fisheries, coal-mines, and timber, gone. Fancy the dockyards, and depots, and arsenals of the enemy advanced 1000 miles nearer to England. Oh! sir, I have turned with disgust from the eternal gabble about the balance of power in Europe, when I have thought how lightly British statesmen seem to value the power that can alone balance their only commercial rival. One subsidy to some petty European potentate has often cost more than all our railroads would have cost; and yet they would have developed our resources in peace, and formed our best security in time of war. A single war with half this continent added £120,000,000 to the National debt of England. What would a war with the whole of it cost? And yet these Provinces are so lightly valued, that a loan for public improvements cannot be guaranteed, or a single seat in the National Councils yielded, to preserve them. Sir, whatever others may think, I pause in the presence of the great peril which I foresee. I pray to God that it may be averted.

Here, sir, is work for the highest intellects for the purest patriots, on both sides of the Atlantic. Here is a subject worthy of the consideration of the largest-minded British statesmen now figuring on the stage of public life. In presence of this great theme, how our little squabbles sink into insignificance, as the witches' cauldron vanishes from the presence of Macbeth. How insignificant are many of the topics which they debate in the Imperial Parliament compared with this. I have seen night after night wasted, while both Houses discussed the grave question, whether or not a Jew should sit in the House of Commons; a question that it would not take five minutes to decide, in any Legislature from Canada to California. How often have I said to myself: I wonder if it ever enters into the heads of those noble Lords and erudite Commoners, who are so busy with this Jew, that there are two millions and a half of Christians in British America, who have no representative in either House? A little consideration given to that subject, I have thought, would not be a waste of time. When I have seen them quibbling with the great questions of a surplus population, mendicity and crime, I have asked myself: Do these men know that there is, within the boundaries of the empire, within ten days' sail of England, employment for all? freehold estates for all, with scarcely a provocative to crime? I have often thought, sir, how powerful this empire might be made; how prosperous in peace, how invincible in war, if the statesmen of England would set about its organization, and draw to a common centre the high intellects which it contains.

With our maritime positions in all parts of the globe; with every variety of soil and climate; with the industrial capacity and physical

resources of two hundred and sixty millions of people to rely on; what might not this empire become, if its intellectual resources were combined for its government and preservation? If the whole population were united by common interests, no power on earth ever wielded means so vast, or influence so irresistible. But, sir, let the statesmen of England slumber and sleep over the field of enterprise which lies around them; let them be deluded by economists who despise Colonists, or by fanatics who preach peace at any price with foreign despots; while no provision is made to draw around the throne the hearts of millions predisposed to loyalty and affection; and the results we may surely calculate. Should the other half of this continent be lost for the want of forethought and sound knowledge, there will be trouble in the old homestead. "Shadows, clouds, and darkness," will rest upon the abode of our fathers; the free soil of England will not be long unprofaned; and the gratitude of Turks, and the friendship of Austrians or Republican Americans, will form but a poor substitute for the hearts and hands that have been flung away.

On the 4th of April, Mr. Howe resigned the office of Provincial secretary, and accepted that of Chairman of the Railway Board. Almost his last act as a member of the government, was his moving an address to the Queen, on the breaking out of the war with Russia, which he did in language that was gracefully responded to by the leader of the opposition, and the address passed unanimously. On this occasion Mr. Howe said:

Mr. Speaker, The Province of Nova Scotia has, for the last hundred years, been a firmly attached and loyal portion of the British Empire. She has steadfastly maintained her allegiance through all the vicissitudes of peace and war. Loyalty is here an enduring sentiment; and whenever there is menace or danger from abroad, our sovereign is not left to doubt of the strength of our feelings, or of our readiness to sustain, to the utmost of our power, the honor of the British flag and the authority of the crown. When these are in peril, the voice of faction is hushed, party feelings subside, party distinctions are obliterated; and a united Legislature is seen, prepared to defend our common country, or to send to the foot of the throne the expression of sentiments which are shared alike by all ranks and classes of our people.

Sir, I look back with pride to a period in our history, within the recollection of many around me, when, with singular unanimity and enthusiasm, the whole resources, physical and pecuniary, of Nova Scotia

were placed at the disposal of the Lieutenant Governor, when the frontier was endangered; amidst the acclamations of the people and of their representatives. At that time I led the opposition in this House; but I at once tendered support to the government of the day, as I am happy to know that the leader of the opposition will now second the motion which I am about to make. Then, as now, our flag was about to be insulted, our country embroiled with a foreign power. We are not now threatened with any immediate danger. There is peace on this continent, and I trust it may be preserved. But our brethren at home are about to enter upon a struggle, the end of which cannot be foretold.. The fleets and armaments on their way to the Baltic and the Black Sea, instruct us that they are in earnest. It is but right that the outlying portions of the empire should comprehend, and should discharge the obligations, which, in such a crisis, rest upon them. A common sentiment should thrill throughout the empire. The sovereign should feel that her subjects, wherever situated, are united as one man. It is our duty to take the earliest opportunity of declaring to our sovereign the feelings of our people. Let there be no doubt in her mind; let it be felt and known that, whatever may be our party struggles or differences of opinion, there is but one feeling in Nova Scotia when the flag of England is unfurled. The latter clause of this address, I trust, will not be disapproved. Whatever might be our regret at the withdrawal of Her Majesty's troops, I believe that I am not mistaken when I assume, that the militia of Nova Scotia, about to be enrolled and embodied, would be able to defend their own soil and protect Her Majesty's forts and arsenals should our gallant soldiers be required elsewhere. If they can, they ought, and we should not detain a single regiment here that may be wanted in the Mediter

ranean.

