diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 12661-0.txt | 11928 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12661-8.txt | 12321 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12661-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 259075 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12661.txt | 12321 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12661.zip | bin | 0 -> 258864 bytes |
8 files changed, 36586 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/12661-0.txt b/12661-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..99f012b --- /dev/null +++ b/12661-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11928 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12661 *** + +CANADA UNDER BRITISH RULE 1760-1900 + +BY + +SIR JOHN G. BOURINOT, K.C.M.G., LL.D., LITT.D. + +Author of 'Parliamentary Procedure and Practice', 'Constitutional +History of Canada,' 'The Story of Canada,' etc + +WITH EIGHT MAPS + +1900 + + + + +CAMBRIDGE HISTORICAL SERIES + +EDITED BY G. W. PROTHERO, LITT.D., LL.D. + +Honorary Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and Late Professor of +History in the University of Edinburgh. + + + + + + + +GENERAL PREFACE. + +The aim of this series is to sketch the history of Modern Europe, with +that of its chief colonies and conquests, from about the end of the +fifteenth century down to the present time. In one or two cases the +story commences at an earlier date: in the case of the colonies it +generally begins later. The histories of the different countries are +described, as a rule, separately, for it is believed that, except in +epochs like that of the French Revolution and Napoleon I, the connection +of events will thus be better understood and the continuity of +historical development more clearly displayed. + +The series is intended for the use of all persons anxious to understand +the nature of existing political conditions. "The roots of the present +lie deep in the past"; and the real significance of contemporary events +cannot be grasped unless the historical causes which have led to them +are known. The plan adopted makes it possible to treat the history of +the last four centuries in considerable detail, and to embody the most +important results of modern research. It is hoped therefore that the +series will be useful not only to beginners but to students who have +already acquired some general knowledge of European History. For those +who wish to carry their studies further, the bibliography appended to +each volume will act as a guide to original sources of information and +works more detailed and authoritative. + +Considerable attention is paid to political geography, and each volume +is furnished with such maps and plans as may be requisite for the +illustration of the text. + +G.W. PROTHERO. + + + + +PREFACE. + +I devote the first chapter of this short history to a brief review of +the colonisation of the valley of the St. Lawrence by the French, and of +their political and social conditions at the Conquest, so that a reader +may be able to compare their weak and impoverished state under the +repressive dominion of France with the prosperous and influential +position they eventually attained under the liberal methods of British +rule. In the succeeding chapters I have dwelt on those important events +which have had the largest influence on the political development of the +several provinces as British possessions. + +We have, first, the Quebec Act, which gave permanent guarantees for the +establishment of the Church of Rome and the maintenance of the language +and civil law of France in her old colony. Next, we read of the coming +of the United Empire Loyalists, and the consequent establishment of +British institutions on a stable basis of loyal devotion to the parent +state. Then ensued the war of 1812, to bind the provinces more closely +to Great Britain, and create that national spirit which is the natural +outcome of patriotic endeavour and individual self-sacrifice. Then +followed for several decades a persistent popular struggle for larger +political liberty, which was not successful until British statesmen +awoke at last from their indifference, on the outbreak of a rebellion in +the Canadas, and recognised the necessity of adopting a more liberal +policy towards their North American dependencies. The union of the +Canadas was succeeded by the concession of responsible government and +the complete acknowledgment of the rights of the colonists to manage +their provincial affairs without the constant interference of British +officials. With this extension of political privileges, the people +became still more ambitious, and established a confederation, which has +not only had the effect of supplying a remarkable stimulus to their +political, social and material development, but has given greater +security to British interests on the continent of North America. At +particular points of the historical narrative I have dwelt for a space +on economic, social, and intellectual conditions, so that the reader may +intelligently follow every phase to the development of the people from +the close of the French régime to the beginning of the twentieth century +In my summary of the most important political events for the last +twenty-five years, I have avoided all comment on matters which are "as +yet"--to quote the language of the epilogue to Mr. Green's "Short +History"--"too near to us to admit of a cool and purely historical +treatment." The closing chapter is a short review of the relations +between Canada and the United States since the treaty of 1783--so +conducive to international disputes concerning boundaries and fishing +rights--until the present time, when the Alaskan and other international +controversies are demanding adjustment. + +I have thought, too, that it would be useful to students of political +institutions to give in the appendix comparisons between the leading +provisions of the federal systems of the Dominion of Canada and the +Commonwealth of Australia. I must add that, in the revision of the +historical narrative, I have been much aided by the judicious criticism +and apt suggestions of the Editor of the Series, Dr. Prothero. + +HOUSE OF COMMONS, OTTAWA, CANADA. 1st October, 1900 + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE FRENCH RÉGIME (1534--1760) + +Section 1. Introduction + +Section 2. Discovery and Settlement of Canada by France + +Section 3. French exploration in the valleys of North America + +Section 4. End of French Dominion in the valley of the St. Lawrence + +Section 5. Political, Economic, and Social Conditions of Canada + during French Rule + + +CHAPTER II. + +BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH RULE (1749--1774) + +Section 1. From the Conquest until the Quebec Act + +Section 2. The Foundation of Nova Scotia (1749--1783) + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS (1763--1784) + +Section 1. The successful Revolution of the Thirteen Colonies in America + +Section 2. Canada and Nova Scotia during the Revolution. + +Section 3. The United Empire Loyalists + + +CHAPTER IV. + +DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS (1784-1812) + +Section 1. Beginnings of the Provinces of New Brunswick, Lower Canada +and Upper Canada. + +Section 2. Twenty years of Political Development. (1792-1812) + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE WAR OF 1812-1815 + +Section 1. Origin of the war between Great Britain and the United States + +Section 2. Canada during the War + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE EVOLUTION OF RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT (1815-1839) + +Section 1. The Rebellion in Lower Canada + +Section 2. The Rebellion in Upper Canada + +Section 3. Social and Economic Conditions of the Provinces in 1838 + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A NEW ERA OF COLONIAL GOVERNMENT (1839-1867) + +Section 1. The Union of the Canadas and the establishment of Responsible +Government + +Section 2. Results of Self-government from 1841 to 1864 + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE EVOLUTION OF CONFEDERATION (1789-1867) + +Section 1. The beginnings of Confederation + +Section 2. The Quebec Convention of 1864 + +Section 3. Confederation accomplished + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CONFEDERATION (1867--1900) + +Section 1. The First Parliament of the Dominion of Canada (1867--1873) + +Section 2. Extension of the Dominion from the Atlantic to the Pacific + Ocean (1869--1873) + +Section 3. Summary of Noteworthy Events from 1873 until 1900 + +Section 4. Political and Social Conditions of Canada under Confederation + + +CHAPTER X. + +CANADA'S RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES AND HER INFLUENCE IN IMPERIAL +COUNCILS (1783--1900) + +APPENDIX A: COMPARISONS BETWEEN CONSTITUTIONS OF THE CANADIAN DOMINION +AND AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH. + +APPENDIX B: BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES + +INDEX + +PLANS AND MAPS. + +Map showing Boundary between Canada and the United States by Treaty of +1783. + +Map of British America to illustrate the Charter of the Hudson's Bay +Company. + +International Boundary as finally established in 1842 at Lake of the +Woods. + +Map of the North-Eastern Boundary as established in 1842. + +Map of British Columbia and Yukon District showing disputed Boundary +between Canada and the United States. + +France, Spain, and Great Britain, in North America, 1756--1760. + +Outline map of British Possessions in North America, 1763--1775. + +Map of the Dominion of Canada illustrating the boundaries of Provinces +and Provisional Districts. + +A SHORT HISTORY OF CANADA UNDER BRITISH RULE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE FRENCH RÉGIME. 1534--1760. + + +SECTION I.--Introduction. + +Though the principal object of this book is to review the political, +economic and social progress of the provinces of Canada under British +rule, yet it would be necessarily imperfect, and even unintelligible in +certain important respects, were I to ignore the deeply interesting +history of the sixteen hundred thousand French Canadians, about thirty +per cent of the total population of the Dominion. To apply to Canada an +aphorism of Carlyle, "The present is the living sum-total of the whole +past"; the sum-total not simply of the hundred and thirty years that +have elapsed since the commencement of British dominion, but primarily +of the century and a half that began with the coming of Champlain to the +heights of Quebec and ended with the death of Wolfe on the Plains of +Abraham. The soldiers and sailors, the missionaries and pioneers of +France, speak to us in eloquent tones, whether we linger in summer time +on the shores of the noble gulf which washes the eastern portals of +Canada; whether we ascend the St. Lawrence River and follow the route +taken by the explorers, who discovered the great lakes, and gave to the +world a knowledge of the West and the Mississippi, whether we walk on +the grassy mounds that recall the ruins of the formidable fortress of +Louisbourg, which once defended the eastern entrance to the St. +Lawrence; whether we linger on the rocks of the ancient city of Quebec +with its many memorials of the French régime; whether we travel over the +rich prairies with their sluggish, tortuous rivers, and memories of the +French Canadians who first found their way to that illimitable region. +In fact, Canada has a rich heritage of associations that connect us with +some of the most momentous epochs of the world's history. The victories +of Louisbourg and Quebec belong to the same series of brilliant events +that recall the famous names of Chatham, Clive, and Wolfe, and that gave +to England a mighty empire in Asia and America. Wolfe's signal victory +on the heights of the ancient capital was the prelude to the great drama +of the American revolution. Freed from the fear of France, the people of +the Thirteen Colonies, so long hemmed in between the Atlantic Ocean and +the Appalachian range, found full expression for their love of local +self-government when England asserted her imperial supremacy. After a +struggle of a few years they succeeded in laying the foundation of the +remarkable federal republic, which now embraces forty-five states with a +population of already seventy-five millions of souls, which owes its +national stability and prosperity to the energy and enterprise of the +Anglo-Norman race and the dominant influence of the common law, and the +parliamentary institutions of England. At the same time, the American +Revolution had an immediate and powerful effect upon the future of the +communities that still remained in the possession of England after the +acknowledgement of the independence of her old colonies. It drove to +Canada a large body of men and women, who remained faithful to the crown +and empire and became founders of provinces which are now comprised in a +Dominion extending for over three thousand miles to the north and east +of the federal republic. + +The short review of the French régime, with which I am about to +commence this history of Canada, will not give any evidence of +political, economic, or intellectual development under the influence of +French dominion, but it is interesting to the student of comparative +politics on account of the comparisons which it enables us to make +between the absolutism of old France which crushed every semblance of +independent thought and action, and the political freedom which has been +a consequence of the supremacy of England in the province once occupied +by her ancient rival. It is quite true, as Professor Freeman has said, +that in Canada, which is pre-eminently English in the development of its +political institutions, French Canada is still "a distinct and visible +element, which is not English,--an element older than anything English +in the land,--and which shows no sign of being likely to be assimilated +by anything English." As this book will show, though a hundred and forty +years have nearly passed since the signing of the treaty of Paris, many +of the institutions which the French Canadians inherited from France +have become permanently established in the country, and we see +constantly in the various political systems given to Canada from time to +time--notably in the constitution of the federal union--the impress of +these institutions and the influence of the people of the French +section. Still, while the French Canadians by their adherence to their +language, civil law and religion are decidedly "a distinct and visible +element which is not English"--an element kept apart from the English by +positive legal and constitutional guarantees or barriers of +separation,--we shall see that it is the influence and operation of +English institutions, which have made their province one of the most +contented communities of the world. While their old institutions are +inseparably associated with the social and spiritual conditions of their +daily lives, it is after all their political constitution, which derives +its strength from English, principles, that has made the French +Canadians a free, self-governing people and developed the best elements +of their character to a degree which was never possible under the +depressing and enfeebling conditions of the French régime. + + +SECTION 2.--Discovery and settlement of Canada by France. + +Much learning has been devoted to the elucidation of the Icelandic +Sagas, or vague accounts of voyages which Bjorne Heriulfson and Lief +Ericsson, sons of the first Norse settlers of Greenland, are supposed to +have made at the end of the tenth century, to the eastern parts of what +is now British North America, and, in the opinion of some writers, even +as far as the shores of New England. It is just possible that such +voyages were made, and that Norsemen were the first Europeans who saw +the eastern shores of Canada. It is quite certain, however, that no +permanent settlements were made by the Norsemen in any part of these +countries; and their voyages do not appear to have been known to +Columbus or other maritime adventurers of later times, when the veil of +mystery was at last lifted from the western limits of what was so long +truly described as the "sea of darkness." While the subject is +undoubtedly full of interest, it is at the same time as illusive as the +_fata morgana_, or the lakes and rivers that are created by the mists of +a summer's eve on the great prairies of the Canadian west. + +Five centuries later than the Norse voyagers, there appeared on the +great field of western exploration an Italian sailor, Giovanni Caboto, +through whose agency England took the first step in the direction of +that remarkable maritime enterprise which, in later centuries, was to be +the admiration and envy of all other nations. John Cabot was a Genoese +by birth and a Venetian citizen by adoption, who came during the last +decade of the fifteenth century, to the historic town of Bristol. +Eventually he obtain from Henry VII letters-patent, granting to himself +and his three sons, Louis, Sebastian, and Sancio, the right, "at their +own cost and charges, to seek out and discover unknown lands," and to +acquire for England the dominion over the countries they might discover. +Early in May, 1497, John Cabot sailed from Bristol in "The Matthew," +manned by English sailors. In all probability he was accompanied by +Sebastian, then about 21 years of age, who, in later times, through the +credulity of his friends and his own garrulity and vanity, took that +place in the estimation of the world which his father now rightly fills. +Some time toward the end of June, they made a land-fall on the +north-eastern coast of North America. The actual site of the land-fall +will always be a matter of controversy unless some document is found +among musty archives of Europe to solve the question to the satisfaction +of the disputants, who wax hot over the claims of a point near Cape +Chidley on the coast of Labrador, of Bonavista, on the east shore of +Newfoundland, of Cape North, or some other point, on the island of Cape +Breton. Another expedition left Bristol in 1498, but while it is now +generally believed that Cabot coasted the shores of North America from +Labrador or Cape Breton as far as Cape Hatteras, we have no details of +this famous voyage, and are even ignorant of the date when the fleet +returned to England. + +The Portuguese, Gaspar and Miguel Cortereal, in the beginning of the +sixteenth century, were lost somewhere on the coast of Labrador or +Newfoundland, but not before they gave to their country a claim to new +lands. The Basques and Bretons, always noted for their love of the sea, +frequented the same prolific waters and some of the latter gave a name +to the picturesque island of Cape Breton. Giovanni da Verrazzano, a +Florentine by birth, who had for years led a roving life on the sea, +sailed in 1524 along the coasts of Nova Scotia and the present United +States and gave a shadowy claim of first discovery of a great region to +France under whose authority he sailed. Ten years later Jacques Cartier +of St. Malo was authorised by Francis I to undertake a voyage to these +new lands, but he did not venture beyond the Gulf of St. Lawrence, +though he took possession of the picturesque Gaspé peninsula in the name +of his royal master. In 1535 he made a second voyage, whose results were +most important for France and the world at large. The great river of +Canada was then discovered by the enterprising Breton, who established a +post for some months at Stadacona, now Quebec, and also visited the +Indian village of Hochelaga on the island of Montreal. Here he gave the +appropriate name of Mount Royal to the beautiful height which dominates +the picturesque country where enterprise has, in the course of +centuries, built a noble city. Hochelaga was probably inhabited by +Indians of the Huron-Iroquois family, who appear, from the best evidence +before us, to have been dwelling at that time on the banks of the St. +Lawrence, whilst the Algonquins, who took their place in later times, +were living to the north of the river. + +The name of Canada--obviously the Huron-Iroquois word for Kannata, a +town--began to take a place on the maps soon after Cartier's voyages. It +appears from his _Bref Récit_ to have been applied at the time of his +visit, to a kingdom, or district, extending from Ile-aux-Coudres, which +he named on account of its hazel-nuts, on the lower St. Lawrence, to the +Kingdom of Ochelay, west of Stadacona; east of Canada was Saguenay, and +west of Ochelay was Hochelaga, to which the other communities were +tributary. After a winter of much misery Cartier left Stadacona in the +spring of 1536, and sailed into the Atlantic by the passage between Cape +Breton and Newfoundland, now appropriately called Cabot's Straits on +modern maps. He gave to France a positive claim to a great region, whose +illimitable wealth and possibilities were never fully appreciated by the +king and the people of France even in the later times of her dominion. +Francis, in 1540, gave a commission to Jean François de la Roque, Sieur +de Roberval, to act as his viceroy and lieutenant-general in the +country discovered by Cartier, who was elevated to the position of +captain general and master pilot of the new expedition. As the Viceroy +was unable to complete his arrangements by 1541, Cartier was obliged to +sail in advance, and again passed a winter on the St. Lawrence, not at +Stadacona but at Cap Rouge, a few miles to the west, where he built a +post which he named Charlesbourg-Royal. He appears to have returned to +France some time during the summer of 1542, while Roberval was on his +way to the St. Lawrence. Roberval found his way without his master pilot +to Charlesbourg-Royal, which he renamed France-Roy, and where he erected +buildings of a very substantial character in the hope of establishing a +permanent settlement. His selection of colonists--chiefly taken from +jails and purlieus of towns--was most unhappy, and after a bitter +experience he returned to France, probably in the autumn of 1543, and +disappeared from Canadian history. + +From the date of Cartier's last voyage until the beginning of the +seventeenth century, a period of nearly sixty years, nothing was done to +settle the lands of the new continent. Fishermen alone continued to +frequent the great gulf, which was called for years the "Square gulf" or +"Golfo quadrado," or "Quarré," on some European maps, until it assumed, +by the end of the sixteenth century, the name it now bears. The name +Saint-Laurens was first given by Cartier to the harbour known as +Sainte-Geneviève (or sometimes Pillage Bay), on the northern shore of +Canada, and gradually extended to the gulf and river. The name of +Labrador, which was soon established on all maps, had its origin in the +fact that Gaspar Cortereal brought back with him a number of natives who +were considered to be "admirably calculated for labour." + +In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the English began to take a prominent +part in that maritime enterprise which was to lead to such remarkable +results in the course of three centuries. The names of the ambitious +navigators, Frobisher and Davis, are connected with those arctic waters +where so much money, energy, and heroism have been expended down to the +present time. Under the influence of the great Ralegh, whose fertile +imagination was conceiving plans of colonization in America, Sir +Humphrey Gilbert, his brother-in-law, took possession of Newfoundland on +a hill overlooking the harbour of St. John's. English enterprise, +however, did not extend for many years to any other part of North +Eastern America than Newfoundland, which is styled Baccalaos on the +Hakluyt map of 1597, though the present name appeared from a very early +date in English statutes and records. The island, however, for a century +and longer, was practically little more than "a great ship moored near +the banks during the fishing season, for the convenience of English +fishermen," while English colonizing enterprise found a deeper interest +in Virginia with its more favourable climate and southern products. It +was England's great rival, France, that was the pioneer at the beginning +of the seventeenth century in the work of exploring, and settling the +countries now comprised within the Dominion of Canada. + +France first attempted to settle the indefinite region, long known as +_La Cadie_ or _Acadie_[1]. The Sieur de Monts, Samuel Champlain, and the +Baron de Poutrincourt were the pioneers in the exploration of this +country. Their first post was erected on Dochet Island, within the mouth +of the St. Croix River, the present boundary between the state of Maine +and the province of New Brunswick; but this spot was very soon found +unsuitable, and the hopes of the pioneers were immediately turned +towards the beautiful basin, which was first named Port Royal by +Champlain. The Baron de Poutrincourt obtained a grant of land around +this basin, and determined to make his home in so beautiful a spot. De +Monts, whose charter was revoked in 1607, gave up the project of +colonizing Acadia, whose history from that time is associated for years +with the misfortunes of the Biencourts, the family name of Baron de +Poutrincourt; but the hopes of this adventurous nobleman were never +realized. In 1613 an English expedition from Virginia, under the command +of Captain Argall, destroyed the struggling settlement at Fort Royal, +and also prevented the establishment of a Jesuit mission on the island +of Monts-Déserts, which owes its name to Champlain. Acadia had +henceforth a checquered history, chiefly noted for feuds between rival +French leaders and for the efforts of the people of New England to +obtain possession of Acadia. Port Royal was captured in 1710 by General +Nicholson, at the head of an expedition composed of an English fleet and +the militia of New England. Then it received the name of Annapolis Royal +in honour of Queen Anne, and was formally ceded with all of Acadia +"according to its ancient limits" to England by the treaty of Utrecht. + +[1: This name is now generally admitted to belong to the language of the +Micmac Indians of the Atlantic provinces. It means a place, or locality, +and is always associated with another word descriptive of some special +natural production; for instance, Shubenacadie, or Segubunakade, is the +place where the ground-nut, or Indian potato, grows. We find the first +official mention of the word in the commission given by Henry IV of +France to the Sieur de Monts in 1604.] + +It was not in Acadia, but in the valley of the St. Lawrence, that France +made her great effort to establish her dominion in North America. Samuel +Champlain, the most famous man in the history of French Canada, laid the +foundation of the present city of Quebec in the month of June, 1608, or +three years after the removal of the little Acadian colony from St. +Croix Island to the basin of the Annapolis. The name Quebec is now +generally admitted to be an adaptation of an Indian word, meaning a +contraction of the river or strait, a distinguishing feature of the St. +Lawrence at this important point. The first buildings were constructed +by Champlain on a relatively level piece of ground, now occupied by a +market-house and close to a famous old church erected in the days of +Frontenac, in commemoration of the victorious repulse of the New England +expedition led by Phipps. For twenty-seven years Champlain struggled +against constantly accumulating difficulties to establish a colony on +the St. Lawrence. He won the confidence of the Algonquin and Huron tubes +of Canada, who then lived on the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers, and in +the vicinity of Georgian Bay. Recognizing the necessity of an alliance +with the Canadian Indians, who controlled all the principal avenues to +the great fur-bearing regions, he led two expeditions, composed of +Frenchmen, Hurons, and Algonquins, against the Iroquois or Confederacy +of the Five Nations[2]--the Mohawks, the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, +and Senecas--who inhabited the fertile country stretching from the +Genesee to the Hudson River in the present state of New York. Champlain +consequently excited against his own people the inveterate hostility of +the bravest, cruellest and ablest Indians with whom Europeans have ever +come in contact in America. Champlain probably had no other alternative +open to him than to become the active ally of the Canadian Indians, on +whose goodwill and friendship he was forced to rely; but it is also +quite probable that he altogether underrated the ability and bravery of +the Iroquois who, in later years, so often threatened the security of +Canada, and more than once brought the infant colony to the very verge +of ruin. + +[2: In 1715 the confederacy was joined by the Tuscaroras, a southern +branch of the same family, and was then called more properly the Six +Nations.] + +It was during Champlain's administration of affairs that the Company of +the Hundred Associates was formed under the auspices of Cardinal +Richelieu, with the express object of colonizing Canada and developing +the fur-trade and other commercial enterprises on as large a scale as +possible. The Company had ill-fortune from the outset. The first +expedition it sent to the St. Lawrence was captured by a fleet commanded +by David Kirk, a gentleman of Derbyshire, who in the following year also +took Quebec, and carried Champlain and his followers to England. The +English were already attempting settlements on the shores of +Massachusetts Bay; and the poet and courtier, Sir William Alexander, +afterwards known as the Earl of Stirling, obtained from the King of +England all French Acadia, which he named Nova Scotia and offered to +settlers in baronial giants. A Scotch colony was actually established +for a short time at Port Royal under the auspices of Alexander, but in +1632, by the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, both Acadia and Canada were +restored to France. Champlain returned to Quebec, but the Company of the +Hundred Associates had been severely crippled by the ill-luck which +attended its first venture, and was able to do very little for the +struggling colony during the three remaining years of Champlain's life. + +The Recollets or Franciscans, who had first come to the country in 1615, +now disappeared, and the Jesuits assumed full control in the wide field +of effort that Canada offered to the missionary. The Jesuits had, in +fact, made their appearance in Canada as early as 1625, or fourteen +years after two priests of their order, Ennemond Massé and Pierre Biard, +had gone to Acadia to labour among the Micmacs or Souriquois. During the +greater part of the seventeenth century, intrepid Jesuit priests are +associated with some of the most heroic incidents of Canadian history. + +When Champlain died, on Christmas-day, 1635, the French population of +Canada did not exceed 150 souls, all dependent on the fur-trade. Canada +so far showed none of the elements of prosperity; it was not a colony +of settlers but of fur-traders. Still Champlain, by his indomitable +will, gave to France a footing in America which she was to retain for a +century and a quarter after his death. His courage amid the difficulties +that surrounded him, his fidelity to his church and country, his ability +to understand the Indian character, his pure unselfishness, are among +the remarkable qualities of a man who stands foremost among the pioneers +of European civilization in America. + +From the day of Champlain's death until the arrival of the Marquis de +Tracy, in 1665, Canada was often in a most dangerous and pitiable +position. That period of thirty years was, however, also distinguished +by the foundation of those great religious communities which have always +exercised such an important influence upon the conditions of life +throughout French Canada. In 1652 Montreal was founded under the name of +Ville-Marie by Paul Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, and a number of +other religious enthusiasts. In 1659, the Abbé de Montigny, better known +to Canadians as Monseigneur de Laval, the first Roman Catholic bishop, +arrived in the colony and assumed charge of ecclesiastical affairs under +the titular name of Bishop of Petraea. Probably no single man has ever +exercised such powerful and lasting influence on Canadian institutions +as that famous divine. Possessed of great tenacity of purpose, most +ascetic in his habits, regardless of all worldly considerations, always +working for the welfare and extension of his church, Bishop Laval was +eminently fitted to give it that predominance in civil as well as +religious affairs which it so long possessed in Canada. + +While the Church of Rome was perfecting its organization throughout +Canada, the Iroquois were constantly making raids upon the unprotected +settlements, especially in the vicinity of Montreal. The Hurons in the +Georgian Bay district were eventually driven from their comfortable +villages, and now the only remnants of a powerful nation are to be found +in the community of mixed blood at Lorette, near Quebec, or on the +banks of the Detroit River, where they are known as Wyandots. The Jesuit +mission of Sainte-Marie in their country was broken up, and Jean de +Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant suffered torture and death. + +Such was the pitiable condition of things in 1663, when Louis XIV made +of Canada a royal government. At this time the total population of the +province did not exceed 2500 souls, grouped chiefly in and around +Quebec, Three Rivers and Montreal. In 1665 the Marquis de Tracy and +Governor de Courcelles, with a brilliant retinue of officers and a +regiment of soldiers, arrived in the colony, and brought with them +conditions of peace and prosperity. A small stream of immigration flowed +steadily into the country for some years, as a result of the new policy +adopted by the French government. The Mohawks, the most daring and +dangerous nation of the Iroquois confederacy, were humbled by Tracy in +1667, and forced to sue for peace. Under the influence of Talon, the +ablest intendant who ever administered Canadian affairs, the country +enjoyed a moderate degree of prosperity, although trade continued +entirely dependent on the orders and regulations of the King and his +officials. + +Among the ablest governors of Canada was undoubtedly Louis de la Buade, +Count de Frontenac, who administered public affairs from 1672-1687 and +from 1689-1698. He was certainly impatient, choleric and selfish +whenever his pecuniary interests were concerned; but, despite his faults +of character, he was a brave soldier, dignified and courteous on +important occasions, a close student of the character of the Indians, +always ready when the necessity arose to adapt himself to their foibles +and at the same time able to win their confidence. He found Canada weak, +and left it a power in the affairs of America. He infused his own +never-failing confidence into the hearts of the struggling colonists on +the St. Lawrence, repulsed Sir William Phipps and his New England +expedition when they attacked Quebec in 1690, wisely erected a fort on +Lake Ontario as a fur-trading post and a bulwark against the Iroquois, +encouraged the fur-trade, and stimulated exploration in the west and in +the valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi. The settlements of New +England trembled at his name, and its annals contain many a painful +story of the misery inflicted by his cruel bands of Frenchmen and +Indians. + +Despite all the efforts of the French government for some years, the +total immigration from 1663 until 1713, when the great war between +France and the Grand Alliance came to an end by the treaty of Utrecht, +did not exceed 6000 souls, and the whole population of the province in +that year was only 20,000, a small number for a century of colonization. +For some years after the formation of the royal government, a large +number of marriageable women were brought to the country under the +auspices of the religious communities, and marriages and births were +encouraged by exhortations and bounties. A considerable number of the +officers and soldiers of the Carignan-Salières regiment, who followed +the Marquis de Tracy into Canada, were induced to remain and settle new +seigniories, chiefly in palisaded villages in the Richelieu district for +purposes of defence against Iroquois expeditions. Despite all the +paternal efforts of the government to stimulate the growth of a large +population, the natural increase was small during the seventeenth +century. The disturbing influence, no doubt, was the fur-trade, which +allured so many young men into the wilderness, made them unfit for a +steady life, and destroyed their domestic habits. The emigrants from +France came chiefly from Anjou, Saintonge, Paris and its suburbs, +Normandy, Poitou, Beauce, Perche, and Picardy. The Carignan-Salières +regiment brought men from all parts of the parent state. It does not +appear that any number of persons ever came from Brittany. The larger +proportion of the settlers were natives of the north-western provinces +of France, especially from Perche and Normandy, and formed an excellent +stock on which to build up a thrifty, moral people. The seigniorial +tenure of French Canada was an adaptation of the feudal system of France +to the conditions of a new country, and was calculated in some respects +to stimulate settlement. Ambitious persons of limited means were able to +form a class of colonial _noblesse_. But unless the seignior cleared a +certain portion of his grant within a limited time, he would forfeit it +all. The conditions by which the _censitaires_ or tenants of the +seigniorial domain held their grants of land were by no means +burdensome, but they signified a dependency of tenure inconsistent with +the free nature of American life. A large portion of the best lands of +French Canada were granted under this seigniorial system to men whose +names frequently occur in the records of the colony down to the present +day: Rimouski, Bic and Métis, Kamouraska, Nicolet, Verchères, +Lotbinière, Berthier, Beloeil, Rouville, Juliette, Terrebonne, +Champlain, Sillery, Beaupré, Bellechasse, Portneuf, Chambly, Sorel, +Longueuil, Boucherville, Chateauguay, Lachine, are memorials of the +seigniorial grants of the seventeenth century. + +The whole population of the Acadian Peninsula in 1710-13, was not more +than 1500 souls, nearly all descendants of the people brought to the +country by Poutrincourt and his successors Razilly and Charnisay. At no +time did the French government interest itself in immigration to +neglected Acadia. Of the total population, nearly 1000 persons were +settled in the beautiful country which the industry and ingenuity of the +Acadian peasants, in the course of many years, reclaimed from the +restless tides of the Bay of Fundy at Grand Pré and Minas. The remaining +settlements were at Beau Bassin, Annapolis, Piziquit (now Windsor), +Cobequit (now Truro), and Cape Sable. Some small settlements were also +founded on the banks of the St. John River and on the eastern bays of +the present province of New Brunswick. + + +SECTION 3.--French exploration in the great valleys of North America. + +The hope of finding a short route to the rich lands of Asia by the St. +Lawrence River and its tributary lakes and streams, influenced French +voyagers and explorers well into the middle of the eighteenth century. +When Cartier stood on Mount Royal and saw the waters of the Ottawa there +must have flashed across his mind the thought that perhaps by this river +would be found that passage to the western sea of which he and other +sailors often dreamed both in earlier and later times. L'Escarbot tells +us that Champlain in his western explorations always hoped to reach Asia +by a Canadian route. He was able, however, long before his death to +make valuable contributions to the geography of Canada. He was the first +Frenchman to ascend the River of the Iroquois, now the Richelieu, and to +see the beautiful lake which still bears his name. In 1615 he found his +way to Georgian Bay by the route of the Ottawa and Mattawa Rivers, Lake +Nipissing and French River. Here he visited the Huron villages which +were situated in the district now known as Simcoe county in the province +of Ontario. Father le Caron, a Recollet, had preceded the French +explorer, and was performing missionary duties among the Indians, who +probably numbered 20,000 in all. This brave priest was the pioneer of an +army of faithful missionaries--mostly of a different order--who lived +for years among the Indians, suffered torture and death, and connected +their names not only with the martyrs of their faith but also with the +explorers of this continent. From this time forward we find the trader +and the priest advancing in the wilderness; sometimes one is first, +sometimes the other. + +Champlain accompanied his Indian allies on an expedition against the +Onondagas, one of the five nations who occupied the country immediately +to the south of the upper St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario. The party +reached Lake Ontario by the system of inland navigation which stretches +from Lake Simcoe to the Bay of Quinté. The Onondagas repulsed the +Canadian allies who returned to their settlements, where Champlain +remained during the winter of 1616. It was during this expedition, which +did much to weaken Champlain's prestige among the Indians, that Étienne +Brulé an interpreter, was sent to the Andastes, who were then living +about the headwaters of the Susquehanna, with the hope of bringing them +to the support of the Canadian savages. He was not seen again until +1618, when he returned to Canada with a story, doubtless correct, of +having found himself on the shores of a great lake where there were +mines of copper, probably Lake Superior. + +With the new era of peace that followed the coming of the Viceroy Tracy +in 1665, and the establishment of a royal government, a fresh impulse +was given to exploration and mission work in the west. Priests, +fur-traders, gentlemen-adventurers, _coureurs de bois_, now appeared +frequently on the lakes and rivers of the west, and gave in the course +of years a vast region to the dominion of France. As early as 1665 +Father Allouez established a mission at La Pointe, the modern Ashland, +on the shores of Lake Superior. In 1668 one of the most interesting +persons who ever appeared in early Canada, the missionary and explorer, +Father Marquette, founded the mission of Sainte-Marie on the southern +side of the Sault, which may be considered the oldest settlement of the +north-west, as it alone has a continuous history to the present time. + +In the record of those times we see strikingly displayed certain +propensities of the Canadian people which seriously interfered with the +settlement and industry of the country. The fur-trade had far more +attractions for the young and adventurous than the regular and active +life of farming on the seigniories. The French immigrant as well as the +native Canadian adapted himself to the conditions of Indian life. +Wherever the Indian tribes were camped in the forest or by the river, +and the fur-trade could be prosecuted to the best advantage, we see the +_coureurs de bois_, not the least picturesque figures of these grand +woods, then in the primeval sublimity of their solitude and vastness. +Despite the vices and weaknesses of a large proportion of this class, +not a few were most useful in the work of exploration and exercised a +great influence among the Indians of the West. But for these +forest-rangers the Michigan region would have fallen into the possession +of the English who were always intriguing with the Iroquois and +endeavouring to obtain a share of the fur-trade of the west. Joliet, the +companion of Marquette, in his ever-memorable voyage to the Mississippi, +was a type of the best class of the Canadian fur-trader. + +In 1671 Sieur St. Lusson took formal possession of the Sault and the +adjacent country in the name of Louis XIV. In 1673 Fort Frontenac was +built at Cataraqui, now Kingston, as a barrier to the aggressive +movements of the Iroquois and an _entrepôt_ for the fur-trade on Lake +Ontario. In the same year Joliet and Marquette solved a part of the +problem which had so long perplexed the explorers of the West. The +trader and priest reached the Mississippi by the way of Green Bay, the +Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. They went down the Mississippi as far as the +Arkansas. Though they were still many hundreds of miles from the mouth +of the river, they grasped the fact that it must reach, not the western +ocean, but the southern gulf first discovered by the Spaniards. +Marquette died not long afterwards, worn out by his labours in the +wilderness, and was buried beneath the little chapel at St. Ignace. +Joliet's name henceforth disappears from the annals of the West. + +Réné Robert Cavelier, better known as the Sieur de la Salle, completed +the work commenced by the trader and missionary. In 1666 he obtained a +grant of land at the head of the rapids above Montreal by the side of +that beautiful expanse of the St. Lawrence, still called Lachine, a name +first given in derisive allusion to his hope of finding a short route to +China. In 1679 he saw the Niagara Falls for the first time, and the +earliest sketch is to be found in _La Nouvelle Découverte_ written or +compiled by that garrulous, vain, and often mendacious Recollet Friar, +Louis Hennepin, who accompanied La Salle on this expedition. In the +winter of 1681-82 this famous explorer reached the Mississippi, and for +weeks followed its course through the novel and wondrous scenery of a +southern land. On the 9th of April, 1682, at a point just above the +mouth of the great river, La Salle took formal possession of the +Mississippi valley in the name of Louis XIV, with the same imposing +ceremonies that distinguished the claim asserted by St. Lusson at the +Sault in the lake region. By the irony of fate, La Salle failed to +discover the mouth of the river when he came direct from France to the +Gulf of Mexico in 1685, but landed somewhere on Matagorda Bay on the +Texan coast, where he built a fort for temporary protection. Finding his +position untenable, he decided in 1687 to make an effort to reach the +Illinois country, but when he had been a few days on this perilous +journey he was treacherously murdered by some of his companions near the +southern branch of Trinity River. His body was left to the beasts and +birds of prey. Two of the murderers were themselves killed by their +accomplices, none of whom appear ever to have been brought to justice +for their participation in a crime by which France lost one of the +bravest and ablest men who ever struggled for her dominion in North +America. + +Some years later the famous Canadians, Iberville and Bienville, founded +a colony in the great valley, known by the name of Louisiana, which was +first given to it by La Salle himself. By the possession of the Sault, +Mackinac, and Detroit, the French were for many years supreme on the +lakes, and had full control of Indian trade. The Iroquois and their +English friends were effectively shut out of the west by the French +posts and settlements which followed the explorations of Joliet, La +Salle, Du Luth, and other adventurers. Plans continued to be formed for +reaching the Western or Pacific ocean even in the middle of the +eighteenth century. The Jesuit Charlevoix, the historian of New France, +was sent out to Canada by the French government to enquire into the +feasibility of a route which Frenchmen always hoped for. Nothing +definite came out of this mission, but the Jesuit was soon followed by +an enterprising native of Three Rivers, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, +generally called the Sieur de la Verendrye, who with his sons ventured +into the region now known as the province of Manitoba and the north-west +territory of Canada. He built several forts, including one on the site +of the city of Winnipeg. Two of his sons are believed to have reached +the Big Horn Range, an "outlying buttress" of the Rocky Mountains, in +1743, and to have taken possession of what is now territory of the +United States. The youngest son, Chevalier de la Verendrye, who was the +first to see the Rocky Mountains, subsequently discovered the +Saskatchewan (Poskoiac) and even ascended it as far as the forks--the +furthest western limits so far touched by a white man in America. A few +years later, in 1751, M. de Niverville, under the orders of M. de St. +Pierre, then acting in the interest of the infamous Intendant Bigot, who +coveted the western fur-trade, reached the foot-hills of the Rocky +Mountains and built a fort on the Saskatchewan not far from the present +town of Calgary. + +We have now followed the paths of French adventurers for nearly a +century and a half, from the day Champlain landed on the rocks of Quebec +until the Verendryes traversed the prairies and plains of the +North-west. French explorers had discovered the three great waterways of +this continent--the Mississippi, which pours its enormous volume of +water, drawn from hundreds of tributaries, into a southern gulf; the St. +Lawrence, which bears the tribute of the great lakes to the Atlantic +Ocean; the Winnipeg, with its connecting rivers and lakes which stretch +from the Rocky Mountains to the dreary Arctic sea. La Verendrye was the +first Frenchman who stood on the height of land or elevated plateau of +the continent, almost within sight of the sources of those great rivers +which flow, after devious courses, north, south and east. It has been +well said that if three men should ascend these three waterways to their +farthest sources, they would find themselves in the heart of North +America; and, so to speak, within a stone's throw of one another. Nearly +all the vast territory, through which these great waterways flow, then +belonged to France, so far as exploration, discovery and partial +occupation gave her a right to exercise dominion. Only in the great +North, where summer is a season of a very few weeks, where icebergs bar +the way for many months, where the fur-trade and the whale-fishery alone +offered an incentive to capital and enterprise, had England a right to +an indefinite dominion. Here a "Company of Gentlemen-Adventurers +trading into Hudson's Bay" occupied some fortified stations which, +during the seventeenth century, had been seized by the daring +French-Canadian corsair, Iberville, who ranks with the famous +Englishman, Drake. On the Atlantic coast the prosperous English colonies +occupied a narrow range of country bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the +Alleghanies. It was only in the middle of the eighteenth century--nearly +three-quarters of a century after Joliet's and La Salle's explorations, +and even later than the date at which Frenchmen had followed the +Saskatchewan to the Rocky Mountains--that some enterprising Virginians +and Pennsylvanians worked their way into the beautiful country watered +by the affluents of the Ohio. New France may be said to have extended at +that time from Cape Breton or Isle Royale west to the Rocky Mountains, +and from the basin of the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. + + +SECTION 4.--End of French dominion in the valley of the St. Lawrence. + +After the treaty of Utrecht, France recognized the mistake she had made +in giving up Acadia, and devoted her attention to the island of Cape +Breton, or Isle Royale, on whose southeastern coast soon rose the +fortifications of Louisbourg. In the course of years this fortress +became a menace to English interests in Acadia and New England. In 1745 +the town was taken by a force of New England volunteers, led by General +Pepperrell, a discreet and able colonist, and a small English squadron +under the command of Commodore, afterwards Admiral, Warren, both of whom +were rewarded by the British government for their distinguished services +on this memorable occasion. France, however, appreciated the importance +of Isle Royale, and obtained its restoration in exchange for Madras +which at that time was the most important British settlement in the East +Indies. England then decided to strengthen herself in Acadia, where +France retained her hold of the French Acadian population through the +secret influence of her emissaries, chiefly missionaries, and +accordingly established a town on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, +ever since known as Halifax, in honour of a prominent statesman of those +times. The French settlers, who by the middle of the eighteenth century +numbered 12,000, a thrifty, industrious and simple-minded people, easily +influenced by French agents, called themselves "Neutrals," and could not +be forced to take the unqualified oath of allegiance which was demanded +of them by the authorities of Halifax. The English Government was now +determined to act with firmness in a province where British interests +had been so long neglected, and where the French inhabitants had in the +course of forty years shown no disposition to consider themselves +British subjects and discharge their obligations to the British Crown. +France had raised the contention that the Acadia ceded to England by the +treaty of Utrecht comprised only the present province of Nova Scotia, +and indeed only a portion of that peninsula according to some French +authorities. Commissioners were appointed by the two Powers to settle +the question of boundaries--of the meaning of "Acadie, with its ancient +boundaries"--but their negotiations came to naught and the issue was +only settled by the arbitrament of war. The French built the forts of +Beauséjour and Gaspereau--the latter a mere palisade--on the Isthmus of +Chignecto, which became the rendezvous of the French Acadians, whom the +former persuaded by promises or threats to join their fortunes. In 1755 +a force of English and Colonial troops, under the command of Colonels +Moncton, Winslow and Scott, captured these forts, and this success was +followed by the banishment of the Acadian French. This cruel act of +Governor Lawrence and the English authorities at Halifax was no doubt +largely influenced by the sentiment of leading men in New England, who +were apprehensive of the neighbourhood of so large a number of an alien +people, who could not be induced to prove their loyalty to Great +Britain, and might, in case of continued French successes in America, +become open and dangerous foes. But while there are writers who defend +this sad incident of American history on the ground of stern national +necessity at a critical period in the affairs of the continent, all +humanity that listens to the dictates of the heart and tender feeling +will ever deplore the exile of those hapless people. + +Previous to the expulsion of the Acadians from their pleasant homes on +the meadows of Grand Pré and Minas, England sustained a severe defeat in +the valley of the Ohio, which created much alarm throughout the English +colonies, and probably had some influence on the fortunes of those +people. France had formally taken possession of the Ohio country and +established forts in 1753 on French Creek, at its junction with the +Alleghany, and also at the forks of the Ohio. Adventurous British +pioneers were at last commencing to cross the Alleghanies, and a company +had been formed with the express intention of stimulating settlement in +the valley. George Washington, at the head of a small Colonial force, +was defeated in his attempt to drive the French from the Ohio; and the +English Government was compelled to send out a large body of regular +troops under the command of General Braddock, who met defeat and death +on the banks of the Monongahela, General Johnson, on the other hand, +defeated a force of French regulars, Canadian Militia and Indians, under +General Dieskau, at the southern end of Lake George. + +In 1756 war was publicly proclaimed between France and England, +although, as we have just seen, it had already broken out many months +previously in the forests of America. During the first two years of the +war the English forces sustained several disasters through the +incompetency of the English commanders on land and sea. The French in +Canada were now led by the Marquis de Montcalm, distinguished both as a +soldier of great ability and as a man of varied intellectual +accomplishments. In the early part of the Canadian campaign he was most +fortunate. Fort William Henry, at the foot of Lake George, and Fort +Oswego, on the south side of Lake Ontario, were captured, but his signal +victory at the former place was sullied by the massacre of defenceless +men, women and children by his Indian allies, although it is now +admitted by all impartial writers that he did his utmost to prevent so +sad a sequel to his triumph. The English Commander-in-Chief, Lord +Loudoun, assembled a large military force at Halifax in 1757 for the +purpose of making a descent on Louisbourg; but he returned to New York +without accomplishing anything, when he heard of the disastrous affair +of William Henry, for which he was largely responsible on account of +having failed to give sufficient support to the defenders of the fort. +Admiral Holbourne sailed to Louisbourg, but he did not succeed in coming +to an engagement with the French fleet then anchored in the harbour, and +the only result of his expedition was the loss of several of his ships +on the reefs of that foggy, rocky coast. + +In 1758 Pitt determined to enter on a vigorous campaign against France +in Europe and America. For America he chose Amherst, Boscawen, Howe, +Forbes, Wolfe, Lawrence and Whitman. Abercromby was unfortunately +allowed to remain in place of Loudoun, but it was expected by Pitt and +others that Lord Howe, one of the best soldiers in the British army, +would make up for the military weakness of that commander. Louisbourg, +Fort Duquesne, and the forts on Lake George, were the immediate objects +of attack. Abercromby at the head of a large force failed ignominiously +in his assault on Ticonderoga, and Lord Howe was one of the first to +fall in that unhappy and ill-managed battle. Amherst and Boscawen, on +the other hand, took Louisbourg, where Wolfe displayed great energy and +contributed largely to the success of the enterprise. Forbes was able to +occupy the important fort at the forks of the Ohio, now Pittsburg, which +gave to the English control of the beautiful country to the west of the +Alleghanies. Fort Frontenac was taken by Bradstreet, and Prince Edward +Island, then called Isle St. Jean, was occupied by an English force as +the necessary consequence of the fall of the Cape Breton fortress. The +nation felt that its confidence in Pitt was fully justified, and that +the power of France in America was soon to be effectually broken. + +In 1759 and 1760 Pitt's designs were crowned with signal success. Wolfe +proved at Quebec that the statesman had not overestimated his value as a +soldier and leader. Wolfe was supported by Brigadiers Moncton, +Townshend, Murray, and Guy Carleton--the latter a distinguished figure +in the later annals of Canada. The fleet was commanded by Admirals +Saunders, Durell and Holmes, all of whom rendered most effective +service. The English occupied the Island of Orleans and the heights of +Lévis, from which they were able to keep up a most destructive fire on +the capital. The whole effective force under Wolfe did not reach 9000 +men, or 5000 less than the regular and Colonial army under Montcalm, +whose lines extended behind batteries and earthworks from the St. +Charles River, which washes the base of the rocky heights of the town, +as far as the falls of Montmorency. The French held an impregnable +position which their general decided to maintain at all hazards, despite +the constant efforts of Wolfe for weeks to force him to the issue of +battle. Above the city for many miles there were steep heights, believed +to be unapproachable, and guarded at all important points by detachments +of soldiery. Wolfe failed in an attempt which he made at Beauport to +force Montcalm from his defences, and suffered a considerable loss +through the rashness of his grenadiers. He then resolved on a bold +stroke which succeeded by its very audacity in deceiving his opponent, +and giving the victory to the English. A rugged and dangerous path was +used at night up those very heights which, Montcalm confidently +believed, "a hundred men could easily defend against the whole British +army." On the morning of the 13th September, 1759, Wolfe marshalled an +army of four thousand five hundred men on the Plains of Abraham where he +was soon face to face with the French army. Montcalm had lost no time in +accepting the challenge of the English, in the hope that his superior +numbers would make up for their inferiority in discipline and equipment +compared with the smaller English force. His expectations were never +realized. In a few minutes the French fell in hundreds before the steady +deadly fire of the English lines, and Montcalm was forced to retreat +precipitately with the beaten remnant of his army. Wolfe received +several wounds, and died on the battlefield, but not before he was +conscious of his victory. "God be praised," were his dying words, "I now +die in peace." His brave adversary was mortally wounded while seeking +the protection of Quebec, and was buried in a cavity which a shell had +made in the floor of the chapel of the Ursuline Convent. A few days +later Quebec capitulated. Wolfe's body was taken to England, where it +was received with all the honours due to his great achievement. General +Murray was left in command at Quebec, and was defeated in the following +spring by Lévis in the battle of St. Foye, which raised the hopes of the +French until the appearance of English ships in the river relieved the +beleaguered garrison and decided for ever the fate of Quebec. A few +weeks later Montreal capitulated to Amherst, whose extreme caution +throughout the campaign was in remarkable contrast with the dash and +energy of the hero of Quebec. The war in Canada was now at an end, and +in 1763 the treaty of Paris closed the interesting chapter of French +dominion on the banks of the St. Lawrence and in the valleys of the Ohio +and the Mississippi. + + +SECTION 5.--Political, economic and social conditions of Canada during +French ride. + +France and England entered on the struggle for dominion in America about +the same time, but long before the conquest of Canada the communities +founded by the latter had exhibited a vigour and vitality which were +never shown in the development of the relatively poor and struggling +colonies of Canada and Louisiana. The total population of New France in +1759--that is, of all the French possessions in North America--did not +exceed 70,000 souls, of whom 60,000 were inhabitants of the country of +the St. Lawrence, chiefly of the Montreal and Quebec districts. France +had a few struggling villages and posts in the very "garden of the +North-west," as the Illinois country has been aptly called; but the +total population of New France from the great lakes to the Gulf of +Mexico did not exceed 10,000 souls, the greater number of whom dwelt on +the lower banks of the Mississippi. At this time the British colonies in +America, pent up between the Atlantic Ocean and the Appalachian +mountains, had a population twenty times larger than that of Canada and +Louisiana combined, and there was not any comparison whatever between +these French and British colonies with respect to trade, wealth or any +of the essentials of prosperity. + +Under the system of government established by Louis XIV, under the +advice of Colbert, the governor and intendant of Canada were, to all +intents and purposes in point of authority, the same officials who +presided over the affairs of a province of France. In Canada, as in +France, governors-general had only such powers as were expressly given +them by the king, who, jealous of all authority in others, kept them +rigidly in check. In those days the king was supreme; "I am the state," +said Louis Quatorze in the arrogance of his power; and it is thus easy +to understand that there could be no such free government or +representative institutions in Canada as were enjoyed from the very +commencement of their history by the old English colonies. + +The governor had command of the militia and troops, and was nominally +superior in authority to the intendant, but in the course of time the +latter became virtually the most influential officer in the colony and +even presided at the council-board. This official, who had the right to +report directly to the king on colonial affairs, had large civil, +commercial and maritime jurisdiction, and could issue ordinances which +had full legal effect in the country. Associated with the governor and +intendant was a council comprising in the first instance five, and +eventually twelve, persons, chosen from the leading people of the +colony. The change of name, from the "Supreme Council" to the "Superior +Council," is of itself some evidence of the determination of the king to +restrain the pretensions of all official bodies throughout the kingdom +and its dependencies. This body exercised legislative and judicial +powers. The bishop was one of its most important members, and the +history of the colony is full of the quarrels that arose between him and +the governor on points of official etiquette or with respect to more +important matters affecting the government of the country. + +Protestantism was unknown in Canada under French rule, and the +enterprise of the Huguenots was consequently lost to a country always +suffering from a want of population. Even the merchants of La Rochelle, +who traded with the country, found themselves invariably subject to +restrictions which placed them at an enormous disadvantage in their +competition with their Roman Catholic rivals. The Roman Catholic Church +was all powerful at the council-board as well as in the parish. In the +past as in the present century, a large Roman Catholic church rose, the +most prominent building in every town and village, illustrating its +dominating influence in the homes of every community of the province. +The parishes were established at an early date for ecclesiastical +purposes, and their extent was defined wherever necessary by the +council at Quebec. They were practically territorial divisions for the +administration of local affairs, and were conterminous, whenever +practicable, with the seigniory. The curé, the seignior, the militia +captain (often identical with the seignior), were the important +functionaries in every parish. Even at the present time, when a +canonical parish has been once formed by the proper ecclesiastical +authority, it may be erected into a municipal or civil division after +certain legal formalities by the government of the province. Tithes were +first imposed by Bishop Laval, who practically established the basis of +ecclesiastical authority in the province. It was only in church matters +that the people had the right to meet and express their opinions, and +even then the intendant alone could give the power of assembling for +such purposes. + +The civil law of French Canada relating to "property," inheritance, +marriage, and the personal or civil rights of the community generally, +had its origin, like all similar systems, in the Roman law, on which +were engrafted, in the course of centuries, those customs and usages +which were adapted to the social conditions of France. The customary law +of Paris became the fundamental law of French Canada, and despite the +changes that it has necessarily undergone in the course of many years, +its principles can still be traced throughout the present system as it +has been modified under the influences of the British regime. The +superior council of Canada gave judgment in civil and criminal cases +according to the _coutume de Paris_, and below it there were inferior +courts for the judicial districts of Quebec, Three Rivers and Montreal. +The bishop had also special jurisdiction over ecclesiastical matters. +The intendant had authority to deal with cases involving royal, or +seigniorial, rights, and to call before him any case whatever for final +review and judgment. In all cases appeals were allowable to the king +himself, but the difficulty of communication with Europe in those days +practically confined such references to a few special causes. The +seigniors had also certain judicial or magisterial powers, but they +never acted except in very trivial cases. Torture was sometimes applied +to condemned felons as in France and other parts of the old world. On +the whole justice appears to have been honestly and fairly administered. + +Parkman, in a terse sentence, sums up the conditions which fettered all +Canadian trade and industry, "A system of authority, monopoly and +exclusion in which the government, and not the individual, acted always +the foremost part." Whether it was a question of ship-building, of a +brewery or a tannery, of iron works or a new fishery, appeals must be +made in the first instance to the king for aid; and the people were +never taught to depend exclusively on their individual or associated +enterprise. At the time of the conquest, and in fact for many years +previously, the principal products of the country were beaver skins, +timber, agricultural products, fish, fish oil, ginseng (for some years +only), beer, cider, rug carpets, homespun cloths--made chiefly by the +inmates of the religious houses--soap, potash, leather, stoves, tools +and other iron manufactures--made in the St. Maurice forges--never a +profitable industry, whether carried on by companies or the government +itself. All these industries were fostered by the state, but, despite +all the encouragement they received, the total value of the exports, +principally furs, seal and other oils, lumber, peas, grain and ginseng +never exceeded 3,500,000 francs, or about one-tenth of the export trade +of the English colonies to Great Britain. Two-thirds of this amount +represented beaver skins, the profits on which were very fluctuating, on +account of the unwise regulations by which, the trade was constantly +crippled. This business was heavily taxed to meet the necessities of +colonial government, which were always heavy, and could never have been +met had it not been for the liberality of the king. In the year 1755 the +amount of all exports did not reach 2,500,000 francs, while the imports +were valued at 8,000,000 francs. These imports represented wines, +brandies, hardware and various luxuries, but the bulk was made up of the +supplies required for the use of the military and civil authorities. +The whole trade of the country was carried in about thirty sea-going +vessels, none of them of heavy tonnage. The royal government attempted +to stimulate ship-building in the country, and a few war vessels were +actually built in the course of many years, though it does not appear +that this industry was ever conducted with energy or enterprise. During +the last fifty years of French rule, in all probability, not a hundred +sea-going vessels were launched in the valley of the St. Lawrence. +Duties of import, before 1748, were only imposed on wines, brandies, and +Brazilian tobacco; but after the commencement of the war with England, +the king found it necessary to establish export and import duties: a +special exception was however made in favour of the produce of the farm, +forest and sea, which were allowed to enter or go out free. The whole +amount of duties raised in ordinary years did not reach above 300,000 +francs. + +In the closing years of French dominion the total population of Quebec, +Montreal and Three Rivers, the only towns in the province, did not +exceed 13,000 souls--about the population of Boston. Quebec alone had +8000 inhabitants, Montreal 4000, and Three Rivers 1000. The architecture +of these places was more remarkable for solidity than elegance or +symmetry of proportions. The churches, religious and educational +establishments, official buildings and residences--notably the +intendant's palace at Quebec--were built of stone. The most pretentious +edifice was the château of St. Louis--the residence of the +governor-general--which was rebuilt by Count de Frontenac within the +limits of the fort of St. Louis, first erected by Champlain on the +historic height always associated with his name. The best buildings in +the towns were generally of one story and constructed of stone. In the +rural parishes, the villages, properly speaking, consisted of a church, +presbytery, school, and tradesmen's houses, while the farms of the +_habitants_ stretched on either side. The size and shape of the farms +were governed by the form of the seigniories throughout the province. M. +Bourdon, the first Canadian surveyor-general, originally mapped out the +seigniories in oblong shapes with very narrow frontage along the +river--a frontage of two or three _arpents_ against a depth of from +forty to eighty _arpents_--and the same inconvenient oblong plan was +followed in making sub-grants to the _censitaire_ or _habitant_. The +result was a disfigurement of a large portion of the country, as the +civil law governing the succession of estates gradually cut up all the +seigniories into a number of small farms, each in the form of the +parallelogram originally given to the seigniorial grants. The houses of +the _habitants_, then as now, were generally built of logs or sawn +lumber, all whitewashed, with thatched or wooden roofs projecting over +the front so as to form a sort of porch or verandah. The farm-houses +were generally close together, especially in the best cultivated and +most thickly settled districts between Quebec and Montreal. Travellers, +just before the Seven Years' War, tell us that the farms in that +district appeared to be well cultivated on the whole, and the homes of +the _habitants_ gave evidences of thrift and comfort. Some farmers had +orchards from which cider was made, and patches of the coarse strong +tobacco which they continue to use to this day, and which is now an +important product of their province. Until the war the condition of the +French Canadian _habitant_ was one of rude comfort. He could never +become rich, in a country where there was no enterprise or trade which +encouraged him to strenuous efforts to make and save money. Gold and +silver were to him curiosities, and paper promises to pay, paper or card +money, were widely circulated from early times, and were never for the +most part redeemed, though the British authorities after the peace of +1763 made every possible effort to induce the French government to +discharge its obligations to the French Canadian people. The life of the +_habitants_ in peaceful times was far easier and happier than that of +the peasants of old France. They had few direct taxes to bear, except +the tithes required for the support of the church and such small +contributions as were necessary for local purposes. They were, however, +liable to be called out at any moment for military duties and were +subject to _corvées_ or forced labour for which they were never paid by +the authorities. + +The outbreak of the Seven Years' War was a serious blow to a people who +had at last surmounted the greatest difficulties of pioneer life, and +attained a moderate degree of comfort. The demands upon the people +capable of bearing arms were necessarily fatal to steady farming +occupations; indeed, in the towns of Quebec and Montreal there was more +than once an insufficiency of food for the garrisons, and horse-flesh +had to be served out, to the great disgust of the soldiers who at first +refused to take it. Had it not been for the opportune arrival of a ship +laden with provisions in the spring of 1759, the government would have +been unable to feed the army or the inhabitants of Quebec. The gravity +of the situation was aggravated for years by the jobbery and corruption +of the men who had the fate of the country largely in their hands. A few +French merchants, and monopolists in league with corrupt officials, +controlled the markets and robbed a long-suffering and too patient +people. The names of Bigot, Péan, and other officials of the last years +of French administration, are justly execrated by French Canadians as +robbers of the state and people in the days when the country was on the +verge of war, and Montcalm, a brave, incorruptible man, was fighting +against tremendous odds to save this unfortunate country to which he +gave up his own life in vain. + +So long as France governed Canada, education was entirely in the hands +of the Roman Catholic Church. The Jesuits, Franciscans, and other +religious orders, male and female, at an early date, commenced the +establishment of those colleges and seminaries which have always had so +important a share in the education of Lower Canada. The Jesuits founded +a college at Quebec in 1635, or three years before the establishment of +Harvard, and the Ursulines opened their convent in the same city four +years later. Sister Bourgeoys of Troyes founded at Montreal in 1659 the +Congrégation de Notre-Dame for the education of girls of humble rank; +the commencement of an institution which has now its buildings in many +parts of Canada. In the latter part of the seventeenth century Bishop +Laval carried out a project for providing education for Canadian priests +drawn from the people of the country. Consequently, in addition to the +great seminary at Quebec, there was the lesser seminary where boys were +taught in the hope that they would take orders. In the inception of +education the French endeavoured in more than one of their institutions +to combine industrial pursuits with the ordinary branches of an +elementary education. But all accounts of the days of the French régime +go to show that, despite the zealous efforts of the religious bodies to +improve the education of the colonists, secular instruction was at a +very low ebb and hardly reached the seigniories. One writer tells us +that "even the children of officers and gentlemen scarcely knew how to +read and write; they were ignorant of the first elements of geography +and history." Still, dull and devoid of intellectual life as was the +life of the Canadian, he had his place of worship where he received a +moral training which elevated him immeasurably above the peasantry of +England as well as of his old home. The clergy of Lower Canada +confessedly did their best to relieve the ignorance of the people, but +they were naturally unable to accomplish, by themselves, a task which +properly devolved on the governing class. Under the French régime in +Canada the civil authorities were as little anxious to enlighten the +people by the establishment of public or common schools as they were to +give them a voice in the government of the country. + +Evidence of some culture and intellectual aspirations in social circles +of the ancient capital attracted the surprise of travellers who visited +the country before the close of the French dominion. "Science and the +fine arts," wrote Charlevoix, in 1744, "have their turn and conversation +does not fail. The Canadians breathe from their birth an air of liberty, +which makes them very pleasant in the intercourse of life, and our +language is nowhere more purely spoken." La Gallissonière, a highly +cultured governor, spared no effort to encourage a sympathetic study of +scientific pursuits. Dr. Michel Sarrasin, who was a practising physician +in Quebec for nearly half a century, devoted himself most assiduously to +the natural history of the colony, and made some valuable contributions +to the French Academy. The Swedish botanist, Peter Kalm, was impressed +with the liking for scientific study which he observed in the French +colony. But such intellectual culture, as Kalm and Charlevoix mentioned, +never showed itself beyond the walls of Quebec or Montreal. The +province, as a whole, was in a state of mental sluggishness at the time +of the conquest by England, under whose benign influence the French +Canadian people were now to enter on a new career of political and +intellectual development. + +Pitt and Wolfe must take a high place among the makers of the Dominion +of Canada. It was they who gave relief to French Canada from the +absolutism of old France, and started her in a career of self-government +and political liberty. When the great procession passed before the Queen +of England on the day of the "Diamond Jubilee"--when delegates from all +parts of a mighty, world-embracing empire gave her their loyal and +heartfelt homage--Canada was represented by a Prime Minister who +belonged to that race which has steadily gained in intellectual +strength, political freedom, and material prosperity, since the +memorable events of 1759 and 1760. In that imperial procession nearly +half the American Continent was represented--Acadia and Canada first +settled by France, the north-west prairies first traversed by French +Canadian adventurers, the Pacific coast first seen by Cook and +Vancouver. There, too, marched men from Bengal, Madras, Bombay, +Jeypore, Haidarabad, Kashmir, Punjaub, from all sections of that great +empire of India which was won for England by Clive and the men who, like +Wolfe, became famous for their achievements in the days of Pitt. Perhaps +there were in that imperial pageant some Canadians whose thoughts +wandered from the Present to the Past, and recalled the memory of that +illustrious statesman and of all he did for Canada and England, when +they stood in Westminster Abbey, and looked on his expressive effigy, +which, in the eloquent language of a great English historian, "seems +still, with eagle face and outstretched arm, to bid England be of good +cheer and to hurl defiance at her foes." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH RULE. 1760-1774. + + +SECTION I.--From the Conquest until the Quebec Act. + +For nearly four years after the surrender of Vaudreuil at Montreal, +Canada was under a government of military men, whose headquarters were +at Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal--the capitals of the old French +districts of the same name. General Murray and the other commanders +laboured to be just and considerate in all their relations with the new +subjects of the Crown, who were permitted to prosecute their ordinary +pursuits without the least interference on the part of the conquerors. +The conditions of the capitulations of Quebec and Montreal, which +allowed the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, were +honourably kept. All that was required then, and for many years later, +was that the priests and curés should confine themselves exclusively to +their parochial duties, and not take part in public matters. It had been +also stipulated at Montreal that the communities of nuns should not be +disturbed in their convents; and while the same privileges were not +granted by the articles of capitulation to the Jesuits, Recollets, and +Sulpitians, they had every facility given to them to dispose of their +property and remove to France. As a matter of fact there was practically +no interference with any of the religious fraternities during the early +years of British rule; and when in the course of time the Jesuits +disappeared entirely from the country their estates passed by law into +the possession of the government for the use of the people, while the +Sulpitians were eventually allowed to continue their work and develope +property which became of great value on the island of Montreal. (The +French merchants and traders were allowed all the commercial and trading +privileges that were enjoyed by the old subjects of the British +Sovereign, not only in the valley of the St. Lawrence, but in the rich +fur regions of the West and North-West.) The articles of capitulation +did not give any guarantees or pledges for the continuance of the civil +law under which French Canada had been governed for over a century, but +while that was one of the questions dependent on the ultimate fate of +Canada, the British military rulers took every possible care during the +continuance of the military régime to respect so far as possible the old +customs and laws by which the people had been previously governed. +French writers of those days admit the generosity and justice of the +administration of affairs during this military régime. + +The treaty of Paris, signed on the 10th February, 1763, formally ceded +to England Canada as well as Acadia, with all their dependencies. The +French Canadians were allowed full liberty "to profess the worship of +their religion according to the rites of the Romish Church, as far as +the laws of Great Britain permit." The people had permission to retire +from Canada with all their effects within eighteen months from the date +of the ratification of the treaty. All the evidence before us goes to +show that only a few officials and seigniors ever availed themselves of +this permission to leave the country. At this time there was not a +single French settlement beyond Vaudreuil until the traveller reached +the banks of the Detroit between Lakes Erie and Huron. A chain of forts +and posts connected Montreal with the basin of the great lakes and the +country watered by the Ohio, Illinois, and other tributaries of the +Mississippi. The forts on the Niagara, at Detroit, at Michillimackinac, +at Great Bay, on the Maumee and Wabash, at Presqu' isle, at the junction +of French Creek with the Alleghany, at the forks of the Ohio, and at +less important localities in the West and South-West, were held by small +English garrisons, while the French still occupied Vincennes on the +Wabash and Chartres on the Mississippi, in the vicinity of the French +settlements at Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and the present site of St. Louis. + +Soon after the fall of Montreal, French traders from New Orleans and the +French settlements on the Mississippi commenced to foment disaffection +among the western Indians, who had strong sympathy with France, and were +quite ready to believe the story that she would ere long regain Canada. +The consequence was the rising of all the western tribes under the +leadership of Pontiac, the principal chief of the Ottawas, whose +warriors surrounded and besieged Detroit when he failed to capture it by +a trick. Niagara was never attacked, and Detroit itself was successfully +defended by Major Gladwin, a fearless soldier; but all the other forts +and posts very soon fell into the hands of the Indians, who massacred +the garrisons in several places. They also ravaged the border +settlements of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and carried off a number of +women and children to their wigwams. Fort Pitt at the confluence of the +Alleghany and the Monongahela rivers--the site of the present city of +Pittsburg--was in serious peril for a time, until Colonel Bouquet, a +brave and skilful officer, won a signal victory over the Indians, who +fled in dismay to their forest fastnesses. Pontiac failed to capture +Detroit, and Bouquet followed up his first success by a direct march +into the country of the Shawnees, Mingoes and Delawares, and forced them +to agree to stern conditions of peace on the banks of the Muskingum. The +power of the western Indians was broken for the time, and the British in +1765 took possession of the French forts of Chartres and Vincennes, when +the _fleur-de-lys_ disappeared for ever from the valley of the +Mississippi. The French settlers on the Illinois and the Mississippi +preferred to remain under British rule rather than cross the great river +and become subjects of Spain, to whom Western Louisiana had been ceded +by France. From this time forward France ceased to be an influential +factor in the affairs of Canada or New France, and the Indian tribes +recognized the fact that they could no longer expect any favour or aid +from their old ally. They therefore transferred their friendship to +England, whose power they had felt in the Ohio valley, and whose policy +was now framed with a special regard to their just treatment. + +This Indian war was still in progress when King George III issued his +proclamation for the temporary government of his new dependencies in +North America. As a matter of fact, though the proclamation was issued +in England on the 7th October, 1763, it did not reach Canada and come +into effect until the 10th August, 1764. The four governments of Quebec, +Grenada, East Florida, and West Florida were established in the +territories ceded by France and Spain. The eastern limit of the province +of Quebec did not extend beyond St. John's River at the mouth of the St. +Lawrence, nearly opposite to Anticosti, while that island itself and the +Labrador country, east of the St. John's as far as the Straits of +Hudson, were placed under the jurisdiction of Newfoundland. The islands +of Cape Breton and St. John, now Prince Edward, became subject to the +Government of Nova Scotia, which then included the present province of +New Brunswick. The northern limit of the province did not extend beyond +the territory known as Rupert's Land under the charter given to the +Hudson's Bay Company in 1670, while the western boundary was drawn +obliquely from Lake Nipissing as far as Lake St. Francis on the St. +Lawrence; the southern boundary then followed line 45° across the upper +part of Lake Champlain, whence it passed along the highlands which +divide the rivers that empty themselves into the St. Lawrence from those +that flow into the sea--an absurdly defined boundary since it gave to +Canada as far as Cape Rosier on the Gaspé peninsula a territory only a +few miles wide. No provision whatever was made in the proclamation for +the government of the country west of the Appalachian range, which was +claimed by Pennsylvania, Virginia, and other colonies under the +indefinite terms of their original charters, which practically gave +them no western limits. Consequently the proclamation was regarded with +much disfavour by the English colonists on the Atlantic coast. No +provision was even made for the great territory which extended beyond +Nipissing as far as the Mississippi and included the basin of the great +lakes. It is easy to form the conclusion that the intention of the +British government was to restrain the ambition of the old English +colonies east of the Appalachian range, and to divide the immense +territory to their north-west at some future and convenient time into +several distinct and independent governments. No doubt the British +government also found it expedient for the time being to keep the +control of the fur-trade so far as possible in its own hands, and in +order to achieve this object it was necessary in the first place to +conciliate the Indian tribes, and not allow them to come in any way +under the jurisdiction of the chartered colonies. The proclamation +itself, in fact, laid down entirely new, and certainly equitable, +methods of dealing with the Indians within the limits of British +sovereignty. The governors of the old colonies were expressly forbidden +to grant authority to survey lands beyond the settled territorial limits +of their respective governments. No person was allowed to purchase land +directly from the Indians. The government itself thenceforth could alone +give a legal title to Indian lands, which must, in the first place, be +secured by treaty with the tribes that claimed to own them. This was the +beginning of that honest policy which has distinguished the relations of +England and Canada with the Indian nations for over a hundred years, and +which has obtained for the present Dominion the confidence and +friendship of the many thousand Indians, who roamed for many centuries +in Rupert's Land and in the Indian Territories where the Hudson's Bay +Company long enjoyed exclusive privileges of trade. + +The language of the proclamation with respect to the government of the +province of Quebec was extremely unsatisfactory. It was ordered that so +soon as the state and circumstances of the colony admitted, the +governor-general could with the advice and consent of the members of the +council summon a general assembly, "in such manner and form as is used +and directed in those colonies and provinces in America which are under +our immediate government." Laws could be made by the governor, council, +and representatives of the people for the good government of the colony, +"as near as may be agreeable to the laws of England, and under such +regulations and restrictions as are used in other colonies." Until such +an assembly could be called, the governor could with the advice of his +council constitute courts for the trial and determination of all civil +and criminal cases, "according to law and equity, and as near as may be +agreeable to the laws of England," with liberty to appeal, in all civil +cases, to the privy council of England. General Murray, who had been in +the province since the battle on the Plains of Abraham, was appointed to +administer the government. Any persons elected to serve in an assembly +were required, by his commission and instructions, before they could sit +and vote, to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and subscribe a +declaration against transubstantiation, the adoration of the Virgin, and +the Sacrifice of the Mass. + +This proclamation--in reality a mere temporary expedient to give time +for considering the whole state of the colony--was calculated to do +infinite harm, since its principal importance lay in the fact that it +attempted to establish English civil as well as criminal law, and at the +same time required oaths which effectively prevented the French +Canadians from serving in the very assembly which it professed a desire +on the part of the king to establish. The English-speaking or Protestant +people in the colony did not number in 1764 more than three hundred +persons, of little or no standing, and it was impossible to place all +power in their hands and to ignore nearly seventy thousand French +Canadian Roman Catholics. Happily the governor, General Murray, was not +only an able soldier, as his defence of Quebec against Lévis had +proved, but also a man of statesmanlike ideas, animated by a high sense +of duty and a sincere desire to do justice to the foreign people +committed to his care. He refused to lend himself to the designs of the +insignificant British minority, chiefly from the New England colonies, +or to be guided by their advice in carrying on his government. His +difficulties were lessened by the fact that the French had no conception +of representative institutions in the English sense, and were quite +content with any system of government that left them their language, +religion, and civil law without interference. The stipulations of the +capitulations of 1759-1760, and of the treaty of Paris, with respect to +the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, were always observed +in a spirit of great fairness: and in 1766 Monseigneur Briand was +chosen, with the governor's approval, Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec. +He was consecrated at Paris after his election by the chapter of Quebec, +and it does not appear that his recognition ever became the subject of +parliamentary discussion. This policy did much to reconcile the French +Canadians to their new rulers, and to make them believe that eventually +they would receive full consideration in other essential respects. + +For ten years the government of Canada was in a very unsatisfactory +condition, while the British ministry was all the while worried with the +condition of things in the old colonies, then in a revolutionary +ferment. The Protestant minority continued to clamour for an assembly, +and a mixed system of French and English law, in case it was not +possible to establish the latter in its entirety. Attorney-General +Masères, an able lawyer and constitutional writer, was in favour of a +mixed system, but his views were notably influenced by his strong +prejudices against Roman Catholics. The administration of the law was +extremely confused until 1774, not only on account of the ignorance and +incapacity of the men first sent out from England to preside over the +courts, but also as a consequence of the steady determination of the +majority of French Canadians to ignore laws to which they had naturally +an insuperable objection. In fact, the condition of things became +practically chaotic. It might have been much worse had not General +Murray, at first, and Sir Guy Carleton, at a later time, endeavoured, so +far as lay in their power, to mitigate the hardships to which the people +were subject by being forced to observe laws of which they were entirely +ignorant. + +At this time the governor-general was advised by an executive council, +composed of officials and some other persons chosen from the small +Protestant minority of the province. Only one French Canadian appears to +have been ever admitted to this executive body. The English residents +ignored the French as far as possible, and made the most unwarrantable +claims to rule the whole province. + +A close study of official documents from 1764 until 1774 goes to show +that all this while the British government was influenced by an anxious +desire to show every justice to French Canada, and to adopt a system of +government most conducive to its best interests In 1767 Lord Shelburne +wrote to Sir Guy Carleton that "the improvement of the civil +constitution of the province was under their most serious +consideration." They were desirous of obtaining all information "which +can tend to elucidate how far it is practicable and expedient to blend +the English with the French laws, in order to form such a system as +shall be at once equitable and convenient for His Majesty's old and new +subjects." From time to time the points at issue were referred to the +law officers of the crown for their opinion, so anxious was the +government to come to a just conclusion. Attorney-General Yorke and +Solicitor-General De Grey in 1766 severely condemned any system that +would permanently "impose new, unnecessary and arbitrary rules +(especially as to the titles of land, and the mode of descent, +alienation and settlement), which would tend to confound and subvert +rights instead of supporting them." In 1772 and 1773 Attorney-General +Thurlow and Solicitor-General Wedderburne dwelt on the necessity of +dealing on principles of justice with the province of Quebec. The French +Canadians, said the former, "seem to have been strictly entitled by the +_jus gentium_ to their property, as they possessed it upon the +capitulation and treaty of peace, together with all its qualities and +incidents by tenure or otherwise." It seemed a necessary consequence +that all those laws by which that property was created, defined, and +secured, must be continued to them. The Advocate-General Marriott, in +1773, also made a number of valuable suggestions in the same spirit, and +at the same time expressed the opinion that under the existent +conditions of the country it was not possible or expedient to call an +assembly. Before the imperial government came to a positive conclusion +on the vexed questions before it, they had the advantage of the wise +experience of Sir Guy Carleton, who visited England and remained there +for some time. The result of the deliberation of years was the passage +through the British parliament of the measure known as "The Quebec Act," +which has always been considered the charter of the special privileges +which the French Canadians have enjoyed ever since, and which, in the +course of a century, made their province one of the most influential +sections of British North America. + +The preamble of the Quebec Act fixed new territorial limits for the +province. It comprised not only the country affected by the proclamation +of 1763, but also all the eastern territory which had been previously +annexed to Newfoundland. In the west and south-west the province was +extended to the Ohio and the Mississippi, and in fact embraced all the +lands beyond the Alleghanies coveted and claimed by the old English +colonies, now hemmed in between the Atlantic and the Appalachian range. +It was now expressly enacted that the Roman Catholic inhabitants of +Canada should thenceforth "enjoy the free exercise" of their religion, +"subject to the king's supremacy declared and established" by law, and +on condition of taking an oath of allegiance, set forth in the act. The +Roman Catholic clergy were allowed "to hold, receive, and enjoy their +accustomed dues and rights, with respect to such persons only as shall +confess the said religion"--that is, one twenty-sixth part of the +produce of the land, Protestants being specially exempted. The French +Canadians were allowed to enjoy all their property, together with all +customs and usages incident thereto, "in as large, ample and beneficial +manner," as if the proclamation or other acts of the crown "had not been +made", but the religious orders and communities were excepted in +accordance with the terms of the capitulation of Montreal--the effect of +which exception I have already briefly stated. In "all matters of +controversy relative to property and civil rights," resort was to be had +to the old civil law of French Canada "as the rule for the decision of +the same", but the criminal law of England was extended to the province +on the indisputable ground that its "certainty and lenity" were already +"sensibly felt by the inhabitants from an experience of more than nine +years." The government of the province was entrusted to a governor and a +legislative council appointed by the crown, "inasmuch as it was +inexpedient to call an assembly." The council was to be composed of not +more than twenty-three residents of the province. At the same time the +British parliament made special enactments for the imposition of certain +customs duties "towards defraying the charges of the administration of +justice and the support of the civil government of the province." All +deficiencies in the revenues derived from these and other sources had to +be supplied by the imperial treasury. During the passage of the act +through parliament, it evoked the bitter hostility of Lord Chatham, who +was then the self-constituted champion of the old colonies, who found +the act most objectionable, not only because it established the Roman +Catholic religion, but placed under the government of Quebec the rich +territory west of the Alleghanies. Similar views were expressed by the +Mayor and Council of London, but they had no effect. The king, in giving +his assent, declared that the measure "was founded on the clearest +principles of justice and humanity, and would have the best effect in +quieting the minds and promoting the happiness of our Canadian +subjects." In French Canada the act was received without any popular +demonstration by the French Canadians, but the men to whom the great +body of that people always looked for advice and guidance--the priests, +curés, and seigniors--naturally regarded these concessions to their +nationality as giving most unquestionable evidence of the considerate +and liberal spirit in which the British government was determined to +rule the province. They had had ever since the conquest satisfactory +proof that their religion was secure from all interference, and now the +British parliament itself came forward with legal guarantees, not only +for the free exercise of that religion, with all its incidents and +tithes, but also for the permanent establishment of the civil law to +which they attached so much importance. The fact that no provision was +made for a popular assembly could not possibly offend a people to whom +local self-government in any form was entirely unknown. It was +impossible to constitute an assembly from the few hundred Protestants +who were living in Montreal and Quebec, and it was equally impossible, +in view of the religious prejudices dominant in England and the English +colonies, to give eighty thousand French Canadian Roman Catholics +privileges which their co-religionists did not enjoy in Great Britain +and to allow them to sit in an elected assembly. Lord North seemed to +voice the general opinion of the British parliament on this difficult +subject, when he closed the debate with an expression of "the earnest +hope that the Canadians will, in the course of time, enjoy as much of +our laws and as much of our constitution as may be beneficial to that +country and safe for this", but "that time," he concluded, "had not yet +come." It does not appear from the evidence before us that the British +had any other motive in passing the Quebec Act than to do justice to +the French Canadian people, now subjects of the crown of England. It was +not a measure primarily intended to check the growth of popular +institutions, but solely framed to meet the actual conditions of a +people entirely unaccustomed to the working of representative or popular +institutions. It was a preliminary step in the development of +self-government. + +On the other hand the act was received with loud expressions of +dissatisfaction by the small English minority who had hoped to see +themselves paramount in the government of the province. In Montreal, the +headquarters of the disaffected, an attempt was made to set fire to the +town, and the king's bust was set up in one of the public squares, +daubed with black, and decorated with a necklace made of potatoes, and +bearing the inscription _Voilà le pape du Canada & le sot Anglais_. The +author of this outrage was never discovered, and all the influential +French Canadian inhabitants of the community were deeply incensed that +their language should have been used to insult a king whose only offence +was his assent to a measure of justice to themselves. + +Sir Guy Carleton, who had been absent in England for four years, +returned to Canada on the 18th September, 1774, and was well received in +Quebec. The first legislative council under the Quebec Act was not +appointed until the beginning of August, 1775. Of the twenty-two members +who composed it, eight were influential French Canadians bearing +historic names. The council met on the 17th August, but was forced to +adjourn on the 7th September, on account of the invasion of Canada by +the troops of the Continental Congress, composed of representatives of +the rebellious element of the Thirteen Colonies. In a later chapter I +shall very shortly review the effects of the American revolution upon +the people of Canada; but before I proceed to do so it is necessary to +take my readers first to Nova Scotia on the eastern seaboard of British +North America and give a brief summary of its political development +from the beginning of British rule. + + +SECTION 2.--The foundation of Nova Scotia (1749--1783). + +The foundation of Halifax practically put an end to the Acadian period +of Nova Scotian settlement. Until that time the English occupation of +the country was merely nominal. Owing largely to the representations of +Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts--a statesman of considerable ability, +who distinguished himself in American affairs during a most critical +period of colonial history--the British government decided at last on a +vigorous policy in the province, which seemed more than once on the +point of passing out of their hands. Halifax was founded by the +Honourable Edward Cornwallis on the slope of a hill, whose woods then +dipped their branches into the very waters of the noble harbour long +known as Chebuctou, and renamed in honour of a distinguished member of +the Montague family, who had in those days full control of the +administration of colonial affairs. + +Colonel Cornwallis, a son of the Baron of that name--a man of firmness +and discretion--entered the harbour, on the 21st of June, old style, or +2nd July present style, and soon afterwards assumed his, duties as +governor of the province. The members of his first council were sworn in +on board one of the transports in the harbour. Between 2000 and 3000 +persons were brought at this time to settle the town and country. These +people were chiefly made up of retired military and naval officers, +soldiers and sailors, gentlemen, mechanics, farmers--far too few--and +some Swiss, who were extremely industrious and useful. On the whole, +they were not the best colonists to build up a prosperous industrial +community. The government gave the settlers large inducements in the +shape of free grants of land, and practically supported them for the +first two or three years. It was not until the Acadian population were +removed, and their lands were available, that the foundation of the +agricultural prosperity of the peninsula was really laid. In the summer +of 1753 a considerable number of Germans were placed in the present +county of Lunenburg, where their descendants still prosper, and take a +most active part in all the occupations of life. + +With the disappearance of the French Acadian settlers Nova Scotia became +a British colony in the full sense of the phrase. The settlement of 1749 +was supplemented in 1760, and subsequent years, by a valuable and large +addition of people who were induced to leave Massachusetts and other +colonies of New England and settle in townships of the present counties +of Annapolis, King's, Hants, Queen's, Yarmouth, Cumberland, and +Colchester, especially in the beautiful townships of Cornwallis and +Horton, where the Acadian meadows were the richest. A small number also +settled at Maugerville and other places on the St. John River. + +During the few years that had elapsed since the Acadians were driven +from their lands, the sea had once more found its way through the ruined +dykes, which had no longer the skilful attention of their old builders. +The new owners of the Acadian lands had none of the special knowledge +that the French had acquired, and were unable for years to keep back the +ever-encroaching tides. Still there were some rich uplands and low-lying +meadows, raised above the sea, which richly rewarded the industrious +cultivator. The historian, Haliburton, describes the melancholy scene +that met the eyes of the new settlers when they reached, in 1760, the +old homes of the Acadians at Mines. They came across a few straggling +families of Acadians who "had eaten no bread for years, and had +subsisted on vegetables, fish, and the more hardy part of the cattle +that had survived the severity of the first winter of their +abandonment." They saw everywhere "ruins of the houses that had been +burned by the Provincials, small gardens encircled by cherry-trees and +currant-bushes, and clumps of apple-trees." In all parts of the country, +where the new colonists established themselves, the Indians were +unfriendly for years, and it was necessary to erect stockaded houses for +the protection of the settlements. + +No better class probably could have been selected to settle Nova Scotia +than these American immigrants. The majority were descendants of the +Puritans who settled in New England, and some were actually sprung from +men and women who had landed from "The Mayflower" in 1620. Governor +Lawrence recognized the necessity of having a sturdy class of settlers, +accustomed to the climatic conditions and to agricultural labour in +America, and it was through his strenuous efforts that these immigrants +were brought into the province. They had, indeed, the choice of the best +land of the province, and everything was made as pleasant as possible +for them by a paternal government, only anxious to establish British +authority on a sound basis of industrial development. + +In 1767, according to an official return in the archives of Nova Scotia, +the total population of what are now the provinces of Nova Scotia, New +Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, reached 13,374 souls; of whom 6913 +are given as Americans, 912 as English, 2165 as Irish, 1946 as Germans, +and 1265 as Acadian French, the latter being probably a low estimate. +Some of these Irish emigrated directly from the north of Ireland, and +were Presbyterians. They were brought out by one Alexander McNutt, who +did much for the work of early colonization; others came from New +Hampshire, where they had been settled for some years. The name of +Londonderry in New Hampshire is a memorial of this important class, just +as the same name recalls them in the present county of Colchester, in +Nova Scotia. + +The Scottish immigration, which has exercised such an important +influence on the eastern counties of Nova Scotia--and I include Cape +Breton--commenced in 1772, when about thirty families arrived from +Scotland and settled in the present county of Pictou, where a very few +American colonists from Philadelphia had preceded them. In later years a +steady tide of Scotch population flowed into eastern Nova Scotia and did +not cease until 1820. Gaelic is still the dominant tongue in the eastern +counties, where we find numerous names recalling the glens, lochs, and +mountains of old Scotland. Sir William Alexander's dream of a new +Scotland has been realised in a measure in the province where his +ambition would have made him "lord paramount." + +Until the foundation of Halifax the government of Nova Scotia was vested +solely in a governor who had command of the garrison stationed at +Annapolis. In 1719 a commission was issued to Governor Phillips, who was +authorised to appoint a council of not less than twelve persons. This +council had advisory and judicial functions, but its legislative +authority was of a very limited scope. This provisional system of +government lasted until 1749, when Halifax became the seat of the new +administration of public affairs. The governor had a right to appoint a +council of twelve persons--as we have already seen, he did so +immediately--and to summon a general assembly "according to the usage of +the rest of our colonies and plantations in America." He was, "with the +advice and consent" of the council and assembly, "to make, constitute +and ordain laws" for the good government of the province. During nine +years the governor-in-council carried on the government without an +assembly, and passed a number of ordinances, some of which imposed +duties on trade for the purpose of raising revenue. The legality of +their acts was questioned by Chief Justice Belcher, and he was sustained +by the opinion of the English law officers, who called attention to the +governor's commission, which limited the council's powers. The result of +this decision was the establishment of a representative assembly, which +met for the first time at Halifax on the 2nd October, 1758. + +Governor Lawrence, whose name will be always unhappily associated with +the merciless expatriation of the French Acadians, had the honour of +opening the first legislative assembly of Nova Scotia in 1758. One +Robert Sanderson, of whom we know nothing else, was chosen as the first +speaker, but he held his office for only one session, and was succeeded +by William Nesbitt, who presided over the house for many years. The +first sittings of the legislature were held in the court house, and +subsequently in the old grammar school at the corner of Barrington and +Sackville Streets, for very many years one of the historic memorials of +the Halifax of the eighteenth century. + +At this time the present province of New Brunswick was for the most part +comprised in a county known as Sunbury, with one representative in the +assembly of Nova Scotia. The island of Cape Breton also formed a part of +the province, and had the right to send two members to the assembly, but +the only election held for that purpose was declared void on account of +there not being any freeholders entitled by law to vote. The island of +St. John, named Prince Edward in 1798, in honour of the Duke of Kent, +who was commander-in-chief of the British forces for some years in North +America, was also annexed to Nova Scotia in 1763, but it never sent +representatives to its legislature. In the following year a survey was +commenced of all the imperial dominions on the Atlantic. Various schemes +for the cultivation and settlement of the island were proposed as soon +as the surveys were in progress. The most notable suggestion was made by +the Earl of Egmont, first lord of the admiralty; he proposed the +division of the island into baronies, each with a castle or stronghold +under a feudal lord, subject to himself as lord paramount, under the +customs of the feudal system of Europe. The imperial authorities +rejected this scheme, but at the same time they adopted one which was as +unwise as that of the noble earl. The whole island, with the exception +of certain small reservations and royalties, was given away by lottery +in a single day to officers of the army and navy who had served in the +preceding war, and to other persons who were ambitious to be great +landowners, on the easy condition of paying certain quit-rents--a +condition constantly broken. This ill-advised measure led to many +troublesome complications for a hundred years, until at last they were +removed by the terms of the arrangement which brought the island into +the federal union of British North America in 1873. In 1769 the island +was separated from Nova Scotia and granted a distinct government, +although its total population at the time did not exceed one hundred and +fifty families. An assembly of eighteen representatives was called so +early as 1773, when the first governor, Captain Walter Paterson, still +administered public affairs. The assembly was not allowed to meet with +regularity during many years of the early history of the island. During +one administration it was practically without parliamentary government +for ten years. The land question always dominated public affairs in the +island for a hundred years. + +From the very beginning of a regular system of government in Nova Scotia +the legislature appears to have practically controlled the +administration of local affairs except so far as it gave, from time to +time, powers to the courts of quarter sessions to regulate taxation and +carry out certain small public works and improvements. In the first +session of the legislature a joint committee of the council and assembly +chose the town officers for Halifax. We have abundant evidence that at +this time the authorities viewed with disfavour any attempt to establish +a system of town government similar to that so long in operation in New +England. The town meeting was considered the nursery of sedition in New +England, and it is no wonder that the British authorities in Halifax +frowned upon all attempts to reproduce it in their province. + +Soon after his arrival in Nova Scotia, Governor Cornwallis established +courts of law to try and determine civil and criminal cases in +accordance with the laws of England. In 1774 there were in the province +courts of general session, similar to the courts of the same name in +England; courts of common pleas, formed on the practice of New England +and the mother country, and a supreme court, court of assize and general +gaol delivery, composed of a chief justice and two assistant judges. The +governor-in-council constituted a court of error in certain cases, and +from its decisions an appeal could be made to the king-in-council. +Justices of peace were also appointed in the counties and townships, +with jurisdiction over the collection of small debts. + +We must now leave the province of Nova Scotia and follow the +revolutionary movement, which commenced, soon after the signing of the +Treaty of Paris, in the old British colonies on the Atlantic seaboard, +and ended in the acknowledgement of their independence in 1783, and in +the forced migration of a large body of loyal people who found their way +to the British provinces. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS (1763--1784). + + +SECTION I.--The successful Revolution of the Thirteen Colonies in +America. + +When Canada was formally ceded to Great Britain the Thirteen Colonies +were relieved from the menace of the presence of France in the valleys +of the St. Lawrence, the Ohio, and the Mississippi. Nowhere were there +more rejoicings on account of this auspicious event than in the homes of +the democratic Puritans. The names of Pitt and Wolfe were honoured above +all others of their countrymen, and no one in England, certainly not +among its statesmen, imagined that in the colonies, which stretched from +the river Penobscot to the peninsula of Florida, there was latent a +spirit of independence which might at any moment threaten the rule of +Great Britain on the American continent. The great expenses of the Seven +Years' War were now pressing heavily on the British taxpayer. British +statesmen were forced to consider how best they could make the colonies +themselves contribute towards their own protection in the future, and +relieve Great Britain in some measure from the serious burden which +their defence had heretofore imposed on her. In those days colonies were +considered as so many possessions to be used for the commercial +advantage of the parent state. Their commerce and industries had been +fettered for many years by acts of parliament which were intended to +give Great Britain a monopoly of their trade and at the same time +prevent them from manufacturing any article that they could buy from the +British factories. As a matter of fact, however, these restrictive +measures of imperial protection had been for a long time practically +dead-letters. The merchants and seamen of New England carried on +smuggling with the French and Spanish Indies with impunity, and +practically traded where they pleased. + +The stamp act was only evidence of a vigorous colonial policy, which was +to make the people of the colonies contribute directly to their own +defence and security, and at the same time enforce the navigation laws +and acts of trade and put an end to the general system of smuggling by +which men, some of the best known merchants of Boston, had acquired a +fortune. George Grenville, who was responsible for the rigid enforcement +of the navigation laws and the stamp act, had none of that worldly +wisdom which Sir Robert Walpole showed when, years before, it was +proposed to him to tax the colonies. "No," said that astute politician, +"I have old England set against me already, and do you think I will have +New England likewise?" But Grenville and his successors, in attempting +to carry out a new colonial policy, entirely misunderstood the +conditions and feelings of the colonial communities affected and raised +a storm of indignation which eventually led to independence. The stamp +act was in itself an equitable measure, the proceeds of which were to be +exclusively used for the benefit of the colonies themselves; but its +enactment was most unfortunate at a time when the influential classes in +New England were deeply irritated at the enforcement of a policy which +was to stop the illicit trade from which they had so largely profited in +the past. The popular indignation, however, vented itself against the +stamp act, which imposed internal taxation, was declared to be in direct +violation of the principles of political liberty and self-government +long enjoyed by the colonists as British subjects, and was repealed as a +result of the violent opposition it met in the colonies. Parliament +contented itself with a statutory declaration of its supremacy in all +matters over every part of the empire; but not long afterwards the +determination of some English statesmen to bring the colonies as far as +practicable directly under the dominion of British law in all matters of +commerce and taxation, and to control their government as far as +possible, found full expression in the Townshend acts of 1767 which +imposed port duties on a few commodities, including tea, imported into +those countries. At the same time provision was made for the due +execution of existing laws relating to trade. The province of New York +was punished for openly refusing to obey an act of parliament which +required the authorities to furnish the British troops with the +necessaries of life. Writs of assistance, which allowed officials to +search everywhere for smuggled goods, were duly legalised. These writs +were the logical sequence of a rigid enforcement of the laws of trade +and navigation, and had been vehemently denounced by James Otis, so far +back as 1761, as not only irreconcilable with the colonial charters, but +as inconsistent with those natural rights which a people "derived from +nature and the Author of nature"--an assertion which obtained great +prominence for the speaker. This bold expression of opinion in +Massachusetts should be studied by the historian of those times in +connection with the equally emphatic revolutionary argument advanced by +Patrick Henry of Virginia, two years later, against the ecclesiastical +supremacy of the Anglican clergy and the right of the king to veto +legislation of the colony. Though the prerogative of the crown was thus +directly called into question in a Virginia court, the British +government did not take a determined stand on the undoubted rights of +the crown in the case. English statesmen and lawyers probably regarded +such arguments, if they paid any attention to them at all in days when +they neglected colonial opinion, as only temporary ebullitions of local +feeling, though in reality they were so many evidences of the opposition +that was sure to show itself whenever there was a direct interference +with the privileges and rights of self-governing communities. Both Henry +and Otis touched a key-note of the revolution, which was stimulated by +the revenue and stamp acts and later measures affecting the colonies. + +It is somewhat remarkable that it was in aristocratic Virginia, founded +by Cavaliers, as well as in democratic Massachusetts, founded by +Puritans, that the revolutionary element gained its principal strength +during the controversy with the parent state. The makers of +Massachusetts were independents in church government and democrats in +political principle. The whole history of New England, in fact, from the +first charters until the argument on the writs of assistance, is full of +incidents which show the growth of republican ideas. The Anglican church +had no strength in the northern colonies, and the great majority of +their people were bitterly opposed to the pretensions of the English +hierarchy to establish an episcopate in America. It is not therefore +surprising that Massachusetts should have been the leader in the +revolutionary agitation; on the other hand in Virginia the Anglican +clergy belonged to what was essentially an established church, and the +whole social fabric of the colony rested on an aristocratic basis. No +doubt before the outbreak of the revolution there was a decided feeling +against England on account of the restrictions on the sale of tobacco; +and the quarrel, which I have just referred to, with respect to the +stipends of the clergy, which were to be paid in this staple commodity +according to its market value at the time of payment, had spread +discontent among a large body of the people. But above all such causes +of dissatisfaction was the growing belief that the political freedom of +the people, and the very existence of the colony as a self-governing +community, were jeopardised by the indiscreet acts of the imperial +authorities after 1763. It is easy then to understand that the action of +the British government in 1767 renewed the agitation, which had been +allayed for the moment by the repeal of the stamp act and the general +belief that there would be no rigid enforcement of old regulations which +meant the ruin of the most profitable trade of New England. The measures +of the ministry were violently assailed in parliament by Burke and +other eminent men who availed themselves of so excellent an opportunity +of exciting the public mind against a government which was doing so much +to irritate the colonies and injure British trade. All the political +conditions were unfavourable to a satisfactory adjustment of the +colonial difficulty. Chatham had been one of the earnest opponents of +the stamp act, but he was now buried in retirement--labouring under some +mental trouble--and Charles Townshend, the chancellor of the exchequer +in the cabinet of which Chatham was the real head, was responsible for +measures which his chief would have repudiated as most impolitic and +inexpedient in the existing temper of the colonies. + +The action of the ministry was for years at once weak and irritating. +One day they asserted the supremacy of the British parliament, and on +the next yielded to the violent opposition of the colonies and the +appeals of British merchants whose interests were at stake. Nothing +remained eventually but the tea duty, and even that was so arranged that +the colonists could buy their tea at a much cheaper rate than the +British consumer. But by this time a strong anti-British party was in +course of formation throughout the colonies. Samuel Adams of +Massachusetts, Patrick Henry of Virginia, and a few other political +managers of consummate ability, had learned their own power, and the +weakness of English ministers. Samuel Adams, who had no love in his +heart for England, was undoubtedly by this time insidiously working +towards the independence of the colonies. Violence and outrage formed +part of his secret policy. The tea in Boston harbour was destroyed by a +mob disguised as Mohawk Indians, and was nowhere allowed to enter into +domestic consumption. The patience of English ministers was now +exhausted, and they determined to enter on a vigorous system of +repression, which might have had some effect at an earlier stage of the +revolutionary movement, when the large and influential loyal body of +people in the colonies ought to have been vigorously supported, and not +left exposed to the threats, insults, and even violence of a resolute +minority, comprising many persons influenced by purely selfish +reasons--the stoppage of illicit trade from which they had profited--as +well as men who objected on principle to a policy which seemed to them +irreconcilable with the rights of the people to the fullest possible +measure of local self-government. As it was, however, the insults and +injuries to British officials bound to obey the law, the shameless and +continuous rioting, the destruction of private property, the defiant +attitude of the opposition to England, had at last awakened the home +authorities to the dangers latent in the rebellious spirit that reckless +agitators had aroused in colonies for which England had sacrificed so +much of her blood and treasure when their integrity and dearest +interests were threatened by France. The port of Boston, where the +agitators were most influential and the most discreditable acts of +violence had taken place, was closed to trade; and important +modifications were made in the charter granted to Massachusetts by +William III in 1692. Another obnoxious act provided that persons +"questioned for any acts in execution of the laws" should be tried in +England--a measure intended to protect officials and soldiers in the +discharge of their duty against the rancour of the colonial community +where they might be at that time. These measures, undoubtedly unwise at +this juncture, were calculated to evoke the hostility of the other +colonies and to show them what was probably in store for themselves. But +while the issue certainly proved this to be the case, the course pursued +by the government under existing conditions had an appearance of +justification. Even Professor Goldwin Smith, who will not be accused of +any sympathy with the British cabinet of that day, or of antagonism to +liberal principles, admits that "a government thus bearded and insulted +had its choice between abdication and repression," and "that repression +was the most natural" course to pursue under the circumstances. Lord +North gave expression to what was then a largely prevailing sentiment in +England when he said "to repeal the tea duty would stamp us with +timidity," and that the destruction of the property of private +individuals, such as took place at Boston, "was a fitting culmination of +years of riot and lawlessness." Lord North, we all know now, was really +desirous of bringing about a reconciliation between the colonies and the +parent state, but he servilely yielded his convictions to the king, who +was determined to govern all parts of his empire, and was in favour of +coercive measures. It is quite evident that the British ministry and +their supporters entirely underrated the strength of the colonial party +that was opposing England. Even those persons who, when the war broke +out, remained faithful to their allegiance to the crown, were of opinion +that the British government was pursuing a policy unwise in the extreme, +although they had no doubt of the abstract legal right of that +government to pass the Grenville and Townshend acts for taxing the +colonies. Chatham, Burke, Conway, and Barré were the most prominent +public men who, in powerful language, showed the dangers of the unwise +course pursued by the "king's friends" in parliament. + +As we review the events of those miserable years we can see that every +step taken by the British government, from the stamp act until the +closing of the port of Boston and other coercive measures, had the +effect of strengthening the hands of Samuel Adams and the other +revolutionary agitators. Their measures to create a feeling against +England exhibited great cunning and skill. The revolutionary movement +was aided by the formation of "Sons of Liberty"--a phrase taken from one +of Barré's speeches,--by circular letters and committees of +correspondence between the colonies, by petitions to the king winch were +framed in a tone of independence not calculated to conciliate that +uncompromising sovereign, by clever ingenious appeals to public +patriotism, by the assembling of a "continental congress," by acts of +"association" which meant the stoppage of all commercial intercourse +with Great Britain. New England was the head and front of the whole +revolution, and Samuel Adams was its animating spirit. Even those famous +committees of correspondence between the towns of Massachusetts, which +gave expression to public opinion and stimulated united action when the +legislative authority was prevented by the royal governor from working, +were the inspiration of this astute political manager. Prominent +Virginians saw the importance of carrying out this idea on a wider field +of action, and Virginia accordingly inaugurated a system of +intercolonial correspondence which led to the meeting of a continental +congress, and was the first practical step towards political +independence of the parent state. Adams's decision to work for +independence was made, or confirmed, as early as 1767, when Charles +Townshend succeeded in passing the measures which were so obnoxious to +the colonists, and finally led to civil war. + +At a most critical moment, when the feelings of a large body of people +were aroused to a violent pitch, when ideas of independence were +ripening in the minds of others besides Samuel Adams, General Gage, then +in command of the British regular troops in Boston, sent a military +force to make prisoners of Adams and Hancock at Lexington, and seize +some stores at Concord. Then the "embattled farmers" fired the shot +"which was heard around the world." Then followed the capture of +Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and the battle of Bunker's Hill, on the +same day that Washington was appointed by congress to command the +continental army. At this critical juncture, John Adams and other +prominent colonists--not excepting Washington--were actually disavowing +all desire to sever their relations with the parent state in the face of +the warlike attitude of congress--an attitude justified by the +declaration that it was intended to force a redress of grievances. Tom +Paine, a mere adventurer, who had not been long in the country, now +issued his pamphlet, "Common Sense," which was conceived in a spirit +and written in a style admirably calculated to give strength and +cohesion to the arguments of the people, who had been for some time +coming to the conclusion that to aim at independence was the only +consistent and logical course in the actual state of controversy between +England and the colonies. On March 14th, 1776, the town of Boston, then +the most important in America, was given up to the rebels; and British +ships carried the first large body of unhappy and disappointed Loyalists +to Halifax. On July the fourth of the same year the Declaration of +Independence was passed, after much hesitation and discussion, and +published to the world by the continental congress assembled at +Philadelphia. The signal victory won by the continental army over +Burgoyne at Saratoga in the autumn of the following year led to an +alliance with France, without whose effective aid the eventual success +of the revolutionists would have been very doubtful The revolutionists +won their final triumph at Yorktown in the autumn of 1781, when a small +army of regulars and Loyalists, led by Cornwallis, was obliged to +surrender to the superior American and French forces, commanded by +Washington and Rochambeau, and supported by a French fleet which +effectively controlled the approaches to Chesapeake Bay. + +The conduct of the war on the part of England was noted for the singular +incapacity of her generals. Had there been one of any energy or ability +at the head of her troops, when hostilities commenced, the undisciplined +American army might easily have been beaten and annihilated Boston need +never have been evacuated had Howe taken the most ordinary precautions +to occupy the heights of Dorchester that commanded the town. Washington +could never have organised an army had not Howe given him every possible +opportunity for months to do so. The British probably had another grand +opportunity of ending the war on their occupation of New York, when +Washington and his relatively insignificant army were virtually in their +power while in retreat. The history of the war is full of similar +instances of lost opportunities to overwhelm the continental troops. All +the efforts of the British generals appear to have been devoted to the +occupation of the important towns in a country stretching for a thousand +miles from north to south, instead of following and crushing the +constantly retreating, diminishing, and discouraged forces of the +revolutionists. The evacuation of Philadelphia at a critical moment of +the war was another signal illustration of the absence of all military +foresight and judgment, since it disheartened the Loyalists and gave up +an important base of operation against the South. Even Cornwallis, who +fought so bravely and successfully in the southern provinces, made a +most serious mistake when he chose so weak a position as Yorktown, which +was only defensible whilst the army of occupation had free access to the +sea. Admiral Rodney, then at St. Eustatius, is open to censure for not +having sent such naval reinforcements as would have enabled the British +to command Chesapeake Bay, and his failure in this respect explains the +inability of Clinton, an able general, to support Cornwallis in his hour +of need. The moment the French fleet appeared in the Chesapeake, +Cornwallis's position became perfectly untenable, and he was obliged to +surrender to the allied armies, who were vastly superior in number and +equipment to his small force, which had not even the advantage of +fighting behind well-constructed and perfect defences. No doubt, from +the beginning to the end of the war--notably in the case of +Burgoyne--the British were seriously hampered by the dilatory and unsafe +counsels of Lord George Germaine, who was allowed by the favour of the +king to direct military operations, and who, we remember, had disgraced +himself on the famous battlefield of Minden. + +All the conditions in the country at large were favourable to the +imperial troops had they been commanded by generals of ability. The +Loyalists formed a large available force, rendered valueless time after +time by the incapacity of the men who directed operations. At no time +did the great body of the American people warmly respond to the demands +made upon them by congress to support Washington. Had it not been for +New England and Virginia the war must have more than once collapsed for +want of men and supplies. It is impossible to exaggerate the absence of +public spirit in the States during this critical period of their +history. The English historian, Lecky, who has reviewed the annals of +those times with great fairness, has truly said: "The nobility and +beauty of the character of Washington can hardly be surpassed; several +of the other leaders of the revolution were men of ability and public +spirit, and few armies have ever shown a nobler self-devotion than that +which remained with Washington through the dreary winter at Valley +Forge. But the army that bore those sufferings was a very small one, and +the general aspect of the American people during the contest was far +from heroic or sublime." This opinion is fully borne out by those +American historians who have reviewed the records of their national +struggle in a spirit of dispassionate criticism. We know that in the +spring of 1780 Washington himself wrote that his troops were "constantly +on the point of starving for want of provisions and forage." He saw "in +every line of the army the most serious features of mutiny and +sedition." Indeed he had "almost ceased to hope," for he found the +country in general "in such a state of insensibility and indifference to +its interests" that he dare not flatter himself "with any change for the +better." The war under such circumstances would have come to a sudden +end had not France liberally responded to Washington's appeals and +supported him with her money, her sailors and her soldiers. In the +closing years of the war Great Britain had not only to fight France, +Spain, Holland and her own colonies, but she was without a single ally +in Europe. Her dominion was threatened in India, and the king prevented +the intervention of the only statesman in the kingdom to whom the +colonists at any time were likely to listen with respect. When Chatham +died with a protest on his lips "against the dismemberment of this +ancient monarchy," the last hope of bringing about a reconciliation +between the revolutionists and the parent state disappeared for ever, +and the Thirteen Colonies became independent at Yorktown. + + +SECTION 2.--Canada and Nova Scotia during the Revolution. + +If Canada was saved to England during the American Revolution it was not +on account of the energy and foresight shown by the king and his +ministers in providing adequately for its defence, but mainly through +the coolness and excellent judgment displayed by Governor Carleton. The +Quebec act, for which he was largely responsible, was extremely +unpopular in the Thirteen Colonies, on account of its having extended +the boundaries of the province and the civil law to that western country +beyond the Alleghanies, which the frontiersmen of Pennsylvania and +Virginia regarded as specially their own domain. The fact that the +Quebec act was passed by parliament simultaneously with the Boston port +bill and other measures especially levelled against Massachusetts, gave +additional fuel to the indignation of the people, who regarded this +group of acts as part of a settled policy to crush the British-speaking +colonies. + +Under these circumstances, the invasion of Canada by Arnold in 1775, +with the full approval of the continental congress, soon after the +taking of Crown Point and Ticonderoga by the "Green Mountain boys" of +Vermont, was a most popular movement which, it was hoped generally, +would end in the easy conquest of a province, occupied by an alien +people, and likely to be a menace in the future to the country south of +the St. Lawrence. The capture of Chambly and St. John's--the keys of +Canada, by way of Lake Champlain--was immediately followed by the +surrender of Montreal, which was quite indefensible, and the flight of +Carleton to Quebec, where he wisely decided to make a stand against the +invaders. At this time there were not one thousand regular troops in the +country, and Carleton's endeavour to obtain reinforcements from Boston +had failed in consequence of the timidity of Admiral Graves, who +expressed his opinion that it was not safe to send vessels up the St. +Lawrence towards the end of the month of October. No dependence +apparently could be placed at this critical juncture on a number of the +French _habitants_, as soon as the districts of Richelieu, Montreal and +Three Rivers were occupied by the continental troops. Many of them were +quite ready to sell provisions to the invaders, provided they were paid +in coin, and a few of them even joined Montgomery on his march to +Quebec. Happily, however, the influence of the clergy and the +_seigneurs_ was sufficiently powerful to make the great mass of the +people neutral during this struggle for supremacy in the province. + +The bishop and the priests, from the outset, were quite alive to the +gravity of the situation. They could not forget that the delegates to +the continental congress, who were now appealing to French Canada to +join the rebellious colonists, had only a few weeks before issued an +address to the people of England in which they expressed their +astonishment that the British parliament should have established in +Canada "a religion that had deluged their land in blood and dispersed +impiety, bigotry, persecution, murder, and rebellion through every part +of the world." Almost simultaneously with the capture of the forts on +Lake Champlain, Bishop Briand issued a _mandement_ in which he dwelt +with emphasis on the great benefits which the people of French Canada +had already derived from the British connection and called upon them all +to unite in the defence of their province. No doubt can exist that these +opinions had much effect at a time when Carleton had reason to doubt +even the loyalty of the English population, some of whom were +notoriously in league with the rebels across the frontier, and gave +material aid to the invaders as soon as they occupied Montreal. It was +assuredly the influence of the French clergy that rendered entirely +ineffectual the mission of Chase, Franklin, and the Carrolls of +Maryland--one of whom became the first Roman Catholic archbishop of the +United States--who were instructed by congress to offer every possible +inducement to the Roman Catholic subjects of England in Canada to join +the revolutionary movement. + +Richard Montgomery, who had commanded the troops invading Canada, had +served at Louisbourg and Quebec, and had subsequently become a resident +of New York, where his political opinions on the outbreak of the +revolution had been influenced by his connection, through marriage, with +the Livingstones, bitter opponents of the British government. His merit +as a soldier naturally brought him into prominence when the war began, +and his own ambition gladly led him to obey the order to go to Canada, +where he hoped to emulate the fame of Wolfe and become the captor of +Quebec. He formed a junction, close to the ancient capital, with the +force under Benedict Arnold, who was at a later time to sully a +memorable career by an act of the most deliberate treachery to his +compatriots. When Montgomery and Arnold united their forces before +Quebec, the whole of Canada, from Lake Champlain to Montreal, and from +that town to the walls of the old capital, was under the control of the +continental troops. Despite the great disadvantages under which he +laboured, Carleton was able to perfect his defences of the city, which +he determined to hold until reinforcements should arrive in the spring +from England. Montgomery had neither men nor artillery to storm the +fortified city which he had hoped to surprise and easily occupy with the +aid of secret friends within its walls. Carleton, however, rallied all +loyal men to his support, and the traitors on whom the invaders had +relied were powerless to carry out any treacherous design they may have +formed. The American commanders at once recognised the folly of a +regular investment of the fortress during a long and severe winter, and +decided to attempt to surprise the garrison by a night assault. This +plan was earned out in the early morning of the thirty-first of +December, 1775, when the darkness was intensified by flurries of light +blinding snow, but it failed before the assailants could force the +barricades which barred the way to the upper town, where all the +principal offices and buildings were grouped, just below the château and +fort of St. Louis, which towers above the historic heights. Montgomery +was killed, Arnold was wounded at the very outset, and a considerable +number of their officers and men were killed or wounded. + +Carleton saved Quebec at this critical hour and was able in the course +of the same year, when General Burgoyne arrived with reinforcements +largely composed of subsidised German regiments, to drive the +continental troops in confusion from the province and destroy the fleet +which congress had formed on Lake Champlain. Carleton took possession of +Crown Point but found the season too late--it was now towards the end of +autumn--to attempt an attack on Ticonderoga, which was occupied by a +strong and well-equipped garrison. After a careful view of the situation +he concluded to abandon Crown Point until the spring, when he could +easily occupy it again, and attack Ticonderoga with every prospect of +success. But Carleton, soon afterwards, was ordered to give up the +command of the royal troops to Burgoyne, who was instructed by Germaine +to proceed to the Hudson River, where Howe was to join him. Carleton +naturally resented the insult that he received and resigned the +governor-generalship, to which General Haldimand was appointed. Carleton +certainly brought Canada securely through one of the most critical +epochs of her history, and there is every reason to believe that he +would have saved the honour of England and the reputation of her +generals, had he rather than Burgoyne and Howe been entrusted with the +direction of her armies in North America. + +Carleton's administration of the civil government of the province was +distinguished by a spirit of discretion and energy which deservedly +places him among the ablest governors who ever presided over the public +affairs of a colony. During the progress of the American war the +legislative council was not able to meet until nearly two years after +its abrupt adjournment in September, 1775. At this session, in 1777, +ordinances were passed for the establishment of courts of King's bench, +common pleas, and probate. + +A critical perusal of the valuable documents, placed of late years in +the archives of the Dominion, clearly proves that it was a fortunate day +for Canada when so resolute a soldier and far-sighted administrator as +General Haldimand was in charge of the civil and military government of +the country after the departure of Carleton. His conduct appears to have +been dictated by a desire to do justice to all classes, and it is most +unfair to his memory to declare that he was antagonistic to French +Canadians. During the critical time when he was entrusted with the +public defence it is impossible to accuse him of an arrogant or +unwarrantable exercise of authority, even when he was sorely beset by +open and secret enemies of the British connection. The French Canadian +_habitant_ found himself treated with a generous consideration that he +never obtained during the French régime, and wherever his services were +required by the state, he was paid, not in worthless card money, but in +British coin. During Haldimand's administration the country was in a +perilous condition on account of the restlessness and uncertainty that +prevailed while the French naval and military expeditions were in +America, using every means of exciting a public sentiment hostile to +England and favourable to France among the French Canadians. Admiral +D'Estaing's proclamation in 1778 was a passionate appeal to the old +national sentiment of the people, and was distributed in every part of +the province. Dr. Kingsford believes that it had large influence in +creating a powerful feeling which might have seriously threatened +British dominion had the French been able to obtain permission from +congress to send an army into the country. Whatever may have been the +temper of the great majority of the French Canadians, it does not appear +that many of them openly expressed their sympathy with France, for whom +they would naturally still feel a deep love as their motherland. The +assertion that many priests secretly hoped for the appearance of the +French army is not justified by any substantial evidence except the fact +that one La Valinière was arrested for his disloyalty, and sent a +prisoner to England. It appears, however, that this course was taken +with the approval of the bishop himself, who was a sincere friend of the +English connection throughout the war. Haldimand arrested a number of +persons who were believed to be engaged in treasonable practices against +England, and effectively prevented any successful movement being made by +the supporters of the revolutionists, or sympathisers with France, whose +emissaries were secretly working in the parishes. + +Haldimand's principal opponent during these troublous times was one +Pierre du Calvet, an unscrupulous and able intriguer, whom he imprisoned +on the strong suspicion of treasonable practices; but the evidence +against Calvet at that time appears to have been inadequate, as he +succeeded in obtaining damages against the governor-general in an +English court. The imperial government, however, in view of all the +circumstances brought to their notice, paid the cost of the defence of +the suit. History now fully justifies the action of Haldimand, for the +publication of Franklin's correspondence in these later times shows that +Calvet--who was drowned at sea and never again appeared in Canada--was +in direct correspondence with congress, and the recognised emissary of +the revolutionists at the very time he was declaring himself devoted to +the continuance of British rule in Canada. + +Leaving the valley of the St. Lawrence, and reviewing the conditions of +affairs in the maritime provinces, during the American revolution, we +see that some of the settlers from New England sympathised with their +rebellious countrymen. The people of Truro, Onslow, and Londonderry, +with the exception of five persons, refused to take the oath of +allegiance, and were not allowed for some time to be represented in the +legislature. The assembly was always loyal to the crown, and refused to +consider the appeals that were made to it by circular letters, and +otherwise, to give active aid and sympathy to the rebellious colonies +During the war armed cruisers pillaged the small settlements at +Charlottetown, Annapolis, Lunenburg, and the entrance of the St. John +River. One expedition fitted out at Machias, in the present state of +Maine, under the command of a Colonel Eddy, who had been a resident of +Cumberland, attempted to seize Fort Cumberland--known as Beauséjour in +French Acadian days--at the mouth of the Missiquash. In this section of +the country there were many sympathisers with the rebels, and Eddy +expected to have an easy triumph. The military authorities were happily +on the alert, and the only result was the arrest of a number of persons +on the suspicion of treasonable designs. The inhabitants of the county +of Yarmouth--a district especially exposed to attack--only escaped the +frequent visits of privateers by secret negotiations with influential +persons in Massachusetts. The settlers on the St. John River, at +Maugerville, took measures to assist their fellow-countrymen in New +England, but the defeat of the Cumberland expedition and the activity of +the British authorities prevented the disaffected in Sunbury county--in +which the original settlements of New Brunswick were then +comprised--from rendering any practical aid to the revolutionists. The +authorities at Halifax authorised the fitting out of privateers in +retaliation for the damages inflicted on western ports by the same class +of cruisers sailing from New England. The province was generally +impoverished by the impossibility of carrying on the coasting trade and +fisheries with security in these circumstances. The constant demand for +men to fill the army and the fleet drained the country when labour was +imperatively needed for necessary industrial pursuits, including the +cultivation of the land. Some Halifax merchants and traders alone found +profit in the constant arrival of troops and ships. Apart, however, from +the signs of disaffection shown in the few localities I have mentioned, +the people generally appear to have been loyal to England, and rallied, +notably in the townships of Annapolis, Horton and Windsor, to the +defence of the country, at the call of the authorities. + +In 1783 the humiliated king of England consented to a peace with his old +colonies, who owed their success not so much to the unselfishness and +determination of the great body of the rebels as to the incapacity of +British generals and to the patience, calmness, and resolution of the +one great man of the revolution, George Washington. I shall in a later +chapter refer to this treaty in which the boundaries between Canada and +the new republic were so ignorantly and clumsily defined that it took +half a century and longer to settle the vexed questions that arose in +connection with territorial rights, and then the settlement was to the +injury of Canada. So far as the treaty affected the Provinces its most +important result was the forced migration of that large body of people +who had remained faithful to the crown and empire during the revolution. + +[Illustration: MAP SHOWING BOUNDARY BETWEEN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES +BY TREATY OF 1783] + + +SECTION 3.--The United Empire Loyalists + +John Adams and other authorities in the United States have admitted that +when the first shot of the revolution was fired by "the embattled +farmers" of Concord and Lexington, the Loyalists numbered one-third of +the whole population of the colonies, or seven hundred thousand whites. +Others believe that the number was larger, and that the revolutionary +party was in a minority even after the declaration of independence. The +greater number of the Loyalists were to be found in the present state of +New York, where the capital was in possession of the British from +September, 1776, until the evacuation in 1783. They were also the +majority in Pennsylvania and the southern colonies of South Carolina and +Georgia. In all the other states they represented a large minority of +the best class of their respective communities. It is estimated that +there were actually from thirty to thirty-five thousand, at one time or +other, enrolled in regularly organised corps, without including the +bodies which waged guerilla warfare in South Carolina and elsewhere. + +It is only within a decade of years that some historical writers in the +United States have had the courage and honesty to point out the false +impressions long entertained by the majority of Americans with respect +to the Loyalists, who were in their way as worthy of historical eulogy +as the people whose efforts to win independence were crowned with +success. Professor Tyler, of Cornell University, points out that these +people comprised "in general a clear majority of those who, of whatever +grade of culture or of wealth, would now be described as conservative +people." A clear majority of the official class, of men representing +large commercial interests and capital, of professional training and +occupation, clergymen, physicians, lawyers and teachers, "seem to have +been set against the ultimate measures of the revolution". He assumes +with justice that, within this conservative class, one may "usually find +at least a fair portion of the cultivation, of the moral thoughtfulness, +of the personal purity and honour, existing in the community to which +they happen to belong." He agrees with Dr. John Fiske, and other +historical writers of eminence in the United States, in comparing the +Loyalists of 1776 to the Unionists of the southern war of secession from +1861 until 1865. They were "the champions of national unity, as resting +on the paramount authority of the general government." In other words +they were the champions of a United British Empire in the eighteenth +century. + +"The old colonial system," says that thoughtful writer Sir J.R. Seeley, +"was not at all tyrannous; and when the breach came the grievances of +which the Americans complained, though perfectly real, were smaller than +ever before or since led to such mighty consequences." The leaders among +the Loyalists, excepting a few rash and angry officials probably, +recognised that there were grievances which ought to be remedied. They +looked on the policy of the party in power in Great Britain as +injudicious in the extreme, but they believed that the relations between +the colonies and the mother-state could be placed on a more satisfactory +basis by a spirit of mutual compromise, and not by such methods as were +insidiously followed by the agitators against England. The Loyalists +generally contended for the legality of the action of parliament, and +were supported by the opinion of all high legal authorities; but the +causes of difficulty were not to be adjusted by mere lawyers, who +adhered to the strict letter of the law, but by statesmen who recognised +that the time had come for reconsidering the relations between the +colonies and the parent state, and meeting the new conditions of their +rapid development and political freedom. These relations were not to be +placed on an equitable and satisfactory basis by mob-violence and +revolution. All the questions at issue were of a constitutional +character, to be settled by constitutional methods. + +Unhappily, English statesmen of that day paid no attention to, and had +no conception of, the aspirations, sentiments and conditions of the +colonial peoples when the revolutionary war broke out. The king wished +to govern in the colonies as well as in the British Isles, and +unfortunately the unwise assertion of his arrogant will gave dangerous +men like Samuel Adams, more than once, the opportunity they wanted to +stimulate public irritation and indignation against England. + +It is an interesting fact, that the relations between Great Britain and +the Canadian Dominion are now regulated by just such principles as were +urged in the interests of England and her colonies a hundred and twenty +years ago by Governor Thomas Hutchinson, a great Loyalist, to whom +justice is at last being done by impartial historians in the country +where his motives and acts were so long misunderstood and +misrepresented. "Whatever measures," he wrote to a correspondent in +England, "you may take to maintain the authority of parliament, give me +leave to pray they may be accompanied with a declaration that it is not +the intention of parliament to deprive the colonies of their subordinate +power of legislation, nor to exercise the supreme power except in such +cases and upon such occasions as an equitable regard to the interests of +the whole empire shall make necessary." But it took three-quarters of a +century after the coming of the Loyalists to realise these statesmanlike +conceptions of Hutchinson in the colonial dominions of England to the +north of the dependencies which she lost in the latter part of the +eighteenth century. + +Similar opinions were entertained by Joseph Galloway, Jonathan Boucher, +Jonathan Odell, Samuel Seabury, Chief Justice Smith, Judge Thomas Jones, +Beverley Robinson and other men of weight and ability among the +Loyalists, who recognised the short-sightedness and ignorance of the +British authorities, and the existence of real grievances. Galloway, one +of the ablest men on the constitutional side, and a member of the first +continental congress, suggested a practical scheme of imperial +federation, well worthy of earnest consideration at that crisis in +imperial affairs. Eminent men in the congress of 1774 supported this +statesmanlike mode of placing the relations of England and the colonies +on a basis which would enable them to work harmoniously, and at the same +time give full scope to the ambition and the liberties of the colonial +communities thus closely united; but unhappily for the empire the +revolutionary element carried the day. The people at large were never +given an opportunity of considering this wise proposition, and the +motion was erased from the records of congress. In its place, the people +were asked to sign "articles of association" which bound them to cease +all commercial relations with England. Had Galloway's idea been carried +out to a successful issue, we might have now presented to the world the +noble spectacle of an empire greater by half a continent and +seventy-five millions of people. + +But while Galloway and other Loyalists failed in their measures of +adjusting existing difficulties and remedying grievances, history can +still do full justice to their wise counsel and resolute loyalty, which +refused to assist in tearing the empire to fragments. These men, who +remained faithful to this ideal to the very bitter end, suffered many +indignities at the hands of the professed lovers of liberty, even in +those days when the questions at issue had not got beyond the stage of +legitimate argument and agitation. The courts of law were closed and the +judges prevented from fulfilling their judicial functions. No class of +persons, not even women, were safe from the insults of intoxicated +ruffians. The clergy of the Church of England were especially the object +of contumely. + +During the war the passions of both parties to the controversy were +aroused to the highest pitch, and some allowance must be made for +conditions which were different from those which existed when the +questions at issue were still matters of argument. It is impossible in +times of civil strife to cool the passions of men and prevent them from +perpetrating cruelties and outrages which would be repugnant to their +sense of humanity in moments of calmness and reflection. Both sides, +more than once, displayed a hatred of each other that was worthy of the +American Iroquois themselves. The legislative bodies were fully as +vindictive as individuals in the persecution of the Loyalists. +Confiscation of estate, imprisonment, disqualification for office, +banishment, and even death in case of return from exile, were among the +penalties to which these people were subject by the legislative acts of +the revolutionary party. + +If allowance can be made for the feelings of revenge and passion which +animate persons under the abnormal conditions of civil war, no +extenuating circumstances appear at that later period when peace was +proclaimed and congress was called upon to fulfil the terms of the +treaty and recommend to the several independent states the restoration +of the confiscated property of Loyalists. Even persons who had taken up +arms were to have an opportunity of receiving their estates back on +condition of refunding the money which had been paid for them, and +protection was to be afforded to those persons during twelve months +while they were engaged in obtaining the restoration of their property. +It was also solemnly agreed by the sixth article of the treaty that +there should be no future confiscations or prosecutions, and that no +person should "suffer any future loss or damage, either in his person, +liberty or property," for the part he might have taken in the war. Now +was the time for generous terms, such terms as were even shown by the +triumphant North to the rebellious South at the close of the war of +secession. The recommendations of congress were treated with contempt by +the legislatures in all the states except in South Carolina, and even +there the popular feeling was entirely opposed to any favour or justice +being shown to the beaten party. The sixth article of the treaty, a +solemn obligation, was violated with malice and premeditation. The +Loyalists, many of whom had returned from Great Britain with the hope of +receiving back their estates, or of being allowed to remain in the +country, soon found they could expect no generous treatment from the +successful republicans. The favourite Whig occupation of tarring and +feathering was renewed. Loyalists were warned to leave the country as +soon as possible, and in the south some were shot and hanged because +they did not obey the warning. The Loyalists, for the most part, had no +other course open to them than to leave the country they still loved and +where they had hoped to die. + +The British government endeavoured, so far as it was in its power, to +compensate the Loyalists for the loss of their property by liberal +grants of money and land, but despite all that was done for them the +majority felt a deep bitterness in their hearts as they landed on new +shores of which they had heard most depressing accounts. More than +thirty-five thousand men, women and children, made their homes within +the limits of the present Dominion. In addition to these actual American +Loyalists, there were several thousands of negroes, fugitives from their +owners, or servants of the exiles, who have been generally counted in +the loose estimates made of the migration of 1783, and the greater +number of whom were at a later time deported from Nova Scotia to Sierra +Leone. Of the exiles at least twenty-five thousand went to the maritime +colonies, and built up the province of New Brunswick, where +representative institutions were established in 1784. Of the ten +thousand people who sought the valley of the St Lawrence, some settled +in Montreal, at Chambly, and in parts of the present Eastern Townships, +but the great majority accepted grants of land on the banks of the St. +Lawrence--from River Beaudette, on Lake St. Francis, as far as the +beautiful Bay of Quinté--in the Niagara District, and on the shores of +Lake Erie. The coming of these people, subsequently known by the name of +"U.E. Loyalists"--a name appropriately given to them in recognition of +their fidelity to a United Empire--was a most auspicious event for the +British-American provinces, the greater part of which was still a +wilderness. As we have seen in the previous chapters, there was in the +Acadian provinces, afterwards divided into New Brunswick and Nova +Scotia, a British population of only some 14,000 souls, mostly confined +to the peninsula. In the valley of the St. Lawrence there was a French +population of probably 100,000 persons, dwelling chiefly on the banks of +the St. Lawrence between Quebec and Montreal. The total British +population of the province of Quebec did not exceed 2000, residing for +the most part in the towns of Quebec and Montreal. No English people +were found west of Lake St. Louis; and what is now the populous province +of Ontario was a mere wilderness, except where loyal refugees had +gathered about the English fort at Niagara, or a few French settlers had +made homes for themselves on the banks of the Detroit River and Lake St. +Clair. The migration of between 30,000 and 40,000 Loyalists to the +maritime provinces and the valley of the St. Lawrence was the saving of +British interests in the great region which England still happily +retained in North America. + +The refugees who arrived in Halifax in 1783 were so numerous that +hundreds had to be placed in the churches or in cabooses taken from the +transports and ranged along the streets. At Guysborough, in Nova +Scotia--so named after Sir Guy Carleton--the first village, which was +hastily built by the settlers, was destroyed by a bush fire, and many +persons only saved their lives by rushing into the sea. At Shelburne, on +the first arrival of the exiles, there were seen "lines of women sitting +on the rocky shore and weeping at their altered condition." Towns and +villages, however, were soon built for the accommodation of the people. +At Shelburne, or Port Roseway--anglicised from the French _Razoir_--a +town of fourteen thousand people, with wide streets, fine houses, some +of them containing furniture and mantel-pieces brought from New York, +arose in two or three years. The name of New Jerusalem had been given to +the same locality some years before, but it seemed a mockery to the +Loyalists when they found that the place they had chosen for their new +home was quite unsuited for settlement. A beautiful harbour lay in +front, and a rocky country unfit for farmers in the rear of their +ambitious town, which at one time was the most populous in British North +America. In the course of a few years the place was almost deserted, and +sank for a time into insignificance. A pretty town now nestles by the +side of the beautiful and spacious harbour which attracted the first too +hopeful settlers; and its residents point out to the tourist the sites +of the buildings of last century, one or two of which still stand, and +can show many documents and relics of those early days. + +Over twelve thousand Loyalists, largely drawn from the disbanded loyal +regiments of the old colonies, settled in New Brunswick. The name of +Parrtown was first given, in honour of the governor of Nova Scotia, to +the infant settlement which became the city of St. John, in 1785, when +it was incorporated. The first landing of the loyal pioneers took place +on the 18th of May, 1783, at what is now the Market Slip of this +interesting city. Previous to 1783, the total population of the province +did not exceed seven hundred souls, chiefly at Maugerville and other +places on the great river. The number of Loyalists who settled on the +St. John River was at least ten thousand, of whom the greater proportion +were established at the mouth of the river, which was the base of +operations for the peopling of the new province. Some adventurous +spirits took possession of the abandoned French settlements at Grimross +and St. Anne's, where they repaired some ruined huts of the original +Acadian occupants, or built temporary cabins. This was the beginning of +the settlement of Fredericton, which four years later became the +political capital on account of its central position, its greater +security in time of war, and its location on the land route to Quebec. +Many of the people spent their first winter in log-huts, bark camps, and +tents covered with spruce, or rendered habitable only by the heavy banks +of snow which were piled against them. A number of persons died through +exposure, and "strong, proud men"--to quote the words of one who lived +in those sorrowful days--"wept like children and lay down in their +snow-bound tents to die." + +A small number of loyal refugees had found their way to the valley of +the St. Lawrence as early as 1778, and obtained employment in the +regiments organised under Sir John Johnson and others. It was not until +1783 and 1784 that the large proportion of the exiles came to Western +Canada. They settled chiefly on the northern banks of the St. Lawrence, +in what are now the counties of Glengarry, Stormont, Dundas, Grenville, +Leeds, Frontenac, Addington, Lennox, Hastings and Prince Edward, where +their descendants have acquired wealth and positions of honour and +trust. The first township laid out in Upper Canada, now Ontario, was +Kingston. The beautiful Bay of Quinté is surrounded by a country full of +the memories of this people, and the same is true of the picturesque +district of Niagara. + +Among the Loyalists of Canada must also be honourably mentioned Joseph +Brant (Thayendanega), the astute and courageous chief of the Mohawks, +the bravest nation of the Iroquois confederacy, who fought on the side +of England during the war. At its close he and his people settled in +Canada, where they received large grants from the government, some in a +township by the Bay of Quinté, which still bears the Indian title of the +great warrior, and the majority on the Grand River, where a beautiful +city and county perpetuate the memory of this loyal subject of the +British crown. The first Anglican church built in Upper Canada was that +of the Mohawks, near Brantford, and here the church bell first broke the +silence of the illimitable forest. + +The difficulties which the Upper Canadian immigrants had to undergo +before reaching their destination were much greater than was the case +with the people who went direct in ships from American ports to Halifax +and other places on the Atlantic coast. The former had to make toilsome +journeys by land, or by _bateaux_ and canoes up the St. Lawrence, the +Richelieu, the Genesee, and other streams which gave access from the +interior of the United States to the new Canadian land. The British +government did its best to supply the wants of the population suddenly +thrown upon its charitable care, but, despite all that could be done for +them in the way of food and means of fighting the wilderness, they +suffered naturally a great deal of hardship. The most influential +immigration found its way to the maritime provinces, where many received +congenial employment and adequate salaries in the new government of New +Brunswick. Many others, with the wrecks of their fortunes or the +pecuniary aid granted them by the British government, were able to make +comfortable homes and cultivate estates in the valleys of the St. John +and Annapolis, and in other fertile parts of the lower provinces. Of the +large population that founded Shelburne a few returned to the United +States, but the greater number scattered all over the provinces. The +settlers in Upper Canada had to suffer many trials for years after their +arrival, and especially in a year of famine, when large numbers had to +depend on wild fruits and roots. Indeed, had it not been for the fish +and game which were found in some, but not in all, places, starvation +and death would have been the lot of many hundreds of helpless people. + +Many of the refugees could trace their descent to the early immigration +that founded the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay. Some were +connected with the Cavalier and Church families of Virginia. Others were +of the blood of persecuted Huguenots and German Protestants from the +Rhenish or Lower Palatinate. Not a few were Highland Scotchmen, who had +been followers of the Stuarts, and yet fought for King George and the +British connection during the American revolution. Among the number were +notable Anglican clergymen, eminent judges and lawyers, and probably one +hundred graduates of Harvard, Yale, King's, Pennsylvania, and William +and Mary Colleges. In the records of industrial enterprise, of social +and intellectual progress, of political development for a hundred +years, we find the names of many eminent men, sprung from these people, +to whom Canada owes a deep debt of gratitude for the services they +rendered her in the most critical period of her chequered history. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS (1784--1812). + + +SECTION I--Beginnings of the provinces of New Brunswick, Lower Canada +and Upper Canada. + +On the 16th August, 1784, as a consequence of the coming of over ten +thousand Loyalists to the valley of the St. John River, a new province +was formed out of that portion of the ancient limits of Acadia, which +extended northward from the isthmus of Chignecto to the province of +Quebec, and eastward from the uncertain boundary of the St. Croix to the +Gulf of St. Lawrence. It received its present name in honour of the +Brunswick-Luneburg or Hanoverian line which had given a royal dynasty to +England, and its first governor was Colonel Thomas Carleton, a brother +of the distinguished governor-general, whose name is so intimately +associated with the fortunes of Canada during a most critical period of +its history. The first executive council, which was also the legislative +council, comprised some of the most eminent men of the Loyalist +migration. For instance, George Duncan Ludlow; who had been a judge of +the supreme court of New York; Jonathan Odell, the famous satirist and +divine; William Hazen, a merchant of high reputation, who had large +interests on the St. John River from 1763, and had proved his fidelity +to the crown at a time when his countrymen at Maugerville were disposed +to join the revolutionary party; Gabriel G. Ludlow, previously a colonel +in a royal regiment; Edward Winslow, Daniel Bliss and Isaac Allen, all +of whom had borne arms in the royal service and had suffered the loss of +valuable property, confiscated by the successful rebels. + +The constitution of 1784 provided for an assembly of twenty-six members +who were elected in 1785, and met for the first time on the 3rd of +January, 1786, at the Mallard House, a plain two-storey building on the +north side of King Street. The city of St. John ceased to be the seat of +government in 1787, when the present capital, Fredericton, first known +as St. Anne's, was chosen. Of the twenty-six members elected to this +assembly, twenty-three were Loyalists, and the same class necessarily +continued for many years to predominate in the legislature. The first +speaker was Amos Botsford, the pioneer of the Loyalist migration to New +Brunswick, whose grandson occupied the same position for a short time in +the senate of the Dominion of Canada. + +Coming to the province of Lower Canada we find it contained at this time +a population of about a hundred thousand souls, of whom six thousand +lived in Quebec and Montreal respectively. Only two thousand +English-speaking persons resided in the province, almost entirely in the +towns. Small as was the British minority, it continued that agitation +for an assembly which had been commenced long before the passage of the +Quebec act. A nominated council did not satisfy the political ambition +of this class, who obtained little support from the French Canadian +people. The objections of the latter arose from the working of the act +itself. Difficulties had grown up in the administration of the law, +chiefly in consequence of its being entrusted exclusively to men +acquainted only with English jurisprudence, and not disposed to comply +with the letter and intention of the imperial statute. As a matter of +practice, French law was only followed as equity suggested; and the +consequence was great legal confusion in the province. A question had +also arisen as to the legality of the issue of writs of _habeas corpus_, +and it was eventually necessary to pass an ordinance to remove all +doubts on this important point. + +The Loyalist settlers on the St. Lawrence and Niagara Rivers sent a +petition in 1785 to the home government, praying for the establishment +of a new district west of the River Beaudette "with the blessings of +British laws and British government, and of exemption from French tenure +of property." While such matters were under the consideration of the +imperial authorities, Sir Guy Carleton, once more governor-general of +Canada, and lately raised to the peerage as Lord Dorchester, +established, in 1788, five new districts for the express object of +providing for the temporary government of the territory where the +Loyalists had settled. These districts were known as Luneburg, +Mecklenburg, Nassau and Hesse, in the western country, and Gaspé in the +extreme east of the province of Quebec, where a small number of the same +class of people had also found new homes. Townships, ranging from eighty +to forty thousand acres each, were also surveyed within these districts +and parcelled out with great liberality among the Loyalists. Magistrates +wore appointed to administer justice with the simplest possible +machinery at a time when men trained in the law were not available. + +The grants of land made to the Loyalists and their children were large, +and in later years a considerable portion passed into the hands of +speculators who bought them up at nominal sums. It was in connection +with these grants that the name of "United Empire Loyalists" originated. +An order-in-council was passed on the 9th of November, 1780, in +accordance with the wish of Lord Dorchester "to put a mark of honour +upon the families who had adhered to the _unity of the empire_ and +joined the royal standard in America before the treaty of separation in +1783." Accordingly the names of all persons falling under this +designation were to be recorded as far as possible, in order that "their +posterity may be discriminated from future settlers in the parish lists +and rolls of militia of their respective districts, and other public +remembrances of the province." + +The British cabinet, of which Mr. Pitt, the famous son of the Earl of +Chatham, was first minister, now decided to divide the province of +Quebec into two districts, with separate legislatures and governments. +Lord Grenville, while in charge of the department of colonial affairs, +wrote in 1789 to Lord Dorchester that the "general object of the plan is +to assimilate the constitution of the province to that of Great Britain +as nearly as the differences arising from the names of the people and +from the present situation of the province will admit." He also +emphatically expressed the opinion that "a considerable degree of +attention is due to the prejudices and habits of the French inhabitants, +and every degree of caution should be used to continue to them the +enjoyment of those civil and religious rights which were secured to them +by the capitulation of the province, or have since been granted by the +liberal and enlightened spirit of the British government." When the bill +for the formation of the two provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada +came before the house of commons, Mr. Adam Lymburner, an influential +merchant of Quebec, appeared at the Bar and ably opposed the separation +"as dangerous in every point of view to British interests in America, +and to the safety, tranquillity and prosperity of the inhabitants of the +province of Quebec" He pressed the repeal of the Quebec act in its +entirety and the enactment of a perfectly new constitution "unclogged +and unembarrassed with any laws prior to this period" He professed to +represent the views "of the most intelligent and respectable of the +French Canadians"; but their antagonism was not directed against the +Quebec act in itself, but against the administration of the law, +influenced as this was by the opposition of the British people to the +French civil code. Nor does it appear, as Mr. Lymburner asserted, that +the western Loyalists were hostile to the formation of two distinct +provinces. He represented simply the views of the English-speaking +inhabitants of Lower Canada, who believed that the proposed division +would place them in a very small minority in the legislature and, as the +issue finally proved, at the mercy of the great majority of the French +Canadian representatives, while on the other hand the formation of one +large province extending from Gaspé to the head of the great lakes would +ensure an English representation sufficiently formidable to lessen the +danger of French Canadian domination. However, the British government +seems to have been actuated by a sincere desire to do justice to the +French Canadians and the Loyalists of the upper province at one and the +same time. When introducing the bill in the house of commons on the 7th +March, 1791, Mr. Pitt expressed the hope that "the division would remove +the differences of opinion which had arisen between the old and new +inhabitants, since each province would have the right of enacting laws +desired in its own house of assembly." He believed a division to be +essential, as "otherwise he could not reconcile the clashing interests +known to exist." Mr. Burke was of opinion that "to attempt to amalgamate +two populations composed of races of men diverse in language, laws and +customs, was a complete absurdity", and he consequently approved of the +division. Mr. Fox, from whom Burke became alienated during this debate, +looked at the question in an entirely different light and was strongly +of opinion that "it was most desirable to see the French and English +inhabitants coalesce into one body, and the different distinctions of +people extinguished for ever." + +The Constitutional act of 1791 established in each province a +legislative council and assembly, with powers to make laws. The +legislative council was to be appointed by the king for life, in Upper +Canada it was to consist of not less than seven, and in Lower Canada of +not less than fifteen members. The sovereign might, if he thought +proper, annex hereditary titles of honour to the right of being summoned +to the legislative council in either province--a provision which was +never brought into operation. The whole number of members in the +assembly of Upper Canada was not to be less than sixteen; in Lower +Canada not less than fifty--to be chosen by a majority of votes in +either case. The British parliament reserved to itself the right of +levying and collecting customs-duties, for the regulation of navigation +and commerce to be carried on between the two provinces, or between +either of them and any other part of the British dominions or any +foreign country. Parliament also reserved the power of directing the +payment of these duties, but at the same time left the exclusive +apportionment of all moneys levied in this way to the legislature, which +could apply them to such public uses as it might deem expedient. The +free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion was guaranteed permanently. +The king was to have the right to set apart, for the use of the +Protestant clergy in the colony, a seventh part of all uncleared crown +lands. The governor might also be empowered to erect parsonages and +endow them, and to present incumbents or ministers of the Church of +England. The English criminal law was to obtain in both provinces. + +In the absence of Lord Dorchester in England, the duty devolved on +Major-General Alured Clarke, as lieutenant-governor, to bring the Lower +Canadian constitution into force by a proclamation on the 18th February, +1791. On the 7th May, in the following year, the new province of Lower +Canada was divided into fifty electoral districts, composed of +twenty-one counties, the towns of Montreal and Quebec, and the boroughs +of Three Rivers and William Henry (now Sorel). The elections to the +assembly took place in June, and a legislative council of fifteen +influential Canadians was appointed. The new legislature was convoked +"for the despatch of business" on the 17th December, in the same year, +in an old stone building known as the Bishop's Palace, which stood on a +rocky eminence in the upper town of the old capital. + +Chief Justice Smith took the chair of the legislative council under +appointment by the crown, and the assembly elected as its speaker Mr. +Joseph Antome Panet, an eminent advocate, who was able to speak the two +languages. In the house there were only sixteen members of British +origin--and in later parliaments there was even a still smaller +representation--while the council was nearly divided between the two +nationalities. When the house proceeded to business, one of its first +acts was to order that all motions, bills and other proceedings should +be put in the two languages. We find in the list of French Canadian +members of the two houses representatives of the most ancient and +distinguished families of the province. A descendant of Pierre Boucher, +governor of Three Rivers in 1653, and the author of a rare history of +Canada, sat in the council of 1792 just as a Boucherville sits +now-a-days in the senate of the Dominion. A Lotbinière had been king's +councillor in 1680. A Chaussegros de Lery had been an engineer in the +royal colonial corps; a Lanaudière had been an officer in the Carignan +regiment in 1652; a Salaberry was a captain in the royal navy, and his +family won further honours on the field of Chateauguay in the war of +1812-15, when the soil of Lower Canada was invaded. A Taschereau had +been a royal councillor in 1732. The names of Belestre, Valtric, Bonne, +Rouville, St. Ours, and Duchesnay, are often met in the annals of the +French régime, and show the high character of the representation in the +first parliament of Lower Canada. + +The village of Newark was chosen as the capital of Upper Canada by +Colonel (afterwards Major-General) Simcoe, the first lieutenant-governor +of the province. He had served with much distinction during the +revolution as the commander of the Queen's Rangers, some of whom had +settled in the Niagara district. He was remarkable for his decision of +character and for his ardent desire to establish the principles of +British government in the new province. He was a sincere friend of the +Loyalists, whose attachment to the crown he had had many opportunities +of appreciating during his career in the rebellious colonies, and, +consequently, was an uncompromising opponent of the new republic and of +the people who were labouring to make it a success on the other side of +the border. The new parliament met in a wooden building nearly completed +on the sloping bank of the river, at a spot subsequently covered by a +rampart of Fort George, which was constructed by Governor Simcoe on the +surrender of Fort Niagara. A large boulder has been placed on the top of +the rampart to mark the site of the humble parliament house of Upper +Canada, which had to be eventually demolished to make place for new +fortifications. The sittings of the first legislature were not +unfrequently held under a large tent set up in front of the house, and +having an interesting history of its own, since it had been carried +around the world by the famous navigator, Captain Cook. + +As soon as Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe assumed the direction of the +government, he issued a proclamation dividing the province of Upper +Canada into nineteen counties, some of winch were again divided into +ridings for the purpose of electing the sixteen representatives to which +the province was entitled under the act of 1791. One of the first acts +of the legislature was to change the names of the divisions, proclaimed +in 1788, to Eastern, Midland, Home, and Western Districts, which +received additions in the course of years until they were entirely +superseded by the county organisations. These districts were originally +intended for judicial and legal purposes. + +The legislature met under these humble circumstances at Newark on the +17th September, 1792. Chief Justice Osgoode was the speaker of the +council, and Colonel John Macdonell, of Aberchalder, who had gallantly +served in the royal forces during the revolution, was chosen presiding +officer of the assembly. Besides him, there were eleven Loyalists among +the sixteen members of the lower house. In the council of nine members +there were also several Loyalists, the most prominent being the +Honourable Richard Cartwright, the grandfather of the minister of trade +and commerce in the Dominion ministry of 1896-1900. + + +SECTION 2.--Twenty years of political development (1792-1812). + +The political conditions of the two decades from 1792 until 1812, when +war broke out between England and the United States, were for the +greater part of the time quite free from political agitation, and the +representatives of the people in both the provinces of Canada were +mostly occupied with the consideration of measures of purely provincial +and local import. Nevertheless a year or two before the close of this +period we can see in the province of Lower Canada premonitions of that +irrepressible conflict between the two houses--one elected by the +people and the other nominated by and under the influence of the +crown--which eventually clogged the machinery of legislation. We can +also see the beginnings of that strife of races which ultimately led to +bloodshed and the suspension of the constitution given to Lower Canada +in 1791. + +In 1806 _Le Canadien_, published in the special interest of "Nos +institutions, notre langue, et nos lois," commenced that career of +bitter hostility to the government which steadily inflamed the +antagonism between the races. The arrogance of the principal officials, +who had the ear of the governor, and practically engrossed all the +influence in the management of public affairs, alienated the French +Canadians, who came to believe that they were regarded by the British as +an inferior race. As a matter of fact, many of the British inhabitants +themselves had no very cordial feelings towards the officials, whose +social exclusiveness offended all who did not belong to their special +"set." In those days the principal officials were appointed by the +colonial office and the governor-general, and had little or no respect +for the assembly, on which they depended in no wise for their +continuance in office or their salaries. The French Canadians eventually +made few distinctions among the British but looked on them as, generally +speaking, enemies to their institutions. + +It was unfortunate, at a time when great discretion and good temper were +so essential, that Sir James Craig should have been entrusted with the +administration of the government of Lower Canada. The critical state of +relations with the United States no doubt influenced his appointment, +which, from a purely military point of view, was excellent. As it was, +however, his qualities as a soldier were not called into requisition, +while his want of political experience, his utter incapacity to +understand the political conditions of the country, his supreme +indifference to the wishes of the assembly, made his administration an +egregious failure. Indeed it may he said that it was during his time +that the seed was sown for the growth of that political and racial +antagonism which led to the rebellion of 1837. It is not possible to +exaggerate the importance of the consequences of his unjustifiable +dismissal of Mr. Speaker Panet, and other prominent French Canadians, +from the militia on the ground that they had an interest in the +_Canadien_, or of his having followed up this very indiscreet act by the +unwarrantable arrest of Mr. Bedard and some other persons, on the charge +that they were the authors or publishers of what he declared to be +treasonable writings. It is believed that the governor's action was +largely influenced by the statements and advice of Chief Justice Sewell, +the head of the legislative council and the official class. Several +persons were released when they expressed regret for the expression of +any opinions considered extreme by the governor and his advisers, but +Mr. Bedard remained in prison for a year rather than directly or +indirectly admit that the governor had any justification for his +arbitrary act Sir James attempted to obtain the approval of the home +government; but his agent, a Mr. Ryland, a man of ability and suavity, +prominent always in the official life of the country, signally failed to +obtain the endorsement of his master's action. He was unable to secure a +promise that the constitution of 1791 should be repealed, and the +legislative council of the Quebec act again given the supremacy in the +province. Mr. Bedard was released just before the governor left the +country, with the declaration that "his detention had been a matter of +precaution and not of punishment"--by no means a manly or graceful +withdrawal from what was assuredly a most untenable position from the +very first moment Mr. Bedard was thrown into prison. Sir James Craig +left the province a disappointed man, and died in England a few months +after his return, from the effects of an incurable disease to which he +had been a victim for many years. He was hospitable, generous and +charitable, but the qualities of a soldier dominated all his acts of +civil government. + +In the other provinces, happily, there were no racial differences to +divide the community and aggravate those political disputes that are +sure to arise in the working of representative institutions in a British +country. In Upper Canada for years the questions under discussion were +chiefly connected with the disposal of the public lands, which in early +times were too lavishly granted by Simcoe; and this led to the bringing +in for a while of some undesirable immigrants from the United States +--undesirable because they were imbued with republican and levelling +ideas by no means favourable to the development and stability of English +institutions of government. One of the first acts of the legislature was +the establishment of courts of law and equity, in accordance with the +practice and principles of English jurisprudence. Another very important +measure was one for the legalisation of marriages which had been +irregularly performed during early times in the absence of the clergy of +the Anglican Church by justices of the peace, and even the officers in +charge of military posts. Magistrates were still allowed to perform the +marriage ceremony according to the ritual of the Church of England, when +the services of a clergyman of that denomination were not available. Not +until 1830 were more liberal provisions passed and the clergy of any +recognised creed permitted to unite persons legally in wedlock. + +It was in the second session of the first parliament of Upper Canada, +where the Loyalists were in so huge a majority, that an act was passed +"to prevent the further introduction of slaves and to limit the term of +contract for servitude within this province." A considerable number of +slave servants accompanied their Loyalist masters to the provinces at +the end of the war, and we find for many years after in the newspapers +advertisements relating to runaway servants of this class. The Loyalists +in the maritime provinces, like the same class in Upper Canada, never +gave their approval to the continuance of slavery. So early as 1800 some +prominent persons brought before the supreme court of New Brunswick the +case of one Nancy Morton, a slave, on a writ of _habeas corpus_; and her +right to freedom was argued by Ward Chipmim, one of the Loyalist makers +of New Brunswick. Although the argument in this case was not followed by +a judicial conclusion--the four judges being divided in opinion--slavery +thereafter practically ceased to exist, not only in New Brunswick, but +in the other maritime provinces, leaving behind it a memory so faint, +that the mere suggestion that there ever was a slave in either of these +provinces is very generally received with surprise, if not with +incredulity. + +The early history of representative government in Prince Edward Island +is chiefly a dull narrative of political conflict between the governors +and the assemblies, and of difficulties and controversies arising out of +the extraordinary concessions of lands to a few proprietors, who +generally infringed the conditions of their grants and retarded the +settlement of the island. In New Brunswick the legislature was entirely +occupied with the consideration of measures for the administration of +justice and local affairs in an entirely new country. Party government +had not yet declared itself, and the Loyalists who had founded the +province controlled the legislature for many years until a spirit of +liberalism and reform found full expression and led to the enlargement +of the public liberty. + +In Nova Scotia the Loyalists gradually acquired considerable influence +in the government of the province, as the imperial authorities felt it +incumbent on them to provide official positions for those men who had +sacrificed so much for the empire. Their power was increased after the +arrival of Governor John Wentworth--afterwards made a baronet--who had +been the royal governor of New Hampshire, and had naturally a strong +antipathy to democratic principles in any form. In his time there grew +up an official oligarchy, chiefly composed of members of the legislative +council, then embodying within itself executive, legislative and +judicial powers. A Liberal party soon arose in Nova Scotia, not only +among the early New England settlers of the time of Governor Lawrence, +but among the Loyalists themselves, for it is inevitable that wherever +we find an English people, the spirit of popular liberty and the +determination to enjoy self-government in a complete sense will sooner +or later assert itself among all classes of men. The first prominent +leader of the opposition to the Tory methods of the government was one +William Cottnam Tonge, who was for some years in the employ of the naval +department. Sir John Wentworth carried his hostility to the extent of +dismissing him from his naval office and also of refusing to accept him +as speaker of the assembly--the first example in colonial history of an +extreme exercise of the royal prerogative by a governor. Mr. Tonge's +only crime appears to have been his bold assertion from time to time of +the privileges of the house of assembly, as the guardian of the revenues +and expenditures, against the interference of the governor and council. +We find in Nova Scotia, as in the other provinces, during the period in +question, the elements of perpetual discord, which found more serious +expression after the war of 1812-15, and led to important constitutional +changes. + +The governors of those times became, from the very nature of their +position, so many provincial autocrats, brought constantly into +conflict with the popular body, and unable to conceive any system of +government possible that did not place the province directly under the +control of the imperial authorities, to whom appeals must be made in the +most trivial cases of doubt or difficulty. The representative of the +crown brooked no interference on the part of the assembly with what he +considered his prerogatives and rights, and as a rule threw himself into +the arms of the council, composed of the official oligarchy. In the +course of time, the whole effort of the Liberal or Reform party, which +gathered strength after 1815, was directed against the power of the +legislative council. We hear nothing in the assemblies or the literature +of the period under review in advocacy of the system of parliamentary or +responsible government which was then in existence in the parent state +and which we now enjoy in British North America. In fact, it was not +until the beginning of the fourth decade of the nineteenth century that +the Liberal politicians of Nova Scotia, like those of Upper Canada, +recognised that the real remedy for existing political grievances was to +be found in the harmonious operation of the three branches of the +legislature. Even then we look in vain for an enunciation of this +essential principle of representative government in the speeches or +writings of a single French Canadian from 1791 until 1838, when the +constitution of Lower Canada was suspended as a result of rebellion. + +During the twenty years of which I am writing the government of Canada +had much reason for anxiety on account of the unsatisfactory state of +the relations between Great Britain and the United States, and of the +attempts of French emissaries after the outbreak of the revolution in +France to stir up sedition in Lower Canada. One of the causes of the war +of 1812-15 was undoubtedly the irritation that was caused by the +retention of the western posts by Great Britain despite the stipulation +in the definitive treaty of peace to give them up "with all convenient +speed." This policy of delay was largely influenced by the fact that the +new republic had failed to take effective measures for the restitution +of the estates of the Loyalists or for the payment of debts due to +British creditors; but in addition there was probably still, as in 1763 +and 1774, a desire to control the fur-trade and the Indians of the west, +who claimed that the lands between the Canadian frontier and the Ohio +were exclusively their hunting-grounds, not properly included within the +territory ceded to the United States. Jay's treaty, arranged in 1794, +with the entire approval of Washington, who thereby incurred the +hostility of the anti-British party, was a mere temporary expedient for +tiding over the difficulties between England and the United States. Its +most important result so far as it affected Canada was the giving up in +1797 of the western posts including Old Fort Niagara. It became then +necessary to remove the seat of government from Niagara, as an insecure +position, and York, which regained its original Indian name of Toronto +in 1834, was chosen as the capital by Lord Dorchester in preference to a +place suggested by Simcoe on the Tranche, now the Thames, near where +London now stands. The second parliament of Upper Canada met in York on +the first of June, 1797, when Mr. Russell, who had been secretary to Sir +Henry Clinton during the American war, was administrator of the +government after the departure of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe from a +province whose interests he had so deeply at heart. + +After the declaration of war against England by the republican +convention of France in 1793, French agents found their way into the +French parishes of Lower Canada, and endeavoured to make the credulous +and ignorant _habitants_ believe that France would soon regain dominion +in her old colony. During General Prescott's administration, one McLane, +who was said to be not quite mentally responsible for his acts, was +convicted at Quebec for complicity in the designs of French agents, and +was executed near St. John's gate with all the revolting incidents of a +traitor's death in those relentless times. His illiterate accomplice, +Frechétte, was sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was soon released +on the grounds of his ignorance of the serious crime he was committing. +No doubt in these days some restlessness existed in the French Canadian +districts, and the English authorities found it difficult for a time to +enforce the provisions of the militia act. Happily for the peace and +security of Canada, the influence of the Bishop and Roman Catholic +clergy, who looked with horror on the murderous acts of the +revolutionists of France, was successfully exerted for the support of +British rule, whose justice and benignity their church had felt ever +since the conquest. The name of Bishop Plessis must always be mentioned +in terms of sincere praise by every English writer who reviews the +history of those trying times, when British interests would have been +more than once in jeopardy had it not been for the loyal conduct of this +distinguished prelate and the priests under his direction. + +I shall now proceed to narrate the events of the unfortunate war which +broke out in 1812 between England and the United States, as a result of +the unsettled relations of years, and made Canada a battle ground on +which were given many illustrations of the patriotism and devotion of +the Canadian people, whose conquest, the invaders thought, would be a +very easy task. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE WAR OF 1812--15. + + +SECTION I.--Origin of the war between England and the United States. + +The causes of the war of 1812-15 must be sought in the history of Europe +and the relations between England and the United States for several +decades before it actually broke out. Great Britain was engaged in a +supreme struggle not only for national existence but even for the +liberties of Europe, from the moment when Napoleon, in pursuance of his +overweening ambition, led his armies over the continent on those +victorious marches which only ended amid the ice and snow of Russia. +Britain's battles were mainly to be fought on the sea where her great +fleet made her supreme. The restriction of all commerce that was not +British was a necessary element in the assertion of her naval +superiority. If neutral nations were to be allowed freely to carry the +produce of the colonies of Powers with whom Great Britain was at war, +then they were practically acting as allies of her enemies, and were +liable to search and seizure. For some time, however, Great Britain +thought it expedient to concur in the practice that when a cargo was +trans-shipped in the United States, and paid a duty there, it became to +all intents and purposes American property and might be carried to a +foreign country and there sold, as if it were the actual produce of the +republic itself. This became a very profitable business to the merchants +of the United States, as a neutral nation, during the years when Great +Britain was at war with France, since they controlled a large proportion +of all foreign commerce. Frauds constantly occurred during the +continuance of this traffic, and at last British statesmen felt the +injury to their commerce was so great that the practice was changed to +one which made American vessels liable to be seized and condemned in +British prize courts whenever it was clear that their cargoes were not +American produce, but were actually purchased at the port of an enemy. +Even provisions purchased from an enemy or its colonies were considered +"contraband of war" on the ground that they afforded actual aid and +encouragement to an enemy. The United States urged at first that only +military stores could fall under this category, and eventually went so +far as to assert the principle that under all circumstances "free ships +make free goods," and that neutral ships had a right to carry any +property, even that of a nation at war with another power, and to trade +when and where they liked without fear of capture. England, however, +would not admit in those days of trial principles which would +practically make a neutral nation an ally of her foe. She persisted in +restricting the commerce of the United States by all the force she had +upon the sea. + +This restrictive policy, which touched the American pocket and +consequently the American heart so deeply, was complicated by another +question of equal, if not greater, import. The forcible impressment of +men to man the British fleet had been for many years a necessary evil in +view of the national emergency, and of the increase in the mercantile +marine which attracted large numbers to its service. Great abuses were +perpetrated in the operation of this harsh method of maintaining an +efficient naval force, and there was no part of the British Isles where +the presence of a press gang did not bring dismay into many a home. +Great Britain, then and for many years later, upheld to an extreme +degree the doctrine of perpetual allegiance; she refused to recognise +the right of any of her citizens to divest themselves of their national +fealty and become by naturalisation the subject of a foreign power or a +citizen of the United States Such a doctrine was necessarily most +obnoxious to the government and people of a new republic like the United +States, whose future development rested on the basis of a steady and +large immigration, which lost much of its strength and usefulness as +long as the men who came into the country were not recognised as +American citizens at home and abroad. Great Britain claimed the right, +as a corollary of this doctrine of indefeasible allegiance, to search +the neutral ships of the United States during the war with France, to +enquire into the nationality of the seaman on board of those vessels, to +impress all those whom her officers had reason to consider British +subjects by birth, and to pay no respect to the fact that they may have +been naturalised in the country of their adoption. The assertion of the +right to search a neutral vessel and to impress seamen who were British +subjects has in these modern times been condemned as a breach of the +sound principle, that a right of search can only be properly exercised +in the case of a neutral's violation of his neutrality--that is to say, +the giving of aid to one of the parties to the war The forcible +abduction of a seaman under the circumstances stated was simply an +unwarrantable attempt to enforce municipal law on board a neutral +vessel, which was in effect foreign territory, to be regarded as sacred +and inviolate except in a case where it was brought under the operation +of a recognised doctrine of international law. Great Britain at that +critical period of her national existence would not look beyond the fact +that the acts of the United States as a neutral were most antagonistic +to the energetic efforts she was making to maintain her naval supremacy +during the European crisis created by Napoleon's ambitious designs. + +The desertion of British seamen from British ships, for the purpose of +finding refuge in the United States and then taking service in American +vessels, caused great irritation in Great Britain and justified, in the +opinion of some statesmen and publicists who only regarded national +necessities, the harsh and arbitrary manner in which English officials +stopped and searched American shipping on the high seas, seized men whom +they claimed to be deserters, and impressed any whom they asserted to be +still British subjects. In 1807 the British frigate "Leopard," acting +directly under the orders of the admiral at Halifax, even ventured to +fire a broadside into the United States cruiser "Chesapeake" a few miles +from Chesapeake Bay, killed and wounded a number of her crew, and then +carried off several sailors who were said to be, and no doubt were, +deserters from the English service and who were the primary cause of the +detention of this American man-of-war. For this unjustifiable act +England subsequently made some reparation, but nevertheless it rankled +for years in the minds of the party hostile to Great Britain and helped +to swell the list of grievances which the American government in the +course of years accumulated against the parent state as a reason for +war. + +The difficulties between England and the United States, which culminated +in war before the present century was far advanced, were also +intensified by disputes which commenced soon after the treaty of 1783. I +have already shown that for some years the north-west posts were still +retained by the English on the ground, it is understood, that the claims +of English creditors, and especially those of the Loyalists, should be +first settled before all the conditions of the treaty could be carried +out. The subsequent treaty of 1794, negotiated by Chief Justice Jay, +adjusted these and other questions, and led for some years to a better +understanding with Great Britain, but at the same time led to a rupture +of friendly relations with the French Directory, who demanded the repeal +of that treaty as in conflict with the one made with France in 1778, and +looked for some tangible evidence of sympathetic interest with the +French revolution. The war that followed with the French republic was +insignificant in its operations, and was immediately terminated by +Napoleon when he overthrew the Directory, and seized the government for +his own ambitious objects. Subsequently, the administration of the +United States refused to renew the Jay Treaty when it duly expired, and +as a consequence the relatively amicable relations that had existed +between the Republic and England again became critical, since American +commerce and shipping were exposed to all the irritating measures that +England felt compelled under existing conditions to carry out in +pursuance of the policy of restricting the trade of neutral vessels. +Several attempts were made by the British government, between the expiry +of the Jay Treaty and the actual rupture of friendly relations with the +United States, to come to a better understanding with respect to some of +the questions in dispute, but the differences between the two Powers +were so radical that all negotiations came to naught. Difficulties were +also complicated by the condition of political parties in the American +republic and the ambition of American statesmen. When the democratic +republicans or "Strict constructionists," as they have been happily +named, with Jefferson at their head, obtained office, French ideas came +into favour; while the federalists or "Broad constitutionalists," of +whom Washington, Hamilton and Adams had been the first exponents, were +anxious to keep the nation free from European complications and to +settle international difficulties by treaty and not by war. But this +party was in a hopeless minority, during the critical times when +international difficulties were resolving themselves into war, and was +unable to influence public opinion sufficiently to make negotiations for +the maintenance of peace successful, despite the fact that it had a +considerable weight in the states of New England. + +The international difficulties of the United States entered upon a +critical condition when Great Britain, in her assertion of naval +supremacy and restricted commerce as absolutely essential to her +national security, issued an order-in-council which declared a strict +blockade of the European coast from Brest to the Elbe. Napoleon +retaliated with the Berlin decree, which merely promulgated a paper +blockade of the British Isles. Then followed the later British +orders-in-council, which prevented the shipping of the United States +from trading with any country where British vessels could not enter, and +allowed them only to trade with other European ports where they made +entries and paid duties in English custom-houses. Napoleon increased the +duties of neutral commerce by the Milan decree of 1807, which ordered +the seizure of all neutral vessels which might have been searched by +English cruisers. These orders meant the ruin of American commerce, +which had become so profitable; and the Washington government attempted +to retaliate, first by forbidding the importation of manufactures from +England and her colonies, and, when this effort was ineffective, by +declaring an embargo in its own ports, which had only the result of +still further crippling American commerce at home and abroad. +Eventually, in place of this unwise measure, which, despite its +systematic evasion, brought serious losses to the whole nation and +seemed likely to result in civil war in the east, where the discontent +was greatest, a system of non-intercourse with both England and France +was adopted, to last so long as either should press its restrictive +measures against the republic, but this new policy of retaliation hardly +impeded American commerce, of which the profits were far greater than +the risks. The leaders of the Democratic party were now anxious to +conciliate France, and endeavoured to persuade the nation that Napoleon +had practically freed the United States from the restrictions to which +it so strongly objected. It is a matter beyond dispute that the French +decrees were never exactly annulled; and the Emperor was pursuing an +insidious policy which confiscated American vessels in French ports at +the very moment he was professing friendship with the United States. His +object was to force the government of that country into war with +England, and, unfortunately for its interests, its statesmen lent +themselves to his designs. + +The Democratic leaders, determined to continue in power, fanned the +flame against England, whose maritime superiority enabled her to inflict +the greatest injury on American shipping and commerce. The governing +party looked to the south and west for their principal support. In these +sections the interests were exclusively agricultural, while in New +England, where the Federalists were generally in the majority, the +commercial and maritime elements predominated. In Kentucky, Ohio, and +other states there was a strong feeling against England on account of +the current belief that the English authorities in Canada had tampered +with the Indian tribes and induced them to harass the settlers until +Harrison, on the eve of the war of 1812, effectually cowed them. It is, +however, now well established by the Canadian archives that Sir James +Craig, when governor-general in 1807, actually warned the Washington +government of the restlessness of the western Indians, and of the +anxiety of the Canadian authorities to avoid an Indian war in the +north-west, which might prejudicially operate against the western +province. This fact was not, however, generally known, and the feeling +against Canada and England was kept alive by the dominant party in the +United States by the disclosure that one John Henry had been sent by the +Canadian government in 1808 to ascertain the sentiment of the people of +New England with respect to the relations between the two countries and +the maintenance of peace. Henry's correspondence was really quite +harmless, but when it had been purchased from him by Madison, on the +refusal of the imperial government to buy his silence, it served the +temporary purpose of making the people of the west believe that England +was all the while intriguing against the national interests, and +endeavouring to create a discontent which might end in civil strife. +Under these circumstances the southern leaders, Clay of Kentucky, and +Calhoun of South Carolina, who always showed an inveterate animosity +against England, forced Madison, then anxious to be re-elected +president, to send a warlike message to congress, which culminated in a +formal declaration of hostilities on the 18th of June, 1812, only one +day later than the repeal of the obnoxious order-in-council by England. +When the repeal became known some weeks later in Canada and the United +States, the province of Upper Canada had been actually invaded by Hull, +and the government of the United States had no desire whatever to desist +from warlike operations, which, they confidently believed, would end in +the successful occupation of Canada at a time when England was unable, +on account of her European responsibilities, to extend to its defenders +effective assistance. + + +SECTION 2.