A Lot To
Last, Because Based Upon Institutions Which Have Stood, And Will
Stand, The Test Of Time And Trouble.
Unfortunately we have had a
"little England" party in our country.
A Liberal Government,
immediately following the Act of Confederation, took every red-coat out
of the Dominion of Canada, shipped off, or sold, the very shot and
shell to any one, friend or foe, who chose to buy: and the few guns and
mortars Canada demanded were charged to her "in account" with the ruth
of the miser. If the Duke of Newcastle had been a member of that
Cabinet such a miserable policy never could have been put in force; but
he was dead. I venture to think that the whole people of
England, who knew of the transaction, were ashamed of it. Certainly, I
saw, a few years ago, that one member of the very Cabinet which did
this thing, repudiated the "little England" policy, as opposed to the
best traditions of the Liberal party.
The "little England" party of the past have tried, so far in vain, to
alienate these our fellow subjects. But, fortunately for the Empire,
while some in the mother country have been indifferent as to whether
the Provinces went or stayed, many in the Colonies have been earnest in
their desire to escape annexation to the States. The feeling of these
patriotic men was well described in December, 1862, by Lord
Shaftesbury, at a dinner given to Messrs. Howe, Tilley, Howland and
Sicotte, delegates from the Provinces of Canada, New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia.
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