"That is precisely the case, mademoiselle ;-have the kindness to step in first." She obeyed intuitively, and Walrus followed to arrange her cloak and shawl comfortably for the journey; the yellow bonnet was already swinging over her head. She leant her head back and was asleep before he had completed the operation. "Are you the guard of this train?" I inquired of a civil, intelligent young man, who was hastening past. He answered in the affirmative. "There is a French lady," said I, "in this carriage, who does not speak a word of English,-neither does she understand the value of English money. I have paid her fare to York; will you have the kindness to see that she is properly forwarded to a few miles from Dunbar? Pray let her want for nothing; I think you will find this sufficient," and I handed him the necessary amount. "I will pass her on, sir," he replied, touching his cap, "to the next guard, with instructions all through,-he is a very steady young man, sir." "Oh, on that head," replied I, smiling, "I have no fear. Come, Walrus, the train is just off. Thank you, sir.-Adieu, Mademoiselle Loriot." "that last glass of brandy spectacle' when she wakes!" "She's as fast as a church," said Walrus did it. I wonder what she'll think of the The whistle sounded,—the train moved on, and thus I disposed of MY FRENCH GOVERNESS. BLACK, RED, AND GOLD. BY CAPTAIN MEDWIN. Black speaks of night Cimmerian spread afar An iron age-the elemental war Of Chaos-Anarch old-where do concenter (Is this your Central Power ?) Hate, Avarice, Pride, Red is the second colour of the prism, Gold tells-sad irony-of bankrupt states, VANCOUVER'S ISLAND. Ir is little more than two years ago that we chronicled our opinion in reference to the then much debated Oregon question, that as far as right and title were concerned, the country so designated, was originally discovered by the renowned English circumnavigator Sir Francis Drake in the sixteenth century. This was priority of discovery. Further, that when the United States became an independent nation, they neither possessed nor advanced any claim to the British territories in Western America, to which, in the mean time, the explorations of Captain Cook and the commercial intercourse which followed those discoveries, added to the subsequent surveys and discoveries of Meares in 1788, and of Vancouver in 1792-3-4 completed the title. The so-called Columbia river discovered in the same territory by the Spaniard Heceta, having been first explored by Captain Gray, a subject of the United States, the Americans set up a claim, founded on that exploration, backed by the fact of Lewis and Clarke having, in 1805-6, followed in part the footsteps of Carver in 1804, and the settlement of Astoria having, in 1811, risen up among the trading-posts of the North-West Fur Company, established since 1804. It was a bad case; contiguity, the half-savage outcry of squatters, and the clamour of go-a-head democrats, filled up the chorus; justice and equity were sacrificed to popular frenzy, and Great Britain yielded all of Oregon as far as to the 49th degree of latitude. This was a very great concession to make, considering the strength of our claims, the numbers of our countrymen already settled on the Columbia; its value as an outlet to the North-West-now the Hudson's Bay Company-and the importance of a settlement on the western coast of America to our trade in the Pacific, and to our vast colonial possessions in the Australian seas; but considering, on the other hand, the excited character of the population of the far west, and the imperious self-will of democratic institutions, for the sake of peace, we did not regret it. The most, and indeed the only important territory that remained to us after this somewhat humiliating concession, was Vancouver's Island. This island, 250 miles long, by 50 broad, possesses many most remarkable advantages. Its climate assimilates closely to our own, its soil is acknowledgedly rich and fertile, it abounds in woods and pastures, and as if all this were not sufficient, it reveals a vast extent of mineral and mercantile wealth in almost untouched beds of coals which actually crop out to day. But even all these numerous advantages give way to the importance of its harbours, the only truly available ports between San Francisco and Nootka Sound. It has been justly pointed out by Mr. Gladstone that from these combined advantages, probably at some future period the world may see in Vancouver's Island a powerful state commanding a great portion of the trade between the Archipelago of the Pacific, and the continent of America, and another authority has said of the same island that, if ever the North Pacific is destined to become a Mediterranean, there will be its Tyre. It appears from what can be gathered from the parliamentary discussion on the matter, that soon after the settlement of the Oregon question, the Hudson's Bay Company made application to the Colonial Office, stating that they had establishments on the southern side of Vancouver's Island, and wishing to know whether they would be confirmed in the possession of such lands, as they