It Is The
Freest Land Under The Sun, Acknowledging Neither A Despotic Sovereign Nor
A Tyrant Populace; Life And Property
Are alike secure - liberty has not yet
degenerated into lawlessness - the constitution combines the advantages of
the monarchical and republican
Forms of government - the Legislative
Assembly, to a great extent, represents the people - religious toleration
is enjoyed in the fullest degree - taxation and debt, which cripple the
energies and excite the disaffection of older communities, are unfelt - the
slave flying from bondage in the south knows no sense of liberty or
security till he finds both on the banks of the St. Lawrence, under the
shadow of the British flag. Free from the curse of slavery, Canada has
started untrammelled in the race of nations, and her progress already bids
fair to outstrip in rapidity that of her older and gigantic neighbour.
Labour is what she requires, and as if to meet that requirement,
circumstances have directed the attention of emigrants towards her - the
young, the enterprising, and the vigorous, are daily leaving the wasted
shores of Scotland and Ireland for her fertile soil, where the laws of
England shall still protect them, and her flag shall still wave over them.
Large numbers of persons are now leaving the north-east of Scotland for
Canada, and these are among the most valuable of the emigrants who seek
her shores. They carry with them the high moral sense, the integrity, and
the loyalty which characterise them at home; and in many cases more than
this - the religious principle, and the "godliness which has promise of the
life which now is, and of that which is to come."
Taken as a whole, the inhabitants of both provinces are attached to
England and England's rule; they receive the news of our reverses with
sorrow, and our victories create a burst of enthusiasm from the shores of
the St. Lawrence to those of Lake Superior. As might be expected, the
Anglo-French alliance is extremely popular: to show the sympathy of
Canada, the Legislature made the munificent grant of 20,000l. to be
divided between the Patriotic Funds of both nations, and every township
and village has contributed to swell a further sum of 30,000l. to be
applied to the same object. The imperial garrisons in Canada have recently
been considerably diminished, and with perfect safety; the efforts of
agitators to produce disaffection have signally failed; and it is stated
by those best acquainted with the temper of the people, that Canada will
not become a separate country, except by England's voluntary act.
At present every obstacle to her further development seems to be removed -
her constitution has been remodelled within the last few years on an
enlarged and liberal basis - her religious endowments have just been placed
on a permanent footing - all the points likely to cause a rupture with the
United States have been amicably settled - and important commercial
advantages have been obtained: the sun of prosperity shines upon her from
the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the distant shores of the Ottawa and the
Western Lakes.
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