--Canada during the war. + +In 1812 there were five hundred thousand people living in the provinces +of British North America. Of this number, the French people of Lower +Canada made up at least one half. These people had some grievances, and +political agitators, notably the writers of the _Canadien_, were +creating jealousies and rivalries between the French and English races +chiefly on the ground of the dominant influence of the British minority +in the administration of public affairs. On the whole, however, the +country was prosperous and the people generally contented with British +rule, the freedom of which presented such striking contrast to the +absolutism of the old French régime. The great majority of the eighty +thousand inhabitants of Upper or Western Canada were Loyalists or +descendants of Loyalists, who had become deeply attached to their new +homes, whilst recalling with feelings of deep bitterness the sufferings +and trials of the American revolution. This class was naturally attached +to British rule and hostile to every innovation which had the least +semblance of American republicanism. In the western part of the province +of Upper Canada there was, however, an American element composed of +people who had been brought into the country by the liberal grants of +land made to settlers, and who were not animated by the high sentiments +of the Loyalists of 1783 and succeeding years. These people, for some +years previous to 1812, were misled by political demagogues like Wilcox +and Marcle, both of whom deserted to the enemy soon after the outbreak +of the war. Emissaries from the republic were busily engaged for months, +we now know, in fomenting a feeling against England among these later +immigrants, and in persuading them that the time was close at hand when +Canada would be annexed to the federal republic. Some attempts were even +made to create discontent among the French Canadians, but no success +appears to have followed these efforts in a country where the bishop, +priests and leading men of the rural communities perfectly appreciated +the value of British connection. + +The statesmen of the United States, who were responsible for the war, +looked on the provinces as so many weak communities which could be +easily invaded and conquered by the republican armies. Upper Canada, +with its long and exposed frontier and its small and scattered +population, was considered utterly indefensible and almost certain to be +successfully occupied by the invading forces. There was not a town of +one thousand souls in the whole of that province, and the only forts of +any pretension were those on the Niagara frontier. Kingston was a +fortified town of some importance in the eastern part of the province, +but Toronto had no adequate means of defence. At the commencement of the +war there were only fourteen hundred and fifty regular troops in the +whole country west of Montreal, and these men were scattered at +Kingston, York, Niagara, Chippewa, Erie, Amherstburg, and St. Joseph. +The total available militia did not exceed four thousand men, the +majority of whom had little or no knowledge of military discipline, and +were not even in the possession of suitable arms and accoutrements, +though, happily, all were animated by the loftiest sentiments of courage +and patriotism. In the lower provinces of Eastern Canada and Nova +Scotia there was a considerable military force, varying in the aggregate +from four to five thousand men. The fortifications of Quebec were in a +tolerable state of repair, but the citadel which dominates Halifax was +in a dilapidated condition. The latter port was, however, the rendezvous +of the English fleet, which always afforded adequate protection to +British interests on the Atlantic coasts of British North America, +despite the depredations of privateers and the successes attained during +the first months of the war by the superior tonnage and equipment of the +frigates of the republic. But the hopes that were entertained by the war +party in the United States could be gathered from the speeches of Henry +Clay of Kentucky, who believed that the issue would be favourable to +their invading forces, who would even "negotiate terms of peace at +Quebec or Halifax." + +The United States had now a population of at least six millions and a +half of whites. It was estimated that during the war the government had +a militia force of between four and five hundred thousand men available +for service, while the regular army amounted to thirty-four thousand +officers and privates. The forces that invaded Canada by the way of Lake +Champlain, Sackett's Harbour, the Niagara and Detroit Rivers, were +vastly superior in numbers to the Canadian army of defence, except in +the closing months of the war, when Prevost had under his command a +large body of Peninsular veterans. One condition was always in favour of +Canada, and that was the sullen apathy or antagonism felt by the people +of New England with respect to the war. Had they been in a different +spirit, Lower Canada would have been in far greater danger of successful +invasion and occupation than was the case at any time during the +progress of the conflict. The famous march of Arnold on Quebec by the +Kennebec and Chaudière Rivers might have been repeated with more serious +consequences while Prevost, and not Guy Carleton, was in supreme command +in the French Canadian province. + +I can attempt to limn only the events which stand out most plainly on +the graphic pages of this momentous epoch in Canadian history, and to +pay a humble tribute to the memory of men, whose achievements saved +Canada for England in those days of trial. From the beginning to the end +of the conflict, Upper Canada was the principal battle ground upon which +the combatants fought for the supremacy in North America. Its frontiers +were frequently crossed, its territory was invaded, and its towns and +villages were destroyed by the ruthless hand of a foe who entered the +province not only with the sword of the soldier but even with the torch +of the incendiary. The plan of operations at the outset of the campaign +was to invade the province across the Niagara and Detroit Rivers, +neither of which offered any real obstacles to the passage of a +determined and well-managed army in the absence of strong +fortifications, or a superior defensive force, at every vulnerable point +along the Canadian banks. Queenston was to be a base of operations for a +large force, which would overrun the whole province and eventually +co-operate with troops which could come up from Lake Champlain and march +on Montreal. The forces of the United States in 1812 acted with +considerable promptitude as soon as war was officially declared, and had +they been led by able commanders the result might have been most +unfortunate for Canada. The resources for defence were relatively +insignificant, and indecision and weakness were shown by Sir George +Prevost, then commander-in-chief and governor-general--a well meaning +man but wanting in ability as a military leader, who was also hampered +by the vacillating counsels of the Liverpool administration, which did +not believe in war until the province was actually invaded. It was +fortunate for Canada that she had then at the head of the government in +the upper province General Brock, who possessed decision of character +and the ability to comprehend the serious situation of affairs at a +critical juncture, when his superiors both in England and Canada did +not appear to understand its full significance. + +The assembly of Upper Canada passed an address giving full expression to +the patriotic sentiments which animated all classes of people when the +perilous state of affairs and the necessity for energetic action became +apparent to the dullest minds. The Loyalists and their descendants, as +well as other loyal people, rallied at the moment of danger to the +support of Brock; and the immediate result of his decided orders was the +capture of the post of Michillimackinac, which had been, ever since the +days of the French régime, a position of great importance on the upper +lakes. Then followed the ignominious surrender of General Hull and his +army to Brock, and the consequent occupation of Detroit and the present +state of Michigan by the British troops. Later, on the Niagara frontier, +an army of invaders was driven from Queenston Heights, but this victory +cost the life of the great English general, whose promptitude at the +commencement of hostilities had saved the province. Among other brave +men who fell with Brock was the attorney-general of the province, +Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell, who was one of the general's aides. +General Sheaffe, the son of a Loyalist, took command and drove the enemy +across the river, in whose rapid waters many were drowned while +struggling to save themselves from the pursuing British soldiery, +determined to avenge the death of their honoured chief. A later attempt +by General Smyth to invade Canadian territory opposite Black Rock on the +Niagara River, was also attended with the same failure that attended the +futile attempts to cross the Detroit and to occupy the heights of +Queenston. At the close of 1812 Upper Canada was entirely free from the +army of the republic, the Union Jack floated above the fort at Detroit, +and the ambitious plan of invading the French province and seizing +Montreal was given up as a result of the disasters to the enemy in the +west. The party of peace in New England gathered strength, and the +promoters of the war had no consolation except the triumphs obtained at +sea by some heavily armed and well manned frigates of the United States +to the surprise of the government and people of England, who never +anticipated that their maritime superiority could be in any way +endangered by a nation whose naval strength was considered so +insignificant. But these victories of the republic on the ocean during +the first year of the war were soon effaced by the records of the two +subsequent years when "The Chesapeake" was captured by "The Shannon" and +other successes of the British ships restored the prestige of England on +the sea. + +During the second year of the war the United States won some military +and naval successes in the upper province, although the final results of +the campaign were largely in favour of the defenders of Canada. The war +opened with the defeat of General Winchester at Frenchtown on the River +Raisins in the present state of Michigan; but this success, which was +won by General Procter, was soon forgotten in the taking of York, the +capital of the province, and the destruction of its public buildings. +This event forced General Sheaffe to retire to Kingston, while General +Vincent retreated to Burlington Heights as soon as the invading army +occupied Fort George and dominated the Niagara frontier. Sir George +Prevost showed his military incapacity at Sackett's Harbour, where he +had it in his power to capture a post which was an important base of +operations against the province. On the other hand Colonel George +Macdonell made a successful attack on Ogdensburg and fittingly avenged +the raid that an American force had made a short time previously on +Elizabethtown, which was called Brockville not long afterwards in honour +of the noted general. An advance of the invading army against General +Vincent was checked by the memorable success won at Stoney Creek by +Colonel Harvey and the surrender at Beaver Dams of Colonel Boerstler to +Lieutenant Fitzgibbon, whose clever strategy enabled him to capture a +large force of the enemy while in command of a few soldiers and Indians. +When September arrived, the small, though all-important, British fleet +on Lake Erie, under the command of Captain Barclay, sustained a fatal +defeat at Put-in-Bay, and the United States vessels under Commodore +Perry held full control of Lake Erie. A few weeks later, General Procter +lost the reputation which he had won in January by his defeat of +Winchester, and was beaten, under circumstances which disgraced him in +the opinion of his superiors, on the River Thames not far from the +Indian village of Moraviantown. The American forces were led by General +Harrison, who had won some reputation in the Indian campaign in the +north-west and who subsequently became, as his son in later times, a +president of the United States. + +It was in this engagement that the Shawenese chief, Tecumseh, was +killed, in him England lost a faithful and brave ally. English prospects +in the west were consequently gloomy for some time, until the autumn of +1813, when the auspicious tidings spread from the lakes to the Atlantic +that the forces of the republic, while on their march to Montreal by the +way of Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence, had been successfully met +and repulsed at Chateauguay and Chrysler's Farm, two of the most +memorable engagements of the war, when we consider the insignificant +forces that checked the invasion and saved Canada at a most critical +time. + +In the last month of the same year Fort George was evacuated by the +American garrison, but not before General McLure had shamelessly burned +the pretty town of Niagara, and driven helpless women and children into +the ice and snow of a Canadian winter. General Drummond, who was in +command of the western army, retaliated by the capture of Fort Niagara +and the destruction of all the villages on the American side of the +river as far as Buffalo, then a very insignificant place. When the new +year dawned the only Canadian place in possession of the enemy was +Amherstburg on the western frontier. + +The third and last year of the war was distinguished by the capture of +Oswego and Prairie-des-Chiens by British expeditions; the repulse of a +large force of the invaders at Lacolle Mills in Lower Canada; the +surrender of Fort Erie to the enemy, the defeat of General Riall at +Street's or Usher's Creek in the Niagara district, the hotly contested +battle won at Lundy's Lane by Drummond, and the ignominious retreat from +Plattsburg of Sir George Prevost, in command of a splendid force of +peninsular veterans, after the defeat of Commodore Downey's fleet on +Lake Champlain. Before the year closed and peace was proclaimed, Fort +Erie was evacuated, the stars and stripes were driven from Lake Ontario, +and all Canadian territory except Amherstburg was free from the invader. +The capital of the United States had been captured by the British and +its public buildings burned as a severe retaliation for the conduct of +the invading forces at York, Niagara, Moraviantown, St. David's and Port +Dover. Both combatants were by this time heartily tired of the war, and +terms of peace were arranged by the treaty of Ghent at the close of +1814; but before the news reached the south, General Jackson repulsed +General Packenham with heavy losses at New Orleans, and won a reputation +which made him president a few years later. + +The maritime provinces never suffered from invasion, but on the contrary +obtained some advantages from the presence of large numbers of British +men-of-war in their seaports, and the expenditure on military and naval +supplies during the three years of war. Following the example of the +Canadas, the assemblies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia voted large +sums of money and embodied the militia for active service or general +purposes of defence. The assembly of New Brunswick, essentially the +province of the Loyalists, declared in 1813 that the people were "ready +and determined to repel every aggression which the infatuated policy of +the American government may induce it to commit on the soil of New +Brunswick." But the war was so unpopular in the state of Maine and other +parts of New England that the provinces by the sea were comparatively +safe from aggression and conflict. Soon after the commencement of +hostilities the governors of Maine and New Brunswick issued +proclamations which prevented hostilities for two years along their +respective borders. In Nova Scotia there was much activity during the +war, and letters of marque were issued to privateers which made many +captures, and offered some compensation for the losses inflicted on the +coasting and fishing interests by the same class of American vessels. In +1814 it was decided by the imperial authorities to break the truce which +had practically left Maine free from invasion, and Sir John Sherbrooke, +then governor of Nova Scotia, and Rear-Admiral Griffith took possession +of Machias, Eastport, Moose, and other islands in Passamaquoddy Bay. + +The people of the United States generally welcomed the end of a war +which brought them neither honour nor profit and seemed likely to break +the union into fragments in consequence of the hostility that had +existed in New England through the conflict from the very beginning. The +news of Prevost's retreat from Plattsburg no doubt hastened the decision +of the British government to enter into negotiations for peace, which +was settled on terms by no means favourable to Canadian interests. The +question of the New Brunswick boundary might have been then adjusted on +conditions which would have prevented at a later day the sacrifice of a +large tract of territory in Maine which would be now of great value to +the Dominion. The only advantage which accrued to the Canadians was a +later convention which gave the people of the provinces full control of +fisheries, ignorantly sacrificed by the treaty of 1783. + +No class of the people of Canada contributed more to the effectiveness +of the militia and the successful defence of the country than the +descendants of the Loyalists, who formed so large and influential a +portion of the English population of British North America. All the +loyal settlements on the banks of the St. Lawrence, on the Niagara +frontier, and on the shores of Lake Erie, sent many men to fight by the +side of the regular British forces. Even aged men, who had borne arms in +the revolutionary war, came forward with an enthusiasm which showed that +age had not impaired their courage or patriotism, and although they were +exempted from active service, they were found most useful in stationary +duties at a time when Canada demanded the experience of such veterans. +"Their lessons and example," wrote General Sheaffe, "will have a happy +influence on the youth of the militia ranks." When Hull invaded the +province and issued his boastful and threatening proclamation he used +language which must have seemed a mockery to the children of the +Loyalists. They remembered too well the sufferings of their fathers and +brothers during "the stormy period of the revolution," and it seemed +derisive to tell them now that they were to be "emancipated from tyranny +and oppression and restored to the dignified station of free men." The +proclamation issued by Governor Brock touched the loyal hearts of a +people whose family histories were full of examples of "oppression and +tyranny," and of the kind consideration and justice of England in their +new homes. "Where," asked Brock, with the confidence of truth, "is the +Canadian subject who can truly affirm to himself that he has been +injured by the government in his person, his property, or his liberty? +Where is to be found, in any part of the world, a growth so rapid in +prosperity and wealth as this colony exhibits?" These people, to whom +this special appeal was made at this national crisis, responded with a +heartiness which showed that gratitude and affection lay deep in their +hearts. Even the women worked in the field that their husbands, brothers +and sons might drive the invaders from Canadian soil. The 104th +Regiment, which accomplished a remarkable march of thirteen days in the +depth of winter, from Fredericton to Quebec--a distance of three hundred +and fifty miles--and lost only one man by illness, was composed of +descendants of the loyal founders of New Brunswick. This march was +accomplished practically without loss, while more than three hundred +men were lost by Benedict Arnold in his expedition of 1777 against +Quebec by the way of Kennebec--a journey not more dangerous or arduous +than that so successfully accomplished by the New Brunswick Loyalists. +In 1814 considerable numbers of seamen for service in the upper lakes +passed through New Brunswick to Quebec, and were soon followed by +several companies of the 8th or King's Regiment. The patriotism of the +Loyalists of New Brunswick was shown by grants of public money and every +other means in their power, while these expeditions were on their way to +the seat of war in the upper provinces. + +Historians and poets have often dwelt on the heroism of Laura Secord, +daughter and wife of Loyalists, who made a perilous journey in 1814 +through the Niagara district, and succeeded in warning Lieutenant +Fitzgibbon of the approach of the enemy, thus enabling him with a few +soldiers and Indians to surprise Colonel Boerstler near Beaver Dams and +force him by clever strategy to surrender with nearly 600 men and +several cannon. Even boys fled from home and were found fighting in the +field. The Prince Regent, at the close of the war, expressly thanked the +Canadian militia, who had "mainly contributed to the immediate +preservation of the province and its future security." The Loyalists, +who could not save the old colonies to England, did their full share in +maintaining her supremacy in the country she still owned in the valley +of the St. Lawrence and on the shores of the Atlantic. + +As Bishop Plessis stimulated a patriotic sentiment among the French +Canadians, so Vicar-General Macdonell of Glengarry, subsequently the +first Roman Catholic bishop of Upper Canada, performed good service by +assisting in the formation of a Glengarry regiment, and otherwise taking +an active part in the defence of the province, where his will always be +an honoured name. Equally indefatigable in patriotic endeavour was +Bishop Strachan, then rector of York, who established "The Loyal and +Patriotic Society," which did incalculable good by relieving the +necessities of women and children, when the men were serving in the +battlefield, by providing clothing and food for the soldiery, and +otherwise contributing towards the comfort and succour of all those who +were taking part in the public defences. Of the engagements of the war +there are two which, above all others, possess features on which the +historian must always like to dwell. The battle which was fought against +such tremendous odds on the banks of the Chateauguay by less than a +thousand French Canadians, led by Salaberry and Macdonell, recalls in +some respects the defeat of Braddock in 1755. The disaster to the +British forces near the Monongahela was mainly the result of the +strategy of the Indians, who were dispersed in the woods which reechoed +to their wild yells and their ever fatal shots fired under cover of +trees, rocks and stumps. The British were paralysed as they saw their +ranks steadily decimated by the fire of an enemy whom they could never +see, and who seemed multitudinous as their shrieks and shouts were heard +far and wide in that Bedlam of the forest. The leaves that lay thick and +deep on the ground were reddened with the blood of many victims helpless +against the concealed, relentless savages. The woods of the Chateauguay +did not present such a scene of carnage as was witnessed at the battle +of the Monongahela, but nevertheless they seemed to the panic-stricken +invaders, who numbered many thousands, alive with an enemy whose +strength was enormously exaggerated as bugle sounds and Indian yells +made a fearful din on every side. Believing themselves surrounded by +forces far superior in numbers, the invaders became paralysed with fear +and fled in disorder from an enemy whom they could not see, and who +might close upon them at any moment. In this way Canadian pluck and +strategy won a famous victory which saved the province of Lower Canada +at a most critical moment of the war. + +If we leave the woods of Chateauguay, where a monument has been raised +in recognition of this brilliant episode of the war, and come to the +country above which rises the mist of the cataract of Niagara, we see a +little acclivity over which passes that famous thoroughfare called +"Lundy's Lane." Here too rises a stately shaft in commemoration of +another famous victory--in many respects the most notable of the +war--won by a gallant Englishman, whose name still clings to the pretty +town close by. + +This battle was fought on a midsummer night, when less than three +thousand British and Canadian troops fought six hours against a much +superior force, led by the ablest officers who had taken part in the +war. For three hours, from six to nine o'clock at night, less than two +thousand held the height, which was the main object of attack from the +beginning to the end of the conflict, and kept at bay the forces that +were led against them with a stern determination to win the position. +Sunlight gave way to the twilight of a July evening, and dense darkness +at last covered the combatants, but still the fight went on. Columns of +the enemy charged in such close and rapid succession that the British +artillerymen were constantly assailed in the very act of sponging and +loading their guns. The assailants once won the height, but only to find +themselves repulsed the next instant by the resolute daring of the +British. Happily at the most critical moment, when the defenders of the +hill were almost exhausted by the heroic struggle, reinforcements +arrived, and the battle was renewed with a supreme effort on both sides. +For three hours longer, from nine o'clock to midnight, the battle was +fought in the darkness, only relieved by the unceasing flashes from the +guns, whose sharp reports mingled with the deep and monotonous roar of +the great falls. It was a scene worthy of a painter whose imagination +could grasp all the incidents of a situation essentially dramatic in its +nature. The assailants of the Canadian position gave way at last and +withdrew their wearied and disheartened forces. It was in all respects a +victory for England and Canada, since the United States army did not +attempt to renew the battle on the next day, but retired to Fort Erie, +then in their possession. As Canadians look down "the corridors of +time," they will always see those flashes from the musketry and cannon +of Lundy's Lane, and hear the bugles which drove the invaders of their +country from the woods of Chateauguay. + +The war did much to solidify the various racial elements of British +North America during its formative stage. Frenchmen, Englishmen, +Scotsmen from the Lowlands and Highlands, Irishmen and Americans, united +to support the British connection. The character of the people, +especially in Upper Canada, was strengthened from a national point of +view by the severe strain to which it was subjected. Men and women alike +were elevated above the conditions of a mere colonial life and the +struggle for purely material necessities, and became animated by that +spirit of self-sacrifice and patriotic endeavour which tend to make a +people truly great. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE EVOLUTION OF RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT (1815--1839) + + +SECTION I.--The rebellion in Lower Canada. + +Responsible government in Canada is the logical sequence of the +political struggles, which commenced soon after the close of the war of +1812-15. As we review the history of Canada since the conquest we can +recognise "one ever increasing purpose" through all political changes, +and the ardent desire of men, entrusted at the outset with a very +moderate degree of political responsibility, to win for themselves a +larger measure of political liberty in the management of their own local +affairs. Grave mistakes were often made by the advocates of reform in +the government of the several provinces--notably, as I shall show, in +Lower Canada, where the French Canadian majority were carried often +beyond reason at the dictation of Papineau--but, whatever may have been +the indiscretions of politicians, there were always at the bottom of +their demands the germs of political development. + +The political troubles that continued from 1817 until 1836 in Lower +Canada eventually made the working of legislative institutions +impracticable. The contest gradually became one between the +governor-general representing the crown and the assembly controlled +almost entirely by a French Canadian majority, with respect to the +disposition of the public revenues and expenditures. Imperial statutes, +passed as far back as 1774-1775, provided for the levying of duties, to +be applied solely by the crown, primarily "towards defraying the +expenses of the administration of justice and the support of the civil +government of the province", and any sums that remained in the hands of +the government were "for the future disposition of parliament." Then +there were "the casual or territorial revenues," such as money arising +from the Jesuits' estates, royal seigniorial dues, timber and land, all +of which were also exclusively under the control of the government. The +assembly had been given jurisdiction only over the amount of duties +payable into the treasury under the authority of laws passed by the +legislature itself. In case the royal revenues were not sufficient to +meet the annual expenditure of the government, the deficiency was met +until the war of 1812-15 by drawing on the military exchequer. As the +expenses of the provincial administration increased the royal revenues +became inadequate, while the provincial revenues gradually showed a +considerable surplus over the expenditure voted by the legislature. In +1813 the cost of the war made it impossible for the government to use +the military funds, and it resorted to the provincial moneys for the +expenses of justice and civil government. In this way, by 1817, the +government had incurred a debt of a hundred and twenty thousand pounds +to the province without the direct authority of the legislature. The +assembly of Lower Canada was not disposed to raise troublesome issues +during the war, or in any way to embarrass the action of Sir George +Prevost, who, whatever may have been his incompetency as a military +chief, succeeded by his conciliatory and persuasive methods in winning +the good opinions of the French Canadian majority and making himself an +exceptionally popular civil governor. After closing the accounts of the +war, the government felt it expedient to stop such irregular +proceedings, to obtain from the legislature a general appropriation act, +covering the amount of expenditures in the past, and to prevent the +necessity of such a questionable application of provincial funds in the +future. This may be considered the beginning of the financial +controversies that were so constant, as years passed by, between the +governors and the assemblies, and never ended until the rebellion broke +out. The assembly, desirous of obtaining power in the management of +public affairs, learned that it could best embarrass the government and +force them to consider and adjust public grievances, as set forth by the +majority in the house, by means of the appropriation bills required for +the public service. The assembly not only determined to exercise sole +control over its own funds but eventually demanded the disposal of the +duties imposed and regulated by imperial statutes. The conflict was +remarkable for the hot and uncompromising temper constantly exhibited by +the majority on the discussion of the generally moderate and fair +propositions submitted by the government for settling vexed questions. +The assembly found a powerful argument in favour of their persistent +contention for a complete control of the public revenues and +expenditures in the defalcation of Mr. Caldwell, the receiver-general, +who had been allowed for years to use the public funds in his business +speculations, and whose property was entirely inadequate to cover the +deficiency in his accounts. + +The legislative council was always ready to resist what it often +asserted to be unconstitutional acts on the part of the house and direct +infringements of "the rights of the crown" sometimes a mere convenient +phrase used in an emergency to justify resistance to the assembly. It +often happened, however, that the upper chamber had law on its side, +when the house became perfectly unreasonable and uncompromising in its +attitude of hostility to the government. The council, on several +occasions, rejected a supply bill because it contained provisions +asserting the assembly's right to control the crown revenues and to vote +the estimates, item by item, from the governor's salary down to that of +the humblest official. Every part of the official and legislative +machinery became clogged by the obstinacy of governor, councils, and +assembly. To such an extent, indeed, did the assembly's assumption of +power carry it in 1836, that the majority actually asserted its own +right to amend the constitution of the council as defined in the +imperial statute of 1791. Its indiscreet acts eventually alienated the +sympathy and support of such English members as Mr. Neilson, a +journalist and politician of repute, Mr. Andrew Stuart, a lawyer of +ability, and others who believed in the necessity of constitutional +reforms, but could not follow Mr. Papineau and his party in their +reckless career of attack on the government, which they thought would +probably in the end imperil British connection. + +The government was in the habit of regularly submitting its accounts and +estimates to the legislature, and expressed its desire eventually to +grant that body the disposal of all the crown revenues, provided it +would consent to vote a civil list for the king's life, or even for a +fixed number of years, but the assembly was not willing to agree to any +proposal which prevented it from annually taking up the expenditures for +the civil government item by item, and making them matters of yearly +vote. In this way every person in the public service would be subject to +the caprice, or ill-feeling, of any single member of the legislature, +and the whole administration of the public departments would probably be +made ineffective. Under the plan suggested by the government in +accordance with English constitutional forms, the assembly would have +every opportunity of criticising all the public expenditures, and even +reducing the gross sum in cases of extravagance. But the same +contumacious spirit, which several times expelled Mr. Christie, member +for Gaspé, on purely vexatious and frivolous charges, and constantly +impeached judges without the least legal justification, simply to +satisfy personal spite or political malice, would probably have been +exhibited towards all officials had the majority in the assembly been +given the right of voting each salary separately. The assembly never +once showed a disposition to meet the wishes of the government even +half-way. Whatever may have been the vacillation or blundering of +officials in Downing Street, it must be admitted that the imperial +government showed a conciliatory spirit throughout the whole financial +controversy. Step by step it yielded to all the demands of the assembly +on this point. In 1831, when Lord Grey was premier, the British +parliament passed an act, making it lawful for the legislatures of Upper +and Lower Canada to appropriate the duties raised by imperial statutes +for the purpose of defraying the charges of the administration of +justice and the support of civil government. The government consequently +retained only the relatively small sum arising from casual and +territorial dues. When Lord Aylmer, the governor-general, communicated +this important concession to the legislature, he also sent a message +setting forth the fact that it was the settled policy of the crown on no +future occasion to nominate a judge either to the executive or the +legislative council, the sole exception being the chief justice of +Quebec. He also gave the consent of the government to the passage of an +act declaring that judges of the supreme court should thereafter hold +office "during good behaviour," on the essential condition that their +salaries were made permanent by the legislature. The position of the +judiciary had long been a source of great and even just complaint, and, +in the time of Sir James Craig, judges were disqualified from sitting in +the assembly on the demand of that body. They continued, however, to +hold office "during the pleasure" of the crown, and to be called at its +will to the executive and legislative councils. Under these +circumstances they were, with some reason, believed to be more or less +under the influence of the governor-general; and particular judges +consequently fell at times under the ban of the assembly, and were +attacked on the most frivolous grounds. The assembly passed a bill +providing for the independence of the judiciary, but it had to be +reserved because it was not in accordance with the conditions considered +necessary by the crown for the protection of the bench. + +The governor-general also in his message promised reforms of the +judicial and legal systems, the disposal of the funds arising from the +Jesuits' estates by the legislature, and, in fact, nearly all the +reforms which had been demanded by the house for years. Yet when the +government asked at the same time for a permanent civil list, the +message was simply referred to a committee of the whole house which +never reported. Until this time the efforts of the assembly to obtain +complete control of the public revenues and expenditures had a +justification in the fact that it is a recognised English principle that +the elected house should impose the taxes and vote the supplies; but +their action on this occasion, when the imperial government made most +important concessions, giving them full control over the public funds, +simply on condition that they should follow the English system of voting +the salaries of the judiciary and civil list, showed that the majority +were earned away by a purely factious spirit. During the progress of +these controversies, Mr. Louis Joseph Papineau, a brilliant but an +unsafe leader, had become the recognised chief of the French Canadian +majority, who for years elected him speaker of the assembly. In the +absence of responsible government, there was witnessed in those times +the extraordinary spectacle--only now-a-days seen in the American +congress--of the speaker, who should be above all political antagonisms, +acting as the leader of an arrogant majority, and urging them to +continue in their hostility to the government. It was Mr. Papineau who +first brought the governor-general directly into the arena of political +conflict by violent personal attacks; and indeed he went so far in the +case of Lord Dalhousie, a fair-minded man anxious to act moderately +within the limits of the constitution, that the latter felt compelled by +a sense of dignity to refuse the confirmation of the great agitator as +speaker in 1827. The majority in the assembly vehemently asserted their +right to elect their speaker independently of the governor, whose +confirmation was a mere matter of form, and not of statutory right; and +the only course at last open to Lord Dalhousie was to prorogue the +legislature. Mr. Papineau was re-elected speaker at the next session, +when Lord Dalhousie had gone to England and Sir James Kempt was +administrator. + +After 1831, Mr. Papineau steadily evoked the opposition of the more +conservative and thoughtful British Liberals who were not disposed to be +carried into a questionable position, inimical to British connection and +the peace of the country, Dr. Wolfred Nelson, and Dr. O'Callaghan, a +journalist, were soon the only supporters of ability left him among the +British and Irish, the great majority of whom rallied to the support of +the government when a perilous crisis arrived in the affairs of the +province. The British party dwindled away in every appeal to the people, +and no French Canadian representative who presumed to differ from Mr. +Papineau was ever again returned to the assembly. Mr. Papineau became +not only a political despot but an "irreconcilable," whose vanity led +him to believe that he would soon become supreme in French Canada, and +the founder of _La Nation Canadienne_ in the valley of the St. Lawrence. +The ninety-two resolutions passed in 1834 may be considered the climax +of the demands of his party, which for years had resisted immigration as +certain to strengthen the British population, had opposed the +establishment of registry offices as inconsistent with the French +institutions of the province, and had thrown every possible opposition +in the way of the progress of the Eastern Townships, which were +attracting year by year an industrious and energetic British population +from the British Isles and New England. + +In these resolutions of 1834 there is not a single paragraph or even +phrase which can be tortured into showing that the French Canadian +agitator and his friends were in favour of responsible government. The +key-note of the whole document is an elective legislative council, which +would inevitably increase the power of the French Canadians and place +the British in a hopeless minority. Mr. Roebuck, the paid agent of the +assembly in England, is said to have suggested the idea of this elective +body, and assuredly his writings and speeches were always calculated to +do infinite harm, by helping to inflame discontent in Canada, and +misrepresenting in England the true condition of affairs in the +province. The resolutions are noteworthy for their verbosity and entire +absence of moderate and wise suggestion. They were obviously written +under the inspiration of Mr. Papineau with the object of irritating the +British government, and preventing the settlement of political +difficulties. They even eulogised the institutions of the neighbouring +states which "commanded the affection of the people in a larger measure +than those of any other country," and should be regarded "as models of +government for Canada." They even went so far as "to remind parliament +of the consequences of its efforts to overrule the wishes of the +American colonies," in case they should make any "modification" in the +constitution of the province "independently of the wishes of its +people." Colonel Gugy, Mr. Andrew Stuart, Mr. Neilson and other +prominent Englishmen opposed the passage of these resolutions, as +calculated to do infinite harm, but they were carried by a very large +French Canadian majority at the dictation of Mr. Papineau. Whatever may +have been its effect for the moment, this wordy effusion has long since +been assigned to the limbo where are buried other examples of the +demagogism of those trying times. + +In 1835 the imperial government decided to send three commissioners to +examine into the various questions which had been so long matters of +agitation in Lower Canada. Lord Aberdeen, then Colonial Secretary of +State, emphatically stated that it was the intention of the government +"to review and enquire into every alleged grievance and examine every +cause of complaint, and apply a remedy to every abuse that may still be +found to prevail." + +The choice of the government as chief commissioner and governor-general +was Lord Gosford, an amiable, inexperienced and weak man, who failed +either to conciliate the French Canadian majority to whom he was even +humble for a while, or to obtain the confidence of the British party to +whose counsels and warnings he did not pay sufficient heed at the +outset of the crisis which culminated during his administration. The +majority in the assembly were determined not to abate one iota of their +pretensions, which now included the control of the casual and +territorial revenues; and no provision whatever was made for four years +for the payment of the public service. The commissioners reported +strongly against the establishment of an elected council, and in favour +of a modified system of responsible government, not dependent on the +vote of the house. They recommended also the surrender of the casual and +territorial revenues on condition of proper provision for the payment of +the civil service, and the administration of justice. + +The imperial government immediately recognised that they had to face a +very serious crisis in the affairs of Lower Canada. On the 6th March, +1836, Lord John Russell, then home secretary in Lord Melbourne's +administration, introduced a series of ten resolutions, providing for +the immediate payment of the arrears of £142,160. 14s. 6d., due to the +public service, out of the moneys in the hands of the receiver-general. +While it was admitted that measures should be taken to secure for the +legislative council a greater degree of public confidence, the +government deemed it inexpedient to make that body elective. The +necessity of improving the position of the executive council was also +acknowledged, but the suggestion of a ministry responsible to the +assembly was not approved. This disapproval was quite in accordance with +the policy adopted by Englishmen since 1822, when a measure had been +introduced in parliament for the reunion of the two Canadas--the +precursor of the measure of 1840. This measure originally provided that +two members of the executive council should sit and speak in the +assembly but not vote. Those parts of the bill of 1822 which provided +for a union were not pressed on account of the objections raised in both +the provinces, but certain other provisions became law under the title +of "The Canadian Trade Acts," relieving Upper Canada from the +capricious action of Lower Canada with respect to the duties from which +the former obtained the principal part of her fund for carrying on her +government. This share had been originally fixed at one-fifth of the +proceeds of the customs duties collected by the province of Lower +Canada, but when the population of the western section increased +considerably and consumed a far greater quantity of dutiable goods, its +government justly demanded a larger proportion of the revenues collected +in the ports of the lower St. Lawrence. The legislature of Lower Canada +paid no attention to this equitable demand, and eventually even refused +to renew the legislation providing for the payment of one-fifth of the +duties. Under these circumstances the imperial government found it +necessary to intervene, and pass the "Trade Acts," making the past +legislation of Lower Canada on the subject permanent, and preventing its +legislature from imposing new duties on imports without the consent of +the upper province. As this was a question of grave import, the +resolutions of 1836 gave authority to the legislatures of Upper and +Lower Canada to provide joint legislation "for determining and adjusting +all questions respecting the trade and commerce of the provinces." + +As soon as the passage of these resolutions became known throughout +Lower Canada, Papineau and his supporters commenced an active campaign +of denunciation against England, from whom, they declared, there was no +redress whatever to be expected. Wherever the revolutionists were in the +majority, they shouted, "_Vive la liberté!" "Vive la Nation Canadienne!" +"Vive Papineau!" "Point de despotisme_!": while flags and placards were +displayed with similar illustrations of popular frenzy. _La Nation +Canadienne_ was now launched on the turbulent waves of a little +rebellion in which the phrases of the French revolution were glibly +shouted by the _habitants_ with very little conception of their real +significance. The British or Constitutional party took active steps in +support of British connection, but Lord Gosford, unhappily still +governor-general, did not for some time awaken to the reality of the +public danger. Happily for British interests, Sir John Culhorne, +afterwards Lord Seaforth, a courageous and vigilant soldier, was in the +country, and was able, when orders were given him by the reluctant +governor, to deal determinedly with the rebels who had taken up arms in +the Richelieu district. Dr. Wolfred Nelson made a brave stand at St. +Denis, and repulsed Colonel Gore's small detachment of regulars. +Papineau was present for a while at the scene of conflict, but he took +no part in it and lost no time in making a hurried flight to the United +States--an ignominious close to a successful career of rhetorical +flashes which had kindled a conflagration that he took very good care +should not even scorch him. Colonel Wetherall defeated another band of +rebels at St. Charles, and their commander, Mr. Thomas Storrow Brown, a +well-meaning but gullible man, fled across the border. Dr. Wolfred +Nelson was captured, and a number of other rebels of less importance +were equally unfortunate. Some of the refugees made a public +demonstration from Vermont, but precipitately fled before a small force +which met them. At St. Eustache, one Girod, a plausible, mendacious +Swiss or Alsatian, who had become a leader in the rebellious movement, +and Dr. Chenier, a rash but courageous man, collected a considerable +body of rebels, chiefly from St. Benoit, despite the remonstrances of +Mr. Paquin, the curé of the village, and defended the stone church and +adjacent buildings against a large force, led by Sir John Colborne +himself. Dr. Chenier and many others--at least seventy, it is said on +good authority--were killed, and the former has in the course of time +been elevated to the dignity of a national hero and a monument raised in +his honour on a public square of the French Canadian quarters of +Montreal. Mad recklessness rather than true heroism signalised his +action in this unhappy affair, when he led so many of his credulous +compatriots to certain death, but at least he gave up his life manfully +to a lost cause rather than fly like Papineau who had beguiled him to +this melancholy conclusion. Even Girod showed courage and ended his own +life when he found that he could not evade the law. The rebellious +element at St. Benoit was cowed by the results at St. Eustache; and the +Abbé Chartier, who had taken an active part in urging the people to +resistance, fled to the United States whence he never returned. The +greater part of the village was destroyed by fire, probably in +retaliation for the losses and injuries suffered by the volunteers at +the hands of the rebels in different parts of the district of Montreal. + +One of the most unfortunate and discreditable incidents of the rising in +the Richelieu district was the murder of Lieutenant Weir, who had been +taken prisoner while carrying despatches to Sorel, and was literally +hacked to pieces, when he tried to escape from a _calèche_ in which he +was being conveyed to St. Charles. An equally unhappy incident was the +cold-blooded execution, after a mock trial, of one Chartrand, a harmless +non-combatant who was accused, without a tittle of evidence, of being a +spy. The temper of the country can be gauged by the fact that when it +was attempted, some time later, to convict the murderers on clear +evidence, it was impossible to obtain a verdict. Jolbert, the alleged +murderer of Weir, was never punished, but François Nicholas and Amable +Daumais, who had aided in the trial and execution of Chartrand, were +subsequently hanged for having taken an active part in the second +insurrection of 1838. + +The rebellion of 1837 never reached any large proportions, and very few +French Canadians of social or political standing openly participated in +the movement. Monseigneur Lartigue, Roman Catholic bishop of Montreal, +issued a _mandement_ severely censuring the misguided men who had joined +in the rebellious movement and caused so much misery throughout the +province. In England, strange to say, there were men found, even in +parliament, ready to misrepresent the facts and glory in a rebellion the +causes of which they did not understand. The animating motive with +these persons was then--and there were similar examples during the +American revolution--to assail the government of the day and make +political capital against them, but, it must be admitted, in all +fairness to the reform ministry of that day and even to preceding +cabinets for some years, that the policy of all was to be just and +conciliatory in their relations with the provincial agitators, though it +is also evident that a more thorough knowledge of political conditions +and a more resolute effort to a reach the bottom of grievances might +have long before removed causes of irritation and saved the loss of +property and life in 1837 and 1838. + +In the presence of a grave emergency, the British government felt +compelled to suspend the constitution of Lower Canada, and send out Lord +Durham, a Liberal statesman of great ability, to act as governor-general +and high commissioner "for the determining of certain important +questions depending in the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada +respecting the form and future government of the said provinces" Despite +a certain haughtiness of manner which was apt to wound his inferiors and +irritate his equals in position, he was possessed of a great fund of +accurate political knowledge and a happy faculty of grasping all the +essential facts of a difficult situation, and suggesting the best remedy +to apply under all the circumstances. He endeavoured, to the utmost of +his ability, to redeem the pledge with which he entered on his mission +to Canada, in the first instance "to assert the supremacy of her +majesty's government," in the next "to vindicate the honour and dignity +of the law," and above all "to know nothing of a British, a French, or a +Canadian party," but "to look on them all alike as her majesty's +subjects." After he had appointed a special council he set to work +energetically to secure the peace of the country. Humanity was the +distinguishing feature of his too short career in Canada. A +comprehensive amnesty was proclaimed to all those engaged in the +rebellion with the exception of Dr. Wolfred Nelson, R.S.M. Bouchette, +Bonaventure Viger, Dr. Masson, and four others of less importance, who +were ordered by an ordinance to be transported to Bermuda during the +queen's pleasure. These persons, as well as sixteen others, including +Papineau, who had fled from justice, were declared to be subject to +death should they venture to enter the province. Not a single rebel +suffered death on the scaffold during Lord Durham's administration. +Unfortunately the ordinance, transporting a number of persons without +trial to an island where the governor-general had no jurisdiction, gave +an opportunity to Lord Brougham, who hated the high commissioner, to +attack him in the house of lords. Lord Melbourne, then premier, was +forced to repeal the ordinance and to consent to the passage of a bill +indemnifying all those who had acted under its provisions Lord Glenelg, +colonial secretary, endeavoured to diminish the force of this +parliamentary censure by writing to the high commissioner that "her +majesty's government repeat their approbation of the spirit in which +these measures were conceived and state their conviction that they have +been dictated by a judicious and enlightened humanity"; but a statesman +of Lord Durham's haughty character was not ready to submit to such a +rebuke as he had sustained in parliament He therefore immediately placed +his resignation in the hands of the government which had commissioned +him with powers to give peace and justice to distracted Canada, and yet +failed to sustain him at the crucial moment. Before leaving the country +he issued a proclamation in defence of his public acts. His course in +this particular offended the ministry who, according to Lord Glenelg, +considered it a dangerous innovation, as it was practically an appeal by +a public officer to the public against the measures of parliament. Lord +Durham may be pardoned under all the circumstances for resenting at the +earliest possible moment his desertion by the government, who were bound +in honour to defend him, at all hazards, in his absence, and should not +have given him over for the moment to his enemies, led by a spiteful +Scotch lawyer. Lord Durham left Canada with the assurance that he had +won the confidence of all loyal British subjects and proved to all +French Canadians that there were English statesmen prepared to treat +them with patience, humanity and justice. + +Sir John Colborne became administrator on the departure of Lord Durham, +and subsequently governor-general. Unhappily he was immediately called +upon to crush another outbreak of the rebels, in November, 1838, in the +counties watered by the Richelieu River, and in the district immediately +south of Montreal. Dr. Robert Nelson and some other rebels, who had +found refuge in the frontier towns and villages of Vermont and New York, +organised this second insurrection, which had the support of a +considerable number of _habitants_, though only a few actually took up +arms. The rising, which began at Caughnawaga, was put down at +Beauharnois, within a week from the day on which it commenced. The +authorities now felt that the time had passed for such leniency as had +been shown by Lord Durham; and Sir John Colborne accordingly established +courts-martial for the trial of the prisoners taken during this second +insurrection, as it was utterly impossible to obtain justice through the +ordinary process of the courts. Only twelve persons, however, suffered +the extreme penalty of the law; some were sent to New South Wales--where +however they were detained only a short time; and the great majority +were pardoned on giving security for good behaviour. + +While these trials were in progress, and the government were anxious to +give peace and security to the province, refugees in the border states +were despatching hands of ruffians to attack and plunder the Loyalists +in the Eastern Townships; but the government of the United States +intervened and instructed its officers to take decisive measures for the +repression of every movement in the territory of a friendly Power. Thus +the mad insurrection incited by Papineau, but actually led by the +Nelsons, Chenier and Brown, came at last to an end. + +A new era of political development was now to dawn on the province, as a +result of a more vigorous and remedial policy initiated by the imperial +government, at last thoroughly awakened to an intelligent comprehension +of the political conditions of the Canadas. But before I proceed to +explain the details of measures fraught with such important +consequences, I must give an historical summary of the events which led +also to a rash uprising in Upper Canada, simultaneously with the one +which ended so disastrously for its leaders in the French province. + + +SECTION 2.--The rebellion in Upper Canada. + +The financial disputes between the executive and the assembly never +attained such prominence in Upper Canada as in the lower province. In +1831 the assembly consented to make permanent provision for the civil +list and the judiciary, on condition of the government's giving up to +the legislature all the revenues previously at its own disposition. +Three years later the legislature also passed an act to provide that the +judges should hold their offices during good behaviour, and not at the +pleasure of the crown--a measure rendered possible by the fact that the +assembly had made the salaries of the bench permanent. + +Nor did the differences between the assembly and the legislative council +ever assume such serious proportions as they did in the French province. +Still the leaders of the reform party of Upper Canada had strong +objections to the constitution of the council; and a committee of +grievances reported in 1835 in favour of an elected body as well as a +responsible council, although it did not very clearly outline the +methods of working out the system in a colony where the head of the +executive was an imperial officer acting under royal instructions. The +different lieutenant-governors, the executive and legislative +councillors, and the whole body of officials, from the very moment +responsible government was suggested in any form, threw every possible +obstacle in the way of its concession by the imperial government. + +It was largely the dominant influence of the official combination, long +known in Canadian history as the "family compact," which prevented the +concession of responsible government before the union of the Canadas. +This phrase, as Lord Durham said in his report, was misleading inasmuch +as there "was very little of family connection between the persons thus +united." As a matter of fact the phrase represented a political and +aristocratic combination, which grew up as a consequence of the social +conditions of the province and eventually monopolised all offices and +influence in government. This bureaucracy permeated all branches of +government--the executive, the legislative council, and even the +assembly where for years there sat several members holding offices of +emolument under the crown. It practically controlled the banks and +monetary circles. The Church of England was bound up in its interests. +The judiciary was more or less under its influence while judges were +appointed during pleasure and held seats in the councils. This governing +class was largely composed of the descendants of the Loyalists of 1784, +who had taken so important a part in the war with the United States and +always asserted their claims to special consideration in the +distribution of government favour. The old settlers--all those who had +come into the country before the war--demanded and obtained greater +consideration at the hands of the government than the later immigrants, +who eventually found themselves shut out of office and influence. The +result was the growth of a Liberal or Reform party, which, while +generally composed of the later immigrants, comprised several persons of +Loyalist extraction, who did not happen to belong to the favoured class +or church, but recognised the necessity for a change in the methods of +administration. Among these Loyalists must be specially mentioned Peter +Perry, who was really the founder of the Reform party in 1834, and the +Reverend Egerton Ryerson, a Methodist minister of great natural ability. + +Unfortunately creed also became a powerful factor in the political +controversies of Upper Canada. By the constitutional act of 1791 large +tracts of land were set aside for the support of a "Protestant clergy", +and the Church of England successfully claimed for years an exclusive +right to these "clergy reserves" on the ground that it was the +Protestant church recognised by the state. The clergy of the Church of +Scotland in Canada, though very few in number for years, at a later time +obtained a share of these grants as a national religious body; but all +the dissentient denominations did not participate in the advantages of +these reserves. The Methodists claimed in the course of years to be +numerically equal to, if not more numerous than, the English +Episcopalians, and were deeply irritated at the inferior position they +long occupied in the province. So late as 1824 the legislative council, +composed of members of the dominant church, rejected a bill allowing +Methodist ministers to solemnise marriages, and it was not until 1831 +that recognised ministers of all denominations were placed on an +equality in this respect. Christian charity was not more a +characteristic of those times than political liberality. Methodism was +considered by the governing class as a sign of democracy and social +inferiority. History repeated itself in Upper Canada. As the Puritans of +New England feared the establishment of an Anglican episcopacy, and used +it to stimulate a feeling against the parent state during the beginnings +of the revolution, so in Upper Canada the dissenting religious bodies +made political capital out of the favouritism shown to the Church of +England in the distribution of the public lands and public patronage. +The Roman Catholics and members of all Protestant sects eventually +demanded the secularisation of the reserves for educational or other +public purposes, or the application of the funds to the use of all +religious creeds. The feeling against that church culminated in 1836, +when Sir John Colborne, then lieutenant-governor, established forty-four +rectories in accordance with a suggestion made by Lord Goderich some +years previously. While the legality of Sir John Colborne's course was +undoubted, it was calculated to create much indignant feeling among the +dissenting bodies, who saw in the establishment of these rectories an +evidence of the intention of the British government to create a state +church so far as practicable by law within the province. This act, so +impolitic at a critical time of political discussion, was an +illustration of the potent influence exercised in the councils of the +government by Archdeacon Strachan, who had come into the province from +Scotland in 1799 as a schoolmaster. He had been brought up in the tenets +of the Presbyterian Church, but some time after his arrival in Canada he +became an ordained minister of the Church of England, in which he rose +step by step to the episcopacy. He became a member of both the executive +and legislative councils in 1816 and 1817, and exercised continuously +until the union of 1841 a singular influence in the government of the +province. He was endowed with that indomitable will, which distinguished +his great countryman, John Knox. His unbending toryism was the natural +outcome of his determination to sustain what he considered the just +rights of his church against the liberalism of her opponents--chiefly +dissenters--who wished to rob her of her clergy reserves and destroy her +influence in education and public affairs generally. This very fidelity +to his church became to some extent her weakness, since it evoked the +bitter hostility of a large body of persons and created the impression +that she was the church of the aristocratic and official class rather +than that of the people--an impression which existed for many years +after the fall of the "family compact." + +The public grievances connected with the disposition of the public +lands were clearly exposed by one Robert Gourlay, a somewhat meddlesome +Scotchman, who had addressed a circular, soon after his arrival in +Canada, to a number of townships with regard to the causes which +retarded improvement and the best means of developing the resources of +the province. An answer from Sandwich virtually set forth the feeling of +the rural districts generally on these points. It stated that the +reasons for the existing depression were the reserves of land for the +crown and clergy, "which must for a long time keep the country a +wilderness, a harbour for wolves, and a hindrance to compact and good +neighbourhood; defects in the system of colonisation; too great a +quantity of lands in the hands of individuals who do not reside in the +province, and are not assessed for their property." Mr. Gourlay's +questions were certainly asked in the public interest, but they excited +the indignation of the official class who resented any interference with +a state of things which favoured themselves and their friends, and were +not desirous of an investigation into the management of public affairs. +The subsequent treatment of Mr. Gourlay was shameful in the extreme. He +was declared a most dangerous character when he followed up his circular +by a pamphlet, attacking the methods by which public affairs generally +were conducted, and contrasting them with the energetic and progressive +system on the other side of the border. The indignation of the officials +became a positive fever when he suggested the calling of public meetings +to elect delegates to a provincial convention--a term which recalled the +days of the American revolution, and was cleverly used by Gourlay's +enemies to excite the ire and fear of the descendants of the Loyalists. +Sir Peregrine Maitland succeeded in obtaining from the legislature an +opinion against conventions as "repugnant to the constitution," and +declaring the holding of such public meetings a misdemeanour, while +admitting the constitutional right of the people to petition. These +proceedings evoked a satirical reply from Gourlay, who was arrested for +seditious libel, but the prosecutions failed. It was then decided to +resort to the provisions of a practically obsolete statute passed in +1804, authorising the arrest of any person who had resided in the +province for six months without taking the oath of allegiance, and was +suspected to be a seditious character. Such a person could be ordered by +the authorities to leave the province, or give security for good +behaviour. This act had been originally passed to prevent the +immigration of aliens unfavourable to England, especially of Irishmen +who had taken part in the rebellion of 1798 and found refuge in the +United States. Gourlay had been a resident of Upper Canada for nearly +two years, and in no single instance had the law been construed to apply +to an immigrant from the British Isles. Gourlay was imprisoned in the +Niagara gaol, and when his friends attempted to bring him out on a writ +of _habeas corpus_ they failed simply because Chief Justice Powell, an +able lawyer of a Loyalist family and head of the official party, refused +to grant the writ on a mere technical plea, afterwards declared by the +highest legal authorities in England to be entirely contrary to sound +law. Gourlay consequently remained in prison for nearly eight months, +and when he was brought again before the chief justice, his mental +faculties were obviously impaired for the moment, but despite his +wretched condition, which prevented him from conducting his defence, he +was summarily convicted and ordered to leave the province within +twenty-four hours, under penalty of death should he not obey the order +or return to the country. + +This unjust sentence created wide-spread indignation among all +right-thinking people, especially as it followed a message of the +lieutenant-governor to the legislature, that he did not feel justified +in extending the grants of land, made to actors in the war of 1812-15, +to "any of the inhabitants who composed the late convention of +delegates, the proceedings of which were very properly subjected to your +very severe animadversion" This undoubtedly illegal action of the +lieutenant-governor only escaped the censure of the assembly by the +casting vote of the speaker, but was naturally justified in the +legislative council where Chief Justice Powell presided. Gourlay became +a martyr in the opinion of a large body of people, and a Reform party +began to grow up in the country. The man himself disappeared for years +from Canadian history, and did not return to the province until 1856, +after a chequered and unhappy career in Great Britain and the United +States. The assembly of the United Canadas in 1842 declared his arrest +to be "unjust and illegal," and his sentence "null and void," and he was +offered a pension as some compensation for the injuries he had received; +but he refused it unless it was accompanied by an official declaration +of the illegality of the conviction and its elision from the records of +the courts. The Canadian government thought he should be satisfied with +the action of the assembly and the offer of the pension. Gourlay died +abroad, and his daughters on his death received the money which he +rejected with the obstinacy so characteristic of his life. + +During these days of struggle we find most prominent among the official +class Attorney-General Robinson, afterwards chief justice of Upper +Canada for many years. He was the son of a Virginian Loyalist, and a +Tory of extreme views, calm, polished, and judicial in his demeanour. +But whatever his opinions on the questions of the day he was too +discreet a politician and too honest a judge ever to have descended to +such a travesty of justice as had been shown by his predecessor in the +case of Gourlay. His influence, however was never in the direction of +liberal measures. He opposed responsible government and the union of the +two provinces, both when proposed unsuccessfully in 1822, and when +carried in Upper Canada eighteen years later. + +The elections of 1825 had a very important influence on the political +conditions of the upper province, since they brought into the assembly +Peter Perry, Dr. Rolph, and Marshall Spring Bidwell, who became leading +actors in the Reform movement which culminated in the concession of +responsible government. But the most conspicuous man from 1826 until +1837 was William Lyon Mackenzie, a Scotchman of fair education, who came +to Canada in 1820, and eventually embraced journalism as the profession +most suited to his controversial temperament. Deeply imbued with a +spirit of liberalism in politics, courageous and even defiant in the +expression of his opinions, sadly wanting in sound judgment and common +sense when his feelings were excited, able to write with vigour, but +more inclined to emphatic vituperation than well-reasoned argument, he +made himself a force in the politics of the province. In the _Colonial +Advocate_, which he established in 1824, he commenced a series of +attacks on the government which naturally evoked the resentment of the +official class, and culminated in the destruction of his printing office +in 1826 by a number of young men, relatives of the principal +officials--one of them actually the private secretary of the +lieutenant-governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland. Mr. Mackenzie obtained +large damages in the courts, and was consequently able to continue the +publication of his paper at a time when he was financially embarrassed. +The sympathy felt for Mr. Mackenzie brought him into the assembly as +member for York during the session of 1829. So obnoxious did he become +to the governing class that he was expelled four times from the assembly +between 1831 and 1834, and prevented from taking his seat by the orders +of the speaker in 1835--practically the fifth expulsion. In 1832 he went +to England and presented largely signed petitions asking for a redress +of grievances. He appears to have made some impression on English +statesmen, and the colonial minister recommended a few reforms to the +lieutenant-governor, but they were entirely ignored by the official +party. Lord Glenelg also disapproved of the part taken by +Attorney-General Boulton--Mr. Robinson being then chief justice--and +Solicitor-General Hagerman in the expulsion of Mr. Mackenzie; but they +treated the rebuke with contempt and were removed from office for again +assisting in the expulsion of Mr. Mackenzie. + +In 1834 he was elected first mayor of Toronto, then incorporated under +its present name, as a consequence of the public sympathy aroused in his +favour by his several expulsions. Previous to the election of 1835, in +which he was returned to the assembly, he made one of the most serious +blunders of his life, in the publication of a letter from Mr. Joseph +Hume, the famous Radical, whose acquaintance he had made while in +England. Mr. Hume emphatically stated his opinion that "a crisis was +fast approaching in the affairs of Canada which would terminate in +independence and freedom from the baneful domination of the mother +country, and the tyrannical conduct of a small and despicable faction in +the colony." The official class availed themselves of this egregious +blunder to excite the indignation of the Loyalist population against Mr. +Mackenzie and other Reformers, many of whom, like the Baldwins and +Perrys, disavowed all sympathy with such language. Mr. Mackenzie's +motive was really to insult Mr. Ryerson, with whom he had quarrelled. +Mr. Ryerson in the _Christian Guardian_, organ of the Methodists, had +attacked Mr. Hume as a person unfit to present petitions from the +Liberals of Canada, since he had opposed the measure for the +emancipation of slaves in the West Indies, and had consequently +alienated the confidence and sympathy of the best part of the nation. +Mr. Hume then wrote the letter in question, in which he also stated that +he "never knew a more worthless hypocrite or so base a man as Mr. +Ryerson proved himself to be." Mr. Mackenzie in this way incurred the +wrath of a wily clergyman and religious journalist who exercised much +influence over the Methodists, and at the same time fell under the ban +of all people who were deeply attached to the British connection. +Moderate Reformers now looked doubtfully on Mackenzie, whose principal +supporters were Dr. Duncombe, Samuel Lount, Peter Matthews, and other +men who took an active part in the insurrection of 1837. + +In the session of 1835 a committee of grievances, appointed on the +motion of Mr. Mackenzie himself, reported in favour of a system of +responsible government, an elective legislative council, the appointment +of civil governors, a diminution of the patronage exercised by the +crown, the independence of the legislature, and other reforms declared +to be in the interest of good government. The report was temperately +expressed, and created some effect for a time in England, but the +colonial minister could not yet be induced to move in the direction of +positive reform in the restrictive system of colonial government. + +Unhappily, at this juncture, when good judgment and discretion were so +necessary in political affairs, all the circumstances combined to hasten +a perilous crisis, and to give full scope to the passionate impulses of +Mackenzie's nature. Sir John Colborne was replaced in the government of +the province by one of the most incapable governors ever chosen by the +colonial office, Sir Francis Bond Head. He had been chiefly known in +England as a sprightly writer of travels, and had had no political +experience except such as could be gathered in the discharge of the +duties of a poor-law commissioner in Wales. His first official act was +an indiscretion. He communicated to the legislature the full text of the +instructions which he had received from the king, although he had been +advised to give only their substance, as least calculated to hamper Lord +Gosford, who was then attempting to conciliate the French Canadian +majority in Lower Canada. These instructions, in express terms, +disapproved of a responsible executive and particularly of an elected +legislative council, to obtain which was the great object of Papineau +and his friends. Mr. Bidwell, then speaker of the assembly, recognised +the importance of this despatch, and forwarded it immediately to Mr. +Papineau, at that time speaker of the Lower Canadian house, with whom he +and other Reformers had correspondence from time to time. Lord Gosford +was consequently forced to lay his own instructions in full before the +legislature and to show the majority that the British government was +opposed to such vital changes in the provincial constitution as they +persistently demanded. The action of the Lower Canadian house on this +matter was communicated to the assembly of Upper Canada by a letter of +Mr. Papineau to Mr. Bidwell, who laid it before his house just before +the prorogation in 1835. In this communication the policy of the +imperial government was described as "the naked deformity of the +colonial system," and the royal commissioners were styled "deceitful +agents," while the methods of government in the neighbouring states were +again eulogised as in the ninety-two resolutions of 1834. Sir Francis +Bond Head seized the opportunity to create a feeling against the +Reformers, to whom he was now hostile. Shortly after he sent his +indiscreet message to the legislature he persuaded Dr. Rolph, Mr. +Bidwell and Receiver-General Dunn to enter the executive council on the +pretence that he wished to bring that body more into harmony with public +opinion. The new councillors soon found that they were not to be +consulted in public affairs, and when the whole council actually +resigned Sir Francis told them plainly that he alone was responsible for +his acts, and that he would only consult them when he deemed it +expedient in the public interest. This action of the lieutenant-governor +showed the Reformers that he was determined to initiate no changes which +would disturb the official party, or give self-government to the people. +The assembly, in which the Liberals were dominant, passed an address to +the king, declaring the lieutenant-governor's conduct "derogatory to the +honour of the king," and also a memorial to the British house of commons +charging him with "misrepresentation, and a deviation from candour and +truth." + +Under these circumstances Sir Francis eagerly availed himself of +Papineau's letter to show the country the dangerous tendencies of the +opinions and acts of the Reformers in the two provinces. In an answer he +made to an address from some inhabitants of the Home District, he warned +the people that there were individuals in Lower Canada, who were +inculcating the idea that "this province is to be disturbed by the +interference of foreigners, whose powers and influence will prove +invincible"--an allusion to the sympathy shown by Papineau and his +friends for the institutions of the United States. Then Sir Francis +closed his reply with this rhodomontade: "In the name of every regiment +of militia in Upper Canada, I publicly promulgate 'Let them come if they +dare'" He dissolved the legislature and went directly to the country on +the issue that the British connection was endangered by the Reformers. +"He succeeded, in fact," said Lord Durham in his report of 1839, "in +putting the issue in such a light before the province, that a great +portion of the people really imagined that they were called upon to +decide the question of separation by their votes." These strong appeals +to the loyalty of a province founded by the Loyalists of 1784, combined +with the influence exercised by the "family compact," who had all +offices and lands at their disposal, defeated Mackenzie, Bidwell, Perry +and other Reformers of less note, and brought into the legislature a +solid phalanx of forty-two supporters of the government against eighteen +elected by the opposition. It was a triumph dearly paid for in the end. +The unfair tactics of the lieutenant-governor rankled in the minds of a +large body of people, and hastened the outbreak of the insurrection of +1837. The British government seems for a time to have been deceived by +this victory of the lieutenant-governor and actually lauded his +"foresight, energy and moral courage"; but ere long, after more mature +consideration of the political conditions of the province, it dawned +upon the dense mind of Lord Glenelg that the situation was not very +satisfactory, and that it would be well to conciliate the moderate +element among the Reformers. Sir Francis was accordingly instructed to +appoint Mr. Bidwell to the Bench, but he stated emphatically that such +an appointment would be a recognition on disloyalty. He preferred to +resign rather than obey the instructions of the colonial department, and +greatly to his surprise and chagrin his proffer of resignation was +accepted without the least demur. The colonial office by this time +recognised the mistake they had made in appointing Sir Francis to a +position, for which he was utterly unfit, but unhappily for the province +they awoke too late to a sense of their own folly. + +Mackenzie became so embittered by his defeat in 1836, and the +unscrupulous methods by which it was accomplished, that he made up his +mind that reform in government was not to be obtained except by a resort +to extreme measures. At meetings of Reformers, held at Lloydtown and +other places during the summer of 1837, resolutions were carried that it +was their duty to arm in defence of their rights and those of their +countrymen. Mackenzie visited many parts of the province, in order to +stimulate a revolutionary movement among the disaffected people, a +system of training volunteers was organised; pikes were manufactured and +old arms were put in order. It was decided that Dr. Rolph should be the +executive chief of the provisional government, and Mackenzie in the +meantime had charge of all the details of the movement. Mr. Bidwell +appears to have steadily kept aloof from the disloyal party, but Dr. +Rolph was secretly in communication with Mackenzie, Lount, Matthews, +Lloyd, Morrison, Duncombe, and other actors in the rebellion. The plan +was to march on Toronto, where it was notorious that no precautions for +defence were being taken, to seize the lieutenant-governor, to proclaim +a provisional government, and to declare the independence of the +province unless Sir Francis should give a solemn promise to constitute a +responsible council. It is quite certain that Mackenzie entirely +misunderstood the sentiment of the country, and exaggerated the support +that would be given to a disloyal movement. Lord Durham truly said that +the insurrectionary movements which did take place were "indicative of +no deep rooted disaffection," and that "almost the entire body of the +Reformers of the province sought only by constitutional means to obtain +those objects for which they had so long peacefully struggled before +the unhappy troubles occasioned by the violence of a few unprincipled +adventurers and heated enthusiasts." + +Despite the warnings that he was constantly receiving of the seditious +doings of Mackenzie and his lieutenants, Sir Francis Bond Head could not +be persuaded an uprising was imminent. So complete was his fatuity that +he allowed all the regular troops to be withdrawn to Lower Canada at the +request of Sir John Colborne. Had he taken adequate measures for the +defence of Toronto, and showed he was prepared for any contingency, the +rising of Mackenzie's immediate followers would never have occurred. His +apathy and negligence at this crisis actually incited an insurrection. +The repulse of Gore at St. Denis on the 23rd November (p. 134) no doubt +hastened the rebellious movement in Upper Canada, and it was decided to +collect all available men and assemble at Montgomery's tavern, only four +miles from Toronto by way of Yonge Street, the road connecting Toronto +with Lake Simcoe. The subsequent news of the dispersion of the rebels at +St. Charles was very discouraging to Mackenzie and Lount, but they felt +that matters had proceeded too far for them to stop at that juncture. +They still hoped to surprise Toronto and occupy it without much +difficulty. A Colonel Moodie, who had taken part in the war of 1812-15, +had heard of the march of the insurgents from Lake Simcoe, and was +riding rapidly to Toronto to warn the lieutenant-governor, when he was +suddenly shot down and died immediately. Sir Francis was unconscious of +danger when he was aroused late at night by Alderman Powell, who had +been taken prisoner by the rebels but succeeded in making his escape and +finding his way to Government House. Sir Francis at last awoke from his +lethargy and listened to the counsels of Colonel Fitzgibbon--the hero of +Beaver Dams in 1813--and other residents of Toronto, who had constantly +endeavoured to force him to take measures for the public security. The +loyal people of the province rallied with great alacrity to put down the +revolt. The men of the western district of Gore came up in force, and +the first man to arrive on the scene was Allan MacNab, the son of a +Loyalist and afterwards prime minister of Canada. A large and well +equipped force was at once organised under the command of Colonel +Fitzgibbon. + +The insurrection was effectually quelled on the 7th December at +Montgomery's tavern by the militia and volunteer forces under Colonel +Fitzgibbon. The insurgents had at no time mustered more than eight +hundred men, and in the engagement on the 7th there were only four +hundred, badly armed and already disheartened. In twenty minutes, or +less time, the fight was over and the insurgents fled with the loss of +one man killed and several seriously wounded. The Loyalists, who did not +lose a single man, took a number of prisoners, who were immediately +released by the lieutenant-governor on condition of returning quietly to +their homes. Mackenzie succeeded in escaping across the Niagara +frontier, but Matthews was taken prisoner as he was leading a detachment +across the Don into Toronto. Lount was identified at Chippewa while +attempting to find his way to the United States and brought back to +Toronto. Rolph, Gibson and Duncombe found a refuge in the republic, but +Van Egmond, who had served under Napoleon, and commanded the insurgents, +was arrested and died in prison of inflammatory rheumatism. Mr. Bidwell +was induced to fly from the province by the insidious representations of +the lieutenant-governor, who used the fact of his flight as an argument +that he had been perfectly justified in not appointing him to the Bench. +In later years, the Canadian government, recognising the injustice Mr. +Bidwell had received, offered him a judgeship, but he never could be +induced to return to Canada Mackenzie had definite grievances against +Sir Francis and his party; and a British people, always ready to +sympathise with men who resent injustice and assert principles of +popular government, might have soon condoned the serious mistake he had +made in exciting a rash revolt against his sovereign. But his +apologists can find no extenuating circumstances for his mad conduct in +stirring up bands of ruffians at Buffalo and other places on the +frontier to invade the province. The base of operations for these raids +was Navy Island, just above the Niagara Falls in British territory. A +small steamer, "The Caroline," was purchased from some Americans, and +used to bring munitions of war to the island. Colonel MacNab was sent to +the frontier, and successfully organised an expedition of boats under +the charge of Captain Drew--afterwards an Admiral--to seize the steamer +at Fort Schlosser, an insignificant place on the American side. The +capture was successfully accomplished and the steamer set on fire and +sent down the river, where she soon sank before reaching the cataract. +Only one man was killed--one Durfee, a citizen of the United States. +This audacious act of the Canadians was deeply resented in the republic +as a violation of its territorial rights, and was a subject of +international controversy until 1842 when it was settled with other +questions at issue between Great Britain and the United States. +Mackenzie now disappeared for some years from Canadian history, as the +United States authorities felt compelled to imprison him for a time. It +was not until the end of 1838 that the people of the Canada were free +from filibustering expeditions organised in the neighboring states. +"Hunters' Lodges" were formed under the pledge "never to rest until all +tyrants of Britain cease to have any dominion or footing whatever in +North America." These marauding expeditions on the exposed parts of the +western frontier--especially on the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers--were +successfully resisted. At Prescott, a considerable body of persons, +chiefly youths under age, under the leadership of Von Schoultz, a Pole, +were beaten at the Old Stone Windmill, which they attempted to hold +against a Loyalist force. At Sandwich, Colonel Prince, a conspicuous +figure in Canadian political history of later years, routed a band of +filibusters, four of whom he ordered to instant death. This resolute +deed created some excitement in England, where it was condemned by some +and justified by others. Canadians, who were in constant fear of such +raids, naturally approved of summary justice in the case of persons who +were really brigands, not entitled to any consideration under the laws +of war. + +In 1838 President Buren issued a proclamation calling upon all citizens +of the United States to observe the neutrality laws; but the difficulty +in those days was the indisposition of the federal government to +interfere with the states where such expeditions were organised. The +vigilance of the Canadian authorities and the loyalty of the people +alone saved the country in these trying times. A great many of the +raiders were taken prisoners and punished with the severity due to their +unjustifiable acts. Von Schoultz and eight others were hanged, a good +many were pardoned, while others were transported to Van Diemen's Land, +whence they were soon allowed to return. The names of these filibusters +are forgotten, but those of Lount and Matthews, who perished on the +scaffold, have been inscribed on some Canadian hearts as patriots. Sir +George Arthur, who succeeded Sir Francis Head, was a soldier, who had +had experience as a governor among the convicts of Van Diemen's Land, +and the negro population of Honduras, where he had crushed a revolt of +slaves. Powerful appeals were made to him on behalf of Lount and +Matthews, but not even the tears and prayers of Lount's distracted wife +could reach his heart. Such clemency as was shown by Lord Durham would +have been a bright incident in Sir George Arthur's career in Canada, but +he looked only to the approval of the Loyalists, deeply incensed against +the rebels of 1837. His action in these two cases was regarded with +disapprobation in England, and the colonial minister expressed the hope +that no further executions would occur--advice followed in the case of +other actors of the revolt of 1837. Sir George Arthur's place in +colonial annals is not one of high distinction. Like his predecessors, +he became the resolute opponent of responsible government, which he +declared in a despatch to be "Mackenzie's scheme for getting rid of what +Mr. Hume called 'the baneful domination' of the mother country"; "and +never" he added, "was any scheme better devised to bring about such an +end speedily". + + +SECTION 3.--Social and economic conditions of the Provinces in 1838. + +We have now reached a turning-point in the political development of the +provinces of British North America, and may well pause for a moment to +review the social and economic condition of their people. Since the +beginning of the century there had been a large immigration into the +provinces, except during the war of 1812. In the nine years preceding +1837, 263,089 British and Irish immigrants arrived at Quebec, and in one +year alone there were over 50,000. By 1838 the population of the five +provinces of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and +Prince Edward Island had reached about 1,400,000 souls. In Upper Canada, +with the exception of a very few people of German or Dutch descent, and +some French Canadians opposite Detroit and on the Ottawa River, there +was an entirely British population of at least 400,000 souls. The +population of Lower Canada was estimated at 600,000, of whom hardly +one-quarter were of British origin, living chiefly in Montreal, the +Townships, and Quebec. Nova Scotia had nearly 200,000 inhabitants, of +whom probably 16,000 were French Acadians, resident in Cape Breton and +in Western Nova Scotia. In New Brunswick there were at least 150,000 +people, of whom some 15,000 were descendants of the original inhabitants +of Acadie. The Island of Prince Edward had 30,000 people, of whom the +French Acadians made up nearly one-sixth. The total trade of the country +amounted, in round figures, to about £5,000,000 sterling in imports, +and somewhat less in exports The imports were chiefly manufactures from +Great Britain, and the exports were lumber, wheat and fish. Those were +days when colonial trade was stimulated by differential duties in favour +of colonial products, and the building of vessels was encouraged by the +old navigation laws which shut out foreign commerce from the St. +Lawrence and the Atlantic ports, and kept the carrying trade between +Great Britain and the colonies in the hands of British and colonial +merchants, by means of British registered ships. While colonists could +not trade directly with foreign ports, they were given a monopoly for +their timber, fish, and provisions in the profitable markets of the +British West Indies. + +The character of the immigration varied considerably, but on the whole +the thrifty and industrious formed the larger proportion. In 1833 the +immigrants deposited 300,000 sovereigns, or nearly a million and a half +of dollars, in the Upper Canadian banks. An important influence in the +settlement of Upper Canada was exercised by one Colonel Talbot, the +founder of the county of Elgin. Mrs. Anna Jameson, the wife of a +vice-chancellor of Upper Canada, describes in her _Winter Studies and +Summer Rambles_, written in 1838, the home of this great proprietor, a +Talbot of Malahide, one of the oldest families in the parent state. The +château--as she calls it, perhaps sarcastically--was a "long wooden +building, chiefly of rough logs, with a covered porch running along the +south side." Such homes as Colonel Talbot's were common enough in the +country. Some of the higher class of immigrants, however, made efforts +to surround themselves with some of the luxuries of the old world. Mrs. +Jameson tells us of an old Admiral, who had settled in the London +district--now the most prosperous agricultural part of Ontario--and had +the best of society in his neighbourhood; "several gentlemen of family, +superior education, and large capital (among them the brother of an +English and the son of an Irish peer, a colonel and a major in the army) +whose estates were in a flourishing state." The common characteristic +of the Canadian settlements was the humble log hut of the poor +immigrant, struggling with axe and hoe amid the stumps to make a home +for his family. Year by year the sunlight was let into the dense +forests, and fertile meadows soon stretched far and wide in the once +untrodden wilderness. Despite all the difficulties of a pioneer's life, +industry reaped its adequate rewards in the fruitful lands of the west, +bread was easily raised in abundance, and animals of all kinds thrived. + +Unhappily the great bane of the province was the inordinate use of +liquor. "The erection of a church or chapel," says Mrs. Jameson, +"generally preceded that of a school-house in Upper Canada, but the mill +and the tavern invariably preceded both." The roads were of the most +wretched character and at some seasons actually prohibitory of all +social intercourse. The towns were small and ill-built. Toronto, long +known as "muddy little York," had a population of about 10,000, but with +the exception of the new parliament house, it had no public buildings of +architectural pretensions. The houses were generally of wood, a few of +staring ugly red brick; the streets had not a single side-walk until +1834, and in 1838 this comfort for the pedestrian was still exceptional. +Kingston, the ancient Cataraqui, was even a better built town than +Toronto, and had in 1838 a population of perhaps 4500 persons. Hamilton +and London were beginning to be places of importance. Bytown, now +Ottawa, had its beginnings in 1826, when Colonel By of the Royal +Engineers, commenced the construction of the Rideau Canal on the chain +of lakes and rivers between the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence at Kingston. +The ambition of the people of Upper Canada was always to obtain a +continuous and secure system of water navigation from the lakes to +Montreal. The Welland Canal between Lakes Erie and Ontario was commenced +as early as 1824 through the enterprise of Mr. William Hamilton Merritt, +but it was very badly managed; and the legislature, which had from year +to year aided the undertaking, was obliged eventually to acquire it as +a provincial work. The Cornwall Canal was also undertaken, but work was +stopped when it was certain that Lower Canada would not respond to the +aspirations of the West and improve that portion of the St. Lawrence +within its direct control. Flat-bottomed _bateaux_ and Durham boats were +generally in use for the carriage of goods on the inland waters, and it +was not until the completion of a canal system between the lakes and +Montreal, after the Union, that steamers came into vogue. + +The province of Upper Canada had in 1838 reached a crisis in its +affairs. In the course of the seven years preceding the rebellion, +probably eighty thousand or one half of the immigrants, who had come to +the province, had crossed the frontier into the United States, where +greater inducements were held out to capital and population. As Mrs. +Jameson floated in a canoe, in the middle of the Detroit River, she saw +on the one side "all the bustle of prosperity and commerce," and on the +other "all the symptoms of apathy, indolence, mistrust, hopelessness." +At the time such comparisons were made, Upper Canada was on the very +verge of bankruptcy. + +Turning to Lower Canada, we find that the financial position of the +province was very different from that of Upper Canada. The public +accounts showed an annual surplus, and the financial difficulties of the +province were caused entirely by the disputes between the executive and +the assembly which would not vote the necessary supplies. The timber +trade had grown to large proportions and constituted the principal +export to Great Britain from Quebec, which presented a scene of much +activity in the summer. Montreal was already showing its great +advantages as a headquarters of commerce on account of its natural +relations to the West and the United States. Quebec and Montreal had +each about 35,000 inhabitants. Travellers admitted that Montreal, on +account of the solidity of its buildings, generally of stone, compared +most favourably with many of the finest and oldest towns in the United +States. The Parish Church of Notre Dame was the largest ecclesiastical +edifice in America, and notable for its simple grandeur. With its +ancient walls girdling the heights first seen by Jacques Cartier, with +its numerous churches and convents, illustrating the power and wealth of +the Romish religion, with its rugged, erratic streets creeping through +hewn rock, with its picturesque crowd of red-coated soldiers of England +mingling with priests and sisters in sombre attire, or with the +_habitants_ in _étoffe du pays_,--the old city of Quebec, whose history +went back to the beginning of the seventeenth century, was certainly a +piece of mediaevalism transported from northern France. The plain stone +buildings of 1837 still remain in all their evidences of sombre +antiquity. None of the religious or government edifices were +distinguished for architectural beauty--except perhaps the English +cathedral--but represented solidity and convenience, while harmonising +with the rocks amid which they had risen. + +The parliament of Lower Canada still met in the Bishop's Palace, which +was in want of repair. The old Château St. Louis had been destroyed by +fire in 1834, and a terrace bearing the name of Durham was in course of +construction over its ruins. It now gives one of the most picturesque +views in the world on a summer evening as the descending sun lights up +the dark green of the western hills, or brightens the tin spires and +roofs of the churches and convents, or lingers amid the masts of the +ships moored in the river or in the coves, filled with great rafts of +timber. + +As in the days of French rule, the environs of Quebec and Montreal, and +the north side of the St. Lawrence between these two towns, presented +French Canadian life in its most picturesque and favourable aspect. +These settlements on the river formed one continuous village, with +tinned spires rising every few miles amid poplars, maples and elms. +While the homes of the seigniors and of a few professional men were more +commodious and comfortable than in the days of French rule, while the +churches and presbyteries illustrated the increasing prosperity of the +dominant religion, the surroundings of the _habitants_ gave evidences of +their want of energy and enterprise. But crime was rare in the rural +districts and intemperance was not so prevalent as in parts of the west. + +Nearly 150,000 people of British origin resided in Lower Canada--a +British people animated for the most part by that spirit of energy +natural to their race. What prosperity Montreal and Quebec enjoyed as +commercial communities was largely due to the enterprise of British +merchants. The timber trade was chiefly in their hands, and the bank of +Montreal was founded by this class in 1817--seven years before the bank +of Upper Canada was established in Toronto. As political strife +increased in bitterness, the differences between the races became +accentuated. Papineau alienated all the British by his determination to +found a "_Nation Canadienne_" in which the British would occupy a very +inferior place. "French and British," said Lord Durham, "combined for no +public objects or improvements, and could not harmonise even in +associations of charity." The French Canadians looked with jealousy and +dislike on the increase and prosperity of what they regarded as a +foreign and hostile race. It is quite intelligible, then, why trade +languished, internal development ceased, landed property decreased in +value, the revenue showed a diminution, roads and all classes of local +improvements were neglected, agricultural industry was stagnant, wheat +had to be imported for the consumption of the people, and immigration +fell off from 52,000 in 1832 to less than 5000 in 1838. + +In the maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince +Edward Island, there were no racial antagonisms to affect internal +development; and the political conflict never reached such proportions +as to threaten the peace and security of the people. In New Brunswick +the chief industry was the timber trade--deals especially--which +received its first stimulus in 1809, when a heavy duty was placed on +Baltic timber, while that from the colonies came free into the British +Isles. Shipbuilding was also profitably followed in New Brunswick, and +was beginning to be prosecuted in Nova Scotia, where, a few years later, +it made that province one of the greatest ship-owning and ship-sailing +communities of the world until iron steamers gradually drove wooden +vessels from the carrying trade. The cod, mackerel, and herring +fisheries--chiefly the first--were the staple industry of Nova Scotia, +and kept up a large trade with the British West Indies, whence sugar, +molasses and rum were imported. Prince Edward Island was chiefly an +agricultural community, whose development was greatly retarded by the +wholesale grant of lands in 1767 to absentee proprietors. Halifax and +St. John had each a population of twenty thousand. The houses were +mostly of wood, the only buildings of importance being the government +house, finished in 1805, and the provincial or parliament house, +considered in its day one of the handsomest structures in North America. +In the beautiful valleys of Kings and Annapolis--now famous for their +fruit--there was a prosperous farming population. Yarmouth illustrated +the thrift and enterprise of the Puritan element that came into the +province from New England at an early date in its development. The +eastern counties, with the exception of Pictou, showed no sign of +progress. The Scotch population of Cape Breton, drawn from a poor class +of people in the north of Scotland, for years added nothing to the +wealth of an island whose resources were long dormant from the absence +of capital and enterprise. + +Popular education in those days was at the lowest possible ebb. In 1837 +there were in all the private and public schools of the provinces only +one-fifteenth of the total population. In Lower Canada not one-tenth +could write. The children of the _habitants_ repeated the Catechism by +rote, and yet could not read as a rule. In Upper Canada things were no +better. Dr. Thomas Rolph tells us that, so late as 1833, Americans or +other anti-British adventurers carried on the greater proportion of the +common schools, where the youth were taught sentiments "hostile to the +parent state" from books used in the United States--a practice stopped +by statute in 1846. + +Adequate provision, however, was made for the higher education of youth +in all the provinces. "I know of no people," wrote Lord Durham of Lower +Canada, "among whom a larger provision exists for the higher kinds of +elementary education." The piety and benevolence of the early possessors +of the country founded seminaries and colleges, which gave an education +resembling the kind given in the English public schools, though more +varied. In Upper Canada, so early as 1807, grammar schools were +established by the government. By 1837 Upper Canada College--an +institution still flourishing--offered special advantages to youths +whose parents had some money. In Nova Scotia King's College--the oldest +university in Canada--had its beginning as an academy as early as 1788, +and educated many eminent men during its palmy days. Pictou Academy was +established by the Reverend Dr. McCulloch as a remonstrance against the +sectarianism of King's; and the political history of the province was +long disturbed by the struggle of its promoters against the narrowness +of the Anglicans, who dominated the legislative council, and frequently +rejected the grant made by the assembly. Dalhousie College was founded +in 1820 by Lord Dalhousie, then governor of Nova Scotia, to afford that +higher education to all denominations which old King's denied. Acadia +College was founded by the Baptists at Wolfville, on a gently rising +ground overlooking the fertile meadows of Grand Pré. The foundations of +the University of New Brunswick were laid in 1800. McGill University, +founded by one of those generous Montreal merchants who have always been +its benefactors, received a charter in 1821, but it was not opened until +1829. The Methodists laid the foundation of Victoria College at Cobourg +in 1834, but it did not commence its work until after the Union; and the +same was the case with King's College, the beginning of the University +of Toronto. + +We need not linger on the literary output of those early times. Joseph +Bouchette, surveyor-general, had made in the first part of the century a +notable contribution to the geography and cartography of Lower Canada. +Major Richardson, who had served in the war of 1812 and in the Spanish +peninsula, wrote in 1833 "Wacousta or the Prophecy," a spirited romance +of Indian life. In Nova Scotia the "Sayings and Doings of Sam Slick, of +Slickville"--truly a remarkable original creation in humorous +literature--first appeared in a Halifax paper. The author, Judge +Haliburton, also published as early as 1829 an excellent work in two +volumes on the history of his native province. Small libraries and book +stores could only be seen in the cities. + +In these early times of the provinces, when books and magazines were +rarities, the newspaper press naturally exercised much influence on the +social and intellectual conditions of the people at large. By 1838 there +were no less than forty papers printed in the province of Upper Canada +alone, some of them written with ability, though too often in a bitter, +personal tone. In those days English papers did not circulate to any +extent in a country where postage was exorbitant. People could hardly +afford to pay postage rates on letters. The poor settler was often +unable to pay the three or four shillings or even more, imposed on +letters from their old homes across the sea; and it was not unusual to +find in country post-offices a large accumulation of dead letters, +refused or neglected on account of the expense. The management of the +post-office by imperial officers was one of the grievances of the people +of the provinces generally. It was carried on for the benefit of a few +persons, and not for the convenience or solace of the many thousands who +were anxious for news of their kin across the ocean. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A NEW ERA OF COLONIAL GOVERNMENT (1839--1867). + + +SECTION I.--The union of the Canadas and the establishment of +responsible government. + +Lord Durham's report on the affairs of British North America was +presented to the British government on the 31st January, 1839, and +attracted an extraordinary amount of interest in England, where the two +rebellions had at last awakened statesmen to the absolute necessity of +providing an effective remedy for difficulties which had been pressing +upon their attention for years, but had never been thoroughly understood +until the appearance of this famous state paper. A legislative union of +the two Canadas and the concession of responsible government were the +two radical changes which stood out prominently in the report among +minor suggestions in the direction of stable government. On the question +of responsible government Lord Durham expressed opinions of the deepest +political wisdom. He found it impossible "to understand how any English +statesman could have ever imagined that representative and irresponsible +government could be successfully combined....To suppose that such a +system would work well there, implied a belief that the French Canadians +have enjoyed representative institutions for half a century, without +acquiring any of the characteristics of a free people; that Englishmen +renounce every political opinion and feeling when they enter a colony, +or that the spirit of Anglo-Saxon freedom is utterly changed and +weakened among those who are transplanted across the Atlantic[3]." + +[3: For the full text of Lord Durham's report, which was laid before +Parliament, 11 February, 1839, see _English Parliamentary Papers_ for +1839.] + +In June, 1839, Lord John Russell introduced a bill to reunite the two +provinces, but it was allowed, after its second reading, to lie over for +that session of parliament, in order that the matter might be fully +considered in Canada. Mr. Poulett Thomson was appointed governor-general +with the avowed object of carrying out the policy of the imperial +government. Immediately after his arrival in Canada, in the autumn of +1839, the special council of Lower Canada and the legislature of Upper +Canada passed addresses in favour of a union of the two provinces. These +necessary preliminaries having been made, Lord John Russell, in the +session of 1840, again brought forward "An act to reunite the provinces +of Upper and Lower Canada, and for the government of Canada," which was +assented to on the 23rd of July, but did not come into effect until the +10th of February in the following year. + +The act provided for a legislative council of not less than twenty +members, and for a legislative assembly in which each section of the +united provinces would be represented by an equal number of +members--that is to say, forty-two for each or eighty-four in all. The +number of representatives allotted to each province could not be changed +except with the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of each house. +The members of the legislative council were appointed by the crown for +life, and the members of the assembly were chosen by electors possessing +a small property qualification. Members of both bodies were required to +hold property to a certain amount. The assembly had a duration of four +years, subject of course to be sooner dissolved by the governor-general. + +Provision was made for a consolidated revenue fund, on which the first +charges were expenses of collection, management and receipt of revenues, +interest of public debt, payment of the clergy, and civil list. The +English language alone was to be used in the legislative records. All +votes, resolutions or bills involving the expenditure of public money +were to be first recommended by the governor-general. + +The first parliament of the United Canadas was opened on the 14th June, +1841, in the city of Kingston, by the governor-general, who had been +created Baron Sydenham of Sydenham and of Toronto. This session was the +commencement of a series of parliaments which lasted until the +confederation of all the provinces in 1867, and forcibly illustrated the +capacity of the people of Canada to manage their internal affairs. For +the moment, I propose to refer exclusively to those political conditions +which brought about responsible government, and the removal of +grievances which had so long perplexed the imperial state and distracted +the whole of British North America. + +In Lord John Russell's despatches of 1839,--the sequence of Lord +Durham's report--we can clearly see the doubt in the minds of the +imperial authorities whether it was possible to work the system of +responsible government on the basis of a governor directly responsible +to the parent state, and at the same time acting under the advice of +ministers who would be responsible to a colonial legislature. But the +colonial secretary had obviously come to the opinion that it was +necessary to make a radical change which would insure greater harmony +between the executive and the popular bodies of the provinces. Her +Majesty, he stated emphatically, "had no desire to maintain any system +of policy among her North American subjects which opinion condemns", and +there was "no surer way of gaining the approbation of the Queen than by +maintaining the harmony of the executive with the legislative +authorities." The new governor-general was expressly appointed to carry +out this new policy. If he was extremely vain, at all events he was also +astute, practical, and well able to gauge the public sentiment by which +he should be guided at so critical a period of Canadian history. The +evidence is clear that he was not individually in favour of responsible +government, as it was understood by men like Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Howe, +when he arrived in Canada. He believed that the council should be one +"for the governor to consult and no more"; and voicing the doubts that +existed in the minds of imperial statesmen, he added, the governor +"cannot be responsible to the government at home" and also to the +legislature of the province, if it were so, "then all colonial +government becomes impossible." The governor, in his opinion, "must +therefore be the minister [i.e. the colonial secretary], in which case +he cannot be under control of men in the colony." + +When the assembly met it was soon evident that the Reformers in that +body were determined to have a definite understanding on the +all-important question of responsible government; and the result was +that the governor-general, a keen politician, immediately recognised the +fact that, unless he yielded to the feeling of the majority, he would +lose all his influence. There is every reason to believe that the +resolutions which were eventually passed in favour of responsible +government, in amendment to those moved by Mr. Baldwin, had his approval +before their introduction. The two sets of resolutions practically +differed little from each other, and the inference to be drawn from the +political situation of these times is that the governor's friends in the +council thought it advisable to gain all the credit possible with the +public for the passage of resolutions on the all-absorbing question of +the day, since it was obvious that it had to be settled in some +satisfactory and definite form. These resolutions embodying the +principles of the new constitution of Canada, were as follows: (1) "That +the head of the executive government of the province, being within the +limits of his government the representative of the sovereign, is +responsible to the imperial authority alone, but that, nevertheless, the +management of our local affairs can only be conducted by him with the +assistance, counsel, and information of subordinate officers in the +province. (2) That, in order to preserve between the different branches +of the provincial parliament that harmony which is essential to the +peace, welfare and good government of the province, the chief advisers +of the representative of the sovereign, constituting a provincial +administration under him, ought to be men possessed of the confidence of +the representatives of the people; thus affording a guarantee that the +well-understood wishes and interests of the people, which our gracious +sovereign has declared shall be the rule of the provincial government, +will on all occasions be faithfully represented and advocated. (3) That +the people of this province have, moreover, the right to expect from +such provincial administration, the exertion of their best endeavours +that the imperial authority, within its constitutional limits, shall be +exercised in the manner most consistent with their well-understood +wishes and interests." + +On the 4th September, 1841, Lord Sydenham met with a serious accident +while riding, and as his constitution had been impaired for years he +died a fortnight later, to the regret of all political parties. He was +succeeded by Sir Charles Bagot, a Conservative and High Churchman, whose +brief administration was notable for the display of infinite discretion +on his part, and for his desire to do justice to the French Canadians +even at the risk of offending the ultra-loyal party, who claimed special +consideration in the management of public affairs. Responsible +government was in a fair way of being permanently established when Sir +Charles Bagot unhappily died in 1843 of dropsy, complicated by +heart-disease; and Lord Metcalfe was brought from India to create--as it +soon appeared--confusion and discord in the political affairs of the +province. His ideas of responsible government were those which had been +steadily inculcated by colonial secretaries since 1839, and were even +entertained by Lord Sydenham himself, namely, that the governor should +be as influential a factor as possible in the government, and should +always remember that he was directly responsible to the crown, and +should consider its prerogatives and interests as superior to all local +considerations. + +When Lord Metcalfe assumed the responsibilities of his post, he found in +office a Liberal administration, led by Mr. Baldwin, the eminent Reform +leader of Upper Canada, and Mr. Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine, afterwards +chief justice of Lower Canada and a baronet, who had been at the outset, +like all his countrymen, opposed to the union, as unjust to their +province. What originally excited their antagonism were the conditions +exacted by the legislature of Upper Canada: an equality of +representation, though the French section had a population of two +hundred thousand more than the western province, the exclusion of the +French language from the legislature, and the imposition of the heavy +debt of Upper Canada on the revenues of the united provinces. But unlike +Mr. Papineau, with whom he had acted during the political struggles in +Lower Canada, Mr. Lafontaine developed a high order of discreet +statesmanship after the union, and recognised the possibility of making +French Canada a force in government. He did not follow the example of +Mr. John Neilson, who steadily opposed the union--but determined to work +it out fairly and patiently on the principles of responsible government. + +Lord Metcalfe, at the very outset, decided not to distribute the +patronage of the crown under the advice of his responsible advisers, but +to ignore them, as he declared, whenever he deemed it expedient. No +responsible ministers could, with any regard to their own self-respect, +or to the public interests, submit to a practice directly antagonistic +to responsible government, then on its trial. Consequently, all the +members of the Baldwin-Lafontaine government, with the exception of Mr. +Daly, immediately resigned, when Lord Metcalfe followed so +unconstitutional a course. Mr. Dominick Daly, afterwards knighted when +governor of Prince Edward's Island--who had no party proclivities, and +was always ready to support the crown in a crisis--became nominally +head of a weak administration. The ministry was only completed after a +most unconstitutional delay of several months, and was even then only +composed of men whose chief merit was their friendliness to the +governor, who dissolved the assembly and threw all the weight of the +crown into the contest. The governor's party was returned with a very +small majority, but it was a victory, like that of Sir Francis Bond Head +in 1835, won at the sacrifice of the dignity of the crown, and at the +risk of exciting once more public discontent to a dangerous degree. Lord +Metcalfe's administration was strengthened when Mr. Draper resigned his +legislative councillorship and took a seat in the assembly as leader. +Lord Metcalfe's conduct received the approval of the imperial +authorities, who elevated him to the peerage--so much evidence that they +were not yet ready to concede responsible government in a complete +sense. The result was a return to the days of old paternal government, +when the parliamentary opposition was directed against the governor +himself and the British government of which he was the organ. Lord +Metcalfe had been a sufferer from cancer, and when it appeared again in +its most aggravated form he returned to England, where he died a few +months later (1846). The abuse that followed him almost to the grave was +a discreditable exhibition of party rancour, but it indicated the +condition to which the public mind had been brought by his unwise and +unconstitutional conduct of public affairs--conduct for which his only +apology must be the half-hearted, doubtful policy of the imperial +authorities with regard to the province, and his own inability to +understand the fundamental principles of responsible government. + +Lord Metcalfe's successor was Lord Cathcart, who had served with +distinction in the Peninsular War, and was appointed with a view to +contingencies that might arise out of the dispute between England and +the United States on the Oregon boundary question, to which I shall +refer in another chapter. He pursued a judicious course at a time when +politics were complicated by the fact that the industry and commerce of +the country were seriously deranged by the adoption of free trade in +England, and the consequent removal of duties which had given the +preference in the British market to Canadian wheat, flour and other +products. What aggravated the commercial situation was the fact that the +navigation laws, being still in force, closed the St. Lawrence to +foreign shipping and prevented the extension of trade to other markets +so as to compensate Canadians for the loss of that with the parent +state. Lord Cathcart was recalled within less than a year, when all +prospect of war with the United States had disappeared, and was followed +(1847) by a civil governor, the Earl of Elgin, who was chosen by the +Whig ministry, in which Lord John Russell was prime minister, and Earl +Grey the secretary of state for the colonies. It had dawned upon English +statesmen that the time had come for giving the colonists of British +North America a system of responsible government without such reserves +as had so seriously shackled its beginnings. In all probability they +thought that the free-trade policy of England had momentarily weakened +the ties that had bound the colonies to the parent state, and that it +was advisable to follow up the new commercial policy by removing causes +of public discontent in the province. + +Lord Elgin was happily chosen to inaugurate a new era of colonial +self-government. Gifted with a judicial mind and no ordinary amount of +political sagacity, able to originate as well as carry out a +statesmanlike policy, animated, like Lord Durham--whose daughter he had +married--by a sincere desire to give full scope to the aspirations of +the people for self-government, so far as compatible with the supremacy +of the crown, possessed of eloquence which at once charmed and +convinced, Lord Elgin was able to establish on sure foundations the +principles of responsible government, and eventually to leave Canada +with the conviction that no subsequent representative of the crown +could again impair its efficient operation, and convulse the public +mind, as Lord Metcalfe had done. On his arrival he gave his confidence +to the Draper ministry, who were still in office; but shortly afterwards +its ablest member was elevated to the bench, and Mr. Sherwood became +attorney-general and head of a government, chiefly interesting now for +the fact that one of its members was Mr. John Alexander Macdonald, who, +on becoming a member of the assembly in 1844, had commenced a public +career which made him one of the most notable figures in the history of +the colonial empire of England. + +Parliament was dissolved, and the elections were held in January, 1848, +when the government were defeated by a large majority and the second +Lafontaine-Baldwin ministry was formed; a ministry conspicuous for the +ability of its members, and the useful character of its legislation +during the four years it remained in power. It is noteworthy here that +Lord Elgin did not follow the example of his predecessors and select the +ministers himself, but followed the strict constitutional usage of +calling upon Mr. Lafontaine as a recognised leader of a party in +parliament to form a government. It does not fall within the scope of +this chapter to go into the merits of this great administration, whose +coming into office may be considered the crowning of the principles +adopted by Lord Elgin for the unreserved concession of responsible +government, and never violated from that time forward by any governor of +Canada. + +We must now direct our attention to the maritime provinces, that we may +complete this review of the progress of responsible government in +British North America. In 1836 the revenues of New Brunswick had been +placed at the disposal of the legislature, and administrative power +entrusted to those who possessed the confidence of the assembly. The +lieutenant-governor, Sir John Harvey, who had distinguished himself in +the war of 1812-15, recognised in Lord John Russell's despatches "a new +and improved constitution," and by an official memorandum informed the +heads of departments that "thenceforward their offices would be held by +the tenure of public confidence"; but after his departure (in 1841) an +attempt was made by Sir William Colebrooke to imitate the example of +Lord Metcalfe. He appointed to the provincial secretaryship a Mr. Reade, +who had been only a few months in the province, and never represented a +constituency or earned promotion in the public service. The members of +the executive council were never consulted, and four of the most popular +and influential councillors soon resigned. One of them, Mr. Lemuel A. +Wilmot, the recognised leader of the Liberals, addressed a strong +remonstrance to the lieutenant-governor, and vindicated those principles +of colonial government "which require the administration to be conducted +by heads of departments responsible to the legislature, and holding +their offices contingently upon the approbation and confidence of the +country, as expressed through the representatives of the people." The +colonial secretary of state disapproved of the action of the +lieutenant-governor, and constitutional government was strengthened in +this province of the Loyalists. From that time there was a regularly +organised administration and an opposition contending for office and +popular favour. + +In Nova Scotia a despatch from Lord Glenelg brought to a close in 1838 +the agitation which had been going on for years for a separation of the +executive from the legislative functions of the legislative council, and +the formation of two distinct bodies in accordance with the existing +English system. In this state paper--the first important step towards +responsible government in the province--the secretary of state, Lord +Glenelg, stated that it was her Majesty's pleasure that neither the +chief justice nor any of his colleagues should sit in the council, that +all the judges should entirely withdraw from all political discussions; +that the assembly's claim to control and appropriate all the revenues +arising in the province should be fully recognised by the government; +that the two councils should be thereafter divided, and that the members +of these bodies should be drawn from different parts of the +province--Halifax previously having obtained all the appointments except +one or two--and selected without reference to distinctions of religious +opinions. Unfortunately for Nova Scotia there was at that time at the +head of the executive a brave, obstinate old soldier, Sir Colin +Campbell, who had petrified ideas on the subject of colonial +administration, and showed no disposition to carry out the obvious +desire of the imperial authorities to give a more popular form to the +government of the province. One of his first official acts was to give +to the Anglican Church a numerical superiority to which it had no valid +claim. As in Upper Canada, at that time, there was a combination or +compact, composed of descendants of English Tories or of the Loyalists +of 1783, who belonged to the Anglican Church, and were opposed to +popular government. Two men were now becoming most prominent in +politics. One of these was Mr. James William Johnston, the son of a +Georgia Loyalist, an able lawyer, gifted with a persuasive tongue which +chimed most harmoniously with the views of Sir Colin. On the other side +was Mr. Joseph Howe, the son of a Loyalist printer of Boston, who had no +such aristocratic connections as Mr. Johnston, and soon became the +dominant influence in the Reform party, which had within its ranks such +able and eloquent men as S.G.W. Archibald, Herbert Huntington, Lawrence +O'Connor Doyle, William and George R. Young, and, very soon, James Boyle +Uniacke. Sir Colin Campbell completely ignored the despatches of Lord +John Russell, which were recognised by Sir John Harvey as conferring "an +improved constitution" upon the colonies. In February, 1840, Mr. Howe +moved a series of resolutions, in which it was emphatically stated that +"no satisfactory settlement of questions before the country could be +obtained until the executive council was remodelled," and that, as then +constituted, "it did not enjoy the confidence of the country." The +motion was carried by a majority of eighteen votes, in a house of +forty-two members, and indeed, so untenable was the position of the +executive council that Mr. James Boyle Uniacke, a member of the +government, retired, rather than vote, and subsequently placed his +resignation in the hands of the lieutenant-governor, on the ground that +it was his duty to yield to the opinions of the representative house, +and facilitate the introduction of a better system of government, in +accordance with the well-understood wishes of the people. From that time +Mr. Uniacke became one of Mr. Howe's ablest allies in the struggle for +self-government. Sir Colin, however, would not recede from the attitude +he had assumed, but expressed the opinion, in his reply to the address +of the legislature, that he could not recognise in the despatch of the +colonial secretary of state "any instruction for a fundamental change in +the colonial constitution." The assembly then prayed her Majesty, in a +powerful and temperate address, to recall Sir Colin Campbell. Though +Lord John Russell did not present the address to the Queen, the imperial +government soon afterwards appointed Lord Falkland to succeed Sir Colin +Campbell, whose honesty of purpose had won the respect of all parties. + +Lord Falkland was a Whig, a lord of the bedchamber, and married to one +of the Fitzclarences--a daughter of William IV and Mrs. Jordan. He +arrived at Halifax in September, 1840, and his first political act was +in the direction of conciliating the Liberals, who were in the majority +in the assembly. He dismissed--to the disgust of the official +party--four members of the executive who had no seats in either branch +of the legislature, and induced Mr. Howe and Mr. James MacNab to enter +the government, on the understanding that other Liberals would be +brought in according as vacancies occurred, and that the members of the +council should hold their seats only upon the tenure of public +confidence. A dissolution took place, the coalition government was +sustained, and the Liberals came into the assembly with a majority. Mr. +Howe was elected speaker of the assembly, though an executive +councillor--without salary; but he and others began to recognise the +impropriety of one man occupying such positions, and in a later session +a resolution was passed against the continuance of what was really an +un-British and unconstitutional practice. It was also an illustration of +the ignorance that prevailed as to the principles that should guide the +words and acts of a cabinet, that members of the executive, who had +seats in the legislative council, notably Mr. Stewart, stated openly, in +contradiction of the assertions of Mr. Howe and his Liberal colleagues, +that "no change had been made in the constitution of the country, and +that responsible government in a colony was responsible nonsense, and +meant independence." It was at last found necessary to give some sort of +explanation of such extraordinary opinions, to avert a political crisis +in the assembly. Then, to add to the political embarrassment, there was +brought before the people the question of abandoning the practice of +endowing denominational colleges, and of establishing in their place one +large non-sectarian University. At this time the legislature voted +annual grants to five sectarian educational institutions of a high +class. The most important were King's College, belonging to the Anglican +Church, and Acadia College, supported by the Baptists. The Anglican +Church was still influential in the councils of the province, and the +Baptists had now the support of Mr. Johnston, the able attorney-general, +who had seceded from the Church of England. This able lawyer and +politician had won the favour of the aristocratic governor, and +persuaded him to dissolve the assembly, during the absence of Mr. Howe +in the country, though it had continuously supported the government, and +the people had given no signs of a want of confidence in the house as +then constituted. The fact was, Mr. Johnston and his friends in the +council thought it necessary to lose no time in arousing the feelings of +the supporters of denominational colleges against Mr. Howe and other +Liberals, who had commenced to hold meetings throughout the country in +favour of a non-sectarian University. The two parties came back from +the electors almost evenly divided, and Mr. Howe had an interview with +Lord Falkland. He consented to remain in the cabinet until the assembly +had an opportunity of expressing its opinion on the question at issue, +when the governor himself precipitated a crisis by appointing to the +executive and legislative councils Mr. M.B. Almon, a wealthy banker, and +a brother-in-law of the attorney-general. Mr. Howe and Mr. MacNab at +once resigned their seats in the government on the ground that Mr. +Almon's appointment was a violation of the compact by which two Liberals +had been induced to join the ministry, and was most unjust to the forty +or fifty gentlemen who, in both branches, had sustained the +administration for several years. Instead of authorising Mr. Johnston to +fill the two vacancies and justify the course taken by the governor, the +latter actually published a letter in a newspaper, in which he boldly +stated that he was entirely opposed to the formation of a government +composed of individuals of one political party, that he would steadily +resist any invasion of the royal prerogatives with respect to +appointments, and that he had chosen Mr. Almon, not simply on the ground +that he had not been previously engaged in political life to any extent, +but chiefly because he wished to show his own confidence in Mr. +Johnston, Mr. Almon's brother-in-law. Lord Falkland had obviously thrown +himself into the arms of the astute attorney-general and his political +friends. + +It was now a political war _à outrance_ between Lord Falkland and Mr. +Howe, from 1842 until the governor left the province in 1846. Lord +Falkland made strenuous efforts to detach Mr. MacNab, Mr. Uniacke and +other Liberals from Mr. Howe, and induce them to enter the government, +but all to no purpose. He now gave up writing letters to the press, and +attacked his opponents in official communications addressed to the +colonial office, which supported him, as it did Lord Metcalfe, under +analogous circumstances. These despatches were laid without delay on +the tables of the houses, to be used far and wide against the +recalcitrant Liberals. Mr. Howe had again renewed his connection with +the press, which he had left on becoming speaker and councillor, and had +become editor of the _Nova Scotian_, and the _Morning Chronicle_, of +which Mr. Annand was the proprietor. In these influential organs of the +Liberal party--papers still in existence--Mr. Howe attacked Lord +Falkland, both in bitter prose and sarcastic verse. All this while the +governor and his council contrived to control the assembly, sometimes by +two or three votes, sometimes by a prorogation when it was necessary to +dispose summarily of a troublesome question. Public opinion began to set +in steadily against the government. The controversy between Lord +Falkland and Mr. Howe reached its climax on the 21st February, 1846, +when a despatch was brought down to the house, referring to the speaker, +Mr. William Young, and his brother, George R. Young, as the associates +of "reckless" and "insolvent" men--the reference being to Mr. Howe and +his immediate political friends. When the despatch had been read, Mr. +Howe became greatly excited, and declared amid much disorder that if +"the infamous system" of libelling respectable colonists in despatches +sent to the colonial office was continued, "without their having any +means of redress ... some colonist would by-and-by, or he was much +mistaken, hire a black fellow to horsewhip a lieutenant-governor." + +It was time that this unhappy conflict should end. The imperial +authorities wisely transferred Lord Falkland to Bombay, where he could +do no harm, and appointed Sir John Harvey to the government of Nova +Scotia. Like Lord Elgin in Canada, he was discreetly chosen by the +Reform ministry, as the sequel showed. He was at first in favour of a +coalition government like his predecessors, but he wisely dissolved the +assembly when he found that the leading Liberals positively refused to +go into an alliance with the members of the executive council, or any +other set of men, until the people had decided between parties at the +polls. The result was a victory for the Liberals, and as soon as the +assembly met a direct motion of want of confidence was carried against +the government, and for the first time in the history of the country the +governor called to his council men exclusively belonging to the +opposition in the popular branch. Mr. Howe was not called upon to form a +cabinet--his quarrel with Lord Falkland had to be resented somehow--but +the governor's choice was Mr. James Boyle Uniacke, who gave a prominent +position in the new government to the great Liberal, to whom responsible +government owed its final success in this maritime province. + +Responsible government was not introduced into Prince Edward Island +until 1851, when an address on the prosperous state of the island was +presented to the imperial authorities, who at once consented to concede +responsible government on the condition that adequate provision was made +for certain public officers affected by the new order of things. The +leader of the new government was the Honourable George Coles. + +In the history of the past there is much to deplore, the blunders of +English ministers, the want of judgment on the part of governors, the +selfishness of "family compacts," the arrogance of office-holders, the +recklessness of Canadian politicians. But the very trials of the crisis +through which Canada passed brought out the fact, that if English +statesmen had mistaken the spirit of the Canadian people, and had not +always taken the best methods of removing grievances, it was not from +any studied disposition to do these countries an injustice, but rather +because they were unable to see until the very last moment that, even in +a colony, a representative system must be worked in accordance with +those principles that obtained in England, and that it was impossible to +direct the internal affairs of dependencies many thousand miles distant +through a colonial office, generally managed by a few clerks. + +Of all the conspicuous figures of these memorable times, which already +seem so far away from Canadians of the present day, who possess so many +political rights, there are several who stand out more prominently than +all others, and represent the distinct types of politicians, who +influenced the public mind during the first half of the nineteenth +century, when responsible government was in slow process of evolution +from the political struggles which arose in the operation of +representative institutions. Around the figure of Louis Joseph Papineau +there has always been a sort of glamour which has helped to conceal his +vanity, his rashness and his want of political sagacity, which would, +under any circumstances, have prevented his success as a safe statesman, +capable of guiding a people through a trying ordeal. His eloquence was +fervid and had much influence over his impulsive countrymen, his +sincerity was undoubted, and in all likelihood his very indiscretions +made more palpable the defects of the political system against which he +so persistently and so often justly declaimed. He lived to see his +countrymen enjoy power and influence under the very union which they +resented, and to find himself no longer a leader among men, but isolated +from a great majority of his own people, and representing a past whose +methods were antagonistic to the new régime that had grown up since +1838. It would have been well for his reputation had he remained in +obscurity on his return from exile in 1847, when he and other rebels of +1837 were wisely pardoned, and had he never stood again on the floor of +the parliament of Canada, as he did from 1848 until 1854, since he could +only prove, in those later times, that he had never understood the true +working of responsible government. While the Lafontaine-Baldwin ministry +were in power, he revived an agitation for an elective legislative +council and declared himself utterly hostile to responsible government; +but his influence was at an end in the country, and he could make little +impression on the assembly. The days of reckless agitation had passed, +and the time for astute and calm statesmanship had come. Lafontaine and +Morin were now safer political guides for his countrymen. He soon +disappeared entirely from public view, and in the solitude of his +picturesque château, amid the groves that overhang the Ottawa River, +only visited from time to time by a few staunch friends, or by curious +tourists who found their way to that quiet spot, he passed the remainder +of his days with a tranquillity in wondrous contrast to the stormy and +eventful drama of his life. The writer often saw his noble, dignified +figure--erect even in age--passing unnoticed on the streets of Ottawa, +when perhaps at the same time there were strangers, walking through the +lobbies of the parliament house, asking for his portrait. + +William Lyon Mackenzie is a far less picturesque figure in Canadian +history than Papineau, who possessed an eloquence of tongue and a grace +of demeanour which were not the attributes of the little peppery, +undignified Scotchman who, for a few years, played so important a part +in the English-speaking province. With his disinterestedness and +unselfishness, with his hatred of political injustice and oppression, +Canadians who remember the history of the constitutional struggles of +England will always sympathise. Revolt against absolutism and tyranny is +permissible in the opinion of men who love political freedom, but the +conditions of Upper Canada were hardly such as justified the rash +insurrection into which he led his deluded followers, many to misery and +some to death. Mackenzie lived long enough to regret these sad mistakes +of a reckless period of his life, and to admit that "the success of the +rebellion would have deeply injured the people of Canada," whom he +believed he was then serving, and that it was the interest of the +Canadian people to strengthen in every way the connection with England. +Like Papineau, he returned to Canada in 1849 to find himself entirely +unequal to the new conditions of political life, where a large +constitutional knowledge, a spirit of moderation and a statesmanlike +conduct could alone give a man influence in the councils of his country. +One historian has attempted to elevate Dr. Rolph at his expense, but a +careful study of the career of those two actors will lead fair-minded +readers to the conclusion that even the reckless course followed at the +last by Mackenzie was preferable to the double-dealing of his more +astute colleague. Dr. Rolph came again into prominence as one of the +founders of the Clear Grits, who formed in 1849 an extreme branch of the +Reform party. Dr. Rolph's qualities ensured him success in political +intrigue, and he soon became a member of the Hincks-Morin government, +which was formed on the reconstruction of the Lafontaine-Baldwin +ministry in 1851, when its two moderate leaders were practically pushed +aside by men more in harmony with the aggressive elements of the Reform +party. But Mr. Mackenzie could never win such triumphs as were won by +his wily and more manageable associate of old times. He published a +newspaper--_The Weekly Message_--replete with the eccentricities of the +editor, but it was never a financial success, while his career in the +assembly from 1851 until 1858 only proved him almost a nullity in public +affairs. Until his death in 1861 his life was a constant fight with +poverty, although his closing years were somewhat soothed by the gift of +a homestead. He might have received some public position which would +have given him comfort and rest, but he would not surrender what he +called his political freedom to the men in office, who, he believed, +wished to purchase his silence--the veriest delusion, as his influence +had practically disappeared with his flight to the United States. + +Joseph Howe, unlike the majority of his compeers who struggled for +popular rights, was a prominent figure in public life until the very +close of his career in 1873. All his days, even when his spirit was +sorely tried by the obstinacy and indifference of some English +ministers, he loved England, for he knew--like the Loyalists, from one +of whom he sprung--it was in her institutions, after all, his country +could best find prosperity and happiness. It is an interesting fact +that, among the many able essays and addresses which the question of +imperial federation has drawn forth, none can equal his great speech on +the consolidation of the empire in eloquence, breadth, and fervour. Of +all the able men Nova Scotia has produced no one has surpassed that +great tribune of the people in his power to persuade and delight the +masses by his oratory. Yet, strange to say, his native province has +never raised a monument to his memory. + +One of the most admirable figures in the political history of the +Dominion was undoubtedly Robert Baldwin. Compared with other popular +leaders of his generation, he was calm in council, unselfish in motive, +and moderate in opinion. If there is any significance in the political +phrase "Liberal-Conservative," it could be applied with justice +to him. The "great ministry," of which he and Louis Hippolyte +Lafontaine--afterwards a baronet and chief justice--were the leaders, +left behind it many monuments of broad statesmanship, and made a deep +impression on the institutions of the country. In 1851 he resigned from +the Reform ministry, of which he had been the Upper Canadian leader, in +consequence of a vote of the Reformers of that province adverse to the +continuance of the court of chancery, the constitution of which had been +improved chiefly by himself. When he presented himself as a candidate +before his old constituency he was defeated by a nominee of the Clear +Grits, who were then, as always, pressing their opinions with great +vehemence and hostility to all moderate men. He illustrated the fickle +character of popular favour, when a man will not surrender his +principles and descend to the arts of the politician. He lived until +1858 in retirement, almost forgotten by the people for whom he had +worked so fearlessly and sincerely. + +In New Brunswick the triumph of responsible government must always be +associated with the name of Lemuel A. Wilmot, the descendant of +a famous United Empire Loyalist stock, afterwards a judge and a +lieutenant-governor of his native province. He was in some respects the +most notable figure, after Joseph Howe and J.W. Johnston, the leaders +of the Liberal and Conservative parties in Nova Scotia, in that famous +body of public men who so long brightened the political life of the +maritime provinces. But neither those two leaders nor their +distinguished compeers, James Boyle Uniacke, William Young, John +Hamilton Gray and Charles Fisher, all names familiar to students of Nova +Scotia and New Brunswick history, surpassed Mr. Wilmot in that magnetic +eloquence which carries an audience off its feet, in versatility of +knowledge, in humorous sarcasm, and in conversational gifts, which made +him a most interesting personality in social life. He impressed his +strong individuality upon his countrymen until the latest hour of his +useful career. + +In Prince Edward Island, the name most intimately connected with the +struggle for responsible government is that of George Coles, who, +despite the absence of educational and social advantages in his youth, +eventually triumphed over all obstacles, and occupied a most prominent +position by dint of unconquerable courage and ability to influence the +opinions of the great mass of people. + + +SECTION 2.--Results of self-government from 1841 to 1864. + +The new colonial policy, adopted by the imperial government immediately +after the presentation of Lord Durham's report, had a remarkable effect +upon the political and social development of the British North American +provinces during the quarter of a century that elapsed between the union +of the Canadas in 1841 and the federal union of 1867. In 1841 Mr. +Harrison, provincial secretary of the upper province in the coalition +government formed by Lord Sydenham, brought in a measure which laid the +foundations of the elaborate system of municipal institutions which the +Canadian provinces now enjoy. In 1843 Attorney-General Lafontaine +presented a bill "for better serving the independence of the legislative +assembly of this province," which became law in 1844 and formed the +basis of all subsequent legislation in Canada. + +The question of the clergy reserves continued for some years after the +union to perplex politicians and harass governments. At last in 1854 the +Hincks government was defeated by a combination of factions, and the +Liberal-Conservative party was formed out of the union of the +Conservatives and the moderate Reformers. Sir Allan MacNab was the +leader of this coalition government, but the most influential member was +Mr. John A. Macdonald, then attorney-general of Upper Canada, whose +first important act was the settlement of the clergy reserves. Reform +ministers had for years evaded the question, and it was now left to a +government, largely composed of men who had been Tories in the early +part of their political career, to yield to the force of public opinion +and take it out of the arena of political agitation by means of +legislation which handed over this property to the municipal +corporations of the province for secular purposes, and at the same time +made a small endowment for the protection of the clergy who had legal +claims on the fund. The same government had also the honour of removing +the old French seigniorial system, recognised to be incompatible with +the modern condition of a country of free government, and injurious to +the agricultural development of the province at large. The question was +practically settled in 1854, when Mr. Drummond, then attorney-general +for Lower Canada, brought in a bill providing for the appointment of a +commission to ascertain the amount of compensation that could be fairly +asked by the seigniors for the cession of their seigniorial rights. The +seigniors, from first to last, received about a million of dollars, and +it also became necessary to revise those old French laws which affected +the land tenure of Lower Canada. Accordingly in 1856 Mr. George Cartier, +attorney-general for Lower Canada in the Taché-Macdonald ministry, +introduced the legislation necessary for the codification of the civil +law. In 1857 Mr. Spence, post-master-general in the same ministry, +brought in a measure to organise the civil service, on whose character +and ability so much depends in the working of parliamentary +institutions. From that day to this the Canadian government has +practically recognised the British principle of retaining public +officers without reference to a change of political administration. + +Soon after the union the legislating obtained full control of the civil +list and the post-office. The last tariff framed by the imperial +parliament for British North America was mentioned in the speech at the +opening of the Canadian legislature in 1842. In 1846 the British +colonies in America were authorised by an imperial statute to reduce or +repeal by their own legislation duties imposed by imperial acts upon +foreign goods imported from foreign countries into the colonies in +question. Canada soon availed herself of this privilege, which was +granted to her as the logical sequence of the free-trade policy of Great +Britain, and, from that time to the present, she has been enabled to +legislate very freely with regard to her own commercial interests. In +1849 the imperial parliament repealed the navigation laws, and allowed +the river St. Lawrence to be used by vessels of all nations. With the +repeal of laws, the continuance of which had seriously crippled Canadian +trade after the adoption of free trade by England, the provinces +gradually entered on a new career of industrial enterprise. + +No part of the constitution of 1840 gave greater offence to the French +Canadian population than the clause restricting the use of the French +language in the legislature. It was considered as a part of the policy, +foreshadowed in Lord Durham's report, to denationalise, if possible, the +French Canadian province. The repeal of the clause, in 1848, was one +evidence of the harmonious operation of the union, and of a better +feeling between the two sections of the population. Still later, +provision was made for the gradual establishment of an elective +legislative council, so long and earnestly demanded by the old +legislature of Lower Canada. + +The members of the Lafontaine-Baldwin government became the legislative +executors of a troublesome legacy left to them by a Conservative +ministry. In 1839 acts had been passed by the special council of Lower +Canada and the legislature of Upper Canada to compensate the loyal +inhabitants of those provinces for the loss they had sustained during +the rebellions. In the first session of the union parliament the Upper +Canadian act was amended, and money voted to reimburse all persons in +Upper Canada whose property had been unnecessarily, or wantonly, +destroyed by persons acting, or pretending to act, on behalf of the +crown. An agitation then commenced for the application of the same +principle to Lower Canada, and in 1845 commissioners were appointed by +the Draper administration to inquire into the nature and value of the +losses suffered by her Majesty's loyal subjects in Lower Canada. When +their report was presented in favour of certain claims the Draper +ministry brought in some legislation on the subject, but went out of +office before any action could be taken thereon. The Lafontaine-Baldwin +government then determined to set the question at rest, and introduced +legislation for the issue of debentures to the amount of $400,000 for +the payment of losses sustained by persons who had not been convicted +of, or charged with, high treason or other offences of a treasonable +nature, or had been committed to the custody of the sheriff in the gaol +of Montreal and subsequently transported to the island of Bermuda. +Although the principle of this measure was fully justified by the action +of the Tory Draper government, extreme Loyalists and even some Reformers +of Upper Canada declaimed against it in the most violent terms, and a +few persons even declared that they would prefer annexation to the +United States to the payment of the rebels. The bill, however, passed +the legislature by a large majority, and received the crown's assent +through Lord Elgin on the 25th April, 1849. A large crowd immediately +assembled around the parliament house--formerly the St. Anne Market +House--and insulted the governor-general by opprobrious epithets, and by +throwing missiles at him as he drove away to Monklands, his residence in +the country. The government and members of the legislature appear to +have been unconscious of the danger to which they were exposed until a +great crowd rushed into the building, which was immediately destroyed by +fire with its fine collection of books and archives. A few days later, +when the assembly, then temporarily housed in the hall of Bonsecours +Market, attempted to present an address to Lord Elgin, he was in +imminent danger of his life while on his way to the government +house--then the old Château de Ramesay in Nôtre-Dame Street--and the +consequences might have been most serious had he not evaded the mob on +his return to Monklands. This disgraceful affair was a remarkable +illustration not simply of the violence of faction, but largely of the +discontent then so prevalent in Montreal and other industrial centres, +on account of the commercial policy of Great Britain, which seriously +crippled colonial trade and was the main cause of the creation of a +small party which actually advocated for a short time annexation to the +United States as preferable to the existing state of things. The result +was the removal of the seat of government from Montreal, and the +establishment of a nomadic system of government by which the legislature +met alternately at Toronto and Quebec every five years until Ottawa was +chosen by the Queen as a permanent political capital. Lord Elgin felt +his position keenly, and offered his resignation to the imperial +government, but they refused to entertain it, and his course as a +constitutional governor under such trying circumstances was approved by +parliament. + +The material condition of the provinces--especially of Upper Canada, +which now became the first in population and wealth--kept pace with the +rapid progress of the people in self-government. The population of the +five provinces had increased from about 1,500,000, in 1841, to about +3,200,000 when the census was taken in 1861 The greatest increase had +been in the province of Upper Canada, chiefly in consequence of the +large immigration which flowed into the country from Ireland, where the +potato rot had caused wide-spread destitution and misery. The population +of this province had now reached 1,396,091, or nearly 300,000 more than +the population of Lower Canada--an increase which, as I shall show in +the next chapter, had important effects on the political conditions of +the two provinces. The eastern or maritime provinces received but a +small part of the yearly immigration from Europe, and even that was +balanced by an exodus to the United States. Montreal had a population of +100,000, or double that of Quebec, and was now recognised as the +commercial capital of British North America. Toronto had reached 60,000, +and was making more steady progress in population and wealth than any +other city, except Montreal. Towns and villages were springing up with +great rapidity in the midst of the enterprising farming population of +the western province. In Lower Canada the townships showed the energy of +a British people, but the _habitants_ pursued the even tenor of ways +which did not include enterprise and improved methods of agriculture. + +The value of the total exports and imports of the provinces reached +$150,000,000 by 1864, or an increase of $100,000,000 in a quarter of a +century. The great bulk of the import trade was with Great Britain and +the United States, but the value of the exports to the United States was +largely in excess of the goods purchased by Great Britain--especially +after 1854, when Lord Elgin arranged a reciprocity treaty with the +United States. Lord Elgin represented Great Britain in the negotiations +at Washington, and the Congress of the United States and the several +legislatures of the Canadian provinces passed the legislation necessary +to give effect to the treaty. Its most important provisions established +free trade between British North America and the United States in +products of the forest, mine, and sea, conceded the navigation of the +St. Lawrence to the Americans, and the use of the canals of Canada on +the same terms as were imposed upon British subjects, gave Canadians the +right to navigate Lake Michigan, and allowed the fishermen of the United +States to fish on the sea-coasts of the British provinces without +regard to distance from the shore, in return for a similar but +relatively worthless privilege on the eastern shores of the republic, +north of the 30th parallel of north latitude. During the thirteen years +the treaty lasted the trade between the two countries rose from over +thirty-three million dollars in 1854 to over eighty million dollars in +1866, when it was repealed by the action of the United States government +itself, for reasons which I shall explain in a later chapter. + +The navigation of the St. Lawrence was now made continuous and secure by +the enlargement of the Welland and Lachine canals, and the construction +of the Cornwall, Williamsburgh, and Beauharnois canals. Railways +received their great stimulus during the government of Sir Francis +Hincks, who largely increased the debt of Canada by guaranteeing in 1852 +the bonds of the Grand Trunk Railway--a noble, national work, now +extending from Quebec to Lake Michigan, with branches in every +direction, but whose early history was marred by jobbery and +mismanagement, which not only ruined or crippled many of the original +shareholders, but cost Canada eventually twenty-three million dollars. +In 1864 there were two thousand miles of railway working in British +North America, of which the Grand Trunk Railway owned at least one-half. +The railways in the maritime provinces were very insignificant, and all +attempts to obtain the co-operation of the imperial and Canadian +governments for the construction of an Intercolonial Railway through +British American territory failed, despite the energetic efforts of Mr. +Howe to bring it about. + +After the union of the Canadas in 1841, a steady movement for the +improvement of the elementary, public, or common schools continued for +years, and the services of the Reverend Egerton Ryerson were engaged as +chief superintendent of education with signal advantage to the country. +In 1850, when the Lafontaine-Baldwin government was in office, the +results of the superintendent's studies of the systems of other +countries were embodied in a bill based on the principle of local +assessment, aided by legislative grants, for the carrying on of the +public schools. This measure is the basis of the present admirable +school system of Upper Canada, and to a large extent of that of the +other English-speaking provinces. In Lower Canada the history of public +schools must be always associated with the names of Dr. Meilleur and the +Honourable Mr. Chauveau; but the system has never been as effective as +in the upper province. In both provinces, separate or dissentient +schools were eventually established for the benefit of the Roman +Catholics in Upper or Protestant Canada, and of the Protestants in Lower +or Catholic Canada. In the maritime provinces satisfactory progress was +also made in the development of a sound school system. In Nova Scotia +Dr. Tupper, when provincial secretary (1863-1867), laid the foundations +of the excellent schools that the province now enjoys. + +During this period the newspaper press increased remarkably in influence +and circulation. The most important newspaper in the Dominion, the +_Globe_, was established at Toronto in 1844 by Mr. George Brown, a +Scotchman by birth, who became a power from that time among the Liberal +politicians of Canada. No notable books were produced in the +English-speaking provinces except "Acadian Geology," a work by Dr. +Dawson, who became in 1855 principal of McGill University, and was, in +later years, knighted by the Queen; but the polished verses of Crémazie +and the lucid histories of Canada by Ferland and Garneau already showed +that French Canada had both a history and a literature. + +Towards the close of this memorable period of Canadian development, the +Prince of Wales, heir-apparent to the throne, visited the British +American provinces, where the people gave full expression to their loyal +feelings. This was the third occasion on which these communities had +been favoured by the presence of members of the royal family. Prince +William Henry, afterward William IV, visited Nova Scotia during the +years 1786-1788, in command of a frigate. From 1791 until 1797 Prince +Edward, Duke of Kent, father of the present sovereign, was in command of +the imperial forces, first at Quebec, and later at Halifax. The year +1860 was an opportune time for a royal visit to provinces where the +people were in the full enjoyment of the results of the liberal system +of self-government extended to them at the commencement of the Queen's +reign by the mother-country. + +A quarter of a century had passed after the union of the Canadas when +the necessities of the provinces of British North America forced them to +a momentous constitutional change, which gave a greater scope to the +statesmanship of their public men, and opened up a wider sphere of +effort to capital and enterprise. In the following chapter I shall show +the nature of the conditions which brought about this union. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE EVOLUTION OF CONFEDERATION (1789--1864). + + +SECTION 1--The beginnings of confederation. + +The idea of a union of the provinces of British North America had been +under discussion for half a century before it reached the domain of +practical statesmanship. The eminent Loyalist, Chief Justice Smith of +Quebec, so early as 1789, in a letter to Lord Dorchester, gave an +outline of a scheme for uniting all the provinces of British North +America "under one general direction." A quarter of a century later +Chief Justice Sewell of Quebec, also a Loyalist, addressed a letter to +the father of the present Queen, the Duke of Kent, in which he urged a +federal union of the isolated provinces. Lord Durham was also of opinion +in 1839 that a legislative union of all the provinces "would at once +decisively settle the question of races," but he did not find it +possible to carry it out at that critical time in the history of the +Canadas. + +Some ten years later, at a meeting of prominent public men in Toronto, +known as the British American League, the project of a federal union was +submitted to the favourable consideration of the provinces. In 1854 the +subject was formally brought before the legislature of Nova Scotia by +the Honourable James William Johnston, the able leader of the +Conservative party, and found its most eloquent exposition in the speech +of the Honourable Joseph Howe, one of the fathers of responsible +government. The result of the discussion was the unanimous adoption of a +resolution--the first formally adopted by any provincial +legislature--setting forth that "the union or confederation of the +British provinces, while calculated to perpetuate their connection with +the parent state, will promote their advancement and prosperity, +increase their strength, and influence and elevate their position." Mr. +Howe, on that occasion, expressed himself in favour of a federation of +the empire, of which he was always an earnest advocate until his death. + +In the legislature of Canada Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Tilloch Galt +was an able exponent of union, and when he became a member of the +Cartier-Macdonald government in 1858 the question was made a part of the +ministerial policy, and received special mention in the speech of Sir +Edmund Head, the governor-general, at the end of the session. The matter +was brought to the attention of the imperial government on more than one +occasion during these years by delegates from Canada and Nova Scotia, +but no definite conclusion could be reached in view of the fact that the +question had not been taken up generally in the provinces. + +The political condition of the Canadas brought about a union much sooner +than was anticipated by its most sanguine promoters. In a despatch +written to the colonial minister by the Canadian delegates,--members of +the Cartier-Macdonald ministry--who visited England in 1858 and laid the +question of union before the government, they represented that "very +grave difficulties now present themselves in conducting the government +of Canada"; that "the progress of population has been more rapid in the +western province, and claims are now made on behalf of its inhabitants +for giving them representation in the legislature in proportion to their +numbers"; that "the result is shown by agitation fraught with great +danger to the peaceful and harmonious working of our constitutional +system, and, consequently, detrimental to the progress of the province" +that "this state of things is yearly becoming worse"; and that "the +Canadian government are impressed with the necessity for seeking such a +mode of dealing with these difficulties as may for ever remove them." In +addition to this expression of opinion on the part of the +representatives of the Conservative government of 1858, the Reformers of +Upper Canada held a large and influential convention at Toronto in +1859, and adopted a resolution in which it was emphatically set forth, +"that the best practicable remedy for the evils now encountered in the +government of Canada is to be found in the formation of two or more +local governments to which shall be committed the control of all matters +of a local and sectional character, and some general authority charged +with such matters as are necessarily common to both sections of the +provinces"--language almost identical with that used by the Quebec +convention six years later in one of its resolutions with respect to the +larger scheme of federation. Mr. George Brown brought this scheme before +the assembly in 1860, but it was rejected by a large majority. At this +time constitutional and political difficulties of a serious nature had +arisen between the French and English speaking sections of the united +Canadian provinces. A large and influential party in Upper Canada had +become deeply dissatisfied with the conditions of the union of 1840, +which maintained equality of representation to the two provinces when +statistics clearly showed that the western section exceeded French +Canada both in population and wealth. + +A demand was persistently and even fiercely made at times for such a +readjustment of the representation in the assembly as would do full +justice to the more populous and richer province. The French Canadian +leaders resented this demand as an attempt to violate the terms on which +they were brought into the union, and as calculated, and indeed +intended, to place them in a position of inferiority to the people of a +province where such fierce and unjust attacks were systematically made +on their language, religion, and institutions generally. With much +justice they pressed the fact that at the commencement of, and for some +years subsequent to, the union, the French Canadians were numerically in +the majority, and yet had no larger representation in the assembly than +the inhabitants of the upper province, then inferior in population. Mr. +George Brown, who had under his control a powerful newspaper, the +_Globe_, of Toronto, was remarkable for his power of invective and his +tenacity of purpose, and he made persistent and violent attacks upon the +conditions of the union, and upon the French and English Conservatives, +who were not willing to violate a solemn contract. + +The difficulties between the Canadian provinces at last became so +intensified by the public opinion created by Mr. Brown in Upper Canada +in favour of representation by population, that good and stable +government was no longer possible on account of the close division of +parties in the legislature. Appeals were made frequently to the people, +and new ministries formed,--in fact, five within two years--but the +sectional difficulties had obviously reached a point where it was not +possible to carry on successfully the administration of public affairs. +On the 14th June, 1864, a committee of the legislative assembly of +Canada, of whom Mr. Brown was chairman, reported that "a strong feeling +was found to exist among the members of the committee in favour of +changes in the direction of a federal system, applied either to Canada +alone or to the whole of the British North American provinces." On the +day when this report was presented, the Conservative government, known +as the Taché-Macdonald ministry, suffered the fate of many previous +governments for years, and it became necessary either to appeal at once +to the people, or find some other practical solution of the political +difficulties which prevented the formation of a stable government. Then +it was that Mr. Brown rose above the level of mere party selfishness, +and assumed the attitude of a statesman, animated by patriotic and noble +impulses which must help us to forget the spirit of sectionalism and +illiberality which so often animated him in his career of heated +partisanship. Negotiations took place between Mr. John A. Macdonald, Mr. +Brown, Mr. Cartier, Mr. Galt, Mr. Morris, Mr. McDougall, Mr. Mowat, and +other prominent members of the Conservative and Reform parties, with the +result that a coalition government was formed on the distinct +understanding that it would "bring in a measure next session for the +purpose of removing existing difficulties by introducing the federal +principle into Canada, coupled with such provisions as will permit the +maritime provinces and the north-west territories to be incorporated +into the same system of government." The Reformers who entered the +government with Macdonald and Cartier on this fundamental condition were +Mr. Brown, Mr. Oliver Mowat, and Mr. William McDougall, who stood +deservedly high in public estimation. + +While these events were happening in the Canadas, the maritime provinces +were taking steps in the direction of their own union. In 1861 Mr. Howe, +the leader of a Liberal government in Nova Scotia, carried a resolution +in favour of such a scheme. Three years later the Conservative ministry +of which Dr., now Sir, Charles Tupper, was premier, took measures in the +legislature of Nova Scotia to carry out the proposition of his +predecessor; and a conference was arranged at Charlottetown between +delegates from the three provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and +Prince Edward Island By a happy forethought the government of Canada, +immediately on hearing of this important conference, decided to send a +delegation, composed of Messrs J.A. Macdonald, Brown, Cartier, Galt, +McGee, Langevin, McDougall, and Campbell. The result of the conference +was favourable to the consideration of the larger question of the union +of all the provinces; and it was decided to hold a further conference at +Quebec in October for the purpose of discussing the question as fully as +its great importance demanded. + + +SECTION 2.--The Quebec convention of 1864. + +Thirty-three delegates met in the parliament house of this historic +city. They were all men of large experience in the work of +administration or legislation in their respective provinces. Not a few +of them were noted lawyers who had thoroughly studied the systems of +government in other countries. Some were gifted with rare eloquence and +power of argument. At no time, before or since, has the city of Quebec +been visited by an assemblage of notables with so many high +qualifications for the foundation of a nation. Descendants of the +pioneers of French Canada, English Canadians sprung from the Loyalists +of the eighteenth century, eloquent Irishmen and astute Scotchmen, all, +thoroughly conversant with Canadian interests, met in a convention +summoned to discharge the greatest responsibilities ever entrusted to +any body of men in Canada. + +The chairman was Sir Etienne Paschal Taché, who had proved in his youth +his fidelity to England on the famous battlefield of Chateauguay, and +had won the respect of all classes and parties by the display of many +admirable qualities. Like the majority of his compatriots he had learned +to believe thoroughly in the government and institutions of Great +Britain, and never lost an opportunity of recognising the benefits which +his race derived from British connection. He it was who gave utterance +to the oft-quoted words: "That the last gun that would be fired for +British supremacy in America would be fired by a French Canadian." He +lived to move the resolutions of the Quebec convention in the +legislative council of Canada, but he died a few months before the union +was formally established in 1867, and never had an opportunity of +experiencing the positive advantages which his race, of whose interests +he was always an earnest exponent, derived from a condition of things +which gave additional guarantees for the preservation of their special +institutions. But there were in the convention other men of much greater +political force, more deeply versed in constitutional knowledge, more +capable of framing a plan of union than the esteemed and discreet +president. Most prominent among these was Mr., afterwards Sir, John A. +Macdonald, who had been for years one of the most conspicuous figures in +Canadian politics, and had been able to win to a remarkable degree the +confidence not only or the great majority of the French Canadians but +also of a powerful minority in the western province where his able +antagonist, Mr. Brown, until 1864 held the vantage ground by his +persistency in urging its claims to greater weight in the administration +of public affairs. Mr. Macdonald had a great knowledge of men and did +not hesitate to avail himself of their weaknesses in order to strengthen +his political power. His greatest faults were those of a politician +anxious for the success of his party. His strength lay largely in his +ability to understand the working of British institutions, and in his +recognition of the necessity of carrying on the government in a country +of diverse nationalities, on principles of justice and compromise. He +had a happy faculty of adapting himself to the decided current of public +opinion even at the risk of leaving himself open to a charge of +inconsistency, and he was just as ready to adopt the measures of his +opponents as he was willing to enter their ranks and steal away some +prominent men whose support he thought necessary to his political +success. + +So early as 1861 he had emphatically expressed himself on the floor of +the assembly in favour of the main principles of just such a federal +union as was initiated at Quebec. The moment he found that the question +of union was likely to be something more than a mere subject for +academic discussion or eloquent expression in legislative halls, he +recognised immediately the great advantages it offered, not only for the +solution of the difficulties of his own party, but also for the +consolidation of British American as well as imperial interests on the +continent of North America From the hour when he became convinced of +this fact he devoted his consummate ability not merely as a party +leader, but as a statesman of broad national views, to the perfection of +a measure which promised so much for the welfare and security of the +British provinces. It was his good fortune, after the establishment of +the federation, to be the first premier of the new Dominion and to mould +its destinies with a firm and capable hand. He saw it extended to the +Pacific shores long before he died, amid the regrets of all classes and +creeds and races of a country he loved and in whose future he had the +most perfect confidence. + +The name of the Right Honourable Sir John Macdonald, to give him the +titles he afterwards received from the crown, naturally brings up that +of Mr., afterwards Sir, George Etienne Cartier, who was his faithful +colleague and ally for many years in the legislature of old Canada, and +for a short time after the completion of the federal union, until his +death. This able French Canadian had taken an insignificant part in the +unfortunate rising of 1837, but like many other men of his nationality +he recognised the mistakes of his impetuous youth, and, unlike Papineau +after the union of 1840, endeavoured to work out earnestly and honestly +the principles of responsible government. While a true friend of his +race, he was generous and fair in his relations with other +nationalities, and understood the necessity of compromise and +conciliation in a country of diverse races, needs, and interests. Sir +John Macdonald appreciated at their full value his statesmanlike +qualities, and succeeded in winning his sympathetic and faithful +co-operation during the many years they acted together in opposition to +the war of nationalities which would have been the eventual consequence +of Mr. Brown's determined agitation if it had been carried to its +logical and natural conclusion--conclusion happily averted by the wise +stand taken by Mr. Brown himself with respect to the settlement of +provincial troubles. In the settlement of the terms of union, we can see +not only the master hand of Sir John Macdonald in the British framework +of the system, but also the successful effort of Sir George Cartier to +preserve intact the peculiar institutions of his native province. + +All those who have studied Mr. Brown's career know something of his +independent and uncompromising character; but for some time after he +entered the coalition government his speeches in favour of federation +assumed a dignified style and a breadth of view which stand out in great +contrast with his bitter arguments as leader of the Clear Grits. In the +framing of the Quebec resolutions his part was chiefly in arranging the +financial terms with a regard to the interests of his own province. + +Another influential member of the Canadian delegation was Mr., +afterwards Sir, Alexander Galt, the son of the creator of that original +character in fiction, Laurie Todd, who had been a resident for many +years in Western Canada, where a pretty city perpetuates his name. His +able son had been for a long time a prominent figure in Canadian +politics, and was distinguished for his intelligent advocacy of railway +construction and political union as measures essential to the material +and political development of the provinces. His earnest and eloquent +exposition of the necessity of union had no doubt much to do with +creating a wide-spread public sentiment in its favour, and with +preparing the way for the formation of the coalition government of 1864, +on the basis of such a political measure. His knowledge of financial and +commercial questions was found to be invaluable in the settlement of the +financial basis of the union, while his recognised position as a +representative of the Protestant English-speaking people in French +Canada gave him much weight when it was a question of securing their +rights and interests in the Quebec resolutions. + +The other members of the Canadian delegation were men of varied +accomplishments, some of whom played an important part in the working +out of the federal system, the foundations of which they laid. There was +a brilliant Irishman, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, poet, historian and orator, +who had been in his rash youth obliged to fly from Ireland to the United +States on account of his connection with the rebellious party known as +Young Ireland during the troubles of 1848. When he removed from the +United States in 1857 he advocated with much force a union of the +provinces in the _New Era_, of which he was editor during its short +existence. He was elected to parliament in 1858, and became a notable +figure in Canadian politics on account of his eloquence and _bonhomie_. +His most elaborate addresses had never the easy flow of Joseph Howe's +speeches, but were laboured essays, showing too obviously the results of +careful compilation in libraries, while brightened by touches of natural +humour. He had been president of the council in the Sandfield Macdonald +government of 1862--a moderate Reform ministry--but later he joined the +Liberal-Conservative party as less sectional in its aspirations and more +generous in its general policy than the one led by Mr. Brown. Mr. McGee +was during his residence in Canada a firm friend of the British +connection, having observed the beneficent character of British rule in +his new Canadian home, with whose interests he so thoroughly identified +himself. + +Mr. William McDougall, the descendant of a Loyalist, had been long +connected with the advocacy of Reform principles in the press and on the +floor of parliament, and was distinguished for his clear, incisive style +of debating. He had been for years a firm believer in the advantages of +union, which he had been the first to urge at the Reform convention of +1859. Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Campbell, who had been for some +years a legal partner of Sir John Macdonald, was gifted with a +remarkably clear intellect, great common sense, and business capacity, +which he displayed later as leader of the senate and as minister of the +crown. Mr., afterwards Sir, Oliver Mowat, who had been a student of law +in Sir John Macdonald's office at Kingston, brought to the discharge of +the important positions he held in later times as minister, +vice-chancellor, and premier of the province of Ontario, great legal +learning, and admirable judgment. Mr., now Sir, Hector Langevin was +considered a man of promise, likely to exercise in the future much +influence among his countrymen. For some years after the establishment +of the new Dominion he occupied important positions in the government of +the country, and led the French Conservative party after the death of +Sir George Cartier. Mr. James Cockburn was an excellent lawyer, who +three years later was chosen speaker of the first house of commons of +the federal parliament--a position which his sound judgment, knowledge +of parliamentary law, and dignity of manner enabled him to discharge +with signal ability. Mr. J.C. Chapais was a man of sound judgment, which +made him equal to the administrative duties entrusted to him from time +to time. + +Of the five men sent by Nova Scotia, the two ablest were Dr., now Sir, +Charles Tupper, who was first minister of the Conservative government, +and Mr., later Sir, Adams G. Archibald, who was leader of the Liberal +opposition in the assembly. The former was then as now distinguished for +his great power as a debater and for the forcible expression of his +opinions on the public questions on which he had made up his mind. When +he had a great end in view he followed it with a tenacity of purpose +that generally gave him success. Ever since he entered public life as an +opponent of Mr. Howe, he has been a dominant force in the politics of +Nova Scotia. While Conservative in name he entertained broad Liberal +views which found expression in the improvement of the school system, at +a very low ebb when he came into office, and in the readiness and energy +with which he identified himself with the cause of the union of the +provinces. Mr. Archibald was noted for his dignified demeanour, sound +legal attainments, and clear plausible style of oratory, well calculated +to instruct a learned audience. Mr. William A. Henry was a lawyer of +considerable ability, who was at a later time elevated to the bench of +the supreme court of Canada. Mr. Jonathan J. McCully, afterwards a judge +in Nova Scotia, had never sat in the assembly, but he exercised +influence in the legislative council on the Liberal side and was an +editorial writer of no mean ability. Mr. Dickey was a leader of the +Conservatives in the upper house and distinguished for his general +culture and legal knowledge. + +New Brunswick sent seven delegates, drawn from the government and +opposition. The Loyalists who founded this province were represented by +four of the most prominent members of the delegation, Tilley, Chandler, +Gray, and Fisher. Mr., afterwards Sir, Samuel Leonard Tilley had been +long engaged in public life and possessed admirable ability as an +administrator. He had for years taken a deep interest in questions of +intercolonial trade, railway intercourse and political union. He was a +Reformer of pronounced opinions, most earnest in the advocacy of +temperance, possessed of great tact and respected for his high character +in all the relations of life. In later times he became finance minister +of the Dominion and lieutenant-governor of his native province. + +Mr. John Hamilton Gray, later a judge in British Columbia, was one of +the most eloquent and accomplished men in the convention, and brought to +the consideration of legal and constitutional questions much knowledge +and experience. Mr. Fisher, afterwards a judge in his province, was also +a well equipped lawyer and speaker who displayed a cultured mind. Like +all the delegates from New Brunswick he was animated by a great love for +British connection and institutions. Mr. Peter Mitchell was a Liberal, +conspicuous for the energy he brought to the administration of public +affairs, both in his own province and at a later time in the new +Dominion as a minister of the crown. Mr. Edward Barron Chandler had long +been a notable figure in the politics of New Brunswick, and was +universally respected for his probity and worth. He had the honour of +being at a later time the lieutenant-governor of the province with which +he had been so long and honourably associated. Mr. John Johnson and Mr. +William H. Steeves were also fully qualified to deal intelligently with +the questions submitted to the convention. + +Of the seven members of the Prince Edward Island delegation, four were +members of the government and the rest were prominent men in one or +other branch of the legislature. Colonel Gray--a descendant of a +Virginia Loyalist--was prime minister of the island. Mr. George Coles +was one of the fathers of responsible government in the island, and long +associated with the advocacy and passage of many progressive measures, +including the improvement of the educational system. Mr. Edward Whelan +was a journalist, an Irishman by birth, and endowed, like so many of his +countrymen, with a natural gift of eloquence. Mr. Thomas Heath Haviland, +afterwards lieutenant-governor of the island, was a man of culture, and +Mr. Edward Palmer was a lawyer of good reputation. Mr. William H. Pope +and Mr. Andrew Archibald Macdonald were also thoroughly capable of +watching over the special interests of the island. + +Newfoundland had the advantage of being represented by Mr. Frederick +B.T. Carter, then speaker of the house of assembly, and by Mr. Ambrose +Shea, also a distinguished politician of the great island. Both were +knighted at later times; the former became chief justice of his own +province, and the latter governor of the Bahamas. + + +SECTION 3.--Confederation accomplished. + +The Quebec convention sat with closed doors for eighteen days, and +agreed to seventy-two resolutions, which form the basis of the Act of +Union, subsequently passed by the imperial parliament. These resolutions +set forth at the outset that in a federation of the British American +provinces "the system of government best adapted under existing +circumstances to protect the diversified interests of the several +provinces, and secure harmony and permanency in the working of the +union, would be a general government charged with matters of common +interest to the whole country, and local governments for each of the +Canadas, and for the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince +Edward Island, charged with the control of local matters in their +respective sections" In another paragraph the resolutions declared that +"in forming a constitution for a general government, the conference, +with a view to the perpetuation of our connection with the +mother-country, and the promotion of the best interests of the people of +these provinces, desire to follow the model of the British constitution +so far as our circumstances permit" In a subsequent paragraph it was set +forth: "the executive authority or government shall be vested in the +sovereign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and be +administered according to the well-understood principles of the British +constitution, by a sovereign personally, or by the representative of the +sovereign duly authorised." + +In these three paragraphs of the Quebec resolutions we see clearly +expressed the leading principles on which the Canadian federation +rests--a federation, with a central government having jurisdiction over +matters of common interest to the whole country comprised in the union, +and a number of provincial governments having the control and management +of certain local matters naturally and conveniently belonging to them, +each government being administered in accordance with the +well-understood principles of the British system of parliamentary +institutions. + +The resolutions also defined in express terms the respective powers of +the central and provincial governments. Any subject that did not fall +within the enumerated powers of the provincial legislatures was placed +under the control of the general parliament. The convention recognised +the necessity of preventing, as far as possible, the difficulties that +had arisen in the working of the constitution of the United States, +where the residuary power of legislation is given to the people of the +respective states and not to the federal government. In a subsequent +chapter I give a brief summary of these and other details of the system +of government, generally laid down in the Quebec resolutions and +practically embodied in an imperial statute three years later. + +Although we have no official report of the discussions of the Quebec +convention, we know on good authority that the question of providing +revenues for the provinces was one that gave the delegates the greatest +difficulty. In all the provinces the sources of revenue were chiefly +customs and excise-duties which had to be set apart for the general +government of the federation. Some of the delegates from Ontario, where +there had existed for many years an admirable system of municipal +government, which provided funds for education and local improvements, +recognised the advantages of direct taxation; but the representatives of +the other provinces would not consent to such a system, especially in +the case of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, where +there were no municipal institutions, and the people depended almost +exclusively on the annual votes of the legislature for the means to meet +their local necessities. All of the delegates, in fact, felt that to +force the maritime provinces to resort to direct taxes as the only +method of carrying on their government, would be probably fatal to the +success of the scheme, and it was finally decided that the central +government should grant annual subsidies, based on population, relative +debts, financial position, and such other facts as should be fairly +brought into the consideration of the case. + +It is unfortunate that we have no full report of the deliberations and +debates of this great conference. We have only a fragmentary record from +which it is difficult to form any adequate conclusions as to the part +taken by the several delegates in the numerous questions which +necessarily came under their purview.[4] Under these circumstances, a +careful writer hesitates to form any positive opinion based upon these +reports of the discussions, but no one can doubt that the directing +spirit of the conference was Sir John Macdonald. Meagre as is the record +of what he said, we can yet see that his words were those of a man who +rose above the level of the mere politician, and grasped the magnitude +of the questions involved. What he aimed at especially was to follow as +closely as possible the fundamental principles of English parliamentary +government, and to engraft them upon the general system of federal +union. Mr. George Brown took a prominent part in the deliberations. His +opinions read curiously now. He was in favour of having the +lieutenant-governors appointed by the general government, and he was +willing to give them an effective veto over provincial legislation. He +advocated the election of a legislative chamber on a fixed day every +third year, not subject to a dissolution during its term--also an +adaptation of the American system. He went so far as to urge the +advisability of having the executive council elected for three years--by +the assembly, we may assume, though the imperfect report before us does +not state so--and also of giving the lieutenant-governor the right of +dismissing any of its members when the house was not sitting. Mr. Brown +consequently appears to have been the advocate, so far as the provinces +were concerned, of principles that prevail in the federal republic +across the border. He opposed the introduction of responsible +government, as it now obtains, in all the provinces of the Dominion, +while conceding its necessity for the central government. + + +[4: Mr. Joseph Pope, for years the able confidential secretary of Sir +John Macdonald, has edited and published all the official documents +bearing on the origin and evolution of the British North America Act of +1867; but despite all the ability and fidelity he has devoted to the +task the result is most imperfect and unsatisfactory on account of the +absence of any full or exact original report of proceedings.] + +We gather from the report of discussions that the Prince Edward Island +delegates hesitated from the beginning to enter a union where their +province would necessarily have so small a numerical representation--one +of the main objections which subsequently operated against the island +coming into the confederation. With respect to education we see that it +was Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Galt, who was responsible for the +provision in the constitution which gives the general government and +parliament a certain control over provincial legislation in case the +rights of a Protestant or a Roman Catholic minority are prejudicially +affected. The minutes on this point are defective, but we have the +original motion on the subject, and a note of Sir John Macdonald himself +that it was passed, with the assent of all the provinces, at the +subsequent London conference in 1867. The majority of the delegates +appear from the outset to have supported strenuously the principle which +lies at the basis of the confederation, that all powers not expressly +reserved to the provinces should appertain to the general government, as +against the opposite principle, which, as Sir John Macdonald pointed +out, had led to great difficulties in the working of the federal system +in the United States. Sir John Macdonald also, with his usual sagacity, +showed that, in all cases of conflict of jurisdiction, recourse would be +necessarily made to the courts, as was the practice even then whenever +there was a conflict between imperial and Canadian statutes. + +Addresses to the Queen embodying the Quebec resolutions were submitted +to the legislature of Canada during the winter of 1865, and passed in +both houses by large majorities after a very full discussion of the +merits of the scheme. The opposition in the assembly came chiefly from +Mr. Antoine A. Dorion, Mr. Luther H. Holton, Mr. Dunkin, Mr. Lucius Seth +Huntington, Mr. John Sandfield Macdonald, and other able Liberals who +were not disposed to follow Mr. Brown and his two colleagues in their +patriotic abandonment of "partyism." + +The vote on the address was, in the council--Contents 45, Non-contents +15. In the assembly it stood--Yeas 91, Nays 33. The minority in the +assembly comprised 25 out of 65 representatives of French Canada, and +only 8 out of the 65 from Upper Canada. With the speaker in the chair +there were only 5 members absent on the taking of the final vote. + +Efforts were made both in the council and assembly to obtain an +unequivocal expression of public opinion at the polls before the address +was submitted to the imperial government for final action. It was argued +with much force that the legislature had had no special mandate from the +people to carry out so vital a change in the political condition of the +provinces, but this argument had relatively little weight in either +house in view of the dominant public sentiment which, as it was obvious +to the most superficial observer, existed in the valley of the St. +Lawrence in favour of a scheme which seemed certain to settle the +difficulties so long in the way of stable government, and offered so +many auspicious auguries for the development of the provinces embraced +in federation. + +Soon after the close of the session Messrs Macdonald, Galt, Cartier, and +Brown went to England to confer with the imperial authorities on various +matters of grave public import. The British government agreed to +guarantee a loan for the construction of the Intercolonial Railway and +gave additional assurances of their deep interest in the proposed +confederation. An understanding was reached with respect to the mutual +obligations of the parent state and the dependency to provide for the +defences of the country. Preliminary steps were taken in the direction +of acquiring the north-west from the Hudson's Bay Company on equitable +terms whenever their exact legal rights were ascertained. The report of +the delegates was laid before the Canadian parliament during a very +short session held in August and September of 1865. It was then that +parliament formally ratified the Civil Code of Lower Canada, with which +must be always honourably associated the name of Mr. Cartier. + +In the maritime provinces, however, the prospect for some months was far +from encouraging. Much dissatisfaction was expressed with the financial +terms, and the haste with which the maritime delegates had yielded to +the propositions of the Canadian government and given their adhesion to +the larger scheme, when they were only authorised in the first instance +by their respective legislatures to consider the feasibility of a union +of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. In New +Brunswick Mr. Tilley found himself in a minority as a result of an +appeal to the people on the question in 1865, but his successor Mr., +afterwards Sir, Albert Smith, minister of marine in the Mackenzie +government of 1873-78, was forced to resign a year later on some +question purposely raised by Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton Gordon, then +very anxious to carry the union before he left the province. A new +government was immediately formed by Mr. Peter Mitchell, a very +energetic Liberal politician--the first minister of marine in +the first Dominion ministry--who had notoriously influenced the +lieutenant-governor in his arbitrary action of practically dismissing +the Smith cabinet. On an appeal to the people Mr. Mitchell was +sustained, and the new legislature gave its approval to the union by a +large majority. The opinion then generally prevailed in New Brunswick +that a federation was essential to the security of the provinces, then +threatened by the Fenians, and would strengthen the hands of the parent +state on the American continent. In Nova Scotia the situation was +aggravated by the fact that the opposition was led by Mr. Howe, who had +always been the idol of a large party in the country, and an earnest and +consistent supporter of the right of the people to be first consulted on +every measure immediately affecting their interests. He succeeded +in creating a powerful sentiment against the terms of the +measure--especially the financial conditions--and it was not possible +during 1865 to carry it in the legislature. It was not attempted to +submit the question to the polls, as was done in New Brunswick, indeed +such a course would have been fatal to its progress; but it was +eventually sanctioned by a large vote of the two houses. A strong +influence was exerted by the fact that confederation was approved by the +imperial government, which sent out Sir Fenwick Williams of Kars as +lieutenant-governor with special instructions that, both Canada and New +Brunswick having given their consent, it was proposed to make such +changes in the financial terms as would be more favourable to the +maritime provinces. In Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland it was not +possible for the advocates of federation to move successfully in the +matter. The opposition to the scheme of union, as proposed at Quebec, +was so bitter in these two provinces that the delegates found it useless +to press the matter in their legislatures. + +In the meantime, while confederation was on the eve of accomplishment, +the people of Canada were subjected to an attack which supplied the +strongest possible evidence of the necessity for a union enabling them +to combine for purposes of general defence as well as other matters of +national importance. In the month of April, 1866, the Fenians, an Irish +organisation in the United States, made an insignificant demonstration +on the New Brunswick frontier, which had no other effect than to excite +the loyal action of the people of the province and strengthen the hands +of the advocates of confederation. In the beginning of June a +considerable body of the same order, under the command of one O'Neil, +crossed from Buffalo into the Niagara district of Upper Canada and won a +temporary success near Ridgeway, where the Queen's Own, a body of +Toronto Volunteers, chiefly students and other young men, were badly +handled by Colonel Booker. Subsequently Colonel Dennis and a small +detachment of militia were surprised at Fort Erie by O'Neil. The +knowledge that a large force of regulars and volunteers were marching +against him under Colonel Peacock forced O'Neil and his men to disperse +and find their way back to the United States, where a number were +arrested by the orders of the Washington government. The Eastern +Townships of Lower Canada were also invaded but the raiders retreated +before a Canadian force with greater rapidity than they had shown in +entering the province, and found themselves prisoners as soon as they +crossed the frontier. Canada was kept in a state of anxiety for some +months after these reckless invasions of a country where the Irish like +all other nationalities have always had the greatest possible freedom; +but the vigilance of the authorities and the readiness of the people of +Canada to defend their soil prevented any more hostile demonstrations +from the United States. The prisoners taken in the Niagara district were +treated with a degree of clemency which their shameless conduct did not +merit from an outraged people. No persons were ever executed, though a +number were confined for a while in Kingston penitentiary. The invasion +had the effect of stimulating the patriotism of the Canadian people to +an extraordinary degree, and of showing them the necessity that existed +for improving their home forces, whose organisation and equipment proved +sadly defective during the invasion. + +In the summer of 1866 the Canadian legislature met for the last time +under the provisions of the Union Act of 1840, and passed addresses to +the Queen, setting forth constitutions for the new provinces of Upper +and Lower Canada, afterwards incorporated in the imperial act of union. +A conference of delegates from the provinces of Nova Scotia, New +Brunswick, and Canada was held in the December of 1866 at the +Westminster Palace Hotel in the City of London. The members on behalf of +Canada were Messrs Macdonald, Cartier, Galt, McDougall, Langevin, and +W.P. Howland (in the place of Mr. Brown); on behalf of Nova Scotia, +Messrs Tupper, Henry, McCully, Archibald, and J.W. Ritchie (who took Mr. +Dickey's place); of New Brunswick, Messrs Tilley, Johnson, Mitchell, +Fisher, and R.D. Wilmot. The last named, who took the place of Mr. +Steeves, was a Loyalist by descent, and afterwards became speaker of +the senate and a lieutenant-governor of his native province. Their +deliberations led to some changes in the financial provisions of the +Quebec plan, made with the view of satisfying the opposition as far as +possible in the maritime provinces but without disturbing the +fundamental basis to which Canada had already pledged itself in the +legislative session of 1865. All the difficulties being now removed the +Earl of Carnarvon, then secretary of state for the colonies, submitted +to the house of lords on the 17th of February, 1867, a bill intituled, +"An act for the union of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the +government thereof; and for purposes connected therewith." It passed the +two houses with very little discussion, and the royal assent was given +to it on the 29th of March of the same year as "The British North +America Act, 1867." It is interesting to know that in the original draft +of the bill the united provinces were called the "Kingdom of Canada," +but when it came eventually before parliament they were designated as +the "Dominion of Canada"; and the writer had it from Sir John Macdonald +himself that this amendment did not emanate from the colonial delegates +but from the imperial ministry, one of whose members was afraid of +wounding the susceptibilities of United States statesmen. + +During the same session the imperial parliament passed a bill to +guarantee a loan of three million pounds sterling for the construction +of an intercolonial railway between Quebec and the coast of the maritime +provinces--a work recognised as indispensable to the success of the new +federation. Her Majesty's proclamation, giving effect to the Union Act, +was issued on the 22nd May, 1867, declaring that "on and after the first +of July, 1867, the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, +shall form and be one Dominion, under the name of Canada." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CONFEDERATION. 1867--1900. + + +SECTION I--The first parliament of the Dominion of Canada. 1867--1872. + +The Dominion of Canada took its place among the federal states of the +world on the first of July, 1867. Upper and Lower Canada now became +known as Ontario and Quebec, while Nova Scotia and New Brunswick +retained their original historic names. The first governor-general was +Viscount Monk, who had been head of the executive government of Canada +throughout all the stages of confederation. He was an Irish nobleman, +who had been a junior lord of the treasury in Lord Palmerston's +government. He was a collateral descendant of the famous general of the +commonwealth, created Duke of Albemarle after the Restoration. Without +being a man of remarkable ability he was gifted with much discretion, +and gave all the weight of his influence to bring about a federation, +whose great benefits from an imperial as well as a colonial point of +view he fully recognised. + +The prime minister of the first federal government was naturally Sir +John Macdonald, who chose as his colleagues Sir George E. Cartier, Sir +S.L. Tilley,--to give them all their later titles--Sir A.T. Galt, Sir +W.P. Howland, Mr. William McDougall, Mr. P. Mitchell, Sir A.G. +Archibald, Mr. A.F. Blair, Sir A. Campbell, Sir H.L. Langevin, Sir E. +Kenny, and Mr. J.C. Chapais. Mr. Brown had retired from the coalition +government of 1864 some months before the union, nominally on a +disagreement with his colleagues as to the best mode of conducting +negotiations for a new reciprocity treaty with the United States. The +ministry had appointed delegates to confer with the Washington +government on the subject, but, while Mr. Brown recognised the +desirability of reciprocal trade relations with the United States on +equitable conditions, he did not deem it expedient to appear before +American statesmen "as suitors for any terms they might be pleased to +grant." A general impression, however, prevailed that this difference of +opinion was not the real reason of Mr. Brown's resignation, but that +the animating motive was his intense jealousy of Sir John Macdonald, +whose dominant influence in the government he could no longer brook. + +The governments of the four provinces were also regularly constituted at +this time in accordance with the act of union. The first +lieutenant-governor of Ontario was Lieutenant-General Stisted, of +Quebec, Sir Narcisse Belleau; of Nova Scotia, Lieutenant-General Sir +Fenwick Williams, the hero of Kars; of New Brunswick, Major-General +Doyle, but only for three months. With the exception of the case of +Quebec, these appointments were only temporary. It was considered +prudent to select military men in view of the continuous reports of +Fenian aggression. Sir William Howland became, a year later, +lieutenant-governor of Ontario, Major-General Sir Francis Hastings Doyle +of Nova Scotia in the fall of 1867, and Hon. L.A. Wilmot, of New +Brunswick in July 1868. The first prime minister of Ontario was Mr. John +Sandfield Macdonald, who had been leader of a Canadian ministry before +confederation. He had been a moderate Liberal in politics, and opposed +at the outset to the federal union, but before 1867 he became identified +with the Liberal-Conservative party and gave his best assistance to the +success of the federation. In Quebec, Mr. Pierre Chauveau, a man of high +culture, formed the first government, which was also associated with the +Liberal-Conservative party. In New Brunswick, Attorney-General Wetmore +was the first prime minister, but he was appointed a judge in 1870, and +Mr. George E. King, a judge of the supreme court of Canada some years +later, became his successor. In Nova Scotia, Mr. Hiram Blanchard, a +Liberal and unionist, formed a government, but it was defeated at the +elections by an overwhelming majority by the anti-unionists, and Mr. +Annand, the old friend of Mr. Howe, became first minister. + +The elections for the Dominion house of commons took place in the +summer of 1867, and Sir John Macdonald's government was sustained by +nearly three-fourths of the entire representation. The most notable +incident in this contest was the defeat of Mr. Brown. Soon after his +resignation in 1866 he assumed his old position of hostility to Sir John +Macdonald and the Conservatives. At a later date, when the Liberals were +in office, he accepted a seat in the senate, but in the meantime he +continued to manage the _Globe_ and denounce his too successful and wily +antagonist in its columns with his usual vehemence. + +The first parliament of the new Dominion met in the autumn of 1867 in +the new buildings at Ottawa--also chosen as the seat of government of +the federation--and was probably the ablest body of men that ever +assembled for legislative purposes within the limits of old or new +Canada. In the absence of the legislation which was subsequently passed +both in Ontario and Quebec against dual representation--or the election +of the same representatives to both the Dominion parliament and the +local legislatures--it comprised the leading public men of all parties +in the two provinces in question. Such legislation had been enacted in +the maritime provinces before 1867, but it did not prevent the ablest +men of New Brunswick from selecting the larger and more ambitious field +of parliamentary action. In Nova Scotia Sir Charles Tupper was the only +man who emerged from the battle in which so many unionists were for the +moment defeated. Even Sir Adams Archibald, the secretary of state, was +defeated in a county where he had been always returned by a large +majority. Mr. Howe came in at the head of a strong phalanx of +anti-unionists--"Repealers" as they called themselves for a short time. + +The legislation of the first parliament during its five years of +existence was noteworthy in many respects. The departments of government +were reorganised with due regard to the larger interests now intrusted +to their care. The new department of marine and fisheries, rendered +necessary by the admission of the maritime provinces, was placed under +the direction of Mr. Peter Mitchell, then a member of the senate, who +had done so much to bring New Brunswick into the union. An act was +passed to provide for the immediate commencement of the Intercolonial +Railway, which was actually completed by the 1st of July, 1876, under +the supervision of Mr., now Sir, Sandford Fleming, as chief government +engineer; and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec were at last directly +connected with the maritime sections of the Dominion. + +The repeal agitation in Nova Scotia received its first blow by the +defection of Mr. Howe, who had been elected to the house of commons. He +proceeded to England in 1868 with an address from the assembly of Nova +Scotia, demanding a repeal of the union, but he made no impression +whatever on a government and parliament convinced of the necessity of +the measure from an imperial as well as colonial point of view. Dr. +Tupper was present on behalf of the Dominion government to answer any +arguments that the Repealers might advance against the union. The visit +to England convinced Mr. Howe that further agitation on the question +might be injurious to British connection, and that the wisest course was +to make the union as useful as possible to the provinces. Then, as +always, he was true to those principles of fidelity to the crown and +empire which had forced his father to seek refuge in Nova Scotia, and +which had been ever the mainspring of his action, even in the trying +days when he and others were struggling for responsible government. He +believed always in constitutional agitation, not in rebellion. He now +agreed to enter the ministry as president of the council on condition +that the financial basis, on which Nova Scotia had been admitted to the +federation, was enlarged by the parliament of Canada. These "better +terms" were brought before the Canadian parliament in the session of +1869, and provided for the granting of additional allowances to the +provinces, calculated on increased amounts of debt as compared with the +maximum fixed by the terms of the British North America Act of 1867. +They met with strong opposition from Edward Blake, a very eminent +lawyer and Reformer of Ontario, on the ground that they violated the +original compact of union as set forth in the British North America Act; +but despite the opposition of the western Reformers they were ratified +by a large majority, who recognised the supreme necessity of +conciliating Nova Scotia. On account of his decision to yield to the +inevitable, Mr. Howe incurred the bitter antagonism of many men who had +been his staunch followers in all the political contests of Nova Scotia, +and it was with the greatest difficulty that he was re-elected for the +county of Hants as a minister of the crown. He remained in the +government until May, 1873, when he was appointed lieutenant-governor of +Nova Scotia. The worries of a long life of political struggles, and +especially the fatigue and exposure of the last election in Hants, had +impaired his health and made it absolutely necessary that he should +retire from active politics. Only a month after his appointment, the +printer, poet and politician died in the famous old government house, +admittance to which had been denied him in the stormy days when he +fought Lord Falkland. It was a fit ending, assuredly, to the life of the +statesman, who, with eloquent pen and voice, in the days when his +opinions were even offensive to governors and social leaders, ever urged +the right of his countrymen to a full measure of self-government. + +Canada and all other parts of the British empire were deeply shocked on +an April day of 1868 by the tragic announcement of the assassination of +the brilliant Irishman, Thomas D'Arcy McGee on his return late at night +from his parliamentary duties. He had never been forgiven by the Irish +enemies of England for his strenuous efforts in Canada to atone for the +indiscretion of his thoughtless youth. His remains were buried with all +the honours that the state could give him, and proper provision was made +for the members of his family by that parliament of which he had been +one of the most notable figures. The murderer, Thomas Whelan, a member +of the secret society that had ordered his death, was executed at +Ottawa on the 11th February, 1869. + + +SECTION 2.--Extension of the Dominion from the Atlantic to the Pacific +Ocean. 1869-1873. + +The government and parliament, to whom were entrusted the destinies of +the federation of four provinces, had a great work to accomplish in the +way of perfecting and extending the Dominion, which was necessarily +incomplete whilst its western territorial limits were confined to the +boundaries of Ontario, and the provinces of British Columbia on the +Pacific coast and of Prince Edward Island in the Gulf of the St. +Lawrence remained in a position of isolation. The provisions of the +British North America Act of 1867 provided in general terms for the +addition of the immense territories which extend from the head of Lake +Superior in a north-westerly direction as far as the Rocky Mountains. +Three great basins divide these territories; Hudson Bay Basin, with +probably a drainage of 2,250,000 square miles; the Winnipeg sub-basin +tributary to the former, with nearly 400,000 square miles; the Mackenzie +River basin with nearly 700,000 square miles. The Winnipeg basin covers +a great area of prairie lands, whose luxuriant grasses and wild flowers +were indented for centuries only by the tracks of herds of innumerable +buffaloes on their way to the tortuous and sluggish streams which flow +through that wide region. This plain slopes gently towards the arctic +seas into which its waters flow, and is also remarkable for rising +gradually from its eastern limits in three distinct elevations or +steppes as far as the foot hills of the Rocky Mountains. Forests of +trees, small for the most part, are found only when the prairies are +left and we reach the more picturesque undulating country through which +the North Saskatchewan flows. An extraordinary feature of this great +region is the continuous chain of lakes and rivers which stretch from +the basin of the St. Lawrence as far as the distant northern sea into +which the Mackenzie, the second largest river in North America, carries +its enormous volume of waters. As we stand on the rugged heights of +land which divides the Winnipeg from the Laurentian basin we are within +easy reach of rivers which flow, some to arctic seas, some to the +Atlantic, and some to the Gulf of Mexico. If we ascend the Saskatchewan +River, from Lake Winnipeg to the Rocky Mountains, we shall find +ourselves within a measurable distance not only of the sources of the +Mackenzie, one of whose tributaries reaches the head waters of the +Yukon, a river of golden promise like the Pactolus of the eastern +lands--but also within reach of the head waters of the rapid Columbia, +and the still more impetuous Fraser, both of which pour into the Pacific +Ocean, as well as of the Missouri, which here accumulates strength for +its alliance with the Mississippi, that great artery of a more southern +land. It was to this remarkable geographical feature that Oliver Wendell +Holmes referred in the following well-known verses: + + "Yon stream whose sources run + Turned by a pebble's edge, + Is Athabaska rolling toward the Sun + Through the cleft mountain ledge." + + "The slender rill had strayed, + But for the slanting stone, + To evening's ocean, with the tangled braid + Of foam-flecked Oregon." + +[ILLUSTRATION: MAP OF BRITISH AMERICA TO ILLUSTRATE THE CHARTER OF THE +HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY] + +A great company claimed for two centuries exclusive trading privileges +over a large portion of these territories, known as Rupert's Land, by +virtue of a charter given by King Charles II, on the 2nd May, 1670, to +Prince Rupert, the Duke of Albemarle, and other Englishmen of rank and +wealth. The early operations of this Company of Adventurers of England +were confined to the vicinity of Hudson and James Bays. The French of +Canada for many years disputed the rights of the English company to this +great region, but it was finally ceded to England by the Treaty of +Utrecht. Twenty years after the Treaty of Paris (1763) a number of +wealthy and enterprising merchants, chiefly Scotch, established at +Montreal the North-West Company for the purpose of trading in those +north-western territories to which French traders had been the first to +venture. This new company carried on its operations with such activity +that in thirty years' time it employed four thousand persons and +occupied sixty posts in different parts of the territories. + +The Hudson's Bay Company's headquarters was York Factory, on the great +bay to which British ships, every summer, brought out supplies for the +posts. The North-West Company followed the route of the old French +traders from Lachine by way of the Ottawa or the lakes to the head of +Lake Superior, and its principal depot was Fort William on the +Kaministiquia River. The servants of the North-West Company became +indefatigable explorers of the territories as far as the Pacific Ocean +and arctic seas. Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Mackenzie first followed +the river which now bears his name, to the Arctic Ocean, into which it +pours its mighty volume of water. He was also the first to cross the +Rocky Mountains and reach the Pacific coast. Simon Fraser, another +employee of the company, discovered, in 1808, the river which still +recalls his exploits; and a little later, David Thompson, from whom a +river is named, crossed further south and reached Oregon by the Columbia +River. The energetic operations of the North-west Company so seriously +affected the business of the Hudson's Bay Company that in some years the +latter declared no dividends. The rivalry between the two companies +reached its highest between 1811 and 1818, when Thomas Douglas, fifth +Earl of Selkirk, who was an enthusiastic promoter of colonisation in +British North America, obtained from the Hudson's Bay Company an immense +tract of land in the Red River country and made an earnest effort to +establish a Scotch settlement at Kildonan. But his efforts to people +Assiniboia--the Indian name he gave to his wide domain--were baulked by +the opposition of the employees of the North-west Company, who regarded +this colonising scheme as fatal to the fur trade. In the territory +conveyed to Lord Selkirk, the Montreal Company had established posts +upon every river and lake, while the Hudson's Bay Company had only one +fort of importance, Fort Douglas, within a short distance of the +North-west Company's post of Fort Gibraltar, at the confluence of the +Red and Assiniboine Rivers, where the city of Winnipeg now stands. The +quarrel between the Scotch settlers who were under the protection of the +Hudson's Bay Company and the North-westers, chiefly composed of French +Canadians and French half-breeds, or _Métis_ culminated in 1816, in the +massacre of Governor Semple and twenty-six other persons connected with +the new colony by a number of half-breeds. Two years later, a number of +persons who had been arrested for this murder were tried at York in +Upper Canada, but the evidence was so conflicting on account of the +false swearing on the part of the witnesses that the jury were forced to +acquit the accused. Lord Selkirk died at Pau, in 1820, but not before he +had made an attempt to assist his young settlement, almost broken up by +the shameful attack of 1816. + +The little colony managed to exist, but its difficulties were aggravated +from time to time by the ravages of clouds of grasshoppers which +devastated the territories and brought the people to the verge of +starvation. In March, 1821, the North-west Company made over all their +property to the older company, which now reigned supreme throughout the +territories. All doubts as to their rights were set at rest by an act of +parliament giving them a monopoly of trade for twenty-one years in what +were then generally known as the Indian territories, that vast region +which lay beyond the confines of Rupert's Land, and was not strictly +covered by the charter of 1670. This act was re-enacted in 1838 for +another twenty-one years. No further extension, however, was ever +granted, as an agitation had commenced in Canada by 1859 for the +surrender of the company's privileges and the opening up of the +territories, so long a great "lone land," to enterprise and settlement. +When the two rival companies were united, Mr., afterwards Sir, George +Simpson, became governor, and he continued to occupy that position until +1860, when he died in his residence at Lachine, near Montreal. This +energetic man largely extended the geographical knowledge of the wide +dominions entrusted to his charge, though like all the servants of the +company, he discouraged settlement and minimised the agricultural +capabilities of the country, when examined in 1857 before a committee of +the English house of commons. In 1837 the company purchased from Lord +Selkirk's heirs all their rights in Assiniboia. The Scotch settlers and +the French half-breeds were now in close contiguity to each other on the +Red and Assiniboine Rivers. The company established a simple form of +government for the maintenance of law and order. In the course of time, +their council included not only their principal factors and officials, +but a few persons selected from the inhabitants. On the whole, law and +order prevailed in the settlements, although there was always latent a +certain degree of sullen discontent against the selfish rule of a mere +fur company, invested with such great powers. The great object of the +company was always to keep out the pioneers of settlement, and give no +information of the value of the land and resources of their vast domain. + +Some years before the federation of the British-American provinces the +public men of Canada had commenced an agitation against the company, +with the view of relieving from its monopoly a country whose resources +were beginning to be known. Colonial delegates on several occasions +interviewed the imperial authorities on the subject, but no practical +results were obtained until federation became an accomplished fact. +Then, at length, the company recognised the necessity of yielding to +the pressure that was brought to bear upon them by the British +government, at a time when the interests of the empire as well as of the +new Dominion demanded the abolition of a monopoly so hostile to the +conditions of modern progress in British North America. In 1868 +successful negotiations took place between a Canadian delegation--Sir +George Cartier and the Hon. William Macdougall--and the Hudson's Bay +Company's representatives for the surrender of their imperial domain. +Canada agreed to pay £300,000 sterling, and to reserve certain lands for +the company. The terms were approved by the Canadian parliament in 1869, +and an act was passed for the temporary government of Rupert's Land and +the North-west territory when regularly transferred to Canada. In the +summer of that year, surveyors were sent under Colonel Dennis to make +surveys of townships in Assiniboia; and early in the autumn Mr. +Macdougall was appointed lieutenant-governor of the territories, with +the understanding that he should not act in an official capacity until +he was authoritatively informed from Ottawa of the legal transfer of the +country to the Canadian government. Mr. Macdougall left for Fort Garry +in September, but he was unable to reach Red River on account of a +rising of the half-breeds. The cause of the troubles is to be traced not +simply to the apathy of the Hudson's Bay Company's officials, who took +no steps to prepare the settlers for the change of government, nor to +the fact that the Canadian authorities neglected to consult the wishes +of the inhabitants, but chiefly to the belief that prevailed among the +ignorant French half-breeds that it was proposed to take their lands +from them. Sir John Macdonald admitted, at a later time, that much of +the trouble arose "from the lack of conciliation, tact and prudence +shown by the surveyors during the summer of 1869." Mr. Macdougall also +appears to have disobeyed his instructions, for he attempted to set up +his government by a _coup-de-main_ on the 1st December, though he had no +official information of the transfer of the country to Canada, and was +not legally entitled to perform a single official act. + +The rebellious half-breeds of the Red River settlement formed a +provisional government, in which one Louis Riel was the controlling +spirit from the beginning until the end of the revolt. He was a French +Canadian half-breed, who had been educated in one of the French Canadian +colleges, and always exercised much influence over his ignorant, +impulsive, easily-deluded countrymen. The total population living in the +settlements of Assiniboia at that time was about twelve thousand, of +whom nearly one-half were _Métis_ or half-breeds, mostly the descendants +of the _coureurs-de-bois_ and _voyageurs_ of early times. So long as the +buffalo ranged the prairies in large numbers, they were hunters, and +cared nothing for the relatively tame pursuit of agriculture. Their +small farms generally presented a neglected, impoverished appearance. +The great majority had adopted the habits of their Indian lineage, and +would neglect their farms for weeks to follow the scarce buffalo to +their distant feeding grounds. The Scotch half-breed, the offspring of +the marriage of Scotchmen with Indian women, still illustrated the +industry and energy of his paternal race, and rose superior to Indian +surroundings. It was among the French half-breeds that Riel found his +supporters. The Scotch and English settlers had disapproved of the +sudden transfer of the territory in which they and their parents had so +long lived, without any attempt having been made to consult their +feelings as to the future government of the country. Though they took no +active part in the rebellion, they allowed matters to take their course +with indifference and sullen resignation. The employees of the Hudson's +Bay Company were dissatisfied with the sale of the company's rights, as +it meant, in their opinion, a loss of occupation and influence. The +portion of the population that was always quite ready to hasten the +acquisition of the territory by Canada, and resolutely opposed Riel from +the outset, was the small Canadian element, which was led by Dr. +Schultz, an able, determined man, afterwards lieutenant-governor of +Manitoba. Riel imprisoned and insulted several of the loyal party who +opposed him. At last he ruthlessly ordered the execution of one Thomas +Scott, an Ontario man, who had defied him. + +While these events were in progress, the Canadian government enlisted in +the interests of law and order the services of Mr. Donald Smith, now +Lord Strathcona, who had been long connected with the Hudson's Bay +Company, and also of Archbishop Taché, of St. Boniface--the principal +French settlement in the country--who returned from Rome to act as +mediator between the Canadian authorities and his deluded flock. +Unhappily, before the Archbishop could reach Fort Garry, Scott had been +murdered, and the Dominion government could not consider themselves +bound by the terms they were ready to offer to the insurgents under a +very different condition of things. The murder of Scott had clearly +brought Riel and his associates under the provisions of the criminal +law; and public opinion in Ontario would not tolerate an amnesty, as was +hastily promised by the Archbishop, in his zeal to bring the rebellion +to an end. A force of 1200 regulars and volunteers was sent to the Red +River towards the end of May, 1870, under the command of Colonel +Wolseley, now a field-marshal and a peer of the realm. Riel fled across +the frontier before the troops, after a tedious journey of three months +from the day they left Toronto, reached Fort Garry. Peace was restored +once more to the settlers of Assiniboia. The Canadian government had had +several interviews with delegates from the discontented people of Red +River, who had prepared what they called "a Bill of Rights," and it was +therefore able intelligently to decide on the best form of governing the +territories. The imperial government completed the formal transfer of +the country to Canada, and the Canadian parliament in 1870 passed an act +to provide for the government of a new province of Manitoba. +Representation was given to the people in both houses of the Canadian +parliament, and provision was made for a provincial government on the +same basis that existed in the old provinces of the Dominion. The +lieutenant-governor of the province was also, for the present, to govern +the unorganised portion of the North-west with the assistance of a +council of eleven persons. The first legislature of Manitoba was elected +in the early part of 1871, and a provincial government was formed, with +Mr. Albert Boyd as provincial secretary. The first lieutenant-governor +was Sir Adams Archibald, the eminent Nova Scotian, who had been defeated +in the elections of 1867. Mr. Macdougall had returned from the +North-west frontier a deeply disappointed man, who would never admit +that he had shown any undue haste in commencing the exercise of his +powers as governor. Some years later he disappeared from active public +life, after a career during which he had performed many useful services +for Canada. + +In another chapter on the relations between Canada and the United States +I shall refer to the results of the international commission which met +at Washington in 1870, to consider the Alabama difficulty, the fishery +dispute, and other questions, the settlement of which could be no longer +delayed. In 1870, while the Red River settlements were still in a +troublous state, the Fenians made two attempts to invade the Eastern +Townships, but they were easily repulsed and forced to cross the +frontier. They were next heard of in 1871, when they attempted, under +the leadership of the irrepressible O'Neil, who had also been engaged in +1870, and of O'Donohue, one of Riel's rebellious associates, to make a +raid into Manitoba by way of Pembina, but their prompt arrest by a +company of United States troops was the inglorious conclusion of the +last effort of a dying and worthless organisation to strike a blow at +England through Canada. + +The Dominion government was much embarrassed for some years by the +complications that arose from Riel's revolt and the murder of Scott. An +agitation grew up in Ontario for the arrest of the murderers; and when +Mr. Blake succeeded Mr. Sandfield Macdonald as leader of the Ontario +government, a large reward was offered for the capture of Riel and such +of his associates as were still in the territories. On the other hand, +Sir George Cartier and the French Canadians were in favour of an +amnesty. The Macdonald ministry consequently found itself on the horns +of a dilemma; and the political tension was only relieved for a time +when Riel and Lepine left Manitoba, on receiving a considerable sum of +money from Sir John Macdonald. Although this fact was not known until +1875, when a committee of the house of commons investigated the affairs +of the North-west, there was a general impression after 1870 throughout +Ontario--an impression which had much effect on the general election of +1872--that the government had no sincere desire to bring Riel and his +associates to justice. + +In 1871 the Dominion welcomed into the union the great mountainous +province of British Columbia, whose picturesque shores recall the +memories of Cook, Vancouver and other maritime adventurers of the last +century, and whose swift rivers are associated with the exploits of +Mackenzie, Thompson, Quesnel, Fraser and other daring men, who first saw +the impetuous waters which rush through the cañons of the great +mountains of the province until at last they empty themselves into the +Pacific Ocean. For many years Vancouver Island and the mainland, first +known as New Caledonia, were under the control of the Hudson's Bay +Company. Vancouver Island was nominally made a crown colony in 1849; +that is, a colony without representative institutions, in which the +government is carried on by a governor and council, appointed by the +crown. The official authority continued from 1851 practically in the +hands of the company's chief factor, Sir James Douglas, a man of signal +ability, who was also the governor of the infant colony. In 1856 an +assembly was called, despite the insignificant population of the island. +In 1858 New Caledonia was organised as a crown colony under the name of +British Columbia, as a consequence of the gold discoveries which brought +in many people. Sir James Douglas was also appointed governor of +British Columbia, and continued in that position until 1864. In 1866, +the colony was united with Vancouver Island under the general +designation of British Columbia. When the province entered the +confederation of Canada in 1871 it was governed by a lieutenant-governor +appointed by the crown, a legislature composed of heads of the public +departments and several elected members. With the entrance of this +province, so famous now for its treasures of gold, coal and other +minerals in illimitable quantities, must be associated the name of Sir +Joseph Trutch, the first lieutenant-governor under the auspices of the +federation. The province did not come into the union with the same +constitution that was enjoyed by the other provinces, but it was +expressly declared in the terms of union that "the government of the +Dominion will readily consent to the introduction of responsible +government when desired by the inhabitants of British Columbia." +Accordingly, soon after its admission, the province obtained a +constitution similar to that of other provinces: a lieutenant-governor, +a responsible executive council and an elective assembly. Representation +was given it in both houses of the Dominion parliament, and the members +took their seats during the session of 1872. In addition to the payment +of a considerable subsidy for provincial expenses, the Dominion +government pledged itself to secure the construction of a railway within +two years from the date of union to connect the seaboard of British +Columbia with the railway system of Canada, to commence the work +simultaneously at both ends of the line, and to complete it within ten +years from the admission of the colony to the confederation. + +In 1872 a general election was held in the Dominion, and while the +government was generally sustained, it came back with a minority from +Ontario. The Riel agitation, the Washington Treaty, and the undertaking +to finish the Pacific railway in so short a time, were questions which +weakened the ministry. The most encouraging feature of the elections +was the complete defeat of the anti-unionists in Nova Scotia,--the +prelude to their disappearance as a party--all the representatives, with +the exception of one member, being pledged to support a government whose +chief merit was its persistent effort to cement the union and extend it +from ocean to ocean. Sir Francis Hincks, finance minister since 1870, +was defeated in Ontario and Sir George Cartier in Montreal. Both these +gentlemen found constituencies elsewhere, but Sir George Cartier never +took his seat, as his health had been seriously impaired, and he died in +England in 1873. The state gave a public funeral to this great French +Canadian, always animated by a sincere desire to weld the two races +together on principles of compromise and justice. Sir Francis Hincks +also disappeared from public life in 1873, and died at Montreal in 1885 +from an attack of malignant small-pox. The sad circumstances of his +death forbade any public or even private display, and the man who filled +so many important positions in the empire was carried to the grave with +those precautions which are necessary in the case of those who fall +victims to an infectious disease. + +But while these two eminent men disappeared from the public life of +Canada, two others began now to occupy a more prominent place in +Dominion affairs. These were Mr. Edward Blake and Mr. Alexander +Mackenzie, who had retired from the Ontario legislature when an act was +passed, as in other provinces, against dual representation, which made +it necessary for them to elect between federal and provincial politics. +Sir Oliver Mowat, who had retired from the bench, was chosen prime +minister of Ontario on the 25th October, 1872, and continued to hold the +position with great success and profit to the province until 1896, when +he became minister of justice in the Liberal government formed by Sir +Wilfrid Laurier. + +In 1873 Prince Edward Island yielded to the influences which had been +working for some years in the direction of union, and allied her +fortunes with those of her sister provinces. The public men who were +mainly instrumental in bringing about this happy result, after much +discussion in the legislature and several conferences with the Dominion +government, were the following: Mr. R.P. Haythorne, afterwards a +senator; Mr. David Laird, at a later time minister in Mr. Mackenzie's +government and a lieutenant-governor of the North-west territories; Mr. +James C. Pope, who became a member of Sir John Macdonald's cabinet in +1879; Mr. T.H. Haviland, and Mr. G.W. Howlan, who were in later years +lieutenant-governors of the island. The terms of union made not only +very favourable financial arrangements for the support of the provincial +government, but also allowed a sum of money for the purpose of +extinguishing the claims of the landlords to whom the greater portion of +the public domain had been given by the British government more than a +hundred years before. The constitution of the executive authority and +the legislature remained as before confederation. Adequate +representation was allowed to the island in the Canadian parliament, and +the members accordingly took their places in the senate and the house of +commons during the short October session of 1873, when Sir John +Macdonald's government resigned on account of transactions arising out +of the first efforts to construct the Canadian Pacific railway. + +The Dominion was now extended for a distance of about 3,500 miles, from +the island of Prince Edward in the east to the island of Vancouver in +the west. The people of the great island of Newfoundland, the oldest +colony of the British crown in North America, have, however, always +shown a determined opposition to the proposed federation, from the time +when their delegates returned from the Quebec convention of 1864. +Negotiations have taken place more than once for the entrance of the +island into the federal union, but so far no satisfactory arrangement +has been attained. The advocates of union, down to the present time, +have never been able to create that strong public opinion which would +sustain any practical movement in the direction of carrying Newfoundland +out of its unfortunate position of insular, selfish isolation, and +making it an active partner in the material, political, and social +progress of the provinces of the Canadian Dominion. Financial and +political difficulties have steadily hampered the development of the +island until very recently, and the imperial government has been obliged +to intervene for the purpose of bringing about an adjustment of +questions which, more than once, have rendered the operation of local +self-government very troublesome. The government of the Dominion, on its +side, while always ready to welcome the island into the confederation, +has been perplexed by the difficulty of making satisfactory financial +arrangements for the admission of a colony, heavily burdened with debt, +and occupying a position by no means so favourable as that of the +provinces now comprised within the Dominion. Some Canadians also see +some reason for hesitation on the part of the Dominion in the existence +of the French shore question, which prejudicially affects the +territorial interests of a large portion of the coast of the island, and +affords a forcible example of the little attention paid to colonial +interests in those old times when English statesmen were chiefly swayed +by considerations of European policy. + + +SECTION 3.