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Generel Meade was present on the field all day. but was not wounded, as wags at first reporte 1. Some of his staff had narrow es- capes. Major Pease’s hurse was shot under him.

The let brivade of the 2d Division of the Fifth Corps is spoken of as havin: particu- Jarly distinguished itself during the fight. Brevet Maj.-Gen. Winthrop was its com- mander. and had two horses shot under him

Brg General Irwin Gregy, commanding a brigade of cavalry, was wounded in the ankle. Gen. Davis was also wounded severely in the shoulder. Major Lumaine of Gregg s stall was badly wounded in the foot. Col. Bank- head of Gen. Warren's staff was wounded in the band. Brevet Brg-Gen. Morrow, commanding 3d Brigade, 3d Division, Fifth Corps, was wounded ia the shoulder. Capt

a

' Liberal and Censervative, had taken a greater |

would support the measure. But such a Union is impossible ; Lower Canada will not consent to a Legislative Union, We all knew when Wolte conquered Canada the {French Canadians were guaranteed their religion, their language, and their laws and customs, and they do not wish their valuable | privil ves to be en lanygered by being united ina Legislative Union with the Anglo-Britons, The French Canadians are thoroughly mon- archicl in their principles of Government, and they have a great horror of Republican Institutions. W emust lay nside all thoughts of a Legislative Union, lf we remain out of the Confederacy, What will be our destiny ? What will be tbz ros pects of the future prosperity of a small Island, with only 80,000 jinhabitan’s, with an independent Govern- jment vd a hostile tariff, when put in com-

Cowdray, Ass’t Adjt.-Gea. un Gen. Baxter's; pet'ion with four millions of their fellow staf, was mortally wounded. Ovl. Tilden of|ountrymen, united under one Government

the 20ch Maine Vols., wounded in the leg.

About 150 prisoners were taken, wrong whom was Col. Allen of the 24th N. C. Re-

and without s Custom-house, from the Atlan- tic to the Pacific, lam happy to say that the first article in the Quebec Report, relative

giment, forwerly an officer in the UJ. S. Re-| toa Confederate Union of all the British

gulars.

| North Amer’can Colonies, wag carried unani-

The correspondent capture j yesterday was! mously, with cheers, and not one solitary

Mr. Tremblay of the N. Y. Herald.

The | yoice was raised in the Conference Chamber

party of cavalry whicb captured him subse-| in opposition to the principle. But now a queatiy came in contact with our mon in aj change has come o'er the spirit of the dreams

slight skirmish, d.ciog which the correspon deat made his escape.

-jof certain Island Delegates, who say there | was no unsmimity in the Conference for the

Col. Herring of the 18th Pa. Vols. was! first three or four days, antil it was decided

wounded i*, the ankle.

TOWN MEETING ON THE QUESTION OF

CONFEDERATION

16, 1865.

FPeBpavuarny

{ Hon. Mr. Meath Haviland’s Speech continucd. |

The difeuities with which the Canadians bave had to contend among themselves are nething whatever to us,

the proposed Confederation be sound, ] care |

wet what may have induced the Statesmen of Canada to endeayour to accomplish it. I will, however, endeayour bricily t) shew what these diffieulijes are, or rather have been. They originated ia the Unjon b ‘tween Upper and Lower Canada. They arose from a want of foresight on the part of British statesmen. By a leading provision of the Union Act, the two Provinces were entitled to equal representation jn the Legislature ; the namber of representatives for eac! being 65. Now this fixed equality of representa- tion in Parliament was a very great error. All the best lands are in Upper Canada; and, consequemtiy, the inerease in population in that Province has far exceeded that of the Lower Province. And not only does Upper Capada exceed Lower Canada in population and the quality of her lands, but she zreatly exceeds her a)sv in the extent of her territory and in wealth. The excess of the population of the Upper Province over that of the Lower i6 some 35 000. and of the entire revenue she paid three-fourths; and yet, owing to the Lower Province haying the same number wt represeatatiyes in the Legislature as the Upper Province, when in any sersivn of Parliament, the apprepriations for ]ocal in- provements and other purposes in each came to be made, the Lower I roviuce obtained as farge a share of “¢ the spgils’’ as the Upper Province. The injustice to which the Upper Proviace wes thus subjected hed—in propor- tion fe hor greater material progress in all respects over that ef the Lewer Province— become greater and mre irritating from year to year; and at length she came to the determination that she would no lenver sub- mit to it. She resolved that either r--presen- tation in the Legislature should be based on population, or that, should she net be abile to uccomplish that reform, she would seck, with al! her energies, to obtain a repeal of the Union Act. With this view they sent the

