Such, in 1809 and 1810, was the disorganized state

of Europe.

In the midst of this terrific commotion England stood erect; wrapt up in her own impregnability, the storm could not affect her; and therefore, while others trembled in its blast, she smiled at its fury. Never did the "Empress Island" appear so magnificently grand ; she stood by herself, and there was a peculiar splendor in the loneliness of her glory.

Occupying such an exalted position, a less resolute nation would have retired from the conflict; but her strength being unimpaired, and her ends unaccomplished, she determined to perfect the consummation she had proposed. Again was her voice heard mingling with the roar of the hurricane; and again did it re-animate the dispirited Sovereigns of Europe. They thronged round her standard; and she led them to victory and to peace. The cause of humanity prospered, and Buonaparte fell with a precipitancy, equal to the rapidity of his flight. The task was accomplished, and the magnitude of the undertaking, essentially generalized the benefits of its success.

The integrity of Egypt was secured, and the independence of Spain maintained. Russia and Prussia were saved from annihilation: Austria and the Peninsula were preserved from a similar fate; the Roman Pontiff was released from prison; the vassals of the Rhine were emancipated; and France was restored to

her original dignity. Such were the prizes England won by her valor, such were the gifts her munificence bestowed.

From these remarks the question arising is, how did Great Britain accomplish all this? What enabled her to exercise such astonishing influence-to put forth such overwhelming powers? I answer, her Colonies. They created the commerce that filled her Treasury, and cradled the Navy that fought her battles. The Colonies, from being the offspring of her research, became the children of her solicitude. They had extended her territory into every clime; and from this increase of dominion, it became expedient to erect a force for its protection. Hence sprung a Navy, irresistable in power, and matchless in bravery; hence arose that invincible strength, which ever since its organization, has enabled a small Island to awe the whole world, and to maintain an almost exclusive possession of the ocean. But the Colonies not only rocked the cradle of our Navy, but they even cherished it into adolescence. The long voyages to those newly discovered regions, and the advantages arising from an intercourse with them, created a commercial marine, that has since sustained the Navy, and in war frequently enabled it, not only to protect our dependencies, but even to extend them.

In all ages, from the day we defeated the Spanish Armada, until we destroyed the Turkish fleet at Navarino, the Navy has been the right arm of our strength

and the chief pillar of our greatness; but never did its glory shine so brilliantly, or its power appear so strikingly, as during the last war. Our pendants quivered in every atmosphere, and by our ships was the ocean swept. Whatever wind fanned the British Ensign, honor and renown were its attendants; and whatever sea our vessels ploughed, victory followed in their wake, and wrote the history of their achievements. Whenever vanity betrayed the enemy into action, defeat invariably humbled his vanity; and when a repetition of losses taught him prudence, we imprisoned him on his stations, until his ships rotted in the harbours of Bologne and Brest.

Without foreign possessions, Great Britain never could have arrived, in the scale of nations, to a higher rank, than that of a second or third rate power. Cooped up within a very moderate extent, and not particularly distinguished, either for the rarity or richness of her natural productions, the utmost stretch of her commerce, would have been but a barter with her opulent neighbors; or at best, a dearly bought, but limited and precarious intercourse with their dependencies. Nor is it altogether beyond the range of possibility, that she might not have been, at this very day, a Colony herself. Without extraneous resources she would have had no commerce, and wanting that, she would have had neither her wealth nor her Navy.

When we think of the injustice of some men, ́ and the ambition of others; when we reflect upon the con

duct and politics of Louis XIV. and Charles XII. Napoleon, and other inordinate spirits, we are almost sustained in saying, that instead of being what she now is, the Emporium of the world, and the Mistress of the Nations, England might have been, at this very day, but a wretched Province, either basely hugging her chains, or gallantly striving to break them.

It should ever be remembered, that to the Colonies do we owe much of our present greatness. Our internal resources have been developed to their utmost capacity; they had been stretched almost to cracking; and hence there hardly remained a possibility of either extending our trade, or increasing our strength. There appeared no reasonable grounds to suppose, that we should ever become, either a very rich, or a very powerful nation; indeed, but the moment before our first discoveries were made, our whole maritime force, so extravagantly praised by Sir Edward Coke, consisted of only thirty-three ships, indifferently equipped. Such, about three hundred years ago, was the boasted navy of Great Britain, and such, in all probability, would it still be, if she had not acquired Colonies.

But suddenly new worlds leapt into life, and stood before us. Then did the pale and flickering light of our present glory, sparkle through the broken vapours of the west; then, and not till then, did the wealth and power of England commence. The genius of commerce, at once exciting and rewarding the enterprize of the nation, flung the proceeds of its zeal into her lap,

and then, every wave that washed her cliffs, came loaded with wealth; and every wind that blew, wafted tribute to her shore.

In a short time so rapidly did our shipping multiply, that the whole carrying trade of Europe fell into our hands; and this great and enriching privilege, not only convinced us of the necessity of securing it, but also enabled us to erect the force requisite for so desirable an end. To be more explicit: that we might engross the golden current that flowed upon us, it became absolutely necessary to increase our Navy, a measure, which in half a century after its adoption, enabled us to dictate Navigation Laws, that not only controuled the sea, but encouraged, nay rendered unavoidably necessary, the regular and constant increase of both our Trade and Shipping.

Nothing can more strongly prove the importance of Colonies, if proof were necessary, than the astounding rise and progress of Great Britain.

Here we see a small Island, that had been the alternate prey of every Northern incursion; that was formerly plundered by the Picts, harrassed by the Danes, and conquered by the Romans, surpassing in power, wealth and greatness, even Imperial Rome itself. Here we behold a mere speck in the Channel, enlarged into a colossal dominion, that has oceans for its highways— kingdoms for its outposts, and whose boundaries extend to every quarter of the globe. Here we admire