The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-22 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSD kit, JANUARY 22, 1863.

In spite of Mr. GOLDWIN SMITH and his theories
the welfare of our colonies is always a matter of
interest to Englishmen. They are justly proud of
the extent of that magnificent empire which en-
circles alike the snows of Columbian mountains and
the rands that lie waste beneath an Austral sun ;
which stretches to both Indies, and includes under
its dominion every variety of soil and climate
and wellnigh every race. We are proud likewise
of the special gift for colonisation that seems to be-
long to our nation ; the enterprise and perseverance
that admit no obstacle to be insuperable until they
have converted nndrained swamps into fertile fields
and transformed the primeval forest into cities and
villages. In no direction is there a more promising
field for the exercise of these qualities than in that
grand new colony rescued from a long
monopoly and opened to British energy
under the auspices of the ex-Colonial Secretary Sir
E. BULWER LYTTON. A very interesting account
of the capabilities and prospects of this infant
colony will be found in the address delivered by the
Hon. Mr. CAMERON, at the London Tavern yes-
terday, Mr. CAMERON has come over in the capa-
city of delegate from British Columbia to represent
the wishes of that country on matters of import-
ance. He has been for 27 years a mem-
ber of the Canadian Legislature, and is therefore
qualified to speak with confidence the sentiments of
our Canadian fellow subjects as well as those of the
country he more immediately represents. It is
highly gratifying to find that in both cases the
sentiments of the colonists towards the mother
country are most cordial and satisfactory.
" As a colonist," said Mr. CAMERON, "my greatest
pride is my allegiance to the British throne. I feel
we are regarded as one with yourselves, under a
free constitution, protected alike as citizens of one
great empire." Though the Atlantic rolled between
he declared his conviction that the union of a
common origin, a common history, and a common
interest in the welfare of the empire was stronger
than any intervening barriers. He expressed very
strongly the views of our North American colonies
with regard to the annexation to the United States,
which some have talked of. " While in British
Columbia I read that one of your statesmen, and
one I greatly respect, had in eloquent words given
expression to the hope that the day was not far
distant when the great American Republic
would stretch from the frozen regions to the Southern
Gulf. Permit me, as a British colonist, a Canadian
by birth, the son of a British soldier, and, withal, a
friend to the United States, in the name of, and for
all, the British possessions in America, to say that
it is an aspiration that finds no echo in a single
colonial heart ; and I unhesitatingly affirm that any
attempt to aecotoplish it would be resisted with our
lives and fortunes to the last. In the colonies we are
not Republicans; we love constitutional freedom,
we respect the rights of property, and we have
learned from experience to believe that, with
all its faults, the constitution of Great Britain
and its limited monarchy is, as affording the
largest measure of liberty and the protection of
a free press, the best in the world. We there-
foie desire never to see the British empire less."
Such feelings are warmly reciprocated on this side
of the Atlantic, and from the description given of
the capacities of British Columbia, it promises to
bee.,aae one of our most hopeful dependencies.
Its
gold fields we have all heard of—the rush to the
Fraser River and Cariboo have made the uncouth
nomenclature of those localities familiar to English
ears. We have all heard, too, of the disappointment
and disaster of lust year—a disaster attributable, in
a great degree, to exceptional and removable causes.
The true wealth of British Columbia, however—
like the fortune which the woodman, in the fable,
left his &iildren in the fi rather in the soil
itself than in any casual dl,3covery. vegetation
says Mr. CAMERON, is forced as rapidly and into
as large a growth as in any other part
of the Continent. The magnificent timber of the
better known portion of the North American Con-
tinent is highly valued, bat it is eclipsed by the
trees of Columbia—the height and size of the native
fir or pine tree astonishing even the Canadians.
Mr: CAMERON reminds the visitors to the exhibi-
tion of the splendid spar, 271 feet long., sent from
Columbia, and states that he has himseitseen a fir