wished to add to those they already possessed. Earl Grey having, however, suggested in answer to this application, that it was right that Vancouver's Island should be colonised, the company offered to accede to what they deemed to be a great evil, upon the condition that the whole of the Queen's dominions to the west of the Rocky Mountains, were made over to them. This extensive grant, asked for merely with the view to keep out others, was refused, whereupon the company was obliged to content itself with Vancouver's Island. But even this limited yet important cession, has had the effect of drawing and fastening the attention of parliament not only upon the territory proposed to be granted, but upon the general policy and character of the Hudson's Bay Company, its mode of administration, its rights and privileges, and above all, the results which have been derived to this country, as well as to the natives, by nearly two centuries of absolute and unquestioned rule. The explanation given by the authorities of the Colonial Office for the favourable manner in which the application of the Hudson's Bay Company was received, is that all previous applications made to colonise Vancouver's Island were not accompanied by any security that the parties would be able to carry out the object in view. The Hudson's Bay Company, on the contrary, was a powerful company, with capital, with ships, and with large adjacent possessions, and they had already a settlement on the island. That Vancouver's Island was not likely to be colonised by private enterprise, as the cost to convey an emigrant to it would be three or four times as much as to any other colony. Moreover, the grant was simply a territorial grant; the government of the colony would be a perfectly free one; there would be a governor and an assembly, and the making of laws and the collection and application of revenue, would be altogether in the hands of the assembly, and not of the Hudson's Bay Company. Few, probably, would advocate a considerable grant of public money at this moment to colonise the island. Yet there were strong reasons for taking means to occupy it. Unless occupied speedily by British settlers, and under British auspices, it would be occupied by American squatters, and in the course of a very few years the practical possession would pass from our hands. Earl Grey said that he had heard that this system had already to some extent commenced, and that the sect called Mormonites, who had been obliged to quit America, contemplated removing in large numbers to settle on Vancouver's Island. Mr. Buller argued that emigrants could not be conveyed to Vancouver for less than 50%. a head! That there was no trade, and as to maritime defence or command, such were ensured in the Pacific by Labuan, New Zealand, and Hong Kong! He believed that it had one of the finest climates in the world, but the fertility of the soil had been exaggerated. The colonisation of Vancouver's Island was a chimera for the present generation. Earl Grey contended that it was very fair and reasonable, considering that government could not themselves undertake to find the means and capital for colonising the island, that it should be placed in the hands of a company who would act in the place of government. The noble lord added that the government of the colony would be provided for by a commission under the authority of the crown, appointing a person to act as governor-a legislative assembly, to be elected by settlers-and a council to be nominated by the crown. The Hudson's Bay Company had, moreover, rights over this district which would be very seriously interfered with by other parties, and these rights could not be got rid of without compensation to a very large amount. The fur-trading of the association did not render them unfit for colonising Vancouver's Island, because there was no hunting in the island itself. The noble lord said that the company had established agricultural settlements, especially on the Red River! The grant of Vancouver Island to the Hudson's Bay Company had not finally passed yet, although it would be agreed to, after full consideration by the Privy Council, in about six weeks. In the House of Lords Lord Monteagle carried his motion in regard to the production of certain papers respecting the grant of the said island to the Hudson's Bay Company. In the House of Commons the honourable member for Montrose lost his motion "That an humble address be presented to her majesty, praying that her majesty will be pleased not to grant a charter to the Hudson's Bay Company, until further inquiry has been made into the administration by the company of the settlement on the Red River, and until the capabilities of Vancouver's Island have been fully ascertained," by a majority of seventy-six against fifty-eight votes. Mr. Hume made a subsequent endeavour to throw over the grant till next session, but an unsuccessful one, on the plea of obtaining a statement of the number, nature, &c., of the settlements and number of settlers which the Hudson's Bay Company would be required to establish in the Island of Vancouver within five years; but