LOSS OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES.-To those colonies we must now once more refer, and see how it came about that Britain lost the brightest jewel in the crown of a thousand years. During the first half of the eighteenth century the American colonies along the eastern coast of what is now the territory of the United States made enormous progress in settlement and internal prosperity. Neglected and uncared for in the early years of struggle, they sprang into importance and commanded attention from the people and government of England when their trade increased and their resources were developed. Whilst they enjoyed the amplest measure of local autonomy and local self-government, there was one serious exception and limitation to their legislative power. The Home Government claimed the right of regulating their external trade and commerce. Their export and import trade was watched with jealousy, and hedged about with hampering restrictions. They could not amend or repeal the slightest fiscal regulations, however obnoxious or oppressive. Apart from this, they had absolute freedom and independence; but in matters of trade, the British Parliament asserted its supremacy. The Navigation Laws passed during the Commonwealth under Cromwell, and mainly directed against the Dutch, with a view to ruin Dutch commerce, and the Dutch mercantile marine, were the basis of the colonial policy which subsequently pressed so heavily on the colonies. The main provisions of these laws were that no commodities of Asia, Africa, or America could be imported into Great Britain or her colonies except in British ships. This restricted the markets of the colonies, as they could not trade directly with other nations. On the other hand, Great Britain imposed high protective duties on the goods of foreign countries in favour of her colonies. Then there was a

restriction on the manufacture of their raw products by the colonies and on the direct importation of the goods of foreign countries. This constituted what is called the old "colonial system," which was at the root of the quarrel and the war which led to American separation.

We are now brought down to the reign of George III., a period well described as "the most eventful in the history of the human race," marked by two thrilling tragedies-the War of American Independence and the French Revolution. It was in the year 1764, that George Grenville, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, nicknamed "The Gentle Shepherd," induced the House of Commons to take the fatal step of attempting to draw a revenue from America by the taxation of the colonies. By the Stamp Act, 5 Geo. III. c. 12, he secured the imposition of duties on certain commodities imported into America from other European colonies, and also stamp duties similar to those contained in our own Stamp Acts. This was a violation of the fundamental principle of Constitutional Government-that there should be no taxation without representation."

The news was received in America with indignation, and with a stern determination to resist. Virginia took the lead in organizing confederate resistance. In the House of Burgesses at Williamsburg, Patrick Henry spoke against the Stamp Act with burning eloquence. "Cæsar had his Brutus," he cried, "Charles I. had his Oliver Cromwell, and George III." "Treason! Treason!" interposed the

Speaker. "And George III. may profit by their example," replied Patrick Henry. "The torch of confederate opposition was carried through every colony like a fiery cross."-Cassell's History of England, vol. V., pp. 58-71.

In October, 1765, the first Congress of Delegates was held in New York, at which resolutions were adopted, denying the right of the mother-country to tax the colonies without representation. The Stamp Act was repealed in the following year, by the Act 6 Geo. III. c. 11, but the British Parliament carefully avoided any appearance of a surrender of its rights. Indeed, it passed a Declaratory Act (6 Geo. III. c. 12) affirming the subordination of the colonies and the supreme authority of the Crown and Parliament of Great Britain. The mad policy inaugurated by George Grenville was followed, in 1767, by his successor, Charles Townshend, who as Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed the reduction of the Land Tax to relieve the country gentlemen, and, in order to make up the resulting deficiency in the revenue, determined to impose new taxes on goods imported into America, including tea. This scheme was carried in the Commons with the utmost indifference, and with hardly any debate. These Customs duties rekindled the fires of revolution in the colonies. The Republican party increased in power and influence. Non-importation societies were formed. Resistance and rebellion were openly advocated. The storm gathered in every quarter, and at last broke out in the seizure and destruction of several cargoes of dutiable tea in Boston Harbour. The Declaration of Independence was signed by the representatives of the thirteen colonies on the 4th July, 1776. The die was cast, and the great American catastrophe was brought about by the ruinous policy of "an infatuated King, a stone-blind Cabinet and a corrupt Parliament." The battle of Bunker's Hill, the surrender of General Burgoyne's army at Saratoga, the surrender of Lord Cornwallis' army at Yorktown, the mismanagement of British generals, the bravery of British soldiers, the pluck and patriotism of the colonial forces under George Washington, the recognition of the Independence of America in 1783, and the adoption of the federal constitution in 1787, are stirring events which can be only alluded to here for the purpose of urging a closer study.-Cassell's History of England, Vol. V., pp. 71-100.