--Summary of noteworthy events from 1873 until 1900. + +On the 4th November, 1873, Sir John Macdonald placed his resignation in +the hands of the governor-general, the Earl of Dufferin; and the first +ministry of the Dominion came to an end after six years of office. The +circumstances of this resignation were regrettable in the extreme. In +1872 two companies received charters for the construction of the +Canadian Pacific railway--one of them under the direction of probably +the wealthiest man in Canada, Sir Hugh Allan of Montreal, and the other +under the presidency of the Honourable David Macpherson, a capitalist of +Toronto. The government was unwilling for political reasons to give the +preference to either of these companies, and tried to bring about an +amalgamation. While negotiations were proceeding with this object in +view, the general elections of 1872 came on, and Sir Hugh Allan made +large contributions to the funds of the Conservative party. The facts +were disclosed in 1873 before a royal commission appointed by the +governor-general to inquire into charges made in the Canadian house of +commons by a prominent Liberal, Mr. Huntington. An investigation ordered +by the house when the charges were first brought forward, had failed +chiefly on account of the legal inability of the committee to take +evidence under oath; and the government then advised the appointment of +the commission in question. Parliament was called together in October, +1873, to receive the report of the commissioners, and after a long and +vehement debate Sir John Macdonald, not daring to test the opinion of +the house by a vote, immediately resigned. In justice to Sir John +Macdonald it must be stated that Sir Hugh Allan knew, before he +subscribed a single farthing, that the privilege of building the railway +could be conceded only to an amalgamated company. When it was shown some +months after the elections that the proposed amalgamation could not be +effected, the government issued a royal charter to a new company in +which all the provinces were fairly represented, and in which Sir Hugh +Allan appears at first to have had no special influence, although the +directors of their own motion, subsequently selected him as president on +account of his wealth and business standing in Canada. Despite Sir John +Macdonald's plausible explanations to the governor-general, and his +vigorous and even pathetic appeal to the house before he resigned, the +whole transaction was unequivocally condemned by sound public opinion. +His own confidential secretary, whom he had chosen before his death as +his biographer, admits that even a large body of his faithful supporters +"were impelled to the conclusion that a government which had benefited +politically by large sums of money contributed by a person with whom it +was negotiating on the part of the Dominion, could no longer command +their confidence or support, and that for them the time had come to +choose between their conscience and their party." + +The immediate consequence of this very unfortunate transaction was the +formation of a Liberal government by Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, the leader +of the opposition, who had entered the old parliament of Canada in 1861, +and had been treasurer in the Ontario ministry led by Mr. Blake until +1872. He was Scotch by birth, and a stonemason by trade. He came to +Canada in early manhood, and succeeded in raising himself above his +originally humble position to the highest in the land. His great +decision of character, his clear, logical intellect, his lucid, incisive +style of speaking, his great fidelity to principle, his inflexible +honesty of purpose, made him a force in the Liberal party, who gladly +welcomed him as the leader of a government. When he appealed to the +country in 1874, he was supported by a very large majority of the +representatives of the people. His administration remained in office +until the autumn of 1878, and passed many measures of great usefulness +to the Dominion. The North-west territories were separated from the +government of Manitoba, and first organised under a lieutenant-governor +and council, appointed by the governor-general of Canada. In 1875, +pending the settlement of the western boundary of Ontario, it was +necessary to create a separate territory out of the eastern part of the +North-west, known as the district of Keewatin, which was placed under +the jurisdiction of the lieutenant-governor of Manitoba. This boundary +dispute was not settled until 1884, when the judicial committee of the +privy council, to whose decision the question had been referred, +materially altered the limits of Keewatin and extended the western +boundaries of Ontario. In 1878, in response to an address of the +Canadian parliament, an imperial order in council was passed to annex to +the Dominion all British possessions in North America not then included +within the confederation--an order intended to place beyond question the +right of Canada to all British North America except Newfoundland. In the +course of succeeding years a system of local government was established +in the North-west territories and a representation allowed them in the +senate and house of commons. + +As soon as the North-west became a part of the Dominion, the Canadian +government recognised the necessity of making satisfactory arrangements +with the Indian tribes. The policy first laid down in the proclamation +of 1763 was faithfully carried out in this great region. Between 1871 +and 1877 seven treaties were made by the Canadian government with the +Crees, Chippewas, Salteaux, Ojibways, Blackfeet, Bloods and Piegans, who +received certain reserves of land, annual payments of money and other +benefits, as compensation for making over to Canada their title to the +vast country where they had been so long the masters. From that day to +this the Indians have become the wards of the government, who have +always treated them with every consideration. The Indians live on +reserves allotted to them in certain districts where schools of various +classes have been provided for their instruction. They are +systematically taught farming and other industrial pursuits; agents and +instructors visit the reserves from time to time to see that the +interests of the Indians are protected; and the sale of spirits is +especially forbidden in the territories chiefly with the view of +guarding the Indians from such baneful influences. The policy of the +government for the past thirty years has been on the whole most +satisfactory from every point of view. In the course of a few decades +the Indians of the prairies will be an agricultural population, able to +support themselves. + +The Mackenzie ministry established a supreme court, or general court of +appeal, for Canada. The election laws were amended so as to abolish +public nominations and property qualification for members of the house +of commons, as well as to provide for vote by ballot and simultaneous +polling at a general election--a wise provision which had existed for +some years in the province of Nova Scotia. An act passed by Sir John +Macdonald's government for the trial of controverted elections by judges +was amended, and a more ample and effective provision made for the +repression and punishment of bribery and corruption at elections. A +force of mounted police was organised for the maintenance of law and +order in the North-west territories. The enlargement of the St. Lawrence +system of canals was vigorously prosecuted in accordance with the report +of a royal commission, appointed in 1870 by the previous administration +to report on this important system of waterways. A Canada temperance +act--known by the name of Senator Scott, who introduced it when +secretary of state--was passed to allow electors in any county to +exercise what is known as "local option"; that is to say, to decide by +their votes at the polls whether they would permit the sale of +intoxicating liquors within their respective districts. This act was +declared by the judicial committee of the privy council to be +constitutional and was extended in the course of time to very many +counties of the several provinces; but eventually it was found quite +impracticable to enforce the law, and the great majority of those +districts of Ontario and Quebec, which had been carried away for a time +on a great wave of moral reform to adopt the act, decided by an equally +large vote to repeal it. The agitation for the extension of this law +finally merged into a wide-spread movement among the temperance people +of the Dominion for the passage of a prohibitory liquor law by the +parliament of Canada. In 1898 the question was submitted to the electors +of the provinces and territories by the Laurier government. The result +was a majority of only 14,000 votes in favour of prohibition out of a +total vote of 543,049, polled throughout the Dominion. The province of +Quebec declared itself against the measure by an overwhelming vote. The +temperance people then demanded that the Dominion government should take +immediate action in accordance with this vote; but the prime minister +stated emphatically to the house of commons as soon as parliament opened +in March, 1899, "that the voice of the electorate, which has been +pronounced in favour of prohibition--only twenty-three per cent. of the +total electoral vote of the Dominion--is not such as to justify the +government in introducing a prohibitory law." In the premier's opinion +the government would not be justified in following such a course "unless +at least one-half of the electorate declared itself at the polls in its +favour." In the province of Manitoba, where the people have pronounced +themselves conclusively in favour of prohibition, the Macdonald +government are now moving to give effect to the popular wishes and +restrain the liquor traffic so far as it is possible to go under the +provisions of the British North America act of 1867 and the decisions of +the courts as to provincial powers. + +For two years and even longer, after its coming into office, the +Mackenzie government was harassed by the persistent effort that was made +in French Canada for the condonation of the serious offences committed +by Riel and his principal associates during the rebellion of 1870. Riel +had been elected by a Manitoba constituency in 1874 to the Dominion +house of commons and actually took the oath of allegiance in the clerk's +office, but he never attempted to sit, and was subsequently expelled as +a fugitive from criminal justice. Lepine was convicted of murder at +Winnipeg and sentenced to be hanged, when the governor-general, Lord +Dufferin, intervened and commuted the sentence to two years' +imprisonment, with the approval of the imperial authorities, to whom, as +an imperial officer entrusted with large responsibility in the exercise +of the prerogative of mercy, he had referred the whole question. Soon +afterwards the government yielded to the strong pressure from French +Canada and relieved the tension of the public situation by obtaining +from the representative of the crown an amnesty for all persons +concerned in the North-west troubles, with the exception of Riel and +Lepine, who were banished for five years, when they also were to be +pardoned. O'Donohue was not included, as his first offence had been +aggravated by his connection with the Fenian raid of 1871, but he was +allowed in 1877 the benefit of the amnesty. The action of Lord Dufferin +in pardoning Lepine and thereby relieving his ministers from all +responsibility in the matter was widely criticised, and no doubt had +much to do with bringing about an alteration in the terms of the +governor-general's commission and his instructions with respect to the +prerogative of mercy. Largely through the instrumentality of Mr. Blake, +who visited England for the purpose, in 1875, new commissions and +instructions have been issued to Lord Dufferin's successors, with a due +regard to the larger measure of constitutional freedom now possessed by +the Dominion of Canada. As respects the exercise of the prerogative of +mercy, the independent judgment of the governor-general may be exercised +in cases of imperial interest, but only after consultation with his +responsible advisers, while he is at liberty to yield to their judgment +in all cases of local concern. + +One of the most important questions with which the Mackenzie government +was called upon to deal was the construction of the Canadian Pacific +railway. It was first proposed to utilise the "water-stretches" on the +route of the railroad, and in that way lessen its cost, but the scheme +was soon found to be impracticable. The people of British Columbia were +aggrieved at the delay in building the railway, and several efforts were +made to arrange the difficulty through the intervention of the Earl of +Carnarvon, colonial secretary of state, of the governor-general when he +visited the province in 1876, and of Mr., afterwards Sir, James Edgar, +who was authorised to treat with the provincial government on the +subject. At the instance of the secretary of state the government agreed +to build immediately a road from Esquimalt to Nanaimo on Vancouver +Island, to prosecute the surveys with vigour, and make arrangements for +the completion of the railway in 1890. Mr. Blake opposed these terms, +and in doing so no doubt represented the views of a large body of the +Liberal party, who believed that the government of Canada had in 1871 +entered into the compact with British Columbia without sufficient +consideration of the gravity of the obligation they were incurring. The +commons, however, passed the Esquimalt and Nanaimo bill only to hear of +its rejection in the senate, where some Liberals united with the +Conservative majority to defeat it. When the surveys were all completed, +the government decided to build the railway as a public work; but by the +autumn of 1878, when Mr. Mackenzie was defeated at a general election, +only a few miles of the road had been completed, and the indignation of +British Columbia had become so deep that the legislature passed a +resolution for separation from the Dominion unless the terms of union +were soon fulfilled. + +During the existence of the Mackenzie government there was much +depression in trade throughout the Dominion, and the public revenues +showed large deficits in consequence of the falling-off of imports. When +the elections took place in September, 1878, the people were called upon +to give their decision on a most important issue. With that astuteness +which always enabled him to gauge correctly the tendency of public +opinion, Sir John Macdonald recognised the fact that the people were +prepared to accept any new fiscal policy which promised to relieve the +country from the great depression which had too long hampered internal +and external trade. In the session of 1878 he brought forward a +resolution, declaring emphatically that the welfare of Canada required +"the adoption of a national policy which, by a judicious readjustment of +the tariff will benefit the agricultural, the mining, the manufacturing +and other interests of the Dominion ... will retain in Canada thousands +of our fellow-countrymen now obliged to expatriate themselves in search +of the employment denied them at home ... will restore prosperity to our +struggling industries now so sadly depressed ... will prevent Canada +from being made a sacrifice market ... will encourage and develop an +interprovincial trade ... and will procure eventually for this country a +reciprocity of trade with the United States." This ingenious resolution +was admirably calculated to captivate the public mind, though it was +defeated in the house of commons by a large majority. Mr. Mackenzie was +opposed to the principle of protection, and announced the determination +of the government to adhere to a revenue tariff instead of resorting to +any protectionist policy, which would, in his opinion, largely increase +the burdens of the people under the pretence of stimulating +manufactures. As a consequence of his unbending fidelity to the +principles of his life, Mr. Mackenzie was beaten at the general election +by an overwhelming majority. If he had possessed even a little of the +flexibility of his astute opponent he would have been more successful as +a leader of a party. + +One of Lord Dufferin's last official acts in October, 1878, was to call +upon Sir John Macdonald to form a new administration on the resignation +of Mr. Mackenzie. The new governor-general, the Marquess of Lorne, and +the Princess Louise, arrived in Canada early in November and were +everywhere received with great enthusiasm. The new protective +policy--"the National Policy" as the Conservatives like best to name +it--was laid before parliament in the session of 1879, by Sir Leonard +Tilley, then finance minister; and though it has undergone some +important modifications since its introduction it has formed the basis +of the Canadian tariff for twenty years. The next important measure of +the government was the vigorous prosecution of the Canadian Pacific +railway. During the Mackenzie administration the work had made little +progress, and the people of British Columbia had become very indignant +at the failure to carry out the terms on which they had entered the +confederation. In the session of 1880-81 Sir Charles Tupper, minister of +railways, announced that the government had entered into a contract with +a company of capitalists to construct the railway from Montreal to +Burrard's Inlet. Parliament ratified the contract by a large majority +despite the vigorous opposition made by Mr. Blake, then leader of the +Liberal party, who had for years considered this part of the agreement +with British Columbia as extremely rash. Such remarkable energy was +brought to the construction of this imperial highway that it was +actually in operation at the end of five years after the commencement of +the work--only one-half of the time allowed in the charter for its +completion. The financial difficulties which the company had to +encounter in the progress of the work were very great, and they were +obliged in 1884 to obtain a large loan from the Dominion government. The +loan was secured on the company's property, and was paid off by 1887. +The political fortunes of the Conservative administration, in fact, were +indissolubly connected with the success of this national enterprise, and +from the moment when the company commenced the work Sir John Macdonald +never failed to give it his complete confidence and support. + +One of the delicate questions which the Macdonald government was called +upon to settle soon after their coming into office was what is known as +"the Letellier affair." In March, 1878, the lieutenant-governor of the +province of Quebec, Mr. Letellier de Saint-Just, who had been previously +a member of the Mackenzie Liberal government, dismissed the Boucherville +Conservative ministry on the ground that they had taken steps in regard +to both administrative and legislative measures not only contrary to his +representations, but even without previously advising him of what they +proposed to do. At his request Mr., now Sir, Henry Joly de Lotbinière +formed a Liberal administration, which appealed to the country. The +result was that the two parties came back evenly balanced. The +Conservatives of the province were deeply irritated at this action of +the lieutenant-governor, and induced Sir John Macdonald, then leader of +the opposition, to make a motion in the house of commons, declaring Mr. +Letellier's conduct "unwise and subversive of the sound principles of +responsible government." This motion was made as an amendment on the +proposal to go into committee of supply, and under a peculiar usage of +the Canadian commons it was not permitted to move a second amendment at +this stage. Had such a course been regular, the Mackenzie government +would have proposed an amendment similar to that which was moved in the +senate, to the effect that it was inexpedient to offer any opinion on +the action of the lieutenant-governor of Quebec for the reason that "the +federal and provincial governments, each in its own sphere, enjoyed +responsible government equally, separately, and independently"--in +other words, that the wisest constitutional course to follow under the +circumstances was to allow each province to work out responsible +government without any undue interference on the part of the Dominion +government or parliament. As it happened, however, Mr. Mackenzie and his +colleagues had no alternative open to them but to vote down the motion +proposed in the commons; while in the Conservative senate the amendment, +which could not be submitted to the lower house under the rules, was +defeated, and the motion condemning the lieutenant-governor carried by a +large party vote. + +In 1879, when the Macdonald government was in office, the matter was +again brought before the house of commons and the same motion of censure +that had been defeated in 1878 was introduced in the same way as before, +and carried by a majority of 85. The prime minister then informed Lord +Lorne that in the opinion of the government Mr. Letellier's "usefulness +was gone," and he recommended his removal from office; but the +governor-general was unwilling to agree hastily to such a dangerous +precedent as the removal of a lieutenant-governor, and as an imperial +officer he referred the whole matter to her Majesty's government for +their consideration and instructions. The colonial secretary did not +hesitate to state "that the lieutenant-governor of a province has an +indisputable right to dismiss his ministers if, from any cause, he feels +it incumbent to do so," but that, in deciding whether the conduct of a +lieutenant-governor merits removal from his office, as in the exercise +of other powers vested in him by the imperial state the governor-general +"must act by and with the advice of his ministers." After further +consideration of the subject, the Canadian government again recommended +the dismissal of Mr. Letellier, and the governor-general had now no +alternative except to act on the advice of his responsible ministers. It +was unfortunate that the constitutional issue was obscured, from the +outset, by the political bitterness that was imported into it, and that +the procedure, followed in two sessions, of proposing an amendment, +condemnatory of the action of the lieutenant-governor, on the motion of +going into committee of supply, prevented the house from coming to a +decision squarely on the true constitutional issue--actually raised in +the senate in 1878--whether it was expedient for the parliament or +government of Canada to interfere in a matter of purely provincial +concern. + +In 1891 another case of the dismissal of a ministry, having a majority +in the assembly, occurred in the province of Quebec, but the +intervention of parliament was not asked for the purpose of censuring +the lieutenant-governor for the exercise of his undoubted constitutional +power. It appears that, in 1891, the evidence taken before a committee +of the senate showed that gross irregularities had occurred in +connection with the disbursement of certain government subsidies which +had been voted by parliament for the construction of the Bay des +Chaleurs railway, and that members of the Quebec cabinet were +compromised in what was clearly a misappropriation of public money. In +view of these grave charges, Lieutenant-governor Angers forced his prime +minister, Mr. Honoré Mercier, to agree to the appointment of a royal +commission to hold an investigation into the transaction in question. +When the lieutenant-governor was in possession of the evidence taken +before this commission, he came to the conclusion that it was his duty +to relieve Mr. Mercier and his colleagues of their functions as +ministers "in order to protect the dignity of the crown and safeguard +the honour and interest of the province in danger." Mr. de Boucherville +was then called upon to form a ministry which would necessarily assume +full responsibility for the action of the lieutenant-governor under the +circumstances, and after some delay the new ministry went to the country +and were sustained by a large majority. It is an interesting coincidence +that the lieutenant-governor who dismissed the Mercier government and +the prime minister who assumed full responsibility for the dismissal of +the Mercier administration, were respectively attorney-general and +premier in the cabinet who so deeply resented a similar action in 1878. +But Mr. Letellier was then dead--notoriously as a result of the mental +strain to which he had been subject in the constitutional crisis which +wrecked his political career--and it was left only for his friends to +feel that the whirligig of time brings its revenge even in political +affairs[5]. + +[5: Since this chapter was in type, the Dominion government have found +it necessary to dismiss Mr. McInnes from the lieutenant-governorship of +British Columbia, on the ground--as set forth in an order-in-council +--that "his official conduct had been subversive of the principles of +responsible government," and that his "usefulness was gone." While Mr. +McInnes acted as head of the executive at Victoria, the political +affairs of the province became chaotic. He dismissed ministries in the +most summary manner. When the people were at last appealed to at a +general election by Mr. Martin, his latest adviser, he was defeated by +an overwhelming majority, and the Ottawa government came to the +conclusion--to quote the order-in-council--"that the action of the +lieutenant-governor in dismissing his ministers has not been approved by +the people of British Columbia," and it was evident, "that the +government of the province cannot be successfully carried on in the +manner contemplated by the constitution under the administration of the +present incumbent of the office." Consequently, Mr. McInnes was removed +from office, and the Dominion government appointed in his place Sir +Henri Joly de Lotbinière, who has had large experience in public affairs, +and is noted for his amiability and discretion.] + +A very important controversy involving old issues arose in 1888 in +connection with an act passed by the Mercier government of Quebec for +the settlement of the Jesuits' estates, which, so long ago as 1800, had +fallen into the hands of the British government, on the death of the +last surviving member of the order in Canada, and had been, after some +delay, applied to the promotion of public instruction in the province of +Quebec. The bishops of the Roman Catholic Church always contended that +the estates should have been vested in them "as the ordinaries of the +various dioceses in which this property was situated." After +confederation, the estates became the property of the government of +Quebec and were entirely at the disposal of the legislature. The +Jesuits in the meantime had become incorporated in the province, and +made, as well as the bishops, a claim to the estates. Eventually, to +settle the difficulty and strengthen himself with the ecclesiastics of +the province, Mr. Mercier astutely passed a bill through the +legislature, authorising the payment of $400,000 as compensation to the +Jesuits in lieu of all the lands held by them prior to the conquest and +subsequently confiscated by the crown. It was expressly set forth in the +preamble of the act--and it was this proposition which offended the +extreme Protestants--that the amount of compensation was to remain as a +special deposit until the Pope had made known his wishes respecting the +distribution. Some time later the Pope divided the money among the +Jesuits, the archbishops and bishops of the province, and Laval +University. The whole matter came before the Dominion house of commons +in 1888, when a resolution was proposed to the effect that the +government should have at once disallowed the act as beyond the power of +the legislature, because, among other reasons, "it recognizes the +usurpation of a right by a foreign authority, namely his Holiness the +Pope, to claim that his consent was necessary to dispose of and +appropriate the public funds of a province." The very large vote in +support of the action of the government-188 against 13-was chiefly +influenced by the conviction that, to quote the minute of council, "the +subject-matter of the act was one of provincial concern, only having +relation to a fiscal matter entirely within the control of the +legislature of Quebec." The best authorities agree in the wisdom of not +interfering with provincial legislation except in cases where there is +an indisputable invasion of Dominion jurisdiction or where the vital +interests of Canada as a whole may imperatively call for such +interference. + +In March, 1885, Canada was startled by the news that the half-breeds of +the Saskatchewan district in the North-west had risen in rebellion +against the authority of the Dominion government. It is difficult to +explain clearly the actual causes of an uprising which, in all +probability, would never have occurred had it not been for the fact that +Riel had been brought back from Montana by his countrymen to assist them +in obtaining a redress of certain grievances. This little insurrection +originated in the Roman Catholic mission of St. Laurent, situated +between the north and south branches of the Saskatchewan River, and +contiguous to the British settlement of Prince Albert. Within the limits +of this mission there was a considerable number of half-breeds, who had +for the most part migrated from Manitoba after selling the "scrip[6]" +for lands generously granted to them after the restoration of order in +1870 to the Red River settlements. Government surveyors had been busily +engaged for some time in laying out the Saskatchewan country in order to +keep pace with the rapidly increasing settlement. When they came to the +mission of St. Laurent they were met with the same distrust that had +done so much harm in 1870. The half-breeds feared that the system of +square blocks followed by the surveyors would seriously interfere with +the location of the farms on which they had "squatted" in accordance +with the old French system of deep lots with a narrow frontage on the +banks of the rivers. The difficulties arising out of these diverse +systems of surveys caused a considerable delay in the issue of patents +for lands, and dissatisfied the settlers who were anxious to know what +land their titles covered. The half-breeds not only contended that their +surveys should be respected, but that they should be also allowed scrip +for two hundred and forty acres of land, as had been done in the case of +their compatriots in Manitoba. Many of the Saskatchewan settlers had +actually received this scrip before they left the province, but +nevertheless they hoped to obtain it once more from the government, and +to sell it with their usual improvidence to the first speculators who +offered them some ready money. + +[6: A certificate from the government that a certain person is entitled +to receive a patent from the crown for a number of acres of the public +lands--a certificate legally transferable to another person by the +original holder.] + +The delay of the government in issuing patents and scrip and the system +of surveys were no doubt the chief grievances which enabled Riel and +Dumont--the latter a resident of Batoche--to excite the half-breeds +against the Dominion authorities at Ottawa. When a commission was +actually appointed by the government in January, 1885, to allot scrip to +those who were entitled to receive it, the half-breeds were actually +ready for a revolt under the malign influence of Riel and his +associates. Riel believed for some time after his return in 1884 that he +could use the agitation among his easily deluded countrymen for his own +selfish purposes. It is an indisputable fact that he made an offer to +the Dominion government to leave the North-west if they would pay him a +considerable sum of money. When he found that there was no likelihood of +Sir John Macdonald repeating the mistake which he had made at the end of +the first rebellion, Riel steadily fomented the agitation among the +half-breeds, who were easily persuaded to believe that a repetition of +the disturbances of 1870 would obtain them a redress of any grievances +they might have. It is understood that one of the causes that aggravated +the agitation at its inception was the belief entertained by some white +settlers of Prince Albert that they could use the disaffection among the +half-breeds for the purpose of repeating the early history of Manitoba, +and forcing the Dominion government to establish a new province in the +Saskatchewan country, though its entire population at that time would +not have exceeded ten thousand persons, of whom a large proportion were +half-breeds. Riel for a time skilfully made these people believe that he +would be a ductile instrument in their hands, but when his own plans +were ripe for execution he assumed despotic control of the whole +movement and formed a provisional government in which he and his +half-breed associates were dominant, and the white conspirators of +Prince Albert were entirely ignored. The loyal people of Prince Albert, +who had always disapproved of the agitation, as well as the priests of +the mission, who had invariably advised their flock to use only peaceful +and constitutional methods of redress, were at last openly set at +defiance and insulted by Riel and his associates. The revolt broke out +on the 25th March, 1885, when the half-breeds took forcible possession +of the government stores, and made prisoners of some traders at Duck +Lake. A small force of Mounted Police under the command of +Superintendent Crozier was defeated near the same place by Dumont, and +the former only saved his men from destruction by a skilful retreat to +Fort Carleton. The half-breed leaders circulated the news of this +victory over the dreaded troops of the government among the Indian bands +of the Saskatchewan, a number of whom immediately went on the war-path. +Fort Carleton had to be given up by the mounted police, who retired to +Prince Albert, the key of the district. The town of Battleford was +besieged by the Indians, but they were successfully kept in check for +weeks until the place was relieved. Fort Pitt was evacuated by Inspector +Dickens, a son of the great novelist, who succeeded in taking his little +force of police into Battleford. Two French missionaries and several +white men were ruthlessly murdered at Frog Lake by a band of Crees, and +two women were dragged from the bodies of their husbands and carried +away to the camp of Big Bear. Happily for them some tender-hearted +half-breeds purchased them from the Indians and kept them in safety +until they were released at the close of the disturbances. + +The heart of Canada was now deeply stirred and responded with great +heartiness to the call of the government for troops to restore order to +the distracted settlements. The minister of militia, Mr. Adolphe +Caron--afterwards knighted for his services on this trying +occasion--showed great energy in the management of his department. +Between four and five thousand men were soon on the march for the +territories under Major-General Middleton, the English officer then in +command of the Canadian militia. Happily for the rapid transport of the +troops the Canadian Pacific Railway was so far advanced that, with the +exception of 72 miles, it afforded a continuous line of communication +from Montreal to Qu'Appelle. The railway formed the base from which +three military expeditions could be despatched to the most important +points of the Saskatchewan country--one direct to Batoche, a second to +Battleford, and a third for a flank movement to Fort Edmonton, where a +descent could be made down the North Saskatchewan for the purpose of +recapturing Fort Pitt and attacking the rebellious Indians under Big +Bear. On the 24th of April General Middleton fought his first engagement +with the half-breeds, who were skilfully concealed in rifle pits in the +vicinity of Fish Creek, a small erratic tributary of the South +Saskatchewan. Dumont for the moment succeeded in checking the advance of +the Canadian forces, who fought with much bravery but were placed at a +great disadvantage on account of Middleton not having taken sufficient +precautions against a foe thoroughly acquainted with the country and +cunningly hidden. The Canadian troops were soon able to continue their +forward movement and won a decisive victory at Batoche, in which +Colonels Williams, Straubenzie, and Grasett notably distinguished +themselves. Riel was soon afterwards captured on the prairie, but Dumont +succeeded in crossing the frontier of the United States. While Middleton +was on his way to Batoche, Lieutenant-Colonel Otter of Toronto, an able +soldier who was, fifteen years later, detached for active service in +South Africa, was on the march for the relief of Battleford, and had on +the first of May an encounter with a large band of Indians under +Poundmaker on the banks of Cut Knife Creek, a small tributary of the +Battle River. Though Otter did not win a victory, he showed Poundmaker +the serious nature of the contest in which he was engaged against the +Canadian government, and soon afterwards, when the Cree chief heard of +the defeat of the half-breeds at Batoche, he surrendered +unconditionally. Another expedition under the command of +Lieutenant-Colonel Strange also relieved Fort Pitt; and Big Bear was +forced to fly into the swampy fastnesses of the prairie wilderness, but +was eventually captured near Fort Carleton by a force of Mounted Police. + +This second rebellion of the half-breeds lasted about three months, and +cost the country upwards of five million dollars. Including the persons +murdered at Frog Lake, the loyal population of Canada lost thirty-six +valuable lives, among whom was Lieutenant-Colonel Williams, a gallant +officer, and a member of the house of commons, who succumbed to a +serious illness brought on by his exposure on the prairie. The +casualties among the half-breeds were at least as large, if not greater. +Five Indian chiefs suffered the extreme penalty of the law, while +Poundmaker, Big Bear, and a number of others were imprisoned in the +territories for life or for a term of years, according to the gravity of +their complicity in the rebellion. Any hopes that Riel might have placed +in the active sympathy of the French Canadian people of Quebec were soon +dispelled. He was tried at Regina in July and sentenced to death, +although the able counsel allotted to him by the government exhausted +every available argument in his defence, even to the extent of setting +up a plea of insanity, which the prisoner himself deeply resented. The +most strenuous efforts were made by the French Canadians to force the +government to reprieve him, but Sir John Macdonald was satisfied that +the loyal sentiment of the great majority of the people of Canada +demanded imperatively that the law should be vindicated. The French +Canadian representatives in the cabinet, Langevin, Chapleau, and Caron, +resisted courageously the storm of obloquy which their determination to +support the prime minister raised against them; and Riel was duly +executed on the 16th November. For some time after his death attempts +were made to keep up the excitement which had so long existed in the +province of Quebec on the question. The Dominion government was +certainly weakened for a time in Quebec by its action in this matter, +while Mr. Honoré Mercier skilfully used the Riel agitation to obtain +control of the provincial government at the general election of 1886, +but only to fall five years later, under circumstances which must always +throw a shadow over the fame of a brilliant, but unsafe, political +leader (see p. 247). The attempt to make political capital out of the +matter in the Dominion parliament had no other result than to weaken the +influence in Ontario of Mr. Edward Blake, the leader of the opposition +since the resignation of Mr. Mackenzie in 1880. He was left without the +support of the majority of the Liberal representatives of the province +in the house of commons when he condemned the execution of Riel, +principally on the ground that he was insane--a conclusion not at all +justified by the report of the medical experts who had been chosen by +the government to examine the condemned man previous to the execution. +The energy with which this rebellion was repressed showed both the +half-breeds and the Indians of the west the power of the Ottawa +government. From that day to this order has prevailed in the western +country, and grievances have been redressed as far as possible. The +readiness with which the militia force of Canada rallied to the support +of the government was conclusive evidence of the deep national sentiment +that existed throughout the Dominion. In Ottawa, Port Hope, and Toronto +monuments have been raised in memory of the brave men who gave up their +lives for the Dominion, but probably the most touching memorial of this +unfortunate episode in Canadian history is the rude cairn of stone which +still stands among the wild flowers of the prairie in memory of the +gallant fellows who were mown down by the unerring rifle shots of the +half-breeds hidden in the ravines of Fish Creek. + +In 1885 parliament passed a general franchise law for the Dominion in +place of the system--which had prevailed since 1867--of taking the +electoral lists of the several provinces as the lists for elections to +the house of commons. The opposition contested this measure with great +persistency, but Sir John Macdonald pressed it to a successful +conclusion, mainly on the ground that it was necessary in a country like +Canada, composed of such diverse elements, to have for the Dominion +uniformity of suffrage, based on a small property qualification, instead +of having diverse systems of franchise--in some provinces, universal +franchise, to which he and other Conservatives generally were strongly +opposed. + +Between 1880 and 1894 Canada was called upon to mourn the loss of a +number of her ablest and brightest statesmen--one of them the most +notable in her political history. It was on a lovely May day of 1880 +that the eminent journalist and politician, George Brown, died from the +effects of a bullet wound which he received at the hand of one Bennett, +a printer, who had been discharged by the _Globe_ for drunkenness and +incapacity. The Conservative party in 1888 suffered a great loss by the +sudden decease of Mr. Thomas White, minister of the interior in the +Macdonald ministry, who had been for the greater part of his life a +prominent journalist, and had succeeded in winning a conspicuous and +useful position in public affairs as a writer, speaker, and +administrator. Three years later, the Dominion was startled by the sad +announcement, on the 6th June, 1891, that the voice of the great prime +minister, Sir John Macdonald, who had so long controlled the affairs of +Canada, would never more be heard in that federal parliament of which he +had been one of the fathers. All classes of Canadians vied with one +another in paying a tribute of affection and respect to one who had been +in every sense a true Canadian. Men forgot for the moment his mistakes +and weaknesses, the mistakes of the politician and the weaknesses of +humanity, "only to remember"--to quote the eloquent tribute paid to him +by Mr. Laurier, then leader of the opposition--"that his actions always +displayed great originality of view, unbounded fertility of resources, a +high level of intellectual conception, and above all, a far-reaching +vision beyond the event of the day, and still higher, permeating the +whole, a broad patriotism, a devotion to Canada's welfare, Canada's +advancement, and Canada's glory." His obsequies were the most stately +and solemn that were ever witnessed in the Dominion; his bust was +subsequently unveiled in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral by the Earl +of Rosebery, when prime minister of England; noble monuments were raised +to his memory in the cities of Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal; +and the Queen addressed a letter full of gracious sympathy to his widow +and conferred on her the dignity of a peeress of the United Kingdom +under the title of Baroness of Earnscliffe, as a mark of her Majesty's +gratitude "for the devoted and faithful services which he rendered for +so many years to his sovereign and his Dominion." + +Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, stonemason, journalist, and prime minister, +died in April, 1892, a victim to the paralysis which had been steadily +creeping for years over his enfeebled frame, and made him a pitiable +spectacle as he sat like a Stoic in the front seats of the opposition, +unable to speak or even to rise without the helping arm of some +attentive friend. On the 30th October, 1893, Sir John Abbott, probably +the ablest commercial lawyer in Canada, who had been premier of Canada +since the death of Sir John Macdonald, followed his eminent predecessors +to the grave, and was succeeded by Sir John Thompson, minister of +justice in the Conservative government since September, 1885. A great +misfortune again overtook the Conservative party on the 12th December, +1894, when Sir John Thompson died in Windsor Castle, whither he had gone +at her Majesty's request to take the oath of a privy councillor of +England--high distinction conferred upon him in recognition of his +services on the Bering Sea arbitration. Sir John Thompson was gifted +with a rare judicial mind, and a remarkable capacity for the lucid +expression of his thoughts, which captivated his hearers even when they +were not convinced by arguments clothed in the choicest diction. His +remains were brought across the Atlantic by a British frigate, and +interred in his native city of Halifax with all the stately ceremony of +a national funeral. The governor-general, Lord Stanley of Preston, now +the Earl of Derby, called upon the senior privy councillor in the +cabinet, Sir Mackenzie Bowell, to form a new ministry. He continued in +office until April, 1896, when he retired in favour of Sir Charles +Tupper, who resigned the position of high commissioner for Canada in +England to enter public life as the recognised leader of the +Liberal-Conservative party. This eminent Canadian had already reached +the middle of the eighth decade of his life, but age had in no sense +impaired the vigour or astuteness of his mental powers. He has continued +ever since, as leader of the Liberal-Conservative party, to display +remarkable activity in the discussion of political questions, not only +as a leader of parliament, but on the public platform in every province +of the Dominion. + +During the session of 1891 the political career of Sir Hector Langevin, +the leader of the Liberal-Conservative party in French Canada, was +seriously affected by certain facts disclosed before the committee of +privileges and elections. This committee had been ordered by the house +of commons to inquire into charges made by Mr. Israel Tarte against +another member of the house, Mr. Thomas McGreevy, who was accused of +having used his influence as a commissioner of the Quebec harbour, a +government appointment, to obtain fraudulently from the department of +public works, presided over by Sir Hector for many years, large +government contracts in connection with the Quebec harbour and other +works. The report of the majority of the committee found Mr. McGreevy +guilty of fraudulent acts, and he was not only expelled from the house +but was subsequently imprisoned in the Ottawa common gaol after his +conviction on an indictment laid against him in the criminal court of +Ontario. With respect to the complicity of the minister of public works +in these frauds the committee reported that it was clear that, while the +conspiracy had been rendered effective by reason of the confidence which +Sir Hector Langevin placed in Mr. McGreevy and in the officers of the +department, yet the evidence did not justify them in concluding that Sir +Hector knew of the conspiracy or willingly lent himself to its objects. +A minority of the committee, on the other hand, took the opposite view +of the transactions, and claimed that the evidence showed the minister +to be cognisant of the facts of the letting of the contracts, and that +in certain specified cases he had been guilty of the violation of a +public trust by allowing frauds to be perpetrated. The report of the +majority was carried by a party vote, with the exception of two +Conservative members who voted with the minority. Sir Hector Langevin +had resigned his office in the government previous to the inquiry, and +though he continued in the house for the remainder of its constitutional +existence, he did not present himself for re-election in 1896 when +parliament was dissolved. + +Unhappily it was not only in the department of public works that +irregularities were discovered. A number of officials in several +departments were proved before the committee of public accounts to have +been guilty of carelessness or positive misconduct in the discharge of +their duties, and the government was obliged, in the face of such +disclosures, to dismiss or otherwise punish several persons in whom they +had for years reposed too much confidence. + +On the 20th and 21st of June, 1893, a convention of the most prominent +representative Liberals of the Dominion was held in the city of Ottawa; +and Sir Oliver Mowat, the veteran premier of Ontario, was unanimously +called upon to preside over this important assemblage. Resolutions were +passed with great enthusiasm in support of tariff reform, a fair measure +of reciprocal trade with the United States, a sale of public lands only +to actual settlers upon reasonable terms of settlement, an honest and +economical administration of government, the right of the house of +commons to inquire into all matters of public expenditure and charges of +misconduct against ministers, the reform of the senate, the submission +of the question of prohibition to a vote of the people, and the repeal +of the Dominion franchise act passed in 1885, as well as of the measure +of 1892, altering the boundaries of the electoral districts and +readjusting the representation in the house of commons. This convention +may be considered the commencement of that vigorous political campaign, +which ended so successfully for the Liberal party in the general +election of 1896. + +In the summer of 1894 there was held in the city of Ottawa a conference +of delegates from eight self-governing colonies in Australasia, South +Africa, and America, who assembled for the express purpose of discussing +questions which affected not merely their own peculiar interests, but +touched most nearly the unity and development of the empire at large The +imperial government was represented by the Earl of Jersey, who had been +a governor of one of the Australian colonies. After very full discussion +the conference passed resolutions in favour of the following measures: + +(1) Imperial legislation enabling the dependencies of the empire to +enter into agreements of commercial reciprocity, including the power to +make differential tariffs with Great Britain or with one another. (2) +The removal of any restrictions in existing treaties between Great +Britain and any foreign power, which prevent such agreements of +commercial reciprocity. (3) A customs arrangement between Great Britain +and her colonies by which trade within the empire might be placed on a +more favourable footing than that which is carried on with foreign +countries. (4) Improved steamship communication between Canada, +Australasia, and Great Britain. (5) Telegraph communication by cable, +free from foreign control, between Canada and Australia. These various +resolutions were brought formally by the Earl of Jersey to the notice +of the imperial government, which expressed the opinion, through the +Marquess of Ripon, then secretary of state for the colonies, that the +"general economic results" of the preferential trade recommended by the +conference "would not be beneficial to the empire." Lord Ripon even +questioned the desirability of denouncing at that time the treaties with +Belgium and Germany--a subject which had engaged the attention of the +Canadian parliament in 1892, when the government, of which Sir John +Abbott was premier, passed an address to the Queen, requesting that +immediate steps be taken to free Canada from treaty restrictions +"incompatible with the rights and powers conferred by the British North +America act of 1867 for the regulation of the trade and commerce of the +Dominion." Any advantages which might be granted by Great Britain to +either Belgium or the German Zollverein under these particular treaties, +would also have to be extended to a number of other countries which had +what is called the "favoured nations clause" in treaties with England. +While these treaty stipulations with regard to import duties did not +prevent differential treatment by the United Kingdom in favour of +British colonies, or differential treatment by British colonies in +favour of each other, they did prevent differential treatment by British +colonies in favour of the United Kingdom. As we shall presently see, +when I come to review the commercial policy of the new Dominion +government three years later, the practical consequence of these +treaties was actually to force Canada to give for some months not only +to Germany and Belgium, but to a number of other countries, the same +commercial privileges which they extended in 1897 to the parent state. + +Among the difficult questions, which have agitated the Dominion from +time to time and perplexed both Conservative and Liberal politicians, +are controversies connected with education. By the British North America +act of 1867 the legislature of each province may exclusively make laws +in relation to education, but at the same time protection is afforded +to denominational or dissentient schools by giving authority to the +Dominion government to disallow an act clearly infringing the rights or +privileges of a religious minority, or to obtain remedial legislation +from parliament itself according to the circumstances of the case. From +1871 until 1875 the government of the Dominion was pressed by petitions +from the Roman Catholic inhabitants of New Brunswick to disallow an act +passed by the provincial legislature in relation to common schools on +the ground that it was an infringement of certain rights which they +enjoyed as a religious body at the time of confederation. The question +not only came before the courts of New Brunswick and the Canadian house +of commons, but was also submitted to the judicial committee of the +imperial privy council; but only with the result of showing beyond +question that the objectionable legislation was clearly within the +jurisdiction of the legislature of New Brunswick, and could not be +constitutionally disallowed by the Dominion government on the ground +that it violated any right or privilege enjoyed by the Roman Catholics +at the time of union. A solution of the question was, however, +subsequently reached by an amicable arrangement between the Roman +Catholics and Protestants, which has ever since worked most +satisfactorily in that province. + +The Manitoba school question, which agitated the country from 1890 until +1896, was one of great gravity on account of the issues involved. The +history of the case shows that, prior to the formation of Manitoba in +1870, there was not in the province any public system of education, but +the several religious denominations had established such schools as they +thought fit to maintain by means of funds voluntarily contributed by +members of their own communion. In 1871 the legislature of Manitoba +established an educational system distinctly denominational. In 1890 +this law was repealed, and the legislature established a system of +strictly non-sectarian schools. The Roman Catholic minority of the +province was deeply aggrieved at what they considered a violation of the +rights and privileges which they enjoyed under the terms of union +adopted in 1870. The first subsection of the twenty-second section of +the act of 1870 set forth that the legislature of the province could not +pass any law with regard to schools which might "prejudicially affect +any right or privilege with respect to denominational schools which any +class of persons have, by law or practice, in the province at the time +of union." The dispute was brought before the courts of Canada, and +finally before the judicial committee of the privy council, which +decided that the legislation of 1890 was constitutional inasmuch as the +only right or privilege which the Roman Catholics then possessed "by law +or practice" was the right or privilege of establishing and maintaining +for the use of members of their own church such schools as they pleased. +The Roman Catholic minority then availed themselves of another provision +of the twenty-second section of the Manitoba act, which allows an appeal +to the governor-in-council "from any act or decision of the legislature +of the province or of any provincial authority, affecting any right or +privilege of the Protestant or Roman Catholic minority of the Queen's +subjects in relation to education." + +The ultimate result of this reference was a judgment of the judicial +committee to the effect that the appeal was well founded and that the +governor-in-council had jurisdiction in the premises, but the committee +added that "the particular course to be pursued must be determined by +the authorities to whom it has been committed by the statute." The third +subsection of the twenty-second section of the Manitoba act--a +repetition of the provision of the British North America act with +respect to denominational schools in the old provinces--provides not +only for the action of the governor-in-council in case a remedy is not +supplied by the proper provincial authority for the removal of a +grievance on the part of a religious minority, but also for the making +of "remedial laws" by the parliament of Canada for the "due execution" +of the provision protecting denominational schools. In accordance with +this provision Sir Mackenzie Bowell's government passed an +order-in-council on the 21st March, 1895, calling upon the government of +Manitoba to take the necessary measures to restore to the Roman Catholic +minority such rights and privileges as were declared by the highest +court of the empire to have been taken away from them. The Manitoba +government not only refused to move in the matter but expressed its +determination "to resist unitedly by every constitutional means any such +attempt to interfere with their provincial autonomy." The result was the +introduction of a remedial bill by Mr. Dickey, minister of justice, in +the house of commons during the session of 1896; but it met from the +outset very determined opposition during the most protracted +sittings--one of them lasting continuously for a week--ever known in the +history of the Canadian or any other legislature of the empire. On +several divisions the bill was supported by majorities ranging from 24 +to 18--several French members of the opposition having voted for it and +several Conservative Protestant members against its passage. The bill +was introduced on the 11th February, and the motion for its second +reading was made on the 3rd March, from which date it was debated +continuously until progress was reported from a committee of the whole +house on the 16th April, after the house had sat steadily from Monday +afternoon at 3 o'clock until 2 o'clock on the following Thursday +morning. It was then that Sir Charles Tupper, leader of the government +in the house, announced that no further attempt would be made to press +the bill that session. He stated that it was absolutely necessary to +vote money for the urgent requirements of the public service and pass +other important legislation during the single week that was left before +parliament would be dissolved by the efflux of time under the +constitutional law, which fixes the duration of the house of commons +"for five years from the day of the return of the writs for choosing the +house and no longer." + +In the general election of 1896 the Manitoba school question was an +issue of great importance. From the commencement to the close of the +controversy the opponents of denominational schools combined with the +supporters of provincial rights to defeat the government which had so +determinedly fought for what it considered to be the legal rights of the +Roman Catholic minority of Manitoba. It had looked confidently to the +support of the great majority of the French Canadians, but the result of +the elections was most disappointing to the Conservative party. Whilst +in the provinces, where the Protestants predominated, the Conservatives +held their own to a larger extent than had been expected even by their +sanguine friends, the French province gave a great majority to Mr. +Launer, whose popularity among his countrymen triumphed over all +influences, ecclesiastical and secular, that could be used in favour of +denominational schools in Manitoba. + +The majority against Sir Charles Tupper was conclusive, and he did not +attempt to meet parliament as the head of a government. Before his +retirement from office, immediately after his defeat at the elections, +he had some difference of opinion with the governor-general, the Earl of +Aberdeen, who refused, in the exercise of his discretionary power, to +sanction certain appointments to the senate and the judicial bench, +which the prime minister justified by reference to English and Canadian +precedents under similar conditions--notably of 1878 when Mr. Mackenzie +resigned. Soon after the general election, and Lord Dufferin was +governor-general, Sir Charles Tupper considered the subject of +sufficient constitutional importance to bring it before the house of +commons, where Sir Wilfrid Laurier, then premier, defended the course of +the governor-general. The secretary of state for the colonies also +approved in general terms of the principles which, as the +governor-general explained in his despatches, had governed his action in +this delicate matter. + +On Sir Charles Tapper's defeat at the elections, Mr. Laurier became +first minister of a Liberal administration, in which positions were +given to Sir Oliver Mowat, so long premier of Ontario, to Mr. Blair, +premier of New Brunswick, to Mr. Fielding, premier of Nova Scotia, and +eventually to Mr. Sifton, the astute attorney-general of Manitoba. Sir +Richard Cartwright and Sir Louis Davies--to give the latter the title +conferred on him in the Diamond Jubilee year--both of whom had been in +the foremost rank of the Liberal party for many years, also took office +in the new administration; but Mr. Mills, versed above most Canadian +public men in political and constitutional knowledge, was not brought in +until some time later, when Sir Oliver Mowat, the veteran minister of +justice, was appointed to the lieutenant-governorship of Ontario. A +notable acquisition was Mr. Tarte, who had acquired much influence in +French Canada by his irrepressible energy, and who was placed over the +department of public works. + +When the school question came to be discussed in 1897, during the first +session of the new parliament, the premier explained to the house that, +whilst he had always maintained "that the constitution of this country +gave to this parliament and government the right and power to interfere +with the school legislation of Manitoba, it was an extreme right and +reserved power to be exercised only when other means had been +exhausted." Believing then that "it was far better to obtain concessions +by negotiation than by coercion," he had, as soon as he came into +office, communicated with the Manitoba government on the subject, and +had "as a result succeeded in making arrangements which gave the French +Catholics of the province religious teaching in their schools and the +protection of their language," under the conditions set forth in a +statute expressly passed for the purpose by the legislature of +Manitoba[7]. The premier at the same time admitted that "the settlement +was not acceptable to certain dignitaries of the church to which he +belonged"; but subsequently the Pope published an encyclical advising +acceptance of the concessions made to the Manitoba Catholics, while +claiming at the same time that these concessions were inadequate, and +expressing the hope that full satisfaction would be obtained ere long +from the Manitoba government. Since the arrangement of this compromise, +no strenuous or effective effort has been made to revive the question as +an element of political significance in party contests. Even in Manitoba +itself, despite the defeat of the Greenway government, which was +responsible for the Manitoba school act of 1890, and the coming into +office of Mr. Hugh John Macdonald, the son of the great Conservative +leader, there has been no sign of the least intention to depart from the +legislation arranged by Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1897 as, in his opinion, +the best possible compromise under the difficult conditions surrounding +a most embarrassing question. + +[7: This statute provides that religious teaching by a Roman Catholic +priest, or other person duly authorised by him, shall take place at the +close of the hours devoted to secular instruction; that a Roman Catholic +teacher may be employed in every school in towns and cities where the +average attendance of Roman Catholic children is forty or upwards, and +in villages and rural districts where the attendance is twenty-five or +upwards; and that French as well as English shall be taught in any +school where ten pupils speak the French language.] + +In the autumn of 1898 Canada bade farewell with many expressions of +regret to Lord and Lady Aberdeen, both of whom had won the affection and +respect of the Canadian people by their earnest efforts to support every +movement that might promote the social, intellectual and moral welfare +of the people. Lord Aberdeen was the seventh governor-general appointed +by the crown to administer public affairs since the union of the +provinces in 1867. Lord Monck, who had the honour of initiating +confederation, was succeeded by Sir John Young, who was afterwards +raised to the peerage as Baron Lisgar--a just recognition of the +admirable discretion and dignity with which he discharged the duties of +his high position. His successor, the Earl of Dufferin, won the +affection of the Canadian people by his grace of demeanour, and his +Irish gift of eloquence, which he used in the spirit of the clever +diplomatist to flatter the people of the country to their heart's +content. The appointment of the Marquess of Lorne, now the Duke of +Argyll, gave to Canada the honour of the presence of a Princess of the +reigning family. He showed tact and discretion in some difficult +political situations that arose during his administration, and succeeded +above all his predecessors in stimulating the study of art, science and +literature within the Dominion. The Marquess of Lansdowne and Lord +Stanley of Preston--both inheritors of historic names, trained in the +great school of English administration--also acquired the confidence and +respect of the Canadian people. On the conclusion of Lord Aberdeen's +term of office in 1898, he was succeeded by the Earl of Minto, who had +been military secretary to the Marquess of Lansdowne, when +governor-general, from the autumn of 1883 until the end of May, 1888, +and had also acted as chief of staff to General Middleton during the +North-west disturbances of 1885. + +Since its coming into office, the Laurier administration has been called +upon to deal with many questions of Canadian as well as imperial +concern. One of its first measures--to refer first to those of Canadian +importance--was the repeal of the franchise act of 1885, which had been +found so expensive in its operation that the Conservative government had +for years taken no steps to prepare new electoral lists for the Dominion +under its own law, but had allowed elections to be held on old lists +which necessarily left out large numbers of persons entitled to vote. In +accordance with the policy to which they had always pledged themselves +as a party, the Liberal majority in parliament passed an act which +returned to the electoral lists of the provinces. An attempt was also +made in 1899 and 1900 to amend the redistribution acts of 1882 and 1892, +and to restore so far as practicable the old county lines which had been +deranged by those measures. The bill was noteworthy for the feature, +novel in Canada, of leaving to the determination of a judicial +commission the rearrangement of electoral divisions, but it was rejected +in the senate on the ground that the British North America act provides +only for the readjustment of the representation after the taking of each +Decennial census, and that it is "a violation of the spirit of the act" +to deal with the question until 1901, when the official figures of the +whole population will be before parliament. The government was also +called upon to arrange the details of a provisional government for the +great arctic region of the Yukon, where remarkable gold discoveries were +attracting a considerable population from all parts of the world. An +attempt to build a short railway to facilitate communication with that +wild and distant country was defeated in the senate by a large majority. +The department of the interior has had necessarily to encounter many +difficulties in the administration of the affairs of a country so many +thousand miles distant. These difficulties have formed the subject of +protracted debates in the house of commons and have led to involved +political controversies which it would not be possible to explain +satisfactorily within the limits of this chapter. + +In accordance with the policy laid down in 1897 by Mr. Fielding, the +finance minister, when presenting the budget, the Laurier government has +not deemed it prudent to make such radical changes in the protective or +"National Policy" of the previous administration as might derange the +business conditions of the Dominion, which had come to depend so +intimately upon it in the course of seventeen years, but simply to amend +and simplify it in certain particulars which would remove causes of +friction between the importers and the customs authorities, and at the +same time make it, as they stated, less burdensome in its operation. The +question of reciprocal trade between Canada and the United States had +for some time been disappearing in the background and was no longer a +dominant feature of the commercial policy of the Liberal party as it had +been until 1891, when its leaders were prepared under existing +conditions to enter into the fullest trade arrangements possible with +the country to the south. The illiberality of the tariff of the United +States with respect to Canadian products had led the Canadian people to +look to new markets, and especially to those of Great Britain, with whom +they were desirous, under the influence of a steadily growing imperial +spirit, to have the closest commercial relations practicable. +Consequently the most important feature of the Laurier government's +policy, since 1897, has been the preference given to British products in +Canada--a preference which now allows a reduction in the tariff of +33-1/3 per cent. on British imports compared with foreign goods. In +their endeavour, however, to give a preference to British imports, the +government was met at the outset by difficulties arising from the +operation of the Belgian and German treaties; and after very full +consultation with the imperial government, and a reference of the legal +points involved to the imperial law officers of the crown, Canada was +obliged to admit Belgian and German goods on the same terms as the +imports of Great Britain, and also to concede similar advantages to +twenty-two foreign countries which were by treaty entitled to any +commercial privileges that Great Britain or her colonies might grant to +a third power. Happily for Canada at this juncture the colonial +secretary of state was Mr. Chamberlain, who was animated by aspirations +for the strengthening of the relations between the parent state and her +dependencies, and who immediately recognised the imperial significance +of the voluntary action of the Canadian government. The result was the +"denunciation" by the imperial authorities of the Belgian and German +treaties, which consequently came to an end on the 31st July, 1898. +Down to that date Canada was obliged to give to the other countries +mentioned the preference which she had intentionally given to Great +Britain alone, and at the same time to refund to importers the duties +which had been collected in the interval from the countries in question. +With the fall, however, of the Belgian and German treaties Canada was at +last free to model her tariff with regard to imperial as well as +Canadian interests. It was a fortunate coincidence that the government +should have adopted this policy at a time when the whole British empire +was celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of the accession of her Majesty +Queen Victoria to the throne. In the magnificent demonstration of the +unity and development of the empire that took place in London in June, +1897, Canada was represented by her brilliant prime minister, who then +became the Right Honourable Sir W. Laurier, G.C.M.G., and took a +conspicuous place in the ceremonies that distinguished this memorable +episode in British and colonial history. + +A few months later the relations between Canada and Great Britain were +further strengthened by the reduction of letter postage throughout the +empire--Australia excepted--largely through the instrumentality of Mr. +Mulock, Canadian postmaster-general. The Canadian government and +parliament also made urgent representations to the imperial authorities +in favour of the immediate construction of a Pacific cable; and it may +now be hoped that the pecuniary aid offered to this imperial enterprise +by the British, Australasian and Canadian governments will secure its +speedy accomplishment. I may add here that debates have taken place in +the Canadian house of commons for several sessions on the desirability +of obtaining preferential treatment in the British market for Canadian +products The Conservative party, led by Sir Charles Tupper, have +formulated their opinions in parliament by an emphatic declaration that +"no measure of preference, which falls short of the complete realisation +of such a policy, should be considered final or satisfactory." The +Laurier government admits the desirability of such mutual trade +preference, but at the same time it recognises the formidable +difficulties that lie in the way of its realisation so long as Great +Britain continues bound to free trade, and under these circumstances +declares it the more politic and generous course to continue giving a +special preference to British products with the hope that it may +eventually bring about a change in public opinion in the parent state +which will operate to the decided commercial or other advantage of the +dependency. + +This chapter may appropriately close with a reference to the remarkable +evidences of attachment to the empire that have been given by the +Canadian people at the close of the nineteenth century. From the +mountains of the rich province washed by the Pacific Sea, from the +wheat-fields and ranches of the western prairies, from the valley of the +great lakes and the St. Lawrence where French and English Canadians +alike enjoy the blessings of British rule, from the banks of the St John +where the United Empire Loyalists first made their homes, from the +rugged coasts of Acadia and Cape Breton, from every part of the wide +Dominion men volunteered with joyous alacrity to fight in South Africa +in support of the unity of the empire. As I close these pages Canadians +are fighting side by side with men from the parent Isles, from +Australasia and from South Africa, and have shown that they are worthy +descendants of the men who performed such gallant deeds on the ever +memorable battlefields of Chateauguay, Chrystler's Farm, and Lundy's +Lane. Not the least noteworthy feature of this significant event in the +annals of Canada and the empire is the fact that a French Canadian +premier has had the good fortune to give full expression to the dominant +imperial sentiment of the people, and consequently to offer an +additional guarantee for the union of the two races and the security of +British interests on the continent of America. + + +SECTION 4.--Political and social conditions of Canada under +confederation. + +At the present time, a population of probably five million four hundred +thousand souls inhabit a Dominion of seven regularly organised +provinces, and of an immense fertile territory stretching from Manitoba +to British Columbia. This Dominion embraces an area of 3,519,000 square +miles, including its water surface, or very little less than the area of +the United States with Alaska, and measures 3500 miles from east to +west; and 1400 miles from north to south. + +No country in the world gives more conclusive evidences of substantial +development and prosperity than the Dominion under the beneficial +influences of federal union and the progressive measures of governments +for many years. The total trade of the country has grown from over +$131,000,000 in the first year of confederation to over $321,000,000 in +1899, while the national revenue has risen during the same period from +$14,000,000 to $47,000,000, and will probably be $50,000,000 in 1900. +The railways, whose expansion so closely depends on the material +conditions of the whole country, stretch for 17,250 miles compared with +2278 miles in 1868; while the remarkable system of canals, which extend +from the great lakes to Montreal, has been enlarged so as to give +admirable facilities for the growing trade of the west. The natural +resources of the country are inexhaustible, from the fisheries of Nova +Scotia to the wheat-fields of the north-west, from the coal-mines of +Cape Breton to the gold deposits of the dreary country through which the +Yukon and its tributaries flow. + +No dangerous questions like slavery, or the expansion of the African +race in the southern states, exist to complicate the political and +social conditions of the confederation, and, although there is a large +and increasing French Canadian element in the Dominion, its history so +far need not create fear as to the future, except perhaps in the minds +of gloomy pessimists. While this element naturally clings to its +national language and institutions, yet, under the influence of a +complete system of local self-government, it has always taken as active +and earnest a part as the English element in establishing and +strengthening the confederation. It has steadily grown in strength and +prosperity under the generous and inspiring influence of British +institutions, which have given full scope to the best attributes of a +nationality crushed by the depressing conditions of French rule for a +century and a half. + +The federal union gives expansion to the national energies of the whole +Dominion, and at the same time affords every security to the local +interests of each member of the federal compact. In all matters of +Dominion concern, Canada is a free agent. While the Queen is still head +of the executive authority, and can alone initiate treaties with foreign +nations (that being an act of complete sovereignty), and while appeals +are still open to the privy council of England from Canadian courts +within certain limitations, it is an admitted principle that the +Dominion is practically supreme in the exercise of all legislative +rights and privileges granted by the imperial parliament,--rights and +privileges set forth explicitly in the British North America act of +1867,--so long as her legislative action does not conflict with the +treaty obligations of the parent state, or with imperial legislation +directly applicable to Canada with her own consent. + +The crown exercises a certain supervision over the affairs of the +Dominion through a governor-general, who communicates directly with an +imperial secretary of state; but in every matter directly affecting +Canada--as for instance, in negotiations respecting the fisheries, the +Bering Sea, and other matters considered by several conferences at +Washington--the Canadian government is consulted and its statements are +carefully considered, since they represent the sentiments and interests +of the Canadian people, who, as citizens of the empire, are entitled to +as much weight as if they lived in the British Isles. + +In the administration of Canadian affairs the governor-general is +advised by a responsible council representing the majority of the house +of commons. As in England, the Canadian cabinet, or ministry, is +practically a committee of the dominant party in parliament and is +governed by the rules, conventions and usages of parliamentary +government which have grown up gradually in the parent state. Whenever +it is necessary to form a ministry in Canada, its members are summoned +by the governor-general to the privy council of Canada; another +illustration of the desire of the Canadians to imitate the old +institutions of England and copy her time-honoured procedure. + +The parliament of Canada consists of the Queen, the senate, and the +house of commons. In the formation of the upper house, three +geographical groups were arranged in the first instance, Ontario, +Quebec, and the maritime provinces, and each group received a +representation of twenty-four members. More recently other provinces +have been admitted into the Dominion without reference to this +arrangement, and now seventy-eight senators altogether may sit in +parliament. The remarkably long tenure of power enjoyed by the +Conservative party--twenty-five years from 1867--enabled it in the +course of time to fill the upper house with a very large numerical +majority of its own friends, and this fact, taken in connection with +certain elements of weakness inherent in a chamber which is not elected +by the people and has none of the ancient privileges or prestige of a +house of lords, long associated with the names of great statesmen and +the memorable events of English history, has created an agitation among +the Liberal party for radical changes in its constitution which would +bring it, in their opinion, more in harmony with the people's +representatives in the popular branch of the general legislature. While +some extremists would abolish the chamber, Sir Wilfrid Launer and other +prominent Liberals recognise its necessity in our parliamentary system. +In all probability death will ere long solve difficulties arising out +of the political composition of the body, if the Liberal party remain in +power. + +The house of commons, the great governing body of the Dominion, has been +made, so far as circumstances will permit, a copy of the English house. +Its members are not required to have a property qualification, and are +elected by the votes of the electors of the several provinces where, in +a majority of cases, universal suffrage, under limitations of +citizenship and residence, prevails. + +In each province there is a lieutenant-governor, appointed by the +Dominion government for five years, an executive council, and a +legislature consisting of only one house, except in Nova Scotia and +Quebec where a legislative council appointed by the crown still +continues. The principles of responsible government exist in all the +provinces, and practically in the North-west territory. + +In the enumeration of the legislative powers, respectively given to the +Dominion and provincial legislatures, an effort was made to avoid the +conflicts of jurisdiction that have so frequently arisen between the +national and state governments of the United States. In the first place +we have a recapitulation of those general or national powers that +properly belong to the central authority, such as customs and excise +duties, regulation of trade and commerce, militia and defence, +post-office, banking and coinage, railways and public works "for the +general advantage," navigation and shipping, naturalisation and aliens, +fisheries, weights and measures, marriage and divorce, penitentiaries, +criminal law, census and statistics. On the other hand, the provinces +have retained control over municipal institutions, public lands, local +works and undertakings, incorporation of companies with provincial +objects, property and civil rights, administration of justice, and +generally "all matters of a merely local and private nature in the +province." The _residuary_ power rests with the general parliament of +Canada. + +The parliament of Canada, in 1875, established a supreme court, or +general court of appeal, for Canada, whose highest function is to decide +questions as to the respective legislative powers of the Dominion and +provincial parliaments, which are referred to it in due process of law +by the subordinate courts of the provinces. The decisions of this court +are already doing much to solve difficulties that impede the successful +operation of the constitution. As a rule cases come before the supreme +court on appeal from the lower courts, but the law regulating its powers +provides that the governor in council may refer any matter to this court +on which a question of constitutional jurisdiction has been raised. But +the supreme court of Canada is not necessarily the court of last resort +of Canada. The people have an inherent right as subjects of the Queen to +appeal to the judicial committee of the privy council of the United +Kingdom. + +But it is not only by means of the courts that a check is imposed upon +hasty, or unconstitutional, legislation. The constitution provides that +the governor-general may veto or reserve any bill passed by the two +houses of parliament when it conflicts with imperial interests or +imperial legislation. It is now understood that the reserve power of +disallowance which her Majesty's government possesses under the law is +sufficient to meet all possible cases. This sovereign power is never +exercised except in the case of an act clearly in conflict with an +imperial statute or in violation of a treaty affecting a foreign nation. +The Dominion government also supervises all the provincial legislation +and has in a few cases disallowed provincial acts. This power is +exercised very carefully, and it is regarded with intense jealousy by +the provincial governments, which have more than once attempted to set +it at defiance. In practice it is found the wisest course to leave to +the courts the decision in cases where doubts exist as to constitutional +authority or jurisdiction. + +The organised districts of the North-west--Assiniboia, Alberta, +Athabaska, and Saskatchewan--are governed by a lieutenant-governor +appointed by the government of Canada and aided by a council chosen by +himself from an assembly elected by the people under a very liberal +franchise. These territories have also representatives in the two houses +of the parliament of Canada. The Yukon territory in the far north-west, +where rich discoveries of gold have attracted a large number of people +within the past two years, is placed under a provisional government, +composed of a commissioner and council appointed by the Dominion +government[8], and acting under instructions given from time to time by +the same authority or by the minister of the interior. + +[8: Since this sentence was in type the Dominion government has given +effect to a provision of a law allowing the duly qualified electors of +the Yukon to choose two members of the council.] + +The public service enjoys all the advantages that arise from permanency +of tenure and appointment by the crown. It has on the whole been +creditable to the country and remarkably free from political influences. +The criminal law of England has prevailed in all the provinces since it +was formerly introduced by the Quebec act of 1774. The civil law of the +French regime, however, has continued to be the legal system in French +Canada since the Quebec act, and has now obtained a hold in that +province which insures its permanence as an institution closely allied +with the dearest rights of the people. Its principles and maxims have +been carefully collected and enacted in a code which is based on the +famous code of Napoleon. In the other provinces and territories the +common law of England forms the basis of jurisprudence on which a large +body of Canadian statutory law has been built in the course of time. + +At the present time all the provinces, with the exception of Prince +Edward Island, have an excellent municipal system, which enables every +defined district, large or small, to carry on efficiently all those +public improvements essential to the comfort, convenience and general +necessities of the different communities that make up the province at +large. Even in the territories of the north-west, every proper facility +is given to the people in a populous district, or town, to organise a +system equal to all their local requirements. + +Every Englishman will consider it an interesting and encouraging fact +that the Canadian people, despite their neighbourhood to a prosperous +federal commonwealth, should not even in the most critical and gloomy +periods of their history have shown any disposition to mould their +institutions directly on those of the United States and lay the +foundation for future political union. Previous to 1840, which was the +commencement of a new era in the political history of the provinces, +there was a time when discontent prevailed throughout the Canadas, but +not even then did any large body of the people threaten to sever the +connection with the parent state. The Act of Confederation was framed +under the direct influence of Sir John Macdonald and Sir George Cartier, +and although one was an English Canadian and the other a French +Canadian, neither yielded to the other in the desire to build up a +Dominion on the basis of English institutions, in the closest possible +connection with the mother country. While the question of union was +under consideration it was English statesmen and writers alone who +predicted that this new federation, with its great extent of territory, +its abundant resources, and ambitious people, would eventually form a +new nation independent of Great Britain. Canadian statesmen never spoke +or wrote of separation, but regarded the constitutional change in their +political condition as giving them greater weight and strength in the +empire. The influence of British example on the Canadian Dominion can be +seen throughout its governmental machinery, in the system of +parliamentary government, in the constitution of the privy council and +the houses of parliament, in an independent judiciary, in appointed +officials of every class--in the provincial as well as Dominion +system--in a permanent and non-political civil service, and in all +elements of sound administration. During the thirty-three years that +have passed since 1867, the attachment to England and her institutions +has gained in strength, and it is clear that those predictions of +Englishmen to which we have referred are completely falsified. On the +contrary, the dominant sentiment is for strengthening the ties that have +in some respects become weak in consequence of the enlargement of the +political rights of the Dominion, which has assumed the position of a +semi-independent power, since England now only retains her imperial +sovereignty by declaring peace or war with foreign nations, by +appointing a governor-general, by controlling colonial legislation +through the Queen in council and the Queen in parliament--but not so as +to diminish the rights of local self-government conceded to the +Dominion--and by requiring that all treaties with foreign nations should +be made through her own government, while recognising the right of the +dependency to be consulted and directly represented on all occasions +when its interests are immediately affected. + +In no respect have the Canadians followed the example of the United +States, and made their executive entirely separate from the legislative +authority. On the contrary, there is no institution which works more +admirably in the federation--in the general as well as provincial +governments--than the principle of making the ministry responsible to +the popular branch of the legislature, and in that way keeping the +executive and legislative departments in harmony with each other, and +preventing that conflict of authorities which is a distinguishing +feature of the very opposite system that prevails in the federal +republic. If we review the amendments made of late years in the +political constitutions of the States, and especially those ratified not +long since in New York, we see in how many respects the Canadian system +of government is superior to that of the republic. For instance, Canada +has enjoyed for years, as results of responsible government, the secret +ballot, stringent laws against bribery and corruption at all classes of +elections, the registration of voters, strict naturalisation laws, +infrequent political elections, separation of municipal from provincial +or national contests, appointive and permanent officials in every branch +of the civil service, a carefully devised code of private bill +legislation, the printing of all public as well as private bills before +their consideration by the legislative bodies; and yet all these +essentials of safe administration and legislation are now only in part +introduced by constitutional enactment in so powerful and progressive a +state as New York. + +Of course, in the methods of party government we can see in Canada at +times an attempt to follow the example of the United States, and to +introduce the party machine with its professional politicians and all +those influences that have degraded politics since the days of Jackson +and Van Buren. Happily, so far, the people of Canada have shown +themselves fully capable of removing those blots that show themselves +from time to time on the body politic. Justice has soon seized those men +who have betrayed their trust in the administration of public affairs. +Although Canadians may, according to their political proclivities, find +fault with some methods of governments and be carried away at times by +political passion beyond the bounds of reason, it is encouraging to find +that all are ready to admit the high character of the judiciary for +learning, integrity and incorruptibility. The records of Canada do not +present a single instance of the successful impeachment or removal of a +judge for improper conduct on the bench since the days of responsible +government; and the three or four petitions laid before parliament, in +the course of a quarter of a century, asking for an investigation into +vague charges against some judges, have never required a judgment of the +house. Canadians have built wisely when, in the formation of their +constitution, they followed the English plan of retaining an intimate +and invaluable connection between the executive and legislative +departments, and of keeping the judiciary practically independent of the +other authorities of government. Not only the life and prosperity of the +people, but the satisfactory working of the whole system of federal +government rests more or less on the discretion and integrity of the +judges. Canadians are satisfied that the peace and security of the whole +Dominion do not more depend on the ability and patriotism of statesmen +in the legislative halls than on that principle of the constitution, +which places the judiciary in an exalted position among all the other +departments of government, and makes law as far as possible the arbiter +of their constitutional conflicts. All political systems are very +imperfect at the best; legislatures are constantly subject to currents +of popular prejudice and passion; statesmanship is too often weak and +fluctuating, incapable of appreciating the true tendency of events, and +too ready to yield to the force of present circumstances or dictates of +expediency; but law, as worked out on English principles in all the +dependencies of the empire and countries of English origin, as +understood by Blackstone, Dicey, Story, Kent, and other great masters of +constitutional and legal learning, gives the best possible guarantee for +the security of institutions in a country of popular government. + +In an Appendix to this history I have given comparisons in parallel +columns between the principal provisions of the federal constitutions of +the Canadian Dominion, and the Australian Commonwealth. In studying +carefully these two systems we must be impressed by the fact that the +constitution of Canada appears more influenced by the spirit of English +ideas than the constitution of Australia, which has copied some features +of the fundamental law of the United States. In the preamble of the +Canadian British North America act we find expressly stated "the desire +of the Canadian provinces to be federally united into one Dominion under +the crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with a +constitution similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom," while +the preamble of the Australian constitution contains only a bald +statement of an agreement "to unite in one indissoluble federal +Commonwealth under the crown," When we consider the use of +"Commonwealth"--a word of republican significance to British ears--as +well as the selection of "state" instead of "province," of "house of +representatives" instead of "house of commons," of "executive council" +instead of "privy council," we may well wonder why the Australians, all +British by origin and aspiration, should have shown an inclination to +deviate from the precedents established by the Canadian Dominion, which, +though only partly English, resolved to carve the ancient historic names +of the parent state on the very front of its political structure. + +As the several States of the Commonwealth have full control of their own +constitutions, they may choose at any moment to elect their own +governors as in the States of the American Union, instead of having them +appointed by the crown as in Canada. We see also an imitation of the +American constitution in the principle which allots to the central +government only certain enumerated powers, and leaves the residuary +power of legislation to the States. Again, while the act provides for a +high and other federal courts, the members of which are to be appointed +and removed as in Canada by the central government, the States are still +to have full jurisdiction over the State courts as in the United States. +The Canadian constitution, which gives to the Dominion exclusive control +over the appointment and removal of the judges of all the superior +courts, offers a positive guarantee against the popular election of +judges in the provinces. It is not going too far to suppose that, with +the progress of democratic ideas in Australia--a country inclined to +political experiments--we may find the experience of the United States +repeated, and see elective judges make their appearance when a wave of +democracy has suddenly swept away all dictates of prudence and given +unbridled licence to professional political managers only anxious for +the success of party. In allowing the British Parliament to amend the +Act of Union on an address of the Canadian parliament, we have yet +another illustration of the desire of Canadians to respect the supremacy +of the sovereign legislature of the empire. On the other hand, the +Australians make themselves entirely independent of the action of the +imperial parliament, which might be invaluable in some crisis affecting +deeply the integrity and unity of the Commonwealth, and give full scope +to the will of democracy expressed at the polls. In also limiting the +right of appeal to the Queen in council--by giving to the high court the +power to prevent appeals in constitutional disputes--the Australians +have also to a serious degree weakened one of the most important ties +that now bind them to the empire, and afford additional illustration of +the inferiority of the Australian constitution, from an imperial point +of view, compared with that of the Canadian Dominion, where a reference +to the judicial committee of the privy council is highly valued. + +The Canadian people are displaying an intellectual activity commensurate +with the expansion of their territory and their accumulation of wealth. +The scientific, historical and political contributions of three decades, +make up a considerable library which shows the growth of what may be +called Canadian literature, since it deals chiefly with subjects +essentially of Canadian interest. The attention that is now particularly +devoted to the study and writing of history, and the collection of +historical documents relating to the Dominion, prove clearly the +national or thoroughly Canadian spirit that is already animating the +cultured class of its people. + +Of the numerous historical works that have appeared since 1867 two only +demand special mention in this short review. One of these is _A History +of the days of Montcalm and Lévis_ by the Abbé Casgrain, who +illustrates the studious and literary character of the professors of the +great university which bears the name of the first bishop of Canada, +Monseigneur Laval. A more elaborate general history of Canada, in ten +octavo volumes, is that by Dr. Kingsford, whose life closed with his +book. Whilst it shows much industry and conscientiousness on the part of +the author, it fails too often to evoke our interest even when it deals +with the striking and picturesque story of the French régime, since the +author considered it his duty to be sober and prosaic when Parkman is +bright and eloquent. + +A good estimate of the progress of literary culture in Canada can be +formed from a careful perusal of the poems of Bliss Carman, Archibald +Lampman, Charles G.W. Roberts, Wilfred Campbell, Duncan Campbell Scott +and Frederick George Scott. The artistic finish of their verse and the +originality of their conception entitle them fairly to claim a foremost +place alongside American poets since Longfellow, Emerson, Whittier, +Bryant and Lowell have disappeared. Pauline Johnson, who has Indian +blood in her veins, Archbishop O'Brien of Halifax, Miss Machar, Ethelyn +Weatherald, Charles Mair and several others might also be named to prove +that poetry is not a lost art in Canada, despite its pressing prosaic +and material needs. + +Dr. Louis Fréchette is a worthy successor of Crémazie and has won the +distinction of having his best work crowned by the French Academy. +French Canadian poetry, however, has been often purely imitative of +French models like Musset and Gautier, both in style and sentiment, and +consequently lacks strength and originality. Fréchette has all the +finish of the French poets and, while it cannot be said that he has yet +originated fresh thoughts, which are likely to live among even the +people whom he has so often instructed and delighted, yet he has given +us poems like that on the discovery of the Mississippi which prove that +he is capable of even better things if he would seek inspiration from +the sources of the deeply interesting history of his own country, or +enter into the inner mysteries and social relations of his picturesque +compatriots. + +The life of the French Canadian habitant has been admirably described in +verse by Dr. Drummond, who has always lived among that class of the +Canadian people and been a close observer of their national and personal +characteristics. He is the only writer who has succeeded in giving a +striking portraiture of life in the cabin, in the "shanty" (_chantier_), +and on the river, where the French habitant, forester, and canoe-man can +be seen to best advantage. + +But if Canada can point to some creditable achievements of recent years +in history, poetry and essays, there is one department in which +Canadians never won any marked success until recently, and that is in +the novel or romance. Even Mr. Kirby's _Le Chien d'Or_ which recalls the +closing days of the French régime--the days of the infamous Intendant +Bigot who fattened on Canadian misery--does not show the finished art of +the skilled novelist, though it has a certain crude vigour of its own, +which has enabled it to live while so many other Canadian books have +died. French Canada is even weaker in this particular, and this is the +more surprising because there is abundance of material for the novelist +or the writer of romance in her peculiar society and institutions. But +this reproach has been removed by Mr. Gilbert Parker, now a resident in +London, but a Canadian by birth, education and sympathies, who is +animated by a laudable ambition of giving form and vitality to the +abundant materials that exist in the Dominion for the true story-teller. +His works show great skill in the use of historic matter, more than +ordinary power in the construction of a plot, and, above all, a literary +finish which is not equalled by any Canadian writer in the same field of +effort. Other meritorious Canadian workers in romance are Mr. William +McLennan, Mrs. Coates (Sarah Jeannette Duncan), and Miss Dougall, whose +names are familiar to English readers. + +The name of Dr. Todd is well known throughout the British empire, and +indeed wherever institutions of government are studied, as that of an +author of most useful works on the English and Canadian constitutions. +Sir William Dawson, for many years the energetic principal of McGill +University, the scientific prominence of which is due largely to his +mental bias, was the author of several geological books, written in a +graceful and readable style. The scientific work of Canadians can be +studied chiefly in the proceedings of English, American and Canadian +societies, especially, of late years, in the transactions of the Royal +Society of Canada, established over eighteen years ago by the Marquess +of Lorne when governor-general of the Dominion. This successful +association is composed of one hundred and twenty members who have +written "memoirs of merit or rendered eminent services to literature or +science." + +On the whole, there have been enough good poems, histories, and essays, +written and published in Canada during the last four or five decades, to +prove that there has been a steady intellectual growth on the part of +the Canadian people, and that it has kept pace at all events with the +mental growth in the pulpit, or in the legislative halls, where, of late +years, a keen practical debating style has taken the place of the more +rhetorical and studied oratory of old times. The intellectual faculties +of Canadians only require larger opportunities for their exercise to +bring forth rich fruit. The progress in the years to come will be much +greater than that Canadians have yet shown, and necessarily so, with the +wider distribution of wealth, the dissemination of a higher culture, and +a greater confidence in their own mental strength, and in the +opportunities that the country offers to pen and pencil. What is now +wanted is the cultivation of a good style and artistic workmanship. + +Much of the daily literature of Canadians--indeed the chief literary +aliment of large numbers--is the newspaper press, which illustrates +necessarily the haste, pressure and superficiality of writings of that +ephemeral class. Canadian journals, however, have not yet descended to +the degraded sensationalism of New York papers, too many of which +circulate in Canada to the public detriment. On the whole, the tone of +the most ably conducted journals--the Toronto _Globe_, and the Montreal +_Gazette_ notably--is quite on a level with the tone of debate in the +legislative bodies of the country. + +Now, as in all times of Canada's history, political life claims many +strong, keen and cultured intellects, though at the same time it is too +manifest that the tendency of democratic conditions and heated party +controversy is to prevent the most highly educated and sensitive +organisations from venturing on the agitated and unsafe sea of political +passion and competition. The speeches of Sir Wilfrid Laurier--the +eloquent French Canadian premier, who in his mastery of the English +tongue surpasses all his versatile compatriots--of Sir Charles Tupper, +Mr. Foster and others who might be mentioned, recall the most brilliant +period of parliamentary annals (1867--1873), when in the first +parliament of the Dominion the most prominent men of the provinces were +brought into public life, under the new conditions of federal union. The +debating power of the provincial legislative bodies is excellent, and +the chief defects are the great length and discursiveness of the +speeches on local as well as on national questions. It is also admitted +that of late years there has been a tendency to impair the dignity and +to lower the tone of discussion. + +Many Canadians have devoted themselves to art since 1867, and some +Englishmen will recognise the names of L.R. O'Brien, Robert Harris, +J.W.L. Forster, Homer Watson, George Reid--the painter of "The +Foreclosure of the Mortgage," which won great praise at the World's Fair +of Chicago--John Hammond, F.A. Verner, Miss Bell, Miss Muntz, W. +Brymner, all of whom are Canadians by birth and inspiration. The +establishment of a Canadian Academy of Art by the Princess Louise, and +of other art associations, has done a good deal to stimulate a taste +for art, though the public encouragement of native artists is still very +inadequate, when we consider the excellence already attained under great +difficulties in a relatively new country, where the great mass of people +has yet to be educated to a perception of the advantages of high +artistic effort. + +Sculpture would be hardly known in Canada were it not for the work of +the French Canadian Hebert, who is a product of the schools of Paris, +and has given to the Dominion several admirable statues and monuments of +its public men. While Canadian architecture has hitherto been generally +wanting in originality of conception, the principal edifices of the +provinces afford many good illustrations of effective adaptation of the +best art of Europe. Among these may be mentioned the following:--the +parliament and departmental buildings at Ottawa, admirable examples of +Italian Gothic; the legislative buildings at Toronto, in the Romanesque +style; the English cathedrals in Montreal and Fredericton, correct +specimens of early English Gothic; the French parish church of +Notre-Dame, in Montreal, attractive for its stately Gothic proportions; +the university of Toronto, an admirable conception of Norman +architecture; the Canadian Pacific railway station at Montreal and the +Frontenac Hotel at Quebec, fine examples of the adaptation of old Norman +architecture to modern necessities; the provincial buildings at +Victoria, in British Columbia, the general design of which is +Renaissance, rendered most effective by pearl-grey stone and several +domes; the headquarters of the bank of Montreal, a fine example of the +Corinthian order, and notable for the artistic effort to illustrate, on +the walls of the interior, memorable scenes in Canadian history; the +county and civic buildings of Toronto, an ambitious effort to reproduce +the modern Romanesque, so much favoured by the eminent American +architect, Richardson; Osgoode Hall, the seat of the great law courts of +the province of Ontario, which in its general character recalls the +architecture of the Italian Renaissance. Year by year we see additions +to our public and private buildings, interesting from an artistic point +of view, and illustrating the accumulating wealth of the country, as +well as the growth of culture and taste among the governing classes. + +The universities, colleges, academies, and high schools, the public and +common schools of the Dominion, illustrate the great desire of the +governments and the people of the provinces to give the greatest +possible facilities for the education of all classes at the smallest +possible cost to individuals. At the present time there are between +13,000 and 14,000 students attending 62 universities and colleges. The +collegiate institutes and academies of the provinces also rank with the +colleges as respects the advantages they give to young men and +women. Science is especially prominent in McGill and Toronto +Universities--which are the most largely attended--and the former +affords a notable example of the munificence of the wealthy men of +Montreal, in establishing chairs of science and otherwise advancing its +educational usefulness. Laval University stands deservedly at the head +of the Roman Catholic institutions of the continent, on account of its +deeply interesting historic associations, and the scholarly attainments +of its professors, several of whom have won fame in Canadian letters. +Several universities give instructions in medicine and law, and Toronto +has also a medical college for women. At the present time, at least +one-fifth of the people of the Dominion is in attendance at the +universities, colleges, public and private schools. The people of Canada +contribute upwards of ten millions of dollars annually to the support of +their educational establishments, in the shape of government grants, +public taxes, or private fees. Ontario alone, in 1899, raised five +millions and a half of dollars for the support of its public school +system; and of this amount the people directly contributed ninety-one +per cent, in the shape of taxes. On the other hand, the libraries of +Canada are not numerous; and it is only in Ontario that there is a law +providing for the establishment of such institutions by a vote of the +taxpayers in the municipalities. In this province there are at least +420 libraries, of which the majority are connected with mechanics' +institutes, and are made public by statute. The weakness of the public +school system--especially in Ontario--is the constant effort to teach a +child a little of everything, and to make him a mere machine. The +consequences are superficiality--a veneer of knowledge--and the loss of +individuality. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +CANADA'S RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES AND HER INFLUENCE IN IMPERIAL +COUNCILS (1783--1900). + + +I have deemed it most convenient to reserve for the conclusion of this +history a short review of the relations that have existed for more than +a century between the provinces of the Dominion and the United States, +whose diplomacy and legislation have had, and must always have, a +considerable influence on the material and social conditions of the +people of Canada.--an influence only subordinate to that exercised by +the imperial state. I shall show that during the years when there was no +confederation of Canada--when there were to the north and north-east of +the United States only a number of isolated provinces, having few common +sympathies or interests except their attachment to the crown and +empire--the United States had too often its own way in controversial +questions affecting the colonies which arose between England and the +ambitious federal republic. On the other hand, with the territorial +expansion of the provinces under one Dominion, with their political +development, which has assumed even national attributes, with the steady +growth of an imperial sentiment in the parent state, the old condition +of things that too often made the provinces the shuttlecock of skilful +American diplomacy has passed away. The statesmen of the Canadian +federation are now consulted, and exercise almost as much influence as +if they were members of the imperial councils in London. + +I shall naturally commence this review with a reference to the treaty of +1783, which acknowledged the independence of the United States, fixed +the boundaries between that country and British North America, and led +to serious international disputes which lasted until the middle of the +following century. Three of the ablest men in the United +States--Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay--succeeded by their +astuteness and persistency in extending their country's limits to the +eastern bank of the Mississippi, despite the insidious efforts of +Vergennes on the part of France to hem in the new nation between the +Atlantic and the Appalachian Range. The comparative value set upon +Canada during the preliminary negotiations may be easily deduced from +the fact that Oswald, the English plenipotentiary, proposed to give up +to the United States the south-western and most valuable part of the +present province of Ontario, and to carry the north-eastern boundary up +to the River St. John. The commissioners of the United States did not +accept this suggestion. Their ultimate object--an object actually +attained--was to make the St. Lawrence the common boundary between the +two countries by following the centre of the river and the great lakes +as far as the head of Lake Superior. The issue of negotiations so +stupidly conducted by the British commissioner, was a treaty which gave +an extremely vague definition of the boundary in the north-east between +Maine and Nova Scotia--which until 1784 included New Brunswick--and +displayed at the same time a striking example of geographical ignorance +as to the north-west. The treaty specified that the boundary should pass +from the head of Lake Superior through Long Lake to the north-west angle +of the Lake of the Woods, and thence to the Mississippi, when, as a +matter of fact there was no Long Lake, and the source of the Mississippi +was actually a hundred miles or so to the south of the Lake of the +Woods. This curious blunder in the north-west was only rectified in +1842, when Lord Ashburton settled the difficulty by conceding to the +United States an invaluable corner of British territory in the east (see +below, p 299). + +[Illustration: INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY. AS FINALLY ESTABLISHED IN 1842 AT +LAKE OF THE WOODS] + +The only practical advantage that the people of the provinces gained +from the Treaty of Ghent, which closed the war of 1812--15, was an +acknowledgment of the undoubted fishery rights of Great Britain and her +dependencies in the territorial waters of British North America. In the +treaty of 1783 the people of the United States obtained the "right" to +fish on the Grand and other banks of Newfoundland, and in the Gulf of +St. Lawrence and at "all other places in the sea, where the inhabitants +of both countries used at any time heretofore to fish", but they were to +have only "the liberty" of taking fish on the coasts of Newfoundland and +also of "all other of his Britannic Majesty's dominions in America; and +also of drying and curing fish in any of the unsettled bays, harbours, +and creeks of Nova Scotia (then including New Brunswick), Magdalen +Islands, and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain unsettled." In +the one case, it will be seen, there was a recognised right, but in the +other only a mere "liberty" or privilege extended to the fishermen of +the United States. At the close of the war of 1812 the British +government would not consent to renew the merely temporary liberties of +1783, and the United States authorities acknowledged the soundness of +the principle that any privileges extended to the republic in British +territorial waters could only rest on "conventional stipulation." The +convention of 1818 forms the legal basis of the rights, which Canadians +have always maintained in the case of disputes between themselves and +the United States as to the fisheries on their own coasts, bays, and +harbours of Canada. It provides that the inhabitants of the United +States shall have for ever the liberty to take, dry, and cure fish on +certain parts of the coast of Newfoundland, on the Magdalen Islands and +on the southern shores of Labrador, but they "renounce for ever any +liberty, heretofore enjoyed" by them to take, dry, and cure fish, "on or +within three marine miles of any of the coasts, bays or creeks or +harbours of his Britannic Majesty's other dominions in America"; +provided, however, that the American fishermen shall be admitted to +enter such bays and harbours, for the purpose of shelter, and of +repairing damages therein, of purchasing wood, and of obtaining water, +and "for no other purpose whatever." + +In April, 1817, the governments of Great Britain and the United States +came to an important agreement which ensured the neutrality of the great +lakes. It was agreed that the naval forces to be maintained upon these +inland waters should be confined to the following vessels: on Lakes +Champlain and Ontario to one vessel, on the Upper Lakes to two vessels, +not exceeding in each case a hundred tons burden and armed with only one +small cannon. Either nation had the right to bring the convention to a +termination by a previous notice of six months. This agreement is still +regarded by Great Britain and the United States to be in existence, +since Mr. Secretary Seward formally withdrew the notice which was given +for its abrogation in 1864, when the civil war was in progress and the +relations between the two nations were considerably strained at times. + +The next international complication arose out of the seizure of the +steamer _Caroline_, which was engaged in 1837 in carrying munitions of +war between the United States and Navy Island, then occupied by a number +of persons in the service of Mr. Mackenzie and other Canadian rebels. In +1840 the authorities of New York arrested one Macleod on the charge of +having murdered a man who was employed on the _Caroline_. The +Washington government for some time evaded the whole question by +throwing the responsibility on the state authorities and declaring that +they could not interfere with a matter which was then within the +jurisdiction of the state courts. The matter gave rise to much +correspondence between the two governments, but happily for the peace of +the two countries the American courts acquitted Macleod, as the evidence +was clear that he had had nothing to do with the actual seizing of the +_Caroline_; and the authorities at Washington soon afterwards +acknowledged their responsibility in such affairs by passing an act +directing that subjects of foreign powers, if taken into custody for +acts done or committed under the authority of their own government, "the +validity or effect whereof depends upon the law of nations, should be +discharged." The dissatisfaction that had arisen in the United States on +account of the cutting out of the _Caroline_ was removed in 1842, when +Sir Robert Peel expressed regret that "some explanation and apology for +the occurrence had not been previously made," and declared that it was +"the opinion of candid and honourable men that the British officers who +executed this transaction, and their government who approved it, +intended no insult or disrespect to the sovereign authority of the +United States[9]." + +[9: Hall's _Treatise on International Law_ (3rd ed.), pp. 311--313] + +In the course of time the question of the disputed boundary between +Maine and New Brunswick assumed grave proportions. By the treaty of +1783, the boundary was to be a line drawn from the source of the St. +Croix, directly north to the highlands "which divide the rivers which +fall into the Atlantic ocean from those which fall into the river St. +Lawrence;" thence along the said highlands to the north-easternmost head +of the Connecticut River; and the point at which the due north line was +to cut the highlands was also designated as the north-west angle of Nova +Scotia. The whole question was the subject of several commissions, and +of one arbitration, from 1783 until 1842, when it was finally settled. +Its history appears to be that of a series of blunders on the part of +England from the beginning to the end. The first blunder occurred in +1796 when the commissioners appointed to inquire into the question, +declared that the Schoodic was the River St. Croix mentioned in the +treaty. Instead, however, of following the main, or western, branch of +the Schoodic to its source in the Schoodic Lakes, they went beyond +their instructions and chose a northern tributary of the river, the +Chiputnaticook, as the boundary, and actually placed a monument at its +head as a basis for any future proceeding on the part of the two +governments. The British government appear to have been very anxious at +this time to settle the question, for they did not take exception to the +arrangement made by the commissioners, but in 1798 declared the decision +binding on both countries. + +Still this mistake might have been rectified had the British government +in 1835 been sufficiently alive to British interests in America to have +accepted a proposal made to them by President Jackson to ascertain the +true north-western angle of Nova Scotia, or the exact position of the +highlands, in accordance with certain well-understood rules in practical +surveying which have been always considered obligatory in that +continent. It was proposed by the United States to discard the due north +line, to seek to the west of that line the undisputed highlands that +divide the rivers which empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence +from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to find the point in the +'watershed' of these highlands nearest to the north line, and to trace a +direct course from it to the monument already established. "If this +principle had been adopted," says Sir Sandford Fleming, the eminent +Canadian engineer, "a straight line would have been drawn from the +monument at the head of the Chiputnaticook to a point which could have +been established with precision in the 'watershed' of the highlands +which separate the sources of the Chaudière from those of the +Penobscot,--this being the most easterly point in the only highlands +agreeing beyond dispute with the treaty. The point is found a little to +the north and west of the intersection of the 70th meridian west +longitude and the 46th parallel of north latitude." Had this proposal +been accepted England would have obtained without further difficulty +eleven thousand square miles, or the combined areas of Massachusetts +and Connecticut. + +[Illustration: MAP OF THE NORTH-EASTERN BOUNDARY AS ESTABLISHED IN +1842.] + +For several years after this settlement was suggested a most serious +conflict went on between New Brunswick and the state of Maine. The +authorities of Maine paid no respect whatever to the negotiations that +were still in progress between the governments of Great Britain and the +United States, but actually took possession of the disputed territory, +gave titles for lands and constructed forts and roads within its limits. +Collisions occurred between the settlers and the intruders, and +considerable property was destroyed. The legislature of Maine voted +$800,000 for the defence of the state, and the legislature of Nova +Scotia amid great enthusiasm made a grant of $100,000 to assist New +Brunswick in support of her rights. Happily the efforts of the United +States and British governments prevented the quarrel between the +province and the state from assuming international proportions; and in +1842 Mr. Alexander Baring, afterwards Lord Ashburton, was authorised by +the ministry of the Earl of Aberdeen to negotiate with Mr. Daniel +Webster, then secretary of state in the American cabinet, for the +settlement of matters in dispute between the two nations. The result was +the Ashburton Treaty, which, in fixing the north-eastern boundary +between British North America and the United States, started due north +from the monument incorrectly placed at the head of the Chiputnaticook +instead of the source of the true St. Croix, and consequently at the +very outset gave up a strip of land extending over some two degrees of +latitude, and embracing some 3000 square miles of British territory. By +consenting to carry the line due north from the misplaced monument Lord +Ashburton ignored the other natural landmark set forth in the treaty: +"the line of headlands which divide the waters flowing into the Atlantic +from those which flow into the St. Lawrence." A most erratic boundary +was established along the St. John, which flows neither into the St. +Lawrence nor the Atlantic, but into the Bay of Fundy, far east of the +St. Croix. In later years the historian Sparks found in Paris a map on +which Franklin himself had marked in December, 1782, with a heavy red +line, what was then considered the true natural boundary between the two +countries. Mr. Sparks admitted in sending the map that it conceded more +than Great Britain actually claimed, and that "the line from the St. +Croix to the Canadian highlands is intended to exclude [from the +territory of the United States] all the waters running into the St. +John." Canadians have always believed with reason that that portion of +the present state of Maine, through which the Aroostook and other +tributaries of the St. John flow, is actually British territory. If we +look at the map of Canada we see that the state of Maine now presses +like a huge wedge into the provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec as a +sequence of the unfortunate mistakes of 1796, 1835, and 1842, on the +part of England and her agents. In these later times a "Canadian short +line" railway has been forced to go through Maine in order to connect +Montreal with St. John, and other places in the maritime provinces. Had +the true St. Croix been chosen in 1796, or President Jackson's offer +accepted in 1835, this line could go continuously through Canadian +territory, and be entirely controlled by Canadian legislation. + +Another boundary question was the subject of much heated controversy +between England and the United States for more than a quarter of a +century, and in 1845 brought the two countries very close to war. In +1819 the United States obtained from Spain a cession of all her rights +and claims north of latitude forty-two, or the southern boundary of the +present state of Oregon. By that time the ambition of the United States +was not content with the Mississippi valley, of which she had obtained +full control by the cession of the Spanish claims and by the Louisiana +purchase of 1803, but looked to the Pacific coast, where she made +pretensions to a territory stretching from 42° to 54° 40' north +latitude, or a territory four times the area of Great Britain and +Ireland, or of the present province of Ontario. The claims of the two +nations to this vast region rested on very contradictory statements with +respect to priority of discovery, and that occupation and settlement +which should, within reasonable limits, follow discovery; and as the +whole question was one of great perplexity, it should have been settled, +as suggested by England, on principles of compromise. But the people of +the United States, conscious at last of the importance of the territory, +began to bring their influence to bear on the politicians, until by 1845 +the Democratic party declared 'for 54° 40' or fight,' Mr. Crittenden +announced that "war might now be looked upon as almost inevitable." +Happily President Polk and congress came to more pacific conclusions +after a good deal of warlike talk; and the result was a treaty (1846) by +which England accepted the line 49 degrees to the Pacific coast, and +obtained the whole of Vancouver Island, which for a while seemed likely +to be divided with the United States. But Vancouver Island was by no +means a compensation for what England gave up, for, on the continent, +she yielded all she had contended for since 1824, when she first +proposed the Columbia River as a basis of division. + +But even then the question of boundary was not finally settled by this +great victory which had been won for the United States by the +persistency of her statesmen. The treaty of 1846 continued the line of +boundary westward along "the 49th parallel of north latitude to the +middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver +Island, and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel and +of Fuca's straits to the Pacific Ocean" Anyone reading this clause for +the first time, without reference to the contentions that were raised +afterwards, would certainly interpret it to mean the whole body of water +that separates the continent from Vancouver,--such a channel, in fact, +as divides England from France; but it appears there are a number of +small channels separating the islands which lie in the great channel in +question, and the clever diplomatists at Washington immediately claimed +the Canal de Haro, the widest and deepest, as the canal of the treaty. +Instead of at once taking the ground that the whole body of water was +really in question, the English government claimed another channel, +Rosario Strait, inferior in some respects, but the one most generally, +and indeed only, used at the time by their vessels. The importance of +this difference of opinion lay chiefly in the fact, that the Haro gave +San Juan and other small islands, valuable for defensive purposes, to +the United States, while the Rosario left them to England. Then, after +much correspondence, the British government, as a compromise, offered +the middle channel, or Douglas, which would still retain San Juan. If +they had always adhered to the Douglas--which appears to answer the +conditions of the treaty, since it lies practically in the middle of the +great channel--their position would have been much stronger than it was +when they came back to the Rosario. The British representatives at the +Washington conference of 1871 suggested the reference of the question to +arbitration, but the United States' commissioners, aware of their +vantage ground, would consent to no other arrangement than to leave to +the decision of the Emperor of Germany the question whether the Haro or +the Rosario channel best accorded with the treaty; and the Emperor +decided in favour of the United States. However, with the possession of +Vancouver in its entirety, Canada can still be grateful; and San Juan is +now only remembered as an episode of skilful American diplomacy. The +same may be said of another acquisition of the republic--insignificant +from the point of view of territorial area, but still illustrative of +the methods which have won all the great districts we have named +--Rouse's Point at the outlet of Lake Champlain, "of which an exact +survey would have deprived" the United States, according to Mr. Schouler +in his excellent history. + +During this period the fishery question again assumed considerable +importance. The government at Washington raised the contention that the +three miles' limit, to which their fishermen could be confined by the +convention of 1818, should follow the sinuosities of the coasts, +including the bays, the object being to obtain access to the valuable +mackerel fisheries of the Bay of Chaleurs and other waters claimed to be +exclusively within the territorial jurisdiction of the maritime +provinces. The imperial government sustained the contention of the +provinces--a contention practically supported by American authorities in +the case of the Delaware, Chesapeake, and other bays on the coast of the +United States--that the three miles' limit should be measured from a +line drawn from headlands of all bays, harbours and creeks. In the case +of the Bay of Fundy, however, the imperial government allowed a +departure from this general principle, when it was urged by the +Washington government that one of its headlands was in the territory of +the United States, and that it was an arm of the sea rather than a bay. +The result was that foreign fishing vessels were only shut out from the +bays on the coasts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick within the Bay of +Fundy. All these questions were, however, placed in abeyance by the +reciprocity treaty of 1854 (see p. 96), which lasted until 1866, when it +was repealed by the action of the United States, in accordance with the +provision bringing it to a conclusion after one year's notice from one +of the parties interested. + +The causes which led in 1866 to the repeal of a treaty so advantageous +to the United States have been long well understood. The commercial +classes in the eastern and western states were, on the whole, favourable +to an enlargement of the treaty; but the real cause of its repeal was +the prejudice in the northern states against Canada on account of its +supposed sympathy for the confederate states during the Secession war. A +large body of men in the north believed that the repeal of the treaty +would sooner or later force Canada to join the republic; and a bill was +actually introduced in the house of representatives providing for her +admission--a mere political straw, it is true, but showing the current +of opinion in some quarters in those days. When we review the history of +those times, and consider the difficult position in which Canada was +placed, it is remarkable how honourably her government discharged its +duties of a neutral between the belligerents. In the case of the raid of +some confederate refugees in Canada on the St. Alban's bank in Vermont, +the Canadian authorities brought the culprits to trial and even paid a +large sum of money in acknowledgment of an alleged responsibility when +some of the stolen notes were returned to the robbers on their release +on technical grounds by a Montreal magistrate. It is well, too, to +remember how large a number of Canadians fought in the union +armies--twenty against one who served in the south. No doubt the +position of Canada was made more difficult at that critical time by the +fact that she was a colony of Great Britain, against whom both north and +south entertained bitter feelings by the close of the war; the former +mainly on account of the escape of confederate cruisers from English +ports, and the latter because she did not receive active support from +England. The north had also been much excited by the promptness with +which Lord Palmerston had sent troops to Canada when Mason and Slidell +were seized on an English packet on the high seas, and by the bold tone +held by some Canadian papers when it was doubtful if the prisoners would +be released. + +Before and since the union, the government of Canada has made repeated +efforts to renew a commercial treaty with the government at Washington. +In 1865 and 1866, Canadian delegates were prepared to make large +concessions, but were reluctantly brought to the conclusion that the +committee of ways and means in congress "no longer desired trade between +the two countries to be carried on upon the principle of reciprocity." +In 1866 Sir John Rose, while minister of finance, made an effort in the +same direction, but he was met by the obstinate refusal of the +republican party, then as always, highly protective. + +All this while the fishery question was assuming year by year a form +increasingly irritating to the two countries. The headland question was +the principal difficulty, and the British government, in order to +conciliate the United States at a time when the Alabama question was a +subject of anxiety, induced the Canadian government to agree, very +reluctantly it must be admitted, to shut out foreign fishing vessels +only from bays less than six miles in width at their entrances. In this, +however, as in all other matters, the Canadian authorities acknowledged +their duty to yield to the considerations of imperial interests, and +acceded to the wishes of the imperial government in almost every +respect, except actually surrendering their territorial rights in the +fisheries. They issued licenses to fish, at low rates, for several +years, only to find eventually that American fishermen did not think it +worth while to buy these permits when they could evade the regulations +with little difficulty. The correspondence went on for several years, +and eventually led to the Washington conference or commission of 1871, +which was primarily intended to settle the fishery question, but which +actually gave the precedence to the Alabama difficulty--then of most +concern in the opinion of the London and Washington governments. The +representatives of the United States would not consider a proposition +for another reciprocity treaty on the basis of that of 1854. The +questions arising out of the convention of 1818 were not settled by the +commission, but were practically laid aside for ten years by an +arrangement providing for the free admission of salt-water fish to the +United States, on the condition of allowing the fishing vessels of that +country free access to the Canadian fisheries. The free navigation of +the St. Lawrence was conceded to the United States in return for the +free use of Lake Michigan and of certain rivers in Alaska. The question +of giving to the vessels of the Canadian provinces the privilege of +trading on the coast of the United States--a privilege persistently +demanded for years by Nova Scotia--was not considered; and while the +canals of Canada were opened up to the United States on the most liberal +terms, the Washington government contented itself with a barren promise +in the treaty to use its influence with the authorities of the states to +open up their artificial waterways to Canadians. The Fenian claims were +abruptly laid aside, although, if the principle of "due diligence," +which was laid down in the new rules for the settlement of the Alabama +difficulty had been applied to this question, the government of the +United States would have been mulcted in heavy damages. In this case it +would be difficult to find a more typical instance of responsibility +assumed by a state through the permission of open and notorious acts, +and by way of complicity after the acts; however, as in many other +negotiations with the United States, Canada felt she must make +sacrifices for the empire, whose government wished all causes of +irritation between England and the United States removed as far as +possible by the treaty. One important feature of this commission was the +presence, for the first time in the history of treaties, of a Canadian +statesman. The astute prime minister of the Dominion, Sir John +Macdonald, was chosen as one of the English high commissioners: and +though he was necessarily tied down by the instructions of the imperial +state, his knowledge of Canadian questions was of great service to +Canada during the conference. If the treaty finally proved more +favourable to the Dominion than it at first appeared to be, it was owing +largely to the clause which provided for a reference to a later +commission of the question, whether the United States would not have to +pay the Canadians a sum of money, as the value of their fisheries over +and above any concessions made them in the treaty. The result of this +commission was a payment of five millions and a half of dollars to +Canada and Newfoundland, to the infinite disappointment of the +politicians of the United States, who had been long accustomed to have +the best in all the bargains with their neighbours. Nothing shows more +clearly the measure of the local self-government at last won by Canada +and the importance of her position in the empire, than the fact that the +English government recognised the right of the Dominion government to +name the commissioner who represented Canada on an arbitration which +decided a question of such deep importance to her interests. + +The clauses of the Washington treaty relating to the fisheries and to +trade with Canada lasted for fourteen years, and then were repealed by +the action of the United States government. In the year 1874 the +Mackenzie ministry attempted, through Mr. George Brown, to negotiate a +new reciprocity treaty, but met with a persistent hostility from leading +men in congress. The relations between Canada and the United States +again assumed a phase of great uncertainty. Canada from 1885 adhered to +the letter of the convention of 1818, and allowed no fishing vessels to +fish within the three miles limit, to transship cargoes of fish in her +ports, or to enter them for any purpose except for shelter, wood, water, +and repairs. For the infractions of the treaty several vessels were +seized, and more than one of them condemned. A clamour was raised in the +United States on the ground that the Canadians were wanting in that +spirit of friendly intercourse which should characterise the relations +of neighbouring peoples. The fact is, the Canadians were bound to adhere +to their legal rights--rights which had always been maintained before +1854; which had remained in abeyance between 1854 and 1866; which +naturally revived after the repeal of the reciprocity treaty of 1854; +which again remained in abeyance between 1871 and 1885; and were revived +when the United States themselves chose to go back to the terms of the +convention of 1818. + +In 1887 President Cleveland and Mr. Secretary Bayard, acting in a +statesmanlike spirit, obtained the consent of England to a special +commission to consider the fishery question. Sir Sackville West, Mr. +Joseph Chamberlain, and Sir Charles Tupper represented England; Mr. +Bayard, then secretary of state, Mr. Putnam of Maine, and Mr. Angell of +Michigan University, represented the United States. Sir Charles Tupper +could not induce the American commissioners to consider a mutual +arrangement providing for greater freedom of commercial intercourse +between Canada and the United States. Eventually the commission agreed +unanimously to a treaty which was essentially a compromise. Foreign +fishermen were to be at liberty to go into any waters where the bay was +more than ten miles wide at the mouth, but certain bays, including the +Bay of Chaleurs, were expressly excepted in the interests of Canada from +the operation of this provision. The United States did not attempt to +acquire the right to fish on the inshore fishing-grounds of Canada--that +is, within three miles of the coasts--but these fisheries were to be +left for the exclusive use of the Canadian fishermen. More satisfactory +arrangements were made for vessels obliged to resort to the Canadian +ports in distress; and a provision was made for allowing American +fishing-vessels to obtain supplies and other privileges in the harbours +of the Dominion whenever congress allowed the fish of that country to +enter free into the market of the United States, President Cleveland in +his message, submitting the treaty to the senate, acknowledged that it +"supplied a satisfactory, practical and final adjustment, upon a basis +honourable and just to both parties, of the difficult and vexed +questions to which it relates." The republican party, however, at that +important juncture--just before a presidential election--had a majority +in the senate, and the result was the failure in that body of a measure, +which, although by no means too favourable to Canadian interests, was +framed in a spirit of judicious statesmanship. + +As a sequel of the acquisition of British Columbia, the Canadian +government was called upon in 1886 to urge the interests of the +Dominion in an international question that had arisen in Bering Sea. A +United States cutter seized in the open sea, at a distance of more than +sixty miles from the nearest land, certain Canadian schooners, fitted +out in British Columbia, and lawfully engaged in the capture of seals in +the North Pacific Ocean, adjacent to Vancouver Island, Queen Charlotte +Islands, and Alaska--a portion of the territory of the United States +acquired in 1867 from Russia. These vessels were taken into a port of +Alaska, where they were subjected to forfeiture, and the masters and +mates fined and imprisoned. Great Britain at once resisted the claim of +the United States to the sole sovereignty of that part of Bering Sea +lying beyond the westerly boundary of Alaska--a stretch of sea extending +in its widest part some 600 or 700 miles beyond the mainland of Alaska, +and clearly under the law of nations a part of the great sea and open to +all nations. Lord Salisbury's government, from the beginning to the end +of the controversy, sustained the rights of Canada as a portion of the +British empire. After very protracted and troublesome negotiations it +was agreed to refer the international question in dispute to a court of +arbitration, in which Sir John Thompson, prime minister of Canada, was +one of the British arbitrators. The arbitrators decided in favour of the +British contention that the United States had no jurisdiction in Bering +Sea outside of the three miles limit, and at the same time made certain +regulations to restrict the wholesale slaughter of fur-bearing seals in +the North Pacific Ocean. In 1897 two commissioners, appointed by the +governments of the United States and Canada, awarded the sum of $463,454 +as compensation to Canada for the damages sustained by the fishermen of +British Columbia, while engaged in the lawful prosecution of their +industry on that portion of the Bering Sea declared to be open to all +nations. This sum was paid in the summer of 1898 by the United States. + +In 1897 the Canadian government succeeded in obtaining the consent of +the governments of Great Britain and the United States to the +appointment of a joint high commission to settle various questions in +dispute between Canada and the United States. Canada was represented on +this commission by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Sir Richard Cartwright, Sir +Louis Davies, and Mr. John Charlton, M.P., Newfoundland by Sir James +Winter; the United States by Messieurs C.W. Fairbanks, George Gray, J.W. +Foster, Nelson Dingley Jr., J.A. Kasson, and T. Jefferson Coolidge. The +eminent jurist, Baron Herschell, who had been lord chancellor in the +last Gladstone ministry, was chosen chairman of this commission, which +met in the historic city of Quebec on several occasions from the 23rd +August until the 10th October, 1898, and subsequently at Washington from +November until the 20th February, 1899, when it adjourned. Mr. Dingley +died in January and was replaced by Mr. Payne, and Lord Herschell also +unhappily succumbed to the effects of an accident soon after the close +of the sittings of the commission. In an eulogy of this eminent man in +the Canadian house of commons, the Canadian prime minister stated that +during the sittings of the commission "he fought for Canada not only +with enthusiasm, but with conviction and devotion." England happily in +these modern times has felt the necessity of giving to the consideration +of Canadian interests the services of her most astute and learned +statesmen and diplomatists. + +This commission was called upon to consider a number of international +questions--the Atlantic and inland fisheries, the Alaska boundary, the +alien labour law, the bonding privilege, the seal fishery in the Bering +Sea, reciprocity of trade in certain products of the two countries, and +other minor issues. For the reasons given in a previous part of this +chapter (page 269), when referring to the commercial policy of the +Laurier government, reciprocity was no longer the all-important question +to be discussed, though the commissioners were desirous of making fiscal +arrangements with respect to lumber, coal, and some other Canadian +products for which there is an increasing demand in the markets of the +United States. The long and earnest discussions of the commission on the +various questions before them were, however, abruptly terminated by the +impossibility of reaching a satisfactory conclusion with respect to the +best means of adjusting the vexed question of the Alaska boundary, which +had become of great international import in consequence of the discovery +of gold in the territory of Alaska and the district of Yukon in Canada. + +The dispute between Great Britain and the United States has arisen as to +the interpretation to be given to the Anglo-Russian treaty of 1825, +which was made forty-two years before Russia sold her territorial rights +in Alaska to the United States, that sale being subject of course to the +conditions of the treaty in question. Under the third article of this +treaty[10]--the governing clause of the contract between England and +Russia--boundary line between Canada and Alaska commences at the south +end of Prince of Wales Island, thence runs north through Portland +Channel to the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude, thence follows the +summit of the mountains situated parallel to the coast of the continent, +to one hundred and forty-one west longitude and thence to the frozen +ocean. That part of the line between fifty-six north latitude and one +hundred and forty-one west longitude is where the main dispute arises. +Great Britain on behalf of Canada contends that, by following the +summits of the mountains between these two points, the true boundary +would cross Lynn Canal, about half way between the headlands and +tide-water at the head of the canal, and leave both Skagway and +Dyea--towns built up chiefly by United States citizens--within British +territory. The contention of Great Britain always has been that the +boundary should follow the general contour of the coast line and not the +inlets to their head waters. On the other hand the United States contend +that the whole of Lynn Canal up to the very top, to the extent of +tide-water, is a part of the ocean, and that the territory of the United +States goes back for ten leagues from the head of the canal and +consequently includes Skagway and Dyea. In other words the United States +claim that the boundary should not follow the coast line but pass +around the head of this important inlet, which controls access to the +interior of the gold-bearing region. + +[10: The following is the article in full: "The line of demarcation +between the possessions of the high contracting parties upon the coast +of the continent and the islands of America to the north-west, shall be +drawn in the following manner: commencing from the southernmost point of +the island called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the +parallel of fifty-four degrees forty minutes north latitude, and between +the one hundred and thirty-first and the one hundred and thirty-third +degree of west longitude, the said line shall ascend to the north along +the channel called Portland Channel as far as the point of the continent +where it strikes the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude. From this +last-mentioned point the line of demarcation shall follow the summit of +the mountains situated parallel to the coast as far as the point of +intersection of the one hundred and forty-first degree of west longitude +(of the same meridian), and finally from the said point of intersection +of the one hundred and forty-first degree in its prolongation as far as +the frozen ocean, shall form the limit between the Russian and British +possessions, on the continent of America to the north-west"] + +[Illustration: MAP OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AND YUKON DISTRICT SHOWING +DISPUTED BOUNDARY BETWEEN] + +The Canadian commissioners first offered as a compromise to leave Dyea +and Skagway in the possession of the United States if the commissioners +of that country would agree that Canada should retain Pyramid Harbour, +which would give to Canadians a highway into the Yukon district. The +acceptance of this compromise would have made a common water of the Lynn +Canal, and at the same time left to the United States the greater +portion of the territory in dispute. When the commissioners of the +United States refused this fair compromise, the Canadians offered to +refer the whole question to arbitration in order to ascertain the true +boundary under the Anglo-Russian treaty. They proposed that the +arbitrators should be three jurists of repute: one chosen for Great +Britain by the judicial committee of the privy council, one appointed by +the president of the United States, and the third a high international +authority to act as an umpire. The commissioners of the United States +positively refused to agree to this proposition and suggested the +appointment of six jurists, three to be appointed by Great Britain, and +the others by the United States. The Canadian representatives were +unable to agree to the amendment suggested by their American colleagues, +on the ground that it did not "provide a tribunal which would +necessarily, and in the possible event of differences of opinion, +finally dispose of the question," They also refused to agree to other +propositions of the United States as "a marked and important departure +from the rules of the Venezuelan boundary reference." The commissioners +of the United States were not only unwilling to agree to the selection +of an impartial European umpire, but were desirous of the appointment of +an American umpire--from the South American Republics--over whom the +United States would have more or less influence. Under these +circumstances the Canadian commissioners were unwilling to proceed to +the determination of other questions (on which a conclusion had been +nearly reached) "until the boundary question had been disposed of either +by agreement or reference to arbitration." The commission adjourned +until August in the same year, but the negotiations that took place in +the interval between the governments of Great Britain and the United +States on the question at issue were not sufficiently advanced to enable +a meeting at the proposed date. In these circumstances a _modus vivendi_ +was arranged between the United States and Canada, whose interests have +been carefully guarded throughout the controversy by the government of +the imperial state. + +This review of Canada's relations with the United States and England for +more than a century illustrates at once her weakness and her +strength--her weakness in the days of provincial isolation and imperial +indifference; her strength under the inspiring influences of federal +union and of an imperial spirit which gives her due recognition in the +councils of the empire. It may now be said that, in a limited sense, +there is already a loose system of federation between Great Britain and +her dependencies. The central government of Great Britain, as the +guardian of the welfare of the whole empire, cooperates with the several +governments of her colonial dependencies, and, by common consultation +and arrangement, endeavours to come to such a determination as will be +to the advantage of all the interests at stake. In other words, the +conditions of the relations between Great Britain and Canada are such as +to insure unity of policy so long as each government considers the +interests of Great Britain and the dependency as identical, and keeps in +view the obligations, welfare, and unity of the empire at large. Full +consultation in all negotiations affecting Canada, representation in +every arbitration and commission that may be the result of such +negotiations, are the principles which, of late years, have been +admitted by Great Britain in acknowledgement of the development of +Canada and of her present position in the empire; and any departure +from so sound a doctrine would be a serious injury to the imperial +connection, and an insult to the ability of Canadians to take a part in +the great councils of the world. The same mysterious Providence that has +already divided the continent of North America, as far as Mexico, +between Canada and the United States, and that in the past prevented +their political fortunes from becoming one, still forces the Canadian +communities with an irresistible power to press onward until they +realise those high conceptions which some statesmen already imagine for +them in a not very distant future. These conceptions are of a still +closer union with the parent state, which shall increase their national +responsibilities, and at the same time give the Dominion a recognised +position in the central councils of the empire. + + + + + APPENDIX A. + + COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE MAIN PROVISIONS OF + THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA + AND THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH. + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA. | + _Name._ _Name_ + The Dominion of Canada The Commonwealth of Australia. + + _How Constituted._ _How Constituted_ + Of provinces. Of states. + + _Seat of Government._ _Seat of Government_ + At Ottawa until the Queen Within federal territory in + otherwise directs. New South Wales, at least 100 + miles from Sydney + + _Executive Power._ _Executive Power_ + Vested in the Queen. Vested in the Queen. + Queen's representative, a Queen's representative, a + governor-general, appointed by governor-general, appointed by + the Queen in council. the Queen in council. + + Salary of governor-general Not less than £10,000 paid + £10,000 sterling, paid by Dominion by the commonwealth, fixed by + government, alterable by parliament from time to time, + the parliament of Canada, but not diminished during tenure of + subject to the disallowance of a governor-general. + the crown, as in 1868, when + parliament passed a bill to reduce + this salary. + + + + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA. + Ministers called by governor-general Same--only for "privy + to form a cabinet, first councillors" read "executive + sworn in as privy councillors, councillors" + hold office while they have the + confidence of the popular house + of parliament, in accordance with + the conventions, understandings, + and maxims of responsible or + parliamentary government. + + Privy councillors hold, as the Executive councillors administer + crown may designate, certain such departments as + departments of state, not limited governor-general from time to + in name or number, but left to time establishes. Until other + the discretionary action of provision is made by parliament, + parliament. Such heads of number of such officers, who + departments must seek a new may sit in parliament, shall not + election on accepting these exceed seven. + office of emolument. + + _Command of Military and _Command of Military and + Naval Forces_ Naval Forces_ + Vested in the Queen. In the Queen's representative. + + _Parliament_ _Parliament_ + The Queen. The Queen. + Senate. Senate. + House of commons. House of representatives. + Session once at least every The same. + year. + Privileges, immunities and Such as declared by the parliament + powers held by senate and house of the commonwealth, + of commons, such as are defined and, until declared, such as are + by act of the parliament of held by the commons' house of + Canada, but not to exceed those parliament of Great Britain at + enjoyed at the passing of such the date of the establishment of + act by the commons' house of the commonwealth. + parliament of Great Britain. + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA + + Senate composed of twenty-four Senate composed of six + members for each of the senators for each state, directly + three following divisions (1) chosen for six years by the + Ontario, (2) Quebec, and (3) people of the state voting as + maritime provinces of Nova one electorate; half the number + Scotia, New Brunswick, and shall retire every three years, + Prince Edward Island. Other but shall be eligible for + provinces can be represented re-election. No property + under the constitution, but the qualification is required, but the + total number of senators shall senators must be British subjects + not at any time exceed of the full age of twenty-one years. + seventy-eight, except in the In Queensland the people can + case of the admission of vote in divisions, instead of in + Newfoundland, when the maximum one electorate. + may be eighty-two. Senators + appointed by the crown for life, + but removable for certain + disabilities. They must have + a property qualification and be + of the full age of thirty years. + + Speaker of the senate appointed President of the senate elected + by the governor-general by that body. + (in council). + + Fifteen senators form a quorum One-third of whole number of + until parliament of Canada senators form a quorum until + otherwise provides. parliament of commonwealth + otherwise provides. + Non-attendance for two whole Non-attendance for two consecutive + sessions vacates a senator's seat. months of any session + vacates a senator's seat. + Members of house of commons Every three years. + elected every five years, + or whenever parliament is dissolved + by the governor-general. + + No property qualification, but The same. + must be British subjects of full + age of twenty-one years. + + + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA + The electors for the Dominion Qualification of electors for + commons are the electors of the members of the house of + several provinces, under the representatives is that + limitations of a statute passed prescribed by the law of each + by the Dominion parliament in state for the electors of the + 1878. Qualifications vary, but more numerous house of the + universal suffrage, qualified by parlianment of the state. + residence, generally prevails. + + A fresh apportionment of The same. + representatives to be made after + each census, or not longer than + intervals of ten years. + + Speaker of house of commons The same. + elected by the members of the + house. + + Quorum of house of commons Quorum of house of representatives + --twenty members, of whom the --one-third of the + speaker counts one. whole number of members + until otherwise provided by + parliament. + + No such provision. Member vacates his seat + when absent, without permission, + for two months of a + session. + + No such provision. Parliament to be called together + not later than thirty days + after that appointment for return + of writs. + + Allowance to each member of Allowance of £400 to members + senate and commons $1,000 for of both houses until other + a session of thirty days, and provision is made by parliament. + mileage expenses, 10 cents a + mile going and returning. Not + expressly provided for by + constitution but by statute of + parliament from time to time. + + + + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA. + Canadian statutes disqualify Same classes disqualified in + contractors and certain persons the constitution. + holding office on receiving emoluments + or fees from the crown + while sitting in parliament. + + Each house determines the The constitution has a special + rules, and orders necessary for provision on the subject. + the regulation of its own proceedings; + not in the constitution. + + _Money And Tax Bills_ _Money and Tax Bills_ + The same. Money and tax bills can only + originate in the house of + representatives. + + |Same by practice. The senate can reject, but not + amend, taxation or appropriation + bills. + + Not in Canadian constitution. The senate may return money + and appropriation bills to the + house of representatives, + requesting the omission or + amendment of any provision + therein, but it is optional + for the house to make such + omissions or amendments. + + No such provision. If bills, other than money + bills, + have twice been passed by the + house of representatives and + twice been rejected by the + senate or passed by that body + with amendments to which the + house of representatives will + not agree, the governor-general + may dissolve the two houses + simultaneously; and if, after + the new election + they continue to disagree, + the governor-general may convene + a joint sitting of the members + of the two houses, who shall + deliberate and vote upon the + bill, which can only become + law if passed by an absolute + majority of the members sitting + and voting. + + _Legislative Powers of the _Legislative Powers of the + Parliament of the Dominion_. Parliament of the + Commonwealth_. + + Respective powers of the federal The Legislative powers of the + parliament and provincial federal parliament are alone + legislatures are enumerated and enumerated, and the states + defined in the constitution; the expressly retain all the powers + residuum of power rests with the vested in them by their + central government in relation respective constitutions at the + to all matters not coming within establishment of the + the classes of subjects by the commonwealth as to matters not + British North America act of specified as being within the + 1867 assigned exclusively to the exclusive jurisdiction of the + legislatures. federal parliament. + + _The Provinces._ _The States._ + + Legislatures may alter provincial Constitutions may be altered + constitutions except as under the authority of the + regards the office of lieutenant parliaments thereof. + -governor. + + Lieutenant-governors are appointed The constitution of each state + by the governor-general-in-council, continues (subject to the + and removable by constitution) as at the + him within five years only for establishment of the + cause assigned and communicated commonwealth, or as at the + by message to the two admission or establishment + houses of parliament. of the states, as the case + may be, until altered in + accordance with the + constitution of the + states. In other words, + the powers of the states + over their own constitutions + are preserved. + + Acts of the provincial When a law of the state is + legislatures may be disallowed inconsistent with one of the + by the governor-general-in-council commonwealth, the latter shall, + one year after their receipt. to the extent of such + inconsistency, be invalid. + + Education is within exclusive No special provisions in the + jurisdiction of the provinces, constitution; education being + but with conditions for the one of the subjects exclusively + maintenance and protection of within the powers of the state + rights and privileges of parliaments, under the clause + religious bodies in a province leaving them in possession of + with respect to denominational all powers not expressly given + schools. to the federal parliament. + + The federal parliament can A state shall not impose any + alone impose duties or taxes on taxes or duties upon imports + imports. except such as are necessary + for executing the inspection + laws of a state, but the net + produce of all charges so + levied shall be for use of the, + commonwealth, and such + inspection laws may be annulled + by the parliament of the + commonwealth. + + Similar power. The parliament of the + commonwealth may from time to + time admit new states, and make + laws for the provisional + administration and government + of any territory surrendered by + any state to the commonwealth, + or of any territory placed by + the Queen under the + commonwealth, or otherwise + acquired by the same. + + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA. + + _The Judiciary._ _The Judiciary._ + + The same. The parliament of the + commonwealth can establish a + federal supreme court, called + the High Court of Australia, + and other federal courts for + the commonwealth; the judges + to be appointed by the + governor-general, to hold + office during good behaviour, + No such provision with respect not to be removed except upon + to diminution of salary during an address of both houses of + tenure of office. parliament, but so that the + salary paid to any judge shall + not be diminished during his + continuance in office. + + Similar provisions by statutory The high court can adjudicate + enactments of Dominion in cases arising out of the + parliament. constitution, or controversies + between states, or in which the + commonwealth is a party. + + No such stringent provision Appeals only allowed to + exists in the Canadian Queen-in-council from high court + constitution, but appeals in all on constitutional issues between + civil--though not in commonwealth and any state, + criminal--cases are allowed, by or between two or more states, + virtue of the exercise of the when high court gives leave to + royal prerogative, from appeal. Otherwise, the royal + provincial courts as well as prerogative to grant appeals is + from the supreme court of Canada not impaired. Parliament may, + to the Queen-in-council; however, make laws limiting + _i.e._, in practice, to the such appeals, but they must + judicial committee of the privy be reserved for her Majesty's + council. pleasure. + + + + + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA. + + Judges of the superior and Judges in the states are appointed + county courts in the provinces and removable under existing state + (except those of probate in New constitutions, which the state + Brunswick, Nova Scotia and parliaments can change at will. + Prince Edward Island) are appointed + by the governor-general-in-council, + and removable only + by the same on the address of + the two houses of parliament. + Their salaries and allowances + are fixed by the parliament of + Canada. + + The provinces have jurisdiction Similar powers in the states. + over the administration of + justice in a province, including + the constitution, maintenance, + and organisation of provincial + courts, both of civil and criminal + jurisdiction, and including the + procedure in civil matters in + those courts. + + The enactment and amendment With the states. + of the criminal law rest + with the Dominion parliament. + + The enactment and amendment With the states. + of all laws relating to property + and civil rights rest with + the provinces. + + _Trade and Finance._ _Trade and Finance._ + Customs and excise, trade and The parliament of the commonwealth + commerce, are within exclusive has sole power to + jurisdiction of Dominion parliament. impose uniform duties of customs + and excise, and to grant bounties + upon goods when it thinks it + expedient. As soon as + such duties or customs + are imposed, trade and + intercourse throughout the + commonwealth, whether by + internal carriageor ocean + navigation, is to be free. + + The Dominion government The parliament of the commonwealth + can veto any such unconstitutional may annul any state + law. law interfering with the freedom + of trade or commerce between + the different parts of the + commonwealth, or giving preference + to the ports of one part over + those of another. + + The power of direct taxation Direct taxation may be imposed + is within the jurisdiction of both by the commonwealth + Dominion parliament and provincial and by each state within its own + legislatures, the one for limits--but taxation, when + Dominion and the other solely exercised by the commonwealth, + for provincial purposes. must be uniform. + + Both Dominion and provincial Same is true of commonwealth + governments have unlimited and states. + borrowing power under the authority + of parliament and legislatures. + + Certain money subsidies are Of the net revenue of the + paid annually to the provinces commonwealth from duties of + towards the support of their customs and excise, not more + governments and legislatures. than one-fourth shall be applied + annually by the commonwealth + towards its expenditure. The + balance shall, in accordance + with certain conditions of the + constitution, be paid to the + several states, or applied + towards the payment of + interest on debts of the + several states. This arrangement + is limited to ten years. Financial + aid may be granted to any state + upon such terms as the federal + parliament may deem expedient. + Western Australia may, subject + to certain restrictions, impose + duties on goods imported from + other parts of the commonwealth. + + + No such provision; but the For the administration of the + Dominion parliament and provincial laws relating to interstate trade + legislatures could by the governor-general-in-council + legislation arrange a similar may appoint an interstate + commission. commission. + + Canada is liable for amount of The parliament of the commonwealth + the debts and liabilities of the may consolidate or + provinces existing at the time of take over state debts by general + the union, under the conditions consent, but a state shall + and terms laid down in the indemnify the commonwealth, and + constitution. the amount of interest payable in + respect to a debt shall be + deducted from its share of the + surplus revenue of the + commonwealth. + + _Imperial Control over_ _Imperial Control over_ + _Dominion Legislation._ _Australian Legislation._ + Bills may be reserved by the The same. + governor-general for the Queen's + pleasure, and her Majesty in As the old state constitutions + council may within two years continue in force until amended + after receipt of any Dominion by the state, state legislation is + act disallow the same. still subject to power of + disallowance by Queen in council. + + No such provision. The governor-general may return + any "law" presented to him for + the Queen's assent and suggest + amendments therein, and + the houses may deal with them + as they think fit. + + The recommendation of the The same. + crown is required before initiation + of a money vote in parliament. + + _Amendments to the _Amendments to the + Constitution_. Constitution._ + + By the imperial parliament on Any proposed amendment to + an address of the houses of the the constitution must be first + Dominion parliament to the passed by an absolute majority + Queen. of each house of parliament, + and submitted in each state to + the electors qualified to vote for + members of the house of + representatives. If in majority of + the states a majority of the + electors voting approve the + proposed law, and if a majority + of all the electors + voting also approve the + proposed law, it shall be + presented to the governor-general + for the royal assent. + + +APPENDIX B. + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. + + +I confine these notes to the most accurate and available books and +essays on the history of Canada. + +For the French régime consult.--_Jacques Cartier's Voyages_, by Joseph +Pope (Ottawa, 1889), Charlevoix's _History and General Description of +New France_, translated by J. Gilmary Shea (New York, 1868); _Cours +d'histoire du Canada_, by Abbé Ferland (Quebec, 1861); _Histoire du +Canada_, by F.X. Garneau (4th ed., Montreal, 1882); F. Parkman's series +of admirable histories of the French régime (Boston, 1865--1884), _The +Story of Canada_ (Nations' Series, London, New York and Toronto, 1896), +by J.G. Bourinot, necessarily written in a light vein, is largely +devoted to the days of French rule, and may profitably be read on that +account in connection with this later book, chiefly devoted to British +dominion. + +For the history of Acadia, consult.--_Acadia_, by James Hannay (St. +John, N.B., 1879); _History of Nova Scotia_, by Thomas C. Haliburton +(Halifax, N.S., 1829). A valuable compilation of annals is _A History of +Nova Scotia or Acadie_, by Beamish Murdoch (Halifax, 1867). _Builders of +Nova Scotia_, by J.G. Bourinot (Toronto, and "Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.," +1900), contains many portraits of famous Nova Scotians down to +confederation, and appendices of valuable historical documents. + +_Cape Breton and its Memorials of the French Régime_ ("Trans. Roy. Soc. +Can.," vol. IX, and in separate form, Montreal, 1891) by J.G. Bourinot, +gives a full bibliography of voyages of Northmen, the Cabots, Carrier, +and Champlain, and of the Histories of the Seven Years' War. The same +remarks apply to Winsor's _Narrative and Critical History of America_ +(Boston, 1886--89). The "Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.," since 1894, have +several important papers by Archbishop O'Brien, Dr. S.E. Dawson, and +others on the Cabot discovery. + +British rule, 1760-1900:--Garneau's _History_, already mentioned, gives +the French Canadian view of the political situation from 1760 until +1840; William Kingsford's _History of Canada_ (Toronto, 1887-1898) has a +fairly accurate account of events from 1760 until 1840, in vols. V-X; _A +History of Lower Canada_, by R. Christie, a member of the assembly of +the province (Quebec, 1848-1854) is very useful for copies of public +documents from 1774 until 1840. + +The most important accounts of the U.E. Loyalists of the American +Revolution by writers in the United States are:--L. Sabine's _Loyalists_ +(Boston, 1864), and Tyler's _Literary History of the American +Revolution_ (New York, 1897). Canadian accounts are to be found in +Egerton Ryerson's _Loyalists of America_ (Toronto, 1880)--remarkably +prosaic--and Canniff's _History of Upper Canada_ (Toronto, 1872). +Consult also articles of J.G. Bourinot in the _Quarterly Review_ for +October, 1898, and the _Canadian Magazine_ for April, 1898, in which +names of prominent Canadian descendants of Loyalists are given. + +Kingsford's _History_, vol. VIII, has the best Canadian account of the +War of 1812-15. The most impartial American record of its causes and +progress is Henry Adams's _History of the United States of America_ (New +York, 1860), vols VI and VII. + +Garneau's _History_ gives the most favourable estimate of Papineau and +his party, who brought about the Rebellion in Lower Canada. Kingsford +(vols. IX and X) writes impartially on the risings in the two Canadas. + +Other works to be consulted are:--Lord Durham's _Report on the Affairs +of British North America_ (London, 1839); _Life of W. Lyon Mackenzie_, +by Charles Lindsey, his son-in-law (Toronto, 1863); _The Upper Canadian +Rebellion_, by J. Charles Dent (Toronto, 1885). The _Speeches and +Letters_ of the Hon. Joseph Howe (Boston, 1858) contain the ablest +expositions of the principles of responsible government by its greatest +advocate in British North America. See also Campbell's _History of +Prince Edward Island_ (Charlottetown, 1875). New Brunswick has not a +single good history. _The Life and Times of Sir Leonard Tilley_, by +James Hannay (St. John, N.B. 1897), can be read with advantage. See +Prof. Ganong's valuable essays on the early history of New Brunswick in +"Trans. Roy. Soc. Can," New Series, vols. I--v. Rev. Dr. Withrow's +_History of Canada_ (Toronto, 1888) has chapters on affairs of Prince +Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, to date of publication. + +For the history of Canada since 1840, consult.--_Canada since the Union_ +(1840--1880), by J. Charles Dent (Toronto, 1880--81); _Le Canada sous +l'Union_, by Louis Turcotte (Quebec, 1871); _Memoirs of the Right Hon. +Sir John A. Macdonald_, by Joseph Pope, his private secretary (London +and Ottawa, 1894); _Debates on Confederation_ (Quebec, 1865); +_Confederation_, by Hon. J.H. Gray, M.P., a delegate to the Quebec +Conference (Toronto, 1872). + +For the constitutional development of Canada, consult.--_A Manual_, by +J.G. Bourinot (Montreal, 1888, and included in latest edition of his +_Parliamentary Procedure_, 1891); _How Canada is Governed_, by the same +(Toronto, 1897--1900); _Parliamentary Government in the Colonies_, by +Alpheus Todd (London, 1894); _Documents illustrative of the Canadian +Constitution_, by W. Houston (Toronto, 1891). _Parliamentary Government +in Canada_, by J.G. Bourinot (Amer. Hist. Association, Washington, 1892, +and "Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.," 1892), contains a long list of books +relating to the constitutional history of Canada. Also consult _How +Canada is Governed_ for works on constitutional, legal, municipal and +educational history of the provinces of Canada. + +For Manitoba and the North-west Territories the reader may +consult:--_Manitoba. Its Infancy, Growth and Present Condition_, by Rev. +Prof. Bryce (London, 1882); _History of the North-west_, by A. Begg +(Toronto, 1894); _The Great Company_, by Beckles Wilson (Toronto and +London, 1899); _Reminiscences of the North-west Rebellions_, by Major +Boulton (Toronto, 1886). A remarkable _History of the Hudson's Bay +Company_, by Rev. Prof. Bryce (London, New York and Toronto, 1900). For +British Columbia:--A. Begg's _History_ (Toronto, 1896). + +For the literary progress of Canada, consult:--_The Intellectual +Development of the Canadian People_, by J.G. Bourinot (Toronto, 1881); +_Canada's Intellectual Strength and Weakness_ ("Trans. Roy. Soc. +Canada," vol. XI, also in separate form, Montreal, 1893), by the same, +contains an elaborate list of Canadian literature, French and English, +to date. The 17 volumes of the same Transactions contain numerous +valuable essays on French Canadian literary progress. + +Other valuable books to be consulted are:--_Canada and Newfoundland_ in +Stanford's _Compendium of Geography and Travel_ (London, 1897), by Dr. +S.E. Dawson, F.R.S.C.; _The Statistical Year Book of Canada_, a +government publication issued annually at Ottawa, and edited by Geo. +Johnson, F.S.S.; _The Great Dominion_ (London, 1895), by Dr. G.R. +Parkin, C.M.G., LL.D., the eloquent advocate of imperial federation for +many years, merits careful reading. _Canada and the United States_, in +Papers of the Amer. Hist Assoc. (Washington, July, 1891), and _Canada +and the United States: their Past and Present Relations_, in the +_Quarterly Review_ for April, 1891, both by the present author, have +been largely used in the preparation of the last chapter of this book. + +With respect to the boundaries of Canada and the English colonies during +the days of French dominion, and from 1763 until 1774--_i.e._ from the +Treaty of Paris until the Quebec Act--consult a valuable collection of +early French and English maps, given in _A Report on the Boundaries of +Ontario_ (Toronto, 1873), by Hon. David Mills, now Minister of Justice +in the Laurier government, who was an Ontario commissioner to collect +evidence with respect to the western limits of the province. Consult +also Prof. Hinsdale's _Old North-west_ (New York, 1888); _Epochs of +American History_, edited by Prof. Hart, of Harvard University (London +and Boston, 1893); _Remarks on the French Memorials concerning the +Limits of Acadia_ (London, 1756) by T. Jefferys, who gives maps showing +clearly French and English claims with respect to Nova Scotia or Acadia +"according to its ancient limits" (Treaty of Utrecht). These and other +maps are given in that invaluable compilation, Winsor's _Narrative and +Critical History of America_. See also Mitchell's map of British and +French possessions in North America, issued by the British Board of +Plantations in 1758, and reprinted (in part) in the _Debates on the +Quebec Act_, by Sir H. Cavendish (London, 1839). For text of Treaties of +Utrecht (1612), of Paris (1763), of Quebec Act (1774), and other +treaties and imperial acts relating to Canada, see Houston's +_Documents_, cited above, p. 329. The maps of Canada and the disputed +boundary in Alaska, which I give in this book, are taken from the small +maps issued in 1899 by the Department of the Interior at Ottawa. + +INDEX + + +Abbott, Sir John; prime minister of Canada, 257; death of, ib + +Aberdeen, Earl of; governor-general of Canada, 265-267 + +Aberdeen, Lady, 267 + +Acadia College, N.S., founded, 163 + +_Acadie_ or _La Cadie_; name of, 8; settled by France, 8, 9; ceded to +Great Britain by Treaty of Utrecht (1713), 9; French inhabitants +expelled from, 22, 23 + +Adams, President John; on the U.K. Loyalists, 76 + +Alaskan Boundary, 310-312; map of, 311 + +Alexander, Sir William (Lord Stirling); names Nova Scotia, 11 + +Allan, Sir Hugh; contributes funds to Conservative elections, 236; +results of, 237 + +Allouez, Father; founds mission at La Pointe (Ashland), 17 + +Almon, M, B.; banker and politician of Nova Scotia, 178 + +American Revolution; causes of, 56-65; momentous events of, 63-67; its +effects upon Canada and Maritime Provinces, 67-74, 81 + +Angers, lieutenant-governor; dismisses Mercier ministry in Quebec, 247 + +Anglican Church: first built in Upper Canada, 84 + +Annand, William; Nova Scotian journalist, and first minister of province +after Confederation, 218 + +Annapolis (Port Royal) named, 9 + +Archibald, Sir Adams, delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204; first +lieutenant-governor of Manitoba, 230 + +Architecture in Canada, 288, 289 + +Art in Canada, 288 + +Assiniboia; name of Lord Selkirk's domain in North-west, 225 + +Australia, Commonwealth of; constitution of, 282, 283; comparisons +between Canadian and Australian federal systems, 315-326 (Appendix A) + +Baccalaos, or Newfoundland, 8 + +Bagot, Sir Charles, governor-general of Canada, 169 + +Baldwin, Robert, efforts of, for responsible government, 168, 169; joint +leader with Lafontaine in Reform ministry, 170, 173; admirable character +of, 184 + +Ballot, vote by; established, 239 + +Basques in Canada, 5 + +Batoche, N.W.T.; victory of loyal Canadian forces at, in second +North-west rebellion of 1885, 253 + +Bay of Chaleurs Railway; scandal connected with, 247 + +Bering Sea dispute, 308, 309 + +Bibliographical notes, see App. B + +Bidwell, Marshall Spring; reformer of Upper Canada, 146, 149, 151; +unjust treatment of, by lieutenant-governor Head, 153 + +Big Bear, Indian Chief in N.W.T.; rebels against Canada and is punished, +253-254 + +Bishop's Palace; first parliament house of Lower Canada, 92, 160 + +Blair, Mr.; Canadian statesman, 265 + +Blake, Edward; Canadian statesman, 230, 231, 234, 241, 244, 255 + +Blanchard, Hiram; Nova Scotia, Unionist, defeated in 1867, 218 + +Botsford, Amos; first speaker of assembly of New Brunswick, 88 + +Boucherville, M. de; prime minister of Quebec, 245, 247 + +Bouchette, Joseph, Canadian general and author, 164 + +Boundary disputes; in North-west, 292; in Maine, 296-300; in Oregon, +300-302; in British Columbia (San Juan) 301, 302; in Alaska, 310-312. +See _Maps_ + +Boundary of Ontario settled, 238 + +Bourgeoys, Sister, 34 + +Bowell, Sir Mackenzie; prime minister of Canada, 257 + +Brant, Joseph (Thayendanega), Mohawk Chief, 84; his loyalty to Great +Britain, ib. + +Brébeuf, Jean de, Jesuit martyr, 12 + +Bretons in Canada, 51 + +Briand, Bishop; consecrated after conquest, 43; loyal _mandement_ of, in +1775, 58 + +British American League suggests federal union of provinces, 194 + +British Columbia, province of; its early history, 231, 232; enters +Confederation, 232 + +British North America Act of 1867; passed to unite provinces, 215. See +_Constitution of Canada._ + +Brock, General; services of, during war of 1812-15, 114, 119; death of, +ib. + +Brown, George; Canadian journalist and reformer, suggests federal union, +196; advocates representation by population, 197; assists in bringing +about Confederation, 197; joins the Taché-Macdonald government with +other reformers, 198; leaves the coalition ministry, 217; unsuccessful +mission to Washington to obtain reciprocity, 306; assassination of, 256; +character of, 197, 202 + +Brown, Thomas Storrow; leads Canadian rebels at St. Charles in 1837, 134 + +By, Colonel, founder of Bytown (Ottawa), 158; engineer of Ruleau Canal, +ib. + +Cabot, John; voyages of, to North America, 4, 5 + +Caldwell, Receiver-General; defaulter to government, 126 + +Calvet, Pierre du; opponent of Governor Haldimand, 72; disloyalty of, +72, 73 + +Campbell, Sir Alexander; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 203 + +Campbell, Sir Colin; governor of Nova Scotia, 173; opposes responsible +government, ib. + +Canada, name of, 6; discovery and settlement of, by France, 4-15; French +exploration of, 15-21; conquered by Great Britain, 21-27; political, +economic, and social conditions of, during French rule, 27-36; +beginnings of British rule in, 37-45; influence of Quebec Act of 1774 +upon, 45-48; during American Revolution, 67-74; United Empire Loyalists +settle in, 81-86; political divisions of (in 1792), 91; effects of war +of 1812-15 upon, 110-123; rebellion in, 134-156; social and economic +condition of, in 1838, 156-164; union of, in 1840, 166; responsible +government in, 167-173; social and economic conditions of, in 1866, +185-192; Confederation of, 215, 216; federal constitution of, 273-284, +315-326; first ministry of, under Confederation, 216, first parliament +of, 218, 219; trade and revenue of, in 1899, 273; literature in, +284-287, art in, 288; sculpture in, ib.; architecture in, 288, 289; +education in 289, 290; libraries in, ib.; relations with England and the +United States, 390-314; bibliographical notes of, 327-330; maps of, see +_Maps_ + +Canada's representation at "Diamond Jubilee" (1897), 35, 36, 270, 271 + +Canada Temperance Act. See _Temperance Legislation_ + +Canada and the United States, relations between (1783-1900), 290-313 + +_Canadien, Le_; established in French Canada, 95 + +Canadian Pacific Railway; history of 232, 233, 236, 242, 244 + +Canadian Trade Acts; respecting Upper and Lower Canada, 153 + +Canals of Canada, 273 + +Cape Breton, name of, 5 + +Carignan-Salières regiment settled in Canada 14 + +Carleton, Guy (Lord Dorchester); governor general of Canada, 44; his +just treatment of French Canadians, ib.; his part in framing of the +Quebec Act, 45; saves Canada during American revolution, 67; again +governor-general, 89; his tribute to the U.E. Loyalists, ib. + +Carleton, Colonel John; first governor of New Brunswick, 87 + +Carnarvon, Earl of; introduces British North America Act of 1867 in +British Parliament, 215 + +Caroline steamer; seized by Canadians 295; international complications +respecting 295, 296 + +Caron Father le; French missionary, 16 + +Caron, Sir Adolphe; minister of militia during North-west rebellion of +1885, 252; resists Riel agitation in French Canada, 254 + +Carter, Frederick B.T.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Cartier, Sir George; a father of Confederation, 201; great public +services of, ib.; death of, 233 + +Cartier, Jacques, discovers the St. Lawrence, 6, 7 + +Cartwright, Sir Richard; Canadian statesman, 94, 265 + +Casgrain, Abbé; Canadian author, 284 + +Cathcart, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 171, 172 + +Champlain, Samuel; founds Quebec, 9; career of, in Canada, 9-12, +character of, ib. + +Chandler, Edward Barron delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205; +public career of, 206 + +Chapais, J.C., delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 304 + +Chapleau, Sir Adolphe; resists popular clamour in French Canada for +Riel's pardon after rebellion of 1885, 254 + +Charlesbourg-Royal, 7 + +Charlevoix, Jesuit priest; historian of New France, 19 + +Chartier, Abbé; Canadian rebel of 1837, 135 + +Chartrand, murder of, in Lower Canadian rebellion of 1837, 135 + +Chateauguay, battle of; won by French Canadians, 116, 121 + +Château of St. Louis; founded at Quebec, 31; destroyed by fire, 160 + +Chauveau, Pierre O.J.; his services to education, 192; first prime +minister of Quebec after Confederation, 217 + +Chenier, Dr.; Canadian rebel, 134; monument to, 135 + +Christie, Mr.; expelled from assembly of Lower Canada, 127; + +Chrystler's Farm, battle at; won by British troops in 1813, 116 + +Civil Law of French Canada, 29; established under British rule, 46, 278 + +Clergy Reserves Question; origin of, 141; powerful factor in political +controversy for years, ib.; settled, 186 + +Cockburn, James; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204; first +speaker of commons' house of Dominion parliament, ib. + +Code Napoléon in French Canada, 278 + +Colbert, French minister, 27 + +Colborne, Sir John (Lord Seaforth); represses rebellion in Lower Canada, +134, 138; governor-general of Canada, 138 + +Colebrooke, Sir William; lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, 174 + +Coles, George; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Colonial Conference at Ottawa (1894), 200 + +Commissions, International, affecting Canada; Maine boundary, 296, +Washington (1871), 302, 304-306; Washington (1887), 307, 308, Bering +Sea, 309; joint high commission (Quebec and Washington, 1897-98), +309-313 + +Commonwealth of Australia. See _Australia_ + +Confederation of the British North American provinces; foreshadowed, +194; beginnings of, 195-198; initiated at Quebec Convention of 1864, +199; fathers of, 199-206, consummated, 206-215; birth of Dominion of +Canada, 216; constitution of, 206-209, 273-284; first ministry under, +216; first parliament under, 217; results of, 272, 273 + +Congrégation de Notre-Dame established, 34 + +Constitutional Act of 1791; forms provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, +90, 91; general provisions of, 91, 92 + +Constitution of Canadian Dominion, 273-281; compared with that of +Australian Commonwealth, 282-284, 315, 326 (App. A) + +Cornwallis, Colonel, founds Halifax, 49 + +Corrupt elections: measures to restrain and punish, 239 + +Cortereal, Gaspar and Miguel; voyages of, to North America, 5 + +_Coureurs-de-bois,_ 17, 18 + +_Coutume de Paris_ established in French Canada, 29 + +Craig, Sir James; governor-general of Canada, 96; quarrels of, with +leading French Canadians, character of, 96, 97 + +Crémazie, Canadian poet, 192 + +Crozier, Superintendent; defeated by half-breeds in North-west rebellion +of 1885, 252 + +Cut Knife Greek, N.W.T.; Colonel Otter engages Indians at, in North-west +rebellion of 1885, 253 + +Dalhousie College, Nova Scotia; founded, 163 + +Dalhousie, Lord, governor-general of Canada; quarrel of, with Papineau, +129 + +Daly, Sir Dominick; first minister of Canada under Lord Metcalfe, 170 + +Davies, Sir Louis; Canadian statesman, 265 + +Davies, English navigator; voyages of, to Canada, 7 + +Dawson, Sir William; Canadian scientist, 192, 286 + +Dickey, R.B.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 305 + +Dochet Island (St. Croix River); first settlement of French on, 8 + +Dominion of Canada; origin of name, 215; established, 215, 216; first +ministry of, 216; first parliament of, 217; completed from Atlantic to +Pacific, 227, 232, 234; history of, from 1873-1900, 236-272; map of, _at +end._ + +Dorchester, Lord; see _Carleton, Sir Guy_ + +Douglas, Sir James; governor of British Columbia, 232 + +Drew, Captain; seizes steamer Caroline on U.S. frontier, 154. See +_Caroline._ + +Drummond, Attorney-General; member of MacNab-Morin ministry, 186 + +Drummond, Dr., Canadian poet, 285 + +Drummond, General, services of, during war of 1812-15, 116, 117, 122 + +Duck Lake, N.W.T., defeat of government forces at, in Canadian rebellion +of 1885, 252 + +Dumont Gabriel; takes part in Riel's North-west revolt of 1885, 252, 253 + +Dufferin, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 241, 243, 267 + +Durham, Earl of; high commissioner to Canada after rebellion of 1837, +136; his humanity and justice, 137; returns from Canada when rebuked in +England, ib., his report on Canadian affairs, 165 + +Durham Terrace, constructed, 160 + +Education in Canada; state of, under French rule, 33, 34, in 1838, 162, +163; after union of 1840, 192; present condition of, 290; contributions +by government and people, ib. + +Elgin, Lord; governor-general of Canada, character of, 172, 173; +established responsible government, 173; action of, on Rebellion Losses +Bill in 1849, 188, 189 + +Falkland, Lord; governor of Nova Scotia, 176; quarrels with Joseph Howe +and Liberal party, 177-179; returns to England, 179 + +Family Compact in Upper Canada; meaning of, 141; controls government, +ib. + +Fenian raids; in 1866, 213; in 1870-71, 230, 231, Canada never +indemnified for, 305 + +Ferland, French Canadian historian, 192 + +Fielding, Mr., finance minister of Canada, 265, his budget of 1897, 209 + +Fish Creek, N.W.T.; General Middleton checked at, in engagement with +rebels of 1885, 253 + +Fisher, Charles; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205 + +Fishery question between Canada and the United States, 293, 302, 304, +307, 308 + +Fitzgibbon, Lieutenant; successful strategy of, at Beaver Dams in 1813, +116 + +Franchise Act of Dominion, passed, 255, repealed, 268 + +Frechétte, French Canadian poet, 285 + +Free Trade policy of England; its early effects upon Canada, 172, 187, +189 + +French Acadians See _Neutrals_ + +French Canada; during French regime (1534-1760), 4-37; under military +government after conquest by Great Britain, 37, 38; desire of British +government to do justice to, 44, 45, provisions of Quebec Act affecting, +45, 48; political struggles and rebellion in, 124-138; influence of +Union Act of 1840 upon, 170, 187; brought into confederation, 216; +results of union upon, 273; literature in, 284, 285 + +French exploration in great valleys of North America, 15-21 + +French language; use of, restricted by Union Act of 1840, 187; +restriction removed, ib. + +Frobisher, English navigator; voyages of, to Canada, 8 + +Frog Lake, massacre at, in North-west rebellion of 1885, 252 + +Frontenac, Count de (Louis de La Buade); French governor of Canada, 13; +eminent services of, ib. + +Galloway, Thomas; his scheme for readjusting relations between Great +Britain and her old Colonies, 79 + +Galt, Sir Alexander; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 20; public +services of, ib. + +Garneau, French Canadian historian, 192 + +German and Belgian Treaties; denunciation of, 261, 271 + +Gilbert, Sir Humphrey; takes possession of Newfoundland, 8 + +Glenelg, Lord; colonial secretary in 1838, 137 + +Gordon, Lt.-Governor; promotes federal union in New Brunswick, 212 + +Gosford, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 132, 134 + +Gourlay, Robert; misfortunes of, as a reformer in Upper Canada, 143-145 + +Grasett, Colonel; assists in repressing North-west rebellion of 1885, +253 + +Gray, Colonel; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Gray, John Hamilton, delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205 + +Grey, Earl; colonial secretary, 172 + + +Haldimand, general; governor-general of Canada, 71, 72 + +Haliburton, Judge, author of _Sam Sack_, etc., 164 + +Halifax, founded, 49 + +Harvey, Colonel; victory of, at Stoney Creek in 1813, 116. See _Harvey, +Sir John._ + +Harvey, Sir John; governor of Nova Scotia, of New Brunswick, establishes +responsible government in the maritime provinces. See _Harvey, Colonel._ + +Haviland, Thomas Heath; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206; +public career of, ib. + +Head, Sir Francis Bond; lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, 148; his +unjust treatment of reformers, 149-151; his rashness before rebellion, +152; represses rebellion, 153 + +Henry, William A.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204 + +Hincks, Sir Francis; Canadian statesman, melancholy death of, 233 + +Historian of Canada, 192, 284 + +Hochelaga (Montreal); Indian village of, visited by Jacques Cartier, 6 + +Howe, Joseph; father of responsible government in Nova Scotia, 175, 176; +his quarrel with Lord Falkland, 176-179; ability of, 183, 184; advocate +of imperial federation, 195; opposes confederation from 1864-1868, 212, +219; his reasons for receding from his hostile position, 219; enters the +Macdonald ministry, 220; lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, ib; sudden +death of, ib; orator, poet, and statesman, 220, 221 + +Howland, Sir William P.; delegate to Westminster Palace Conference of +1866-67, 214; lieutenant-governor of Ontario, 217 + +Hudson's Bay Company; its great territorial privileges, 231-324; its +claims purchased by the Canadian government, 227; map illustrating its +charter, 222 + +Hull, General; defeat of, by Brock at Detroit, 114 + +Hundred Associates, Company of; established in Canada, 10 + +"Hunter's Lodges"; formed in United States to invade Canada, 154 + +Huntington, Lucius Seth; makes charges against Sir John Macdonald, 236 + +Huron Indians; massacre of, by the Iroquois, 12 + +Hutchinson, Governor Thomas (of Massachusetts); on relations between +Great Britain and her old Colonies, 98 + +Iberville, founder of Louisiana, 19 + +Immigration to Canada, 78, 79 + +Independence of old Thirteen Colonies acknowledged, by Great Britain, 74 + +Indians; British treatment of, 41,42; Canadian relations with, 238, 239 + +Intellectual culture in Canada; under French rule, 35; under British +rule, 164, 192, 284, 285 + +Intercolonial Railway; history of, 191, 215, 219 + +Iroquois Indians; ferocity of, 10-13 + +Jameson, Miss Anna, her "Winter Studies and Summer Rambles" in Upper +Canada in 1838, 157-159 + +Jesuit College at Quebec, 34 + +Jesuits' Estates, Act; political controversies respecting, 248 + +Jesuits in Canada, 11, 12; their estates confiscated by the British +government, 38; restored in part, 248 + +Johnson, John; delegate to the Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Johnston, James William; public career of, 175; eminence of, 185; early +advocate of confederation, 194, 195 + +Joliet, Louis; discovers the Mississippi, 18 + +Journalism in Canada, 164, 287 + +Judiciary, independence of; political contests for, 128, 139 + +Keewatin, district of; established provisionally, 238 + +Kent, Duke of; commander of British forces in Canada, 193; gives name to +P.E. Island, 53; letter to, from Chief Justice B.C. Sewell on union of +provinces, 194 + +King, George E.; prime minister of New Brunswick after Confederation, +218 + +King's University, Nova Scotia; founded, 163 + +Kingsford, Dr.; Canadian historian, 284 + +Kingston, city of; first parliament of Canada meets at, in 1841, 167 + +Kirk, David; captures Quebec, 10, 11 + +Labrador, discovery of, 5; origin of name of, 7 + +Lafontaine-Baldwin Ministry, 170, 173; its successful administration of +Canadian affairs, 173 + +Lafontaine, Sir Louis Hippolyte; Canadian statesman and jurist, 170, +173, 184 + +La Gallissonière, French governor of Canada, 35 + +Lake of Woods, international boundary at, 292, 293; map of, 293 + +Lalemant, Gabriel; Jesuit martyr, 12 + +Land question; in Upper Canada, 143; in Prince Edward Island, 54, 234 + +Langevin, Sir Hector; Canadian statesman, delegate to Quebec Convention +of 1864, 205; charges against, 258 + +Lansdowne, Marquess of; governor-general of Canada, 207 + +Lartigue, Bishop; _mandement_ of, against French Canadian rebels, 135, +136 + +La Salle, Sieur de (Réné Robert Cavelier); at Lachine, 18; descends the +Mississippi, 18, 19; assassination of, 19 + +Laurier government; formation of, 265; measures of, 268-272 + +Laurier, Rt Hon. Sir Wilfrid; prime minister of Canada, 265; settles +Manitoba school question, 266 267; represents Canada at celebration of +"Diamond Jubilee" (1897), 36, 270; his action on Canadian aid to England +in South African War, 372; his mastery of English, 267 + +Laval, Bishop; first Roman Catholic Bishop of Canada, 12; establishes +tithes, 29 + +Laval University, Quebec, 290 + +La Valmière, a disloyal priest, 72 + +Lawrence, Governor; expels French Acadians from Nova Scotia, 23; +encourages New England emigration, 51; opens first assembly in Halifax, +53 + +Lepine, Canadian rebel; punished, 241; his sentence commuted, _ib_. + +Letellier de Saint-Just; lieutenant-governor of Quebec, 246; dismissed, +246, 247 + +Lévis, General; defeats Murray at St. Foye, 26 + +Liberal or Reform party; formed in Nova Scotia, 99; in Upper Canada, 141 + +Liberal Convention in Ottawa (1893), 259 + +Libraries in Canada, 290 + +Lisgar, Lord, governor-general of Canada, 267 + +Literature in Canada, during French régime, 35; before union of 1840, +164; after union, 192; since Confederation, 284-287 + +Londonderry in Nova Scotia; origin of name of, 51, 52 + +Lome, Marquess of; governor-general of Canada, 244; His services to Art, +Science, and Literature, 267 + +Louisiana, named by La Salle, 19 + +Louis XIV establishes royal government in Canada, 12, 27, 28 + +Lount, Samuel; Upper Canadian rebel of 1837, 148, 152-153; executed, 155 + +Loyalists. See _United Empire Loyalists_ + +Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canada; usefulness of, during war +of 1819-15, 121 + +Lundy's Lane, battle of; won by British in 1814, 117, 120 + +Lymburner, Adam; opposes separation of Upper from Lower Canada, 90 + +Macdonald, Andrew Archibald; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Macdonald, Baroness (of Earnscliffe), 257 + +Macdonald, Colonel George; at Ogdensburg in 1813, 115; at Chateauguay, +121 + +Macdonald, John Sanfield; first prime minister of Ontario after +Confederation, 217 + +Macdonald, Rt. Hon. Sir John; enters public life, 173; member of +government, ib.; settles Clergy Reserves question, 186; takes lead in +establishing Confederation, 198, 199, 209; first prime minister of the +Dominion, 216; resigns under unfortunate circumstances, 236; initiates +the "National Policy" of Conservative party, 243; prime minister again, +ib.; death of, 256; great ability, and patriotism of, 200, 256; mourned +by all Canada, 257; monuments and tributes to his memory, ib. + +Macdonell; Colonel John; first speaker of assembly of Upper Canada in +1792, 94 + +Macdonell, Vicar-General; first Roman Catholic Bishop of Upper Canada, +120 + +Mackenzie, Alexander; prime minister of Canada, 237; character of, ib., +243; his administration of public affairs (1873-78), 238-242; death of, +257 + +Mackenzie, Sir Alexander; North-west explorer, 224 + +Mackenzie, William Lyon; journalist and reformer, 146; enters Upper +Canada legislature, 146; unjustly expelled, ib., first mayor of Toronto, +147; indiscretions of, ib.; moves for committee of grievances, 148, its +report, ib.; defeat of, at elections of 1836, 150, resorts to rebellion, +152; defeat of, at Montgomery's and flight from Canada, 153; on Navy +Island, 154; imprisoned in the United States, ib.; returns from exile, +182, exercises no influence in Canadian politics, ib.; poverty and death +of, ib.; character of, 182, 183 + +MacLeod, international dispute respecting, 295 + +MacNab, Sir Allan; leads loyal "Men of Gore" against Canadian rebels in +1837, 153; orders seizure of steamer Caroline on. U.S. frontier, 154; +prime minister of Canada, 186 + +Maine Boundary Dispute, 292, 296-300; map of, 296 + +Maisonneuve, Sieur de (Paul de Chomedey); founds Montreal, 12 + +Manitoba, first visited by French, 20; province of, established, 230 + +Manitoba school question, 262-265, 266, 267 + +Maps relating to Canada; of French, Spanish and British possessions in +North America in 1756-1761, _at end_; of British possessions in +1763-1775, at end; of boundary established in 1783 between Canada and +the United States, 75; of Hudson's Bay Co.'s territory, 222; of +North-west boundary in 1842, 293; of North-eastern boundary in 1842, +297; of Alaskan disputed boundary, 311; of the Dominion of Canada in +1900, at end. + +Marquette, Father, founds mission of Sainte-Maria, 17; discovers the +Mississippi, 18; death of, _ib_.; + +Marriage laws in early Canada, 97 + +Masères, Attorney-general, 43 + +Matthews, Peter; Upper Canadian rebel, 148, 151, 153; executed, 155 + +McCully, Jonathan; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205 + +McDougall, William, delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 203; +provisional lieutenant-governor of N.W.T., 227; Half-breed rebellion +prevents him assuming office, ib.; disappears from public life, 230 + +McGee, Thomas D'Arcy; historian and orator, delegate to Quebec +Convention of 1864, 203; his political career in Canada, ib.; +assassinated, 221 + +McGill University, Montreal; founded, 163 + +McGreevy, Thomas, impeached for serious misdemeanors, 258; punishment +of, ib. + +McLane, executed for treason in 1793, 101, 102 + +McLure, General (United States General); burns Niagara in 1814, 116 + +Mercier, Honoré, prime minister of Quebec, 247; dismissed, ib. + +Merritt, W. Hamilton; originator of Welland Canal, 159 + +Metcalfe, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 170; antagonism of, to +responsible government, 171; retirement and death of, ib. + +_Métis_ or Half-breeds of the Canadian North-west, 225, 228, 249 + +Middleton, Major-general; commands Canadian forces on Riel's revolt of +1885 in North-west, 252-254 + +Military rule in Canada after 1760, 37, 38 + +Mills, David; Canadian statesman, 206 + +Minto, Earl of; governor-general of Canada, 268 + +Mitchell, Peter; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205; public +career of, ib. + +Mohawks, members of the Iroquois confederacy, 10; humbled by the Marquis +de Tracy, 13. See _Brant Joseph, Iroquois._ + +Monk, Lord; governor-general of Canada at Confederation, 216, 267 + +Montcalm, Marquis de; loses battle on Plains of Abraham, 26; death of +ib. + +Montgomery, Brigadier-General; invades Canada, 69, 70; death of, at +Quebec, 70 + +Montreal founded, 12 + +Monts, Sieur de; founder of French _Acadie_, 8 + +Monts-Déserts named by Champlain, 9 + +Mowat, Sir Oliver; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1804, 203; public +career of, 203, 265, 266 + +Municipal system of Canada; established, 185, 186; nature of, 278 + +Murray, General; in command at Quebec, 26; defeat of, at St. Foye, ib.; +governor-general of Canada, 42; his just treatment of French +Canadians, 43 + +Mutual or reciprocal preferential trade between Canada and England; +advocacy of, 260, 271 + +_Nation Canadienne, La_; Papineau's dream of, 130, 133, 134 + +"National Policy," or Protective system; established by Conservative +party (1879), 243, 244 + +Navigation Laws repealed, 187 + +Navy Island, see _Mackenzie, William Lyon_ + +Neilson, John; Canadian journalist and politician, 127, 131 + +Nelson, Robert; Canadian rebel of 1837-38, 138 + +Nelson, Dr. Wolfred; leader in Lower Canadian rebellion of 1837, 134 + +Neutrality of the Great Lakes, 294, 295 + +"Neutrals," on French Acadians; expulsion of from Nova Scotia, 22, 23 + +Newark (Niagara), meeting of first Upper Canadian legislature at, 93; +seat of government removed from, to York, 101 + +New Brunswick; originally part of Acadie and Nova Scotia, 53; province +of founded by Loyalists, 83; capital ib.; state of, in 1838, 162; +political struggle for self-government in, 173, 174; takes part in +Quebec Convention, 198, 205; brought into Confederation, 215, 216; +boundary dispute with Maine, 296-300 + +New Brunswick school question, 201, 2O2 + +New Brunswick University; founded at Fredericton, 163 + +New Caledonia; old name of British Columbia, 232 + +Newfoundland; delegates from, to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206; refuses +to join the Dominion, 235 + +Niagara, see _Newark_ + +Nicholson, General; captures Port Royal, 9 + +Norse voyages to Canada, 4 + +North-eastern Boundary question, 296-299; map of Boundary, 1842, 297 + +North-west Company; rival of the Hudson's Bay Company in North America, +224, 225 + +North-west Boundary dispute, 292, 293; map of, 293 + +North-west Territories, early history of, 221-227; annexation of, to +Canada, 227, 230; first rebellion in, 227-230; government of, 277; +second rebellion in, 249-255; districts of, 277 + +Nova Scotia (Acadie); first settled by France, 8, 9; foundation of Port +Royal (Annapolis), 8; ceded to Great Britain by Treaty of Utrecht, 9; +population of, at conquest, 15; first called Nova Scotia, 11; Halifax +founded, 49; settlement by colonists of New England, 50, 51; +expatriation of the Acadian French, 22, 23, 50, 51; population of, in +1767, 51; Irish immigration, ib.; Scotch immigration, 52; early +government of, 52, 53, included New Brunswick, C. Breton, and St. John's +Island (Pr. Edward I), 53; early courts of justice, 55; coming of +Loyalists to, 82; state of in 1837-38, 162, political struggles in, for +self-government, 174-180; take part in Quebec Convention of 1864, 198, +204; brought into Confederation, 215; people opposed to, 212, 218, 219; +repeal movement gradually ceases in, 233 + +Novelists, Canadian, 164, 285, 286 + +O'Callaghan, Dr.; Canadian journalist and rebel, 130 + +O'Donohue, Canadian rebel, 231; amnesty to, 241 + +Ohio Valley, French in, 23 + +Oregon Boundary, dispute respecting, 300-302 + +Osgoode, Chief Justice; first speaker of legislative council of Upper +Canada in 1792, 94 + +Ottawa, city of; founded, 158 + +Pacific Cable; action of Canadian government with respect to, 271 + +Palmer, Edward; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Panet, Joseph Antoine; first speaker of assembly of Lower Canada in +1792, 93 + +Papineau, Louis J.; leader of French Canadian malcontents in rebellion +of 1837, 129-134; conduct of, on outbreak of rebellion, 134, 135; return +of, from exile, 181; opposes responsible government, ib.; loses +political influence, ib.; character of, 180-182 + +Pardon, prerogative of; instructions respecting exercise of, 241 + +Parishes established in French Canada, 29 + +Parker, Gilbert; Canadian novelist, 286 + +Parr Town, first name of St. John, New Brunswick, 83 + +Perry, Peter; founder of Upper Canadian Reform party, 141, 146, 150 + +Pictou Academy, Nova Scotia; founded, 163 + +Pitt, the elder (Lord Chatham); gives Canada to Great Britain, 25, 35, +36 + +Pitt, William (the younger); introduces Act separating Upper from Lower +Canada (Constitutional Act of 1791), 90, 91 + +Plains of Abraham; Wolfe's victory on, 26 + +Plattsburg, battle of, pusillanimity of General Prevost at, 117 + +Plessis, Bishop (Roman Catholic); patriotism of, in war of 1812-15, 120 + +Poets in Canada, 192, 284, 285 + +Pontiac's Conspiracy, 39 + +Pope, William H., delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Portuguese discovery in Canada, 5 + +Post Office in Canada; under British management, 164; transferred to +Canada, 187 + +Poundmaker, Indian chief in North-west; rebels against Canadian +government, 253; punished, 254 + +Poutrincourt, Baron de; founder of Port Royal, 8 + +Powell, Chief Justice, his unjust treatment of Robert Gourlay, 145 + +Preferential trade with Great Britain, 200, 201, 269, 271 + +Prevost, Sir George (governor-general of Canada), retires from Sackett's +Harbour 1813, 115; retreats from Plattsburg in 1814, 117; character of, +113 + +Prince, Colonel; orders execution of American raiders in 1838, 155 + +Prince Edward Island. See _St. John's Island_ + +Prince of Wales visits Canada, 193 + + +Princess Louise, arrives in Canada with the Marquess of Lome, 244; her +support of Art, 288 + +Proclamation of 1764; for government of Canada, 40-42 + +Procter, General, defeats General Winchester in 1813, 115; beaten at +Moraviantown in 1813, 116 + +Prohibitory Liquor Law; agitation for, 340; popular vote on, ib. + +Protestantism unknown in French Canada, 28 + +Provincial governments established under Confederation, 217, 218 + +Provinces, constitution of, under Confederation, 275, 276 + +Puritan migration to Nova Scotia, 50 + +Put-in Bay (Lake Erie); British fleet defeated at, in 1813, 116 + +Quebec Act; origin of, 44, 45, its provisions, 45-47; how received in +Canada, 46; unpopularity of, in old British colonies, 67 + +Quebec, Convention of, 1864; delegates to, 199-206; passes resolutions +in favour of federal union, 206-209 + +Quebec founded, 9 + +Queenston Heights; battle of, in 1812, 114 + +Railways in Canada; in 1865, 191, in 1899, 273. See _Intercolonial R. +Canadian Pacific R._ + +Rebellion in Lower Canada; its origin, 124-133; Louis J. Papineau's part +in, 129-134; outbreak of, 134; prompt action of authorities against, +ib.; Dr. Nelson wins success at St. Denis, ib.; defeat of Brown at St. +Charles, ib.; flight of Papineau and rebel leaders, ib.; fight at St. +Eustache and death of Chenier, ib.; murder of Weir and Chartrand, 135; +collapse of the rebellion of 1837, 135, 136; loyal action of Bishop +Lartigue, 135; arrival of Lord Durham as British high-commissioner and +governor-general, 136; his career in Canada, 137-138; Sir John Colborne; +governor-general, 139; second outbreak of rebellion, 1838, ib.; promptly +subdued, ib.; punishment of prominent insurgents, ib.; action of United +States government during, 139; social and economic condition of Canada +during, 159-162; remedial policy of British government, and new era of +political development. See _Responsible Government in Canada._ + +Rebellion in Upper Canada; effect of family compact on, 140, 141; of +clergy reserves on, 141, 142; influence of Archdeacon, afterwards +Bishop, Strachan in public affairs, 142; unjust treatment of Robert +Gourlay, 143-145; persecution of William Lyon Mackenzie, 146-148; other +prominent actors in, 148; indiscretions of the lieutenant-governor, Sir +Francis Bond Head, 149-152; outbreak and repression of, 152, 153; flight +of Mackenzie and other rebel leaders, 153; Mackenzie's seizure of Navy +Island, 154; affair of the Caroline, ib.; filibustering expeditions +against Canada from United States in 1838, 154, 155; prompt execution of +filibusters by Colonel Prince, 155; action of U.S. authorities during, +ib.; execution of Von Schoultz, Lount, Matthews, and other rebels, ib.; +Sir George Arthur, harshness of, ib.; social and economic conditions of +Upper Canada at time of, 156-159; rebellion leads to the enlargement of +political privileges of people, See _Responsible Government in Canada._ + +Rebellion Losses Bill (of 1849); its nature, 188; assented to by Lord +Elgin, 189; consequent rioting and burning of parliament house at +Montreal, 189, Lord Elgin's life in danger, ib.; his wise constitutional +action, ib. Rebellions in North-west: See _North-western Territories, +_and _Riel, Louis._ + +Reciprocity of Trade between Canada and the United States; treaty of +1814, 190, 191; repeal of the same, 303; efforts to renew it, 304, 307; +Canadians not now so favourable to, 310 + +Recollets, or Franciscans, in Canada, 11 + +Redistribution Acts of 1882 and 1897; measures to amend, rejected by +Senate, 268 + +Representative institutions in Canada; established in Nova Scotia, 53; +in New Brunswick, 88; in French or Lower Canada (Quebec), 91; in Upper +Canada (Ontario), ib.; in Prince Edward Island, 54; in Manitoba, 230; in +British Columbia, 232 + +Responsible government in Canada; beginnings of, 165-175; consummated +by Lord Elgin, 173; struggle for, in New Brunswick, 173, 174; in Nova +Scotia, 174-180; in Prince Edward Island, 180; prominent advocates of, +183-185; results of (1841-1867), 185-192 + +Revenue of Canada in 1899, 273 + +Riall, General; defeated by United States troops at Street's Creek in +1814, 117 + +Richardson, Major; Canadian author, 164 + +Richelieu, Cardinal; his effort to colonise Canada, 10 + +Rideau Canal, constructed, 158 + +Riel, Louis; leads revolt of French half-breeds in North-west, 228; +murders Ross, 229; flies from the country, ib; elected to and expelled +from the Canadian Commons, 241; reappears in North-west, and leads +second revolt, 249-253; captured and executed, 253, 254; political +complications concerning, 240, 254 + +Roberval, Sieur de (Jean François de la Rocque); attempts to settle +Canada, 7 + +Robinson, Chief Justice; public career of, in Upper Canada, 145 + +Rocque, Jean François de la. See _Roberval_ + +Roebuck, Mr.; Canadian agent in England, 131 + +Rolph, Dr.; his part in Canadian rebellion of 1837, 151-153; character +of, 183 + +Roman Catholic Church in Canada, 28, 29, 43, 46, 47 + +Rose, Sir John, effort of, to obtain reciprocity with United States, 304 + +Rosebery, Earl of, unveils Sir John Macdonald's bust in St. Paul's +Cathedral, 256 + +Rouse's Point, boundary at, 302 + +Royal Society of Canada, 286 + +Rupert's Land; origin of name of, 224. See _North-west Territories of +Canada_. + +Russell, Administrator, 101 + +Russell, Lord John; introduces resolutions respecting Canada in British +parliament in 1836, 132; also Act reuniting the Canadas in 1840, 166; +lays basis of responsible government in Canada, 167. See _Responsible +Government in Canada_. + +Ryerson, Rev. Egerton; Loyalist, Methodist, and educationalist, 141, +147, 192 + +Sainte-Geneviève (Pillage Bay); named St. Laurens by Jacques Carrier, 7 + +Salaberry, Colonel de; defeats United States troops at Chateauguay, 121 + +Sanderson, Robert; first speaker of assembly of Nova Scotia, 53 + +San Juan Island; international dispute respecting, 301, 302 + +Sarrasin, Dr., French Canadian scientist, 35 + +Saskatchewan River (Poskoiac), discovery of, 20 + +Sculpture in Canada, 288 + +Seaforth, Lord. See _Colborne, Sir John_ + +Secord, Laura; heroic exploit of, in 1814, 120 + +Seigniorial tenure in French Canada, 14, 32; abolished under British +rule, 186 + +Selkirk, Lord; attempts to colonise North-west, 225; death of, _ib._ + +Seven Years' War; between France and Great Britain in America, 21-27 + +Sewell, Chief Justice (Loyalist); adviser of Sir James Craig, 96; +suggests union of provinces, 194 + +Shea, Ambrose; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Sheaffe, General; services of, during war of 1812-15, 114 + +Shelburne, in Nova Scotia, founded by Loyalists, 82 + +Sherbrooke, Sir John, governor of Nova Scotia, 118; occupies Maine in +war of 1812-15, ib. + +Shirley, Governor; deep interest of, in Nova Scotia, 49 + +Simcoe, Colonel; first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, 93; public +career of, 94 + +Simultaneous polling at elections established, 239 + +Slavery in Canada, 98 + +Smith, Chief Justice (Loyalist); first president of legislative council +of Lower Canada in 1792, 92; suggests federal union of provinces, 194 + +Smith, Donald (Lord Strathcona); intervenes in North-west rebellion of +1870, 229 + +Social and economic conditions of the Canadian provinces; in 1838, +156-164; in 1866, 189-192; in 1900, 272-290 + +South African War; Canadians take part in, 271, 272 + +Square Gulf, or "golfo quadrado"; old name of St. Lawrence Gulf, 7 + +St. Charles; defeat of Canadian rebels in 1837 at, 134 + +St. Denis; Canadian rebels repulsed by British regulars in 1837 at, 134 + +St. Eustache; stand of Canadian rebels at, 134; death of Chenier, ib. + +St. John, New Brunswick; founded, 83 + +St. John's, Island; named Prince Edward, 53; under government of Nova +Scotia, _ib_.; survey of, ib.; separated from Nova Scotia, 54; public +lands of, granted by lottery, ib.; political struggles in, for +self-government, 180, 185; takes part in Quebec Convention of 1864, 206; +enters Confederation, 234; settlement of its land question, ib. + +St. Lawrence, River and Gulf of; origin of name of, 7 + +St. Lusson, Sieur; takes possession of the Sault, 18 + +St. Maurice forges founded, 30 + +Stadacona (Quebec), Indian village of, visited by Jacques Cartier, 6 + +Stanley, Lord, governor-general of Canada, 267 + +Steeves, William H.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Strachan, Bishop (Anglican); patriotism of, during war of 1812-15, 121; +his influence in Upper Canadian politics, 142 + +Strange, Lt.-Col.; engaged in repressing North-west rebellion of 1885, +253 + +Stuart, Andrew; prominent Canadian lawyer and politician, 127, 131 + +Sulpitians in Canada, 37 + +Superior Council of French Canada. See _Supreme Council_ + +Supreme Council, established by Louis XIV in French Canada, 28, 29 + + +Supreme Court, established in Canada, 239 + +Sydenham, Lord (Poulett Thomson); governor-general of Canada, 166; +carries out scheme of uniting the Canadas in 1840, 167; opinions of, on +responsible government, 168; death of, 169 + +Taché, Sir Etienne Paschal; chairman of Quebec Convention of 1864, 199; +character of, ib. + +Talbot, Colonel, pioneer in Upper Canada, 157 + +Talon, Intendant, 13 + +Taite, Israel; accuses McGreevy of grave misdemeanours, 258; member of +Laurier ministry, 206 + +Temperance Legislation; "Scott Act" passed, 239; _plèbiscite_ on +Prohibition, 240 + +Thompson, Sir John; prime minister of Canada, 257; sudden death of, +ib; great ability of, ib. + +Thomson, Poulett. See _Sydenham, Lord_ + +Tilley, Sir Leonard; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205; public +career of, ib.; introduces scheme of "National Policy," 244 + +Timber trade in Canada, in early time, 162 + +Tithes established in French Canada, 29 + +Todd, Dr.; Constitutional writer, 286 + +Tonge, William Cottnam Tonge; Nova Scotian Liberal, 99; his controversy +with Governor Wentworth, ib. + +Trade of Canada in 1899, 273 + +Treaties, international, affecting Canada; of St. Germain-en-Laye +(1632), 11; of Utrecht (1713), 9, 21, 22; of Paris (1763), 38; of +Versailles, 292; of Ghent, 293; of 1818, 294; Ashburton (1842), 299; +Oregon (1846), 301; reciprocity (1854), 303; of Washington (1871), 305, +306; Bering Sea, 308, 309, Anglo-Russian (Alaska), 310-312 + +Treaties with Indian tribes of Canada, 41, 238 + +Trutch, Sir Joseph; first lieutenant-governor of British Columbia under +Confederation, 232 + +Tupper, Sir Charles; prime minister of Nova Scotia, 192; services of, to +education, ib.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204; introduces +legislation for construction of Canadian Pacific Railway, 244; high +commissioner of Canada in London, 258; re-enters political life, ib.; +action of, on Manitoba school question, 264; prime minister of Canada, +265; defeat of, at general elections of 1896, ib; difference with Lord +Aberdeen, when governor-general, ib.; remarkable ability of, 204, 258; +leader of Liberal Conservative party from 1896-1900, 258; policy of, on +"preferential trade" with Great Britain, 271 + +Tyler, Professor, on U.E. Loyalists, 76 + +Uniacke, James Boyle; Nova Scotian statesman, 175; advocate of +responsible government, 176; first minister of Nova Scotia, 180 + +Union of the Canadas in 1840, 166, 167 + +United Empire Loyalists; number of, during American Revolution, 76; +justice done to, ib.; opinions of, on issues of revolution, 77, 78; +suffering of, during revolution, 79; treatment of, after the peace of +1783, 80; compensation to, by British government, 81; settle in British +America, ib; privations of, in Nova Scotia, 80; founders of New +Brunswick, 83; of Upper Canada, 84; eminent descent of, 86; Canada's +debt to, ib origin of name of, 89; representatives of, in first +legislature of New Brunswick, 87, 88; of Upper Canada, 94; services of, +during war of 1812-15, 188-120 + +Universities in Canada, 163, 289 + +University of Toronto, beginning of, 164 + +Upper Canada, founded by Loyalists, 84; first districts of, 89, 94; made +separate province, 91, first government of, 93; Newark, first capital +of, ib.; York (Toronto), second capital of, 94; rebellion in, see +_Rebellion in Upper Canada_; state of, in 1838, 159; reunited with Lower +Canada, 166; joins Confederation as Ontario, 216 + +Upper Canada College, Toronto, founded, 163 + +Ursulines at Quebec, 34 + +Vancouver Island; history of, 231, 232 + +Verendrye, Sieur de la (Pierre Gauthier de Varennes); discovers +Manitoba and North-west of Canada, 19, 20 + +Verrazzano, Giovanni di; voyages of, to North America, 5 + +Victoria College, Upper Canada, founded, 164 + +Vincent, General; services of, in war of 1812-15, 115 + +Von Schoultz; leads filibusters into Canada, 155; executed, ib. + + +War of 1812-15; origin of, 103-110; population of Canada and United +States during, 110-112; loyalty of Canadian people during, 113; services +of General Brock during, 114; campaign of 1812 in Upper Canada, 114, +115; of 1813, 115, 116; of 1814, 117; maritime provinces during, 117, +118, close of, 118; services of Loyalists during, 118-120; Laura Secord, +heroism of, 120; description of striking incidents of battles during, +121-123 + +Washington, George; eminent character of, 66 + +Washington Treaty of 1871, 304, 305 + +Weir, Lieutenant, murder of, in Lower Canadian rebellion of 1837, 135 + +Welland Canal commenced, 159; completed, 190 + +Wentworth, Sir John; Loyalist governor of Nova Scotia, 99 + +Westminster Palace Conference in London; Canadian delegates arrange +final terms of federation at, 214, 215 + +Wetmore, Attorney-general; first minister of New Brunswick after +Confederation, 218 + +Whelan, Edward; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +White, Thomas; Canadian journalist and statesman, 256; sudden death of, +ib. + +William IV visits Canada as Prince William Henry, 193 + +Williams, Lt.