in which the principal Chiefs have made known their wishes to the head of the Government.

"The Committee have much pride in finding themselves associated with the brave and faithful Warriors of the Indian Nations, in the design of doing honor to the memory of the lamented General who was loved and admired by all his followers, and it is their anxious wish that the Chief Superintendent of Indian Affairs should, under the direction of His Excellency, take the most effectual means of assuring the principal Chiefs, that militia and other inhabitants of Canada are very thankful for their kind assistance in this grand design.

"That they feel the greatest respect for the loyalty and for the warm and friendly hearts of their Red Brethren; that they shall take care that their generous gift shall be made the best use of for the purpose they have resolved to join in; and that as long as the Monument shall stand, it shall tell their great Mother the Queen, and all their White Brethren, that the brave and grateful Indians have not forgotten their glorious leader and friend, who flew to their defence in the time of danger, and that they have helped to build the tomb over his grave.'

We are sure it was right and proper to make this kindly reference to the Indians in this military circular. The Indians helped to fight our battles and gain our victories in the war of 1812. It was a band of 600 Chippawas that helped to win the victory at Queenston where the noble Brock laid down his life.

The papers we have examined give us reminiscences of a bygone century in the Niagara District, and enable us to see how faithfully the early settlers of Canada did their part to establish law and order in all the settlements, and their earnest and honest endeavours were wonderfully successful. We, their descendants, look back with pride to the pioneer work done by the fathers, and realize that they have handed down to us a goodly heritage. If we do our part as well as they did theirs, Canada must be prosperous; no country can be more so.

It ought to be deeply impressed on us that the best defense of a country is the honesty, integrity, purity and Christian character of a people; but while the world remains as it is, and the nations are what they are, military preparations are a necessity; and the sword must sometimes be used to bring lawless men under restraint and submission. It is sad to think that this is so, but we know the fact.

The papers in my hands were official papers issued between 1822 and 1842. All of them were written with the pen, except the printed one relating to the reconstruction of Brock's monument, and this was provincial, not local. The penmanship of most of the papers is fine, and that of Col. Warren is almost faultless. The composition is careful and guarded. All this goes to show that the writers were men of taste and culture. Everything they said shows promptness and decision. All the papers

were folded, addressed and sealed without the use of envelopes, which came into use later on. To fold a letter in a neat and tasty way was considered a fine accomplishment. The first settlers of our country had few advantages, but they made good use of those they had. The old militia system, with all its defects, was a great training school for the people of an early day; it helped to make them intensely patriotic, and patriotism is the strength and safety of a nation.

315 Don Mills Road, Toronto.

X.

THE BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE, 1849.

BY PROFESSOR CEPHAS D. ALLIN.

Preface. The origin of the British American League and some phases of its early development have already been traced in considerable detail in a recent work entitled "Annexation, Preferential Trade and Reciprocity," in the preparation of which the present writer had a part. It is the aim of this brief monograph to supplement that treatment by a more complete study of the origin of the League, the course of its political development and of the cause or causes of its somewhat mysterious disappearance. In conclusion, an attempt is made to determine, with as impartial a mind as possible, the extent of its contribution to and influence upon Canadian history and politics.

The writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. George M. Jones, of Toronto, for valuable assistance in the preparation of this monograph.

Introduction.-But little is known of the British American League, though for a short time it played an important part in Canadian politics. Two views have found expression as to its origin and character. The first, that of Sir John Macdonald, voices the sentiment of the Conservative party, in ascribing to the League the honor of determining the course of Canadian history.

"Our fellows," declared Sir John, in explanation of the Montreal annexation manifesto, "lost their heads. I was pressed to sign it but refused and advocated the formation of the British American League as a more sensible procedure. From all parts of Upper Canada and from the British section of Lower Canada and from the British inhabitants in Montreal representatives were chosen. They met at Kingston for the purpose of considering the great danger to which the constitution of Canada was exposed. A safety valve was found. Our first resolution was that we were resolved to maintain inviolate the connection with the Mother Country. The second proposition was that the true solution of the difficulty lay in the confederation of all the provinces. The third resolution was that we should attempt to form in such confederation, or in Canada before confederation, a commercial national policy. The effects of the formation of the British American League were marvellous. Under its influence the annexation sentiment disappeared, the feeling of

irritation died away and the principles which were laid down by the British North American League in 1850 are the lines on which the Liberal Conservative party has moved ever since."

The second view is that of his Liberal opponent, the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, who presents the League in a most unfavorable light.