Jien. George Brown to Parhament, and his |

first endeavours were to be directed to the effecting of such a change in the representa- tion as would place it on the basis of popula- tion. Owing to the existing equality of representation, the accomplishment of this objeat was a difficulty which mo means could be found to overcome: awd then it a) peared to the leading men that the only mode by which they could hope to extricate the country from the mest inauspicious josition in which it was placed, was cither to repeal the Union Act ef 1840, or to form one Grand Federation of the whole ot British America. They bad pledged themselves to seporation. The Conference of the Delegates of the Mari- tume Previnees being hc ld here seeme:| likely to afford them a most desirable opportunity

\ that the Lieutenant Governors of the various | Provinees were to be appointed by the | Federal Government. I have no selfish object to gratify in advocating the cause of Conted- eration. We are told sume Delegates have

| been offered Governorships, Legislative Coun- cillorships, Secretaryships, &c. As Tam not fa member of the Government, I should stand ‘a very slight chance of being appointed a | Lieutenant Governor, I eould not qualify ‘for a Legislative Councillor, therefore my jonly hope of prowotien would be by appeal-

If the principles of | ing to the people of this Colony to elect me

asone of the fivemembers tu the Federal | louse of Commons. This question is the most important, the }most absorbing that has ever been mooted _by Colonists since the days of the American | Revolution. As many speakers are waiting j to express theie opinions upon this great jsubject, I will proceed at once to make a | few hurried observations upon some of the | leading features ot the Quebec Report, which |Report J am tappy to say meets with the ‘approval and cammendation of Mr. Card- ( well, our Colonial Minister, with the excep- | tion of the paragraphs restricting the number | of Legislative Councillors, and granting the | prerogative of pardon to the Lieutenant Governors. A great out-cry has lk eu raised ,in seme of eur local newspapers against those Delegates who signed the Report on a Sunday. 4 plead guilty to the charge of having affixed my name to it on a Sunday, as | had ne ether opportunity of signing it, jand am mow prepared to receive the first ) stone that may be thrown by any individual | who has never committed a greater breach of | propriety 8 the Sabbath. | The Legistatice Council is to be construct- ved by havimg 76life members, divided in the following proportions : 24 members for Upper Canada, 24 members for Lower Canada, and /28 members for the Maritime Colonies, to be subdivided so that Nova Scotia and New | Brunswick shall each have 10 members, and Newfoundland and this Island each 4 mem- | bers. 1 know there are many present here to night who vbjeet to this principle of | division, and who contend that each Colony, | whether large or small, should have an equal ;aumber of Legislative Councillors, according te the Constitation of the United States of | America; but bear in mind that it is much essier to pull down a political edifice than to build or constrict one. I was an advocate for equality of representation in the Upper Chamber, so that this Island should 8 the same weight and influence as Rhode Island, in the neighbouring Republic; but I was over-ruled in the Conference, not by Canada alone, but by the whole of the Maritime Colones. Even asit is, Newfound- land was very displeased at not being allowed * greater number of members in the Legis-

lative Council than we are entitled to, upon |

the ground of her population exceeding ours by 50,000. We shall find it very difficult to oppose going into the Union, if all our sister Colonies consent to do so, particularly as the Imperial Government has approved of the Report, with only two exceptions, namely, the fixed number of members in the Upper Chamber, and the power of pardon being vested in the Lieutenant Governors. I think the Imperial Government was right in ob-

fer putting into operation such machinery | Je¢ting to the fixed number in the Legislative as might be needful for the effectiz of 60 | Council, for if a conflict took place between