-Col.; death of, in North-west rebellion of 1885, 254 + +Williams, Sir Fenwick ("hero of Kars"); lieutenant-governor of Nova +Scotia, 213, 217 + +Wilmot, Lemuel A.; father of responsible government in New Brunswick, +174, 185; lieutenant-governor of the province, 217 + +Wolfe, General; at Quebec, 25; his bold ascent of heights, 25, 26; wins +battle on Plains of Abraham, 26; death of, 26; a maker of Canada, 35 + +York (Toronto) made capital of Upper Canada, 101 + +Young, Sir William; Nova Scotian statesman and jurist, 185 + +Yukon, district of; gold discovery in, 209; administration of, ib, 277; +boundaries of, 310-312 + +[Illustration: (map) FRANCE, SPAIN, AND ENGLAND, IN NORTH AMERICA, +1756-1760.] + +[Illustration: OUTLINE MAP OF ENGLISH POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA, +1763-1775.] + +[Illustration: MAP OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA ILLUSTRATING THE BOUNDARIES +OF PROVINCES AND PROVISIONAL DISTRICTS] + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12661 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..373e8eb --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #12661 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12661) diff --git a/old/12661-8.txt b/old/12661-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7b51ca0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12661-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12321 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Canada under British Rule 1760-1900, by John +G. Bourinot + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Canada under British Rule 1760-1900 + +Author: John G. Bourinot + +Release Date: June 19, 2004 [eBook #12661] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CANADA UNDER BRITISH RULE +1760-1900*** + + +E-text prepared by Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders from images +provided by the Million Book Project + + + +CANADA UNDER BRITISH RULE 1760-1900 + +BY + +SIR JOHN G. BOURINOT, K.C.M.G., LL.D., LITT.D. + +Author of 'Parliamentary Procedure and Practice', 'Constitutional +History of Canada,' 'The Story of Canada,' etc + +WITH EIGHT MAPS + +1900 + + + + +CAMBRIDGE HISTORICAL SERIES + +EDITED BY G. W. PROTHERO, LITT.D., LL.D. + +Honorary Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and Late Professor of +History in the University of Edinburgh. + + + + + + + +GENERAL PREFACE. + +The aim of this series is to sketch the history of Modern Europe, with +that of its chief colonies and conquests, from about the end of the +fifteenth century down to the present time. In one or two cases the +story commences at an earlier date: in the case of the colonies it +generally begins later. The histories of the different countries are +described, as a rule, separately, for it is believed that, except in +epochs like that of the French Revolution and Napoleon I, the connection +of events will thus be better understood and the continuity of +historical development more clearly displayed. + +The series is intended for the use of all persons anxious to understand +the nature of existing political conditions. "The roots of the present +lie deep in the past"; and the real significance of contemporary events +cannot be grasped unless the historical causes which have led to them +are known. The plan adopted makes it possible to treat the history of +the last four centuries in considerable detail, and to embody the most +important results of modern research. It is hoped therefore that the +series will be useful not only to beginners but to students who have +already acquired some general knowledge of European History. For those +who wish to carry their studies further, the bibliography appended to +each volume will act as a guide to original sources of information and +works more detailed and authoritative. + +Considerable attention is paid to political geography, and each volume +is furnished with such maps and plans as may be requisite for the +illustration of the text. + +G.W. PROTHERO. + + + + +PREFACE. + +I devote the first chapter of this short history to a brief review of +the colonisation of the valley of the St. Lawrence by the French, and of +their political and social conditions at the Conquest, so that a reader +may be able to compare their weak and impoverished state under the +repressive dominion of France with the prosperous and influential +position they eventually attained under the liberal methods of British +rule. In the succeeding chapters I have dwelt on those important events +which have had the largest influence on the political development of the +several provinces as British possessions. + +We have, first, the Quebec Act, which gave permanent guarantees for the +establishment of the Church of Rome and the maintenance of the language +and civil law of France in her old colony. Next, we read of the coming +of the United Empire Loyalists, and the consequent establishment of +British institutions on a stable basis of loyal devotion to the parent +state. Then ensued the war of 1812, to bind the provinces more closely +to Great Britain, and create that national spirit which is the natural +outcome of patriotic endeavour and individual self-sacrifice. Then +followed for several decades a persistent popular struggle for larger +political liberty, which was not successful until British statesmen +awoke at last from their indifference, on the outbreak of a rebellion in +the Canadas, and recognised the necessity of adopting a more liberal +policy towards their North American dependencies. The union of the +Canadas was succeeded by the concession of responsible government and +the complete acknowledgment of the rights of the colonists to manage +their provincial affairs without the constant interference of British +officials. With this extension of political privileges, the people +became still more ambitious, and established a confederation, which has +not only had the effect of supplying a remarkable stimulus to their +political, social and material development, but has given greater +security to British interests on the continent of North America. At +particular points of the historical narrative I have dwelt for a space +on economic, social, and intellectual conditions, so that the reader may +intelligently follow every phase to the development of the people from +the close of the French régime to the beginning of the twentieth century +In my summary of the most important political events for the last +twenty-five years, I have avoided all comment on matters which are "as +yet"--to quote the language of the epilogue to Mr. Green's "Short +History"--"too near to us to admit of a cool and purely historical +treatment." The closing chapter is a short review of the relations +between Canada and the United States since the treaty of 1783--so +conducive to international disputes concerning boundaries and fishing +rights--until the present time, when the Alaskan and other international +controversies are demanding adjustment. + +I have thought, too, that it would be useful to students of political +institutions to give in the appendix comparisons between the leading +provisions of the federal systems of the Dominion of Canada and the +Commonwealth of Australia. I must add that, in the revision of the +historical narrative, I have been much aided by the judicious criticism +and apt suggestions of the Editor of the Series, Dr. Prothero. + +HOUSE OF COMMONS, OTTAWA, CANADA. 1st October, 1900 + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE FRENCH RÉGIME (1534--1760) + +Section 1. Introduction + +Section 2. Discovery and Settlement of Canada by France + +Section 3. French exploration in the valleys of North America + +Section 4. End of French Dominion in the valley of the St. Lawrence + +Section 5. Political, Economic, and Social Conditions of Canada + during French Rule + + +CHAPTER II. + +BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH RULE (1749--1774) + +Section 1. From the Conquest until the Quebec Act + +Section 2. The Foundation of Nova Scotia (1749--1783) + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS (1763--1784) + +Section 1. The successful Revolution of the Thirteen Colonies in America + +Section 2. Canada and Nova Scotia during the Revolution. + +Section 3. The United Empire Loyalists + + +CHAPTER IV. + +DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS (1784-1812) + +Section 1. Beginnings of the Provinces of New Brunswick, Lower Canada +and Upper Canada. + +Section 2. Twenty years of Political Development. (1792-1812) + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE WAR OF 1812-1815 + +Section 1. Origin of the war between Great Britain and the United States + +Section 2. Canada during the War + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE EVOLUTION OF RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT (1815-1839) + +Section 1. The Rebellion in Lower Canada + +Section 2. The Rebellion in Upper Canada + +Section 3. Social and Economic Conditions of the Provinces in 1838 + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A NEW ERA OF COLONIAL GOVERNMENT (1839-1867) + +Section 1. The Union of the Canadas and the establishment of Responsible +Government + +Section 2. Results of Self-government from 1841 to 1864 + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE EVOLUTION OF CONFEDERATION (1789-1867) + +Section 1. The beginnings of Confederation + +Section 2. The Quebec Convention of 1864 + +Section 3. Confederation accomplished + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CONFEDERATION (1867--1900) + +Section 1. The First Parliament of the Dominion of Canada (1867--1873) + +Section 2. Extension of the Dominion from the Atlantic to the Pacific + Ocean (1869--1873) + +Section 3. Summary of Noteworthy Events from 1873 until 1900 + +Section 4. Political and Social Conditions of Canada under Confederation + + +CHAPTER X. + +CANADA'S RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES AND HER INFLUENCE IN IMPERIAL +COUNCILS (1783--1900) + +APPENDIX A: COMPARISONS BETWEEN CONSTITUTIONS OF THE CANADIAN DOMINION +AND AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH. + +APPENDIX B: BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES + +INDEX + +PLANS AND MAPS. + +Map showing Boundary between Canada and the United States by Treaty of +1783. + +Map of British America to illustrate the Charter of the Hudson's Bay +Company. + +International Boundary as finally established in 1842 at Lake of the +Woods. + +Map of the North-Eastern Boundary as established in 1842. + +Map of British Columbia and Yukon District showing disputed Boundary +between Canada and the United States. + +France, Spain, and Great Britain, in North America, 1756--1760. + +Outline map of British Possessions in North America, 1763--1775. + +Map of the Dominion of Canada illustrating the boundaries of Provinces +and Provisional Districts. + +A SHORT HISTORY OF CANADA UNDER BRITISH RULE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE FRENCH RÉGIME. 1534--1760. + + +SECTION I.--Introduction. + +Though the principal object of this book is to review the political, +economic and social progress of the provinces of Canada under British +rule, yet it would be necessarily imperfect, and even unintelligible in +certain important respects, were I to ignore the deeply interesting +history of the sixteen hundred thousand French Canadians, about thirty +per cent of the total population of the Dominion. To apply to Canada an +aphorism of Carlyle, "The present is the living sum-total of the whole +past"; the sum-total not simply of the hundred and thirty years that +have elapsed since the commencement of British dominion, but primarily +of the century and a half that began with the coming of Champlain to the +heights of Quebec and ended with the death of Wolfe on the Plains of +Abraham. The soldiers and sailors, the missionaries and pioneers of +France, speak to us in eloquent tones, whether we linger in summer time +on the shores of the noble gulf which washes the eastern portals of +Canada; whether we ascend the St. Lawrence River and follow the route +taken by the explorers, who discovered the great lakes, and gave to the +world a knowledge of the West and the Mississippi, whether we walk on +the grassy mounds that recall the ruins of the formidable fortress of +Louisbourg, which once defended the eastern entrance to the St. +Lawrence; whether we linger on the rocks of the ancient city of Quebec +with its many memorials of the French régime; whether we travel over the +rich prairies with their sluggish, tortuous rivers, and memories of the +French Canadians who first found their way to that illimitable region. +In fact, Canada has a rich heritage of associations that connect us with +some of the most momentous epochs of the world's history. The victories +of Louisbourg and Quebec belong to the same series of brilliant events +that recall the famous names of Chatham, Clive, and Wolfe, and that gave +to England a mighty empire in Asia and America. Wolfe's signal victory +on the heights of the ancient capital was the prelude to the great drama +of the American revolution. Freed from the fear of France, the people of +the Thirteen Colonies, so long hemmed in between the Atlantic Ocean and +the Appalachian range, found full expression for their love of local +self-government when England asserted her imperial supremacy. After a +struggle of a few years they succeeded in laying the foundation of the +remarkable federal republic, which now embraces forty-five states with a +population of already seventy-five millions of souls, which owes its +national stability and prosperity to the energy and enterprise of the +Anglo-Norman race and the dominant influence of the common law, and the +parliamentary institutions of England. At the same time, the American +Revolution had an immediate and powerful effect upon the future of the +communities that still remained in the possession of England after the +acknowledgement of the independence of her old colonies. It drove to +Canada a large body of men and women, who remained faithful to the crown +and empire and became founders of provinces which are now comprised in a +Dominion extending for over three thousand miles to the north and east +of the federal republic. + +The short review of the French régime, with which I am about to +commence this history of Canada, will not give any evidence of +political, economic, or intellectual development under the influence of +French dominion, but it is interesting to the student of comparative +politics on account of the comparisons which it enables us to make +between the absolutism of old France which crushed every semblance of +independent thought and action, and the political freedom which has been +a consequence of the supremacy of England in the province once occupied +by her ancient rival. It is quite true, as Professor Freeman has said, +that in Canada, which is pre-eminently English in the development of its +political institutions, French Canada is still "a distinct and visible +element, which is not English,--an element older than anything English +in the land,--and which shows no sign of being likely to be assimilated +by anything English." As this book will show, though a hundred and forty +years have nearly passed since the signing of the treaty of Paris, many +of the institutions which the French Canadians inherited from France +have become permanently established in the country, and we see +constantly in the various political systems given to Canada from time to +time--notably in the constitution of the federal union--the impress of +these institutions and the influence of the people of the French +section. Still, while the French Canadians by their adherence to their +language, civil law and religion are decidedly "a distinct and visible +element which is not English"--an element kept apart from the English by +positive legal and constitutional guarantees or barriers of +separation,--we shall see that it is the influence and operation of +English institutions, which have made their province one of the most +contented communities of the world. While their old institutions are +inseparably associated with the social and spiritual conditions of their +daily lives, it is after all their political constitution, which derives +its strength from English, principles, that has made the French +Canadians a free, self-governing people and developed the best elements +of their character to a degree which was never possible under the +depressing and enfeebling conditions of the French régime. + + +SECTION 2.--Discovery and settlement of Canada by France. + +Much learning has been devoted to the elucidation of the Icelandic +Sagas, or vague accounts of voyages which Bjorne Heriulfson and Lief +Ericsson, sons of the first Norse settlers of Greenland, are supposed to +have made at the end of the tenth century, to the eastern parts of what +is now British North America, and, in the opinion of some writers, even +as far as the shores of New England. It is just possible that such +voyages were made, and that Norsemen were the first Europeans who saw +the eastern shores of Canada. It is quite certain, however, that no +permanent settlements were made by the Norsemen in any part of these +countries; and their voyages do not appear to have been known to +Columbus or other maritime adventurers of later times, when the veil of +mystery was at last lifted from the western limits of what was so long +truly described as the "sea of darkness." While the subject is +undoubtedly full of interest, it is at the same time as illusive as the +_fata morgana_, or the lakes and rivers that are created by the mists of +a summer's eve on the great prairies of the Canadian west. + +Five centuries later than the Norse voyagers, there appeared on the +great field of western exploration an Italian sailor, Giovanni Caboto, +through whose agency England took the first step in the direction of +that remarkable maritime enterprise which, in later centuries, was to be +the admiration and envy of all other nations. John Cabot was a Genoese +by birth and a Venetian citizen by adoption, who came during the last +decade of the fifteenth century, to the historic town of Bristol. +Eventually he obtain from Henry VII letters-patent, granting to himself +and his three sons, Louis, Sebastian, and Sancio, the right, "at their +own cost and charges, to seek out and discover unknown lands," and to +acquire for England the dominion over the countries they might discover. +Early in May, 1497, John Cabot sailed from Bristol in "The Matthew," +manned by English sailors. In all probability he was accompanied by +Sebastian, then about 21 years of age, who, in later times, through the +credulity of his friends and his own garrulity and vanity, took that +place in the estimation of the world which his father now rightly fills. +Some time toward the end of June, they made a land-fall on the +north-eastern coast of North America. The actual site of the land-fall +will always be a matter of controversy unless some document is found +among musty archives of Europe to solve the question to the satisfaction +of the disputants, who wax hot over the claims of a point near Cape +Chidley on the coast of Labrador, of Bonavista, on the east shore of +Newfoundland, of Cape North, or some other point, on the island of Cape +Breton. Another expedition left Bristol in 1498, but while it is now +generally believed that Cabot coasted the shores of North America from +Labrador or Cape Breton as far as Cape Hatteras, we have no details of +this famous voyage, and are even ignorant of the date when the fleet +returned to England. + +The Portuguese, Gaspar and Miguel Cortereal, in the beginning of the +sixteenth century, were lost somewhere on the coast of Labrador or +Newfoundland, but not before they gave to their country a claim to new +lands. The Basques and Bretons, always noted for their love of the sea, +frequented the same prolific waters and some of the latter gave a name +to the picturesque island of Cape Breton. Giovanni da Verrazzano, a +Florentine by birth, who had for years led a roving life on the sea, +sailed in 1524 along the coasts of Nova Scotia and the present United +States and gave a shadowy claim of first discovery of a great region to +France under whose authority he sailed. Ten years later Jacques Cartier +of St. Malo was authorised by Francis I to undertake a voyage to these +new lands, but he did not venture beyond the Gulf of St. Lawrence, +though he took possession of the picturesque Gaspé peninsula in the name +of his royal master. In 1535 he made a second voyage, whose results were +most important for France and the world at large. The great river of +Canada was then discovered by the enterprising Breton, who established a +post for some months at Stadacona, now Quebec, and also visited the +Indian village of Hochelaga on the island of Montreal. Here he gave the +appropriate name of Mount Royal to the beautiful height which dominates +the picturesque country where enterprise has, in the course of +centuries, built a noble city. Hochelaga was probably inhabited by +Indians of the Huron-Iroquois family, who appear, from the best evidence +before us, to have been dwelling at that time on the banks of the St. +Lawrence, whilst the Algonquins, who took their place in later times, +were living to the north of the river. + +The name of Canada--obviously the Huron-Iroquois word for Kannata, a +town--began to take a place on the maps soon after Cartier's voyages. It +appears from his _Bref Récit_ to have been applied at the time of his +visit, to a kingdom, or district, extending from Ile-aux-Coudres, which +he named on account of its hazel-nuts, on the lower St. Lawrence, to the +Kingdom of Ochelay, west of Stadacona; east of Canada was Saguenay, and +west of Ochelay was Hochelaga, to which the other communities were +tributary. After a winter of much misery Cartier left Stadacona in the +spring of 1536, and sailed into the Atlantic by the passage between Cape +Breton and Newfoundland, now appropriately called Cabot's Straits on +modern maps. He gave to France a positive claim to a great region, whose +illimitable wealth and possibilities were never fully appreciated by the +king and the people of France even in the later times of her dominion. +Francis, in 1540, gave a commission to Jean François de la Roque, Sieur +de Roberval, to act as his viceroy and lieutenant-general in the +country discovered by Cartier, who was elevated to the position of +captain general and master pilot of the new expedition. As the Viceroy +was unable to complete his arrangements by 1541, Cartier was obliged to +sail in advance, and again passed a winter on the St. Lawrence, not at +Stadacona but at Cap Rouge, a few miles to the west, where he built a +post which he named Charlesbourg-Royal. He appears to have returned to +France some time during the summer of 1542, while Roberval was on his +way to the St. Lawrence. Roberval found his way without his master pilot +to Charlesbourg-Royal, which he renamed France-Roy, and where he erected +buildings of a very substantial character in the hope of establishing a +permanent settlement. His selection of colonists--chiefly taken from +jails and purlieus of towns--was most unhappy, and after a bitter +experience he returned to France, probably in the autumn of 1543, and +disappeared from Canadian history. + +From the date of Cartier's last voyage until the beginning of the +seventeenth century, a period of nearly sixty years, nothing was done to +settle the lands of the new continent. Fishermen alone continued to +frequent the great gulf, which was called for years the "Square gulf" or +"Golfo quadrado," or "Quarré," on some European maps, until it assumed, +by the end of the sixteenth century, the name it now bears. The name +Saint-Laurens was first given by Cartier to the harbour known as +Sainte-Geneviève (or sometimes Pillage Bay), on the northern shore of +Canada, and gradually extended to the gulf and river. The name of +Labrador, which was soon established on all maps, had its origin in the +fact that Gaspar Cortereal brought back with him a number of natives who +were considered to be "admirably calculated for labour." + +In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the English began to take a prominent +part in that maritime enterprise which was to lead to such remarkable +results in the course of three centuries. The names of the ambitious +navigators, Frobisher and Davis, are connected with those arctic waters +where so much money, energy, and heroism have been expended down to the +present time. Under the influence of the great Ralegh, whose fertile +imagination was conceiving plans of colonization in America, Sir +Humphrey Gilbert, his brother-in-law, took possession of Newfoundland on +a hill overlooking the harbour of St. John's. English enterprise, +however, did not extend for many years to any other part of North +Eastern America than Newfoundland, which is styled Baccalaos on the +Hakluyt map of 1597, though the present name appeared from a very early +date in English statutes and records. The island, however, for a century +and longer, was practically little more than "a great ship moored near +the banks during the fishing season, for the convenience of English +fishermen," while English colonizing enterprise found a deeper interest +in Virginia with its more favourable climate and southern products. It +was England's great rival, France, that was the pioneer at the beginning +of the seventeenth century in the work of exploring, and settling the +countries now comprised within the Dominion of Canada. + +France first attempted to settle the indefinite region, long known as +_La Cadie_ or _Acadie_[1]. The Sieur de Monts, Samuel Champlain, and the +Baron de Poutrincourt were the pioneers in the exploration of this +country. Their first post was erected on Dochet Island, within the mouth +of the St. Croix River, the present boundary between the state of Maine +and the province of New Brunswick; but this spot was very soon found +unsuitable, and the hopes of the pioneers were immediately turned +towards the beautiful basin, which was first named Port Royal by +Champlain. The Baron de Poutrincourt obtained a grant of land around +this basin, and determined to make his home in so beautiful a spot. De +Monts, whose charter was revoked in 1607, gave up the project of +colonizing Acadia, whose history from that time is associated for years +with the misfortunes of the Biencourts, the family name of Baron de +Poutrincourt; but the hopes of this adventurous nobleman were never +realized. In 1613 an English expedition from Virginia, under the command +of Captain Argall, destroyed the struggling settlement at Fort Royal, +and also prevented the establishment of a Jesuit mission on the island +of Monts-Déserts, which owes its name to Champlain. Acadia had +henceforth a checquered history, chiefly noted for feuds between rival +French leaders and for the efforts of the people of New England to +obtain possession of Acadia. Port Royal was captured in 1710 by General +Nicholson, at the head of an expedition composed of an English fleet and +the militia of New England. Then it received the name of Annapolis Royal +in honour of Queen Anne, and was formally ceded with all of Acadia +"according to its ancient limits" to England by the treaty of Utrecht. + +[1: This name is now generally admitted to belong to the language of the +Micmac Indians of the Atlantic provinces. It means a place, or locality, +and is always associated with another word descriptive of some special +natural production; for instance, Shubenacadie, or Segubunakade, is the +place where the ground-nut, or Indian potato, grows. We find the first +official mention of the word in the commission given by Henry IV of +France to the Sieur de Monts in 1604.] + +It was not in Acadia, but in the valley of the St. Lawrence, that France +made her great effort to establish her dominion in North America. Samuel +Champlain, the most famous man in the history of French Canada, laid the +foundation of the present city of Quebec in the month of June, 1608, or +three years after the removal of the little Acadian colony from St. +Croix Island to the basin of the Annapolis. The name Quebec is now +generally admitted to be an adaptation of an Indian word, meaning a +contraction of the river or strait, a distinguishing feature of the St. +Lawrence at this important point. The first buildings were constructed +by Champlain on a relatively level piece of ground, now occupied by a +market-house and close to a famous old church erected in the days of +Frontenac, in commemoration of the victorious repulse of the New England +expedition led by Phipps. For twenty-seven years Champlain struggled +against constantly accumulating difficulties to establish a colony on +the St. Lawrence. He won the confidence of the Algonquin and Huron tubes +of Canada, who then lived on the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers, and in +the vicinity of Georgian Bay. Recognizing the necessity of an alliance +with the Canadian Indians, who controlled all the principal avenues to +the great fur-bearing regions, he led two expeditions, composed of +Frenchmen, Hurons, and Algonquins, against the Iroquois or Confederacy +of the Five Nations[2]--the Mohawks, the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, +and Senecas--who inhabited the fertile country stretching from the +Genesee to the Hudson River in the present state of New York. Champlain +consequently excited against his own people the inveterate hostility of +the bravest, cruellest and ablest Indians with whom Europeans have ever +come in contact in America. Champlain probably had no other alternative +open to him than to become the active ally of the Canadian Indians, on +whose goodwill and friendship he was forced to rely; but it is also +quite probable that he altogether underrated the ability and bravery of +the Iroquois who, in later years, so often threatened the security of +Canada, and more than once brought the infant colony to the very verge +of ruin. + +[2: In 1715 the confederacy was joined by the Tuscaroras, a southern +branch of the same family, and was then called more properly the Six +Nations.] + +It was during Champlain's administration of affairs that the Company of +the Hundred Associates was formed under the auspices of Cardinal +Richelieu, with the express object of colonizing Canada and developing +the fur-trade and other commercial enterprises on as large a scale as +possible. The Company had ill-fortune from the outset. The first +expedition it sent to the St. Lawrence was captured by a fleet commanded +by David Kirk, a gentleman of Derbyshire, who in the following year also +took Quebec, and carried Champlain and his followers to England. The +English were already attempting settlements on the shores of +Massachusetts Bay; and the poet and courtier, Sir William Alexander, +afterwards known as the Earl of Stirling, obtained from the King of +England all French Acadia, which he named Nova Scotia and offered to +settlers in baronial giants. A Scotch colony was actually established +for a short time at Port Royal under the auspices of Alexander, but in +1632, by the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, both Acadia and Canada were +restored to France. Champlain returned to Quebec, but the Company of the +Hundred Associates had been severely crippled by the ill-luck which +attended its first venture, and was able to do very little for the +struggling colony during the three remaining years of Champlain's life. + +The Recollets or Franciscans, who had first come to the country in 1615, +now disappeared, and the Jesuits assumed full control in the wide field +of effort that Canada offered to the missionary. The Jesuits had, in +fact, made their appearance in Canada as early as 1625, or fourteen +years after two priests of their order, Ennemond Massé and Pierre Biard, +had gone to Acadia to labour among the Micmacs or Souriquois. During the +greater part of the seventeenth century, intrepid Jesuit priests are +associated with some of the most heroic incidents of Canadian history. + +When Champlain died, on Christmas-day, 1635, the French population of +Canada did not exceed 150 souls, all dependent on the fur-trade. Canada +so far showed none of the elements of prosperity; it was not a colony +of settlers but of fur-traders. Still Champlain, by his indomitable +will, gave to France a footing in America which she was to retain for a +century and a quarter after his death. His courage amid the difficulties +that surrounded him, his fidelity to his church and country, his ability +to understand the Indian character, his pure unselfishness, are among +the remarkable qualities of a man who stands foremost among the pioneers +of European civilization in America. + +From the day of Champlain's death until the arrival of the Marquis de +Tracy, in 1665, Canada was often in a most dangerous and pitiable +position. That period of thirty years was, however, also distinguished +by the foundation of those great religious communities which have always +exercised such an important influence upon the conditions of life +throughout French Canada. In 1652 Montreal was founded under the name of +Ville-Marie by Paul Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, and a number of +other religious enthusiasts. In 1659, the Abbé de Montigny, better known +to Canadians as Monseigneur de Laval, the first Roman Catholic bishop, +arrived in the colony and assumed charge of ecclesiastical affairs under +the titular name of Bishop of Petraea. Probably no single man has ever +exercised such powerful and lasting influence on Canadian institutions +as that famous divine. Possessed of great tenacity of purpose, most +ascetic in his habits, regardless of all worldly considerations, always +working for the welfare and extension of his church, Bishop Laval was +eminently fitted to give it that predominance in civil as well as +religious affairs which it so long possessed in Canada. + +While the Church of Rome was perfecting its organization throughout +Canada, the Iroquois were constantly making raids upon the unprotected +settlements, especially in the vicinity of Montreal. The Hurons in the +Georgian Bay district were eventually driven from their comfortable +villages, and now the only remnants of a powerful nation are to be found +in the community of mixed blood at Lorette, near Quebec, or on the +banks of the Detroit River, where they are known as Wyandots. The Jesuit +mission of Sainte-Marie in their country was broken up, and Jean de +Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant suffered torture and death. + +Such was the pitiable condition of things in 1663, when Louis XIV made +of Canada a royal government. At this time the total population of the +province did not exceed 2500 souls, grouped chiefly in and around +Quebec, Three Rivers and Montreal. In 1665 the Marquis de Tracy and +Governor de Courcelles, with a brilliant retinue of officers and a +regiment of soldiers, arrived in the colony, and brought with them +conditions of peace and prosperity. A small stream of immigration flowed +steadily into the country for some years, as a result of the new policy +adopted by the French government. The Mohawks, the most daring and +dangerous nation of the Iroquois confederacy, were humbled by Tracy in +1667, and forced to sue for peace. Under the influence of Talon, the +ablest intendant who ever administered Canadian affairs, the country +enjoyed a moderate degree of prosperity, although trade continued +entirely dependent on the orders and regulations of the King and his +officials. + +Among the ablest governors of Canada was undoubtedly Louis de la Buade, +Count de Frontenac, who administered public affairs from 1672-1687 and +from 1689-1698. He was certainly impatient, choleric and selfish +whenever his pecuniary interests were concerned; but, despite his faults +of character, he was a brave soldier, dignified and courteous on +important occasions, a close student of the character of the Indians, +always ready when the necessity arose to adapt himself to their foibles +and at the same time able to win their confidence. He found Canada weak, +and left it a power in the affairs of America. He infused his own +never-failing confidence into the hearts of the struggling colonists on +the St. Lawrence, repulsed Sir William Phipps and his New England +expedition when they attacked Quebec in 1690, wisely erected a fort on +Lake Ontario as a fur-trading post and a bulwark against the Iroquois, +encouraged the fur-trade, and stimulated exploration in the west and in +the valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi. The settlements of New +England trembled at his name, and its annals contain many a painful +story of the misery inflicted by his cruel bands of Frenchmen and +Indians. + +Despite all the efforts of the French government for some years, the +total immigration from 1663 until 1713, when the great war between +France and the Grand Alliance came to an end by the treaty of Utrecht, +did not exceed 6000 souls, and the whole population of the province in +that year was only 20,000, a small number for a century of colonization. +For some years after the formation of the royal government, a large +number of marriageable women were brought to the country under the +auspices of the religious communities, and marriages and births were +encouraged by exhortations and bounties. A considerable number of the +officers and soldiers of the Carignan-Salières regiment, who followed +the Marquis de Tracy into Canada, were induced to remain and settle new +seigniories, chiefly in palisaded villages in the Richelieu district for +purposes of defence against Iroquois expeditions. Despite all the +paternal efforts of the government to stimulate the growth of a large +population, the natural increase was small during the seventeenth +century. The disturbing influence, no doubt, was the fur-trade, which +allured so many young men into the wilderness, made them unfit for a +steady life, and destroyed their domestic habits. The emigrants from +France came chiefly from Anjou, Saintonge, Paris and its suburbs, +Normandy, Poitou, Beauce, Perche, and Picardy. The Carignan-Salières +regiment brought men from all parts of the parent state. It does not +appear that any number of persons ever came from Brittany. The larger +proportion of the settlers were natives of the north-western provinces +of France, especially from Perche and Normandy, and formed an excellent +stock on which to build up a thrifty, moral people. The seigniorial +tenure of French Canada was an adaptation of the feudal system of France +to the conditions of a new country, and was calculated in some respects +to stimulate settlement. Ambitious persons of limited means were able to +form a class of colonial _noblesse_. But unless the seignior cleared a +certain portion of his grant within a limited time, he would forfeit it +all. The conditions by which the _censitaires_ or tenants of the +seigniorial domain held their grants of land were by no means +burdensome, but they signified a dependency of tenure inconsistent with +the free nature of American life. A large portion of the best lands of +French Canada were granted under this seigniorial system to men whose +names frequently occur in the records of the colony down to the present +day: Rimouski, Bic and Métis, Kamouraska, Nicolet, Verchères, +Lotbinière, Berthier, Beloeil, Rouville, Juliette, Terrebonne, +Champlain, Sillery, Beaupré, Bellechasse, Portneuf, Chambly, Sorel, +Longueuil, Boucherville, Chateauguay, Lachine, are memorials of the +seigniorial grants of the seventeenth century. + +The whole population of the Acadian Peninsula in 1710-13, was not more +than 1500 souls, nearly all descendants of the people brought to the +country by Poutrincourt and his successors Razilly and Charnisay. At no +time did the French government interest itself in immigration to +neglected Acadia. Of the total population, nearly 1000 persons were +settled in the beautiful country which the industry and ingenuity of the +Acadian peasants, in the course of many years, reclaimed from the +restless tides of the Bay of Fundy at Grand Pré and Minas. The remaining +settlements were at Beau Bassin, Annapolis, Piziquit (now Windsor), +Cobequit (now Truro), and Cape Sable. Some small settlements were also +founded on the banks of the St. John River and on the eastern bays of +the present province of New Brunswick. + + +SECTION 3.--French exploration in the great valleys of North America. + +The hope of finding a short route to the rich lands of Asia by the St. +Lawrence River and its tributary lakes and streams, influenced French +voyagers and explorers well into the middle of the eighteenth century. +When Cartier stood on Mount Royal and saw the waters of the Ottawa there +must have flashed across his mind the thought that perhaps by this river +would be found that passage to the western sea of which he and other +sailors often dreamed both in earlier and later times. L'Escarbot tells +us that Champlain in his western explorations always hoped to reach Asia +by a Canadian route. He was able, however, long before his death to +make valuable contributions to the geography of Canada. He was the first +Frenchman to ascend the River of the Iroquois, now the Richelieu, and to +see the beautiful lake which still bears his name. In 1615 he found his +way to Georgian Bay by the route of the Ottawa and Mattawa Rivers, Lake +Nipissing and French River. Here he visited the Huron villages which +were situated in the district now known as Simcoe county in the province +of Ontario. Father le Caron, a Recollet, had preceded the French +explorer, and was performing missionary duties among the Indians, who +probably numbered 20,000 in all. This brave priest was the pioneer of an +army of faithful missionaries--mostly of a different order--who lived +for years among the Indians, suffered torture and death, and connected +their names not only with the martyrs of their faith but also with the +explorers of this continent. From this time forward we find the trader +and the priest advancing in the wilderness; sometimes one is first, +sometimes the other. + +Champlain accompanied his Indian allies on an expedition against the +Onondagas, one of the five nations who occupied the country immediately +to the south of the upper St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario. The party +reached Lake Ontario by the system of inland navigation which stretches +from Lake Simcoe to the Bay of Quinté. The Onondagas repulsed the +Canadian allies who returned to their settlements, where Champlain +remained during the winter of 1616. It was during this expedition, which +did much to weaken Champlain's prestige among the Indians, that Étienne +Brulé an interpreter, was sent to the Andastes, who were then living +about the headwaters of the Susquehanna, with the hope of bringing them +to the support of the Canadian savages. He was not seen again until +1618, when he returned to Canada with a story, doubtless correct, of +having found himself on the shores of a great lake where there were +mines of copper, probably Lake Superior. + +With the new era of peace that followed the coming of the Viceroy Tracy +in 1665, and the establishment of a royal government, a fresh impulse +was given to exploration and mission work in the west. Priests, +fur-traders, gentlemen-adventurers, _coureurs de bois_, now appeared +frequently on the lakes and rivers of the west, and gave in the course +of years a vast region to the dominion of France. As early as 1665 +Father Allouez established a mission at La Pointe, the modern Ashland, +on the shores of Lake Superior. In 1668 one of the most interesting +persons who ever appeared in early Canada, the missionary and explorer, +Father Marquette, founded the mission of Sainte-Marie on the southern +side of the Sault, which may be considered the oldest settlement of the +north-west, as it alone has a continuous history to the present time. + +In the record of those times we see strikingly displayed certain +propensities of the Canadian people which seriously interfered with the +settlement and industry of the country. The fur-trade had far more +attractions for the young and adventurous than the regular and active +life of farming on the seigniories. The French immigrant as well as the +native Canadian adapted himself to the conditions of Indian life. +Wherever the Indian tribes were camped in the forest or by the river, +and the fur-trade could be prosecuted to the best advantage, we see the +_coureurs de bois_, not the least picturesque figures of these grand +woods, then in the primeval sublimity of their solitude and vastness. +Despite the vices and weaknesses of a large proportion of this class, +not a few were most useful in the work of exploration and exercised a +great influence among the Indians of the West. But for these +forest-rangers the Michigan region would have fallen into the possession +of the English who were always intriguing with the Iroquois and +endeavouring to obtain a share of the fur-trade of the west. Joliet, the +companion of Marquette, in his ever-memorable voyage to the Mississippi, +was a type of the best class of the Canadian fur-trader. + +In 1671 Sieur St. Lusson took formal possession of the Sault and the +adjacent country in the name of Louis XIV. In 1673 Fort Frontenac was +built at Cataraqui, now Kingston, as a barrier to the aggressive +movements of the Iroquois and an _entrepôt_ for the fur-trade on Lake +Ontario. In the same year Joliet and Marquette solved a part of the +problem which had so long perplexed the explorers of the West. The +trader and priest reached the Mississippi by the way of Green Bay, the +Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. They went down the Mississippi as far as the +Arkansas. Though they were still many hundreds of miles from the mouth +of the river, they grasped the fact that it must reach, not the western +ocean, but the southern gulf first discovered by the Spaniards. +Marquette died not long afterwards, worn out by his labours in the +wilderness, and was buried beneath the little chapel at St. Ignace. +Joliet's name henceforth disappears from the annals of the West. + +Réné Robert Cavelier, better known as the Sieur de la Salle, completed +the work commenced by the trader and missionary. In 1666 he obtained a +grant of land at the head of the rapids above Montreal by the side of +that beautiful expanse of the St. Lawrence, still called Lachine, a name +first given in derisive allusion to his hope of finding a short route to +China. In 1679 he saw the Niagara Falls for the first time, and the +earliest sketch is to be found in _La Nouvelle Découverte_ written or +compiled by that garrulous, vain, and often mendacious Recollet Friar, +Louis Hennepin, who accompanied La Salle on this expedition. In the +winter of 1681-82 this famous explorer reached the Mississippi, and for +weeks followed its course through the novel and wondrous scenery of a +southern land. On the 9th of April, 1682, at a point just above the +mouth of the great river, La Salle took formal possession of the +Mississippi valley in the name of Louis XIV, with the same imposing +ceremonies that distinguished the claim asserted by St. Lusson at the +Sault in the lake region. By the irony of fate, La Salle failed to +discover the mouth of the river when he came direct from France to the +Gulf of Mexico in 1685, but landed somewhere on Matagorda Bay on the +Texan coast, where he built a fort for temporary protection. Finding his +position untenable, he decided in 1687 to make an effort to reach the +Illinois country, but when he had been a few days on this perilous +journey he was treacherously murdered by some of his companions near the +southern branch of Trinity River. His body was left to the beasts and +birds of prey. Two of the murderers were themselves killed by their +accomplices, none of whom appear ever to have been brought to justice +for their participation in a crime by which France lost one of the +bravest and ablest men who ever struggled for her dominion in North +America. + +Some years later the famous Canadians, Iberville and Bienville, founded +a colony in the great valley, known by the name of Louisiana, which was +first given to it by La Salle himself. By the possession of the Sault, +Mackinac, and Detroit, the French were for many years supreme on the +lakes, and had full control of Indian trade. The Iroquois and their +English friends were effectively shut out of the west by the French +posts and settlements which followed the explorations of Joliet, La +Salle, Du Luth, and other adventurers. Plans continued to be formed for +reaching the Western or Pacific ocean even in the middle of the +eighteenth century. The Jesuit Charlevoix, the historian of New France, +was sent out to Canada by the French government to enquire into the +feasibility of a route which Frenchmen always hoped for. Nothing +definite came out of this mission, but the Jesuit was soon followed by +an enterprising native of Three Rivers, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, +generally called the Sieur de la Verendrye, who with his sons ventured +into the region now known as the province of Manitoba and the north-west +territory of Canada. He built several forts, including one on the site +of the city of Winnipeg. Two of his sons are believed to have reached +the Big Horn Range, an "outlying buttress" of the Rocky Mountains, in +1743, and to have taken possession of what is now territory of the +United States. The youngest son, Chevalier de la Verendrye, who was the +first to see the Rocky Mountains, subsequently discovered the +Saskatchewan (Poskoiac) and even ascended it as far as the forks--the +furthest western limits so far touched by a white man in America. A few +years later, in 1751, M. de Niverville, under the orders of M. de St. +Pierre, then acting in the interest of the infamous Intendant Bigot, who +coveted the western fur-trade, reached the foot-hills of the Rocky +Mountains and built a fort on the Saskatchewan not far from the present +town of Calgary. + +We have now followed the paths of French adventurers for nearly a +century and a half, from the day Champlain landed on the rocks of Quebec +until the Verendryes traversed the prairies and plains of the +North-west. French explorers had discovered the three great waterways of +this continent--the Mississippi, which pours its enormous volume of +water, drawn from hundreds of tributaries, into a southern gulf; the St. +Lawrence, which bears the tribute of the great lakes to the Atlantic +Ocean; the Winnipeg, with its connecting rivers and lakes which stretch +from the Rocky Mountains to the dreary Arctic sea. La Verendrye was the +first Frenchman who stood on the height of land or elevated plateau of +the continent, almost within sight of the sources of those great rivers +which flow, after devious courses, north, south and east. It has been +well said that if three men should ascend these three waterways to their +farthest sources, they would find themselves in the heart of North +America; and, so to speak, within a stone's throw of one another. Nearly +all the vast territory, through which these great waterways flow, then +belonged to France, so far as exploration, discovery and partial +occupation gave her a right to exercise dominion. Only in the great +North, where summer is a season of a very few weeks, where icebergs bar +the way for many months, where the fur-trade and the whale-fishery alone +offered an incentive to capital and enterprise, had England a right to +an indefinite dominion. Here a "Company of Gentlemen-Adventurers +trading into Hudson's Bay" occupied some fortified stations which, +during the seventeenth century, had been seized by the daring +French-Canadian corsair, Iberville, who ranks with the famous +Englishman, Drake. On the Atlantic coast the prosperous English colonies +occupied a narrow range of country bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the +Alleghanies. It was only in the middle of the eighteenth century--nearly +three-quarters of a century after Joliet's and La Salle's explorations, +and even later than the date at which Frenchmen had followed the +Saskatchewan to the Rocky Mountains--that some enterprising Virginians +and Pennsylvanians worked their way into the beautiful country watered +by the affluents of the Ohio. New France may be said to have extended at +that time from Cape Breton or Isle Royale west to the Rocky Mountains, +and from the basin of the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. + + +SECTION 4.--End of French dominion in the valley of the St. Lawrence. + +After the treaty of Utrecht, France recognized the mistake she had made +in giving up Acadia, and devoted her attention to the island of Cape +Breton, or Isle Royale, on whose southeastern coast soon rose the +fortifications of Louisbourg. In the course of years this fortress +became a menace to English interests in Acadia and New England. In 1745 +the town was taken by a force of New England volunteers, led by General +Pepperrell, a discreet and able colonist, and a small English squadron +under the command of Commodore, afterwards Admiral, Warren, both of whom +were rewarded by the British government for their distinguished services +on this memorable occasion. France, however, appreciated the importance +of Isle Royale, and obtained its restoration in exchange for Madras +which at that time was the most important British settlement in the East +Indies. England then decided to strengthen herself in Acadia, where +France retained her hold of the French Acadian population through the +secret influence of her emissaries, chiefly missionaries, and +accordingly established a town on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, +ever since known as Halifax, in honour of a prominent statesman of those +times. The French settlers, who by the middle of the eighteenth century +numbered 12,000, a thrifty, industrious and simple-minded people, easily +influenced by French agents, called themselves "Neutrals," and could not +be forced to take the unqualified oath of allegiance which was demanded +of them by the authorities of Halifax. The English Government was now +determined to act with firmness in a province where British interests +had been so long neglected, and where the French inhabitants had in the +course of forty years shown no disposition to consider themselves +British subjects and discharge their obligations to the British Crown. +France had raised the contention that the Acadia ceded to England by the +treaty of Utrecht comprised only the present province of Nova Scotia, +and indeed only a portion of that peninsula according to some French +authorities. Commissioners were appointed by the two Powers to settle +the question of boundaries--of the meaning of "Acadie, with its ancient +boundaries"--but their negotiations came to naught and the issue was +only settled by the arbitrament of war. The French built the forts of +Beauséjour and Gaspereau--the latter a mere palisade--on the Isthmus of +Chignecto, which became the rendezvous of the French Acadians, whom the +former persuaded by promises or threats to join their fortunes. In 1755 +a force of English and Colonial troops, under the command of Colonels +Moncton, Winslow and Scott, captured these forts, and this success was +followed by the banishment of the Acadian French. This cruel act of +Governor Lawrence and the English authorities at Halifax was no doubt +largely influenced by the sentiment of leading men in New England, who +were apprehensive of the neighbourhood of so large a number of an alien +people, who could not be induced to prove their loyalty to Great +Britain, and might, in case of continued French successes in America, +become open and dangerous foes. But while there are writers who defend +this sad incident of American history on the ground of stern national +necessity at a critical period in the affairs of the continent, all +humanity that listens to the dictates of the heart and tender feeling +will ever deplore the exile of those hapless people. + +Previous to the expulsion of the Acadians from their pleasant homes on +the meadows of Grand Pré and Minas, England sustained a severe defeat in +the valley of the Ohio, which created much alarm throughout the English +colonies, and probably had some influence on the fortunes of those +people. France had formally taken possession of the Ohio country and +established forts in 1753 on French Creek, at its junction with the +Alleghany, and also at the forks of the Ohio. Adventurous British +pioneers were at last commencing to cross the Alleghanies, and a company +had been formed with the express intention of stimulating settlement in +the valley. George Washington, at the head of a small Colonial force, +was defeated in his attempt to drive the French from the Ohio; and the +English Government was compelled to send out a large body of regular +troops under the command of General Braddock, who met defeat and death +on the banks of the Monongahela, General Johnson, on the other hand, +defeated a force of French regulars, Canadian Militia and Indians, under +General Dieskau, at the southern end of Lake George. + +In 1756 war was publicly proclaimed between France and England, +although, as we have just seen, it had already broken out many months +previously in the forests of America. During the first two years of the +war the English forces sustained several disasters through the +incompetency of the English commanders on land and sea. The French in +Canada were now led by the Marquis de Montcalm, distinguished both as a +soldier of great ability and as a man of varied intellectual +accomplishments. In the early part of the Canadian campaign he was most +fortunate. Fort William Henry, at the foot of Lake George, and Fort +Oswego, on the south side of Lake Ontario, were captured, but his signal +victory at the former place was sullied by the massacre of defenceless +men, women and children by his Indian allies, although it is now +admitted by all impartial writers that he did his utmost to prevent so +sad a sequel to his triumph. The English Commander-in-Chief, Lord +Loudoun, assembled a large military force at Halifax in 1757 for the +purpose of making a descent on Louisbourg; but he returned to New York +without accomplishing anything, when he heard of the disastrous affair +of William Henry, for which he was largely responsible on account of +having failed to give sufficient support to the defenders of the fort. +Admiral Holbourne sailed to Louisbourg, but he did not succeed in coming +to an engagement with the French fleet then anchored in the harbour, and +the only result of his expedition was the loss of several of his ships +on the reefs of that foggy, rocky coast. + +In 1758 Pitt determined to enter on a vigorous campaign against France +in Europe and America. For America he chose Amherst, Boscawen, Howe, +Forbes, Wolfe, Lawrence and Whitman. Abercromby was unfortunately +allowed to remain in place of Loudoun, but it was expected by Pitt and +others that Lord Howe, one of the best soldiers in the British army, +would make up for the military weakness of that commander. Louisbourg, +Fort Duquesne, and the forts on Lake George, were the immediate objects +of attack. Abercromby at the head of a large force failed ignominiously +in his assault on Ticonderoga, and Lord Howe was one of the first to +fall in that unhappy and ill-managed battle. Amherst and Boscawen, on +the other hand, took Louisbourg, where Wolfe displayed great energy and +contributed largely to the success of the enterprise. Forbes was able to +occupy the important fort at the forks of the Ohio, now Pittsburg, which +gave to the English control of the beautiful country to the west of the +Alleghanies. Fort Frontenac was taken by Bradstreet, and Prince Edward +Island, then called Isle St. Jean, was occupied by an English force as +the necessary consequence of the fall of the Cape Breton fortress. The +nation felt that its confidence in Pitt was fully justified, and that +the power of France in America was soon to be effectually broken. + +In 1759 and 1760 Pitt's designs were crowned with signal success. Wolfe +proved at Quebec that the statesman had not overestimated his value as a +soldier and leader. Wolfe was supported by Brigadiers Moncton, +Townshend, Murray, and Guy Carleton--the latter a distinguished figure +in the later annals of Canada. The fleet was commanded by Admirals +Saunders, Durell and Holmes, all of whom rendered most effective +service. The English occupied the Island of Orleans and the heights of +Lévis, from which they were able to keep up a most destructive fire on +the capital. The whole effective force under Wolfe did not reach 9000 +men, or 5000 less than the regular and Colonial army under Montcalm, +whose lines extended behind batteries and earthworks from the St. +Charles River, which washes the base of the rocky heights of the town, +as far as the falls of Montmorency. The French held an impregnable +position which their general decided to maintain at all hazards, despite +the constant efforts of Wolfe for weeks to force him to the issue of +battle. Above the city for many miles there were steep heights, believed +to be unapproachable, and guarded at all important points by detachments +of soldiery. Wolfe failed in an attempt which he made at Beauport to +force Montcalm from his defences, and suffered a considerable loss +through the rashness of his grenadiers. He then resolved on a bold +stroke which succeeded by its very audacity in deceiving his opponent, +and giving the victory to the English. A rugged and dangerous path was +used at night up those very heights which, Montcalm confidently +believed, "a hundred men could easily defend against the whole British +army." On the morning of the 13th September, 1759, Wolfe marshalled an +army of four thousand five hundred men on the Plains of Abraham where he +was soon face to face with the French army. Montcalm had lost no time in +accepting the challenge of the English, in the hope that his superior +numbers would make up for their inferiority in discipline and equipment +compared with the smaller English force. His expectations were never +realized. In a few minutes the French fell in hundreds before the steady +deadly fire of the English lines, and Montcalm was forced to retreat +precipitately with the beaten remnant of his army. Wolfe received +several wounds, and died on the battlefield, but not before he was +conscious of his victory. "God be praised," were his dying words, "I now +die in peace." His brave adversary was mortally wounded while seeking +the protection of Quebec, and was buried in a cavity which a shell had +made in the floor of the chapel of the Ursuline Convent. A few days +later Quebec capitulated. Wolfe's body was taken to England, where it +was received with all the honours due to his great achievement. General +Murray was left in command at Quebec, and was defeated in the following +spring by Lévis in the battle of St. Foye, which raised the hopes of the +French until the appearance of English ships in the river relieved the +beleaguered garrison and decided for ever the fate of Quebec. A few +weeks later Montreal capitulated to Amherst, whose extreme caution +throughout the campaign was in remarkable contrast with the dash and +energy of the hero of Quebec. The war in Canada was now at an end, and +in 1763 the treaty of Paris closed the interesting chapter of French +dominion on the banks of the St. Lawrence and in the valleys of the Ohio +and the Mississippi. + + +SECTION 5.--Political, economic and social conditions of Canada during +French ride. + +France and England entered on the struggle for dominion in America about +the same time, but long before the conquest of Canada the communities +founded by the latter had exhibited a vigour and vitality which were +never shown in the development of the relatively poor and struggling +colonies of Canada and Louisiana. The total population of New France in +1759--that is, of all the French possessions in North America--did not +exceed 70,000 souls, of whom 60,000 were inhabitants of the country of +the St. Lawrence, chiefly of the Montreal and Quebec districts. France +had a few struggling villages and posts in the very "garden of the +North-west," as the Illinois country has been aptly called; but the +total population of New France from the great lakes to the Gulf of +Mexico did not exceed 10,000 souls, the greater number of whom dwelt on +the lower banks of the Mississippi. At this time the British colonies in +America, pent up between the Atlantic Ocean and the Appalachian +mountains, had a population twenty times larger than that of Canada and +Louisiana combined, and there was not any comparison whatever between +these French and British colonies with respect to trade, wealth or any +of the essentials of prosperity. + +Under the system of government established by Louis XIV, under the +advice of Colbert, the governor and intendant of Canada were, to all +intents and purposes in point of authority, the same officials who +presided over the affairs of a province of France. In Canada, as in +France, governors-general had only such powers as were expressly given +them by the king, who, jealous of all authority in others, kept them +rigidly in check. In those days the king was supreme; "I am the state," +said Louis Quatorze in the arrogance of his power; and it is thus easy +to understand that there could be no such free government or +representative institutions in Canada as were enjoyed from the very +commencement of their history by the old English colonies. + +The governor had command of the militia and troops, and was nominally +superior in authority to the intendant, but in the course of time the +latter became virtually the most influential officer in the colony and +even presided at the council-board. This official, who had the right to +report directly to the king on colonial affairs, had large civil, +commercial and maritime jurisdiction, and could issue ordinances which +had full legal effect in the country. Associated with the governor and +intendant was a council comprising in the first instance five, and +eventually twelve, persons, chosen from the leading people of the +colony. The change of name, from the "Supreme Council" to the "Superior +Council," is of itself some evidence of the determination of the king to +restrain the pretensions of all official bodies throughout the kingdom +and its dependencies. This body exercised legislative and judicial +powers. The bishop was one of its most important members, and the +history of the colony is full of the quarrels that arose between him and +the governor on points of official etiquette or with respect to more +important matters affecting the government of the country. + +Protestantism was unknown in Canada under French rule, and the +enterprise of the Huguenots was consequently lost to a country always +suffering from a want of population. Even the merchants of La Rochelle, +who traded with the country, found themselves invariably subject to +restrictions which placed them at an enormous disadvantage in their +competition with their Roman Catholic rivals. The Roman Catholic Church +was all powerful at the council-board as well as in the parish. In the +past as in the present century, a large Roman Catholic church rose, the +most prominent building in every town and village, illustrating its +dominating influence in the homes of every community of the province. +The parishes were established at an early date for ecclesiastical +purposes, and their extent was defined wherever necessary by the +council at Quebec. They were practically territorial divisions for the +administration of local affairs, and were conterminous, whenever +practicable, with the seigniory. The curé, the seignior, the militia +captain (often identical with the seignior), were the important +functionaries in every parish. Even at the present time, when a +canonical parish has been once formed by the proper ecclesiastical +authority, it may be erected into a municipal or civil division after +certain legal formalities by the government of the province. Tithes were +first imposed by Bishop Laval, who practically established the basis of +ecclesiastical authority in the province. It was only in church matters +that the people had the right to meet and express their opinions, and +even then the intendant alone could give the power of assembling for +such purposes. + +The civil law of French Canada relating to "property," inheritance, +marriage, and the personal or civil rights of the community generally, +had its origin, like all similar systems, in the Roman law, on which +were engrafted, in the course of centuries, those customs and usages +which were adapted to the social conditions of France. The customary law +of Paris became the fundamental law of French Canada, and despite the +changes that it has necessarily undergone in the course of many years, +its principles can still be traced throughout the present system as it +has been modified under the influences of the British regime. The +superior council of Canada gave judgment in civil and criminal cases +according to the _coutume de Paris_, and below it there were inferior +courts for the judicial districts of Quebec, Three Rivers and Montreal. +The bishop had also special jurisdiction over ecclesiastical matters. +The intendant had authority to deal with cases involving royal, or +seigniorial, rights, and to call before him any case whatever for final +review and judgment. In all cases appeals were allowable to the king +himself, but the difficulty of communication with Europe in those days +practically confined such references to a few special causes. The +seigniors had also certain judicial or magisterial powers, but they +never acted except in very trivial cases. Torture was sometimes applied +to condemned felons as in France and other parts of the old world. On +the whole justice appears to have been honestly and fairly administered. + +Parkman, in a terse sentence, sums up the conditions which fettered all +Canadian trade and industry, "A system of authority, monopoly and +exclusion in which the government, and not the individual, acted always +the foremost part." Whether it was a question of ship-building, of a +brewery or a tannery, of iron works or a new fishery, appeals must be +made in the first instance to the king for aid; and the people were +never taught to depend exclusively on their individual or associated +enterprise. At the time of the conquest, and in fact for many years +previously, the principal products of the country were beaver skins, +timber, agricultural products, fish, fish oil, ginseng (for some years +only), beer, cider, rug carpets, homespun cloths--made chiefly by the +inmates of the religious houses--soap, potash, leather, stoves, tools +and other iron manufactures--made in the St. Maurice forges--never a +profitable industry, whether carried on by companies or the government +itself. All these industries were fostered by the state, but, despite +all the encouragement they received, the total value of the exports, +principally furs, seal and other oils, lumber, peas, grain and ginseng +never exceeded 3,500,000 francs, or about one-tenth of the export trade +of the English colonies to Great Britain. Two-thirds of this amount +represented beaver skins, the profits on which were very fluctuating, on +account of the unwise regulations by which, the trade was constantly +crippled. This business was heavily taxed to meet the necessities of +colonial government, which were always heavy, and could never have been +met had it not been for the liberality of the king. In the year 1755 the +amount of all exports did not reach 2,500,000 francs, while the imports +were valued at 8,000,000 francs. These imports represented wines, +brandies, hardware and various luxuries, but the bulk was made up of the +supplies required for the use of the military and civil authorities. +The whole trade of the country was carried in about thirty sea-going +vessels, none of them of heavy tonnage. The royal government attempted +to stimulate ship-building in the country, and a few war vessels were +actually built in the course of many years, though it does not appear +that this industry was ever conducted with energy or enterprise. During +the last fifty years of French rule, in all probability, not a hundred +sea-going vessels were launched in the valley of the St. Lawrence. +Duties of import, before 1748, were only imposed on wines, brandies, and +Brazilian tobacco; but after the commencement of the war with England, +the king found it necessary to establish export and import duties: a +special exception was however made in favour of the produce of the farm, +forest and sea, which were allowed to enter or go out free. The whole +amount of duties raised in ordinary years did not reach above 300,000 +francs. + +In the closing years of French dominion the total population of Quebec, +Montreal and Three Rivers, the only towns in the province, did not +exceed 13,000 souls--about the population of Boston. Quebec alone had +8000 inhabitants, Montreal 4000, and Three Rivers 1000. The architecture +of these places was more remarkable for solidity than elegance or +symmetry of proportions. The churches, religious and educational +establishments, official buildings and residences--notably the +intendant's palace at Quebec--were built of stone. The most pretentious +edifice was the château of St. Louis--the residence of the +governor-general--which was rebuilt by Count de Frontenac within the +limits of the fort of St. Louis, first erected by Champlain on the +historic height always associated with his name. The best buildings in +the towns were generally of one story and constructed of stone. In the +rural parishes, the villages, properly speaking, consisted of a church, +presbytery, school, and tradesmen's houses, while the farms of the +_habitants_ stretched on either side. The size and shape of the farms +were governed by the form of the seigniories throughout the province. M. +Bourdon, the first Canadian surveyor-general, originally mapped out the +seigniories in oblong shapes with very narrow frontage along the +river--a frontage of two or three _arpents_ against a depth of from +forty to eighty _arpents_--and the same inconvenient oblong plan was +followed in making sub-grants to the _censitaire_ or _habitant_. The +result was a disfigurement of a large portion of the country, as the +civil law governing the succession of estates gradually cut up all the +seigniories into a number of small farms, each in the form of the +parallelogram originally given to the seigniorial grants. The houses of +the _habitants_, then as now, were generally built of logs or sawn +lumber, all whitewashed, with thatched or wooden roofs projecting over +the front so as to form a sort of porch or verandah. The farm-houses +were generally close together, especially in the best cultivated and +most thickly settled districts between Quebec and Montreal. Travellers, +just before the Seven Years' War, tell us that the farms in that +district appeared to be well cultivated on the whole, and the homes of +the _habitants_ gave evidences of thrift and comfort. Some farmers had +orchards from which cider was made, and patches of the coarse strong +tobacco which they continue to use to this day, and which is now an +important product of their province. Until the war the condition of the +French Canadian _habitant_ was one of rude comfort. He could never +become rich, in a country where there was no enterprise or trade which +encouraged him to strenuous efforts to make and save money. Gold and +silver were to him curiosities, and paper promises to pay, paper or card +money, were widely circulated from early times, and were never for the +most part redeemed, though the British authorities after the peace of +1763 made every possible effort to induce the French government to +discharge its obligations to the French Canadian people. The life of the +_habitants_ in peaceful times was far easier and happier than that of +the peasants of old France. They had few direct taxes to bear, except +the tithes required for the support of the church and such small +contributions as were necessary for local purposes. They were, however, +liable to be called out at any moment for military duties and were +subject to _corvées_ or forced labour for which they were never paid by +the authorities. + +The outbreak of the Seven Years' War was a serious blow to a people who +had at last surmounted the greatest difficulties of pioneer life, and +attained a moderate degree of comfort. The demands upon the people +capable of bearing arms were necessarily fatal to steady farming +occupations; indeed, in the towns of Quebec and Montreal there was more +than once an insufficiency of food for the garrisons, and horse-flesh +had to be served out, to the great disgust of the soldiers who at first +refused to take it. Had it not been for the opportune arrival of a ship +laden with provisions in the spring of 1759, the government would have +been unable to feed the army or the inhabitants of Quebec. The gravity +of the situation was aggravated for years by the jobbery and corruption +of the men who had the fate of the country largely in their hands. A few +French merchants, and monopolists in league with corrupt officials, +controlled the markets and robbed a long-suffering and too patient +people. The names of Bigot, Péan, and other officials of the last years +of French administration, are justly execrated by French Canadians as +robbers of the state and people in the days when the country was on the +verge of war, and Montcalm, a brave, incorruptible man, was fighting +against tremendous odds to save this unfortunate country to which he +gave up his own life in vain. + +So long as France governed Canada, education was entirely in the hands +of the Roman Catholic Church. The Jesuits, Franciscans, and other +religious orders, male and female, at an early date, commenced the +establishment of those colleges and seminaries which have always had so +important a share in the education of Lower Canada. The Jesuits founded +a college at Quebec in 1635, or three years before the establishment of +Harvard, and the Ursulines opened their convent in the same city four +years later. Sister Bourgeoys of Troyes founded at Montreal in 1659 the +Congrégation de Notre-Dame for the education of girls of humble rank; +the commencement of an institution which has now its buildings in many +parts of Canada. In the latter part of the seventeenth century Bishop +Laval carried out a project for providing education for Canadian priests +drawn from the people of the country. Consequently, in addition to the +great seminary at Quebec, there was the lesser seminary where boys were +taught in the hope that they would take orders. In the inception of +education the French endeavoured in more than one of their institutions +to combine industrial pursuits with the ordinary branches of an +elementary education. But all accounts of the days of the French régime +go to show that, despite the zealous efforts of the religious bodies to +improve the education of the colonists, secular instruction was at a +very low ebb and hardly reached the seigniories. One writer tells us +that "even the children of officers and gentlemen scarcely knew how to +read and write; they were ignorant of the first elements of geography +and history." Still, dull and devoid of intellectual life as was the +life of the Canadian, he had his place of worship where he received a +moral training which elevated him immeasurably above the peasantry of +England as well as of his old home. The clergy of Lower Canada +confessedly did their best to relieve the ignorance of the people, but +they were naturally unable to accomplish, by themselves, a task which +properly devolved on the governing class. Under the French régime in +Canada the civil authorities were as little anxious to enlighten the +people by the establishment of public or common schools as they were to +give them a voice in the government of the country. + +Evidence of some culture and intellectual aspirations in social circles +of the ancient capital attracted the surprise of travellers who visited +the country before the close of the French dominion. "Science and the +fine arts," wrote Charlevoix, in 1744, "have their turn and conversation +does not fail. The Canadians breathe from their birth an air of liberty, +which makes them very pleasant in the intercourse of life, and our +language is nowhere more purely spoken." La Gallissonière, a highly +cultured governor, spared no effort to encourage a sympathetic study of +scientific pursuits. Dr. Michel Sarrasin, who was a practising physician +in Quebec for nearly half a century, devoted himself most assiduously to +the natural history of the colony, and made some valuable contributions +to the French Academy. The Swedish botanist, Peter Kalm, was impressed +with the liking for scientific study which he observed in the French +colony. But such intellectual culture, as Kalm and Charlevoix mentioned, +never showed itself beyond the walls of Quebec or Montreal. The +province, as a whole, was in a state of mental sluggishness at the time +of the conquest by England, under whose benign influence the French +Canadian people were now to enter on a new career of political and +intellectual development. + +Pitt and Wolfe must take a high place among the makers of the Dominion +of Canada. It was they who gave relief to French Canada from the +absolutism of old France, and started her in a career of self-government +and political liberty. When the great procession passed before the Queen +of England on the day of the "Diamond Jubilee"--when delegates from all +parts of a mighty, world-embracing empire gave her their loyal and +heartfelt homage--Canada was represented by a Prime Minister who +belonged to that race which has steadily gained in intellectual +strength, political freedom, and material prosperity, since the +memorable events of 1759 and 1760. In that imperial procession nearly +half the American Continent was represented--Acadia and Canada first +settled by France, the north-west prairies first traversed by French +Canadian adventurers, the Pacific coast first seen by Cook and +Vancouver. There, too, marched men from Bengal, Madras, Bombay, +Jeypore, Haidarabad, Kashmir, Punjaub, from all sections of that great +empire of India which was won for England by Clive and the men who, like +Wolfe, became famous for their achievements in the days of Pitt. Perhaps +there were in that imperial pageant some Canadians whose thoughts +wandered from the Present to the Past, and recalled the memory of that +illustrious statesman and of all he did for Canada and England, when +they stood in Westminster Abbey, and looked on his expressive effigy, +which, in the eloquent language of a great English historian, "seems +still, with eagle face and outstretched arm, to bid England be of good +cheer and to hurl defiance at her foes." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH RULE. 1760-1774. + + +SECTION I.--From the Conquest until the Quebec Act. + +For nearly four years after the surrender of Vaudreuil at Montreal, +Canada was under a government of military men, whose headquarters were +at Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal--the capitals of the old French +districts of the same name. General Murray and the other commanders +laboured to be just and considerate in all their relations with the new +subjects of the Crown, who were permitted to prosecute their ordinary +pursuits without the least interference on the part of the conquerors. +The conditions of the capitulations of Quebec and Montreal, which +allowed the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, were +honourably kept. All that was required then, and for many years later, +was that the priests and curés should confine themselves exclusively to +their parochial duties, and not take part in public matters. It had been +also stipulated at Montreal that the communities of nuns should not be +disturbed in their convents; and while the same privileges were not +granted by the articles of capitulation to the Jesuits, Recollets, and +Sulpitians, they had every facility given to them to dispose of their +property and remove to France. As a matter of fact there was practically +no interference with any of the religious fraternities during the early +years of British rule; and when in the course of time the Jesuits +disappeared entirely from the country their estates passed by law into +the possession of the government for the use of the people, while the +Sulpitians were eventually allowed to continue their work and develope +property which became of great value on the island of Montreal. (The +French merchants and traders were allowed all the commercial and trading +privileges that were enjoyed by the old subjects of the British +Sovereign, not only in the valley of the St. Lawrence, but in the rich +fur regions of the West and North-West.) The articles of capitulation +did not give any guarantees or pledges for the continuance of the civil +law under which French Canada had been governed for over a century, but +while that was one of the questions dependent on the ultimate fate of +Canada, the British military rulers took every possible care during the +continuance of the military régime to respect so far as possible the old +customs and laws by which the people had been previously governed. +French writers of those days admit the generosity and justice of the +administration of affairs during this military régime. + +The treaty of Paris, signed on the 10th February, 1763, formally ceded +to England Canada as well as Acadia, with all their dependencies. The +French Canadians were allowed full liberty "to profess the worship of +their religion according to the rites of the Romish Church, as far as +the laws of Great Britain permit." The people had permission to retire +from Canada with all their effects within eighteen months from the date +of the ratification of the treaty. All the evidence before us goes to +show that only a few officials and seigniors ever availed themselves of +this permission to leave the country. At this time there was not a +single French settlement beyond Vaudreuil until the traveller reached +the banks of the Detroit between Lakes Erie and Huron. A chain of forts +and posts connected Montreal with the basin of the great lakes and the +country watered by the Ohio, Illinois, and other tributaries of the +Mississippi. The forts on the Niagara, at Detroit, at Michillimackinac, +at Great Bay, on the Maumee and Wabash, at Presqu' isle, at the junction +of French Creek with the Alleghany, at the forks of the Ohio, and at +less important localities in the West and South-West, were held by small +English garrisons, while the French still occupied Vincennes on the +Wabash and Chartres on the Mississippi, in the vicinity of the French +settlements at Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and the present site of St. Louis. + +Soon after the fall of Montreal, French traders from New Orleans and the +French settlements on the Mississippi commenced to foment disaffection +among the western Indians, who had strong sympathy with France, and were +quite ready to believe the story that she would ere long regain Canada. +The consequence was the rising of all the western tribes under the +leadership of Pontiac, the principal chief of the Ottawas, whose +warriors surrounded and besieged Detroit when he failed to capture it by +a trick. Niagara was never attacked, and Detroit itself was successfully +defended by Major Gladwin, a fearless soldier; but all the other forts +and posts very soon fell into the hands of the Indians, who massacred +the garrisons in several places. They also ravaged the border +settlements of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and carried off a number of +women and children to their wigwams. Fort Pitt at the confluence of the +Alleghany and the Monongahela rivers--the site of the present city of +Pittsburg--was in serious peril for a time, until Colonel Bouquet, a +brave and skilful officer, won a signal victory over the Indians, who +fled in dismay to their forest fastnesses. Pontiac failed to capture +Detroit, and Bouquet followed up his first success by a direct march +into the country of the Shawnees, Mingoes and Delawares, and forced them +to agree to stern conditions of peace on the banks of the Muskingum. The +power of the western Indians was broken for the time, and the British in +1765 took possession of the French forts of Chartres and Vincennes, when +the _fleur-de-lys_ disappeared for ever from the valley of the +Mississippi. The French settlers on the Illinois and the Mississippi +preferred to remain under British rule rather than cross the great river +and become subjects of Spain, to whom Western Louisiana had been ceded +by France. From this time forward France ceased to be an influential +factor in the affairs of Canada or New France, and the Indian tribes +recognized the fact that they could no longer expect any favour or aid +from their old ally. They therefore transferred their friendship to +England, whose power they had felt in the Ohio valley, and whose policy +was now framed with a special regard to their just treatment. + +This Indian war was still in progress when King George III issued his +proclamation for the temporary government of his new dependencies in +North America. As a matter of fact, though the proclamation was issued +in England on the 7th October, 1763, it did not reach Canada and come +into effect until the 10th August, 1764. The four governments of Quebec, +Grenada, East Florida, and West Florida were established in the +territories ceded by France and Spain. The eastern limit of the province +of Quebec did not extend beyond St. John's River at the mouth of the St. +Lawrence, nearly opposite to Anticosti, while that island itself and the +Labrador country, east of the St. John's as far as the Straits of +Hudson, were placed under the jurisdiction of Newfoundland. The islands +of Cape Breton and St. John, now Prince Edward, became subject to the +Government of Nova Scotia, which then included the present province of +New Brunswick. The northern limit of the province did not extend beyond +the territory known as Rupert's Land under the charter given to the +Hudson's Bay Company in 1670, while the western boundary was drawn +obliquely from Lake Nipissing as far as Lake St. Francis on the St. +Lawrence; the southern boundary then followed line 45° across the upper +part of Lake Champlain, whence it passed along the highlands which +divide the rivers that empty themselves into the St. Lawrence from those +that flow into the sea--an absurdly defined boundary since it gave to +Canada as far as Cape Rosier on the Gaspé peninsula a territory only a +few miles wide. No provision whatever was made in the proclamation for +the government of the country west of the Appalachian range, which was +claimed by Pennsylvania, Virginia, and other colonies under the +indefinite terms of their original charters, which practically gave +them no western limits. Consequently the proclamation was regarded with +much disfavour by the English colonists on the Atlantic coast. No +provision was even made for the great territory which extended beyond +Nipissing as far as the Mississippi and included the basin of the great +lakes. It is easy to form the conclusion that the intention of the +British government was to restrain the ambition of the old English +colonies east of the Appalachian range, and to divide the immense +territory to their north-west at some future and convenient time into +several distinct and independent governments. No doubt the British +government also found it expedient for the time being to keep the +control of the fur-trade so far as possible in its own hands, and in +order to achieve this object it was necessary in the first place to +conciliate the Indian tribes, and not allow them to come in any way +under the jurisdiction of the chartered colonies. The proclamation +itself, in fact, laid down entirely new, and certainly equitable, +methods of dealing with the Indians within the limits of British +sovereignty. The governors of the old colonies were expressly forbidden +to grant authority to survey lands beyond the settled territorial limits +of their respective governments. No person was allowed to purchase land +directly from the Indians. The government itself thenceforth could alone +give a legal title to Indian lands, which must, in the first place, be +secured by treaty with the tribes that claimed to own them. This was the +beginning of that honest policy which has distinguished the relations of +England and Canada with the Indian nations for over a hundred years, and +which has obtained for the present Dominion the confidence and +friendship of the many thousand Indians, who roamed for many centuries +in Rupert's Land and in the Indian Territories where the Hudson's Bay +Company long enjoyed exclusive privileges of trade. + +The language of the proclamation with respect to the government of the +province of Quebec was extremely unsatisfactory. It was ordered that so +soon as the state and circumstances of the colony admitted, the +governor-general could with the advice and consent of the members of the +council summon a general assembly, "in such manner and form as is used +and directed in those colonies and provinces in America which are under +our immediate government." Laws could be made by the governor, council, +and representatives of the people for the good government of the colony, +"as near as may be agreeable to the laws of England, and under such +regulations and restrictions as are used in other colonies." Until such +an assembly could be called, the governor could with the advice of his +council constitute courts for the trial and determination of all civil +and criminal cases, "according to law and equity, and as near as may be +agreeable to the laws of England," with liberty to appeal, in all civil +cases, to the privy council of England. General Murray, who had been in +the province since the battle on the Plains of Abraham, was appointed to +administer the government. Any persons elected to serve in an assembly +were required, by his commission and instructions, before they could sit +and vote, to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and subscribe a +declaration against transubstantiation, the adoration of the Virgin, and +the Sacrifice of the Mass. + +This proclamation--in reality a mere temporary expedient to give time +for considering the whole state of the colony--was calculated to do +infinite harm, since its principal importance lay in the fact that it +attempted to establish English civil as well as criminal law, and at the +same time required oaths which effectively prevented the French +Canadians from serving in the very assembly which it professed a desire +on the part of the king to establish. The English-speaking or Protestant +people in the colony did not number in 1764 more than three hundred +persons, of little or no standing, and it was impossible to place all +power in their hands and to ignore nearly seventy thousand French +Canadian Roman Catholics. Happily the governor, General Murray, was not +only an able soldier, as his defence of Quebec against Lévis had +proved, but also a man of statesmanlike ideas, animated by a high sense +of duty and a sincere desire to do justice to the foreign people +committed to his care. He refused to lend himself to the designs of the +insignificant British minority, chiefly from the New England colonies, +or to be guided by their advice in carrying on his government. His +difficulties were lessened by the fact that the French had no conception +of representative institutions in the English sense, and were quite +content with any system of government that left them their language, +religion, and civil law without interference. The stipulations of the +capitulations of 1759-1760, and of the treaty of Paris, with respect to +the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, were always observed +in a spirit of great fairness: and in 1766 Monseigneur Briand was +chosen, with the governor's approval, Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec. +He was consecrated at Paris after his election by the chapter of Quebec, +and it does not appear that his recognition ever became the subject of +parliamentary discussion. This policy did much to reconcile the French +Canadians to their new rulers, and to make them believe that eventually +they would receive full consideration in other essential respects. + +For ten years the government of Canada was in a very unsatisfactory +condition, while the British ministry was all the while worried with the +condition of things in the old colonies, then in a revolutionary +ferment. The Protestant minority continued to clamour for an assembly, +and a mixed system of French and English law, in case it was not +possible to establish the latter in its entirety. Attorney-General +Masères, an able lawyer and constitutional writer, was in favour of a +mixed system, but his views were notably influenced by his strong +prejudices against Roman Catholics. The administration of the law was +extremely confused until 1774, not only on account of the ignorance and +incapacity of the men first sent out from England to preside over the +courts, but also as a consequence of the steady determination of the +majority of French Canadians to ignore laws to which they had naturally +an insuperable objection. In fact, the condition of things became +practically chaotic. It might have been much worse had not General +Murray, at first, and Sir Guy Carleton, at a later time, endeavoured, so +far as lay in their power, to mitigate the hardships to which the people +were subject by being forced to observe laws of which they were entirely +ignorant. + +At this time the governor-general was advised by an executive council, +composed of officials and some other persons chosen from the small +Protestant minority of the province. Only one French Canadian appears to +have been ever admitted to this executive body. The English residents +ignored the French as far as possible, and made the most unwarrantable +claims to rule the whole province. + +A close study of official documents from 1764 until 1774 goes to show +that all this while the British government was influenced by an anxious +desire to show every justice to French Canada, and to adopt a system of +government most conducive to its best interests In 1767 Lord Shelburne +wrote to Sir Guy Carleton that "the improvement of the civil +constitution of the province was under their most serious +consideration." They were desirous of obtaining all information "which +can tend to elucidate how far it is practicable and expedient to blend +the English with the French laws, in order to form such a system as +shall be at once equitable and convenient for His Majesty's old and new +subjects." From time to time the points at issue were referred to the +law officers of the crown for their opinion, so anxious was the +government to come to a just conclusion. Attorney-General Yorke and +Solicitor-General De Grey in 1766 severely condemned any system that +would permanently "impose new, unnecessary and arbitrary rules +(especially as to the titles of land, and the mode of descent, +alienation and settlement), which would tend to confound and subvert +rights instead of supporting them." In 1772 and 1773 Attorney-General +Thurlow and Solicitor-General Wedderburne dwelt on the necessity of +dealing on principles of justice with the province of Quebec. The French +Canadians, said the former, "seem to have been strictly entitled by the +_jus gentium_ to their property, as they possessed it upon the +capitulation and treaty of peace, together with all its qualities and +incidents by tenure or otherwise." It seemed a necessary consequence +that all those laws by which that property was created, defined, and +secured, must be continued to them. The Advocate-General Marriott, in +1773, also made a number of valuable suggestions in the same spirit, and +at the same time expressed the opinion that under the existent +conditions of the country it was not possible or expedient to call an +assembly. Before the imperial government came to a positive conclusion +on the vexed questions before it, they had the advantage of the wise +experience of Sir Guy Carleton, who visited England and remained there +for some time. The result of the deliberation of years was the passage +through the British parliament of the measure known as "The Quebec Act," +which has always been considered the charter of the special privileges +which the French Canadians have enjoyed ever since, and which, in the +course of a century, made their province one of the most influential +sections of British North America. + +The preamble of the Quebec Act fixed new territorial limits for the +province. It comprised not only the country affected by the proclamation +of 1763, but also all the eastern territory which had been previously +annexed to Newfoundland. In the west and south-west the province was +extended to the Ohio and the Mississippi, and in fact embraced all the +lands beyond the Alleghanies coveted and claimed by the old English +colonies, now hemmed in between the Atlantic and the Appalachian range. +It was now expressly enacted that the Roman Catholic inhabitants of +Canada should thenceforth "enjoy the free exercise" of their religion, +"subject to the king's supremacy declared and established" by law, and +on condition of taking an oath of allegiance, set forth in the act. The +Roman Catholic clergy were allowed "to hold, receive, and enjoy their +accustomed dues and rights, with respect to such persons only as shall +confess the said religion"--that is, one twenty-sixth part of the +produce of the land, Protestants being specially exempted. The French +Canadians were allowed to enjoy all their property, together with all +customs and usages incident thereto, "in as large, ample and beneficial +manner," as if the proclamation or other acts of the crown "had not been +made", but the religious orders and communities were excepted in +accordance with the terms of the capitulation of Montreal--the effect of +which exception I have already briefly stated. In "all matters of +controversy relative to property and civil rights," resort was to be had +to the old civil law of French Canada "as the rule for the decision of +the same", but the criminal law of England was extended to the province +on the indisputable ground that its "certainty and lenity" were already +"sensibly felt by the inhabitants from an experience of more than nine +years." The government of the province was entrusted to a governor and a +legislative council appointed by the crown, "inasmuch as it was +inexpedient to call an assembly." The council was to be composed of not +more than twenty-three residents of the province. At the same time the +British parliament made special enactments for the imposition of certain +customs duties "towards defraying the charges of the administration of +justice and the support of the civil government of the province." All +deficiencies in the revenues derived from these and other sources had to +be supplied by the imperial treasury. During the passage of the act +through parliament, it evoked the bitter hostility of Lord Chatham, who +was then the self-constituted champion of the old colonies, who found +the act most objectionable, not only because it established the Roman +Catholic religion, but placed under the government of Quebec the rich +territory west of the Alleghanies. Similar views were expressed by the +Mayor and Council of London, but they had no effect. The king, in giving +his assent, declared that the measure "was founded on the clearest +principles of justice and humanity, and would have the best effect in +quieting the minds and promoting the happiness of our Canadian +subjects." In French Canada the act was received without any popular +demonstration by the French Canadians, but the men to whom the great +body of that people always looked for advice and guidance--the priests, +curés, and seigniors--naturally regarded these concessions to their +nationality as giving most unquestionable evidence of the considerate +and liberal spirit in which the British government was determined to +rule the province. They had had ever since the conquest satisfactory +proof that their religion was secure from all interference, and now the +British parliament itself came forward with legal guarantees, not only +for the free exercise of that religion, with all its incidents and +tithes, but also for the permanent establishment of the civil law to +which they attached so much importance. The fact that no provision was +made for a popular assembly could not possibly offend a people to whom +local self-government in any form was entirely unknown. It was +impossible to constitute an assembly from the few hundred Protestants +who were living in Montreal and Quebec, and it was equally impossible, +in view of the religious prejudices dominant in England and the English +colonies, to give eighty thousand French Canadian Roman Catholics +privileges which their co-religionists did not enjoy in Great Britain +and to allow them to sit in an elected assembly. Lord North seemed to +voice the general opinion of the British parliament on this difficult +subject, when he closed the debate with an expression of "the earnest +hope that the Canadians will, in the course of time, enjoy as much of +our laws and as much of our constitution as may be beneficial to that +country and safe for this", but "that time," he concluded, "had not yet +come." It does not appear from the evidence before us that the British +had any other motive in passing the Quebec Act than to do justice to +the French Canadian people, now subjects of the crown of England. It was +not a measure primarily intended to check the growth of popular +institutions, but solely framed to meet the actual conditions of a +people entirely unaccustomed to the working of representative or popular +institutions. It was a preliminary step in the development of +self-government. + +On the other hand the act was received with loud expressions of +dissatisfaction by the small English minority who had hoped to see +themselves paramount in the government of the province. In Montreal, the +headquarters of the disaffected, an attempt was made to set fire to the +town, and the king's bust was set up in one of the public squares, +daubed with black, and decorated with a necklace made of potatoes, and +bearing the inscription _Voilà le pape du Canada & le sot Anglais_. The +author of this outrage was never discovered, and all the influential +French Canadian inhabitants of the community were deeply incensed that +their language should have been used to insult a king whose only offence +was his assent to a measure of justice to themselves. + +Sir Guy Carleton, who had been absent in England for four years, +returned to Canada on the 18th September, 1774, and was well received in +Quebec. The first legislative council under the Quebec Act was not +appointed until the beginning of August, 1775. Of the twenty-two members +who composed it, eight were influential French Canadians bearing +historic names. The council met on the 17th August, but was forced to +adjourn on the 7th September, on account of the invasion of Canada by +the troops of the Continental Congress, composed of representatives of +the rebellious element of the Thirteen Colonies. In a later chapter I +shall very shortly review the effects of the American revolution upon +the people of Canada; but before I proceed to do so it is necessary to +take my readers first to Nova Scotia on the eastern seaboard of British +North America and give a brief summary of its political development +from the beginning of British rule. + + +SECTION 2.--The foundation of Nova Scotia (1749--1783). + +The foundation of Halifax practically put an end to the Acadian period +of Nova Scotian settlement. Until that time the English occupation of +the country was merely nominal. Owing largely to the representations of +Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts--a statesman of considerable ability, +who distinguished himself in American affairs during a most critical +period of colonial history--the British government decided at last on a +vigorous policy in the province, which seemed more than once on the +point of passing out of their hands. Halifax was founded by the +Honourable Edward Cornwallis on the slope of a hill, whose woods then +dipped their branches into the very waters of the noble harbour long +known as Chebuctou, and renamed in honour of a distinguished member of +the Montague family, who had in those days full control of the +administration of colonial affairs. + +Colonel Cornwallis, a son of the Baron of that name--a man of firmness +and discretion--entered the harbour, on the 21st of June, old style, or +2nd July present style, and soon afterwards assumed his, duties as +governor of the province. The members of his first council were sworn in +on board one of the transports in the harbour. Between 2000 and 3000 +persons were brought at this time to settle the town and country. These +people were chiefly made up of retired military and naval officers, +soldiers and sailors, gentlemen, mechanics, farmers--far too few--and +some Swiss, who were extremely industrious and useful. On the whole, +they were not the best colonists to build up a prosperous industrial +community. The government gave the settlers large inducements in the +shape of free grants of land, and practically supported them for the +first two or three years. It was not until the Acadian population were +removed, and their lands were available, that the foundation of the +agricultural prosperity of the peninsula was really laid. In the summer +of 1753 a considerable number of Germans were placed in the present +county of Lunenburg, where their descendants still prosper, and take a +most active part in all the occupations of life. + +With the disappearance of the French Acadian settlers Nova Scotia became +a British colony in the full sense of the phrase. The settlement of 1749 +was supplemented in 1760, and subsequent years, by a valuable and large +addition of people who were induced to leave Massachusetts and other +colonies of New England and settle in townships of the present counties +of Annapolis, King's, Hants, Queen's, Yarmouth, Cumberland, and +Colchester, especially in the beautiful townships of Cornwallis and +Horton, where the Acadian meadows were the richest. A small number also +settled at Maugerville and other places on the St. John River. + +During the few years that had elapsed since the Acadians were driven +from their lands, the sea had once more found its way through the ruined +dykes, which had no longer the skilful attention of their old builders. +The new owners of the Acadian lands had none of the special knowledge +that the French had acquired, and were unable for years to keep back the +ever-encroaching tides. Still there were some rich uplands and low-lying +meadows, raised above the sea, which richly rewarded the industrious +cultivator. The historian, Haliburton, describes the melancholy scene +that met the eyes of the new settlers when they reached, in 1760, the +old homes of the Acadians at Mines. They came across a few straggling +families of Acadians who "had eaten no bread for years, and had +subsisted on vegetables, fish, and the more hardy part of the cattle +that had survived the severity of the first winter of their +abandonment." They saw everywhere "ruins of the houses that had been +burned by the Provincials, small gardens encircled by cherry-trees and +currant-bushes, and clumps of apple-trees." In all parts of the country, +where the new colonists established themselves, the Indians were +unfriendly for years, and it was necessary to erect stockaded houses for +the protection of the settlements. + +No better class probably could have been selected to settle Nova Scotia +than these American immigrants. The majority were descendants of the +Puritans who settled in New England, and some were actually sprung from +men and women who had landed from "The Mayflower" in 1620. Governor +Lawrence recognized the necessity of having a sturdy class of settlers, +accustomed to the climatic conditions and to agricultural labour in +America, and it was through his strenuous efforts that these immigrants +were brought into the province. They had, indeed, the choice of the best +land of the province, and everything was made as pleasant as possible +for them by a paternal government, only anxious to establish British +authority on a sound basis of industrial development. + +In 1767, according to an official return in the archives of Nova Scotia, +the total population of what are now the provinces of Nova Scotia, New +Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, reached 13,374 souls; of whom 6913 +are given as Americans, 912 as English, 2165 as Irish, 1946 as Germans, +and 1265 as Acadian French, the latter being probably a low estimate. +Some of these Irish emigrated directly from the north of Ireland, and +were Presbyterians. They were brought out by one Alexander McNutt, who +did much for the work of early colonization; others came from New +Hampshire, where they had been settled for some years. The name of +Londonderry in New Hampshire is a memorial of this important class, just +as the same name recalls them in the present county of Colchester, in +Nova Scotia. + +The Scottish immigration, which has exercised such an important +influence on the eastern counties of Nova Scotia--and I include Cape +Breton--commenced in 1772, when about thirty families arrived from +Scotland and settled in the present county of Pictou, where a very few +American colonists from Philadelphia had preceded them. In later years a +steady tide of Scotch population flowed into eastern Nova Scotia and did +not cease until 1820. Gaelic is still the dominant tongue in the eastern +counties, where we find numerous names recalling the glens, lochs, and +mountains of old Scotland. Sir William Alexander's dream of a new +Scotland has been realised in a measure in the province where his +ambition would have made him "lord paramount." + +Until the foundation of Halifax the government of Nova Scotia was vested +solely in a governor who had command of the garrison stationed at +Annapolis. In 1719 a commission was issued to Governor Phillips, who was +authorised to appoint a council of not less than twelve persons. This +council had advisory and judicial functions, but its legislative +authority was of a very limited scope. This provisional system of +government lasted until 1749, when Halifax became the seat of the new +administration of public affairs. The governor had a right to appoint a +council of twelve persons--as we have already seen, he did so +immediately--and to summon a general assembly "according to the usage of +the rest of our colonies and plantations in America." He was, "with the +advice and consent" of the council and assembly, "to make, constitute +and ordain laws" for the good government of the province. During nine +years the governor-in-council carried on the government without an +assembly, and passed a number of ordinances, some of which imposed +duties on trade for the purpose of raising revenue. The legality of +their acts was questioned by Chief Justice Belcher, and he was sustained +by the opinion of the English law officers, who called attention to the +governor's commission, which limited the council's powers. The result of +this decision was the establishment of a representative assembly, which +met for the first time at Halifax on the 2nd October, 1758. + +Governor Lawrence, whose name will be always unhappily associated with +the merciless expatriation of the French Acadians, had the honour of +opening the first legislative assembly of Nova Scotia in 1758. One +Robert Sanderson, of whom we know nothing else, was chosen as the first +speaker, but he held his office for only one session, and was succeeded +by William Nesbitt, who presided over the house for many years. The +first sittings of the legislature were held in the court house, and +subsequently in the old grammar school at the corner of Barrington and +Sackville Streets, for very many years one of the historic memorials of +the Halifax of the eighteenth century. + +At this time the present province of New Brunswick was for the most part +comprised in a county known as Sunbury, with one representative in the +assembly of Nova Scotia. The island of Cape Breton also formed a part of +the province, and had the right to send two members to the assembly, but +the only election held for that purpose was declared void on account of +there not being any freeholders entitled by law to vote. The island of +St. John, named Prince Edward in 1798, in honour of the Duke of Kent, +who was commander-in-chief of the British forces for some years in North +America, was also annexed to Nova Scotia in 1763, but it never sent +representatives to its legislature. In the following year a survey was +commenced of all the imperial dominions on the Atlantic. Various schemes +for the cultivation and settlement of the island were proposed as soon +as the surveys were in progress. The most notable suggestion was made by +the Earl of Egmont, first lord of the admiralty; he proposed the +division of the island into baronies, each with a castle or stronghold +under a feudal lord, subject to himself as lord paramount, under the +customs of the feudal system of Europe. The imperial authorities +rejected this scheme, but at the same time they adopted one which was as +unwise as that of the noble earl. The whole island, with the exception +of certain small reservations and royalties, was given away by lottery +in a single day to officers of the army and navy who had served in the +preceding war, and to other persons who were ambitious to be great +landowners, on the easy condition of paying certain quit-rents--a +condition constantly broken. This ill-advised measure led to many +troublesome complications for a hundred years, until at last they were +removed by the terms of the arrangement which brought the island into +the federal union of British North America in 1873. In 1769 the island +was separated from Nova Scotia and granted a distinct government, +although its total population at the time did not exceed one hundred and +fifty families. An assembly of eighteen representatives was called so +early as 1773, when the first governor, Captain Walter Paterson, still +administered public affairs. The assembly was not allowed to meet with +regularity during many years of the early history of the island. During +one administration it was practically without parliamentary government +for ten years. The land question always dominated public affairs in the +island for a hundred years. + +From the very beginning of a regular system of government in Nova Scotia +the legislature appears to have practically controlled the +administration of local affairs except so far as it gave, from time to +time, powers to the courts of quarter sessions to regulate taxation and +carry out certain small public works and improvements. In the first +session of the legislature a joint committee of the council and assembly +chose the town officers for Halifax. We have abundant evidence that at +this time the authorities viewed with disfavour any attempt to establish +a system of town government similar to that so long in operation in New +England. The town meeting was considered the nursery of sedition in New +England, and it is no wonder that the British authorities in Halifax +frowned upon all attempts to reproduce it in their province. + +Soon after his arrival in Nova Scotia, Governor Cornwallis established +courts of law to try and determine civil and criminal cases in +accordance with the laws of England. In 1774 there were in the province +courts of general session, similar to the courts of the same name in +England; courts of common pleas, formed on the practice of New England +and the mother country, and a supreme court, court of assize and general +gaol delivery, composed of a chief justice and two assistant judges. The +governor-in-council constituted a court of error in certain cases, and +from its decisions an appeal could be made to the king-in-council. +Justices of peace were also appointed in the counties and townships, +with jurisdiction over the collection of small debts. + +We must now leave the province of Nova Scotia and follow the +revolutionary movement, which commenced, soon after the signing of the +Treaty of Paris, in the old British colonies on the Atlantic seaboard, +and ended in the acknowledgement of their independence in 1783, and in +the forced migration of a large body of loyal people who found their way +to the British provinces. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS (1763--1784). + + +SECTION I.--The successful Revolution of the Thirteen Colonies in +America. + +When Canada was formally ceded to Great Britain the Thirteen Colonies +were relieved from the menace of the presence of France in the valleys +of the St. Lawrence, the Ohio, and the Mississippi. Nowhere were there +more rejoicings on account of this auspicious event than in the homes of +the democratic Puritans. The names of Pitt and Wolfe were honoured above +all others of their countrymen, and no one in England, certainly not +among its statesmen, imagined that in the colonies, which stretched from +the river Penobscot to the peninsula of Florida, there was latent a +spirit of independence which might at any moment threaten the rule of +Great Britain on the American continent. The great expenses of the Seven +Years' War were now pressing heavily on the British taxpayer. British +statesmen were forced to consider how best they could make the colonies +themselves contribute towards their own protection in the future, and +relieve Great Britain in some measure from the serious burden which +their defence had heretofore imposed on her. In those days colonies were +considered as so many possessions to be used for the commercial +advantage of the parent state. Their commerce and industries had been +fettered for many years by acts of parliament which were intended to +give Great Britain a monopoly of their trade and at the same time +prevent them from manufacturing any article that they could buy from the +British factories. As a matter of fact, however, these restrictive +measures of imperial protection had been for a long time practically +dead-letters. The merchants and seamen of New England carried on +smuggling with the French and Spanish Indies with impunity, and +practically traded where they pleased. + +The stamp act was only evidence of a vigorous colonial policy, which was +to make the people of the colonies contribute directly to their own +defence and security, and at the same time enforce the navigation laws +and acts of trade and put an end to the general system of smuggling by +which men, some of the best known merchants of Boston, had acquired a +fortune. George Grenville, who was responsible for the rigid enforcement +of the navigation laws and the stamp act, had none of that worldly +wisdom which Sir Robert Walpole showed when, years before, it was +proposed to him to tax the colonies. "No," said that astute politician, +"I have old England set against me already, and do you think I will have +New England likewise?" But Grenville and his successors, in attempting +to carry out a new colonial policy, entirely misunderstood the +conditions and feelings of the colonial communities affected and raised +a storm of indignation which eventually led to independence. The stamp +act was in itself an equitable measure, the proceeds of which were to be +exclusively used for the benefit of the colonies themselves; but its +enactment was most unfortunate at a time when the influential classes in +New England were deeply irritated at the enforcement of a policy which +was to stop the illicit trade from which they had so largely profited in +the past. The popular indignation, however, vented itself against the +stamp act, which imposed internal taxation, was declared to be in direct +violation of the principles of political liberty and self-government +long enjoyed by the colonists as British subjects, and was repealed as a +result of the violent opposition it met in the colonies. Parliament +contented itself with a statutory declaration of its supremacy in all +matters over every part of the empire; but not long afterwards the +determination of some English statesmen to bring the colonies as far as +practicable directly under the dominion of British law in all matters of +commerce and taxation, and to control their government as far as +possible, found full expression in the Townshend acts of 1767 which +imposed port duties on a few commodities, including tea, imported into +those countries. At the same time provision was made for the due +execution of existing laws relating to trade. The province of New York +was punished for openly refusing to obey an act of parliament which +required the authorities to furnish the British troops with the +necessaries of life. Writs of assistance, which allowed officials to +search everywhere for smuggled goods, were duly legalised. These writs +were the logical sequence of a rigid enforcement of the laws of trade +and navigation, and had been vehemently denounced by James Otis, so far +back as 1761, as not only irreconcilable with the colonial charters, but +as inconsistent with those natural rights which a people "derived from +nature and the Author of nature"--an assertion which obtained great +prominence for the speaker. This bold expression of opinion in +Massachusetts should be studied by the historian of those times in +connection with the equally emphatic revolutionary argument advanced by +Patrick Henry of Virginia, two years later, against the ecclesiastical +supremacy of the Anglican clergy and the right of the king to veto +legislation of the colony. Though the prerogative of the crown was thus +directly called into question in a Virginia court, the British +government did not take a determined stand on the undoubted rights of +the crown in the case. English statesmen and lawyers probably regarded +such arguments, if they paid any attention to them at all in days when +they neglected colonial opinion, as only temporary ebullitions of local +feeling, though in reality they were so many evidences of the opposition +that was sure to show itself whenever there was a direct interference +with the privileges and rights of self-governing communities. Both Henry +and Otis touched a key-note of the revolution, which was stimulated by +the revenue and stamp acts and later measures affecting the colonies. + +It is somewhat remarkable that it was in aristocratic Virginia, founded +by Cavaliers, as well as in democratic Massachusetts, founded by +Puritans, that the revolutionary element gained its principal strength +during the controversy with the parent state. The makers of +Massachusetts were independents in church government and democrats in +political principle. The whole history of New England, in fact, from the +first charters until the argument on the writs of assistance, is full of +incidents which show the growth of republican ideas. The Anglican church +had no strength in the northern colonies, and the great majority of +their people were bitterly opposed to the pretensions of the English +hierarchy to establish an episcopate in America. It is not therefore +surprising that Massachusetts should have been the leader in the +revolutionary agitation; on the other hand in Virginia the Anglican +clergy belonged to what was essentially an established church, and the +whole social fabric of the colony rested on an aristocratic basis. No +doubt before the outbreak of the revolution there was a decided feeling +against England on account of the restrictions on the sale of tobacco; +and the quarrel, which I have just referred to, with respect to the +stipends of the clergy, which were to be paid in this staple commodity +according to its market value at the time of payment, had spread +discontent among a large body of the people. But above all such causes +of dissatisfaction was the growing belief that the political freedom of +the people, and the very existence of the colony as a self-governing +community, were jeopardised by the indiscreet acts of the imperial +authorities after 1763. It is easy then to understand that the action of +the British government in 1767 renewed the agitation, which had been +allayed for the moment by the repeal of the stamp act and the general +belief that there would be no rigid enforcement of old regulations which +meant the ruin of the most profitable trade of New England. The measures +of the ministry were violently assailed in parliament by Burke and +other eminent men who availed themselves of so excellent an opportunity +of exciting the public mind against a government which was doing so much +to irritate the colonies and injure British trade. All the political +conditions were unfavourable to a satisfactory adjustment of the +colonial difficulty. Chatham had been one of the earnest opponents of +the stamp act, but he was now buried in retirement--labouring under some +mental trouble--and Charles Townshend, the chancellor of the exchequer +in the cabinet of which Chatham was the real head, was responsible for +measures which his chief would have repudiated as most impolitic and +inexpedient in the existing temper of the colonies. + +The action of the ministry was for years at once weak and irritating. +One day they asserted the supremacy of the British parliament, and on +the next yielded to the violent opposition of the colonies and the +appeals of British merchants whose interests were at stake. Nothing +remained eventually but the tea duty, and even that was so arranged that +the colonists could buy their tea at a much cheaper rate than the +British consumer. But by this time a strong anti-British party was in +course of formation throughout the colonies. Samuel Adams of +Massachusetts, Patrick Henry of Virginia, and a few other political +managers of consummate ability, had learned their own power, and the +weakness of English ministers. Samuel Adams, who had no love in his +heart for England, was undoubtedly by this time insidiously working +towards the independence of the colonies. Violence and outrage formed +part of his secret policy. The tea in Boston harbour was destroyed by a +mob disguised as Mohawk Indians, and was nowhere allowed to enter into +domestic consumption. The patience of English ministers was now +exhausted, and they determined to enter on a vigorous system of +repression, which might have had some effect at an earlier stage of the +revolutionary movement, when the large and influential loyal body of +people in the colonies ought to have been vigorously supported, and not +left exposed to the threats, insults, and even violence of a resolute +minority, comprising many persons influenced by purely selfish +reasons--the stoppage of illicit trade from which they had profited--as +well as men who objected on principle to a policy which seemed to them +irreconcilable with the rights of the people to the fullest possible +measure of local self-government. As it was, however, the insults and +injuries to British officials bound to obey the law, the shameless and +continuous rioting, the destruction of private property, the defiant +attitude of the opposition to England, had at last awakened the home +authorities to the dangers latent in the rebellious spirit that reckless +agitators had aroused in colonies for which England had sacrificed so +much of her blood and treasure when their integrity and dearest +interests were threatened by France. The port of Boston, where the +agitators were most influential and the most discreditable acts of +violence had taken place, was closed to trade; and important +modifications were made in the charter granted to Massachusetts by +William III in 1692. Another obnoxious act provided that persons +"questioned for any acts in execution of the laws" should be tried in +England--a measure intended to protect officials and soldiers in the +discharge of their duty against the rancour of the colonial community +where they might be at that time. These measures, undoubtedly unwise at +this juncture, were calculated to evoke the hostility of the other +colonies and to show them what was probably in store for themselves. But +while the issue certainly proved this to be the case, the course pursued +by the government under existing conditions had an appearance of +justification. Even Professor Goldwin Smith, who will not be accused of +any sympathy with the British cabinet of that day, or of antagonism to +liberal principles, admits that "a government thus bearded and insulted +had its choice between abdication and repression," and "that repression +was the most natural" course to pursue under the circumstances. Lord +North gave expression to what was then a largely prevailing sentiment in +England when he said "to repeal the tea duty would stamp us with +timidity," and that the destruction of the property of private +individuals, such as took place at Boston, "was a fitting culmination of +years of riot and lawlessness." Lord North, we all know now, was really +desirous of bringing about a reconciliation between the colonies and the +parent state, but he servilely yielded his convictions to the king, who +was determined to govern all parts of his empire, and was in favour of +coercive measures. It is quite evident that the British ministry and +their supporters entirely underrated the strength of the colonial party +that was opposing England. Even those persons who, when the war broke +out, remained faithful to their allegiance to the crown, were of opinion +that the British government was pursuing a policy unwise in the extreme, +although they had no doubt of the abstract legal right of that +government to pass the Grenville and Townshend acts for taxing the +colonies. Chatham, Burke, Conway, and Barré were the most prominent +public men who, in powerful language, showed the dangers of the unwise +course pursued by the "king's friends" in parliament. + +As we review the events of those miserable years we can see that every +step taken by the British government, from the stamp act until the +closing of the port of Boston and other coercive measures, had the +effect of strengthening the hands of Samuel Adams and the other +revolutionary agitators. Their measures to create a feeling against +England exhibited great cunning and skill. The revolutionary movement +was aided by the formation of "Sons of Liberty"--a phrase taken from one +of Barré's speeches,--by circular letters and committees of +correspondence between the colonies, by petitions to the king winch were +framed in a tone of independence not calculated to conciliate that +uncompromising sovereign, by clever ingenious appeals to public +patriotism, by the assembling of a "continental congress," by acts of +"association" which meant the stoppage of all commercial intercourse +with Great Britain. New England was the head and front of the whole +revolution, and Samuel Adams was its animating spirit. Even those famous +committees of correspondence between the towns of Massachusetts, which +gave expression to public opinion and stimulated united action when the +legislative authority was prevented by the royal governor from working, +were the inspiration of this astute political manager. Prominent +Virginians saw the importance of carrying out this idea on a wider field +of action, and Virginia accordingly inaugurated a system of +intercolonial correspondence which led to the meeting of a continental +congress, and was the first practical step towards political +independence of the parent state. Adams's decision to work for +independence was made, or confirmed, as early as 1767, when Charles +Townshend succeeded in passing the measures which were so obnoxious to +the colonists, and finally led to civil war. + +At a most critical moment, when the feelings of a large body of people +were aroused to a violent pitch, when ideas of independence were +ripening in the minds of others besides Samuel Adams, General Gage, then +in command of the British regular troops in Boston, sent a military +force to make prisoners of Adams and Hancock at Lexington, and seize +some stores at Concord. Then the "embattled farmers" fired the shot +"which was heard around the world." Then followed the capture of +Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and the battle of Bunker's Hill, on the +same day that Washington was appointed by congress to command the +continental army. At this critical juncture, John Adams and other +prominent colonists--not excepting Washington--were actually disavowing +all desire to sever their relations with the parent state in the face of +the warlike attitude of congress--an attitude justified by the +declaration that it was intended to force a redress of grievances. Tom +Paine, a mere adventurer, who had not been long in the country, now +issued his pamphlet, "Common Sense," which was conceived in a spirit +and written in a style admirably calculated to give strength and +cohesion to the arguments of the people, who had been for some time +coming to the conclusion that to aim at independence was the only +consistent and logical course in the actual state of controversy between +England and the colonies. On March 14th, 1776, the town of Boston, then +the most important in America, was given up to the rebels; and British +ships carried the first large body of unhappy and disappointed Loyalists +to Halifax. On July the fourth of the same year the Declaration of +Independence was passed, after much hesitation and discussion, and +published to the world by the continental congress assembled at +Philadelphia. The signal victory won by the continental army over +Burgoyne at Saratoga in the autumn of the following year led to an +alliance with France, without whose effective aid the eventual success +of the revolutionists would have been very doubtful The revolutionists +won their final triumph at Yorktown in the autumn of 1781, when a small +army of regulars and Loyalists, led by Cornwallis, was obliged to +surrender to the superior American and French forces, commanded by +Washington and Rochambeau, and supported by a French fleet which +effectively controlled the approaches to Chesapeake Bay. + +The conduct of the war on the part of England was noted for the singular +incapacity of her generals. Had there been one of any energy or ability +at the head of her troops, when hostilities commenced, the undisciplined +American army might easily have been beaten and annihilated Boston need +never have been evacuated had Howe taken the most ordinary precautions +to occupy the heights of Dorchester that commanded the town. Washington +could never have organised an army had not Howe given him every possible +opportunity for months to do so. The British probably had another grand +opportunity of ending the war on their occupation of New York, when +Washington and his relatively insignificant army were virtually in their +power while in retreat. The history of the war is full of similar +instances of lost opportunities to overwhelm the continental troops. All +the efforts of the British generals appear to have been devoted to the +occupation of the important towns in a country stretching for a thousand +miles from north to south, instead of following and crushing the +constantly retreating, diminishing, and discouraged forces of the +revolutionists. The evacuation of Philadelphia at a critical moment of +the war was another signal illustration of the absence of all military +foresight and judgment, since it disheartened the Loyalists and gave up +an important base of operation against the South. Even Cornwallis, who +fought so bravely and successfully in the southern provinces, made a +most serious mistake when he chose so weak a position as Yorktown, which +was only defensible whilst the army of occupation had free access to the +sea. Admiral Rodney, then at St. Eustatius, is open to censure for not +having sent such naval reinforcements as would have enabled the British +to command Chesapeake Bay, and his failure in this respect explains the +inability of Clinton, an able general, to support Cornwallis in his hour +of need. The moment the French fleet appeared in the Chesapeake, +Cornwallis's position became perfectly untenable, and he was obliged to +surrender to the allied armies, who were vastly superior in number and +equipment to his small force, which had not even the advantage of +fighting behind well-constructed and perfect defences. No doubt, from +the beginning to the end of the war--notably in the case of +Burgoyne--the British were seriously hampered by the dilatory and unsafe +counsels of Lord George Germaine, who was allowed by the favour of the +king to direct military operations, and who, we remember, had disgraced +himself on the famous battlefield of Minden. + +All the conditions in the country at large were favourable to the +imperial troops had they been commanded by generals of ability. The +Loyalists formed a large available force, rendered valueless time after +time by the incapacity of the men who directed operations. At no time +did the great body of the American people warmly respond to the demands +made upon them by congress to support Washington. Had it not been for +New England and Virginia the war must have more than once collapsed for +want of men and supplies. It is impossible to exaggerate the absence of +public spirit in the States during this critical period of their +history. The English historian, Lecky, who has reviewed the annals of +those times with great fairness, has truly said: "The nobility and +beauty of the character of Washington can hardly be surpassed; several +of the other leaders of the revolution were men of ability and public +spirit, and few armies have ever shown a nobler self-devotion than that +which remained with Washington through the dreary winter at Valley +Forge. But the army that bore those sufferings was a very small one, and +the general aspect of the American people during the contest was far +from heroic or sublime." This opinion is fully borne out by those +American historians who have reviewed the records of their national +struggle in a spirit of dispassionate criticism. We know that in the +spring of 1780 Washington himself wrote that his troops were "constantly +on the point of starving for want of provisions and forage." He saw "in +every line of the army the most serious features of mutiny and +sedition." Indeed he had "almost ceased to hope," for he found the +country in general "in such a state of insensibility and indifference to +its interests" that he dare not flatter himself "with any change for the +better." The war under such circumstances would have come to a sudden +end had not France liberally responded to Washington's appeals and +supported him with her money, her sailors and her soldiers. In the +closing years of the war Great Britain had not only to fight France, +Spain, Holland and her own colonies, but she was without a single ally +in Europe. Her dominion was threatened in India, and the king prevented +the intervention of the only statesman in the kingdom to whom the +colonists at any time were likely to listen with respect. When Chatham +died with a protest on his lips "against the dismemberment of this +ancient monarchy," the last hope of bringing about a reconciliation +between the revolutionists and the parent state disappeared for ever, +and the Thirteen Colonies became independent at Yorktown. + + +SECTION 2.--Canada and Nova Scotia during the Revolution. + +If Canada was saved to England during the American Revolution it was not +on account of the energy and foresight shown by the king and his +ministers in providing adequately for its defence, but mainly through +the coolness and excellent judgment displayed by Governor Carleton. The +Quebec act, for which he was largely responsible, was extremely +unpopular in the Thirteen Colonies, on account of its having extended +the boundaries of the province and the civil law to that western country +beyond the Alleghanies, which the frontiersmen of Pennsylvania and +Virginia regarded as specially their own domain. The fact that the +Quebec act was passed by parliament simultaneously with the Boston port +bill and other measures especially levelled against Massachusetts, gave +additional fuel to the indignation of the people, who regarded this +group of acts as part of a settled policy to crush the British-speaking +colonies. + +Under these circumstances, the invasion of Canada by Arnold in 1775, +with the full approval of the continental congress, soon after the +taking of Crown Point and Ticonderoga by the "Green Mountain boys" of +Vermont, was a most popular movement which, it was hoped generally, +would end in the easy conquest of a province, occupied by an alien +people, and likely to be a menace in the future to the country south of +the St. Lawrence. The capture of Chambly and St. John's--the keys of +Canada, by way of Lake Champlain--was immediately followed by the +surrender of Montreal, which was quite indefensible, and the flight of +Carleton to Quebec, where he wisely decided to make a stand against the +invaders. At this time there were not one thousand regular troops in the +country, and Carleton's endeavour to obtain reinforcements from Boston +had failed in consequence of the timidity of Admiral Graves, who +expressed his opinion that it was not safe to send vessels up the St. +Lawrence towards the end of the month of October. No dependence +apparently could be placed at this critical juncture on a number of the +French _habitants_, as soon as the districts of Richelieu, Montreal and +Three Rivers were occupied by the continental troops. Many of them were +quite ready to sell provisions to the invaders, provided they were paid +in coin, and a few of them even joined Montgomery on his march to +Quebec. Happily, however, the influence of the clergy and the +_seigneurs_ was sufficiently powerful to make the great mass of the +people neutral during this struggle for supremacy in the province. + +The bishop and the priests, from the outset, were quite alive to the +gravity of the situation. They could not forget that the delegates to +the continental congress, who were now appealing to French Canada to +join the rebellious colonists, had only a few weeks before issued an +address to the people of England in which they expressed their +astonishment that the British parliament should have established in +Canada "a religion that had deluged their land in blood and dispersed +impiety, bigotry, persecution, murder, and rebellion through every part +of the world." Almost simultaneously with the capture of the forts on +Lake Champlain, Bishop Briand issued a _mandement_ in which he dwelt +with emphasis on the great benefits which the people of French Canada +had already derived from the British connection and called upon them all +to unite in the defence of their province. No doubt can exist that these +opinions had much effect at a time when Carleton had reason to doubt +even the loyalty of the English population, some of whom were +notoriously in league with the rebels across the frontier, and gave +material aid to the invaders as soon as they occupied Montreal. It was +assuredly the influence of the French clergy that rendered entirely +ineffectual the mission of Chase, Franklin, and the Carrolls of +Maryland--one of whom became the first Roman Catholic archbishop of the +United States--who were instructed by congress to offer every possible +inducement to the Roman Catholic subjects of England in Canada to join +the revolutionary movement. + +Richard Montgomery, who had commanded the troops invading Canada, had +served at Louisbourg and Quebec, and had subsequently become a resident +of New York, where his political opinions on the outbreak of the +revolution had been influenced by his connection, through marriage, with +the Livingstones, bitter opponents of the British government. His merit +as a soldier naturally brought him into prominence when the war began, +and his own ambition gladly led him to obey the order to go to Canada, +where he hoped to emulate the fame of Wolfe and become the captor of +Quebec. He formed a junction, close to the ancient capital, with the +force under Benedict Arnold, who was at a later time to sully a +memorable career by an act of the most deliberate treachery to his +compatriots. When Montgomery and Arnold united their forces before +Quebec, the whole of Canada, from Lake Champlain to Montreal, and from +that town to the walls of the old capital, was under the control of the +continental troops. Despite the great disadvantages under which he +laboured, Carleton was able to perfect his defences of the city, which +he determined to hold until reinforcements should arrive in the spring +from England. Montgomery had neither men nor artillery to storm the +fortified city which he had hoped to surprise and easily occupy with the +aid of secret friends within its walls. Carleton, however, rallied all +loyal men to his support, and the traitors on whom the invaders had +relied were powerless to carry out any treacherous design they may have +formed. The American commanders at once recognised the folly of a +regular investment of the fortress during a long and severe winter, and +decided to attempt to surprise the garrison by a night assault. This +plan was earned out in the early morning of the thirty-first of +December, 1775, when the darkness was intensified by flurries of light +blinding snow, but it failed before the assailants could force the +barricades which barred the way to the upper town, where all the +principal offices and buildings were grouped, just below the château and +fort of St. Louis, which towers above the historic heights. Montgomery +was killed, Arnold was wounded at the very outset, and a considerable +number of their officers and men were killed or wounded. + +Carleton saved Quebec at this critical hour and was able in the course +of the same year, when General Burgoyne arrived with reinforcements +largely composed of subsidised German regiments, to drive the +continental troops in confusion from the province and destroy the fleet +which congress had formed on Lake Champlain. Carleton took possession of +Crown Point but found the season too late--it was now towards the end of +autumn--to attempt an attack on Ticonderoga, which was occupied by a +strong and well-equipped garrison. After a careful view of the situation +he concluded to abandon Crown Point until the spring, when he could +easily occupy it again, and attack Ticonderoga with every prospect of +success. But Carleton, soon afterwards, was ordered to give up the +command of the royal troops to Burgoyne, who was instructed by Germaine +to proceed to the Hudson River, where Howe was to join him. Carleton +naturally resented the insult that he received and resigned the +governor-generalship, to which General Haldimand was appointed. Carleton +certainly brought Canada securely through one of the most critical +epochs of her history, and there is every reason to believe that he +would have saved the honour of England and the reputation of her +generals, had he rather than Burgoyne and Howe been entrusted with the +direction of her armies in North America. + +Carleton's administration of the civil government of the province was +distinguished by a spirit of discretion and energy which deservedly +places him among the ablest governors who ever presided over the public +affairs of a colony. During the progress of the American war the +legislative council was not able to meet until nearly two years after +its abrupt adjournment in September, 1775. At this session, in 1777, +ordinances were passed for the establishment of courts of King's bench, +common pleas, and probate. + +A critical perusal of the valuable documents, placed of late years in +the archives of the Dominion, clearly proves that it was a fortunate day +for Canada when so resolute a soldier and far-sighted administrator as +General Haldimand was in charge of the civil and military government of +the country after the departure of Carleton. His conduct appears to have +been dictated by a desire to do justice to all classes, and it is most +unfair to his memory to declare that he was antagonistic to French +Canadians. During the critical time when he was entrusted with the +public defence it is impossible to accuse him of an arrogant or +unwarrantable exercise of authority, even when he was sorely beset by +open and secret enemies of the British connection. The French Canadian +_habitant_ found himself treated with a generous consideration that he +never obtained during the French régime, and wherever his services were +required by the state, he was paid, not in worthless card money, but in +British coin. During Haldimand's administration the country was in a +perilous condition on account of the restlessness and uncertainty that +prevailed while the French naval and military expeditions were in +America, using every means of exciting a public sentiment hostile to +England and favourable to France among the French Canadians. Admiral +D'Estaing's proclamation in 1778 was a passionate appeal to the old +national sentiment of the people, and was distributed in every part of +the province. Dr. Kingsford believes that it had large influence in +creating a powerful feeling which might have seriously threatened +British dominion had the French been able to obtain permission from +congress to send an army into the country. Whatever may have been the +temper of the great majority of the French Canadians, it does not appear +that many of them openly expressed their sympathy with France, for whom +they would naturally still feel a deep love as their motherland. The +assertion that many priests secretly hoped for the appearance of the +French army is not justified by any substantial evidence except the fact +that one La Valinière was arrested for his disloyalty, and sent a +prisoner to England. It appears, however, that this course was taken +with the approval of the bishop himself, who was a sincere friend of the +English connection throughout the war. Haldimand arrested a number of +persons who were believed to be engaged in treasonable practices against +England, and effectively prevented any successful movement being made by +the supporters of the revolutionists, or sympathisers with France, whose +emissaries were secretly working in the parishes. + +Haldimand's principal opponent during these troublous times was one +Pierre du Calvet, an unscrupulous and able intriguer, whom he imprisoned +on the strong suspicion of treasonable practices; but the evidence +against Calvet at that time appears to have been inadequate, as he +succeeded in obtaining damages against the governor-general in an +English court. The imperial government, however, in view of all the +circumstances brought to their notice, paid the cost of the defence of +the suit. History now fully justifies the action of Haldimand, for the +publication of Franklin's correspondence in these later times shows that +Calvet--who was drowned at sea and never again appeared in Canada--was +in direct correspondence with congress, and the recognised emissary of +the revolutionists at the very time he was declaring himself devoted to +the continuance of British rule in Canada. + +Leaving the valley of the St. Lawrence, and reviewing the conditions of +affairs in the maritime provinces, during the American revolution, we +see that some of the settlers from New England sympathised with their +rebellious countrymen. The people of Truro, Onslow, and Londonderry, +with the exception of five persons, refused to take the oath of +allegiance, and were not allowed for some time to be represented in the +legislature. The assembly was always loyal to the crown, and refused to +consider the appeals that were made to it by circular letters, and +otherwise, to give active aid and sympathy to the rebellious colonies +During the war armed cruisers pillaged the small settlements at +Charlottetown, Annapolis, Lunenburg, and the entrance of the St. John +River. One expedition fitted out at Machias, in the present state of +Maine, under the command of a Colonel Eddy, who had been a resident of +Cumberland, attempted to seize Fort Cumberland--known as Beauséjour in +French Acadian days--at the mouth of the Missiquash. In this section of +the country there were many sympathisers with the rebels, and Eddy +expected to have an easy triumph. The military authorities were happily +on the alert, and the only result was the arrest of a number of persons +on the suspicion of treasonable designs. The inhabitants of the county +of Yarmouth--a district especially exposed to attack--only escaped the +frequent visits of privateers by secret negotiations with influential +persons in Massachusetts. The settlers on the St. John River, at +Maugerville, took measures to assist their fellow-countrymen in New +England, but the defeat of the Cumberland expedition and the activity of +the British authorities prevented the disaffected in Sunbury county--in +which the original settlements of New Brunswick were then +comprised--from rendering any practical aid to the revolutionists. The +authorities at Halifax authorised the fitting out of privateers in +retaliation for the damages inflicted on western ports by the same class +of cruisers sailing from New England. The province was generally +impoverished by the impossibility of carrying on the coasting trade and +fisheries with security in these circumstances. The constant demand for +men to fill the army and the fleet drained the country when labour was +imperatively needed for necessary industrial pursuits, including the +cultivation of the land. Some Halifax merchants and traders alone found +profit in the constant arrival of troops and ships. Apart, however, from +the signs of disaffection shown in the few localities I have mentioned, +the people generally appear to have been loyal to England, and rallied, +notably in the townships of Annapolis, Horton and Windsor, to the +defence of the country, at the call of the authorities. + +In 1783 the humiliated king of England consented to a peace with his old +colonies, who owed their success not so much to the unselfishness and +determination of the great body of the rebels as to the incapacity of +British generals and to the patience, calmness, and resolution of the +one great man of the revolution, George Washington. I shall in a later +chapter refer to this treaty in which the boundaries between Canada and +the new republic were so ignorantly and clumsily defined that it took +half a century and longer to settle the vexed questions that arose in +connection with territorial rights, and then the settlement was to the +injury of Canada. So far as the treaty affected the Provinces its most +important result was the forced migration of that large body of people +who had remained faithful to the crown and empire during the revolution. + +[Illustration: MAP SHOWING BOUNDARY BETWEEN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES +BY TREATY OF 1783] + + +SECTION 3.--The United Empire Loyalists + +John Adams and other authorities in the United States have admitted that +when the first shot of the revolution was fired by "the embattled +farmers" of Concord and Lexington, the Loyalists numbered one-third of +the whole population of the colonies, or seven hundred thousand whites. +Others believe that the number was larger, and that the revolutionary +party was in a minority even after the declaration of independence. The +greater number of the Loyalists were to be found in the present state of +New York, where the capital was in possession of the British from +September, 1776, until the evacuation in 1783. They were also the +majority in Pennsylvania and the southern colonies of South Carolina and +Georgia. In all the other states they represented a large minority of +the best class of their respective communities. It is estimated that +there were actually from thirty to thirty-five thousand, at one time or +other, enrolled in regularly organised corps, without including the +bodies which waged guerilla warfare in South Carolina and elsewhere. + +It is only within a decade of years that some historical writers in the +United States have had the courage and honesty to point out the false +impressions long entertained by the majority of Americans with respect +to the Loyalists, who were in their way as worthy of historical eulogy +as the people whose efforts to win independence were crowned with +success. Professor Tyler, of Cornell University, points out that these +people comprised "in general a clear majority of those who, of whatever +grade of culture or of wealth, would now be described as conservative +people." A clear majority of the official class, of men representing +large commercial interests and capital, of professional training and +occupation, clergymen, physicians, lawyers and teachers, "seem to have +been set against the ultimate measures of the revolution". He assumes +with justice that, within this conservative class, one may "usually find +at least a fair portion of the cultivation, of the moral thoughtfulness, +of the personal purity and honour, existing in the community to which +they happen to belong." He agrees with Dr. John Fiske, and other +historical writers of eminence in the United States, in comparing the +Loyalists of 1776 to the Unionists of the southern war of secession from +1861 until 1865. They were "the champions of national unity, as resting +on the paramount authority of the general government." In other words +they were the champions of a United British Empire in the eighteenth +century. + +"The old colonial system," says that thoughtful writer Sir J.R. Seeley, +"was not at all tyrannous; and when the breach came the grievances of +which the Americans complained, though perfectly real, were smaller than +ever before or since led to such mighty consequences." The leaders among +the Loyalists, excepting a few rash and angry officials probably, +recognised that there were grievances which ought to be remedied. They +looked on the policy of the party in power in Great Britain as +injudicious in the extreme, but they believed that the relations between +the colonies and the mother-state could be placed on a more satisfactory +basis by a spirit of mutual compromise, and not by such methods as were +insidiously followed by the agitators against England. The Loyalists +generally contended for the legality of the action of parliament, and +were supported by the opinion of all high legal authorities; but the +causes of difficulty were not to be adjusted by mere lawyers, who +adhered to the strict letter of the law, but by statesmen who recognised +that the time had come for reconsidering the relations between the +colonies and the parent state, and meeting the new conditions of their +rapid development and political freedom. These relations were not to be +placed on an equitable and satisfactory basis by mob-violence and +revolution. All the questions at issue were of a constitutional +character, to be settled by constitutional methods. + +Unhappily, English statesmen of that day paid no attention to, and had +no conception of, the aspirations, sentiments and conditions of the +colonial peoples when the revolutionary war broke out. The king wished +to govern in the colonies as well as in the British Isles, and +unfortunately the unwise assertion of his arrogant will gave dangerous +men like Samuel Adams, more than once, the opportunity they wanted to +stimulate public irritation and indignation against England. + +It is an interesting fact, that the relations between Great Britain and +the Canadian Dominion are now regulated by just such principles as were +urged in the interests of England and her colonies a hundred and twenty +years ago by Governor Thomas Hutchinson, a great Loyalist, to whom +justice is at last being done by impartial historians in the country +where his motives and acts were so long misunderstood and +misrepresented. "Whatever measures," he wrote to a correspondent in +England, "you may take to maintain the authority of parliament, give me +leave to pray they may be accompanied with a declaration that it is not +the intention of parliament to deprive the colonies of their subordinate +power of legislation, nor to exercise the supreme power except in such +cases and upon such occasions as an equitable regard to the interests of +the whole empire shall make necessary." But it took three-quarters of a +century after the coming of the Loyalists to realise these statesmanlike +conceptions of Hutchinson in the colonial dominions of England to the +north of the dependencies which she lost in the latter part of the +eighteenth century. + +Similar opinions were entertained by Joseph Galloway, Jonathan Boucher, +Jonathan Odell, Samuel Seabury, Chief Justice Smith, Judge Thomas Jones, +Beverley Robinson and other men of weight and ability among the +Loyalists, who recognised the short-sightedness and ignorance of the +British authorities, and the existence of real grievances. Galloway, one +of the ablest men on the constitutional side, and a member of the first +continental congress, suggested a practical scheme of imperial +federation, well worthy of earnest consideration at that crisis in +imperial affairs. Eminent men in the congress of 1774 supported this +statesmanlike mode of placing the relations of England and the colonies +on a basis which would enable them to work harmoniously, and at the same +time give full scope to the ambition and the liberties of the colonial +communities thus closely united; but unhappily for the empire the +revolutionary element carried the day. The people at large were never +given an opportunity of considering this wise proposition, and the +motion was erased from the records of congress. In its place, the people +were asked to sign "articles of association" which bound them to cease +all commercial relations with England. Had Galloway's idea been carried +out to a successful issue, we might have now presented to the world the +noble spectacle of an empire greater by half a continent and +seventy-five millions of people. + +But while Galloway and other Loyalists failed in their measures of +adjusting existing difficulties and remedying grievances, history can +still do full justice to their wise counsel and resolute loyalty, which +refused to assist in tearing the empire to fragments. These men, who +remained faithful to this ideal to the very bitter end, suffered many +indignities at the hands of the professed lovers of liberty, even in +those days when the questions at issue had not got beyond the stage of +legitimate argument and agitation. The courts of law were closed and the +judges prevented from fulfilling their judicial functions. No class of +persons, not even women, were safe from the insults of intoxicated +ruffians. The clergy of the Church of England were especially the object +of contumely. + +During the war the passions of both parties to the controversy were +aroused to the highest pitch, and some allowance must be made for +conditions which were different from those which existed when the +questions at issue were still matters of argument. It is impossible in +times of civil strife to cool the passions of men and prevent them from +perpetrating cruelties and outrages which would be repugnant to their +sense of humanity in moments of calmness and reflection. Both sides, +more than once, displayed a hatred of each other that was worthy of the +American Iroquois themselves. The legislative bodies were fully as +vindictive as individuals in the persecution of the Loyalists. +Confiscation of estate, imprisonment, disqualification for office, +banishment, and even death in case of return from exile, were among the +penalties to which these people were subject by the legislative acts of +the revolutionary party. + +If allowance can be made for the feelings of revenge and passion which +animate persons under the abnormal conditions of civil war, no +extenuating circumstances appear at that later period when peace was +proclaimed and congress was called upon to fulfil the terms of the +treaty and recommend to the several independent states the restoration +of the confiscated property of Loyalists. Even persons who had taken up +arms were to have an opportunity of receiving their estates back on +condition of refunding the money which had been paid for them, and +protection was to be afforded to those persons during twelve months +while they were engaged in obtaining the restoration of their property. +It was also solemnly agreed by the sixth article of the treaty that +there should be no future confiscations or prosecutions, and that no +person should "suffer any future loss or damage, either in his person, +liberty or property," for the part he might have taken in the war. Now +was the time for generous terms, such terms as were even shown by the +triumphant North to the rebellious South at the close of the war of +secession. The recommendations of congress were treated with contempt by +the legislatures in all the states except in South Carolina, and even +there the popular feeling was entirely opposed to any favour or justice +being shown to the beaten party. The sixth article of the treaty, a +solemn obligation, was violated with malice and premeditation. The +Loyalists, many of whom had returned from Great Britain with the hope of +receiving back their estates, or of being allowed to remain in the +country, soon found they could expect no generous treatment from the +successful republicans. The favourite Whig occupation of tarring and +feathering was renewed. Loyalists were warned to leave the country as +soon as possible, and in the south some were shot and hanged because +they did not obey the warning. The Loyalists, for the most part, had no +other course open to them than to leave the country they still loved and +where they had hoped to die. + +The British government endeavoured, so far as it was in its power, to +compensate the Loyalists for the loss of their property by liberal +grants of money and land, but despite all that was done for them the +majority felt a deep bitterness in their hearts as they landed on new +shores of which they had heard most depressing accounts. More than +thirty-five thousand men, women and children, made their homes within +the limits of the present Dominion. In addition to these actual American +Loyalists, there were several thousands of negroes, fugitives from their +owners, or servants of the exiles, who have been generally counted in +the loose estimates made of the migration of 1783, and the greater +number of whom were at a later time deported from Nova Scotia to Sierra +Leone. Of the exiles at least twenty-five thousand went to the maritime +colonies, and built up the province of New Brunswick, where +representative institutions were established in 1784. Of the ten +thousand people who sought the valley of the St Lawrence, some settled +in Montreal, at Chambly, and in parts of the present Eastern Townships, +but the great majority accepted grants of land on the banks of the St. +Lawrence--from River Beaudette, on Lake St. Francis, as far as the +beautiful Bay of Quinté--in the Niagara District, and on the shores of +Lake Erie. The coming of these people, subsequently known by the name of +"U.E. Loyalists"--a name appropriately given to them in recognition of +their fidelity to a United Empire--was a most auspicious event for the +British-American provinces, the greater part of which was still a +wilderness. As we have seen in the previous chapters, there was in the +Acadian provinces, afterwards divided into New Brunswick and Nova +Scotia, a British population of only some 14,000 souls, mostly confined +to the peninsula. In the valley of the St. Lawrence there was a French +population of probably 100,000 persons, dwelling chiefly on the banks of +the St. Lawrence between Quebec and Montreal. The total British +population of the province of Quebec did not exceed 2000, residing for +the most part in the towns of Quebec and Montreal. No English people +were found west of Lake St. Louis; and what is now the populous province +of Ontario was a mere wilderness, except where loyal refugees had +gathered about the English fort at Niagara, or a few French settlers had +made homes for themselves on the banks of the Detroit River and Lake St. +Clair. The migration of between 30,000 and 40,000 Loyalists to the +maritime provinces and the valley of the St. Lawrence was the saving of +British interests in the great region which England still happily +retained in North America. + +The refugees who arrived in Halifax in 1783 were so numerous that +hundreds had to be placed in the churches or in cabooses taken from the +transports and ranged along the streets. At Guysborough, in Nova +Scotia--so named after Sir Guy Carleton--the first village, which was +hastily built by the settlers, was destroyed by a bush fire, and many +persons only saved their lives by rushing into the sea. At Shelburne, on +the first arrival of the exiles, there were seen "lines of women sitting +on the rocky shore and weeping at their altered condition." Towns and +villages, however, were soon built for the accommodation of the people. +At Shelburne, or Port Roseway--anglicised from the French _Razoir_--a +town of fourteen thousand people, with wide streets, fine houses, some +of them containing furniture and mantel-pieces brought from New York, +arose in two or three years. The name of New Jerusalem had been given to +the same locality some years before, but it seemed a mockery to the +Loyalists when they found that the place they had chosen for their new +home was quite unsuited for settlement. A beautiful harbour lay in +front, and a rocky country unfit for farmers in the rear of their +ambitious town, which at one time was the most populous in British North +America. In the course of a few years the place was almost deserted, and +sank for a time into insignificance. A pretty town now nestles by the +side of the beautiful and spacious harbour which attracted the first too +hopeful settlers; and its residents point out to the tourist the sites +of the buildings of last century, one or two of which still stand, and +can show many documents and relics of those early days. + +Over twelve thousand Loyalists, largely drawn from the disbanded loyal +regiments of the old colonies, settled in New Brunswick. The name of +Parrtown was first given, in honour of the governor of Nova Scotia, to +the infant settlement which became the city of St. John, in 1785, when +it was incorporated. The first landing of the loyal pioneers took place +on the 18th of May, 1783, at what is now the Market Slip of this +interesting city. Previous to 1783, the total population of the province +did not exceed seven hundred souls, chiefly at Maugerville and other +places on the great river. The number of Loyalists who settled on the +St. John River was at least ten thousand, of whom the greater proportion +were established at the mouth of the river, which was the base of +operations for the peopling of the new province. Some adventurous +spirits took possession of the abandoned French settlements at Grimross +and St. Anne's, where they repaired some ruined huts of the original +Acadian occupants, or built temporary cabins. This was the beginning of +the settlement of Fredericton, which four years later became the +political capital on account of its central position, its greater +security in time of war, and its location on the land route to Quebec. +Many of the people spent their first winter in log-huts, bark camps, and +tents covered with spruce, or rendered habitable only by the heavy banks +of snow which were piled against them. A number of persons died through +exposure, and "strong, proud men"--to quote the words of one who lived +in those sorrowful days--"wept like children and lay down in their +snow-bound tents to die." + +A small number of loyal refugees had found their way to the valley of +the St. Lawrence as early as 1778, and obtained employment in the +regiments organised under Sir John Johnson and others. It was not until +1783 and 1784 that the large proportion of the exiles came to Western +Canada. They settled chiefly on the northern banks of the St. Lawrence, +in what are now the counties of Glengarry, Stormont, Dundas, Grenville, +Leeds, Frontenac, Addington, Lennox, Hastings and Prince Edward, where +their descendants have acquired wealth and positions of honour and +trust. The first township laid out in Upper Canada, now Ontario, was +Kingston. The beautiful Bay of Quinté is surrounded by a country full of +the memories of this people, and the same is true of the picturesque +district of Niagara. + +Among the Loyalists of Canada must also be honourably mentioned Joseph +Brant (Thayendanega), the astute and courageous chief of the Mohawks, +the bravest nation of the Iroquois confederacy, who fought on the side +of England during the war. At its close he and his people settled in +Canada, where they received large grants from the government, some in a +township by the Bay of Quinté, which still bears the Indian title of the +great warrior, and the majority on the Grand River, where a beautiful +city and county perpetuate the memory of this loyal subject of the +British crown. The first Anglican church built in Upper Canada was that +of the Mohawks, near Brantford, and here the church bell first broke the +silence of the illimitable forest. + +The difficulties which the Upper Canadian immigrants had to undergo +before reaching their destination were much greater than was the case +with the people who went direct in ships from American ports to Halifax +and other places on the Atlantic coast. The former had to make toilsome +journeys by land, or by _bateaux_ and canoes up the St. Lawrence, the +Richelieu, the Genesee, and other streams which gave access from the +interior of the United States to the new Canadian land. The British +government did its best to supply the wants of the population suddenly +thrown upon its charitable care, but, despite all that could be done for +them in the way of food and means of fighting the wilderness, they +suffered naturally a great deal of hardship. The most influential +immigration found its way to the maritime provinces, where many received +congenial employment and adequate salaries in the new government of New +Brunswick. Many others, with the wrecks of their fortunes or the +pecuniary aid granted them by the British government, were able to make +comfortable homes and cultivate estates in the valleys of the St. John +and Annapolis, and in other fertile parts of the lower provinces. Of the +large population that founded Shelburne a few returned to the United +States, but the greater number scattered all over the provinces. The +settlers in Upper Canada had to suffer many trials for years after their +arrival, and especially in a year of famine, when large numbers had to +depend on wild fruits and roots. Indeed, had it not been for the fish +and game which were found in some, but not in all, places, starvation +and death would have been the lot of many hundreds of helpless people. + +Many of the refugees could trace their descent to the early immigration +that founded the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay. Some were +connected with the Cavalier and Church families of Virginia. Others were +of the blood of persecuted Huguenots and German Protestants from the +Rhenish or Lower Palatinate. Not a few were Highland Scotchmen, who had +been followers of the Stuarts, and yet fought for King George and the +British connection during the American revolution. Among the number were +notable Anglican clergymen, eminent judges and lawyers, and probably one +hundred graduates of Harvard, Yale, King's, Pennsylvania, and William +and Mary Colleges. In the records of industrial enterprise, of social +and intellectual progress, of political development for a hundred +years, we find the names of many eminent men, sprung from these people, +to whom Canada owes a deep debt of gratitude for the services they +rendered her in the most critical period of her chequered history. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS (1784--1812). + + +SECTION I--Beginnings of the provinces of New Brunswick, Lower Canada +and Upper Canada. + +On the 16th August, 1784, as a consequence of the coming of over ten +thousand Loyalists to the valley of the St. John River, a new province +was formed out of that portion of the ancient limits of Acadia, which +extended northward from the isthmus of Chignecto to the province of +Quebec, and eastward from the uncertain boundary of the St. Croix to the +Gulf of St. Lawrence. It received its present name in honour of the +Brunswick-Luneburg or Hanoverian line which had given a royal dynasty to +England, and its first governor was Colonel Thomas Carleton, a brother +of the distinguished governor-general, whose name is so intimately +associated with the fortunes of Canada during a most critical period of +its history. The first executive council, which was also the legislative +council, comprised some of the most eminent men of the Loyalist +migration. For instance, George Duncan Ludlow; who had been a judge of +the supreme court of New York; Jonathan Odell, the famous satirist and +divine; William Hazen, a merchant of high reputation, who had large +interests on the St. John River from 1763, and had proved his fidelity +to the crown at a time when his countrymen at Maugerville were disposed +to join the revolutionary party; Gabriel G. Ludlow, previously a colonel +in a royal regiment; Edward Winslow, Daniel Bliss and Isaac Allen, all +of whom had borne arms in the royal service and had suffered the loss of +valuable property, confiscated by the successful rebels. + +The constitution of 1784 provided for an assembly of twenty-six members +who were elected in 1785, and met for the first time on the 3rd of +January, 1786, at the Mallard House, a plain two-storey building on the +north side of King Street. The city of St. John ceased to be the seat of +government in 1787, when the present capital, Fredericton, first known +as St. Anne's, was chosen. Of the twenty-six members elected to this +assembly, twenty-three were Loyalists, and the same class necessarily +continued for many years to predominate in the legislature. The first +speaker was Amos Botsford, the pioneer of the Loyalist migration to New +Brunswick, whose grandson occupied the same position for a short time in +the senate of the Dominion of Canada. + +Coming to the province of Lower Canada we find it contained at this time +a population of about a hundred thousand souls, of whom six thousand +lived in Quebec and Montreal respectively. Only two thousand +English-speaking persons resided in the province, almost entirely in the +towns. Small as was the British minority, it continued that agitation +for an assembly which had been commenced long before the passage of the +Quebec act. A nominated council did not satisfy the political ambition +of this class, who obtained little support from the French Canadian +people. The objections of the latter arose from the working of the act +itself. Difficulties had grown up in the administration of the law, +chiefly in consequence of its being entrusted exclusively to men +acquainted only with English jurisprudence, and not disposed to comply +with the letter and intention of the imperial statute. As a matter of +practice, French law was only followed as equity suggested; and the +consequence was great legal confusion in the province. A question had +also arisen as to the legality of the issue of writs of _habeas corpus_, +and it was eventually necessary to pass an ordinance to remove all +doubts on this important point. + +The Loyalist settlers on the St. Lawrence and Niagara Rivers sent a +petition in 1785 to the home government, praying for the establishment +of a new district west of the River Beaudette "with the blessings of +British laws and British government, and of exemption from French tenure +of property." While such matters were under the consideration of the +imperial authorities, Sir Guy Carleton, once more governor-general of +Canada, and lately raised to the peerage as Lord Dorchester, +established, in 1788, five new districts for the express object of +providing for the temporary government of the territory where the +Loyalists had settled. These districts were known as Luneburg, +Mecklenburg, Nassau and Hesse, in the western country, and Gaspé in the +extreme east of the province of Quebec, where a small number of the same +class of people had also found new homes. Townships, ranging from eighty +to forty thousand acres each, were also surveyed within these districts +and parcelled out with great liberality among the Loyalists. Magistrates +wore appointed to administer justice with the simplest possible +machinery at a time when men trained in the law were not available. + +The grants of land made to the Loyalists and their children were large, +and in later years a considerable portion passed into the hands of +speculators who bought them up at nominal sums. It was in connection +with these grants that the name of "United Empire Loyalists" originated. +An order-in-council was passed on the 9th of November, 1780, in +accordance with the wish of Lord Dorchester "to put a mark of honour +upon the families who had adhered to the _unity of the empire_ and +joined the royal standard in America before the treaty of separation in +1783." Accordingly the names of all persons falling under this +designation were to be recorded as far as possible, in order that "their +posterity may be discriminated from future settlers in the parish lists +and rolls of militia of their respective districts, and other public +remembrances of the province." + +The British cabinet, of which Mr. Pitt, the famous son of the Earl of +Chatham, was first minister, now decided to divide the province of +Quebec into two districts, with separate legislatures and governments. +Lord Grenville, while in charge of the department of colonial affairs, +wrote in 1789 to Lord Dorchester that the "general object of the plan is +to assimilate the constitution of the province to that of Great Britain +as nearly as the differences arising from the names of the people and +from the present situation of the province will admit." He also +emphatically expressed the opinion that "a considerable degree of +attention is due to the prejudices and habits of the French inhabitants, +and every degree of caution should be used to continue to them the +enjoyment of those civil and religious rights which were secured to them +by the capitulation of the province, or have since been granted by the +liberal and enlightened spirit of the British government." When the bill +for the formation of the two provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada +came before the house of commons, Mr. Adam Lymburner, an influential +merchant of Quebec, appeared at the Bar and ably opposed the separation +"as dangerous in every point of view to British interests in America, +and to the safety, tranquillity and prosperity of the inhabitants of the +province of Quebec" He pressed the repeal of the Quebec act in its +entirety and the enactment of a perfectly new constitution "unclogged +and unembarrassed with any laws prior to this period" He professed to +represent the views "of the most intelligent and respectable of the +French Canadians"; but their antagonism was not directed against the +Quebec act in itself, but against the administration of the law, +influenced as this was by the opposition of the British people to the +French civil code. Nor does it appear, as Mr. Lymburner asserted, that +the western Loyalists were hostile to the formation of two distinct +provinces. He represented simply the views of the English-speaking +inhabitants of Lower Canada, who believed that the proposed division +would place them in a very small minority in the legislature and, as the +issue finally proved, at the mercy of the great majority of the French +Canadian representatives, while on the other hand the formation of one +large province extending from Gaspé to the head of the great lakes would +ensure an English representation sufficiently formidable to lessen the +danger of French Canadian domination. However, the British government +seems to have been actuated by a sincere desire to do justice to the +French Canadians and the Loyalists of the upper province at one and the +same time. When introducing the bill in the house of commons on the 7th +March, 1791, Mr. Pitt expressed the hope that "the division would remove +the differences of opinion which had arisen between the old and new +inhabitants, since each province would have the right of enacting laws +desired in its own house of assembly." He believed a division to be +essential, as "otherwise he could not reconcile the clashing interests +known to exist." Mr. Burke was of opinion that "to attempt to amalgamate +two populations composed of races of men diverse in language, laws and +customs, was a complete absurdity", and he consequently approved of the +division. Mr. Fox, from whom Burke became alienated during this debate, +looked at the question in an entirely different light and was strongly +of opinion that "it was most desirable to see the French and English +inhabitants coalesce into one body, and the different distinctions of +people extinguished for ever." + +The Constitutional act of 1791 established in each province a +legislative council and assembly, with powers to make laws. The +legislative council was to be appointed by the king for life, in Upper +Canada it was to consist of not less than seven, and in Lower Canada of +not less than fifteen members. The sovereign might, if he thought +proper, annex hereditary titles of honour to the right of being summoned +to the legislative council in either province--a provision which was +never brought into operation. The whole number of members in the +assembly of Upper Canada was not to be less than sixteen; in Lower +Canada not less than fifty--to be chosen by a majority of votes in +either case. The British parliament reserved to itself the right of +levying and collecting customs-duties, for the regulation of navigation +and commerce to be carried on between the two provinces, or between +either of them and any other part of the British dominions or any +foreign country. Parliament also reserved the power of directing the +payment of these duties, but at the same time left the exclusive +apportionment of all moneys levied in this way to the legislature, which +could apply them to such public uses as it might deem expedient. The +free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion was guaranteed permanently. +The king was to have the right to set apart, for the use of the +Protestant clergy in the colony, a seventh part of all uncleared crown +lands. The governor might also be empowered to erect parsonages and +endow them, and to present incumbents or ministers of the Church of +England. The English criminal law was to obtain in both provinces. + +In the absence of Lord Dorchester in England, the duty devolved on +Major-General Alured Clarke, as lieutenant-governor, to bring the Lower +Canadian constitution into force by a proclamation on the 18th February, +1791. On the 7th May, in the following year, the new province of Lower +Canada was divided into fifty electoral districts, composed of +twenty-one counties, the towns of Montreal and Quebec, and the boroughs +of Three Rivers and William Henry (now Sorel). The elections to the +assembly took place in June, and a legislative council of fifteen +influential Canadians was appointed. The new legislature was convoked +"for the despatch of business" on the 17th December, in the same year, +in an old stone building known as the Bishop's Palace, which stood on a +rocky eminence in the upper town of the old capital. + +Chief Justice Smith took the chair of the legislative council under +appointment by the crown, and the assembly elected as its speaker Mr. +Joseph Antome Panet, an eminent advocate, who was able to speak the two +languages. In the house there were only sixteen members of British +origin--and in later parliaments there was even a still smaller +representation--while the council was nearly divided between the two +nationalities. When the house proceeded to business, one of its first +acts was to order that all motions, bills and other proceedings should +be put in the two languages. We find in the list of French Canadian +members of the two houses representatives of the most ancient and +distinguished families of the province. A descendant of Pierre Boucher, +governor of Three Rivers in 1653, and the author of a rare history of +Canada, sat in the council of 1792 just as a Boucherville sits +now-a-days in the senate of the Dominion. A Lotbinière had been king's +councillor in 1680. A Chaussegros de Lery had been an engineer in the +royal colonial corps; a Lanaudière had been an officer in the Carignan +regiment in 1652; a Salaberry was a captain in the royal navy, and his +family won further honours on the field of Chateauguay in the war of +1812-15, when the soil of Lower Canada was invaded. A Taschereau had +been a royal councillor in 1732. The names of Belestre, Valtric, Bonne, +Rouville, St. Ours, and Duchesnay, are often met in the annals of the +French régime, and show the high character of the representation in the +first parliament of Lower Canada. + +The village of Newark was chosen as the capital of Upper Canada by +Colonel (afterwards Major-General) Simcoe, the first lieutenant-governor +of the province. He had served with much distinction during the +revolution as the commander of the Queen's Rangers, some of whom had +settled in the Niagara district. He was remarkable for his decision of +character and for his ardent desire to establish the principles of +British government in the new province. He was a sincere friend of the +Loyalists, whose attachment to the crown he had had many opportunities +of appreciating during his career in the rebellious colonies, and, +consequently, was an uncompromising opponent of the new republic and of +the people who were labouring to make it a success on the other side of +the border. The new parliament met in a wooden building nearly completed +on the sloping bank of the river, at a spot subsequently covered by a +rampart of Fort George, which was constructed by Governor Simcoe on the +surrender of Fort Niagara. A large boulder has been placed on the top of +the rampart to mark the site of the humble parliament house of Upper +Canada, which had to be eventually demolished to make place for new +fortifications. The sittings of the first legislature were not +unfrequently held under a large tent set up in front of the house, and +having an interesting history of its own, since it had been carried +around the world by the famous navigator, Captain Cook. + +As soon as Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe assumed the direction of the +government, he issued a proclamation dividing the province of Upper +Canada into nineteen counties, some of winch were again divided into +ridings for the purpose of electing the sixteen representatives to which +the province was entitled under the act of 1791. One of the first acts +of the legislature was to change the names of the divisions, proclaimed +in 1788, to Eastern, Midland, Home, and Western Districts, which +received additions in the course of years until they were entirely +superseded by the county organisations. These districts were originally +intended for judicial and legal purposes. + +The legislature met under these humble circumstances at Newark on the +17th September, 1792. Chief Justice Osgoode was the speaker of the +council, and Colonel John Macdonell, of Aberchalder, who had gallantly +served in the royal forces during the revolution, was chosen presiding +officer of the assembly. Besides him, there were eleven Loyalists among +the sixteen members of the lower house. In the council of nine members +there were also several Loyalists, the most prominent being the +Honourable Richard Cartwright, the grandfather of the minister of trade +and commerce in the Dominion ministry of 1896-1900. + + +SECTION 2.--Twenty years of political development (1792-1812). + +The political conditions of the two decades from 1792 until 1812, when +war broke out between England and the United States, were for the +greater part of the time quite free from political agitation, and the +representatives of the people in both the provinces of Canada were +mostly occupied with the consideration of measures of purely provincial +and local import. Nevertheless a year or two before the close of this +period we can see in the province of Lower Canada premonitions of that +irrepressible conflict between the two houses--one elected by the +people and the other nominated by and under the influence of the +crown--which eventually clogged the machinery of legislation. We can +also see the beginnings of that strife of races which ultimately led to +bloodshed and the suspension of the constitution given to Lower Canada +in 1791. + +In 1806 _Le Canadien_, published in the special interest of "Nos +institutions, notre langue, et nos lois," commenced that career of +bitter hostility to the government which steadily inflamed the +antagonism between the races. The arrogance of the principal officials, +who had the ear of the governor, and practically engrossed all the +influence in the management of public affairs, alienated the French +Canadians, who came to believe that they were regarded by the British as +an inferior race. As a matter of fact, many of the British inhabitants +themselves had no very cordial feelings towards the officials, whose +social exclusiveness offended all who did not belong to their special +"set." In those days the principal officials were appointed by the +colonial office and the governor-general, and had little or no respect +for the assembly, on which they depended in no wise for their +continuance in office or their salaries. The French Canadians eventually +made few distinctions among the British but looked on them as, generally +speaking, enemies to their institutions. + +It was unfortunate, at a time when great discretion and good temper were +so essential, that Sir James Craig should have been entrusted with the +administration of the government of Lower Canada. The critical state of +relations with the United States no doubt influenced his appointment, +which, from a purely military point of view, was excellent. As it was, +however, his qualities as a soldier were not called into requisition, +while his want of political experience, his utter incapacity to +understand the political conditions of the country, his supreme +indifference to the wishes of the assembly, made his administration an +egregious failure. Indeed it may he said that it was during his time +that the seed was sown for the growth of that political and racial +antagonism which led to the rebellion of 1837. It is not possible to +exaggerate the importance of the consequences of his unjustifiable +dismissal of Mr. Speaker Panet, and other prominent French Canadians, +from the militia on the ground that they had an interest in the +_Canadien_, or of his having followed up this very indiscreet act by the +unwarrantable arrest of Mr. Bedard and some other persons, on the charge +that they were the authors or publishers of what he declared to be +treasonable writings. It is believed that the governor's action was +largely influenced by the statements and advice of Chief Justice Sewell, +the head of the legislative council and the official class. Several +persons were released when they expressed regret for the expression of +any opinions considered extreme by the governor and his advisers, but +Mr. Bedard remained in prison for a year rather than directly or +indirectly admit that the governor had any justification for his +arbitrary act Sir James attempted to obtain the approval of the home +government; but his agent, a Mr. Ryland, a man of ability and suavity, +prominent always in the official life of the country, signally failed to +obtain the endorsement of his master's action. He was unable to secure a +promise that the constitution of 1791 should be repealed, and the +legislative council of the Quebec act again given the supremacy in the +province. Mr. Bedard was released just before the governor left the +country, with the declaration that "his detention had been a matter of +precaution and not of punishment"--by no means a manly or graceful +withdrawal from what was assuredly a most untenable position from the +very first moment Mr. Bedard was thrown into prison. Sir James Craig +left the province a disappointed man, and died in England a few months +after his return, from the effects of an incurable disease to which he +had been a victim for many years. He was hospitable, generous and +charitable, but the qualities of a soldier dominated all his acts of +civil government. + +In the other provinces, happily, there were no racial differences to +divide the community and aggravate those political disputes that are +sure to arise in the working of representative institutions in a British +country. In Upper Canada for years the questions under discussion were +chiefly connected with the disposal of the public lands, which in early +times were too lavishly granted by Simcoe; and this led to the bringing +in for a while of some undesirable immigrants from the United States +--undesirable because they were imbued with republican and levelling +ideas by no means favourable to the development and stability of English +institutions of government. One of the first acts of the legislature was +the establishment of courts of law and equity, in accordance with the +practice and principles of English jurisprudence. Another very important +measure was one for the legalisation of marriages which had been +irregularly performed during early times in the absence of the clergy of +the Anglican Church by justices of the peace, and even the officers in +charge of military posts. Magistrates were still allowed to perform the +marriage ceremony according to the ritual of the Church of England, when +the services of a clergyman of that denomination were not available. Not +until 1830 were more liberal provisions passed and the clergy of any +recognised creed permitted to unite persons legally in wedlock. + +It was in the second session of the first parliament of Upper Canada, +where the Loyalists were in so huge a majority, that an act was passed +"to prevent the further introduction of slaves and to limit the term of +contract for servitude within this province." A considerable number of +slave servants accompanied their Loyalist masters to the provinces at +the end of the war, and we find for many years after in the newspapers +advertisements relating to runaway servants of this class. The Loyalists +in the maritime provinces, like the same class in Upper Canada, never +gave their approval to the continuance of slavery. So early as 1800 some +prominent persons brought before the supreme court of New Brunswick the +case of one Nancy Morton, a slave, on a writ of _habeas corpus_; and her +right to freedom was argued by Ward Chipmim, one of the Loyalist makers +of New Brunswick. Although the argument in this case was not followed by +a judicial conclusion--the four judges being divided in opinion--slavery +thereafter practically ceased to exist, not only in New Brunswick, but +in the other maritime provinces, leaving behind it a memory so faint, +that the mere suggestion that there ever was a slave in either of these +provinces is very generally received with surprise, if not with +incredulity. + +The early history of representative government in Prince Edward Island +is chiefly a dull narrative of political conflict between the governors +and the assemblies, and of difficulties and controversies arising out of +the extraordinary concessions of lands to a few proprietors, who +generally infringed the conditions of their grants and retarded the +settlement of the island. In New Brunswick the legislature was entirely +occupied with the consideration of measures for the administration of +justice and local affairs in an entirely new country. Party government +had not yet declared itself, and the Loyalists who had founded the +province controlled the legislature for many years until a spirit of +liberalism and reform found full expression and led to the enlargement +of the public liberty. + +In Nova Scotia the Loyalists gradually acquired considerable influence +in the government of the province, as the imperial authorities felt it +incumbent on them to provide official positions for those men who had +sacrificed so much for the empire. Their power was increased after the +arrival of Governor John Wentworth--afterwards made a baronet--who had +been the royal governor of New Hampshire, and had naturally a strong +antipathy to democratic principles in any form. In his time there grew +up an official oligarchy, chiefly composed of members of the legislative +council, then embodying within itself executive, legislative and +judicial powers. A Liberal party soon arose in Nova Scotia, not only +among the early New England settlers of the time of Governor Lawrence, +but among the Loyalists themselves, for it is inevitable that wherever +we find an English people, the spirit of popular liberty and the +determination to enjoy self-government in a complete sense will sooner +or later assert itself among all classes of men. The first prominent +leader of the opposition to the Tory methods of the government was one +William Cottnam Tonge, who was for some years in the employ of the naval +department. Sir John Wentworth carried his hostility to the extent of +dismissing him from his naval office and also of refusing to accept him +as speaker of the assembly--the first example in colonial history of an +extreme exercise of the royal prerogative by a governor. Mr. Tonge's +only crime appears to have been his bold assertion from time to time of +the privileges of the house of assembly, as the guardian of the revenues +and expenditures, against the interference of the governor and council. +We find in Nova Scotia, as in the other provinces, during the period in +question, the elements of perpetual discord, which found more serious +expression after the war of 1812-15, and led to important constitutional +changes. + +The governors of those times became, from the very nature of their +position, so many provincial autocrats, brought constantly into +conflict with the popular body, and unable to conceive any system of +government possible that did not place the province directly under the +control of the imperial authorities, to whom appeals must be made in the +most trivial cases of doubt or difficulty. The representative of the +crown brooked no interference on the part of the assembly with what he +considered his prerogatives and rights, and as a rule threw himself into +the arms of the council, composed of the official oligarchy. In the +course of time, the whole effort of the Liberal or Reform party, which +gathered strength after 1815, was directed against the power of the +legislative council. We hear nothing in the assemblies or the literature +of the period under review in advocacy of the system of parliamentary or +responsible government which was then in existence in the parent state +and which we now enjoy in British North America. In fact, it was not +until the beginning of the fourth decade of the nineteenth century that +the Liberal politicians of Nova Scotia, like those of Upper Canada, +recognised that the real remedy for existing political grievances was to +be found in the harmonious operation of the three branches of the +legislature. Even then we look in vain for an enunciation of this +essential principle of representative government in the speeches or +writings of a single French Canadian from 1791 until 1838, when the +constitution of Lower Canada was suspended as a result of rebellion. + +During the twenty years of which I am writing the government of Canada +had much reason for anxiety on account of the unsatisfactory state of +the relations between Great Britain and the United States, and of the +attempts of French emissaries after the outbreak of the revolution in +France to stir up sedition in Lower Canada. One of the causes of the war +of 1812-15 was undoubtedly the irritation that was caused by the +retention of the western posts by Great Britain despite the stipulation +in the definitive treaty of peace to give them up "with all convenient +speed." This policy of delay was largely influenced by the fact that the +new republic had failed to take effective measures for the restitution +of the estates of the Loyalists or for the payment of debts due to +British creditors; but in addition there was probably still, as in 1763 +and 1774, a desire to control the fur-trade and the Indians of the west, +who claimed that the lands between the Canadian frontier and the Ohio +were exclusively their hunting-grounds, not properly included within the +territory ceded to the United States. Jay's treaty, arranged in 1794, +with the entire approval of Washington, who thereby incurred the +hostility of the anti-British party, was a mere temporary expedient for +tiding over the difficulties between England and the United States. Its +most important result so far as it affected Canada was the giving up in +1797 of the western posts including Old Fort Niagara. It became then +necessary to remove the seat of government from Niagara, as an insecure +position, and York, which regained its original Indian name of Toronto +in 1834, was chosen as the capital by Lord Dorchester in preference to a +place suggested by Simcoe on the Tranche, now the Thames, near where +London now stands. The second parliament of Upper Canada met in York on +the first of June, 1797, when Mr. Russell, who had been secretary to Sir +Henry Clinton during the American war, was administrator of the +government after the departure of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe from a +province whose interests he had so deeply at heart. + +After the declaration of war against England by the republican +convention of France in 1793, French agents found their way into the +French parishes of Lower Canada, and endeavoured to make the credulous +and ignorant _habitants_ believe that France would soon regain dominion +in her old colony. During General Prescott's administration, one McLane, +who was said to be not quite mentally responsible for his acts, was +convicted at Quebec for complicity in the designs of French agents, and +was executed near St. John's gate with all the revolting incidents of a +traitor's death in those relentless times. His illiterate accomplice, +Frechétte, was sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was soon released +on the grounds of his ignorance of the serious crime he was committing. +No doubt in these days some restlessness existed in the French Canadian +districts, and the English authorities found it difficult for a time to +enforce the provisions of the militia act. Happily for the peace and +security of Canada, the influence of the Bishop and Roman Catholic +clergy, who looked with horror on the murderous acts of the +revolutionists of France, was successfully exerted for the support of +British rule, whose justice and benignity their church had felt ever +since the conquest. The name of Bishop Plessis must always be mentioned +in terms of sincere praise by every English writer who reviews the +history of those trying times, when British interests would have been +more than once in jeopardy had it not been for the loyal conduct of this +distinguished prelate and the priests under his direction. + +I shall now proceed to narrate the events of the unfortunate war which +broke out in 1812 between England and the United States, as a result of +the unsettled relations of years, and made Canada a battle ground on +which were given many illustrations of the patriotism and devotion of +the Canadian people, whose conquest, the invaders thought, would be a +very easy task. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE WAR OF 1812--15. + + +SECTION I.--Origin of the war between England and the United States. + +The causes of the war of 1812-15 must be sought in the history of Europe +and the relations between England and the United States for several +decades before it actually broke out. Great Britain was engaged in a +supreme struggle not only for national existence but even for the +liberties of Europe, from the moment when Napoleon, in pursuance of his +overweening ambition, led his armies over the continent on those +victorious marches which only ended amid the ice and snow of Russia. +Britain's battles were mainly to be fought on the sea where her great +fleet made her supreme. The restriction of all commerce that was not +British was a necessary element in the assertion of her naval +superiority. If neutral nations were to be allowed freely to carry the +produce of the colonies of Powers with whom Great Britain was at war, +then they were practically acting as allies of her enemies, and were +liable to search and seizure. For some time, however, Great Britain +thought it expedient to concur in the practice that when a cargo was +trans-shipped in the United States, and paid a duty there, it became to +all intents and purposes American property and might be carried to a +foreign country and there sold, as if it were the actual produce of the +republic itself. This became a very profitable business to the merchants +of the United States, as a neutral nation, during the years when Great +Britain was at war with France, since they controlled a large proportion +of all foreign commerce. Frauds constantly occurred during the +continuance of this traffic, and at last British statesmen felt the +injury to their commerce was so great that the practice was changed to +one which made American vessels liable to be seized and condemned in +British prize courts whenever it was clear that their cargoes were not +American produce, but were actually purchased at the port of an enemy. +Even provisions purchased from an enemy or its colonies were considered +"contraband of war" on the ground that they afforded actual aid and +encouragement to an enemy. The United States urged at first that only +military stores could fall under this category, and eventually went so +far as to assert the principle that under all circumstances "free ships +make free goods," and that neutral ships had a right to carry any +property, even that of a nation at war with another power, and to trade +when and where they liked without fear of capture. England, however, +would not admit in those days of trial principles which would +practically make a neutral nation an ally of her foe. She persisted in +restricting the commerce of the United States by all the force she had +upon the sea. + +This restrictive policy, which touched the American pocket and +consequently the American heart so deeply, was complicated by another +question of equal, if not greater, import. The forcible impressment of +men to man the British fleet had been for many years a necessary evil in +view of the national emergency, and of the increase in the mercantile +marine which attracted large numbers to its service. Great abuses were +perpetrated in the operation of this harsh method of maintaining an +efficient naval force, and there was no part of the British Isles where +the presence of a press gang did not bring dismay into many a home. +Great Britain, then and for many years later, upheld to an extreme +degree the doctrine of perpetual allegiance; she refused to recognise +the right of any of her citizens to divest themselves of their national +fealty and become by naturalisation the subject of a foreign power or a +citizen of the United States Such a doctrine was necessarily most +obnoxious to the government and people of a new republic like the United +States, whose future development rested on the basis of a steady and +large immigration, which lost much of its strength and usefulness as +long as the men who came into the country were not recognised as +American citizens at home and abroad. Great Britain claimed the right, +as a corollary of this doctrine of indefeasible allegiance, to search +the neutral ships of the United States during the war with France, to +enquire into the nationality of the seaman on board of those vessels, to +impress all those whom her officers had reason to consider British +subjects by birth, and to pay no respect to the fact that they may have +been naturalised in the country of their adoption. The assertion of the +right to search a neutral vessel and to impress seamen who were British +subjects has in these modern times been condemned as a breach of the +sound principle, that a right of search can only be properly exercised +in the case of a neutral's violation of his neutrality--that is to say, +the giving of aid to one of the parties to the war The forcible +abduction of a seaman under the circumstances stated was simply an +unwarrantable attempt to enforce municipal law on board a neutral +vessel, which was in effect foreign territory, to be regarded as sacred +and inviolate except in a case where it was brought under the operation +of a recognised doctrine of international law. Great Britain at that +critical period of her national existence would not look beyond the fact +that the acts of the United States as a neutral were most antagonistic +to the energetic efforts she was making to maintain her naval supremacy +during the European crisis created by Napoleon's ambitious designs. + +The desertion of British seamen from British ships, for the purpose of +finding refuge in the United States and then taking service in American +vessels, caused great irritation in Great Britain and justified, in the +opinion of some statesmen and publicists who only regarded national +necessities, the harsh and arbitrary manner in which English officials +stopped and searched American shipping on the high seas, seized men whom +they claimed to be deserters, and impressed any whom they asserted to be +still British subjects. In 1807 the British frigate "Leopard," acting +directly under the orders of the admiral at Halifax, even ventured to +fire a broadside into the United States cruiser "Chesapeake" a few miles +from Chesapeake Bay, killed and wounded a number of her crew, and then +carried off several sailors who were said to be, and no doubt were, +deserters from the English service and who were the primary cause of the +detention of this American man-of-war. For this unjustifiable act +England subsequently made some reparation, but nevertheless it rankled +for years in the minds of the party hostile to Great Britain and helped +to swell the list of grievances which the American government in the +course of years accumulated against the parent state as a reason for +war. + +The difficulties between England and the United States, which culminated +in war before the present century was far advanced, were also +intensified by disputes which commenced soon after the treaty of 1783. I +have already shown that for some years the north-west posts were still +retained by the English on the ground, it is understood, that the claims +of English creditors, and especially those of the Loyalists, should be +first settled before all the conditions of the treaty could be carried +out. The subsequent treaty of 1794, negotiated by Chief Justice Jay, +adjusted these and other questions, and led for some years to a better +understanding with Great Britain, but at the same time led to a rupture +of friendly relations with the French Directory, who demanded the repeal +of that treaty as in conflict with the one made with France in 1778, and +looked for some tangible evidence of sympathetic interest with the +French revolution. The war that followed with the French republic was +insignificant in its operations, and was immediately terminated by +Napoleon when he overthrew the Directory, and seized the government for +his own ambitious objects. Subsequently, the administration of the +United States refused to renew the Jay Treaty when it duly expired, and +as a consequence the relatively amicable relations that had existed +between the Republic and England again became critical, since American +commerce and shipping were exposed to all the irritating measures that +England felt compelled under existing conditions to carry out in +pursuance of the policy of restricting the trade of neutral vessels. +Several attempts were made by the British government, between the expiry +of the Jay Treaty and the actual rupture of friendly relations with the +United States, to come to a better understanding with respect to some of +the questions in dispute, but the differences between the two Powers +were so radical that all negotiations came to naught. Difficulties were +also complicated by the condition of political parties in the American +republic and the ambition of American statesmen. When the democratic +republicans or "Strict constructionists," as they have been happily +named, with Jefferson at their head, obtained office, French ideas came +into favour; while the federalists or "Broad constitutionalists," of +whom Washington, Hamilton and Adams had been the first exponents, were +anxious to keep the nation free from European complications and to +settle international difficulties by treaty and not by war. But this +party was in a hopeless minority, during the critical times when +international difficulties were resolving themselves into war, and was +unable to influence public opinion sufficiently to make negotiations for +the maintenance of peace successful, despite the fact that it had a +considerable weight in the states of New England. + +The international difficulties of the United States entered upon a +critical condition when Great Britain, in her assertion of naval +supremacy and restricted commerce as absolutely essential to her +national security, issued an order-in-council which declared a strict +blockade of the European coast from Brest to the Elbe. Napoleon +retaliated with the Berlin decree, which merely promulgated a paper +blockade of the British Isles. Then followed the later British +orders-in-council, which prevented the shipping of the United States +from trading with any country where British vessels could not enter, and +allowed them only to trade with other European ports where they made +entries and paid duties in English custom-houses. Napoleon increased the +duties of neutral commerce by the Milan decree of 1807, which ordered +the seizure of all neutral vessels which might have been searched by +English cruisers. These orders meant the ruin of American commerce, +which had become so profitable; and the Washington government attempted +to retaliate, first by forbidding the importation of manufactures from +England and her colonies, and, when this effort was ineffective, by +declaring an embargo in its own ports, which had only the result of +still further crippling American commerce at home and abroad. +Eventually, in place of this unwise measure, which, despite its +systematic evasion, brought serious losses to the whole nation and +seemed likely to result in civil war in the east, where the discontent +was greatest, a system of non-intercourse with both England and France +was adopted, to last so long as either should press its restrictive +measures against the republic, but this new policy of retaliation hardly +impeded American commerce, of which the profits were far greater than +the risks. The leaders of the Democratic party were now anxious to +conciliate France, and endeavoured to persuade the nation that Napoleon +had practically freed the United States from the restrictions to which +it so strongly objected. It is a matter beyond dispute that the French +decrees were never exactly annulled; and the Emperor was pursuing an +insidious policy which confiscated American vessels in French ports at +the very moment he was professing friendship with the United States. His +object was to force the government of that country into war with +England, and, unfortunately for its interests, its statesmen lent +themselves to his designs. + +The Democratic leaders, determined to continue in power, fanned the +flame against England, whose maritime superiority enabled her to inflict +the greatest injury on American shipping and commerce. The governing +party looked to the south and west for their principal support. In these +sections the interests were exclusively agricultural, while in New +England, where the Federalists were generally in the majority, the +commercial and maritime elements predominated. In Kentucky, Ohio, and +other states there was a strong feeling against England on account of +the current belief that the English authorities in Canada had tampered +with the Indian tribes and induced them to harass the settlers until +Harrison, on the eve of the war of 1812, effectually cowed them. It is, +however, now well established by the Canadian archives that Sir James +Craig, when governor-general in 1807, actually warned the Washington +government of the restlessness of the western Indians, and of the +anxiety of the Canadian authorities to avoid an Indian war in the +north-west, which might prejudicially operate against the western +province. This fact was not, however, generally known, and the feeling +against Canada and England was kept alive by the dominant party in the +United States by the disclosure that one John Henry had been sent by the +Canadian government in 1808 to ascertain the sentiment of the people of +New England with respect to the relations between the two countries and +the maintenance of peace. Henry's correspondence was really quite +harmless, but when it had been purchased from him by Madison, on the +refusal of the imperial government to buy his silence, it served the +temporary purpose of making the people of the west believe that England +was all the while intriguing against the national interests, and +endeavouring to create a discontent which might end in civil strife. +Under these circumstances the southern leaders, Clay of Kentucky, and +Calhoun of South Carolina, who always showed an inveterate animosity +against England, forced Madison, then anxious to be re-elected +president, to send a warlike message to congress, which culminated in a +formal declaration of hostilities on the 18th of June, 1812, only one +day later than the repeal of the obnoxious order-in-council by England. +When the repeal became known some weeks later in Canada and the United +States, the province of Upper Canada had been actually invaded by Hull, +and the government of the United States had no desire whatever to desist +from warlike operations, which, they confidently believed, would end in +the successful occupation of Canada at a time when England was unable, +on account of her European responsibilities, to extend to its defenders +effective assistance. + + +SECTION 2.