The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-22 00:00:00

by persons of influence and by a portion of the
press tn rsuade the public that the colonies were
eakness, and, in the case of
those of British North America, of positive danger
to the parent State, and that the best interests of
all parties demanded that the connection between
England and her numerous offspridg, should termi-
nate at the earliest possible period. Out of doors
little was attempted to be done by the parties chiefly
interested towards frustrating the designs of those
who, we can hardly believe from purely patriotic
motives, wished to bring about the dismemberment
of the empire. This apparent apathy was probably
owing to the fact that the colonists reposed implicit
faith in the honour and wisdom of the Imperial Par-
liament, and were convinced that that body would
take a correct view of the relations which ought
to subsist between the colonies and the mother coun-
try.. The emphatic deciaration of Lsrd Palmerston
that it is the duty of England to stand by her colo-
nies, if necessary,defend them with the whole force of
the empire, so long as they were disposed to retain
their allegiance to the Crown of these realms, was
affirmed by an overwhelming majority of the mem-
bers of the late Parliament. This one act of the
session we can easily believe will ever be borne in
grateful remembrance by our fellow-subjects, how-
ever distant from the mother country may be the
British territory upon which they have established
their homes. We believe that the late Parliament,
in recognising the obligations of the parent State
towards her scattered colonial dependencies, truly
expressed the feeling. of the people of England, a
thatel election itohne thusnew
Parliament
affords
ians
large proportion of whom have friends and relatives
in all the colonies. The progress of the general
di cat
e giveincreased
tion of the fact
indication
support to the patriotic and liberal policy of the
present Government, and that by its acts the hap-
piness and prosperity of all British subjects at home
and in the colonies will be very greatly promoted.
In closing the late session her Majesty, unfor-
tunately, was not able to congratulate the public
upon the prospect of the early accomplishment of
the project for
consolidating the interests of British
North America, in which the people of this country
during the past yea.l.have taken no small amount of
interest. The British North American people,
however, if they have not yet been able to agree
among themselves on the question of Confederation,
are nobly unanimous in the expression of their
loyalty to the Queen, and their desire to remain
permanently part and parcel of the British empire.
We believe they are sincerely anxious, as far as
their peculiar circumstances will permit, of follow-
ing the mother country in her free-trade policy,
and of establishing closer political and commercial
relations with the parent State. This satisfactory
state of the public sentiment in the British North
American provinces is, we think, in a great measure
to be attributed to the liberal policy of the Imperial
Government, to the courteous attention which has,
been paid to all their representations, and to the
marked consideration which the late Parliament
gave to questions in which their vital interests were
concerned. The paragraph in her Majesty's speech
referring to the proposed confederation, and recog-
nising the devoted loyalty of all her British North
American subjects, will, we have no doubt, be re-
garded by the latter as affording an additional proof
of the interest which her Majesty and the people of
this country feel in the present prosperity and
future destination of the nearest and most advanced
portion of our colonial empire. Whatever amount
of regret and disappointment the temporary failure
of the Confederation scheme may have occasioned
in this country and in Canada, it is perhaps, after
all, for the best that the fusion of all the interests
of British North America, which cannot be deferred
for any great length of time, should not be com-
pleted in a hurried manner. The union of the
provinces under one strong central Government for
defensive purposes was of much more importance
six months ago than it is at the present time.
The judicious conduct of the Canadian Govern-
ment in amicably settling grave matters recently
in dispute between themselves and their powerful
neighbour, and the manly and consistent course
pursued by the Government of Lord Palmerston
throughout the late American civil war, no longer
render it necessary that every part of the Canadian
frontier should bristle with arms to repel the ad-
vance of an invading host. Happily for the inte-
rests of mankind in general a friendly understand-
ing now subsists between England and the United
States, and there is no reason to fear any sudden
disturbance of these good relations. It is of the
utmost importance to the interests of both nations,
kindred as they are, that perpetual peace should, if
possible, subsist between them ; and we are sure the
wise and statesmanlike policy of the present Govern-
ment towards America fully entitles them to the
gratitude and renewed confidence of the people of
this country As regards the question of the Con-
federation of British North America, the idea,
although only within the past twelve months brought
prominently before the English public, has for more
than a quarter of a century been familiar to the
minds of our Transatlantic fellow-subjects. It has
_over andovar again been meal orl, and laid -on--Orc
shelf until the proper time should arrive for the ac-
complishment of so great a project. We believe
that the time has come for carrying into effect what
has until lately been a fond dream with the colonial
statesmen, and we are confident that the labours of
the delegates from the several provinces who as-
sembled in conference at Quebec last year, and
agreed upon a basis for establishing one general
Government for all BritishlNorth America, will not
prove abortive. Although local jealousies and sus-
picions may for a time retard the progress of the
Confederation movement, it has now acquired such
a strong hold upon the minds of the people of Bri-
tish North America that its ultimate success appears
to us a matter of certainty. Nova Scotia has sent
over two of the members of its Government to con-
fer on the subject with her Majesty's Ministers, and
New Brunswick has also sent a deputation for the
same purpose. We can only express a hope that
the conferences between the several deputations
from the provinces and the Imperial Government
Will have a favourable result for the Confederation
j ,
project ; and, as her Maes y t in her speech in closing
the last session, observed, bring about such a union
of the provinces as will afford them additional
strength, and give facilities for many internal im-
provements. We think it not at all improbable that
one of the first bills to be submitted to the new
Parliament will be one for uniting, under one gene-
ral Government, the various provinces of British
North America.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE,

CHESTERFIELD RACES-JuLy 21.
SWEEPSTAKES.

Nothing More
(Clarkson) 1 ,
Mr. Sykes' colt
2
Cutler
3
Humphrey
4
Betting-5 to 4on Nothing More, 2to 1 apt Cutler.
Won by three lengths ; length between second and third.