her tended to make them impertinent and presumptuous in their intercourse with other nations. Canada in particular by her bumptiousness had more than once come very nearly involving her in ruinous war with the United States, in which her loss would have been the destruction of her commerce, and her only gain, the loss of her pert colony. All these points were discussed by the English. It was urged that if Britain tried to keep the Colonies against their will, the time would surely come when she would have to give them up against hers. They recalled the Controversy with the United States and reflected how much better it would have been for England if she had permitted them to go off as friends rather than enemies. And they averred that if she should give her cordial approbation to the new union and send off the colonies with the maternal blessing to join their big brother Jonathan, it would go far toward curing the unfilial, but not entirely causeless feeling of bitterness he had entertained for her since 1776 and 1812. “As a result of all these reflections and many more of the same sort, the conclusion was finally reached and the parliament gave its solemn sanction to the new State, but with characteristic foresight exacted one promise to which all the states acceded before the final act was consummated, and that was, that the said new nation should forever be the friend of Great Britain and in case her existence as a nation were threatened it should be bound to interpose in her behalf, and if necessary take up arms in her defense. The name proposed for the new nation was the “Pan Anglic Union.” When England failed to ratify, “Pan” was dropped, and the name became simply the “Anglic Union.” But it was playfully nicknamed the “Lion’s Cubs,” the “Old Hen’s Chickens” etc.” “When did these things happen?” I inquired. “They were finished by the year 1950,” he replied. “Did not the various states have to do considerable remodeling of their forms and procedure to fit them for this consolidation?” “Very little, their governments were all much like that of the United States. Like this country, they had already turned over to the control of the state all monopolies, such as railroads, and had reached the same conclusions as to money, the suffrage, taxation and most other questions. They had their legislatures and executive and judicial branches of government, all about alike. Ireland had for a decade or more enjoyed home rule. She came into the new Union as two states, Ulster and South Ireland. These were soon afterward reconsolidated into one—Ireland—the causes that led to their separation, viz, religious jealousy and the teaching of religion in the schools having been eliminated by the severance of all connection between church and state, which the new constitution required.