Britain has been criticized for not taking the opportunity to unite all the British North American colonies, as they were in 1867. Confederation was suggested as early as 1784 by Colonel Robert Morse of the Royal Engineers, whose letter on the subject is in the National Archives. He predicted "a great country may yet be raised up in North America." Confederation was also urged by a New York Loyalist, William Smith, who later became Chief Justice of Quebec, and Jonathan Sewell, another Chief Justice of the same province.