontario, Quebec, and the two new Until the advent of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick will thus each possess twelve Senators; after that desired event Prince Edward Island will be represented by four, its neighbours on either side making a sacrifice of two. In the case of a 'dead-lock' the Governor-General is empowered to create as many additional Senators as he may think fit, not exceeding six, so that the normal House numbered 72, and could never exceed 78. The subsequent adhesion to the Confederation of other Colonies, to which reference will be made, has slightly enlarged the strength of both Houses of Parliament.

The qualifications for a Senator are, that he shall be a natural-born or naturalised subject of Her Majesty, full thirty years of age, possessed of a freehold within his province of the clear value of Sool., that his real and personal property together be worth the same sum, and that he shall be a resident in his province. Should he at any time. subsequent to his appointment be deficient in any of these requirements, or become a bankrupt or a felon, or fail without good cause in his attendance during two consecutive sessions of Parliament, he forfeits his seat. The President or Speaker of the Senate is named by the Crown.

The House of Commons was limited to 181 members: 82 for Ontario, 65 for Quebec, 19 for Nova Scotia, and 15 for New Brunswick, these figures being proportioned to

the populations of the several provinces at the epoch of the Union. It was further enacted that after the census of 1871, and every subsequent decennial census, Quebec always retaining the constant number of 65, such a redistribution of seats must be made amongst the other Colonies as shall be warranted by the increase in population of any one or more of them in a greater ratio than the rest. The Speaker of the House of Commons is elected by the House; the maximum duration of Parliament is five years. The administration of the affairs of the Dominion is vested in a Council or Cabinet of thirteen ministers, who have seats in either House, and are responsible to Parliament for their actions. When they accept office they are sworn before the Governor-General as members of 'Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada,' a distinction with the title of 'Honourable,' which they retain for life. In short, in almost every detail the Constitution of the Dominion is modelled after the English original, and the forms and decorum of the Canadian House of Commons might make a stranger who was suddenly introduced to its sittings wonder whether he were at Ottawa or Westminster.

These outward observances should never be lightly regarded. Proper ceremony, a rigid rule with regard to courtesy in debate, and implicit deference to the Chair, impose a tone without which an assembly of legislators or disputants degenerates in self-respect, and, consequently, in a great measure fails to fulfil the object for which it was called into being.

Miniatures of the great Parliament, the local assemblies meet respectively at Toronto, Quebec, Fredericton, and Halifax in the winter of every year, when the Treasurer or Finance Minister disposes of his grant, the Commissioner of Crown Lands reports the progress of their

survey and their value, and the other members of the little Cabinet give an account of their several departments. In three of the provinces we find a Lieutenant-Governor and two Houses. In Ontario alone a single Chamber is convened. This anomaly seems to be distasteful, and it is to be desired that it may soon cease.

Such is the form of government of a country of considerably wider area than France and the British Isles combined, and which in a single century has shown an increase from 60,000 or 70,000 to 3,500,000 of souls. The decennial censuses of the United States, while they gauge the vast inpourings from Europe, reveal the fact that the descendants of settlers of former generations are as a rule far less prolific than the newcomers. To Canada Great Britain has never supplied an emigration commensurate with that which it has given to other parts of the world, and the indisposition of the French to expatriate themselves even to their own colonies is so great, that the presence of a large body of their former countrymen in Quebec has not proved a sufficient attraction to them. Yet the 40,000 subjects who reverted to the Crown of England at the epoch of the conquest have developed themselves into fully 1,000,000, an instance of fecundity which must astound the reader who has not visited the habitant and the habitante with their family of from 15 to 25 children. Nor can any complaint be made in this respect of our own countrymen, who have multiplied at a ratio far exceeding that of any country in Europe.

Taking the four Colonies,— during the second quarter of the present century, before which contemporaneous estimates are not to be found, their population increased from 758,000 to over 2,300,000, or became more than doubled; during the next 20 years this large number has been further increased by 1,200,000, so that in the year 1875,

exactly half a century from the first data, the population should have quintupled. And it is worth mentioning, by the way, as a curious coincidence, that at the outbreak of the American Civil War the number of the inhabitants of British North America was as nearly as possible equal to that of the United States when their independence was acknowledged.

The various creeds are represented nearly in the following proportion: The Church of Rome, 45 per cent. of the whole people; the Church of England, the Presbyterians, and the Methodists, almost evenly balanced, come to as many more; and allowing the larger proportion of the remainder to the Baptists, 4 per cent. are left for Lutherans and other denominations.

To trace the progress of the revenue is not less curious. Its elasticity, owing to the rapid increase of people, is so great that half a million sterling could be added to the annual debt without altering the burden per caput. When the Dominion commenced its career its debt was about 16,000,000l., requiring an interest of nearly 900,000l. The first year brought a surplus of 300,000l. over an expenditure of more than three millions and a quarter; and in spite of the many subsequent and heavy drains on the national purse, the financial prosperity of the country has continued without a reverse. Custom and excise supply twothirds of the revenue, and the remainder comes from loans, public works, and miscellaneous imposts.

Exports and imports are most conveniently arranged under three heads: I. Products of the earth, including (1) animals and their produce; (2) cereals, vegetables and vegetable extracts of all kinds; (3) timber, fruits, turpentine, &c.; (4) metals and minerals of every description. II. Products of the water, viz. fish, oil, isinglass,

VOL. VII.-NO. XXXVIII. NEW SERIES.

whalebone, and all these creatures yield. III. Manufactures.

Animals, their hides, furs, and wool; butter, cheese, feathers, and eggs; corn, flour, and peas; timber of many kinds and forms; copper ore and petroleum; these, and fish, furnish the exports of the Dominion, which in the last two years have amounted in value to Y1,500,000l. The imports, which during the same period represent 13,000,000l., consist chiefly, as may be supposed, of manufactured articles, and luxuries of many descriptions. The principal customers of Canada are the United States, who take 57 per cent. of the whole exports, against 34 per cent. which go to England. In the matter of demand, however, we exactly change places, England furnishing 57 per cent., and the United States 34 per cent. France, Portugal, Spain, others of our Colonies, and South America traffic with Canada in the remainder of her wares, and meet the remainder of her wants.

It has been already remarked that so late as 1850 not a single railway existed in British North America. The number of miles now in working order may be estimated at nearly 3,000. The road connecting Halifax and New Brunswick with Quebec is rapidly progressing, and several other lines are in the course of construction. The postal service is admirably conducted, extending to the smallest and most distant settlements, the uniform cost of an ordinary letter being three half-pence. The development of the telegraph, due entirely to private enterprise, is even more remarkable. There is scarcely a village to which it does. not penetrate, although the wires may be driven scores of miles through wilderness or forest.

The mercantile navy comprises over 7,000 vessels, of an aggregate value of more than 7,000,000l. and 1,000,000 tonnage, and there are

M