BRITAIN'S SECOND COLONIAL EMPIRE.-During one of the exciting debates which took place in the British Parliament on the subject of the American War, Lord Shelburne exclaimed, "When the Independence of America is admitted, the sun of England will have set for ever." That prediction was doomed to be falsified. No doubt the loss of her American colonies was a fearful blow to the Britain of 1783. But the world was wide, and colonization was still young. Canada, a vast tract of country extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, still belonged to Britain. Many loyalists fled from the southern colonies during the revolutionary wars and commenced the foundation of new settlements in Canada, which promised to be as great in wealth. and population as some of the colonies that were lost.

In 1791, by the Act 31 Geo. III. c. 31, Canada was divided into two provinces, Upper Canada, afterwards Ontario, and Lower Canada,

afterwards Quebec. In each province representative institutions were established, but the Executive was vested exclusively in the Crown. This system lasted until 1840, when the Canada Union Act, 3 and 4 Vict. c. 35, was passed. (R. R. Garran, The Coming Commonwealth, p. 81.) Under this Act the two provinces were united in one Constitution. A new Parliament, consisting of a Legislative Council, nominated by the Crown, and a Legislative Assembly, elected by the qualified inhabitants, coupled with Responsible Government, was constituted for the United Provinces. The new machinery of government was brought into operation under the Governor-Generalship of Mr. C. Powlett Thompson (afterwards Lord Sydenham) on 30th June, 1841. By the British North America Act, 1867 (30 and 31 Vict. c. 3) the two Canadas, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, were federally united in one Dominion by the name of Canada. The new Constitution was proclaimed on the 1st July, 1867, Lord Monck being Governor-General. The new province of Manitoba joined the Union in 1870, British Columbia and Vancouver Island in 1871, and Prince Edward Island in 1873. Newfoundland is the only British colony in North America which has not joined the Dominion.

The southern hemisphere was destined to present to Great Britain a new Colonial Empire to replace the one that was lost. The same year, during which the Americans were welded "into a more perfect " by their federal constitution of 1787, saw Captain Arthur Phillip, with the "first fleet," on his way to the Southern Ocean in order to establish a settlement on the eastern shores of Australia, which had just been discovered and explored by Captain Cook.

(2) IN AUSTRALASIA.

FROM MAGELLAN TO COOK.-No one man, no one nation, can exclusively claim the honour of having discovered Australia. Justice demands the acknowledgment that many brave mariners and the Governments of several pioneering and exploring countries assisted in the gradual unfolding of the situation and outlines of the great continent. See Barton, "History of New South Wales," Vol. I., pp. 25-39. In his interesting work, "The Discovery of Australia" (1895) Mr. George Collingridge (Sydney) propounds the thesis that either Spaniards or Portuguese discovered and charted the continent as early as 1508. He publishes a copy of what purports to be a French map of the world by Oronce Finé, dated 1531, in which "Terra Australis" is represented as forming part of an extensive ant-arctic land, and another, dated 1546, in which it is described as Java-laGrande, with a small channel dividing it from the true Java. In an article in the Geographical Journal, October, 1899, Mr. George Heawood expresses the opinion that there is no authentic evidence that Australia was discovered before 1606. A number of events and incidents have, however, been commonly associated with the history of Australian discovery prior to 1606; these cannot be passed over or disregarded; they may be here mentioned with the observation. that the evidence on which they are based is vague.

It is said by some writers that in 1527 a Portuguese mariner named Menezis penetrated the Southern Ocean and touched at a group of rocky islands to which he gave the name of Abrolhos, and which may now be seen marked on the map, lying to the westward of Champion Bay, Western Australia. (Australian Hand Book, 1897, p. 363.) From maps and documents in the British Museum and the War Office of Paris, it would appear that a Provençal navigator, named Gillaume le Testu, a native of the French city of Grasse, discovered some portion of the Australian continent in the year 1531. Early in the year 1542 an expedition was despatched from Spain under the command of Luis Lopez de Villalobos to follow up the voyage of Magellan in the Pacific Ocean. He took possession of the Philippines for Spain, and coasted along a large island to which he gave the name of New Guinea, and which was then thought to be a part of the Great Unknown Southern Land, which Ptolemy, the geographer, supposed to exist south of the Indian Ocean. The next record is that in 1598, a Portuguese mariner named Houtman reached the Abrolhos, with which his name became associated. In 1605, Pedro de Quiros was despatched by the Court of Spain to the South. Sea in command of a fleet of three vessels. On April 20th, 1606, he discovered one of the islands of the New Hebrides, which he believed formed part of the Southern Continent, and to which he gave the name of "La Austrialia del Espiritu Santo." In a memorial to Philip III. of Spain (the head of the house of Austria) de Quiros explained that he had named it" for the happy memory of your Majesty and for the sake of the name of Austria, because on your birthday I took possession of it."-Collingridge, Discovery of Australia, p. 248. One of his ships, commanded by Luis Vaez de Torres, became separated from the rest, and sailing westward he saw land which he believed to be the eastern extremity of New Guinea. He skirted along its southern coast and saw land to the south as he proceeded westward and passed through those straits which now bear his Torres was probably the European who first caught sight of the continent, afterwards to be known as Australia. The stories with respect to Menezis and Houtman are unsatisfactory.-Story of Geographical Discovery, Joseph Jacobs (1899), p. 158.