--Canada during the war. + +In 1812 there were five hundred thousand people living in the provinces +of British North America. Of this number, the French people of Lower +Canada made up at least one half. These people had some grievances, and +political agitators, notably the writers of the _Canadien_, were +creating jealousies and rivalries between the French and English races +chiefly on the ground of the dominant influence of the British minority +in the administration of public affairs. On the whole, however, the +country was prosperous and the people generally contented with British +rule, the freedom of which presented such striking contrast to the +absolutism of the old French régime. The great majority of the eighty +thousand inhabitants of Upper or Western Canada were Loyalists or +descendants of Loyalists, who had become deeply attached to their new +homes, whilst recalling with feelings of deep bitterness the sufferings +and trials of the American revolution. This class was naturally attached +to British rule and hostile to every innovation which had the least +semblance of American republicanism. In the western part of the province +of Upper Canada there was, however, an American element composed of +people who had been brought into the country by the liberal grants of +land made to settlers, and who were not animated by the high sentiments +of the Loyalists of 1783 and succeeding years. These people, for some +years previous to 1812, were misled by political demagogues like Wilcox +and Marcle, both of whom deserted to the enemy soon after the outbreak +of the war. Emissaries from the republic were busily engaged for months, +we now know, in fomenting a feeling against England among these later +immigrants, and in persuading them that the time was close at hand when +Canada would be annexed to the federal republic. Some attempts were even +made to create discontent among the French Canadians, but no success +appears to have followed these efforts in a country where the bishop, +priests and leading men of the rural communities perfectly appreciated +the value of British connection. + +The statesmen of the United States, who were responsible for the war, +looked on the provinces as so many weak communities which could be +easily invaded and conquered by the republican armies. Upper Canada, +with its long and exposed frontier and its small and scattered +population, was considered utterly indefensible and almost certain to be +successfully occupied by the invading forces. There was not a town of +one thousand souls in the whole of that province, and the only forts of +any pretension were those on the Niagara frontier. Kingston was a +fortified town of some importance in the eastern part of the province, +but Toronto had no adequate means of defence. At the commencement of the +war there were only fourteen hundred and fifty regular troops in the +whole country west of Montreal, and these men were scattered at +Kingston, York, Niagara, Chippewa, Erie, Amherstburg, and St. Joseph. +The total available militia did not exceed four thousand men, the +majority of whom had little or no knowledge of military discipline, and +were not even in the possession of suitable arms and accoutrements, +though, happily, all were animated by the loftiest sentiments of courage +and patriotism. In the lower provinces of Eastern Canada and Nova +Scotia there was a considerable military force, varying in the aggregate +from four to five thousand men. The fortifications of Quebec were in a +tolerable state of repair, but the citadel which dominates Halifax was +in a dilapidated condition. The latter port was, however, the rendezvous +of the English fleet, which always afforded adequate protection to +British interests on the Atlantic coasts of British North America, +despite the depredations of privateers and the successes attained during +the first months of the war by the superior tonnage and equipment of the +frigates of the republic. But the hopes that were entertained by the war +party in the United States could be gathered from the speeches of Henry +Clay of Kentucky, who believed that the issue would be favourable to +their invading forces, who would even "negotiate terms of peace at +Quebec or Halifax." + +The United States had now a population of at least six millions and a +half of whites. It was estimated that during the war the government had +a militia force of between four and five hundred thousand men available +for service, while the regular army amounted to thirty-four thousand +officers and privates. The forces that invaded Canada by the way of Lake +Champlain, Sackett's Harbour, the Niagara and Detroit Rivers, were +vastly superior in numbers to the Canadian army of defence, except in +the closing months of the war, when Prevost had under his command a +large body of Peninsular veterans. One condition was always in favour of +Canada, and that was the sullen apathy or antagonism felt by the people +of New England with respect to the war. Had they been in a different +spirit, Lower Canada would have been in far greater danger of successful +invasion and occupation than was the case at any time during the +progress of the conflict. The famous march of Arnold on Quebec by the +Kennebec and Chaudière Rivers might have been repeated with more serious +consequences while Prevost, and not Guy Carleton, was in supreme command +in the French Canadian province. + +I can attempt to limn only the events which stand out most plainly on +the graphic pages of this momentous epoch in Canadian history, and to +pay a humble tribute to the memory of men, whose achievements saved +Canada for England in those days of trial. From the beginning to the end +of the conflict, Upper Canada was the principal battle ground upon which +the combatants fought for the supremacy in North America. Its frontiers +were frequently crossed, its territory was invaded, and its towns and +villages were destroyed by the ruthless hand of a foe who entered the +province not only with the sword of the soldier but even with the torch +of the incendiary. The plan of operations at the outset of the campaign +was to invade the province across the Niagara and Detroit Rivers, +neither of which offered any real obstacles to the passage of a +determined and well-managed army in the absence of strong +fortifications, or a superior defensive force, at every vulnerable point +along the Canadian banks. Queenston was to be a base of operations for a +large force, which would overrun the whole province and eventually +co-operate with troops which could come up from Lake Champlain and march +on Montreal. The forces of the United States in 1812 acted with +considerable promptitude as soon as war was officially declared, and had +they been led by able commanders the result might have been most +unfortunate for Canada. The resources for defence were relatively +insignificant, and indecision and weakness were shown by Sir George +Prevost, then commander-in-chief and governor-general--a well meaning +man but wanting in ability as a military leader, who was also hampered +by the vacillating counsels of the Liverpool administration, which did +not believe in war until the province was actually invaded. It was +fortunate for Canada that she had then at the head of the government in +the upper province General Brock, who possessed decision of character +and the ability to comprehend the serious situation of affairs at a +critical juncture, when his superiors both in England and Canada did +not appear to understand its full significance. + +The assembly of Upper Canada passed an address giving full expression to +the patriotic sentiments which animated all classes of people when the +perilous state of affairs and the necessity for energetic action became +apparent to the dullest minds. The Loyalists and their descendants, as +well as other loyal people, rallied at the moment of danger to the +support of Brock; and the immediate result of his decided orders was the +capture of the post of Michillimackinac, which had been, ever since the +days of the French régime, a position of great importance on the upper +lakes. Then followed the ignominious surrender of General Hull and his +army to Brock, and the consequent occupation of Detroit and the present +state of Michigan by the British troops. Later, on the Niagara frontier, +an army of invaders was driven from Queenston Heights, but this victory +cost the life of the great English general, whose promptitude at the +commencement of hostilities had saved the province. Among other brave +men who fell with Brock was the attorney-general of the province, +Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell, who was one of the general's aides. +General Sheaffe, the son of a Loyalist, took command and drove the enemy +across the river, in whose rapid waters many were drowned while +struggling to save themselves from the pursuing British soldiery, +determined to avenge the death of their honoured chief. A later attempt +by General Smyth to invade Canadian territory opposite Black Rock on the +Niagara River, was also attended with the same failure that attended the +futile attempts to cross the Detroit and to occupy the heights of +Queenston. At the close of 1812 Upper Canada was entirely free from the +army of the republic, the Union Jack floated above the fort at Detroit, +and the ambitious plan of invading the French province and seizing +Montreal was given up as a result of the disasters to the enemy in the +west. The party of peace in New England gathered strength, and the +promoters of the war had no consolation except the triumphs obtained at +sea by some heavily armed and well manned frigates of the United States +to the surprise of the government and people of England, who never +anticipated that their maritime superiority could be in any way +endangered by a nation whose naval strength was considered so +insignificant. But these victories of the republic on the ocean during +the first year of the war were soon effaced by the records of the two +subsequent years when "The Chesapeake" was captured by "The Shannon" and +other successes of the British ships restored the prestige of England on +the sea. + +During the second year of the war the United States won some military +and naval successes in the upper province, although the final results of +the campaign were largely in favour of the defenders of Canada. The war +opened with the defeat of General Winchester at Frenchtown on the River +Raisins in the present state of Michigan; but this success, which was +won by General Procter, was soon forgotten in the taking of York, the +capital of the province, and the destruction of its public buildings. +This event forced General Sheaffe to retire to Kingston, while General +Vincent retreated to Burlington Heights as soon as the invading army +occupied Fort George and dominated the Niagara frontier. Sir George +Prevost showed his military incapacity at Sackett's Harbour, where he +had it in his power to capture a post which was an important base of +operations against the province. On the other hand Colonel George +Macdonell made a successful attack on Ogdensburg and fittingly avenged +the raid that an American force had made a short time previously on +Elizabethtown, which was called Brockville not long afterwards in honour +of the noted general. An advance of the invading army against General +Vincent was checked by the memorable success won at Stoney Creek by +Colonel Harvey and the surrender at Beaver Dams of Colonel Boerstler to +Lieutenant Fitzgibbon, whose clever strategy enabled him to capture a +large force of the enemy while in command of a few soldiers and Indians. +When September arrived, the small, though all-important, British fleet +on Lake Erie, under the command of Captain Barclay, sustained a fatal +defeat at Put-in-Bay, and the United States vessels under Commodore +Perry held full control of Lake Erie. A few weeks later, General Procter +lost the reputation which he had won in January by his defeat of +Winchester, and was beaten, under circumstances which disgraced him in +the opinion of his superiors, on the River Thames not far from the +Indian village of Moraviantown. The American forces were led by General +Harrison, who had won some reputation in the Indian campaign in the +north-west and who subsequently became, as his son in later times, a +president of the United States. + +It was in this engagement that the Shawenese chief, Tecumseh, was +killed, in him England lost a faithful and brave ally. English prospects +in the west were consequently gloomy for some time, until the autumn of +1813, when the auspicious tidings spread from the lakes to the Atlantic +that the forces of the republic, while on their march to Montreal by the +way of Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence, had been successfully met +and repulsed at Chateauguay and Chrysler's Farm, two of the most +memorable engagements of the war, when we consider the insignificant +forces that checked the invasion and saved Canada at a most critical +time. + +In the last month of the same year Fort George was evacuated by the +American garrison, but not before General McLure had shamelessly burned +the pretty town of Niagara, and driven helpless women and children into +the ice and snow of a Canadian winter. General Drummond, who was in +command of the western army, retaliated by the capture of Fort Niagara +and the destruction of all the villages on the American side of the +river as far as Buffalo, then a very insignificant place. When the new +year dawned the only Canadian place in possession of the enemy was +Amherstburg on the western frontier. + +The third and last year of the war was distinguished by the capture of +Oswego and Prairie-des-Chiens by British expeditions; the repulse of a +large force of the invaders at Lacolle Mills in Lower Canada; the +surrender of Fort Erie to the enemy, the defeat of General Riall at +Street's or Usher's Creek in the Niagara district, the hotly contested +battle won at Lundy's Lane by Drummond, and the ignominious retreat from +Plattsburg of Sir George Prevost, in command of a splendid force of +peninsular veterans, after the defeat of Commodore Downey's fleet on +Lake Champlain. Before the year closed and peace was proclaimed, Fort +Erie was evacuated, the stars and stripes were driven from Lake Ontario, +and all Canadian territory except Amherstburg was free from the invader. +The capital of the United States had been captured by the British and +its public buildings burned as a severe retaliation for the conduct of +the invading forces at York, Niagara, Moraviantown, St. David's and Port +Dover. Both combatants were by this time heartily tired of the war, and +terms of peace were arranged by the treaty of Ghent at the close of +1814; but before the news reached the south, General Jackson repulsed +General Packenham with heavy losses at New Orleans, and won a reputation +which made him president a few years later. + +The maritime provinces never suffered from invasion, but on the contrary +obtained some advantages from the presence of large numbers of British +men-of-war in their seaports, and the expenditure on military and naval +supplies during the three years of war. Following the example of the +Canadas, the assemblies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia voted large +sums of money and embodied the militia for active service or general +purposes of defence. The assembly of New Brunswick, essentially the +province of the Loyalists, declared in 1813 that the people were "ready +and determined to repel every aggression which the infatuated policy of +the American government may induce it to commit on the soil of New +Brunswick." But the war was so unpopular in the state of Maine and other +parts of New England that the provinces by the sea were comparatively +safe from aggression and conflict. Soon after the commencement of +hostilities the governors of Maine and New Brunswick issued +proclamations which prevented hostilities for two years along their +respective borders. In Nova Scotia there was much activity during the +war, and letters of marque were issued to privateers which made many +captures, and offered some compensation for the losses inflicted on the +coasting and fishing interests by the same class of American vessels. In +1814 it was decided by the imperial authorities to break the truce which +had practically left Maine free from invasion, and Sir John Sherbrooke, +then governor of Nova Scotia, and Rear-Admiral Griffith took possession +of Machias, Eastport, Moose, and other islands in Passamaquoddy Bay. + +The people of the United States generally welcomed the end of a war +which brought them neither honour nor profit and seemed likely to break +the union into fragments in consequence of the hostility that had +existed in New England through the conflict from the very beginning. The +news of Prevost's retreat from Plattsburg no doubt hastened the decision +of the British government to enter into negotiations for peace, which +was settled on terms by no means favourable to Canadian interests. The +question of the New Brunswick boundary might have been then adjusted on +conditions which would have prevented at a later day the sacrifice of a +large tract of territory in Maine which would be now of great value to +the Dominion. The only advantage which accrued to the Canadians was a +later convention which gave the people of the provinces full control of +fisheries, ignorantly sacrificed by the treaty of 1783. + +No class of the people of Canada contributed more to the effectiveness +of the militia and the successful defence of the country than the +descendants of the Loyalists, who formed so large and influential a +portion of the English population of British North America. All the +loyal settlements on the banks of the St. Lawrence, on the Niagara +frontier, and on the shores of Lake Erie, sent many men to fight by the +side of the regular British forces. Even aged men, who had borne arms in +the revolutionary war, came forward with an enthusiasm which showed that +age had not impaired their courage or patriotism, and although they were +exempted from active service, they were found most useful in stationary +duties at a time when Canada demanded the experience of such veterans. +"Their lessons and example," wrote General Sheaffe, "will have a happy +influence on the youth of the militia ranks." When Hull invaded the +province and issued his boastful and threatening proclamation he used +language which must have seemed a mockery to the children of the +Loyalists. They remembered too well the sufferings of their fathers and +brothers during "the stormy period of the revolution," and it seemed +derisive to tell them now that they were to be "emancipated from tyranny +and oppression and restored to the dignified station of free men." The +proclamation issued by Governor Brock touched the loyal hearts of a +people whose family histories were full of examples of "oppression and +tyranny," and of the kind consideration and justice of England in their +new homes. "Where," asked Brock, with the confidence of truth, "is the +Canadian subject who can truly affirm to himself that he has been +injured by the government in his person, his property, or his liberty? +Where is to be found, in any part of the world, a growth so rapid in +prosperity and wealth as this colony exhibits?" These people, to whom +this special appeal was made at this national crisis, responded with a +heartiness which showed that gratitude and affection lay deep in their +hearts. Even the women worked in the field that their husbands, brothers +and sons might drive the invaders from Canadian soil. The 104th +Regiment, which accomplished a remarkable march of thirteen days in the +depth of winter, from Fredericton to Quebec--a distance of three hundred +and fifty miles--and lost only one man by illness, was composed of +descendants of the loyal founders of New Brunswick. This march was +accomplished practically without loss, while more than three hundred +men were lost by Benedict Arnold in his expedition of 1777 against +Quebec by the way of Kennebec--a journey not more dangerous or arduous +than that so successfully accomplished by the New Brunswick Loyalists. +In 1814 considerable numbers of seamen for service in the upper lakes +passed through New Brunswick to Quebec, and were soon followed by +several companies of the 8th or King's Regiment. The patriotism of the +Loyalists of New Brunswick was shown by grants of public money and every +other means in their power, while these expeditions were on their way to +the seat of war in the upper provinces. + +Historians and poets have often dwelt on the heroism of Laura Secord, +daughter and wife of Loyalists, who made a perilous journey in 1814 +through the Niagara district, and succeeded in warning Lieutenant +Fitzgibbon of the approach of the enemy, thus enabling him with a few +soldiers and Indians to surprise Colonel Boerstler near Beaver Dams and +force him by clever strategy to surrender with nearly 600 men and +several cannon. Even boys fled from home and were found fighting in the +field. The Prince Regent, at the close of the war, expressly thanked the +Canadian militia, who had "mainly contributed to the immediate +preservation of the province and its future security." The Loyalists, +who could not save the old colonies to England, did their full share in +maintaining her supremacy in the country she still owned in the valley +of the St. Lawrence and on the shores of the Atlantic. + +As Bishop Plessis stimulated a patriotic sentiment among the French +Canadians, so Vicar-General Macdonell of Glengarry, subsequently the +first Roman Catholic bishop of Upper Canada, performed good service by +assisting in the formation of a Glengarry regiment, and otherwise taking +an active part in the defence of the province, where his will always be +an honoured name. Equally indefatigable in patriotic endeavour was +Bishop Strachan, then rector of York, who established "The Loyal and +Patriotic Society," which did incalculable good by relieving the +necessities of women and children, when the men were serving in the +battlefield, by providing clothing and food for the soldiery, and +otherwise contributing towards the comfort and succour of all those who +were taking part in the public defences. Of the engagements of the war +there are two which, above all others, possess features on which the +historian must always like to dwell. The battle which was fought against +such tremendous odds on the banks of the Chateauguay by less than a +thousand French Canadians, led by Salaberry and Macdonell, recalls in +some respects the defeat of Braddock in 1755. The disaster to the +British forces near the Monongahela was mainly the result of the +strategy of the Indians, who were dispersed in the woods which reechoed +to their wild yells and their ever fatal shots fired under cover of +trees, rocks and stumps. The British were paralysed as they saw their +ranks steadily decimated by the fire of an enemy whom they could never +see, and who seemed multitudinous as their shrieks and shouts were heard +far and wide in that Bedlam of the forest. The leaves that lay thick and +deep on the ground were reddened with the blood of many victims helpless +against the concealed, relentless savages. The woods of the Chateauguay +did not present such a scene of carnage as was witnessed at the battle +of the Monongahela, but nevertheless they seemed to the panic-stricken +invaders, who numbered many thousands, alive with an enemy whose +strength was enormously exaggerated as bugle sounds and Indian yells +made a fearful din on every side. Believing themselves surrounded by +forces far superior in numbers, the invaders became paralysed with fear +and fled in disorder from an enemy whom they could not see, and who +might close upon them at any moment. In this way Canadian pluck and +strategy won a famous victory which saved the province of Lower Canada +at a most critical moment of the war. + +If we leave the woods of Chateauguay, where a monument has been raised +in recognition of this brilliant episode of the war, and come to the +country above which rises the mist of the cataract of Niagara, we see a +little acclivity over which passes that famous thoroughfare called +"Lundy's Lane." Here too rises a stately shaft in commemoration of +another famous victory--in many respects the most notable of the +war--won by a gallant Englishman, whose name still clings to the pretty +town close by. + +This battle was fought on a midsummer night, when less than three +thousand British and Canadian troops fought six hours against a much +superior force, led by the ablest officers who had taken part in the +war. For three hours, from six to nine o'clock at night, less than two +thousand held the height, which was the main object of attack from the +beginning to the end of the conflict, and kept at bay the forces that +were led against them with a stern determination to win the position. +Sunlight gave way to the twilight of a July evening, and dense darkness +at last covered the combatants, but still the fight went on. Columns of +the enemy charged in such close and rapid succession that the British +artillerymen were constantly assailed in the very act of sponging and +loading their guns. The assailants once won the height, but only to find +themselves repulsed the next instant by the resolute daring of the +British. Happily at the most critical moment, when the defenders of the +hill were almost exhausted by the heroic struggle, reinforcements +arrived, and the battle was renewed with a supreme effort on both sides. +For three hours longer, from nine o'clock to midnight, the battle was +fought in the darkness, only relieved by the unceasing flashes from the +guns, whose sharp reports mingled with the deep and monotonous roar of +the great falls. It was a scene worthy of a painter whose imagination +could grasp all the incidents of a situation essentially dramatic in its +nature. The assailants of the Canadian position gave way at last and +withdrew their wearied and disheartened forces. It was in all respects a +victory for England and Canada, since the United States army did not +attempt to renew the battle on the next day, but retired to Fort Erie, +then in their possession. As Canadians look down "the corridors of +time," they will always see those flashes from the musketry and cannon +of Lundy's Lane, and hear the bugles which drove the invaders of their +country from the woods of Chateauguay. + +The war did much to solidify the various racial elements of British +North America during its formative stage. Frenchmen, Englishmen, +Scotsmen from the Lowlands and Highlands, Irishmen and Americans, united +to support the British connection. The character of the people, +especially in Upper Canada, was strengthened from a national point of +view by the severe strain to which it was subjected. Men and women alike +were elevated above the conditions of a mere colonial life and the +struggle for purely material necessities, and became animated by that +spirit of self-sacrifice and patriotic endeavour which tend to make a +people truly great. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE EVOLUTION OF RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT (1815--1839) + + +SECTION I.--The rebellion in Lower Canada. + +Responsible government in Canada is the logical sequence of the +political struggles, which commenced soon after the close of the war of +1812-15. As we review the history of Canada since the conquest we can +recognise "one ever increasing purpose" through all political changes, +and the ardent desire of men, entrusted at the outset with a very +moderate degree of political responsibility, to win for themselves a +larger measure of political liberty in the management of their own local +affairs. Grave mistakes were often made by the advocates of reform in +the government of the several provinces--notably, as I shall show, in +Lower Canada, where the French Canadian majority were carried often +beyond reason at the dictation of Papineau--but, whatever may have been +the indiscretions of politicians, there were always at the bottom of +their demands the germs of political development. + +The political troubles that continued from 1817 until 1836 in Lower +Canada eventually made the working of legislative institutions +impracticable. The contest gradually became one between the +governor-general representing the crown and the assembly controlled +almost entirely by a French Canadian majority, with respect to the +disposition of the public revenues and expenditures. Imperial statutes, +passed as far back as 1774-1775, provided for the levying of duties, to +be applied solely by the crown, primarily "towards defraying the +expenses of the administration of justice and the support of the civil +government of the province", and any sums that remained in the hands of +the government were "for the future disposition of parliament." Then +there were "the casual or territorial revenues," such as money arising +from the Jesuits' estates, royal seigniorial dues, timber and land, all +of which were also exclusively under the control of the government. The +assembly had been given jurisdiction only over the amount of duties +payable into the treasury under the authority of laws passed by the +legislature itself. In case the royal revenues were not sufficient to +meet the annual expenditure of the government, the deficiency was met +until the war of 1812-15 by drawing on the military exchequer. As the +expenses of the provincial administration increased the royal revenues +became inadequate, while the provincial revenues gradually showed a +considerable surplus over the expenditure voted by the legislature. In +1813 the cost of the war made it impossible for the government to use +the military funds, and it resorted to the provincial moneys for the +expenses of justice and civil government. In this way, by 1817, the +government had incurred a debt of a hundred and twenty thousand pounds +to the province without the direct authority of the legislature. The +assembly of Lower Canada was not disposed to raise troublesome issues +during the war, or in any way to embarrass the action of Sir George +Prevost, who, whatever may have been his incompetency as a military +chief, succeeded by his conciliatory and persuasive methods in winning +the good opinions of the French Canadian majority and making himself an +exceptionally popular civil governor. After closing the accounts of the +war, the government felt it expedient to stop such irregular +proceedings, to obtain from the legislature a general appropriation act, +covering the amount of expenditures in the past, and to prevent the +necessity of such a questionable application of provincial funds in the +future. This may be considered the beginning of the financial +controversies that were so constant, as years passed by, between the +governors and the assemblies, and never ended until the rebellion broke +out. The assembly, desirous of obtaining power in the management of +public affairs, learned that it could best embarrass the government and +force them to consider and adjust public grievances, as set forth by the +majority in the house, by means of the appropriation bills required for +the public service. The assembly not only determined to exercise sole +control over its own funds but eventually demanded the disposal of the +duties imposed and regulated by imperial statutes. The conflict was +remarkable for the hot and uncompromising temper constantly exhibited by +the majority on the discussion of the generally moderate and fair +propositions submitted by the government for settling vexed questions. +The assembly found a powerful argument in favour of their persistent +contention for a complete control of the public revenues and +expenditures in the defalcation of Mr. Caldwell, the receiver-general, +who had been allowed for years to use the public funds in his business +speculations, and whose property was entirely inadequate to cover the +deficiency in his accounts. + +The legislative council was always ready to resist what it often +asserted to be unconstitutional acts on the part of the house and direct +infringements of "the rights of the crown" sometimes a mere convenient +phrase used in an emergency to justify resistance to the assembly. It +often happened, however, that the upper chamber had law on its side, +when the house became perfectly unreasonable and uncompromising in its +attitude of hostility to the government. The council, on several +occasions, rejected a supply bill because it contained provisions +asserting the assembly's right to control the crown revenues and to vote +the estimates, item by item, from the governor's salary down to that of +the humblest official. Every part of the official and legislative +machinery became clogged by the obstinacy of governor, councils, and +assembly. To such an extent, indeed, did the assembly's assumption of +power carry it in 1836, that the majority actually asserted its own +right to amend the constitution of the council as defined in the +imperial statute of 1791. Its indiscreet acts eventually alienated the +sympathy and support of such English members as Mr. Neilson, a +journalist and politician of repute, Mr. Andrew Stuart, a lawyer of +ability, and others who believed in the necessity of constitutional +reforms, but could not follow Mr. Papineau and his party in their +reckless career of attack on the government, which they thought would +probably in the end imperil British connection. + +The government was in the habit of regularly submitting its accounts and +estimates to the legislature, and expressed its desire eventually to +grant that body the disposal of all the crown revenues, provided it +would consent to vote a civil list for the king's life, or even for a +fixed number of years, but the assembly was not willing to agree to any +proposal which prevented it from annually taking up the expenditures for +the civil government item by item, and making them matters of yearly +vote. In this way every person in the public service would be subject to +the caprice, or ill-feeling, of any single member of the legislature, +and the whole administration of the public departments would probably be +made ineffective. Under the plan suggested by the government in +accordance with English constitutional forms, the assembly would have +every opportunity of criticising all the public expenditures, and even +reducing the gross sum in cases of extravagance. But the same +contumacious spirit, which several times expelled Mr. Christie, member +for Gaspé, on purely vexatious and frivolous charges, and constantly +impeached judges without the least legal justification, simply to +satisfy personal spite or political malice, would probably have been +exhibited towards all officials had the majority in the assembly been +given the right of voting each salary separately. The assembly never +once showed a disposition to meet the wishes of the government even +half-way. Whatever may have been the vacillation or blundering of +officials in Downing Street, it must be admitted that the imperial +government showed a conciliatory spirit throughout the whole financial +controversy. Step by step it yielded to all the demands of the assembly +on this point. In 1831, when Lord Grey was premier, the British +parliament passed an act, making it lawful for the legislatures of Upper +and Lower Canada to appropriate the duties raised by imperial statutes +for the purpose of defraying the charges of the administration of +justice and the support of civil government. The government consequently +retained only the relatively small sum arising from casual and +territorial dues. When Lord Aylmer, the governor-general, communicated +this important concession to the legislature, he also sent a message +setting forth the fact that it was the settled policy of the crown on no +future occasion to nominate a judge either to the executive or the +legislative council, the sole exception being the chief justice of +Quebec. He also gave the consent of the government to the passage of an +act declaring that judges of the supreme court should thereafter hold +office "during good behaviour," on the essential condition that their +salaries were made permanent by the legislature. The position of the +judiciary had long been a source of great and even just complaint, and, +in the time of Sir James Craig, judges were disqualified from sitting in +the assembly on the demand of that body. They continued, however, to +hold office "during the pleasure" of the crown, and to be called at its +will to the executive and legislative councils. Under these +circumstances they were, with some reason, believed to be more or less +under the influence of the governor-general; and particular judges +consequently fell at times under the ban of the assembly, and were +attacked on the most frivolous grounds. The assembly passed a bill +providing for the independence of the judiciary, but it had to be +reserved because it was not in accordance with the conditions considered +necessary by the crown for the protection of the bench. + +The governor-general also in his message promised reforms of the +judicial and legal systems, the disposal of the funds arising from the +Jesuits' estates by the legislature, and, in fact, nearly all the +reforms which had been demanded by the house for years. Yet when the +government asked at the same time for a permanent civil list, the +message was simply referred to a committee of the whole house which +never reported. Until this time the efforts of the assembly to obtain +complete control of the public revenues and expenditures had a +justification in the fact that it is a recognised English principle that +the elected house should impose the taxes and vote the supplies; but +their action on this occasion, when the imperial government made most +important concessions, giving them full control over the public funds, +simply on condition that they should follow the English system of voting +the salaries of the judiciary and civil list, showed that the majority +were earned away by a purely factious spirit. During the progress of +these controversies, Mr. Louis Joseph Papineau, a brilliant but an +unsafe leader, had become the recognised chief of the French Canadian +majority, who for years elected him speaker of the assembly. In the +absence of responsible government, there was witnessed in those times +the extraordinary spectacle--only now-a-days seen in the American +congress--of the speaker, who should be above all political antagonisms, +acting as the leader of an arrogant majority, and urging them to +continue in their hostility to the government. It was Mr. Papineau who +first brought the governor-general directly into the arena of political +conflict by violent personal attacks; and indeed he went so far in the +case of Lord Dalhousie, a fair-minded man anxious to act moderately +within the limits of the constitution, that the latter felt compelled by +a sense of dignity to refuse the confirmation of the great agitator as +speaker in 1827. The majority in the assembly vehemently asserted their +right to elect their speaker independently of the governor, whose +confirmation was a mere matter of form, and not of statutory right; and +the only course at last open to Lord Dalhousie was to prorogue the +legislature. Mr. Papineau was re-elected speaker at the next session, +when Lord Dalhousie had gone to England and Sir James Kempt was +administrator. + +After 1831, Mr. Papineau steadily evoked the opposition of the more +conservative and thoughtful British Liberals who were not disposed to be +carried into a questionable position, inimical to British connection and +the peace of the country, Dr. Wolfred Nelson, and Dr. O'Callaghan, a +journalist, were soon the only supporters of ability left him among the +British and Irish, the great majority of whom rallied to the support of +the government when a perilous crisis arrived in the affairs of the +province. The British party dwindled away in every appeal to the people, +and no French Canadian representative who presumed to differ from Mr. +Papineau was ever again returned to the assembly. Mr. Papineau became +not only a political despot but an "irreconcilable," whose vanity led +him to believe that he would soon become supreme in French Canada, and +the founder of _La Nation Canadienne_ in the valley of the St. Lawrence. +The ninety-two resolutions passed in 1834 may be considered the climax +of the demands of his party, which for years had resisted immigration as +certain to strengthen the British population, had opposed the +establishment of registry offices as inconsistent with the French +institutions of the province, and had thrown every possible opposition +in the way of the progress of the Eastern Townships, which were +attracting year by year an industrious and energetic British population +from the British Isles and New England. + +In these resolutions of 1834 there is not a single paragraph or even +phrase which can be tortured into showing that the French Canadian +agitator and his friends were in favour of responsible government. The +key-note of the whole document is an elective legislative council, which +would inevitably increase the power of the French Canadians and place +the British in a hopeless minority. Mr. Roebuck, the paid agent of the +assembly in England, is said to have suggested the idea of this elective +body, and assuredly his writings and speeches were always calculated to +do infinite harm, by helping to inflame discontent in Canada, and +misrepresenting in England the true condition of affairs in the +province. The resolutions are noteworthy for their verbosity and entire +absence of moderate and wise suggestion. They were obviously written +under the inspiration of Mr. Papineau with the object of irritating the +British government, and preventing the settlement of political +difficulties. They even eulogised the institutions of the neighbouring +states which "commanded the affection of the people in a larger measure +than those of any other country," and should be regarded "as models of +government for Canada." They even went so far as "to remind parliament +of the consequences of its efforts to overrule the wishes of the +American colonies," in case they should make any "modification" in the +constitution of the province "independently of the wishes of its +people." Colonel Gugy, Mr. Andrew Stuart, Mr. Neilson and other +prominent Englishmen opposed the passage of these resolutions, as +calculated to do infinite harm, but they were carried by a very large +French Canadian majority at the dictation of Mr. Papineau. Whatever may +have been its effect for the moment, this wordy effusion has long since +been assigned to the limbo where are buried other examples of the +demagogism of those trying times. + +In 1835 the imperial government decided to send three commissioners to +examine into the various questions which had been so long matters of +agitation in Lower Canada. Lord Aberdeen, then Colonial Secretary of +State, emphatically stated that it was the intention of the government +"to review and enquire into every alleged grievance and examine every +cause of complaint, and apply a remedy to every abuse that may still be +found to prevail." + +The choice of the government as chief commissioner and governor-general +was Lord Gosford, an amiable, inexperienced and weak man, who failed +either to conciliate the French Canadian majority to whom he was even +humble for a while, or to obtain the confidence of the British party to +whose counsels and warnings he did not pay sufficient heed at the +outset of the crisis which culminated during his administration. The +majority in the assembly were determined not to abate one iota of their +pretensions, which now included the control of the casual and +territorial revenues; and no provision whatever was made for four years +for the payment of the public service. The commissioners reported +strongly against the establishment of an elected council, and in favour +of a modified system of responsible government, not dependent on the +vote of the house. They recommended also the surrender of the casual and +territorial revenues on condition of proper provision for the payment of +the civil service, and the administration of justice. + +The imperial government immediately recognised that they had to face a +very serious crisis in the affairs of Lower Canada. On the 6th March, +1836, Lord John Russell, then home secretary in Lord Melbourne's +administration, introduced a series of ten resolutions, providing for +the immediate payment of the arrears of £142,160. 14s. 6d., due to the +public service, out of the moneys in the hands of the receiver-general. +While it was admitted that measures should be taken to secure for the +legislative council a greater degree of public confidence, the +government deemed it inexpedient to make that body elective. The +necessity of improving the position of the executive council was also +acknowledged, but the suggestion of a ministry responsible to the +assembly was not approved. This disapproval was quite in accordance with +the policy adopted by Englishmen since 1822, when a measure had been +introduced in parliament for the reunion of the two Canadas--the +precursor of the measure of 1840. This measure originally provided that +two members of the executive council should sit and speak in the +assembly but not vote. Those parts of the bill of 1822 which provided +for a union were not pressed on account of the objections raised in both +the provinces, but certain other provisions became law under the title +of "The Canadian Trade Acts," relieving Upper Canada from the +capricious action of Lower Canada with respect to the duties from which +the former obtained the principal part of her fund for carrying on her +government. This share had been originally fixed at one-fifth of the +proceeds of the customs duties collected by the province of Lower +Canada, but when the population of the western section increased +considerably and consumed a far greater quantity of dutiable goods, its +government justly demanded a larger proportion of the revenues collected +in the ports of the lower St. Lawrence. The legislature of Lower Canada +paid no attention to this equitable demand, and eventually even refused +to renew the legislation providing for the payment of one-fifth of the +duties. Under these circumstances the imperial government found it +necessary to intervene, and pass the "Trade Acts," making the past +legislation of Lower Canada on the subject permanent, and preventing its +legislature from imposing new duties on imports without the consent of +the upper province. As this was a question of grave import, the +resolutions of 1836 gave authority to the legislatures of Upper and +Lower Canada to provide joint legislation "for determining and adjusting +all questions respecting the trade and commerce of the provinces." + +As soon as the passage of these resolutions became known throughout +Lower Canada, Papineau and his supporters commenced an active campaign +of denunciation against England, from whom, they declared, there was no +redress whatever to be expected. Wherever the revolutionists were in the +majority, they shouted, "_Vive la liberté!" "Vive la Nation Canadienne!" +"Vive Papineau!" "Point de despotisme_!": while flags and placards were +displayed with similar illustrations of popular frenzy. _La Nation +Canadienne_ was now launched on the turbulent waves of a little +rebellion in which the phrases of the French revolution were glibly +shouted by the _habitants_ with very little conception of their real +significance. The British or Constitutional party took active steps in +support of British connection, but Lord Gosford, unhappily still +governor-general, did not for some time awaken to the reality of the +public danger. Happily for British interests, Sir John Culhorne, +afterwards Lord Seaforth, a courageous and vigilant soldier, was in the +country, and was able, when orders were given him by the reluctant +governor, to deal determinedly with the rebels who had taken up arms in +the Richelieu district. Dr. Wolfred Nelson made a brave stand at St. +Denis, and repulsed Colonel Gore's small detachment of regulars. +Papineau was present for a while at the scene of conflict, but he took +no part in it and lost no time in making a hurried flight to the United +States--an ignominious close to a successful career of rhetorical +flashes which had kindled a conflagration that he took very good care +should not even scorch him. Colonel Wetherall defeated another band of +rebels at St. Charles, and their commander, Mr. Thomas Storrow Brown, a +well-meaning but gullible man, fled across the border. Dr. Wolfred +Nelson was captured, and a number of other rebels of less importance +were equally unfortunate. Some of the refugees made a public +demonstration from Vermont, but precipitately fled before a small force +which met them. At St. Eustache, one Girod, a plausible, mendacious +Swiss or Alsatian, who had become a leader in the rebellious movement, +and Dr. Chenier, a rash but courageous man, collected a considerable +body of rebels, chiefly from St. Benoit, despite the remonstrances of +Mr. Paquin, the curé of the village, and defended the stone church and +adjacent buildings against a large force, led by Sir John Colborne +himself. Dr. Chenier and many others--at least seventy, it is said on +good authority--were killed, and the former has in the course of time +been elevated to the dignity of a national hero and a monument raised in +his honour on a public square of the French Canadian quarters of +Montreal. Mad recklessness rather than true heroism signalised his +action in this unhappy affair, when he led so many of his credulous +compatriots to certain death, but at least he gave up his life manfully +to a lost cause rather than fly like Papineau who had beguiled him to +this melancholy conclusion. Even Girod showed courage and ended his own +life when he found that he could not evade the law. The rebellious +element at St. Benoit was cowed by the results at St. Eustache; and the +Abbé Chartier, who had taken an active part in urging the people to +resistance, fled to the United States whence he never returned. The +greater part of the village was destroyed by fire, probably in +retaliation for the losses and injuries suffered by the volunteers at +the hands of the rebels in different parts of the district of Montreal. + +One of the most unfortunate and discreditable incidents of the rising in +the Richelieu district was the murder of Lieutenant Weir, who had been +taken prisoner while carrying despatches to Sorel, and was literally +hacked to pieces, when he tried to escape from a _calèche_ in which he +was being conveyed to St. Charles. An equally unhappy incident was the +cold-blooded execution, after a mock trial, of one Chartrand, a harmless +non-combatant who was accused, without a tittle of evidence, of being a +spy. The temper of the country can be gauged by the fact that when it +was attempted, some time later, to convict the murderers on clear +evidence, it was impossible to obtain a verdict. Jolbert, the alleged +murderer of Weir, was never punished, but François Nicholas and Amable +Daumais, who had aided in the trial and execution of Chartrand, were +subsequently hanged for having taken an active part in the second +insurrection of 1838. + +The rebellion of 1837 never reached any large proportions, and very few +French Canadians of social or political standing openly participated in +the movement. Monseigneur Lartigue, Roman Catholic bishop of Montreal, +issued a _mandement_ severely censuring the misguided men who had joined +in the rebellious movement and caused so much misery throughout the +province. In England, strange to say, there were men found, even in +parliament, ready to misrepresent the facts and glory in a rebellion the +causes of which they did not understand. The animating motive with +these persons was then--and there were similar examples during the +American revolution--to assail the government of the day and make +political capital against them, but, it must be admitted, in all +fairness to the reform ministry of that day and even to preceding +cabinets for some years, that the policy of all was to be just and +conciliatory in their relations with the provincial agitators, though it +is also evident that a more thorough knowledge of political conditions +and a more resolute effort to a reach the bottom of grievances might +have long before removed causes of irritation and saved the loss of +property and life in 1837 and 1838. + +In the presence of a grave emergency, the British government felt +compelled to suspend the constitution of Lower Canada, and send out Lord +Durham, a Liberal statesman of great ability, to act as governor-general +and high commissioner "for the determining of certain important +questions depending in the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada +respecting the form and future government of the said provinces" Despite +a certain haughtiness of manner which was apt to wound his inferiors and +irritate his equals in position, he was possessed of a great fund of +accurate political knowledge and a happy faculty of grasping all the +essential facts of a difficult situation, and suggesting the best remedy +to apply under all the circumstances. He endeavoured, to the utmost of +his ability, to redeem the pledge with which he entered on his mission +to Canada, in the first instance "to assert the supremacy of her +majesty's government," in the next "to vindicate the honour and dignity +of the law," and above all "to know nothing of a British, a French, or a +Canadian party," but "to look on them all alike as her majesty's +subjects." After he had appointed a special council he set to work +energetically to secure the peace of the country. Humanity was the +distinguishing feature of his too short career in Canada. A +comprehensive amnesty was proclaimed to all those engaged in the +rebellion with the exception of Dr. Wolfred Nelson, R.S.M. Bouchette, +Bonaventure Viger, Dr. Masson, and four others of less importance, who +were ordered by an ordinance to be transported to Bermuda during the +queen's pleasure. These persons, as well as sixteen others, including +Papineau, who had fled from justice, were declared to be subject to +death should they venture to enter the province. Not a single rebel +suffered death on the scaffold during Lord Durham's administration. +Unfortunately the ordinance, transporting a number of persons without +trial to an island where the governor-general had no jurisdiction, gave +an opportunity to Lord Brougham, who hated the high commissioner, to +attack him in the house of lords. Lord Melbourne, then premier, was +forced to repeal the ordinance and to consent to the passage of a bill +indemnifying all those who had acted under its provisions Lord Glenelg, +colonial secretary, endeavoured to diminish the force of this +parliamentary censure by writing to the high commissioner that "her +majesty's government repeat their approbation of the spirit in which +these measures were conceived and state their conviction that they have +been dictated by a judicious and enlightened humanity"; but a statesman +of Lord Durham's haughty character was not ready to submit to such a +rebuke as he had sustained in parliament He therefore immediately placed +his resignation in the hands of the government which had commissioned +him with powers to give peace and justice to distracted Canada, and yet +failed to sustain him at the crucial moment. Before leaving the country +he issued a proclamation in defence of his public acts. His course in +this particular offended the ministry who, according to Lord Glenelg, +considered it a dangerous innovation, as it was practically an appeal by +a public officer to the public against the measures of parliament. Lord +Durham may be pardoned under all the circumstances for resenting at the +earliest possible moment his desertion by the government, who were bound +in honour to defend him, at all hazards, in his absence, and should not +have given him over for the moment to his enemies, led by a spiteful +Scotch lawyer. Lord Durham left Canada with the assurance that he had +won the confidence of all loyal British subjects and proved to all +French Canadians that there were English statesmen prepared to treat +them with patience, humanity and justice. + +Sir John Colborne became administrator on the departure of Lord Durham, +and subsequently governor-general. Unhappily he was immediately called +upon to crush another outbreak of the rebels, in November, 1838, in the +counties watered by the Richelieu River, and in the district immediately +south of Montreal. Dr. Robert Nelson and some other rebels, who had +found refuge in the frontier towns and villages of Vermont and New York, +organised this second insurrection, which had the support of a +considerable number of _habitants_, though only a few actually took up +arms. The rising, which began at Caughnawaga, was put down at +Beauharnois, within a week from the day on which it commenced. The +authorities now felt that the time had passed for such leniency as had +been shown by Lord Durham; and Sir John Colborne accordingly established +courts-martial for the trial of the prisoners taken during this second +insurrection, as it was utterly impossible to obtain justice through the +ordinary process of the courts. Only twelve persons, however, suffered +the extreme penalty of the law; some were sent to New South Wales--where +however they were detained only a short time; and the great majority +were pardoned on giving security for good behaviour. + +While these trials were in progress, and the government were anxious to +give peace and security to the province, refugees in the border states +were despatching hands of ruffians to attack and plunder the Loyalists +in the Eastern Townships; but the government of the United States +intervened and instructed its officers to take decisive measures for the +repression of every movement in the territory of a friendly Power. Thus +the mad insurrection incited by Papineau, but actually led by the +Nelsons, Chenier and Brown, came at last to an end. + +A new era of political development was now to dawn on the province, as a +result of a more vigorous and remedial policy initiated by the imperial +government, at last thoroughly awakened to an intelligent comprehension +of the political conditions of the Canadas. But before I proceed to +explain the details of measures fraught with such important +consequences, I must give an historical summary of the events which led +also to a rash uprising in Upper Canada, simultaneously with the one +which ended so disastrously for its leaders in the French province. + + +SECTION 2.--The rebellion in Upper Canada. + +The financial disputes between the executive and the assembly never +attained such prominence in Upper Canada as in the lower province. In +1831 the assembly consented to make permanent provision for the civil +list and the judiciary, on condition of the government's giving up to +the legislature all the revenues previously at its own disposition. +Three years later the legislature also passed an act to provide that the +judges should hold their offices during good behaviour, and not at the +pleasure of the crown--a measure rendered possible by the fact that the +assembly had made the salaries of the bench permanent. + +Nor did the differences between the assembly and the legislative council +ever assume such serious proportions as they did in the French province. +Still the leaders of the reform party of Upper Canada had strong +objections to the constitution of the council; and a committee of +grievances reported in 1835 in favour of an elected body as well as a +responsible council, although it did not very clearly outline the +methods of working out the system in a colony where the head of the +executive was an imperial officer acting under royal instructions. The +different lieutenant-governors, the executive and legislative +councillors, and the whole body of officials, from the very moment +responsible government was suggested in any form, threw every possible +obstacle in the way of its concession by the imperial government. + +It was largely the dominant influence of the official combination, long +known in Canadian history as the "family compact," which prevented the +concession of responsible government before the union of the Canadas. +This phrase, as Lord Durham said in his report, was misleading inasmuch +as there "was very little of family connection between the persons thus +united." As a matter of fact the phrase represented a political and +aristocratic combination, which grew up as a consequence of the social +conditions of the province and eventually monopolised all offices and +influence in government. This bureaucracy permeated all branches of +government--the executive, the legislative council, and even the +assembly where for years there sat several members holding offices of +emolument under the crown. It practically controlled the banks and +monetary circles. The Church of England was bound up in its interests. +The judiciary was more or less under its influence while judges were +appointed during pleasure and held seats in the councils. This governing +class was largely composed of the descendants of the Loyalists of 1784, +who had taken so important a part in the war with the United States and +always asserted their claims to special consideration in the +distribution of government favour. The old settlers--all those who had +come into the country before the war--demanded and obtained greater +consideration at the hands of the government than the later immigrants, +who eventually found themselves shut out of office and influence. The +result was the growth of a Liberal or Reform party, which, while +generally composed of the later immigrants, comprised several persons of +Loyalist extraction, who did not happen to belong to the favoured class +or church, but recognised the necessity for a change in the methods of +administration. Among these Loyalists must be specially mentioned Peter +Perry, who was really the founder of the Reform party in 1834, and the +Reverend Egerton Ryerson, a Methodist minister of great natural ability. + +Unfortunately creed also became a powerful factor in the political +controversies of Upper Canada. By the constitutional act of 1791 large +tracts of land were set aside for the support of a "Protestant clergy", +and the Church of England successfully claimed for years an exclusive +right to these "clergy reserves" on the ground that it was the +Protestant church recognised by the state. The clergy of the Church of +Scotland in Canada, though very few in number for years, at a later time +obtained a share of these grants as a national religious body; but all +the dissentient denominations did not participate in the advantages of +these reserves. The Methodists claimed in the course of years to be +numerically equal to, if not more numerous than, the English +Episcopalians, and were deeply irritated at the inferior position they +long occupied in the province. So late as 1824 the legislative council, +composed of members of the dominant church, rejected a bill allowing +Methodist ministers to solemnise marriages, and it was not until 1831 +that recognised ministers of all denominations were placed on an +equality in this respect. Christian charity was not more a +characteristic of those times than political liberality. Methodism was +considered by the governing class as a sign of democracy and social +inferiority. History repeated itself in Upper Canada. As the Puritans of +New England feared the establishment of an Anglican episcopacy, and used +it to stimulate a feeling against the parent state during the beginnings +of the revolution, so in Upper Canada the dissenting religious bodies +made political capital out of the favouritism shown to the Church of +England in the distribution of the public lands and public patronage. +The Roman Catholics and members of all Protestant sects eventually +demanded the secularisation of the reserves for educational or other +public purposes, or the application of the funds to the use of all +religious creeds. The feeling against that church culminated in 1836, +when Sir John Colborne, then lieutenant-governor, established forty-four +rectories in accordance with a suggestion made by Lord Goderich some +years previously. While the legality of Sir John Colborne's course was +undoubted, it was calculated to create much indignant feeling among the +dissenting bodies, who saw in the establishment of these rectories an +evidence of the intention of the British government to create a state +church so far as practicable by law within the province. This act, so +impolitic at a critical time of political discussion, was an +illustration of the potent influence exercised in the councils of the +government by Archdeacon Strachan, who had come into the province from +Scotland in 1799 as a schoolmaster. He had been brought up in the tenets +of the Presbyterian Church, but some time after his arrival in Canada he +became an ordained minister of the Church of England, in which he rose +step by step to the episcopacy. He became a member of both the executive +and legislative councils in 1816 and 1817, and exercised continuously +until the union of 1841 a singular influence in the government of the +province. He was endowed with that indomitable will, which distinguished +his great countryman, John Knox. His unbending toryism was the natural +outcome of his determination to sustain what he considered the just +rights of his church against the liberalism of her opponents--chiefly +dissenters--who wished to rob her of her clergy reserves and destroy her +influence in education and public affairs generally. This very fidelity +to his church became to some extent her weakness, since it evoked the +bitter hostility of a large body of persons and created the impression +that she was the church of the aristocratic and official class rather +than that of the people--an impression which existed for many years +after the fall of the "family compact." + +The public grievances connected with the disposition of the public +lands were clearly exposed by one Robert Gourlay, a somewhat meddlesome +Scotchman, who had addressed a circular, soon after his arrival in +Canada, to a number of townships with regard to the causes which +retarded improvement and the best means of developing the resources of +the province. An answer from Sandwich virtually set forth the feeling of +the rural districts generally on these points. It stated that the +reasons for the existing depression were the reserves of land for the +crown and clergy, "which must for a long time keep the country a +wilderness, a harbour for wolves, and a hindrance to compact and good +neighbourhood; defects in the system of colonisation; too great a +quantity of lands in the hands of individuals who do not reside in the +province, and are not assessed for their property." Mr. Gourlay's +questions were certainly asked in the public interest, but they excited +the indignation of the official class who resented any interference with +a state of things which favoured themselves and their friends, and were +not desirous of an investigation into the management of public affairs. +The subsequent treatment of Mr. Gourlay was shameful in the extreme. He +was declared a most dangerous character when he followed up his circular +by a pamphlet, attacking the methods by which public affairs generally +were conducted, and contrasting them with the energetic and progressive +system on the other side of the border. The indignation of the officials +became a positive fever when he suggested the calling of public meetings +to elect delegates to a provincial convention--a term which recalled the +days of the American revolution, and was cleverly used by Gourlay's +enemies to excite the ire and fear of the descendants of the Loyalists. +Sir Peregrine Maitland succeeded in obtaining from the legislature an +opinion against conventions as "repugnant to the constitution," and +declaring the holding of such public meetings a misdemeanour, while +admitting the constitutional right of the people to petition. These +proceedings evoked a satirical reply from Gourlay, who was arrested for +seditious libel, but the prosecutions failed. It was then decided to +resort to the provisions of a practically obsolete statute passed in +1804, authorising the arrest of any person who had resided in the +province for six months without taking the oath of allegiance, and was +suspected to be a seditious character. Such a person could be ordered by +the authorities to leave the province, or give security for good +behaviour. This act had been originally passed to prevent the +immigration of aliens unfavourable to England, especially of Irishmen +who had taken part in the rebellion of 1798 and found refuge in the +United States. Gourlay had been a resident of Upper Canada for nearly +two years, and in no single instance had the law been construed to apply +to an immigrant from the British Isles. Gourlay was imprisoned in the +Niagara gaol, and when his friends attempted to bring him out on a writ +of _habeas corpus_ they failed simply because Chief Justice Powell, an +able lawyer of a Loyalist family and head of the official party, refused +to grant the writ on a mere technical plea, afterwards declared by the +highest legal authorities in England to be entirely contrary to sound +law. Gourlay consequently remained in prison for nearly eight months, +and when he was brought again before the chief justice, his mental +faculties were obviously impaired for the moment, but despite his +wretched condition, which prevented him from conducting his defence, he +was summarily convicted and ordered to leave the province within +twenty-four hours, under penalty of death should he not obey the order +or return to the country. + +This unjust sentence created wide-spread indignation among all +right-thinking people, especially as it followed a message of the +lieutenant-governor to the legislature, that he did not feel justified +in extending the grants of land, made to actors in the war of 1812-15, +to "any of the inhabitants who composed the late convention of +delegates, the proceedings of which were very properly subjected to your +very severe animadversion" This undoubtedly illegal action of the +lieutenant-governor only escaped the censure of the assembly by the +casting vote of the speaker, but was naturally justified in the +legislative council where Chief Justice Powell presided. Gourlay became +a martyr in the opinion of a large body of people, and a Reform party +began to grow up in the country. The man himself disappeared for years +from Canadian history, and did not return to the province until 1856, +after a chequered and unhappy career in Great Britain and the United +States. The assembly of the United Canadas in 1842 declared his arrest +to be "unjust and illegal," and his sentence "null and void," and he was +offered a pension as some compensation for the injuries he had received; +but he refused it unless it was accompanied by an official declaration +of the illegality of the conviction and its elision from the records of +the courts. The Canadian government thought he should be satisfied with +the action of the assembly and the offer of the pension. Gourlay died +abroad, and his daughters on his death received the money which he +rejected with the obstinacy so characteristic of his life. + +During these days of struggle we find most prominent among the official +class Attorney-General Robinson, afterwards chief justice of Upper +Canada for many years. He was the son of a Virginian Loyalist, and a +Tory of extreme views, calm, polished, and judicial in his demeanour. +But whatever his opinions on the questions of the day he was too +discreet a politician and too honest a judge ever to have descended to +such a travesty of justice as had been shown by his predecessor in the +case of Gourlay. His influence, however was never in the direction of +liberal measures. He opposed responsible government and the union of the +two provinces, both when proposed unsuccessfully in 1822, and when +carried in Upper Canada eighteen years later. + +The elections of 1825 had a very important influence on the political +conditions of the upper province, since they brought into the assembly +Peter Perry, Dr. Rolph, and Marshall Spring Bidwell, who became leading +actors in the Reform movement which culminated in the concession of +responsible government. But the most conspicuous man from 1826 until +1837 was William Lyon Mackenzie, a Scotchman of fair education, who came +to Canada in 1820, and eventually embraced journalism as the profession +most suited to his controversial temperament. Deeply imbued with a +spirit of liberalism in politics, courageous and even defiant in the +expression of his opinions, sadly wanting in sound judgment and common +sense when his feelings were excited, able to write with vigour, but +more inclined to emphatic vituperation than well-reasoned argument, he +made himself a force in the politics of the province. In the _Colonial +Advocate_, which he established in 1824, he commenced a series of +attacks on the government which naturally evoked the resentment of the +official class, and culminated in the destruction of his printing office +in 1826 by a number of young men, relatives of the principal +officials--one of them actually the private secretary of the +lieutenant-governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland. Mr. Mackenzie obtained +large damages in the courts, and was consequently able to continue the +publication of his paper at a time when he was financially embarrassed. +The sympathy felt for Mr. Mackenzie brought him into the assembly as +member for York during the session of 1829. So obnoxious did he become +to the governing class that he was expelled four times from the assembly +between 1831 and 1834, and prevented from taking his seat by the orders +of the speaker in 1835--practically the fifth expulsion. In 1832 he went +to England and presented largely signed petitions asking for a redress +of grievances. He appears to have made some impression on English +statesmen, and the colonial minister recommended a few reforms to the +lieutenant-governor, but they were entirely ignored by the official +party. Lord Glenelg also disapproved of the part taken by +Attorney-General Boulton--Mr. Robinson being then chief justice--and +Solicitor-General Hagerman in the expulsion of Mr. Mackenzie; but they +treated the rebuke with contempt and were removed from office for again +assisting in the expulsion of Mr. Mackenzie. + +In 1834 he was elected first mayor of Toronto, then incorporated under +its present name, as a consequence of the public sympathy aroused in his +favour by his several expulsions. Previous to the election of 1835, in +which he was returned to the assembly, he made one of the most serious +blunders of his life, in the publication of a letter from Mr. Joseph +Hume, the famous Radical, whose acquaintance he had made while in +England. Mr. Hume emphatically stated his opinion that "a crisis was +fast approaching in the affairs of Canada which would terminate in +independence and freedom from the baneful domination of the mother +country, and the tyrannical conduct of a small and despicable faction in +the colony." The official class availed themselves of this egregious +blunder to excite the indignation of the Loyalist population against Mr. +Mackenzie and other Reformers, many of whom, like the Baldwins and +Perrys, disavowed all sympathy with such language. Mr. Mackenzie's +motive was really to insult Mr. Ryerson, with whom he had quarrelled. +Mr. Ryerson in the _Christian Guardian_, organ of the Methodists, had +attacked Mr. Hume as a person unfit to present petitions from the +Liberals of Canada, since he had opposed the measure for the +emancipation of slaves in the West Indies, and had consequently +alienated the confidence and sympathy of the best part of the nation. +Mr. Hume then wrote the letter in question, in which he also stated that +he "never knew a more worthless hypocrite or so base a man as Mr. +Ryerson proved himself to be." Mr. Mackenzie in this way incurred the +wrath of a wily clergyman and religious journalist who exercised much +influence over the Methodists, and at the same time fell under the ban +of all people who were deeply attached to the British connection. +Moderate Reformers now looked doubtfully on Mackenzie, whose principal +supporters were Dr. Duncombe, Samuel Lount, Peter Matthews, and other +men who took an active part in the insurrection of 1837. + +In the session of 1835 a committee of grievances, appointed on the +motion of Mr. Mackenzie himself, reported in favour of a system of +responsible government, an elective legislative council, the appointment +of civil governors, a diminution of the patronage exercised by the +crown, the independence of the legislature, and other reforms declared +to be in the interest of good government. The report was temperately +expressed, and created some effect for a time in England, but the +colonial minister could not yet be induced to move in the direction of +positive reform in the restrictive system of colonial government. + +Unhappily, at this juncture, when good judgment and discretion were so +necessary in political affairs, all the circumstances combined to hasten +a perilous crisis, and to give full scope to the passionate impulses of +Mackenzie's nature. Sir John Colborne was replaced in the government of +the province by one of the most incapable governors ever chosen by the +colonial office, Sir Francis Bond Head. He had been chiefly known in +England as a sprightly writer of travels, and had had no political +experience except such as could be gathered in the discharge of the +duties of a poor-law commissioner in Wales. His first official act was +an indiscretion. He communicated to the legislature the full text of the +instructions which he had received from the king, although he had been +advised to give only their substance, as least calculated to hamper Lord +Gosford, who was then attempting to conciliate the French Canadian +majority in Lower Canada. These instructions, in express terms, +disapproved of a responsible executive and particularly of an elected +legislative council, to obtain which was the great object of Papineau +and his friends. Mr. Bidwell, then speaker of the assembly, recognised +the importance of this despatch, and forwarded it immediately to Mr. +Papineau, at that time speaker of the Lower Canadian house, with whom he +and other Reformers had correspondence from time to time. Lord Gosford +was consequently forced to lay his own instructions in full before the +legislature and to show the majority that the British government was +opposed to such vital changes in the provincial constitution as they +persistently demanded. The action of the Lower Canadian house on this +matter was communicated to the assembly of Upper Canada by a letter of +Mr. Papineau to Mr. Bidwell, who laid it before his house just before +the prorogation in 1835. In this communication the policy of the +imperial government was described as "the naked deformity of the +colonial system," and the royal commissioners were styled "deceitful +agents," while the methods of government in the neighbouring states were +again eulogised as in the ninety-two resolutions of 1834. Sir Francis +Bond Head seized the opportunity to create a feeling against the +Reformers, to whom he was now hostile. Shortly after he sent his +indiscreet message to the legislature he persuaded Dr. Rolph, Mr. +Bidwell and Receiver-General Dunn to enter the executive council on the +pretence that he wished to bring that body more into harmony with public +opinion. The new councillors soon found that they were not to be +consulted in public affairs, and when the whole council actually +resigned Sir Francis told them plainly that he alone was responsible for +his acts, and that he would only consult them when he deemed it +expedient in the public interest. This action of the lieutenant-governor +showed the Reformers that he was determined to initiate no changes which +would disturb the official party, or give self-government to the people. +The assembly, in which the Liberals were dominant, passed an address to +the king, declaring the lieutenant-governor's conduct "derogatory to the +honour of the king," and also a memorial to the British house of commons +charging him with "misrepresentation, and a deviation from candour and +truth." + +Under these circumstances Sir Francis eagerly availed himself of +Papineau's letter to show the country the dangerous tendencies of the +opinions and acts of the Reformers in the two provinces. In an answer he +made to an address from some inhabitants of the Home District, he warned +the people that there were individuals in Lower Canada, who were +inculcating the idea that "this province is to be disturbed by the +interference of foreigners, whose powers and influence will prove +invincible"--an allusion to the sympathy shown by Papineau and his +friends for the institutions of the United States. Then Sir Francis +closed his reply with this rhodomontade: "In the name of every regiment +of militia in Upper Canada, I publicly promulgate 'Let them come if they +dare'" He dissolved the legislature and went directly to the country on +the issue that the British connection was endangered by the Reformers. +"He succeeded, in fact," said Lord Durham in his report of 1839, "in +putting the issue in such a light before the province, that a great +portion of the people really imagined that they were called upon to +decide the question of separation by their votes." These strong appeals +to the loyalty of a province founded by the Loyalists of 1784, combined +with the influence exercised by the "family compact," who had all +offices and lands at their disposal, defeated Mackenzie, Bidwell, Perry +and other Reformers of less note, and brought into the legislature a +solid phalanx of forty-two supporters of the government against eighteen +elected by the opposition. It was a triumph dearly paid for in the end. +The unfair tactics of the lieutenant-governor rankled in the minds of a +large body of people, and hastened the outbreak of the insurrection of +1837. The British government seems for a time to have been deceived by +this victory of the lieutenant-governor and actually lauded his +"foresight, energy and moral courage"; but ere long, after more mature +consideration of the political conditions of the province, it dawned +upon the dense mind of Lord Glenelg that the situation was not very +satisfactory, and that it would be well to conciliate the moderate +element among the Reformers. Sir Francis was accordingly instructed to +appoint Mr. Bidwell to the Bench, but he stated emphatically that such +an appointment would be a recognition on disloyalty. He preferred to +resign rather than obey the instructions of the colonial department, and +greatly to his surprise and chagrin his proffer of resignation was +accepted without the least demur. The colonial office by this time +recognised the mistake they had made in appointing Sir Francis to a +position, for which he was utterly unfit, but unhappily for the province +they awoke too late to a sense of their own folly. + +Mackenzie became so embittered by his defeat in 1836, and the +unscrupulous methods by which it was accomplished, that he made up his +mind that reform in government was not to be obtained except by a resort +to extreme measures. At meetings of Reformers, held at Lloydtown and +other places during the summer of 1837, resolutions were carried that it +was their duty to arm in defence of their rights and those of their +countrymen. Mackenzie visited many parts of the province, in order to +stimulate a revolutionary movement among the disaffected people, a +system of training volunteers was organised; pikes were manufactured and +old arms were put in order. It was decided that Dr. Rolph should be the +executive chief of the provisional government, and Mackenzie in the +meantime had charge of all the details of the movement. Mr. Bidwell +appears to have steadily kept aloof from the disloyal party, but Dr. +Rolph was secretly in communication with Mackenzie, Lount, Matthews, +Lloyd, Morrison, Duncombe, and other actors in the rebellion. The plan +was to march on Toronto, where it was notorious that no precautions for +defence were being taken, to seize the lieutenant-governor, to proclaim +a provisional government, and to declare the independence of the +province unless Sir Francis should give a solemn promise to constitute a +responsible council. It is quite certain that Mackenzie entirely +misunderstood the sentiment of the country, and exaggerated the support +that would be given to a disloyal movement. Lord Durham truly said that +the insurrectionary movements which did take place were "indicative of +no deep rooted disaffection," and that "almost the entire body of the +Reformers of the province sought only by constitutional means to obtain +those objects for which they had so long peacefully struggled before +the unhappy troubles occasioned by the violence of a few unprincipled +adventurers and heated enthusiasts." + +Despite the warnings that he was constantly receiving of the seditious +doings of Mackenzie and his lieutenants, Sir Francis Bond Head could not +be persuaded an uprising was imminent. So complete was his fatuity that +he allowed all the regular troops to be withdrawn to Lower Canada at the +request of Sir John Colborne. Had he taken adequate measures for the +defence of Toronto, and showed he was prepared for any contingency, the +rising of Mackenzie's immediate followers would never have occurred. His +apathy and negligence at this crisis actually incited an insurrection. +The repulse of Gore at St. Denis on the 23rd November (p. 134) no doubt +hastened the rebellious movement in Upper Canada, and it was decided to +collect all available men and assemble at Montgomery's tavern, only four +miles from Toronto by way of Yonge Street, the road connecting Toronto +with Lake Simcoe. The subsequent news of the dispersion of the rebels at +St. Charles was very discouraging to Mackenzie and Lount, but they felt +that matters had proceeded too far for them to stop at that juncture. +They still hoped to surprise Toronto and occupy it without much +difficulty. A Colonel Moodie, who had taken part in the war of 1812-15, +had heard of the march of the insurgents from Lake Simcoe, and was +riding rapidly to Toronto to warn the lieutenant-governor, when he was +suddenly shot down and died immediately. Sir Francis was unconscious of +danger when he was aroused late at night by Alderman Powell, who had +been taken prisoner by the rebels but succeeded in making his escape and +finding his way to Government House. Sir Francis at last awoke from his +lethargy and listened to the counsels of Colonel Fitzgibbon--the hero of +Beaver Dams in 1813--and other residents of Toronto, who had constantly +endeavoured to force him to take measures for the public security. The +loyal people of the province rallied with great alacrity to put down the +revolt. The men of the western district of Gore came up in force, and +the first man to arrive on the scene was Allan MacNab, the son of a +Loyalist and afterwards prime minister of Canada. A large and well +equipped force was at once organised under the command of Colonel +Fitzgibbon. + +The insurrection was effectually quelled on the 7th December at +Montgomery's tavern by the militia and volunteer forces under Colonel +Fitzgibbon. The insurgents had at no time mustered more than eight +hundred men, and in the engagement on the 7th there were only four +hundred, badly armed and already disheartened. In twenty minutes, or +less time, the fight was over and the insurgents fled with the loss of +one man killed and several seriously wounded. The Loyalists, who did not +lose a single man, took a number of prisoners, who were immediately +released by the lieutenant-governor on condition of returning quietly to +their homes. Mackenzie succeeded in escaping across the Niagara +frontier, but Matthews was taken prisoner as he was leading a detachment +across the Don into Toronto. Lount was identified at Chippewa while +attempting to find his way to the United States and brought back to +Toronto. Rolph, Gibson and Duncombe found a refuge in the republic, but +Van Egmond, who had served under Napoleon, and commanded the insurgents, +was arrested and died in prison of inflammatory rheumatism. Mr. Bidwell +was induced to fly from the province by the insidious representations of +the lieutenant-governor, who used the fact of his flight as an argument +that he had been perfectly justified in not appointing him to the Bench. +In later years, the Canadian government, recognising the injustice Mr. +Bidwell had received, offered him a judgeship, but he never could be +induced to return to Canada Mackenzie had definite grievances against +Sir Francis and his party; and a British people, always ready to +sympathise with men who resent injustice and assert principles of +popular government, might have soon condoned the serious mistake he had +made in exciting a rash revolt against his sovereign. But his +apologists can find no extenuating circumstances for his mad conduct in +stirring up bands of ruffians at Buffalo and other places on the +frontier to invade the province. The base of operations for these raids +was Navy Island, just above the Niagara Falls in British territory. A +small steamer, "The Caroline," was purchased from some Americans, and +used to bring munitions of war to the island. Colonel MacNab was sent to +the frontier, and successfully organised an expedition of boats under +the charge of Captain Drew--afterwards an Admiral--to seize the steamer +at Fort Schlosser, an insignificant place on the American side. The +capture was successfully accomplished and the steamer set on fire and +sent down the river, where she soon sank before reaching the cataract. +Only one man was killed--one Durfee, a citizen of the United States. +This audacious act of the Canadians was deeply resented in the republic +as a violation of its territorial rights, and was a subject of +international controversy until 1842 when it was settled with other +questions at issue between Great Britain and the United States. +Mackenzie now disappeared for some years from Canadian history, as the +United States authorities felt compelled to imprison him for a time. It +was not until the end of 1838 that the people of the Canada were free +from filibustering expeditions organised in the neighboring states. +"Hunters' Lodges" were formed under the pledge "never to rest until all +tyrants of Britain cease to have any dominion or footing whatever in +North America." These marauding expeditions on the exposed parts of the +western frontier--especially on the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers--were +successfully resisted. At Prescott, a considerable body of persons, +chiefly youths under age, under the leadership of Von Schoultz, a Pole, +were beaten at the Old Stone Windmill, which they attempted to hold +against a Loyalist force. At Sandwich, Colonel Prince, a conspicuous +figure in Canadian political history of later years, routed a band of +filibusters, four of whom he ordered to instant death. This resolute +deed created some excitement in England, where it was condemned by some +and justified by others. Canadians, who were in constant fear of such +raids, naturally approved of summary justice in the case of persons who +were really brigands, not entitled to any consideration under the laws +of war. + +In 1838 President Buren issued a proclamation calling upon all citizens +of the United States to observe the neutrality laws; but the difficulty +in those days was the indisposition of the federal government to +interfere with the states where such expeditions were organised. The +vigilance of the Canadian authorities and the loyalty of the people +alone saved the country in these trying times. A great many of the +raiders were taken prisoners and punished with the severity due to their +unjustifiable acts. Von Schoultz and eight others were hanged, a good +many were pardoned, while others were transported to Van Diemen's Land, +whence they were soon allowed to return. The names of these filibusters +are forgotten, but those of Lount and Matthews, who perished on the +scaffold, have been inscribed on some Canadian hearts as patriots. Sir +George Arthur, who succeeded Sir Francis Head, was a soldier, who had +had experience as a governor among the convicts of Van Diemen's Land, +and the negro population of Honduras, where he had crushed a revolt of +slaves. Powerful appeals were made to him on behalf of Lount and +Matthews, but not even the tears and prayers of Lount's distracted wife +could reach his heart. Such clemency as was shown by Lord Durham would +have been a bright incident in Sir George Arthur's career in Canada, but +he looked only to the approval of the Loyalists, deeply incensed against +the rebels of 1837. His action in these two cases was regarded with +disapprobation in England, and the colonial minister expressed the hope +that no further executions would occur--advice followed in the case of +other actors of the revolt of 1837. Sir George Arthur's place in +colonial annals is not one of high distinction. Like his predecessors, +he became the resolute opponent of responsible government, which he +declared in a despatch to be "Mackenzie's scheme for getting rid of what +Mr. Hume called 'the baneful domination' of the mother country"; "and +never" he added, "was any scheme better devised to bring about such an +end speedily". + + +SECTION 3.--Social and economic conditions of the Provinces in 1838. + +We have now reached a turning-point in the political development of the +provinces of British North America, and may well pause for a moment to +review the social and economic condition of their people. Since the +beginning of the century there had been a large immigration into the +provinces, except during the war of 1812. In the nine years preceding +1837, 263,089 British and Irish immigrants arrived at Quebec, and in one +year alone there were over 50,000. By 1838 the population of the five +provinces of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and +Prince Edward Island had reached about 1,400,000 souls. In Upper Canada, +with the exception of a very few people of German or Dutch descent, and +some French Canadians opposite Detroit and on the Ottawa River, there +was an entirely British population of at least 400,000 souls. The +population of Lower Canada was estimated at 600,000, of whom hardly +one-quarter were of British origin, living chiefly in Montreal, the +Townships, and Quebec. Nova Scotia had nearly 200,000 inhabitants, of +whom probably 16,000 were French Acadians, resident in Cape Breton and +in Western Nova Scotia. In New Brunswick there were at least 150,000 +people, of whom some 15,000 were descendants of the original inhabitants +of Acadie. The Island of Prince Edward had 30,000 people, of whom the +French Acadians made up nearly one-sixth. The total trade of the country +amounted, in round figures, to about £5,000,000 sterling in imports, +and somewhat less in exports The imports were chiefly manufactures from +Great Britain, and the exports were lumber, wheat and fish. Those were +days when colonial trade was stimulated by differential duties in favour +of colonial products, and the building of vessels was encouraged by the +old navigation laws which shut out foreign commerce from the St. +Lawrence and the Atlantic ports, and kept the carrying trade between +Great Britain and the colonies in the hands of British and colonial +merchants, by means of British registered ships. While colonists could +not trade directly with foreign ports, they were given a monopoly for +their timber, fish, and provisions in the profitable markets of the +British West Indies. + +The character of the immigration varied considerably, but on the whole +the thrifty and industrious formed the larger proportion. In 1833 the +immigrants deposited 300,000 sovereigns, or nearly a million and a half +of dollars, in the Upper Canadian banks. An important influence in the +settlement of Upper Canada was exercised by one Colonel Talbot, the +founder of the county of Elgin. Mrs. Anna Jameson, the wife of a +vice-chancellor of Upper Canada, describes in her _Winter Studies and +Summer Rambles_, written in 1838, the home of this great proprietor, a +Talbot of Malahide, one of the oldest families in the parent state. The +château--as she calls it, perhaps sarcastically--was a "long wooden +building, chiefly of rough logs, with a covered porch running along the +south side." Such homes as Colonel Talbot's were common enough in the +country. Some of the higher class of immigrants, however, made efforts +to surround themselves with some of the luxuries of the old world. Mrs. +Jameson tells us of an old Admiral, who had settled in the London +district--now the most prosperous agricultural part of Ontario--and had +the best of society in his neighbourhood; "several gentlemen of family, +superior education, and large capital (among them the brother of an +English and the son of an Irish peer, a colonel and a major in the army) +whose estates were in a flourishing state." The common characteristic +of the Canadian settlements was the humble log hut of the poor +immigrant, struggling with axe and hoe amid the stumps to make a home +for his family. Year by year the sunlight was let into the dense +forests, and fertile meadows soon stretched far and wide in the once +untrodden wilderness. Despite all the difficulties of a pioneer's life, +industry reaped its adequate rewards in the fruitful lands of the west, +bread was easily raised in abundance, and animals of all kinds thrived. + +Unhappily the great bane of the province was the inordinate use of +liquor. "The erection of a church or chapel," says Mrs. Jameson, +"generally preceded that of a school-house in Upper Canada, but the mill +and the tavern invariably preceded both." The roads were of the most +wretched character and at some seasons actually prohibitory of all +social intercourse. The towns were small and ill-built. Toronto, long +known as "muddy little York," had a population of about 10,000, but with +the exception of the new parliament house, it had no public buildings of +architectural pretensions. The houses were generally of wood, a few of +staring ugly red brick; the streets had not a single side-walk until +1834, and in 1838 this comfort for the pedestrian was still exceptional. +Kingston, the ancient Cataraqui, was even a better built town than +Toronto, and had in 1838 a population of perhaps 4500 persons. Hamilton +and London were beginning to be places of importance. Bytown, now +Ottawa, had its beginnings in 1826, when Colonel By of the Royal +Engineers, commenced the construction of the Rideau Canal on the chain +of lakes and rivers between the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence at Kingston. +The ambition of the people of Upper Canada was always to obtain a +continuous and secure system of water navigation from the lakes to +Montreal. The Welland Canal between Lakes Erie and Ontario was commenced +as early as 1824 through the enterprise of Mr. William Hamilton Merritt, +but it was very badly managed; and the legislature, which had from year +to year aided the undertaking, was obliged eventually to acquire it as +a provincial work. The Cornwall Canal was also undertaken, but work was +stopped when it was certain that Lower Canada would not respond to the +aspirations of the West and improve that portion of the St. Lawrence +within its direct control. Flat-bottomed _bateaux_ and Durham boats were +generally in use for the carriage of goods on the inland waters, and it +was not until the completion of a canal system between the lakes and +Montreal, after the Union, that steamers came into vogue. + +The province of Upper Canada had in 1838 reached a crisis in its +affairs. In the course of the seven years preceding the rebellion, +probably eighty thousand or one half of the immigrants, who had come to +the province, had crossed the frontier into the United States, where +greater inducements were held out to capital and population. As Mrs. +Jameson floated in a canoe, in the middle of the Detroit River, she saw +on the one side "all the bustle of prosperity and commerce," and on the +other "all the symptoms of apathy, indolence, mistrust, hopelessness." +At the time such comparisons were made, Upper Canada was on the very +verge of bankruptcy. + +Turning to Lower Canada, we find that the financial position of the +province was very different from that of Upper Canada. The public +accounts showed an annual surplus, and the financial difficulties of the +province were caused entirely by the disputes between the executive and +the assembly which would not vote the necessary supplies. The timber +trade had grown to large proportions and constituted the principal +export to Great Britain from Quebec, which presented a scene of much +activity in the summer. Montreal was already showing its great +advantages as a headquarters of commerce on account of its natural +relations to the West and the United States. Quebec and Montreal had +each about 35,000 inhabitants. Travellers admitted that Montreal, on +account of the solidity of its buildings, generally of stone, compared +most favourably with many of the finest and oldest towns in the United +States. The Parish Church of Notre Dame was the largest ecclesiastical +edifice in America, and notable for its simple grandeur. With its +ancient walls girdling the heights first seen by Jacques Cartier, with +its numerous churches and convents, illustrating the power and wealth of +the Romish religion, with its rugged, erratic streets creeping through +hewn rock, with its picturesque crowd of red-coated soldiers of England +mingling with priests and sisters in sombre attire, or with the +_habitants_ in _étoffe du pays_,--the old city of Quebec, whose history +went back to the beginning of the seventeenth century, was certainly a +piece of mediaevalism transported from northern France. The plain stone +buildings of 1837 still remain in all their evidences of sombre +antiquity. None of the religious or government edifices were +distinguished for architectural beauty--except perhaps the English +cathedral--but represented solidity and convenience, while harmonising +with the rocks amid which they had risen. + +The parliament of Lower Canada still met in the Bishop's Palace, which +was in want of repair. The old Château St. Louis had been destroyed by +fire in 1834, and a terrace bearing the name of Durham was in course of +construction over its ruins. It now gives one of the most picturesque +views in the world on a summer evening as the descending sun lights up +the dark green of the western hills, or brightens the tin spires and +roofs of the churches and convents, or lingers amid the masts of the +ships moored in the river or in the coves, filled with great rafts of +timber. + +As in the days of French rule, the environs of Quebec and Montreal, and +the north side of the St. Lawrence between these two towns, presented +French Canadian life in its most picturesque and favourable aspect. +These settlements on the river formed one continuous village, with +tinned spires rising every few miles amid poplars, maples and elms. +While the homes of the seigniors and of a few professional men were more +commodious and comfortable than in the days of French rule, while the +churches and presbyteries illustrated the increasing prosperity of the +dominant religion, the surroundings of the _habitants_ gave evidences of +their want of energy and enterprise. But crime was rare in the rural +districts and intemperance was not so prevalent as in parts of the west. + +Nearly 150,000 people of British origin resided in Lower Canada--a +British people animated for the most part by that spirit of energy +natural to their race. What prosperity Montreal and Quebec enjoyed as +commercial communities was largely due to the enterprise of British +merchants. The timber trade was chiefly in their hands, and the bank of +Montreal was founded by this class in 1817--seven years before the bank +of Upper Canada was established in Toronto. As political strife +increased in bitterness, the differences between the races became +accentuated. Papineau alienated all the British by his determination to +found a "_Nation Canadienne_" in which the British would occupy a very +inferior place. "French and British," said Lord Durham, "combined for no +public objects or improvements, and could not harmonise even in +associations of charity." The French Canadians looked with jealousy and +dislike on the increase and prosperity of what they regarded as a +foreign and hostile race. It is quite intelligible, then, why trade +languished, internal development ceased, landed property decreased in +value, the revenue showed a diminution, roads and all classes of local +improvements were neglected, agricultural industry was stagnant, wheat +had to be imported for the consumption of the people, and immigration +fell off from 52,000 in 1832 to less than 5000 in 1838. + +In the maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince +Edward Island, there were no racial antagonisms to affect internal +development; and the political conflict never reached such proportions +as to threaten the peace and security of the people. In New Brunswick +the chief industry was the timber trade--deals especially--which +received its first stimulus in 1809, when a heavy duty was placed on +Baltic timber, while that from the colonies came free into the British +Isles. Shipbuilding was also profitably followed in New Brunswick, and +was beginning to be prosecuted in Nova Scotia, where, a few years later, +it made that province one of the greatest ship-owning and ship-sailing +communities of the world until iron steamers gradually drove wooden +vessels from the carrying trade. The cod, mackerel, and herring +fisheries--chiefly the first--were the staple industry of Nova Scotia, +and kept up a large trade with the British West Indies, whence sugar, +molasses and rum were imported. Prince Edward Island was chiefly an +agricultural community, whose development was greatly retarded by the +wholesale grant of lands in 1767 to absentee proprietors. Halifax and +St. John had each a population of twenty thousand. The houses were +mostly of wood, the only buildings of importance being the government +house, finished in 1805, and the provincial or parliament house, +considered in its day one of the handsomest structures in North America. +In the beautiful valleys of Kings and Annapolis--now famous for their +fruit--there was a prosperous farming population. Yarmouth illustrated +the thrift and enterprise of the Puritan element that came into the +province from New England at an early date in its development. The +eastern counties, with the exception of Pictou, showed no sign of +progress. The Scotch population of Cape Breton, drawn from a poor class +of people in the north of Scotland, for years added nothing to the +wealth of an island whose resources were long dormant from the absence +of capital and enterprise. + +Popular education in those days was at the lowest possible ebb. In 1837 +there were in all the private and public schools of the provinces only +one-fifteenth of the total population. In Lower Canada not one-tenth +could write. The children of the _habitants_ repeated the Catechism by +rote, and yet could not read as a rule. In Upper Canada things were no +better. Dr. Thomas Rolph tells us that, so late as 1833, Americans or +other anti-British adventurers carried on the greater proportion of the +common schools, where the youth were taught sentiments "hostile to the +parent state" from books used in the United States--a practice stopped +by statute in 1846. + +Adequate provision, however, was made for the higher education of youth +in all the provinces. "I know of no people," wrote Lord Durham of Lower +Canada, "among whom a larger provision exists for the higher kinds of +elementary education." The piety and benevolence of the early possessors +of the country founded seminaries and colleges, which gave an education +resembling the kind given in the English public schools, though more +varied. In Upper Canada, so early as 1807, grammar schools were +established by the government. By 1837 Upper Canada College--an +institution still flourishing--offered special advantages to youths +whose parents had some money. In Nova Scotia King's College--the oldest +university in Canada--had its beginning as an academy as early as 1788, +and educated many eminent men during its palmy days. Pictou Academy was +established by the Reverend Dr. McCulloch as a remonstrance against the +sectarianism of King's; and the political history of the province was +long disturbed by the struggle of its promoters against the narrowness +of the Anglicans, who dominated the legislative council, and frequently +rejected the grant made by the assembly. Dalhousie College was founded +in 1820 by Lord Dalhousie, then governor of Nova Scotia, to afford that +higher education to all denominations which old King's denied. Acadia +College was founded by the Baptists at Wolfville, on a gently rising +ground overlooking the fertile meadows of Grand Pré. The foundations of +the University of New Brunswick were laid in 1800. McGill University, +founded by one of those generous Montreal merchants who have always been +its benefactors, received a charter in 1821, but it was not opened until +1829. The Methodists laid the foundation of Victoria College at Cobourg +in 1834, but it did not commence its work until after the Union; and the +same was the case with King's College, the beginning of the University +of Toronto. + +We need not linger on the literary output of those early times. Joseph +Bouchette, surveyor-general, had made in the first part of the century a +notable contribution to the geography and cartography of Lower Canada. +Major Richardson, who had served in the war of 1812 and in the Spanish +peninsula, wrote in 1833 "Wacousta or the Prophecy," a spirited romance +of Indian life. In Nova Scotia the "Sayings and Doings of Sam Slick, of +Slickville"--truly a remarkable original creation in humorous +literature--first appeared in a Halifax paper. The author, Judge +Haliburton, also published as early as 1829 an excellent work in two +volumes on the history of his native province. Small libraries and book +stores could only be seen in the cities. + +In these early times of the provinces, when books and magazines were +rarities, the newspaper press naturally exercised much influence on the +social and intellectual conditions of the people at large. By 1838 there +were no less than forty papers printed in the province of Upper Canada +alone, some of them written with ability, though too often in a bitter, +personal tone. In those days English papers did not circulate to any +extent in a country where postage was exorbitant. People could hardly +afford to pay postage rates on letters. The poor settler was often +unable to pay the three or four shillings or even more, imposed on +letters from their old homes across the sea; and it was not unusual to +find in country post-offices a large accumulation of dead letters, +refused or neglected on account of the expense. The management of the +post-office by imperial officers was one of the grievances of the people +of the provinces generally. It was carried on for the benefit of a few +persons, and not for the convenience or solace of the many thousands who +were anxious for news of their kin across the ocean. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A NEW ERA OF COLONIAL GOVERNMENT (1839--1867). + + +SECTION I.--The union of the Canadas and the establishment of +responsible government. + +Lord Durham's report on the affairs of British North America was +presented to the British government on the 31st January, 1839, and +attracted an extraordinary amount of interest in England, where the two +rebellions had at last awakened statesmen to the absolute necessity of +providing an effective remedy for difficulties which had been pressing +upon their attention for years, but had never been thoroughly understood +until the appearance of this famous state paper. A legislative union of +the two Canadas and the concession of responsible government were the +two radical changes which stood out prominently in the report among +minor suggestions in the direction of stable government. On the question +of responsible government Lord Durham expressed opinions of the deepest +political wisdom. He found it impossible "to understand how any English +statesman could have ever imagined that representative and irresponsible +government could be successfully combined....To suppose that such a +system would work well there, implied a belief that the French Canadians +have enjoyed representative institutions for half a century, without +acquiring any of the characteristics of a free people; that Englishmen +renounce every political opinion and feeling when they enter a colony, +or that the spirit of Anglo-Saxon freedom is utterly changed and +weakened among those who are transplanted across the Atlantic[3]." + +[3: For the full text of Lord Durham's report, which was laid before +Parliament, 11 February, 1839, see _English Parliamentary Papers_ for +1839.] + +In June, 1839, Lord John Russell introduced a bill to reunite the two +provinces, but it was allowed, after its second reading, to lie over for +that session of parliament, in order that the matter might be fully +considered in Canada. Mr. Poulett Thomson was appointed governor-general +with the avowed object of carrying out the policy of the imperial +government. Immediately after his arrival in Canada, in the autumn of +1839, the special council of Lower Canada and the legislature of Upper +Canada passed addresses in favour of a union of the two provinces. These +necessary preliminaries having been made, Lord John Russell, in the +session of 1840, again brought forward "An act to reunite the provinces +of Upper and Lower Canada, and for the government of Canada," which was +assented to on the 23rd of July, but did not come into effect until the +10th of February in the following year. + +The act provided for a legislative council of not less than twenty +members, and for a legislative assembly in which each section of the +united provinces would be represented by an equal number of +members--that is to say, forty-two for each or eighty-four in all. The +number of representatives allotted to each province could not be changed +except with the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of each house. +The members of the legislative council were appointed by the crown for +life, and the members of the assembly were chosen by electors possessing +a small property qualification. Members of both bodies were required to +hold property to a certain amount. The assembly had a duration of four +years, subject of course to be sooner dissolved by the governor-general. + +Provision was made for a consolidated revenue fund, on which the first +charges were expenses of collection, management and receipt of revenues, +interest of public debt, payment of the clergy, and civil list. The +English language alone was to be used in the legislative records. All +votes, resolutions or bills involving the expenditure of public money +were to be first recommended by the governor-general. + +The first parliament of the United Canadas was opened on the 14th June, +1841, in the city of Kingston, by the governor-general, who had been +created Baron Sydenham of Sydenham and of Toronto. This session was the +commencement of a series of parliaments which lasted until the +confederation of all the provinces in 1867, and forcibly illustrated the +capacity of the people of Canada to manage their internal affairs. For +the moment, I propose to refer exclusively to those political conditions +which brought about responsible government, and the removal of +grievances which had so long perplexed the imperial state and distracted +the whole of British North America. + +In Lord John Russell's despatches of 1839,--the sequence of Lord +Durham's report--we can clearly see the doubt in the minds of the +imperial authorities whether it was possible to work the system of +responsible government on the basis of a governor directly responsible +to the parent state, and at the same time acting under the advice of +ministers who would be responsible to a colonial legislature. But the +colonial secretary had obviously come to the opinion that it was +necessary to make a radical change which would insure greater harmony +between the executive and the popular bodies of the provinces. Her +Majesty, he stated emphatically, "had no desire to maintain any system +of policy among her North American subjects which opinion condemns", and +there was "no surer way of gaining the approbation of the Queen than by +maintaining the harmony of the executive with the legislative +authorities." The new governor-general was expressly appointed to carry +out this new policy. If he was extremely vain, at all events he was also +astute, practical, and well able to gauge the public sentiment by which +he should be guided at so critical a period of Canadian history. The +evidence is clear that he was not individually in favour of responsible +government, as it was understood by men like Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Howe, +when he arrived in Canada. He believed that the council should be one +"for the governor to consult and no more"; and voicing the doubts that +existed in the minds of imperial statesmen, he added, the governor +"cannot be responsible to the government at home" and also to the +legislature of the province, if it were so, "then all colonial +government becomes impossible." The governor, in his opinion, "must +therefore be the minister [i.e. the colonial secretary], in which case +he cannot be under control of men in the colony." + +When the assembly met it was soon evident that the Reformers in that +body were determined to have a definite understanding on the +all-important question of responsible government; and the result was +that the governor-general, a keen politician, immediately recognised the +fact that, unless he yielded to the feeling of the majority, he would +lose all his influence. There is every reason to believe that the +resolutions which were eventually passed in favour of responsible +government, in amendment to those moved by Mr. Baldwin, had his approval +before their introduction. The two sets of resolutions practically +differed little from each other, and the inference to be drawn from the +political situation of these times is that the governor's friends in the +council thought it advisable to gain all the credit possible with the +public for the passage of resolutions on the all-absorbing question of +the day, since it was obvious that it had to be settled in some +satisfactory and definite form. These resolutions embodying the +principles of the new constitution of Canada, were as follows: (1) "That +the head of the executive government of the province, being within the +limits of his government the representative of the sovereign, is +responsible to the imperial authority alone, but that, nevertheless, the +management of our local affairs can only be conducted by him with the +assistance, counsel, and information of subordinate officers in the +province. (2) That, in order to preserve between the different branches +of the provincial parliament that harmony which is essential to the +peace, welfare and good government of the province, the chief advisers +of the representative of the sovereign, constituting a provincial +administration under him, ought to be men possessed of the confidence of +the representatives of the people; thus affording a guarantee that the +well-understood wishes and interests of the people, which our gracious +sovereign has declared shall be the rule of the provincial government, +will on all occasions be faithfully represented and advocated. (3) That +the people of this province have, moreover, the right to expect from +such provincial administration, the exertion of their best endeavours +that the imperial authority, within its constitutional limits, shall be +exercised in the manner most consistent with their well-understood +wishes and interests." + +On the 4th September, 1841, Lord Sydenham met with a serious accident +while riding, and as his constitution had been impaired for years he +died a fortnight later, to the regret of all political parties. He was +succeeded by Sir Charles Bagot, a Conservative and High Churchman, whose +brief administration was notable for the display of infinite discretion +on his part, and for his desire to do justice to the French Canadians +even at the risk of offending the ultra-loyal party, who claimed special +consideration in the management of public affairs. Responsible +government was in a fair way of being permanently established when Sir +Charles Bagot unhappily died in 1843 of dropsy, complicated by +heart-disease; and Lord Metcalfe was brought from India to create--as it +soon appeared--confusion and discord in the political affairs of the +province. His ideas of responsible government were those which had been +steadily inculcated by colonial secretaries since 1839, and were even +entertained by Lord Sydenham himself, namely, that the governor should +be as influential a factor as possible in the government, and should +always remember that he was directly responsible to the crown, and +should consider its prerogatives and interests as superior to all local +considerations. + +When Lord Metcalfe assumed the responsibilities of his post, he found in +office a Liberal administration, led by Mr. Baldwin, the eminent Reform +leader of Upper Canada, and Mr. Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine, afterwards +chief justice of Lower Canada and a baronet, who had been at the outset, +like all his countrymen, opposed to the union, as unjust to their +province. What originally excited their antagonism were the conditions +exacted by the legislature of Upper Canada: an equality of +representation, though the French section had a population of two +hundred thousand more than the western province, the exclusion of the +French language from the legislature, and the imposition of the heavy +debt of Upper Canada on the revenues of the united provinces. But unlike +Mr. Papineau, with whom he had acted during the political struggles in +Lower Canada, Mr. Lafontaine developed a high order of discreet +statesmanship after the union, and recognised the possibility of making +French Canada a force in government. He did not follow the example of +Mr. John Neilson, who steadily opposed the union--but determined to work +it out fairly and patiently on the principles of responsible government. + +Lord Metcalfe, at the very outset, decided not to distribute the +patronage of the crown under the advice of his responsible advisers, but +to ignore them, as he declared, whenever he deemed it expedient. No +responsible ministers could, with any regard to their own self-respect, +or to the public interests, submit to a practice directly antagonistic +to responsible government, then on its trial. Consequently, all the +members of the Baldwin-Lafontaine government, with the exception of Mr. +Daly, immediately resigned, when Lord Metcalfe followed so +unconstitutional a course. Mr. Dominick Daly, afterwards knighted when +governor of Prince Edward's Island--who had no party proclivities, and +was always ready to support the crown in a crisis--became nominally +head of a weak administration. The ministry was only completed after a +most unconstitutional delay of several months, and was even then only +composed of men whose chief merit was their friendliness to the +governor, who dissolved the assembly and threw all the weight of the +crown into the contest. The governor's party was returned with a very +small majority, but it was a victory, like that of Sir Francis Bond Head +in 1835, won at the sacrifice of the dignity of the crown, and at the +risk of exciting once more public discontent to a dangerous degree. Lord +Metcalfe's administration was strengthened when Mr. Draper resigned his +legislative councillorship and took a seat in the assembly as leader. +Lord Metcalfe's conduct received the approval of the imperial +authorities, who elevated him to the peerage--so much evidence that they +were not yet ready to concede responsible government in a complete +sense. The result was a return to the days of old paternal government, +when the parliamentary opposition was directed against the governor +himself and the British government of which he was the organ. Lord +Metcalfe had been a sufferer from cancer, and when it appeared again in +its most aggravated form he returned to England, where he died a few +months later (1846). The abuse that followed him almost to the grave was +a discreditable exhibition of party rancour, but it indicated the +condition to which the public mind had been brought by his unwise and +unconstitutional conduct of public affairs--conduct for which his only +apology must be the half-hearted, doubtful policy of the imperial +authorities with regard to the province, and his own inability to +understand the fundamental principles of responsible government. + +Lord Metcalfe's successor was Lord Cathcart, who had served with +distinction in the Peninsular War, and was appointed with a view to +contingencies that might arise out of the dispute between England and +the United States on the Oregon boundary question, to which I shall +refer in another chapter. He pursued a judicious course at a time when +politics were complicated by the fact that the industry and commerce of +the country were seriously deranged by the adoption of free trade in +England, and the consequent removal of duties which had given the +preference in the British market to Canadian wheat, flour and other +products. What aggravated the commercial situation was the fact that the +navigation laws, being still in force, closed the St. Lawrence to +foreign shipping and prevented the extension of trade to other markets +so as to compensate Canadians for the loss of that with the parent +state. Lord Cathcart was recalled within less than a year, when all +prospect of war with the United States had disappeared, and was followed +(1847) by a civil governor, the Earl of Elgin, who was chosen by the +Whig ministry, in which Lord John Russell was prime minister, and Earl +Grey the secretary of state for the colonies. It had dawned upon English +statesmen that the time had come for giving the colonists of British +North America a system of responsible government without such reserves +as had so seriously shackled its beginnings. In all probability they +thought that the free-trade policy of England had momentarily weakened +the ties that had bound the colonies to the parent state, and that it +was advisable to follow up the new commercial policy by removing causes +of public discontent in the province. + +Lord Elgin was happily chosen to inaugurate a new era of colonial +self-government. Gifted with a judicial mind and no ordinary amount of +political sagacity, able to originate as well as carry out a +statesmanlike policy, animated, like Lord Durham--whose daughter he had +married--by a sincere desire to give full scope to the aspirations of +the people for self-government, so far as compatible with the supremacy +of the crown, possessed of eloquence which at once charmed and +convinced, Lord Elgin was able to establish on sure foundations the +principles of responsible government, and eventually to leave Canada +with the conviction that no subsequent representative of the crown +could again impair its efficient operation, and convulse the public +mind, as Lord Metcalfe had done. On his arrival he gave his confidence +to the Draper ministry, who were still in office; but shortly afterwards +its ablest member was elevated to the bench, and Mr. Sherwood became +attorney-general and head of a government, chiefly interesting now for +the fact that one of its members was Mr. John Alexander Macdonald, who, +on becoming a member of the assembly in 1844, had commenced a public +career which made him one of the most notable figures in the history of +the colonial empire of England. + +Parliament was dissolved, and the elections were held in January, 1848, +when the government were defeated by a large majority and the second +Lafontaine-Baldwin ministry was formed; a ministry conspicuous for the +ability of its members, and the useful character of its legislation +during the four years it remained in power. It is noteworthy here that +Lord Elgin did not follow the example of his predecessors and select the +ministers himself, but followed the strict constitutional usage of +calling upon Mr. Lafontaine as a recognised leader of a party in +parliament to form a government. It does not fall within the scope of +this chapter to go into the merits of this great administration, whose +coming into office may be considered the crowning of the principles +adopted by Lord Elgin for the unreserved concession of responsible +government, and never violated from that time forward by any governor of +Canada. + +We must now direct our attention to the maritime provinces, that we may +complete this review of the progress of responsible government in +British North America. In 1836 the revenues of New Brunswick had been +placed at the disposal of the legislature, and administrative power +entrusted to those who possessed the confidence of the assembly. The +lieutenant-governor, Sir John Harvey, who had distinguished himself in +the war of 1812-15, recognised in Lord John Russell's despatches "a new +and improved constitution," and by an official memorandum informed the +heads of departments that "thenceforward their offices would be held by +the tenure of public confidence"; but after his departure (in 1841) an +attempt was made by Sir William Colebrooke to imitate the example of +Lord Metcalfe. He appointed to the provincial secretaryship a Mr. Reade, +who had been only a few months in the province, and never represented a +constituency or earned promotion in the public service. The members of +the executive council were never consulted, and four of the most popular +and influential councillors soon resigned. One of them, Mr. Lemuel A. +Wilmot, the recognised leader of the Liberals, addressed a strong +remonstrance to the lieutenant-governor, and vindicated those principles +of colonial government "which require the administration to be conducted +by heads of departments responsible to the legislature, and holding +their offices contingently upon the approbation and confidence of the +country, as expressed through the representatives of the people." The +colonial secretary of state disapproved of the action of the +lieutenant-governor, and constitutional government was strengthened in +this province of the Loyalists. From that time there was a regularly +organised administration and an opposition contending for office and +popular favour. + +In Nova Scotia a despatch from Lord Glenelg brought to a close in 1838 +the agitation which had been going on for years for a separation of the +executive from the legislative functions of the legislative council, and +the formation of two distinct bodies in accordance with the existing +English system. In this state paper--the first important step towards +responsible government in the province--the secretary of state, Lord +Glenelg, stated that it was her Majesty's pleasure that neither the +chief justice nor any of his colleagues should sit in the council, that +all the judges should entirely withdraw from all political discussions; +that the assembly's claim to control and appropriate all the revenues +arising in the province should be fully recognised by the government; +that the two councils should be thereafter divided, and that the members +of these bodies should be drawn from different parts of the +province--Halifax previously having obtained all the appointments except +one or two--and selected without reference to distinctions of religious +opinions. Unfortunately for Nova Scotia there was at that time at the +head of the executive a brave, obstinate old soldier, Sir Colin +Campbell, who had petrified ideas on the subject of colonial +administration, and showed no disposition to carry out the obvious +desire of the imperial authorities to give a more popular form to the +government of the province. One of his first official acts was to give +to the Anglican Church a numerical superiority to which it had no valid +claim. As in Upper Canada, at that time, there was a combination or +compact, composed of descendants of English Tories or of the Loyalists +of 1783, who belonged to the Anglican Church, and were opposed to +popular government. Two men were now becoming most prominent in +politics. One of these was Mr. James William Johnston, the son of a +Georgia Loyalist, an able lawyer, gifted with a persuasive tongue which +chimed most harmoniously with the views of Sir Colin. On the other side +was Mr. Joseph Howe, the son of a Loyalist printer of Boston, who had no +such aristocratic connections as Mr. Johnston, and soon became the +dominant influence in the Reform party, which had within its ranks such +able and eloquent men as S.G.W. Archibald, Herbert Huntington, Lawrence +O'Connor Doyle, William and George R. Young, and, very soon, James Boyle +Uniacke. Sir Colin Campbell completely ignored the despatches of Lord +John Russell, which were recognised by Sir John Harvey as conferring "an +improved constitution" upon the colonies. In February, 1840, Mr. Howe +moved a series of resolutions, in which it was emphatically stated that +"no satisfactory settlement of questions before the country could be +obtained until the executive council was remodelled," and that, as then +constituted, "it did not enjoy the confidence of the country." The +motion was carried by a majority of eighteen votes, in a house of +forty-two members, and indeed, so untenable was the position of the +executive council that Mr. James Boyle Uniacke, a member of the +government, retired, rather than vote, and subsequently placed his +resignation in the hands of the lieutenant-governor, on the ground that +it was his duty to yield to the opinions of the representative house, +and facilitate the introduction of a better system of government, in +accordance with the well-understood wishes of the people. From that time +Mr. Uniacke became one of Mr. Howe's ablest allies in the struggle for +self-government. Sir Colin, however, would not recede from the attitude +he had assumed, but expressed the opinion, in his reply to the address +of the legislature, that he could not recognise in the despatch of the +colonial secretary of state "any instruction for a fundamental change in +the colonial constitution." The assembly then prayed her Majesty, in a +powerful and temperate address, to recall Sir Colin Campbell. Though +Lord John Russell did not present the address to the Queen, the imperial +government soon afterwards appointed Lord Falkland to succeed Sir Colin +Campbell, whose honesty of purpose had won the respect of all parties. + +Lord Falkland was a Whig, a lord of the bedchamber, and married to one +of the Fitzclarences--a daughter of William IV and Mrs. Jordan. He +arrived at Halifax in September, 1840, and his first political act was +in the direction of conciliating the Liberals, who were in the majority +in the assembly. He dismissed--to the disgust of the official +party--four members of the executive who had no seats in either branch +of the legislature, and induced Mr. Howe and Mr. James MacNab to enter +the government, on the understanding that other Liberals would be +brought in according as vacancies occurred, and that the members of the +council should hold their seats only upon the tenure of public +confidence. A dissolution took place, the coalition government was +sustained, and the Liberals came into the assembly with a majority. Mr. +Howe was elected speaker of the assembly, though an executive +councillor--without salary; but he and others began to recognise the +impropriety of one man occupying such positions, and in a later session +a resolution was passed against the continuance of what was really an +un-British and unconstitutional practice. It was also an illustration of +the ignorance that prevailed as to the principles that should guide the +words and acts of a cabinet, that members of the executive, who had +seats in the legislative council, notably Mr. Stewart, stated openly, in +contradiction of the assertions of Mr. Howe and his Liberal colleagues, +that "no change had been made in the constitution of the country, and +that responsible government in a colony was responsible nonsense, and +meant independence." It was at last found necessary to give some sort of +explanation of such extraordinary opinions, to avert a political crisis +in the assembly. Then, to add to the political embarrassment, there was +brought before the people the question of abandoning the practice of +endowing denominational colleges, and of establishing in their place one +large non-sectarian University. At this time the legislature voted +annual grants to five sectarian educational institutions of a high +class. The most important were King's College, belonging to the Anglican +Church, and Acadia College, supported by the Baptists. The Anglican +Church was still influential in the councils of the province, and the +Baptists had now the support of Mr. Johnston, the able attorney-general, +who had seceded from the Church of England. This able lawyer and +politician had won the favour of the aristocratic governor, and +persuaded him to dissolve the assembly, during the absence of Mr. Howe +in the country, though it had continuously supported the government, and +the people had given no signs of a want of confidence in the house as +then constituted. The fact was, Mr. Johnston and his friends in the +council thought it necessary to lose no time in arousing the feelings of +the supporters of denominational colleges against Mr. Howe and other +Liberals, who had commenced to hold meetings throughout the country in +favour of a non-sectarian University. The two parties came back from +the electors almost evenly divided, and Mr. Howe had an interview with +Lord Falkland. He consented to remain in the cabinet until the assembly +had an opportunity of expressing its opinion on the question at issue, +when the governor himself precipitated a crisis by appointing to the +executive and legislative councils Mr. M.B. Almon, a wealthy banker, and +a brother-in-law of the attorney-general. Mr. Howe and Mr. MacNab at +once resigned their seats in the government on the ground that Mr. +Almon's appointment was a violation of the compact by which two Liberals +had been induced to join the ministry, and was most unjust to the forty +or fifty gentlemen who, in both branches, had sustained the +administration for several years. Instead of authorising Mr. Johnston to +fill the two vacancies and justify the course taken by the governor, the +latter actually published a letter in a newspaper, in which he boldly +stated that he was entirely opposed to the formation of a government +composed of individuals of one political party, that he would steadily +resist any invasion of the royal prerogatives with respect to +appointments, and that he had chosen Mr. Almon, not simply on the ground +that he had not been previously engaged in political life to any extent, +but chiefly because he wished to show his own confidence in Mr. +Johnston, Mr. Almon's brother-in-law. Lord Falkland had obviously thrown +himself into the arms of the astute attorney-general and his political +friends. + +It was now a political war _à outrance_ between Lord Falkland and Mr. +Howe, from 1842 until the governor left the province in 1846. Lord +Falkland made strenuous efforts to detach Mr. MacNab, Mr. Uniacke and +other Liberals from Mr. Howe, and induce them to enter the government, +but all to no purpose. He now gave up writing letters to the press, and +attacked his opponents in official communications addressed to the +colonial office, which supported him, as it did Lord Metcalfe, under +analogous circumstances. These despatches were laid without delay on +the tables of the houses, to be used far and wide against the +recalcitrant Liberals. Mr. Howe had again renewed his connection with +the press, which he had left on becoming speaker and councillor, and had +become editor of the _Nova Scotian_, and the _Morning Chronicle_, of +which Mr. Annand was the proprietor. In these influential organs of the +Liberal party--papers still in existence--Mr. Howe attacked Lord +Falkland, both in bitter prose and sarcastic verse. All this while the +governor and his council contrived to control the assembly, sometimes by +two or three votes, sometimes by a prorogation when it was necessary to +dispose summarily of a troublesome question. Public opinion began to set +in steadily against the government. The controversy between Lord +Falkland and Mr. Howe reached its climax on the 21st February, 1846, +when a despatch was brought down to the house, referring to the speaker, +Mr. William Young, and his brother, George R. Young, as the associates +of "reckless" and "insolvent" men--the reference being to Mr. Howe and +his immediate political friends. When the despatch had been read, Mr. +Howe became greatly excited, and declared amid much disorder that if +"the infamous system" of libelling respectable colonists in despatches +sent to the colonial office was continued, "without their having any +means of redress ... some colonist would by-and-by, or he was much +mistaken, hire a black fellow to horsewhip a lieutenant-governor." + +It was time that this unhappy conflict should end. The imperial +authorities wisely transferred Lord Falkland to Bombay, where he could +do no harm, and appointed Sir John Harvey to the government of Nova +Scotia. Like Lord Elgin in Canada, he was discreetly chosen by the +Reform ministry, as the sequel showed. He was at first in favour of a +coalition government like his predecessors, but he wisely dissolved the +assembly when he found that the leading Liberals positively refused to +go into an alliance with the members of the executive council, or any +other set of men, until the people had decided between parties at the +polls. The result was a victory for the Liberals, and as soon as the +assembly met a direct motion of want of confidence was carried against +the government, and for the first time in the history of the country the +governor called to his council men exclusively belonging to the +opposition in the popular branch. Mr. Howe was not called upon to form a +cabinet--his quarrel with Lord Falkland had to be resented somehow--but +the governor's choice was Mr. James Boyle Uniacke, who gave a prominent +position in the new government to the great Liberal, to whom responsible +government owed its final success in this maritime province. + +Responsible government was not introduced into Prince Edward Island +until 1851, when an address on the prosperous state of the island was +presented to the imperial authorities, who at once consented to concede +responsible government on the condition that adequate provision was made +for certain public officers affected by the new order of things. The +leader of the new government was the Honourable George Coles. + +In the history of the past there is much to deplore, the blunders of +English ministers, the want of judgment on the part of governors, the +selfishness of "family compacts," the arrogance of office-holders, the +recklessness of Canadian politicians. But the very trials of the crisis +through which Canada passed brought out the fact, that if English +statesmen had mistaken the spirit of the Canadian people, and had not +always taken the best methods of removing grievances, it was not from +any studied disposition to do these countries an injustice, but rather +because they were unable to see until the very last moment that, even in +a colony, a representative system must be worked in accordance with +those principles that obtained in England, and that it was impossible to +direct the internal affairs of dependencies many thousand miles distant +through a colonial office, generally managed by a few clerks. + +Of all the conspicuous figures of these memorable times, which already +seem so far away from Canadians of the present day, who possess so many +political rights, there are several who stand out more prominently than +all others, and represent the distinct types of politicians, who +influenced the public mind during the first half of the nineteenth +century, when responsible government was in slow process of evolution +from the political struggles which arose in the operation of +representative institutions. Around the figure of Louis Joseph Papineau +there has always been a sort of glamour which has helped to conceal his +vanity, his rashness and his want of political sagacity, which would, +under any circumstances, have prevented his success as a safe statesman, +capable of guiding a people through a trying ordeal. His eloquence was +fervid and had much influence over his impulsive countrymen, his +sincerity was undoubted, and in all likelihood his very indiscretions +made more palpable the defects of the political system against which he +so persistently and so often justly declaimed. He lived to see his +countrymen enjoy power and influence under the very union which they +resented, and to find himself no longer a leader among men, but isolated +from a great majority of his own people, and representing a past whose +methods were antagonistic to the new régime that had grown up since +1838. It would have been well for his reputation had he remained in +obscurity on his return from exile in 1847, when he and other rebels of +1837 were wisely pardoned, and had he never stood again on the floor of +the parliament of Canada, as he did from 1848 until 1854, since he could +only prove, in those later times, that he had never understood the true +working of responsible government. While the Lafontaine-Baldwin ministry +were in power, he revived an agitation for an elective legislative +council and declared himself utterly hostile to responsible government; +but his influence was at an end in the country, and he could make little +impression on the assembly. The days of reckless agitation had passed, +and the time for astute and calm statesmanship had come. Lafontaine and +Morin were now safer political guides for his countrymen. He soon +disappeared entirely from public view, and in the solitude of his +picturesque château, amid the groves that overhang the Ottawa River, +only visited from time to time by a few staunch friends, or by curious +tourists who found their way to that quiet spot, he passed the remainder +of his days with a tranquillity in wondrous contrast to the stormy and +eventful drama of his life. The writer often saw his noble, dignified +figure--erect even in age--passing unnoticed on the streets of Ottawa, +when perhaps at the same time there were strangers, walking through the +lobbies of the parliament house, asking for his portrait. + +William Lyon Mackenzie is a far less picturesque figure in Canadian +history than Papineau, who possessed an eloquence of tongue and a grace +of demeanour which were not the attributes of the little peppery, +undignified Scotchman who, for a few years, played so important a part +in the English-speaking province. With his disinterestedness and +unselfishness, with his hatred of political injustice and oppression, +Canadians who remember the history of the constitutional struggles of +England will always sympathise. Revolt against absolutism and tyranny is +permissible in the opinion of men who love political freedom, but the +conditions of Upper Canada were hardly such as justified the rash +insurrection into which he led his deluded followers, many to misery and +some to death. Mackenzie lived long enough to regret these sad mistakes +of a reckless period of his life, and to admit that "the success of the +rebellion would have deeply injured the people of Canada," whom he +believed he was then serving, and that it was the interest of the +Canadian people to strengthen in every way the connection with England. +Like Papineau, he returned to Canada in 1849 to find himself entirely +unequal to the new conditions of political life, where a large +constitutional knowledge, a spirit of moderation and a statesmanlike +conduct could alone give a man influence in the councils of his country. +One historian has attempted to elevate Dr. Rolph at his expense, but a +careful study of the career of those two actors will lead fair-minded +readers to the conclusion that even the reckless course followed at the +last by Mackenzie was preferable to the double-dealing of his more +astute colleague. Dr. Rolph came again into prominence as one of the +founders of the Clear Grits, who formed in 1849 an extreme branch of the +Reform party. Dr. Rolph's qualities ensured him success in political +intrigue, and he soon became a member of the Hincks-Morin government, +which was formed on the reconstruction of the Lafontaine-Baldwin +ministry in 1851, when its two moderate leaders were practically pushed +aside by men more in harmony with the aggressive elements of the Reform +party. But Mr. Mackenzie could never win such triumphs as were won by +his wily and more manageable associate of old times. He published a +newspaper--_The Weekly Message_--replete with the eccentricities of the +editor, but it was never a financial success, while his career in the +assembly from 1851 until 1858 only proved him almost a nullity in public +affairs. Until his death in 1861 his life was a constant fight with +poverty, although his closing years were somewhat soothed by the gift of +a homestead. He might have received some public position which would +have given him comfort and rest, but he would not surrender what he +called his political freedom to the men in office, who, he believed, +wished to purchase his silence--the veriest delusion, as his influence +had practically disappeared with his flight to the United States. + +Joseph Howe, unlike the majority of his compeers who struggled for +popular rights, was a prominent figure in public life until the very +close of his career in 1873. All his days, even when his spirit was +sorely tried by the obstinacy and indifference of some English +ministers, he loved England, for he knew--like the Loyalists, from one +of whom he sprung--it was in her institutions, after all, his country +could best find prosperity and happiness. It is an interesting fact +that, among the many able essays and addresses which the question of +imperial federation has drawn forth, none can equal his great speech on +the consolidation of the empire in eloquence, breadth, and fervour. Of +all the able men Nova Scotia has produced no one has surpassed that +great tribune of the people in his power to persuade and delight the +masses by his oratory. Yet, strange to say, his native province has +never raised a monument to his memory. + +One of the most admirable figures in the political history of the +Dominion was undoubtedly Robert Baldwin. Compared with other popular +leaders of his generation, he was calm in council, unselfish in motive, +and moderate in opinion. If there is any significance in the political +phrase "Liberal-Conservative," it could be applied with justice +to him. The "great ministry," of which he and Louis Hippolyte +Lafontaine--afterwards a baronet and chief justice--were the leaders, +left behind it many monuments of broad statesmanship, and made a deep +impression on the institutions of the country. In 1851 he resigned from +the Reform ministry, of which he had been the Upper Canadian leader, in +consequence of a vote of the Reformers of that province adverse to the +continuance of the court of chancery, the constitution of which had been +improved chiefly by himself. When he presented himself as a candidate +before his old constituency he was defeated by a nominee of the Clear +Grits, who were then, as always, pressing their opinions with great +vehemence and hostility to all moderate men. He illustrated the fickle +character of popular favour, when a man will not surrender his +principles and descend to the arts of the politician. He lived until +1858 in retirement, almost forgotten by the people for whom he had +worked so fearlessly and sincerely. + +In New Brunswick the triumph of responsible government must always be +associated with the name of Lemuel A. Wilmot, the descendant of +a famous United Empire Loyalist stock, afterwards a judge and a +lieutenant-governor of his native province. He was in some respects the +most notable figure, after Joseph Howe and J.W. Johnston, the leaders +of the Liberal and Conservative parties in Nova Scotia, in that famous +body of public men who so long brightened the political life of the +maritime provinces. But neither those two leaders nor their +distinguished compeers, James Boyle Uniacke, William Young, John +Hamilton Gray and Charles Fisher, all names familiar to students of Nova +Scotia and New Brunswick history, surpassed Mr. Wilmot in that magnetic +eloquence which carries an audience off its feet, in versatility of +knowledge, in humorous sarcasm, and in conversational gifts, which made +him a most interesting personality in social life. He impressed his +strong individuality upon his countrymen until the latest hour of his +useful career. + +In Prince Edward Island, the name most intimately connected with the +struggle for responsible government is that of George Coles, who, +despite the absence of educational and social advantages in his youth, +eventually triumphed over all obstacles, and occupied a most prominent +position by dint of unconquerable courage and ability to influence the +opinions of the great mass of people. + + +SECTION 2.--Results of self-government from 1841 to 1864. + +The new colonial policy, adopted by the imperial government immediately +after the presentation of Lord Durham's report, had a remarkable effect +upon the political and social development of the British North American +provinces during the quarter of a century that elapsed between the union +of the Canadas in 1841 and the federal union of 1867. In 1841 Mr. +Harrison, provincial secretary of the upper province in the coalition +government formed by Lord Sydenham, brought in a measure which laid the +foundations of the elaborate system of municipal institutions which the +Canadian provinces now enjoy. In 1843 Attorney-General Lafontaine +presented a bill "for better serving the independence of the legislative +assembly of this province," which became law in 1844 and formed the +basis of all subsequent legislation in Canada. + +The question of the clergy reserves continued for some years after the +union to perplex politicians and harass governments. At last in 1854 the +Hincks government was defeated by a combination of factions, and the +Liberal-Conservative party was formed out of the union of the +Conservatives and the moderate Reformers. Sir Allan MacNab was the +leader of this coalition government, but the most influential member was +Mr. John A. Macdonald, then attorney-general of Upper Canada, whose +first important act was the settlement of the clergy reserves. Reform +ministers had for years evaded the question, and it was now left to a +government, largely composed of men who had been Tories in the early +part of their political career, to yield to the force of public opinion +and take it out of the arena of political agitation by means of +legislation which handed over this property to the municipal +corporations of the province for secular purposes, and at the same time +made a small endowment for the protection of the clergy who had legal +claims on the fund. The same government had also the honour of removing +the old French seigniorial system, recognised to be incompatible with +the modern condition of a country of free government, and injurious to +the agricultural development of the province at large. The question was +practically settled in 1854, when Mr. Drummond, then attorney-general +for Lower Canada, brought in a bill providing for the appointment of a +commission to ascertain the amount of compensation that could be fairly +asked by the seigniors for the cession of their seigniorial rights. The +seigniors, from first to last, received about a million of dollars, and +it also became necessary to revise those old French laws which affected +the land tenure of Lower Canada. Accordingly in 1856 Mr. George Cartier, +attorney-general for Lower Canada in the Taché-Macdonald ministry, +introduced the legislation necessary for the codification of the civil +law. In 1857 Mr. Spence, post-master-general in the same ministry, +brought in a measure to organise the civil service, on whose character +and ability so much depends in the working of parliamentary +institutions. From that day to this the Canadian government has +practically recognised the British principle of retaining public +officers without reference to a change of political administration. + +Soon after the union the legislating obtained full control of the civil +list and the post-office. The last tariff framed by the imperial +parliament for British North America was mentioned in the speech at the +opening of the Canadian legislature in 1842. In 1846 the British +colonies in America were authorised by an imperial statute to reduce or +repeal by their own legislation duties imposed by imperial acts upon +foreign goods imported from foreign countries into the colonies in +question. Canada soon availed herself of this privilege, which was +granted to her as the logical sequence of the free-trade policy of Great +Britain, and, from that time to the present, she has been enabled to +legislate very freely with regard to her own commercial interests. In +1849 the imperial parliament repealed the navigation laws, and allowed +the river St. Lawrence to be used by vessels of all nations. With the +repeal of laws, the continuance of which had seriously crippled Canadian +trade after the adoption of free trade by England, the provinces +gradually entered on a new career of industrial enterprise. + +No part of the constitution of 1840 gave greater offence to the French +Canadian population than the clause restricting the use of the French +language in the legislature. It was considered as a part of the policy, +foreshadowed in Lord Durham's report, to denationalise, if possible, the +French Canadian province. The repeal of the clause, in 1848, was one +evidence of the harmonious operation of the union, and of a better +feeling between the two sections of the population. Still later, +provision was made for the gradual establishment of an elective +legislative council, so long and earnestly demanded by the old +legislature of Lower Canada. + +The members of the Lafontaine-Baldwin government became the legislative +executors of a troublesome legacy left to them by a Conservative +ministry. In 1839 acts had been passed by the special council of Lower +Canada and the legislature of Upper Canada to compensate the loyal +inhabitants of those provinces for the loss they had sustained during +the rebellions. In the first session of the union parliament the Upper +Canadian act was amended, and money voted to reimburse all persons in +Upper Canada whose property had been unnecessarily, or wantonly, +destroyed by persons acting, or pretending to act, on behalf of the +crown. An agitation then commenced for the application of the same +principle to Lower Canada, and in 1845 commissioners were appointed by +the Draper administration to inquire into the nature and value of the +losses suffered by her Majesty's loyal subjects in Lower Canada. When +their report was presented in favour of certain claims the Draper +ministry brought in some legislation on the subject, but went out of +office before any action could be taken thereon. The Lafontaine-Baldwin +government then determined to set the question at rest, and introduced +legislation for the issue of debentures to the amount of $400,000 for +the payment of losses sustained by persons who had not been convicted +of, or charged with, high treason or other offences of a treasonable +nature, or had been committed to the custody of the sheriff in the gaol +of Montreal and subsequently transported to the island of Bermuda. +Although the principle of this measure was fully justified by the action +of the Tory Draper government, extreme Loyalists and even some Reformers +of Upper Canada declaimed against it in the most violent terms, and a +few persons even declared that they would prefer annexation to the +United States to the payment of the rebels. The bill, however, passed +the legislature by a large majority, and received the crown's assent +through Lord Elgin on the 25th April, 1849. A large crowd immediately +assembled around the parliament house--formerly the St. Anne Market +House--and insulted the governor-general by opprobrious epithets, and by +throwing missiles at him as he drove away to Monklands, his residence in +the country. The government and members of the legislature appear to +have been unconscious of the danger to which they were exposed until a +great crowd rushed into the building, which was immediately destroyed by +fire with its fine collection of books and archives. A few days later, +when the assembly, then temporarily housed in the hall of Bonsecours +Market, attempted to present an address to Lord Elgin, he was in +imminent danger of his life while on his way to the government +house--then the old Château de Ramesay in Nôtre-Dame Street--and the +consequences might have been most serious had he not evaded the mob on +his return to Monklands. This disgraceful affair was a remarkable +illustration not simply of the violence of faction, but largely of the +discontent then so prevalent in Montreal and other industrial centres, +on account of the commercial policy of Great Britain, which seriously +crippled colonial trade and was the main cause of the creation of a +small party which actually advocated for a short time annexation to the +United States as preferable to the existing state of things. The result +was the removal of the seat of government from Montreal, and the +establishment of a nomadic system of government by which the legislature +met alternately at Toronto and Quebec every five years until Ottawa was +chosen by the Queen as a permanent political capital. Lord Elgin felt +his position keenly, and offered his resignation to the imperial +government, but they refused to entertain it, and his course as a +constitutional governor under such trying circumstances was approved by +parliament. + +The material condition of the provinces--especially of Upper Canada, +which now became the first in population and wealth--kept pace with the +rapid progress of the people in self-government. The population of the +five provinces had increased from about 1,500,000, in 1841, to about +3,200,000 when the census was taken in 1861 The greatest increase had +been in the province of Upper Canada, chiefly in consequence of the +large immigration which flowed into the country from Ireland, where the +potato rot had caused wide-spread destitution and misery. The population +of this province had now reached 1,396,091, or nearly 300,000 more than +the population of Lower Canada--an increase which, as I shall show in +the next chapter, had important effects on the political conditions of +the two provinces. The eastern or maritime provinces received but a +small part of the yearly immigration from Europe, and even that was +balanced by an exodus to the United States. Montreal had a population of +100,000, or double that of Quebec, and was now recognised as the +commercial capital of British North America. Toronto had reached 60,000, +and was making more steady progress in population and wealth than any +other city, except Montreal. Towns and villages were springing up with +great rapidity in the midst of the enterprising farming population of +the western province. In Lower Canada the townships showed the energy of +a British people, but the _habitants_ pursued the even tenor of ways +which did not include enterprise and improved methods of agriculture. + +The value of the total exports and imports of the provinces reached +$150,000,000 by 1864, or an increase of $100,000,000 in a quarter of a +century. The great bulk of the import trade was with Great Britain and +the United States, but the value of the exports to the United States was +largely in excess of the goods purchased by Great Britain--especially +after 1854, when Lord Elgin arranged a reciprocity treaty with the +United States. Lord Elgin represented Great Britain in the negotiations +at Washington, and the Congress of the United States and the several +legislatures of the Canadian provinces passed the legislation necessary +to give effect to the treaty. Its most important provisions established +free trade between British North America and the United States in +products of the forest, mine, and sea, conceded the navigation of the +St. Lawrence to the Americans, and the use of the canals of Canada on +the same terms as were imposed upon British subjects, gave Canadians the +right to navigate Lake Michigan, and allowed the fishermen of the United +States to fish on the sea-coasts of the British provinces without +regard to distance from the shore, in return for a similar but +relatively worthless privilege on the eastern shores of the republic, +north of the 30th parallel of north latitude. During the thirteen years +the treaty lasted the trade between the two countries rose from over +thirty-three million dollars in 1854 to over eighty million dollars in +1866, when it was repealed by the action of the United States government +itself, for reasons which I shall explain in a later chapter. + +The navigation of the St. Lawrence was now made continuous and secure by +the enlargement of the Welland and Lachine canals, and the construction +of the Cornwall, Williamsburgh, and Beauharnois canals. Railways +received their great stimulus during the government of Sir Francis +Hincks, who largely increased the debt of Canada by guaranteeing in 1852 +the bonds of the Grand Trunk Railway--a noble, national work, now +extending from Quebec to Lake Michigan, with branches in every +direction, but whose early history was marred by jobbery and +mismanagement, which not only ruined or crippled many of the original +shareholders, but cost Canada eventually twenty-three million dollars. +In 1864 there were two thousand miles of railway working in British +North America, of which the Grand Trunk Railway owned at least one-half. +The railways in the maritime provinces were very insignificant, and all +attempts to obtain the co-operation of the imperial and Canadian +governments for the construction of an Intercolonial Railway through +British American territory failed, despite the energetic efforts of Mr. +Howe to bring it about. + +After the union of the Canadas in 1841, a steady movement for the +improvement of the elementary, public, or common schools continued for +years, and the services of the Reverend Egerton Ryerson were engaged as +chief superintendent of education with signal advantage to the country. +In 1850, when the Lafontaine-Baldwin government was in office, the +results of the superintendent's studies of the systems of other +countries were embodied in a bill based on the principle of local +assessment, aided by legislative grants, for the carrying on of the +public schools. This measure is the basis of the present admirable +school system of Upper Canada, and to a large extent of that of the +other English-speaking provinces. In Lower Canada the history of public +schools must be always associated with the names of Dr. Meilleur and the +Honourable Mr. Chauveau; but the system has never been as effective as +in the upper province. In both provinces, separate or dissentient +schools were eventually established for the benefit of the Roman +Catholics in Upper or Protestant Canada, and of the Protestants in Lower +or Catholic Canada. In the maritime provinces satisfactory progress was +also made in the development of a sound school system. In Nova Scotia +Dr. Tupper, when provincial secretary (1863-1867), laid the foundations +of the excellent schools that the province now enjoys. + +During this period the newspaper press increased remarkably in influence +and circulation. The most important newspaper in the Dominion, the +_Globe_, was established at Toronto in 1844 by Mr. George Brown, a +Scotchman by birth, who became a power from that time among the Liberal +politicians of Canada. No notable books were produced in the +English-speaking provinces except "Acadian Geology," a work by Dr. +Dawson, who became in 1855 principal of McGill University, and was, in +later years, knighted by the Queen; but the polished verses of Crémazie +and the lucid histories of Canada by Ferland and Garneau already showed +that French Canada had both a history and a literature. + +Towards the close of this memorable period of Canadian development, the +Prince of Wales, heir-apparent to the throne, visited the British +American provinces, where the people gave full expression to their loyal +feelings. This was the third occasion on which these communities had +been favoured by the presence of members of the royal family. Prince +William Henry, afterward William IV, visited Nova Scotia during the +years 1786-1788, in command of a frigate. From 1791 until 1797 Prince +Edward, Duke of Kent, father of the present sovereign, was in command of +the imperial forces, first at Quebec, and later at Halifax. The year +1860 was an opportune time for a royal visit to provinces where the +people were in the full enjoyment of the results of the liberal system +of self-government extended to them at the commencement of the Queen's +reign by the mother-country. + +A quarter of a century had passed after the union of the Canadas when +the necessities of the provinces of British North America forced them to +a momentous constitutional change, which gave a greater scope to the +statesmanship of their public men, and opened up a wider sphere of +effort to capital and enterprise. In the following chapter I shall show +the nature of the conditions which brought about this union. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE EVOLUTION OF CONFEDERATION (1789--1864). + + +SECTION 1--The beginnings of confederation. + +The idea of a union of the provinces of British North America had been +under discussion for half a century before it reached the domain of +practical statesmanship. The eminent Loyalist, Chief Justice Smith of +Quebec, so early as 1789, in a letter to Lord Dorchester, gave an +outline of a scheme for uniting all the provinces of British North +America "under one general direction." A quarter of a century later +Chief Justice Sewell of Quebec, also a Loyalist, addressed a letter to +the father of the present Queen, the Duke of Kent, in which he urged a +federal union of the isolated provinces. Lord Durham was also of opinion +in 1839 that a legislative union of all the provinces "would at once +decisively settle the question of races," but he did not find it +possible to carry it out at that critical time in the history of the +Canadas. + +Some ten years later, at a meeting of prominent public men in Toronto, +known as the British American League, the project of a federal union was +submitted to the favourable consideration of the provinces. In 1854 the +subject was formally brought before the legislature of Nova Scotia by +the Honourable James William Johnston, the able leader of the +Conservative party, and found its most eloquent exposition in the speech +of the Honourable Joseph Howe, one of the fathers of responsible +government. The result of the discussion was the unanimous adoption of a +resolution--the first formally adopted by any provincial +legislature--setting forth that "the union or confederation of the +British provinces, while calculated to perpetuate their connection with +the parent state, will promote their advancement and prosperity, +increase their strength, and influence and elevate their position." Mr. +Howe, on that occasion, expressed himself in favour of a federation of +the empire, of which he was always an earnest advocate until his death. + +In the legislature of Canada Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Tilloch Galt +was an able exponent of union, and when he became a member of the +Cartier-Macdonald government in 1858 the question was made a part of the +ministerial policy, and received special mention in the speech of Sir +Edmund Head, the governor-general, at the end of the session. The matter +was brought to the attention of the imperial government on more than one +occasion during these years by delegates from Canada and Nova Scotia, +but no definite conclusion could be reached in view of the fact that the +question had not been taken up generally in the provinces. + +The political condition of the Canadas brought about a union much sooner +than was anticipated by its most sanguine promoters. In a despatch +written to the colonial minister by the Canadian delegates,--members of +the Cartier-Macdonald ministry--who visited England in 1858 and laid the +question of union before the government, they represented that "very +grave difficulties now present themselves in conducting the government +of Canada"; that "the progress of population has been more rapid in the +western province, and claims are now made on behalf of its inhabitants +for giving them representation in the legislature in proportion to their +numbers"; that "the result is shown by agitation fraught with great +danger to the peaceful and harmonious working of our constitutional +system, and, consequently, detrimental to the progress of the province" +that "this state of things is yearly becoming worse"; and that "the +Canadian government are impressed with the necessity for seeking such a +mode of dealing with these difficulties as may for ever remove them." In +addition to this expression of opinion on the part of the +representatives of the Conservative government of 1858, the Reformers of +Upper Canada held a large and influential convention at Toronto in +1859, and adopted a resolution in which it was emphatically set forth, +"that the best practicable remedy for the evils now encountered in the +government of Canada is to be found in the formation of two or more +local governments to which shall be committed the control of all matters +of a local and sectional character, and some general authority charged +with such matters as are necessarily common to both sections of the +provinces"--language almost identical with that used by the Quebec +convention six years later in one of its resolutions with respect to the +larger scheme of federation. Mr. George Brown brought this scheme before +the assembly in 1860, but it was rejected by a large majority. At this +time constitutional and political difficulties of a serious nature had +arisen between the French and English speaking sections of the united +Canadian provinces. A large and influential party in Upper Canada had +become deeply dissatisfied with the conditions of the union of 1840, +which maintained equality of representation to the two provinces when +statistics clearly showed that the western section exceeded French +Canada both in population and wealth. + +A demand was persistently and even fiercely made at times for such a +readjustment of the representation in the assembly as would do full +justice to the more populous and richer province. The French Canadian +leaders resented this demand as an attempt to violate the terms on which +they were brought into the union, and as calculated, and indeed +intended, to place them in a position of inferiority to the people of a +province where such fierce and unjust attacks were systematically made +on their language, religion, and institutions generally. With much +justice they pressed the fact that at the commencement of, and for some +years subsequent to, the union, the French Canadians were numerically in +the majority, and yet had no larger representation in the assembly than +the inhabitants of the upper province, then inferior in population. Mr. +George Brown, who had under his control a powerful newspaper, the +_Globe_, of Toronto, was remarkable for his power of invective and his +tenacity of purpose, and he made persistent and violent attacks upon the +conditions of the union, and upon the French and English Conservatives, +who were not willing to violate a solemn contract. + +The difficulties between the Canadian provinces at last became so +intensified by the public opinion created by Mr. Brown in Upper Canada +in favour of representation by population, that good and stable +government was no longer possible on account of the close division of +parties in the legislature. Appeals were made frequently to the people, +and new ministries formed,--in fact, five within two years--but the +sectional difficulties had obviously reached a point where it was not +possible to carry on successfully the administration of public affairs. +On the 14th June, 1864, a committee of the legislative assembly of +Canada, of whom Mr. Brown was chairman, reported that "a strong feeling +was found to exist among the members of the committee in favour of +changes in the direction of a federal system, applied either to Canada +alone or to the whole of the British North American provinces." On the +day when this report was presented, the Conservative government, known +as the Taché-Macdonald ministry, suffered the fate of many previous +governments for years, and it became necessary either to appeal at once +to the people, or find some other practical solution of the political +difficulties which prevented the formation of a stable government. Then +it was that Mr. Brown rose above the level of mere party selfishness, +and assumed the attitude of a statesman, animated by patriotic and noble +impulses which must help us to forget the spirit of sectionalism and +illiberality which so often animated him in his career of heated +partisanship. Negotiations took place between Mr. John A. Macdonald, Mr. +Brown, Mr. Cartier, Mr. Galt, Mr. Morris, Mr. McDougall, Mr. Mowat, and +other prominent members of the Conservative and Reform parties, with the +result that a coalition government was formed on the distinct +understanding that it would "bring in a measure next session for the +purpose of removing existing difficulties by introducing the federal +principle into Canada, coupled with such provisions as will permit the +maritime provinces and the north-west territories to be incorporated +into the same system of government." The Reformers who entered the +government with Macdonald and Cartier on this fundamental condition were +Mr. Brown, Mr. Oliver Mowat, and Mr. William McDougall, who stood +deservedly high in public estimation. + +While these events were happening in the Canadas, the maritime provinces +were taking steps in the direction of their own union. In 1861 Mr. Howe, +the leader of a Liberal government in Nova Scotia, carried a resolution +in favour of such a scheme. Three years later the Conservative ministry +of which Dr., now Sir, Charles Tupper, was premier, took measures in the +legislature of Nova Scotia to carry out the proposition of his +predecessor; and a conference was arranged at Charlottetown between +delegates from the three provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and +Prince Edward Island By a happy forethought the government of Canada, +immediately on hearing of this important conference, decided to send a +delegation, composed of Messrs J.A. Macdonald, Brown, Cartier, Galt, +McGee, Langevin, McDougall, and Campbell. The result of the conference +was favourable to the consideration of the larger question of the union +of all the provinces; and it was decided to hold a further conference at +Quebec in October for the purpose of discussing the question as fully as +its great importance demanded. + + +SECTION 2.--The Quebec convention of 1864. + +Thirty-three delegates met in the parliament house of this historic +city. They were all men of large experience in the work of +administration or legislation in their respective provinces. Not a few +of them were noted lawyers who had thoroughly studied the systems of +government in other countries. Some were gifted with rare eloquence and +power of argument. At no time, before or since, has the city of Quebec +been visited by an assemblage of notables with so many high +qualifications for the foundation of a nation. Descendants of the +pioneers of French Canada, English Canadians sprung from the Loyalists +of the eighteenth century, eloquent Irishmen and astute Scotchmen, all, +thoroughly conversant with Canadian interests, met in a convention +summoned to discharge the greatest responsibilities ever entrusted to +any body of men in Canada. + +The chairman was Sir Etienne Paschal Taché, who had proved in his youth +his fidelity to England on the famous battlefield of Chateauguay, and +had won the respect of all classes and parties by the display of many +admirable qualities. Like the majority of his compatriots he had learned +to believe thoroughly in the government and institutions of Great +Britain, and never lost an opportunity of recognising the benefits which +his race derived from British connection. He it was who gave utterance +to the oft-quoted words: "That the last gun that would be fired for +British supremacy in America would be fired by a French Canadian." He +lived to move the resolutions of the Quebec convention in the +legislative council of Canada, but he died a few months before the union +was formally established in 1867, and never had an opportunity of +experiencing the positive advantages which his race, of whose interests +he was always an earnest exponent, derived from a condition of things +which gave additional guarantees for the preservation of their special +institutions. But there were in the convention other men of much greater +political force, more deeply versed in constitutional knowledge, more +capable of framing a plan of union than the esteemed and discreet +president. Most prominent among these was Mr., afterwards Sir, John A. +Macdonald, who had been for years one of the most conspicuous figures in +Canadian politics, and had been able to win to a remarkable degree the +confidence not only or the great majority of the French Canadians but +also of a powerful minority in the western province where his able +antagonist, Mr. Brown, until 1864 held the vantage ground by his +persistency in urging its claims to greater weight in the administration +of public affairs. Mr. Macdonald had a great knowledge of men and did +not hesitate to avail himself of their weaknesses in order to strengthen +his political power. His greatest faults were those of a politician +anxious for the success of his party. His strength lay largely in his +ability to understand the working of British institutions, and in his +recognition of the necessity of carrying on the government in a country +of diverse nationalities, on principles of justice and compromise. He +had a happy faculty of adapting himself to the decided current of public +opinion even at the risk of leaving himself open to a charge of +inconsistency, and he was just as ready to adopt the measures of his +opponents as he was willing to enter their ranks and steal away some +prominent men whose support he thought necessary to his political +success. + +So early as 1861 he had emphatically expressed himself on the floor of +the assembly in favour of the main principles of just such a federal +union as was initiated at Quebec. The moment he found that the question +of union was likely to be something more than a mere subject for +academic discussion or eloquent expression in legislative halls, he +recognised immediately the great advantages it offered, not only for the +solution of the difficulties of his own party, but also for the +consolidation of British American as well as imperial interests on the +continent of North America From the hour when he became convinced of +this fact he devoted his consummate ability not merely as a party +leader, but as a statesman of broad national views, to the perfection of +a measure which promised so much for the welfare and security of the +British provinces. It was his good fortune, after the establishment of +the federation, to be the first premier of the new Dominion and to mould +its destinies with a firm and capable hand. He saw it extended to the +Pacific shores long before he died, amid the regrets of all classes and +creeds and races of a country he loved and in whose future he had the +most perfect confidence. + +The name of the Right Honourable Sir John Macdonald, to give him the +titles he afterwards received from the crown, naturally brings up that +of Mr., afterwards Sir, George Etienne Cartier, who was his faithful +colleague and ally for many years in the legislature of old Canada, and +for a short time after the completion of the federal union, until his +death. This able French Canadian had taken an insignificant part in the +unfortunate rising of 1837, but like many other men of his nationality +he recognised the mistakes of his impetuous youth, and, unlike Papineau +after the union of 1840, endeavoured to work out earnestly and honestly +the principles of responsible government. While a true friend of his +race, he was generous and fair in his relations with other +nationalities, and understood the necessity of compromise and +conciliation in a country of diverse races, needs, and interests. Sir +John Macdonald appreciated at their full value his statesmanlike +qualities, and succeeded in winning his sympathetic and faithful +co-operation during the many years they acted together in opposition to +the war of nationalities which would have been the eventual consequence +of Mr. Brown's determined agitation if it had been carried to its +logical and natural conclusion--conclusion happily averted by the wise +stand taken by Mr. Brown himself with respect to the settlement of +provincial troubles. In the settlement of the terms of union, we can see +not only the master hand of Sir John Macdonald in the British framework +of the system, but also the successful effort of Sir George Cartier to +preserve intact the peculiar institutions of his native province. + +All those who have studied Mr. Brown's career know something of his +independent and uncompromising character; but for some time after he +entered the coalition government his speeches in favour of federation +assumed a dignified style and a breadth of view which stand out in great +contrast with his bitter arguments as leader of the Clear Grits. In the +framing of the Quebec resolutions his part was chiefly in arranging the +financial terms with a regard to the interests of his own province. + +Another influential member of the Canadian delegation was Mr., +afterwards Sir, Alexander Galt, the son of the creator of that original +character in fiction, Laurie Todd, who had been a resident for many +years in Western Canada, where a pretty city perpetuates his name. His +able son had been for a long time a prominent figure in Canadian +politics, and was distinguished for his intelligent advocacy of railway +construction and political union as measures essential to the material +and political development of the provinces. His earnest and eloquent +exposition of the necessity of union had no doubt much to do with +creating a wide-spread public sentiment in its favour, and with +preparing the way for the formation of the coalition government of 1864, +on the basis of such a political measure. His knowledge of financial and +commercial questions was found to be invaluable in the settlement of the +financial basis of the union, while his recognised position as a +representative of the Protestant English-speaking people in French +Canada gave him much weight when it was a question of securing their +rights and interests in the Quebec resolutions. + +The other members of the Canadian delegation were men of varied +accomplishments, some of whom played an important part in the working +out of the federal system, the foundations of which they laid. There was +a brilliant Irishman, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, poet, historian and orator, +who had been in his rash youth obliged to fly from Ireland to the United +States on account of his connection with the rebellious party known as +Young Ireland during the troubles of 1848. When he removed from the +United States in 1857 he advocated with much force a union of the +provinces in the _New Era_, of which he was editor during its short +existence. He was elected to parliament in 1858, and became a notable +figure in Canadian politics on account of his eloquence and _bonhomie_. +His most elaborate addresses had never the easy flow of Joseph Howe's +speeches, but were laboured essays, showing too obviously the results of +careful compilation in libraries, while brightened by touches of natural +humour. He had been president of the council in the Sandfield Macdonald +government of 1862--a moderate Reform ministry--but later he joined the +Liberal-Conservative party as less sectional in its aspirations and more +generous in its general policy than the one led by Mr. Brown. Mr. McGee +was during his residence in Canada a firm friend of the British +connection, having observed the beneficent character of British rule in +his new Canadian home, with whose interests he so thoroughly identified +himself. + +Mr. William McDougall, the descendant of a Loyalist, had been long +connected with the advocacy of Reform principles in the press and on the +floor of parliament, and was distinguished for his clear, incisive style +of debating. He had been for years a firm believer in the advantages of +union, which he had been the first to urge at the Reform convention of +1859. Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Campbell, who had been for some +years a legal partner of Sir John Macdonald, was gifted with a +remarkably clear intellect, great common sense, and business capacity, +which he displayed later as leader of the senate and as minister of the +crown. Mr., afterwards Sir, Oliver Mowat, who had been a student of law +in Sir John Macdonald's office at Kingston, brought to the discharge of +the important positions he held in later times as minister, +vice-chancellor, and premier of the province of Ontario, great legal +learning, and admirable judgment. Mr., now Sir, Hector Langevin was +considered a man of promise, likely to exercise in the future much +influence among his countrymen. For some years after the establishment +of the new Dominion he occupied important positions in the government of +the country, and led the French Conservative party after the death of +Sir George Cartier. Mr. James Cockburn was an excellent lawyer, who +three years later was chosen speaker of the first house of commons of +the federal parliament--a position which his sound judgment, knowledge +of parliamentary law, and dignity of manner enabled him to discharge +with signal ability. Mr. J.C. Chapais was a man of sound judgment, which +made him equal to the administrative duties entrusted to him from time +to time. + +Of the five men sent by Nova Scotia, the two ablest were Dr., now Sir, +Charles Tupper, who was first minister of the Conservative government, +and Mr., later Sir, Adams G. Archibald, who was leader of the Liberal +opposition in the assembly. The former was then as now distinguished for +his great power as a debater and for the forcible expression of his +opinions on the public questions on which he had made up his mind. When +he had a great end in view he followed it with a tenacity of purpose +that generally gave him success. Ever since he entered public life as an +opponent of Mr. Howe, he has been a dominant force in the politics of +Nova Scotia. While Conservative in name he entertained broad Liberal +views which found expression in the improvement of the school system, at +a very low ebb when he came into office, and in the readiness and energy +with which he identified himself with the cause of the union of the +provinces. Mr. Archibald was noted for his dignified demeanour, sound +legal attainments, and clear plausible style of oratory, well calculated +to instruct a learned audience. Mr. William A. Henry was a lawyer of +considerable ability, who was at a later time elevated to the bench of +the supreme court of Canada. Mr. Jonathan J. McCully, afterwards a judge +in Nova Scotia, had never sat in the assembly, but he exercised +influence in the legislative council on the Liberal side and was an +editorial writer of no mean ability. Mr. Dickey was a leader of the +Conservatives in the upper house and distinguished for his general +culture and legal knowledge. + +New Brunswick sent seven delegates, drawn from the government and +opposition. The Loyalists who founded this province were represented by +four of the most prominent members of the delegation, Tilley, Chandler, +Gray, and Fisher. Mr., afterwards Sir, Samuel Leonard Tilley had been +long engaged in public life and possessed admirable ability as an +administrator. He had for years taken a deep interest in questions of +intercolonial trade, railway intercourse and political union. He was a +Reformer of pronounced opinions, most earnest in the advocacy of +temperance, possessed of great tact and respected for his high character +in all the relations of life. In later times he became finance minister +of the Dominion and lieutenant-governor of his native province. + +Mr. John Hamilton Gray, later a judge in British Columbia, was one of +the most eloquent and accomplished men in the convention, and brought to +the consideration of legal and constitutional questions much knowledge +and experience. Mr. Fisher, afterwards a judge in his province, was also +a well equipped lawyer and speaker who displayed a cultured mind. Like +all the delegates from New Brunswick he was animated by a great love for +British connection and institutions. Mr. Peter Mitchell was a Liberal, +conspicuous for the energy he brought to the administration of public +affairs, both in his own province and at a later time in the new +Dominion as a minister of the crown. Mr. Edward Barron Chandler had long +been a notable figure in the politics of New Brunswick, and was +universally respected for his probity and worth. He had the honour of +being at a later time the lieutenant-governor of the province with which +he had been so long and honourably associated. Mr. John Johnson and Mr. +William H. Steeves were also fully qualified to deal intelligently with +the questions submitted to the convention. + +Of the seven members of the Prince Edward Island delegation, four were +members of the government and the rest were prominent men in one or +other branch of the legislature. Colonel Gray--a descendant of a +Virginia Loyalist--was prime minister of the island. Mr. George Coles +was one of the fathers of responsible government in the island, and long +associated with the advocacy and passage of many progressive measures, +including the improvement of the educational system. Mr. Edward Whelan +was a journalist, an Irishman by birth, and endowed, like so many of his +countrymen, with a natural gift of eloquence. Mr. Thomas Heath Haviland, +afterwards lieutenant-governor of the island, was a man of culture, and +Mr. Edward Palmer was a lawyer of good reputation. Mr. William H. Pope +and Mr. Andrew Archibald Macdonald were also thoroughly capable of +watching over the special interests of the island. + +Newfoundland had the advantage of being represented by Mr. Frederick +B.T. Carter, then speaker of the house of assembly, and by Mr. Ambrose +Shea, also a distinguished politician of the great island. Both were +knighted at later times; the former became chief justice of his own +province, and the latter governor of the Bahamas. + + +SECTION 3.--Confederation accomplished. + +The Quebec convention sat with closed doors for eighteen days, and +agreed to seventy-two resolutions, which form the basis of the Act of +Union, subsequently passed by the imperial parliament. These resolutions +set forth at the outset that in a federation of the British American +provinces "the system of government best adapted under existing +circumstances to protect the diversified interests of the several +provinces, and secure harmony and permanency in the working of the +union, would be a general government charged with matters of common +interest to the whole country, and local governments for each of the +Canadas, and for the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince +Edward Island, charged with the control of local matters in their +respective sections" In another paragraph the resolutions declared that +"in forming a constitution for a general government, the conference, +with a view to the perpetuation of our connection with the +mother-country, and the promotion of the best interests of the people of +these provinces, desire to follow the model of the British constitution +so far as our circumstances permit" In a subsequent paragraph it was set +forth: "the executive authority or government shall be vested in the +sovereign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and be +administered according to the well-understood principles of the British +constitution, by a sovereign personally, or by the representative of the +sovereign duly authorised." + +In these three paragraphs of the Quebec resolutions we see clearly +expressed the leading principles on which the Canadian federation +rests--a federation, with a central government having jurisdiction over +matters of common interest to the whole country comprised in the union, +and a number of provincial governments having the control and management +of certain local matters naturally and conveniently belonging to them, +each government being administered in accordance with the +well-understood principles of the British system of parliamentary +institutions. + +The resolutions also defined in express terms the respective powers of +the central and provincial governments. Any subject that did not fall +within the enumerated powers of the provincial legislatures was placed +under the control of the general parliament. The convention recognised +the necessity of preventing, as far as possible, the difficulties that +had arisen in the working of the constitution of the United States, +where the residuary power of legislation is given to the people of the +respective states and not to the federal government. In a subsequent +chapter I give a brief summary of these and other details of the system +of government, generally laid down in the Quebec resolutions and +practically embodied in an imperial statute three years later. + +Although we have no official report of the discussions of the Quebec +convention, we know on good authority that the question of providing +revenues for the provinces was one that gave the delegates the greatest +difficulty. In all the provinces the sources of revenue were chiefly +customs and excise-duties which had to be set apart for the general +government of the federation. Some of the delegates from Ontario, where +there had existed for many years an admirable system of municipal +government, which provided funds for education and local improvements, +recognised the advantages of direct taxation; but the representatives of +the other provinces would not consent to such a system, especially in +the case of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, where +there were no municipal institutions, and the people depended almost +exclusively on the annual votes of the legislature for the means to meet +their local necessities. All of the delegates, in fact, felt that to +force the maritime provinces to resort to direct taxes as the only +method of carrying on their government, would be probably fatal to the +success of the scheme, and it was finally decided that the central +government should grant annual subsidies, based on population, relative +debts, financial position, and such other facts as should be fairly +brought into the consideration of the case. + +It is unfortunate that we have no full report of the deliberations and +debates of this great conference. We have only a fragmentary record from +which it is difficult to form any adequate conclusions as to the part +taken by the several delegates in the numerous questions which +necessarily came under their purview.[4] Under these circumstances, a +careful writer hesitates to form any positive opinion based upon these +reports of the discussions, but no one can doubt that the directing +spirit of the conference was Sir John Macdonald. Meagre as is the record +of what he said, we can yet see that his words were those of a man who +rose above the level of the mere politician, and grasped the magnitude +of the questions involved. What he aimed at especially was to follow as +closely as possible the fundamental principles of English parliamentary +government, and to engraft them upon the general system of federal +union. Mr. George Brown took a prominent part in the deliberations. His +opinions read curiously now. He was in favour of having the +lieutenant-governors appointed by the general government, and he was +willing to give them an effective veto over provincial legislation. He +advocated the election of a legislative chamber on a fixed day every +third year, not subject to a dissolution during its term--also an +adaptation of the American system. He went so far as to urge the +advisability of having the executive council elected for three years--by +the assembly, we may assume, though the imperfect report before us does +not state so--and also of giving the lieutenant-governor the right of +dismissing any of its members when the house was not sitting. Mr. Brown +consequently appears to have been the advocate, so far as the provinces +were concerned, of principles that prevail in the federal republic +across the border. He opposed the introduction of responsible +government, as it now obtains, in all the provinces of the Dominion, +while conceding its necessity for the central government. + + +[4: Mr. Joseph Pope, for years the able confidential secretary of Sir +John Macdonald, has edited and published all the official documents +bearing on the origin and evolution of the British North America Act of +1867; but despite all the ability and fidelity he has devoted to the +task the result is most imperfect and unsatisfactory on account of the +absence of any full or exact original report of proceedings.] + +We gather from the report of discussions that the Prince Edward Island +delegates hesitated from the beginning to enter a union where their +province would necessarily have so small a numerical representation--one +of the main objections which subsequently operated against the island +coming into the confederation. With respect to education we see that it +was Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Galt, who was responsible for the +provision in the constitution which gives the general government and +parliament a certain control over provincial legislation in case the +rights of a Protestant or a Roman Catholic minority are prejudicially +affected. The minutes on this point are defective, but we have the +original motion on the subject, and a note of Sir John Macdonald himself +that it was passed, with the assent of all the provinces, at the +subsequent London conference in 1867. The majority of the delegates +appear from the outset to have supported strenuously the principle which +lies at the basis of the confederation, that all powers not expressly +reserved to the provinces should appertain to the general government, as +against the opposite principle, which, as Sir John Macdonald pointed +out, had led to great difficulties in the working of the federal system +in the United States. Sir John Macdonald also, with his usual sagacity, +showed that, in all cases of conflict of jurisdiction, recourse would be +necessarily made to the courts, as was the practice even then whenever +there was a conflict between imperial and Canadian statutes. + +Addresses to the Queen embodying the Quebec resolutions were submitted +to the legislature of Canada during the winter of 1865, and passed in +both houses by large majorities after a very full discussion of the +merits of the scheme. The opposition in the assembly came chiefly from +Mr. Antoine A. Dorion, Mr. Luther H. Holton, Mr. Dunkin, Mr. Lucius Seth +Huntington, Mr. John Sandfield Macdonald, and other able Liberals who +were not disposed to follow Mr. Brown and his two colleagues in their +patriotic abandonment of "partyism." + +The vote on the address was, in the council--Contents 45, Non-contents +15. In the assembly it stood--Yeas 91, Nays 33. The minority in the +assembly comprised 25 out of 65 representatives of French Canada, and +only 8 out of the 65 from Upper Canada. With the speaker in the chair +there were only 5 members absent on the taking of the final vote. + +Efforts were made both in the council and assembly to obtain an +unequivocal expression of public opinion at the polls before the address +was submitted to the imperial government for final action. It was argued +with much force that the legislature had had no special mandate from the +people to carry out so vital a change in the political condition of the +provinces, but this argument had relatively little weight in either +house in view of the dominant public sentiment which, as it was obvious +to the most superficial observer, existed in the valley of the St. +Lawrence in favour of a scheme which seemed certain to settle the +difficulties so long in the way of stable government, and offered so +many auspicious auguries for the development of the provinces embraced +in federation. + +Soon after the close of the session Messrs Macdonald, Galt, Cartier, and +Brown went to England to confer with the imperial authorities on various +matters of grave public import. The British government agreed to +guarantee a loan for the construction of the Intercolonial Railway and +gave additional assurances of their deep interest in the proposed +confederation. An understanding was reached with respect to the mutual +obligations of the parent state and the dependency to provide for the +defences of the country. Preliminary steps were taken in the direction +of acquiring the north-west from the Hudson's Bay Company on equitable +terms whenever their exact legal rights were ascertained. The report of +the delegates was laid before the Canadian parliament during a very +short session held in August and September of 1865. It was then that +parliament formally ratified the Civil Code of Lower Canada, with which +must be always honourably associated the name of Mr. Cartier. + +In the maritime provinces, however, the prospect for some months was far +from encouraging. Much dissatisfaction was expressed with the financial +terms, and the haste with which the maritime delegates had yielded to +the propositions of the Canadian government and given their adhesion to +the larger scheme, when they were only authorised in the first instance +by their respective legislatures to consider the feasibility of a union +of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. In New +Brunswick Mr. Tilley found himself in a minority as a result of an +appeal to the people on the question in 1865, but his successor Mr., +afterwards Sir, Albert Smith, minister of marine in the Mackenzie +government of 1873-78, was forced to resign a year later on some +question purposely raised by Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton Gordon, then +very anxious to carry the union before he left the province. A new +government was immediately formed by Mr. Peter Mitchell, a very +energetic Liberal politician--the first minister of marine in +the first Dominion ministry--who had notoriously influenced the +lieutenant-governor in his arbitrary action of practically dismissing +the Smith cabinet. On an appeal to the people Mr. Mitchell was +sustained, and the new legislature gave its approval to the union by a +large majority. The opinion then generally prevailed in New Brunswick +that a federation was essential to the security of the provinces, then +threatened by the Fenians, and would strengthen the hands of the parent +state on the American continent. In Nova Scotia the situation was +aggravated by the fact that the opposition was led by Mr. Howe, who had +always been the idol of a large party in the country, and an earnest and +consistent supporter of the right of the people to be first consulted on +every measure immediately affecting their interests. He succeeded +in creating a powerful sentiment against the terms of the +measure--especially the financial conditions--and it was not possible +during 1865 to carry it in the legislature. It was not attempted to +submit the question to the polls, as was done in New Brunswick, indeed +such a course would have been fatal to its progress; but it was +eventually sanctioned by a large vote of the two houses. A strong +influence was exerted by the fact that confederation was approved by the +imperial government, which sent out Sir Fenwick Williams of Kars as +lieutenant-governor with special instructions that, both Canada and New +Brunswick having given their consent, it was proposed to make such +changes in the financial terms as would be more favourable to the +maritime provinces. In Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland it was not +possible for the advocates of federation to move successfully in the +matter. The opposition to the scheme of union, as proposed at Quebec, +was so bitter in these two provinces that the delegates found it useless +to press the matter in their legislatures. + +In the meantime, while confederation was on the eve of accomplishment, +the people of Canada were subjected to an attack which supplied the +strongest possible evidence of the necessity for a union enabling them +to combine for purposes of general defence as well as other matters of +national importance. In the month of April, 1866, the Fenians, an Irish +organisation in the United States, made an insignificant demonstration +on the New Brunswick frontier, which had no other effect than to excite +the loyal action of the people of the province and strengthen the hands +of the advocates of confederation. In the beginning of June a +considerable body of the same order, under the command of one O'Neil, +crossed from Buffalo into the Niagara district of Upper Canada and won a +temporary success near Ridgeway, where the Queen's Own, a body of +Toronto Volunteers, chiefly students and other young men, were badly +handled by Colonel Booker. Subsequently Colonel Dennis and a small +detachment of militia were surprised at Fort Erie by O'Neil. The +knowledge that a large force of regulars and volunteers were marching +against him under Colonel Peacock forced O'Neil and his men to disperse +and find their way back to the United States, where a number were +arrested by the orders of the Washington government. The Eastern +Townships of Lower Canada were also invaded but the raiders retreated +before a Canadian force with greater rapidity than they had shown in +entering the province, and found themselves prisoners as soon as they +crossed the frontier. Canada was kept in a state of anxiety for some +months after these reckless invasions of a country where the Irish like +all other nationalities have always had the greatest possible freedom; +but the vigilance of the authorities and the readiness of the people of +Canada to defend their soil prevented any more hostile demonstrations +from the United States. The prisoners taken in the Niagara district were +treated with a degree of clemency which their shameless conduct did not +merit from an outraged people. No persons were ever executed, though a +number were confined for a while in Kingston penitentiary. The invasion +had the effect of stimulating the patriotism of the Canadian people to +an extraordinary degree, and of showing them the necessity that existed +for improving their home forces, whose organisation and equipment proved +sadly defective during the invasion. + +In the summer of 1866 the Canadian legislature met for the last time +under the provisions of the Union Act of 1840, and passed addresses to +the Queen, setting forth constitutions for the new provinces of Upper +and Lower Canada, afterwards incorporated in the imperial act of union. +A conference of delegates from the provinces of Nova Scotia, New +Brunswick, and Canada was held in the December of 1866 at the +Westminster Palace Hotel in the City of London. The members on behalf of +Canada were Messrs Macdonald, Cartier, Galt, McDougall, Langevin, and +W.P. Howland (in the place of Mr. Brown); on behalf of Nova Scotia, +Messrs Tupper, Henry, McCully, Archibald, and J.W. Ritchie (who took Mr. +Dickey's place); of New Brunswick, Messrs Tilley, Johnson, Mitchell, +Fisher, and R.D. Wilmot. The last named, who took the place of Mr. +Steeves, was a Loyalist by descent, and afterwards became speaker of +the senate and a lieutenant-governor of his native province. Their +deliberations led to some changes in the financial provisions of the +Quebec plan, made with the view of satisfying the opposition as far as +possible in the maritime provinces but without disturbing the +fundamental basis to which Canada had already pledged itself in the +legislative session of 1865. All the difficulties being now removed the +Earl of Carnarvon, then secretary of state for the colonies, submitted +to the house of lords on the 17th of February, 1867, a bill intituled, +"An act for the union of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the +government thereof; and for purposes connected therewith." It passed the +two houses with very little discussion, and the royal assent was given +to it on the 29th of March of the same year as "The British North +America Act, 1867." It is interesting to know that in the original draft +of the bill the united provinces were called the "Kingdom of Canada," +but when it came eventually before parliament they were designated as +the "Dominion of Canada"; and the writer had it from Sir John Macdonald +himself that this amendment did not emanate from the colonial delegates +but from the imperial ministry, one of whose members was afraid of +wounding the susceptibilities of United States statesmen. + +During the same session the imperial parliament passed a bill to +guarantee a loan of three million pounds sterling for the construction +of an intercolonial railway between Quebec and the coast of the maritime +provinces--a work recognised as indispensable to the success of the new +federation. Her Majesty's proclamation, giving effect to the Union Act, +was issued on the 22nd May, 1867, declaring that "on and after the first +of July, 1867, the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, +shall form and be one Dominion, under the name of Canada." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CONFEDERATION. 1867--1900. + + +SECTION I--The first parliament of the Dominion of Canada. 1867--1872. + +The Dominion of Canada took its place among the federal states of the +world on the first of July, 1867. Upper and Lower Canada now became +known as Ontario and Quebec, while Nova Scotia and New Brunswick +retained their original historic names. The first governor-general was +Viscount Monk, who had been head of the executive government of Canada +throughout all the stages of confederation. He was an Irish nobleman, +who had been a junior lord of the treasury in Lord Palmerston's +government. He was a collateral descendant of the famous general of the +commonwealth, created Duke of Albemarle after the Restoration. Without +being a man of remarkable ability he was gifted with much discretion, +and gave all the weight of his influence to bring about a federation, +whose great benefits from an imperial as well as a colonial point of +view he fully recognised. + +The prime minister of the first federal government was naturally Sir +John Macdonald, who chose as his colleagues Sir George E. Cartier, Sir +S.L. Tilley,--to give them all their later titles--Sir A.T. Galt, Sir +W.P. Howland, Mr. William McDougall, Mr. P. Mitchell, Sir A.G. +Archibald, Mr. A.F. Blair, Sir A. Campbell, Sir H.L. Langevin, Sir E. +Kenny, and Mr. J.C. Chapais. Mr. Brown had retired from the coalition +government of 1864 some months before the union, nominally on a +disagreement with his colleagues as to the best mode of conducting +negotiations for a new reciprocity treaty with the United States. The +ministry had appointed delegates to confer with the Washington +government on the subject, but, while Mr. Brown recognised the +desirability of reciprocal trade relations with the United States on +equitable conditions, he did not deem it expedient to appear before +American statesmen "as suitors for any terms they might be pleased to +grant." A general impression, however, prevailed that this difference of +opinion was not the real reason of Mr. Brown's resignation, but that +the animating motive was his intense jealousy of Sir John Macdonald, +whose dominant influence in the government he could no longer brook. + +The governments of the four provinces were also regularly constituted at +this time in accordance with the act of union. The first +lieutenant-governor of Ontario was Lieutenant-General Stisted, of +Quebec, Sir Narcisse Belleau; of Nova Scotia, Lieutenant-General Sir +Fenwick Williams, the hero of Kars; of New Brunswick, Major-General +Doyle, but only for three months. With the exception of the case of +Quebec, these appointments were only temporary. It was considered +prudent to select military men in view of the continuous reports of +Fenian aggression. Sir William Howland became, a year later, +lieutenant-governor of Ontario, Major-General Sir Francis Hastings Doyle +of Nova Scotia in the fall of 1867, and Hon. L.A. Wilmot, of New +Brunswick in July 1868. The first prime minister of Ontario was Mr. John +Sandfield Macdonald, who had been leader of a Canadian ministry before +confederation. He had been a moderate Liberal in politics, and opposed +at the outset to the federal union, but before 1867 he became identified +with the Liberal-Conservative party and gave his best assistance to the +success of the federation. In Quebec, Mr. Pierre Chauveau, a man of high +culture, formed the first government, which was also associated with the +Liberal-Conservative party. In New Brunswick, Attorney-General Wetmore +was the first prime minister, but he was appointed a judge in 1870, and +Mr. George E. King, a judge of the supreme court of Canada some years +later, became his successor. In Nova Scotia, Mr. Hiram Blanchard, a +Liberal and unionist, formed a government, but it was defeated at the +elections by an overwhelming majority by the anti-unionists, and Mr. +Annand, the old friend of Mr. Howe, became first minister. + +The elections for the Dominion house of commons took place in the +summer of 1867, and Sir John Macdonald's government was sustained by +nearly three-fourths of the entire representation. The most notable +incident in this contest was the defeat of Mr. Brown. Soon after his +resignation in 1866 he assumed his old position of hostility to Sir John +Macdonald and the Conservatives. At a later date, when the Liberals were +in office, he accepted a seat in the senate, but in the meantime he +continued to manage the _Globe_ and denounce his too successful and wily +antagonist in its columns with his usual vehemence. + +The first parliament of the new Dominion met in the autumn of 1867 in +the new buildings at Ottawa--also chosen as the seat of government of +the federation--and was probably the ablest body of men that ever +assembled for legislative purposes within the limits of old or new +Canada. In the absence of the legislation which was subsequently passed +both in Ontario and Quebec against dual representation--or the election +of the same representatives to both the Dominion parliament and the +local legislatures--it comprised the leading public men of all parties +in the two provinces in question. Such legislation had been enacted in +the maritime provinces before 1867, but it did not prevent the ablest +men of New Brunswick from selecting the larger and more ambitious field +of parliamentary action. In Nova Scotia Sir Charles Tupper was the only +man who emerged from the battle in which so many unionists were for the +moment defeated. Even Sir Adams Archibald, the secretary of state, was +defeated in a county where he had been always returned by a large +majority. Mr. Howe came in at the head of a strong phalanx of +anti-unionists--"Repealers" as they called themselves for a short time. + +The legislation of the first parliament during its five years of +existence was noteworthy in many respects. The departments of government +were reorganised with due regard to the larger interests now intrusted +to their care. The new department of marine and fisheries, rendered +necessary by the admission of the maritime provinces, was placed under +the direction of Mr. Peter Mitchell, then a member of the senate, who +had done so much to bring New Brunswick into the union. An act was +passed to provide for the immediate commencement of the Intercolonial +Railway, which was actually completed by the 1st of July, 1876, under +the supervision of Mr., now Sir, Sandford Fleming, as chief government +engineer; and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec were at last directly +connected with the maritime sections of the Dominion. + +The repeal agitation in Nova Scotia received its first blow by the +defection of Mr. Howe, who had been elected to the house of commons. He +proceeded to England in 1868 with an address from the assembly of Nova +Scotia, demanding a repeal of the union, but he made no impression +whatever on a government and parliament convinced of the necessity of +the measure from an imperial as well as colonial point of view. Dr. +Tupper was present on behalf of the Dominion government to answer any +arguments that the Repealers might advance against the union. The visit +to England convinced Mr. Howe that further agitation on the question +might be injurious to British connection, and that the wisest course was +to make the union as useful as possible to the provinces. Then, as +always, he was true to those principles of fidelity to the crown and +empire which had forced his father to seek refuge in Nova Scotia, and +which had been ever the mainspring of his action, even in the trying +days when he and others were struggling for responsible government. He +believed always in constitutional agitation, not in rebellion. He now +agreed to enter the ministry as president of the council on condition +that the financial basis, on which Nova Scotia had been admitted to the +federation, was enlarged by the parliament of Canada. These "better +terms" were brought before the Canadian parliament in the session of +1869, and provided for the granting of additional allowances to the +provinces, calculated on increased amounts of debt as compared with the +maximum fixed by the terms of the British North America Act of 1867. +They met with strong opposition from Edward Blake, a very eminent +lawyer and Reformer of Ontario, on the ground that they violated the +original compact of union as set forth in the British North America Act; +but despite the opposition of the western Reformers they were ratified +by a large majority, who recognised the supreme necessity of +conciliating Nova Scotia. On account of his decision to yield to the +inevitable, Mr. Howe incurred the bitter antagonism of many men who had +been his staunch followers in all the political contests of Nova Scotia, +and it was with the greatest difficulty that he was re-elected for the +county of Hants as a minister of the crown. He remained in the +government until May, 1873, when he was appointed lieutenant-governor of +Nova Scotia. The worries of a long life of political struggles, and +especially the fatigue and exposure of the last election in Hants, had +impaired his health and made it absolutely necessary that he should +retire from active politics. Only a month after his appointment, the +printer, poet and politician died in the famous old government house, +admittance to which had been denied him in the stormy days when he +fought Lord Falkland. It was a fit ending, assuredly, to the life of the +statesman, who, with eloquent pen and voice, in the days when his +opinions were even offensive to governors and social leaders, ever urged +the right of his countrymen to a full measure of self-government. + +Canada and all other parts of the British empire were deeply shocked on +an April day of 1868 by the tragic announcement of the assassination of +the brilliant Irishman, Thomas D'Arcy McGee on his return late at night +from his parliamentary duties. He had never been forgiven by the Irish +enemies of England for his strenuous efforts in Canada to atone for the +indiscretion of his thoughtless youth. His remains were buried with all +the honours that the state could give him, and proper provision was made +for the members of his family by that parliament of which he had been +one of the most notable figures. The murderer, Thomas Whelan, a member +of the secret society that had ordered his death, was executed at +Ottawa on the 11th February, 1869. + + +SECTION 2.--Extension of the Dominion from the Atlantic to the Pacific +Ocean. 1869-1873. + +The government and parliament, to whom were entrusted the destinies of +the federation of four provinces, had a great work to accomplish in the +way of perfecting and extending the Dominion, which was necessarily +incomplete whilst its western territorial limits were confined to the +boundaries of Ontario, and the provinces of British Columbia on the +Pacific coast and of Prince Edward Island in the Gulf of the St. +Lawrence remained in a position of isolation. The provisions of the +British North America Act of 1867 provided in general terms for the +addition of the immense territories which extend from the head of Lake +Superior in a north-westerly direction as far as the Rocky Mountains. +Three great basins divide these territories; Hudson Bay Basin, with +probably a drainage of 2,250,000 square miles; the Winnipeg sub-basin +tributary to the former, with nearly 400,000 square miles; the Mackenzie +River basin with nearly 700,000 square miles. The Winnipeg basin covers +a great area of prairie lands, whose luxuriant grasses and wild flowers +were indented for centuries only by the tracks of herds of innumerable +buffaloes on their way to the tortuous and sluggish streams which flow +through that wide region. This plain slopes gently towards the arctic +seas into which its waters flow, and is also remarkable for rising +gradually from its eastern limits in three distinct elevations or +steppes as far as the foot hills of the Rocky Mountains. Forests of +trees, small for the most part, are found only when the prairies are +left and we reach the more picturesque undulating country through which +the North Saskatchewan flows. An extraordinary feature of this great +region is the continuous chain of lakes and rivers which stretch from +the basin of the St. Lawrence as far as the distant northern sea into +which the Mackenzie, the second largest river in North America, carries +its enormous volume of waters. As we stand on the rugged heights of +land which divides the Winnipeg from the Laurentian basin we are within +easy reach of rivers which flow, some to arctic seas, some to the +Atlantic, and some to the Gulf of Mexico. If we ascend the Saskatchewan +River, from Lake Winnipeg to the Rocky Mountains, we shall find +ourselves within a measurable distance not only of the sources of the +Mackenzie, one of whose tributaries reaches the head waters of the +Yukon, a river of golden promise like the Pactolus of the eastern +lands--but also within reach of the head waters of the rapid Columbia, +and the still more impetuous Fraser, both of which pour into the Pacific +Ocean, as well as of the Missouri, which here accumulates strength for +its alliance with the Mississippi, that great artery of a more southern +land. It was to this remarkable geographical feature that Oliver Wendell +Holmes referred in the following well-known verses: + + "Yon stream whose sources run + Turned by a pebble's edge, + Is Athabaska rolling toward the Sun + Through the cleft mountain ledge." + + "The slender rill had strayed, + But for the slanting stone, + To evening's ocean, with the tangled braid + Of foam-flecked Oregon." + +[ILLUSTRATION: MAP OF BRITISH AMERICA TO ILLUSTRATE THE CHARTER OF THE +HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY] + +A great company claimed for two centuries exclusive trading privileges +over a large portion of these territories, known as Rupert's Land, by +virtue of a charter given by King Charles II, on the 2nd May, 1670, to +Prince Rupert, the Duke of Albemarle, and other Englishmen of rank and +wealth. The early operations of this Company of Adventurers of England +were confined to the vicinity of Hudson and James Bays. The French of +Canada for many years disputed the rights of the English company to this +great region, but it was finally ceded to England by the Treaty of +Utrecht. Twenty years after the Treaty of Paris (1763) a number of +wealthy and enterprising merchants, chiefly Scotch, established at +Montreal the North-West Company for the purpose of trading in those +north-western territories to which French traders had been the first to +venture. This new company carried on its operations with such activity +that in thirty years' time it employed four thousand persons and +occupied sixty posts in different parts of the territories. + +The Hudson's Bay Company's headquarters was York Factory, on the great +bay to which British ships, every summer, brought out supplies for the +posts. The North-West Company followed the route of the old French +traders from Lachine by way of the Ottawa or the lakes to the head of +Lake Superior, and its principal depot was Fort William on the +Kaministiquia River. The servants of the North-West Company became +indefatigable explorers of the territories as far as the Pacific Ocean +and arctic seas. Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Mackenzie first followed +the river which now bears his name, to the Arctic Ocean, into which it +pours its mighty volume of water. He was also the first to cross the +Rocky Mountains and reach the Pacific coast. Simon Fraser, another +employee of the company, discovered, in 1808, the river which still +recalls his exploits; and a little later, David Thompson, from whom a +river is named, crossed further south and reached Oregon by the Columbia +River. The energetic operations of the North-west Company so seriously +affected the business of the Hudson's Bay Company that in some years the +latter declared no dividends. The rivalry between the two companies +reached its highest between 1811 and 1818, when Thomas Douglas, fifth +Earl of Selkirk, who was an enthusiastic promoter of colonisation in +British North America, obtained from the Hudson's Bay Company an immense +tract of land in the Red River country and made an earnest effort to +establish a Scotch settlement at Kildonan. But his efforts to people +Assiniboia--the Indian name he gave to his wide domain--were baulked by +the opposition of the employees of the North-west Company, who regarded +this colonising scheme as fatal to the fur trade. In the territory +conveyed to Lord Selkirk, the Montreal Company had established posts +upon every river and lake, while the Hudson's Bay Company had only one +fort of importance, Fort Douglas, within a short distance of the +North-west Company's post of Fort Gibraltar, at the confluence of the +Red and Assiniboine Rivers, where the city of Winnipeg now stands. The +quarrel between the Scotch settlers who were under the protection of the +Hudson's Bay Company and the North-westers, chiefly composed of French +Canadians and French half-breeds, or _Métis_ culminated in 1816, in the +massacre of Governor Semple and twenty-six other persons connected with +the new colony by a number of half-breeds. Two years later, a number of +persons who had been arrested for this murder were tried at York in +Upper Canada, but the evidence was so conflicting on account of the +false swearing on the part of the witnesses that the jury were forced to +acquit the accused. Lord Selkirk died at Pau, in 1820, but not before he +had made an attempt to assist his young settlement, almost broken up by +the shameful attack of 1816. + +The little colony managed to exist, but its difficulties were aggravated +from time to time by the ravages of clouds of grasshoppers which +devastated the territories and brought the people to the verge of +starvation. In March, 1821, the North-west Company made over all their +property to the older company, which now reigned supreme throughout the +territories. All doubts as to their rights were set at rest by an act of +parliament giving them a monopoly of trade for twenty-one years in what +were then generally known as the Indian territories, that vast region +which lay beyond the confines of Rupert's Land, and was not strictly +covered by the charter of 1670. This act was re-enacted in 1838 for +another twenty-one years. No further extension, however, was ever +granted, as an agitation had commenced in Canada by 1859 for the +surrender of the company's privileges and the opening up of the +territories, so long a great "lone land," to enterprise and settlement. +When the two rival companies were united, Mr., afterwards Sir, George +Simpson, became governor, and he continued to occupy that position until +1860, when he died in his residence at Lachine, near Montreal. This +energetic man largely extended the geographical knowledge of the wide +dominions entrusted to his charge, though like all the servants of the +company, he discouraged settlement and minimised the agricultural +capabilities of the country, when examined in 1857 before a committee of +the English house of commons. In 1837 the company purchased from Lord +Selkirk's heirs all their rights in Assiniboia. The Scotch settlers and +the French half-breeds were now in close contiguity to each other on the +Red and Assiniboine Rivers. The company established a simple form of +government for the maintenance of law and order. In the course of time, +their council included not only their principal factors and officials, +but a few persons selected from the inhabitants. On the whole, law and +order prevailed in the settlements, although there was always latent a +certain degree of sullen discontent against the selfish rule of a mere +fur company, invested with such great powers. The great object of the +company was always to keep out the pioneers of settlement, and give no +information of the value of the land and resources of their vast domain. + +Some years before the federation of the British-American provinces the +public men of Canada had commenced an agitation against the company, +with the view of relieving from its monopoly a country whose resources +were beginning to be known. Colonial delegates on several occasions +interviewed the imperial authorities on the subject, but no practical +results were obtained until federation became an accomplished fact. +Then, at length, the company recognised the necessity of yielding to +the pressure that was brought to bear upon them by the British +government, at a time when the interests of the empire as well as of the +new Dominion demanded the abolition of a monopoly so hostile to the +conditions of modern progress in British North America. In 1868 +successful negotiations took place between a Canadian delegation--Sir +George Cartier and the Hon. William Macdougall--and the Hudson's Bay +Company's representatives for the surrender of their imperial domain. +Canada agreed to pay £300,000 sterling, and to reserve certain lands for +the company. The terms were approved by the Canadian parliament in 1869, +and an act was passed for the temporary government of Rupert's Land and +the North-west territory when regularly transferred to Canada. In the +summer of that year, surveyors were sent under Colonel Dennis to make +surveys of townships in Assiniboia; and early in the autumn Mr. +Macdougall was appointed lieutenant-governor of the territories, with +the understanding that he should not act in an official capacity until +he was authoritatively informed from Ottawa of the legal transfer of the +country to the Canadian government. Mr. Macdougall left for Fort Garry +in September, but he was unable to reach Red River on account of a +rising of the half-breeds. The cause of the troubles is to be traced not +simply to the apathy of the Hudson's Bay Company's officials, who took +no steps to prepare the settlers for the change of government, nor to +the fact that the Canadian authorities neglected to consult the wishes +of the inhabitants, but chiefly to the belief that prevailed among the +ignorant French half-breeds that it was proposed to take their lands +from them. Sir John Macdonald admitted, at a later time, that much of +the trouble arose "from the lack of conciliation, tact and prudence +shown by the surveyors during the summer of 1869." Mr. Macdougall also +appears to have disobeyed his instructions, for he attempted to set up +his government by a _coup-de-main_ on the 1st December, though he had no +official information of the transfer of the country to Canada, and was +not legally entitled to perform a single official act. + +The rebellious half-breeds of the Red River settlement formed a +provisional government, in which one Louis Riel was the controlling +spirit from the beginning until the end of the revolt. He was a French +Canadian half-breed, who had been educated in one of the French Canadian +colleges, and always exercised much influence over his ignorant, +impulsive, easily-deluded countrymen. The total population living in the +settlements of Assiniboia at that time was about twelve thousand, of +whom nearly one-half were _Métis_ or half-breeds, mostly the descendants +of the _coureurs-de-bois_ and _voyageurs_ of early times. So long as the +buffalo ranged the prairies in large numbers, they were hunters, and +cared nothing for the relatively tame pursuit of agriculture. Their +small farms generally presented a neglected, impoverished appearance. +The great majority had adopted the habits of their Indian lineage, and +would neglect their farms for weeks to follow the scarce buffalo to +their distant feeding grounds. The Scotch half-breed, the offspring of +the marriage of Scotchmen with Indian women, still illustrated the +industry and energy of his paternal race, and rose superior to Indian +surroundings. It was among the French half-breeds that Riel found his +supporters. The Scotch and English settlers had disapproved of the +sudden transfer of the territory in which they and their parents had so +long lived, without any attempt having been made to consult their +feelings as to the future government of the country. Though they took no +active part in the rebellion, they allowed matters to take their course +with indifference and sullen resignation. The employees of the Hudson's +Bay Company were dissatisfied with the sale of the company's rights, as +it meant, in their opinion, a loss of occupation and influence. The +portion of the population that was always quite ready to hasten the +acquisition of the territory by Canada, and resolutely opposed Riel from +the outset, was the small Canadian element, which was led by Dr. +Schultz, an able, determined man, afterwards lieutenant-governor of +Manitoba. Riel imprisoned and insulted several of the loyal party who +opposed him. At last he ruthlessly ordered the execution of one Thomas +Scott, an Ontario man, who had defied him. + +While these events were in progress, the Canadian government enlisted in +the interests of law and order the services of Mr. Donald Smith, now +Lord Strathcona, who had been long connected with the Hudson's Bay +Company, and also of Archbishop Taché, of St. Boniface--the principal +French settlement in the country--who returned from Rome to act as +mediator between the Canadian authorities and his deluded flock. +Unhappily, before the Archbishop could reach Fort Garry, Scott had been +murdered, and the Dominion government could not consider themselves +bound by the terms they were ready to offer to the insurgents under a +very different condition of things. The murder of Scott had clearly +brought Riel and his associates under the provisions of the criminal +law; and public opinion in Ontario would not tolerate an amnesty, as was +hastily promised by the Archbishop, in his zeal to bring the rebellion +to an end. A force of 1200 regulars and volunteers was sent to the Red +River towards the end of May, 1870, under the command of Colonel +Wolseley, now a field-marshal and a peer of the realm. Riel fled across +the frontier before the troops, after a tedious journey of three months +from the day they left Toronto, reached Fort Garry. Peace was restored +once more to the settlers of Assiniboia. The Canadian government had had +several interviews with delegates from the discontented people of Red +River, who had prepared what they called "a Bill of Rights," and it was +therefore able intelligently to decide on the best form of governing the +territories. The imperial government completed the formal transfer of +the country to Canada, and the Canadian parliament in 1870 passed an act +to provide for the government of a new province of Manitoba. +Representation was given to the people in both houses of the Canadian +parliament, and provision was made for a provincial government on the +same basis that existed in the old provinces of the Dominion. The +lieutenant-governor of the province was also, for the present, to govern +the unorganised portion of the North-west with the assistance of a +council of eleven persons. The first legislature of Manitoba was elected +in the early part of 1871, and a provincial government was formed, with +Mr. Albert Boyd as provincial secretary. The first lieutenant-governor +was Sir Adams Archibald, the eminent Nova Scotian, who had been defeated +in the elections of 1867. Mr. Macdougall had returned from the +North-west frontier a deeply disappointed man, who would never admit +that he had shown any undue haste in commencing the exercise of his +powers as governor. Some years later he disappeared from active public +life, after a career during which he had performed many useful services +for Canada. + +In another chapter on the relations between Canada and the United States +I shall refer to the results of the international commission which met +at Washington in 1870, to consider the Alabama difficulty, the fishery +dispute, and other questions, the settlement of which could be no longer +delayed. In 1870, while the Red River settlements were still in a +troublous state, the Fenians made two attempts to invade the Eastern +Townships, but they were easily repulsed and forced to cross the +frontier. They were next heard of in 1871, when they attempted, under +the leadership of the irrepressible O'Neil, who had also been engaged in +1870, and of O'Donohue, one of Riel's rebellious associates, to make a +raid into Manitoba by way of Pembina, but their prompt arrest by a +company of United States troops was the inglorious conclusion of the +last effort of a dying and worthless organisation to strike a blow at +England through Canada. + +The Dominion government was much embarrassed for some years by the +complications that arose from Riel's revolt and the murder of Scott. An +agitation grew up in Ontario for the arrest of the murderers; and when +Mr. Blake succeeded Mr. Sandfield Macdonald as leader of the Ontario +government, a large reward was offered for the capture of Riel and such +of his associates as were still in the territories. On the other hand, +Sir George Cartier and the French Canadians were in favour of an +amnesty. The Macdonald ministry consequently found itself on the horns +of a dilemma; and the political tension was only relieved for a time +when Riel and Lepine left Manitoba, on receiving a considerable sum of +money from Sir John Macdonald. Although this fact was not known until +1875, when a committee of the house of commons investigated the affairs +of the North-west, there was a general impression after 1870 throughout +Ontario--an impression which had much effect on the general election of +1872--that the government had no sincere desire to bring Riel and his +associates to justice. + +In 1871 the Dominion welcomed into the union the great mountainous +province of British Columbia, whose picturesque shores recall the +memories of Cook, Vancouver and other maritime adventurers of the last +century, and whose swift rivers are associated with the exploits of +Mackenzie, Thompson, Quesnel, Fraser and other daring men, who first saw +the impetuous waters which rush through the cañons of the great +mountains of the province until at last they empty themselves into the +Pacific Ocean. For many years Vancouver Island and the mainland, first +known as New Caledonia, were under the control of the Hudson's Bay +Company. Vancouver Island was nominally made a crown colony in 1849; +that is, a colony without representative institutions, in which the +government is carried on by a governor and council, appointed by the +crown. The official authority continued from 1851 practically in the +hands of the company's chief factor, Sir James Douglas, a man of signal +ability, who was also the governor of the infant colony. In 1856 an +assembly was called, despite the insignificant population of the island. +In 1858 New Caledonia was organised as a crown colony under the name of +British Columbia, as a consequence of the gold discoveries which brought +in many people. Sir James Douglas was also appointed governor of +British Columbia, and continued in that position until 1864. In 1866, +the colony was united with Vancouver Island under the general +designation of British Columbia. When the province entered the +confederation of Canada in 1871 it was governed by a lieutenant-governor +appointed by the crown, a legislature composed of heads of the public +departments and several elected members. With the entrance of this +province, so famous now for its treasures of gold, coal and other +minerals in illimitable quantities, must be associated the name of Sir +Joseph Trutch, the first lieutenant-governor under the auspices of the +federation. The province did not come into the union with the same +constitution that was enjoyed by the other provinces, but it was +expressly declared in the terms of union that "the government of the +Dominion will readily consent to the introduction of responsible +government when desired by the inhabitants of British Columbia." +Accordingly, soon after its admission, the province obtained a +constitution similar to that of other provinces: a lieutenant-governor, +a responsible executive council and an elective assembly. Representation +was given it in both houses of the Dominion parliament, and the members +took their seats during the session of 1872. In addition to the payment +of a considerable subsidy for provincial expenses, the Dominion +government pledged itself to secure the construction of a railway within +two years from the date of union to connect the seaboard of British +Columbia with the railway system of Canada, to commence the work +simultaneously at both ends of the line, and to complete it within ten +years from the admission of the colony to the confederation. + +In 1872 a general election was held in the Dominion, and while the +government was generally sustained, it came back with a minority from +Ontario. The Riel agitation, the Washington Treaty, and the undertaking +to finish the Pacific railway in so short a time, were questions which +weakened the ministry. The most encouraging feature of the elections +was the complete defeat of the anti-unionists in Nova Scotia,--the +prelude to their disappearance as a party--all the representatives, with +the exception of one member, being pledged to support a government whose +chief merit was its persistent effort to cement the union and extend it +from ocean to ocean. Sir Francis Hincks, finance minister since 1870, +was defeated in Ontario and Sir George Cartier in Montreal. Both these +gentlemen found constituencies elsewhere, but Sir George Cartier never +took his seat, as his health had been seriously impaired, and he died in +England in 1873. The state gave a public funeral to this great French +Canadian, always animated by a sincere desire to weld the two races +together on principles of compromise and justice. Sir Francis Hincks +also disappeared from public life in 1873, and died at Montreal in 1885 +from an attack of malignant small-pox. The sad circumstances of his +death forbade any public or even private display, and the man who filled +so many important positions in the empire was carried to the grave with +those precautions which are necessary in the case of those who fall +victims to an infectious disease. + +But while these two eminent men disappeared from the public life of +Canada, two others began now to occupy a more prominent place in +Dominion affairs. These were Mr. Edward Blake and Mr. Alexander +Mackenzie, who had retired from the Ontario legislature when an act was +passed, as in other provinces, against dual representation, which made +it necessary for them to elect between federal and provincial politics. +Sir Oliver Mowat, who had retired from the bench, was chosen prime +minister of Ontario on the 25th October, 1872, and continued to hold the +position with great success and profit to the province until 1896, when +he became minister of justice in the Liberal government formed by Sir +Wilfrid Laurier. + +In 1873 Prince Edward Island yielded to the influences which had been +working for some years in the direction of union, and allied her +fortunes with those of her sister provinces. The public men who were +mainly instrumental in bringing about this happy result, after much +discussion in the legislature and several conferences with the Dominion +government, were the following: Mr. R.P. Haythorne, afterwards a +senator; Mr. David Laird, at a later time minister in Mr. Mackenzie's +government and a lieutenant-governor of the North-west territories; Mr. +James C. Pope, who became a member of Sir John Macdonald's cabinet in +1879; Mr. T.H. Haviland, and Mr. G.W. Howlan, who were in later years +lieutenant-governors of the island. The terms of union made not only +very favourable financial arrangements for the support of the provincial +government, but also allowed a sum of money for the purpose of +extinguishing the claims of the landlords to whom the greater portion of +the public domain had been given by the British government more than a +hundred years before. The constitution of the executive authority and +the legislature remained as before confederation. Adequate +representation was allowed to the island in the Canadian parliament, and +the members accordingly took their places in the senate and the house of +commons during the short October session of 1873, when Sir John +Macdonald's government resigned on account of transactions arising out +of the first efforts to construct the Canadian Pacific railway. + +The Dominion was now extended for a distance of about 3,500 miles, from +the island of Prince Edward in the east to the island of Vancouver in +the west. The people of the great island of Newfoundland, the oldest +colony of the British crown in North America, have, however, always +shown a determined opposition to the proposed federation, from the time +when their delegates returned from the Quebec convention of 1864. +Negotiations have taken place more than once for the entrance of the +island into the federal union, but so far no satisfactory arrangement +has been attained. The advocates of union, down to the present time, +have never been able to create that strong public opinion which would +sustain any practical movement in the direction of carrying Newfoundland +out of its unfortunate position of insular, selfish isolation, and +making it an active partner in the material, political, and social +progress of the provinces of the Canadian Dominion. Financial and +political difficulties have steadily hampered the development of the +island until very recently, and the imperial government has been obliged +to intervene for the purpose of bringing about an adjustment of +questions which, more than once, have rendered the operation of local +self-government very troublesome. The government of the Dominion, on its +side, while always ready to welcome the island into the confederation, +has been perplexed by the difficulty of making satisfactory financial +arrangements for the admission of a colony, heavily burdened with debt, +and occupying a position by no means so favourable as that of the +provinces now comprised within the Dominion. Some Canadians also see +some reason for hesitation on the part of the Dominion in the existence +of the French shore question, which prejudicially affects the +territorial interests of a large portion of the coast of the island, and +affords a forcible example of the little attention paid to colonial +interests in those old times when English statesmen were chiefly swayed +by considerations of European policy. + + +SECTION 3.