Union best 'provides for the common defence' and 'promotes the ANALYSIS. 501 general welfare, there can be little doubt that the people will justly prize, and consequently maintain it. Should it ever cease 1. Their perto provide for the objects for which it was ordained and estab- petuity not lished,' it will no longer be worth maintaining, but should so great dependent a misfortune befall us, we may still cherish the hope that the re- upon that of publican institutions which have grown up under its protecting influence will not die with it. necessarily the Union. sectional interests. 3. Mutual the North and relations of the South. 67. 2Nor is it believed that there are now, or will be for a long 2. Opposing period to come, any opposing interests of different sections of the Union, of sufficient magnitude to occasion just alarm for the permanence of the confederacy. The North is, doubtless at present, more independent of the South than the South of the North, but the state of their mutual relations would render a dissolution of the Union extremely hazardous to one party, and detrimental to the interests of both. 4The South, deprived of assistance in time of danger from the friendly northern states, would have much to fear from her overgrown slave population, and more especially if discontents among that population were liable to be fomented by the jealousy and enmity of a separate neighboring power. 4. Depend ence of the the North. South upon 5. Of the the South. 6S. 5On the other hand, the South purchases most of the manufactures of the North, which are paid for, principally, from the North upon returns obtained by the exportation of cotton to foreign countries, and by their more direct exchange for sugar and rice. It is thus that the North derives from southern industry important advantages, which would be in a great measure lost in case of a separation of the states, for then the South would establish her own manufactures, or seek other channels for her trade. But while united under one government, there can never be any causes of commercial or manufacturing jealousy between the two sections, and each, if it regards its own interests, will feel deeply interested in maintaining a good understanding with the other. of the West "on the na tional destiny. 69. But in the growing power and greatness of the Western 6. Influence States will be found, it is believed, the most effectual safeguard against a dissolution of the Union. The West must soon acquire a preponderating influence in the councils of the nation, and so greatly must her interests eventually overshadow those of the North and the South, although not greatly diverse from them, that the latter will gradually become less important in a national view, and proportionably lose their power to disturb the general equilibrium. 7. The West, the arbiter North and the South between the 70. Besides, the West will ever be greatly dependent on the North and the South for a continuance of her prosperity, and this will lead her to cultivate friendly relations with both sections, and to act as the arbiter of their differences, while her power to turn the scale whichever way she throws her influence, will make her councils respected. The bountiful produce of the West must find an outlet both through the Mississippi at the South, and by the canals and railroads of the North, and she will never suffer these avenues to be closed or obstructed by any division of the confederacy, while she has the power to prevent so dire a calamity. While, in 8. Conclusion fine, a dissolution of the Union may be occasionally threatened by of the subdisappointed or angry politicians, factious demagogues, or by some of the ultraisms of the day, it seems, hardly possible that it should ever meet the approbation of sober-minded patriots and statesmen, who have any enlightened regard either for the permanent welfare of their country, or for the interests of humanity itself. MAP OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF That portion of North America claimed by Great Britain, embraces more than a third part of the entire continent. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic ocean, east by the Atlantic, south by the St. Lawrence, and the great chain of lakes as far westward as the Lake of the Woods, whence the dividing line between the possessions of England and the United States follows the 49th parallel of latitude westward to the Strait of Fuca, and thence through its channel southwest to the Pacific Ocean. The western boundary of British America is in part the ocean, and in part the line of the 141st degree of west longitude. England and Russia advance conflicting claims to the southern portion of this western coast, The whole area claimed by Britain amounts to about four millions of square miles. The greater portion of this region is a dreary waste, buried most of the year in snow, and producing little that is valuable, except the skins and furs of the wild animals that roam over its surface. Not an eighth part of this vast region has been regularly reduced into provinces, and, of this part, only a small portion has been settled. Those provinces which have been thought sufficiently important to have regular governments established over them are Canada (Upper and Lower, or Canada West and Canada East,) Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland. The Canadas are more productive and more populous than all the other provinces united, and are the principal resort of emigrants from the mother country. Lower Canada, or Canada East, contains an area of more than two hundred thousand square miles, about three thousand of which are supposed to consist of lakes and rivers. The surface of the northern part is hilly and rocky, and the soil generally unproductive. The only fertile tract of any great extent is the upper portion of the valley of the St. Lawrence, extending down the river only as far as Cape Tourment, thirty miles below Quebec, and varying from fifteen to forty miles in width on the north side of the river. There is a similar plain en the south side of the St. Lawrence. Upper Canada, separated from Lower Canada by the Ottawa River, has no definite boundary on the west, but is generally considered to extend to the heads of the streams which fall inte Lake Superior. The whole of this territory contains an area of about one hundred and fifty thousand square miles, although the only settled portion is that contained between the eastern coast of Lake Huron and the Ottawa River. Upper Canada enjoys a climate considerably milder than the Lower province; and the soil, especially in the settled districts north d lakes Erie and Ontario, is generally productive, although considerable tracts are light and sandy PART I. EARLY FRENCH SETTLEMENTS, AND PRESENT BRITISH PROVINCES IN NORTH AMERICA. CHAPTER I. HISTORY OF CANADÀ UNDER THE FRENCH. 1. Introduc tion to the history of Canada. Cham plain's treaty with the Al gonquins. 1. The proper introduction to the history of Canada analysis. nas already been given, in the brief account of the voyages of Cartier, Roberval, and Champlain, the latter of whom, sailing as the lieutenant of De Monts, became the founder of Quebec in 1608. During the first winter which he passed at Quebec, Champlain entered into a treaty with the Algonquins, an Indian nation which held an extensive domain along the northern bank of the St. Lawrence. The Algonquins promised to assist the stranger in his attempts to penetrate the country of the Iroquois, on the condition that he should aid them in a war against that fierce people. Champlain appears never to have dreamed of the guilt of making an unprovoked attack upon a nation which had never offended him. of Champlain 4. of 1609. The coun Sorel, and covered by Champlain. try upon the the lakes dis 2. 'In the spring of 1609, Champlain, with two of his 3. Expedition countrymen, set out with his new allies, and after passing in the spring up the St. Lawrence beyond Lake St. Peter, he reached the mouth of the river Sorel, and, turning to the south, entered the territory of the Iroquois. He found the country bordering upon the Sorel deserted, in consequence of the deadly wars which had for some time been raging between the hostile tribes; nor was it until the party had passed through an extensive lake, which now took the name of Champlain, from its discoverer, and entered a smaller one connected with it, that any of the enemy were discovered. 'In the encounter which followed, the Iroquois were soon 5. Encounter routed, being struck with terror at the havoc made by the with the Iro unknown instruments of destruction in the hands of the French. quois. 6. Tidings from France 3. "On the return of Champlain from the expedition, he and return was greeted with unfavorable tidings from France. The of Champlain |