the North would be turned against the British
provinces. The termination of the Reciprocity Treaty, which provided
for a large measure of free trade between the two countries, was seen
to be reasonably sure. The treaty had existed through a period which
favoured a large increase in the exports of the provinces. The Crimean
War at first and the Civil War later had created an unparalleled demand
for the food products {26} which Canada could supply; and although the
records showed the enhanced trade to be mutually profitable, with a
balance rather in favour of the United States, the anti-British feeling
in the Republic was directed against the treaty. Thus military defence
and the necessity of finding new markets became two pressing problems
for Canada.

From the Imperial authorities there came now at last distinct
encouragement. Hitherto they had hung back. The era of economic dogma
in regard to free trade, to some minds more authoritative than Holy
Writ, was at its height. Even Cobden was censured because, in the
French treaty of 1861, he had departed from the free trade theory. The
doctrine of _laissez-faire_, carried to extremes, meant that the
colonies should be allowed to cut adrift. But the practical English
mind saw the sense and statesmanship of a British American union, and
the tone of the colonial secretary changed. In July 1862 the Duke of
Newcastle, who then held that office and who did not share the
indifference of so many of his predecessors[3] to the colonial
connection, wrote sympathetically to Lord Mulgrave, the governor of
Nova Scotia:

{27}

If a union, either partial or complete, should hereafter be proposed
with the concurrence of all the Provinces to be united, I am sure that
the matter would be weighed in this country both by the public, by
Parliament, and by Her Majesty's Government, with no other feeling than
an anxiety to discern and promote any course which might be the most
conducive to the prosperity, the strength and the harmony of all the
British communities in North America.

Nova Scotia, always to the front on the question, had declared for
either a general union or a union of the Maritime Provinces, and this
had drawn the dispatch of the Duke of Newcastle. A copy of this
dispatch was sent to Lord Monck, the governor-general of Canada, for
his information and guidance, so that the attitude of the Imperial
authorities was generally known. It remained for the various
prov