--Summary of noteworthy events from 1873 until 1900. + +On the 4th November, 1873, Sir John Macdonald placed his resignation in +the hands of the governor-general, the Earl of Dufferin; and the first +ministry of the Dominion came to an end after six years of office. The +circumstances of this resignation were regrettable in the extreme. In +1872 two companies received charters for the construction of the +Canadian Pacific railway--one of them under the direction of probably +the wealthiest man in Canada, Sir Hugh Allan of Montreal, and the other +under the presidency of the Honourable David Macpherson, a capitalist of +Toronto. The government was unwilling for political reasons to give the +preference to either of these companies, and tried to bring about an +amalgamation. While negotiations were proceeding with this object in +view, the general elections of 1872 came on, and Sir Hugh Allan made +large contributions to the funds of the Conservative party. The facts +were disclosed in 1873 before a royal commission appointed by the +governor-general to inquire into charges made in the Canadian house of +commons by a prominent Liberal, Mr. Huntington. An investigation ordered +by the house when the charges were first brought forward, had failed +chiefly on account of the legal inability of the committee to take +evidence under oath; and the government then advised the appointment of +the commission in question. Parliament was called together in October, +1873, to receive the report of the commissioners, and after a long and +vehement debate Sir John Macdonald, not daring to test the opinion of +the house by a vote, immediately resigned. In justice to Sir John +Macdonald it must be stated that Sir Hugh Allan knew, before he +subscribed a single farthing, that the privilege of building the railway +could be conceded only to an amalgamated company. When it was shown some +months after the elections that the proposed amalgamation could not be +effected, the government issued a royal charter to a new company in +which all the provinces were fairly represented, and in which Sir Hugh +Allan appears at first to have had no special influence, although the +directors of their own motion, subsequently selected him as president on +account of his wealth and business standing in Canada. Despite Sir John +Macdonald's plausible explanations to the governor-general, and his +vigorous and even pathetic appeal to the house before he resigned, the +whole transaction was unequivocally condemned by sound public opinion. +His own confidential secretary, whom he had chosen before his death as +his biographer, admits that even a large body of his faithful supporters +"were impelled to the conclusion that a government which had benefited +politically by large sums of money contributed by a person with whom it +was negotiating on the part of the Dominion, could no longer command +their confidence or support, and that for them the time had come to +choose between their conscience and their party." + +The immediate consequence of this very unfortunate transaction was the +formation of a Liberal government by Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, the leader +of the opposition, who had entered the old parliament of Canada in 1861, +and had been treasurer in the Ontario ministry led by Mr. Blake until +1872. He was Scotch by birth, and a stonemason by trade. He came to +Canada in early manhood, and succeeded in raising himself above his +originally humble position to the highest in the land. His great +decision of character, his clear, logical intellect, his lucid, incisive +style of speaking, his great fidelity to principle, his inflexible +honesty of purpose, made him a force in the Liberal party, who gladly +welcomed him as the leader of a government. When he appealed to the +country in 1874, he was supported by a very large majority of the +representatives of the people. His administration remained in office +until the autumn of 1878, and passed many measures of great usefulness +to the Dominion. The North-west territories were separated from the +government of Manitoba, and first organised under a lieutenant-governor +and council, appointed by the governor-general of Canada. In 1875, +pending the settlement of the western boundary of Ontario, it was +necessary to create a separate territory out of the eastern part of the +North-west, known as the district of Keewatin, which was placed under +the jurisdiction of the lieutenant-governor of Manitoba. This boundary +dispute was not settled until 1884, when the judicial committee of the +privy council, to whose decision the question had been referred, +materially altered the limits of Keewatin and extended the western +boundaries of Ontario. In 1878, in response to an address of the +Canadian parliament, an imperial order in council was passed to annex to +the Dominion all British possessions in North America not then included +within the confederation--an order intended to place beyond question the +right of Canada to all British North America except Newfoundland. In the +course of succeeding years a system of local government was established +in the North-west territories and a representation allowed them in the +senate and house of commons. + +As soon as the North-west became a part of the Dominion, the Canadian +government recognised the necessity of making satisfactory arrangements +with the Indian tribes. The policy first laid down in the proclamation +of 1763 was faithfully carried out in this great region. Between 1871 +and 1877 seven treaties were made by the Canadian government with the +Crees, Chippewas, Salteaux, Ojibways, Blackfeet, Bloods and Piegans, who +received certain reserves of land, annual payments of money and other +benefits, as compensation for making over to Canada their title to the +vast country where they had been so long the masters. From that day to +this the Indians have become the wards of the government, who have +always treated them with every consideration. The Indians live on +reserves allotted to them in certain districts where schools of various +classes have been provided for their instruction. They are +systematically taught farming and other industrial pursuits; agents and +instructors visit the reserves from time to time to see that the +interests of the Indians are protected; and the sale of spirits is +especially forbidden in the territories chiefly with the view of +guarding the Indians from such baneful influences. The policy of the +government for the past thirty years has been on the whole most +satisfactory from every point of view. In the course of a few decades +the Indians of the prairies will be an agricultural population, able to +support themselves. + +The Mackenzie ministry established a supreme court, or general court of +appeal, for Canada. The election laws were amended so as to abolish +public nominations and property qualification for members of the house +of commons, as well as to provide for vote by ballot and simultaneous +polling at a general election--a wise provision which had existed for +some years in the province of Nova Scotia. An act passed by Sir John +Macdonald's government for the trial of controverted elections by judges +was amended, and a more ample and effective provision made for the +repression and punishment of bribery and corruption at elections. A +force of mounted police was organised for the maintenance of law and +order in the North-west territories. The enlargement of the St. Lawrence +system of canals was vigorously prosecuted in accordance with the report +of a royal commission, appointed in 1870 by the previous administration +to report on this important system of waterways. A Canada temperance +act--known by the name of Senator Scott, who introduced it when +secretary of state--was passed to allow electors in any county to +exercise what is known as "local option"; that is to say, to decide by +their votes at the polls whether they would permit the sale of +intoxicating liquors within their respective districts. This act was +declared by the judicial committee of the privy council to be +constitutional and was extended in the course of time to very many +counties of the several provinces; but eventually it was found quite +impracticable to enforce the law, and the great majority of those +districts of Ontario and Quebec, which had been carried away for a time +on a great wave of moral reform to adopt the act, decided by an equally +large vote to repeal it. The agitation for the extension of this law +finally merged into a wide-spread movement among the temperance people +of the Dominion for the passage of a prohibitory liquor law by the +parliament of Canada. In 1898 the question was submitted to the electors +of the provinces and territories by the Laurier government. The result +was a majority of only 14,000 votes in favour of prohibition out of a +total vote of 543,049, polled throughout the Dominion. The province of +Quebec declared itself against the measure by an overwhelming vote. The +temperance people then demanded that the Dominion government should take +immediate action in accordance with this vote; but the prime minister +stated emphatically to the house of commons as soon as parliament opened +in March, 1899, "that the voice of the electorate, which has been +pronounced in favour of prohibition--only twenty-three per cent. of the +total electoral vote of the Dominion--is not such as to justify the +government in introducing a prohibitory law." In the premier's opinion +the government would not be justified in following such a course "unless +at least one-half of the electorate declared itself at the polls in its +favour." In the province of Manitoba, where the people have pronounced +themselves conclusively in favour of prohibition, the Macdonald +government are now moving to give effect to the popular wishes and +restrain the liquor traffic so far as it is possible to go under the +provisions of the British North America act of 1867 and the decisions of +the courts as to provincial powers. + +For two years and even longer, after its coming into office, the +Mackenzie government was harassed by the persistent effort that was made +in French Canada for the condonation of the serious offences committed +by Riel and his principal associates during the rebellion of 1870. Riel +had been elected by a Manitoba constituency in 1874 to the Dominion +house of commons and actually took the oath of allegiance in the clerk's +office, but he never attempted to sit, and was subsequently expelled as +a fugitive from criminal justice. Lepine was convicted of murder at +Winnipeg and sentenced to be hanged, when the governor-general, Lord +Dufferin, intervened and commuted the sentence to two years' +imprisonment, with the approval of the imperial authorities, to whom, as +an imperial officer entrusted with large responsibility in the exercise +of the prerogative of mercy, he had referred the whole question. Soon +afterwards the government yielded to the strong pressure from French +Canada and relieved the tension of the public situation by obtaining +from the representative of the crown an amnesty for all persons +concerned in the North-west troubles, with the exception of Riel and +Lepine, who were banished for five years, when they also were to be +pardoned. O'Donohue was not included, as his first offence had been +aggravated by his connection with the Fenian raid of 1871, but he was +allowed in 1877 the benefit of the amnesty. The action of Lord Dufferin +in pardoning Lepine and thereby relieving his ministers from all +responsibility in the matter was widely criticised, and no doubt had +much to do with bringing about an alteration in the terms of the +governor-general's commission and his instructions with respect to the +prerogative of mercy. Largely through the instrumentality of Mr. Blake, +who visited England for the purpose, in 1875, new commissions and +instructions have been issued to Lord Dufferin's successors, with a due +regard to the larger measure of constitutional freedom now possessed by +the Dominion of Canada. As respects the exercise of the prerogative of +mercy, the independent judgment of the governor-general may be exercised +in cases of imperial interest, but only after consultation with his +responsible advisers, while he is at liberty to yield to their judgment +in all cases of local concern. + +One of the most important questions with which the Mackenzie government +was called upon to deal was the construction of the Canadian Pacific +railway. It was first proposed to utilise the "water-stretches" on the +route of the railroad, and in that way lessen its cost, but the scheme +was soon found to be impracticable. The people of British Columbia were +aggrieved at the delay in building the railway, and several efforts were +made to arrange the difficulty through the intervention of the Earl of +Carnarvon, colonial secretary of state, of the governor-general when he +visited the province in 1876, and of Mr., afterwards Sir, James Edgar, +who was authorised to treat with the provincial government on the +subject. At the instance of the secretary of state the government agreed +to build immediately a road from Esquimalt to Nanaimo on Vancouver +Island, to prosecute the surveys with vigour, and make arrangements for +the completion of the railway in 1890. Mr. Blake opposed these terms, +and in doing so no doubt represented the views of a large body of the +Liberal party, who believed that the government of Canada had in 1871 +entered into the compact with British Columbia without sufficient +consideration of the gravity of the obligation they were incurring. The +commons, however, passed the Esquimalt and Nanaimo bill only to hear of +its rejection in the senate, where some Liberals united with the +Conservative majority to defeat it. When the surveys were all completed, +the government decided to build the railway as a public work; but by the +autumn of 1878, when Mr. Mackenzie was defeated at a general election, +only a few miles of the road had been completed, and the indignation of +British Columbia had become so deep that the legislature passed a +resolution for separation from the Dominion unless the terms of union +were soon fulfilled. + +During the existence of the Mackenzie government there was much +depression in trade throughout the Dominion, and the public revenues +showed large deficits in consequence of the falling-off of imports. When +the elections took place in September, 1878, the people were called upon +to give their decision on a most important issue. With that astuteness +which always enabled him to gauge correctly the tendency of public +opinion, Sir John Macdonald recognised the fact that the people were +prepared to accept any new fiscal policy which promised to relieve the +country from the great depression which had too long hampered internal +and external trade. In the session of 1878 he brought forward a +resolution, declaring emphatically that the welfare of Canada required +"the adoption of a national policy which, by a judicious readjustment of +the tariff will benefit the agricultural, the mining, the manufacturing +and other interests of the Dominion ... will retain in Canada thousands +of our fellow-countrymen now obliged to expatriate themselves in search +of the employment denied them at home ... will restore prosperity to our +struggling industries now so sadly depressed ... will prevent Canada +from being made a sacrifice market ... will encourage and develop an +interprovincial trade ... and will procure eventually for this country a +reciprocity of trade with the United States." This ingenious resolution +was admirably calculated to captivate the public mind, though it was +defeated in the house of commons by a large majority. Mr. Mackenzie was +opposed to the principle of protection, and announced the determination +of the government to adhere to a revenue tariff instead of resorting to +any protectionist policy, which would, in his opinion, largely increase +the burdens of the people under the pretence of stimulating +manufactures. As a consequence of his unbending fidelity to the +principles of his life, Mr. Mackenzie was beaten at the general election +by an overwhelming majority. If he had possessed even a little of the +flexibility of his astute opponent he would have been more successful as +a leader of a party. + +One of Lord Dufferin's last official acts in October, 1878, was to call +upon Sir John Macdonald to form a new administration on the resignation +of Mr. Mackenzie. The new governor-general, the Marquess of Lorne, and +the Princess Louise, arrived in Canada early in November and were +everywhere received with great enthusiasm. The new protective +policy--"the National Policy" as the Conservatives like best to name +it--was laid before parliament in the session of 1879, by Sir Leonard +Tilley, then finance minister; and though it has undergone some +important modifications since its introduction it has formed the basis +of the Canadian tariff for twenty years. The next important measure of +the government was the vigorous prosecution of the Canadian Pacific +railway. During the Mackenzie administration the work had made little +progress, and the people of British Columbia had become very indignant +at the failure to carry out the terms on which they had entered the +confederation. In the session of 1880-81 Sir Charles Tupper, minister of +railways, announced that the government had entered into a contract with +a company of capitalists to construct the railway from Montreal to +Burrard's Inlet. Parliament ratified the contract by a large majority +despite the vigorous opposition made by Mr. Blake, then leader of the +Liberal party, who had for years considered this part of the agreement +with British Columbia as extremely rash. Such remarkable energy was +brought to the construction of this imperial highway that it was +actually in operation at the end of five years after the commencement of +the work--only one-half of the time allowed in the charter for its +completion. The financial difficulties which the company had to +encounter in the progress of the work were very great, and they were +obliged in 1884 to obtain a large loan from the Dominion government. The +loan was secured on the company's property, and was paid off by 1887. +The political fortunes of the Conservative administration, in fact, were +indissolubly connected with the success of this national enterprise, and +from the moment when the company commenced the work Sir John Macdonald +never failed to give it his complete confidence and support. + +One of the delicate questions which the Macdonald government was called +upon to settle soon after their coming into office was what is known as +"the Letellier affair." In March, 1878, the lieutenant-governor of the +province of Quebec, Mr. Letellier de Saint-Just, who had been previously +a member of the Mackenzie Liberal government, dismissed the Boucherville +Conservative ministry on the ground that they had taken steps in regard +to both administrative and legislative measures not only contrary to his +representations, but even without previously advising him of what they +proposed to do. At his request Mr., now Sir, Henry Joly de Lotbinière +formed a Liberal administration, which appealed to the country. The +result was that the two parties came back evenly balanced. The +Conservatives of the province were deeply irritated at this action of +the lieutenant-governor, and induced Sir John Macdonald, then leader of +the opposition, to make a motion in the house of commons, declaring Mr. +Letellier's conduct "unwise and subversive of the sound principles of +responsible government." This motion was made as an amendment on the +proposal to go into committee of supply, and under a peculiar usage of +the Canadian commons it was not permitted to move a second amendment at +this stage. Had such a course been regular, the Mackenzie government +would have proposed an amendment similar to that which was moved in the +senate, to the effect that it was inexpedient to offer any opinion on +the action of the lieutenant-governor of Quebec for the reason that "the +federal and provincial governments, each in its own sphere, enjoyed +responsible government equally, separately, and independently"--in +other words, that the wisest constitutional course to follow under the +circumstances was to allow each province to work out responsible +government without any undue interference on the part of the Dominion +government or parliament. As it happened, however, Mr. Mackenzie and his +colleagues had no alternative open to them but to vote down the motion +proposed in the commons; while in the Conservative senate the amendment, +which could not be submitted to the lower house under the rules, was +defeated, and the motion condemning the lieutenant-governor carried by a +large party vote. + +In 1879, when the Macdonald government was in office, the matter was +again brought before the house of commons and the same motion of censure +that had been defeated in 1878 was introduced in the same way as before, +and carried by a majority of 85. The prime minister then informed Lord +Lorne that in the opinion of the government Mr. Letellier's "usefulness +was gone," and he recommended his removal from office; but the +governor-general was unwilling to agree hastily to such a dangerous +precedent as the removal of a lieutenant-governor, and as an imperial +officer he referred the whole matter to her Majesty's government for +their consideration and instructions. The colonial secretary did not +hesitate to state "that the lieutenant-governor of a province has an +indisputable right to dismiss his ministers if, from any cause, he feels +it incumbent to do so," but that, in deciding whether the conduct of a +lieutenant-governor merits removal from his office, as in the exercise +of other powers vested in him by the imperial state the governor-general +"must act by and with the advice of his ministers." After further +consideration of the subject, the Canadian government again recommended +the dismissal of Mr. Letellier, and the governor-general had now no +alternative except to act on the advice of his responsible ministers. It +was unfortunate that the constitutional issue was obscured, from the +outset, by the political bitterness that was imported into it, and that +the procedure, followed in two sessions, of proposing an amendment, +condemnatory of the action of the lieutenant-governor, on the motion of +going into committee of supply, prevented the house from coming to a +decision squarely on the true constitutional issue--actually raised in +the senate in 1878--whether it was expedient for the parliament or +government of Canada to interfere in a matter of purely provincial +concern. + +In 1891 another case of the dismissal of a ministry, having a majority +in the assembly, occurred in the province of Quebec, but the +intervention of parliament was not asked for the purpose of censuring +the lieutenant-governor for the exercise of his undoubted constitutional +power. It appears that, in 1891, the evidence taken before a committee +of the senate showed that gross irregularities had occurred in +connection with the disbursement of certain government subsidies which +had been voted by parliament for the construction of the Bay des +Chaleurs railway, and that members of the Quebec cabinet were +compromised in what was clearly a misappropriation of public money. In +view of these grave charges, Lieutenant-governor Angers forced his prime +minister, Mr. Honoré Mercier, to agree to the appointment of a royal +commission to hold an investigation into the transaction in question. +When the lieutenant-governor was in possession of the evidence taken +before this commission, he came to the conclusion that it was his duty +to relieve Mr. Mercier and his colleagues of their functions as +ministers "in order to protect the dignity of the crown and safeguard +the honour and interest of the province in danger." Mr. de Boucherville +was then called upon to form a ministry which would necessarily assume +full responsibility for the action of the lieutenant-governor under the +circumstances, and after some delay the new ministry went to the country +and were sustained by a large majority. It is an interesting coincidence +that the lieutenant-governor who dismissed the Mercier government and +the prime minister who assumed full responsibility for the dismissal of +the Mercier administration, were respectively attorney-general and +premier in the cabinet who so deeply resented a similar action in 1878. +But Mr. Letellier was then dead--notoriously as a result of the mental +strain to which he had been subject in the constitutional crisis which +wrecked his political career--and it was left only for his friends to +feel that the whirligig of time brings its revenge even in political +affairs[5]. + +[5: Since this chapter was in type, the Dominion government have found +it necessary to dismiss Mr. McInnes from the lieutenant-governorship of +British Columbia, on the ground--as set forth in an order-in-council +--that "his official conduct had been subversive of the principles of +responsible government," and that his "usefulness was gone." While Mr. +McInnes acted as head of the executive at Victoria, the political +affairs of the province became chaotic. He dismissed ministries in the +most summary manner. When the people were at last appealed to at a +general election by Mr. Martin, his latest adviser, he was defeated by +an overwhelming majority, and the Ottawa government came to the +conclusion--to quote the order-in-council--"that the action of the +lieutenant-governor in dismissing his ministers has not been approved by +the people of British Columbia," and it was evident, "that the +government of the province cannot be successfully carried on in the +manner contemplated by the constitution under the administration of the +present incumbent of the office." Consequently, Mr. McInnes was removed +from office, and the Dominion government appointed in his place Sir +Henri Joly de Lotbinière, who has had large experience in public affairs, +and is noted for his amiability and discretion.] + +A very important controversy involving old issues arose in 1888 in +connection with an act passed by the Mercier government of Quebec for +the settlement of the Jesuits' estates, which, so long ago as 1800, had +fallen into the hands of the British government, on the death of the +last surviving member of the order in Canada, and had been, after some +delay, applied to the promotion of public instruction in the province of +Quebec. The bishops of the Roman Catholic Church always contended that +the estates should have been vested in them "as the ordinaries of the +various dioceses in which this property was situated." After +confederation, the estates became the property of the government of +Quebec and were entirely at the disposal of the legislature. The +Jesuits in the meantime had become incorporated in the province, and +made, as well as the bishops, a claim to the estates. Eventually, to +settle the difficulty and strengthen himself with the ecclesiastics of +the province, Mr. Mercier astutely passed a bill through the +legislature, authorising the payment of $400,000 as compensation to the +Jesuits in lieu of all the lands held by them prior to the conquest and +subsequently confiscated by the crown. It was expressly set forth in the +preamble of the act--and it was this proposition which offended the +extreme Protestants--that the amount of compensation was to remain as a +special deposit until the Pope had made known his wishes respecting the +distribution. Some time later the Pope divided the money among the +Jesuits, the archbishops and bishops of the province, and Laval +University. The whole matter came before the Dominion house of commons +in 1888, when a resolution was proposed to the effect that the +government should have at once disallowed the act as beyond the power of +the legislature, because, among other reasons, "it recognizes the +usurpation of a right by a foreign authority, namely his Holiness the +Pope, to claim that his consent was necessary to dispose of and +appropriate the public funds of a province." The very large vote in +support of the action of the government-188 against 13-was chiefly +influenced by the conviction that, to quote the minute of council, "the +subject-matter of the act was one of provincial concern, only having +relation to a fiscal matter entirely within the control of the +legislature of Quebec." The best authorities agree in the wisdom of not +interfering with provincial legislation except in cases where there is +an indisputable invasion of Dominion jurisdiction or where the vital +interests of Canada as a whole may imperatively call for such +interference. + +In March, 1885, Canada was startled by the news that the half-breeds of +the Saskatchewan district in the North-west had risen in rebellion +against the authority of the Dominion government. It is difficult to +explain clearly the actual causes of an uprising which, in all +probability, would never have occurred had it not been for the fact that +Riel had been brought back from Montana by his countrymen to assist them +in obtaining a redress of certain grievances. This little insurrection +originated in the Roman Catholic mission of St. Laurent, situated +between the north and south branches of the Saskatchewan River, and +contiguous to the British settlement of Prince Albert. Within the limits +of this mission there was a considerable number of half-breeds, who had +for the most part migrated from Manitoba after selling the "scrip[6]" +for lands generously granted to them after the restoration of order in +1870 to the Red River settlements. Government surveyors had been busily +engaged for some time in laying out the Saskatchewan country in order to +keep pace with the rapidly increasing settlement. When they came to the +mission of St. Laurent they were met with the same distrust that had +done so much harm in 1870. The half-breeds feared that the system of +square blocks followed by the surveyors would seriously interfere with +the location of the farms on which they had "squatted" in accordance +with the old French system of deep lots with a narrow frontage on the +banks of the rivers. The difficulties arising out of these diverse +systems of surveys caused a considerable delay in the issue of patents +for lands, and dissatisfied the settlers who were anxious to know what +land their titles covered. The half-breeds not only contended that their +surveys should be respected, but that they should be also allowed scrip +for two hundred and forty acres of land, as had been done in the case of +their compatriots in Manitoba. Many of the Saskatchewan settlers had +actually received this scrip before they left the province, but +nevertheless they hoped to obtain it once more from the government, and +to sell it with their usual improvidence to the first speculators who +offered them some ready money. + +[6: A certificate from the government that a certain person is entitled +to receive a patent from the crown for a number of acres of the public +lands--a certificate legally transferable to another person by the +original holder.] + +The delay of the government in issuing patents and scrip and the system +of surveys were no doubt the chief grievances which enabled Riel and +Dumont--the latter a resident of Batoche--to excite the half-breeds +against the Dominion authorities at Ottawa. When a commission was +actually appointed by the government in January, 1885, to allot scrip to +those who were entitled to receive it, the half-breeds were actually +ready for a revolt under the malign influence of Riel and his +associates. Riel believed for some time after his return in 1884 that he +could use the agitation among his easily deluded countrymen for his own +selfish purposes. It is an indisputable fact that he made an offer to +the Dominion government to leave the North-west if they would pay him a +considerable sum of money. When he found that there was no likelihood of +Sir John Macdonald repeating the mistake which he had made at the end of +the first rebellion, Riel steadily fomented the agitation among the +half-breeds, who were easily persuaded to believe that a repetition of +the disturbances of 1870 would obtain them a redress of any grievances +they might have. It is understood that one of the causes that aggravated +the agitation at its inception was the belief entertained by some white +settlers of Prince Albert that they could use the disaffection among the +half-breeds for the purpose of repeating the early history of Manitoba, +and forcing the Dominion government to establish a new province in the +Saskatchewan country, though its entire population at that time would +not have exceeded ten thousand persons, of whom a large proportion were +half-breeds. Riel for a time skilfully made these people believe that he +would be a ductile instrument in their hands, but when his own plans +were ripe for execution he assumed despotic control of the whole +movement and formed a provisional government in which he and his +half-breed associates were dominant, and the white conspirators of +Prince Albert were entirely ignored. The loyal people of Prince Albert, +who had always disapproved of the agitation, as well as the priests of +the mission, who had invariably advised their flock to use only peaceful +and constitutional methods of redress, were at last openly set at +defiance and insulted by Riel and his associates. The revolt broke out +on the 25th March, 1885, when the half-breeds took forcible possession +of the government stores, and made prisoners of some traders at Duck +Lake. A small force of Mounted Police under the command of +Superintendent Crozier was defeated near the same place by Dumont, and +the former only saved his men from destruction by a skilful retreat to +Fort Carleton. The half-breed leaders circulated the news of this +victory over the dreaded troops of the government among the Indian bands +of the Saskatchewan, a number of whom immediately went on the war-path. +Fort Carleton had to be given up by the mounted police, who retired to +Prince Albert, the key of the district. The town of Battleford was +besieged by the Indians, but they were successfully kept in check for +weeks until the place was relieved. Fort Pitt was evacuated by Inspector +Dickens, a son of the great novelist, who succeeded in taking his little +force of police into Battleford. Two French missionaries and several +white men were ruthlessly murdered at Frog Lake by a band of Crees, and +two women were dragged from the bodies of their husbands and carried +away to the camp of Big Bear. Happily for them some tender-hearted +half-breeds purchased them from the Indians and kept them in safety +until they were released at the close of the disturbances. + +The heart of Canada was now deeply stirred and responded with great +heartiness to the call of the government for troops to restore order to +the distracted settlements. The minister of militia, Mr. Adolphe +Caron--afterwards knighted for his services on this trying +occasion--showed great energy in the management of his department. +Between four and five thousand men were soon on the march for the +territories under Major-General Middleton, the English officer then in +command of the Canadian militia. Happily for the rapid transport of the +troops the Canadian Pacific Railway was so far advanced that, with the +exception of 72 miles, it afforded a continuous line of communication +from Montreal to Qu'Appelle. The railway formed the base from which +three military expeditions could be despatched to the most important +points of the Saskatchewan country--one direct to Batoche, a second to +Battleford, and a third for a flank movement to Fort Edmonton, where a +descent could be made down the North Saskatchewan for the purpose of +recapturing Fort Pitt and attacking the rebellious Indians under Big +Bear. On the 24th of April General Middleton fought his first engagement +with the half-breeds, who were skilfully concealed in rifle pits in the +vicinity of Fish Creek, a small erratic tributary of the South +Saskatchewan. Dumont for the moment succeeded in checking the advance of +the Canadian forces, who fought with much bravery but were placed at a +great disadvantage on account of Middleton not having taken sufficient +precautions against a foe thoroughly acquainted with the country and +cunningly hidden. The Canadian troops were soon able to continue their +forward movement and won a decisive victory at Batoche, in which +Colonels Williams, Straubenzie, and Grasett notably distinguished +themselves. Riel was soon afterwards captured on the prairie, but Dumont +succeeded in crossing the frontier of the United States. While Middleton +was on his way to Batoche, Lieutenant-Colonel Otter of Toronto, an able +soldier who was, fifteen years later, detached for active service in +South Africa, was on the march for the relief of Battleford, and had on +the first of May an encounter with a large band of Indians under +Poundmaker on the banks of Cut Knife Creek, a small tributary of the +Battle River. Though Otter did not win a victory, he showed Poundmaker +the serious nature of the contest in which he was engaged against the +Canadian government, and soon afterwards, when the Cree chief heard of +the defeat of the half-breeds at Batoche, he surrendered +unconditionally. Another expedition under the command of +Lieutenant-Colonel Strange also relieved Fort Pitt; and Big Bear was +forced to fly into the swampy fastnesses of the prairie wilderness, but +was eventually captured near Fort Carleton by a force of Mounted Police. + +This second rebellion of the half-breeds lasted about three months, and +cost the country upwards of five million dollars. Including the persons +murdered at Frog Lake, the loyal population of Canada lost thirty-six +valuable lives, among whom was Lieutenant-Colonel Williams, a gallant +officer, and a member of the house of commons, who succumbed to a +serious illness brought on by his exposure on the prairie. The +casualties among the half-breeds were at least as large, if not greater. +Five Indian chiefs suffered the extreme penalty of the law, while +Poundmaker, Big Bear, and a number of others were imprisoned in the +territories for life or for a term of years, according to the gravity of +their complicity in the rebellion. Any hopes that Riel might have placed +in the active sympathy of the French Canadian people of Quebec were soon +dispelled. He was tried at Regina in July and sentenced to death, +although the able counsel allotted to him by the government exhausted +every available argument in his defence, even to the extent of setting +up a plea of insanity, which the prisoner himself deeply resented. The +most strenuous efforts were made by the French Canadians to force the +government to reprieve him, but Sir John Macdonald was satisfied that +the loyal sentiment of the great majority of the people of Canada +demanded imperatively that the law should be vindicated. The French +Canadian representatives in the cabinet, Langevin, Chapleau, and Caron, +resisted courageously the storm of obloquy which their determination to +support the prime minister raised against them; and Riel was duly +executed on the 16th November. For some time after his death attempts +were made to keep up the excitement which had so long existed in the +province of Quebec on the question. The Dominion government was +certainly weakened for a time in Quebec by its action in this matter, +while Mr. Honoré Mercier skilfully used the Riel agitation to obtain +control of the provincial government at the general election of 1886, +but only to fall five years later, under circumstances which must always +throw a shadow over the fame of a brilliant, but unsafe, political +leader (see p. 247). The attempt to make political capital out of the +matter in the Dominion parliament had no other result than to weaken the +influence in Ontario of Mr. Edward Blake, the leader of the opposition +since the resignation of Mr. Mackenzie in 1880. He was left without the +support of the majority of the Liberal representatives of the province +in the house of commons when he condemned the execution of Riel, +principally on the ground that he was insane--a conclusion not at all +justified by the report of the medical experts who had been chosen by +the government to examine the condemned man previous to the execution. +The energy with which this rebellion was repressed showed both the +half-breeds and the Indians of the west the power of the Ottawa +government. From that day to this order has prevailed in the western +country, and grievances have been redressed as far as possible. The +readiness with which the militia force of Canada rallied to the support +of the government was conclusive evidence of the deep national sentiment +that existed throughout the Dominion. In Ottawa, Port Hope, and Toronto +monuments have been raised in memory of the brave men who gave up their +lives for the Dominion, but probably the most touching memorial of this +unfortunate episode in Canadian history is the rude cairn of stone which +still stands among the wild flowers of the prairie in memory of the +gallant fellows who were mown down by the unerring rifle shots of the +half-breeds hidden in the ravines of Fish Creek. + +In 1885 parliament passed a general franchise law for the Dominion in +place of the system--which had prevailed since 1867--of taking the +electoral lists of the several provinces as the lists for elections to +the house of commons. The opposition contested this measure with great +persistency, but Sir John Macdonald pressed it to a successful +conclusion, mainly on the ground that it was necessary in a country like +Canada, composed of such diverse elements, to have for the Dominion +uniformity of suffrage, based on a small property qualification, instead +of having diverse systems of franchise--in some provinces, universal +franchise, to which he and other Conservatives generally were strongly +opposed. + +Between 1880 and 1894 Canada was called upon to mourn the loss of a +number of her ablest and brightest statesmen--one of them the most +notable in her political history. It was on a lovely May day of 1880 +that the eminent journalist and politician, George Brown, died from the +effects of a bullet wound which he received at the hand of one Bennett, +a printer, who had been discharged by the _Globe_ for drunkenness and +incapacity. The Conservative party in 1888 suffered a great loss by the +sudden decease of Mr. Thomas White, minister of the interior in the +Macdonald ministry, who had been for the greater part of his life a +prominent journalist, and had succeeded in winning a conspicuous and +useful position in public affairs as a writer, speaker, and +administrator. Three years later, the Dominion was startled by the sad +announcement, on the 6th June, 1891, that the voice of the great prime +minister, Sir John Macdonald, who had so long controlled the affairs of +Canada, would never more be heard in that federal parliament of which he +had been one of the fathers. All classes of Canadians vied with one +another in paying a tribute of affection and respect to one who had been +in every sense a true Canadian. Men forgot for the moment his mistakes +and weaknesses, the mistakes of the politician and the weaknesses of +humanity, "only to remember"--to quote the eloquent tribute paid to him +by Mr. Laurier, then leader of the opposition--"that his actions always +displayed great originality of view, unbounded fertility of resources, a +high level of intellectual conception, and above all, a far-reaching +vision beyond the event of the day, and still higher, permeating the +whole, a broad patriotism, a devotion to Canada's welfare, Canada's +advancement, and Canada's glory." His obsequies were the most stately +and solemn that were ever witnessed in the Dominion; his bust was +subsequently unveiled in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral by the Earl +of Rosebery, when prime minister of England; noble monuments were raised +to his memory in the cities of Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal; +and the Queen addressed a letter full of gracious sympathy to his widow +and conferred on her the dignity of a peeress of the United Kingdom +under the title of Baroness of Earnscliffe, as a mark of her Majesty's +gratitude "for the devoted and faithful services which he rendered for +so many years to his sovereign and his Dominion." + +Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, stonemason, journalist, and prime minister, +died in April, 1892, a victim to the paralysis which had been steadily +creeping for years over his enfeebled frame, and made him a pitiable +spectacle as he sat like a Stoic in the front seats of the opposition, +unable to speak or even to rise without the helping arm of some +attentive friend. On the 30th October, 1893, Sir John Abbott, probably +the ablest commercial lawyer in Canada, who had been premier of Canada +since the death of Sir John Macdonald, followed his eminent predecessors +to the grave, and was succeeded by Sir John Thompson, minister of +justice in the Conservative government since September, 1885. A great +misfortune again overtook the Conservative party on the 12th December, +1894, when Sir John Thompson died in Windsor Castle, whither he had gone +at her Majesty's request to take the oath of a privy councillor of +England--high distinction conferred upon him in recognition of his +services on the Bering Sea arbitration. Sir John Thompson was gifted +with a rare judicial mind, and a remarkable capacity for the lucid +expression of his thoughts, which captivated his hearers even when they +were not convinced by arguments clothed in the choicest diction. His +remains were brought across the Atlantic by a British frigate, and +interred in his native city of Halifax with all the stately ceremony of +a national funeral. The governor-general, Lord Stanley of Preston, now +the Earl of Derby, called upon the senior privy councillor in the +cabinet, Sir Mackenzie Bowell, to form a new ministry. He continued in +office until April, 1896, when he retired in favour of Sir Charles +Tupper, who resigned the position of high commissioner for Canada in +England to enter public life as the recognised leader of the +Liberal-Conservative party. This eminent Canadian had already reached +the middle of the eighth decade of his life, but age had in no sense +impaired the vigour or astuteness of his mental powers. He has continued +ever since, as leader of the Liberal-Conservative party, to display +remarkable activity in the discussion of political questions, not only +as a leader of parliament, but on the public platform in every province +of the Dominion. + +During the session of 1891 the political career of Sir Hector Langevin, +the leader of the Liberal-Conservative party in French Canada, was +seriously affected by certain facts disclosed before the committee of +privileges and elections. This committee had been ordered by the house +of commons to inquire into charges made by Mr. Israel Tarte against +another member of the house, Mr. Thomas McGreevy, who was accused of +having used his influence as a commissioner of the Quebec harbour, a +government appointment, to obtain fraudulently from the department of +public works, presided over by Sir Hector for many years, large +government contracts in connection with the Quebec harbour and other +works. The report of the majority of the committee found Mr. McGreevy +guilty of fraudulent acts, and he was not only expelled from the house +but was subsequently imprisoned in the Ottawa common gaol after his +conviction on an indictment laid against him in the criminal court of +Ontario. With respect to the complicity of the minister of public works +in these frauds the committee reported that it was clear that, while the +conspiracy had been rendered effective by reason of the confidence which +Sir Hector Langevin placed in Mr. McGreevy and in the officers of the +department, yet the evidence did not justify them in concluding that Sir +Hector knew of the conspiracy or willingly lent himself to its objects. +A minority of the committee, on the other hand, took the opposite view +of the transactions, and claimed that the evidence showed the minister +to be cognisant of the facts of the letting of the contracts, and that +in certain specified cases he had been guilty of the violation of a +public trust by allowing frauds to be perpetrated. The report of the +majority was carried by a party vote, with the exception of two +Conservative members who voted with the minority. Sir Hector Langevin +had resigned his office in the government previous to the inquiry, and +though he continued in the house for the remainder of its constitutional +existence, he did not present himself for re-election in 1896 when +parliament was dissolved. + +Unhappily it was not only in the department of public works that +irregularities were discovered. A number of officials in several +departments were proved before the committee of public accounts to have +been guilty of carelessness or positive misconduct in the discharge of +their duties, and the government was obliged, in the face of such +disclosures, to dismiss or otherwise punish several persons in whom they +had for years reposed too much confidence. + +On the 20th and 21st of June, 1893, a convention of the most prominent +representative Liberals of the Dominion was held in the city of Ottawa; +and Sir Oliver Mowat, the veteran premier of Ontario, was unanimously +called upon to preside over this important assemblage. Resolutions were +passed with great enthusiasm in support of tariff reform, a fair measure +of reciprocal trade with the United States, a sale of public lands only +to actual settlers upon reasonable terms of settlement, an honest and +economical administration of government, the right of the house of +commons to inquire into all matters of public expenditure and charges of +misconduct against ministers, the reform of the senate, the submission +of the question of prohibition to a vote of the people, and the repeal +of the Dominion franchise act passed in 1885, as well as of the measure +of 1892, altering the boundaries of the electoral districts and +readjusting the representation in the house of commons. This convention +may be considered the commencement of that vigorous political campaign, +which ended so successfully for the Liberal party in the general +election of 1896. + +In the summer of 1894 there was held in the city of Ottawa a conference +of delegates from eight self-governing colonies in Australasia, South +Africa, and America, who assembled for the express purpose of discussing +questions which affected not merely their own peculiar interests, but +touched most nearly the unity and development of the empire at large The +imperial government was represented by the Earl of Jersey, who had been +a governor of one of the Australian colonies. After very full discussion +the conference passed resolutions in favour of the following measures: + +(1) Imperial legislation enabling the dependencies of the empire to +enter into agreements of commercial reciprocity, including the power to +make differential tariffs with Great Britain or with one another. (2) +The removal of any restrictions in existing treaties between Great +Britain and any foreign power, which prevent such agreements of +commercial reciprocity. (3) A customs arrangement between Great Britain +and her colonies by which trade within the empire might be placed on a +more favourable footing than that which is carried on with foreign +countries. (4) Improved steamship communication between Canada, +Australasia, and Great Britain. (5) Telegraph communication by cable, +free from foreign control, between Canada and Australia. These various +resolutions were brought formally by the Earl of Jersey to the notice +of the imperial government, which expressed the opinion, through the +Marquess of Ripon, then secretary of state for the colonies, that the +"general economic results" of the preferential trade recommended by the +conference "would not be beneficial to the empire." Lord Ripon even +questioned the desirability of denouncing at that time the treaties with +Belgium and Germany--a subject which had engaged the attention of the +Canadian parliament in 1892, when the government, of which Sir John +Abbott was premier, passed an address to the Queen, requesting that +immediate steps be taken to free Canada from treaty restrictions +"incompatible with the rights and powers conferred by the British North +America act of 1867 for the regulation of the trade and commerce of the +Dominion." Any advantages which might be granted by Great Britain to +either Belgium or the German Zollverein under these particular treaties, +would also have to be extended to a number of other countries which had +what is called the "favoured nations clause" in treaties with England. +While these treaty stipulations with regard to import duties did not +prevent differential treatment by the United Kingdom in favour of +British colonies, or differential treatment by British colonies in +favour of each other, they did prevent differential treatment by British +colonies in favour of the United Kingdom. As we shall presently see, +when I come to review the commercial policy of the new Dominion +government three years later, the practical consequence of these +treaties was actually to force Canada to give for some months not only +to Germany and Belgium, but to a number of other countries, the same +commercial privileges which they extended in 1897 to the parent state. + +Among the difficult questions, which have agitated the Dominion from +time to time and perplexed both Conservative and Liberal politicians, +are controversies connected with education. By the British North America +act of 1867 the legislature of each province may exclusively make laws +in relation to education, but at the same time protection is afforded +to denominational or dissentient schools by giving authority to the +Dominion government to disallow an act clearly infringing the rights or +privileges of a religious minority, or to obtain remedial legislation +from parliament itself according to the circumstances of the case. From +1871 until 1875 the government of the Dominion was pressed by petitions +from the Roman Catholic inhabitants of New Brunswick to disallow an act +passed by the provincial legislature in relation to common schools on +the ground that it was an infringement of certain rights which they +enjoyed as a religious body at the time of confederation. The question +not only came before the courts of New Brunswick and the Canadian house +of commons, but was also submitted to the judicial committee of the +imperial privy council; but only with the result of showing beyond +question that the objectionable legislation was clearly within the +jurisdiction of the legislature of New Brunswick, and could not be +constitutionally disallowed by the Dominion government on the ground +that it violated any right or privilege enjoyed by the Roman Catholics +at the time of union. A solution of the question was, however, +subsequently reached by an amicable arrangement between the Roman +Catholics and Protestants, which has ever since worked most +satisfactorily in that province. + +The Manitoba school question, which agitated the country from 1890 until +1896, was one of great gravity on account of the issues involved. The +history of the case shows that, prior to the formation of Manitoba in +1870, there was not in the province any public system of education, but +the several religious denominations had established such schools as they +thought fit to maintain by means of funds voluntarily contributed by +members of their own communion. In 1871 the legislature of Manitoba +established an educational system distinctly denominational. In 1890 +this law was repealed, and the legislature established a system of +strictly non-sectarian schools. The Roman Catholic minority of the +province was deeply aggrieved at what they considered a violation of the +rights and privileges which they enjoyed under the terms of union +adopted in 1870. The first subsection of the twenty-second section of +the act of 1870 set forth that the legislature of the province could not +pass any law with regard to schools which might "prejudicially affect +any right or privilege with respect to denominational schools which any +class of persons have, by law or practice, in the province at the time +of union." The dispute was brought before the courts of Canada, and +finally before the judicial committee of the privy council, which +decided that the legislation of 1890 was constitutional inasmuch as the +only right or privilege which the Roman Catholics then possessed "by law +or practice" was the right or privilege of establishing and maintaining +for the use of members of their own church such schools as they pleased. +The Roman Catholic minority then availed themselves of another provision +of the twenty-second section of the Manitoba act, which allows an appeal +to the governor-in-council "from any act or decision of the legislature +of the province or of any provincial authority, affecting any right or +privilege of the Protestant or Roman Catholic minority of the Queen's +subjects in relation to education." + +The ultimate result of this reference was a judgment of the judicial +committee to the effect that the appeal was well founded and that the +governor-in-council had jurisdiction in the premises, but the committee +added that "the particular course to be pursued must be determined by +the authorities to whom it has been committed by the statute." The third +subsection of the twenty-second section of the Manitoba act--a +repetition of the provision of the British North America act with +respect to denominational schools in the old provinces--provides not +only for the action of the governor-in-council in case a remedy is not +supplied by the proper provincial authority for the removal of a +grievance on the part of a religious minority, but also for the making +of "remedial laws" by the parliament of Canada for the "due execution" +of the provision protecting denominational schools. In accordance with +this provision Sir Mackenzie Bowell's government passed an +order-in-council on the 21st March, 1895, calling upon the government of +Manitoba to take the necessary measures to restore to the Roman Catholic +minority such rights and privileges as were declared by the highest +court of the empire to have been taken away from them. The Manitoba +government not only refused to move in the matter but expressed its +determination "to resist unitedly by every constitutional means any such +attempt to interfere with their provincial autonomy." The result was the +introduction of a remedial bill by Mr. Dickey, minister of justice, in +the house of commons during the session of 1896; but it met from the +outset very determined opposition during the most protracted +sittings--one of them lasting continuously for a week--ever known in the +history of the Canadian or any other legislature of the empire. On +several divisions the bill was supported by majorities ranging from 24 +to 18--several French members of the opposition having voted for it and +several Conservative Protestant members against its passage. The bill +was introduced on the 11th February, and the motion for its second +reading was made on the 3rd March, from which date it was debated +continuously until progress was reported from a committee of the whole +house on the 16th April, after the house had sat steadily from Monday +afternoon at 3 o'clock until 2 o'clock on the following Thursday +morning. It was then that Sir Charles Tupper, leader of the government +in the house, announced that no further attempt would be made to press +the bill that session. He stated that it was absolutely necessary to +vote money for the urgent requirements of the public service and pass +other important legislation during the single week that was left before +parliament would be dissolved by the efflux of time under the +constitutional law, which fixes the duration of the house of commons +"for five years from the day of the return of the writs for choosing the +house and no longer." + +In the general election of 1896 the Manitoba school question was an +issue of great importance. From the commencement to the close of the +controversy the opponents of denominational schools combined with the +supporters of provincial rights to defeat the government which had so +determinedly fought for what it considered to be the legal rights of the +Roman Catholic minority of Manitoba. It had looked confidently to the +support of the great majority of the French Canadians, but the result of +the elections was most disappointing to the Conservative party. Whilst +in the provinces, where the Protestants predominated, the Conservatives +held their own to a larger extent than had been expected even by their +sanguine friends, the French province gave a great majority to Mr. +Launer, whose popularity among his countrymen triumphed over all +influences, ecclesiastical and secular, that could be used in favour of +denominational schools in Manitoba. + +The majority against Sir Charles Tupper was conclusive, and he did not +attempt to meet parliament as the head of a government. Before his +retirement from office, immediately after his defeat at the elections, +he had some difference of opinion with the governor-general, the Earl of +Aberdeen, who refused, in the exercise of his discretionary power, to +sanction certain appointments to the senate and the judicial bench, +which the prime minister justified by reference to English and Canadian +precedents under similar conditions--notably of 1878 when Mr. Mackenzie +resigned. Soon after the general election, and Lord Dufferin was +governor-general, Sir Charles Tupper considered the subject of +sufficient constitutional importance to bring it before the house of +commons, where Sir Wilfrid Laurier, then premier, defended the course of +the governor-general. The secretary of state for the colonies also +approved in general terms of the principles which, as the +governor-general explained in his despatches, had governed his action in +this delicate matter. + +On Sir Charles Tapper's defeat at the elections, Mr. Laurier became +first minister of a Liberal administration, in which positions were +given to Sir Oliver Mowat, so long premier of Ontario, to Mr. Blair, +premier of New Brunswick, to Mr. Fielding, premier of Nova Scotia, and +eventually to Mr. Sifton, the astute attorney-general of Manitoba. Sir +Richard Cartwright and Sir Louis Davies--to give the latter the title +conferred on him in the Diamond Jubilee year--both of whom had been in +the foremost rank of the Liberal party for many years, also took office +in the new administration; but Mr. Mills, versed above most Canadian +public men in political and constitutional knowledge, was not brought in +until some time later, when Sir Oliver Mowat, the veteran minister of +justice, was appointed to the lieutenant-governorship of Ontario. A +notable acquisition was Mr. Tarte, who had acquired much influence in +French Canada by his irrepressible energy, and who was placed over the +department of public works. + +When the school question came to be discussed in 1897, during the first +session of the new parliament, the premier explained to the house that, +whilst he had always maintained "that the constitution of this country +gave to this parliament and government the right and power to interfere +with the school legislation of Manitoba, it was an extreme right and +reserved power to be exercised only when other means had been +exhausted." Believing then that "it was far better to obtain concessions +by negotiation than by coercion," he had, as soon as he came into +office, communicated with the Manitoba government on the subject, and +had "as a result succeeded in making arrangements which gave the French +Catholics of the province religious teaching in their schools and the +protection of their language," under the conditions set forth in a +statute expressly passed for the purpose by the legislature of +Manitoba[7]. The premier at the same time admitted that "the settlement +was not acceptable to certain dignitaries of the church to which he +belonged"; but subsequently the Pope published an encyclical advising +acceptance of the concessions made to the Manitoba Catholics, while +claiming at the same time that these concessions were inadequate, and +expressing the hope that full satisfaction would be obtained ere long +from the Manitoba government. Since the arrangement of this compromise, +no strenuous or effective effort has been made to revive the question as +an element of political significance in party contests. Even in Manitoba +itself, despite the defeat of the Greenway government, which was +responsible for the Manitoba school act of 1890, and the coming into +office of Mr. Hugh John Macdonald, the son of the great Conservative +leader, there has been no sign of the least intention to depart from the +legislation arranged by Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1897 as, in his opinion, +the best possible compromise under the difficult conditions surrounding +a most embarrassing question. + +[7: This statute provides that religious teaching by a Roman Catholic +priest, or other person duly authorised by him, shall take place at the +close of the hours devoted to secular instruction; that a Roman Catholic +teacher may be employed in every school in towns and cities where the +average attendance of Roman Catholic children is forty or upwards, and +in villages and rural districts where the attendance is twenty-five or +upwards; and that French as well as English shall be taught in any +school where ten pupils speak the French language.] + +In the autumn of 1898 Canada bade farewell with many expressions of +regret to Lord and Lady Aberdeen, both of whom had won the affection and +respect of the Canadian people by their earnest efforts to support every +movement that might promote the social, intellectual and moral welfare +of the people. Lord Aberdeen was the seventh governor-general appointed +by the crown to administer public affairs since the union of the +provinces in 1867. Lord Monck, who had the honour of initiating +confederation, was succeeded by Sir John Young, who was afterwards +raised to the peerage as Baron Lisgar--a just recognition of the +admirable discretion and dignity with which he discharged the duties of +his high position. His successor, the Earl of Dufferin, won the +affection of the Canadian people by his grace of demeanour, and his +Irish gift of eloquence, which he used in the spirit of the clever +diplomatist to flatter the people of the country to their heart's +content. The appointment of the Marquess of Lorne, now the Duke of +Argyll, gave to Canada the honour of the presence of a Princess of the +reigning family. He showed tact and discretion in some difficult +political situations that arose during his administration, and succeeded +above all his predecessors in stimulating the study of art, science and +literature within the Dominion. The Marquess of Lansdowne and Lord +Stanley of Preston--both inheritors of historic names, trained in the +great school of English administration--also acquired the confidence and +respect of the Canadian people. On the conclusion of Lord Aberdeen's +term of office in 1898, he was succeeded by the Earl of Minto, who had +been military secretary to the Marquess of Lansdowne, when +governor-general, from the autumn of 1883 until the end of May, 1888, +and had also acted as chief of staff to General Middleton during the +North-west disturbances of 1885. + +Since its coming into office, the Laurier administration has been called +upon to deal with many questions of Canadian as well as imperial +concern. One of its first measures--to refer first to those of Canadian +importance--was the repeal of the franchise act of 1885, which had been +found so expensive in its operation that the Conservative government had +for years taken no steps to prepare new electoral lists for the Dominion +under its own law, but had allowed elections to be held on old lists +which necessarily left out large numbers of persons entitled to vote. In +accordance with the policy to which they had always pledged themselves +as a party, the Liberal majority in parliament passed an act which +returned to the electoral lists of the provinces. An attempt was also +made in 1899 and 1900 to amend the redistribution acts of 1882 and 1892, +and to restore so far as practicable the old county lines which had been +deranged by those measures. The bill was noteworthy for the feature, +novel in Canada, of leaving to the determination of a judicial +commission the rearrangement of electoral divisions, but it was rejected +in the senate on the ground that the British North America act provides +only for the readjustment of the representation after the taking of each +Decennial census, and that it is "a violation of the spirit of the act" +to deal with the question until 1901, when the official figures of the +whole population will be before parliament. The government was also +called upon to arrange the details of a provisional government for the +great arctic region of the Yukon, where remarkable gold discoveries were +attracting a considerable population from all parts of the world. An +attempt to build a short railway to facilitate communication with that +wild and distant country was defeated in the senate by a large majority. +The department of the interior has had necessarily to encounter many +difficulties in the administration of the affairs of a country so many +thousand miles distant. These difficulties have formed the subject of +protracted debates in the house of commons and have led to involved +political controversies which it would not be possible to explain +satisfactorily within the limits of this chapter. + +In accordance with the policy laid down in 1897 by Mr. Fielding, the +finance minister, when presenting the budget, the Laurier government has +not deemed it prudent to make such radical changes in the protective or +"National Policy" of the previous administration as might derange the +business conditions of the Dominion, which had come to depend so +intimately upon it in the course of seventeen years, but simply to amend +and simplify it in certain particulars which would remove causes of +friction between the importers and the customs authorities, and at the +same time make it, as they stated, less burdensome in its operation. The +question of reciprocal trade between Canada and the United States had +for some time been disappearing in the background and was no longer a +dominant feature of the commercial policy of the Liberal party as it had +been until 1891, when its leaders were prepared under existing +conditions to enter into the fullest trade arrangements possible with +the country to the south. The illiberality of the tariff of the United +States with respect to Canadian products had led the Canadian people to +look to new markets, and especially to those of Great Britain, with whom +they were desirous, under the influence of a steadily growing imperial +spirit, to have the closest commercial relations practicable. +Consequently the most important feature of the Laurier government's +policy, since 1897, has been the preference given to British products in +Canada--a preference which now allows a reduction in the tariff of +33-1/3 per cent. on British imports compared with foreign goods. In +their endeavour, however, to give a preference to British imports, the +government was met at the outset by difficulties arising from the +operation of the Belgian and German treaties; and after very full +consultation with the imperial government, and a reference of the legal +points involved to the imperial law officers of the crown, Canada was +obliged to admit Belgian and German goods on the same terms as the +imports of Great Britain, and also to concede similar advantages to +twenty-two foreign countries which were by treaty entitled to any +commercial privileges that Great Britain or her colonies might grant to +a third power. Happily for Canada at this juncture the colonial +secretary of state was Mr. Chamberlain, who was animated by aspirations +for the strengthening of the relations between the parent state and her +dependencies, and who immediately recognised the imperial significance +of the voluntary action of the Canadian government. The result was the +"denunciation" by the imperial authorities of the Belgian and German +treaties, which consequently came to an end on the 31st July, 1898. +Down to that date Canada was obliged to give to the other countries +mentioned the preference which she had intentionally given to Great +Britain alone, and at the same time to refund to importers the duties +which had been collected in the interval from the countries in question. +With the fall, however, of the Belgian and German treaties Canada was at +last free to model her tariff with regard to imperial as well as +Canadian interests. It was a fortunate coincidence that the government +should have adopted this policy at a time when the whole British empire +was celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of the accession of her Majesty +Queen Victoria to the throne. In the magnificent demonstration of the +unity and development of the empire that took place in London in June, +1897, Canada was represented by her brilliant prime minister, who then +became the Right Honourable Sir W. Laurier, G.C.M.G., and took a +conspicuous place in the ceremonies that distinguished this memorable +episode in British and colonial history. + +A few months later the relations between Canada and Great Britain were +further strengthened by the reduction of letter postage throughout the +empire--Australia excepted--largely through the instrumentality of Mr. +Mulock, Canadian postmaster-general. The Canadian government and +parliament also made urgent representations to the imperial authorities +in favour of the immediate construction of a Pacific cable; and it may +now be hoped that the pecuniary aid offered to this imperial enterprise +by the British, Australasian and Canadian governments will secure its +speedy accomplishment. I may add here that debates have taken place in +the Canadian house of commons for several sessions on the desirability +of obtaining preferential treatment in the British market for Canadian +products The Conservative party, led by Sir Charles Tupper, have +formulated their opinions in parliament by an emphatic declaration that +"no measure of preference, which falls short of the complete realisation +of such a policy, should be considered final or satisfactory." The +Laurier government admits the desirability of such mutual trade +preference, but at the same time it recognises the formidable +difficulties that lie in the way of its realisation so long as Great +Britain continues bound to free trade, and under these circumstances +declares it the more politic and generous course to continue giving a +special preference to British products with the hope that it may +eventually bring about a change in public opinion in the parent state +which will operate to the decided commercial or other advantage of the +dependency. + +This chapter may appropriately close with a reference to the remarkable +evidences of attachment to the empire that have been given by the +Canadian people at the close of the nineteenth century. From the +mountains of the rich province washed by the Pacific Sea, from the +wheat-fields and ranches of the western prairies, from the valley of the +great lakes and the St. Lawrence where French and English Canadians +alike enjoy the blessings of British rule, from the banks of the St John +where the United Empire Loyalists first made their homes, from the +rugged coasts of Acadia and Cape Breton, from every part of the wide +Dominion men volunteered with joyous alacrity to fight in South Africa +in support of the unity of the empire. As I close these pages Canadians +are fighting side by side with men from the parent Isles, from +Australasia and from South Africa, and have shown that they are worthy +descendants of the men who performed such gallant deeds on the ever +memorable battlefields of Chateauguay, Chrystler's Farm, and Lundy's +Lane. Not the least noteworthy feature of this significant event in the +annals of Canada and the empire is the fact that a French Canadian +premier has had the good fortune to give full expression to the dominant +imperial sentiment of the people, and consequently to offer an +additional guarantee for the union of the two races and the security of +British interests on the continent of America. + + +SECTION 4.--Political and social conditions of Canada under +confederation. + +At the present time, a population of probably five million four hundred +thousand souls inhabit a Dominion of seven regularly organised +provinces, and of an immense fertile territory stretching from Manitoba +to British Columbia. This Dominion embraces an area of 3,519,000 square +miles, including its water surface, or very little less than the area of +the United States with Alaska, and measures 3500 miles from east to +west; and 1400 miles from north to south. + +No country in the world gives more conclusive evidences of substantial +development and prosperity than the Dominion under the beneficial +influences of federal union and the progressive measures of governments +for many years. The total trade of the country has grown from over +$131,000,000 in the first year of confederation to over $321,000,000 in +1899, while the national revenue has risen during the same period from +$14,000,000 to $47,000,000, and will probably be $50,000,000 in 1900. +The railways, whose expansion so closely depends on the material +conditions of the whole country, stretch for 17,250 miles compared with +2278 miles in 1868; while the remarkable system of canals, which extend +from the great lakes to Montreal, has been enlarged so as to give +admirable facilities for the growing trade of the west. The natural +resources of the country are inexhaustible, from the fisheries of Nova +Scotia to the wheat-fields of the north-west, from the coal-mines of +Cape Breton to the gold deposits of the dreary country through which the +Yukon and its tributaries flow. + +No dangerous questions like slavery, or the expansion of the African +race in the southern states, exist to complicate the political and +social conditions of the confederation, and, although there is a large +and increasing French Canadian element in the Dominion, its history so +far need not create fear as to the future, except perhaps in the minds +of gloomy pessimists. While this element naturally clings to its +national language and institutions, yet, under the influence of a +complete system of local self-government, it has always taken as active +and earnest a part as the English element in establishing and +strengthening the confederation. It has steadily grown in strength and +prosperity under the generous and inspiring influence of British +institutions, which have given full scope to the best attributes of a +nationality crushed by the depressing conditions of French rule for a +century and a half. + +The federal union gives expansion to the national energies of the whole +Dominion, and at the same time affords every security to the local +interests of each member of the federal compact. In all matters of +Dominion concern, Canada is a free agent. While the Queen is still head +of the executive authority, and can alone initiate treaties with foreign +nations (that being an act of complete sovereignty), and while appeals +are still open to the privy council of England from Canadian courts +within certain limitations, it is an admitted principle that the +Dominion is practically supreme in the exercise of all legislative +rights and privileges granted by the imperial parliament,--rights and +privileges set forth explicitly in the British North America act of +1867,--so long as her legislative action does not conflict with the +treaty obligations of the parent state, or with imperial legislation +directly applicable to Canada with her own consent. + +The crown exercises a certain supervision over the affairs of the +Dominion through a governor-general, who communicates directly with an +imperial secretary of state; but in every matter directly affecting +Canada--as for instance, in negotiations respecting the fisheries, the +Bering Sea, and other matters considered by several conferences at +Washington--the Canadian government is consulted and its statements are +carefully considered, since they represent the sentiments and interests +of the Canadian people, who, as citizens of the empire, are entitled to +as much weight as if they lived in the British Isles. + +In the administration of Canadian affairs the governor-general is +advised by a responsible council representing the majority of the house +of commons. As in England, the Canadian cabinet, or ministry, is +practically a committee of the dominant party in parliament and is +governed by the rules, conventions and usages of parliamentary +government which have grown up gradually in the parent state. Whenever +it is necessary to form a ministry in Canada, its members are summoned +by the governor-general to the privy council of Canada; another +illustration of the desire of the Canadians to imitate the old +institutions of England and copy her time-honoured procedure. + +The parliament of Canada consists of the Queen, the senate, and the +house of commons. In the formation of the upper house, three +geographical groups were arranged in the first instance, Ontario, +Quebec, and the maritime provinces, and each group received a +representation of twenty-four members. More recently other provinces +have been admitted into the Dominion without reference to this +arrangement, and now seventy-eight senators altogether may sit in +parliament. The remarkably long tenure of power enjoyed by the +Conservative party--twenty-five years from 1867--enabled it in the +course of time to fill the upper house with a very large numerical +majority of its own friends, and this fact, taken in connection with +certain elements of weakness inherent in a chamber which is not elected +by the people and has none of the ancient privileges or prestige of a +house of lords, long associated with the names of great statesmen and +the memorable events of English history, has created an agitation among +the Liberal party for radical changes in its constitution which would +bring it, in their opinion, more in harmony with the people's +representatives in the popular branch of the general legislature. While +some extremists would abolish the chamber, Sir Wilfrid Launer and other +prominent Liberals recognise its necessity in our parliamentary system. +In all probability death will ere long solve difficulties arising out +of the political composition of the body, if the Liberal party remain in +power. + +The house of commons, the great governing body of the Dominion, has been +made, so far as circumstances will permit, a copy of the English house. +Its members are not required to have a property qualification, and are +elected by the votes of the electors of the several provinces where, in +a majority of cases, universal suffrage, under limitations of +citizenship and residence, prevails. + +In each province there is a lieutenant-governor, appointed by the +Dominion government for five years, an executive council, and a +legislature consisting of only one house, except in Nova Scotia and +Quebec where a legislative council appointed by the crown still +continues. The principles of responsible government exist in all the +provinces, and practically in the North-west territory. + +In the enumeration of the legislative powers, respectively given to the +Dominion and provincial legislatures, an effort was made to avoid the +conflicts of jurisdiction that have so frequently arisen between the +national and state governments of the United States. In the first place +we have a recapitulation of those general or national powers that +properly belong to the central authority, such as customs and excise +duties, regulation of trade and commerce, militia and defence, +post-office, banking and coinage, railways and public works "for the +general advantage," navigation and shipping, naturalisation and aliens, +fisheries, weights and measures, marriage and divorce, penitentiaries, +criminal law, census and statistics. On the other hand, the provinces +have retained control over municipal institutions, public lands, local +works and undertakings, incorporation of companies with provincial +objects, property and civil rights, administration of justice, and +generally "all matters of a merely local and private nature in the +province." The _residuary_ power rests with the general parliament of +Canada. + +The parliament of Canada, in 1875, established a supreme court, or +general court of appeal, for Canada, whose highest function is to decide +questions as to the respective legislative powers of the Dominion and +provincial parliaments, which are referred to it in due process of law +by the subordinate courts of the provinces. The decisions of this court +are already doing much to solve difficulties that impede the successful +operation of the constitution. As a rule cases come before the supreme +court on appeal from the lower courts, but the law regulating its powers +provides that the governor in council may refer any matter to this court +on which a question of constitutional jurisdiction has been raised. But +the supreme court of Canada is not necessarily the court of last resort +of Canada. The people have an inherent right as subjects of the Queen to +appeal to the judicial committee of the privy council of the United +Kingdom. + +But it is not only by means of the courts that a check is imposed upon +hasty, or unconstitutional, legislation. The constitution provides that +the governor-general may veto or reserve any bill passed by the two +houses of parliament when it conflicts with imperial interests or +imperial legislation. It is now understood that the reserve power of +disallowance which her Majesty's government possesses under the law is +sufficient to meet all possible cases. This sovereign power is never +exercised except in the case of an act clearly in conflict with an +imperial statute or in violation of a treaty affecting a foreign nation. +The Dominion government also supervises all the provincial legislation +and has in a few cases disallowed provincial acts. This power is +exercised very carefully, and it is regarded with intense jealousy by +the provincial governments, which have more than once attempted to set +it at defiance. In practice it is found the wisest course to leave to +the courts the decision in cases where doubts exist as to constitutional +authority or jurisdiction. + +The organised districts of the North-west--Assiniboia, Alberta, +Athabaska, and Saskatchewan--are governed by a lieutenant-governor +appointed by the government of Canada and aided by a council chosen by +himself from an assembly elected by the people under a very liberal +franchise. These territories have also representatives in the two houses +of the parliament of Canada. The Yukon territory in the far north-west, +where rich discoveries of gold have attracted a large number of people +within the past two years, is placed under a provisional government, +composed of a commissioner and council appointed by the Dominion +government[8], and acting under instructions given from time to time by +the same authority or by the minister of the interior. + +[8: Since this sentence was in type the Dominion government has given +effect to a provision of a law allowing the duly qualified electors of +the Yukon to choose two members of the council.] + +The public service enjoys all the advantages that arise from permanency +of tenure and appointment by the crown. It has on the whole been +creditable to the country and remarkably free from political influences. +The criminal law of England has prevailed in all the provinces since it +was formerly introduced by the Quebec act of 1774. The civil law of the +French regime, however, has continued to be the legal system in French +Canada since the Quebec act, and has now obtained a hold in that +province which insures its permanence as an institution closely allied +with the dearest rights of the people. Its principles and maxims have +been carefully collected and enacted in a code which is based on the +famous code of Napoleon. In the other provinces and territories the +common law of England forms the basis of jurisprudence on which a large +body of Canadian statutory law has been built in the course of time. + +At the present time all the provinces, with the exception of Prince +Edward Island, have an excellent municipal system, which enables every +defined district, large or small, to carry on efficiently all those +public improvements essential to the comfort, convenience and general +necessities of the different communities that make up the province at +large. Even in the territories of the north-west, every proper facility +is given to the people in a populous district, or town, to organise a +system equal to all their local requirements. + +Every Englishman will consider it an interesting and encouraging fact +that the Canadian people, despite their neighbourhood to a prosperous +federal commonwealth, should not even in the most critical and gloomy +periods of their history have shown any disposition to mould their +institutions directly on those of the United States and lay the +foundation for future political union. Previous to 1840, which was the +commencement of a new era in the political history of the provinces, +there was a time when discontent prevailed throughout the Canadas, but +not even then did any large body of the people threaten to sever the +connection with the parent state. The Act of Confederation was framed +under the direct influence of Sir John Macdonald and Sir George Cartier, +and although one was an English Canadian and the other a French +Canadian, neither yielded to the other in the desire to build up a +Dominion on the basis of English institutions, in the closest possible +connection with the mother country. While the question of union was +under consideration it was English statesmen and writers alone who +predicted that this new federation, with its great extent of territory, +its abundant resources, and ambitious people, would eventually form a +new nation independent of Great Britain. Canadian statesmen never spoke +or wrote of separation, but regarded the constitutional change in their +political condition as giving them greater weight and strength in the +empire. The influence of British example on the Canadian Dominion can be +seen throughout its governmental machinery, in the system of +parliamentary government, in the constitution of the privy council and +the houses of parliament, in an independent judiciary, in appointed +officials of every class--in the provincial as well as Dominion +system--in a permanent and non-political civil service, and in all +elements of sound administration. During the thirty-three years that +have passed since 1867, the attachment to England and her institutions +has gained in strength, and it is clear that those predictions of +Englishmen to which we have referred are completely falsified. On the +contrary, the dominant sentiment is for strengthening the ties that have +in some respects become weak in consequence of the enlargement of the +political rights of the Dominion, which has assumed the position of a +semi-independent power, since England now only retains her imperial +sovereignty by declaring peace or war with foreign nations, by +appointing a governor-general, by controlling colonial legislation +through the Queen in council and the Queen in parliament--but not so as +to diminish the rights of local self-government conceded to the +Dominion--and by requiring that all treaties with foreign nations should +be made through her own government, while recognising the right of the +dependency to be consulted and directly represented on all occasions +when its interests are immediately affected. + +In no respect have the Canadians followed the example of the United +States, and made their executive entirely separate from the legislative +authority. On the contrary, there is no institution which works more +admirably in the federation--in the general as well as provincial +governments--than the principle of making the ministry responsible to +the popular branch of the legislature, and in that way keeping the +executive and legislative departments in harmony with each other, and +preventing that conflict of authorities which is a distinguishing +feature of the very opposite system that prevails in the federal +republic. If we review the amendments made of late years in the +political constitutions of the States, and especially those ratified not +long since in New York, we see in how many respects the Canadian system +of government is superior to that of the republic. For instance, Canada +has enjoyed for years, as results of responsible government, the secret +ballot, stringent laws against bribery and corruption at all classes of +elections, the registration of voters, strict naturalisation laws, +infrequent political elections, separation of municipal from provincial +or national contests, appointive and permanent officials in every branch +of the civil service, a carefully devised code of private bill +legislation, the printing of all public as well as private bills before +their consideration by the legislative bodies; and yet all these +essentials of safe administration and legislation are now only in part +introduced by constitutional enactment in so powerful and progressive a +state as New York. + +Of course, in the methods of party government we can see in Canada at +times an attempt to follow the example of the United States, and to +introduce the party machine with its professional politicians and all +those influences that have degraded politics since the days of Jackson +and Van Buren. Happily, so far, the people of Canada have shown +themselves fully capable of removing those blots that show themselves +from time to time on the body politic. Justice has soon seized those men +who have betrayed their trust in the administration of public affairs. +Although Canadians may, according to their political proclivities, find +fault with some methods of governments and be carried away at times by +political passion beyond the bounds of reason, it is encouraging to find +that all are ready to admit the high character of the judiciary for +learning, integrity and incorruptibility. The records of Canada do not +present a single instance of the successful impeachment or removal of a +judge for improper conduct on the bench since the days of responsible +government; and the three or four petitions laid before parliament, in +the course of a quarter of a century, asking for an investigation into +vague charges against some judges, have never required a judgment of the +house. Canadians have built wisely when, in the formation of their +constitution, they followed the English plan of retaining an intimate +and invaluable connection between the executive and legislative +departments, and of keeping the judiciary practically independent of the +other authorities of government. Not only the life and prosperity of the +people, but the satisfactory working of the whole system of federal +government rests more or less on the discretion and integrity of the +judges. Canadians are satisfied that the peace and security of the whole +Dominion do not more depend on the ability and patriotism of statesmen +in the legislative halls than on that principle of the constitution, +which places the judiciary in an exalted position among all the other +departments of government, and makes law as far as possible the arbiter +of their constitutional conflicts. All political systems are very +imperfect at the best; legislatures are constantly subject to currents +of popular prejudice and passion; statesmanship is too often weak and +fluctuating, incapable of appreciating the true tendency of events, and +too ready to yield to the force of present circumstances or dictates of +expediency; but law, as worked out on English principles in all the +dependencies of the empire and countries of English origin, as +understood by Blackstone, Dicey, Story, Kent, and other great masters of +constitutional and legal learning, gives the best possible guarantee for +the security of institutions in a country of popular government. + +In an Appendix to this history I have given comparisons in parallel +columns between the principal provisions of the federal constitutions of +the Canadian Dominion, and the Australian Commonwealth. In studying +carefully these two systems we must be impressed by the fact that the +constitution of Canada appears more influenced by the spirit of English +ideas than the constitution of Australia, which has copied some features +of the fundamental law of the United States. In the preamble of the +Canadian British North America act we find expressly stated "the desire +of the Canadian provinces to be federally united into one Dominion under +the crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with a +constitution similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom," while +the preamble of the Australian constitution contains only a bald +statement of an agreement "to unite in one indissoluble federal +Commonwealth under the crown," When we consider the use of +"Commonwealth"--a word of republican significance to British ears--as +well as the selection of "state" instead of "province," of "house of +representatives" instead of "house of commons," of "executive council" +instead of "privy council," we may well wonder why the Australians, all +British by origin and aspiration, should have shown an inclination to +deviate from the precedents established by the Canadian Dominion, which, +though only partly English, resolved to carve the ancient historic names +of the parent state on the very front of its political structure. + +As the several States of the Commonwealth have full control of their own +constitutions, they may choose at any moment to elect their own +governors as in the States of the American Union, instead of having them +appointed by the crown as in Canada. We see also an imitation of the +American constitution in the principle which allots to the central +government only certain enumerated powers, and leaves the residuary +power of legislation to the States. Again, while the act provides for a +high and other federal courts, the members of which are to be appointed +and removed as in Canada by the central government, the States are still +to have full jurisdiction over the State courts as in the United States. +The Canadian constitution, which gives to the Dominion exclusive control +over the appointment and removal of the judges of all the superior +courts, offers a positive guarantee against the popular election of +judges in the provinces. It is not going too far to suppose that, with +the progress of democratic ideas in Australia--a country inclined to +political experiments--we may find the experience of the United States +repeated, and see elective judges make their appearance when a wave of +democracy has suddenly swept away all dictates of prudence and given +unbridled licence to professional political managers only anxious for +the success of party. In allowing the British Parliament to amend the +Act of Union on an address of the Canadian parliament, we have yet +another illustration of the desire of Canadians to respect the supremacy +of the sovereign legislature of the empire. On the other hand, the +Australians make themselves entirely independent of the action of the +imperial parliament, which might be invaluable in some crisis affecting +deeply the integrity and unity of the Commonwealth, and give full scope +to the will of democracy expressed at the polls. In also limiting the +right of appeal to the Queen in council--by giving to the high court the +power to prevent appeals in constitutional disputes--the Australians +have also to a serious degree weakened one of the most important ties +that now bind them to the empire, and afford additional illustration of +the inferiority of the Australian constitution, from an imperial point +of view, compared with that of the Canadian Dominion, where a reference +to the judicial committee of the privy council is highly valued. + +The Canadian people are displaying an intellectual activity commensurate +with the expansion of their territory and their accumulation of wealth. +The scientific, historical and political contributions of three decades, +make up a considerable library which shows the growth of what may be +called Canadian literature, since it deals chiefly with subjects +essentially of Canadian interest. The attention that is now particularly +devoted to the study and writing of history, and the collection of +historical documents relating to the Dominion, prove clearly the +national or thoroughly Canadian spirit that is already animating the +cultured class of its people. + +Of the numerous historical works that have appeared since 1867 two only +demand special mention in this short review. One of these is _A History +of the days of Montcalm and Lévis_ by the Abbé Casgrain, who +illustrates the studious and literary character of the professors of the +great university which bears the name of the first bishop of Canada, +Monseigneur Laval. A more elaborate general history of Canada, in ten +octavo volumes, is that by Dr. Kingsford, whose life closed with his +book. Whilst it shows much industry and conscientiousness on the part of +the author, it fails too often to evoke our interest even when it deals +with the striking and picturesque story of the French régime, since the +author considered it his duty to be sober and prosaic when Parkman is +bright and eloquent. + +A good estimate of the progress of literary culture in Canada can be +formed from a careful perusal of the poems of Bliss Carman, Archibald +Lampman, Charles G.W. Roberts, Wilfred Campbell, Duncan Campbell Scott +and Frederick George Scott. The artistic finish of their verse and the +originality of their conception entitle them fairly to claim a foremost +place alongside American poets since Longfellow, Emerson, Whittier, +Bryant and Lowell have disappeared. Pauline Johnson, who has Indian +blood in her veins, Archbishop O'Brien of Halifax, Miss Machar, Ethelyn +Weatherald, Charles Mair and several others might also be named to prove +that poetry is not a lost art in Canada, despite its pressing prosaic +and material needs. + +Dr. Louis Fréchette is a worthy successor of Crémazie and has won the +distinction of having his best work crowned by the French Academy. +French Canadian poetry, however, has been often purely imitative of +French models like Musset and Gautier, both in style and sentiment, and +consequently lacks strength and originality. Fréchette has all the +finish of the French poets and, while it cannot be said that he has yet +originated fresh thoughts, which are likely to live among even the +people whom he has so often instructed and delighted, yet he has given +us poems like that on the discovery of the Mississippi which prove that +he is capable of even better things if he would seek inspiration from +the sources of the deeply interesting history of his own country, or +enter into the inner mysteries and social relations of his picturesque +compatriots. + +The life of the French Canadian habitant has been admirably described in +verse by Dr. Drummond, who has always lived among that class of the +Canadian people and been a close observer of their national and personal +characteristics. He is the only writer who has succeeded in giving a +striking portraiture of life in the cabin, in the "shanty" (_chantier_), +and on the river, where the French habitant, forester, and canoe-man can +be seen to best advantage. + +But if Canada can point to some creditable achievements of recent years +in history, poetry and essays, there is one department in which +Canadians never won any marked success until recently, and that is in +the novel or romance. Even Mr. Kirby's _Le Chien d'Or_ which recalls the +closing days of the French régime--the days of the infamous Intendant +Bigot who fattened on Canadian misery--does not show the finished art of +the skilled novelist, though it has a certain crude vigour of its own, +which has enabled it to live while so many other Canadian books have +died. French Canada is even weaker in this particular, and this is the +more surprising because there is abundance of material for the novelist +or the writer of romance in her peculiar society and institutions. But +this reproach has been removed by Mr. Gilbert Parker, now a resident in +London, but a Canadian by birth, education and sympathies, who is +animated by a laudable ambition of giving form and vitality to the +abundant materials that exist in the Dominion for the true story-teller. +His works show great skill in the use of historic matter, more than +ordinary power in the construction of a plot, and, above all, a literary +finish which is not equalled by any Canadian writer in the same field of +effort. Other meritorious Canadian workers in romance are Mr. William +McLennan, Mrs. Coates (Sarah Jeannette Duncan), and Miss Dougall, whose +names are familiar to English readers. + +The name of Dr. Todd is well known throughout the British empire, and +indeed wherever institutions of government are studied, as that of an +author of most useful works on the English and Canadian constitutions. +Sir William Dawson, for many years the energetic principal of McGill +University, the scientific prominence of which is due largely to his +mental bias, was the author of several geological books, written in a +graceful and readable style. The scientific work of Canadians can be +studied chiefly in the proceedings of English, American and Canadian +societies, especially, of late years, in the transactions of the Royal +Society of Canada, established over eighteen years ago by the Marquess +of Lorne when governor-general of the Dominion. This successful +association is composed of one hundred and twenty members who have +written "memoirs of merit or rendered eminent services to literature or +science." + +On the whole, there have been enough good poems, histories, and essays, +written and published in Canada during the last four or five decades, to +prove that there has been a steady intellectual growth on the part of +the Canadian people, and that it has kept pace at all events with the +mental growth in the pulpit, or in the legislative halls, where, of late +years, a keen practical debating style has taken the place of the more +rhetorical and studied oratory of old times. The intellectual faculties +of Canadians only require larger opportunities for their exercise to +bring forth rich fruit. The progress in the years to come will be much +greater than that Canadians have yet shown, and necessarily so, with the +wider distribution of wealth, the dissemination of a higher culture, and +a greater confidence in their own mental strength, and in the +opportunities that the country offers to pen and pencil. What is now +wanted is the cultivation of a good style and artistic workmanship. + +Much of the daily literature of Canadians--indeed the chief literary +aliment of large numbers--is the newspaper press, which illustrates +necessarily the haste, pressure and superficiality of writings of that +ephemeral class. Canadian journals, however, have not yet descended to +the degraded sensationalism of New York papers, too many of which +circulate in Canada to the public detriment. On the whole, the tone of +the most ably conducted journals--the Toronto _Globe_, and the Montreal +_Gazette_ notably--is quite on a level with the tone of debate in the +legislative bodies of the country. + +Now, as in all times of Canada's history, political life claims many +strong, keen and cultured intellects, though at the same time it is too +manifest that the tendency of democratic conditions and heated party +controversy is to prevent the most highly educated and sensitive +organisations from venturing on the agitated and unsafe sea of political +passion and competition. The speeches of Sir Wilfrid Laurier--the +eloquent French Canadian premier, who in his mastery of the English +tongue surpasses all his versatile compatriots--of Sir Charles Tupper, +Mr. Foster and others who might be mentioned, recall the most brilliant +period of parliamentary annals (1867--1873), when in the first +parliament of the Dominion the most prominent men of the provinces were +brought into public life, under the new conditions of federal union. The +debating power of the provincial legislative bodies is excellent, and +the chief defects are the great length and discursiveness of the +speeches on local as well as on national questions. It is also admitted +that of late years there has been a tendency to impair the dignity and +to lower the tone of discussion. + +Many Canadians have devoted themselves to art since 1867, and some +Englishmen will recognise the names of L.R. O'Brien, Robert Harris, +J.W.L. Forster, Homer Watson, George Reid--the painter of "The +Foreclosure of the Mortgage," which won great praise at the World's Fair +of Chicago--John Hammond, F.A. Verner, Miss Bell, Miss Muntz, W. +Brymner, all of whom are Canadians by birth and inspiration. The +establishment of a Canadian Academy of Art by the Princess Louise, and +of other art associations, has done a good deal to stimulate a taste +for art, though the public encouragement of native artists is still very +inadequate, when we consider the excellence already attained under great +difficulties in a relatively new country, where the great mass of people +has yet to be educated to a perception of the advantages of high +artistic effort. + +Sculpture would be hardly known in Canada were it not for the work of +the French Canadian Hebert, who is a product of the schools of Paris, +and has given to the Dominion several admirable statues and monuments of +its public men. While Canadian architecture has hitherto been generally +wanting in originality of conception, the principal edifices of the +provinces afford many good illustrations of effective adaptation of the +best art of Europe. Among these may be mentioned the following:--the +parliament and departmental buildings at Ottawa, admirable examples of +Italian Gothic; the legislative buildings at Toronto, in the Romanesque +style; the English cathedrals in Montreal and Fredericton, correct +specimens of early English Gothic; the French parish church of +Notre-Dame, in Montreal, attractive for its stately Gothic proportions; +the university of Toronto, an admirable conception of Norman +architecture; the Canadian Pacific railway station at Montreal and the +Frontenac Hotel at Quebec, fine examples of the adaptation of old Norman +architecture to modern necessities; the provincial buildings at +Victoria, in British Columbia, the general design of which is +Renaissance, rendered most effective by pearl-grey stone and several +domes; the headquarters of the bank of Montreal, a fine example of the +Corinthian order, and notable for the artistic effort to illustrate, on +the walls of the interior, memorable scenes in Canadian history; the +county and civic buildings of Toronto, an ambitious effort to reproduce +the modern Romanesque, so much favoured by the eminent American +architect, Richardson; Osgoode Hall, the seat of the great law courts of +the province of Ontario, which in its general character recalls the +architecture of the Italian Renaissance. Year by year we see additions +to our public and private buildings, interesting from an artistic point +of view, and illustrating the accumulating wealth of the country, as +well as the growth of culture and taste among the governing classes. + +The universities, colleges, academies, and high schools, the public and +common schools of the Dominion, illustrate the great desire of the +governments and the people of the provinces to give the greatest +possible facilities for the education of all classes at the smallest +possible cost to individuals. At the present time there are between +13,000 and 14,000 students attending 62 universities and colleges. The +collegiate institutes and academies of the provinces also rank with the +colleges as respects the advantages they give to young men and +women. Science is especially prominent in McGill and Toronto +Universities--which are the most largely attended--and the former +affords a notable example of the munificence of the wealthy men of +Montreal, in establishing chairs of science and otherwise advancing its +educational usefulness. Laval University stands deservedly at the head +of the Roman Catholic institutions of the continent, on account of its +deeply interesting historic associations, and the scholarly attainments +of its professors, several of whom have won fame in Canadian letters. +Several universities give instructions in medicine and law, and Toronto +has also a medical college for women. At the present time, at least +one-fifth of the people of the Dominion is in attendance at the +universities, colleges, public and private schools. The people of Canada +contribute upwards of ten millions of dollars annually to the support of +their educational establishments, in the shape of government grants, +public taxes, or private fees. Ontario alone, in 1899, raised five +millions and a half of dollars for the support of its public school +system; and of this amount the people directly contributed ninety-one +per cent, in the shape of taxes. On the other hand, the libraries of +Canada are not numerous; and it is only in Ontario that there is a law +providing for the establishment of such institutions by a vote of the +taxpayers in the municipalities. In this province there are at least +420 libraries, of which the majority are connected with mechanics' +institutes, and are made public by statute. The weakness of the public +school system--especially in Ontario--is the constant effort to teach a +child a little of everything, and to make him a mere machine. The +consequences are superficiality--a veneer of knowledge--and the loss of +individuality. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +CANADA'S RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES AND HER INFLUENCE IN IMPERIAL +COUNCILS (1783--1900). + + +I have deemed it most convenient to reserve for the conclusion of this +history a short review of the relations that have existed for more than +a century between the provinces of the Dominion and the United States, +whose diplomacy and legislation have had, and must always have, a +considerable influence on the material and social conditions of the +people of Canada.--an influence only subordinate to that exercised by +the imperial state. I shall show that during the years when there was no +confederation of Canada--when there were to the north and north-east of +the United States only a number of isolated provinces, having few common +sympathies or interests except their attachment to the crown and +empire--the United States had too often its own way in controversial +questions affecting the colonies which arose between England and the +ambitious federal republic. On the other hand, with the territorial +expansion of the provinces under one Dominion, with their political +development, which has assumed even national attributes, with the steady +growth of an imperial sentiment in the parent state, the old condition +of things that too often made the provinces the shuttlecock of skilful +American diplomacy has passed away. The statesmen of the Canadian +federation are now consulted, and exercise almost as much influence as +if they were members of the imperial councils in London. + +I shall naturally commence this review with a reference to the treaty of +1783, which acknowledged the independence of the United States, fixed +the boundaries between that country and British North America, and led +to serious international disputes which lasted until the middle of the +following century. Three of the ablest men in the United +States--Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay--succeeded by their +astuteness and persistency in extending their country's limits to the +eastern bank of the Mississippi, despite the insidious efforts of +Vergennes on the part of France to hem in the new nation between the +Atlantic and the Appalachian Range. The comparative value set upon +Canada during the preliminary negotiations may be easily deduced from +the fact that Oswald, the English plenipotentiary, proposed to give up +to the United States the south-western and most valuable part of the +present province of Ontario, and to carry the north-eastern boundary up +to the River St. John. The commissioners of the United States did not +accept this suggestion. Their ultimate object--an object actually +attained--was to make the St. Lawrence the common boundary between the +two countries by following the centre of the river and the great lakes +as far as the head of Lake Superior. The issue of negotiations so +stupidly conducted by the British commissioner, was a treaty which gave +an extremely vague definition of the boundary in the north-east between +Maine and Nova Scotia--which until 1784 included New Brunswick--and +displayed at the same time a striking example of geographical ignorance +as to the north-west. The treaty specified that the boundary should pass +from the head of Lake Superior through Long Lake to the north-west angle +of the Lake of the Woods, and thence to the Mississippi, when, as a +matter of fact there was no Long Lake, and the source of the Mississippi +was actually a hundred miles or so to the south of the Lake of the +Woods. This curious blunder in the north-west was only rectified in +1842, when Lord Ashburton settled the difficulty by conceding to the +United States an invaluable corner of British territory in the east (see +below, p 299). + +[Illustration: INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY. AS FINALLY ESTABLISHED IN 1842 AT +LAKE OF THE WOODS] + +The only practical advantage that the people of the provinces gained +from the Treaty of Ghent, which closed the war of 1812--15, was an +acknowledgment of the undoubted fishery rights of Great Britain and her +dependencies in the territorial waters of British North America. In the +treaty of 1783 the people of the United States obtained the "right" to +fish on the Grand and other banks of Newfoundland, and in the Gulf of +St. Lawrence and at "all other places in the sea, where the inhabitants +of both countries used at any time heretofore to fish", but they were to +have only "the liberty" of taking fish on the coasts of Newfoundland and +also of "all other of his Britannic Majesty's dominions in America; and +also of drying and curing fish in any of the unsettled bays, harbours, +and creeks of Nova Scotia (then including New Brunswick), Magdalen +Islands, and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain unsettled." In +the one case, it will be seen, there was a recognised right, but in the +other only a mere "liberty" or privilege extended to the fishermen of +the United States. At the close of the war of 1812 the British +government would not consent to renew the merely temporary liberties of +1783, and the United States authorities acknowledged the soundness of +the principle that any privileges extended to the republic in British +territorial waters could only rest on "conventional stipulation." The +convention of 1818 forms the legal basis of the rights, which Canadians +have always maintained in the case of disputes between themselves and +the United States as to the fisheries on their own coasts, bays, and +harbours of Canada. It provides that the inhabitants of the United +States shall have for ever the liberty to take, dry, and cure fish on +certain parts of the coast of Newfoundland, on the Magdalen Islands and +on the southern shores of Labrador, but they "renounce for ever any +liberty, heretofore enjoyed" by them to take, dry, and cure fish, "on or +within three marine miles of any of the coasts, bays or creeks or +harbours of his Britannic Majesty's other dominions in America"; +provided, however, that the American fishermen shall be admitted to +enter such bays and harbours, for the purpose of shelter, and of +repairing damages therein, of purchasing wood, and of obtaining water, +and "for no other purpose whatever." + +In April, 1817, the governments of Great Britain and the United States +came to an important agreement which ensured the neutrality of the great +lakes. It was agreed that the naval forces to be maintained upon these +inland waters should be confined to the following vessels: on Lakes +Champlain and Ontario to one vessel, on the Upper Lakes to two vessels, +not exceeding in each case a hundred tons burden and armed with only one +small cannon. Either nation had the right to bring the convention to a +termination by a previous notice of six months. This agreement is still +regarded by Great Britain and the United States to be in existence, +since Mr. Secretary Seward formally withdrew the notice which was given +for its abrogation in 1864, when the civil war was in progress and the +relations between the two nations were considerably strained at times. + +The next international complication arose out of the seizure of the +steamer _Caroline_, which was engaged in 1837 in carrying munitions of +war between the United States and Navy Island, then occupied by a number +of persons in the service of Mr. Mackenzie and other Canadian rebels. In +1840 the authorities of New York arrested one Macleod on the charge of +having murdered a man who was employed on the _Caroline_. The +Washington government for some time evaded the whole question by +throwing the responsibility on the state authorities and declaring that +they could not interfere with a matter which was then within the +jurisdiction of the state courts. The matter gave rise to much +correspondence between the two governments, but happily for the peace of +the two countries the American courts acquitted Macleod, as the evidence +was clear that he had had nothing to do with the actual seizing of the +_Caroline_; and the authorities at Washington soon afterwards +acknowledged their responsibility in such affairs by passing an act +directing that subjects of foreign powers, if taken into custody for +acts done or committed under the authority of their own government, "the +validity or effect whereof depends upon the law of nations, should be +discharged." The dissatisfaction that had arisen in the United States on +account of the cutting out of the _Caroline_ was removed in 1842, when +Sir Robert Peel expressed regret that "some explanation and apology for +the occurrence had not been previously made," and declared that it was +"the opinion of candid and honourable men that the British officers who +executed this transaction, and their government who approved it, +intended no insult or disrespect to the sovereign authority of the +United States[9]." + +[9: Hall's _Treatise on International Law_ (3rd ed.), pp. 311--313] + +In the course of time the question of the disputed boundary between +Maine and New Brunswick assumed grave proportions. By the treaty of +1783, the boundary was to be a line drawn from the source of the St. +Croix, directly north to the highlands "which divide the rivers which +fall into the Atlantic ocean from those which fall into the river St. +Lawrence;" thence along the said highlands to the north-easternmost head +of the Connecticut River; and the point at which the due north line was +to cut the highlands was also designated as the north-west angle of Nova +Scotia. The whole question was the subject of several commissions, and +of one arbitration, from 1783 until 1842, when it was finally settled. +Its history appears to be that of a series of blunders on the part of +England from the beginning to the end. The first blunder occurred in +1796 when the commissioners appointed to inquire into the question, +declared that the Schoodic was the River St. Croix mentioned in the +treaty. Instead, however, of following the main, or western, branch of +the Schoodic to its source in the Schoodic Lakes, they went beyond +their instructions and chose a northern tributary of the river, the +Chiputnaticook, as the boundary, and actually placed a monument at its +head as a basis for any future proceeding on the part of the two +governments. The British government appear to have been very anxious at +this time to settle the question, for they did not take exception to the +arrangement made by the commissioners, but in 1798 declared the decision +binding on both countries. + +Still this mistake might have been rectified had the British government +in 1835 been sufficiently alive to British interests in America to have +accepted a proposal made to them by President Jackson to ascertain the +true north-western angle of Nova Scotia, or the exact position of the +highlands, in accordance with certain well-understood rules in practical +surveying which have been always considered obligatory in that +continent. It was proposed by the United States to discard the due north +line, to seek to the west of that line the undisputed highlands that +divide the rivers which empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence +from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to find the point in the +'watershed' of these highlands nearest to the north line, and to trace a +direct course from it to the monument already established. "If this +principle had been adopted," says Sir Sandford Fleming, the eminent +Canadian engineer, "a straight line would have been drawn from the +monument at the head of the Chiputnaticook to a point which could have +been established with precision in the 'watershed' of the highlands +which separate the sources of the Chaudière from those of the +Penobscot,--this being the most easterly point in the only highlands +agreeing beyond dispute with the treaty. The point is found a little to +the north and west of the intersection of the 70th meridian west +longitude and the 46th parallel of north latitude." Had this proposal +been accepted England would have obtained without further difficulty +eleven thousand square miles, or the combined areas of Massachusetts +and Connecticut. + +[Illustration: MAP OF THE NORTH-EASTERN BOUNDARY AS ESTABLISHED IN +1842.] + +For several years after this settlement was suggested a most serious +conflict went on between New Brunswick and the state of Maine. The +authorities of Maine paid no respect whatever to the negotiations that +were still in progress between the governments of Great Britain and the +United States, but actually took possession of the disputed territory, +gave titles for lands and constructed forts and roads within its limits. +Collisions occurred between the settlers and the intruders, and +considerable property was destroyed. The legislature of Maine voted +$800,000 for the defence of the state, and the legislature of Nova +Scotia amid great enthusiasm made a grant of $100,000 to assist New +Brunswick in support of her rights. Happily the efforts of the United +States and British governments prevented the quarrel between the +province and the state from assuming international proportions; and in +1842 Mr. Alexander Baring, afterwards Lord Ashburton, was authorised by +the ministry of the Earl of Aberdeen to negotiate with Mr. Daniel +Webster, then secretary of state in the American cabinet, for the +settlement of matters in dispute between the two nations. The result was +the Ashburton Treaty, which, in fixing the north-eastern boundary +between British North America and the United States, started due north +from the monument incorrectly placed at the head of the Chiputnaticook +instead of the source of the true St. Croix, and consequently at the +very outset gave up a strip of land extending over some two degrees of +latitude, and embracing some 3000 square miles of British territory. By +consenting to carry the line due north from the misplaced monument Lord +Ashburton ignored the other natural landmark set forth in the treaty: +"the line of headlands which divide the waters flowing into the Atlantic +from those which flow into the St. Lawrence." A most erratic boundary +was established along the St. John, which flows neither into the St. +Lawrence nor the Atlantic, but into the Bay of Fundy, far east of the +St. Croix. In later years the historian Sparks found in Paris a map on +which Franklin himself had marked in December, 1782, with a heavy red +line, what was then considered the true natural boundary between the two +countries. Mr. Sparks admitted in sending the map that it conceded more +than Great Britain actually claimed, and that "the line from the St. +Croix to the Canadian highlands is intended to exclude [from the +territory of the United States] all the waters running into the St. +John." Canadians have always believed with reason that that portion of +the present state of Maine, through which the Aroostook and other +tributaries of the St. John flow, is actually British territory. If we +look at the map of Canada we see that the state of Maine now presses +like a huge wedge into the provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec as a +sequence of the unfortunate mistakes of 1796, 1835, and 1842, on the +part of England and her agents. In these later times a "Canadian short +line" railway has been forced to go through Maine in order to connect +Montreal with St. John, and other places in the maritime provinces. Had +the true St. Croix been chosen in 1796, or President Jackson's offer +accepted in 1835, this line could go continuously through Canadian +territory, and be entirely controlled by Canadian legislation. + +Another boundary question was the subject of much heated controversy +between England and the United States for more than a quarter of a +century, and in 1845 brought the two countries very close to war. In +1819 the United States obtained from Spain a cession of all her rights +and claims north of latitude forty-two, or the southern boundary of the +present state of Oregon. By that time the ambition of the United States +was not content with the Mississippi valley, of which she had obtained +full control by the cession of the Spanish claims and by the Louisiana +purchase of 1803, but looked to the Pacific coast, where she made +pretensions to a territory stretching from 42° to 54° 40' north +latitude, or a territory four times the area of Great Britain and +Ireland, or of the present province of Ontario. The claims of the two +nations to this vast region rested on very contradictory statements with +respect to priority of discovery, and that occupation and settlement +which should, within reasonable limits, follow discovery; and as the +whole question was one of great perplexity, it should have been settled, +as suggested by England, on principles of compromise. But the people of +the United States, conscious at last of the importance of the territory, +began to bring their influence to bear on the politicians, until by 1845 +the Democratic party declared 'for 54° 40' or fight,' Mr. Crittenden +announced that "war might now be looked upon as almost inevitable." +Happily President Polk and congress came to more pacific conclusions +after a good deal of warlike talk; and the result was a treaty (1846) by +which England accepted the line 49 degrees to the Pacific coast, and +obtained the whole of Vancouver Island, which for a while seemed likely +to be divided with the United States. But Vancouver Island was by no +means a compensation for what England gave up, for, on the continent, +she yielded all she had contended for since 1824, when she first +proposed the Columbia River as a basis of division. + +But even then the question of boundary was not finally settled by this +great victory which had been won for the United States by the +persistency of her statesmen. The treaty of 1846 continued the line of +boundary westward along "the 49th parallel of north latitude to the +middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver +Island, and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel and +of Fuca's straits to the Pacific Ocean" Anyone reading this clause for +the first time, without reference to the contentions that were raised +afterwards, would certainly interpret it to mean the whole body of water +that separates the continent from Vancouver,--such a channel, in fact, +as divides England from France; but it appears there are a number of +small channels separating the islands which lie in the great channel in +question, and the clever diplomatists at Washington immediately claimed +the Canal de Haro, the widest and deepest, as the canal of the treaty. +Instead of at once taking the ground that the whole body of water was +really in question, the English government claimed another channel, +Rosario Strait, inferior in some respects, but the one most generally, +and indeed only, used at the time by their vessels. The importance of +this difference of opinion lay chiefly in the fact, that the Haro gave +San Juan and other small islands, valuable for defensive purposes, to +the United States, while the Rosario left them to England. Then, after +much correspondence, the British government, as a compromise, offered +the middle channel, or Douglas, which would still retain San Juan. If +they had always adhered to the Douglas--which appears to answer the +conditions of the treaty, since it lies practically in the middle of the +great channel--their position would have been much stronger than it was +when they came back to the Rosario. The British representatives at the +Washington conference of 1871 suggested the reference of the question to +arbitration, but the United States' commissioners, aware of their +vantage ground, would consent to no other arrangement than to leave to +the decision of the Emperor of Germany the question whether the Haro or +the Rosario channel best accorded with the treaty; and the Emperor +decided in favour of the United States. However, with the possession of +Vancouver in its entirety, Canada can still be grateful; and San Juan is +now only remembered as an episode of skilful American diplomacy. The +same may be said of another acquisition of the republic--insignificant +from the point of view of territorial area, but still illustrative of +the methods which have won all the great districts we have named +--Rouse's Point at the outlet of Lake Champlain, "of which an exact +survey would have deprived" the United States, according to Mr. Schouler +in his excellent history. + +During this period the fishery question again assumed considerable +importance. The government at Washington raised the contention that the +three miles' limit, to which their fishermen could be confined by the +convention of 1818, should follow the sinuosities of the coasts, +including the bays, the object being to obtain access to the valuable +mackerel fisheries of the Bay of Chaleurs and other waters claimed to be +exclusively within the territorial jurisdiction of the maritime +provinces. The imperial government sustained the contention of the +provinces--a contention practically supported by American authorities in +the case of the Delaware, Chesapeake, and other bays on the coast of the +United States--that the three miles' limit should be measured from a +line drawn from headlands of all bays, harbours and creeks. In the case +of the Bay of Fundy, however, the imperial government allowed a +departure from this general principle, when it was urged by the +Washington government that one of its headlands was in the territory of +the United States, and that it was an arm of the sea rather than a bay. +The result was that foreign fishing vessels were only shut out from the +bays on the coasts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick within the Bay of +Fundy. All these questions were, however, placed in abeyance by the +reciprocity treaty of 1854 (see p. 96), which lasted until 1866, when it +was repealed by the action of the United States, in accordance with the +provision bringing it to a conclusion after one year's notice from one +of the parties interested. + +The causes which led in 1866 to the repeal of a treaty so advantageous +to the United States have been long well understood. The commercial +classes in the eastern and western states were, on the whole, favourable +to an enlargement of the treaty; but the real cause of its repeal was +the prejudice in the northern states against Canada on account of its +supposed sympathy for the confederate states during the Secession war. A +large body of men in the north believed that the repeal of the treaty +would sooner or later force Canada to join the republic; and a bill was +actually introduced in the house of representatives providing for her +admission--a mere political straw, it is true, but showing the current +of opinion in some quarters in those days. When we review the history of +those times, and consider the difficult position in which Canada was +placed, it is remarkable how honourably her government discharged its +duties of a neutral between the belligerents. In the case of the raid of +some confederate refugees in Canada on the St. Alban's bank in Vermont, +the Canadian authorities brought the culprits to trial and even paid a +large sum of money in acknowledgment of an alleged responsibility when +some of the stolen notes were returned to the robbers on their release +on technical grounds by a Montreal magistrate. It is well, too, to +remember how large a number of Canadians fought in the union +armies--twenty against one who served in the south. No doubt the +position of Canada was made more difficult at that critical time by the +fact that she was a colony of Great Britain, against whom both north and +south entertained bitter feelings by the close of the war; the former +mainly on account of the escape of confederate cruisers from English +ports, and the latter because she did not receive active support from +England. The north had also been much excited by the promptness with +which Lord Palmerston had sent troops to Canada when Mason and Slidell +were seized on an English packet on the high seas, and by the bold tone +held by some Canadian papers when it was doubtful if the prisoners would +be released. + +Before and since the union, the government of Canada has made repeated +efforts to renew a commercial treaty with the government at Washington. +In 1865 and 1866, Canadian delegates were prepared to make large +concessions, but were reluctantly brought to the conclusion that the +committee of ways and means in congress "no longer desired trade between +the two countries to be carried on upon the principle of reciprocity." +In 1866 Sir John Rose, while minister of finance, made an effort in the +same direction, but he was met by the obstinate refusal of the +republican party, then as always, highly protective. + +All this while the fishery question was assuming year by year a form +increasingly irritating to the two countries. The headland question was +the principal difficulty, and the British government, in order to +conciliate the United States at a time when the Alabama question was a +subject of anxiety, induced the Canadian government to agree, very +reluctantly it must be admitted, to shut out foreign fishing vessels +only from bays less than six miles in width at their entrances. In this, +however, as in all other matters, the Canadian authorities acknowledged +their duty to yield to the considerations of imperial interests, and +acceded to the wishes of the imperial government in almost every +respect, except actually surrendering their territorial rights in the +fisheries. They issued licenses to fish, at low rates, for several +years, only to find eventually that American fishermen did not think it +worth while to buy these permits when they could evade the regulations +with little difficulty. The correspondence went on for several years, +and eventually led to the Washington conference or commission of 1871, +which was primarily intended to settle the fishery question, but which +actually gave the precedence to the Alabama difficulty--then of most +concern in the opinion of the London and Washington governments. The +representatives of the United States would not consider a proposition +for another reciprocity treaty on the basis of that of 1854. The +questions arising out of the convention of 1818 were not settled by the +commission, but were practically laid aside for ten years by an +arrangement providing for the free admission of salt-water fish to the +United States, on the condition of allowing the fishing vessels of that +country free access to the Canadian fisheries. The free navigation of +the St. Lawrence was conceded to the United States in return for the +free use of Lake Michigan and of certain rivers in Alaska. The question +of giving to the vessels of the Canadian provinces the privilege of +trading on the coast of the United States--a privilege persistently +demanded for years by Nova Scotia--was not considered; and while the +canals of Canada were opened up to the United States on the most liberal +terms, the Washington government contented itself with a barren promise +in the treaty to use its influence with the authorities of the states to +open up their artificial waterways to Canadians. The Fenian claims were +abruptly laid aside, although, if the principle of "due diligence," +which was laid down in the new rules for the settlement of the Alabama +difficulty had been applied to this question, the government of the +United States would have been mulcted in heavy damages. In this case it +would be difficult to find a more typical instance of responsibility +assumed by a state through the permission of open and notorious acts, +and by way of complicity after the acts; however, as in many other +negotiations with the United States, Canada felt she must make +sacrifices for the empire, whose government wished all causes of +irritation between England and the United States removed as far as +possible by the treaty. One important feature of this commission was the +presence, for the first time in the history of treaties, of a Canadian +statesman. The astute prime minister of the Dominion, Sir John +Macdonald, was chosen as one of the English high commissioners: and +though he was necessarily tied down by the instructions of the imperial +state, his knowledge of Canadian questions was of great service to +Canada during the conference. If the treaty finally proved more +favourable to the Dominion than it at first appeared to be, it was owing +largely to the clause which provided for a reference to a later +commission of the question, whether the United States would not have to +pay the Canadians a sum of money, as the value of their fisheries over +and above any concessions made them in the treaty. The result of this +commission was a payment of five millions and a half of dollars to +Canada and Newfoundland, to the infinite disappointment of the +politicians of the United States, who had been long accustomed to have +the best in all the bargains with their neighbours. Nothing shows more +clearly the measure of the local self-government at last won by Canada +and the importance of her position in the empire, than the fact that the +English government recognised the right of the Dominion government to +name the commissioner who represented Canada on an arbitration which +decided a question of such deep importance to her interests. + +The clauses of the Washington treaty relating to the fisheries and to +trade with Canada lasted for fourteen years, and then were repealed by +the action of the United States government. In the year 1874 the +Mackenzie ministry attempted, through Mr. George Brown, to negotiate a +new reciprocity treaty, but met with a persistent hostility from leading +men in congress. The relations between Canada and the United States +again assumed a phase of great uncertainty. Canada from 1885 adhered to +the letter of the convention of 1818, and allowed no fishing vessels to +fish within the three miles limit, to transship cargoes of fish in her +ports, or to enter them for any purpose except for shelter, wood, water, +and repairs. For the infractions of the treaty several vessels were +seized, and more than one of them condemned. A clamour was raised in the +United States on the ground that the Canadians were wanting in that +spirit of friendly intercourse which should characterise the relations +of neighbouring peoples. The fact is, the Canadians were bound to adhere +to their legal rights--rights which had always been maintained before +1854; which had remained in abeyance between 1854 and 1866; which +naturally revived after the repeal of the reciprocity treaty of 1854; +which again remained in abeyance between 1871 and 1885; and were revived +when the United States themselves chose to go back to the terms of the +convention of 1818. + +In 1887 President Cleveland and Mr. Secretary Bayard, acting in a +statesmanlike spirit, obtained the consent of England to a special +commission to consider the fishery question. Sir Sackville West, Mr. +Joseph Chamberlain, and Sir Charles Tupper represented England; Mr. +Bayard, then secretary of state, Mr. Putnam of Maine, and Mr. Angell of +Michigan University, represented the United States. Sir Charles Tupper +could not induce the American commissioners to consider a mutual +arrangement providing for greater freedom of commercial intercourse +between Canada and the United States. Eventually the commission agreed +unanimously to a treaty which was essentially a compromise. Foreign +fishermen were to be at liberty to go into any waters where the bay was +more than ten miles wide at the mouth, but certain bays, including the +Bay of Chaleurs, were expressly excepted in the interests of Canada from +the operation of this provision. The United States did not attempt to +acquire the right to fish on the inshore fishing-grounds of Canada--that +is, within three miles of the coasts--but these fisheries were to be +left for the exclusive use of the Canadian fishermen. More satisfactory +arrangements were made for vessels obliged to resort to the Canadian +ports in distress; and a provision was made for allowing American +fishing-vessels to obtain supplies and other privileges in the harbours +of the Dominion whenever congress allowed the fish of that country to +enter free into the market of the United States, President Cleveland in +his message, submitting the treaty to the senate, acknowledged that it +"supplied a satisfactory, practical and final adjustment, upon a basis +honourable and just to both parties, of the difficult and vexed +questions to which it relates." The republican party, however, at that +important juncture--just before a presidential election--had a majority +in the senate, and the result was the failure in that body of a measure, +which, although by no means too favourable to Canadian interests, was +framed in a spirit of judicious statesmanship. + +As a sequel of the acquisition of British Columbia, the Canadian +government was called upon in 1886 to urge the interests of the +Dominion in an international question that had arisen in Bering Sea. A +United States cutter seized in the open sea, at a distance of more than +sixty miles from the nearest land, certain Canadian schooners, fitted +out in British Columbia, and lawfully engaged in the capture of seals in +the North Pacific Ocean, adjacent to Vancouver Island, Queen Charlotte +Islands, and Alaska--a portion of the territory of the United States +acquired in 1867 from Russia. These vessels were taken into a port of +Alaska, where they were subjected to forfeiture, and the masters and +mates fined and imprisoned. Great Britain at once resisted the claim of +the United States to the sole sovereignty of that part of Bering Sea +lying beyond the westerly boundary of Alaska--a stretch of sea extending +in its widest part some 600 or 700 miles beyond the mainland of Alaska, +and clearly under the law of nations a part of the great sea and open to +all nations. Lord Salisbury's government, from the beginning to the end +of the controversy, sustained the rights of Canada as a portion of the +British empire. After very protracted and troublesome negotiations it +was agreed to refer the international question in dispute to a court of +arbitration, in which Sir John Thompson, prime minister of Canada, was +one of the British arbitrators. The arbitrators decided in favour of the +British contention that the United States had no jurisdiction in Bering +Sea outside of the three miles limit, and at the same time made certain +regulations to restrict the wholesale slaughter of fur-bearing seals in +the North Pacific Ocean. In 1897 two commissioners, appointed by the +governments of the United States and Canada, awarded the sum of $463,454 +as compensation to Canada for the damages sustained by the fishermen of +British Columbia, while engaged in the lawful prosecution of their +industry on that portion of the Bering Sea declared to be open to all +nations. This sum was paid in the summer of 1898 by the United States. + +In 1897 the Canadian government succeeded in obtaining the consent of +the governments of Great Britain and the United States to the +appointment of a joint high commission to settle various questions in +dispute between Canada and the United States. Canada was represented on +this commission by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Sir Richard Cartwright, Sir +Louis Davies, and Mr. John Charlton, M.P., Newfoundland by Sir James +Winter; the United States by Messieurs C.W. Fairbanks, George Gray, J.W. +Foster, Nelson Dingley Jr., J.A. Kasson, and T. Jefferson Coolidge. The +eminent jurist, Baron Herschell, who had been lord chancellor in the +last Gladstone ministry, was chosen chairman of this commission, which +met in the historic city of Quebec on several occasions from the 23rd +August until the 10th October, 1898, and subsequently at Washington from +November until the 20th February, 1899, when it adjourned. Mr. Dingley +died in January and was replaced by Mr. Payne, and Lord Herschell also +unhappily succumbed to the effects of an accident soon after the close +of the sittings of the commission. In an eulogy of this eminent man in +the Canadian house of commons, the Canadian prime minister stated that +during the sittings of the commission "he fought for Canada not only +with enthusiasm, but with conviction and devotion." England happily in +these modern times has felt the necessity of giving to the consideration +of Canadian interests the services of her most astute and learned +statesmen and diplomatists. + +This commission was called upon to consider a number of international +questions--the Atlantic and inland fisheries, the Alaska boundary, the +alien labour law, the bonding privilege, the seal fishery in the Bering +Sea, reciprocity of trade in certain products of the two countries, and +other minor issues. For the reasons given in a previous part of this +chapter (page 269), when referring to the commercial policy of the +Laurier government, reciprocity was no longer the all-important question +to be discussed, though the commissioners were desirous of making fiscal +arrangements with respect to lumber, coal, and some other Canadian +products for which there is an increasing demand in the markets of the +United States. The long and earnest discussions of the commission on the +various questions before them were, however, abruptly terminated by the +impossibility of reaching a satisfactory conclusion with respect to the +best means of adjusting the vexed question of the Alaska boundary, which +had become of great international import in consequence of the discovery +of gold in the territory of Alaska and the district of Yukon in Canada. + +The dispute between Great Britain and the United States has arisen as to +the interpretation to be given to the Anglo-Russian treaty of 1825, +which was made forty-two years before Russia sold her territorial rights +in Alaska to the United States, that sale being subject of course to the +conditions of the treaty in question. Under the third article of this +treaty[10]--the governing clause of the contract between England and +Russia--boundary line between Canada and Alaska commences at the south +end of Prince of Wales Island, thence runs north through Portland +Channel to the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude, thence follows the +summit of the mountains situated parallel to the coast of the continent, +to one hundred and forty-one west longitude and thence to the frozen +ocean. That part of the line between fifty-six north latitude and one +hundred and forty-one west longitude is where the main dispute arises. +Great Britain on behalf of Canada contends that, by following the +summits of the mountains between these two points, the true boundary +would cross Lynn Canal, about half way between the headlands and +tide-water at the head of the canal, and leave both Skagway and +Dyea--towns built up chiefly by United States citizens--within British +territory. The contention of Great Britain always has been that the +boundary should follow the general contour of the coast line and not the +inlets to their head waters. On the other hand the United States contend +that the whole of Lynn Canal up to the very top, to the extent of +tide-water, is a part of the ocean, and that the territory of the United +States goes back for ten leagues from the head of the canal and +consequently includes Skagway and Dyea. In other words the United States +claim that the boundary should not follow the coast line but pass +around the head of this important inlet, which controls access to the +interior of the gold-bearing region. + +[10: The following is the article in full: "The line of demarcation +between the possessions of the high contracting parties upon the coast +of the continent and the islands of America to the north-west, shall be +drawn in the following manner: commencing from the southernmost point of +the island called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the +parallel of fifty-four degrees forty minutes north latitude, and between +the one hundred and thirty-first and the one hundred and thirty-third +degree of west longitude, the said line shall ascend to the north along +the channel called Portland Channel as far as the point of the continent +where it strikes the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude. From this +last-mentioned point the line of demarcation shall follow the summit of +the mountains situated parallel to the coast as far as the point of +intersection of the one hundred and forty-first degree of west longitude +(of the same meridian), and finally from the said point of intersection +of the one hundred and forty-first degree in its prolongation as far as +the frozen ocean, shall form the limit between the Russian and British +possessions, on the continent of America to the north-west"] + +[Illustration: MAP OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AND YUKON DISTRICT SHOWING +DISPUTED BOUNDARY BETWEEN] + +The Canadian commissioners first offered as a compromise to leave Dyea +and Skagway in the possession of the United States if the commissioners +of that country would agree that Canada should retain Pyramid Harbour, +which would give to Canadians a highway into the Yukon district. The +acceptance of this compromise would have made a common water of the Lynn +Canal, and at the same time left to the United States the greater +portion of the territory in dispute. When the commissioners of the +United States refused this fair compromise, the Canadians offered to +refer the whole question to arbitration in order to ascertain the true +boundary under the Anglo-Russian treaty. They proposed that the +arbitrators should be three jurists of repute: one chosen for Great +Britain by the judicial committee of the privy council, one appointed by +the president of the United States, and the third a high international +authority to act as an umpire. The commissioners of the United States +positively refused to agree to this proposition and suggested the +appointment of six jurists, three to be appointed by Great Britain, and +the others by the United States. The Canadian representatives were +unable to agree to the amendment suggested by their American colleagues, +on the ground that it did not "provide a tribunal which would +necessarily, and in the possible event of differences of opinion, +finally dispose of the question," They also refused to agree to other +propositions of the United States as "a marked and important departure +from the rules of the Venezuelan boundary reference." The commissioners +of the United States were not only unwilling to agree to the selection +of an impartial European umpire, but were desirous of the appointment of +an American umpire--from the South American Republics--over whom the +United States would have more or less influence. Under these +circumstances the Canadian commissioners were unwilling to proceed to +the determination of other questions (on which a conclusion had been +nearly reached) "until the boundary question had been disposed of either +by agreement or reference to arbitration." The commission adjourned +until August in the same year, but the negotiations that took place in +the interval between the governments of Great Britain and the United +States on the question at issue were not sufficiently advanced to enable +a meeting at the proposed date. In these circumstances a _modus vivendi_ +was arranged between the United States and Canada, whose interests have +been carefully guarded throughout the controversy by the government of +the imperial state. + +This review of Canada's relations with the United States and England for +more than a century illustrates at once her weakness and her +strength--her weakness in the days of provincial isolation and imperial +indifference; her strength under the inspiring influences of federal +union and of an imperial spirit which gives her due recognition in the +councils of the empire. It may now be said that, in a limited sense, +there is already a loose system of federation between Great Britain and +her dependencies. The central government of Great Britain, as the +guardian of the welfare of the whole empire, cooperates with the several +governments of her colonial dependencies, and, by common consultation +and arrangement, endeavours to come to such a determination as will be +to the advantage of all the interests at stake. In other words, the +conditions of the relations between Great Britain and Canada are such as +to insure unity of policy so long as each government considers the +interests of Great Britain and the dependency as identical, and keeps in +view the obligations, welfare, and unity of the empire at large. Full +consultation in all negotiations affecting Canada, representation in +every arbitration and commission that may be the result of such +negotiations, are the principles which, of late years, have been +admitted by Great Britain in acknowledgement of the development of +Canada and of her present position in the empire; and any departure +from so sound a doctrine would be a serious injury to the imperial +connection, and an insult to the ability of Canadians to take a part in +the great councils of the world. The same mysterious Providence that has +already divided the continent of North America, as far as Mexico, +between Canada and the United States, and that in the past prevented +their political fortunes from becoming one, still forces the Canadian +communities with an irresistible power to press onward until they +realise those high conceptions which some statesmen already imagine for +them in a not very distant future. These conceptions are of a still +closer union with the parent state, which shall increase their national +responsibilities, and at the same time give the Dominion a recognised +position in the central councils of the empire. + + + + + APPENDIX A. + + COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE MAIN PROVISIONS OF + THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA + AND THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH. + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA. | + _Name._ _Name_ + The Dominion of Canada The Commonwealth of Australia. + + _How Constituted._ _How Constituted_ + Of provinces. Of states. + + _Seat of Government._ _Seat of Government_ + At Ottawa until the Queen Within federal territory in + otherwise directs. New South Wales, at least 100 + miles from Sydney + + _Executive Power._ _Executive Power_ + Vested in the Queen. Vested in the Queen. + Queen's representative, a Queen's representative, a + governor-general, appointed by governor-general, appointed by + the Queen in council. the Queen in council. + + Salary of governor-general Not less than £10,000 paid + £10,000 sterling, paid by Dominion by the commonwealth, fixed by + government, alterable by parliament from time to time, + the parliament of Canada, but not diminished during tenure of + subject to the disallowance of a governor-general. + the crown, as in 1868, when + parliament passed a bill to reduce + this salary. + + + + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA. + Ministers called by governor-general Same--only for "privy + to form a cabinet, first councillors" read "executive + sworn in as privy councillors, councillors" + hold office while they have the + confidence of the popular house + of parliament, in accordance with + the conventions, understandings, + and maxims of responsible or + parliamentary government. + + Privy councillors hold, as the Executive councillors administer + crown may designate, certain such departments as + departments of state, not limited governor-general from time to + in name or number, but left to time establishes. Until other + the discretionary action of provision is made by parliament, + parliament. Such heads of number of such officers, who + departments must seek a new may sit in parliament, shall not + election on accepting these exceed seven. + office of emolument. + + _Command of Military and _Command of Military and + Naval Forces_ Naval Forces_ + Vested in the Queen. In the Queen's representative. + + _Parliament_ _Parliament_ + The Queen. The Queen. + Senate. Senate. + House of commons. House of representatives. + Session once at least every The same. + year. + Privileges, immunities and Such as declared by the parliament + powers held by senate and house of the commonwealth, + of commons, such as are defined and, until declared, such as are + by act of the parliament of held by the commons' house of + Canada, but not to exceed those parliament of Great Britain at + enjoyed at the passing of such the date of the establishment of + act by the commons' house of the commonwealth. + parliament of Great Britain. + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA + + Senate composed of twenty-four Senate composed of six + members for each of the senators for each state, directly + three following divisions (1) chosen for six years by the + Ontario, (2) Quebec, and (3) people of the state voting as + maritime provinces of Nova one electorate; half the number + Scotia, New Brunswick, and shall retire every three years, + Prince Edward Island. Other but shall be eligible for + provinces can be represented re-election. No property + under the constitution, but the qualification is required, but the + total number of senators shall senators must be British subjects + not at any time exceed of the full age of twenty-one years. + seventy-eight, except in the In Queensland the people can + case of the admission of vote in divisions, instead of in + Newfoundland, when the maximum one electorate. + may be eighty-two. Senators + appointed by the crown for life, + but removable for certain + disabilities. They must have + a property qualification and be + of the full age of thirty years. + + Speaker of the senate appointed President of the senate elected + by the governor-general by that body. + (in council). + + Fifteen senators form a quorum One-third of whole number of + until parliament of Canada senators form a quorum until + otherwise provides. parliament of commonwealth + otherwise provides. + Non-attendance for two whole Non-attendance for two consecutive + sessions vacates a senator's seat. months of any session + vacates a senator's seat. + Members of house of commons Every three years. + elected every five years, + or whenever parliament is dissolved + by the governor-general. + + No property qualification, but The same. + must be British subjects of full + age of twenty-one years. + + + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA + The electors for the Dominion Qualification of electors for + commons are the electors of the members of the house of + several provinces, under the representatives is that + limitations of a statute passed prescribed by the law of each + by the Dominion parliament in state for the electors of the + 1878. Qualifications vary, but more numerous house of the + universal suffrage, qualified by parlianment of the state. + residence, generally prevails. + + A fresh apportionment of The same. + representatives to be made after + each census, or not longer than + intervals of ten years. + + Speaker of house of commons The same. + elected by the members of the + house. + + Quorum of house of commons Quorum of house of representatives + --twenty members, of whom the --one-third of the + speaker counts one. whole number of members + until otherwise provided by + parliament. + + No such provision. Member vacates his seat + when absent, without permission, + for two months of a + session. + + No such provision. Parliament to be called together + not later than thirty days + after that appointment for return + of writs. + + Allowance to each member of Allowance of £400 to members + senate and commons $1,000 for of both houses until other + a session of thirty days, and provision is made by parliament. + mileage expenses, 10 cents a + mile going and returning. Not + expressly provided for by + constitution but by statute of + parliament from time to time. + + + + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA. + Canadian statutes disqualify Same classes disqualified in + contractors and certain persons the constitution. + holding office on receiving emoluments + or fees from the crown + while sitting in parliament. + + Each house determines the The constitution has a special + rules, and orders necessary for provision on the subject. + the regulation of its own proceedings; + not in the constitution. + + _Money And Tax Bills_ _Money and Tax Bills_ + The same. Money and tax bills can only + originate in the house of + representatives. + + |Same by practice. The senate can reject, but not + amend, taxation or appropriation + bills. + + Not in Canadian constitution. The senate may return money + and appropriation bills to the + house of representatives, + requesting the omission or + amendment of any provision + therein, but it is optional + for the house to make such + omissions or amendments. + + No such provision. If bills, other than money + bills, + have twice been passed by the + house of representatives and + twice been rejected by the + senate or passed by that body + with amendments to which the + house of representatives will + not agree, the governor-general + may dissolve the two houses + simultaneously; and if, after + the new election + they continue to disagree, + the governor-general may convene + a joint sitting of the members + of the two houses, who shall + deliberate and vote upon the + bill, which can only become + law if passed by an absolute + majority of the members sitting + and voting. + + _Legislative Powers of the _Legislative Powers of the + Parliament of the Dominion_. Parliament of the + Commonwealth_. + + Respective powers of the federal The Legislative powers of the + parliament and provincial federal parliament are alone + legislatures are enumerated and enumerated, and the states + defined in the constitution; the expressly retain all the powers + residuum of power rests with the vested in them by their + central government in relation respective constitutions at the + to all matters not coming within establishment of the + the classes of subjects by the commonwealth as to matters not + British North America act of specified as being within the + 1867 assigned exclusively to the exclusive jurisdiction of the + legislatures. federal parliament. + + _The Provinces._ _The States._ + + Legislatures may alter provincial Constitutions may be altered + constitutions except as under the authority of the + regards the office of lieutenant parliaments thereof. + -governor. + + Lieutenant-governors are appointed The constitution of each state + by the governor-general-in-council, continues (subject to the + and removable by constitution) as at the + him within five years only for establishment of the + cause assigned and communicated commonwealth, or as at the + by message to the two admission or establishment + houses of parliament. of the states, as the case + may be, until altered in + accordance with the + constitution of the + states. In other words, + the powers of the states + over their own constitutions + are preserved. + + Acts of the provincial When a law of the state is + legislatures may be disallowed inconsistent with one of the + by the governor-general-in-council commonwealth, the latter shall, + one year after their receipt. to the extent of such + inconsistency, be invalid. + + Education is within exclusive No special provisions in the + jurisdiction of the provinces, constitution; education being + but with conditions for the one of the subjects exclusively + maintenance and protection of within the powers of the state + rights and privileges of parliaments, under the clause + religious bodies in a province leaving them in possession of + with respect to denominational all powers not expressly given + schools. to the federal parliament. + + The federal parliament can A state shall not impose any + alone impose duties or taxes on taxes or duties upon imports + imports. except such as are necessary + for executing the inspection + laws of a state, but the net + produce of all charges so + levied shall be for use of the, + commonwealth, and such + inspection laws may be annulled + by the parliament of the + commonwealth. + + Similar power. The parliament of the + commonwealth may from time to + time admit new states, and make + laws for the provisional + administration and government + of any territory surrendered by + any state to the commonwealth, + or of any territory placed by + the Queen under the + commonwealth, or otherwise + acquired by the same. + + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA. + + _The Judiciary._ _The Judiciary._ + + The same. The parliament of the + commonwealth can establish a + federal supreme court, called + the High Court of Australia, + and other federal courts for + the commonwealth; the judges + to be appointed by the + governor-general, to hold + office during good behaviour, + No such provision with respect not to be removed except upon + to diminution of salary during an address of both houses of + tenure of office. parliament, but so that the + salary paid to any judge shall + not be diminished during his + continuance in office. + + Similar provisions by statutory The high court can adjudicate + enactments of Dominion in cases arising out of the + parliament. constitution, or controversies + between states, or in which the + commonwealth is a party. + + No such stringent provision Appeals only allowed to + exists in the Canadian Queen-in-council from high court + constitution, but appeals in all on constitutional issues between + civil--though not in commonwealth and any state, + criminal--cases are allowed, by or between two or more states, + virtue of the exercise of the when high court gives leave to + royal prerogative, from appeal. Otherwise, the royal + provincial courts as well as prerogative to grant appeals is + from the supreme court of Canada not impaired. Parliament may, + to the Queen-in-council; however, make laws limiting + _i.e._, in practice, to the such appeals, but they must + judicial committee of the privy be reserved for her Majesty's + council. pleasure. + + + + + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA. + + Judges of the superior and Judges in the states are appointed + county courts in the provinces and removable under existing state + (except those of probate in New constitutions, which the state + Brunswick, Nova Scotia and parliaments can change at will. + Prince Edward Island) are appointed + by the governor-general-in-council, + and removable only + by the same on the address of + the two houses of parliament. + Their salaries and allowances + are fixed by the parliament of + Canada. + + The provinces have jurisdiction Similar powers in the states. + over the administration of + justice in a province, including + the constitution, maintenance, + and organisation of provincial + courts, both of civil and criminal + jurisdiction, and including the + procedure in civil matters in + those courts. + + The enactment and amendment With the states. + of the criminal law rest + with the Dominion parliament. + + The enactment and amendment With the states. + of all laws relating to property + and civil rights rest with + the provinces. + + _Trade and Finance._ _Trade and Finance._ + Customs and excise, trade and The parliament of the commonwealth + commerce, are within exclusive has sole power to + jurisdiction of Dominion parliament. impose uniform duties of customs + and excise, and to grant bounties + upon goods when it thinks it + expedient. As soon as + such duties or customs + are imposed, trade and + intercourse throughout the + commonwealth, whether by + internal carriageor ocean + navigation, is to be free. + + The Dominion government The parliament of the commonwealth + can veto any such unconstitutional may annul any state + law. law interfering with the freedom + of trade or commerce between + the different parts of the + commonwealth, or giving preference + to the ports of one part over + those of another. + + The power of direct taxation Direct taxation may be imposed + is within the jurisdiction of both by the commonwealth + Dominion parliament and provincial and by each state within its own + legislatures, the one for limits--but taxation, when + Dominion and the other solely exercised by the commonwealth, + for provincial purposes. must be uniform. + + Both Dominion and provincial Same is true of commonwealth + governments have unlimited and states. + borrowing power under the authority + of parliament and legislatures. + + Certain money subsidies are Of the net revenue of the + paid annually to the provinces commonwealth from duties of + towards the support of their customs and excise, not more + governments and legislatures. than one-fourth shall be applied + annually by the commonwealth + towards its expenditure. The + balance shall, in accordance + with certain conditions of the + constitution, be paid to the + several states, or applied + towards the payment of + interest on debts of the + several states. This arrangement + is limited to ten years. Financial + aid may be granted to any state + upon such terms as the federal + parliament may deem expedient. + Western Australia may, subject + to certain restrictions, impose + duties on goods imported from + other parts of the commonwealth. + + + No such provision; but the For the administration of the + Dominion parliament and provincial laws relating to interstate trade + legislatures could by the governor-general-in-council + legislation arrange a similar may appoint an interstate + commission. commission. + + Canada is liable for amount of The parliament of the commonwealth + the debts and liabilities of the may consolidate or + provinces existing at the time of take over state debts by general + the union, under the conditions consent, but a state shall + and terms laid down in the indemnify the commonwealth, and + constitution. the amount of interest payable in + respect to a debt shall be + deducted from its share of the + surplus revenue of the + commonwealth. + + _Imperial Control over_ _Imperial Control over_ + _Dominion Legislation._ _Australian Legislation._ + Bills may be reserved by the The same. + governor-general for the Queen's + pleasure, and her Majesty in As the old state constitutions + council may within two years continue in force until amended + after receipt of any Dominion by the state, state legislation is + act disallow the same. still subject to power of + disallowance by Queen in council. + + No such provision. The governor-general may return + any "law" presented to him for + the Queen's assent and suggest + amendments therein, and + the houses may deal with them + as they think fit. + + The recommendation of the The same. + crown is required before initiation + of a money vote in parliament. + + _Amendments to the _Amendments to the + Constitution_. Constitution._ + + By the imperial parliament on Any proposed amendment to + an address of the houses of the the constitution must be first + Dominion parliament to the passed by an absolute majority + Queen. of each house of parliament, + and submitted in each state to + the electors qualified to vote for + members of the house of + representatives. If in majority of + the states a majority of the + electors voting approve the + proposed law, and if a majority + of all the electors + voting also approve the + proposed law, it shall be + presented to the governor-general + for the royal assent. + + +APPENDIX B. + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. + + +I confine these notes to the most accurate and available books and +essays on the history of Canada. + +For the French régime consult.--_Jacques Cartier's Voyages_, by Joseph +Pope (Ottawa, 1889), Charlevoix's _History and General Description of +New France_, translated by J. Gilmary Shea (New York, 1868); _Cours +d'histoire du Canada_, by Abbé Ferland (Quebec, 1861); _Histoire du +Canada_, by F.X. Garneau (4th ed., Montreal, 1882); F. Parkman's series +of admirable histories of the French régime (Boston, 1865--1884), _The +Story of Canada_ (Nations' Series, London, New York and Toronto, 1896), +by J.G. Bourinot, necessarily written in a light vein, is largely +devoted to the days of French rule, and may profitably be read on that +account in connection with this later book, chiefly devoted to British +dominion. + +For the history of Acadia, consult.--_Acadia_, by James Hannay (St. +John, N.B., 1879); _History of Nova Scotia_, by Thomas C. Haliburton +(Halifax, N.S., 1829). A valuable compilation of annals is _A History of +Nova Scotia or Acadie_, by Beamish Murdoch (Halifax, 1867). _Builders of +Nova Scotia_, by J.G. Bourinot (Toronto, and "Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.," +1900), contains many portraits of famous Nova Scotians down to +confederation, and appendices of valuable historical documents. + +_Cape Breton and its Memorials of the French Régime_ ("Trans. Roy. Soc. +Can.," vol. IX, and in separate form, Montreal, 1891) by J.G. Bourinot, +gives a full bibliography of voyages of Northmen, the Cabots, Carrier, +and Champlain, and of the Histories of the Seven Years' War. The same +remarks apply to Winsor's _Narrative and Critical History of America_ +(Boston, 1886--89). The "Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.," since 1894, have +several important papers by Archbishop O'Brien, Dr. S.E. Dawson, and +others on the Cabot discovery. + +British rule, 1760-1900:--Garneau's _History_, already mentioned, gives +the French Canadian view of the political situation from 1760 until +1840; William Kingsford's _History of Canada_ (Toronto, 1887-1898) has a +fairly accurate account of events from 1760 until 1840, in vols. V-X; _A +History of Lower Canada_, by R. Christie, a member of the assembly of +the province (Quebec, 1848-1854) is very useful for copies of public +documents from 1774 until 1840. + +The most important accounts of the U.E. Loyalists of the American +Revolution by writers in the United States are:--L. Sabine's _Loyalists_ +(Boston, 1864), and Tyler's _Literary History of the American +Revolution_ (New York, 1897). Canadian accounts are to be found in +Egerton Ryerson's _Loyalists of America_ (Toronto, 1880)--remarkably +prosaic--and Canniff's _History of Upper Canada_ (Toronto, 1872). +Consult also articles of J.G. Bourinot in the _Quarterly Review_ for +October, 1898, and the _Canadian Magazine_ for April, 1898, in which +names of prominent Canadian descendants of Loyalists are given. + +Kingsford's _History_, vol. VIII, has the best Canadian account of the +War of 1812-15. The most impartial American record of its causes and +progress is Henry Adams's _History of the United States of America_ (New +York, 1860), vols VI and VII. + +Garneau's _History_ gives the most favourable estimate of Papineau and +his party, who brought about the Rebellion in Lower Canada. Kingsford +(vols. IX and X) writes impartially on the risings in the two Canadas. + +Other works to be consulted are:--Lord Durham's _Report on the Affairs +of British North America_ (London, 1839); _Life of W. Lyon Mackenzie_, +by Charles Lindsey, his son-in-law (Toronto, 1863); _The Upper Canadian +Rebellion_, by J. Charles Dent (Toronto, 1885). The _Speeches and +Letters_ of the Hon. Joseph Howe (Boston, 1858) contain the ablest +expositions of the principles of responsible government by its greatest +advocate in British North America. See also Campbell's _History of +Prince Edward Island_ (Charlottetown, 1875). New Brunswick has not a +single good history. _The Life and Times of Sir Leonard Tilley_, by +James Hannay (St. John, N.B. 1897), can be read with advantage. See +Prof. Ganong's valuable essays on the early history of New Brunswick in +"Trans. Roy. Soc. Can," New Series, vols. I--v. Rev. Dr. Withrow's +_History of Canada_ (Toronto, 1888) has chapters on affairs of Prince +Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, to date of publication. + +For the history of Canada since 1840, consult.--_Canada since the Union_ +(1840--1880), by J. Charles Dent (Toronto, 1880--81); _Le Canada sous +l'Union_, by Louis Turcotte (Quebec, 1871); _Memoirs of the Right Hon. +Sir John A. Macdonald_, by Joseph Pope, his private secretary (London +and Ottawa, 1894); _Debates on Confederation_ (Quebec, 1865); +_Confederation_, by Hon. J.H. Gray, M.P., a delegate to the Quebec +Conference (Toronto, 1872). + +For the constitutional development of Canada, consult.--_A Manual_, by +J.G. Bourinot (Montreal, 1888, and included in latest edition of his +_Parliamentary Procedure_, 1891); _How Canada is Governed_, by the same +(Toronto, 1897--1900); _Parliamentary Government in the Colonies_, by +Alpheus Todd (London, 1894); _Documents illustrative of the Canadian +Constitution_, by W. Houston (Toronto, 1891). _Parliamentary Government +in Canada_, by J.G. Bourinot (Amer. Hist. Association, Washington, 1892, +and "Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.," 1892), contains a long list of books +relating to the constitutional history of Canada. Also consult _How +Canada is Governed_ for works on constitutional, legal, municipal and +educational history of the provinces of Canada. + +For Manitoba and the North-west Territories the reader may +consult:--_Manitoba. Its Infancy, Growth and Present Condition_, by Rev. +Prof. Bryce (London, 1882); _History of the North-west_, by A. Begg +(Toronto, 1894); _The Great Company_, by Beckles Wilson (Toronto and +London, 1899); _Reminiscences of the North-west Rebellions_, by Major +Boulton (Toronto, 1886). A remarkable _History of the Hudson's Bay +Company_, by Rev. Prof. Bryce (London, New York and Toronto, 1900). For +British Columbia:--A. Begg's _History_ (Toronto, 1896). + +For the literary progress of Canada, consult:--_The Intellectual +Development of the Canadian People_, by J.G. Bourinot (Toronto, 1881); +_Canada's Intellectual Strength and Weakness_ ("Trans. Roy. Soc. +Canada," vol. XI, also in separate form, Montreal, 1893), by the same, +contains an elaborate list of Canadian literature, French and English, +to date. The 17 volumes of the same Transactions contain numerous +valuable essays on French Canadian literary progress. + +Other valuable books to be consulted are:--_Canada and Newfoundland_ in +Stanford's _Compendium of Geography and Travel_ (London, 1897), by Dr. +S.E. Dawson, F.R.S.C.; _The Statistical Year Book of Canada_, a +government publication issued annually at Ottawa, and edited by Geo. +Johnson, F.S.S.; _The Great Dominion_ (London, 1895), by Dr. G.R. +Parkin, C.M.G., LL.D., the eloquent advocate of imperial federation for +many years, merits careful reading. _Canada and the United States_, in +Papers of the Amer. Hist Assoc. (Washington, July, 1891), and _Canada +and the United States: their Past and Present Relations_, in the +_Quarterly Review_ for April, 1891, both by the present author, have +been largely used in the preparation of the last chapter of this book. + +With respect to the boundaries of Canada and the English colonies during +the days of French dominion, and from 1763 until 1774--_i.e._ from the +Treaty of Paris until the Quebec Act--consult a valuable collection of +early French and English maps, given in _A Report on the Boundaries of +Ontario_ (Toronto, 1873), by Hon. David Mills, now Minister of Justice +in the Laurier government, who was an Ontario commissioner to collect +evidence with respect to the western limits of the province. Consult +also Prof. Hinsdale's _Old North-west_ (New York, 1888); _Epochs of +American History_, edited by Prof. Hart, of Harvard University (London +and Boston, 1893); _Remarks on the French Memorials concerning the +Limits of Acadia_ (London, 1756) by T. Jefferys, who gives maps showing +clearly French and English claims with respect to Nova Scotia or Acadia +"according to its ancient limits" (Treaty of Utrecht). These and other +maps are given in that invaluable compilation, Winsor's _Narrative and +Critical History of America_. See also Mitchell's map of British and +French possessions in North America, issued by the British Board of +Plantations in 1758, and reprinted (in part) in the _Debates on the +Quebec Act_, by Sir H. Cavendish (London, 1839). For text of Treaties of +Utrecht (1612), of Paris (1763), of Quebec Act (1774), and other +treaties and imperial acts relating to Canada, see Houston's +_Documents_, cited above, p. 329. The maps of Canada and the disputed +boundary in Alaska, which I give in this book, are taken from the small +maps issued in 1899 by the Department of the Interior at Ottawa. + +INDEX + + +Abbott, Sir John; prime minister of Canada, 257; death of, ib + +Aberdeen, Earl of; governor-general of Canada, 265-267 + +Aberdeen, Lady, 267 + +Acadia College, N.S., founded, 163 + +_Acadie_ or _La Cadie_; name of, 8; settled by France, 8, 9; ceded to +Great Britain by Treaty of Utrecht (1713), 9; French inhabitants +expelled from, 22, 23 + +Adams, President John; on the U.K. Loyalists, 76 + +Alaskan Boundary, 310-312; map of, 311 + +Alexander, Sir William (Lord Stirling); names Nova Scotia, 11 + +Allan, Sir Hugh; contributes funds to Conservative elections, 236; +results of, 237 + +Allouez, Father; founds mission at La Pointe (Ashland), 17 + +Almon, M, B.; banker and politician of Nova Scotia, 178 + +American Revolution; causes of, 56-65; momentous events of, 63-67; its +effects upon Canada and Maritime Provinces, 67-74, 81 + +Angers, lieutenant-governor; dismisses Mercier ministry in Quebec, 247 + +Anglican Church: first built in Upper Canada, 84 + +Annand, William; Nova Scotian journalist, and first minister of province +after Confederation, 218 + +Annapolis (Port Royal) named, 9 + +Archibald, Sir Adams, delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204; first +lieutenant-governor of Manitoba, 230 + +Architecture in Canada, 288, 289 + +Art in Canada, 288 + +Assiniboia; name of Lord Selkirk's domain in North-west, 225 + +Australia, Commonwealth of; constitution of, 282, 283; comparisons +between Canadian and Australian federal systems, 315-326 (Appendix A) + +Baccalaos, or Newfoundland, 8 + +Bagot, Sir Charles, governor-general of Canada, 169 + +Baldwin, Robert, efforts of, for responsible government, 168, 169; joint +leader with Lafontaine in Reform ministry, 170, 173; admirable character +of, 184 + +Ballot, vote by; established, 239 + +Basques in Canada, 5 + +Batoche, N.W.T.; victory of loyal Canadian forces at, in second +North-west rebellion of 1885, 253 + +Bay of Chaleurs Railway; scandal connected with, 247 + +Bering Sea dispute, 308, 309 + +Bibliographical notes, see App. B + +Bidwell, Marshall Spring; reformer of Upper Canada, 146, 149, 151; +unjust treatment of, by lieutenant-governor Head, 153 + +Big Bear, Indian Chief in N.W.T.; rebels against Canada and is punished, +253-254 + +Bishop's Palace; first parliament house of Lower Canada, 92, 160 + +Blair, Mr.; Canadian statesman, 265 + +Blake, Edward; Canadian statesman, 230, 231, 234, 241, 244, 255 + +Blanchard, Hiram; Nova Scotia, Unionist, defeated in 1867, 218 + +Botsford, Amos; first speaker of assembly of New Brunswick, 88 + +Boucherville, M. de; prime minister of Quebec, 245, 247 + +Bouchette, Joseph, Canadian general and author, 164 + +Boundary disputes; in North-west, 292; in Maine, 296-300; in Oregon, +300-302; in British Columbia (San Juan) 301, 302; in Alaska, 310-312. +See _Maps_ + +Boundary of Ontario settled, 238 + +Bourgeoys, Sister, 34 + +Bowell, Sir Mackenzie; prime minister of Canada, 257 + +Brant, Joseph (Thayendanega), Mohawk Chief, 84; his loyalty to Great +Britain, ib. + +Brébeuf, Jean de, Jesuit martyr, 12 + +Bretons in Canada, 51 + +Briand, Bishop; consecrated after conquest, 43; loyal _mandement_ of, in +1775, 58 + +British American League suggests federal union of provinces, 194 + +British Columbia, province of; its early history, 231, 232; enters +Confederation, 232 + +British North America Act of 1867; passed to unite provinces, 215. See +_Constitution of Canada._ + +Brock, General; services of, during war of 1812-15, 114, 119; death of, +ib. + +Brown, George; Canadian journalist and reformer, suggests federal union, +196; advocates representation by population, 197; assists in bringing +about Confederation, 197; joins the Taché-Macdonald government with +other reformers, 198; leaves the coalition ministry, 217; unsuccessful +mission to Washington to obtain reciprocity, 306; assassination of, 256; +character of, 197, 202 + +Brown, Thomas Storrow; leads Canadian rebels at St. Charles in 1837, 134 + +By, Colonel, founder of Bytown (Ottawa), 158; engineer of Ruleau Canal, +ib. + +Cabot, John; voyages of, to North America, 4, 5 + +Caldwell, Receiver-General; defaulter to government, 126 + +Calvet, Pierre du; opponent of Governor Haldimand, 72; disloyalty of, +72, 73 + +Campbell, Sir Alexander; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 203 + +Campbell, Sir Colin; governor of Nova Scotia, 173; opposes responsible +government, ib. + +Canada, name of, 6; discovery and settlement of, by France, 4-15; French +exploration of, 15-21; conquered by Great Britain, 21-27; political, +economic, and social conditions of, during French rule, 27-36; +beginnings of British rule in, 37-45; influence of Quebec Act of 1774 +upon, 45-48; during American Revolution, 67-74; United Empire Loyalists +settle in, 81-86; political divisions of (in 1792), 91; effects of war +of 1812-15 upon, 110-123; rebellion in, 134-156; social and economic +condition of, in 1838, 156-164; union of, in 1840, 166; responsible +government in, 167-173; social and economic conditions of, in 1866, +185-192; Confederation of, 215, 216; federal constitution of, 273-284, +315-326; first ministry of, under Confederation, 216, first parliament +of, 218, 219; trade and revenue of, in 1899, 273; literature in, +284-287, art in, 288; sculpture in, ib.; architecture in, 288, 289; +education in 289, 290; libraries in, ib.; relations with England and the +United States, 390-314; bibliographical notes of, 327-330; maps of, see +_Maps_ + +Canada's representation at "Diamond Jubilee" (1897), 35, 36, 270, 271 + +Canada Temperance Act. See _Temperance Legislation_ + +Canada and the United States, relations between (1783-1900), 290-313 + +_Canadien, Le_; established in French Canada, 95 + +Canadian Pacific Railway; history of 232, 233, 236, 242, 244 + +Canadian Trade Acts; respecting Upper and Lower Canada, 153 + +Canals of Canada, 273 + +Cape Breton, name of, 5 + +Carignan-Salières regiment settled in Canada 14 + +Carleton, Guy (Lord Dorchester); governor general of Canada, 44; his +just treatment of French Canadians, ib.; his part in framing of the +Quebec Act, 45; saves Canada during American revolution, 67; again +governor-general, 89; his tribute to the U.E. Loyalists, ib. + +Carleton, Colonel John; first governor of New Brunswick, 87 + +Carnarvon, Earl of; introduces British North America Act of 1867 in +British Parliament, 215 + +Caroline steamer; seized by Canadians 295; international complications +respecting 295, 296 + +Caron Father le; French missionary, 16 + +Caron, Sir Adolphe; minister of militia during North-west rebellion of +1885, 252; resists Riel agitation in French Canada, 254 + +Carter, Frederick B.T.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Cartier, Sir George; a father of Confederation, 201; great public +services of, ib.; death of, 233 + +Cartier, Jacques, discovers the St. Lawrence, 6, 7 + +Cartwright, Sir Richard; Canadian statesman, 94, 265 + +Casgrain, Abbé; Canadian author, 284 + +Cathcart, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 171, 172 + +Champlain, Samuel; founds Quebec, 9; career of, in Canada, 9-12, +character of, ib. + +Chandler, Edward Barron delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205; +public career of, 206 + +Chapais, J.C., delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 304 + +Chapleau, Sir Adolphe; resists popular clamour in French Canada for +Riel's pardon after rebellion of 1885, 254 + +Charlesbourg-Royal, 7 + +Charlevoix, Jesuit priest; historian of New France, 19 + +Chartier, Abbé; Canadian rebel of 1837, 135 + +Chartrand, murder of, in Lower Canadian rebellion of 1837, 135 + +Chateauguay, battle of; won by French Canadians, 116, 121 + +Château of St. Louis; founded at Quebec, 31; destroyed by fire, 160 + +Chauveau, Pierre O.J.; his services to education, 192; first prime +minister of Quebec after Confederation, 217 + +Chenier, Dr.; Canadian rebel, 134; monument to, 135 + +Christie, Mr.; expelled from assembly of Lower Canada, 127; + +Chrystler's Farm, battle at; won by British troops in 1813, 116 + +Civil Law of French Canada, 29; established under British rule, 46, 278 + +Clergy Reserves Question; origin of, 141; powerful factor in political +controversy for years, ib.; settled, 186 + +Cockburn, James; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204; first +speaker of commons' house of Dominion parliament, ib. + +Code Napoléon in French Canada, 278 + +Colbert, French minister, 27 + +Colborne, Sir John (Lord Seaforth); represses rebellion in Lower Canada, +134, 138; governor-general of Canada, 138 + +Colebrooke, Sir William; lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, 174 + +Coles, George; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Colonial Conference at Ottawa (1894), 200 + +Commissions, International, affecting Canada; Maine boundary, 296, +Washington (1871), 302, 304-306; Washington (1887), 307, 308, Bering +Sea, 309; joint high commission (Quebec and Washington, 1897-98), +309-313 + +Commonwealth of Australia. See _Australia_ + +Confederation of the British North American provinces; foreshadowed, +194; beginnings of, 195-198; initiated at Quebec Convention of 1864, +199; fathers of, 199-206, consummated, 206-215; birth of Dominion of +Canada, 216; constitution of, 206-209, 273-284; first ministry under, +216; first parliament under, 217; results of, 272, 273 + +Congrégation de Notre-Dame established, 34 + +Constitutional Act of 1791; forms provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, +90, 91; general provisions of, 91, 92 + +Constitution of Canadian Dominion, 273-281; compared with that of +Australian Commonwealth, 282-284, 315, 326 (App. A) + +Cornwallis, Colonel, founds Halifax, 49 + +Corrupt elections: measures to restrain and punish, 239 + +Cortereal, Gaspar and Miguel; voyages of, to North America, 5 + +_Coureurs-de-bois,_ 17, 18 + +_Coutume de Paris_ established in French Canada, 29 + +Craig, Sir James; governor-general of Canada, 96; quarrels of, with +leading French Canadians, character of, 96, 97 + +Crémazie, Canadian poet, 192 + +Crozier, Superintendent; defeated by half-breeds in North-west rebellion +of 1885, 252 + +Cut Knife Greek, N.W.T.; Colonel Otter engages Indians at, in North-west +rebellion of 1885, 253 + +Dalhousie College, Nova Scotia; founded, 163 + +Dalhousie, Lord, governor-general of Canada; quarrel of, with Papineau, +129 + +Daly, Sir Dominick; first minister of Canada under Lord Metcalfe, 170 + +Davies, Sir Louis; Canadian statesman, 265 + +Davies, English navigator; voyages of, to Canada, 7 + +Dawson, Sir William; Canadian scientist, 192, 286 + +Dickey, R.B.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 305 + +Dochet Island (St. Croix River); first settlement of French on, 8 + +Dominion of Canada; origin of name, 215; established, 215, 216; first +ministry of, 216; first parliament of, 217; completed from Atlantic to +Pacific, 227, 232, 234; history of, from 1873-1900, 236-272; map of, _at +end._ + +Dorchester, Lord; see _Carleton, Sir Guy_ + +Douglas, Sir James; governor of British Columbia, 232 + +Drew, Captain; seizes steamer Caroline on U.S. frontier, 154. See +_Caroline._ + +Drummond, Attorney-General; member of MacNab-Morin ministry, 186 + +Drummond, Dr., Canadian poet, 285 + +Drummond, General, services of, during war of 1812-15, 116, 117, 122 + +Duck Lake, N.W.T., defeat of government forces at, in Canadian rebellion +of 1885, 252 + +Dumont Gabriel; takes part in Riel's North-west revolt of 1885, 252, 253 + +Dufferin, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 241, 243, 267 + +Durham, Earl of; high commissioner to Canada after rebellion of 1837, +136; his humanity and justice, 137; returns from Canada when rebuked in +England, ib., his report on Canadian affairs, 165 + +Durham Terrace, constructed, 160 + +Education in Canada; state of, under French rule, 33, 34, in 1838, 162, +163; after union of 1840, 192; present condition of, 290; contributions +by government and people, ib. + +Elgin, Lord; governor-general of Canada, character of, 172, 173; +established responsible government, 173; action of, on Rebellion Losses +Bill in 1849, 188, 189 + +Falkland, Lord; governor of Nova Scotia, 176; quarrels with Joseph Howe +and Liberal party, 177-179; returns to England, 179 + +Family Compact in Upper Canada; meaning of, 141; controls government, +ib. + +Fenian raids; in 1866, 213; in 1870-71, 230, 231, Canada never +indemnified for, 305 + +Ferland, French Canadian historian, 192 + +Fielding, Mr., finance minister of Canada, 265, his budget of 1897, 209 + +Fish Creek, N.W.T.; General Middleton checked at, in engagement with +rebels of 1885, 253 + +Fisher, Charles; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205 + +Fishery question between Canada and the United States, 293, 302, 304, +307, 308 + +Fitzgibbon, Lieutenant; successful strategy of, at Beaver Dams in 1813, +116 + +Franchise Act of Dominion, passed, 255, repealed, 268 + +Frechétte, French Canadian poet, 285 + +Free Trade policy of England; its early effects upon Canada, 172, 187, +189 + +French Acadians See _Neutrals_ + +French Canada; during French regime (1534-1760), 4-37; under military +government after conquest by Great Britain, 37, 38; desire of British +government to do justice to, 44, 45, provisions of Quebec Act affecting, +45, 48; political struggles and rebellion in, 124-138; influence of +Union Act of 1840 upon, 170, 187; brought into confederation, 216; +results of union upon, 273; literature in, 284, 285 + +French exploration in great valleys of North America, 15-21 + +French language; use of, restricted by Union Act of 1840, 187; +restriction removed, ib. + +Frobisher, English navigator; voyages of, to Canada, 8 + +Frog Lake, massacre at, in North-west rebellion of 1885, 252 + +Frontenac, Count de (Louis de La Buade); French governor of Canada, 13; +eminent services of, ib. + +Galloway, Thomas; his scheme for readjusting relations between Great +Britain and her old Colonies, 79 + +Galt, Sir Alexander; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 20; public +services of, ib. + +Garneau, French Canadian historian, 192 + +German and Belgian Treaties; denunciation of, 261, 271 + +Gilbert, Sir Humphrey; takes possession of Newfoundland, 8 + +Glenelg, Lord; colonial secretary in 1838, 137 + +Gordon, Lt.-Governor; promotes federal union in New Brunswick, 212 + +Gosford, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 132, 134 + +Gourlay, Robert; misfortunes of, as a reformer in Upper Canada, 143-145 + +Grasett, Colonel; assists in repressing North-west rebellion of 1885, +253 + +Gray, Colonel; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Gray, John Hamilton, delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205 + +Grey, Earl; colonial secretary, 172 + + +Haldimand, general; governor-general of Canada, 71, 72 + +Haliburton, Judge, author of _Sam Sack_, etc., 164 + +Halifax, founded, 49 + +Harvey, Colonel; victory of, at Stoney Creek in 1813, 116. See _Harvey, +Sir John._ + +Harvey, Sir John; governor of Nova Scotia, of New Brunswick, establishes +responsible government in the maritime provinces. See _Harvey, Colonel._ + +Haviland, Thomas Heath; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206; +public career of, ib. + +Head, Sir Francis Bond; lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, 148; his +unjust treatment of reformers, 149-151; his rashness before rebellion, +152; represses rebellion, 153 + +Henry, William A.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204 + +Hincks, Sir Francis; Canadian statesman, melancholy death of, 233 + +Historian of Canada, 192, 284 + +Hochelaga (Montreal); Indian village of, visited by Jacques Cartier, 6 + +Howe, Joseph; father of responsible government in Nova Scotia, 175, 176; +his quarrel with Lord Falkland, 176-179; ability of, 183, 184; advocate +of imperial federation, 195; opposes confederation from 1864-1868, 212, +219; his reasons for receding from his hostile position, 219; enters the +Macdonald ministry, 220; lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, ib; sudden +death of, ib; orator, poet, and statesman, 220, 221 + +Howland, Sir William P.; delegate to Westminster Palace Conference of +1866-67, 214; lieutenant-governor of Ontario, 217 + +Hudson's Bay Company; its great territorial privileges, 231-324; its +claims purchased by the Canadian government, 227; map illustrating its +charter, 222 + +Hull, General; defeat of, by Brock at Detroit, 114 + +Hundred Associates, Company of; established in Canada, 10 + +"Hunter's Lodges"; formed in United States to invade Canada, 154 + +Huntington, Lucius Seth; makes charges against Sir John Macdonald, 236 + +Huron Indians; massacre of, by the Iroquois, 12 + +Hutchinson, Governor Thomas (of Massachusetts); on relations between +Great Britain and her old Colonies, 98 + +Iberville, founder of Louisiana, 19 + +Immigration to Canada, 78, 79 + +Independence of old Thirteen Colonies acknowledged, by Great Britain, 74 + +Indians; British treatment of, 41,42; Canadian relations with, 238, 239 + +Intellectual culture in Canada; under French rule, 35; under British +rule, 164, 192, 284, 285 + +Intercolonial Railway; history of, 191, 215, 219 + +Iroquois Indians; ferocity of, 10-13 + +Jameson, Miss Anna, her "Winter Studies and Summer Rambles" in Upper +Canada in 1838, 157-159 + +Jesuit College at Quebec, 34 + +Jesuits' Estates, Act; political controversies respecting, 248 + +Jesuits in Canada, 11, 12; their estates confiscated by the British +government, 38; restored in part, 248 + +Johnson, John; delegate to the Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Johnston, James William; public career of, 175; eminence of, 185; early +advocate of confederation, 194, 195 + +Joliet, Louis; discovers the Mississippi, 18 + +Journalism in Canada, 164, 287 + +Judiciary, independence of; political contests for, 128, 139 + +Keewatin, district of; established provisionally, 238 + +Kent, Duke of; commander of British forces in Canada, 193; gives name to +P.E. Island, 53; letter to, from Chief Justice B.C. Sewell on union of +provinces, 194 + +King, George E.; prime minister of New Brunswick after Confederation, +218 + +King's University, Nova Scotia; founded, 163 + +Kingsford, Dr.; Canadian historian, 284 + +Kingston, city of; first parliament of Canada meets at, in 1841, 167 + +Kirk, David; captures Quebec, 10, 11 + +Labrador, discovery of, 5; origin of name of, 7 + +Lafontaine-Baldwin Ministry, 170, 173; its successful administration of +Canadian affairs, 173 + +Lafontaine, Sir Louis Hippolyte; Canadian statesman and jurist, 170, +173, 184 + +La Gallissonière, French governor of Canada, 35 + +Lake of Woods, international boundary at, 292, 293; map of, 293 + +Lalemant, Gabriel; Jesuit martyr, 12 + +Land question; in Upper Canada, 143; in Prince Edward Island, 54, 234 + +Langevin, Sir Hector; Canadian statesman, delegate to Quebec Convention +of 1864, 205; charges against, 258 + +Lansdowne, Marquess of; governor-general of Canada, 207 + +Lartigue, Bishop; _mandement_ of, against French Canadian rebels, 135, +136 + +La Salle, Sieur de (Réné Robert Cavelier); at Lachine, 18; descends the +Mississippi, 18, 19; assassination of, 19 + +Laurier government; formation of, 265; measures of, 268-272 + +Laurier, Rt Hon. Sir Wilfrid; prime minister of Canada, 265; settles +Manitoba school question, 266 267; represents Canada at celebration of +"Diamond Jubilee" (1897), 36, 270; his action on Canadian aid to England +in South African War, 372; his mastery of English, 267 + +Laval, Bishop; first Roman Catholic Bishop of Canada, 12; establishes +tithes, 29 + +Laval University, Quebec, 290 + +La Valmière, a disloyal priest, 72 + +Lawrence, Governor; expels French Acadians from Nova Scotia, 23; +encourages New England emigration, 51; opens first assembly in Halifax, +53 + +Lepine, Canadian rebel; punished, 241; his sentence commuted, _ib_. + +Letellier de Saint-Just; lieutenant-governor of Quebec, 246; dismissed, +246, 247 + +Lévis, General; defeats Murray at St. Foye, 26 + +Liberal or Reform party; formed in Nova Scotia, 99; in Upper Canada, 141 + +Liberal Convention in Ottawa (1893), 259 + +Libraries in Canada, 290 + +Lisgar, Lord, governor-general of Canada, 267 + +Literature in Canada, during French régime, 35; before union of 1840, +164; after union, 192; since Confederation, 284-287 + +Londonderry in Nova Scotia; origin of name of, 51, 52 + +Lome, Marquess of; governor-general of Canada, 244; His services to Art, +Science, and Literature, 267 + +Louisiana, named by La Salle, 19 + +Louis XIV establishes royal government in Canada, 12, 27, 28 + +Lount, Samuel; Upper Canadian rebel of 1837, 148, 152-153; executed, 155 + +Loyalists. See _United Empire Loyalists_ + +Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canada; usefulness of, during war +of 1819-15, 121 + +Lundy's Lane, battle of; won by British in 1814, 117, 120 + +Lymburner, Adam; opposes separation of Upper from Lower Canada, 90 + +Macdonald, Andrew Archibald; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Macdonald, Baroness (of Earnscliffe), 257 + +Macdonald, Colonel George; at Ogdensburg in 1813, 115; at Chateauguay, +121 + +Macdonald, John Sanfield; first prime minister of Ontario after +Confederation, 217 + +Macdonald, Rt. Hon. Sir John; enters public life, 173; member of +government, ib.; settles Clergy Reserves question, 186; takes lead in +establishing Confederation, 198, 199, 209; first prime minister of the +Dominion, 216; resigns under unfortunate circumstances, 236; initiates +the "National Policy" of Conservative party, 243; prime minister again, +ib.; death of, 256; great ability, and patriotism of, 200, 256; mourned +by all Canada, 257; monuments and tributes to his memory, ib. + +Macdonell; Colonel John; first speaker of assembly of Upper Canada in +1792, 94 + +Macdonell, Vicar-General; first Roman Catholic Bishop of Upper Canada, +120 + +Mackenzie, Alexander; prime minister of Canada, 237; character of, ib., +243; his administration of public affairs (1873-78), 238-242; death of, +257 + +Mackenzie, Sir Alexander; North-west explorer, 224 + +Mackenzie, William Lyon; journalist and reformer, 146; enters Upper +Canada legislature, 146; unjustly expelled, ib., first mayor of Toronto, +147; indiscretions of, ib.; moves for committee of grievances, 148, its +report, ib.; defeat of, at elections of 1836, 150, resorts to rebellion, +152; defeat of, at Montgomery's and flight from Canada, 153; on Navy +Island, 154; imprisoned in the United States, ib.; returns from exile, +182, exercises no influence in Canadian politics, ib.; poverty and death +of, ib.; character of, 182, 183 + +MacLeod, international dispute respecting, 295 + +MacNab, Sir Allan; leads loyal "Men of Gore" against Canadian rebels in +1837, 153; orders seizure of steamer Caroline on. U.S. frontier, 154; +prime minister of Canada, 186 + +Maine Boundary Dispute, 292, 296-300; map of, 296 + +Maisonneuve, Sieur de (Paul de Chomedey); founds Montreal, 12 + +Manitoba, first visited by French, 20; province of, established, 230 + +Manitoba school question, 262-265, 266, 267 + +Maps relating to Canada; of French, Spanish and British possessions in +North America in 1756-1761, _at end_; of British possessions in +1763-1775, at end; of boundary established in 1783 between Canada and +the United States, 75; of Hudson's Bay Co.'s territory, 222; of +North-west boundary in 1842, 293; of North-eastern boundary in 1842, +297; of Alaskan disputed boundary, 311; of the Dominion of Canada in +1900, at end. + +Marquette, Father, founds mission of Sainte-Maria, 17; discovers the +Mississippi, 18; death of, _ib_.; + +Marriage laws in early Canada, 97 + +Masères, Attorney-general, 43 + +Matthews, Peter; Upper Canadian rebel, 148, 151, 153; executed, 155 + +McCully, Jonathan; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205 + +McDougall, William, delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 203; +provisional lieutenant-governor of N.W.T., 227; Half-breed rebellion +prevents him assuming office, ib.; disappears from public life, 230 + +McGee, Thomas D'Arcy; historian and orator, delegate to Quebec +Convention of 1864, 203; his political career in Canada, ib.; +assassinated, 221 + +McGill University, Montreal; founded, 163 + +McGreevy, Thomas, impeached for serious misdemeanors, 258; punishment +of, ib. + +McLane, executed for treason in 1793, 101, 102 + +McLure, General (United States General); burns Niagara in 1814, 116 + +Mercier, Honoré, prime minister of Quebec, 247; dismissed, ib. + +Merritt, W. Hamilton; originator of Welland Canal, 159 + +Metcalfe, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 170; antagonism of, to +responsible government, 171; retirement and death of, ib. + +_Métis_ or Half-breeds of the Canadian North-west, 225, 228, 249 + +Middleton, Major-general; commands Canadian forces on Riel's revolt of +1885 in North-west, 252-254 + +Military rule in Canada after 1760, 37, 38 + +Mills, David; Canadian statesman, 206 + +Minto, Earl of; governor-general of Canada, 268 + +Mitchell, Peter; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205; public +career of, ib. + +Mohawks, members of the Iroquois confederacy, 10; humbled by the Marquis +de Tracy, 13. See _Brant Joseph, Iroquois._ + +Monk, Lord; governor-general of Canada at Confederation, 216, 267 + +Montcalm, Marquis de; loses battle on Plains of Abraham, 26; death of +ib. + +Montgomery, Brigadier-General; invades Canada, 69, 70; death of, at +Quebec, 70 + +Montreal founded, 12 + +Monts, Sieur de; founder of French _Acadie_, 8 + +Monts-Déserts named by Champlain, 9 + +Mowat, Sir Oliver; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1804, 203; public +career of, 203, 265, 266 + +Municipal system of Canada; established, 185, 186; nature of, 278 + +Murray, General; in command at Quebec, 26; defeat of, at St. Foye, ib.; +governor-general of Canada, 42; his just treatment of French +Canadians, 43 + +Mutual or reciprocal preferential trade between Canada and England; +advocacy of, 260, 271 + +_Nation Canadienne, La_; Papineau's dream of, 130, 133, 134 + +"National Policy," or Protective system; established by Conservative +party (1879), 243, 244 + +Navigation Laws repealed, 187 + +Navy Island, see _Mackenzie, William Lyon_ + +Neilson, John; Canadian journalist and politician, 127, 131 + +Nelson, Robert; Canadian rebel of 1837-38, 138 + +Nelson, Dr. Wolfred; leader in Lower Canadian rebellion of 1837, 134 + +Neutrality of the Great Lakes, 294, 295 + +"Neutrals," on French Acadians; expulsion of from Nova Scotia, 22, 23 + +Newark (Niagara), meeting of first Upper Canadian legislature at, 93; +seat of government removed from, to York, 101 + +New Brunswick; originally part of Acadie and Nova Scotia, 53; province +of founded by Loyalists, 83; capital ib.; state of, in 1838, 162; +political struggle for self-government in, 173, 174; takes part in +Quebec Convention, 198, 205; brought into Confederation, 215, 216; +boundary dispute with Maine, 296-300 + +New Brunswick school question, 201, 2O2 + +New Brunswick University; founded at Fredericton, 163 + +New Caledonia; old name of British Columbia, 232 + +Newfoundland; delegates from, to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206; refuses +to join the Dominion, 235 + +Niagara, see _Newark_ + +Nicholson, General; captures Port Royal, 9 + +Norse voyages to Canada, 4 + +North-eastern Boundary question, 296-299; map of Boundary, 1842, 297 + +North-west Company; rival of the Hudson's Bay Company in North America, +224, 225 + +North-west Boundary dispute, 292, 293; map of, 293 + +North-west Territories, early history of, 221-227; annexation of, to +Canada, 227, 230; first rebellion in, 227-230; government of, 277; +second rebellion in, 249-255; districts of, 277 + +Nova Scotia (Acadie); first settled by France, 8, 9; foundation of Port +Royal (Annapolis), 8; ceded to Great Britain by Treaty of Utrecht, 9; +population of, at conquest, 15; first called Nova Scotia, 11; Halifax +founded, 49; settlement by colonists of New England, 50, 51; +expatriation of the Acadian French, 22, 23, 50, 51; population of, in +1767, 51; Irish immigration, ib.; Scotch immigration, 52; early +government of, 52, 53, included New Brunswick, C. Breton, and St. John's +Island (Pr. Edward I), 53; early courts of justice, 55; coming of +Loyalists to, 82; state of in 1837-38, 162, political struggles in, for +self-government, 174-180; take part in Quebec Convention of 1864, 198, +204; brought into Confederation, 215; people opposed to, 212, 218, 219; +repeal movement gradually ceases in, 233 + +Novelists, Canadian, 164, 285, 286 + +O'Callaghan, Dr.; Canadian journalist and rebel, 130 + +O'Donohue, Canadian rebel, 231; amnesty to, 241 + +Ohio Valley, French in, 23 + +Oregon Boundary, dispute respecting, 300-302 + +Osgoode, Chief Justice; first speaker of legislative council of Upper +Canada in 1792, 94 + +Ottawa, city of; founded, 158 + +Pacific Cable; action of Canadian government with respect to, 271 + +Palmer, Edward; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Panet, Joseph Antoine; first speaker of assembly of Lower Canada in +1792, 93 + +Papineau, Louis J.; leader of French Canadian malcontents in rebellion +of 1837, 129-134; conduct of, on outbreak of rebellion, 134, 135; return +of, from exile, 181; opposes responsible government, ib.; loses +political influence, ib.; character of, 180-182 + +Pardon, prerogative of; instructions respecting exercise of, 241 + +Parishes established in French Canada, 29 + +Parker, Gilbert; Canadian novelist, 286 + +Parr Town, first name of St. John, New Brunswick, 83 + +Perry, Peter; founder of Upper Canadian Reform party, 141, 146, 150 + +Pictou Academy, Nova Scotia; founded, 163 + +Pitt, the elder (Lord Chatham); gives Canada to Great Britain, 25, 35, +36 + +Pitt, William (the younger); introduces Act separating Upper from Lower +Canada (Constitutional Act of 1791), 90, 91 + +Plains of Abraham; Wolfe's victory on, 26 + +Plattsburg, battle of, pusillanimity of General Prevost at, 117 + +Plessis, Bishop (Roman Catholic); patriotism of, in war of 1812-15, 120 + +Poets in Canada, 192, 284, 285 + +Pontiac's Conspiracy, 39 + +Pope, William H., delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Portuguese discovery in Canada, 5 + +Post Office in Canada; under British management, 164; transferred to +Canada, 187 + +Poundmaker, Indian chief in North-west; rebels against Canadian +government, 253; punished, 254 + +Poutrincourt, Baron de; founder of Port Royal, 8 + +Powell, Chief Justice, his unjust treatment of Robert Gourlay, 145 + +Preferential trade with Great Britain, 200, 201, 269, 271 + +Prevost, Sir George (governor-general of Canada), retires from Sackett's +Harbour 1813, 115; retreats from Plattsburg in 1814, 117; character of, +113 + +Prince, Colonel; orders execution of American raiders in 1838, 155 + +Prince Edward Island. See _St. John's Island_ + +Prince of Wales visits Canada, 193 + + +Princess Louise, arrives in Canada with the Marquess of Lome, 244; her +support of Art, 288 + +Proclamation of 1764; for government of Canada, 40-42 + +Procter, General, defeats General Winchester in 1813, 115; beaten at +Moraviantown in 1813, 116 + +Prohibitory Liquor Law; agitation for, 340; popular vote on, ib. + +Protestantism unknown in French Canada, 28 + +Provincial governments established under Confederation, 217, 218 + +Provinces, constitution of, under Confederation, 275, 276 + +Puritan migration to Nova Scotia, 50 + +Put-in Bay (Lake Erie); British fleet defeated at, in 1813, 116 + +Quebec Act; origin of, 44, 45, its provisions, 45-47; how received in +Canada, 46; unpopularity of, in old British colonies, 67 + +Quebec, Convention of, 1864; delegates to, 199-206; passes resolutions +in favour of federal union, 206-209 + +Quebec founded, 9 + +Queenston Heights; battle of, in 1812, 114 + +Railways in Canada; in 1865, 191, in 1899, 273. See _Intercolonial R. +Canadian Pacific R._ + +Rebellion in Lower Canada; its origin, 124-133; Louis J. Papineau's part +in, 129-134; outbreak of, 134; prompt action of authorities against, +ib.; Dr. Nelson wins success at St. Denis, ib.; defeat of Brown at St. +Charles, ib.; flight of Papineau and rebel leaders, ib.; fight at St. +Eustache and death of Chenier, ib.; murder of Weir and Chartrand, 135; +collapse of the rebellion of 1837, 135, 136; loyal action of Bishop +Lartigue, 135; arrival of Lord Durham as British high-commissioner and +governor-general, 136; his career in Canada, 137-138; Sir John Colborne; +governor-general, 139; second outbreak of rebellion, 1838, ib.; promptly +subdued, ib.; punishment of prominent insurgents, ib.; action of United +States government during, 139; social and economic condition of Canada +during, 159-162; remedial policy of British government, and new era of +political development. See _Responsible Government in Canada._ + +Rebellion in Upper Canada; effect of family compact on, 140, 141; of +clergy reserves on, 141, 142; influence of Archdeacon, afterwards +Bishop, Strachan in public affairs, 142; unjust treatment of Robert +Gourlay, 143-145; persecution of William Lyon Mackenzie, 146-148; other +prominent actors in, 148; indiscretions of the lieutenant-governor, Sir +Francis Bond Head, 149-152; outbreak and repression of, 152, 153; flight +of Mackenzie and other rebel leaders, 153; Mackenzie's seizure of Navy +Island, 154; affair of the Caroline, ib.; filibustering expeditions +against Canada from United States in 1838, 154, 155; prompt execution of +filibusters by Colonel Prince, 155; action of U.S. authorities during, +ib.; execution of Von Schoultz, Lount, Matthews, and other rebels, ib.; +Sir George Arthur, harshness of, ib.; social and economic conditions of +Upper Canada at time of, 156-159; rebellion leads to the enlargement of +political privileges of people, See _Responsible Government in Canada._ + +Rebellion Losses Bill (of 1849); its nature, 188; assented to by Lord +Elgin, 189; consequent rioting and burning of parliament house at +Montreal, 189, Lord Elgin's life in danger, ib.; his wise constitutional +action, ib. Rebellions in North-west: See _North-western Territories, +_and _Riel, Louis._ + +Reciprocity of Trade between Canada and the United States; treaty of +1814, 190, 191; repeal of the same, 303; efforts to renew it, 304, 307; +Canadians not now so favourable to, 310 + +Recollets, or Franciscans, in Canada, 11 + +Redistribution Acts of 1882 and 1897; measures to amend, rejected by +Senate, 268 + +Representative institutions in Canada; established in Nova Scotia, 53; +in New Brunswick, 88; in French or Lower Canada (Quebec), 91; in Upper +Canada (Ontario), ib.; in Prince Edward Island, 54; in Manitoba, 230; in +British Columbia, 232 + +Responsible government in Canada; beginnings of, 165-175; consummated +by Lord Elgin, 173; struggle for, in New Brunswick, 173, 174; in Nova +Scotia, 174-180; in Prince Edward Island, 180; prominent advocates of, +183-185; results of (1841-1867), 185-192 + +Revenue of Canada in 1899, 273 + +Riall, General; defeated by United States troops at Street's Creek in +1814, 117 + +Richardson, Major; Canadian author, 164 + +Richelieu, Cardinal; his effort to colonise Canada, 10 + +Rideau Canal, constructed, 158 + +Riel, Louis; leads revolt of French half-breeds in North-west, 228; +murders Ross, 229; flies from the country, ib; elected to and expelled +from the Canadian Commons, 241; reappears in North-west, and leads +second revolt, 249-253; captured and executed, 253, 254; political +complications concerning, 240, 254 + +Roberval, Sieur de (Jean François de la Rocque); attempts to settle +Canada, 7 + +Robinson, Chief Justice; public career of, in Upper Canada, 145 + +Rocque, Jean François de la. See _Roberval_ + +Roebuck, Mr.; Canadian agent in England, 131 + +Rolph, Dr.; his part in Canadian rebellion of 1837, 151-153; character +of, 183 + +Roman Catholic Church in Canada, 28, 29, 43, 46, 47 + +Rose, Sir John, effort of, to obtain reciprocity with United States, 304 + +Rosebery, Earl of, unveils Sir John Macdonald's bust in St. Paul's +Cathedral, 256 + +Rouse's Point, boundary at, 302 + +Royal Society of Canada, 286 + +Rupert's Land; origin of name of, 224. See _North-west Territories of +Canada_. + +Russell, Administrator, 101 + +Russell, Lord John; introduces resolutions respecting Canada in British +parliament in 1836, 132; also Act reuniting the Canadas in 1840, 166; +lays basis of responsible government in Canada, 167. See _Responsible +Government in Canada_. + +Ryerson, Rev. Egerton; Loyalist, Methodist, and educationalist, 141, +147, 192 + +Sainte-Geneviève (Pillage Bay); named St. Laurens by Jacques Carrier, 7 + +Salaberry, Colonel de; defeats United States troops at Chateauguay, 121 + +Sanderson, Robert; first speaker of assembly of Nova Scotia, 53 + +San Juan Island; international dispute respecting, 301, 302 + +Sarrasin, Dr., French Canadian scientist, 35 + +Saskatchewan River (Poskoiac), discovery of, 20 + +Sculpture in Canada, 288 + +Seaforth, Lord. See _Colborne, Sir John_ + +Secord, Laura; heroic exploit of, in 1814, 120 + +Seigniorial tenure in French Canada, 14, 32; abolished under British +rule, 186 + +Selkirk, Lord; attempts to colonise North-west, 225; death of, _ib._ + +Seven Years' War; between France and Great Britain in America, 21-27 + +Sewell, Chief Justice (Loyalist); adviser of Sir James Craig, 96; +suggests union of provinces, 194 + +Shea, Ambrose; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Sheaffe, General; services of, during war of 1812-15, 114 + +Shelburne, in Nova Scotia, founded by Loyalists, 82 + +Sherbrooke, Sir John, governor of Nova Scotia, 118; occupies Maine in +war of 1812-15, ib. + +Shirley, Governor; deep interest of, in Nova Scotia, 49 + +Simcoe, Colonel; first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, 93; public +career of, 94 + +Simultaneous polling at elections established, 239 + +Slavery in Canada, 98 + +Smith, Chief Justice (Loyalist); first president of legislative council +of Lower Canada in 1792, 92; suggests federal union of provinces, 194 + +Smith, Donald (Lord Strathcona); intervenes in North-west rebellion of +1870, 229 + +Social and economic conditions of the Canadian provinces; in 1838, +156-164; in 1866, 189-192; in 1900, 272-290 + +South African War; Canadians take part in, 271, 272 + +Square Gulf, or "golfo quadrado"; old name of St. Lawrence Gulf, 7 + +St. Charles; defeat of Canadian rebels in 1837 at, 134 + +St. Denis; Canadian rebels repulsed by British regulars in 1837 at, 134 + +St. Eustache; stand of Canadian rebels at, 134; death of Chenier, ib. + +St. John, New Brunswick; founded, 83 + +St. John's, Island; named Prince Edward, 53; under government of Nova +Scotia, _ib_.; survey of, ib.; separated from Nova Scotia, 54; public +lands of, granted by lottery, ib.; political struggles in, for +self-government, 180, 185; takes part in Quebec Convention of 1864, 206; +enters Confederation, 234; settlement of its land question, ib. + +St. Lawrence, River and Gulf of; origin of name of, 7 + +St. Lusson, Sieur; takes possession of the Sault, 18 + +St. Maurice forges founded, 30 + +Stadacona (Quebec), Indian village of, visited by Jacques Cartier, 6 + +Stanley, Lord, governor-general of Canada, 267 + +Steeves, William H.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Strachan, Bishop (Anglican); patriotism of, during war of 1812-15, 121; +his influence in Upper Canadian politics, 142 + +Strange, Lt.-Col.; engaged in repressing North-west rebellion of 1885, +253 + +Stuart, Andrew; prominent Canadian lawyer and politician, 127, 131 + +Sulpitians in Canada, 37 + +Superior Council of French Canada. See _Supreme Council_ + +Supreme Council, established by Louis XIV in French Canada, 28, 29 + + +Supreme Court, established in Canada, 239 + +Sydenham, Lord (Poulett Thomson); governor-general of Canada, 166; +carries out scheme of uniting the Canadas in 1840, 167; opinions of, on +responsible government, 168; death of, 169 + +Taché, Sir Etienne Paschal; chairman of Quebec Convention of 1864, 199; +character of, ib. + +Talbot, Colonel, pioneer in Upper Canada, 157 + +Talon, Intendant, 13 + +Taite, Israel; accuses McGreevy of grave misdemeanours, 258; member of +Laurier ministry, 206 + +Temperance Legislation; "Scott Act" passed, 239; _plèbiscite_ on +Prohibition, 240 + +Thompson, Sir John; prime minister of Canada, 257; sudden death of, +ib; great ability of, ib. + +Thomson, Poulett. See _Sydenham, Lord_ + +Tilley, Sir Leonard; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205; public +career of, ib.; introduces scheme of "National Policy," 244 + +Timber trade in Canada, in early time, 162 + +Tithes established in French Canada, 29 + +Todd, Dr.; Constitutional writer, 286 + +Tonge, William Cottnam Tonge; Nova Scotian Liberal, 99; his controversy +with Governor Wentworth, ib. + +Trade of Canada in 1899, 273 + +Treaties, international, affecting Canada; of St. Germain-en-Laye +(1632), 11; of Utrecht (1713), 9, 21, 22; of Paris (1763), 38; of +Versailles, 292; of Ghent, 293; of 1818, 294; Ashburton (1842), 299; +Oregon (1846), 301; reciprocity (1854), 303; of Washington (1871), 305, +306; Bering Sea, 308, 309, Anglo-Russian (Alaska), 310-312 + +Treaties with Indian tribes of Canada, 41, 238 + +Trutch, Sir Joseph; first lieutenant-governor of British Columbia under +Confederation, 232 + +Tupper, Sir Charles; prime minister of Nova Scotia, 192; services of, to +education, ib.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204; introduces +legislation for construction of Canadian Pacific Railway, 244; high +commissioner of Canada in London, 258; re-enters political life, ib.; +action of, on Manitoba school question, 264; prime minister of Canada, +265; defeat of, at general elections of 1896, ib; difference with Lord +Aberdeen, when governor-general, ib.; remarkable ability of, 204, 258; +leader of Liberal Conservative party from 1896-1900, 258; policy of, on +"preferential trade" with Great Britain, 271 + +Tyler, Professor, on U.E. Loyalists, 76 + +Uniacke, James Boyle; Nova Scotian statesman, 175; advocate of +responsible government, 176; first minister of Nova Scotia, 180 + +Union of the Canadas in 1840, 166, 167 + +United Empire Loyalists; number of, during American Revolution, 76; +justice done to, ib.; opinions of, on issues of revolution, 77, 78; +suffering of, during revolution, 79; treatment of, after the peace of +1783, 80; compensation to, by British government, 81; settle in British +America, ib; privations of, in Nova Scotia, 80; founders of New +Brunswick, 83; of Upper Canada, 84; eminent descent of, 86; Canada's +debt to, ib origin of name of, 89; representatives of, in first +legislature of New Brunswick, 87, 88; of Upper Canada, 94; services of, +during war of 1812-15, 188-120 + +Universities in Canada, 163, 289 + +University of Toronto, beginning of, 164 + +Upper Canada, founded by Loyalists, 84; first districts of, 89, 94; made +separate province, 91, first government of, 93; Newark, first capital +of, ib.; York (Toronto), second capital of, 94; rebellion in, see +_Rebellion in Upper Canada_; state of, in 1838, 159; reunited with Lower +Canada, 166; joins Confederation as Ontario, 216 + +Upper Canada College, Toronto, founded, 163 + +Ursulines at Quebec, 34 + +Vancouver Island; history of, 231, 232 + +Verendrye, Sieur de la (Pierre Gauthier de Varennes); discovers +Manitoba and North-west of Canada, 19, 20 + +Verrazzano, Giovanni di; voyages of, to North America, 5 + +Victoria College, Upper Canada, founded, 164 + +Vincent, General; services of, in war of 1812-15, 115 + +Von Schoultz; leads filibusters into Canada, 155; executed, ib. + + +War of 1812-15; origin of, 103-110; population of Canada and United +States during, 110-112; loyalty of Canadian people during, 113; services +of General Brock during, 114; campaign of 1812 in Upper Canada, 114, +115; of 1813, 115, 116; of 1814, 117; maritime provinces during, 117, +118, close of, 118; services of Loyalists during, 118-120; Laura Secord, +heroism of, 120; description of striking incidents of battles during, +121-123 + +Washington, George; eminent character of, 66 + +Washington Treaty of 1871, 304, 305 + +Weir, Lieutenant, murder of, in Lower Canadian rebellion of 1837, 135 + +Welland Canal commenced, 159; completed, 190 + +Wentworth, Sir John; Loyalist governor of Nova Scotia, 99 + +Westminster Palace Conference in London; Canadian delegates arrange +final terms of federation at, 214, 215 + +Wetmore, Attorney-general; first minister of New Brunswick after +Confederation, 218 + +Whelan, Edward; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +White, Thomas; Canadian journalist and statesman, 256; sudden death of, +ib. + +William IV visits Canada as Prince William Henry, 193 + +Williams, Lt.