The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1849-10-31


omens Of change are not to be mistaken. They |
are. not to be found so much in the violent mani
festations Of discomfort in the more quiet signs
of deep setting current of public opinion. The /
mere ebultions of party spirit are like party ebul- |
litons everywhere else, superficial, and sometimes
unreal. In the evaporation of defeat, men will |
threaten what they have serious design to exc |
cute. So in Canada-all parties in turn, when out
of power, have talked loudly Of the evils of the |
Colonial condition, and traced public grievances
to the Encouragement Of administrations which !
are beyond responsibility to the people of Canada
Tories and Wings, British and French interests,
alike, whenever in the opposition, have held the
same sort of language, rather as a menace and
form of reprOach to their advesaries than from any
serious purposes of their own. 1t was so con-
venient topic for defamation, that even the
most devoted loyalty, when disappointed in its
aims, could not help holding up, sometimes to an
ungrateful ministry at home, the danger of Colo
NAL attempts at independence, as something to be
avoided by timely Cancellation. These vague init
nations, originating generally in temporary irrita-
tons, and designed to affect temporary purposes
only did not fail, however, even in their frequent
and conspicuous insincerity, to make an impression
upon the Canadian mind, that separation from
4ukAtNlAN was Euuu NC hSlAtoN6u ll6Iuh6lV6b,
and an act by which England would suffer. Even
now, when the lustest brawlers for Independence
are liable to the suspicion of being actuated by
sordid, or at best, mixed motives, struggling to
overthrow rivals and regain office and power
there is the same tendency, beyond their real aims
to fix in the Canadian mind the idea of separation
from England, as an event which will give them
new, noble, and better political existence. 1t is
l,,rt
in so many forms indicative Of strong public
opinion, more than any tumultuous exhibition of
party excitement, which gives unerring token that
the day of separation between Canada and Great
Britain is approximating, and not far off, The
conviction is pervading the masses of the Cana
dian people, that the time of their pupage is we'll
nigh over, that they able to take care of them
selves better than sovereignty across the ocean,
and that their happiness, prosperity and power
would be promoted by undertaking to govern
themselves. Their opinions are expressed, too, in
a tone Of reflection and moderation, supported by
calm reasoning, and put forth with such general
and unexpected acquiescence among the people,
and in influential political quarters, that there can
be no reasonable doubt that they exhibit the pre-
vailing, and what is destined shortly to be- the pre-
dominant sentiment of Canada.
What obstructs the concentration of these opin-
ions into form of immediate action, is the unset
tied views upon the mode of effscting it, the I'M
certainty of making terms with the parent State,
by which the separation would be peaceful, and
the want of determinate idea of what form of
government should follow. The existence of a
British party-that is the party for continuing to
adhere to Great Britain as a dependency, would be
short in Canada but for the uncertainties of how
the British rule is to be changed without convul-
sion and violence, and what should be substituted
We have long been of opinion that the British
Colonial policy of late years could have no other
end than a spontaneous separation. British states
men have not generally looked designedly to such
eonsummation, although some very eminent among
them have avowed and justified it as the wisest
policy. That view has been growing, and it grows
stronger with every development of those liberal
izing measures of revenue, navigation and trade,
which the domestic interests of Great Britain have
forced upon her, but which cut asunder the liga-
lures of close conneKion that formed the cohesive
bond of her Colonial empire. The effect, if not
the purpose, of her new commercial code, is to
take away nearly all the arguments of mutual ad-
vantage upon which the Colonial system was sup
ported, and to leave little with which to oppose an
earnest appeal for peaceabe separation, except
fading associations and feeble sentiment
We do not, therefore, anticipate any civil vio-
lenoe more than the inconsiderable outbreaks of
local excitement, if the Canadians pursue the
policy indicated in their late address, of endeavor-
ing to consolidate the opinions of Canadians in
favor of separation from England, and presenting
to the British Government terms for a peaceful
withdrawal Of British protection, and the recogn-
ton of Canadian Independence. 1t is extremely
probable that such a course would be successful
at last, and that at no distant day, without war,
strife or alienation 1t is desirable in another
point of view, for the interests os humanity and as
proof of the advanced civilization of the age 1t
will be the first example of the voluntary abdica-
ton of sovereignty by powerful Empire, in defer
ence TO the will, and for the promotion of the inter-
ests of the dependent people. As such it will mark
an epoch in the history of Governments and the
birth of Nations. May no rashness of mismanage-
ment, or stubbornesS of inveterate prejudice, mar
the contamination of so remarkable an event.
Gs- Il is stated in the Boston Traveller that the
Hawaiian Government, DESTROYS to negotiate a trea-
ty with the United States on a fair and eouitable