the honourable gentleman was more successful with respect to a motion for accounts of the capital of the Hudson's Bay Company at the present date, together with such other data as were necessary to arrive at a decisive opinion as to the means of the company to carry out the proposed scheme of colonisation. The position of the Hudson's Bay Company is a very extraordinary one. This company obtained a charter from Charles II., in 1670, granting them all the trade and territory east of the Rocky Mountains and extending to the Oregon boundary to the south. In 1690 they applied for a confirmation of their charter, and an Act of Parliament was passed extending the powers of the charter for seven years. That act expired in 1697, and, although a bill for renewing the charter was submitted to Parliament, so numerous were the petitions against its extension, that the measure was ultimately abandoned. From that moment to this the company has possessed no parliamentary sanction for its governing powers. When the North-West Company established themselves, the Hudson's Bay Company did not dare to go to law with them, but they entered into a pettifogging opposition, and after mutual losses and disgraces, they coalesced, and then the Hudson's Bay Company felt themselves again at liberty to carry on the system of policy in which they have revelled from the first. One of the most remarkable features of this policy has been the discouragement of colonisation. For upwards of two centuries the Hudson Bay and North-West Companies have held territories nearly equal in extent to all Europe, without founding therein a single settlement or colony. It is, indeed, one of their principles, as we had occasion to remark lately when noticing Mr. Ballantyne's work, to keep their agents constantly moving from their isolated posts, so that they may not become attached to the soil. The Red River settlement has been advanced as an exception. But this settlement was founded by Lord Selkirk in despite of the company, and from the power which he had acquired by the purchase of a very large number of shares at a period when they were below par. That the authority which the company has so long exercised over the vast and inhospitable region subject to their jurisdiction has been, on the whole, advantageous to the Indians, we are quite willing to concede. But it is equally certain that the Hudson's Bay Company is exclusive in the narrowest and tightest sense, as Mr. Gladstone has it, in which the word can be applied, and of all expedients that can be found for stinting the trade of a new colony that of an exclusive company is the most effectual. A land company has an interest in colonisation, but a trading company compels the colonists to compete with a powerful monopolising body. In the case of the Hudson's Bay Company the monopoly of land and trade is aggravated by absolutism in politics covered by the cloak of impenetrable secrecy. That company makes neither returns nor reports to the Imperial Parliament. It is known that they possess a charter and a licence to trade, but for information with respect to the government which they have established, the power they have exercised, the settlements or posts they have formed, or the condition of the people and territory under their rule, we have to wander through the pages of such works as have been lately reviewed in the New Monthly Magazine; Governor Simpson's cautious statements, or Mr. Ballantyne's involuntary confidences. And what do we learn from these works? That there is no such thing as a free colonist in the country held by the company, and that even their own retired servants cannot hold land therein without surrendering every right and liberty of an Englishman. They can only hold land on lease, and that upon pain of forfeiture if they do not submit to all and every exclusive trading privileges of the company-to all the rules and regulations they shall think proper to make, and to such taxation as the company shall choose to impose. No wonder that Canada and the United States have progressed, and that the territory of the Hudson's Bay Company has remained stationary, with the exception of Lord Selkirk's bold achievement, and which Mr. Buller appealed to as "a marvellous instance of the successful manner in which colonisation had been carried out by the Hudson's Bay Company," whereas that settlement was established in spite of their determined opposition and hostility! Mr. Hume challenged the power of any secretary of state to give away in the manner proposed what belonged to the nation. He communicated to the House a report from Mr. Douglas, a public officer of the Hudson's Bay Company, which stated that there was abundance of timber on the island; that its coast was indented with bays and inlets, having good anchorage, and that the soil had great capabilities for agriculture. Two-thirds of the island are prairie land, and other parts were covered with valuable oak and the finest timber, and that there might be grown upon the island any kind of grain that was raised in England. The Columbia River was obstructed by bars, the harbours of Vancouver's |