The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-25 00:00:00

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STAMPED sd.

geneous materials, and agreeing in little or nothing
but the necessity of Confederation—will, therefore,
hold together for some time longer, and do its ut-
most to further that great project which is its best,
if not its only, excuse for retaining a power which
under any other circumstances would be precarious
and unpopular.
The question of the proposed defences naturally
excites more interest in a fortified city like Quebec
than many of the more important issues raised by
the scheme of a Confederation. Were the whole
of the expenses to be paid by the British Govern-
ment, and were the labouring classes of Quebec and
the neighbourhood to be mainly, if not entirely,
employed upon the works, the French Canadians
would be delighted with the proposal. But as the
Canadians are to bear some share of the expendi-
ture, and as, for reasons of economy, and probably
of efficiency, it is proposed to employ the troops
in garrison in the performance of most of the
work, the shopkeeping and professional classess have
begun to question, although faintly, the propriety of
erecting any further fortifications of brick or stone,
and to express a preference for earthworks, erected
to serve the emergency, should it ever occur, such
as those constructed at Sebastopol by Gen. Todle-
ben, or thrown up on a hundred different occasions
both by the Confederates and the Federals during
the late civil war in the United States. In this as
in all other matters, it would appear, so far as my
means of observation enable me to judge, that the
Canadians will seldom or never criticise unfavour-
ably any policy on the part of the Imperial Govern-
ment that leads to the expenditure of British gold
in the provinces, and that they always will condemn
the policy, however wise and necessary in itself, that
is likely to have the effect, now or hereafter, of in-
creasing their own taxation. For the rest the Cana-
dians are loyal enough. They prize the British con-
nexion, because they have all the advantages of pro-
tection in the time of peace, and none of the disad-
vantages of paying a high price for their liberty like
other and less favoured peoples ; because they do
not believe in the danger of war with the United
States, their only possible enemy ; and because,
even if war were to break out, they would cheerfully
fight for the British flag so long as the British Go-
vernment would find the arms and the officers, and
pay the bill. " There are three parties to the ques-
tion of defence in Canada," said a gentleman who
has been upwards of a quarter of a century in
Lower Canada, and who has made its politics his
especial study,
" And these three are the Europeans, the politicians, and
the people. The first, when attached to England, as they
are, for the most part, desire defence and Confederation, be-
cause England desires them, and because they not wish to
see the country drift into a union with the Yankees. The
second class favours defence and Confederation as a means
of procuring loans from England, without being very par-
ticular, or even asking themselves the question, whether
Canada or the Confederation will ever be able to pay the
interest or repay the principal. The third class have no de-
sire except to avoid taxation. They neither love nor hate
England, but are satisfied with its rule, because it is cheap
and brings money into the country. The only question
that can really arouse the Lower Canadians from this
apathy and convert them into keen, if not angry disputants,
is that of representation by population which has been
long agitated in Upper Canana. Many Lower Canadians
fear that this question will again be introduced under the
guise of Confederation, and that the Anglo-Saxons, having
a majority in the united provtnces, will as surelo uproot
and overpower the French nationality and language as if
the provinces were annexedlo the United States. You ask
me why, entertaining such views, the Lower Canadians
were so ready and so eager to unite with their Upper
Canadian fellow-subjects to fight England's battles when
when there was a danger, at the time of the seizure of
Messrs. Mason and Sliddell from the Trent steamer, that
war would be declared between Great Britain and the
United States, and Canada overrun by the regular volun-
teer forces of the Washington Government ? I answer—
because they expected England to pay them well for fight-
ing, and handsomely reimburse all their losses. They are
essentially a military race, though the fact has been denied,
anp, better than any people on this continent, know how
to work by day and train themselves for soldiers by night.
Every farmer in this country looked forward on that occa-
sion to sell his crops at war prices. His house might be
burnt by the enemy, but in such a ca... ;t .-0,1 at
a war pr ce to tne Drutsn oovernincnt. His sons, his only
assistants in the farm, and who in winter time in peace
betake themselves to lumbering on the Ottawa or the St.
Maurice, because agricultural pursuits are impossible
when the snow lies three or four feet thick upon the

ground, would gladly serve in the army of defence in the
winter months, the toil being less, and the excitement

as well as the recompense greater, to say nothing of

pensions to the wounded and to the widows- o:

the slain—always, be it remembered, at tho expense
of tho British Government. So far as I could see,

the whole population was eager for the fight, because, and
only because, they thought the British Government would
pay all charges and more than make good all losses. The
devastations of armies are not so formidable and distressing
in thinly-peopled America as in overcrowded Europe. The
only real wealth of the people is the land, and the land,
though damageable, is indestructible, and with a mnnficent
mother like England to compensate all suffering by hard
cash, the mere damage to their property would have no
terror to a race like the Canadians,"
I quote this gentlemen's opinion at some length,
because I found them by no means peculiar to one
individual, but shared by many both in this city and
Montreal, with whom I had occasion to discuss the
whole subject of the popular sentiment with regard
to Confederation.