eat an object; and they came down to sharlottetown accordingly.” They came here with truly patrioticintentions. Their abject was te form ene Grand Federation under the Pleg of @ld England: a Federation with the eame laws, with the same commercii! regu- tatious, and with one Tariff and one (ustom- house, instead of six or seven, as if these British Provinces,.instead of being, as they are, only so many members of one great national family, with common interests, were so many different nationalities, al) jealous ape of another, aad each seeking to benefit iteelf at the expense of the others. It was unjust te say they came down to Charlotte- town, influenced solely by selfish motives. Nu, they were not actuated by merely selfish motives. I give them credit for more patriot- ism, @ \patriotions which includes the whole of British America, and which urges them te seek a Union fur the common well-being and protection of the several peoples, and for the furtherance of the best interests of each and all of these Provinces. I know that it is said at the East Point, and, indeed, an every other quarter of the Island, that the Report of the Conference is the work of the Canadian Government. But this I can fully disprove. At the very commencement of the discussion of the great question by the Con- vention of Delegates, we agreed that Upper anada should have one vote, Lower Canada one vote, Nova Scotia one vote, New Bruns- wick one vote, P. E. Island, and Newfound- land cne vote. The number of our Di legates was seven, Uur one vote, therefore, must have, on all oceasions, been that of a majority consisting of four or more of our number: You will also see that, voting accor ling to this arrangemertit, it was impossible for Canada to carry any Resolution, how much soever she might be bent upon it, without the concurrence of at least two of the Mari- time Provinces. Therefore, however unjust our anti-unionists may think any of the terms of the Report agreed to by the Con- vention, they act most unfairly in pouring their vials of wrath upon the heads of the Canadian Delegates, as if they by their own votes, enonpesties by those of the Maritime Delegates, had carried the resolutions fixing the obnoxious terms. The Maritine Pro- winees had the majority, and nothing was agreed iv without their consent. It is also eaid by our anti-unionists that the Cmadian statesmen, who were Delegates to the Con- vention, were tow wily, too astute for our Delegates; that they possessed too much save for them ; that on any point, when they wished it, they were able to deccive and beguile them: and thas, in fact, as respects our finaaeial interests and representation in the Federal Parliament, they have coinpletely outwitted and entrapped them. To this estimate of the political talents, foresight and general abilities of the stateamen of Canada, as so greatly superior tw that ef the fumanost publie men of the Maritime Pro- vinces, 1 think many amongst us anti- U niopiens, a8 well as Unionists, must strongly Gemur. What! will it be admitiod that Til hy ae Financier, Tepper, Archibald, MeCully, New Brunswick Gray, Fisher, arc

.

Tsay, excepting myself, the Prince Edward | trade. Again, as a lawyer, I should like to Inland Delegates, bed not sufficient talent | awe our Statute Law aie in all the Celo-

and i ity tochold their own when brought face to face waith the stateamen of (‘anada? Will George Coleg, th® champion of Respon- sttde Government and the bogeted originator of Free Education‘in:this Island. and Fdward Palmer, the old and tried leadey of Conser- gedism, under whom J ‘hase sensed for so

sewiry that Gait, Brown, MceDonsid gnd Cartier

| @xeteised an undue and mesmeric®nfluence | Immigration; therefore, if the Federal Go-

over them, whilst in Canada, which made them speek in favor of dvufederstiun at Ottewa aad Toronto, wliftst in t).¢ir con- scienses they intended to it in every and form #0 sow as Island tne? 1 know tlere are opponents of the Qnebee Report who say, it @ Legielative Union was adyocate:|, they

