The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-06 00:00:00

experiences of the other eventful day must have told
him of the dangers he will encounter if he persists
is running counter to the general tone and expres-
sion of feeling. He had better take to heart a sage
maxim, which tells him, " Fas est ab hoste doceri,"
and consider the advice given to him by Lord
STANLEY, that if he appeals to the country from
the decision of Parliament, he will not have a very
good or effective cry to urge on his supporters and
intimidate his opponents. The noble lord said that
the watchword of the foreign policy of the Minis-
ters would be—" France has been alienated, Ger-
many insulted, Denmark abandonA, Poland en-
couraged to revolt, and deserted." The greatest
effrontery can hardly attempt to withstand the corn
bined eff,cts of such a combination, and it is impos-
sible for the most adroit or subtle supporter of the
Government to do away with the impression that
now prevails against them throughout the length
and breadth of the land.

The colonising spirit of the English has long
been one of the distinguishing features of the race.
It is many a long day since the Mayflower first set
sail across the Atlantic, but the vast nation which
so haughtily confronts us now owes her existence
to the perseverance and the energy of English
colonists. East and west, north and south, have
Englishmen taken root, and in every spot the love
of freedom, the power of self-government, and that
indomitable enterprise which commands success
have grown up with them. We are not famous in
ordinary life for accommodating ourselves readily
to new ways, for identifying ourselves to easily
with other nation's. To do at Rome as the Romans
do is a piece of advice very muan needed by the
sturdy Anglo-Saxon, and like other pieces of much
needed advice it is very little heeded. Bat directly
an Englishman forms part of an actual settlement
the case is changed; he adapts himself readily to
his altered circumstances, or rather he bends them
to him, and the reward of his happy facility is
usually found in a thriving and prosperous commu-
nity. English colonies have been singularly fortu-
nate, some more, some less, but all as a general rule.
There is, however, one unhappy exception, which
can yet hardly be rightly called an exception, since
the drawback is, that the district iu question has
never been colonised. It owns English sway and
acknowledges English authorities, but further than
that, it has no share in the busy hive of working
bees. -Why so fine a tract of land should have been
co long neglected, why a territory three or four times
as large as England itself should be practically useless
to us, except in the interest of a few traders, is one
of the incomprehensible anomalies of cur political
system. There have no doubt been great difficulties
in the way of dealing with the Hudson's Bay
territories, owing to the existence of some of those

charters, by which in former days kings made such
reckless gifts to favoured sul-jects. The gift of a
Tract of land, estimated at a million and a halt

rqaare miles, was certainly r ther a rash proceeding

even fox the days of CHARLES the Second, but the
Merry Monarch was possibly it,flueeced in his libe-
rality by the reflection that the lands in question
belonged to his French neighbours. No doubt can
be now thrown upon the English right of tenure,
since the territories were fairly made over to this

country about a century since. If legal quibbles

are to interfere with sound legislation, however, it
seems that the fact of thus bestowing lund which
did not realty belong to hisi might invalidate the
claim, founded on the king's charter. It must be a
very remarkable case which all legal authorities are
agreed upon, yet this, says Mr. MILLS, is the case
with regard to the right of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany to these territories. rt is universally held

that it is impossible to dispute the validity of a
charter which has existed for 200 years, a found
principle, no doubt, in the main, but one which may
be strained too far. T►he state of things at present
existing, and to which Mr. MILLS lest week called
the attention of the house, is not altogether satis-

factory. Wide tracts of land, extending from Ca
nada to the Racky Mountains, are lying waste, for
we may call them waste when they are peopled only
by the fur trapper and the Indian. And yet the
North American continent has proved to be speci-
ally favourable to the Anglo-Saxon race, its natural
gifts are magnificent, the tract of land to which Mr.
MILLS more esp:•cially referred the other night
having been declared by competent authorities to
comprise some of the most fertile land in North
America. Ytt this fine territory is practically abut
out from the colonist, for there are no regular means
of communication with Canada, and a barren waste

ties between. It would be immensely to the public
advantage if a chain of settlements could be
extended from Canada to British Columbia; if
high roads and railway lines penetrated
through that vast tract which lies between, and
the dwellers in the Red River settlement were
no longer an isolated community, but the members
of one great and united State, which should add
immensely to the power and influence of England
on the North American continent. Why, then,
should this great opportanfty be lost, and the RA
River settlement left to fall into American lianas of

under American influence ? It is undoubtedly our
work to improve and to cultivate the northern part
of North America, and it.is a task peculiarly con-
genial to Eaglian enterprise and ability. It is use-
less to expect mutt. help from those who are inte-

rested in preso:rving the land as a wilderness,

Silver foxes, ermines, martens, and their species
do not co:nmonly flourish in the vicinity of thriving
settlements, and therefore we must not be surptised
if the members of the Hudson's Bay Company do

- -
not display much alacrity in the matter. It has,
indeed, been statel that the principal directors have

shown no unwillingness to adapt themselves to the
change of the times, but that their agents and
officials object very strongly to any innovation, and
intend to uphold the superior merits of the fur tradu

at all hazards. Still it is something that the ques-
tion should have been brought up again, and open

discussion on the matter will do much good. It is

satisfactory, too, to find that the Government is
actually in communication with the Canadian

authorities upon the matter, so that there is a rea-

sonable prospect of a final adjustment of differences.
It is of comparatively little moment what are the
relative proportions of the responsibilities incurred,
provided that all parties agree to carry on the

means of communication, and to throw open this

magnificent territory to English settlers. Mr.
CARDWELL promises that he at least will give no

pledge on the question of the boundaries without

the approval of the House, but in truth the question
of a few miles of land more or less belonging to
Canada or to the Hudson's Bay territory is less to
be regarded in the present state of the colony than
the general advantage. At any rate, it is time that
these minor differences were arranged, and that no

personal interests or local jealousies be further
suffered to retard the civilisation and obstruct tha
development of what might be a noble English
colony.

ANECDOTE OF HAWTHORN.z.--On the last even-
ing that 1 passed there I remember that our talk
rambled, after many thing, as men's talk often will, to the
question of what was to happen to ua when lie is over.
We were speaking of the Ep ritualist creed, that existence
recommences, under another form, the moment after death.
`Aar' said Hawthorne, half laughing, halt seriously,
" I hope there will be a break. A couple of thousand years
or so of sleep is the least that I can do with before I begin
life egaigt:',