by her Majesty's Government, under a different state of circumstances, in which a tax imposed by colonial authority and of course receivable into the Colonial Treasury, upon wheat imported from the United States might secure the agriculturists of England against the competition of foreign growers, they have been unwilling to impose such a tax, by the authority of Parliament, upon a raw article which might be required for home consumption in Canada, and in the absence of such a tax, have felt it impossible to propose to Parliament a further reduction than that which they have submitted in favour of wheat and wheat-flour shipped from the ports of Canada."

In accordance with this suggestion, a resolution was moved in the House of Assembly by Mr. Hincks to impose a duty of 3s. sterling per imperial quarter upon American wheat imported into Canada-such duty to take effect on the 5th of July next. The preamble expressed confidence, that upon the imposi. tion of a duty in Canada upon American wheat imported into the province, such wheat would be admitted duty free, or rather as Canadian wheat, into the ports of Great Britain. The resolution was carried, and a bill was afterwards introduced embracing the substance of the resolutions and was passed into a law.

remotest regions under subjection to her flag.

The Marquesas are a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean in long. W. 139° and lat. S. 10°. Not far to the S. W. lie the Society Islands, and the principal of these is Tahiti or Otaheite, where since their first discovery by Captain Cook, the efforts of missionaries and intercourse with European traders have done much to civilize the inhabitants. So early as in the year 1825 Pomare the Queen of Tahiti sent a letter to King George 4th, in which she begged permission to use the English flag, and prayed that he "would never abandon them but regard them with kindness for ever." To this in 1827, Mr. Canning, then Foreign Secretary, replied that His Britannic Majesty could not "consistently with the usages established among the nations of Europe" comply with the request to use the British flag, but that His Majesty would be happy to afford to the dominions of Queen Pomare all such protection as could be granted to a friendly power at so remote a distance.

In 1836 Queen Pomare sent a letter to Lord Palmerston (through the medium of Mr. Pritchard the British consul at Tahiti) requesting to know whether the Roman Catholic missionaries who "belong to France" and persisted in coming to Tahiti and "disturbing the peace of her Government were sanctioned by the British Government. The following year Lord Palmerston replied that the British Government could not in any manner interfere with the residence of foreigners in a territory that did not appertain to Great Britain.

But the usage of the French [Z]

missionaries was made a pretext by France for very summary proceedings with this defenceless state. On the 30th of August 1838, the French frigate Venus commanded by Admiral A. Dupetit-Thouars, appeared off Tahiti, and immediately sent on shore a letter of which the following is a translation. "To the Queen of Otaheite. "Madame,

"The King of the French and his Government, justly irritated for the outrages offered to the nation, by the bad and cruel treatment which some of his members who did come to Otaheite have suffered, and especially Messrs. Laval and Carret, apostolic missionaries, who called at this island in 1836, has sent me to reclaim and enforce, if necessary, immediate reparation, due to a great Power and a valiant nation, who was gravely insulted, and without provocation.

"The King and his Government demand:

"1st. That the Queen of Otaheite write to the King of the French, to excuse for the violence and other insults offered to Frenchmen, whose honourable conduct did not deserve such a treatment. The letter of the Queen will be written in Tahitian and in the French language, and both will be signed by the Queen; the said letter of reparation will be sent officially to the Commander of the frigate the Venus, within twenty four hours after the present notification.

"2nd. A sum of 2,000 Spanish dollars will be paid within the twenty-four hours of the present notification unto the cashier of the frigate Venus, as an indemnification for Messrs. Laval and Carret, for the loss occasioned to them by the bad treatment they received at Otaheite.

"3rd. After having complied with these two first obligations, the French colours will be hoisted the 1st day of September, on the Island Motu-Uta, to be saluted by the Tahitian government with twenty-one guns.