name.

Other writers have, however, claimed for Dutch mariners the credit of being the first Europeans to sail in Australian waters. Whilst the Spaniards and Portuguese were engaged in exploring the South Seas the Dutch were not idle. From Batavia, the central station of their Indian trade, they sent out ships in search of islands and commerce. On 18th November, 1605, the Dutch despatched the ship Duyfhen (Dove) from Bantam in Java, to explore New Guinea. It is claimed for the Duyfhen that she skirted the west and south coast of New Guinea for nearly one thousand miles, sighted Cape York, touched the eastern shore of the great indentation, afterwards. known as Carpentaria; and that some of her crew landed on the shores of the Gulf and were killed by the natives. "The exact dates of the respective discoveries of Torres and the commander of the Duyfhen cannot now be ascertained; but as the Dutch vessel had arrived in the island of Banda, on her return to Bantam, in the month

of June, 1606, while the letter of Torres, communicating an account of his voyage to the Spanish Admiralty, is dated at Manilla, in the month of August following, Captain Flinders conjectures, with every appearance of probability, that the honour of the discovery of Australia is due to the Dutch, and that it must have taken place in the month of March, 1606, a few months before the discovery of Torres."-Lang's History of New South Wales (1875), p. 3.

Referring to the conflicting claims for the honour of the discovery of Australia, Dr. Lang wrote:-"Whether these allegations, however, are well founded or not, we have to console ourselves, as Britons, with the comfortable reflection that, while neither the French nor the Dutch, neither the Spaniard nor the Portuguese, ever made any account of their alleged discoveries, we, the only practical people in the lot, have already, by following and settling in the track of our own great navigator, Captain Cook, founded a whole series of noble empires of the future in the Great South Land."-History of New South Wales (1875), p. 4.

Many Dutch navigators explored the west and southern coast line of the supposed continent during the seventeenth century, and left behind them lasting evidences of their visits, in the shape of names of islands, capes, and bays, which now figure prominently on the map of Australia. The first authentic discovery of any part of the west coast of the continent is said to have been made by Captain Dirk Hartog, who sailed from Amsterdam, in the Endraaght (Concord), in 1616. To the land on the west coast near the 25th parallel, which he visited, he gave the name of his vessel: Endraaght's Land. To one of the islands off the main coast he gave his own name, Dirk Hartog, and to another the name of Dorre, one of his sailors. The bay adjoining the island was afterwards named by Dampier Shark's Bay. In 1619 Captain Jan Edel visited that part of the coast south of Endraaght's Land. The south-west cape was rounded by Dutch mariners in 1622, and received the name of the vessel, "Leeuwin (Lioness), in which the discovery was made. In 1627 Captain Van Pieter de Nuyts in the Gulde Zeepaert (Golden Serpent) cruised along a considerable part of the south coast of the continent, which he called Nuyts Land. Captain Pieter Carpenter, an officer in the service of the Dutch East India Company, in 1627, explored and gave his name to the Gulf of Carpentaria. In 1628-9 Captain Pelsart, in command of the Batavia, was wrecked on the west coast at the spot known as Houtman's Abrolhos. The most important discovery made by the Dutch navigators, in the seventeenth century, was that of Abel Janssen Tasman. In 1642, Anthony Van Diemen, the Dutch GovernorGeneral of Netherlands India, organized an expedition to explore the coast of Australia, which had been sighted by so many Dutch adventurers, but which still remained a terra incognita. Tasman was placed in command. He sailed from Batavia on 16th August, 1642, proceeding southward until he almost reached the 44th parallel. On 24th November, 1642, land was seen, to which he gave the name of Van Diemen's Land. The land first seen by Tasman is supposed to have been Point Hibbs. He saw and named Storm Bay; discovered and named Maria Island, and then sailed eastward. On 18th December