turn at any moment, nor was he at all times to be trusted. For
the present, Smooth must be contented with a first-class mission to
Down East, where he would settle the fish and other questions
international; at the same time, he might be evolving in his mind the
affair of the war. Did Minister Smooth deem it expedient, he might
without prejudice, taking the Ostend for example, call together on the
Island of St. Paul--or, if preferable, the Isle of Sables--a Congress
of American Ministers, provided, nevertheless, he invite Major Hammet,
of the Pictou Mission, and Governor Darby, of the Isle of Dogs. Pierce
strictly enjoined that no letters be received from Monsieur Souley,
nor his dogmatic Secretary, and that the subjects to be discussed were
the internal affairs of Baffin's Bay, Greenland, the North Pole, the
Labrador Coast, and the straits of Bell Isle--from which the
importation of cod oil had sadly fallen off during our fish
difficulties. Not to weary the reader, Smooth is here happy to relieve
his mind by stating that simple prudence restrained him from calling
together this august Congress; he left it where he found it--in
Mr. Pierce's fruitful head.

"Conscious of the necessity, Smooth bound Mr. Pierce down to detail,
particularly stipulating that he should bear the ultimate
responsibility in the event of failure. Now to the result!

"His opinion of the Novascotians had always been favorable, and when
he left Mr. Pierce it was with a promise that he would do all he could
to enlighten them. But as impressions will change at a nearer view, so
when he got wrong did he regard both the quality and quantity of their
radicalism as injurious to the best interests of the State. There was
in the little green-hilled province an endless amount of political
talking done, with so small an amount of patriotism evinced, that we
were not at a loss for the cause that had kept the State in
obscurity. Then there seemed so much government, that everything was
ungoverned. And he (Smooth) thought there was a want of activity,
physical as well as mental, and a recklessness of getting into debt to
Mr. John Bull, who never could infuse a sufficient sense of honor into
his Colonial subjects to make them pay over, or regard their
obligations. Want of energy and a criminal dependence upon the 'home
Government' for assistance, with which to develop the resources of the
country, resulted in a want of confidence in the State's own means to
be