"I declare to your Majesty, that if they do not subscribe to give the reparation asked for, within the limited time, I shall see myself under the obligation to declare war, and to commence hostilities immediately, against all the places of your Majesty's dominions, and which will be continued by all the French vessels of war which will successively call here, and will last to the time when France will have obtained satisfaction.

66

"I am, &c.,

"The Captain of the French
Frigate Venus,
(Signed)

"A. DUPETIT-THOUARS." In consequence of this threat, a convention was agreed to by the Tahitian government in the month of September, by which all Frenchmen of every profession were to be allowed to establish themselves and trade freely in all the islands subject to Queen Pomare. But the aversion to the introduction of any form of doctrine and worship different from that which Protestant missionaries had taught seems to have been very strong, and in November of that year (1838) a letter was despatched from the Queen and Chiefs of Tahiti to Queen Victoria, in which they prayed for protection and assistance from England and used the following language, "Let your flag cover us, and your lion defend us; determine the form through which we could shelter ourselves lawfully under your wings."

In September 1839, Lord Palmerston returned an answer to this appeal, in which he stated the deep concern which was felt by the British Government at the difficulties which beset Queen Pomare, but declined to enter into any defensive alliance with the Tahitian state on account of the immense distance at which it was situated, "as it would be impossible for Her (Britannic) Majesty to fulfil with proper punctuality the defensive obligations" that might be contracted.

The consequence was, that the Tahitian dominions fell into the hands of France, which was announced to Lord Aberdeen in a letter from the acting consul at Tabiti dated September, 26, 1842, in which he says,

"I have the honour to inform your Lordship, that

*the Tahitian flag has been altered; it is now the original flag with the French colours in the upper part next to the staff, and was, at noon of the 12th instant, acknowledged and saluted by the French admiral on board the frigate Reine Blanche."

The reasons assigned for this compulsory change are contained in a formal declaration or manifesto, issued by Admiral A. Dupetit Thouars, and dated from the "French Naval Station in the Pacific Ocean," September 8, 1842:

"Contrary to your own laws, the domiciles of several Frenchmen have been violated during their absence, and their houses, thus forcibly entered, have remained open and pillaged; seizures of property have likewise been unjustly ordered, and executed in the most brutal manner; several of our countrymen have been beaten by the po

lice-officers, whose duty it was to protect them; others have been thrown into prison without previous trial, treated as criminals, and executed as villains, without being able to obtain a hearing, &c. Is this then the protection granted to the most favoured nation, which we claim of right? Is this the treatment secured to our countrymen by treaty ? No; treaties have been violated and put aside in the most outrageous manner for France; and, notwithstanding the promise recently made by the Queen to the commander of the corvette Aube, the murderer of a Frenchman, the infamous Moia, whom the Queen had sentenced to exile, is still here; and it is by impunity to a criminal, that the proofs of benevolence of the King of the French are acknowledged.

"Ill-advised, submitting to an influence fatal to her true interests, the Queen will learn a second time, that the good faith and loyalty of a power such as France, is not with impunity to be trifled with.

"As we cannot expect justice from the government of Tahiti, I will not demand new treaties from the Queen and principal chiefs: we can no longer trust their word, which they incessantly break; substantial securities alone can protect our rights; new treaties would, doubtless, soon be forgotten like the former ones, which, however, are sufficient; for we do not ask for particular nor exceptional favours for our countrymen, but simply equal rights, to which they are entitled, and of which they cannot be deprived; liberty to trade, to reside, to go, to come, to quit, to buy, to let, to sell, or to re-sell, and the liberty of conscience-these are the imprescrip

tible rights, and are those of every civilised people; these we claim, because they are our own; these, in fact, we shall obtain, as soon as the government acts in a legal manner, and that the laws, made for all, shall be equally known to all."

The next day, in consequence of this threat, Queen Pomare addressed a letter to the Admiral, in which she states, that being unable to govern so as to preserve a good understanding with foreign governments, she solicited the King of the French to take her dominions under his protection, on the following conditions:

"1. The sovereignty of the Queen and her authority, and the authority of the chiefs over their people, shall be guaranteed to them.