-Col.; death of, in North-west rebellion of 1885, 254 + +Williams, Sir Fenwick ("hero of Kars"); lieutenant-governor of Nova +Scotia, 213, 217 + +Wilmot, Lemuel A.; father of responsible government in New Brunswick, +174, 185; lieutenant-governor of the province, 217 + +Wolfe, General; at Quebec, 25; his bold ascent of heights, 25, 26; wins +battle on Plains of Abraham, 26; death of, 26; a maker of Canada, 35 + +York (Toronto) made capital of Upper Canada, 101 + +Young, Sir William; Nova Scotian statesman and jurist, 185 + +Yukon, district of; gold discovery in, 209; administration of, ib, 277; +boundaries of, 310-312 + +[Illustration: (map) FRANCE, SPAIN, AND ENGLAND, IN NORTH AMERICA, +1756-1760.] + +[Illustration: OUTLINE MAP OF ENGLISH POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA, +1763-1775.] + +[Illustration: MAP OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA ILLUSTRATING THE BOUNDARIES +OF PROVINCES AND PROVISIONAL DISTRICTS] + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CANADA UNDER BRITISH RULE +1760-1900*** + + +******* This file should be named 12661-8.txt or 12661-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/6/6/12661 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/old/12661-8.zip b/old/12661-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8cd5562 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12661-8.zip diff --git a/old/12661.txt b/old/12661.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dc0f886 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12661.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12321 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Canada under British Rule 1760-1900, by John +G. Bourinot + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Canada under British Rule 1760-1900 + +Author: John G. Bourinot + +Release Date: June 19, 2004 [eBook #12661] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CANADA UNDER BRITISH RULE +1760-1900*** + + +E-text prepared by Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders from images +provided by the Million Book Project + + + +CANADA UNDER BRITISH RULE 1760-1900 + +BY + +SIR JOHN G. BOURINOT, K.C.M.G., LL.D., LITT.D. + +Author of 'Parliamentary Procedure and Practice', 'Constitutional +History of Canada,' 'The Story of Canada,' etc + +WITH EIGHT MAPS + +1900 + + + + +CAMBRIDGE HISTORICAL SERIES + +EDITED BY G. W. PROTHERO, LITT.D., LL.D. + +Honorary Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and Late Professor of +History in the University of Edinburgh. + + + + + + + +GENERAL PREFACE. + +The aim of this series is to sketch the history of Modern Europe, with +that of its chief colonies and conquests, from about the end of the +fifteenth century down to the present time. In one or two cases the +story commences at an earlier date: in the case of the colonies it +generally begins later. The histories of the different countries are +described, as a rule, separately, for it is believed that, except in +epochs like that of the French Revolution and Napoleon I, the connection +of events will thus be better understood and the continuity of +historical development more clearly displayed. + +The series is intended for the use of all persons anxious to understand +the nature of existing political conditions. "The roots of the present +lie deep in the past"; and the real significance of contemporary events +cannot be grasped unless the historical causes which have led to them +are known. The plan adopted makes it possible to treat the history of +the last four centuries in considerable detail, and to embody the most +important results of modern research. It is hoped therefore that the +series will be useful not only to beginners but to students who have +already acquired some general knowledge of European History. For those +who wish to carry their studies further, the bibliography appended to +each volume will act as a guide to original sources of information and +works more detailed and authoritative. + +Considerable attention is paid to political geography, and each volume +is furnished with such maps and plans as may be requisite for the +illustration of the text. + +G.W. PROTHERO. + + + + +PREFACE. + +I devote the first chapter of this short history to a brief review of +the colonisation of the valley of the St. Lawrence by the French, and of +their political and social conditions at the Conquest, so that a reader +may be able to compare their weak and impoverished state under the +repressive dominion of France with the prosperous and influential +position they eventually attained under the liberal methods of British +rule. In the succeeding chapters I have dwelt on those important events +which have had the largest influence on the political development of the +several provinces as British possessions. + +We have, first, the Quebec Act, which gave permanent guarantees for the +establishment of the Church of Rome and the maintenance of the language +and civil law of France in her old colony. Next, we read of the coming +of the United Empire Loyalists, and the consequent establishment of +British institutions on a stable basis of loyal devotion to the parent +state. Then ensued the war of 1812, to bind the provinces more closely +to Great Britain, and create that national spirit which is the natural +outcome of patriotic endeavour and individual self-sacrifice. Then +followed for several decades a persistent popular struggle for larger +political liberty, which was not successful until British statesmen +awoke at last from their indifference, on the outbreak of a rebellion in +the Canadas, and recognised the necessity of adopting a more liberal +policy towards their North American dependencies. The union of the +Canadas was succeeded by the concession of responsible government and +the complete acknowledgment of the rights of the colonists to manage +their provincial affairs without the constant interference of British +officials. With this extension of political privileges, the people +became still more ambitious, and established a confederation, which has +not only had the effect of supplying a remarkable stimulus to their +political, social and material development, but has given greater +security to British interests on the continent of North America. At +particular points of the historical narrative I have dwelt for a space +on economic, social, and intellectual conditions, so that the reader may +intelligently follow every phase to the development of the people from +the close of the French regime to the beginning of the twentieth century +In my summary of the most important political events for the last +twenty-five years, I have avoided all comment on matters which are "as +yet"--to quote the language of the epilogue to Mr. Green's "Short +History"--"too near to us to admit of a cool and purely historical +treatment." The closing chapter is a short review of the relations +between Canada and the United States since the treaty of 1783--so +conducive to international disputes concerning boundaries and fishing +rights--until the present time, when the Alaskan and other international +controversies are demanding adjustment. + +I have thought, too, that it would be useful to students of political +institutions to give in the appendix comparisons between the leading +provisions of the federal systems of the Dominion of Canada and the +Commonwealth of Australia. I must add that, in the revision of the +historical narrative, I have been much aided by the judicious criticism +and apt suggestions of the Editor of the Series, Dr. Prothero. + +HOUSE OF COMMONS, OTTAWA, CANADA. 1st October, 1900 + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE FRENCH REGIME (1534--1760) + +Section 1. Introduction + +Section 2. Discovery and Settlement of Canada by France + +Section 3. French exploration in the valleys of North America + +Section 4. End of French Dominion in the valley of the St. Lawrence + +Section 5. Political, Economic, and Social Conditions of Canada + during French Rule + + +CHAPTER II. + +BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH RULE (1749--1774) + +Section 1. From the Conquest until the Quebec Act + +Section 2. The Foundation of Nova Scotia (1749--1783) + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS (1763--1784) + +Section 1. The successful Revolution of the Thirteen Colonies in America + +Section 2. Canada and Nova Scotia during the Revolution. + +Section 3. The United Empire Loyalists + + +CHAPTER IV. + +DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS (1784-1812) + +Section 1. Beginnings of the Provinces of New Brunswick, Lower Canada +and Upper Canada. + +Section 2. Twenty years of Political Development. (1792-1812) + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE WAR OF 1812-1815 + +Section 1. Origin of the war between Great Britain and the United States + +Section 2. Canada during the War + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE EVOLUTION OF RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT (1815-1839) + +Section 1. The Rebellion in Lower Canada + +Section 2. The Rebellion in Upper Canada + +Section 3. Social and Economic Conditions of the Provinces in 1838 + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A NEW ERA OF COLONIAL GOVERNMENT (1839-1867) + +Section 1. The Union of the Canadas and the establishment of Responsible +Government + +Section 2. Results of Self-government from 1841 to 1864 + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE EVOLUTION OF CONFEDERATION (1789-1867) + +Section 1. The beginnings of Confederation + +Section 2. The Quebec Convention of 1864 + +Section 3. Confederation accomplished + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CONFEDERATION (1867--1900) + +Section 1. The First Parliament of the Dominion of Canada (1867--1873) + +Section 2. Extension of the Dominion from the Atlantic to the Pacific + Ocean (1869--1873) + +Section 3. Summary of Noteworthy Events from 1873 until 1900 + +Section 4. Political and Social Conditions of Canada under Confederation + + +CHAPTER X. + +CANADA'S RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES AND HER INFLUENCE IN IMPERIAL +COUNCILS (1783--1900) + +APPENDIX A: COMPARISONS BETWEEN CONSTITUTIONS OF THE CANADIAN DOMINION +AND AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH. + +APPENDIX B: BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES + +INDEX + +PLANS AND MAPS. + +Map showing Boundary between Canada and the United States by Treaty of +1783. + +Map of British America to illustrate the Charter of the Hudson's Bay +Company. + +International Boundary as finally established in 1842 at Lake of the +Woods. + +Map of the North-Eastern Boundary as established in 1842. + +Map of British Columbia and Yukon District showing disputed Boundary +between Canada and the United States. + +France, Spain, and Great Britain, in North America, 1756--1760. + +Outline map of British Possessions in North America, 1763--1775. + +Map of the Dominion of Canada illustrating the boundaries of Provinces +and Provisional Districts. + +A SHORT HISTORY OF CANADA UNDER BRITISH RULE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE FRENCH REGIME. 1534--1760. + + +SECTION I.--Introduction. + +Though the principal object of this book is to review the political, +economic and social progress of the provinces of Canada under British +rule, yet it would be necessarily imperfect, and even unintelligible in +certain important respects, were I to ignore the deeply interesting +history of the sixteen hundred thousand French Canadians, about thirty +per cent of the total population of the Dominion. To apply to Canada an +aphorism of Carlyle, "The present is the living sum-total of the whole +past"; the sum-total not simply of the hundred and thirty years that +have elapsed since the commencement of British dominion, but primarily +of the century and a half that began with the coming of Champlain to the +heights of Quebec and ended with the death of Wolfe on the Plains of +Abraham. The soldiers and sailors, the missionaries and pioneers of +France, speak to us in eloquent tones, whether we linger in summer time +on the shores of the noble gulf which washes the eastern portals of +Canada; whether we ascend the St. Lawrence River and follow the route +taken by the explorers, who discovered the great lakes, and gave to the +world a knowledge of the West and the Mississippi, whether we walk on +the grassy mounds that recall the ruins of the formidable fortress of +Louisbourg, which once defended the eastern entrance to the St. +Lawrence; whether we linger on the rocks of the ancient city of Quebec +with its many memorials of the French regime; whether we travel over the +rich prairies with their sluggish, tortuous rivers, and memories of the +French Canadians who first found their way to that illimitable region. +In fact, Canada has a rich heritage of associations that connect us with +some of the most momentous epochs of the world's history. The victories +of Louisbourg and Quebec belong to the same series of brilliant events +that recall the famous names of Chatham, Clive, and Wolfe, and that gave +to England a mighty empire in Asia and America. Wolfe's signal victory +on the heights of the ancient capital was the prelude to the great drama +of the American revolution. Freed from the fear of France, the people of +the Thirteen Colonies, so long hemmed in between the Atlantic Ocean and +the Appalachian range, found full expression for their love of local +self-government when England asserted her imperial supremacy. After a +struggle of a few years they succeeded in laying the foundation of the +remarkable federal republic, which now embraces forty-five states with a +population of already seventy-five millions of souls, which owes its +national stability and prosperity to the energy and enterprise of the +Anglo-Norman race and the dominant influence of the common law, and the +parliamentary institutions of England. At the same time, the American +Revolution had an immediate and powerful effect upon the future of the +communities that still remained in the possession of England after the +acknowledgement of the independence of her old colonies. It drove to +Canada a large body of men and women, who remained faithful to the crown +and empire and became founders of provinces which are now comprised in a +Dominion extending for over three thousand miles to the north and east +of the federal republic. + +The short review of the French regime, with which I am about to +commence this history of Canada, will not give any evidence of +political, economic, or intellectual development under the influence of +French dominion, but it is interesting to the student of comparative +politics on account of the comparisons which it enables us to make +between the absolutism of old France which crushed every semblance of +independent thought and action, and the political freedom which has been +a consequence of the supremacy of England in the province once occupied +by her ancient rival. It is quite true, as Professor Freeman has said, +that in Canada, which is pre-eminently English in the development of its +political institutions, French Canada is still "a distinct and visible +element, which is not English,--an element older than anything English +in the land,--and which shows no sign of being likely to be assimilated +by anything English." As this book will show, though a hundred and forty +years have nearly passed since the signing of the treaty of Paris, many +of the institutions which the French Canadians inherited from France +have become permanently established in the country, and we see +constantly in the various political systems given to Canada from time to +time--notably in the constitution of the federal union--the impress of +these institutions and the influence of the people of the French +section. Still, while the French Canadians by their adherence to their +language, civil law and religion are decidedly "a distinct and visible +element which is not English"--an element kept apart from the English by +positive legal and constitutional guarantees or barriers of +separation,--we shall see that it is the influence and operation of +English institutions, which have made their province one of the most +contented communities of the world. While their old institutions are +inseparably associated with the social and spiritual conditions of their +daily lives, it is after all their political constitution, which derives +its strength from English, principles, that has made the French +Canadians a free, self-governing people and developed the best elements +of their character to a degree which was never possible under the +depressing and enfeebling conditions of the French regime. + + +SECTION 2.--Discovery and settlement of Canada by France. + +Much learning has been devoted to the elucidation of the Icelandic +Sagas, or vague accounts of voyages which Bjorne Heriulfson and Lief +Ericsson, sons of the first Norse settlers of Greenland, are supposed to +have made at the end of the tenth century, to the eastern parts of what +is now British North America, and, in the opinion of some writers, even +as far as the shores of New England. It is just possible that such +voyages were made, and that Norsemen were the first Europeans who saw +the eastern shores of Canada. It is quite certain, however, that no +permanent settlements were made by the Norsemen in any part of these +countries; and their voyages do not appear to have been known to +Columbus or other maritime adventurers of later times, when the veil of +mystery was at last lifted from the western limits of what was so long +truly described as the "sea of darkness." While the subject is +undoubtedly full of interest, it is at the same time as illusive as the +_fata morgana_, or the lakes and rivers that are created by the mists of +a summer's eve on the great prairies of the Canadian west. + +Five centuries later than the Norse voyagers, there appeared on the +great field of western exploration an Italian sailor, Giovanni Caboto, +through whose agency England took the first step in the direction of +that remarkable maritime enterprise which, in later centuries, was to be +the admiration and envy of all other nations. John Cabot was a Genoese +by birth and a Venetian citizen by adoption, who came during the last +decade of the fifteenth century, to the historic town of Bristol. +Eventually he obtain from Henry VII letters-patent, granting to himself +and his three sons, Louis, Sebastian, and Sancio, the right, "at their +own cost and charges, to seek out and discover unknown lands," and to +acquire for England the dominion over the countries they might discover. +Early in May, 1497, John Cabot sailed from Bristol in "The Matthew," +manned by English sailors. In all probability he was accompanied by +Sebastian, then about 21 years of age, who, in later times, through the +credulity of his friends and his own garrulity and vanity, took that +place in the estimation of the world which his father now rightly fills. +Some time toward the end of June, they made a land-fall on the +north-eastern coast of North America. The actual site of the land-fall +will always be a matter of controversy unless some document is found +among musty archives of Europe to solve the question to the satisfaction +of the disputants, who wax hot over the claims of a point near Cape +Chidley on the coast of Labrador, of Bonavista, on the east shore of +Newfoundland, of Cape North, or some other point, on the island of Cape +Breton. Another expedition left Bristol in 1498, but while it is now +generally believed that Cabot coasted the shores of North America from +Labrador or Cape Breton as far as Cape Hatteras, we have no details of +this famous voyage, and are even ignorant of the date when the fleet +returned to England. + +The Portuguese, Gaspar and Miguel Cortereal, in the beginning of the +sixteenth century, were lost somewhere on the coast of Labrador or +Newfoundland, but not before they gave to their country a claim to new +lands. The Basques and Bretons, always noted for their love of the sea, +frequented the same prolific waters and some of the latter gave a name +to the picturesque island of Cape Breton. Giovanni da Verrazzano, a +Florentine by birth, who had for years led a roving life on the sea, +sailed in 1524 along the coasts of Nova Scotia and the present United +States and gave a shadowy claim of first discovery of a great region to +France under whose authority he sailed. Ten years later Jacques Cartier +of St. Malo was authorised by Francis I to undertake a voyage to these +new lands, but he did not venture beyond the Gulf of St. Lawrence, +though he took possession of the picturesque Gaspe peninsula in the name +of his royal master. In 1535 he made a second voyage, whose results were +most important for France and the world at large. The great river of +Canada was then discovered by the enterprising Breton, who established a +post for some months at Stadacona, now Quebec, and also visited the +Indian village of Hochelaga on the island of Montreal. Here he gave the +appropriate name of Mount Royal to the beautiful height which dominates +the picturesque country where enterprise has, in the course of +centuries, built a noble city. Hochelaga was probably inhabited by +Indians of the Huron-Iroquois family, who appear, from the best evidence +before us, to have been dwelling at that time on the banks of the St. +Lawrence, whilst the Algonquins, who took their place in later times, +were living to the north of the river. + +The name of Canada--obviously the Huron-Iroquois word for Kannata, a +town--began to take a place on the maps soon after Cartier's voyages. It +appears from his _Bref Recit_ to have been applied at the time of his +visit, to a kingdom, or district, extending from Ile-aux-Coudres, which +he named on account of its hazel-nuts, on the lower St. Lawrence, to the +Kingdom of Ochelay, west of Stadacona; east of Canada was Saguenay, and +west of Ochelay was Hochelaga, to which the other communities were +tributary. After a winter of much misery Cartier left Stadacona in the +spring of 1536, and sailed into the Atlantic by the passage between Cape +Breton and Newfoundland, now appropriately called Cabot's Straits on +modern maps. He gave to France a positive claim to a great region, whose +illimitable wealth and possibilities were never fully appreciated by the +king and the people of France even in the later times of her dominion. +Francis, in 1540, gave a commission to Jean Francois de la Roque, Sieur +de Roberval, to act as his viceroy and lieutenant-general in the +country discovered by Cartier, who was elevated to the position of +captain general and master pilot of the new expedition. As the Viceroy +was unable to complete his arrangements by 1541, Cartier was obliged to +sail in advance, and again passed a winter on the St. Lawrence, not at +Stadacona but at Cap Rouge, a few miles to the west, where he built a +post which he named Charlesbourg-Royal. He appears to have returned to +France some time during the summer of 1542, while Roberval was on his +way to the St. Lawrence. Roberval found his way without his master pilot +to Charlesbourg-Royal, which he renamed France-Roy, and where he erected +buildings of a very substantial character in the hope of establishing a +permanent settlement. His selection of colonists--chiefly taken from +jails and purlieus of towns--was most unhappy, and after a bitter +experience he returned to France, probably in the autumn of 1543, and +disappeared from Canadian history. + +From the date of Cartier's last voyage until the beginning of the +seventeenth century, a period of nearly sixty years, nothing was done to +settle the lands of the new continent. Fishermen alone continued to +frequent the great gulf, which was called for years the "Square gulf" or +"Golfo quadrado," or "Quarre," on some European maps, until it assumed, +by the end of the sixteenth century, the name it now bears. The name +Saint-Laurens was first given by Cartier to the harbour known as +Sainte-Genevieve (or sometimes Pillage Bay), on the northern shore of +Canada, and gradually extended to the gulf and river. The name of +Labrador, which was soon established on all maps, had its origin in the +fact that Gaspar Cortereal brought back with him a number of natives who +were considered to be "admirably calculated for labour." + +In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the English began to take a prominent +part in that maritime enterprise which was to lead to such remarkable +results in the course of three centuries. The names of the ambitious +navigators, Frobisher and Davis, are connected with those arctic waters +where so much money, energy, and heroism have been expended down to the +present time. Under the influence of the great Ralegh, whose fertile +imagination was conceiving plans of colonization in America, Sir +Humphrey Gilbert, his brother-in-law, took possession of Newfoundland on +a hill overlooking the harbour of St. John's. English enterprise, +however, did not extend for many years to any other part of North +Eastern America than Newfoundland, which is styled Baccalaos on the +Hakluyt map of 1597, though the present name appeared from a very early +date in English statutes and records. The island, however, for a century +and longer, was practically little more than "a great ship moored near +the banks during the fishing season, for the convenience of English +fishermen," while English colonizing enterprise found a deeper interest +in Virginia with its more favourable climate and southern products. It +was England's great rival, France, that was the pioneer at the beginning +of the seventeenth century in the work of exploring, and settling the +countries now comprised within the Dominion of Canada. + +France first attempted to settle the indefinite region, long known as +_La Cadie_ or _Acadie_[1]. The Sieur de Monts, Samuel Champlain, and the +Baron de Poutrincourt were the pioneers in the exploration of this +country. Their first post was erected on Dochet Island, within the mouth +of the St. Croix River, the present boundary between the state of Maine +and the province of New Brunswick; but this spot was very soon found +unsuitable, and the hopes of the pioneers were immediately turned +towards the beautiful basin, which was first named Port Royal by +Champlain. The Baron de Poutrincourt obtained a grant of land around +this basin, and determined to make his home in so beautiful a spot. De +Monts, whose charter was revoked in 1607, gave up the project of +colonizing Acadia, whose history from that time is associated for years +with the misfortunes of the Biencourts, the family name of Baron de +Poutrincourt; but the hopes of this adventurous nobleman were never +realized. In 1613 an English expedition from Virginia, under the command +of Captain Argall, destroyed the struggling settlement at Fort Royal, +and also prevented the establishment of a Jesuit mission on the island +of Monts-Deserts, which owes its name to Champlain. Acadia had +henceforth a checquered history, chiefly noted for feuds between rival +French leaders and for the efforts of the people of New England to +obtain possession of Acadia. Port Royal was captured in 1710 by General +Nicholson, at the head of an expedition composed of an English fleet and +the militia of New England. Then it received the name of Annapolis Royal +in honour of Queen Anne, and was formally ceded with all of Acadia +"according to its ancient limits" to England by the treaty of Utrecht. + +[1: This name is now generally admitted to belong to the language of the +Micmac Indians of the Atlantic provinces. It means a place, or locality, +and is always associated with another word descriptive of some special +natural production; for instance, Shubenacadie, or Segubunakade, is the +place where the ground-nut, or Indian potato, grows. We find the first +official mention of the word in the commission given by Henry IV of +France to the Sieur de Monts in 1604.] + +It was not in Acadia, but in the valley of the St. Lawrence, that France +made her great effort to establish her dominion in North America. Samuel +Champlain, the most famous man in the history of French Canada, laid the +foundation of the present city of Quebec in the month of June, 1608, or +three years after the removal of the little Acadian colony from St. +Croix Island to the basin of the Annapolis. The name Quebec is now +generally admitted to be an adaptation of an Indian word, meaning a +contraction of the river or strait, a distinguishing feature of the St. +Lawrence at this important point. The first buildings were constructed +by Champlain on a relatively level piece of ground, now occupied by a +market-house and close to a famous old church erected in the days of +Frontenac, in commemoration of the victorious repulse of the New England +expedition led by Phipps. For twenty-seven years Champlain struggled +against constantly accumulating difficulties to establish a colony on +the St. Lawrence. He won the confidence of the Algonquin and Huron tubes +of Canada, who then lived on the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers, and in +the vicinity of Georgian Bay. Recognizing the necessity of an alliance +with the Canadian Indians, who controlled all the principal avenues to +the great fur-bearing regions, he led two expeditions, composed of +Frenchmen, Hurons, and Algonquins, against the Iroquois or Confederacy +of the Five Nations[2]--the Mohawks, the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, +and Senecas--who inhabited the fertile country stretching from the +Genesee to the Hudson River in the present state of New York. Champlain +consequently excited against his own people the inveterate hostility of +the bravest, cruellest and ablest Indians with whom Europeans have ever +come in contact in America. Champlain probably had no other alternative +open to him than to become the active ally of the Canadian Indians, on +whose goodwill and friendship he was forced to rely; but it is also +quite probable that he altogether underrated the ability and bravery of +the Iroquois who, in later years, so often threatened the security of +Canada, and more than once brought the infant colony to the very verge +of ruin. + +[2: In 1715 the confederacy was joined by the Tuscaroras, a southern +branch of the same family, and was then called more properly the Six +Nations.] + +It was during Champlain's administration of affairs that the Company of +the Hundred Associates was formed under the auspices of Cardinal +Richelieu, with the express object of colonizing Canada and developing +the fur-trade and other commercial enterprises on as large a scale as +possible. The Company had ill-fortune from the outset. The first +expedition it sent to the St. Lawrence was captured by a fleet commanded +by David Kirk, a gentleman of Derbyshire, who in the following year also +took Quebec, and carried Champlain and his followers to England. The +English were already attempting settlements on the shores of +Massachusetts Bay; and the poet and courtier, Sir William Alexander, +afterwards known as the Earl of Stirling, obtained from the King of +England all French Acadia, which he named Nova Scotia and offered to +settlers in baronial giants. A Scotch colony was actually established +for a short time at Port Royal under the auspices of Alexander, but in +1632, by the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, both Acadia and Canada were +restored to France. Champlain returned to Quebec, but the Company of the +Hundred Associates had been severely crippled by the ill-luck which +attended its first venture, and was able to do very little for the +struggling colony during the three remaining years of Champlain's life. + +The Recollets or Franciscans, who had first come to the country in 1615, +now disappeared, and the Jesuits assumed full control in the wide field +of effort that Canada offered to the missionary. The Jesuits had, in +fact, made their appearance in Canada as early as 1625, or fourteen +years after two priests of their order, Ennemond Masse and Pierre Biard, +had gone to Acadia to labour among the Micmacs or Souriquois. During the +greater part of the seventeenth century, intrepid Jesuit priests are +associated with some of the most heroic incidents of Canadian history. + +When Champlain died, on Christmas-day, 1635, the French population of +Canada did not exceed 150 souls, all dependent on the fur-trade. Canada +so far showed none of the elements of prosperity; it was not a colony +of settlers but of fur-traders. Still Champlain, by his indomitable +will, gave to France a footing in America which she was to retain for a +century and a quarter after his death. His courage amid the difficulties +that surrounded him, his fidelity to his church and country, his ability +to understand the Indian character, his pure unselfishness, are among +the remarkable qualities of a man who stands foremost among the pioneers +of European civilization in America. + +From the day of Champlain's death until the arrival of the Marquis de +Tracy, in 1665, Canada was often in a most dangerous and pitiable +position. That period of thirty years was, however, also distinguished +by the foundation of those great religious communities which have always +exercised such an important influence upon the conditions of life +throughout French Canada. In 1652 Montreal was founded under the name of +Ville-Marie by Paul Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, and a number of +other religious enthusiasts. In 1659, the Abbe de Montigny, better known +to Canadians as Monseigneur de Laval, the first Roman Catholic bishop, +arrived in the colony and assumed charge of ecclesiastical affairs under +the titular name of Bishop of Petraea. Probably no single man has ever +exercised such powerful and lasting influence on Canadian institutions +as that famous divine. Possessed of great tenacity of purpose, most +ascetic in his habits, regardless of all worldly considerations, always +working for the welfare and extension of his church, Bishop Laval was +eminently fitted to give it that predominance in civil as well as +religious affairs which it so long possessed in Canada. + +While the Church of Rome was perfecting its organization throughout +Canada, the Iroquois were constantly making raids upon the unprotected +settlements, especially in the vicinity of Montreal. The Hurons in the +Georgian Bay district were eventually driven from their comfortable +villages, and now the only remnants of a powerful nation are to be found +in the community of mixed blood at Lorette, near Quebec, or on the +banks of the Detroit River, where they are known as Wyandots. The Jesuit +mission of Sainte-Marie in their country was broken up, and Jean de +Brebeuf and Gabriel Lalemant suffered torture and death. + +Such was the pitiable condition of things in 1663, when Louis XIV made +of Canada a royal government. At this time the total population of the +province did not exceed 2500 souls, grouped chiefly in and around +Quebec, Three Rivers and Montreal. In 1665 the Marquis de Tracy and +Governor de Courcelles, with a brilliant retinue of officers and a +regiment of soldiers, arrived in the colony, and brought with them +conditions of peace and prosperity. A small stream of immigration flowed +steadily into the country for some years, as a result of the new policy +adopted by the French government. The Mohawks, the most daring and +dangerous nation of the Iroquois confederacy, were humbled by Tracy in +1667, and forced to sue for peace. Under the influence of Talon, the +ablest intendant who ever administered Canadian affairs, the country +enjoyed a moderate degree of prosperity, although trade continued +entirely dependent on the orders and regulations of the King and his +officials. + +Among the ablest governors of Canada was undoubtedly Louis de la Buade, +Count de Frontenac, who administered public affairs from 1672-1687 and +from 1689-1698. He was certainly impatient, choleric and selfish +whenever his pecuniary interests were concerned; but, despite his faults +of character, he was a brave soldier, dignified and courteous on +important occasions, a close student of the character of the Indians, +always ready when the necessity arose to adapt himself to their foibles +and at the same time able to win their confidence. He found Canada weak, +and left it a power in the affairs of America. He infused his own +never-failing confidence into the hearts of the struggling colonists on +the St. Lawrence, repulsed Sir William Phipps and his New England +expedition when they attacked Quebec in 1690, wisely erected a fort on +Lake Ontario as a fur-trading post and a bulwark against the Iroquois, +encouraged the fur-trade, and stimulated exploration in the west and in +the valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi. The settlements of New +England trembled at his name, and its annals contain many a painful +story of the misery inflicted by his cruel bands of Frenchmen and +Indians. + +Despite all the efforts of the French government for some years, the +total immigration from 1663 until 1713, when the great war between +France and the Grand Alliance came to an end by the treaty of Utrecht, +did not exceed 6000 souls, and the whole population of the province in +that year was only 20,000, a small number for a century of colonization. +For some years after the formation of the royal government, a large +number of marriageable women were brought to the country under the +auspices of the religious communities, and marriages and births were +encouraged by exhortations and bounties. A considerable number of the +officers and soldiers of the Carignan-Salieres regiment, who followed +the Marquis de Tracy into Canada, were induced to remain and settle new +seigniories, chiefly in palisaded villages in the Richelieu district for +purposes of defence against Iroquois expeditions. Despite all the +paternal efforts of the government to stimulate the growth of a large +population, the natural increase was small during the seventeenth +century. The disturbing influence, no doubt, was the fur-trade, which +allured so many young men into the wilderness, made them unfit for a +steady life, and destroyed their domestic habits. The emigrants from +France came chiefly from Anjou, Saintonge, Paris and its suburbs, +Normandy, Poitou, Beauce, Perche, and Picardy. The Carignan-Salieres +regiment brought men from all parts of the parent state. It does not +appear that any number of persons ever came from Brittany. The larger +proportion of the settlers were natives of the north-western provinces +of France, especially from Perche and Normandy, and formed an excellent +stock on which to build up a thrifty, moral people. The seigniorial +tenure of French Canada was an adaptation of the feudal system of France +to the conditions of a new country, and was calculated in some respects +to stimulate settlement. Ambitious persons of limited means were able to +form a class of colonial _noblesse_. But unless the seignior cleared a +certain portion of his grant within a limited time, he would forfeit it +all. The conditions by which the _censitaires_ or tenants of the +seigniorial domain held their grants of land were by no means +burdensome, but they signified a dependency of tenure inconsistent with +the free nature of American life. A large portion of the best lands of +French Canada were granted under this seigniorial system to men whose +names frequently occur in the records of the colony down to the present +day: Rimouski, Bic and Metis, Kamouraska, Nicolet, Vercheres, +Lotbiniere, Berthier, Beloeil, Rouville, Juliette, Terrebonne, +Champlain, Sillery, Beaupre, Bellechasse, Portneuf, Chambly, Sorel, +Longueuil, Boucherville, Chateauguay, Lachine, are memorials of the +seigniorial grants of the seventeenth century. + +The whole population of the Acadian Peninsula in 1710-13, was not more +than 1500 souls, nearly all descendants of the people brought to the +country by Poutrincourt and his successors Razilly and Charnisay. At no +time did the French government interest itself in immigration to +neglected Acadia. Of the total population, nearly 1000 persons were +settled in the beautiful country which the industry and ingenuity of the +Acadian peasants, in the course of many years, reclaimed from the +restless tides of the Bay of Fundy at Grand Pre and Minas. The remaining +settlements were at Beau Bassin, Annapolis, Piziquit (now Windsor), +Cobequit (now Truro), and Cape Sable. Some small settlements were also +founded on the banks of the St. John River and on the eastern bays of +the present province of New Brunswick. + + +SECTION 3.--French exploration in the great valleys of North America. + +The hope of finding a short route to the rich lands of Asia by the St. +Lawrence River and its tributary lakes and streams, influenced French +voyagers and explorers well into the middle of the eighteenth century. +When Cartier stood on Mount Royal and saw the waters of the Ottawa there +must have flashed across his mind the thought that perhaps by this river +would be found that passage to the western sea of which he and other +sailors often dreamed both in earlier and later times. L'Escarbot tells +us that Champlain in his western explorations always hoped to reach Asia +by a Canadian route. He was able, however, long before his death to +make valuable contributions to the geography of Canada. He was the first +Frenchman to ascend the River of the Iroquois, now the Richelieu, and to +see the beautiful lake which still bears his name. In 1615 he found his +way to Georgian Bay by the route of the Ottawa and Mattawa Rivers, Lake +Nipissing and French River. Here he visited the Huron villages which +were situated in the district now known as Simcoe county in the province +of Ontario. Father le Caron, a Recollet, had preceded the French +explorer, and was performing missionary duties among the Indians, who +probably numbered 20,000 in all. This brave priest was the pioneer of an +army of faithful missionaries--mostly of a different order--who lived +for years among the Indians, suffered torture and death, and connected +their names not only with the martyrs of their faith but also with the +explorers of this continent. From this time forward we find the trader +and the priest advancing in the wilderness; sometimes one is first, +sometimes the other. + +Champlain accompanied his Indian allies on an expedition against the +Onondagas, one of the five nations who occupied the country immediately +to the south of the upper St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario. The party +reached Lake Ontario by the system of inland navigation which stretches +from Lake Simcoe to the Bay of Quinte. The Onondagas repulsed the +Canadian allies who returned to their settlements, where Champlain +remained during the winter of 1616. It was during this expedition, which +did much to weaken Champlain's prestige among the Indians, that Etienne +Brule an interpreter, was sent to the Andastes, who were then living +about the headwaters of the Susquehanna, with the hope of bringing them +to the support of the Canadian savages. He was not seen again until +1618, when he returned to Canada with a story, doubtless correct, of +having found himself on the shores of a great lake where there were +mines of copper, probably Lake Superior. + +With the new era of peace that followed the coming of the Viceroy Tracy +in 1665, and the establishment of a royal government, a fresh impulse +was given to exploration and mission work in the west. Priests, +fur-traders, gentlemen-adventurers, _coureurs de bois_, now appeared +frequently on the lakes and rivers of the west, and gave in the course +of years a vast region to the dominion of France. As early as 1665 +Father Allouez established a mission at La Pointe, the modern Ashland, +on the shores of Lake Superior. In 1668 one of the most interesting +persons who ever appeared in early Canada, the missionary and explorer, +Father Marquette, founded the mission of Sainte-Marie on the southern +side of the Sault, which may be considered the oldest settlement of the +north-west, as it alone has a continuous history to the present time. + +In the record of those times we see strikingly displayed certain +propensities of the Canadian people which seriously interfered with the +settlement and industry of the country. The fur-trade had far more +attractions for the young and adventurous than the regular and active +life of farming on the seigniories. The French immigrant as well as the +native Canadian adapted himself to the conditions of Indian life. +Wherever the Indian tribes were camped in the forest or by the river, +and the fur-trade could be prosecuted to the best advantage, we see the +_coureurs de bois_, not the least picturesque figures of these grand +woods, then in the primeval sublimity of their solitude and vastness. +Despite the vices and weaknesses of a large proportion of this class, +not a few were most useful in the work of exploration and exercised a +great influence among the Indians of the West. But for these +forest-rangers the Michigan region would have fallen into the possession +of the English who were always intriguing with the Iroquois and +endeavouring to obtain a share of the fur-trade of the west. Joliet, the +companion of Marquette, in his ever-memorable voyage to the Mississippi, +was a type of the best class of the Canadian fur-trader. + +In 1671 Sieur St. Lusson took formal possession of the Sault and the +adjacent country in the name of Louis XIV. In 1673 Fort Frontenac was +built at Cataraqui, now Kingston, as a barrier to the aggressive +movements of the Iroquois and an _entrepot_ for the fur-trade on Lake +Ontario. In the same year Joliet and Marquette solved a part of the +problem which had so long perplexed the explorers of the West. The +trader and priest reached the Mississippi by the way of Green Bay, the +Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. They went down the Mississippi as far as the +Arkansas. Though they were still many hundreds of miles from the mouth +of the river, they grasped the fact that it must reach, not the western +ocean, but the southern gulf first discovered by the Spaniards. +Marquette died not long afterwards, worn out by his labours in the +wilderness, and was buried beneath the little chapel at St. Ignace. +Joliet's name henceforth disappears from the annals of the West. + +Rene Robert Cavelier, better known as the Sieur de la Salle, completed +the work commenced by the trader and missionary. In 1666 he obtained a +grant of land at the head of the rapids above Montreal by the side of +that beautiful expanse of the St. Lawrence, still called Lachine, a name +first given in derisive allusion to his hope of finding a short route to +China. In 1679 he saw the Niagara Falls for the first time, and the +earliest sketch is to be found in _La Nouvelle Decouverte_ written or +compiled by that garrulous, vain, and often mendacious Recollet Friar, +Louis Hennepin, who accompanied La Salle on this expedition. In the +winter of 1681-82 this famous explorer reached the Mississippi, and for +weeks followed its course through the novel and wondrous scenery of a +southern land. On the 9th of April, 1682, at a point just above the +mouth of the great river, La Salle took formal possession of the +Mississippi valley in the name of Louis XIV, with the same imposing +ceremonies that distinguished the claim asserted by St. Lusson at the +Sault in the lake region. By the irony of fate, La Salle failed to +discover the mouth of the river when he came direct from France to the +Gulf of Mexico in 1685, but landed somewhere on Matagorda Bay on the +Texan coast, where he built a fort for temporary protection. Finding his +position untenable, he decided in 1687 to make an effort to reach the +Illinois country, but when he had been a few days on this perilous +journey he was treacherously murdered by some of his companions near the +southern branch of Trinity River. His body was left to the beasts and +birds of prey. Two of the murderers were themselves killed by their +accomplices, none of whom appear ever to have been brought to justice +for their participation in a crime by which France lost one of the +bravest and ablest men who ever struggled for her dominion in North +America. + +Some years later the famous Canadians, Iberville and Bienville, founded +a colony in the great valley, known by the name of Louisiana, which was +first given to it by La Salle himself. By the possession of the Sault, +Mackinac, and Detroit, the French were for many years supreme on the +lakes, and had full control of Indian trade. The Iroquois and their +English friends were effectively shut out of the west by the French +posts and settlements which followed the explorations of Joliet, La +Salle, Du Luth, and other adventurers. Plans continued to be formed for +reaching the Western or Pacific ocean even in the middle of the +eighteenth century. The Jesuit Charlevoix, the historian of New France, +was sent out to Canada by the French government to enquire into the +feasibility of a route which Frenchmen always hoped for. Nothing +definite came out of this mission, but the Jesuit was soon followed by +an enterprising native of Three Rivers, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, +generally called the Sieur de la Verendrye, who with his sons ventured +into the region now known as the province of Manitoba and the north-west +territory of Canada. He built several forts, including one on the site +of the city of Winnipeg. Two of his sons are believed to have reached +the Big Horn Range, an "outlying buttress" of the Rocky Mountains, in +1743, and to have taken possession of what is now territory of the +United States. The youngest son, Chevalier de la Verendrye, who was the +first to see the Rocky Mountains, subsequently discovered the +Saskatchewan (Poskoiac) and even ascended it as far as the forks--the +furthest western limits so far touched by a white man in America. A few +years later, in 1751, M. de Niverville, under the orders of M. de St. +Pierre, then acting in the interest of the infamous Intendant Bigot, who +coveted the western fur-trade, reached the foot-hills of the Rocky +Mountains and built a fort on the Saskatchewan not far from the present +town of Calgary. + +We have now followed the paths of French adventurers for nearly a +century and a half, from the day Champlain landed on the rocks of Quebec +until the Verendryes traversed the prairies and plains of the +North-west. French explorers had discovered the three great waterways of +this continent--the Mississippi, which pours its enormous volume of +water, drawn from hundreds of tributaries, into a southern gulf; the St. +Lawrence, which bears the tribute of the great lakes to the Atlantic +Ocean; the Winnipeg, with its connecting rivers and lakes which stretch +from the Rocky Mountains to the dreary Arctic sea. La Verendrye was the +first Frenchman who stood on the height of land or elevated plateau of +the continent, almost within sight of the sources of those great rivers +which flow, after devious courses, north, south and east. It has been +well said that if three men should ascend these three waterways to their +farthest sources, they would find themselves in the heart of North +America; and, so to speak, within a stone's throw of one another. Nearly +all the vast territory, through which these great waterways flow, then +belonged to France, so far as exploration, discovery and partial +occupation gave her a right to exercise dominion. Only in the great +North, where summer is a season of a very few weeks, where icebergs bar +the way for many months, where the fur-trade and the whale-fishery alone +offered an incentive to capital and enterprise, had England a right to +an indefinite dominion. Here a "Company of Gentlemen-Adventurers +trading into Hudson's Bay" occupied some fortified stations which, +during the seventeenth century, had been seized by the daring +French-Canadian corsair, Iberville, who ranks with the famous +Englishman, Drake. On the Atlantic coast the prosperous English colonies +occupied a narrow range of country bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the +Alleghanies. It was only in the middle of the eighteenth century--nearly +three-quarters of a century after Joliet's and La Salle's explorations, +and even later than the date at which Frenchmen had followed the +Saskatchewan to the Rocky Mountains--that some enterprising Virginians +and Pennsylvanians worked their way into the beautiful country watered +by the affluents of the Ohio. New France may be said to have extended at +that time from Cape Breton or Isle Royale west to the Rocky Mountains, +and from the basin of the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. + + +SECTION 4.--End of French dominion in the valley of the St. Lawrence. + +After the treaty of Utrecht, France recognized the mistake she had made +in giving up Acadia, and devoted her attention to the island of Cape +Breton, or Isle Royale, on whose southeastern coast soon rose the +fortifications of Louisbourg. In the course of years this fortress +became a menace to English interests in Acadia and New England. In 1745 +the town was taken by a force of New England volunteers, led by General +Pepperrell, a discreet and able colonist, and a small English squadron +under the command of Commodore, afterwards Admiral, Warren, both of whom +were rewarded by the British government for their distinguished services +on this memorable occasion. France, however, appreciated the importance +of Isle Royale, and obtained its restoration in exchange for Madras +which at that time was the most important British settlement in the East +Indies. England then decided to strengthen herself in Acadia, where +France retained her hold of the French Acadian population through the +secret influence of her emissaries, chiefly missionaries, and +accordingly established a town on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, +ever since known as Halifax, in honour of a prominent statesman of those +times. The French settlers, who by the middle of the eighteenth century +numbered 12,000, a thrifty, industrious and simple-minded people, easily +influenced by French agents, called themselves "Neutrals," and could not +be forced to take the unqualified oath of allegiance which was demanded +of them by the authorities of Halifax. The English Government was now +determined to act with firmness in a province where British interests +had been so long neglected, and where the French inhabitants had in the +course of forty years shown no disposition to consider themselves +British subjects and discharge their obligations to the British Crown. +France had raised the contention that the Acadia ceded to England by the +treaty of Utrecht comprised only the present province of Nova Scotia, +and indeed only a portion of that peninsula according to some French +authorities. Commissioners were appointed by the two Powers to settle +the question of boundaries--of the meaning of "Acadie, with its ancient +boundaries"--but their negotiations came to naught and the issue was +only settled by the arbitrament of war. The French built the forts of +Beausejour and Gaspereau--the latter a mere palisade--on the Isthmus of +Chignecto, which became the rendezvous of the French Acadians, whom the +former persuaded by promises or threats to join their fortunes. In 1755 +a force of English and Colonial troops, under the command of Colonels +Moncton, Winslow and Scott, captured these forts, and this success was +followed by the banishment of the Acadian French. This cruel act of +Governor Lawrence and the English authorities at Halifax was no doubt +largely influenced by the sentiment of leading men in New England, who +were apprehensive of the neighbourhood of so large a number of an alien +people, who could not be induced to prove their loyalty to Great +Britain, and might, in case of continued French successes in America, +become open and dangerous foes. But while there are writers who defend +this sad incident of American history on the ground of stern national +necessity at a critical period in the affairs of the continent, all +humanity that listens to the dictates of the heart and tender feeling +will ever deplore the exile of those hapless people. + +Previous to the expulsion of the Acadians from their pleasant homes on +the meadows of Grand Pre and Minas, England sustained a severe defeat in +the valley of the Ohio, which created much alarm throughout the English +colonies, and probably had some influence on the fortunes of those +people. France had formally taken possession of the Ohio country and +established forts in 1753 on French Creek, at its junction with the +Alleghany, and also at the forks of the Ohio. Adventurous British +pioneers were at last commencing to cross the Alleghanies, and a company +had been formed with the express intention of stimulating settlement in +the valley. George Washington, at the head of a small Colonial force, +was defeated in his attempt to drive the French from the Ohio; and the +English Government was compelled to send out a large body of regular +troops under the command of General Braddock, who met defeat and death +on the banks of the Monongahela, General Johnson, on the other hand, +defeated a force of French regulars, Canadian Militia and Indians, under +General Dieskau, at the southern end of Lake George. + +In 1756 war was publicly proclaimed between France and England, +although, as we have just seen, it had already broken out many months +previously in the forests of America. During the first two years of the +war the English forces sustained several disasters through the +incompetency of the English commanders on land and sea. The French in +Canada were now led by the Marquis de Montcalm, distinguished both as a +soldier of great ability and as a man of varied intellectual +accomplishments. In the early part of the Canadian campaign he was most +fortunate. Fort William Henry, at the foot of Lake George, and Fort +Oswego, on the south side of Lake Ontario, were captured, but his signal +victory at the former place was sullied by the massacre of defenceless +men, women and children by his Indian allies, although it is now +admitted by all impartial writers that he did his utmost to prevent so +sad a sequel to his triumph. The English Commander-in-Chief, Lord +Loudoun, assembled a large military force at Halifax in 1757 for the +purpose of making a descent on Louisbourg; but he returned to New York +without accomplishing anything, when he heard of the disastrous affair +of William Henry, for which he was largely responsible on account of +having failed to give sufficient support to the defenders of the fort. +Admiral Holbourne sailed to Louisbourg, but he did not succeed in coming +to an engagement with the French fleet then anchored in the harbour, and +the only result of his expedition was the loss of several of his ships +on the reefs of that foggy, rocky coast. + +In 1758 Pitt determined to enter on a vigorous campaign against France +in Europe and America. For America he chose Amherst, Boscawen, Howe, +Forbes, Wolfe, Lawrence and Whitman. Abercromby was unfortunately +allowed to remain in place of Loudoun, but it was expected by Pitt and +others that Lord Howe, one of the best soldiers in the British army, +would make up for the military weakness of that commander. Louisbourg, +Fort Duquesne, and the forts on Lake George, were the immediate objects +of attack. Abercromby at the head of a large force failed ignominiously +in his assault on Ticonderoga, and Lord Howe was one of the first to +fall in that unhappy and ill-managed battle. Amherst and Boscawen, on +the other hand, took Louisbourg, where Wolfe displayed great energy and +contributed largely to the success of the enterprise. Forbes was able to +occupy the important fort at the forks of the Ohio, now Pittsburg, which +gave to the English control of the beautiful country to the west of the +Alleghanies. Fort Frontenac was taken by Bradstreet, and Prince Edward +Island, then called Isle St. Jean, was occupied by an English force as +the necessary consequence of the fall of the Cape Breton fortress. The +nation felt that its confidence in Pitt was fully justified, and that +the power of France in America was soon to be effectually broken. + +In 1759 and 1760 Pitt's designs were crowned with signal success. Wolfe +proved at Quebec that the statesman had not overestimated his value as a +soldier and leader. Wolfe was supported by Brigadiers Moncton, +Townshend, Murray, and Guy Carleton--the latter a distinguished figure +in the later annals of Canada. The fleet was commanded by Admirals +Saunders, Durell and Holmes, all of whom rendered most effective +service. The English occupied the Island of Orleans and the heights of +Levis, from which they were able to keep up a most destructive fire on +the capital. The whole effective force under Wolfe did not reach 9000 +men, or 5000 less than the regular and Colonial army under Montcalm, +whose lines extended behind batteries and earthworks from the St. +Charles River, which washes the base of the rocky heights of the town, +as far as the falls of Montmorency. The French held an impregnable +position which their general decided to maintain at all hazards, despite +the constant efforts of Wolfe for weeks to force him to the issue of +battle. Above the city for many miles there were steep heights, believed +to be unapproachable, and guarded at all important points by detachments +of soldiery. Wolfe failed in an attempt which he made at Beauport to +force Montcalm from his defences, and suffered a considerable loss +through the rashness of his grenadiers. He then resolved on a bold +stroke which succeeded by its very audacity in deceiving his opponent, +and giving the victory to the English. A rugged and dangerous path was +used at night up those very heights which, Montcalm confidently +believed, "a hundred men could easily defend against the whole British +army." On the morning of the 13th September, 1759, Wolfe marshalled an +army of four thousand five hundred men on the Plains of Abraham where he +was soon face to face with the French army. Montcalm had lost no time in +accepting the challenge of the English, in the hope that his superior +numbers would make up for their inferiority in discipline and equipment +compared with the smaller English force. His expectations were never +realized. In a few minutes the French fell in hundreds before the steady +deadly fire of the English lines, and Montcalm was forced to retreat +precipitately with the beaten remnant of his army. Wolfe received +several wounds, and died on the battlefield, but not before he was +conscious of his victory. "God be praised," were his dying words, "I now +die in peace." His brave adversary was mortally wounded while seeking +the protection of Quebec, and was buried in a cavity which a shell had +made in the floor of the chapel of the Ursuline Convent. A few days +later Quebec capitulated. Wolfe's body was taken to England, where it +was received with all the honours due to his great achievement. General +Murray was left in command at Quebec, and was defeated in the following +spring by Levis in the battle of St. Foye, which raised the hopes of the +French until the appearance of English ships in the river relieved the +beleaguered garrison and decided for ever the fate of Quebec. A few +weeks later Montreal capitulated to Amherst, whose extreme caution +throughout the campaign was in remarkable contrast with the dash and +energy of the hero of Quebec. The war in Canada was now at an end, and +in 1763 the treaty of Paris closed the interesting chapter of French +dominion on the banks of the St. Lawrence and in the valleys of the Ohio +and the Mississippi. + + +SECTION 5.--Political, economic and social conditions of Canada during +French ride. + +France and England entered on the struggle for dominion in America about +the same time, but long before the conquest of Canada the communities +founded by the latter had exhibited a vigour and vitality which were +never shown in the development of the relatively poor and struggling +colonies of Canada and Louisiana. The total population of New France in +1759--that is, of all the French possessions in North America--did not +exceed 70,000 souls, of whom 60,000 were inhabitants of the country of +the St. Lawrence, chiefly of the Montreal and Quebec districts. France +had a few struggling villages and posts in the very "garden of the +North-west," as the Illinois country has been aptly called; but the +total population of New France from the great lakes to the Gulf of +Mexico did not exceed 10,000 souls, the greater number of whom dwelt on +the lower banks of the Mississippi. At this time the British colonies in +America, pent up between the Atlantic Ocean and the Appalachian +mountains, had a population twenty times larger than that of Canada and +Louisiana combined, and there was not any comparison whatever between +these French and British colonies with respect to trade, wealth or any +of the essentials of prosperity. + +Under the system of government established by Louis XIV, under the +advice of Colbert, the governor and intendant of Canada were, to all +intents and purposes in point of authority, the same officials who +presided over the affairs of a province of France. In Canada, as in +France, governors-general had only such powers as were expressly given +them by the king, who, jealous of all authority in others, kept them +rigidly in check. In those days the king was supreme; "I am the state," +said Louis Quatorze in the arrogance of his power; and it is thus easy +to understand that there could be no such free government or +representative institutions in Canada as were enjoyed from the very +commencement of their history by the old English colonies. + +The governor had command of the militia and troops, and was nominally +superior in authority to the intendant, but in the course of time the +latter became virtually the most influential officer in the colony and +even presided at the council-board. This official, who had the right to +report directly to the king on colonial affairs, had large civil, +commercial and maritime jurisdiction, and could issue ordinances which +had full legal effect in the country. Associated with the governor and +intendant was a council comprising in the first instance five, and +eventually twelve, persons, chosen from the leading people of the +colony. The change of name, from the "Supreme Council" to the "Superior +Council," is of itself some evidence of the determination of the king to +restrain the pretensions of all official bodies throughout the kingdom +and its dependencies. This body exercised legislative and judicial +powers. The bishop was one of its most important members, and the +history of the colony is full of the quarrels that arose between him and +the governor on points of official etiquette or with respect to more +important matters affecting the government of the country. + +Protestantism was unknown in Canada under French rule, and the +enterprise of the Huguenots was consequently lost to a country always +suffering from a want of population. Even the merchants of La Rochelle, +who traded with the country, found themselves invariably subject to +restrictions which placed them at an enormous disadvantage in their +competition with their Roman Catholic rivals. The Roman Catholic Church +was all powerful at the council-board as well as in the parish. In the +past as in the present century, a large Roman Catholic church rose, the +most prominent building in every town and village, illustrating its +dominating influence in the homes of every community of the province. +The parishes were established at an early date for ecclesiastical +purposes, and their extent was defined wherever necessary by the +council at Quebec. They were practically territorial divisions for the +administration of local affairs, and were conterminous, whenever +practicable, with the seigniory. The cure, the seignior, the militia +captain (often identical with the seignior), were the important +functionaries in every parish. Even at the present time, when a +canonical parish has been once formed by the proper ecclesiastical +authority, it may be erected into a municipal or civil division after +certain legal formalities by the government of the province. Tithes were +first imposed by Bishop Laval, who practically established the basis of +ecclesiastical authority in the province. It was only in church matters +that the people had the right to meet and express their opinions, and +even then the intendant alone could give the power of assembling for +such purposes. + +The civil law of French Canada relating to "property," inheritance, +marriage, and the personal or civil rights of the community generally, +had its origin, like all similar systems, in the Roman law, on which +were engrafted, in the course of centuries, those customs and usages +which were adapted to the social conditions of France. The customary law +of Paris became the fundamental law of French Canada, and despite the +changes that it has necessarily undergone in the course of many years, +its principles can still be traced throughout the present system as it +has been modified under the influences of the British regime. The +superior council of Canada gave judgment in civil and criminal cases +according to the _coutume de Paris_, and below it there were inferior +courts for the judicial districts of Quebec, Three Rivers and Montreal. +The bishop had also special jurisdiction over ecclesiastical matters. +The intendant had authority to deal with cases involving royal, or +seigniorial, rights, and to call before him any case whatever for final +review and judgment. In all cases appeals were allowable to the king +himself, but the difficulty of communication with Europe in those days +practically confined such references to a few special causes. The +seigniors had also certain judicial or magisterial powers, but they +never acted except in very trivial cases. Torture was sometimes applied +to condemned felons as in France and other parts of the old world. On +the whole justice appears to have been honestly and fairly administered. + +Parkman, in a terse sentence, sums up the conditions which fettered all +Canadian trade and industry, "A system of authority, monopoly and +exclusion in which the government, and not the individual, acted always +the foremost part." Whether it was a question of ship-building, of a +brewery or a tannery, of iron works or a new fishery, appeals must be +made in the first instance to the king for aid; and the people were +never taught to depend exclusively on their individual or associated +enterprise. At the time of the conquest, and in fact for many years +previously, the principal products of the country were beaver skins, +timber, agricultural products, fish, fish oil, ginseng (for some years +only), beer, cider, rug carpets, homespun cloths--made chiefly by the +inmates of the religious houses--soap, potash, leather, stoves, tools +and other iron manufactures--made in the St. Maurice forges--never a +profitable industry, whether carried on by companies or the government +itself. All these industries were fostered by the state, but, despite +all the encouragement they received, the total value of the exports, +principally furs, seal and other oils, lumber, peas, grain and ginseng +never exceeded 3,500,000 francs, or about one-tenth of the export trade +of the English colonies to Great Britain. Two-thirds of this amount +represented beaver skins, the profits on which were very fluctuating, on +account of the unwise regulations by which, the trade was constantly +crippled. This business was heavily taxed to meet the necessities of +colonial government, which were always heavy, and could never have been +met had it not been for the liberality of the king. In the year 1755 the +amount of all exports did not reach 2,500,000 francs, while the imports +were valued at 8,000,000 francs. These imports represented wines, +brandies, hardware and various luxuries, but the bulk was made up of the +supplies required for the use of the military and civil authorities. +The whole trade of the country was carried in about thirty sea-going +vessels, none of them of heavy tonnage. The royal government attempted +to stimulate ship-building in the country, and a few war vessels were +actually built in the course of many years, though it does not appear +that this industry was ever conducted with energy or enterprise. During +the last fifty years of French rule, in all probability, not a hundred +sea-going vessels were launched in the valley of the St. Lawrence. +Duties of import, before 1748, were only imposed on wines, brandies, and +Brazilian tobacco; but after the commencement of the war with England, +the king found it necessary to establish export and import duties: a +special exception was however made in favour of the produce of the farm, +forest and sea, which were allowed to enter or go out free. The whole +amount of duties raised in ordinary years did not reach above 300,000 +francs. + +In the closing years of French dominion the total population of Quebec, +Montreal and Three Rivers, the only towns in the province, did not +exceed 13,000 souls--about the population of Boston. Quebec alone had +8000 inhabitants, Montreal 4000, and Three Rivers 1000. The architecture +of these places was more remarkable for solidity than elegance or +symmetry of proportions. The churches, religious and educational +establishments, official buildings and residences--notably the +intendant's palace at Quebec--were built of stone. The most pretentious +edifice was the chateau of St. Louis--the residence of the +governor-general--which was rebuilt by Count de Frontenac within the +limits of the fort of St. Louis, first erected by Champlain on the +historic height always associated with his name. The best buildings in +the towns were generally of one story and constructed of stone. In the +rural parishes, the villages, properly speaking, consisted of a church, +presbytery, school, and tradesmen's houses, while the farms of the +_habitants_ stretched on either side. The size and shape of the farms +were governed by the form of the seigniories throughout the province. M. +Bourdon, the first Canadian surveyor-general, originally mapped out the +seigniories in oblong shapes with very narrow frontage along the +river--a frontage of two or three _arpents_ against a depth of from +forty to eighty _arpents_--and the same inconvenient oblong plan was +followed in making sub-grants to the _censitaire_ or _habitant_. The +result was a disfigurement of a large portion of the country, as the +civil law governing the succession of estates gradually cut up all the +seigniories into a number of small farms, each in the form of the +parallelogram originally given to the seigniorial grants. The houses of +the _habitants_, then as now, were generally built of logs or sawn +lumber, all whitewashed, with thatched or wooden roofs projecting over +the front so as to form a sort of porch or verandah. The farm-houses +were generally close together, especially in the best cultivated and +most thickly settled districts between Quebec and Montreal. Travellers, +just before the Seven Years' War, tell us that the farms in that +district appeared to be well cultivated on the whole, and the homes of +the _habitants_ gave evidences of thrift and comfort. Some farmers had +orchards from which cider was made, and patches of the coarse strong +tobacco which they continue to use to this day, and which is now an +important product of their province. Until the war the condition of the +French Canadian _habitant_ was one of rude comfort. He could never +become rich, in a country where there was no enterprise or trade which +encouraged him to strenuous efforts to make and save money. Gold and +silver were to him curiosities, and paper promises to pay, paper or card +money, were widely circulated from early times, and were never for the +most part redeemed, though the British authorities after the peace of +1763 made every possible effort to induce the French government to +discharge its obligations to the French Canadian people. The life of the +_habitants_ in peaceful times was far easier and happier than that of +the peasants of old France. They had few direct taxes to bear, except +the tithes required for the support of the church and such small +contributions as were necessary for local purposes. They were, however, +liable to be called out at any moment for military duties and were +subject to _corvees_ or forced labour for which they were never paid by +the authorities. + +The outbreak of the Seven Years' War was a serious blow to a people who +had at last surmounted the greatest difficulties of pioneer life, and +attained a moderate degree of comfort. The demands upon the people +capable of bearing arms were necessarily fatal to steady farming +occupations; indeed, in the towns of Quebec and Montreal there was more +than once an insufficiency of food for the garrisons, and horse-flesh +had to be served out, to the great disgust of the soldiers who at first +refused to take it. Had it not been for the opportune arrival of a ship +laden with provisions in the spring of 1759, the government would have +been unable to feed the army or the inhabitants of Quebec. The gravity +of the situation was aggravated for years by the jobbery and corruption +of the men who had the fate of the country largely in their hands. A few +French merchants, and monopolists in league with corrupt officials, +controlled the markets and robbed a long-suffering and too patient +people. The names of Bigot, Pean, and other officials of the last years +of French administration, are justly execrated by French Canadians as +robbers of the state and people in the days when the country was on the +verge of war, and Montcalm, a brave, incorruptible man, was fighting +against tremendous odds to save this unfortunate country to which he +gave up his own life in vain. + +So long as France governed Canada, education was entirely in the hands +of the Roman Catholic Church. The Jesuits, Franciscans, and other +religious orders, male and female, at an early date, commenced the +establishment of those colleges and seminaries which have always had so +important a share in the education of Lower Canada. The Jesuits founded +a college at Quebec in 1635, or three years before the establishment of +Harvard, and the Ursulines opened their convent in the same city four +years later. Sister Bourgeoys of Troyes founded at Montreal in 1659 the +Congregation de Notre-Dame for the education of girls of humble rank; +the commencement of an institution which has now its buildings in many +parts of Canada. In the latter part of the seventeenth century Bishop +Laval carried out a project for providing education for Canadian priests +drawn from the people of the country. Consequently, in addition to the +great seminary at Quebec, there was the lesser seminary where boys were +taught in the hope that they would take orders. In the inception of +education the French endeavoured in more than one of their institutions +to combine industrial pursuits with the ordinary branches of an +elementary education. But all accounts of the days of the French regime +go to show that, despite the zealous efforts of the religious bodies to +improve the education of the colonists, secular instruction was at a +very low ebb and hardly reached the seigniories. One writer tells us +that "even the children of officers and gentlemen scarcely knew how to +read and write; they were ignorant of the first elements of geography +and history." Still, dull and devoid of intellectual life as was the +life of the Canadian, he had his place of worship where he received a +moral training which elevated him immeasurably above the peasantry of +England as well as of his old home. The clergy of Lower Canada +confessedly did their best to relieve the ignorance of the people, but +they were naturally unable to accomplish, by themselves, a task which +properly devolved on the governing class. Under the French regime in +Canada the civil authorities were as little anxious to enlighten the +people by the establishment of public or common schools as they were to +give them a voice in the government of the country. + +Evidence of some culture and intellectual aspirations in social circles +of the ancient capital attracted the surprise of travellers who visited +the country before the close of the French dominion. "Science and the +fine arts," wrote Charlevoix, in 1744, "have their turn and conversation +does not fail. The Canadians breathe from their birth an air of liberty, +which makes them very pleasant in the intercourse of life, and our +language is nowhere more purely spoken." La Gallissoniere, a highly +cultured governor, spared no effort to encourage a sympathetic study of +scientific pursuits. Dr. Michel Sarrasin, who was a practising physician +in Quebec for nearly half a century, devoted himself most assiduously to +the natural history of the colony, and made some valuable contributions +to the French Academy. The Swedish botanist, Peter Kalm, was impressed +with the liking for scientific study which he observed in the French +colony. But such intellectual culture, as Kalm and Charlevoix mentioned, +never showed itself beyond the walls of Quebec or Montreal. The +province, as a whole, was in a state of mental sluggishness at the time +of the conquest by England, under whose benign influence the French +Canadian people were now to enter on a new career of political and +intellectual development. + +Pitt and Wolfe must take a high place among the makers of the Dominion +of Canada. It was they who gave relief to French Canada from the +absolutism of old France, and started her in a career of self-government +and political liberty. When the great procession passed before the Queen +of England on the day of the "Diamond Jubilee"--when delegates from all +parts of a mighty, world-embracing empire gave her their loyal and +heartfelt homage--Canada was represented by a Prime Minister who +belonged to that race which has steadily gained in intellectual +strength, political freedom, and material prosperity, since the +memorable events of 1759 and 1760. In that imperial procession nearly +half the American Continent was represented--Acadia and Canada first +settled by France, the north-west prairies first traversed by French +Canadian adventurers, the Pacific coast first seen by Cook and +Vancouver. There, too, marched men from Bengal, Madras, Bombay, +Jeypore, Haidarabad, Kashmir, Punjaub, from all sections of that great +empire of India which was won for England by Clive and the men who, like +Wolfe, became famous for their achievements in the days of Pitt. Perhaps +there were in that imperial pageant some Canadians whose thoughts +wandered from the Present to the Past, and recalled the memory of that +illustrious statesman and of all he did for Canada and England, when +they stood in Westminster Abbey, and looked on his expressive effigy, +which, in the eloquent language of a great English historian, "seems +still, with eagle face and outstretched arm, to bid England be of good +cheer and to hurl defiance at her foes." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH RULE. 1760-1774. + + +SECTION I.--From the Conquest until the Quebec Act. + +For nearly four years after the surrender of Vaudreuil at Montreal, +Canada was under a government of military men, whose headquarters were +at Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal--the capitals of the old French +districts of the same name. General Murray and the other commanders +laboured to be just and considerate in all their relations with the new +subjects of the Crown, who were permitted to prosecute their ordinary +pursuits without the least interference on the part of the conquerors. +The conditions of the capitulations of Quebec and Montreal, which +allowed the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, were +honourably kept. All that was required then, and for many years later, +was that the priests and cures should confine themselves exclusively to +their parochial duties, and not take part in public matters. It had been +also stipulated at Montreal that the communities of nuns should not be +disturbed in their convents; and while the same privileges were not +granted by the articles of capitulation to the Jesuits, Recollets, and +Sulpitians, they had every facility given to them to dispose of their +property and remove to France. As a matter of fact there was practically +no interference with any of the religious fraternities during the early +years of British rule; and when in the course of time the Jesuits +disappeared entirely from the country their estates passed by law into +the possession of the government for the use of the people, while the +Sulpitians were eventually allowed to continue their work and develope +property which became of great value on the island of Montreal. (The +French merchants and traders were allowed all the commercial and trading +privileges that were enjoyed by the old subjects of the British +Sovereign, not only in the valley of the St. Lawrence, but in the rich +fur regions of the West and North-West.) The articles of capitulation +did not give any guarantees or pledges for the continuance of the civil +law under which French Canada had been governed for over a century, but +while that was one of the questions dependent on the ultimate fate of +Canada, the British military rulers took every possible care during the +continuance of the military regime to respect so far as possible the old +customs and laws by which the people had been previously governed. +French writers of those days admit the generosity and justice of the +administration of affairs during this military regime. + +The treaty of Paris, signed on the 10th February, 1763, formally ceded +to England Canada as well as Acadia, with all their dependencies. The +French Canadians were allowed full liberty "to profess the worship of +their religion according to the rites of the Romish Church, as far as +the laws of Great Britain permit." The people had permission to retire +from Canada with all their effects within eighteen months from the date +of the ratification of the treaty. All the evidence before us goes to +show that only a few officials and seigniors ever availed themselves of +this permission to leave the country. At this time there was not a +single French settlement beyond Vaudreuil until the traveller reached +the banks of the Detroit between Lakes Erie and Huron. A chain of forts +and posts connected Montreal with the basin of the great lakes and the +country watered by the Ohio, Illinois, and other tributaries of the +Mississippi. The forts on the Niagara, at Detroit, at Michillimackinac, +at Great Bay, on the Maumee and Wabash, at Presqu' isle, at the junction +of French Creek with the Alleghany, at the forks of the Ohio, and at +less important localities in the West and South-West, were held by small +English garrisons, while the French still occupied Vincennes on the +Wabash and Chartres on the Mississippi, in the vicinity of the French +settlements at Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and the present site of St. Louis. + +Soon after the fall of Montreal, French traders from New Orleans and the +French settlements on the Mississippi commenced to foment disaffection +among the western Indians, who had strong sympathy with France, and were +quite ready to believe the story that she would ere long regain Canada. +The consequence was the rising of all the western tribes under the +leadership of Pontiac, the principal chief of the Ottawas, whose +warriors surrounded and besieged Detroit when he failed to capture it by +a trick. Niagara was never attacked, and Detroit itself was successfully +defended by Major Gladwin, a fearless soldier; but all the other forts +and posts very soon fell into the hands of the Indians, who massacred +the garrisons in several places. They also ravaged the border +settlements of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and carried off a number of +women and children to their wigwams. Fort Pitt at the confluence of the +Alleghany and the Monongahela rivers--the site of the present city of +Pittsburg--was in serious peril for a time, until Colonel Bouquet, a +brave and skilful officer, won a signal victory over the Indians, who +fled in dismay to their forest fastnesses. Pontiac failed to capture +Detroit, and Bouquet followed up his first success by a direct march +into the country of the Shawnees, Mingoes and Delawares, and forced them +to agree to stern conditions of peace on the banks of the Muskingum. The +power of the western Indians was broken for the time, and the British in +1765 took possession of the French forts of Chartres and Vincennes, when +the _fleur-de-lys_ disappeared for ever from the valley of the +Mississippi. The French settlers on the Illinois and the Mississippi +preferred to remain under British rule rather than cross the great river +and become subjects of Spain, to whom Western Louisiana had been ceded +by France. From this time forward France ceased to be an influential +factor in the affairs of Canada or New France, and the Indian tribes +recognized the fact that they could no longer expect any favour or aid +from their old ally. They therefore transferred their friendship to +England, whose power they had felt in the Ohio valley, and whose policy +was now framed with a special regard to their just treatment. + +This Indian war was still in progress when King George III issued his +proclamation for the temporary government of his new dependencies in +North America. As a matter of fact, though the proclamation was issued +in England on the 7th October, 1763, it did not reach Canada and come +into effect until the 10th August, 1764. The four governments of Quebec, +Grenada, East Florida, and West Florida were established in the +territories ceded by France and Spain. The eastern limit of the province +of Quebec did not extend beyond St. John's River at the mouth of the St. +Lawrence, nearly opposite to Anticosti, while that island itself and the +Labrador country, east of the St. John's as far as the Straits of +Hudson, were placed under the jurisdiction of Newfoundland. The islands +of Cape Breton and St. John, now Prince Edward, became subject to the +Government of Nova Scotia, which then included the present province of +New Brunswick. The northern limit of the province did not extend beyond +the territory known as Rupert's Land under the charter given to the +Hudson's Bay Company in 1670, while the western boundary was drawn +obliquely from Lake Nipissing as far as Lake St. Francis on the St. +Lawrence; the southern boundary then followed line 45 deg. across the upper +part of Lake Champlain, whence it passed along the highlands which +divide the rivers that empty themselves into the St. Lawrence from those +that flow into the sea--an absurdly defined boundary since it gave to +Canada as far as Cape Rosier on the Gaspe peninsula a territory only a +few miles wide. No provision whatever was made in the proclamation for +the government of the country west of the Appalachian range, which was +claimed by Pennsylvania, Virginia, and other colonies under the +indefinite terms of their original charters, which practically gave +them no western limits. Consequently the proclamation was regarded with +much disfavour by the English colonists on the Atlantic coast. No +provision was even made for the great territory which extended beyond +Nipissing as far as the Mississippi and included the basin of the great +lakes. It is easy to form the conclusion that the intention of the +British government was to restrain the ambition of the old English +colonies east of the Appalachian range, and to divide the immense +territory to their north-west at some future and convenient time into +several distinct and independent governments. No doubt the British +government also found it expedient for the time being to keep the +control of the fur-trade so far as possible in its own hands, and in +order to achieve this object it was necessary in the first place to +conciliate the Indian tribes, and not allow them to come in any way +under the jurisdiction of the chartered colonies. The proclamation +itself, in fact, laid down entirely new, and certainly equitable, +methods of dealing with the Indians within the limits of British +sovereignty. The governors of the old colonies were expressly forbidden +to grant authority to survey lands beyond the settled territorial limits +of their respective governments. No person was allowed to purchase land +directly from the Indians. The government itself thenceforth could alone +give a legal title to Indian lands, which must, in the first place, be +secured by treaty with the tribes that claimed to own them. This was the +beginning of that honest policy which has distinguished the relations of +England and Canada with the Indian nations for over a hundred years, and +which has obtained for the present Dominion the confidence and +friendship of the many thousand Indians, who roamed for many centuries +in Rupert's Land and in the Indian Territories where the Hudson's Bay +Company long enjoyed exclusive privileges of trade. + +The language of the proclamation with respect to the government of the +province of Quebec was extremely unsatisfactory. It was ordered that so +soon as the state and circumstances of the colony admitted, the +governor-general could with the advice and consent of the members of the +council summon a general assembly, "in such manner and form as is used +and directed in those colonies and provinces in America which are under +our immediate government." Laws could be made by the governor, council, +and representatives of the people for the good government of the colony, +"as near as may be agreeable to the laws of England, and under such +regulations and restrictions as are used in other colonies." Until such +an assembly could be called, the governor could with the advice of his +council constitute courts for the trial and determination of all civil +and criminal cases, "according to law and equity, and as near as may be +agreeable to the laws of England," with liberty to appeal, in all civil +cases, to the privy council of England. General Murray, who had been in +the province since the battle on the Plains of Abraham, was appointed to +administer the government. Any persons elected to serve in an assembly +were required, by his commission and instructions, before they could sit +and vote, to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and subscribe a +declaration against transubstantiation, the adoration of the Virgin, and +the Sacrifice of the Mass. + +This proclamation--in reality a mere temporary expedient to give time +for considering the whole state of the colony--was calculated to do +infinite harm, since its principal importance lay in the fact that it +attempted to establish English civil as well as criminal law, and at the +same time required oaths which effectively prevented the French +Canadians from serving in the very assembly which it professed a desire +on the part of the king to establish. The English-speaking or Protestant +people in the colony did not number in 1764 more than three hundred +persons, of little or no standing, and it was impossible to place all +power in their hands and to ignore nearly seventy thousand French +Canadian Roman Catholics. Happily the governor, General Murray, was not +only an able soldier, as his defence of Quebec against Levis had +proved, but also a man of statesmanlike ideas, animated by a high sense +of duty and a sincere desire to do justice to the foreign people +committed to his care. He refused to lend himself to the designs of the +insignificant British minority, chiefly from the New England colonies, +or to be guided by their advice in carrying on his government. His +difficulties were lessened by the fact that the French had no conception +of representative institutions in the English sense, and were quite +content with any system of government that left them their language, +religion, and civil law without interference. The stipulations of the +capitulations of 1759-1760, and of the treaty of Paris, with respect to +the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, were always observed +in a spirit of great fairness: and in 1766 Monseigneur Briand was +chosen, with the governor's approval, Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec. +He was consecrated at Paris after his election by the chapter of Quebec, +and it does not appear that his recognition ever became the subject of +parliamentary discussion. This policy did much to reconcile the French +Canadians to their new rulers, and to make them believe that eventually +they would receive full consideration in other essential respects. + +For ten years the government of Canada was in a very unsatisfactory +condition, while the British ministry was all the while worried with the +condition of things in the old colonies, then in a revolutionary +ferment. The Protestant minority continued to clamour for an assembly, +and a mixed system of French and English law, in case it was not +possible to establish the latter in its entirety. Attorney-General +Maseres, an able lawyer and constitutional writer, was in favour of a +mixed system, but his views were notably influenced by his strong +prejudices against Roman Catholics. The administration of the law was +extremely confused until 1774, not only on account of the ignorance and +incapacity of the men first sent out from England to preside over the +courts, but also as a consequence of the steady determination of the +majority of French Canadians to ignore laws to which they had naturally +an insuperable objection. In fact, the condition of things became +practically chaotic. It might have been much worse had not General +Murray, at first, and Sir Guy Carleton, at a later time, endeavoured, so +far as lay in their power, to mitigate the hardships to which the people +were subject by being forced to observe laws of which they were entirely +ignorant. + +At this time the governor-general was advised by an executive council, +composed of officials and some other persons chosen from the small +Protestant minority of the province. Only one French Canadian appears to +have been ever admitted to this executive body. The English residents +ignored the French as far as possible, and made the most unwarrantable +claims to rule the whole province. + +A close study of official documents from 1764 until 1774 goes to show +that all this while the British government was influenced by an anxious +desire to show every justice to French Canada, and to adopt a system of +government most conducive to its best interests In 1767 Lord Shelburne +wrote to Sir Guy Carleton that "the improvement of the civil +constitution of the province was under their most serious +consideration." They were desirous of obtaining all information "which +can tend to elucidate how far it is practicable and expedient to blend +the English with the French laws, in order to form such a system as +shall be at once equitable and convenient for His Majesty's old and new +subjects." From time to time the points at issue were referred to the +law officers of the crown for their opinion, so anxious was the +government to come to a just conclusion. Attorney-General Yorke and +Solicitor-General De Grey in 1766 severely condemned any system that +would permanently "impose new, unnecessary and arbitrary rules +(especially as to the titles of land, and the mode of descent, +alienation and settlement), which would tend to confound and subvert +rights instead of supporting them." In 1772 and 1773 Attorney-General +Thurlow and Solicitor-General Wedderburne dwelt on the necessity of +dealing on principles of justice with the province of Quebec. The French +Canadians, said the former, "seem to have been strictly entitled by the +_jus gentium_ to their property, as they possessed it upon the +capitulation and treaty of peace, together with all its qualities and +incidents by tenure or otherwise." It seemed a necessary consequence +that all those laws by which that property was created, defined, and +secured, must be continued to them. The Advocate-General Marriott, in +1773, also made a number of valuable suggestions in the same spirit, and +at the same time expressed the opinion that under the existent +conditions of the country it was not possible or expedient to call an +assembly. Before the imperial government came to a positive conclusion +on the vexed questions before it, they had the advantage of the wise +experience of Sir Guy Carleton, who visited England and remained there +for some time. The result of the deliberation of years was the passage +through the British parliament of the measure known as "The Quebec Act," +which has always been considered the charter of the special privileges +which the French Canadians have enjoyed ever since, and which, in the +course of a century, made their province one of the most influential +sections of British North America. + +The preamble of the Quebec Act fixed new territorial limits for the +province. It comprised not only the country affected by the proclamation +of 1763, but also all the eastern territory which had been previously +annexed to Newfoundland. In the west and south-west the province was +extended to the Ohio and the Mississippi, and in fact embraced all the +lands beyond the Alleghanies coveted and claimed by the old English +colonies, now hemmed in between the Atlantic and the Appalachian range. +It was now expressly enacted that the Roman Catholic inhabitants of +Canada should thenceforth "enjoy the free exercise" of their religion, +"subject to the king's supremacy declared and established" by law, and +on condition of taking an oath of allegiance, set forth in the act. The +Roman Catholic clergy were allowed "to hold, receive, and enjoy their +accustomed dues and rights, with respect to such persons only as shall +confess the said religion"--that is, one twenty-sixth part of the +produce of the land, Protestants being specially exempted. The French +Canadians were allowed to enjoy all their property, together with all +customs and usages incident thereto, "in as large, ample and beneficial +manner," as if the proclamation or other acts of the crown "had not been +made", but the religious orders and communities were excepted in +accordance with the terms of the capitulation of Montreal--the effect of +which exception I have already briefly stated. In "all matters of +controversy relative to property and civil rights," resort was to be had +to the old civil law of French Canada "as the rule for the decision of +the same", but the criminal law of England was extended to the province +on the indisputable ground that its "certainty and lenity" were already +"sensibly felt by the inhabitants from an experience of more than nine +years." The government of the province was entrusted to a governor and a +legislative council appointed by the crown, "inasmuch as it was +inexpedient to call an assembly." The council was to be composed of not +more than twenty-three residents of the province. At the same time the +British parliament made special enactments for the imposition of certain +customs duties "towards defraying the charges of the administration of +justice and the support of the civil government of the province." All +deficiencies in the revenues derived from these and other sources had to +be supplied by the imperial treasury. During the passage of the act +through parliament, it evoked the bitter hostility of Lord Chatham, who +was then the self-constituted champion of the old colonies, who found +the act most objectionable, not only because it established the Roman +Catholic religion, but placed under the government of Quebec the rich +territory west of the Alleghanies. Similar views were expressed by the +Mayor and Council of London, but they had no effect. The king, in giving +his assent, declared that the measure "was founded on the clearest +principles of justice and humanity, and would have the best effect in +quieting the minds and promoting the happiness of our Canadian +subjects." In French Canada the act was received without any popular +demonstration by the French Canadians, but the men to whom the great +body of that people always looked for advice and guidance--the priests, +cures, and seigniors--naturally regarded these concessions to their +nationality as giving most unquestionable evidence of the considerate +and liberal spirit in which the British government was determined to +rule the province. They had had ever since the conquest satisfactory +proof that their religion was secure from all interference, and now the +British parliament itself came forward with legal guarantees, not only +for the free exercise of that religion, with all its incidents and +tithes, but also for the permanent establishment of the civil law to +which they attached so much importance. The fact that no provision was +made for a popular assembly could not possibly offend a people to whom +local self-government in any form was entirely unknown. It was +impossible to constitute an assembly from the few hundred Protestants +who were living in Montreal and Quebec, and it was equally impossible, +in view of the religious prejudices dominant in England and the English +colonies, to give eighty thousand French Canadian Roman Catholics +privileges which their co-religionists did not enjoy in Great Britain +and to allow them to sit in an elected assembly. Lord North seemed to +voice the general opinion of the British parliament on this difficult +subject, when he closed the debate with an expression of "the earnest +hope that the Canadians will, in the course of time, enjoy as much of +our laws and as much of our constitution as may be beneficial to that +country and safe for this", but "that time," he concluded, "had not yet +come." It does not appear from the evidence before us that the British +had any other motive in passing the Quebec Act than to do justice to +the French Canadian people, now subjects of the crown of England. It was +not a measure primarily intended to check the growth of popular +institutions, but solely framed to meet the actual conditions of a +people entirely unaccustomed to the working of representative or popular +institutions. It was a preliminary step in the development of +self-government. + +On the other hand the act was received with loud expressions of +dissatisfaction by the small English minority who had hoped to see +themselves paramount in the government of the province. In Montreal, the +headquarters of the disaffected, an attempt was made to set fire to the +town, and the king's bust was set up in one of the public squares, +daubed with black, and decorated with a necklace made of potatoes, and +bearing the inscription _Voila le pape du Canada & le sot Anglais_. The +author of this outrage was never discovered, and all the influential +French Canadian inhabitants of the community were deeply incensed that +their language should have been used to insult a king whose only offence +was his assent to a measure of justice to themselves. + +Sir Guy Carleton, who had been absent in England for four years, +returned to Canada on the 18th September, 1774, and was well received in +Quebec. The first legislative council under the Quebec Act was not +appointed until the beginning of August, 1775. Of the twenty-two members +who composed it, eight were influential French Canadians bearing +historic names. The council met on the 17th August, but was forced to +adjourn on the 7th September, on account of the invasion of Canada by +the troops of the Continental Congress, composed of representatives of +the rebellious element of the Thirteen Colonies. In a later chapter I +shall very shortly review the effects of the American revolution upon +the people of Canada; but before I proceed to do so it is necessary to +take my readers first to Nova Scotia on the eastern seaboard of British +North America and give a brief summary of its political development +from the beginning of British rule. + + +SECTION 2.--The foundation of Nova Scotia (1749--1783). + +The foundation of Halifax practically put an end to the Acadian period +of Nova Scotian settlement. Until that time the English occupation of +the country was merely nominal. Owing largely to the representations of +Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts--a statesman of considerable ability, +who distinguished himself in American affairs during a most critical +period of colonial history--the British government decided at last on a +vigorous policy in the province, which seemed more than once on the +point of passing out of their hands. Halifax was founded by the +Honourable Edward Cornwallis on the slope of a hill, whose woods then +dipped their branches into the very waters of the noble harbour long +known as Chebuctou, and renamed in honour of a distinguished member of +the Montague family, who had in those days full control of the +administration of colonial affairs. + +Colonel Cornwallis, a son of the Baron of that name--a man of firmness +and discretion--entered the harbour, on the 21st of June, old style, or +2nd July present style, and soon afterwards assumed his, duties as +governor of the province. The members of his first council were sworn in +on board one of the transports in the harbour. Between 2000 and 3000 +persons were brought at this time to settle the town and country. These +people were chiefly made up of retired military and naval officers, +soldiers and sailors, gentlemen, mechanics, farmers--far too few--and +some Swiss, who were extremely industrious and useful. On the whole, +they were not the best colonists to build up a prosperous industrial +community. The government gave the settlers large inducements in the +shape of free grants of land, and practically supported them for the +first two or three years. It was not until the Acadian population were +removed, and their lands were available, that the foundation of the +agricultural prosperity of the peninsula was really laid. In the summer +of 1753 a considerable number of Germans were placed in the present +county of Lunenburg, where their descendants still prosper, and take a +most active part in all the occupations of life. + +With the disappearance of the French Acadian settlers Nova Scotia became +a British colony in the full sense of the phrase. The settlement of 1749 +was supplemented in 1760, and subsequent years, by a valuable and large +addition of people who were induced to leave Massachusetts and other +colonies of New England and settle in townships of the present counties +of Annapolis, King's, Hants, Queen's, Yarmouth, Cumberland, and +Colchester, especially in the beautiful townships of Cornwallis and +Horton, where the Acadian meadows were the richest. A small number also +settled at Maugerville and other places on the St. John River. + +During the few years that had elapsed since the Acadians were driven +from their lands, the sea had once more found its way through the ruined +dykes, which had no longer the skilful attention of their old builders. +The new owners of the Acadian lands had none of the special knowledge +that the French had acquired, and were unable for years to keep back the +ever-encroaching tides. Still there were some rich uplands and low-lying +meadows, raised above the sea, which richly rewarded the industrious +cultivator. The historian, Haliburton, describes the melancholy scene +that met the eyes of the new settlers when they reached, in 1760, the +old homes of the Acadians at Mines. They came across a few straggling +families of Acadians who "had eaten no bread for years, and had +subsisted on vegetables, fish, and the more hardy part of the cattle +that had survived the severity of the first winter of their +abandonment." They saw everywhere "ruins of the houses that had been +burned by the Provincials, small gardens encircled by cherry-trees and +currant-bushes, and clumps of apple-trees." In all parts of the country, +where the new colonists established themselves, the Indians were +unfriendly for years, and it was necessary to erect stockaded houses for +the protection of the settlements. + +No better class probably could have been selected to settle Nova Scotia +than these American immigrants. The majority were descendants of the +Puritans who settled in New England, and some were actually sprung from +men and women who had landed from "The Mayflower" in 1620. Governor +Lawrence recognized the necessity of having a sturdy class of settlers, +accustomed to the climatic conditions and to agricultural labour in +America, and it was through his strenuous efforts that these immigrants +were brought into the province. They had, indeed, the choice of the best +land of the province, and everything was made as pleasant as possible +for them by a paternal government, only anxious to establish British +authority on a sound basis of industrial development. + +In 1767, according to an official return in the archives of Nova Scotia, +the total population of what are now the provinces of Nova Scotia, New +Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, reached 13,374 souls; of whom 6913 +are given as Americans, 912 as English, 2165 as Irish, 1946 as Germans, +and 1265 as Acadian French, the latter being probably a low estimate. +Some of these Irish emigrated directly from the north of Ireland, and +were Presbyterians. They were brought out by one Alexander McNutt, who +did much for the work of early colonization; others came from New +Hampshire, where they had been settled for some years. The name of +Londonderry in New Hampshire is a memorial of this important class, just +as the same name recalls them in the present county of Colchester, in +Nova Scotia. + +The Scottish immigration, which has exercised such an important +influence on the eastern counties of Nova Scotia--and I include Cape +Breton--commenced in 1772, when about thirty families arrived from +Scotland and settled in the present county of Pictou, where a very few +American colonists from Philadelphia had preceded them. In later years a +steady tide of Scotch population flowed into eastern Nova Scotia and did +not cease until 1820. Gaelic is still the dominant tongue in the eastern +counties, where we find numerous names recalling the glens, lochs, and +mountains of old Scotland. Sir William Alexander's dream of a new +Scotland has been realised in a measure in the province where his +ambition would have made him "lord paramount." + +Until the foundation of Halifax the government of Nova Scotia was vested +solely in a governor who had command of the garrison stationed at +Annapolis. In 1719 a commission was issued to Governor Phillips, who was +authorised to appoint a council of not less than twelve persons. This +council had advisory and judicial functions, but its legislative +authority was of a very limited scope. This provisional system of +government lasted until 1749, when Halifax became the seat of the new +administration of public affairs. The governor had a right to appoint a +council of twelve persons--as we have already seen, he did so +immediately--and to summon a general assembly "according to the usage of +the rest of our colonies and plantations in America." He was, "with the +advice and consent" of the council and assembly, "to make, constitute +and ordain laws" for the good government of the province. During nine +years the governor-in-council carried on the government without an +assembly, and passed a number of ordinances, some of which imposed +duties on trade for the purpose of raising revenue. The legality of +their acts was questioned by Chief Justice Belcher, and he was sustained +by the opinion of the English law officers, who called attention to the +governor's commission, which limited the council's powers. The result of +this decision was the establishment of a representative assembly, which +met for the first time at Halifax on the 2nd October, 1758. + +Governor Lawrence, whose name will be always unhappily associated with +the merciless expatriation of the French Acadians, had the honour of +opening the first legislative assembly of Nova Scotia in 1758. One +Robert Sanderson, of whom we know nothing else, was chosen as the first +speaker, but he held his office for only one session, and was succeeded +by William Nesbitt, who presided over the house for many years. The +first sittings of the legislature were held in the court house, and +subsequently in the old grammar school at the corner of Barrington and +Sackville Streets, for very many years one of the historic memorials of +the Halifax of the eighteenth century. + +At this time the present province of New Brunswick was for the most part +comprised in a county known as Sunbury, with one representative in the +assembly of Nova Scotia. The island of Cape Breton also formed a part of +the province, and had the right to send two members to the assembly, but +the only election held for that purpose was declared void on account of +there not being any freeholders entitled by law to vote. The island of +St. John, named Prince Edward in 1798, in honour of the Duke of Kent, +who was commander-in-chief of the British forces for some years in North +America, was also annexed to Nova Scotia in 1763, but it never sent +representatives to its legislature. In the following year a survey was +commenced of all the imperial dominions on the Atlantic. Various schemes +for the cultivation and settlement of the island were proposed as soon +as the surveys were in progress. The most notable suggestion was made by +the Earl of Egmont, first lord of the admiralty; he proposed the +division of the island into baronies, each with a castle or stronghold +under a feudal lord, subject to himself as lord paramount, under the +customs of the feudal system of Europe. The imperial authorities +rejected this scheme, but at the same time they adopted one which was as +unwise as that of the noble earl. The whole island, with the exception +of certain small reservations and royalties, was given away by lottery +in a single day to officers of the army and navy who had served in the +preceding war, and to other persons who were ambitious to be great +landowners, on the easy condition of paying certain quit-rents--a +condition constantly broken. This ill-advised measure led to many +troublesome complications for a hundred years, until at last they were +removed by the terms of the arrangement which brought the island into +the federal union of British North America in 1873. In 1769 the island +was separated from Nova Scotia and granted a distinct government, +although its total population at the time did not exceed one hundred and +fifty families. An assembly of eighteen representatives was called so +early as 1773, when the first governor, Captain Walter Paterson, still +administered public affairs. The assembly was not allowed to meet with +regularity during many years of the early history of the island. During +one administration it was practically without parliamentary government +for ten years. The land question always dominated public affairs in the +island for a hundred years. + +From the very beginning of a regular system of government in Nova Scotia +the legislature appears to have practically controlled the +administration of local affairs except so far as it gave, from time to +time, powers to the courts of quarter sessions to regulate taxation and +carry out certain small public works and improvements. In the first +session of the legislature a joint committee of the council and assembly +chose the town officers for Halifax. We have abundant evidence that at +this time the authorities viewed with disfavour any attempt to establish +a system of town government similar to that so long in operation in New +England. The town meeting was considered the nursery of sedition in New +England, and it is no wonder that the British authorities in Halifax +frowned upon all attempts to reproduce it in their province. + +Soon after his arrival in Nova Scotia, Governor Cornwallis established +courts of law to try and determine civil and criminal cases in +accordance with the laws of England. In 1774 there were in the province +courts of general session, similar to the courts of the same name in +England; courts of common pleas, formed on the practice of New England +and the mother country, and a supreme court, court of assize and general +gaol delivery, composed of a chief justice and two assistant judges. The +governor-in-council constituted a court of error in certain cases, and +from its decisions an appeal could be made to the king-in-council. +Justices of peace were also appointed in the counties and townships, +with jurisdiction over the collection of small debts. + +We must now leave the province of Nova Scotia and follow the +revolutionary movement, which commenced, soon after the signing of the +Treaty of Paris, in the old British colonies on the Atlantic seaboard, +and ended in the acknowledgement of their independence in 1783, and in +the forced migration of a large body of loyal people who found their way +to the British provinces. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS (1763--1784). + + +SECTION I.--The successful Revolution of the Thirteen Colonies in +America. + +When Canada was formally ceded to Great Britain the Thirteen Colonies +were relieved from the menace of the presence of France in the valleys +of the St. Lawrence, the Ohio, and the Mississippi. Nowhere were there +more rejoicings on account of this auspicious event than in the homes of +the democratic Puritans. The names of Pitt and Wolfe were honoured above +all others of their countrymen, and no one in England, certainly not +among its statesmen, imagined that in the colonies, which stretched from +the river Penobscot to the peninsula of Florida, there was latent a +spirit of independence which might at any moment threaten the rule of +Great Britain on the American continent. The great expenses of the Seven +Years' War were now pressing heavily on the British taxpayer. British +statesmen were forced to consider how best they could make the colonies +themselves contribute towards their own protection in the future, and +relieve Great Britain in some measure from the serious burden which +their defence had heretofore imposed on her. In those days colonies were +considered as so many possessions to be used for the commercial +advantage of the parent state. Their commerce and industries had been +fettered for many years by acts of parliament which were intended to +give Great Britain a monopoly of their trade and at the same time +prevent them from manufacturing any article that they could buy from the +British factories. As a matter of fact, however, these restrictive +measures of imperial protection had been for a long time practically +dead-letters. The merchants and seamen of New England carried on +smuggling with the French and Spanish Indies with impunity, and +practically traded where they pleased. + +The stamp act was only evidence of a vigorous colonial policy, which was +to make the people of the colonies contribute directly to their own +defence and security, and at the same time enforce the navigation laws +and acts of trade and put an end to the general system of smuggling by +which men, some of the best known merchants of Boston, had acquired a +fortune. George Grenville, who was responsible for the rigid enforcement +of the navigation laws and the stamp act, had none of that worldly +wisdom which Sir Robert Walpole showed when, years before, it was +proposed to him to tax the colonies. "No," said that astute politician, +"I have old England set against me already, and do you think I will have +New England likewise?" But Grenville and his successors, in attempting +to carry out a new colonial policy, entirely misunderstood the +conditions and feelings of the colonial communities affected and raised +a storm of indignation which eventually led to independence. The stamp +act was in itself an equitable measure, the proceeds of which were to be +exclusively used for the benefit of the colonies themselves; but its +enactment was most unfortunate at a time when the influential classes in +New England were deeply irritated at the enforcement of a policy which +was to stop the illicit trade from which they had so largely profited in +the past. The popular indignation, however, vented itself against the +stamp act, which imposed internal taxation, was declared to be in direct +violation of the principles of political liberty and self-government +long enjoyed by the colonists as British subjects, and was repealed as a +result of the violent opposition it met in the colonies. Parliament +contented itself with a statutory declaration of its supremacy in all +matters over every part of the empire; but not long afterwards the +determination of some English statesmen to bring the colonies as far as +practicable directly under the dominion of British law in all matters of +commerce and taxation, and to control their government as far as +possible, found full expression in the Townshend acts of 1767 which +imposed port duties on a few commodities, including tea, imported into +those countries. At the same time provision was made for the due +execution of existing laws relating to trade. The province of New York +was punished for openly refusing to obey an act of parliament which +required the authorities to furnish the British troops with the +necessaries of life. Writs of assistance, which allowed officials to +search everywhere for smuggled goods, were duly legalised. These writs +were the logical sequence of a rigid enforcement of the laws of trade +and navigation, and had been vehemently denounced by James Otis, so far +back as 1761, as not only irreconcilable with the colonial charters, but +as inconsistent with those natural rights which a people "derived from +nature and the Author of nature"--an assertion which obtained great +prominence for the speaker. This bold expression of opinion in +Massachusetts should be studied by the historian of those times in +connection with the equally emphatic revolutionary argument advanced by +Patrick Henry of Virginia, two years later, against the ecclesiastical +supremacy of the Anglican clergy and the right of the king to veto +legislation of the colony. Though the prerogative of the crown was thus +directly called into question in a Virginia court, the British +government did not take a determined stand on the undoubted rights of +the crown in the case. English statesmen and lawyers probably regarded +such arguments, if they paid any attention to them at all in days when +they neglected colonial opinion, as only temporary ebullitions of local +feeling, though in reality they were so many evidences of the opposition +that was sure to show itself whenever there was a direct interference +with the privileges and rights of self-governing communities. Both Henry +and Otis touched a key-note of the revolution, which was stimulated by +the revenue and stamp acts and later measures affecting the colonies. + +It is somewhat remarkable that it was in aristocratic Virginia, founded +by Cavaliers, as well as in democratic Massachusetts, founded by +Puritans, that the revolutionary element gained its principal strength +during the controversy with the parent state. The makers of +Massachusetts were independents in church government and democrats in +political principle. The whole history of New England, in fact, from the +first charters until the argument on the writs of assistance, is full of +incidents which show the growth of republican ideas. The Anglican church +had no strength in the northern colonies, and the great majority of +their people were bitterly opposed to the pretensions of the English +hierarchy to establish an episcopate in America. It is not therefore +surprising that Massachusetts should have been the leader in the +revolutionary agitation; on the other hand in Virginia the Anglican +clergy belonged to what was essentially an established church, and the +whole social fabric of the colony rested on an aristocratic basis. No +doubt before the outbreak of the revolution there was a decided feeling +against England on account of the restrictions on the sale of tobacco; +and the quarrel, which I have just referred to, with respect to the +stipends of the clergy, which were to be paid in this staple commodity +according to its market value at the time of payment, had spread +discontent among a large body of the people. But above all such causes +of dissatisfaction was the growing belief that the political freedom of +the people, and the very existence of the colony as a self-governing +community, were jeopardised by the indiscreet acts of the imperial +authorities after 1763. It is easy then to understand that the action of +the British government in 1767 renewed the agitation, which had been +allayed for the moment by the repeal of the stamp act and the general +belief that there would be no rigid enforcement of old regulations which +meant the ruin of the most profitable trade of New England. The measures +of the ministry were violently assailed in parliament by Burke and +other eminent men who availed themselves of so excellent an opportunity +of exciting the public mind against a government which was doing so much +to irritate the colonies and injure British trade. All the political +conditions were unfavourable to a satisfactory adjustment of the +colonial difficulty. Chatham had been one of the earnest opponents of +the stamp act, but he was now buried in retirement--labouring under some +mental trouble--and Charles Townshend, the chancellor of the exchequer +in the cabinet of which Chatham was the real head, was responsible for +measures which his chief would have repudiated as most impolitic and +inexpedient in the existing temper of the colonies. + +The action of the ministry was for years at once weak and irritating. +One day they asserted the supremacy of the British parliament, and on +the next yielded to the violent opposition of the colonies and the +appeals of British merchants whose interests were at stake. Nothing +remained eventually but the tea duty, and even that was so arranged that +the colonists could buy their tea at a much cheaper rate than the +British consumer. But by this time a strong anti-British party was in +course of formation throughout the colonies. Samuel Adams of +Massachusetts, Patrick Henry of Virginia, and a few other political +managers of consummate ability, had learned their own power, and the +weakness of English ministers. Samuel Adams, who had no love in his +heart for England, was undoubtedly by this time insidiously working +towards the independence of the colonies. Violence and outrage formed +part of his secret policy. The tea in Boston harbour was destroyed by a +mob disguised as Mohawk Indians, and was nowhere allowed to enter into +domestic consumption. The patience of English ministers was now +exhausted, and they determined to enter on a vigorous system of +repression, which might have had some effect at an earlier stage of the +revolutionary movement, when the large and influential loyal body of +people in the colonies ought to have been vigorously supported, and not +left exposed to the threats, insults, and even violence of a resolute +minority, comprising many persons influenced by purely selfish +reasons--the stoppage of illicit trade from which they had profited--as +well as men who objected on principle to a policy which seemed to them +irreconcilable with the rights of the people to the fullest possible +measure of local self-government. As it was, however, the insults and +injuries to British officials bound to obey the law, the shameless and +continuous rioting, the destruction of private property, the defiant +attitude of the opposition to England, had at last awakened the home +authorities to the dangers latent in the rebellious spirit that reckless +agitators had aroused in colonies for which England had sacrificed so +much of her blood and treasure when their integrity and dearest +interests were threatened by France. The port of Boston, where the +agitators were most influential and the most discreditable acts of +violence had taken place, was closed to trade; and important +modifications were made in the charter granted to Massachusetts by +William III in 1692. Another obnoxious act provided that persons +"questioned for any acts in execution of the laws" should be tried in +England--a measure intended to protect officials and soldiers in the +discharge of their duty against the rancour of the colonial community +where they might be at that time. These measures, undoubtedly unwise at +this juncture, were calculated to evoke the hostility of the other +colonies and to show them what was probably in store for themselves. But +while the issue certainly proved this to be the case, the course pursued +by the government under existing conditions had an appearance of +justification. Even Professor Goldwin Smith, who will not be accused of +any sympathy with the British cabinet of that day, or of antagonism to +liberal principles, admits that "a government thus bearded and insulted +had its choice between abdication and repression," and "that repression +was the most natural" course to pursue under the circumstances. Lord +North gave expression to what was then a largely prevailing sentiment in +England when he said "to repeal the tea duty would stamp us with +timidity," and that the destruction of the property of private +individuals, such as took place at Boston, "was a fitting culmination of +years of riot and lawlessness." Lord North, we all know now, was really +desirous of bringing about a reconciliation between the colonies and the +parent state, but he servilely yielded his convictions to the king, who +was determined to govern all parts of his empire, and was in favour of +coercive measures. It is quite evident that the British ministry and +their supporters entirely underrated the strength of the colonial party +that was opposing England. Even those persons who, when the war broke +out, remained faithful to their allegiance to the crown, were of opinion +that the British government was pursuing a policy unwise in the extreme, +although they had no doubt of the abstract legal right of that +government to pass the Grenville and Townshend acts for taxing the +colonies. Chatham, Burke, Conway, and Barre were the most prominent +public men who, in powerful language, showed the dangers of the unwise +course pursued by the "king's friends" in parliament. + +As we review the events of those miserable years we can see that every +step taken by the British government, from the stamp act until the +closing of the port of Boston and other coercive measures, had the +effect of strengthening the hands of Samuel Adams and the other +revolutionary agitators. Their measures to create a feeling against +England exhibited great cunning and skill. The revolutionary movement +was aided by the formation of "Sons of Liberty"--a phrase taken from one +of Barre's speeches,--by circular letters and committees of +correspondence between the colonies, by petitions to the king winch were +framed in a tone of independence not calculated to conciliate that +uncompromising sovereign, by clever ingenious appeals to public +patriotism, by the assembling of a "continental congress," by acts of +"association" which meant the stoppage of all commercial intercourse +with Great Britain. New England was the head and front of the whole +revolution, and Samuel Adams was its animating spirit. Even those famous +committees of correspondence between the towns of Massachusetts, which +gave expression to public opinion and stimulated united action when the +legislative authority was prevented by the royal governor from working, +were the inspiration of this astute political manager. Prominent +Virginians saw the importance of carrying out this idea on a wider field +of action, and Virginia accordingly inaugurated a system of +intercolonial correspondence which led to the meeting of a continental +congress, and was the first practical step towards political +independence of the parent state. Adams's decision to work for +independence was made, or confirmed, as early as 1767, when Charles +Townshend succeeded in passing the measures which were so obnoxious to +the colonists, and finally led to civil war. + +At a most critical moment, when the feelings of a large body of people +were aroused to a violent pitch, when ideas of independence were +ripening in the minds of others besides Samuel Adams, General Gage, then +in command of the British regular troops in Boston, sent a military +force to make prisoners of Adams and Hancock at Lexington, and seize +some stores at Concord. Then the "embattled farmers" fired the shot +"which was heard around the world." Then followed the capture of +Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and the battle of Bunker's Hill, on the +same day that Washington was appointed by congress to command the +continental army. At this critical juncture, John Adams and other +prominent colonists--not excepting Washington--were actually disavowing +all desire to sever their relations with the parent state in the face of +the warlike attitude of congress--an attitude justified by the +declaration that it was intended to force a redress of grievances. Tom +Paine, a mere adventurer, who had not been long in the country, now +issued his pamphlet, "Common Sense," which was conceived in a spirit +and written in a style admirably calculated to give strength and +cohesion to the arguments of the people, who had been for some time +coming to the conclusion that to aim at independence was the only +consistent and logical course in the actual state of controversy between +England and the colonies. On March 14th, 1776, the town of Boston, then +the most important in America, was given up to the rebels; and British +ships carried the first large body of unhappy and disappointed Loyalists +to Halifax. On July the fourth of the same year the Declaration of +Independence was passed, after much hesitation and discussion, and +published to the world by the continental congress assembled at +Philadelphia. The signal victory won by the continental army over +Burgoyne at Saratoga in the autumn of the following year led to an +alliance with France, without whose effective aid the eventual success +of the revolutionists would have been very doubtful The revolutionists +won their final triumph at Yorktown in the autumn of 1781, when a small +army of regulars and Loyalists, led by Cornwallis, was obliged to +surrender to the superior American and French forces, commanded by +Washington and Rochambeau, and supported by a French fleet which +effectively controlled the approaches to Chesapeake Bay. + +The conduct of the war on the part of England was noted for the singular +incapacity of her generals. Had there been one of any energy or ability +at the head of her troops, when hostilities commenced, the undisciplined +American army might easily have been beaten and annihilated Boston need +never have been evacuated had Howe taken the most ordinary precautions +to occupy the heights of Dorchester that commanded the town. Washington +could never have organised an army had not Howe given him every possible +opportunity for months to do so. The British probably had another grand +opportunity of ending the war on their occupation of New York, when +Washington and his relatively insignificant army were virtually in their +power while in retreat. The history of the war is full of similar +instances of lost opportunities to overwhelm the continental troops. All +the efforts of the British generals appear to have been devoted to the +occupation of the important towns in a country stretching for a thousand +miles from north to south, instead of following and crushing the +constantly retreating, diminishing, and discouraged forces of the +revolutionists. The evacuation of Philadelphia at a critical moment of +the war was another signal illustration of the absence of all military +foresight and judgment, since it disheartened the Loyalists and gave up +an important base of operation against the South. Even Cornwallis, who +fought so bravely and successfully in the southern provinces, made a +most serious mistake when he chose so weak a position as Yorktown, which +was only defensible whilst the army of occupation had free access to the +sea. Admiral Rodney, then at St. Eustatius, is open to censure for not +having sent such naval reinforcements as would have enabled the British +to command Chesapeake Bay, and his failure in this respect explains the +inability of Clinton, an able general, to support Cornwallis in his hour +of need. The moment the French fleet appeared in the Chesapeake, +Cornwallis's position became perfectly untenable, and he was obliged to +surrender to the allied armies, who were vastly superior in number and +equipment to his small force, which had not even the advantage of +fighting behind well-constructed and perfect defences. No doubt, from +the beginning to the end of the war--notably in the case of +Burgoyne--the British were seriously hampered by the dilatory and unsafe +counsels of Lord George Germaine, who was allowed by the favour of the +king to direct military operations, and who, we remember, had disgraced +himself on the famous battlefield of Minden. + +All the conditions in the country at large were favourable to the +imperial troops had they been commanded by generals of ability. The +Loyalists formed a large available force, rendered valueless time after +time by the incapacity of the men who directed operations. At no time +did the great body of the American people warmly respond to the demands +made upon them by congress to support Washington. Had it not been for +New England and Virginia the war must have more than once collapsed for +want of men and supplies. It is impossible to exaggerate the absence of +public spirit in the States during this critical period of their +history. The English historian, Lecky, who has reviewed the annals of +those times with great fairness, has truly said: "The nobility and +beauty of the character of Washington can hardly be surpassed; several +of the other leaders of the revolution were men of ability and public +spirit, and few armies have ever shown a nobler self-devotion than that +which remained with Washington through the dreary winter at Valley +Forge. But the army that bore those sufferings was a very small one, and +the general aspect of the American people during the contest was far +from heroic or sublime." This opinion is fully borne out by those +American historians who have reviewed the records of their national +struggle in a spirit of dispassionate criticism. We know that in the +spring of 1780 Washington himself wrote that his troops were "constantly +on the point of starving for want of provisions and forage." He saw "in +every line of the army the most serious features of mutiny and +sedition." Indeed he had "almost ceased to hope," for he found the +country in general "in such a state of insensibility and indifference to +its interests" that he dare not flatter himself "with any change for the +better." The war under such circumstances would have come to a sudden +end had not France liberally responded to Washington's appeals and +supported him with her money, her sailors and her soldiers. In the +closing years of the war Great Britain had not only to fight France, +Spain, Holland and her own colonies, but she was without a single ally +in Europe. Her dominion was threatened in India, and the king prevented +the intervention of the only statesman in the kingdom to whom the +colonists at any time were likely to listen with respect. When Chatham +died with a protest on his lips "against the dismemberment of this +ancient monarchy," the last hope of bringing about a reconciliation +between the revolutionists and the parent state disappeared for ever, +and the Thirteen Colonies became independent at Yorktown. + + +SECTION 2.--Canada and Nova Scotia during the Revolution. + +If Canada was saved to England during the American Revolution it was not +on account of the energy and foresight shown by the king and his +ministers in providing adequately for its defence, but mainly through +the coolness and excellent judgment displayed by Governor Carleton. The +Quebec act, for which he was largely responsible, was extremely +unpopular in the Thirteen Colonies, on account of its having extended +the boundaries of the province and the civil law to that western country +beyond the Alleghanies, which the frontiersmen of Pennsylvania and +Virginia regarded as specially their own domain. The fact that the +Quebec act was passed by parliament simultaneously with the Boston port +bill and other measures especially levelled against Massachusetts, gave +additional fuel to the indignation of the people, who regarded this +group of acts as part of a settled policy to crush the British-speaking +colonies. + +Under these circumstances, the invasion of Canada by Arnold in 1775, +with the full approval of the continental congress, soon after the +taking of Crown Point and Ticonderoga by the "Green Mountain boys" of +Vermont, was a most popular movement which, it was hoped generally, +would end in the easy conquest of a province, occupied by an alien +people, and likely to be a menace in the future to the country south of +the St. Lawrence. The capture of Chambly and St. John's--the keys of +Canada, by way of Lake Champlain--was immediately followed by the +surrender of Montreal, which was quite indefensible, and the flight of +Carleton to Quebec, where he wisely decided to make a stand against the +invaders. At this time there were not one thousand regular troops in the +country, and Carleton's endeavour to obtain reinforcements from Boston +had failed in consequence of the timidity of Admiral Graves, who +expressed his opinion that it was not safe to send vessels up the St. +Lawrence towards the end of the month of October. No dependence +apparently could be placed at this critical juncture on a number of the +French _habitants_, as soon as the districts of Richelieu, Montreal and +Three Rivers were occupied by the continental troops. Many of them were +quite ready to sell provisions to the invaders, provided they were paid +in coin, and a few of them even joined Montgomery on his march to +Quebec. Happily, however, the influence of the clergy and the +_seigneurs_ was sufficiently powerful to make the great mass of the +people neutral during this struggle for supremacy in the province. + +The bishop and the priests, from the outset, were quite alive to the +gravity of the situation. They could not forget that the delegates to +the continental congress, who were now appealing to French Canada to +join the rebellious colonists, had only a few weeks before issued an +address to the people of England in which they expressed their +astonishment that the British parliament should have established in +Canada "a religion that had deluged their land in blood and dispersed +impiety, bigotry, persecution, murder, and rebellion through every part +of the world." Almost simultaneously with the capture of the forts on +Lake Champlain, Bishop Briand issued a _mandement_ in which he dwelt +with emphasis on the great benefits which the people of French Canada +had already derived from the British connection and called upon them all +to unite in the defence of their province. No doubt can exist that these +opinions had much effect at a time when Carleton had reason to doubt +even the loyalty of the English population, some of whom were +notoriously in league with the rebels across the frontier, and gave +material aid to the invaders as soon as they occupied Montreal. It was +assuredly the influence of the French clergy that rendered entirely +ineffectual the mission of Chase, Franklin, and the Carrolls of +Maryland--one of whom became the first Roman Catholic archbishop of the +United States--who were instructed by congress to offer every possible +inducement to the Roman Catholic subjects of England in Canada to join +the revolutionary movement. + +Richard Montgomery, who had commanded the troops invading Canada, had +served at Louisbourg and Quebec, and had subsequently become a resident +of New York, where his political opinions on the outbreak of the +revolution had been influenced by his connection, through marriage, with +the Livingstones, bitter opponents of the British government. His merit +as a soldier naturally brought him into prominence when the war began, +and his own ambition gladly led him to obey the order to go to Canada, +where he hoped to emulate the fame of Wolfe and become the captor of +Quebec. He formed a junction, close to the ancient capital, with the +force under Benedict Arnold, who was at a later time to sully a +memorable career by an act of the most deliberate treachery to his +compatriots. When Montgomery and Arnold united their forces before +Quebec, the whole of Canada, from Lake Champlain to Montreal, and from +that town to the walls of the old capital, was under the control of the +continental troops. Despite the great disadvantages under which he +laboured, Carleton was able to perfect his defences of the city, which +he determined to hold until reinforcements should arrive in the spring +from England. Montgomery had neither men nor artillery to storm the +fortified city which he had hoped to surprise and easily occupy with the +aid of secret friends within its walls. Carleton, however, rallied all +loyal men to his support, and the traitors on whom the invaders had +relied were powerless to carry out any treacherous design they may have +formed. The American commanders at once recognised the folly of a +regular investment of the fortress during a long and severe winter, and +decided to attempt to surprise the garrison by a night assault. This +plan was earned out in the early morning of the thirty-first of +December, 1775, when the darkness was intensified by flurries of light +blinding snow, but it failed before the assailants could force the +barricades which barred the way to the upper town, where all the +principal offices and buildings were grouped, just below the chateau and +fort of St. Louis, which towers above the historic heights. Montgomery +was killed, Arnold was wounded at the very outset, and a considerable +number of their officers and men were killed or wounded. + +Carleton saved Quebec at this critical hour and was able in the course +of the same year, when General Burgoyne arrived with reinforcements +largely composed of subsidised German regiments, to drive the +continental troops in confusion from the province and destroy the fleet +which congress had formed on Lake Champlain. Carleton took possession of +Crown Point but found the season too late--it was now towards the end of +autumn--to attempt an attack on Ticonderoga, which was occupied by a +strong and well-equipped garrison. After a careful view of the situation +he concluded to abandon Crown Point until the spring, when he could +easily occupy it again, and attack Ticonderoga with every prospect of +success. But Carleton, soon afterwards, was ordered to give up the +command of the royal troops to Burgoyne, who was instructed by Germaine +to proceed to the Hudson River, where Howe was to join him. Carleton +naturally resented the insult that he received and resigned the +governor-generalship, to which General Haldimand was appointed. Carleton +certainly brought Canada securely through one of the most critical +epochs of her history, and there is every reason to believe that he +would have saved the honour of England and the reputation of her +generals, had he rather than Burgoyne and Howe been entrusted with the +direction of her armies in North America. + +Carleton's administration of the civil government of the province was +distinguished by a spirit of discretion and energy which deservedly +places him among the ablest governors who ever presided over the public +affairs of a colony. During the progress of the American war the +legislative council was not able to meet until nearly two years after +its abrupt adjournment in September, 1775. At this session, in 1777, +ordinances were passed for the establishment of courts of King's bench, +common pleas, and probate. + +A critical perusal of the valuable documents, placed of late years in +the archives of the Dominion, clearly proves that it was a fortunate day +for Canada when so resolute a soldier and far-sighted administrator as +General Haldimand was in charge of the civil and military government of +the country after the departure of Carleton. His conduct appears to have +been dictated by a desire to do justice to all classes, and it is most +unfair to his memory to declare that he was antagonistic to French +Canadians. During the critical time when he was entrusted with the +public defence it is impossible to accuse him of an arrogant or +unwarrantable exercise of authority, even when he was sorely beset by +open and secret enemies of the British connection. The French Canadian +_habitant_ found himself treated with a generous consideration that he +never obtained during the French regime, and wherever his services were +required by the state, he was paid, not in worthless card money, but in +British coin. During Haldimand's administration the country was in a +perilous condition on account of the restlessness and uncertainty that +prevailed while the French naval and military expeditions were in +America, using every means of exciting a public sentiment hostile to +England and favourable to France among the French Canadians. Admiral +D'Estaing's proclamation in 1778 was a passionate appeal to the old +national sentiment of the people, and was distributed in every part of +the province. Dr. Kingsford believes that it had large influence in +creating a powerful feeling which might have seriously threatened +British dominion had the French been able to obtain permission from +congress to send an army into the country. Whatever may have been the +temper of the great majority of the French Canadians, it does not appear +that many of them openly expressed their sympathy with France, for whom +they would naturally still feel a deep love as their motherland. The +assertion that many priests secretly hoped for the appearance of the +French army is not justified by any substantial evidence except the fact +that one La Valiniere was arrested for his disloyalty, and sent a +prisoner to England. It appears, however, that this course was taken +with the approval of the bishop himself, who was a sincere friend of the +English connection throughout the war. Haldimand arrested a number of +persons who were believed to be engaged in treasonable practices against +England, and effectively prevented any successful movement being made by +the supporters of the revolutionists, or sympathisers with France, whose +emissaries were secretly working in the parishes. + +Haldimand's principal opponent during these troublous times was one +Pierre du Calvet, an unscrupulous and able intriguer, whom he imprisoned +on the strong suspicion of treasonable practices; but the evidence +against Calvet at that time appears to have been inadequate, as he +succeeded in obtaining damages against the governor-general in an +English court. The imperial government, however, in view of all the +circumstances brought to their notice, paid the cost of the defence of +the suit. History now fully justifies the action of Haldimand, for the +publication of Franklin's correspondence in these later times shows that +Calvet--who was drowned at sea and never again appeared in Canada--was +in direct correspondence with congress, and the recognised emissary of +the revolutionists at the very time he was declaring himself devoted to +the continuance of British rule in Canada. + +Leaving the valley of the St. Lawrence, and reviewing the conditions of +affairs in the maritime provinces, during the American revolution, we +see that some of the settlers from New England sympathised with their +rebellious countrymen. The people of Truro, Onslow, and Londonderry, +with the exception of five persons, refused to take the oath of +allegiance, and were not allowed for some time to be represented in the +legislature. The assembly was always loyal to the crown, and refused to +consider the appeals that were made to it by circular letters, and +otherwise, to give active aid and sympathy to the rebellious colonies +During the war armed cruisers pillaged the small settlements at +Charlottetown, Annapolis, Lunenburg, and the entrance of the St. John +River. One expedition fitted out at Machias, in the present state of +Maine, under the command of a Colonel Eddy, who had been a resident of +Cumberland, attempted to seize Fort Cumberland--known as Beausejour in +French Acadian days--at the mouth of the Missiquash. In this section of +the country there were many sympathisers with the rebels, and Eddy +expected to have an easy triumph. The military authorities were happily +on the alert, and the only result was the arrest of a number of persons +on the suspicion of treasonable designs. The inhabitants of the county +of Yarmouth--a district especially exposed to attack--only escaped the +frequent visits of privateers by secret negotiations with influential +persons in Massachusetts. The settlers on the St. John River, at +Maugerville, took measures to assist their fellow-countrymen in New +England, but the defeat of the Cumberland expedition and the activity of +the British authorities prevented the disaffected in Sunbury county--in +which the original settlements of New Brunswick were then +comprised--from rendering any practical aid to the revolutionists. The +authorities at Halifax authorised the fitting out of privateers in +retaliation for the damages inflicted on western ports by the same class +of cruisers sailing from New England. The province was generally +impoverished by the impossibility of carrying on the coasting trade and +fisheries with security in these circumstances. The constant demand for +men to fill the army and the fleet drained the country when labour was +imperatively needed for necessary industrial pursuits, including the +cultivation of the land. Some Halifax merchants and traders alone found +profit in the constant arrival of troops and ships. Apart, however, from +the signs of disaffection shown in the few localities I have mentioned, +the people generally appear to have been loyal to England, and rallied, +notably in the townships of Annapolis, Horton and Windsor, to the +defence of the country, at the call of the authorities. + +In 1783 the humiliated king of England consented to a peace with his old +colonies, who owed their success not so much to the unselfishness and +determination of the great body of the rebels as to the incapacity of +British generals and to the patience, calmness, and resolution of the +one great man of the revolution, George Washington. I shall in a later +chapter refer to this treaty in which the boundaries between Canada and +the new republic were so ignorantly and clumsily defined that it took +half a century and longer to settle the vexed questions that arose in +connection with territorial rights, and then the settlement was to the +injury of Canada. So far as the treaty affected the Provinces its most +important result was the forced migration of that large body of people +who had remained faithful to the crown and empire during the revolution. + +[Illustration: MAP SHOWING BOUNDARY BETWEEN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES +BY TREATY OF 1783] + + +SECTION 3.--The United Empire Loyalists + +John Adams and other authorities in the United States have admitted that +when the first shot of the revolution was fired by "the embattled +farmers" of Concord and Lexington, the Loyalists numbered one-third of +the whole population of the colonies, or seven hundred thousand whites. +Others believe that the number was larger, and that the revolutionary +party was in a minority even after the declaration of independence. The +greater number of the Loyalists were to be found in the present state of +New York, where the capital was in possession of the British from +September, 1776, until the evacuation in 1783. They were also the +majority in Pennsylvania and the southern colonies of South Carolina and +Georgia. In all the other states they represented a large minority of +the best class of their respective communities. It is estimated that +there were actually from thirty to thirty-five thousand, at one time or +other, enrolled in regularly organised corps, without including the +bodies which waged guerilla warfare in South Carolina and elsewhere. + +It is only within a decade of years that some historical writers in the +United States have had the courage and honesty to point out the false +impressions long entertained by the majority of Americans with respect +to the Loyalists, who were in their way as worthy of historical eulogy +as the people whose efforts to win independence were crowned with +success. Professor Tyler, of Cornell University, points out that these +people comprised "in general a clear majority of those who, of whatever +grade of culture or of wealth, would now be described as conservative +people." A clear majority of the official class, of men representing +large commercial interests and capital, of professional training and +occupation, clergymen, physicians, lawyers and teachers, "seem to have +been set against the ultimate measures of the revolution". He assumes +with justice that, within this conservative class, one may "usually find +at least a fair portion of the cultivation, of the moral thoughtfulness, +of the personal purity and honour, existing in the community to which +they happen to belong." He agrees with Dr. John Fiske, and other +historical writers of eminence in the United States, in comparing the +Loyalists of 1776 to the Unionists of the southern war of secession from +1861 until 1865. They were "the champions of national unity, as resting +on the paramount authority of the general government." In other words +they were the champions of a United British Empire in the eighteenth +century. + +"The old colonial system," says that thoughtful writer Sir J.R. Seeley, +"was not at all tyrannous; and when the breach came the grievances of +which the Americans complained, though perfectly real, were smaller than +ever before or since led to such mighty consequences." The leaders among +the Loyalists, excepting a few rash and angry officials probably, +recognised that there were grievances which ought to be remedied. They +looked on the policy of the party in power in Great Britain as +injudicious in the extreme, but they believed that the relations between +the colonies and the mother-state could be placed on a more satisfactory +basis by a spirit of mutual compromise, and not by such methods as were +insidiously followed by the agitators against England. The Loyalists +generally contended for the legality of the action of parliament, and +were supported by the opinion of all high legal authorities; but the +causes of difficulty were not to be adjusted by mere lawyers, who +adhered to the strict letter of the law, but by statesmen who recognised +that the time had come for reconsidering the relations between the +colonies and the parent state, and meeting the new conditions of their +rapid development and political freedom. These relations were not to be +placed on an equitable and satisfactory basis by mob-violence and +revolution. All the questions at issue were of a constitutional +character, to be settled by constitutional methods. + +Unhappily, English statesmen of that day paid no attention to, and had +no conception of, the aspirations, sentiments and conditions of the +colonial peoples when the revolutionary war broke out. The king wished +to govern in the colonies as well as in the British Isles, and +unfortunately the unwise assertion of his arrogant will gave dangerous +men like Samuel Adams, more than once, the opportunity they wanted to +stimulate public irritation and indignation against England. + +It is an interesting fact, that the relations between Great Britain and +the Canadian Dominion are now regulated by just such principles as were +urged in the interests of England and her colonies a hundred and twenty +years ago by Governor Thomas Hutchinson, a great Loyalist, to whom +justice is at last being done by impartial historians in the country +where his motives and acts were so long misunderstood and +misrepresented. "Whatever measures," he wrote to a correspondent in +England, "you may take to maintain the authority of parliament, give me +leave to pray they may be accompanied with a declaration that it is not +the intention of parliament to deprive the colonies of their subordinate +power of legislation, nor to exercise the supreme power except in such +cases and upon such occasions as an equitable regard to the interests of +the whole empire shall make necessary." But it took three-quarters of a +century after the coming of the Loyalists to realise these statesmanlike +conceptions of Hutchinson in the colonial dominions of England to the +north of the dependencies which she lost in the latter part of the +eighteenth century. + +Similar opinions were entertained by Joseph Galloway, Jonathan Boucher, +Jonathan Odell, Samuel Seabury, Chief Justice Smith, Judge Thomas Jones, +Beverley Robinson and other men of weight and ability among the +Loyalists, who recognised the short-sightedness and ignorance of the +British authorities, and the existence of real grievances. Galloway, one +of the ablest men on the constitutional side, and a member of the first +continental congress, suggested a practical scheme of imperial +federation, well worthy of earnest consideration at that crisis in +imperial affairs. Eminent men in the congress of 1774 supported this +statesmanlike mode of placing the relations of England and the colonies +on a basis which would enable them to work harmoniously, and at the same +time give full scope to the ambition and the liberties of the colonial +communities thus closely united; but unhappily for the empire the +revolutionary element carried the day. The people at large were never +given an opportunity of considering this wise proposition, and the +motion was erased from the records of congress. In its place, the people +were asked to sign "articles of association" which bound them to cease +all commercial relations with England. Had Galloway's idea been carried +out to a successful issue, we might have now presented to the world the +noble spectacle of an empire greater by half a continent and +seventy-five millions of people. + +But while Galloway and other Loyalists failed in their measures of +adjusting existing difficulties and remedying grievances, history can +still do full justice to their wise counsel and resolute loyalty, which +refused to assist in tearing the empire to fragments. These men, who +remained faithful to this ideal to the very bitter end, suffered many +indignities at the hands of the professed lovers of liberty, even in +those days when the questions at issue had not got beyond the stage of +legitimate argument and agitation. The courts of law were closed and the +judges prevented from fulfilling their judicial functions. No class of +persons, not even women, were safe from the insults of intoxicated +ruffians. The clergy of the Church of England were especially the object +of contumely. + +During the war the passions of both parties to the controversy were +aroused to the highest pitch, and some allowance must be made for +conditions which were different from those which existed when the +questions at issue were still matters of argument. It is impossible in +times of civil strife to cool the passions of men and prevent them from +perpetrating cruelties and outrages which would be repugnant to their +sense of humanity in moments of calmness and reflection. Both sides, +more than once, displayed a hatred of each other that was worthy of the +American Iroquois themselves. The legislative bodies were fully as +vindictive as individuals in the persecution of the Loyalists. +Confiscation of estate, imprisonment, disqualification for office, +banishment, and even death in case of return from exile, were among the +penalties to which these people were subject by the legislative acts of +the revolutionary party. + +If allowance can be made for the feelings of revenge and passion which +animate persons under the abnormal conditions of civil war, no +extenuating circumstances appear at that later period when peace was +proclaimed and congress was called upon to fulfil the terms of the +treaty and recommend to the several independent states the restoration +of the confiscated property of Loyalists. Even persons who had taken up +arms were to have an opportunity of receiving their estates back on +condition of refunding the money which had been paid for them, and +protection was to be afforded to those persons during twelve months +while they were engaged in obtaining the restoration of their property. +It was also solemnly agreed by the sixth article of the treaty that +there should be no future confiscations or prosecutions, and that no +person should "suffer any future loss or damage, either in his person, +liberty or property," for the part he might have taken in the war. Now +was the time for generous terms, such terms as were even shown by the +triumphant North to the rebellious South at the close of the war of +secession. The recommendations of congress were treated with contempt by +the legislatures in all the states except in South Carolina, and even +there the popular feeling was entirely opposed to any favour or justice +being shown to the beaten party. The sixth article of the treaty, a +solemn obligation, was violated with malice and premeditation. The +Loyalists, many of whom had returned from Great Britain with the hope of +receiving back their estates, or of being allowed to remain in the +country, soon found they could expect no generous treatment from the +successful republicans. The favourite Whig occupation of tarring and +feathering was renewed. Loyalists were warned to leave the country as +soon as possible, and in the south some were shot and hanged because +they did not obey the warning. The Loyalists, for the most part, had no +other course open to them than to leave the country they still loved and +where they had hoped to die. + +The British government endeavoured, so far as it was in its power, to +compensate the Loyalists for the loss of their property by liberal +grants of money and land, but despite all that was done for them the +majority felt a deep bitterness in their hearts as they landed on new +shores of which they had heard most depressing accounts. More than +thirty-five thousand men, women and children, made their homes within +the limits of the present Dominion. In addition to these actual American +Loyalists, there were several thousands of negroes, fugitives from their +owners, or servants of the exiles, who have been generally counted in +the loose estimates made of the migration of 1783, and the greater +number of whom were at a later time deported from Nova Scotia to Sierra +Leone. Of the exiles at least twenty-five thousand went to the maritime +colonies, and built up the province of New Brunswick, where +representative institutions were established in 1784. Of the ten +thousand people who sought the valley of the St Lawrence, some settled +in Montreal, at Chambly, and in parts of the present Eastern Townships, +but the great majority accepted grants of land on the banks of the St. +Lawrence--from River Beaudette, on Lake St. Francis, as far as the +beautiful Bay of Quinte--in the Niagara District, and on the shores of +Lake Erie. The coming of these people, subsequently known by the name of +"U.E. Loyalists"--a name appropriately given to them in recognition of +their fidelity to a United Empire--was a most auspicious event for the +British-American provinces, the greater part of which was still a +wilderness. As we have seen in the previous chapters, there was in the +Acadian provinces, afterwards divided into New Brunswick and Nova +Scotia, a British population of only some 14,000 souls, mostly confined +to the peninsula. In the valley of the St. Lawrence there was a French +population of probably 100,000 persons, dwelling chiefly on the banks of +the St. Lawrence between Quebec and Montreal. The total British +population of the province of Quebec did not exceed 2000, residing for +the most part in the towns of Quebec and Montreal. No English people +were found west of Lake St. Louis; and what is now the populous province +of Ontario was a mere wilderness, except where loyal refugees had +gathered about the English fort at Niagara, or a few French settlers had +made homes for themselves on the banks of the Detroit River and Lake St. +Clair. The migration of between 30,000 and 40,000 Loyalists to the +maritime provinces and the valley of the St. Lawrence was the saving of +British interests in the great region which England still happily +retained in North America. + +The refugees who arrived in Halifax in 1783 were so numerous that +hundreds had to be placed in the churches or in cabooses taken from the +transports and ranged along the streets. At Guysborough, in Nova +Scotia--so named after Sir Guy Carleton--the first village, which was +hastily built by the settlers, was destroyed by a bush fire, and many +persons only saved their lives by rushing into the sea. At Shelburne, on +the first arrival of the exiles, there were seen "lines of women sitting +on the rocky shore and weeping at their altered condition." Towns and +villages, however, were soon built for the accommodation of the people. +At Shelburne, or Port Roseway--anglicised from the French _Razoir_--a +town of fourteen thousand people, with wide streets, fine houses, some +of them containing furniture and mantel-pieces brought from New York, +arose in two or three years. The name of New Jerusalem had been given to +the same locality some years before, but it seemed a mockery to the +Loyalists when they found that the place they had chosen for their new +home was quite unsuited for settlement. A beautiful harbour lay in +front, and a rocky country unfit for farmers in the rear of their +ambitious town, which at one time was the most populous in British North +America. In the course of a few years the place was almost deserted, and +sank for a time into insignificance. A pretty town now nestles by the +side of the beautiful and spacious harbour which attracted the first too +hopeful settlers; and its residents point out to the tourist the sites +of the buildings of last century, one or two of which still stand, and +can show many documents and relics of those early days. + +Over twelve thousand Loyalists, largely drawn from the disbanded loyal +regiments of the old colonies, settled in New Brunswick. The name of +Parrtown was first given, in honour of the governor of Nova Scotia, to +the infant settlement which became the city of St. John, in 1785, when +it was incorporated. The first landing of the loyal pioneers took place +on the 18th of May, 1783, at what is now the Market Slip of this +interesting city. Previous to 1783, the total population of the province +did not exceed seven hundred souls, chiefly at Maugerville and other +places on the great river. The number of Loyalists who settled on the +St. John River was at least ten thousand, of whom the greater proportion +were established at the mouth of the river, which was the base of +operations for the peopling of the new province. Some adventurous +spirits took possession of the abandoned French settlements at Grimross +and St. Anne's, where they repaired some ruined huts of the original +Acadian occupants, or built temporary cabins. This was the beginning of +the settlement of Fredericton, which four years later became the +political capital on account of its central position, its greater +security in time of war, and its location on the land route to Quebec. +Many of the people spent their first winter in log-huts, bark camps, and +tents covered with spruce, or rendered habitable only by the heavy banks +of snow which were piled against them. A number of persons died through +exposure, and "strong, proud men"--to quote the words of one who lived +in those sorrowful days--"wept like children and lay down in their +snow-bound tents to die." + +A small number of loyal refugees had found their way to the valley of +the St. Lawrence as early as 1778, and obtained employment in the +regiments organised under Sir John Johnson and others. It was not until +1783 and 1784 that the large proportion of the exiles came to Western +Canada. They settled chiefly on the northern banks of the St. Lawrence, +in what are now the counties of Glengarry, Stormont, Dundas, Grenville, +Leeds, Frontenac, Addington, Lennox, Hastings and Prince Edward, where +their descendants have acquired wealth and positions of honour and +trust. The first township laid out in Upper Canada, now Ontario, was +Kingston. The beautiful Bay of Quinte is surrounded by a country full of +the memories of this people, and the same is true of the picturesque +district of Niagara. + +Among the Loyalists of Canada must also be honourably mentioned Joseph +Brant (Thayendanega), the astute and courageous chief of the Mohawks, +the bravest nation of the Iroquois confederacy, who fought on the side +of England during the war. At its close he and his people settled in +Canada, where they received large grants from the government, some in a +township by the Bay of Quinte, which still bears the Indian title of the +great warrior, and the majority on the Grand River, where a beautiful +city and county perpetuate the memory of this loyal subject of the +British crown. The first Anglican church built in Upper Canada was that +of the Mohawks, near Brantford, and here the church bell first broke the +silence of the illimitable forest. + +The difficulties which the Upper Canadian immigrants had to undergo +before reaching their destination were much greater than was the case +with the people who went direct in ships from American ports to Halifax +and other places on the Atlantic coast. The former had to make toilsome +journeys by land, or by _bateaux_ and canoes up the St. Lawrence, the +Richelieu, the Genesee, and other streams which gave access from the +interior of the United States to the new Canadian land. The British +government did its best to supply the wants of the population suddenly +thrown upon its charitable care, but, despite all that could be done for +them in the way of food and means of fighting the wilderness, they +suffered naturally a great deal of hardship. The most influential +immigration found its way to the maritime provinces, where many received +congenial employment and adequate salaries in the new government of New +Brunswick. Many others, with the wrecks of their fortunes or the +pecuniary aid granted them by the British government, were able to make +comfortable homes and cultivate estates in the valleys of the St. John +and Annapolis, and in other fertile parts of the lower provinces. Of the +large population that founded Shelburne a few returned to the United +States, but the greater number scattered all over the provinces. The +settlers in Upper Canada had to suffer many trials for years after their +arrival, and especially in a year of famine, when large numbers had to +depend on wild fruits and roots. Indeed, had it not been for the fish +and game which were found in some, but not in all, places, starvation +and death would have been the lot of many hundreds of helpless people. + +Many of the refugees could trace their descent to the early immigration +that founded the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay. Some were +connected with the Cavalier and Church families of Virginia. Others were +of the blood of persecuted Huguenots and German Protestants from the +Rhenish or Lower Palatinate. Not a few were Highland Scotchmen, who had +been followers of the Stuarts, and yet fought for King George and the +British connection during the American revolution. Among the number were +notable Anglican clergymen, eminent judges and lawyers, and probably one +hundred graduates of Harvard, Yale, King's, Pennsylvania, and William +and Mary Colleges. In the records of industrial enterprise, of social +and intellectual progress, of political development for a hundred +years, we find the names of many eminent men, sprung from these people, +to whom Canada owes a deep debt of gratitude for the services they +rendered her in the most critical period of her chequered history. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS (1784--1812). + + +SECTION I--Beginnings of the provinces of New Brunswick, Lower Canada +and Upper Canada. + +On the 16th August, 1784, as a consequence of the coming of over ten +thousand Loyalists to the valley of the St. John River, a new province +was formed out of that portion of the ancient limits of Acadia, which +extended northward from the isthmus of Chignecto to the province of +Quebec, and eastward from the uncertain boundary of the St. Croix to the +Gulf of St. Lawrence. It received its present name in honour of the +Brunswick-Luneburg or Hanoverian line which had given a royal dynasty to +England, and its first governor was Colonel Thomas Carleton, a brother +of the distinguished governor-general, whose name is so intimately +associated with the fortunes of Canada during a most critical period of +its history. The first executive council, which was also the legislative +council, comprised some of the most eminent men of the Loyalist +migration. For instance, George Duncan Ludlow; who had been a judge of +the supreme court of New York; Jonathan Odell, the famous satirist and +divine; William Hazen, a merchant of high reputation, who had large +interests on the St. John River from 1763, and had proved his fidelity +to the crown at a time when his countrymen at Maugerville were disposed +to join the revolutionary party; Gabriel G. Ludlow, previously a colonel +in a royal regiment; Edward Winslow, Daniel Bliss and Isaac Allen, all +of whom had borne arms in the royal service and had suffered the loss of +valuable property, confiscated by the successful rebels. + +The constitution of 1784 provided for an assembly of twenty-six members +who were elected in 1785, and met for the first time on the 3rd of +January, 1786, at the Mallard House, a plain two-storey building on the +north side of King Street. The city of St. John ceased to be the seat of +government in 1787, when the present capital, Fredericton, first known +as St. Anne's, was chosen. Of the twenty-six members elected to this +assembly, twenty-three were Loyalists, and the same class necessarily +continued for many years to predominate in the legislature. The first +speaker was Amos Botsford, the pioneer of the Loyalist migration to New +Brunswick, whose grandson occupied the same position for a short time in +the senate of the Dominion of Canada. + +Coming to the province of Lower Canada we find it contained at this time +a population of about a hundred thousand souls, of whom six thousand +lived in Quebec and Montreal respectively. Only two thousand +English-speaking persons resided in the province, almost entirely in the +towns. Small as was the British minority, it continued that agitation +for an assembly which had been commenced long before the passage of the +Quebec act. A nominated council did not satisfy the political ambition +of this class, who obtained little support from the French Canadian +people. The objections of the latter arose from the working of the act +itself. Difficulties had grown up in the administration of the law, +chiefly in consequence of its being entrusted exclusively to men +acquainted only with English jurisprudence, and not disposed to comply +with the letter and intention of the imperial statute. As a matter of +practice, French law was only followed as equity suggested; and the +consequence was great legal confusion in the province. A question had +also arisen as to the legality of the issue of writs of _habeas corpus_, +and it was eventually necessary to pass an ordinance to remove all +doubts on this important point. + +The Loyalist settlers on the St. Lawrence and Niagara Rivers sent a +petition in 1785 to the home government, praying for the establishment +of a new district west of the River Beaudette "with the blessings of +British laws and British government, and of exemption from French tenure +of property." While such matters were under the consideration of the +imperial authorities, Sir Guy Carleton, once more governor-general of +Canada, and lately raised to the peerage as Lord Dorchester, +established, in 1788, five new districts for the express object of +providing for the temporary government of the territory where the +Loyalists had settled. These districts were known as Luneburg, +Mecklenburg, Nassau and Hesse, in the western country, and Gaspe in the +extreme east of the province of Quebec, where a small number of the same +class of people had also found new homes. Townships, ranging from eighty +to forty thousand acres each, were also surveyed within these districts +and parcelled out with great liberality among the Loyalists. Magistrates +wore appointed to administer justice with the simplest possible +machinery at a time when men trained in the law were not available. + +The grants of land made to the Loyalists and their children were large, +and in later years a considerable portion passed into the hands of +speculators who bought them up at nominal sums. It was in connection +with these grants that the name of "United Empire Loyalists" originated. +An order-in-council was passed on the 9th of November, 1780, in +accordance with the wish of Lord Dorchester "to put a mark of honour +upon the families who had adhered to the _unity of the empire_ and +joined the royal standard in America before the treaty of separation in +1783." Accordingly the names of all persons falling under this +designation were to be recorded as far as possible, in order that "their +posterity may be discriminated from future settlers in the parish lists +and rolls of militia of their respective districts, and other public +remembrances of the province." + +The British cabinet, of which Mr. Pitt, the famous son of the Earl of +Chatham, was first minister, now decided to divide the province of +Quebec into two districts, with separate legislatures and governments. +Lord Grenville, while in charge of the department of colonial affairs, +wrote in 1789 to Lord Dorchester that the "general object of the plan is +to assimilate the constitution of the province to that of Great Britain +as nearly as the differences arising from the names of the people and +from the present situation of the province will admit." He also +emphatically expressed the opinion that "a considerable degree of +attention is due to the prejudices and habits of the French inhabitants, +and every degree of caution should be used to continue to them the +enjoyment of those civil and religious rights which were secured to them +by the capitulation of the province, or have since been granted by the +liberal and enlightened spirit of the British government." When the bill +for the formation of the two provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada +came before the house of commons, Mr. Adam Lymburner, an influential +merchant of Quebec, appeared at the Bar and ably opposed the separation +"as dangerous in every point of view to British interests in America, +and to the safety, tranquillity and prosperity of the inhabitants of the +province of Quebec" He pressed the repeal of the Quebec act in its +entirety and the enactment of a perfectly new constitution "unclogged +and unembarrassed with any laws prior to this period" He professed to +represent the views "of the most intelligent and respectable of the +French Canadians"; but their antagonism was not directed against the +Quebec act in itself, but against the administration of the law, +influenced as this was by the opposition of the British people to the +French civil code. Nor does it appear, as Mr. Lymburner asserted, that +the western Loyalists were hostile to the formation of two distinct +provinces. He represented simply the views of the English-speaking +inhabitants of Lower Canada, who believed that the proposed division +would place them in a very small minority in the legislature and, as the +issue finally proved, at the mercy of the great majority of the French +Canadian representatives, while on the other hand the formation of one +large province extending from Gaspe to the head of the great lakes would +ensure an English representation sufficiently formidable to lessen the +danger of French Canadian domination. However, the British government +seems to have been actuated by a sincere desire to do justice to the +French Canadians and the Loyalists of the upper province at one and the +same time. When introducing the bill in the house of commons on the 7th +March, 1791, Mr. Pitt expressed the hope that "the division would remove +the differences of opinion which had arisen between the old and new +inhabitants, since each province would have the right of enacting laws +desired in its own house of assembly." He believed a division to be +essential, as "otherwise he could not reconcile the clashing interests +known to exist." Mr. Burke was of opinion that "to attempt to amalgamate +two populations composed of races of men diverse in language, laws and +customs, was a complete absurdity", and he consequently approved of the +division. Mr. Fox, from whom Burke became alienated during this debate, +looked at the question in an entirely different light and was strongly +of opinion that "it was most desirable to see the French and English +inhabitants coalesce into one body, and the different distinctions of +people extinguished for ever." + +The Constitutional act of 1791 established in each province a +legislative council and assembly, with powers to make laws. The +legislative council was to be appointed by the king for life, in Upper +Canada it was to consist of not less than seven, and in Lower Canada of +not less than fifteen members. The sovereign might, if he thought +proper, annex hereditary titles of honour to the right of being summoned +to the legislative council in either province--a provision which was +never brought into operation. The whole number of members in the +assembly of Upper Canada was not to be less than sixteen; in Lower +Canada not less than fifty--to be chosen by a majority of votes in +either case. The British parliament reserved to itself the right of +levying and collecting customs-duties, for the regulation of navigation +and commerce to be carried on between the two provinces, or between +either of them and any other part of the British dominions or any +foreign country. Parliament also reserved the power of directing the +payment of these duties, but at the same time left the exclusive +apportionment of all moneys levied in this way to the legislature, which +could apply them to such public uses as it might deem expedient. The +free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion was guaranteed permanently. +The king was to have the right to set apart, for the use of the +Protestant clergy in the colony, a seventh part of all uncleared crown +lands. The governor might also be empowered to erect parsonages and +endow them, and to present incumbents or ministers of the Church of +England. The English criminal law was to obtain in both provinces. + +In the absence of Lord Dorchester in England, the duty devolved on +Major-General Alured Clarke, as lieutenant-governor, to bring the Lower +Canadian constitution into force by a proclamation on the 18th February, +1791. On the 7th May, in the following year, the new province of Lower +Canada was divided into fifty electoral districts, composed of +twenty-one counties, the towns of Montreal and Quebec, and the boroughs +of Three Rivers and William Henry (now Sorel). The elections to the +assembly took place in June, and a legislative council of fifteen +influential Canadians was appointed. The new legislature was convoked +"for the despatch of business" on the 17th December, in the same year, +in an old stone building known as the Bishop's Palace, which stood on a +rocky eminence in the upper town of the old capital. + +Chief Justice Smith took the chair of the legislative council under +appointment by the crown, and the assembly elected as its speaker Mr. +Joseph Antome Panet, an eminent advocate, who was able to speak the two +languages. In the house there were only sixteen members of British +origin--and in later parliaments there was even a still smaller +representation--while the council was nearly divided between the two +nationalities. When the house proceeded to business, one of its first +acts was to order that all motions, bills and other proceedings should +be put in the two languages. We find in the list of French Canadian +members of the two houses representatives of the most ancient and +distinguished families of the province. A descendant of Pierre Boucher, +governor of Three Rivers in 1653, and the author of a rare history of +Canada, sat in the council of 1792 just as a Boucherville sits +now-a-days in the senate of the Dominion. A Lotbiniere had been king's +councillor in 1680. A Chaussegros de Lery had been an engineer in the +royal colonial corps; a Lanaudiere had been an officer in the Carignan +regiment in 1652; a Salaberry was a captain in the royal navy, and his +family won further honours on the field of Chateauguay in the war of +1812-15, when the soil of Lower Canada was invaded. A Taschereau had +been a royal councillor in 1732. The names of Belestre, Valtric, Bonne, +Rouville, St. Ours, and Duchesnay, are often met in the annals of the +French regime, and show the high character of the representation in the +first parliament of Lower Canada. + +The village of Newark was chosen as the capital of Upper Canada by +Colonel (afterwards Major-General) Simcoe, the first lieutenant-governor +of the province. He had served with much distinction during the +revolution as the commander of the Queen's Rangers, some of whom had +settled in the Niagara district. He was remarkable for his decision of +character and for his ardent desire to establish the principles of +British government in the new province. He was a sincere friend of the +Loyalists, whose attachment to the crown he had had many opportunities +of appreciating during his career in the rebellious colonies, and, +consequently, was an uncompromising opponent of the new republic and of +the people who were labouring to make it a success on the other side of +the border. The new parliament met in a wooden building nearly completed +on the sloping bank of the river, at a spot subsequently covered by a +rampart of Fort George, which was constructed by Governor Simcoe on the +surrender of Fort Niagara. A large boulder has been placed on the top of +the rampart to mark the site of the humble parliament house of Upper +Canada, which had to be eventually demolished to make place for new +fortifications. The sittings of the first legislature were not +unfrequently held under a large tent set up in front of the house, and +having an interesting history of its own, since it had been carried +around the world by the famous navigator, Captain Cook. + +As soon as Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe assumed the direction of the +government, he issued a proclamation dividing the province of Upper +Canada into nineteen counties, some of winch were again divided into +ridings for the purpose of electing the sixteen representatives to which +the province was entitled under the act of 1791. One of the first acts +of the legislature was to change the names of the divisions, proclaimed +in 1788, to Eastern, Midland, Home, and Western Districts, which +received additions in the course of years until they were entirely +superseded by the county organisations. These districts were originally +intended for judicial and legal purposes. + +The legislature met under these humble circumstances at Newark on the +17th September, 1792. Chief Justice Osgoode was the speaker of the +council, and Colonel John Macdonell, of Aberchalder, who had gallantly +served in the royal forces during the revolution, was chosen presiding +officer of the assembly. Besides him, there were eleven Loyalists among +the sixteen members of the lower house. In the council of nine members +there were also several Loyalists, the most prominent being the +Honourable Richard Cartwright, the grandfather of the minister of trade +and commerce in the Dominion ministry of 1896-1900. + + +SECTION 2.--Twenty years of political development (1792-1812). + +The political conditions of the two decades from 1792 until 1812, when +war broke out between England and the United States, were for the +greater part of the time quite free from political agitation, and the +representatives of the people in both the provinces of Canada were +mostly occupied with the consideration of measures of purely provincial +and local import. Nevertheless a year or two before the close of this +period we can see in the province of Lower Canada premonitions of that +irrepressible conflict between the two houses--one elected by the +people and the other nominated by and under the influence of the +crown--which eventually clogged the machinery of legislation. We can +also see the beginnings of that strife of races which ultimately led to +bloodshed and the suspension of the constitution given to Lower Canada +in 1791. + +In 1806 _Le Canadien_, published in the special interest of "Nos +institutions, notre langue, et nos lois," commenced that career of +bitter hostility to the government which steadily inflamed the +antagonism between the races. The arrogance of the principal officials, +who had the ear of the governor, and practically engrossed all the +influence in the management of public affairs, alienated the French +Canadians, who came to believe that they were regarded by the British as +an inferior race. As a matter of fact, many of the British inhabitants +themselves had no very cordial feelings towards the officials, whose +social exclusiveness offended all who did not belong to their special +"set." In those days the principal officials were appointed by the +colonial office and the governor-general, and had little or no respect +for the assembly, on which they depended in no wise for their +continuance in office or their salaries. The French Canadians eventually +made few distinctions among the British but looked on them as, generally +speaking, enemies to their institutions. + +It was unfortunate, at a time when great discretion and good temper were +so essential, that Sir James Craig should have been entrusted with the +administration of the government of Lower Canada. The critical state of +relations with the United States no doubt influenced his appointment, +which, from a purely military point of view, was excellent. As it was, +however, his qualities as a soldier were not called into requisition, +while his want of political experience, his utter incapacity to +understand the political conditions of the country, his supreme +indifference to the wishes of the assembly, made his administration an +egregious failure. Indeed it may he said that it was during his time +that the seed was sown for the growth of that political and racial +antagonism which led to the rebellion of 1837. It is not possible to +exaggerate the importance of the consequences of his unjustifiable +dismissal of Mr. Speaker Panet, and other prominent French Canadians, +from the militia on the ground that they had an interest in the +_Canadien_, or of his having followed up this very indiscreet act by the +unwarrantable arrest of Mr. Bedard and some other persons, on the charge +that they were the authors or publishers of what he declared to be +treasonable writings. It is believed that the governor's action was +largely influenced by the statements and advice of Chief Justice Sewell, +the head of the legislative council and the official class. Several +persons were released when they expressed regret for the expression of +any opinions considered extreme by the governor and his advisers, but +Mr. Bedard remained in prison for a year rather than directly or +indirectly admit that the governor had any justification for his +arbitrary act Sir James attempted to obtain the approval of the home +government; but his agent, a Mr. Ryland, a man of ability and suavity, +prominent always in the official life of the country, signally failed to +obtain the endorsement of his master's action. He was unable to secure a +promise that the constitution of 1791 should be repealed, and the +legislative council of the Quebec act again given the supremacy in the +province. Mr. Bedard was released just before the governor left the +country, with the declaration that "his detention had been a matter of +precaution and not of punishment"--by no means a manly or graceful +withdrawal from what was assuredly a most untenable position from the +very first moment Mr. Bedard was thrown into prison. Sir James Craig +left the province a disappointed man, and died in England a few months +after his return, from the effects of an incurable disease to which he +had been a victim for many years. He was hospitable, generous and +charitable, but the qualities of a soldier dominated all his acts of +civil government. + +In the other provinces, happily, there were no racial differences to +divide the community and aggravate those political disputes that are +sure to arise in the working of representative institutions in a British +country. In Upper Canada for years the questions under discussion were +chiefly connected with the disposal of the public lands, which in early +times were too lavishly granted by Simcoe; and this led to the bringing +in for a while of some undesirable immigrants from the United States +--undesirable because they were imbued with republican and levelling +ideas by no means favourable to the development and stability of English +institutions of government. One of the first acts of the legislature was +the establishment of courts of law and equity, in accordance with the +practice and principles of English jurisprudence. Another very important +measure was one for the legalisation of marriages which had been +irregularly performed during early times in the absence of the clergy of +the Anglican Church by justices of the peace, and even the officers in +charge of military posts. Magistrates were still allowed to perform the +marriage ceremony according to the ritual of the Church of England, when +the services of a clergyman of that denomination were not available. Not +until 1830 were more liberal provisions passed and the clergy of any +recognised creed permitted to unite persons legally in wedlock. + +It was in the second session of the first parliament of Upper Canada, +where the Loyalists were in so huge a majority, that an act was passed +"to prevent the further introduction of slaves and to limit the term of +contract for servitude within this province." A considerable number of +slave servants accompanied their Loyalist masters to the provinces at +the end of the war, and we find for many years after in the newspapers +advertisements relating to runaway servants of this class. The Loyalists +in the maritime provinces, like the same class in Upper Canada, never +gave their approval to the continuance of slavery. So early as 1800 some +prominent persons brought before the supreme court of New Brunswick the +case of one Nancy Morton, a slave, on a writ of _habeas corpus_; and her +right to freedom was argued by Ward Chipmim, one of the Loyalist makers +of New Brunswick. Although the argument in this case was not followed by +a judicial conclusion--the four judges being divided in opinion--slavery +thereafter practically ceased to exist, not only in New Brunswick, but +in the other maritime provinces, leaving behind it a memory so faint, +that the mere suggestion that there ever was a slave in either of these +provinces is very generally received with surprise, if not with +incredulity. + +The early history of representative government in Prince Edward Island +is chiefly a dull narrative of political conflict between the governors +and the assemblies, and of difficulties and controversies arising out of +the extraordinary concessions of lands to a few proprietors, who +generally infringed the conditions of their grants and retarded the +settlement of the island. In New Brunswick the legislature was entirely +occupied with the consideration of measures for the administration of +justice and local affairs in an entirely new country. Party government +had not yet declared itself, and the Loyalists who had founded the +province controlled the legislature for many years until a spirit of +liberalism and reform found full expression and led to the enlargement +of the public liberty. + +In Nova Scotia the Loyalists gradually acquired considerable influence +in the government of the province, as the imperial authorities felt it +incumbent on them to provide official positions for those men who had +sacrificed so much for the empire. Their power was increased after the +arrival of Governor John Wentworth--afterwards made a baronet--who had +been the royal governor of New Hampshire, and had naturally a strong +antipathy to democratic principles in any form. In his time there grew +up an official oligarchy, chiefly composed of members of the legislative +council, then embodying within itself executive, legislative and +judicial powers. A Liberal party soon arose in Nova Scotia, not only +among the early New England settlers of the time of Governor Lawrence, +but among the Loyalists themselves, for it is inevitable that wherever +we find an English people, the spirit of popular liberty and the +determination to enjoy self-government in a complete sense will sooner +or later assert itself among all classes of men. The first prominent +leader of the opposition to the Tory methods of the government was one +William Cottnam Tonge, who was for some years in the employ of the naval +department. Sir John Wentworth carried his hostility to the extent of +dismissing him from his naval office and also of refusing to accept him +as speaker of the assembly--the first example in colonial history of an +extreme exercise of the royal prerogative by a governor. Mr. Tonge's +only crime appears to have been his bold assertion from time to time of +the privileges of the house of assembly, as the guardian of the revenues +and expenditures, against the interference of the governor and council. +We find in Nova Scotia, as in the other provinces, during the period in +question, the elements of perpetual discord, which found more serious +expression after the war of 1812-15, and led to important constitutional +changes. + +The governors of those times became, from the very nature of their +position, so many provincial autocrats, brought constantly into +conflict with the popular body, and unable to conceive any system of +government possible that did not place the province directly under the +control of the imperial authorities, to whom appeals must be made in the +most trivial cases of doubt or difficulty. The representative of the +crown brooked no interference on the part of the assembly with what he +considered his prerogatives and rights, and as a rule threw himself into +the arms of the council, composed of the official oligarchy. In the +course of time, the whole effort of the Liberal or Reform party, which +gathered strength after 1815, was directed against the power of the +legislative council. We hear nothing in the assemblies or the literature +of the period under review in advocacy of the system of parliamentary or +responsible government which was then in existence in the parent state +and which we now enjoy in British North America. In fact, it was not +until the beginning of the fourth decade of the nineteenth century that +the Liberal politicians of Nova Scotia, like those of Upper Canada, +recognised that the real remedy for existing political grievances was to +be found in the harmonious operation of the three branches of the +legislature. Even then we look in vain for an enunciation of this +essential principle of representative government in the speeches or +writings of a single French Canadian from 1791 until 1838, when the +constitution of Lower Canada was suspended as a result of rebellion. + +During the twenty years of which I am writing the government of Canada +had much reason for anxiety on account of the unsatisfactory state of +the relations between Great Britain and the United States, and of the +attempts of French emissaries after the outbreak of the revolution in +France to stir up sedition in Lower Canada. One of the causes of the war +of 1812-15 was undoubtedly the irritation that was caused by the +retention of the western posts by Great Britain despite the stipulation +in the definitive treaty of peace to give them up "with all convenient +speed." This policy of delay was largely influenced by the fact that the +new republic had failed to take effective measures for the restitution +of the estates of the Loyalists or for the payment of debts due to +British creditors; but in addition there was probably still, as in 1763 +and 1774, a desire to control the fur-trade and the Indians of the west, +who claimed that the lands between the Canadian frontier and the Ohio +were exclusively their hunting-grounds, not properly included within the +territory ceded to the United States. Jay's treaty, arranged in 1794, +with the entire approval of Washington, who thereby incurred the +hostility of the anti-British party, was a mere temporary expedient for +tiding over the difficulties between England and the United States. Its +most important result so far as it affected Canada was the giving up in +1797 of the western posts including Old Fort Niagara. It became then +necessary to remove the seat of government from Niagara, as an insecure +position, and York, which regained its original Indian name of Toronto +in 1834, was chosen as the capital by Lord Dorchester in preference to a +place suggested by Simcoe on the Tranche, now the Thames, near where +London now stands. The second parliament of Upper Canada met in York on +the first of June, 1797, when Mr. Russell, who had been secretary to Sir +Henry Clinton during the American war, was administrator of the +government after the departure of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe from a +province whose interests he had so deeply at heart. + +After the declaration of war against England by the republican +convention of France in 1793, French agents found their way into the +French parishes of Lower Canada, and endeavoured to make the credulous +and ignorant _habitants_ believe that France would soon regain dominion +in her old colony. During General Prescott's administration, one McLane, +who was said to be not quite mentally responsible for his acts, was +convicted at Quebec for complicity in the designs of French agents, and +was executed near St. John's gate with all the revolting incidents of a +traitor's death in those relentless times. His illiterate accomplice, +Frechette, was sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was soon released +on the grounds of his ignorance of the serious crime he was committing. +No doubt in these days some restlessness existed in the French Canadian +districts, and the English authorities found it difficult for a time to +enforce the provisions of the militia act. Happily for the peace and +security of Canada, the influence of the Bishop and Roman Catholic +clergy, who looked with horror on the murderous acts of the +revolutionists of France, was successfully exerted for the support of +British rule, whose justice and benignity their church had felt ever +since the conquest. The name of Bishop Plessis must always be mentioned +in terms of sincere praise by every English writer who reviews the +history of those trying times, when British interests would have been +more than once in jeopardy had it not been for the loyal conduct of this +distinguished prelate and the priests under his direction. + +I shall now proceed to narrate the events of the unfortunate war which +broke out in 1812 between England and the United States, as a result of +the unsettled relations of years, and made Canada a battle ground on +which were given many illustrations of the patriotism and devotion of +the Canadian people, whose conquest, the invaders thought, would be a +very easy task. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE WAR OF 1812--15. + + +SECTION I.--Origin of the war between England and the United States. + +The causes of the war of 1812-15 must be sought in the history of Europe +and the relations between England and the United States for several +decades before it actually broke out. Great Britain was engaged in a +supreme struggle not only for national existence but even for the +liberties of Europe, from the moment when Napoleon, in pursuance of his +overweening ambition, led his armies over the continent on those +victorious marches which only ended amid the ice and snow of Russia. +Britain's battles were mainly to be fought on the sea where her great +fleet made her supreme. The restriction of all commerce that was not +British was a necessary element in the assertion of her naval +superiority. If neutral nations were to be allowed freely to carry the +produce of the colonies of Powers with whom Great Britain was at war, +then they were practically acting as allies of her enemies, and were +liable to search and seizure. For some time, however, Great Britain +thought it expedient to concur in the practice that when a cargo was +trans-shipped in the United States, and paid a duty there, it became to +all intents and purposes American property and might be carried to a +foreign country and there sold, as if it were the actual produce of the +republic itself. This became a very profitable business to the merchants +of the United States, as a neutral nation, during the years when Great +Britain was at war with France, since they controlled a large proportion +of all foreign commerce. Frauds constantly occurred during the +continuance of this traffic, and at last British statesmen felt the +injury to their commerce was so great that the practice was changed to +one which made American vessels liable to be seized and condemned in +British prize courts whenever it was clear that their cargoes were not +American produce, but were actually purchased at the port of an enemy. +Even provisions purchased from an enemy or its colonies were considered +"contraband of war" on the ground that they afforded actual aid and +encouragement to an enemy. The United States urged at first that only +military stores could fall under this category, and eventually went so +far as to assert the principle that under all circumstances "free ships +make free goods," and that neutral ships had a right to carry any +property, even that of a nation at war with another power, and to trade +when and where they liked without fear of capture. England, however, +would not admit in those days of trial principles which would +practically make a neutral nation an ally of her foe. She persisted in +restricting the commerce of the United States by all the force she had +upon the sea. + +This restrictive policy, which touched the American pocket and +consequently the American heart so deeply, was complicated by another +question of equal, if not greater, import. The forcible impressment of +men to man the British fleet had been for many years a necessary evil in +view of the national emergency, and of the increase in the mercantile +marine which attracted large numbers to its service. Great abuses were +perpetrated in the operation of this harsh method of maintaining an +efficient naval force, and there was no part of the British Isles where +the presence of a press gang did not bring dismay into many a home. +Great Britain, then and for many years later, upheld to an extreme +degree the doctrine of perpetual allegiance; she refused to recognise +the right of any of her citizens to divest themselves of their national +fealty and become by naturalisation the subject of a foreign power or a +citizen of the United States Such a doctrine was necessarily most +obnoxious to the government and people of a new republic like the United +States, whose future development rested on the basis of a steady and +large immigration, which lost much of its strength and usefulness as +long as the men who came into the country were not recognised as +American citizens at home and abroad. Great Britain claimed the right, +as a corollary of this doctrine of indefeasible allegiance, to search +the neutral ships of the United States during the war with France, to +enquire into the nationality of the seaman on board of those vessels, to +impress all those whom her officers had reason to consider British +subjects by birth, and to pay no respect to the fact that they may have +been naturalised in the country of their adoption. The assertion of the +right to search a neutral vessel and to impress seamen who were British +subjects has in these modern times been condemned as a breach of the +sound principle, that a right of search can only be properly exercised +in the case of a neutral's violation of his neutrality--that is to say, +the giving of aid to one of the parties to the war The forcible +abduction of a seaman under the circumstances stated was simply an +unwarrantable attempt to enforce municipal law on board a neutral +vessel, which was in effect foreign territory, to be regarded as sacred +and inviolate except in a case where it was brought under the operation +of a recognised doctrine of international law. Great Britain at that +critical period of her national existence would not look beyond the fact +that the acts of the United States as a neutral were most antagonistic +to the energetic efforts she was making to maintain her naval supremacy +during the European crisis created by Napoleon's ambitious designs. + +The desertion of British seamen from British ships, for the purpose of +finding refuge in the United States and then taking service in American +vessels, caused great irritation in Great Britain and justified, in the +opinion of some statesmen and publicists who only regarded national +necessities, the harsh and arbitrary manner in which English officials +stopped and searched American shipping on the high seas, seized men whom +they claimed to be deserters, and impressed any whom they asserted to be +still British subjects. In 1807 the British frigate "Leopard," acting +directly under the orders of the admiral at Halifax, even ventured to +fire a broadside into the United States cruiser "Chesapeake" a few miles +from Chesapeake Bay, killed and wounded a number of her crew, and then +carried off several sailors who were said to be, and no doubt were, +deserters from the English service and who were the primary cause of the +detention of this American man-of-war. For this unjustifiable act +England subsequently made some reparation, but nevertheless it rankled +for years in the minds of the party hostile to Great Britain and helped +to swell the list of grievances which the American government in the +course of years accumulated against the parent state as a reason for +war. + +The difficulties between England and the United States, which culminated +in war before the present century was far advanced, were also +intensified by disputes which commenced soon after the treaty of 1783. I +have already shown that for some years the north-west posts were still +retained by the English on the ground, it is understood, that the claims +of English creditors, and especially those of the Loyalists, should be +first settled before all the conditions of the treaty could be carried +out. The subsequent treaty of 1794, negotiated by Chief Justice Jay, +adjusted these and other questions, and led for some years to a better +understanding with Great Britain, but at the same time led to a rupture +of friendly relations with the French Directory, who demanded the repeal +of that treaty as in conflict with the one made with France in 1778, and +looked for some tangible evidence of sympathetic interest with the +French revolution. The war that followed with the French republic was +insignificant in its operations, and was immediately terminated by +Napoleon when he overthrew the Directory, and seized the government for +his own ambitious objects. Subsequently, the administration of the +United States refused to renew the Jay Treaty when it duly expired, and +as a consequence the relatively amicable relations that had existed +between the Republic and England again became critical, since American +commerce and shipping were exposed to all the irritating measures that +England felt compelled under existing conditions to carry out in +pursuance of the policy of restricting the trade of neutral vessels. +Several attempts were made by the British government, between the expiry +of the Jay Treaty and the actual rupture of friendly relations with the +United States, to come to a better understanding with respect to some of +the questions in dispute, but the differences between the two Powers +were so radical that all negotiations came to naught. Difficulties were +also complicated by the condition of political parties in the American +republic and the ambition of American statesmen. When the democratic +republicans or "Strict constructionists," as they have been happily +named, with Jefferson at their head, obtained office, French ideas came +into favour; while the federalists or "Broad constitutionalists," of +whom Washington, Hamilton and Adams had been the first exponents, were +anxious to keep the nation free from European complications and to +settle international difficulties by treaty and not by war. But this +party was in a hopeless minority, during the critical times when +international difficulties were resolving themselves into war, and was +unable to influence public opinion sufficiently to make negotiations for +the maintenance of peace successful, despite the fact that it had a +considerable weight in the states of New England. + +The international difficulties of the United States entered upon a +critical condition when Great Britain, in her assertion of naval +supremacy and restricted commerce as absolutely essential to her +national security, issued an order-in-council which declared a strict +blockade of the European coast from Brest to the Elbe. Napoleon +retaliated with the Berlin decree, which merely promulgated a paper +blockade of the British Isles. Then followed the later British +orders-in-council, which prevented the shipping of the United States +from trading with any country where British vessels could not enter, and +allowed them only to trade with other European ports where they made +entries and paid duties in English custom-houses. Napoleon increased the +duties of neutral commerce by the Milan decree of 1807, which ordered +the seizure of all neutral vessels which might have been searched by +English cruisers. These orders meant the ruin of American commerce, +which had become so profitable; and the Washington government attempted +to retaliate, first by forbidding the importation of manufactures from +England and her colonies, and, when this effort was ineffective, by +declaring an embargo in its own ports, which had only the result of +still further crippling American commerce at home and abroad. +Eventually, in place of this unwise measure, which, despite its +systematic evasion, brought serious losses to the whole nation and +seemed likely to result in civil war in the east, where the discontent +was greatest, a system of non-intercourse with both England and France +was adopted, to last so long as either should press its restrictive +measures against the republic, but this new policy of retaliation hardly +impeded American commerce, of which the profits were far greater than +the risks. The leaders of the Democratic party were now anxious to +conciliate France, and endeavoured to persuade the nation that Napoleon +had practically freed the United States from the restrictions to which +it so strongly objected. It is a matter beyond dispute that the French +decrees were never exactly annulled; and the Emperor was pursuing an +insidious policy which confiscated American vessels in French ports at +the very moment he was professing friendship with the United States. His +object was to force the government of that country into war with +England, and, unfortunately for its interests, its statesmen lent +themselves to his designs. + +The Democratic leaders, determined to continue in power, fanned the +flame against England, whose maritime superiority enabled her to inflict +the greatest injury on American shipping and commerce. The governing +party looked to the south and west for their principal support. In these +sections the interests were exclusively agricultural, while in New +England, where the Federalists were generally in the majority, the +commercial and maritime elements predominated. In Kentucky, Ohio, and +other states there was a strong feeling against England on account of +the current belief that the English authorities in Canada had tampered +with the Indian tribes and induced them to harass the settlers until +Harrison, on the eve of the war of 1812, effectually cowed them. It is, +however, now well established by the Canadian archives that Sir James +Craig, when governor-general in 1807, actually warned the Washington +government of the restlessness of the western Indians, and of the +anxiety of the Canadian authorities to avoid an Indian war in the +north-west, which might prejudicially operate against the western +province. This fact was not, however, generally known, and the feeling +against Canada and England was kept alive by the dominant party in the +United States by the disclosure that one John Henry had been sent by the +Canadian government in 1808 to ascertain the sentiment of the people of +New England with respect to the relations between the two countries and +the maintenance of peace. Henry's correspondence was really quite +harmless, but when it had been purchased from him by Madison, on the +refusal of the imperial government to buy his silence, it served the +temporary purpose of making the people of the west believe that England +was all the while intriguing against the national interests, and +endeavouring to create a discontent which might end in civil strife. +Under these circumstances the southern leaders, Clay of Kentucky, and +Calhoun of South Carolina, who always showed an inveterate animosity +against England, forced Madison, then anxious to be re-elected +president, to send a warlike message to congress, which culminated in a +formal declaration of hostilities on the 18th of June, 1812, only one +day later than the repeal of the obnoxious order-in-council by England. +When the repeal became known some weeks later in Canada and the United +States, the province of Upper Canada had been actually invaded by Hull, +and the government of the United States had no desire whatever to desist +from warlike operations, which, they confidently believed, would end in +the successful occupation of Canada at a time when England was unable, +on account of her European responsibilities, to extend to its defenders +effective assistance. + + +SECTION 2.