perty of the yearly value of 40s. The voters for the towns must possess a house, or land, of the yearly value of 51. sterling; or have been residents a year, and paid 101. a year rent. The council and assembly are to be called together at least once a year; and every assembly is to continue four years, unless sooner dissolved, which it is in the power of the governor to do, as soon, and as often, as he pleases. Every voter must, if called upon, take an oath that he is qualified to vote according to law. The governors of the two provinces are perfectly independent of each other in their civil capacity. In military affairs, the governor of Lower Canada takes precedence, as he is usually created Captain General of his Majesty's forces in North America.

By an act passed in the parliament of Great Britain, in the 18th year of his present Majesty, intituled, " An act for removing all doubts and apprehensions concerning taxations by the parliament of Great Britain, in the colonies, provinces, and plantations in North America, and the West Indies," &c. Parliament restrained

restrained itself for ever, from imposing taxes or duties in the colonies, except for the regulation of trade; the produce of such taxes or duties to be disposed of by the provincial legislature.

Whether the British government did right in giving Canada a provincial assembly, has been frequently a subject of discussion here. Much, of course, may be said on both sides: for my own part, I have no hesitation in saying, that, in my opinion, it was premature.

An infant colony is something like an infant child, and should be treated in the same manner. It would be considered extremely unwise to put a very young man, of large fortune, in possession of his estates, and allow him to have the management of them. The most promising youth would not be trusted to such an extent: but if he was known to possess strong passions, and, instead of being well grounded in his education, he had been neglected,his mind uncultivated, bad habits acquired, strong prejudices and antipathies against his guardians imbibed, with every wish to be troublesome to them, every desire to

throw off their superintending care, and either to take the reins into his own unsteady, feeble hands, or invite to his aid the greatest enemies the guardians have, would not the guardians be justly accused of acting a foolish part, were they, notwithstanding all this, to put it in the power of the young man to accomplish his wishes either in whole or in part?

This is precisely the case of the British government and Canada. The comparison I have made between the Canadians and an ignorant headstrong youth, will no doubt be deemed by them highly AntiCanadian, yet I think it will hold good in every point.

They will pretend to be indignant at the idea of their having a wish to throw off the superintending care of Britain, and to give a preference to France; and I do believe that a great many of them would be sincere in their indignation, because prudential considerations might predominate with these; or they may have reasoned themselves into the conviction that any change must be for the worse: but I would not do the great body of the people the in

justice to suppose, that they have not the wish again to see the French in Canada. I judge of them from myself, and from what I conceive to be the necessary tendency of human nature. Were Bonaparte and his Frenchmen to get possession of Canada, or Nova Scotia, I do not believe that there is a British subject in either of these colonies, unbiassed by considerations relative to his own personal emolument, who would ever cease to wish for the return of their countrymen.

Children would imbibe prepossessions against the French; they would be accustomed to hear lamentations for the days that were passed; their young minds would be early impressed with the greatness and goodness of the British nation; prejudices and antipathies would take possession of them; it is not in nature that it should be otherwise. Were the English (as the French are now) the majority in this country, would the French put the government into their hands? Most assuredly not: the English would not expect it; nor would they expect to have places of trust, of confidence, and of emolument. They

would naturally say, the French cannot be blamed for prefering their own countrymen and friends;-it is an effect of conquest, and though unpleasant to us, must be endured, like many other unpleasant effects of it. We have the fullest protection for our persons and property, there is no bar to our industry, no hinderance to us in the exertion of our talents in every branch of trade; we enjoy the free exercise of our religion; we are elegible to all the offices under government, if we have interest enough to get them; and, indeed, our not having it, is no great loss, as most of these situations are not worth having; an industrious man with a certain degree of talent being almost always able to do better by his own personal exertions, in either commerce, manufactures, or agriculture. In short, what have we to complain of-that the French are richer than we are-that they are more commercial-that they are more trusted by their countrymen than we are?— Ought we to complain of these things?— Certainly not. If we have not capital, or industry, or knowledge, it is not their fault; there is no bar to our acquiring those