Instead of diversaty,

rs as a political Lieutenant .comfess | latures are to have a concurrent jurisdicuun

| ey tetiuned to |

| the two branches of the Legis!ature there would be no remedy for the evil but a revo- | lution ; and as to the question of the pre- rogative of pardon, I imagine every Delegate will at once give way and consent to carry | out the suggestion of Mr. Cardwell. In the | Conference, I was an advocate for an Elective Legislative Council, but the rest of the Con- ference, with the exception ot Messiers Coles , and McDonald, were opposed to the principle. | Anti-Unionists oppose the terms of the Que- | bee Report, because, they say, no public | works can be constructed in this Colony out | of the revenues of the General Government; jand that all our taxes will be drained from /us to Canada in hard specie. I should like any Anti-Unionist to point out the clause in | the Report which prohibits or prevents pub- lie works being built in this Is!and by the General Government, provided they are fur | generaladvantage. Why should nota Canal | be cut from Savage Harbor to the Hillsborough | River; it would be a great advantage to the ishipping in the Gulf to avail themselves |of it, instead of being obliged to sail round | either Cape North or the East Point to come | to Charlottetown and ether ports on the South side of the Gulf? Gentiemen may laugh at ithe idea of this Canal being constracted. | But members of our House of Assembly laughed several years ago when Mr. Beer | introduced a Bill to encourage Stéam Navi- | gation on the Hillsborough River; and in the | present day it is looked upon, as a matter of course, to have a Steamer running on Market |days to Mount Stewart Bridge. George |Stephenson was laughed at when he first jattempted his Railway from Liverpool to Manchester; and now we have 2.500 miles of Railway in British America alone. Steam /navigation between England and America, | was proved by the scientific Dr. Lardner to | be an impossibility, and yet England sénds _ her mails by steam across the Atlantic, every | week, by a line. of Steamers, whose arrival can be caleulated to the day, if not to the jhour. We ail recollect when Mr, Tremain’s | first Team-boat, across our Ferry, was thought a great step in advan‘e; now we havea {Steam Ferry beat plying every half hour. The growth of Colonies is different from that of old Conntrice ; the Colonies progress as | fast as gianta, and old Countries as slow as dwarfs ; a Colony is a child to-day and a |man to-morrow. The Report provides for |general Bankruptey and Insolvency Laws. » Llow many mercantile men have been para- \lyzed and ruined in our midet for the want |of a proper system of such laws? ({iion. George Beer,—we can havea Bank- ruptey Law of our own.]

That is impossible, we cannot pass a law to bind Nova Scotia, neither can New Bruns- | wick enact a statute to bind us. I want a | Gankruptey Law, passed by the Federal

legislature, binding throughout the length jand breadth of British Nerth America, so that every honest but unfortunate trader may ik: enabled to obtain relief, and to com- |mence the world afresh, without having a

| millstone of debts, which he cannot pay,hang- | tween them, and thereby become the voting | ing about his neck for life, in consequence of | power in the Legislature and the Govern-

;

|seme unavoidable casuadty in his business or

nies: at present they are conflicting; in one

| Colony you may arrest fer debt, in anether you cannet; in one Colony you may arvest

the hody-@f the debtor in exeeution, and in

janother you can wo levy on his propercy. should like uniformity.

By the Report, the Federal and Lecal Legis-

in all matters relating to Agriculture and

vernment does not properly encourage im- saigration into thie’ Island. we have the power in our hands, it we think we are nut Anereasing a8 fast as our Sister Colonies, aad that ow Jands are remaining too long an- settled and uncultivated, and can vote money

| British Colonies together, both politically and

oa

which would have to

interest in the matter of immigration, we | case, in the homes of the Island, in paving |

should, in all probability, have been entitled |

to that great bone of contention the sixth

our militia — fathers, sons, brothers and lovers—drafted away to shed their blood und

be endured, in euch | truly patriotic part. They will cheerfully

go up to Canada; and be found amengst the foremost in the battle, nobly and bravely contending for the preservation of the rights, |

: r ‘ ‘ ae, . i he 2e i | member in the House of Commons at Ottawa, | lay down their livee in defence of the Cana-| the privileges, and the freedom of the united |

