of Greece and Rome has not enlarged the sphere of his facultics, and preserved, except in the case of plagiarists, and men rendered reckless by poverty, his moral character untainted by the commission of a dishonorable act.

We cannot conclude this article better than by quoting the beautiful language of Fritzsche; who says, in his Quæstiones Aristophanice, p. 29

Literæ hæ non in foro tumultuantur, sed in otio et tranquillitate sese oblectant; non sub aspectum cadunt; non oculis cernuntur, aut tractari possunt manu; sed mentis acie suaque modestia pœne inscia orbem terrarum gubernant; non divitias opesve quærunt, non regna concutiunt ; nihil ipsæ affectant, sed honesta paupertate, fama, optimis artibus parta, et conscientia recti, thesauro omnium pulcherrimo contentæ sunt.

ART. VIII. The Bubbles of Canada. By the Author of "The Clockmaker." 8vo. London: R. Bentley. 1839.

2. A Narrative.

By Sir FRANCIS B. HEAD, Bart. 8vo. London: John Murray. 1859.

IT very seldom falls to our lot to exercise our critical vocation on a work which, whether we consider the spirit in which it is written, the closeness of its reasoning, the cogency of its arguments, the clearness and vigour of its style, on all these grounds claims almost unqualified praise. When this does happen, the task is a very pleasing one. Such, we think we may say, is the case with regard to the first of the works before us. When we first took it up, we imagined, from the title, that we were about to peruse a book, clever doubtless, and which might probably present many curious facts to the reader, but, nevertheless, chiefly intended as a vehicle for wit and humour. We have been most agreeably disappointed; we use this term, not that we do not relish humour and wit occasionally, as well as others, but because we do not admire a too liberal use of them in questions involving weighty and important matters. Instead of answering to this description, we found it a work written in a grave and serious tone, combining clearness and force with eloquence of expression, by no means deficient in occasional strokes of wit and sarcasm, and containing, moreover, a complete exposition of the whole Canadian question. We have read many productions on this subject, but in most of them there has been observable either a greater or lesser degree of ignorance, a timid and irresolute mode of handling the question, or else an attempt only to grapple with its least important

points. But the author of the work before us acts very differently; he goes directly towards the more difficult parts of the question, pursues it through all its windings, and abandons it not until he has reduced it to a few simple points, easily intelligible by any capacity. It is singular that these should have escaped observation hitherto, or should have been noticed only in an imperfect manner, and that it should have been reserved to the present author to develope those errors, both of commission and omission, in which, as he shows by a chain of irrefragable reasoning, have originated all the doubts and difficulties with which the Canadian question has been embarrassed. We cannot sufficiently admire the fearlessness of tone, the honesty and sincerity of purpose, the determination not to blink at any part of his subject, and, at the same time, the perfectly temperate mode of expression, which are manifested in every page of this work. He sets out with a resolution of stating only unquestioned facts, which he leaves for the judgment of the reader; and we must say, he amply redeems his pledge. However, we will let him speak for himself:

"After the late unhappy and wicked rebellion in Canada was suppressed, it was found necessary to punish with death a few of the most conspicuous traitors, for the atrocious murders they had committed in the Colonies; although the justice of this act was fully admitted, the necessity that existed for it was generally deplored. So much blood had been shed in the field, and so much misery entailed upon the country, by that rash and unprovoked revolt, that the people would gladly have been spared the spectacle of a further sacrifice of human life, if the outraged laws of the country had not imperatively called for retribution. They felt, too, that although nothing could justify their having desolated the country with fire and sword, in support of mere speculative points of government, some pity was due to deluded men, who had been seduced from their allegiance by promises of support, and direct encouragement to revolt, by people of influence and standing in the mother country; but although they knew that mischievous counsels had been given, they certainly were not prepared to hear similar sentiments publicly avowed in the Parliament of the nation. It was, therefore, not without mingled feelings of surprise and sorrow that they heard one honourable member invoke defeat and disgrace upon her Majesty's troops, whose service was already sufficiently painful without this aggravation; and a noble Lord, in another branch of the Legislature, denounce with indignant eloquence, the juries who had tried and the judges who had sentenced these convicted criminals." "Nor is the language held by my Lord Durham, in the recent valedictory proclamation, less surprising. He has thought proper, in that extraordinary document, to give the sanction of his high station to the popular error that the Canadas have been mis-governed.

*

As this charge of mis-government has been often made of late, it is probable it will be repeated, and as it must materially modify the opinion we are to form, both of the revolt, and of the measures to be adopted hereafter in consequence thereof, I shall now proceed to controvert this assertion; but before I enter upon it, permit me to say that I shall not treat this as a party question. As a colonist, at once a resident and a native of a distant part of the empire, I am not only unconnected with, but perfectly independent of, either of the great parties of this country, of Tories, or Whigs or Radicals; nor do I consider this as a subject at all involving the principles for which they severally contend. The question is one wholly between the people of this country and the colonists, and must be considered as such; and so far from my Lord Durham's assertion being true, that there has been misgovernment, I am prepared to show that every Administration in this country, without exception, from the conquest of Canada to the present time, whether Tory or Whig, or mixed, or by whatever name they may be designated, have been actuated but by one feeling, an earnest desire to cultivate a good understanding with their new subjects of French extraction, and on one principle, a principle of concession. Canada has had more privileges and indulgences granted to it than any other of our American colonies: unpopular officers have been removed, obnoxious governors have been recalled, constitutional points abandoned to them, all reasonable changes made (or, as they would express it, grievances redressed), and the interests of commerce and of persons of British origin postponed to suit their convenience or accommodate their prejudices; in short, every thing has been done, and every thing conceded, to conciliate them, that ingenuity could devise, or unbounded liberality grant, and no sacrifice has been considered too great to purchase their affections, short of yielding up the colony to their entire control; and for all this forbearance and liberality they have met with ingratitude, abuse, and rebellion. For the truth of this assertion I call upon France and the United States to bear me testimony.

