 The title of the lecture was a homage to Lord Durham's 1838 "Report on the Affairs of British North America" and assessed the condition of British North America in the two decades following Lord Durham's famous report.Although Tupper was interested in the potential economic consequences of a union with the other colonies, the bulk of his lecture addressed the place of British North America within the wider British Empire.Having been convinced by his 1858 trip to London that British politicians were unwilling to pay attention to small colonies such as Nova Scotia, Tupper argued that Nova Scotia and the other Maritime colonies "could never hope to occupy a position of influence or importance except in connection with their larger sister Canada."