This question of representation in the House |

das. All the noble sentiments of the lovers:

peoples of British America. With their

of Commons has been pretty well ventilated | of freedom-—all attachment to the principles: ithe “ with oe ae, they “pe do oucogm: ‘through the papers and at public meetings; | of our glorious Constitution, and desire for }ful oe eee oppression and two of our Island Delegates, at yarious | its preservation—all ties of common interesta| and, thoug nt nobly fall, yet — ' mectings, have pronounced against entering | and common ancestry —uall these entirely out| of them, | reer wil _ to gene ~—— - ‘the Confederation with so smaji a representa- | of the question, however, and whoily disre-| from the bloody stri e, to re es their tion as five members, Upper Canada, Nova | garded, do these men, I ask, altogether for-| Island homes rejoicing, and around their own

Scotia and New Brunswick are in favor of the principle of representation by population; | and, in fact, it is useless to expect or imagine | that Upper Canada will surrender the prin- ‘eiple for which she bas been struggling and | contending so many long years. ‘The appeal ‘against the principle of representation by nopulation can oy be made to the Imperial

i and I think that body wiil be more likely to confirm the views of the great majority of the Conference than to reverse their decision upon the subject. I believe all the Delegates at the Quebee Conference were fully aware. before they went to Canada, that the House of Commons for the Federal Legislature was to be constructed upon the

rinciple of representation by population,

Ve went there with our eyes open. We knew the want of that principle was the chief cause of the difficulties between the two Canadas. The same principle is carried out in the construction of the Hquse of Re- presentatives under the American Constitu- tion. But the anti-Unioniats who are so very anxious for the American principle in the formation of the Upper Branch of the Legislature, by a singular inconsistency, are opposed to applying the American principle | of representation by population to the House of Commons, | contend that the Quebec Report gives us more members, in proportion to our population, than England allowed to Scotland at the Union in 1707, or than Eng- land yielded to Ireland at the Union in 1801. In 1707 the population of England was 6,000,000, with 513 members in her House of Commons, Scotland’s population was 1,000,000, and she was only allowed 45 members on entering the Union, whereas she was entitled to 90 members if the

wrinciple of representation 7 population fad been granted to her. n 1801, the

population of Great Britain was 8,000,- 000, and the number of Members 553. The population of Ireland at the same time was 5,000,000, yet Ireland was only | permitted 100 Members in the United House | of Commons, 80 that the liberal principles of | representation by population was entirely ignored. Next comes the question of the ap- pointment of Governors by the Confederate Government for the seyeral Colonies. 1 must confess I was in favor of this part of the Re- port at the Conference, and am still of the same opinion. Surely as eligible men for Governors can be found in the Colonies, as in Great Britain. We have men as able, as honest, and more experienced in Colonial matters, and in the every day working of Colonial Governments, than the average of Governors sent from Downing Street to rule over us. I have heard it rumored that the Quebee Conference was nearly coming to a dead lock until the third day of its sitting, when the question of Colonial Governors was settled to the satisfaction of the ambitious members of the Conference. and that, sub- sequently, all was peace and harmony, and everything went assmooth as a marriage bell. i never heard the subject of the appointment mooted at the Conference until the 20th of October, after we had been in Session ten days, and then the question was introduced and carried the same sitting without a dis- sentinent voice.

Some of the opponcnts of Confederation object to the expense of the Local Legislatures. But the expenses under Confederation, need not be half as great as heretofore; we could dispense witha local Legislative Council, and the House of Assembly safely invested with | the powers of local legislation for education, roads, bridges, Acts of Incorporation of com- | panies and other matters within this juris- | diction, as their statutes would be reviewed _by the General Government. I am aware

| the idea of the Acts of our Local Legislature being submitted to the Federal Government for approval; but surely they forget that our Acts are all sent across the Atlantic to Down- ing Street; and whether they shall go into | operation or not, often depends apon the word or the opinionof a Clerk in the Colonial Office.

