17601 Essays
this dominion was unshakable, till the loss of liberty
and corruption of manners in the sovereign State
overturned it.
But what is the prudent policy inculcated by the
Remarker to obtain this end—security of dominion
over our colonies? It is, to leave the French in
Canada to “check” their growth; for otherwise, our
people may “increase infinitely from all causes.” *
We have already seen in what manner the French
and their Indians check the growth of our colonies.
It is a modest word, this check, for massacring
men, women, and children! The writer would, if
he could, hide from himself, as well as from the
public, the horror arising from such a proposal, by
couching it in general terms. It is no wonder he
thought it a “subject not fit for discussion’’ in his
letter, though he recommends it as “a point that
should be the constant object of the minister's
attention!”’
But if Canada is restored on this principle, will
not Britain be guilty of all the blood to be shed, all
the murders to be committed, in order to check this
dreaded growth of our own people? Will not this
be telling the French in plain terms, that the horrid
et in libertate gentes qua essent, tutam eam sibi perpetuamque sub
tutelda populi Romani esse; et, qua sub regibus viverent, et in presens
ternpus mitiores eos justioresque respectu populi Romani habere se, et,
si quando bellum cum populo Romano regibus fuisset suis, exitum ejus
victoriam Romanis, sibi libertatem, allaturum crederent. . . . . In
quatuor regiones describi Macedoniam, ut suum queeque concilium
haberet, placuit; et dimidium tributi, qudm quod regibus ferre soliti
erant, populo Romano pendere. Similia his et in Illyricum mandata.”
—Liv., lib. xlv., cap. 18.
* Remarks, pp. 50, SI.
i 61