"All laws and regulations shall be issued in the Queen's name, and signed by her.

"3. The possession of lands belonging to the Queen, and to the people, shall be secured to them, and shall remain in their possession ; all disputes relative to the right to property or lands, shall be under the special jurisdiction of the tribunals of the country.

"4. Every one shall be free in the form of his worship or religion.

"5. The churches at present established shall continue to exist, and the English missionaries shall continue in their labours without molestation; the same shall apply to every other form of worship, no one shall be molested or constrained in his belief."

The real reasons, however, for making this acquisition, are contained in a projet de loi, presented in the month of April, 1843, by the Minister of Marine, to the French Chamber. We rather an

ticipate the order of time, in inserting them here; but we are thus enabled to complete our narrative of the interference of France with the Marquesas. The following are the most important paragraphs:

"Gentlemen,The King has directed us to submit to you a projet de loi, the object of which is to open an extraordinary credit (of 5,987,000 francs) to defray the expences of our establishments in the Pacific, for the year 1844.

"The speech from the Throne has made you acquainted with the principal idea which led to the taking possession of the Marquesas. Since then an important event has taken place in those regions. The protectorship of the Society Islands has been offered to France, and accepted in the King's name, by the Rear-Admiral commanding our naval forces in the Pacific. The Act of Acceptance was ratified by the government as soon as it became known.

"France had no establishments in the Pacific Ocean, where her ships of war and merchant vessels might at all times find shelter and more permanent protection than that afforded by a naval station. Nevertheless, in that region where French interests are beginning to develope themselves, it is requisite to form a centre around which they may collect and prosper under the protection of the national flag.

"Polynesia is an extensive field, open to the conquests of commerce and civilisation. It belongs to France, which is in the first rank among civilised and maritime nations, to take a share in the efforts made to redeem the inhabitants of that part of the globe from their present state of barbaris..

"The development which our

intercourse with these distant countries will acquire, is an interest which cannot fail to strike you. Over an extent of more than 4,000 leagues, our ships of war found no station belonging to France, none where they could obtain supplies, or repair their damages. Another special motive rendered necessary an establishment upon some of the islands of this extensive sea. The whale fishery is principally carried on in the Polynesian Archipelagos. These operations are of long duration, and while they last, our ships remain exposed to the violence and exactions of the natives of those islands. We shall give to that essential branch of our merchant navy an efficient protection, by placing it in a position to appeal on the spot to the authority and power of the sovereignty of France.

"The advantages of our new settlements, even now incontestable, will hereafter acquire much higher importance. They will be They will be very great, if a plan, which at present fixes the attention of all maritime Powers, should be carried into execution. It consists in opening between Europe and the Pacific Ocean, through the Isthmus of Panama, a track much shorter than that of Cape Horn. When ever this grand result, in which all naval Powers are interested, shall have been obtained, the So

ciety Islands and the Marquesas, by being nearer to France, will rank among the most important stations of the globe. The facility of this communication will necessarily give a new impetus to navigation in the Pacific Ocean, this track being, as a communication with the Indian and China Seas, if not shorter, at least safer and of more considerable commercial interest. Our new possessions, happily situated as a store-house in these long voyages, will be used as a place of resort for the navigators of all countries.

"The elements of an active commerce already exist in Oceania, but every impediment to its development must be removed. In order to attain this end, the best method to adopt, is freedom of trade in its fullest extent. With the exception of arms and munitions of war, which the government will have the power to prohibit, a free entry will be afforded to all imports. These islands, with their free ports, will become entrepóts, where our vessels will dis. charge their cargoes, in order to forward them as required to the coasts of Mexico, Chile, and Peru, where we already find a most important field for trade; and to those Archipelagos, which, under the combined influence of the maritime powers, are rising into civilization."