It is said by Anti-Umionists that the Inter- colunial Bailway, if built by the Confedera- | tion, will be the erection of a high way by which Canada will send her oats to Halifax, and thereby injure the Agricultura] interests of this Island. ‘There would be some reason in these parties opposing the Union if our staying out would prevent theRailroads being built. But ifthe other Colonies enter the Confederation, the Railroad will be construct- ed in spite of all the opposition we can bring to bear against it. 1 do not believe it will pete injurious to the interests of our farmers,

out quite the reverse. If the United States persists in repealing the Reciprocity Treaty, we must find other markets for our agricul- tural produce; we must ship le rge quantities vf oats to England in our new vessels, and what we cannot find shipping for here, will find a market at Halifax, which will soon be- come the Empire City of British America, and all our grain will concentrate there for exportation to Europe. Some are jealous of the probab!e destiny of Halifax, if she Leecomes the terminus of the great Intercolonial Rail- way, but lam not. I sincerely hope she wiil grow rapidly in population and wealth, for the more mouths she will have to feed, the hetter for us as an agricultural country. We need not fear Canadian vats entering into competition with ours, when they can realize from 38 to 40 cents a bushel for them at home, even in the winter season ; and at any rate our oats are much heavier than theirs, and when offered in competicion, up- on equal terms, will always command a higher price inany market. Our farmers, I say again, need not be afraid of the great Rail- road, even ifit should bring the grain of Canada to St. John and Halitax; it is impos- sible to foretell the great benefits and ad- vantages they will reap from the construction of that public work, which is to unite the

commercially, with an iron band so strong that it will be impossible for any nation to sever it. Another bug-a-boo, that has been raised to frighten us, is the ruinous expense of opening up the great. West and widening the fosks of the Canadian Canals. Surel

this is jumping before coming to the style; but on reference to the report, it will be seen that these undertaxings are not to be prose- cuted until the state of the finances will per- mit. The opponenis of Union have se d in their own minds that Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick are determined to con- spire together and ruin us by taxation, if we join them. We were once called the garden of Canada, and, I believe, she will receive us asa pet child, and will do all in her power to advance our interests and to give life and energy to our a our commerce, and our fisheries. We know that the soldiers of Montealm were fed with rations of Salmon caught off our own St. Peter’s. Mr. Cartier, the descendant of the great discoverer of Ca- nada, is too fund of the Maritime element to consent to any legislation that would tend to injure usasa people. The rivairy and jen- lously will be hetween Upper and Lower Ca- nada; they are antagonistic in religion, race, and interests, and, 1 believe, the Maritime Provinces will bold the balance wheel be-

ment of the Confederacy.

Of all the objections which have been raised to the Confederation Scheme, by our anti-Unionists, those based apon our liabi- lity to be called upon for our quota of men and money for the defence of Canada, ap- pear to me to be the most flimsy. If fortti- cations be required for the defence of Canada, it will be ae just to ea!l upon the peo- ple of P. EB. Island to pay their proportion, according to population, of the cost of con- structing those fortifications ; aud equally so would it be to call upon them, for the same purpose—the defence of (anada—fcr their quota of men, on the eame scale—that of pulation ; for both would be for the defence of our commen country. Our anti-Unionistes, who base their objections to Confederation

that Anti-Unionists are very indignant at

yet or disregard the fact that the safety of} Canadz, or of Nova Scotia, or of New Brun-

swick, is the safety of Prince Edward Is- land; or that, if Canada should fal) under the power of American invaders, we should fall with her? Or, is their feeling of lo7zal- ty and attachment to the Mother Country 80 weak, that, in case of even only a warlike demonstration on the part of the United States, against British America—not actual invasion of our territories—they would be ready basely to submit and seek refuge under the Stars and Stripes? An hon. gentleman, one of our Delegates, said the other evening, in his speech upon this great question, at the Temperance Hall, that, in case the United States of America should make a warlike demonstration against the British American Colonies, our wisest course would be to succumb to them at once; for all the resistance we would be able to make would be in vain. A sentiment such as this can- not, I trust, find much acceptance among the loyal, brave, and patriotic peoples ot British America. No! Rather inspirited by the remembrance of the glorious deeds of their ancestors, they will be ready and eager, should the dire necessity arrive, to encount- er the invaders of our svil—how imposing soever their aspect—how numerous, well ap- pointed, and disciplined soever they may be —and bravely, even cheerfully, to shed their blood, and lay down their lives for the pre- servation of their rich inheritance, the price- less treasure of British freedom. No! Never, I trust, will even the small population of Prince Edward Island listen to such base, such cowardly, such ungenerous sugyestions

Let us rather refer to the spirit-inspiring re- cords of history—let us there read-and learn what great deeds have been"performed, what great victories have been obtained, what formidable invasions have been cepelled by

hearths to sing the song of victory.

