lf-reliance had engendered the desire of self-government. Each colony
contained a separate vitality within itself. They commenced under a
variety of systems; more or less practicable, more or less liberal, and
more or less dependent on the parent state. But the spirit of
adventure, the disaffection, and the disappointed ambition which had so
rapidly recruited their population, gave a general bias to their
political feelings which no arbitrary authority could restrain, and no
institutions counteract. They were less intolerant and morose, but at
the same time, also, less industrious and moral than their Puritan
neighbors. Like them, however, they resented all interference from
England as far as they dared, and constantly strove for the acquisition
or retention of popular rights.

The British colonists, left at first, in a great measure, to themselves,
settled on the most fertile lands, built their towns upon the most
convenient harbors, directed their industry to the most profitable
commerce, raised the most valuable productions. The trading spirit of
the mother country became almost a passion when transferred to the New
World. Enterprise and industry were stimulated to incredible activity by
brilliant success and ample reward. As wealth and the means of
subsistence increased, so multiplied the population. Early marriages
were universal; a numerous family was the riches of the parent.
Thousands of immigrants, also, from year to year swelled the living
flood that poured over the wilderness. In a century and a half the
inhabitants of British America exceeded nearly twenty-fold the people of
New France. The relative superiority of the first over the last was even
greater in wealth and resources than in population. The merchant navy of
the English colonies was already larger than that of many European
nations, and known in almost every port in the world where men bought
and sold. New France had none.

The French colonies were founded and fostered by the state, with the
real object of extending the dominion, increasing the power, and
illustrating the glory of France. The ostensible object of settlement,
at least that holding the most prominent place in all Acts and Charters,
was to extend the true religion, and to minister to the glory of God.
From the earliest time the ecclesiastical establishments of Canada were
formed on a scale suited to these professed views. Not only was ample
provision made for the spiritual wants of t