The

"The Montreal disturbances ultimately gave birth to a new organization under the name of the British North American League. Association was a queer mixture of Tories and Annexationists and comprised all the disappointed items. Like King David's famous army at the cave of Adullam, "Every one that was in distress and every one that was discontented gathered themselves" to the meetings of the League. The Globe and Liberal Journals generally greeted the new political mongrel with a storm of ridicule. They were dubbed 'Children of the Sun. After one brief attempt to effect something by their meeting at Kingston, the concern collapsed from the sheer rottenness of its material. They advocated extreme Toryism and extreme disloyalty and finally threatened to drive the French into the sea."

The British North American League. The grant of responsible government proved the undoing of the Tory party. For many years, the Tories had considered themselves the only loyal party; and they believed that they had merited by their loyalty the favor of the successive governors of the colony and the staunch support of the Colonial Office. But the old order of things had passed away. The day of special privileges in church and state was over. The free spirit of democracy was abroad throughout the land. New principles of social and political liberty were in the ascendency. In the election of 1848, the Tory party went down to a crushing defeat, but fighting bitterly to the end. They could not easily reconcile themselves to the new experience of seeing their disloyal opponents seated on the Treasury bench and monopolizing the places of honor and profit under the Crown. In the bitterness of defeat they took up the cry of French domination and carried the flaming torch of racial and religious hatred throughout the Province. The aftermath of this dangerous agitation, the assault on the Governor General and the burning of the parliament buildings at Montreal, completed the discomfiture of the party. For the moment, the party seemed on the verge of dissolution. The Tory leaders were not equal to the situation; they could neither control the wayward course of their erstwhile supporters, nor formulate a new political program. The rank and file of the party, refusing to foreswear their political principles, wandered around in aimless confusion without an accredited leader or policy. An extreme section of the party, embittered by the series of humiliations they had received from the local and British governments and discouraged as to the future of the country, foreswore their allegiance to the Crown and entered upon an active campaign for annexation to the neighboring Republic. A more moderate group, however, undertook to reorganize the party on a more popular basis and were even ready to adopt some of the democratic principles of their political opponents.

The Reform party likewise was in a process of disintegration. Upon accession to office the old struggle between the radical and conservative elements of the party broke out anew. The radical or Clear Grit wing, who derived their political opinions for the most part from the United States, were resolved to introduce the principles of American democracy into the whole social and political organization of the country. The conservative element, on the other hand, which was more influential in the councils of the government, were averse to any further important constitutional changes. They were alarmed at the spread of republican doctrines within the party and sought to check these dangerous tendencies; but their efforts were far from successful.

In England the whole theory and practice of colonial government had been rapidly changing. After a hard struggle the economic dogmas of Adam Smith had triumphed over the ancient principles of the Mercantile School. The theory of colonial monopoly first gave way to the more enlightened policy of preferential trade. The mother country granted a preference to colonial products and received a corresponding preference in colonial markets for British products. But with the adoption of the tenet of free trade, the whole system of imperial preference was swept aside. However beneficial were the results of the change of policy in England, there can be little doubt but that its effects at first were disastrous to the colonies.

In Canada, the withdrawal of the colonial preference inflicted a crushing blow on the industrial and mercantile community. "Temporary insolvency was the price the Canadians paid for the triumph of English free trade." Much of the capital of the country had been tied up in infant industries which owed their existence to the protective policy of the mother land, and which were not yet strong enough to face the open competition of the world. The Boards of Trade of the province raised their voices in loud protest against the ruinous policy of the English government. In a letter to the Colonial Secretary, Lord Elgin bitterly described "the downward progress of events. These are ominous words. But look at the facts. Property in most of the Canadian towns, and more especially in the capital, has fallen 50% in value during the last three years; three-fourths of the commercial men are bankrupt owing to free trade. A large proportion of the exportable produce of Canada is obliged to seek a market in the United States. It pays the duty of 20% on the frontier. How long can such a state of things be expected to endure." The local government could render no assistance for it was itself on the verge of bankruptcy. But all these pleadings were in vain. The English government was obdurate and absolutely refused to reconsider its fiscal policy. The unsympathetic attitude of the home authorities drove the colonists to extreme measures. Goaded on by anger and despair, a section of the business community turned for relief to the policy of annexation to the United States.

In England, a new school of political philosophy had arisen which was destined to exercise a powerful influence on imperial affairs. The doctrine of free trade was only one feature of the program of the Man