What 1 desire is to see the peoples of British North America elevated to a common level with their brethren at home ; for when they shall once have attained to that posi- tion, 1 am confident they will be fuund to have the ability to maintain it; and I shall then have a country of my own, poss- essing all the rights of citizenship of the great empire of which we are a part—a vountry of which I shall feel [ have every reason to be proud. That the contest between the United States, on the one hand, and Great Britain ard the British American Provinces, on the other, will not, if 1¢ take place—as there is but too much reason to believe it will—be carried on upon the soil of Prince Edward Island, ought, however, to be a matter of the greatest thankfulness to us all ; and, for which, rich and poor, high and low, married and unmarried, ought to go upon their knees and fervently to thank the Almighty. Much as we read in the papers concerning the suicidal war at present being carried on in the United States, we can form but feeble conceptions of the blood, the havoc, the ravages, the devastation, and cruelties which mark the tracks of the con- tending armies : and never, I trust, will such awful and heart-rendering pictures as*they present be realized upon the soil of Prince Kdward Island.

With these remarks, Mr. Chairman, I conclude; and shal] be happy to resign my position, as a speaker, in favour of any other individual who may wish to address the meeting on tae momentuous question con- cerning which I have so freely spoken, and for the discussion of which we have assembled this evening. Before I sit down, however, I feel it right to say t. at | am very sensible o! the patient, courteous, aud impartial hearing

simply a few hundreds of brave apd patri- | Otic men, inspired by a love of freedom and detestation of tyranny and oppression, even when opposed to all the warlike pride, pomp, and confidence of apparently overwhelming numbers. Rather than listen to the coun- sels of those who would advise cowardly sub- mission to the enemy of Britain, let us, with stout and true hearts, held ourselves pre- pared nobly and loyally to perform our part in the defence of our common country, whether the assault may be commenced on the borders of Canada. of New Brunswick, or elsewhere. Should our Republican neigh- bors attempt to subjugate these Provinces to their rule, if the peoples thereof are true to

sires have descended to their sons—they will be foand able to delepd every inch of their territories. If they possess the spirit which animated their sires, which animated the Greeks of old, they will not yield their soil to the invaders, nor allow the sanctity of their homes to be desecrated by the presence and ruthless deeds of a ruffan soldiery, I do not say that these Provinces can, at present. raise such an army as would enable them, were they so disposed, to become sue- cess'ul invaders of another country; but I du say, that they can raise such bodies of troops, fur their defence, as, if animated-—as I am convinced they would be—by the yalorous spirit of uue races from which they are de- seended, would render them invincible in re- pell.ng foreign invasion.

| Should this threatened invasion of British | America take place~should it commence by an invasion of Canadian terriory, We, iD Prince Edward Island, will not, it is true, be | exposed to the awful calamities, the dreadful

borrors,and fearful ravages which it will bring | Prince Edward Island should enter inte the Union. |

upon the Cenadians But shall we lend them no assistance? Shall we in a manner stand

| their miseries? Shall we, because it is our

| . | hearthstones, or to fight at our own doors, to

| prevent the plundering of our property, the

| burning of our dwellings, the murder and—!

worse than murder—the violation of our

themselves—if the spirit and blood of the!

which bas been accorded me, by this very | !arge and most respectable meeting, notwith- | standing that the majority are—sc at least, | 1 believe—opposed to the views and senti- | ments which | entertain with respect to the subject of my remarks. For the very fair and) courteoas hearing which they have given me, L, therefore, beg they will be pleased to accept my most respectful acknowledgments. The honorable and learned gentleman was repeatedly cheered during the delivery of his Speech, and, at its conclusion, he was | greeted with a very hearty round of applause.

