11 MAY 1861, Page 14

gunge such as these. When the transfer of a lease

can bei Gibraltar up to Spain, surrender Hong Kong to the Chinese, denounced as a crime, the rights of property need no weak- and even assign the Red River to the savages who chase the ening from the law. vermin on its banks. We acquired the Seven Islands fairly, we have ruled them for nearly half a century, and our busi- is not to give them but to them that they themselves shall strongly desire our government. Na- tionality is a necessity for a nation, but the first quality of a nation is ability to stand alone. The islands, even in union with Greece, would be merely a scene of intrigues, begun by foreign powers, and ending in virtual dependence on the nearest and most powerful. Nobody desires the na- tionality of Italy, in order to make her an appanage of France. To secure good government may be difficult, but it is as difficult in India or in Ireland, and if either country were unanimous against our rule, we should retain them none the less. Perhaps the very best means to the end would be the plan suggested by Sir Bulwer Lytton. An honestly free government is at least in accordance with our institutions, and it has never yet been tried. If to a sound constitution we add a right to enter the general service of the Empire and carry that right into effect, we shall remove that stoppage on careers, which is to all races with imagination the worst effect of a foreign and unsympathetic supremacy. The Ionians, we may be told, refuse our offer, but the petu- lance of a petty Assembly should not interfere with the policy of a State. The offer is a just one, and, confident in its justice, we can afford to wait till it is accepted, though the acceptance comes from the grandsons of the present ge- neration. It is not by skulking from momentary difficulties that world-wide empires are maintained.