ts in response to
calls of humanity, or munificence for objects but indistinctly heard of
at the distance of half the world."

The Dominion of Canada has been so much talked about that it may be well
to give a summary of its Constitution, though, in so far as regards its
relations to the mother country, it differs in no material respect from
any other self-governing colony. The Dominion consists of seven
provinces, each of which has a Legislature of its own, but is at the
same time subject to the Legislature of the Dominion, in the same manner
as each State in the American Union has a Legislature of its own, and is
at the same time subject to the control of Congress. The distinguishing
feature between the system of the American States and the associated
colonies of the Dominion of Canada is this--that all Imperial powers,
everything that constitutes a people a nation as respects foreigners,
are reserved to the mother country. The division, then, of the Dominion
and its provinces consists only in a division of Local powers. It is
impossible to mark accurately the line between Dominion and Provincial
powers, but, speaking generally, Dominion powers relate to such
matters--for example, the regulation of trade and commerce, postal
service, currency, and so forth--as require to be dealt with on a
uniform principle throughout the whole area of a country; while the
Provincial powers relate to provincial and municipal institutions,
provincial licensing, and other subjects restricted to the limits of the
province. As a general rule, the Legislature of the Dominion and the
Legislature of each province have respectively exclusive jurisdiction
within the limits of the subjects entrusted to them; but, as respects
agriculture and immigration, the Dominion Parliament have power to
overrule any Act of the provincial Legislatures, and, as respects
property and civil rights in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick,
the Dominion Parliament may legislate with a view to uniformity, but
their legislation is not valid unless it is accepted by the Legislature
of each province to which it applies.

The executive authority in the Dominion Government, as in all the
self-governing colonies, is carried on by the Governor in the name of
the Queen, but with the advice of a Council: that is to say, as to all
Imperial matters, he is under the control of the mother country; as to
all local matters, he acts on the advice of his local Council. The
res