(c) Moreover, it was for long a ruling maxim in the diplomacy of the neighbouring republic that the American continent should keep clear of European complications, and the considerations which prompted this policy have always had great weight also throughout the Dominion. While the general march of events, as well as the contraction of the globe through rapid transit, militates strongly against this view, it is one which many cannot give up without regret.
(d) Then there is the attitude of a large section of the French-Canadians, whose services to the Empire entitle them to the greatest possible consideration. Their loyalty to British rule is cordially acknowledged; it is, in fact, assured by the solid advantages which they enjoy under the Constitution. But it is a loyalty to the status quo—a passive, rather than an active, loyalty. It cannot be wondered at that their training and sympathies have not led them, so far, to feel any great enthusiasm for British political ideals in the wider sense. They cherish local rather than Imperial ideals, and cultivate a national rather than an Imperial patriotism. For
ideas on this subject—a revenue from America transmitted hither—do not delude themselves—you can never receive it—No, not a shilling. We have experience that from remote countries it is not to be expected. If, when you attempted to extract revenue from Bengal, you were obliged to return in loan what you had taken in imposition, what can you expect from North America? For, certainly, if ever there was a country qualified to produce wealth, it is India; or an institution fit for the transmission, it is the East India Company. America has none of these aptitudes. If America gives you taxable objects, on which you lay your duties here, and gives you, at the same time, a surplus by a foreign sale of her commodities to pay the duties on these objects which you tax at home, she has performed her part to the British revenue. But with regard to her own internal establishments she may, I doubt not she will, contribute in moderation. I say in moderation, for she ought not to be permitted to exhaust herself. She ought to be reserved to a war, the weight of which, with the enemies that we are most likely to have, must be considerable in her quarter of the globe. There she may serve you, and serve you essentially."
