DEDICATION. MY DEAR LORD FALKLAND, I DERIVE much more pleasure in having the opportunity of dedicating this Work to you, than, I am afraid, you will feel at your seeing your name attached to a book, containing many things in which I know you do not concur; and some that your friendship for me will cause you to wish were expunged. I do not, by any means, desire to have it supposed, that it has obtained your sanction, as a Colonial Governor, for you have never seen the manuscript, nor have I had the advantage of your valuable advice and experience during its progress. My reason for inscribing it to you, though two-fold, is altogether personal. First-It will recall to your mind an old friend, who has spent many happy hours in your society, and partaken largely of your kindness and hospitality, in time by-gone, when we discoursed de omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis. Those days can never be recalled, or renewed; but memory would indeed be a source of unmitigated pain, if it only reflected the dark shades, and not the sunny spots of life. This book will show you, that my political views are unchanged. I should be ashamed of myself, if a dedication were necessary to prove that my affection is also unaltered. Secondly-I know of no one so conversant with the subject as yourself. I never had a very exalted opinion of what is called "Responsible Government," knowing that the term was an indefinite one, and that an interpretation had been put upon it by many people, that made it almost amount to sovereignty. To you was intrusted the delicate and difficult task of introducing it into Nova Scotia. Of the independence, judgment, moderation, and manliness, with which this delegated duty was executed, I say nothing, because in all ages, and in all countries, there have been others, beside your Lordship, who could justly lay claim to these qualities. But one thing is most certain, that the late Lord Metcalf and yourself were the only two men, either in the Cabinet or the Colonies, who understood the practical operation of the system; for while you conceded t the provincial Assembly, the entire control of its local affairs, you maintained your own position as the Queen's representative, asserted your rights, as an independent branch of the Legislature, and at the same time upheld the Royal Prerogative. Those Governors wherever situated, who have put a wider and more extended interpretation on the term than yourself, have become mere ciphers; while those, who may wish to follow your example, will find, that unwise concessions have rendered the task both hopeless and thankless. "Sibi quivis Speret idem, sudet multum, frustraque laboret." I am, my dear Lord Falkland, Very sincerely and affectionately, NOVA SCOTIA, March 31, 1851. THE AUTHOR. THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA. BOOK I. CHAPTER I. Introduction-Objects and Utility of the Work-No connected Political History of the Colonies to be found-Popular Error as to the Origin of the American Republic-One established at Plymouth in 1620, and another in Massachusetts in 1629, which subsisted for more than fifty Years--Democracy the result both of Design and Necessity-Notice of the early Settlers. THE early settlements made by the English in America were effected either by individual speculators or associated companies. They were in general situated at a distance from each other, having at first little or no connection, either political, social, or commercial among themselves, and deriving but trifling assistance, and less protection, from the mother country. They grew up into powerful colonies, in neglect and obscurity, with a rapidity and vigor that astonished Europe. They were without precedent in the previous annals of England, and the political agitation of the public mind in the present state, unhappily afforded no opportunity for establishing their relation on a proper foundation, or arranging a consistent and uniform plan for their government. The accounts we have of them, therefore, are detached, and their interest is destroyed for want of continuity. Every plantation has had its annalist, but the narratives are too local, too minute, and too similar in their details to be either interesting or instructive. No attempt has been made to sep arate the political from the provincial, and the general from the individual and petty personal history. This, doubtless, is the reason why so little is known of the old colonies previous to the independence, and so little benefit has accrued from past experience, either to Great Britain or her dependencies. A connected sketch of English “rule and misrule in America," it is hoped, may, to a certain extent, supply the deficiency, while it will correct some popular errors on the subject, and furnish valuable material for reflection, not only to those statesmen to whom our destinies are intrusted, but to those restless politicians who imagine a republican form of government suitable to the inhabitants of every country in the world. Warned by past failures, the former may learn, ere it be too late, to abstain from making experiments which have long since been tried and condemned; to supply deficiencies which have heretofore cost the nation so dearly, to correct abuses arising from inconsiderate concessions, and to cherish and foster those establishments which in every stage of colonization have been the nurseries of loyalty to the monarch, and attachment to the nation. It will at least convince them that to substitute democratic for monarchical institutions is not the safest or best mode of retaining colonies, or enlisting the sympathy of their inhabitants. The latter class (revolutionists) are numerous every where. Astonished and dazzled at the extraordinary success that has attended the great American experiment, they merely regard the result, without stopping to investigate the cause, and hastily conclude that that which has worked so well in the United States, and produced so much general prosperity and individual good, is equally applicable to, or attainable by every other people. This is a great and fatal error. A government must not only be suited to the population, but to the country for which it is designed; and the moral and social condition of the one, and the size, the climate, and political and relative position of the other, are of the utmost importance to be thoroughly understood, and maturely considered. Thus a constitutional monarchy has proved inadequate in Spain to conciliate the affections or restrain the turbulence of the people. Responsible government in Canada has failed in its object, because it is incompatible with imperial control and colonial dependence, is unsuited to the poverty, ignorance, and inactivity of the French Habitants, and the predilections and |