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delighted to experience it. What I most dread is, that my scheme may be assumed to be impossible, because it appears large, and be at once laid aside, with the favourite phrase of official condemnation-" impracticable;" and that being so put by, my proposals, and my reasons, may be together forgotten.

The effect of my proposed scheme would, I allow, be great; but the real objection to it, on the part of official people, will be, that it leaves them, and their office, very little to do. It would take from them the power of meddling of which, for the most part, their functions. now consist.

But I earnestly entreat my countrymen to draw a broad distinction between the interests of the Colonial Office and of England. The men of a particular office naturally endeavour to make that office important. In the case of the Colonial Office, the means of doing this have been unfortunately large, but mischievous. It was easy to find pretexts for interfering with the affairs of the Colonies; it was very difficult to make interference anything but an evil to the colony, and thereby to England. On this topic, however, I will not enlarge. My work is not written for the purpose of prosecuting a quarrel with the Colonial Office, but solely for the purpose of explaining a plan of proceeding which I sincerely believe would, if adopted, be greatly serviceable to the Colonies, and to

the mother country; and I mention the Colonial Office now simply in order to ask those who read the following pages to leave that office, and all that it contains, wholly out of consideration while they are discussing with me the subject of the Colonies.

Throughout my work I have carefully abstained from all discussion of any actually existing grievance or dispute in any colony. My conclusions rest on large results. The petty squabbles of petty people I have no desire to mix in. But wishing to deal with systems, I have sought for results in the history of colonization; from that history-from the teaching and experience of centuries, my deductions are made, and on that foundation, my proposals rest.

In the more general conclusions to which my examination of the past has led me, as I have already said, I have great confidence. This plan, however, while it is based on these general propositions, contains many specific details. In these my faith is by no means so great. They are, without doubt, in many instances, imperfect, and susceptible of great improvement. I hope, however, the candid reader will not permit himself "to stick in the incidents," but go at once to the principle, lay hold of, and abide by it. Let us make this step, and I have no fear of conquering all difficulty of detail.

The reader will see, that throughout this whole work my object is to lay a ground for legislation-that from the first to the last page I have an act of parliament in my mind; and he will be of opinion, if my reasoning produce upon his mind the effect that I desire, that without systematic preceding legislation, all attempts at systematic colonization will be useless, and doomed to fail. Before we can act according to a plan, we must frame the plan. Such a plan to be framed must be written, put down, and recorded. Men will then see what the plan is. And what it is, it will remain, when once recorded in writing. If we decide that a particular course is the right one, the next object should be to make those adopt it who act under our rule. The only effective means of doing this is to give to our recorded plan the authority of law. In short, we must frame and pass an Act of Parliament.

In procedure, the teaching of experience is more needed than in any portion of the field of law — and in administrative procedure, no less than in judicial. I was therefore anxious to ascertain what had already been done by ourselves and others in the planting and governing of colonies; and as the reader will see, I have made constant use of the example afforded by the conduct of the Congress of the United States of America in this particular. In one instance, however, I propose to

depart very widely from the plan that Congress adopts; and I do so, because I believe our own more favourable position enables us to do once for all, what Congress does upon every occasion of establishing a new TERRITORY and STATE. Upon the formation of such new Territory, and the reception of a new State into the Union, a specific act of Congress has been passed; except, indeed, in the case of the Territories which were created under, and by virtue of the authority of the ordinance of 1784, which will be found quoted in extenso in the body of my work. That ordinance provided for the government of the territory belonging to the United States, north west of Ohio, and contemplated from the beginning the carving of many states out of that vast tract of country. I, looking in the same way upon all the wild lands in the several portions of our Colonial Empire to which my work relates, as one whole, propose, as Mr. Dane did, by his celebrated ordinance, to make one law for all. The separate interests which press upon Congress and obstruct its legislation, do not, after the same fashion, lie in our path; so we may, if we legislate at all, legislate safely, for the whole of the colonies and wild lands in the several possessions of which I speak.

One observation is necessary, in order to guard myself against the imputation of incorrectness in the

statistics quoted which relate to the United States. Everything in her new Territories and States changes, and advances so rapidly, that the descriptions and the figures which are accurate this year are wholly incorrect for the next. I have done what I could to obtain the latest statistics, and where I am able, I state the year to which they belong. But my conclusions will, I believe, in no case be found affected by the sort of inaccuracy here spoken of.

ASHLEY ARNEWOOD,

April 23, 1849.

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