"Hear the Duke de la Rochefoucault Lioncourt:- No Canadian has just grounds of complaint against the British government; the inhabitants of Canada acknowledge unanimously that they are better treated than under the ancient French government; but they love the French, forget them not, long after them, hope for their arrival, will always love them, and betray these feelings too frequently, and in too frank a manner, not to incur the displeasure of the English. They pay no taxes, live well, at an easy rate, and in plenty; within the compass of their comprehensions they cannot wish for any other good. They are so little acquainted with the principles of liberty, that it has cost a great deal of trouble to establish juries in their country: they oppose the introduction of the trial by jury; in civil cases these are not yet in use. But they love France, this beloved country engages still their affections. In their estimation, a Frenchman is a being far superior to an Englishman.'

"Hear also Professor Silliman: 'It is questionable whether any conquered country was ever better treated by its conquerors than Canada.

The people were left in complete possession of their religion, and revenues to support it; of their property, laws, customs, manners, and even the defence of their country is without expense to them; and it is a curious fact, that (unless by the great counterbalancing advantages it produces) so far from being a source of revenue, it is a charge on the treasury of the empire. It would seem as if the trouble and expense of government was taken off their hands, and as if they were left to enjoy their own domestic comforts without a drawback. Such is certainly the appearance of the population; and it is doubtful whether our own favoured communities are politically more happy." p. 8

After this statement, our author remarks very pithily

"This, you will observe, is but the evidence of opinion: produce your facts." Agreed. To the facts then let us proceed:

By the treaty of peace which was made in the year 1763, Canada, which had been conquered by General Wolfe, was ceded in full sovereignty to the King of Great Britain, by the King of France, and the French inhabitants who chose to remain became British subjects, and were secured in the enjoyment of their property and possessions, and the free exercise of their religion. Shortly after this treaty, a royal proclamation was published for the purpose of creating four new civil governments, namely, those of Quebec, East Florida, West Florida, and Granada, in the countries and islands of America, which had been ceded to the crown by the same treaty. In this proclamation his Britannic Majesty exhorted all his subjects to avail themselves of those benefits and advantages which were likely to accrue from the recent valuable acquisitions, and as an encouragemeut to them to do so, the proclamation further stated, that directions had been given to the civil governors of these four new provinces to summon and call together, as soon as possible, general assemblies of the people within their respective governments, in the same manner as was practised in those provinces which were under his Majesty's immediate government, and that in the meantime, until such assemblies should be called, all persons inhabiting the said colonies might confide in his Majesty's royal protection, for the enjoyment of the benefit of the laws of his realm of England; for which purpose it was further stated that his Majesty had given directions to the said governors to erect and constitute courts of judicature for the hearing and determining all causes, both civil and criminal, as near as may be agreeable to the laws of England. And very shortly after this proclamation was published, a royal commission of CaptainGeneral and Governor-in-Chief of the province of Quebec was issued to Major-General Murray, which was published by him

accordingly. In accordance with the terms of the proclamation and of his commission, Governor Murray and his council directed the chief justice of the province (who was to hold the Court of King's Bench) to determine all criminal and civil causes agreeable to the laws of England, and the ordinances of the province; and the judges of the inferior court (called the Court of Common Pleas) to determine the matters before them agreeably to equity, having regard, nevertheless, to the laws of England, so far as the circumstances and situation of things would permit, until such time as proper ordinances for the information of the people could be established by the Governor and council, agreeable to the laws of England, with this proviso added, "that the French laws and customs should be allowed and admitted in all causes in the said court, between the natives of the said province, in which the cause of action arose before the 1st day of October, 1764." In consequence of these instruments of government, the laws of England were generally introduced, and became the rule and measure of all contracts and other civil engagements entered into by the inhabitants after their introduction.

It was deemed expedient, as soon as possible, to introduce English settlers into the province, in order not only to create a defensive power within it, but also to induce the French to acquire the language and habits of their conquerors, The officers and soldiers who had served in America were rewarded with grants of land in the country, and liberal offers were made to emigrants. So many persons were induced to avail themselves of these offers as to afford grounds for the expectation that it would speedily rival the New England States in population and wealth; and there can be no doubt that such would have been the case, if the terms of the proclamation had been adhered to. The wisest course of policy which could have been adopted would undoubtedly have been to make the province a British colony in fact as well as in name. The introduction of English laws would have had a natural tendency to spread a knowledge of the language, by rendering its study necessary to the Canadian French, and an intercourse with the emigrants would have led the natives to adopt their customs, and by the time that a new generation had sprung up, it is probable that the Canadians would have ceased to feel any inconvenience from the change in their customs and laws. The first error in policy which was committed, and which in its consequences seemed likely to impede the gradual amalgamation of the different races of inhabitants, was the ordering a code of laws to be prepared, with such modifications contained in it as would secure to the French the