Sir Gaspard Le Marchant was enabled to close the last ses sion in which Mr. Howe took the lead in conducting the public business of his country, with the following speech:

The great number of valuable laws, matured by your joint labors, and to which I have given the Queen's assent, honorably distinguished the session that it is my duty now to close.

For the unexampled liberality with which you have provided for every branch of the public service, I thank you in Her Majesty's

name.

The great public works which you have authorized the government to construct, shall be commenced without delay, and carried forward in a

spirit that I trust will enable us all to forget, in view of their vast utility, the conflicts of opinion, which, in a free country, always precede sound and beneficial legislation.

The elevated views of national obligation; the just appreciation of the nature of the struggle in which the mother country is engaged; the devoted loyalty to our Sovereign; and the chivalrous disregard of consequences in the performance of duty, evinced by the addresses which you have desired me to convey to the foot of the throne, will challenge the admiration and respect of your fellow-subjects in every part of the Empire.

Though I trust in God that this continent may be preserved from the scourge of war, yet it behooves us to be prepared for any emergencies; and of this you may be assured, that while it is my determination so to organize the militia of this Province as to make defence easy, I shall not hesitate, if occasion should arise, to place myself at their head, with the same entire reliance upon their gallantry and self-devotion that I have upon your wisdom, liberality, and public spirit.

In November, an Industrial Exhibition, doing great credit to the Province, and to those who originated the idea and worked out the details, was held in and around the Provincial building. Mr. Howe's contribution was the following spirited lines:

OUR FATHERS.

Room for the dead! Your living hands may pile
Treasures of art the stately tents within;
Beauty may grace them with her richest smile,
And Genius here spontaneous plaudits win.

But yet, amidst the tumult and the din

Of gath'ring thousands, let me audience crave:
Place claim I for the dead. 'Twere mortal sin,

When banners o'er our country's treasures wave,
Unmark'd to leave the wealth safe garner'd in the grave.

The fields may furnish forth their lowing kine,
The forest spoils in rich abundance lie,
The mellow fruitage of the cluster'd vine
Mingle with flowers of ev'ry varied dye:
Swart artisans their rival skill may try,

And, while the rhetorician wins the ear,
The pencil's graceful shadows charm the eye;
But yet, do not withhold the grateful tear
For those, and for their works, who are not here.

Not here? Oh! yes, our hearts their presence feel,
Viewless, not voiceless, from the deepest shells
On memory's shore, harmonious echoes steal;

And names, which, in the days gone by, were spells,
Are blent with that soft music. If there dwells

The spirit here our country's fame to spread,
While ev'ry breast with joy and triumph swells,

And earth reverb'rates to our measured tread,

Banner and wreath should own our reverence for the dead

Look up, their walls enclose us. Look around,

Who won the verdant meadows from the sea?

Whose sturdy hands the noble highways wound

Through forests dense, o'er mountain, moor, and lea?
Who spanned the streams? Tell me whose works they be, -
The busy marts, where commerce ebbs and flows?

Who quell'd the savage? And who spared the tree

That pleasant shelter o'er the pathway throws?

Who made the land they loved to blossom as the rose?

Who, in frail barques, the ocean surge defied,

And trained the race that live upon the wave?
What shore so distant where they have not died?
In ev'ry sea they found a watery grave.

Honor, forever, to the true and brave

Who seaward led their sons with spirits high,
Bearing the red-cross flag their fathers gave;
Long as the billows flout the arching sky
They'll seaward bear it still - to venture, or to die.

The Roman gather'd in a stately urn,

The dust he honor'd-while the sacred fire,
Nourish'd by vestal hands, was made to burn

From age to age. If fitly you'd aspire,
Honor the dead; and let the sounding lyre
Recount their virtues in your festal hours;
Gather their ashes-higher still, and higher
Nourish the patriot flame that history dow'rs;

And o'er the Old Men's graves, go strew your choicest flowers.

The Maine Liquor Law has been, within the last five years, discussed in the British Provinces. Though in all of them it has been, from time to time, advocated by able men, and powerfully supported in numerously signed petitions, it has ultimately failed or been defeated in them all. It was adopted in New Brunswick, but after a year's experience of its effects, it was, on an appeal to the people, condemned with singular