[A letter from the Hon. Mr. Whelan to his Worship the Mayor, accounting for, and

japologising fur bis absence, and containing | briefly his views on the question of Confede- | ration, was then read, and received with many manifestions of respect and applause. The letter appeared in our last No. in the summary account of the proceedings of the Meeting. speaker, and his speech is as follows: — ]

Hon. Mr. COLES.—Mr. Chairman, two gen- | tflemen having new spoken in favor of Union, on the basis of the Report of the Quebee Couference —-the Hon. Mr. Haviland in person and the Hon. Mr. Whelan by letter—I presume I may now fairly claim to be heard on the other side of the question. I must say that I quite agree with much that has just been said by the Hon. Mr. Haviland; and 1 may alse observe that there wes a general agreement between bis views and my own, a8 expressed during the sitting of the Con- vention in Canada ; but. perhaps, be is uot disposed

The Hon. Mr. Coles was the next!

and most beneficially extended? And have not our farmers been greatly and wust materially | benefited by the extension of our trade? More) wealthy men in their station of life may be found | in some other countries; but a more contented,

intelligent, aud respeetable class of men, than are | our own well-to-do farmers, are not, I firmly be- lieve, to-be found in any couutry ; and, as their faithful friend and representative, I cannot, I will uot, consent to any scheme of Union with the rest of the British North American Provinces which would be so fatally prejudicial to their in-| terests as, [am convineed, such a Union would be, if based upon the terms laid down in the Re- port of the Quebee Conference. And not only, as respects trade and agriculture, have we wade great and rapid progress, but the learning among the mass of the people under our Free Educational System, has been such as, I believe, has never been surpassed in any other country; and, as trained under it, the youth of this Isiand, at this day, cannot be excelled by those ot similar standing in society, in any other country, either old or new, in the world. Politically also, eur progress, under Self Go- vernment, bas upon the whole, been highly bene- ficial, honorable, and satisfactory to the coun- try. The machinery of the system may _per- haps, occasioually get a little out of eae, it may, at times, iail to work quite as swouthly and evenly, as some among us could wish; but what- ever improvements may be required in it towards rendering it more certain aud beneficial in its operations, let it be remembered we have it in our own power to make them, so long as we shall con- tinue in our present separate and independent position. That power however would be taker trum us the moinent we became a member of the coutemplated Colonial Confederation; and we should, thencefurth, be nothing but an appendage to Canada: our Constitution would be swainped and our independence forever gone. We are now a free and tudependent people, part and parcel of an empire, it net absolutely the greatest, certain- ly inferior to no other in the world; and, as part and pareel of that empire we are entitled to claim its protection, and to participate in all the edvan- tages, which, in any other portion of it, are enjoy- ed by any Community of British subjects. What- ever else we may luck, we have freedom vo the fullest extent that it can be desirable. We have freedom of thought, of speech, and of public dis- cussion. England has not more than this. What more then can we want as a peonle? Are we dissatisfied? do we undervalue all the blessings which, as a prosperous aud free people. under a Constitution and Government of our own, we en- joy, because we are not anatioa? The aspiration of the Hon. Mr. Haviland, he has told us, is to have a nation of his own. Now, for my own part, 1am quite as well satisfied—and so, I believe, are the vast majority of the people of Prince Ed

Mr. Archibald McNeill folldWtd Mr. Coley whose speech is unreported fur the aaine rea: son. The on. George Beet was the hext to speak, and as he had committéd hig tetharks

to paper, we are enabled to give thei ig thie connection.

The Rev. George Sutherland delivered ae very excellent speech at one of the adjourned . meetings, the report of which has been furs nished to us, but want of space compels ug to postpone its insertion. }

Hon. GEO. BEER.—Mr. Chaj subject now under consideration * hal a with consequences to the inhabitants of P E. Island of such magnitude and im : as to demand from every intelligent indivi. os ane us the most serious investi

ith propriety, the question may be ;

me: Why id you iatertere in the niet Why not leave it in the hands of those are much better able to grapple with such a gigantic subject than yourself? In reply, I would observe that, although having bat as one talent, i know no reason why, at such critical and dangerous time, that one taleng should be wrapped ina napkin and hid