--Canada during the war. + +In 1812 there were five hundred thousand people living in the provinces +of British North America. Of this number, the French people of Lower +Canada made up at least one half. These people had some grievances, and +political agitators, notably the writers of the _Canadien_, were +creating jealousies and rivalries between the French and English races +chiefly on the ground of the dominant influence of the British minority +in the administration of public affairs. On the whole, however, the +country was prosperous and the people generally contented with British +rule, the freedom of which presented such striking contrast to the +absolutism of the old French regime. The great majority of the eighty +thousand inhabitants of Upper or Western Canada were Loyalists or +descendants of Loyalists, who had become deeply attached to their new +homes, whilst recalling with feelings of deep bitterness the sufferings +and trials of the American revolution. This class was naturally attached +to British rule and hostile to every innovation which had the least +semblance of American republicanism. In the western part of the province +of Upper Canada there was, however, an American element composed of +people who had been brought into the country by the liberal grants of +land made to settlers, and who were not animated by the high sentiments +of the Loyalists of 1783 and succeeding years. These people, for some +years previous to 1812, were misled by political demagogues like Wilcox +and Marcle, both of whom deserted to the enemy soon after the outbreak +of the war. Emissaries from the republic were busily engaged for months, +we now know, in fomenting a feeling against England among these later +immigrants, and in persuading them that the time was close at hand when +Canada would be annexed to the federal republic. Some attempts were even +made to create discontent among the French Canadians, but no success +appears to have followed these efforts in a country where the bishop, +priests and leading men of the rural communities perfectly appreciated +the value of British connection. + +The statesmen of the United States, who were responsible for the war, +looked on the provinces as so many weak communities which could be +easily invaded and conquered by the republican armies. Upper Canada, +with its long and exposed frontier and its small and scattered +population, was considered utterly indefensible and almost certain to be +successfully occupied by the invading forces. There was not a town of +one thousand souls in the whole of that province, and the only forts of +any pretension were those on the Niagara frontier. Kingston was a +fortified town of some importance in the eastern part of the province, +but Toronto had no adequate means of defence. At the commencement of the +war there were only fourteen hundred and fifty regular troops in the +whole country west of Montreal, and these men were scattered at +Kingston, York, Niagara, Chippewa, Erie, Amherstburg, and St. Joseph. +The total available militia did not exceed four thousand men, the +majority of whom had little or no knowledge of military discipline, and +were not even in the possession of suitable arms and accoutrements, +though, happily, all were animated by the loftiest sentiments of courage +and patriotism. In the lower provinces of Eastern Canada and Nova +Scotia there was a considerable military force, varying in the aggregate +from four to five thousand men. The fortifications of Quebec were in a +tolerable state of repair, but the citadel which dominates Halifax was +in a dilapidated condition. The latter port was, however, the rendezvous +of the English fleet, which always afforded adequate protection to +British interests on the Atlantic coasts of British North America, +despite the depredations of privateers and the successes attained during +the first months of the war by the superior tonnage and equipment of the +frigates of the republic. But the hopes that were entertained by the war +party in the United States could be gathered from the speeches of Henry +Clay of Kentucky, who believed that the issue would be favourable to +their invading forces, who would even "negotiate terms of peace at +Quebec or Halifax." + +The United States had now a population of at least six millions and a +half of whites. It was estimated that during the war the government had +a militia force of between four and five hundred thousand men available +for service, while the regular army amounted to thirty-four thousand +officers and privates. The forces that invaded Canada by the way of Lake +Champlain, Sackett's Harbour, the Niagara and Detroit Rivers, were +vastly superior in numbers to the Canadian army of defence, except in +the closing months of the war, when Prevost had under his command a +large body of Peninsular veterans. One condition was always in favour of +Canada, and that was the sullen apathy or antagonism felt by the people +of New England with respect to the war. Had they been in a different +spirit, Lower Canada would have been in far greater danger of successful +invasion and occupation than was the case at any time during the +progress of the conflict. The famous march of Arnold on Quebec by the +Kennebec and Chaudiere Rivers might have been repeated with more serious +consequences while Prevost, and not Guy Carleton, was in supreme command +in the French Canadian province. + +I can attempt to limn only the events which stand out most plainly on +the graphic pages of this momentous epoch in Canadian history, and to +pay a humble tribute to the memory of men, whose achievements saved +Canada for England in those days of trial. From the beginning to the end +of the conflict, Upper Canada was the principal battle ground upon which +the combatants fought for the supremacy in North America. Its frontiers +were frequently crossed, its territory was invaded, and its towns and +villages were destroyed by the ruthless hand of a foe who entered the +province not only with the sword of the soldier but even with the torch +of the incendiary. The plan of operations at the outset of the campaign +was to invade the province across the Niagara and Detroit Rivers, +neither of which offered any real obstacles to the passage of a +determined and well-managed army in the absence of strong +fortifications, or a superior defensive force, at every vulnerable point +along the Canadian banks. Queenston was to be a base of operations for a +large force, which would overrun the whole province and eventually +co-operate with troops which could come up from Lake Champlain and march +on Montreal. The forces of the United States in 1812 acted with +considerable promptitude as soon as war was officially declared, and had +they been led by able commanders the result might have been most +unfortunate for Canada. The resources for defence were relatively +insignificant, and indecision and weakness were shown by Sir George +Prevost, then commander-in-chief and governor-general--a well meaning +man but wanting in ability as a military leader, who was also hampered +by the vacillating counsels of the Liverpool administration, which did +not believe in war until the province was actually invaded. It was +fortunate for Canada that she had then at the head of the government in +the upper province General Brock, who possessed decision of character +and the ability to comprehend the serious situation of affairs at a +critical juncture, when his superiors both in England and Canada did +not appear to understand its full significance. + +The assembly of Upper Canada passed an address giving full expression to +the patriotic sentiments which animated all classes of people when the +perilous state of affairs and the necessity for energetic action became +apparent to the dullest minds. The Loyalists and their descendants, as +well as other loyal people, rallied at the moment of danger to the +support of Brock; and the immediate result of his decided orders was the +capture of the post of Michillimackinac, which had been, ever since the +days of the French regime, a position of great importance on the upper +lakes. Then followed the ignominious surrender of General Hull and his +army to Brock, and the consequent occupation of Detroit and the present +state of Michigan by the British troops. Later, on the Niagara frontier, +an army of invaders was driven from Queenston Heights, but this victory +cost the life of the great English general, whose promptitude at the +commencement of hostilities had saved the province. Among other brave +men who fell with Brock was the attorney-general of the province, +Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell, who was one of the general's aides. +General Sheaffe, the son of a Loyalist, took command and drove the enemy +across the river, in whose rapid waters many were drowned while +struggling to save themselves from the pursuing British soldiery, +determined to avenge the death of their honoured chief. A later attempt +by General Smyth to invade Canadian territory opposite Black Rock on the +Niagara River, was also attended with the same failure that attended the +futile attempts to cross the Detroit and to occupy the heights of +Queenston. At the close of 1812 Upper Canada was entirely free from the +army of the republic, the Union Jack floated above the fort at Detroit, +and the ambitious plan of invading the French province and seizing +Montreal was given up as a result of the disasters to the enemy in the +west. The party of peace in New England gathered strength, and the +promoters of the war had no consolation except the triumphs obtained at +sea by some heavily armed and well manned frigates of the United States +to the surprise of the government and people of England, who never +anticipated that their maritime superiority could be in any way +endangered by a nation whose naval strength was considered so +insignificant. But these victories of the republic on the ocean during +the first year of the war were soon effaced by the records of the two +subsequent years when "The Chesapeake" was captured by "The Shannon" and +other successes of the British ships restored the prestige of England on +the sea. + +During the second year of the war the United States won some military +and naval successes in the upper province, although the final results of +the campaign were largely in favour of the defenders of Canada. The war +opened with the defeat of General Winchester at Frenchtown on the River +Raisins in the present state of Michigan; but this success, which was +won by General Procter, was soon forgotten in the taking of York, the +capital of the province, and the destruction of its public buildings. +This event forced General Sheaffe to retire to Kingston, while General +Vincent retreated to Burlington Heights as soon as the invading army +occupied Fort George and dominated the Niagara frontier. Sir George +Prevost showed his military incapacity at Sackett's Harbour, where he +had it in his power to capture a post which was an important base of +operations against the province. On the other hand Colonel George +Macdonell made a successful attack on Ogdensburg and fittingly avenged +the raid that an American force had made a short time previously on +Elizabethtown, which was called Brockville not long afterwards in honour +of the noted general. An advance of the invading army against General +Vincent was checked by the memorable success won at Stoney Creek by +Colonel Harvey and the surrender at Beaver Dams of Colonel Boerstler to +Lieutenant Fitzgibbon, whose clever strategy enabled him to capture a +large force of the enemy while in command of a few soldiers and Indians. +When September arrived, the small, though all-important, British fleet +on Lake Erie, under the command of Captain Barclay, sustained a fatal +defeat at Put-in-Bay, and the United States vessels under Commodore +Perry held full control of Lake Erie. A few weeks later, General Procter +lost the reputation which he had won in January by his defeat of +Winchester, and was beaten, under circumstances which disgraced him in +the opinion of his superiors, on the River Thames not far from the +Indian village of Moraviantown. The American forces were led by General +Harrison, who had won some reputation in the Indian campaign in the +north-west and who subsequently became, as his son in later times, a +president of the United States. + +It was in this engagement that the Shawenese chief, Tecumseh, was +killed, in him England lost a faithful and brave ally. English prospects +in the west were consequently gloomy for some time, until the autumn of +1813, when the auspicious tidings spread from the lakes to the Atlantic +that the forces of the republic, while on their march to Montreal by the +way of Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence, had been successfully met +and repulsed at Chateauguay and Chrysler's Farm, two of the most +memorable engagements of the war, when we consider the insignificant +forces that checked the invasion and saved Canada at a most critical +time. + +In the last month of the same year Fort George was evacuated by the +American garrison, but not before General McLure had shamelessly burned +the pretty town of Niagara, and driven helpless women and children into +the ice and snow of a Canadian winter. General Drummond, who was in +command of the western army, retaliated by the capture of Fort Niagara +and the destruction of all the villages on the American side of the +river as far as Buffalo, then a very insignificant place. When the new +year dawned the only Canadian place in possession of the enemy was +Amherstburg on the western frontier. + +The third and last year of the war was distinguished by the capture of +Oswego and Prairie-des-Chiens by British expeditions; the repulse of a +large force of the invaders at Lacolle Mills in Lower Canada; the +surrender of Fort Erie to the enemy, the defeat of General Riall at +Street's or Usher's Creek in the Niagara district, the hotly contested +battle won at Lundy's Lane by Drummond, and the ignominious retreat from +Plattsburg of Sir George Prevost, in command of a splendid force of +peninsular veterans, after the defeat of Commodore Downey's fleet on +Lake Champlain. Before the year closed and peace was proclaimed, Fort +Erie was evacuated, the stars and stripes were driven from Lake Ontario, +and all Canadian territory except Amherstburg was free from the invader. +The capital of the United States had been captured by the British and +its public buildings burned as a severe retaliation for the conduct of +the invading forces at York, Niagara, Moraviantown, St. David's and Port +Dover. Both combatants were by this time heartily tired of the war, and +terms of peace were arranged by the treaty of Ghent at the close of +1814; but before the news reached the south, General Jackson repulsed +General Packenham with heavy losses at New Orleans, and won a reputation +which made him president a few years later. + +The maritime provinces never suffered from invasion, but on the contrary +obtained some advantages from the presence of large numbers of British +men-of-war in their seaports, and the expenditure on military and naval +supplies during the three years of war. Following the example of the +Canadas, the assemblies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia voted large +sums of money and embodied the militia for active service or general +purposes of defence. The assembly of New Brunswick, essentially the +province of the Loyalists, declared in 1813 that the people were "ready +and determined to repel every aggression which the infatuated policy of +the American government may induce it to commit on the soil of New +Brunswick." But the war was so unpopular in the state of Maine and other +parts of New England that the provinces by the sea were comparatively +safe from aggression and conflict. Soon after the commencement of +hostilities the governors of Maine and New Brunswick issued +proclamations which prevented hostilities for two years along their +respective borders. In Nova Scotia there was much activity during the +war, and letters of marque were issued to privateers which made many +captures, and offered some compensation for the losses inflicted on the +coasting and fishing interests by the same class of American vessels. In +1814 it was decided by the imperial authorities to break the truce which +had practically left Maine free from invasion, and Sir John Sherbrooke, +then governor of Nova Scotia, and Rear-Admiral Griffith took possession +of Machias, Eastport, Moose, and other islands in Passamaquoddy Bay. + +The people of the United States generally welcomed the end of a war +which brought them neither honour nor profit and seemed likely to break +the union into fragments in consequence of the hostility that had +existed in New England through the conflict from the very beginning. The +news of Prevost's retreat from Plattsburg no doubt hastened the decision +of the British government to enter into negotiations for peace, which +was settled on terms by no means favourable to Canadian interests. The +question of the New Brunswick boundary might have been then adjusted on +conditions which would have prevented at a later day the sacrifice of a +large tract of territory in Maine which would be now of great value to +the Dominion. The only advantage which accrued to the Canadians was a +later convention which gave the people of the provinces full control of +fisheries, ignorantly sacrificed by the treaty of 1783. + +No class of the people of Canada contributed more to the effectiveness +of the militia and the successful defence of the country than the +descendants of the Loyalists, who formed so large and influential a +portion of the English population of British North America. All the +loyal settlements on the banks of the St. Lawrence, on the Niagara +frontier, and on the shores of Lake Erie, sent many men to fight by the +side of the regular British forces. Even aged men, who had borne arms in +the revolutionary war, came forward with an enthusiasm which showed that +age had not impaired their courage or patriotism, and although they were +exempted from active service, they were found most useful in stationary +duties at a time when Canada demanded the experience of such veterans. +"Their lessons and example," wrote General Sheaffe, "will have a happy +influence on the youth of the militia ranks." When Hull invaded the +province and issued his boastful and threatening proclamation he used +language which must have seemed a mockery to the children of the +Loyalists. They remembered too well the sufferings of their fathers and +brothers during "the stormy period of the revolution," and it seemed +derisive to tell them now that they were to be "emancipated from tyranny +and oppression and restored to the dignified station of free men." The +proclamation issued by Governor Brock touched the loyal hearts of a +people whose family histories were full of examples of "oppression and +tyranny," and of the kind consideration and justice of England in their +new homes. "Where," asked Brock, with the confidence of truth, "is the +Canadian subject who can truly affirm to himself that he has been +injured by the government in his person, his property, or his liberty? +Where is to be found, in any part of the world, a growth so rapid in +prosperity and wealth as this colony exhibits?" These people, to whom +this special appeal was made at this national crisis, responded with a +heartiness which showed that gratitude and affection lay deep in their +hearts. Even the women worked in the field that their husbands, brothers +and sons might drive the invaders from Canadian soil. The 104th +Regiment, which accomplished a remarkable march of thirteen days in the +depth of winter, from Fredericton to Quebec--a distance of three hundred +and fifty miles--and lost only one man by illness, was composed of +descendants of the loyal founders of New Brunswick. This march was +accomplished practically without loss, while more than three hundred +men were lost by Benedict Arnold in his expedition of 1777 against +Quebec by the way of Kennebec--a journey not more dangerous or arduous +than that so successfully accomplished by the New Brunswick Loyalists. +In 1814 considerable numbers of seamen for service in the upper lakes +passed through New Brunswick to Quebec, and were soon followed by +several companies of the 8th or King's Regiment. The patriotism of the +Loyalists of New Brunswick was shown by grants of public money and every +other means in their power, while these expeditions were on their way to +the seat of war in the upper provinces. + +Historians and poets have often dwelt on the heroism of Laura Secord, +daughter and wife of Loyalists, who made a perilous journey in 1814 +through the Niagara district, and succeeded in warning Lieutenant +Fitzgibbon of the approach of the enemy, thus enabling him with a few +soldiers and Indians to surprise Colonel Boerstler near Beaver Dams and +force him by clever strategy to surrender with nearly 600 men and +several cannon. Even boys fled from home and were found fighting in the +field. The Prince Regent, at the close of the war, expressly thanked the +Canadian militia, who had "mainly contributed to the immediate +preservation of the province and its future security." The Loyalists, +who could not save the old colonies to England, did their full share in +maintaining her supremacy in the country she still owned in the valley +of the St. Lawrence and on the shores of the Atlantic. + +As Bishop Plessis stimulated a patriotic sentiment among the French +Canadians, so Vicar-General Macdonell of Glengarry, subsequently the +first Roman Catholic bishop of Upper Canada, performed good service by +assisting in the formation of a Glengarry regiment, and otherwise taking +an active part in the defence of the province, where his will always be +an honoured name. Equally indefatigable in patriotic endeavour was +Bishop Strachan, then rector of York, who established "The Loyal and +Patriotic Society," which did incalculable good by relieving the +necessities of women and children, when the men were serving in the +battlefield, by providing clothing and food for the soldiery, and +otherwise contributing towards the comfort and succour of all those who +were taking part in the public defences. Of the engagements of the war +there are two which, above all others, possess features on which the +historian must always like to dwell. The battle which was fought against +such tremendous odds on the banks of the Chateauguay by less than a +thousand French Canadians, led by Salaberry and Macdonell, recalls in +some respects the defeat of Braddock in 1755. The disaster to the +British forces near the Monongahela was mainly the result of the +strategy of the Indians, who were dispersed in the woods which reechoed +to their wild yells and their ever fatal shots fired under cover of +trees, rocks and stumps. The British were paralysed as they saw their +ranks steadily decimated by the fire of an enemy whom they could never +see, and who seemed multitudinous as their shrieks and shouts were heard +far and wide in that Bedlam of the forest. The leaves that lay thick and +deep on the ground were reddened with the blood of many victims helpless +against the concealed, relentless savages. The woods of the Chateauguay +did not present such a scene of carnage as was witnessed at the battle +of the Monongahela, but nevertheless they seemed to the panic-stricken +invaders, who numbered many thousands, alive with an enemy whose +strength was enormously exaggerated as bugle sounds and Indian yells +made a fearful din on every side. Believing themselves surrounded by +forces far superior in numbers, the invaders became paralysed with fear +and fled in disorder from an enemy whom they could not see, and who +might close upon them at any moment. In this way Canadian pluck and +strategy won a famous victory which saved the province of Lower Canada +at a most critical moment of the war. + +If we leave the woods of Chateauguay, where a monument has been raised +in recognition of this brilliant episode of the war, and come to the +country above which rises the mist of the cataract of Niagara, we see a +little acclivity over which passes that famous thoroughfare called +"Lundy's Lane." Here too rises a stately shaft in commemoration of +another famous victory--in many respects the most notable of the +war--won by a gallant Englishman, whose name still clings to the pretty +town close by. + +This battle was fought on a midsummer night, when less than three +thousand British and Canadian troops fought six hours against a much +superior force, led by the ablest officers who had taken part in the +war. For three hours, from six to nine o'clock at night, less than two +thousand held the height, which was the main object of attack from the +beginning to the end of the conflict, and kept at bay the forces that +were led against them with a stern determination to win the position. +Sunlight gave way to the twilight of a July evening, and dense darkness +at last covered the combatants, but still the fight went on. Columns of +the enemy charged in such close and rapid succession that the British +artillerymen were constantly assailed in the very act of sponging and +loading their guns. The assailants once won the height, but only to find +themselves repulsed the next instant by the resolute daring of the +British. Happily at the most critical moment, when the defenders of the +hill were almost exhausted by the heroic struggle, reinforcements +arrived, and the battle was renewed with a supreme effort on both sides. +For three hours longer, from nine o'clock to midnight, the battle was +fought in the darkness, only relieved by the unceasing flashes from the +guns, whose sharp reports mingled with the deep and monotonous roar of +the great falls. It was a scene worthy of a painter whose imagination +could grasp all the incidents of a situation essentially dramatic in its +nature. The assailants of the Canadian position gave way at last and +withdrew their wearied and disheartened forces. It was in all respects a +victory for England and Canada, since the United States army did not +attempt to renew the battle on the next day, but retired to Fort Erie, +then in their possession. As Canadians look down "the corridors of +time," they will always see those flashes from the musketry and cannon +of Lundy's Lane, and hear the bugles which drove the invaders of their +country from the woods of Chateauguay. + +The war did much to solidify the various racial elements of British +North America during its formative stage. Frenchmen, Englishmen, +Scotsmen from the Lowlands and Highlands, Irishmen and Americans, united +to support the British connection. The character of the people, +especially in Upper Canada, was strengthened from a national point of +view by the severe strain to which it was subjected. Men and women alike +were elevated above the conditions of a mere colonial life and the +struggle for purely material necessities, and became animated by that +spirit of self-sacrifice and patriotic endeavour which tend to make a +people truly great. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE EVOLUTION OF RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT (1815--1839) + + +SECTION I.--The rebellion in Lower Canada. + +Responsible government in Canada is the logical sequence of the +political struggles, which commenced soon after the close of the war of +1812-15. As we review the history of Canada since the conquest we can +recognise "one ever increasing purpose" through all political changes, +and the ardent desire of men, entrusted at the outset with a very +moderate degree of political responsibility, to win for themselves a +larger measure of political liberty in the management of their own local +affairs. Grave mistakes were often made by the advocates of reform in +the government of the several provinces--notably, as I shall show, in +Lower Canada, where the French Canadian majority were carried often +beyond reason at the dictation of Papineau--but, whatever may have been +the indiscretions of politicians, there were always at the bottom of +their demands the germs of political development. + +The political troubles that continued from 1817 until 1836 in Lower +Canada eventually made the working of legislative institutions +impracticable. The contest gradually became one between the +governor-general representing the crown and the assembly controlled +almost entirely by a French Canadian majority, with respect to the +disposition of the public revenues and expenditures. Imperial statutes, +passed as far back as 1774-1775, provided for the levying of duties, to +be applied solely by the crown, primarily "towards defraying the +expenses of the administration of justice and the support of the civil +government of the province", and any sums that remained in the hands of +the government were "for the future disposition of parliament." Then +there were "the casual or territorial revenues," such as money arising +from the Jesuits' estates, royal seigniorial dues, timber and land, all +of which were also exclusively under the control of the government. The +assembly had been given jurisdiction only over the amount of duties +payable into the treasury under the authority of laws passed by the +legislature itself. In case the royal revenues were not sufficient to +meet the annual expenditure of the government, the deficiency was met +until the war of 1812-15 by drawing on the military exchequer. As the +expenses of the provincial administration increased the royal revenues +became inadequate, while the provincial revenues gradually showed a +considerable surplus over the expenditure voted by the legislature. In +1813 the cost of the war made it impossible for the government to use +the military funds, and it resorted to the provincial moneys for the +expenses of justice and civil government. In this way, by 1817, the +government had incurred a debt of a hundred and twenty thousand pounds +to the province without the direct authority of the legislature. The +assembly of Lower Canada was not disposed to raise troublesome issues +during the war, or in any way to embarrass the action of Sir George +Prevost, who, whatever may have been his incompetency as a military +chief, succeeded by his conciliatory and persuasive methods in winning +the good opinions of the French Canadian majority and making himself an +exceptionally popular civil governor. After closing the accounts of the +war, the government felt it expedient to stop such irregular +proceedings, to obtain from the legislature a general appropriation act, +covering the amount of expenditures in the past, and to prevent the +necessity of such a questionable application of provincial funds in the +future. This may be considered the beginning of the financial +controversies that were so constant, as years passed by, between the +governors and the assemblies, and never ended until the rebellion broke +out. The assembly, desirous of obtaining power in the management of +public affairs, learned that it could best embarrass the government and +force them to consider and adjust public grievances, as set forth by the +majority in the house, by means of the appropriation bills required for +the public service. The assembly not only determined to exercise sole +control over its own funds but eventually demanded the disposal of the +duties imposed and regulated by imperial statutes. The conflict was +remarkable for the hot and uncompromising temper constantly exhibited by +the majority on the discussion of the generally moderate and fair +propositions submitted by the government for settling vexed questions. +The assembly found a powerful argument in favour of their persistent +contention for a complete control of the public revenues and +expenditures in the defalcation of Mr. Caldwell, the receiver-general, +who had been allowed for years to use the public funds in his business +speculations, and whose property was entirely inadequate to cover the +deficiency in his accounts. + +The legislative council was always ready to resist what it often +asserted to be unconstitutional acts on the part of the house and direct +infringements of "the rights of the crown" sometimes a mere convenient +phrase used in an emergency to justify resistance to the assembly. It +often happened, however, that the upper chamber had law on its side, +when the house became perfectly unreasonable and uncompromising in its +attitude of hostility to the government. The council, on several +occasions, rejected a supply bill because it contained provisions +asserting the assembly's right to control the crown revenues and to vote +the estimates, item by item, from the governor's salary down to that of +the humblest official. Every part of the official and legislative +machinery became clogged by the obstinacy of governor, councils, and +assembly. To such an extent, indeed, did the assembly's assumption of +power carry it in 1836, that the majority actually asserted its own +right to amend the constitution of the council as defined in the +imperial statute of 1791. Its indiscreet acts eventually alienated the +sympathy and support of such English members as Mr. Neilson, a +journalist and politician of repute, Mr. Andrew Stuart, a lawyer of +ability, and others who believed in the necessity of constitutional +reforms, but could not follow Mr. Papineau and his party in their +reckless career of attack on the government, which they thought would +probably in the end imperil British connection. + +The government was in the habit of regularly submitting its accounts and +estimates to the legislature, and expressed its desire eventually to +grant that body the disposal of all the crown revenues, provided it +would consent to vote a civil list for the king's life, or even for a +fixed number of years, but the assembly was not willing to agree to any +proposal which prevented it from annually taking up the expenditures for +the civil government item by item, and making them matters of yearly +vote. In this way every person in the public service would be subject to +the caprice, or ill-feeling, of any single member of the legislature, +and the whole administration of the public departments would probably be +made ineffective. Under the plan suggested by the government in +accordance with English constitutional forms, the assembly would have +every opportunity of criticising all the public expenditures, and even +reducing the gross sum in cases of extravagance. But the same +contumacious spirit, which several times expelled Mr. Christie, member +for Gaspe, on purely vexatious and frivolous charges, and constantly +impeached judges without the least legal justification, simply to +satisfy personal spite or political malice, would probably have been +exhibited towards all officials had the majority in the assembly been +given the right of voting each salary separately. The assembly never +once showed a disposition to meet the wishes of the government even +half-way. Whatever may have been the vacillation or blundering of +officials in Downing Street, it must be admitted that the imperial +government showed a conciliatory spirit throughout the whole financial +controversy. Step by step it yielded to all the demands of the assembly +on this point. In 1831, when Lord Grey was premier, the British +parliament passed an act, making it lawful for the legislatures of Upper +and Lower Canada to appropriate the duties raised by imperial statutes +for the purpose of defraying the charges of the administration of +justice and the support of civil government. The government consequently +retained only the relatively small sum arising from casual and +territorial dues. When Lord Aylmer, the governor-general, communicated +this important concession to the legislature, he also sent a message +setting forth the fact that it was the settled policy of the crown on no +future occasion to nominate a judge either to the executive or the +legislative council, the sole exception being the chief justice of +Quebec. He also gave the consent of the government to the passage of an +act declaring that judges of the supreme court should thereafter hold +office "during good behaviour," on the essential condition that their +salaries were made permanent by the legislature. The position of the +judiciary had long been a source of great and even just complaint, and, +in the time of Sir James Craig, judges were disqualified from sitting in +the assembly on the demand of that body. They continued, however, to +hold office "during the pleasure" of the crown, and to be called at its +will to the executive and legislative councils. Under these +circumstances they were, with some reason, believed to be more or less +under the influence of the governor-general; and particular judges +consequently fell at times under the ban of the assembly, and were +attacked on the most frivolous grounds. The assembly passed a bill +providing for the independence of the judiciary, but it had to be +reserved because it was not in accordance with the conditions considered +necessary by the crown for the protection of the bench. + +The governor-general also in his message promised reforms of the +judicial and legal systems, the disposal of the funds arising from the +Jesuits' estates by the legislature, and, in fact, nearly all the +reforms which had been demanded by the house for years. Yet when the +government asked at the same time for a permanent civil list, the +message was simply referred to a committee of the whole house which +never reported. Until this time the efforts of the assembly to obtain +complete control of the public revenues and expenditures had a +justification in the fact that it is a recognised English principle that +the elected house should impose the taxes and vote the supplies; but +their action on this occasion, when the imperial government made most +important concessions, giving them full control over the public funds, +simply on condition that they should follow the English system of voting +the salaries of the judiciary and civil list, showed that the majority +were earned away by a purely factious spirit. During the progress of +these controversies, Mr. Louis Joseph Papineau, a brilliant but an +unsafe leader, had become the recognised chief of the French Canadian +majority, who for years elected him speaker of the assembly. In the +absence of responsible government, there was witnessed in those times +the extraordinary spectacle--only now-a-days seen in the American +congress--of the speaker, who should be above all political antagonisms, +acting as the leader of an arrogant majority, and urging them to +continue in their hostility to the government. It was Mr. Papineau who +first brought the governor-general directly into the arena of political +conflict by violent personal attacks; and indeed he went so far in the +case of Lord Dalhousie, a fair-minded man anxious to act moderately +within the limits of the constitution, that the latter felt compelled by +a sense of dignity to refuse the confirmation of the great agitator as +speaker in 1827. The majority in the assembly vehemently asserted their +right to elect their speaker independently of the governor, whose +confirmation was a mere matter of form, and not of statutory right; and +the only course at last open to Lord Dalhousie was to prorogue the +legislature. Mr. Papineau was re-elected speaker at the next session, +when Lord Dalhousie had gone to England and Sir James Kempt was +administrator. + +After 1831, Mr. Papineau steadily evoked the opposition of the more +conservative and thoughtful British Liberals who were not disposed to be +carried into a questionable position, inimical to British connection and +the peace of the country, Dr. Wolfred Nelson, and Dr. O'Callaghan, a +journalist, were soon the only supporters of ability left him among the +British and Irish, the great majority of whom rallied to the support of +the government when a perilous crisis arrived in the affairs of the +province. The British party dwindled away in every appeal to the people, +and no French Canadian representative who presumed to differ from Mr. +Papineau was ever again returned to the assembly. Mr. Papineau became +not only a political despot but an "irreconcilable," whose vanity led +him to believe that he would soon become supreme in French Canada, and +the founder of _La Nation Canadienne_ in the valley of the St. Lawrence. +The ninety-two resolutions passed in 1834 may be considered the climax +of the demands of his party, which for years had resisted immigration as +certain to strengthen the British population, had opposed the +establishment of registry offices as inconsistent with the French +institutions of the province, and had thrown every possible opposition +in the way of the progress of the Eastern Townships, which were +attracting year by year an industrious and energetic British population +from the British Isles and New England. + +In these resolutions of 1834 there is not a single paragraph or even +phrase which can be tortured into showing that the French Canadian +agitator and his friends were in favour of responsible government. The +key-note of the whole document is an elective legislative council, which +would inevitably increase the power of the French Canadians and place +the British in a hopeless minority. Mr. Roebuck, the paid agent of the +assembly in England, is said to have suggested the idea of this elective +body, and assuredly his writings and speeches were always calculated to +do infinite harm, by helping to inflame discontent in Canada, and +misrepresenting in England the true condition of affairs in the +province. The resolutions are noteworthy for their verbosity and entire +absence of moderate and wise suggestion. They were obviously written +under the inspiration of Mr. Papineau with the object of irritating the +British government, and preventing the settlement of political +difficulties. They even eulogised the institutions of the neighbouring +states which "commanded the affection of the people in a larger measure +than those of any other country," and should be regarded "as models of +government for Canada." They even went so far as "to remind parliament +of the consequences of its efforts to overrule the wishes of the +American colonies," in case they should make any "modification" in the +constitution of the province "independently of the wishes of its +people." Colonel Gugy, Mr. Andrew Stuart, Mr. Neilson and other +prominent Englishmen opposed the passage of these resolutions, as +calculated to do infinite harm, but they were carried by a very large +French Canadian majority at the dictation of Mr. Papineau. Whatever may +have been its effect for the moment, this wordy effusion has long since +been assigned to the limbo where are buried other examples of the +demagogism of those trying times. + +In 1835 the imperial government decided to send three commissioners to +examine into the various questions which had been so long matters of +agitation in Lower Canada. Lord Aberdeen, then Colonial Secretary of +State, emphatically stated that it was the intention of the government +"to review and enquire into every alleged grievance and examine every +cause of complaint, and apply a remedy to every abuse that may still be +found to prevail." + +The choice of the government as chief commissioner and governor-general +was Lord Gosford, an amiable, inexperienced and weak man, who failed +either to conciliate the French Canadian majority to whom he was even +humble for a while, or to obtain the confidence of the British party to +whose counsels and warnings he did not pay sufficient heed at the +outset of the crisis which culminated during his administration. The +majority in the assembly were determined not to abate one iota of their +pretensions, which now included the control of the casual and +territorial revenues; and no provision whatever was made for four years +for the payment of the public service. The commissioners reported +strongly against the establishment of an elected council, and in favour +of a modified system of responsible government, not dependent on the +vote of the house. They recommended also the surrender of the casual and +territorial revenues on condition of proper provision for the payment of +the civil service, and the administration of justice. + +The imperial government immediately recognised that they had to face a +very serious crisis in the affairs of Lower Canada. On the 6th March, +1836, Lord John Russell, then home secretary in Lord Melbourne's +administration, introduced a series of ten resolutions, providing for +the immediate payment of the arrears of L142,160. 14s. 6d., due to the +public service, out of the moneys in the hands of the receiver-general. +While it was admitted that measures should be taken to secure for the +legislative council a greater degree of public confidence, the +government deemed it inexpedient to make that body elective. The +necessity of improving the position of the executive council was also +acknowledged, but the suggestion of a ministry responsible to the +assembly was not approved. This disapproval was quite in accordance with +the policy adopted by Englishmen since 1822, when a measure had been +introduced in parliament for the reunion of the two Canadas--the +precursor of the measure of 1840. This measure originally provided that +two members of the executive council should sit and speak in the +assembly but not vote. Those parts of the bill of 1822 which provided +for a union were not pressed on account of the objections raised in both +the provinces, but certain other provisions became law under the title +of "The Canadian Trade Acts," relieving Upper Canada from the +capricious action of Lower Canada with respect to the duties from which +the former obtained the principal part of her fund for carrying on her +government. This share had been originally fixed at one-fifth of the +proceeds of the customs duties collected by the province of Lower +Canada, but when the population of the western section increased +considerably and consumed a far greater quantity of dutiable goods, its +government justly demanded a larger proportion of the revenues collected +in the ports of the lower St. Lawrence. The legislature of Lower Canada +paid no attention to this equitable demand, and eventually even refused +to renew the legislation providing for the payment of one-fifth of the +duties. Under these circumstances the imperial government found it +necessary to intervene, and pass the "Trade Acts," making the past +legislation of Lower Canada on the subject permanent, and preventing its +legislature from imposing new duties on imports without the consent of +the upper province. As this was a question of grave import, the +resolutions of 1836 gave authority to the legislatures of Upper and +Lower Canada to provide joint legislation "for determining and adjusting +all questions respecting the trade and commerce of the provinces." + +As soon as the passage of these resolutions became known throughout +Lower Canada, Papineau and his supporters commenced an active campaign +of denunciation against England, from whom, they declared, there was no +redress whatever to be expected. Wherever the revolutionists were in the +majority, they shouted, "_Vive la liberte!" "Vive la Nation Canadienne!" +"Vive Papineau!" "Point de despotisme_!": while flags and placards were +displayed with similar illustrations of popular frenzy. _La Nation +Canadienne_ was now launched on the turbulent waves of a little +rebellion in which the phrases of the French revolution were glibly +shouted by the _habitants_ with very little conception of their real +significance. The British or Constitutional party took active steps in +support of British connection, but Lord Gosford, unhappily still +governor-general, did not for some time awaken to the reality of the +public danger. Happily for British interests, Sir John Culhorne, +afterwards Lord Seaforth, a courageous and vigilant soldier, was in the +country, and was able, when orders were given him by the reluctant +governor, to deal determinedly with the rebels who had taken up arms in +the Richelieu district. Dr. Wolfred Nelson made a brave stand at St. +Denis, and repulsed Colonel Gore's small detachment of regulars. +Papineau was present for a while at the scene of conflict, but he took +no part in it and lost no time in making a hurried flight to the United +States--an ignominious close to a successful career of rhetorical +flashes which had kindled a conflagration that he took very good care +should not even scorch him. Colonel Wetherall defeated another band of +rebels at St. Charles, and their commander, Mr. Thomas Storrow Brown, a +well-meaning but gullible man, fled across the border. Dr. Wolfred +Nelson was captured, and a number of other rebels of less importance +were equally unfortunate. Some of the refugees made a public +demonstration from Vermont, but precipitately fled before a small force +which met them. At St. Eustache, one Girod, a plausible, mendacious +Swiss or Alsatian, who had become a leader in the rebellious movement, +and Dr. Chenier, a rash but courageous man, collected a considerable +body of rebels, chiefly from St. Benoit, despite the remonstrances of +Mr. Paquin, the cure of the village, and defended the stone church and +adjacent buildings against a large force, led by Sir John Colborne +himself. Dr. Chenier and many others--at least seventy, it is said on +good authority--were killed, and the former has in the course of time +been elevated to the dignity of a national hero and a monument raised in +his honour on a public square of the French Canadian quarters of +Montreal. Mad recklessness rather than true heroism signalised his +action in this unhappy affair, when he led so many of his credulous +compatriots to certain death, but at least he gave up his life manfully +to a lost cause rather than fly like Papineau who had beguiled him to +this melancholy conclusion. Even Girod showed courage and ended his own +life when he found that he could not evade the law. The rebellious +element at St. Benoit was cowed by the results at St. Eustache; and the +Abbe Chartier, who had taken an active part in urging the people to +resistance, fled to the United States whence he never returned. The +greater part of the village was destroyed by fire, probably in +retaliation for the losses and injuries suffered by the volunteers at +the hands of the rebels in different parts of the district of Montreal. + +One of the most unfortunate and discreditable incidents of the rising in +the Richelieu district was the murder of Lieutenant Weir, who had been +taken prisoner while carrying despatches to Sorel, and was literally +hacked to pieces, when he tried to escape from a _caleche_ in which he +was being conveyed to St. Charles. An equally unhappy incident was the +cold-blooded execution, after a mock trial, of one Chartrand, a harmless +non-combatant who was accused, without a tittle of evidence, of being a +spy. The temper of the country can be gauged by the fact that when it +was attempted, some time later, to convict the murderers on clear +evidence, it was impossible to obtain a verdict. Jolbert, the alleged +murderer of Weir, was never punished, but Francois Nicholas and Amable +Daumais, who had aided in the trial and execution of Chartrand, were +subsequently hanged for having taken an active part in the second +insurrection of 1838. + +The rebellion of 1837 never reached any large proportions, and very few +French Canadians of social or political standing openly participated in +the movement. Monseigneur Lartigue, Roman Catholic bishop of Montreal, +issued a _mandement_ severely censuring the misguided men who had joined +in the rebellious movement and caused so much misery throughout the +province. In England, strange to say, there were men found, even in +parliament, ready to misrepresent the facts and glory in a rebellion the +causes of which they did not understand. The animating motive with +these persons was then--and there were similar examples during the +American revolution--to assail the government of the day and make +political capital against them, but, it must be admitted, in all +fairness to the reform ministry of that day and even to preceding +cabinets for some years, that the policy of all was to be just and +conciliatory in their relations with the provincial agitators, though it +is also evident that a more thorough knowledge of political conditions +and a more resolute effort to a reach the bottom of grievances might +have long before removed causes of irritation and saved the loss of +property and life in 1837 and 1838. + +In the presence of a grave emergency, the British government felt +compelled to suspend the constitution of Lower Canada, and send out Lord +Durham, a Liberal statesman of great ability, to act as governor-general +and high commissioner "for the determining of certain important +questions depending in the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada +respecting the form and future government of the said provinces" Despite +a certain haughtiness of manner which was apt to wound his inferiors and +irritate his equals in position, he was possessed of a great fund of +accurate political knowledge and a happy faculty of grasping all the +essential facts of a difficult situation, and suggesting the best remedy +to apply under all the circumstances. He endeavoured, to the utmost of +his ability, to redeem the pledge with which he entered on his mission +to Canada, in the first instance "to assert the supremacy of her +majesty's government," in the next "to vindicate the honour and dignity +of the law," and above all "to know nothing of a British, a French, or a +Canadian party," but "to look on them all alike as her majesty's +subjects." After he had appointed a special council he set to work +energetically to secure the peace of the country. Humanity was the +distinguishing feature of his too short career in Canada. A +comprehensive amnesty was proclaimed to all those engaged in the +rebellion with the exception of Dr. Wolfred Nelson, R.S.M. Bouchette, +Bonaventure Viger, Dr. Masson, and four others of less importance, who +were ordered by an ordinance to be transported to Bermuda during the +queen's pleasure. These persons, as well as sixteen others, including +Papineau, who had fled from justice, were declared to be subject to +death should they venture to enter the province. Not a single rebel +suffered death on the scaffold during Lord Durham's administration. +Unfortunately the ordinance, transporting a number of persons without +trial to an island where the governor-general had no jurisdiction, gave +an opportunity to Lord Brougham, who hated the high commissioner, to +attack him in the house of lords. Lord Melbourne, then premier, was +forced to repeal the ordinance and to consent to the passage of a bill +indemnifying all those who had acted under its provisions Lord Glenelg, +colonial secretary, endeavoured to diminish the force of this +parliamentary censure by writing to the high commissioner that "her +majesty's government repeat their approbation of the spirit in which +these measures were conceived and state their conviction that they have +been dictated by a judicious and enlightened humanity"; but a statesman +of Lord Durham's haughty character was not ready to submit to such a +rebuke as he had sustained in parliament He therefore immediately placed +his resignation in the hands of the government which had commissioned +him with powers to give peace and justice to distracted Canada, and yet +failed to sustain him at the crucial moment. Before leaving the country +he issued a proclamation in defence of his public acts. His course in +this particular offended the ministry who, according to Lord Glenelg, +considered it a dangerous innovation, as it was practically an appeal by +a public officer to the public against the measures of parliament. Lord +Durham may be pardoned under all the circumstances for resenting at the +earliest possible moment his desertion by the government, who were bound +in honour to defend him, at all hazards, in his absence, and should not +have given him over for the moment to his enemies, led by a spiteful +Scotch lawyer. Lord Durham left Canada with the assurance that he had +won the confidence of all loyal British subjects and proved to all +French Canadians that there were English statesmen prepared to treat +them with patience, humanity and justice. + +Sir John Colborne became administrator on the departure of Lord Durham, +and subsequently governor-general. Unhappily he was immediately called +upon to crush another outbreak of the rebels, in November, 1838, in the +counties watered by the Richelieu River, and in the district immediately +south of Montreal. Dr. Robert Nelson and some other rebels, who had +found refuge in the frontier towns and villages of Vermont and New York, +organised this second insurrection, which had the support of a +considerable number of _habitants_, though only a few actually took up +arms. The rising, which began at Caughnawaga, was put down at +Beauharnois, within a week from the day on which it commenced. The +authorities now felt that the time had passed for such leniency as had +been shown by Lord Durham; and Sir John Colborne accordingly established +courts-martial for the trial of the prisoners taken during this second +insurrection, as it was utterly impossible to obtain justice through the +ordinary process of the courts. Only twelve persons, however, suffered +the extreme penalty of the law; some were sent to New South Wales--where +however they were detained only a short time; and the great majority +were pardoned on giving security for good behaviour. + +While these trials were in progress, and the government were anxious to +give peace and security to the province, refugees in the border states +were despatching hands of ruffians to attack and plunder the Loyalists +in the Eastern Townships; but the government of the United States +intervened and instructed its officers to take decisive measures for the +repression of every movement in the territory of a friendly Power. Thus +the mad insurrection incited by Papineau, but actually led by the +Nelsons, Chenier and Brown, came at last to an end. + +A new era of political development was now to dawn on the province, as a +result of a more vigorous and remedial policy initiated by the imperial +government, at last thoroughly awakened to an intelligent comprehension +of the political conditions of the Canadas. But before I proceed to +explain the details of measures fraught with such important +consequences, I must give an historical summary of the events which led +also to a rash uprising in Upper Canada, simultaneously with the one +which ended so disastrously for its leaders in the French province. + + +SECTION 2.--The rebellion in Upper Canada. + +The financial disputes between the executive and the assembly never +attained such prominence in Upper Canada as in the lower province. In +1831 the assembly consented to make permanent provision for the civil +list and the judiciary, on condition of the government's giving up to +the legislature all the revenues previously at its own disposition. +Three years later the legislature also passed an act to provide that the +judges should hold their offices during good behaviour, and not at the +pleasure of the crown--a measure rendered possible by the fact that the +assembly had made the salaries of the bench permanent. + +Nor did the differences between the assembly and the legislative council +ever assume such serious proportions as they did in the French province. +Still the leaders of the reform party of Upper Canada had strong +objections to the constitution of the council; and a committee of +grievances reported in 1835 in favour of an elected body as well as a +responsible council, although it did not very clearly outline the +methods of working out the system in a colony where the head of the +executive was an imperial officer acting under royal instructions. The +different lieutenant-governors, the executive and legislative +councillors, and the whole body of officials, from the very moment +responsible government was suggested in any form, threw every possible +obstacle in the way of its concession by the imperial government. + +It was largely the dominant influence of the official combination, long +known in Canadian history as the "family compact," which prevented the +concession of responsible government before the union of the Canadas. +This phrase, as Lord Durham said in his report, was misleading inasmuch +as there "was very little of family connection between the persons thus +united." As a matter of fact the phrase represented a political and +aristocratic combination, which grew up as a consequence of the social +conditions of the province and eventually monopolised all offices and +influence in government. This bureaucracy permeated all branches of +government--the executive, the legislative council, and even the +assembly where for years there sat several members holding offices of +emolument under the crown. It practically controlled the banks and +monetary circles. The Church of England was bound up in its interests. +The judiciary was more or less under its influence while judges were +appointed during pleasure and held seats in the councils. This governing +class was largely composed of the descendants of the Loyalists of 1784, +who had taken so important a part in the war with the United States and +always asserted their claims to special consideration in the +distribution of government favour. The old settlers--all those who had +come into the country before the war--demanded and obtained greater +consideration at the hands of the government than the later immigrants, +who eventually found themselves shut out of office and influence. The +result was the growth of a Liberal or Reform party, which, while +generally composed of the later immigrants, comprised several persons of +Loyalist extraction, who did not happen to belong to the favoured class +or church, but recognised the necessity for a change in the methods of +administration. Among these Loyalists must be specially mentioned Peter +Perry, who was really the founder of the Reform party in 1834, and the +Reverend Egerton Ryerson, a Methodist minister of great natural ability. + +Unfortunately creed also became a powerful factor in the political +controversies of Upper Canada. By the constitutional act of 1791 large +tracts of land were set aside for the support of a "Protestant clergy", +and the Church of England successfully claimed for years an exclusive +right to these "clergy reserves" on the ground that it was the +Protestant church recognised by the state. The clergy of the Church of +Scotland in Canada, though very few in number for years, at a later time +obtained a share of these grants as a national religious body; but all +the dissentient denominations did not participate in the advantages of +these reserves. The Methodists claimed in the course of years to be +numerically equal to, if not more numerous than, the English +Episcopalians, and were deeply irritated at the inferior position they +long occupied in the province. So late as 1824 the legislative council, +composed of members of the dominant church, rejected a bill allowing +Methodist ministers to solemnise marriages, and it was not until 1831 +that recognised ministers of all denominations were placed on an +equality in this respect. Christian charity was not more a +characteristic of those times than political liberality. Methodism was +considered by the governing class as a sign of democracy and social +inferiority. History repeated itself in Upper Canada. As the Puritans of +New England feared the establishment of an Anglican episcopacy, and used +it to stimulate a feeling against the parent state during the beginnings +of the revolution, so in Upper Canada the dissenting religious bodies +made political capital out of the favouritism shown to the Church of +England in the distribution of the public lands and public patronage. +The Roman Catholics and members of all Protestant sects eventually +demanded the secularisation of the reserves for educational or other +public purposes, or the application of the funds to the use of all +religious creeds. The feeling against that church culminated in 1836, +when Sir John Colborne, then lieutenant-governor, established forty-four +rectories in accordance with a suggestion made by Lord Goderich some +years previously. While the legality of Sir John Colborne's course was +undoubted, it was calculated to create much indignant feeling among the +dissenting bodies, who saw in the establishment of these rectories an +evidence of the intention of the British government to create a state +church so far as practicable by law within the province. This act, so +impolitic at a critical time of political discussion, was an +illustration of the potent influence exercised in the councils of the +government by Archdeacon Strachan, who had come into the province from +Scotland in 1799 as a schoolmaster. He had been brought up in the tenets +of the Presbyterian Church, but some time after his arrival in Canada he +became an ordained minister of the Church of England, in which he rose +step by step to the episcopacy. He became a member of both the executive +and legislative councils in 1816 and 1817, and exercised continuously +until the union of 1841 a singular influence in the government of the +province. He was endowed with that indomitable will, which distinguished +his great countryman, John Knox. His unbending toryism was the natural +outcome of his determination to sustain what he considered the just +rights of his church against the liberalism of her opponents--chiefly +dissenters--who wished to rob her of her clergy reserves and destroy her +influence in education and public affairs generally. This very fidelity +to his church became to some extent her weakness, since it evoked the +bitter hostility of a large body of persons and created the impression +that she was the church of the aristocratic and official class rather +than that of the people--an impression which existed for many years +after the fall of the "family compact." + +The public grievances connected with the disposition of the public +lands were clearly exposed by one Robert Gourlay, a somewhat meddlesome +Scotchman, who had addressed a circular, soon after his arrival in +Canada, to a number of townships with regard to the causes which +retarded improvement and the best means of developing the resources of +the province. An answer from Sandwich virtually set forth the feeling of +the rural districts generally on these points. It stated that the +reasons for the existing depression were the reserves of land for the +crown and clergy, "which must for a long time keep the country a +wilderness, a harbour for wolves, and a hindrance to compact and good +neighbourhood; defects in the system of colonisation; too great a +quantity of lands in the hands of individuals who do not reside in the +province, and are not assessed for their property." Mr. Gourlay's +questions were certainly asked in the public interest, but they excited +the indignation of the official class who resented any interference with +a state of things which favoured themselves and their friends, and were +not desirous of an investigation into the management of public affairs. +The subsequent treatment of Mr. Gourlay was shameful in the extreme. He +was declared a most dangerous character when he followed up his circular +by a pamphlet, attacking the methods by which public affairs generally +were conducted, and contrasting them with the energetic and progressive +system on the other side of the border. The indignation of the officials +became a positive fever when he suggested the calling of public meetings +to elect delegates to a provincial convention--a term which recalled the +days of the American revolution, and was cleverly used by Gourlay's +enemies to excite the ire and fear of the descendants of the Loyalists. +Sir Peregrine Maitland succeeded in obtaining from the legislature an +opinion against conventions as "repugnant to the constitution," and +declaring the holding of such public meetings a misdemeanour, while +admitting the constitutional right of the people to petition. These +proceedings evoked a satirical reply from Gourlay, who was arrested for +seditious libel, but the prosecutions failed. It was then decided to +resort to the provisions of a practically obsolete statute passed in +1804, authorising the arrest of any person who had resided in the +province for six months without taking the oath of allegiance, and was +suspected to be a seditious character. Such a person could be ordered by +the authorities to leave the province, or give security for good +behaviour. This act had been originally passed to prevent the +immigration of aliens unfavourable to England, especially of Irishmen +who had taken part in the rebellion of 1798 and found refuge in the +United States. Gourlay had been a resident of Upper Canada for nearly +two years, and in no single instance had the law been construed to apply +to an immigrant from the British Isles. Gourlay was imprisoned in the +Niagara gaol, and when his friends attempted to bring him out on a writ +of _habeas corpus_ they failed simply because Chief Justice Powell, an +able lawyer of a Loyalist family and head of the official party, refused +to grant the writ on a mere technical plea, afterwards declared by the +highest legal authorities in England to be entirely contrary to sound +law. Gourlay consequently remained in prison for nearly eight months, +and when he was brought again before the chief justice, his mental +faculties were obviously impaired for the moment, but despite his +wretched condition, which prevented him from conducting his defence, he +was summarily convicted and ordered to leave the province within +twenty-four hours, under penalty of death should he not obey the order +or return to the country. + +This unjust sentence created wide-spread indignation among all +right-thinking people, especially as it followed a message of the +lieutenant-governor to the legislature, that he did not feel justified +in extending the grants of land, made to actors in the war of 1812-15, +to "any of the inhabitants who composed the late convention of +delegates, the proceedings of which were very properly subjected to your +very severe animadversion" This undoubtedly illegal action of the +lieutenant-governor only escaped the censure of the assembly by the +casting vote of the speaker, but was naturally justified in the +legislative council where Chief Justice Powell presided. Gourlay became +a martyr in the opinion of a large body of people, and a Reform party +began to grow up in the country. The man himself disappeared for years +from Canadian history, and did not return to the province until 1856, +after a chequered and unhappy career in Great Britain and the United +States. The assembly of the United Canadas in 1842 declared his arrest +to be "unjust and illegal," and his sentence "null and void," and he was +offered a pension as some compensation for the injuries he had received; +but he refused it unless it was accompanied by an official declaration +of the illegality of the conviction and its elision from the records of +the courts. The Canadian government thought he should be satisfied with +the action of the assembly and the offer of the pension. Gourlay died +abroad, and his daughters on his death received the money which he +rejected with the obstinacy so characteristic of his life. + +During these days of struggle we find most prominent among the official +class Attorney-General Robinson, afterwards chief justice of Upper +Canada for many years. He was the son of a Virginian Loyalist, and a +Tory of extreme views, calm, polished, and judicial in his demeanour. +But whatever his opinions on the questions of the day he was too +discreet a politician and too honest a judge ever to have descended to +such a travesty of justice as had been shown by his predecessor in the +case of Gourlay. His influence, however was never in the direction of +liberal measures. He opposed responsible government and the union of the +two provinces, both when proposed unsuccessfully in 1822, and when +carried in Upper Canada eighteen years later. + +The elections of 1825 had a very important influence on the political +conditions of the upper province, since they brought into the assembly +Peter Perry, Dr. Rolph, and Marshall Spring Bidwell, who became leading +actors in the Reform movement which culminated in the concession of +responsible government. But the most conspicuous man from 1826 until +1837 was William Lyon Mackenzie, a Scotchman of fair education, who came +to Canada in 1820, and eventually embraced journalism as the profession +most suited to his controversial temperament. Deeply imbued with a +spirit of liberalism in politics, courageous and even defiant in the +expression of his opinions, sadly wanting in sound judgment and common +sense when his feelings were excited, able to write with vigour, but +more inclined to emphatic vituperation than well-reasoned argument, he +made himself a force in the politics of the province. In the _Colonial +Advocate_, which he established in 1824, he commenced a series of +attacks on the government which naturally evoked the resentment of the +official class, and culminated in the destruction of his printing office +in 1826 by a number of young men, relatives of the principal +officials--one of them actually the private secretary of the +lieutenant-governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland. Mr. Mackenzie obtained +large damages in the courts, and was consequently able to continue the +publication of his paper at a time when he was financially embarrassed. +The sympathy felt for Mr. Mackenzie brought him into the assembly as +member for York during the session of 1829. So obnoxious did he become +to the governing class that he was expelled four times from the assembly +between 1831 and 1834, and prevented from taking his seat by the orders +of the speaker in 1835--practically the fifth expulsion. In 1832 he went +to England and presented largely signed petitions asking for a redress +of grievances. He appears to have made some impression on English +statesmen, and the colonial minister recommended a few reforms to the +lieutenant-governor, but they were entirely ignored by the official +party. Lord Glenelg also disapproved of the part taken by +Attorney-General Boulton--Mr. Robinson being then chief justice--and +Solicitor-General Hagerman in the expulsion of Mr. Mackenzie; but they +treated the rebuke with contempt and were removed from office for again +assisting in the expulsion of Mr. Mackenzie. + +In 1834 he was elected first mayor of Toronto, then incorporated under +its present name, as a consequence of the public sympathy aroused in his +favour by his several expulsions. Previous to the election of 1835, in +which he was returned to the assembly, he made one of the most serious +blunders of his life, in the publication of a letter from Mr. Joseph +Hume, the famous Radical, whose acquaintance he had made while in +England. Mr. Hume emphatically stated his opinion that "a crisis was +fast approaching in the affairs of Canada which would terminate in +independence and freedom from the baneful domination of the mother +country, and the tyrannical conduct of a small and despicable faction in +the colony." The official class availed themselves of this egregious +blunder to excite the indignation of the Loyalist population against Mr. +Mackenzie and other Reformers, many of whom, like the Baldwins and +Perrys, disavowed all sympathy with such language. Mr. Mackenzie's +motive was really to insult Mr. Ryerson, with whom he had quarrelled. +Mr. Ryerson in the _Christian Guardian_, organ of the Methodists, had +attacked Mr. Hume as a person unfit to present petitions from the +Liberals of Canada, since he had opposed the measure for the +emancipation of slaves in the West Indies, and had consequently +alienated the confidence and sympathy of the best part of the nation. +Mr. Hume then wrote the letter in question, in which he also stated that +he "never knew a more worthless hypocrite or so base a man as Mr. +Ryerson proved himself to be." Mr. Mackenzie in this way incurred the +wrath of a wily clergyman and religious journalist who exercised much +influence over the Methodists, and at the same time fell under the ban +of all people who were deeply attached to the British connection. +Moderate Reformers now looked doubtfully on Mackenzie, whose principal +supporters were Dr. Duncombe, Samuel Lount, Peter Matthews, and other +men who took an active part in the insurrection of 1837. + +In the session of 1835 a committee of grievances, appointed on the +motion of Mr. Mackenzie himself, reported in favour of a system of +responsible government, an elective legislative council, the appointment +of civil governors, a diminution of the patronage exercised by the +crown, the independence of the legislature, and other reforms declared +to be in the interest of good government. The report was temperately +expressed, and created some effect for a time in England, but the +colonial minister could not yet be induced to move in the direction of +positive reform in the restrictive system of colonial government. + +Unhappily, at this juncture, when good judgment and discretion were so +necessary in political affairs, all the circumstances combined to hasten +a perilous crisis, and to give full scope to the passionate impulses of +Mackenzie's nature. Sir John Colborne was replaced in the government of +the province by one of the most incapable governors ever chosen by the +colonial office, Sir Francis Bond Head. He had been chiefly known in +England as a sprightly writer of travels, and had had no political +experience except such as could be gathered in the discharge of the +duties of a poor-law commissioner in Wales. His first official act was +an indiscretion. He communicated to the legislature the full text of the +instructions which he had received from the king, although he had been +advised to give only their substance, as least calculated to hamper Lord +Gosford, who was then attempting to conciliate the French Canadian +majority in Lower Canada. These instructions, in express terms, +disapproved of a responsible executive and particularly of an elected +legislative council, to obtain which was the great object of Papineau +and his friends. Mr. Bidwell, then speaker of the assembly, recognised +the importance of this despatch, and forwarded it immediately to Mr. +Papineau, at that time speaker of the Lower Canadian house, with whom he +and other Reformers had correspondence from time to time. Lord Gosford +was consequently forced to lay his own instructions in full before the +legislature and to show the majority that the British government was +opposed to such vital changes in the provincial constitution as they +persistently demanded. The action of the Lower Canadian house on this +matter was communicated to the assembly of Upper Canada by a letter of +Mr. Papineau to Mr. Bidwell, who laid it before his house just before +the prorogation in 1835. In this communication the policy of the +imperial government was described as "the naked deformity of the +colonial system," and the royal commissioners were styled "deceitful +agents," while the methods of government in the neighbouring states were +again eulogised as in the ninety-two resolutions of 1834. Sir Francis +Bond Head seized the opportunity to create a feeling against the +Reformers, to whom he was now hostile. Shortly after he sent his +indiscreet message to the legislature he persuaded Dr. Rolph, Mr. +Bidwell and Receiver-General Dunn to enter the executive council on the +pretence that he wished to bring that body more into harmony with public +opinion. The new councillors soon found that they were not to be +consulted in public affairs, and when the whole council actually +resigned Sir Francis told them plainly that he alone was responsible for +his acts, and that he would only consult them when he deemed it +expedient in the public interest. This action of the lieutenant-governor +showed the Reformers that he was determined to initiate no changes which +would disturb the official party, or give self-government to the people. +The assembly, in which the Liberals were dominant, passed an address to +the king, declaring the lieutenant-governor's conduct "derogatory to the +honour of the king," and also a memorial to the British house of commons +charging him with "misrepresentation, and a deviation from candour and +truth." + +Under these circumstances Sir Francis eagerly availed himself of +Papineau's letter to show the country the dangerous tendencies of the +opinions and acts of the Reformers in the two provinces. In an answer he +made to an address from some inhabitants of the Home District, he warned +the people that there were individuals in Lower Canada, who were +inculcating the idea that "this province is to be disturbed by the +interference of foreigners, whose powers and influence will prove +invincible"--an allusion to the sympathy shown by Papineau and his +friends for the institutions of the United States. Then Sir Francis +closed his reply with this rhodomontade: "In the name of every regiment +of militia in Upper Canada, I publicly promulgate 'Let them come if they +dare'" He dissolved the legislature and went directly to the country on +the issue that the British connection was endangered by the Reformers. +"He succeeded, in fact," said Lord Durham in his report of 1839, "in +putting the issue in such a light before the province, that a great +portion of the people really imagined that they were called upon to +decide the question of separation by their votes." These strong appeals +to the loyalty of a province founded by the Loyalists of 1784, combined +with the influence exercised by the "family compact," who had all +offices and lands at their disposal, defeated Mackenzie, Bidwell, Perry +and other Reformers of less note, and brought into the legislature a +solid phalanx of forty-two supporters of the government against eighteen +elected by the opposition. It was a triumph dearly paid for in the end. +The unfair tactics of the lieutenant-governor rankled in the minds of a +large body of people, and hastened the outbreak of the insurrection of +1837. The British government seems for a time to have been deceived by +this victory of the lieutenant-governor and actually lauded his +"foresight, energy and moral courage"; but ere long, after more mature +consideration of the political conditions of the province, it dawned +upon the dense mind of Lord Glenelg that the situation was not very +satisfactory, and that it would be well to conciliate the moderate +element among the Reformers. Sir Francis was accordingly instructed to +appoint Mr. Bidwell to the Bench, but he stated emphatically that such +an appointment would be a recognition on disloyalty. He preferred to +resign rather than obey the instructions of the colonial department, and +greatly to his surprise and chagrin his proffer of resignation was +accepted without the least demur. The colonial office by this time +recognised the mistake they had made in appointing Sir Francis to a +position, for which he was utterly unfit, but unhappily for the province +they awoke too late to a sense of their own folly. + +Mackenzie became so embittered by his defeat in 1836, and the +unscrupulous methods by which it was accomplished, that he made up his +mind that reform in government was not to be obtained except by a resort +to extreme measures. At meetings of Reformers, held at Lloydtown and +other places during the summer of 1837, resolutions were carried that it +was their duty to arm in defence of their rights and those of their +countrymen. Mackenzie visited many parts of the province, in order to +stimulate a revolutionary movement among the disaffected people, a +system of training volunteers was organised; pikes were manufactured and +old arms were put in order. It was decided that Dr. Rolph should be the +executive chief of the provisional government, and Mackenzie in the +meantime had charge of all the details of the movement. Mr. Bidwell +appears to have steadily kept aloof from the disloyal party, but Dr. +Rolph was secretly in communication with Mackenzie, Lount, Matthews, +Lloyd, Morrison, Duncombe, and other actors in the rebellion. The plan +was to march on Toronto, where it was notorious that no precautions for +defence were being taken, to seize the lieutenant-governor, to proclaim +a provisional government, and to declare the independence of the +province unless Sir Francis should give a solemn promise to constitute a +responsible council. It is quite certain that Mackenzie entirely +misunderstood the sentiment of the country, and exaggerated the support +that would be given to a disloyal movement. Lord Durham truly said that +the insurrectionary movements which did take place were "indicative of +no deep rooted disaffection," and that "almost the entire body of the +Reformers of the province sought only by constitutional means to obtain +those objects for which they had so long peacefully struggled before +the unhappy troubles occasioned by the violence of a few unprincipled +adventurers and heated enthusiasts." + +Despite the warnings that he was constantly receiving of the seditious +doings of Mackenzie and his lieutenants, Sir Francis Bond Head could not +be persuaded an uprising was imminent. So complete was his fatuity that +he allowed all the regular troops to be withdrawn to Lower Canada at the +request of Sir John Colborne. Had he taken adequate measures for the +defence of Toronto, and showed he was prepared for any contingency, the +rising of Mackenzie's immediate followers would never have occurred. His +apathy and negligence at this crisis actually incited an insurrection. +The repulse of Gore at St. Denis on the 23rd November (p. 134) no doubt +hastened the rebellious movement in Upper Canada, and it was decided to +collect all available men and assemble at Montgomery's tavern, only four +miles from Toronto by way of Yonge Street, the road connecting Toronto +with Lake Simcoe. The subsequent news of the dispersion of the rebels at +St. Charles was very discouraging to Mackenzie and Lount, but they felt +that matters had proceeded too far for them to stop at that juncture. +They still hoped to surprise Toronto and occupy it without much +difficulty. A Colonel Moodie, who had taken part in the war of 1812-15, +had heard of the march of the insurgents from Lake Simcoe, and was +riding rapidly to Toronto to warn the lieutenant-governor, when he was +suddenly shot down and died immediately. Sir Francis was unconscious of +danger when he was aroused late at night by Alderman Powell, who had +been taken prisoner by the rebels but succeeded in making his escape and +finding his way to Government House. Sir Francis at last awoke from his +lethargy and listened to the counsels of Colonel Fitzgibbon--the hero of +Beaver Dams in 1813--and other residents of Toronto, who had constantly +endeavoured to force him to take measures for the public security. The +loyal people of the province rallied with great alacrity to put down the +revolt. The men of the western district of Gore came up in force, and +the first man to arrive on the scene was Allan MacNab, the son of a +Loyalist and afterwards prime minister of Canada. A large and well +equipped force was at once organised under the command of Colonel +Fitzgibbon. + +The insurrection was effectually quelled on the 7th December at +Montgomery's tavern by the militia and volunteer forces under Colonel +Fitzgibbon. The insurgents had at no time mustered more than eight +hundred men, and in the engagement on the 7th there were only four +hundred, badly armed and already disheartened. In twenty minutes, or +less time, the fight was over and the insurgents fled with the loss of +one man killed and several seriously wounded. The Loyalists, who did not +lose a single man, took a number of prisoners, who were immediately +released by the lieutenant-governor on condition of returning quietly to +their homes. Mackenzie succeeded in escaping across the Niagara +frontier, but Matthews was taken prisoner as he was leading a detachment +across the Don into Toronto. Lount was identified at Chippewa while +attempting to find his way to the United States and brought back to +Toronto. Rolph, Gibson and Duncombe found a refuge in the republic, but +Van Egmond, who had served under Napoleon, and commanded the insurgents, +was arrested and died in prison of inflammatory rheumatism. Mr. Bidwell +was induced to fly from the province by the insidious representations of +the lieutenant-governor, who used the fact of his flight as an argument +that he had been perfectly justified in not appointing him to the Bench. +In later years, the Canadian government, recognising the injustice Mr. +Bidwell had received, offered him a judgeship, but he never could be +induced to return to Canada Mackenzie had definite grievances against +Sir Francis and his party; and a British people, always ready to +sympathise with men who resent injustice and assert principles of +popular government, might have soon condoned the serious mistake he had +made in exciting a rash revolt against his sovereign. But his +apologists can find no extenuating circumstances for his mad conduct in +stirring up bands of ruffians at Buffalo and other places on the +frontier to invade the province. The base of operations for these raids +was Navy Island, just above the Niagara Falls in British territory. A +small steamer, "The Caroline," was purchased from some Americans, and +used to bring munitions of war to the island. Colonel MacNab was sent to +the frontier, and successfully organised an expedition of boats under +the charge of Captain Drew--afterwards an Admiral--to seize the steamer +at Fort Schlosser, an insignificant place on the American side. The +capture was successfully accomplished and the steamer set on fire and +sent down the river, where she soon sank before reaching the cataract. +Only one man was killed--one Durfee, a citizen of the United States. +This audacious act of the Canadians was deeply resented in the republic +as a violation of its territorial rights, and was a subject of +international controversy until 1842 when it was settled with other +questions at issue between Great Britain and the United States. +Mackenzie now disappeared for some years from Canadian history, as the +United States authorities felt compelled to imprison him for a time. It +was not until the end of 1838 that the people of the Canada were free +from filibustering expeditions organised in the neighboring states. +"Hunters' Lodges" were formed under the pledge "never to rest until all +tyrants of Britain cease to have any dominion or footing whatever in +North America." These marauding expeditions on the exposed parts of the +western frontier--especially on the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers--were +successfully resisted. At Prescott, a considerable body of persons, +chiefly youths under age, under the leadership of Von Schoultz, a Pole, +were beaten at the Old Stone Windmill, which they attempted to hold +against a Loyalist force. At Sandwich, Colonel Prince, a conspicuous +figure in Canadian political history of later years, routed a band of +filibusters, four of whom he ordered to instant death. This resolute +deed created some excitement in England, where it was condemned by some +and justified by others. Canadians, who were in constant fear of such +raids, naturally approved of summary justice in the case of persons who +were really brigands, not entitled to any consideration under the laws +of war. + +In 1838 President Buren issued a proclamation calling upon all citizens +of the United States to observe the neutrality laws; but the difficulty +in those days was the indisposition of the federal government to +interfere with the states where such expeditions were organised. The +vigilance of the Canadian authorities and the loyalty of the people +alone saved the country in these trying times. A great many of the +raiders were taken prisoners and punished with the severity due to their +unjustifiable acts. Von Schoultz and eight others were hanged, a good +many were pardoned, while others were transported to Van Diemen's Land, +whence they were soon allowed to return. The names of these filibusters +are forgotten, but those of Lount and Matthews, who perished on the +scaffold, have been inscribed on some Canadian hearts as patriots. Sir +George Arthur, who succeeded Sir Francis Head, was a soldier, who had +had experience as a governor among the convicts of Van Diemen's Land, +and the negro population of Honduras, where he had crushed a revolt of +slaves. Powerful appeals were made to him on behalf of Lount and +Matthews, but not even the tears and prayers of Lount's distracted wife +could reach his heart. Such clemency as was shown by Lord Durham would +have been a bright incident in Sir George Arthur's career in Canada, but +he looked only to the approval of the Loyalists, deeply incensed against +the rebels of 1837. His action in these two cases was regarded with +disapprobation in England, and the colonial minister expressed the hope +that no further executions would occur--advice followed in the case of +other actors of the revolt of 1837. Sir George Arthur's place in +colonial annals is not one of high distinction. Like his predecessors, +he became the resolute opponent of responsible government, which he +declared in a despatch to be "Mackenzie's scheme for getting rid of what +Mr. Hume called 'the baneful domination' of the mother country"; "and +never" he added, "was any scheme better devised to bring about such an +end speedily". + + +SECTION 3.--Social and economic conditions of the Provinces in 1838. + +We have now reached a turning-point in the political development of the +provinces of British North America, and may well pause for a moment to +review the social and economic condition of their people. Since the +beginning of the century there had been a large immigration into the +provinces, except during the war of 1812. In the nine years preceding +1837, 263,089 British and Irish immigrants arrived at Quebec, and in one +year alone there were over 50,000. By 1838 the population of the five +provinces of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and +Prince Edward Island had reached about 1,400,000 souls. In Upper Canada, +with the exception of a very few people of German or Dutch descent, and +some French Canadians opposite Detroit and on the Ottawa River, there +was an entirely British population of at least 400,000 souls. The +population of Lower Canada was estimated at 600,000, of whom hardly +one-quarter were of British origin, living chiefly in Montreal, the +Townships, and Quebec. Nova Scotia had nearly 200,000 inhabitants, of +whom probably 16,000 were French Acadians, resident in Cape Breton and +in Western Nova Scotia. In New Brunswick there were at least 150,000 +people, of whom some 15,000 were descendants of the original inhabitants +of Acadie. The Island of Prince Edward had 30,000 people, of whom the +French Acadians made up nearly one-sixth. The total trade of the country +amounted, in round figures, to about L5,000,000 sterling in imports, +and somewhat less in exports The imports were chiefly manufactures from +Great Britain, and the exports were lumber, wheat and fish. Those were +days when colonial trade was stimulated by differential duties in favour +of colonial products, and the building of vessels was encouraged by the +old navigation laws which shut out foreign commerce from the St. +Lawrence and the Atlantic ports, and kept the carrying trade between +Great Britain and the colonies in the hands of British and colonial +merchants, by means of British registered ships. While colonists could +not trade directly with foreign ports, they were given a monopoly for +their timber, fish, and provisions in the profitable markets of the +British West Indies. + +The character of the immigration varied considerably, but on the whole +the thrifty and industrious formed the larger proportion. In 1833 the +immigrants deposited 300,000 sovereigns, or nearly a million and a half +of dollars, in the Upper Canadian banks. An important influence in the +settlement of Upper Canada was exercised by one Colonel Talbot, the +founder of the county of Elgin. Mrs. Anna Jameson, the wife of a +vice-chancellor of Upper Canada, describes in her _Winter Studies and +Summer Rambles_, written in 1838, the home of this great proprietor, a +Talbot of Malahide, one of the oldest families in the parent state. The +chateau--as she calls it, perhaps sarcastically--was a "long wooden +building, chiefly of rough logs, with a covered porch running along the +south side." Such homes as Colonel Talbot's were common enough in the +country. Some of the higher class of immigrants, however, made efforts +to surround themselves with some of the luxuries of the old world. Mrs. +Jameson tells us of an old Admiral, who had settled in the London +district--now the most prosperous agricultural part of Ontario--and had +the best of society in his neighbourhood; "several gentlemen of family, +superior education, and large capital (among them the brother of an +English and the son of an Irish peer, a colonel and a major in the army) +whose estates were in a flourishing state." The common characteristic +of the Canadian settlements was the humble log hut of the poor +immigrant, struggling with axe and hoe amid the stumps to make a home +for his family. Year by year the sunlight was let into the dense +forests, and fertile meadows soon stretched far and wide in the once +untrodden wilderness. Despite all the difficulties of a pioneer's life, +industry reaped its adequate rewards in the fruitful lands of the west, +bread was easily raised in abundance, and animals of all kinds thrived. + +Unhappily the great bane of the province was the inordinate use of +liquor. "The erection of a church or chapel," says Mrs. Jameson, +"generally preceded that of a school-house in Upper Canada, but the mill +and the tavern invariably preceded both." The roads were of the most +wretched character and at some seasons actually prohibitory of all +social intercourse. The towns were small and ill-built. Toronto, long +known as "muddy little York," had a population of about 10,000, but with +the exception of the new parliament house, it had no public buildings of +architectural pretensions. The houses were generally of wood, a few of +staring ugly red brick; the streets had not a single side-walk until +1834, and in 1838 this comfort for the pedestrian was still exceptional. +Kingston, the ancient Cataraqui, was even a better built town than +Toronto, and had in 1838 a population of perhaps 4500 persons. Hamilton +and London were beginning to be places of importance. Bytown, now +Ottawa, had its beginnings in 1826, when Colonel By of the Royal +Engineers, commenced the construction of the Rideau Canal on the chain +of lakes and rivers between the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence at Kingston. +The ambition of the people of Upper Canada was always to obtain a +continuous and secure system of water navigation from the lakes to +Montreal. The Welland Canal between Lakes Erie and Ontario was commenced +as early as 1824 through the enterprise of Mr. William Hamilton Merritt, +but it was very badly managed; and the legislature, which had from year +to year aided the undertaking, was obliged eventually to acquire it as +a provincial work. The Cornwall Canal was also undertaken, but work was +stopped when it was certain that Lower Canada would not respond to the +aspirations of the West and improve that portion of the St. Lawrence +within its direct control. Flat-bottomed _bateaux_ and Durham boats were +generally in use for the carriage of goods on the inland waters, and it +was not until the completion of a canal system between the lakes and +Montreal, after the Union, that steamers came into vogue. + +The province of Upper Canada had in 1838 reached a crisis in its +affairs. In the course of the seven years preceding the rebellion, +probably eighty thousand or one half of the immigrants, who had come to +the province, had crossed the frontier into the United States, where +greater inducements were held out to capital and population. As Mrs. +Jameson floated in a canoe, in the middle of the Detroit River, she saw +on the one side "all the bustle of prosperity and commerce," and on the +other "all the symptoms of apathy, indolence, mistrust, hopelessness." +At the time such comparisons were made, Upper Canada was on the very +verge of bankruptcy. + +Turning to Lower Canada, we find that the financial position of the +province was very different from that of Upper Canada. The public +accounts showed an annual surplus, and the financial difficulties of the +province were caused entirely by the disputes between the executive and +the assembly which would not vote the necessary supplies. The timber +trade had grown to large proportions and constituted the principal +export to Great Britain from Quebec, which presented a scene of much +activity in the summer. Montreal was already showing its great +advantages as a headquarters of commerce on account of its natural +relations to the West and the United States. Quebec and Montreal had +each about 35,000 inhabitants. Travellers admitted that Montreal, on +account of the solidity of its buildings, generally of stone, compared +most favourably with many of the finest and oldest towns in the United +States. The Parish Church of Notre Dame was the largest ecclesiastical +edifice in America, and notable for its simple grandeur. With its +ancient walls girdling the heights first seen by Jacques Cartier, with +its numerous churches and convents, illustrating the power and wealth of +the Romish religion, with its rugged, erratic streets creeping through +hewn rock, with its picturesque crowd of red-coated soldiers of England +mingling with priests and sisters in sombre attire, or with the +_habitants_ in _etoffe du pays_,--the old city of Quebec, whose history +went back to the beginning of the seventeenth century, was certainly a +piece of mediaevalism transported from northern France. The plain stone +buildings of 1837 still remain in all their evidences of sombre +antiquity. None of the religious or government edifices were +distinguished for architectural beauty--except perhaps the English +cathedral--but represented solidity and convenience, while harmonising +with the rocks amid which they had risen. + +The parliament of Lower Canada still met in the Bishop's Palace, which +was in want of repair. The old Chateau St. Louis had been destroyed by +fire in 1834, and a terrace bearing the name of Durham was in course of +construction over its ruins. It now gives one of the most picturesque +views in the world on a summer evening as the descending sun lights up +the dark green of the western hills, or brightens the tin spires and +roofs of the churches and convents, or lingers amid the masts of the +ships moored in the river or in the coves, filled with great rafts of +timber. + +As in the days of French rule, the environs of Quebec and Montreal, and +the north side of the St. Lawrence between these two towns, presented +French Canadian life in its most picturesque and favourable aspect. +These settlements on the river formed one continuous village, with +tinned spires rising every few miles amid poplars, maples and elms. +While the homes of the seigniors and of a few professional men were more +commodious and comfortable than in the days of French rule, while the +churches and presbyteries illustrated the increasing prosperity of the +dominant religion, the surroundings of the _habitants_ gave evidences of +their want of energy and enterprise. But crime was rare in the rural +districts and intemperance was not so prevalent as in parts of the west. + +Nearly 150,000 people of British origin resided in Lower Canada--a +British people animated for the most part by that spirit of energy +natural to their race. What prosperity Montreal and Quebec enjoyed as +commercial communities was largely due to the enterprise of British +merchants. The timber trade was chiefly in their hands, and the bank of +Montreal was founded by this class in 1817--seven years before the bank +of Upper Canada was established in Toronto. As political strife +increased in bitterness, the differences between the races became +accentuated. Papineau alienated all the British by his determination to +found a "_Nation Canadienne_" in which the British would occupy a very +inferior place. "French and British," said Lord Durham, "combined for no +public objects or improvements, and could not harmonise even in +associations of charity." The French Canadians looked with jealousy and +dislike on the increase and prosperity of what they regarded as a +foreign and hostile race. It is quite intelligible, then, why trade +languished, internal development ceased, landed property decreased in +value, the revenue showed a diminution, roads and all classes of local +improvements were neglected, agricultural industry was stagnant, wheat +had to be imported for the consumption of the people, and immigration +fell off from 52,000 in 1832 to less than 5000 in 1838. + +In the maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince +Edward Island, there were no racial antagonisms to affect internal +development; and the political conflict never reached such proportions +as to threaten the peace and security of the people. In New Brunswick +the chief industry was the timber trade--deals especially--which +received its first stimulus in 1809, when a heavy duty was placed on +Baltic timber, while that from the colonies came free into the British +Isles. Shipbuilding was also profitably followed in New Brunswick, and +was beginning to be prosecuted in Nova Scotia, where, a few years later, +it made that province one of the greatest ship-owning and ship-sailing +communities of the world until iron steamers gradually drove wooden +vessels from the carrying trade. The cod, mackerel, and herring +fisheries--chiefly the first--were the staple industry of Nova Scotia, +and kept up a large trade with the British West Indies, whence sugar, +molasses and rum were imported. Prince Edward Island was chiefly an +agricultural community, whose development was greatly retarded by the +wholesale grant of lands in 1767 to absentee proprietors. Halifax and +St. John had each a population of twenty thousand. The houses were +mostly of wood, the only buildings of importance being the government +house, finished in 1805, and the provincial or parliament house, +considered in its day one of the handsomest structures in North America. +In the beautiful valleys of Kings and Annapolis--now famous for their +fruit--there was a prosperous farming population. Yarmouth illustrated +the thrift and enterprise of the Puritan element that came into the +province from New England at an early date in its development. The +eastern counties, with the exception of Pictou, showed no sign of +progress. The Scotch population of Cape Breton, drawn from a poor class +of people in the north of Scotland, for years added nothing to the +wealth of an island whose resources were long dormant from the absence +of capital and enterprise. + +Popular education in those days was at the lowest possible ebb. In 1837 +there were in all the private and public schools of the provinces only +one-fifteenth of the total population. In Lower Canada not one-tenth +could write. The children of the _habitants_ repeated the Catechism by +rote, and yet could not read as a rule. In Upper Canada things were no +better. Dr. Thomas Rolph tells us that, so late as 1833, Americans or +other anti-British adventurers carried on the greater proportion of the +common schools, where the youth were taught sentiments "hostile to the +parent state" from books used in the United States--a practice stopped +by statute in 1846. + +Adequate provision, however, was made for the higher education of youth +in all the provinces. "I know of no people," wrote Lord Durham of Lower +Canada, "among whom a larger provision exists for the higher kinds of +elementary education." The piety and benevolence of the early possessors +of the country founded seminaries and colleges, which gave an education +resembling the kind given in the English public schools, though more +varied. In Upper Canada, so early as 1807, grammar schools were +established by the government. By 1837 Upper Canada College--an +institution still flourishing--offered special advantages to youths +whose parents had some money. In Nova Scotia King's College--the oldest +university in Canada--had its beginning as an academy as early as 1788, +and educated many eminent men during its palmy days. Pictou Academy was +established by the Reverend Dr. McCulloch as a remonstrance against the +sectarianism of King's; and the political history of the province was +long disturbed by the struggle of its promoters against the narrowness +of the Anglicans, who dominated the legislative council, and frequently +rejected the grant made by the assembly. Dalhousie College was founded +in 1820 by Lord Dalhousie, then governor of Nova Scotia, to afford that +higher education to all denominations which old King's denied. Acadia +College was founded by the Baptists at Wolfville, on a gently rising +ground overlooking the fertile meadows of Grand Pre. The foundations of +the University of New Brunswick were laid in 1800. McGill University, +founded by one of those generous Montreal merchants who have always been +its benefactors, received a charter in 1821, but it was not opened until +1829. The Methodists laid the foundation of Victoria College at Cobourg +in 1834, but it did not commence its work until after the Union; and the +same was the case with King's College, the beginning of the University +of Toronto. + +We need not linger on the literary output of those early times. Joseph +Bouchette, surveyor-general, had made in the first part of the century a +notable contribution to the geography and cartography of Lower Canada. +Major Richardson, who had served in the war of 1812 and in the Spanish +peninsula, wrote in 1833 "Wacousta or the Prophecy," a spirited romance +of Indian life. In Nova Scotia the "Sayings and Doings of Sam Slick, of +Slickville"--truly a remarkable original creation in humorous +literature--first appeared in a Halifax paper. The author, Judge +Haliburton, also published as early as 1829 an excellent work in two +volumes on the history of his native province. Small libraries and book +stores could only be seen in the cities. + +In these early times of the provinces, when books and magazines were +rarities, the newspaper press naturally exercised much influence on the +social and intellectual conditions of the people at large. By 1838 there +were no less than forty papers printed in the province of Upper Canada +alone, some of them written with ability, though too often in a bitter, +personal tone. In those days English papers did not circulate to any +extent in a country where postage was exorbitant. People could hardly +afford to pay postage rates on letters. The poor settler was often +unable to pay the three or four shillings or even more, imposed on +letters from their old homes across the sea; and it was not unusual to +find in country post-offices a large accumulation of dead letters, +refused or neglected on account of the expense. The management of the +post-office by imperial officers was one of the grievances of the people +of the provinces generally. It was carried on for the benefit of a few +persons, and not for the convenience or solace of the many thousands who +were anxious for news of their kin across the ocean. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A NEW ERA OF COLONIAL GOVERNMENT (1839--1867). + + +SECTION I.--The union of the Canadas and the establishment of +responsible government. + +Lord Durham's report on the affairs of British North America was +presented to the British government on the 31st January, 1839, and +attracted an extraordinary amount of interest in England, where the two +rebellions had at last awakened statesmen to the absolute necessity of +providing an effective remedy for difficulties which had been pressing +upon their attention for years, but had never been thoroughly understood +until the appearance of this famous state paper. A legislative union of +the two Canadas and the concession of responsible government were the +two radical changes which stood out prominently in the report among +minor suggestions in the direction of stable government. On the question +of responsible government Lord Durham expressed opinions of the deepest +political wisdom. He found it impossible "to understand how any English +statesman could have ever imagined that representative and irresponsible +government could be successfully combined....To suppose that such a +system would work well there, implied a belief that the French Canadians +have enjoyed representative institutions for half a century, without +acquiring any of the characteristics of a free people; that Englishmen +renounce every political opinion and feeling when they enter a colony, +or that the spirit of Anglo-Saxon freedom is utterly changed and +weakened among those who are transplanted across the Atlantic[3]." + +[3: For the full text of Lord Durham's report, which was laid before +Parliament, 11 February, 1839, see _English Parliamentary Papers_ for +1839.] + +In June, 1839, Lord John Russell introduced a bill to reunite the two +provinces, but it was allowed, after its second reading, to lie over for +that session of parliament, in order that the matter might be fully +considered in Canada. Mr. Poulett Thomson was appointed governor-general +with the avowed object of carrying out the policy of the imperial +government. Immediately after his arrival in Canada, in the autumn of +1839, the special council of Lower Canada and the legislature of Upper +Canada passed addresses in favour of a union of the two provinces. These +necessary preliminaries having been made, Lord John Russell, in the +session of 1840, again brought forward "An act to reunite the provinces +of Upper and Lower Canada, and for the government of Canada," which was +assented to on the 23rd of July, but did not come into effect until the +10th of February in the following year. + +The act provided for a legislative council of not less than twenty +members, and for a legislative assembly in which each section of the +united provinces would be represented by an equal number of +members--that is to say, forty-two for each or eighty-four in all. The +number of representatives allotted to each province could not be changed +except with the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of each house. +The members of the legislative council were appointed by the crown for +life, and the members of the assembly were chosen by electors possessing +a small property qualification. Members of both bodies were required to +hold property to a certain amount. The assembly had a duration of four +years, subject of course to be sooner dissolved by the governor-general. + +Provision was made for a consolidated revenue fund, on which the first +charges were expenses of collection, management and receipt of revenues, +interest of public debt, payment of the clergy, and civil list. The +English language alone was to be used in the legislative records. All +votes, resolutions or bills involving the expenditure of public money +were to be first recommended by the governor-general. + +The first parliament of the United Canadas was opened on the 14th June, +1841, in the city of Kingston, by the governor-general, who had been +created Baron Sydenham of Sydenham and of Toronto. This session was the +commencement of a series of parliaments which lasted until the +confederation of all the provinces in 1867, and forcibly illustrated the +capacity of the people of Canada to manage their internal affairs. For +the moment, I propose to refer exclusively to those political conditions +which brought about responsible government, and the removal of +grievances which had so long perplexed the imperial state and distracted +the whole of British North America. + +In Lord John Russell's despatches of 1839,--the sequence of Lord +Durham's report--we can clearly see the doubt in the minds of the +imperial authorities whether it was possible to work the system of +responsible government on the basis of a governor directly responsible +to the parent state, and at the same time acting under the advice of +ministers who would be responsible to a colonial legislature. But the +colonial secretary had obviously come to the opinion that it was +necessary to make a radical change which would insure greater harmony +between the executive and the popular bodies of the provinces. Her +Majesty, he stated emphatically, "had no desire to maintain any system +of policy among her North American subjects which opinion condemns", and +there was "no surer way of gaining the approbation of the Queen than by +maintaining the harmony of the executive with the legislative +authorities." The new governor-general was expressly appointed to carry +out this new policy. If he was extremely vain, at all events he was also +astute, practical, and well able to gauge the public sentiment by which +he should be guided at so critical a period of Canadian history. The +evidence is clear that he was not individually in favour of responsible +government, as it was understood by men like Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Howe, +when he arrived in Canada. He believed that the council should be one +"for the governor to consult and no more"; and voicing the doubts that +existed in the minds of imperial statesmen, he added, the governor +"cannot be responsible to the government at home" and also to the +legislature of the province, if it were so, "then all colonial +government becomes impossible." The governor, in his opinion, "must +therefore be the minister [i.e. the colonial secretary], in which case +he cannot be under control of men in the colony." + +When the assembly met it was soon evident that the Reformers in that +body were determined to have a definite understanding on the +all-important question of responsible government; and the result was +that the governor-general, a keen politician, immediately recognised the +fact that, unless he yielded to the feeling of the majority, he would +lose all his influence. There is every reason to believe that the +resolutions which were eventually passed in favour of responsible +government, in amendment to those moved by Mr. Baldwin, had his approval +before their introduction. The two sets of resolutions practically +differed little from each other, and the inference to be drawn from the +political situation of these times is that the governor's friends in the +council thought it advisable to gain all the credit possible with the +public for the passage of resolutions on the all-absorbing question of +the day, since it was obvious that it had to be settled in some +satisfactory and definite form. These resolutions embodying the +principles of the new constitution of Canada, were as follows: (1) "That +the head of the executive government of the province, being within the +limits of his government the representative of the sovereign, is +responsible to the imperial authority alone, but that, nevertheless, the +management of our local affairs can only be conducted by him with the +assistance, counsel, and information of subordinate officers in the +province. (2) That, in order to preserve between the different branches +of the provincial parliament that harmony which is essential to the +peace, welfare and good government of the province, the chief advisers +of the representative of the sovereign, constituting a provincial +administration under him, ought to be men possessed of the confidence of +the representatives of the people; thus affording a guarantee that the +well-understood wishes and interests of the people, which our gracious +sovereign has declared shall be the rule of the provincial government, +will on all occasions be faithfully represented and advocated. (3) That +the people of this province have, moreover, the right to expect from +such provincial administration, the exertion of their best endeavours +that the imperial authority, within its constitutional limits, shall be +exercised in the manner most consistent with their well-understood +wishes and interests." + +On the 4th September, 1841, Lord Sydenham met with a serious accident +while riding, and as his constitution had been impaired for years he +died a fortnight later, to the regret of all political parties. He was +succeeded by Sir Charles Bagot, a Conservative and High Churchman, whose +brief administration was notable for the display of infinite discretion +on his part, and for his desire to do justice to the French Canadians +even at the risk of offending the ultra-loyal party, who claimed special +consideration in the management of public affairs. Responsible +government was in a fair way of being permanently established when Sir +Charles Bagot unhappily died in 1843 of dropsy, complicated by +heart-disease; and Lord Metcalfe was brought from India to create--as it +soon appeared--confusion and discord in the political affairs of the +province. His ideas of responsible government were those which had been +steadily inculcated by colonial secretaries since 1839, and were even +entertained by Lord Sydenham himself, namely, that the governor should +be as influential a factor as possible in the government, and should +always remember that he was directly responsible to the crown, and +should consider its prerogatives and interests as superior to all local +considerations. + +When Lord Metcalfe assumed the responsibilities of his post, he found in +office a Liberal administration, led by Mr. Baldwin, the eminent Reform +leader of Upper Canada, and Mr. Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine, afterwards +chief justice of Lower Canada and a baronet, who had been at the outset, +like all his countrymen, opposed to the union, as unjust to their +province. What originally excited their antagonism were the conditions +exacted by the legislature of Upper Canada: an equality of +representation, though the French section had a population of two +hundred thousand more than the western province, the exclusion of the +French language from the legislature, and the imposition of the heavy +debt of Upper Canada on the revenues of the united provinces. But unlike +Mr. Papineau, with whom he had acted during the political struggles in +Lower Canada, Mr. Lafontaine developed a high order of discreet +statesmanship after the union, and recognised the possibility of making +French Canada a force in government. He did not follow the example of +Mr. John Neilson, who steadily opposed the union--but determined to work +it out fairly and patiently on the principles of responsible government. + +Lord Metcalfe, at the very outset, decided not to distribute the +patronage of the crown under the advice of his responsible advisers, but +to ignore them, as he declared, whenever he deemed it expedient. No +responsible ministers could, with any regard to their own self-respect, +or to the public interests, submit to a practice directly antagonistic +to responsible government, then on its trial. Consequently, all the +members of the Baldwin-Lafontaine government, with the exception of Mr. +Daly, immediately resigned, when Lord Metcalfe followed so +unconstitutional a course. Mr. Dominick Daly, afterwards knighted when +governor of Prince Edward's Island--who had no party proclivities, and +was always ready to support the crown in a crisis--became nominally +head of a weak administration. The ministry was only completed after a +most unconstitutional delay of several months, and was even then only +composed of men whose chief merit was their friendliness to the +governor, who dissolved the assembly and threw all the weight of the +crown into the contest. The governor's party was returned with a very +small majority, but it was a victory, like that of Sir Francis Bond Head +in 1835, won at the sacrifice of the dignity of the crown, and at the +risk of exciting once more public discontent to a dangerous degree. Lord +Metcalfe's administration was strengthened when Mr. Draper resigned his +legislative councillorship and took a seat in the assembly as leader. +Lord Metcalfe's conduct received the approval of the imperial +authorities, who elevated him to the peerage--so much evidence that they +were not yet ready to concede responsible government in a complete +sense. The result was a return to the days of old paternal government, +when the parliamentary opposition was directed against the governor +himself and the British government of which he was the organ. Lord +Metcalfe had been a sufferer from cancer, and when it appeared again in +its most aggravated form he returned to England, where he died a few +months later (1846). The abuse that followed him almost to the grave was +a discreditable exhibition of party rancour, but it indicated the +condition to which the public mind had been brought by his unwise and +unconstitutional conduct of public affairs--conduct for which his only +apology must be the half-hearted, doubtful policy of the imperial +authorities with regard to the province, and his own inability to +understand the fundamental principles of responsible government. + +Lord Metcalfe's successor was Lord Cathcart, who had served with +distinction in the Peninsular War, and was appointed with a view to +contingencies that might arise out of the dispute between England and +the United States on the Oregon boundary question, to which I shall +refer in another chapter. He pursued a judicious course at a time when +politics were complicated by the fact that the industry and commerce of +the country were seriously deranged by the adoption of free trade in +England, and the consequent removal of duties which had given the +preference in the British market to Canadian wheat, flour and other +products. What aggravated the commercial situation was the fact that the +navigation laws, being still in force, closed the St. Lawrence to +foreign shipping and prevented the extension of trade to other markets +so as to compensate Canadians for the loss of that with the parent +state. Lord Cathcart was recalled within less than a year, when all +prospect of war with the United States had disappeared, and was followed +(1847) by a civil governor, the Earl of Elgin, who was chosen by the +Whig ministry, in which Lord John Russell was prime minister, and Earl +Grey the secretary of state for the colonies. It had dawned upon English +statesmen that the time had come for giving the colonists of British +North America a system of responsible government without such reserves +as had so seriously shackled its beginnings. In all probability they +thought that the free-trade policy of England had momentarily weakened +the ties that had bound the colonies to the parent state, and that it +was advisable to follow up the new commercial policy by removing causes +of public discontent in the province. + +Lord Elgin was happily chosen to inaugurate a new era of colonial +self-government. Gifted with a judicial mind and no ordinary amount of +political sagacity, able to originate as well as carry out a +statesmanlike policy, animated, like Lord Durham--whose daughter he had +married--by a sincere desire to give full scope to the aspirations of +the people for self-government, so far as compatible with the supremacy +of the crown, possessed of eloquence which at once charmed and +convinced, Lord Elgin was able to establish on sure foundations the +principles of responsible government, and eventually to leave Canada +with the conviction that no subsequent representative of the crown +could again impair its efficient operation, and convulse the public +mind, as Lord Metcalfe had done. On his arrival he gave his confidence +to the Draper ministry, who were still in office; but shortly afterwards +its ablest member was elevated to the bench, and Mr. Sherwood became +attorney-general and head of a government, chiefly interesting now for +the fact that one of its members was Mr. John Alexander Macdonald, who, +on becoming a member of the assembly in 1844, had commenced a public +career which made him one of the most notable figures in the history of +the colonial empire of England. + +Parliament was dissolved, and the elections were held in January, 1848, +when the government were defeated by a large majority and the second +Lafontaine-Baldwin ministry was formed; a ministry conspicuous for the +ability of its members, and the useful character of its legislation +during the four years it remained in power. It is noteworthy here that +Lord Elgin did not follow the example of his predecessors and select the +ministers himself, but followed the strict constitutional usage of +calling upon Mr. Lafontaine as a recognised leader of a party in +parliament to form a government. It does not fall within the scope of +this chapter to go into the merits of this great administration, whose +coming into office may be considered the crowning of the principles +adopted by Lord Elgin for the unreserved concession of responsible +government, and never violated from that time forward by any governor of +Canada. + +We must now direct our attention to the maritime provinces, that we may +complete this review of the progress of responsible government in +British North America. In 1836 the revenues of New Brunswick had been +placed at the disposal of the legislature, and administrative power +entrusted to those who possessed the confidence of the assembly. The +lieutenant-governor, Sir John Harvey, who had distinguished himself in +the war of 1812-15, recognised in Lord John Russell's despatches "a new +and improved constitution," and by an official memorandum informed the +heads of departments that "thenceforward their offices would be held by +the tenure of public confidence"; but after his departure (in 1841) an +attempt was made by Sir William Colebrooke to imitate the example of +Lord Metcalfe. He appointed to the provincial secretaryship a Mr. Reade, +who had been only a few months in the province, and never represented a +constituency or earned promotion in the public service. The members of +the executive council were never consulted, and four of the most popular +and influential councillors soon resigned. One of them, Mr. Lemuel A. +Wilmot, the recognised leader of the Liberals, addressed a strong +remonstrance to the lieutenant-governor, and vindicated those principles +of colonial government "which require the administration to be conducted +by heads of departments responsible to the legislature, and holding +their offices contingently upon the approbation and confidence of the +country, as expressed through the representatives of the people." The +colonial secretary of state disapproved of the action of the +lieutenant-governor, and constitutional government was strengthened in +this province of the Loyalists. From that time there was a regularly +organised administration and an opposition contending for office and +popular favour. + +In Nova Scotia a despatch from Lord Glenelg brought to a close in 1838 +the agitation which had been going on for years for a separation of the +executive from the legislative functions of the legislative council, and +the formation of two distinct bodies in accordance with the existing +English system. In this state paper--the first important step towards +responsible government in the province--the secretary of state, Lord +Glenelg, stated that it was her Majesty's pleasure that neither the +chief justice nor any of his colleagues should sit in the council, that +all the judges should entirely withdraw from all political discussions; +that the assembly's claim to control and appropriate all the revenues +arising in the province should be fully recognised by the government; +that the two councils should be thereafter divided, and that the members +of these bodies should be drawn from different parts of the +province--Halifax previously having obtained all the appointments except +one or two--and selected without reference to distinctions of religious +opinions. Unfortunately for Nova Scotia there was at that time at the +head of the executive a brave, obstinate old soldier, Sir Colin +Campbell, who had petrified ideas on the subject of colonial +administration, and showed no disposition to carry out the obvious +desire of the imperial authorities to give a more popular form to the +government of the province. One of his first official acts was to give +to the Anglican Church a numerical superiority to which it had no valid +claim. As in Upper Canada, at that time, there was a combination or +compact, composed of descendants of English Tories or of the Loyalists +of 1783, who belonged to the Anglican Church, and were opposed to +popular government. Two men were now becoming most prominent in +politics. One of these was Mr. James William Johnston, the son of a +Georgia Loyalist, an able lawyer, gifted with a persuasive tongue which +chimed most harmoniously with the views of Sir Colin. On the other side +was Mr. Joseph Howe, the son of a Loyalist printer of Boston, who had no +such aristocratic connections as Mr. Johnston, and soon became the +dominant influence in the Reform party, which had within its ranks such +able and eloquent men as S.G.W. Archibald, Herbert Huntington, Lawrence +O'Connor Doyle, William and George R. Young, and, very soon, James Boyle +Uniacke. Sir Colin Campbell completely ignored the despatches of Lord +John Russell, which were recognised by Sir John Harvey as conferring "an +improved constitution" upon the colonies. In February, 1840, Mr. Howe +moved a series of resolutions, in which it was emphatically stated that +"no satisfactory settlement of questions before the country could be +obtained until the executive council was remodelled," and that, as then +constituted, "it did not enjoy the confidence of the country." The +motion was carried by a majority of eighteen votes, in a house of +forty-two members, and indeed, so untenable was the position of the +executive council that Mr. James Boyle Uniacke, a member of the +government, retired, rather than vote, and subsequently placed his +resignation in the hands of the lieutenant-governor, on the ground that +it was his duty to yield to the opinions of the representative house, +and facilitate the introduction of a better system of government, in +accordance with the well-understood wishes of the people. From that time +Mr. Uniacke became one of Mr. Howe's ablest allies in the struggle for +self-government. Sir Colin, however, would not recede from the attitude +he had assumed, but expressed the opinion, in his reply to the address +of the legislature, that he could not recognise in the despatch of the +colonial secretary of state "any instruction for a fundamental change in +the colonial constitution." The assembly then prayed her Majesty, in a +powerful and temperate address, to recall Sir Colin Campbell. Though +Lord John Russell did not present the address to the Queen, the imperial +government soon afterwards appointed Lord Falkland to succeed Sir Colin +Campbell, whose honesty of purpose had won the respect of all parties. + +Lord Falkland was a Whig, a lord of the bedchamber, and married to one +of the Fitzclarences--a daughter of William IV and Mrs. Jordan. He +arrived at Halifax in September, 1840, and his first political act was +in the direction of conciliating the Liberals, who were in the majority +in the assembly. He dismissed--to the disgust of the official +party--four members of the executive who had no seats in either branch +of the legislature, and induced Mr. Howe and Mr. James MacNab to enter +the government, on the understanding that other Liberals would be +brought in according as vacancies occurred, and that the members of the +council should hold their seats only upon the tenure of public +confidence. A dissolution took place, the coalition government was +sustained, and the Liberals came into the assembly with a majority. Mr. +Howe was elected speaker of the assembly, though an executive +councillor--without salary; but he and others began to recognise the +impropriety of one man occupying such positions, and in a later session +a resolution was passed against the continuance of what was really an +un-British and unconstitutional practice. It was also an illustration of +the ignorance that prevailed as to the principles that should guide the +words and acts of a cabinet, that members of the executive, who had +seats in the legislative council, notably Mr. Stewart, stated openly, in +contradiction of the assertions of Mr. Howe and his Liberal colleagues, +that "no change had been made in the constitution of the country, and +that responsible government in a colony was responsible nonsense, and +meant independence." It was at last found necessary to give some sort of +explanation of such extraordinary opinions, to avert a political crisis +in the assembly. Then, to add to the political embarrassment, there was +brought before the people the question of abandoning the practice of +endowing denominational colleges, and of establishing in their place one +large non-sectarian University. At this time the legislature voted +annual grants to five sectarian educational institutions of a high +class. The most important were King's College, belonging to the Anglican +Church, and Acadia College, supported by the Baptists. The Anglican +Church was still influential in the councils of the province, and the +Baptists had now the support of Mr. Johnston, the able attorney-general, +who had seceded from the Church of England. This able lawyer and +politician had won the favour of the aristocratic governor, and +persuaded him to dissolve the assembly, during the absence of Mr. Howe +in the country, though it had continuously supported the government, and +the people had given no signs of a want of confidence in the house as +then constituted. The fact was, Mr. Johnston and his friends in the +council thought it necessary to lose no time in arousing the feelings of +the supporters of denominational colleges against Mr. Howe and other +Liberals, who had commenced to hold meetings throughout the country in +favour of a non-sectarian University. The two parties came back from +the electors almost evenly divided, and Mr. Howe had an interview with +Lord Falkland. He consented to remain in the cabinet until the assembly +had an opportunity of expressing its opinion on the question at issue, +when the governor himself precipitated a crisis by appointing to the +executive and legislative councils Mr. M.B. Almon, a wealthy banker, and +a brother-in-law of the attorney-general. Mr. Howe and Mr. MacNab at +once resigned their seats in the government on the ground that Mr. +Almon's appointment was a violation of the compact by which two Liberals +had been induced to join the ministry, and was most unjust to the forty +or fifty gentlemen who, in both branches, had sustained the +administration for several years. Instead of authorising Mr. Johnston to +fill the two vacancies and justify the course taken by the governor, the +latter actually published a letter in a newspaper, in which he boldly +stated that he was entirely opposed to the formation of a government +composed of individuals of one political party, that he would steadily +resist any invasion of the royal prerogatives with respect to +appointments, and that he had chosen Mr. Almon, not simply on the ground +that he had not been previously engaged in political life to any extent, +but chiefly because he wished to show his own confidence in Mr. +Johnston, Mr. Almon's brother-in-law. Lord Falkland had obviously thrown +himself into the arms of the astute attorney-general and his political +friends. + +It was now a political war _a outrance_ between Lord Falkland and Mr. +Howe, from 1842 until the governor left the province in 1846. Lord +Falkland made strenuous efforts to detach Mr. MacNab, Mr. Uniacke and +other Liberals from Mr. Howe, and induce them to enter the government, +but all to no purpose. He now gave up writing letters to the press, and +attacked his opponents in official communications addressed to the +colonial office, which supported him, as it did Lord Metcalfe, under +analogous circumstances. These despatches were laid without delay on +the tables of the houses, to be used far and wide against the +recalcitrant Liberals. Mr. Howe had again renewed his connection with +the press, which he had left on becoming speaker and councillor, and had +become editor of the _Nova Scotian_, and the _Morning Chronicle_, of +which Mr. Annand was the proprietor. In these influential organs of the +Liberal party--papers still in existence--Mr. Howe attacked Lord +Falkland, both in bitter prose and sarcastic verse. All this while the +governor and his council contrived to control the assembly, sometimes by +two or three votes, sometimes by a prorogation when it was necessary to +dispose summarily of a troublesome question. Public opinion began to set +in steadily against the government. The controversy between Lord +Falkland and Mr. Howe reached its climax on the 21st February, 1846, +when a despatch was brought down to the house, referring to the speaker, +Mr. William Young, and his brother, George R. Young, as the associates +of "reckless" and "insolvent" men--the reference being to Mr. Howe and +his immediate political friends. When the despatch had been read, Mr. +Howe became greatly excited, and declared amid much disorder that if +"the infamous system" of libelling respectable colonists in despatches +sent to the colonial office was continued, "without their having any +means of redress ... some colonist would by-and-by, or he was much +mistaken, hire a black fellow to horsewhip a lieutenant-governor." + +It was time that this unhappy conflict should end. The imperial +authorities wisely transferred Lord Falkland to Bombay, where he could +do no harm, and appointed Sir John Harvey to the government of Nova +Scotia. Like Lord Elgin in Canada, he was discreetly chosen by the +Reform ministry, as the sequel showed. He was at first in favour of a +coalition government like his predecessors, but he wisely dissolved the +assembly when he found that the leading Liberals positively refused to +go into an alliance with the members of the executive council, or any +other set of men, until the people had decided between parties at the +polls. The result was a victory for the Liberals, and as soon as the +assembly met a direct motion of want of confidence was carried against +the government, and for the first time in the history of the country the +governor called to his council men exclusively belonging to the +opposition in the popular branch. Mr. Howe was not called upon to form a +cabinet--his quarrel with Lord Falkland had to be resented somehow--but +the governor's choice was Mr. James Boyle Uniacke, who gave a prominent +position in the new government to the great Liberal, to whom responsible +government owed its final success in this maritime province. + +Responsible government was not introduced into Prince Edward Island +until 1851, when an address on the prosperous state of the island was +presented to the imperial authorities, who at once consented to concede +responsible government on the condition that adequate provision was made +for certain public officers affected by the new order of things. The +leader of the new government was the Honourable George Coles. + +In the history of the past there is much to deplore, the blunders of +English ministers, the want of judgment on the part of governors, the +selfishness of "family compacts," the arrogance of office-holders, the +recklessness of Canadian politicians. But the very trials of the crisis +through which Canada passed brought out the fact, that if English +statesmen had mistaken the spirit of the Canadian people, and had not +always taken the best methods of removing grievances, it was not from +any studied disposition to do these countries an injustice, but rather +because they were unable to see until the very last moment that, even in +a colony, a representative system must be worked in accordance with +those principles that obtained in England, and that it was impossible to +direct the internal affairs of dependencies many thousand miles distant +through a colonial office, generally managed by a few clerks. + +Of all the conspicuous figures of these memorable times, which already +seem so far away from Canadians of the present day, who possess so many +political rights, there are several who stand out more prominently than +all others, and represent the distinct types of politicians, who +influenced the public mind during the first half of the nineteenth +century, when responsible government was in slow process of evolution +from the political struggles which arose in the operation of +representative institutions. Around the figure of Louis Joseph Papineau +there has always been a sort of glamour which has helped to conceal his +vanity, his rashness and his want of political sagacity, which would, +under any circumstances, have prevented his success as a safe statesman, +capable of guiding a people through a trying ordeal. His eloquence was +fervid and had much influence over his impulsive countrymen, his +sincerity was undoubted, and in all likelihood his very indiscretions +made more palpable the defects of the political system against which he +so persistently and so often justly declaimed. He lived to see his +countrymen enjoy power and influence under the very union which they +resented, and to find himself no longer a leader among men, but isolated +from a great majority of his own people, and representing a past whose +methods were antagonistic to the new regime that had grown up since +1838. It would have been well for his reputation had he remained in +obscurity on his return from exile in 1847, when he and other rebels of +1837 were wisely pardoned, and had he never stood again on the floor of +the parliament of Canada, as he did from 1848 until 1854, since he could +only prove, in those later times, that he had never understood the true +working of responsible government. While the Lafontaine-Baldwin ministry +were in power, he revived an agitation for an elective legislative +council and declared himself utterly hostile to responsible government; +but his influence was at an end in the country, and he could make little +impression on the assembly. The days of reckless agitation had passed, +and the time for astute and calm statesmanship had come. Lafontaine and +Morin were now safer political guides for his countrymen. He soon +disappeared entirely from public view, and in the solitude of his +picturesque chateau, amid the groves that overhang the Ottawa River, +only visited from time to time by a few staunch friends, or by curious +tourists who found their way to that quiet spot, he passed the remainder +of his days with a tranquillity in wondrous contrast to the stormy and +eventful drama of his life. The writer often saw his noble, dignified +figure--erect even in age--passing unnoticed on the streets of Ottawa, +when perhaps at the same time there were strangers, walking through the +lobbies of the parliament house, asking for his portrait. + +William Lyon Mackenzie is a far less picturesque figure in Canadian +history than Papineau, who possessed an eloquence of tongue and a grace +of demeanour which were not the attributes of the little peppery, +undignified Scotchman who, for a few years, played so important a part +in the English-speaking province. With his disinterestedness and +unselfishness, with his hatred of political injustice and oppression, +Canadians who remember the history of the constitutional struggles of +England will always sympathise. Revolt against absolutism and tyranny is +permissible in the opinion of men who love political freedom, but the +conditions of Upper Canada were hardly such as justified the rash +insurrection into which he led his deluded followers, many to misery and +some to death. Mackenzie lived long enough to regret these sad mistakes +of a reckless period of his life, and to admit that "the success of the +rebellion would have deeply injured the people of Canada," whom he +believed he was then serving, and that it was the interest of the +Canadian people to strengthen in every way the connection with England. +Like Papineau, he returned to Canada in 1849 to find himself entirely +unequal to the new conditions of political life, where a large +constitutional knowledge, a spirit of moderation and a statesmanlike +conduct could alone give a man influence in the councils of his country. +One historian has attempted to elevate Dr. Rolph at his expense, but a +careful study of the career of those two actors will lead fair-minded +readers to the conclusion that even the reckless course followed at the +last by Mackenzie was preferable to the double-dealing of his more +astute colleague. Dr. Rolph came again into prominence as one of the +founders of the Clear Grits, who formed in 1849 an extreme branch of the +Reform party. Dr. Rolph's qualities ensured him success in political +intrigue, and he soon became a member of the Hincks-Morin government, +which was formed on the reconstruction of the Lafontaine-Baldwin +ministry in 1851, when its two moderate leaders were practically pushed +aside by men more in harmony with the aggressive elements of the Reform +party. But Mr. Mackenzie could never win such triumphs as were won by +his wily and more manageable associate of old times. He published a +newspaper--_The Weekly Message_--replete with the eccentricities of the +editor, but it was never a financial success, while his career in the +assembly from 1851 until 1858 only proved him almost a nullity in public +affairs. Until his death in 1861 his life was a constant fight with +poverty, although his closing years were somewhat soothed by the gift of +a homestead. He might have received some public position which would +have given him comfort and rest, but he would not surrender what he +called his political freedom to the men in office, who, he believed, +wished to purchase his silence--the veriest delusion, as his influence +had practically disappeared with his flight to the United States. + +Joseph Howe, unlike the majority of his compeers who struggled for +popular rights, was a prominent figure in public life until the very +close of his career in 1873. All his days, even when his spirit was +sorely tried by the obstinacy and indifference of some English +ministers, he loved England, for he knew--like the Loyalists, from one +of whom he sprung--it was in her institutions, after all, his country +could best find prosperity and happiness. It is an interesting fact +that, among the many able essays and addresses which the question of +imperial federation has drawn forth, none can equal his great speech on +the consolidation of the empire in eloquence, breadth, and fervour. Of +all the able men Nova Scotia has produced no one has surpassed that +great tribune of the people in his power to persuade and delight the +masses by his oratory. Yet, strange to say, his native province has +never raised a monument to his memory. + +One of the most admirable figures in the political history of the +Dominion was undoubtedly Robert Baldwin. Compared with other popular +leaders of his generation, he was calm in council, unselfish in motive, +and moderate in opinion. If there is any significance in the political +phrase "Liberal-Conservative," it could be applied with justice +to him. The "great ministry," of which he and Louis Hippolyte +Lafontaine--afterwards a baronet and chief justice--were the leaders, +left behind it many monuments of broad statesmanship, and made a deep +impression on the institutions of the country. In 1851 he resigned from +the Reform ministry, of which he had been the Upper Canadian leader, in +consequence of a vote of the Reformers of that province adverse to the +continuance of the court of chancery, the constitution of which had been +improved chiefly by himself. When he presented himself as a candidate +before his old constituency he was defeated by a nominee of the Clear +Grits, who were then, as always, pressing their opinions with great +vehemence and hostility to all moderate men. He illustrated the fickle +character of popular favour, when a man will not surrender his +principles and descend to the arts of the politician. He lived until +1858 in retirement, almost forgotten by the people for whom he had +worked so fearlessly and sincerely. + +In New Brunswick the triumph of responsible government must always be +associated with the name of Lemuel A. Wilmot, the descendant of +a famous United Empire Loyalist stock, afterwards a judge and a +lieutenant-governor of his native province. He was in some respects the +most notable figure, after Joseph Howe and J.W. Johnston, the leaders +of the Liberal and Conservative parties in Nova Scotia, in that famous +body of public men who so long brightened the political life of the +maritime provinces. But neither those two leaders nor their +distinguished compeers, James Boyle Uniacke, William Young, John +Hamilton Gray and Charles Fisher, all names familiar to students of Nova +Scotia and New Brunswick history, surpassed Mr. Wilmot in that magnetic +eloquence which carries an audience off its feet, in versatility of +knowledge, in humorous sarcasm, and in conversational gifts, which made +him a most interesting personality in social life. He impressed his +strong individuality upon his countrymen until the latest hour of his +useful career. + +In Prince Edward Island, the name most intimately connected with the +struggle for responsible government is that of George Coles, who, +despite the absence of educational and social advantages in his youth, +eventually triumphed over all obstacles, and occupied a most prominent +position by dint of unconquerable courage and ability to influence the +opinions of the great mass of people. + + +SECTION 2.--Results of self-government from 1841 to 1864. + +The new colonial policy, adopted by the imperial government immediately +after the presentation of Lord Durham's report, had a remarkable effect +upon the political and social development of the British North American +provinces during the quarter of a century that elapsed between the union +of the Canadas in 1841 and the federal union of 1867. In 1841 Mr. +Harrison, provincial secretary of the upper province in the coalition +government formed by Lord Sydenham, brought in a measure which laid the +foundations of the elaborate system of municipal institutions which the +Canadian provinces now enjoy. In 1843 Attorney-General Lafontaine +presented a bill "for better serving the independence of the legislative +assembly of this province," which became law in 1844 and formed the +basis of all subsequent legislation in Canada. + +The question of the clergy reserves continued for some years after the +union to perplex politicians and harass governments. At last in 1854 the +Hincks government was defeated by a combination of factions, and the +Liberal-Conservative party was formed out of the union of the +Conservatives and the moderate Reformers. Sir Allan MacNab was the +leader of this coalition government, but the most influential member was +Mr. John A. Macdonald, then attorney-general of Upper Canada, whose +first important act was the settlement of the clergy reserves. Reform +ministers had for years evaded the question, and it was now left to a +government, largely composed of men who had been Tories in the early +part of their political career, to yield to the force of public opinion +and take it out of the arena of political agitation by means of +legislation which handed over this property to the municipal +corporations of the province for secular purposes, and at the same time +made a small endowment for the protection of the clergy who had legal +claims on the fund. The same government had also the honour of removing +the old French seigniorial system, recognised to be incompatible with +the modern condition of a country of free government, and injurious to +the agricultural development of the province at large. The question was +practically settled in 1854, when Mr. Drummond, then attorney-general +for Lower Canada, brought in a bill providing for the appointment of a +commission to ascertain the amount of compensation that could be fairly +asked by the seigniors for the cession of their seigniorial rights. The +seigniors, from first to last, received about a million of dollars, and +it also became necessary to revise those old French laws which affected +the land tenure of Lower Canada. Accordingly in 1856 Mr. George Cartier, +attorney-general for Lower Canada in the Tache-Macdonald ministry, +introduced the legislation necessary for the codification of the civil +law. In 1857 Mr. Spence, post-master-general in the same ministry, +brought in a measure to organise the civil service, on whose character +and ability so much depends in the working of parliamentary +institutions. From that day to this the Canadian government has +practically recognised the British principle of retaining public +officers without reference to a change of political administration. + +Soon after the union the legislating obtained full control of the civil +list and the post-office. The last tariff framed by the imperial +parliament for British North America was mentioned in the speech at the +opening of the Canadian legislature in 1842. In 1846 the British +colonies in America were authorised by an imperial statute to reduce or +repeal by their own legislation duties imposed by imperial acts upon +foreign goods imported from foreign countries into the colonies in +question. Canada soon availed herself of this privilege, which was +granted to her as the logical sequence of the free-trade policy of Great +Britain, and, from that time to the present, she has been enabled to +legislate very freely with regard to her own commercial interests. In +1849 the imperial parliament repealed the navigation laws, and allowed +the river St. Lawrence to be used by vessels of all nations. With the +repeal of laws, the continuance of which had seriously crippled Canadian +trade after the adoption of free trade by England, the provinces +gradually entered on a new career of industrial enterprise. + +No part of the constitution of 1840 gave greater offence to the French +Canadian population than the clause restricting the use of the French +language in the legislature. It was considered as a part of the policy, +foreshadowed in Lord Durham's report, to denationalise, if possible, the +French Canadian province. The repeal of the clause, in 1848, was one +evidence of the harmonious operation of the union, and of a better +feeling between the two sections of the population. Still later, +provision was made for the gradual establishment of an elective +legislative council, so long and earnestly demanded by the old +legislature of Lower Canada. + +The members of the Lafontaine-Baldwin government became the legislative +executors of a troublesome legacy left to them by a Conservative +ministry. In 1839 acts had been passed by the special council of Lower +Canada and the legislature of Upper Canada to compensate the loyal +inhabitants of those provinces for the loss they had sustained during +the rebellions. In the first session of the union parliament the Upper +Canadian act was amended, and money voted to reimburse all persons in +Upper Canada whose property had been unnecessarily, or wantonly, +destroyed by persons acting, or pretending to act, on behalf of the +crown. An agitation then commenced for the application of the same +principle to Lower Canada, and in 1845 commissioners were appointed by +the Draper administration to inquire into the nature and value of the +losses suffered by her Majesty's loyal subjects in Lower Canada. When +their report was presented in favour of certain claims the Draper +ministry brought in some legislation on the subject, but went out of +office before any action could be taken thereon. The Lafontaine-Baldwin +government then determined to set the question at rest, and introduced +legislation for the issue of debentures to the amount of $400,000 for +the payment of losses sustained by persons who had not been convicted +of, or charged with, high treason or other offences of a treasonable +nature, or had been committed to the custody of the sheriff in the gaol +of Montreal and subsequently transported to the island of Bermuda. +Although the principle of this measure was fully justified by the action +of the Tory Draper government, extreme Loyalists and even some Reformers +of Upper Canada declaimed against it in the most violent terms, and a +few persons even declared that they would prefer annexation to the +United States to the payment of the rebels. The bill, however, passed +the legislature by a large majority, and received the crown's assent +through Lord Elgin on the 25th April, 1849. A large crowd immediately +assembled around the parliament house--formerly the St. Anne Market +House--and insulted the governor-general by opprobrious epithets, and by +throwing missiles at him as he drove away to Monklands, his residence in +the country. The government and members of the legislature appear to +have been unconscious of the danger to which they were exposed until a +great crowd rushed into the building, which was immediately destroyed by +fire with its fine collection of books and archives. A few days later, +when the assembly, then temporarily housed in the hall of Bonsecours +Market, attempted to present an address to Lord Elgin, he was in +imminent danger of his life while on his way to the government +house--then the old Chateau de Ramesay in Notre-Dame Street--and the +consequences might have been most serious had he not evaded the mob on +his return to Monklands. This disgraceful affair was a remarkable +illustration not simply of the violence of faction, but largely of the +discontent then so prevalent in Montreal and other industrial centres, +on account of the commercial policy of Great Britain, which seriously +crippled colonial trade and was the main cause of the creation of a +small party which actually advocated for a short time annexation to the +United States as preferable to the existing state of things. The result +was the removal of the seat of government from Montreal, and the +establishment of a nomadic system of government by which the legislature +met alternately at Toronto and Quebec every five years until Ottawa was +chosen by the Queen as a permanent political capital. Lord Elgin felt +his position keenly, and offered his resignation to the imperial +government, but they refused to entertain it, and his course as a +constitutional governor under such trying circumstances was approved by +parliament. + +The material condition of the provinces--especially of Upper Canada, +which now became the first in population and wealth--kept pace with the +rapid progress of the people in self-government. The population of the +five provinces had increased from about 1,500,000, in 1841, to about +3,200,000 when the census was taken in 1861 The greatest increase had +been in the province of Upper Canada, chiefly in consequence of the +large immigration which flowed into the country from Ireland, where the +potato rot had caused wide-spread destitution and misery. The population +of this province had now reached 1,396,091, or nearly 300,000 more than +the population of Lower Canada--an increase which, as I shall show in +the next chapter, had important effects on the political conditions of +the two provinces. The eastern or maritime provinces received but a +small part of the yearly immigration from Europe, and even that was +balanced by an exodus to the United States. Montreal had a population of +100,000, or double that of Quebec, and was now recognised as the +commercial capital of British North America. Toronto had reached 60,000, +and was making more steady progress in population and wealth than any +other city, except Montreal. Towns and villages were springing up with +great rapidity in the midst of the enterprising farming population of +the western province. In Lower Canada the townships showed the energy of +a British people, but the _habitants_ pursued the even tenor of ways +which did not include enterprise and improved methods of agriculture. + +The value of the total exports and imports of the provinces reached +$150,000,000 by 1864, or an increase of $100,000,000 in a quarter of a +century. The great bulk of the import trade was with Great Britain and +the United States, but the value of the exports to the United States was +largely in excess of the goods purchased by Great Britain--especially +after 1854, when Lord Elgin arranged a reciprocity treaty with the +United States. Lord Elgin represented Great Britain in the negotiations +at Washington, and the Congress of the United States and the several +legislatures of the Canadian provinces passed the legislation necessary +to give effect to the treaty. Its most important provisions established +free trade between British North America and the United States in +products of the forest, mine, and sea, conceded the navigation of the +St. Lawrence to the Americans, and the use of the canals of Canada on +the same terms as were imposed upon British subjects, gave Canadians the +right to navigate Lake Michigan, and allowed the fishermen of the United +States to fish on the sea-coasts of the British provinces without +regard to distance from the shore, in return for a similar but +relatively worthless privilege on the eastern shores of the republic, +north of the 30th parallel of north latitude. During the thirteen years +the treaty lasted the trade between the two countries rose from over +thirty-three million dollars in 1854 to over eighty million dollars in +1866, when it was repealed by the action of the United States government +itself, for reasons which I shall explain in a later chapter. + +The navigation of the St. Lawrence was now made continuous and secure by +the enlargement of the Welland and Lachine canals, and the construction +of the Cornwall, Williamsburgh, and Beauharnois canals. Railways +received their great stimulus during the government of Sir Francis +Hincks, who largely increased the debt of Canada by guaranteeing in 1852 +the bonds of the Grand Trunk Railway--a noble, national work, now +extending from Quebec to Lake Michigan, with branches in every +direction, but whose early history was marred by jobbery and +mismanagement, which not only ruined or crippled many of the original +shareholders, but cost Canada eventually twenty-three million dollars. +In 1864 there were two thousand miles of railway working in British +North America, of which the Grand Trunk Railway owned at least one-half. +The railways in the maritime provinces were very insignificant, and all +attempts to obtain the co-operation of the imperial and Canadian +governments for the construction of an Intercolonial Railway through +British American territory failed, despite the energetic efforts of Mr. +Howe to bring it about. + +After the union of the Canadas in 1841, a steady movement for the +improvement of the elementary, public, or common schools continued for +years, and the services of the Reverend Egerton Ryerson were engaged as +chief superintendent of education with signal advantage to the country. +In 1850, when the Lafontaine-Baldwin government was in office, the +results of the superintendent's studies of the systems of other +countries were embodied in a bill based on the principle of local +assessment, aided by legislative grants, for the carrying on of the +public schools. This measure is the basis of the present admirable +school system of Upper Canada, and to a large extent of that of the +other English-speaking provinces. In Lower Canada the history of public +schools must be always associated with the names of Dr. Meilleur and the +Honourable Mr. Chauveau; but the system has never been as effective as +in the upper province. In both provinces, separate or dissentient +schools were eventually established for the benefit of the Roman +Catholics in Upper or Protestant Canada, and of the Protestants in Lower +or Catholic Canada. In the maritime provinces satisfactory progress was +also made in the development of a sound school system. In Nova Scotia +Dr. Tupper, when provincial secretary (1863-1867), laid the foundations +of the excellent schools that the province now enjoys. + +During this period the newspaper press increased remarkably in influence +and circulation. The most important newspaper in the Dominion, the +_Globe_, was established at Toronto in 1844 by Mr. George Brown, a +Scotchman by birth, who became a power from that time among the Liberal +politicians of Canada. No notable books were produced in the +English-speaking provinces except "Acadian Geology," a work by Dr. +Dawson, who became in 1855 principal of McGill University, and was, in +later years, knighted by the Queen; but the polished verses of Cremazie +and the lucid histories of Canada by Ferland and Garneau already showed +that French Canada had both a history and a literature. + +Towards the close of this memorable period of Canadian development, the +Prince of Wales, heir-apparent to the throne, visited the British +American provinces, where the people gave full expression to their loyal +feelings. This was the third occasion on which these communities had +been favoured by the presence of members of the royal family. Prince +William Henry, afterward William IV, visited Nova Scotia during the +years 1786-1788, in command of a frigate. From 1791 until 1797 Prince +Edward, Duke of Kent, father of the present sovereign, was in command of +the imperial forces, first at Quebec, and later at Halifax. The year +1860 was an opportune time for a royal visit to provinces where the +people were in the full enjoyment of the results of the liberal system +of self-government extended to them at the commencement of the Queen's +reign by the mother-country. + +A quarter of a century had passed after the union of the Canadas when +the necessities of the provinces of British North America forced them to +a momentous constitutional change, which gave a greater scope to the +statesmanship of their public men, and opened up a wider sphere of +effort to capital and enterprise. In the following chapter I shall show +the nature of the conditions which brought about this union. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE EVOLUTION OF CONFEDERATION (1789--1864). + + +SECTION 1--The beginnings of confederation. + +The idea of a union of the provinces of British North America had been +under discussion for half a century before it reached the domain of +practical statesmanship. The eminent Loyalist, Chief Justice Smith of +Quebec, so early as 1789, in a letter to Lord Dorchester, gave an +outline of a scheme for uniting all the provinces of British North +America "under one general direction." A quarter of a century later +Chief Justice Sewell of Quebec, also a Loyalist, addressed a letter to +the father of the present Queen, the Duke of Kent, in which he urged a +federal union of the isolated provinces. Lord Durham was also of opinion +in 1839 that a legislative union of all the provinces "would at once +decisively settle the question of races," but he did not find it +possible to carry it out at that critical time in the history of the +Canadas. + +Some ten years later, at a meeting of prominent public men in Toronto, +known as the British American League, the project of a federal union was +submitted to the favourable consideration of the provinces. In 1854 the +subject was formally brought before the legislature of Nova Scotia by +the Honourable James William Johnston, the able leader of the +Conservative party, and found its most eloquent exposition in the speech +of the Honourable Joseph Howe, one of the fathers of responsible +government. The result of the discussion was the unanimous adoption of a +resolution--the first formally adopted by any provincial +legislature--setting forth that "the union or confederation of the +British provinces, while calculated to perpetuate their connection with +the parent state, will promote their advancement and prosperity, +increase their strength, and influence and elevate their position." Mr. +Howe, on that occasion, expressed himself in favour of a federation of +the empire, of which he was always an earnest advocate until his death. + +In the legislature of Canada Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Tilloch Galt +was an able exponent of union, and when he became a member of the +Cartier-Macdonald government in 1858 the question was made a part of the +ministerial policy, and received special mention in the speech of Sir +Edmund Head, the governor-general, at the end of the session. The matter +was brought to the attention of the imperial government on more than one +occasion during these years by delegates from Canada and Nova Scotia, +but no definite conclusion could be reached in view of the fact that the +question had not been taken up generally in the provinces. + +The political condition of the Canadas brought about a union much sooner +than was anticipated by its most sanguine promoters. In a despatch +written to the colonial minister by the Canadian delegates,--members of +the Cartier-Macdonald ministry--who visited England in 1858 and laid the +question of union before the government, they represented that "very +grave difficulties now present themselves in conducting the government +of Canada"; that "the progress of population has been more rapid in the +western province, and claims are now made on behalf of its inhabitants +for giving them representation in the legislature in proportion to their +numbers"; that "the result is shown by agitation fraught with great +danger to the peaceful and harmonious working of our constitutional +system, and, consequently, detrimental to the progress of the province" +that "this state of things is yearly becoming worse"; and that "the +Canadian government are impressed with the necessity for seeking such a +mode of dealing with these difficulties as may for ever remove them." In +addition to this expression of opinion on the part of the +representatives of the Conservative government of 1858, the Reformers of +Upper Canada held a large and influential convention at Toronto in +1859, and adopted a resolution in which it was emphatically set forth, +"that the best practicable remedy for the evils now encountered in the +government of Canada is to be found in the formation of two or more +local governments to which shall be committed the control of all matters +of a local and sectional character, and some general authority charged +with such matters as are necessarily common to both sections of the +provinces"--language almost identical with that used by the Quebec +convention six years later in one of its resolutions with respect to the +larger scheme of federation. Mr. George Brown brought this scheme before +the assembly in 1860, but it was rejected by a large majority. At this +time constitutional and political difficulties of a serious nature had +arisen between the French and English speaking sections of the united +Canadian provinces. A large and influential party in Upper Canada had +become deeply dissatisfied with the conditions of the union of 1840, +which maintained equality of representation to the two provinces when +statistics clearly showed that the western section exceeded French +Canada both in population and wealth. + +A demand was persistently and even fiercely made at times for such a +readjustment of the representation in the assembly as would do full +justice to the more populous and richer province. The French Canadian +leaders resented this demand as an attempt to violate the terms on which +they were brought into the union, and as calculated, and indeed +intended, to place them in a position of inferiority to the people of a +province where such fierce and unjust attacks were systematically made +on their language, religion, and institutions generally. With much +justice they pressed the fact that at the commencement of, and for some +years subsequent to, the union, the French Canadians were numerically in +the majority, and yet had no larger representation in the assembly than +the inhabitants of the upper province, then inferior in population. Mr. +George Brown, who had under his control a powerful newspaper, the +_Globe_, of Toronto, was remarkable for his power of invective and his +tenacity of purpose, and he made persistent and violent attacks upon the +conditions of the union, and upon the French and English Conservatives, +who were not willing to violate a solemn contract. + +The difficulties between the Canadian provinces at last became so +intensified by the public opinion created by Mr. Brown in Upper Canada +in favour of representation by population, that good and stable +government was no longer possible on account of the close division of +parties in the legislature. Appeals were made frequently to the people, +and new ministries formed,--in fact, five within two years--but the +sectional difficulties had obviously reached a point where it was not +possible to carry on successfully the administration of public affairs. +On the 14th June, 1864, a committee of the legislative assembly of +Canada, of whom Mr. Brown was chairman, reported that "a strong feeling +was found to exist among the members of the committee in favour of +changes in the direction of a federal system, applied either to Canada +alone or to the whole of the British North American provinces." On the +day when this report was presented, the Conservative government, known +as the Tache-Macdonald ministry, suffered the fate of many previous +governments for years, and it became necessary either to appeal at once +to the people, or find some other practical solution of the political +difficulties which prevented the formation of a stable government. Then +it was that Mr. Brown rose above the level of mere party selfishness, +and assumed the attitude of a statesman, animated by patriotic and noble +impulses which must help us to forget the spirit of sectionalism and +illiberality which so often animated him in his career of heated +partisanship. Negotiations took place between Mr. John A. Macdonald, Mr. +Brown, Mr. Cartier, Mr. Galt, Mr. Morris, Mr. McDougall, Mr. Mowat, and +other prominent members of the Conservative and Reform parties, with the +result that a coalition government was formed on the distinct +understanding that it would "bring in a measure next session for the +purpose of removing existing difficulties by introducing the federal +principle into Canada, coupled with such provisions as will permit the +maritime provinces and the north-west territories to be incorporated +into the same system of government." The Reformers who entered the +government with Macdonald and Cartier on this fundamental condition were +Mr. Brown, Mr. Oliver Mowat, and Mr. William McDougall, who stood +deservedly high in public estimation. + +While these events were happening in the Canadas, the maritime provinces +were taking steps in the direction of their own union. In 1861 Mr. Howe, +the leader of a Liberal government in Nova Scotia, carried a resolution +in favour of such a scheme. Three years later the Conservative ministry +of which Dr., now Sir, Charles Tupper, was premier, took measures in the +legislature of Nova Scotia to carry out the proposition of his +predecessor; and a conference was arranged at Charlottetown between +delegates from the three provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and +Prince Edward Island By a happy forethought the government of Canada, +immediately on hearing of this important conference, decided to send a +delegation, composed of Messrs J.A. Macdonald, Brown, Cartier, Galt, +McGee, Langevin, McDougall, and Campbell. The result of the conference +was favourable to the consideration of the larger question of the union +of all the provinces; and it was decided to hold a further conference at +Quebec in October for the purpose of discussing the question as fully as +its great importance demanded. + + +SECTION 2.--The Quebec convention of 1864. + +Thirty-three delegates met in the parliament house of this historic +city. They were all men of large experience in the work of +administration or legislation in their respective provinces. Not a few +of them were noted lawyers who had thoroughly studied the systems of +government in other countries. Some were gifted with rare eloquence and +power of argument. At no time, before or since, has the city of Quebec +been visited by an assemblage of notables with so many high +qualifications for the foundation of a nation. Descendants of the +pioneers of French Canada, English Canadians sprung from the Loyalists +of the eighteenth century, eloquent Irishmen and astute Scotchmen, all, +thoroughly conversant with Canadian interests, met in a convention +summoned to discharge the greatest responsibilities ever entrusted to +any body of men in Canada. + +The chairman was Sir Etienne Paschal Tache, who had proved in his youth +his fidelity to England on the famous battlefield of Chateauguay, and +had won the respect of all classes and parties by the display of many +admirable qualities. Like the majority of his compatriots he had learned +to believe thoroughly in the government and institutions of Great +Britain, and never lost an opportunity of recognising the benefits which +his race derived from British connection. He it was who gave utterance +to the oft-quoted words: "That the last gun that would be fired for +British supremacy in America would be fired by a French Canadian." He +lived to move the resolutions of the Quebec convention in the +legislative council of Canada, but he died a few months before the union +was formally established in 1867, and never had an opportunity of +experiencing the positive advantages which his race, of whose interests +he was always an earnest exponent, derived from a condition of things +which gave additional guarantees for the preservation of their special +institutions. But there were in the convention other men of much greater +political force, more deeply versed in constitutional knowledge, more +capable of framing a plan of union than the esteemed and discreet +president. Most prominent among these was Mr., afterwards Sir, John A. +Macdonald, who had been for years one of the most conspicuous figures in +Canadian politics, and had been able to win to a remarkable degree the +confidence not only or the great majority of the French Canadians but +also of a powerful minority in the western province where his able +antagonist, Mr. Brown, until 1864 held the vantage ground by his +persistency in urging its claims to greater weight in the administration +of public affairs. Mr. Macdonald had a great knowledge of men and did +not hesitate to avail himself of their weaknesses in order to strengthen +his political power. His greatest faults were those of a politician +anxious for the success of his party. His strength lay largely in his +ability to understand the working of British institutions, and in his +recognition of the necessity of carrying on the government in a country +of diverse nationalities, on principles of justice and compromise. He +had a happy faculty of adapting himself to the decided current of public +opinion even at the risk of leaving himself open to a charge of +inconsistency, and he was just as ready to adopt the measures of his +opponents as he was willing to enter their ranks and steal away some +prominent men whose support he thought necessary to his political +success. + +So early as 1861 he had emphatically expressed himself on the floor of +the assembly in favour of the main principles of just such a federal +union as was initiated at Quebec. The moment he found that the question +of union was likely to be something more than a mere subject for +academic discussion or eloquent expression in legislative halls, he +recognised immediately the great advantages it offered, not only for the +solution of the difficulties of his own party, but also for the +consolidation of British American as well as imperial interests on the +continent of North America From the hour when he became convinced of +this fact he devoted his consummate ability not merely as a party +leader, but as a statesman of broad national views, to the perfection of +a measure which promised so much for the welfare and security of the +British provinces. It was his good fortune, after the establishment of +the federation, to be the first premier of the new Dominion and to mould +its destinies with a firm and capable hand. He saw it extended to the +Pacific shores long before he died, amid the regrets of all classes and +creeds and races of a country he loved and in whose future he had the +most perfect confidence. + +The name of the Right Honourable Sir John Macdonald, to give him the +titles he afterwards received from the crown, naturally brings up that +of Mr., afterwards Sir, George Etienne Cartier, who was his faithful +colleague and ally for many years in the legislature of old Canada, and +for a short time after the completion of the federal union, until his +death. This able French Canadian had taken an insignificant part in the +unfortunate rising of 1837, but like many other men of his nationality +he recognised the mistakes of his impetuous youth, and, unlike Papineau +after the union of 1840, endeavoured to work out earnestly and honestly +the principles of responsible government. While a true friend of his +race, he was generous and fair in his relations with other +nationalities, and understood the necessity of compromise and +conciliation in a country of diverse races, needs, and interests. Sir +John Macdonald appreciated at their full value his statesmanlike +qualities, and succeeded in winning his sympathetic and faithful +co-operation during the many years they acted together in opposition to +the war of nationalities which would have been the eventual consequence +of Mr. Brown's determined agitation if it had been carried to its +logical and natural conclusion--conclusion happily averted by the wise +stand taken by Mr. Brown himself with respect to the settlement of +provincial troubles. In the settlement of the terms of union, we can see +not only the master hand of Sir John Macdonald in the British framework +of the system, but also the successful effort of Sir George Cartier to +preserve intact the peculiar institutions of his native province. + +All those who have studied Mr. Brown's career know something of his +independent and uncompromising character; but for some time after he +entered the coalition government his speeches in favour of federation +assumed a dignified style and a breadth of view which stand out in great +contrast with his bitter arguments as leader of the Clear Grits. In the +framing of the Quebec resolutions his part was chiefly in arranging the +financial terms with a regard to the interests of his own province. + +Another influential member of the Canadian delegation was Mr., +afterwards Sir, Alexander Galt, the son of the creator of that original +character in fiction, Laurie Todd, who had been a resident for many +years in Western Canada, where a pretty city perpetuates his name. His +able son had been for a long time a prominent figure in Canadian +politics, and was distinguished for his intelligent advocacy of railway +construction and political union as measures essential to the material +and political development of the provinces. His earnest and eloquent +exposition of the necessity of union had no doubt much to do with +creating a wide-spread public sentiment in its favour, and with +preparing the way for the formation of the coalition government of 1864, +on the basis of such a political measure. His knowledge of financial and +commercial questions was found to be invaluable in the settlement of the +financial basis of the union, while his recognised position as a +representative of the Protestant English-speaking people in French +Canada gave him much weight when it was a question of securing their +rights and interests in the Quebec resolutions. + +The other members of the Canadian delegation were men of varied +accomplishments, some of whom played an important part in the working +out of the federal system, the foundations of which they laid. There was +a brilliant Irishman, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, poet, historian and orator, +who had been in his rash youth obliged to fly from Ireland to the United +States on account of his connection with the rebellious party known as +Young Ireland during the troubles of 1848. When he removed from the +United States in 1857 he advocated with much force a union of the +provinces in the _New Era_, of which he was editor during its short +existence. He was elected to parliament in 1858, and became a notable +figure in Canadian politics on account of his eloquence and _bonhomie_. +His most elaborate addresses had never the easy flow of Joseph Howe's +speeches, but were laboured essays, showing too obviously the results of +careful compilation in libraries, while brightened by touches of natural +humour. He had been president of the council in the Sandfield Macdonald +government of 1862--a moderate Reform ministry--but later he joined the +Liberal-Conservative party as less sectional in its aspirations and more +generous in its general policy than the one led by Mr. Brown. Mr. McGee +was during his residence in Canada a firm friend of the British +connection, having observed the beneficent character of British rule in +his new Canadian home, with whose interests he so thoroughly identified +himself. + +Mr. William McDougall, the descendant of a Loyalist, had been long +connected with the advocacy of Reform principles in the press and on the +floor of parliament, and was distinguished for his clear, incisive style +of debating. He had been for years a firm believer in the advantages of +union, which he had been the first to urge at the Reform convention of +1859. Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Campbell, who had been for some +years a legal partner of Sir John Macdonald, was gifted with a +remarkably clear intellect, great common sense, and business capacity, +which he displayed later as leader of the senate and as minister of the +crown. Mr., afterwards Sir, Oliver Mowat, who had been a student of law +in Sir John Macdonald's office at Kingston, brought to the discharge of +the important positions he held in later times as minister, +vice-chancellor, and premier of the province of Ontario, great legal +learning, and admirable judgment. Mr., now Sir, Hector Langevin was +considered a man of promise, likely to exercise in the future much +influence among his countrymen. For some years after the establishment +of the new Dominion he occupied important positions in the government of +the country, and led the French Conservative party after the death of +Sir George Cartier. Mr. James Cockburn was an excellent lawyer, who +three years later was chosen speaker of the first house of commons of +the federal parliament--a position which his sound judgment, knowledge +of parliamentary law, and dignity of manner enabled him to discharge +with signal ability. Mr. J.C. Chapais was a man of sound judgment, which +made him equal to the administrative duties entrusted to him from time +to time. + +Of the five men sent by Nova Scotia, the two ablest were Dr., now Sir, +Charles Tupper, who was first minister of the Conservative government, +and Mr., later Sir, Adams G. Archibald, who was leader of the Liberal +opposition in the assembly. The former was then as now distinguished for +his great power as a debater and for the forcible expression of his +opinions on the public questions on which he had made up his mind. When +he had a great end in view he followed it with a tenacity of purpose +that generally gave him success. Ever since he entered public life as an +opponent of Mr. Howe, he has been a dominant force in the politics of +Nova Scotia. While Conservative in name he entertained broad Liberal +views which found expression in the improvement of the school system, at +a very low ebb when he came into office, and in the readiness and energy +with which he identified himself with the cause of the union of the +provinces. Mr. Archibald was noted for his dignified demeanour, sound +legal attainments, and clear plausible style of oratory, well calculated +to instruct a learned audience. Mr. William A. Henry was a lawyer of +considerable ability, who was at a later time elevated to the bench of +the supreme court of Canada. Mr. Jonathan J. McCully, afterwards a judge +in Nova Scotia, had never sat in the assembly, but he exercised +influence in the legislative council on the Liberal side and was an +editorial writer of no mean ability. Mr. Dickey was a leader of the +Conservatives in the upper house and distinguished for his general +culture and legal knowledge. + +New Brunswick sent seven delegates, drawn from the government and +opposition. The Loyalists who founded this province were represented by +four of the most prominent members of the delegation, Tilley, Chandler, +Gray, and Fisher. Mr., afterwards Sir, Samuel Leonard Tilley had been +long engaged in public life and possessed admirable ability as an +administrator. He had for years taken a deep interest in questions of +intercolonial trade, railway intercourse and political union. He was a +Reformer of pronounced opinions, most earnest in the advocacy of +temperance, possessed of great tact and respected for his high character +in all the relations of life. In later times he became finance minister +of the Dominion and lieutenant-governor of his native province. + +Mr. John Hamilton Gray, later a judge in British Columbia, was one of +the most eloquent and accomplished men in the convention, and brought to +the consideration of legal and constitutional questions much knowledge +and experience. Mr. Fisher, afterwards a judge in his province, was also +a well equipped lawyer and speaker who displayed a cultured mind. Like +all the delegates from New Brunswick he was animated by a great love for +British connection and institutions. Mr. Peter Mitchell was a Liberal, +conspicuous for the energy he brought to the administration of public +affairs, both in his own province and at a later time in the new +Dominion as a minister of the crown. Mr. Edward Barron Chandler had long +been a notable figure in the politics of New Brunswick, and was +universally respected for his probity and worth. He had the honour of +being at a later time the lieutenant-governor of the province with which +he had been so long and honourably associated. Mr. John Johnson and Mr. +William H. Steeves were also fully qualified to deal intelligently with +the questions submitted to the convention. + +Of the seven members of the Prince Edward Island delegation, four were +members of the government and the rest were prominent men in one or +other branch of the legislature. Colonel Gray--a descendant of a +Virginia Loyalist--was prime minister of the island. Mr. George Coles +was one of the fathers of responsible government in the island, and long +associated with the advocacy and passage of many progressive measures, +including the improvement of the educational system. Mr. Edward Whelan +was a journalist, an Irishman by birth, and endowed, like so many of his +countrymen, with a natural gift of eloquence. Mr. Thomas Heath Haviland, +afterwards lieutenant-governor of the island, was a man of culture, and +Mr. Edward Palmer was a lawyer of good reputation. Mr. William H. Pope +and Mr. Andrew Archibald Macdonald were also thoroughly capable of +watching over the special interests of the island. + +Newfoundland had the advantage of being represented by Mr. Frederick +B.T. Carter, then speaker of the house of assembly, and by Mr. Ambrose +Shea, also a distinguished politician of the great island. Both were +knighted at later times; the former became chief justice of his own +province, and the latter governor of the Bahamas. + + +SECTION 3.--Confederation accomplished. + +The Quebec convention sat with closed doors for eighteen days, and +agreed to seventy-two resolutions, which form the basis of the Act of +Union, subsequently passed by the imperial parliament. These resolutions +set forth at the outset that in a federation of the British American +provinces "the system of government best adapted under existing +circumstances to protect the diversified interests of the several +provinces, and secure harmony and permanency in the working of the +union, would be a general government charged with matters of common +interest to the whole country, and local governments for each of the +Canadas, and for the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince +Edward Island, charged with the control of local matters in their +respective sections" In another paragraph the resolutions declared that +"in forming a constitution for a general government, the conference, +with a view to the perpetuation of our connection with the +mother-country, and the promotion of the best interests of the people of +these provinces, desire to follow the model of the British constitution +so far as our circumstances permit" In a subsequent paragraph it was set +forth: "the executive authority or government shall be vested in the +sovereign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and be +administered according to the well-understood principles of the British +constitution, by a sovereign personally, or by the representative of the +sovereign duly authorised." + +In these three paragraphs of the Quebec resolutions we see clearly +expressed the leading principles on which the Canadian federation +rests--a federation, with a central government having jurisdiction over +matters of common interest to the whole country comprised in the union, +and a number of provincial governments having the control and management +of certain local matters naturally and conveniently belonging to them, +each government being administered in accordance with the +well-understood principles of the British system of parliamentary +institutions. + +The resolutions also defined in express terms the respective powers of +the central and provincial governments. Any subject that did not fall +within the enumerated powers of the provincial legislatures was placed +under the control of the general parliament. The convention recognised +the necessity of preventing, as far as possible, the difficulties that +had arisen in the working of the constitution of the United States, +where the residuary power of legislation is given to the people of the +respective states and not to the federal government. In a subsequent +chapter I give a brief summary of these and other details of the system +of government, generally laid down in the Quebec resolutions and +practically embodied in an imperial statute three years later. + +Although we have no official report of the discussions of the Quebec +convention, we know on good authority that the question of providing +revenues for the provinces was one that gave the delegates the greatest +difficulty. In all the provinces the sources of revenue were chiefly +customs and excise-duties which had to be set apart for the general +government of the federation. Some of the delegates from Ontario, where +there had existed for many years an admirable system of municipal +government, which provided funds for education and local improvements, +recognised the advantages of direct taxation; but the representatives of +the other provinces would not consent to such a system, especially in +the case of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, where +there were no municipal institutions, and the people depended almost +exclusively on the annual votes of the legislature for the means to meet +their local necessities. All of the delegates, in fact, felt that to +force the maritime provinces to resort to direct taxes as the only +method of carrying on their government, would be probably fatal to the +success of the scheme, and it was finally decided that the central +government should grant annual subsidies, based on population, relative +debts, financial position, and such other facts as should be fairly +brought into the consideration of the case. + +It is unfortunate that we have no full report of the deliberations and +debates of this great conference. We have only a fragmentary record from +which it is difficult to form any adequate conclusions as to the part +taken by the several delegates in the numerous questions which +necessarily came under their purview.[4] Under these circumstances, a +careful writer hesitates to form any positive opinion based upon these +reports of the discussions, but no one can doubt that the directing +spirit of the conference was Sir John Macdonald. Meagre as is the record +of what he said, we can yet see that his words were those of a man who +rose above the level of the mere politician, and grasped the magnitude +of the questions involved. What he aimed at especially was to follow as +closely as possible the fundamental principles of English parliamentary +government, and to engraft them upon the general system of federal +union. Mr. George Brown took a prominent part in the deliberations. His +opinions read curiously now. He was in favour of having the +lieutenant-governors appointed by the general government, and he was +willing to give them an effective veto over provincial legislation. He +advocated the election of a legislative chamber on a fixed day every +third year, not subject to a dissolution during its term--also an +adaptation of the American system. He went so far as to urge the +advisability of having the executive council elected for three years--by +the assembly, we may assume, though the imperfect report before us does +not state so--and also of giving the lieutenant-governor the right of +dismissing any of its members when the house was not sitting. Mr. Brown +consequently appears to have been the advocate, so far as the provinces +were concerned, of principles that prevail in the federal republic +across the border. He opposed the introduction of responsible +government, as it now obtains, in all the provinces of the Dominion, +while conceding its necessity for the central government. + + +[4: Mr. Joseph Pope, for years the able confidential secretary of Sir +John Macdonald, has edited and published all the official documents +bearing on the origin and evolution of the British North America Act of +1867; but despite all the ability and fidelity he has devoted to the +task the result is most imperfect and unsatisfactory on account of the +absence of any full or exact original report of proceedings.] + +We gather from the report of discussions that the Prince Edward Island +delegates hesitated from the beginning to enter a union where their +province would necessarily have so small a numerical representation--one +of the main objections which subsequently operated against the island +coming into the confederation. With respect to education we see that it +was Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Galt, who was responsible for the +provision in the constitution which gives the general government and +parliament a certain control over provincial legislation in case the +rights of a Protestant or a Roman Catholic minority are prejudicially +affected. The minutes on this point are defective, but we have the +original motion on the subject, and a note of Sir John Macdonald himself +that it was passed, with the assent of all the provinces, at the +subsequent London conference in 1867. The majority of the delegates +appear from the outset to have supported strenuously the principle which +lies at the basis of the confederation, that all powers not expressly +reserved to the provinces should appertain to the general government, as +against the opposite principle, which, as Sir John Macdonald pointed +out, had led to great difficulties in the working of the federal system +in the United States. Sir John Macdonald also, with his usual sagacity, +showed that, in all cases of conflict of jurisdiction, recourse would be +necessarily made to the courts, as was the practice even then whenever +there was a conflict between imperial and Canadian statutes. + +Addresses to the Queen embodying the Quebec resolutions were submitted +to the legislature of Canada during the winter of 1865, and passed in +both houses by large majorities after a very full discussion of the +merits of the scheme. The opposition in the assembly came chiefly from +Mr. Antoine A. Dorion, Mr. Luther H. Holton, Mr. Dunkin, Mr. Lucius Seth +Huntington, Mr. John Sandfield Macdonald, and other able Liberals who +were not disposed to follow Mr. Brown and his two colleagues in their +patriotic abandonment of "partyism." + +The vote on the address was, in the council--Contents 45, Non-contents +15. In the assembly it stood--Yeas 91, Nays 33. The minority in the +assembly comprised 25 out of 65 representatives of French Canada, and +only 8 out of the 65 from Upper Canada. With the speaker in the chair +there were only 5 members absent on the taking of the final vote. + +Efforts were made both in the council and assembly to obtain an +unequivocal expression of public opinion at the polls before the address +was submitted to the imperial government for final action. It was argued +with much force that the legislature had had no special mandate from the +people to carry out so vital a change in the political condition of the +provinces, but this argument had relatively little weight in either +house in view of the dominant public sentiment which, as it was obvious +to the most superficial observer, existed in the valley of the St. +Lawrence in favour of a scheme which seemed certain to settle the +difficulties so long in the way of stable government, and offered so +many auspicious auguries for the development of the provinces embraced +in federation. + +Soon after the close of the session Messrs Macdonald, Galt, Cartier, and +Brown went to England to confer with the imperial authorities on various +matters of grave public import. The British government agreed to +guarantee a loan for the construction of the Intercolonial Railway and +gave additional assurances of their deep interest in the proposed +confederation. An understanding was reached with respect to the mutual +obligations of the parent state and the dependency to provide for the +defences of the country. Preliminary steps were taken in the direction +of acquiring the north-west from the Hudson's Bay Company on equitable +terms whenever their exact legal rights were ascertained. The report of +the delegates was laid before the Canadian parliament during a very +short session held in August and September of 1865. It was then that +parliament formally ratified the Civil Code of Lower Canada, with which +must be always honourably associated the name of Mr. Cartier. + +In the maritime provinces, however, the prospect for some months was far +from encouraging. Much dissatisfaction was expressed with the financial +terms, and the haste with which the maritime delegates had yielded to +the propositions of the Canadian government and given their adhesion to +the larger scheme, when they were only authorised in the first instance +by their respective legislatures to consider the feasibility of a union +of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. In New +Brunswick Mr. Tilley found himself in a minority as a result of an +appeal to the people on the question in 1865, but his successor Mr., +afterwards Sir, Albert Smith, minister of marine in the Mackenzie +government of 1873-78, was forced to resign a year later on some +question purposely raised by Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton Gordon, then +very anxious to carry the union before he left the province. A new +government was immediately formed by Mr. Peter Mitchell, a very +energetic Liberal politician--the first minister of marine in +the first Dominion ministry--who had notoriously influenced the +lieutenant-governor in his arbitrary action of practically dismissing +the Smith cabinet. On an appeal to the people Mr. Mitchell was +sustained, and the new legislature gave its approval to the union by a +large majority. The opinion then generally prevailed in New Brunswick +that a federation was essential to the security of the provinces, then +threatened by the Fenians, and would strengthen the hands of the parent +state on the American continent. In Nova Scotia the situation was +aggravated by the fact that the opposition was led by Mr. Howe, who had +always been the idol of a large party in the country, and an earnest and +consistent supporter of the right of the people to be first consulted on +every measure immediately affecting their interests. He succeeded +in creating a powerful sentiment against the terms of the +measure--especially the financial conditions--and it was not possible +during 1865 to carry it in the legislature. It was not attempted to +submit the question to the polls, as was done in New Brunswick, indeed +such a course would have been fatal to its progress; but it was +eventually sanctioned by a large vote of the two houses. A strong +influence was exerted by the fact that confederation was approved by the +imperial government, which sent out Sir Fenwick Williams of Kars as +lieutenant-governor with special instructions that, both Canada and New +Brunswick having given their consent, it was proposed to make such +changes in the financial terms as would be more favourable to the +maritime provinces. In Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland it was not +possible for the advocates of federation to move successfully in the +matter. The opposition to the scheme of union, as proposed at Quebec, +was so bitter in these two provinces that the delegates found it useless +to press the matter in their legislatures. + +In the meantime, while confederation was on the eve of accomplishment, +the people of Canada were subjected to an attack which supplied the +strongest possible evidence of the necessity for a union enabling them +to combine for purposes of general defence as well as other matters of +national importance. In the month of April, 1866, the Fenians, an Irish +organisation in the United States, made an insignificant demonstration +on the New Brunswick frontier, which had no other effect than to excite +the loyal action of the people of the province and strengthen the hands +of the advocates of confederation. In the beginning of June a +considerable body of the same order, under the command of one O'Neil, +crossed from Buffalo into the Niagara district of Upper Canada and won a +temporary success near Ridgeway, where the Queen's Own, a body of +Toronto Volunteers, chiefly students and other young men, were badly +handled by Colonel Booker. Subsequently Colonel Dennis and a small +detachment of militia were surprised at Fort Erie by O'Neil. The +knowledge that a large force of regulars and volunteers were marching +against him under Colonel Peacock forced O'Neil and his men to disperse +and find their way back to the United States, where a number were +arrested by the orders of the Washington government. The Eastern +Townships of Lower Canada were also invaded but the raiders retreated +before a Canadian force with greater rapidity than they had shown in +entering the province, and found themselves prisoners as soon as they +crossed the frontier. Canada was kept in a state of anxiety for some +months after these reckless invasions of a country where the Irish like +all other nationalities have always had the greatest possible freedom; +but the vigilance of the authorities and the readiness of the people of +Canada to defend their soil prevented any more hostile demonstrations +from the United States. The prisoners taken in the Niagara district were +treated with a degree of clemency which their shameless conduct did not +merit from an outraged people. No persons were ever executed, though a +number were confined for a while in Kingston penitentiary. The invasion +had the effect of stimulating the patriotism of the Canadian people to +an extraordinary degree, and of showing them the necessity that existed +for improving their home forces, whose organisation and equipment proved +sadly defective during the invasion. + +In the summer of 1866 the Canadian legislature met for the last time +under the provisions of the Union Act of 1840, and passed addresses to +the Queen, setting forth constitutions for the new provinces of Upper +and Lower Canada, afterwards incorporated in the imperial act of union. +A conference of delegates from the provinces of Nova Scotia, New +Brunswick, and Canada was held in the December of 1866 at the +Westminster Palace Hotel in the City of London. The members on behalf of +Canada were Messrs Macdonald, Cartier, Galt, McDougall, Langevin, and +W.P. Howland (in the place of Mr. Brown); on behalf of Nova Scotia, +Messrs Tupper, Henry, McCully, Archibald, and J.W. Ritchie (who took Mr. +Dickey's place); of New Brunswick, Messrs Tilley, Johnson, Mitchell, +Fisher, and R.D. Wilmot. The last named, who took the place of Mr. +Steeves, was a Loyalist by descent, and afterwards became speaker of +the senate and a lieutenant-governor of his native province. Their +deliberations led to some changes in the financial provisions of the +Quebec plan, made with the view of satisfying the opposition as far as +possible in the maritime provinces but without disturbing the +fundamental basis to which Canada had already pledged itself in the +legislative session of 1865. All the difficulties being now removed the +Earl of Carnarvon, then secretary of state for the colonies, submitted +to the house of lords on the 17th of February, 1867, a bill intituled, +"An act for the union of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the +government thereof; and for purposes connected therewith." It passed the +two houses with very little discussion, and the royal assent was given +to it on the 29th of March of the same year as "The British North +America Act, 1867." It is interesting to know that in the original draft +of the bill the united provinces were called the "Kingdom of Canada," +but when it came eventually before parliament they were designated as +the "Dominion of Canada"; and the writer had it from Sir John Macdonald +himself that this amendment did not emanate from the colonial delegates +but from the imperial ministry, one of whose members was afraid of +wounding the susceptibilities of United States statesmen. + +During the same session the imperial parliament passed a bill to +guarantee a loan of three million pounds sterling for the construction +of an intercolonial railway between Quebec and the coast of the maritime +provinces--a work recognised as indispensable to the success of the new +federation. Her Majesty's proclamation, giving effect to the Union Act, +was issued on the 22nd May, 1867, declaring that "on and after the first +of July, 1867, the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, +shall form and be one Dominion, under the name of Canada." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CONFEDERATION. 1867--1900. + + +SECTION I--The first parliament of the Dominion of Canada. 1867--1872. + +The Dominion of Canada took its place among the federal states of the +world on the first of July, 1867. Upper and Lower Canada now became +known as Ontario and Quebec, while Nova Scotia and New Brunswick +retained their original historic names. The first governor-general was +Viscount Monk, who had been head of the executive government of Canada +throughout all the stages of confederation. He was an Irish nobleman, +who had been a junior lord of the treasury in Lord Palmerston's +government. He was a collateral descendant of the famous general of the +commonwealth, created Duke of Albemarle after the Restoration. Without +being a man of remarkable ability he was gifted with much discretion, +and gave all the weight of his influence to bring about a federation, +whose great benefits from an imperial as well as a colonial point of +view he fully recognised. + +The prime minister of the first federal government was naturally Sir +John Macdonald, who chose as his colleagues Sir George E. Cartier, Sir +S.L. Tilley,--to give them all their later titles--Sir A.T. Galt, Sir +W.P. Howland, Mr. William McDougall, Mr. P. Mitchell, Sir A.G. +Archibald, Mr. A.F. Blair, Sir A. Campbell, Sir H.L. Langevin, Sir E. +Kenny, and Mr. J.C. Chapais. Mr. Brown had retired from the coalition +government of 1864 some months before the union, nominally on a +disagreement with his colleagues as to the best mode of conducting +negotiations for a new reciprocity treaty with the United States. The +ministry had appointed delegates to confer with the Washington +government on the subject, but, while Mr. Brown recognised the +desirability of reciprocal trade relations with the United States on +equitable conditions, he did not deem it expedient to appear before +American statesmen "as suitors for any terms they might be pleased to +grant." A general impression, however, prevailed that this difference of +opinion was not the real reason of Mr. Brown's resignation, but that +the animating motive was his intense jealousy of Sir John Macdonald, +whose dominant influence in the government he could no longer brook. + +The governments of the four provinces were also regularly constituted at +this time in accordance with the act of union. The first +lieutenant-governor of Ontario was Lieutenant-General Stisted, of +Quebec, Sir Narcisse Belleau; of Nova Scotia, Lieutenant-General Sir +Fenwick Williams, the hero of Kars; of New Brunswick, Major-General +Doyle, but only for three months. With the exception of the case of +Quebec, these appointments were only temporary. It was considered +prudent to select military men in view of the continuous reports of +Fenian aggression. Sir William Howland became, a year later, +lieutenant-governor of Ontario, Major-General Sir Francis Hastings Doyle +of Nova Scotia in the fall of 1867, and Hon. L.A. Wilmot, of New +Brunswick in July 1868. The first prime minister of Ontario was Mr. John +Sandfield Macdonald, who had been leader of a Canadian ministry before +confederation. He had been a moderate Liberal in politics, and opposed +at the outset to the federal union, but before 1867 he became identified +with the Liberal-Conservative party and gave his best assistance to the +success of the federation. In Quebec, Mr. Pierre Chauveau, a man of high +culture, formed the first government, which was also associated with the +Liberal-Conservative party. In New Brunswick, Attorney-General Wetmore +was the first prime minister, but he was appointed a judge in 1870, and +Mr. George E. King, a judge of the supreme court of Canada some years +later, became his successor. In Nova Scotia, Mr. Hiram Blanchard, a +Liberal and unionist, formed a government, but it was defeated at the +elections by an overwhelming majority by the anti-unionists, and Mr. +Annand, the old friend of Mr. Howe, became first minister. + +The elections for the Dominion house of commons took place in the +summer of 1867, and Sir John Macdonald's government was sustained by +nearly three-fourths of the entire representation. The most notable +incident in this contest was the defeat of Mr. Brown. Soon after his +resignation in 1866 he assumed his old position of hostility to Sir John +Macdonald and the Conservatives. At a later date, when the Liberals were +in office, he accepted a seat in the senate, but in the meantime he +continued to manage the _Globe_ and denounce his too successful and wily +antagonist in its columns with his usual vehemence. + +The first parliament of the new Dominion met in the autumn of 1867 in +the new buildings at Ottawa--also chosen as the seat of government of +the federation--and was probably the ablest body of men that ever +assembled for legislative purposes within the limits of old or new +Canada. In the absence of the legislation which was subsequently passed +both in Ontario and Quebec against dual representation--or the election +of the same representatives to both the Dominion parliament and the +local legislatures--it comprised the leading public men of all parties +in the two provinces in question. Such legislation had been enacted in +the maritime provinces before 1867, but it did not prevent the ablest +men of New Brunswick from selecting the larger and more ambitious field +of parliamentary action. In Nova Scotia Sir Charles Tupper was the only +man who emerged from the battle in which so many unionists were for the +moment defeated. Even Sir Adams Archibald, the secretary of state, was +defeated in a county where he had been always returned by a large +majority. Mr. Howe came in at the head of a strong phalanx of +anti-unionists--"Repealers" as they called themselves for a short time. + +The legislation of the first parliament during its five years of +existence was noteworthy in many respects. The departments of government +were reorganised with due regard to the larger interests now intrusted +to their care. The new department of marine and fisheries, rendered +necessary by the admission of the maritime provinces, was placed under +the direction of Mr. Peter Mitchell, then a member of the senate, who +had done so much to bring New Brunswick into the union. An act was +passed to provide for the immediate commencement of the Intercolonial +Railway, which was actually completed by the 1st of July, 1876, under +the supervision of Mr., now Sir, Sandford Fleming, as chief government +engineer; and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec were at last directly +connected with the maritime sections of the Dominion. + +The repeal agitation in Nova Scotia received its first blow by the +defection of Mr. Howe, who had been elected to the house of commons. He +proceeded to England in 1868 with an address from the assembly of Nova +Scotia, demanding a repeal of the union, but he made no impression +whatever on a government and parliament convinced of the necessity of +the measure from an imperial as well as colonial point of view. Dr. +Tupper was present on behalf of the Dominion government to answer any +arguments that the Repealers might advance against the union. The visit +to England convinced Mr. Howe that further agitation on the question +might be injurious to British connection, and that the wisest course was +to make the union as useful as possible to the provinces. Then, as +always, he was true to those principles of fidelity to the crown and +empire which had forced his father to seek refuge in Nova Scotia, and +which had been ever the mainspring of his action, even in the trying +days when he and others were struggling for responsible government. He +believed always in constitutional agitation, not in rebellion. He now +agreed to enter the ministry as president of the council on condition +that the financial basis, on which Nova Scotia had been admitted to the +federation, was enlarged by the parliament of Canada. These "better +terms" were brought before the Canadian parliament in the session of +1869, and provided for the granting of additional allowances to the +provinces, calculated on increased amounts of debt as compared with the +maximum fixed by the terms of the British North America Act of 1867. +They met with strong opposition from Edward Blake, a very eminent +lawyer and Reformer of Ontario, on the ground that they violated the +original compact of union as set forth in the British North America Act; +but despite the opposition of the western Reformers they were ratified +by a large majority, who recognised the supreme necessity of +conciliating Nova Scotia. On account of his decision to yield to the +inevitable, Mr. Howe incurred the bitter antagonism of many men who had +been his staunch followers in all the political contests of Nova Scotia, +and it was with the greatest difficulty that he was re-elected for the +county of Hants as a minister of the crown. He remained in the +government until May, 1873, when he was appointed lieutenant-governor of +Nova Scotia. The worries of a long life of political struggles, and +especially the fatigue and exposure of the last election in Hants, had +impaired his health and made it absolutely necessary that he should +retire from active politics. Only a month after his appointment, the +printer, poet and politician died in the famous old government house, +admittance to which had been denied him in the stormy days when he +fought Lord Falkland. It was a fit ending, assuredly, to the life of the +statesman, who, with eloquent pen and voice, in the days when his +opinions were even offensive to governors and social leaders, ever urged +the right of his countrymen to a full measure of self-government. + +Canada and all other parts of the British empire were deeply shocked on +an April day of 1868 by the tragic announcement of the assassination of +the brilliant Irishman, Thomas D'Arcy McGee on his return late at night +from his parliamentary duties. He had never been forgiven by the Irish +enemies of England for his strenuous efforts in Canada to atone for the +indiscretion of his thoughtless youth. His remains were buried with all +the honours that the state could give him, and proper provision was made +for the members of his family by that parliament of which he had been +one of the most notable figures. The murderer, Thomas Whelan, a member +of the secret society that had ordered his death, was executed at +Ottawa on the 11th February, 1869. + + +SECTION 2.--Extension of the Dominion from the Atlantic to the Pacific +Ocean. 1869-1873. + +The government and parliament, to whom were entrusted the destinies of +the federation of four provinces, had a great work to accomplish in the +way of perfecting and extending the Dominion, which was necessarily +incomplete whilst its western territorial limits were confined to the +boundaries of Ontario, and the provinces of British Columbia on the +Pacific coast and of Prince Edward Island in the Gulf of the St. +Lawrence remained in a position of isolation. The provisions of the +British North America Act of 1867 provided in general terms for the +addition of the immense territories which extend from the head of Lake +Superior in a north-westerly direction as far as the Rocky Mountains. +Three great basins divide these territories; Hudson Bay Basin, with +probably a drainage of 2,250,000 square miles; the Winnipeg sub-basin +tributary to the former, with nearly 400,000 square miles; the Mackenzie +River basin with nearly 700,000 square miles. The Winnipeg basin covers +a great area of prairie lands, whose luxuriant grasses and wild flowers +were indented for centuries only by the tracks of herds of innumerable +buffaloes on their way to the tortuous and sluggish streams which flow +through that wide region. This plain slopes gently towards the arctic +seas into which its waters flow, and is also remarkable for rising +gradually from its eastern limits in three distinct elevations or +steppes as far as the foot hills of the Rocky Mountains. Forests of +trees, small for the most part, are found only when the prairies are +left and we reach the more picturesque undulating country through which +the North Saskatchewan flows. An extraordinary feature of this great +region is the continuous chain of lakes and rivers which stretch from +the basin of the St. Lawrence as far as the distant northern sea into +which the Mackenzie, the second largest river in North America, carries +its enormous volume of waters. As we stand on the rugged heights of +land which divides the Winnipeg from the Laurentian basin we are within +easy reach of rivers which flow, some to arctic seas, some to the +Atlantic, and some to the Gulf of Mexico. If we ascend the Saskatchewan +River, from Lake Winnipeg to the Rocky Mountains, we shall find +ourselves within a measurable distance not only of the sources of the +Mackenzie, one of whose tributaries reaches the head waters of the +Yukon, a river of golden promise like the Pactolus of the eastern +lands--but also within reach of the head waters of the rapid Columbia, +and the still more impetuous Fraser, both of which pour into the Pacific +Ocean, as well as of the Missouri, which here accumulates strength for +its alliance with the Mississippi, that great artery of a more southern +land. It was to this remarkable geographical feature that Oliver Wendell +Holmes referred in the following well-known verses: + + "Yon stream whose sources run + Turned by a pebble's edge, + Is Athabaska rolling toward the Sun + Through the cleft mountain ledge." + + "The slender rill had strayed, + But for the slanting stone, + To evening's ocean, with the tangled braid + Of foam-flecked Oregon." + +[ILLUSTRATION: MAP OF BRITISH AMERICA TO ILLUSTRATE THE CHARTER OF THE +HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY] + +A great company claimed for two centuries exclusive trading privileges +over a large portion of these territories, known as Rupert's Land, by +virtue of a charter given by King Charles II, on the 2nd May, 1670, to +Prince Rupert, the Duke of Albemarle, and other Englishmen of rank and +wealth. The early operations of this Company of Adventurers of England +were confined to the vicinity of Hudson and James Bays. The French of +Canada for many years disputed the rights of the English company to this +great region, but it was finally ceded to England by the Treaty of +Utrecht. Twenty years after the Treaty of Paris (1763) a number of +wealthy and enterprising merchants, chiefly Scotch, established at +Montreal the North-West Company for the purpose of trading in those +north-western territories to which French traders had been the first to +venture. This new company carried on its operations with such activity +that in thirty years' time it employed four thousand persons and +occupied sixty posts in different parts of the territories. + +The Hudson's Bay Company's headquarters was York Factory, on the great +bay to which British ships, every summer, brought out supplies for the +posts. The North-West Company followed the route of the old French +traders from Lachine by way of the Ottawa or the lakes to the head of +Lake Superior, and its principal depot was Fort William on the +Kaministiquia River. The servants of the North-West Company became +indefatigable explorers of the territories as far as the Pacific Ocean +and arctic seas. Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Mackenzie first followed +the river which now bears his name, to the Arctic Ocean, into which it +pours its mighty volume of water. He was also the first to cross the +Rocky Mountains and reach the Pacific coast. Simon Fraser, another +employee of the company, discovered, in 1808, the river which still +recalls his exploits; and a little later, David Thompson, from whom a +river is named, crossed further south and reached Oregon by the Columbia +River. The energetic operations of the North-west Company so seriously +affected the business of the Hudson's Bay Company that in some years the +latter declared no dividends. The rivalry between the two companies +reached its highest between 1811 and 1818, when Thomas Douglas, fifth +Earl of Selkirk, who was an enthusiastic promoter of colonisation in +British North America, obtained from the Hudson's Bay Company an immense +tract of land in the Red River country and made an earnest effort to +establish a Scotch settlement at Kildonan. But his efforts to people +Assiniboia--the Indian name he gave to his wide domain--were baulked by +the opposition of the employees of the North-west Company, who regarded +this colonising scheme as fatal to the fur trade. In the territory +conveyed to Lord Selkirk, the Montreal Company had established posts +upon every river and lake, while the Hudson's Bay Company had only one +fort of importance, Fort Douglas, within a short distance of the +North-west Company's post of Fort Gibraltar, at the confluence of the +Red and Assiniboine Rivers, where the city of Winnipeg now stands. The +quarrel between the Scotch settlers who were under the protection of the +Hudson's Bay Company and the North-westers, chiefly composed of French +Canadians and French half-breeds, or _Metis_ culminated in 1816, in the +massacre of Governor Semple and twenty-six other persons connected with +the new colony by a number of half-breeds. Two years later, a number of +persons who had been arrested for this murder were tried at York in +Upper Canada, but the evidence was so conflicting on account of the +false swearing on the part of the witnesses that the jury were forced to +acquit the accused. Lord Selkirk died at Pau, in 1820, but not before he +had made an attempt to assist his young settlement, almost broken up by +the shameful attack of 1816. + +The little colony managed to exist, but its difficulties were aggravated +from time to time by the ravages of clouds of grasshoppers which +devastated the territories and brought the people to the verge of +starvation. In March, 1821, the North-west Company made over all their +property to the older company, which now reigned supreme throughout the +territories. All doubts as to their rights were set at rest by an act of +parliament giving them a monopoly of trade for twenty-one years in what +were then generally known as the Indian territories, that vast region +which lay beyond the confines of Rupert's Land, and was not strictly +covered by the charter of 1670. This act was re-enacted in 1838 for +another twenty-one years. No further extension, however, was ever +granted, as an agitation had commenced in Canada by 1859 for the +surrender of the company's privileges and the opening up of the +territories, so long a great "lone land," to enterprise and settlement. +When the two rival companies were united, Mr., afterwards Sir, George +Simpson, became governor, and he continued to occupy that position until +1860, when he died in his residence at Lachine, near Montreal. This +energetic man largely extended the geographical knowledge of the wide +dominions entrusted to his charge, though like all the servants of the +company, he discouraged settlement and minimised the agricultural +capabilities of the country, when examined in 1857 before a committee of +the English house of commons. In 1837 the company purchased from Lord +Selkirk's heirs all their rights in Assiniboia. The Scotch settlers and +the French half-breeds were now in close contiguity to each other on the +Red and Assiniboine Rivers. The company established a simple form of +government for the maintenance of law and order. In the course of time, +their council included not only their principal factors and officials, +but a few persons selected from the inhabitants. On the whole, law and +order prevailed in the settlements, although there was always latent a +certain degree of sullen discontent against the selfish rule of a mere +fur company, invested with such great powers. The great object of the +company was always to keep out the pioneers of settlement, and give no +information of the value of the land and resources of their vast domain. + +Some years before the federation of the British-American provinces the +public men of Canada had commenced an agitation against the company, +with the view of relieving from its monopoly a country whose resources +were beginning to be known. Colonial delegates on several occasions +interviewed the imperial authorities on the subject, but no practical +results were obtained until federation became an accomplished fact. +Then, at length, the company recognised the necessity of yielding to +the pressure that was brought to bear upon them by the British +government, at a time when the interests of the empire as well as of the +new Dominion demanded the abolition of a monopoly so hostile to the +conditions of modern progress in British North America. In 1868 +successful negotiations took place between a Canadian delegation--Sir +George Cartier and the Hon. William Macdougall--and the Hudson's Bay +Company's representatives for the surrender of their imperial domain. +Canada agreed to pay L300,000 sterling, and to reserve certain lands for +the company. The terms were approved by the Canadian parliament in 1869, +and an act was passed for the temporary government of Rupert's Land and +the North-west territory when regularly transferred to Canada. In the +summer of that year, surveyors were sent under Colonel Dennis to make +surveys of townships in Assiniboia; and early in the autumn Mr. +Macdougall was appointed lieutenant-governor of the territories, with +the understanding that he should not act in an official capacity until +he was authoritatively informed from Ottawa of the legal transfer of the +country to the Canadian government. Mr. Macdougall left for Fort Garry +in September, but he was unable to reach Red River on account of a +rising of the half-breeds. The cause of the troubles is to be traced not +simply to the apathy of the Hudson's Bay Company's officials, who took +no steps to prepare the settlers for the change of government, nor to +the fact that the Canadian authorities neglected to consult the wishes +of the inhabitants, but chiefly to the belief that prevailed among the +ignorant French half-breeds that it was proposed to take their lands +from them. Sir John Macdonald admitted, at a later time, that much of +the trouble arose "from the lack of conciliation, tact and prudence +shown by the surveyors during the summer of 1869." Mr. Macdougall also +appears to have disobeyed his instructions, for he attempted to set up +his government by a _coup-de-main_ on the 1st December, though he had no +official information of the transfer of the country to Canada, and was +not legally entitled to perform a single official act. + +The rebellious half-breeds of the Red River settlement formed a +provisional government, in which one Louis Riel was the controlling +spirit from the beginning until the end of the revolt. He was a French +Canadian half-breed, who had been educated in one of the French Canadian +colleges, and always exercised much influence over his ignorant, +impulsive, easily-deluded countrymen. The total population living in the +settlements of Assiniboia at that time was about twelve thousand, of +whom nearly one-half were _Metis_ or half-breeds, mostly the descendants +of the _coureurs-de-bois_ and _voyageurs_ of early times. So long as the +buffalo ranged the prairies in large numbers, they were hunters, and +cared nothing for the relatively tame pursuit of agriculture. Their +small farms generally presented a neglected, impoverished appearance. +The great majority had adopted the habits of their Indian lineage, and +would neglect their farms for weeks to follow the scarce buffalo to +their distant feeding grounds. The Scotch half-breed, the offspring of +the marriage of Scotchmen with Indian women, still illustrated the +industry and energy of his paternal race, and rose superior to Indian +surroundings. It was among the French half-breeds that Riel found his +supporters. The Scotch and English settlers had disapproved of the +sudden transfer of the territory in which they and their parents had so +long lived, without any attempt having been made to consult their +feelings as to the future government of the country. Though they took no +active part in the rebellion, they allowed matters to take their course +with indifference and sullen resignation. The employees of the Hudson's +Bay Company were dissatisfied with the sale of the company's rights, as +it meant, in their opinion, a loss of occupation and influence. The +portion of the population that was always quite ready to hasten the +acquisition of the territory by Canada, and resolutely opposed Riel from +the outset, was the small Canadian element, which was led by Dr. +Schultz, an able, determined man, afterwards lieutenant-governor of +Manitoba. Riel imprisoned and insulted several of the loyal party who +opposed him. At last he ruthlessly ordered the execution of one Thomas +Scott, an Ontario man, who had defied him. + +While these events were in progress, the Canadian government enlisted in +the interests of law and order the services of Mr. Donald Smith, now +Lord Strathcona, who had been long connected with the Hudson's Bay +Company, and also of Archbishop Tache, of St. Boniface--the principal +French settlement in the country--who returned from Rome to act as +mediator between the Canadian authorities and his deluded flock. +Unhappily, before the Archbishop could reach Fort Garry, Scott had been +murdered, and the Dominion government could not consider themselves +bound by the terms they were ready to offer to the insurgents under a +very different condition of things. The murder of Scott had clearly +brought Riel and his associates under the provisions of the criminal +law; and public opinion in Ontario would not tolerate an amnesty, as was +hastily promised by the Archbishop, in his zeal to bring the rebellion +to an end. A force of 1200 regulars and volunteers was sent to the Red +River towards the end of May, 1870, under the command of Colonel +Wolseley, now a field-marshal and a peer of the realm. Riel fled across +the frontier before the troops, after a tedious journey of three months +from the day they left Toronto, reached Fort Garry. Peace was restored +once more to the settlers of Assiniboia. The Canadian government had had +several interviews with delegates from the discontented people of Red +River, who had prepared what they called "a Bill of Rights," and it was +therefore able intelligently to decide on the best form of governing the +territories. The imperial government completed the formal transfer of +the country to Canada, and the Canadian parliament in 1870 passed an act +to provide for the government of a new province of Manitoba. +Representation was given to the people in both houses of the Canadian +parliament, and provision was made for a provincial government on the +same basis that existed in the old provinces of the Dominion. The +lieutenant-governor of the province was also, for the present, to govern +the unorganised portion of the North-west with the assistance of a +council of eleven persons. The first legislature of Manitoba was elected +in the early part of 1871, and a provincial government was formed, with +Mr. Albert Boyd as provincial secretary. The first lieutenant-governor +was Sir Adams Archibald, the eminent Nova Scotian, who had been defeated +in the elections of 1867. Mr. Macdougall had returned from the +North-west frontier a deeply disappointed man, who would never admit +that he had shown any undue haste in commencing the exercise of his +powers as governor. Some years later he disappeared from active public +life, after a career during which he had performed many useful services +for Canada. + +In another chapter on the relations between Canada and the United States +I shall refer to the results of the international commission which met +at Washington in 1870, to consider the Alabama difficulty, the fishery +dispute, and other questions, the settlement of which could be no longer +delayed. In 1870, while the Red River settlements were still in a +troublous state, the Fenians made two attempts to invade the Eastern +Townships, but they were easily repulsed and forced to cross the +frontier. They were next heard of in 1871, when they attempted, under +the leadership of the irrepressible O'Neil, who had also been engaged in +1870, and of O'Donohue, one of Riel's rebellious associates, to make a +raid into Manitoba by way of Pembina, but their prompt arrest by a +company of United States troops was the inglorious conclusion of the +last effort of a dying and worthless organisation to strike a blow at +England through Canada. + +The Dominion government was much embarrassed for some years by the +complications that arose from Riel's revolt and the murder of Scott. An +agitation grew up in Ontario for the arrest of the murderers; and when +Mr. Blake succeeded Mr. Sandfield Macdonald as leader of the Ontario +government, a large reward was offered for the capture of Riel and such +of his associates as were still in the territories. On the other hand, +Sir George Cartier and the French Canadians were in favour of an +amnesty. The Macdonald ministry consequently found itself on the horns +of a dilemma; and the political tension was only relieved for a time +when Riel and Lepine left Manitoba, on receiving a considerable sum of +money from Sir John Macdonald. Although this fact was not known until +1875, when a committee of the house of commons investigated the affairs +of the North-west, there was a general impression after 1870 throughout +Ontario--an impression which had much effect on the general election of +1872--that the government had no sincere desire to bring Riel and his +associates to justice. + +In 1871 the Dominion welcomed into the union the great mountainous +province of British Columbia, whose picturesque shores recall the +memories of Cook, Vancouver and other maritime adventurers of the last +century, and whose swift rivers are associated with the exploits of +Mackenzie, Thompson, Quesnel, Fraser and other daring men, who first saw +the impetuous waters which rush through the canons of the great +mountains of the province until at last they empty themselves into the +Pacific Ocean. For many years Vancouver Island and the mainland, first +known as New Caledonia, were under the control of the Hudson's Bay +Company. Vancouver Island was nominally made a crown colony in 1849; +that is, a colony without representative institutions, in which the +government is carried on by a governor and council, appointed by the +crown. The official authority continued from 1851 practically in the +hands of the company's chief factor, Sir James Douglas, a man of signal +ability, who was also the governor of the infant colony. In 1856 an +assembly was called, despite the insignificant population of the island. +In 1858 New Caledonia was organised as a crown colony under the name of +British Columbia, as a consequence of the gold discoveries which brought +in many people. Sir James Douglas was also appointed governor of +British Columbia, and continued in that position until 1864. In 1866, +the colony was united with Vancouver Island under the general +designation of British Columbia. When the province entered the +confederation of Canada in 1871 it was governed by a lieutenant-governor +appointed by the crown, a legislature composed of heads of the public +departments and several elected members. With the entrance of this +province, so famous now for its treasures of gold, coal and other +minerals in illimitable quantities, must be associated the name of Sir +Joseph Trutch, the first lieutenant-governor under the auspices of the +federation. The province did not come into the union with the same +constitution that was enjoyed by the other provinces, but it was +expressly declared in the terms of union that "the government of the +Dominion will readily consent to the introduction of responsible +government when desired by the inhabitants of British Columbia." +Accordingly, soon after its admission, the province obtained a +constitution similar to that of other provinces: a lieutenant-governor, +a responsible executive council and an elective assembly. Representation +was given it in both houses of the Dominion parliament, and the members +took their seats during the session of 1872. In addition to the payment +of a considerable subsidy for provincial expenses, the Dominion +government pledged itself to secure the construction of a railway within +two years from the date of union to connect the seaboard of British +Columbia with the railway system of Canada, to commence the work +simultaneously at both ends of the line, and to complete it within ten +years from the admission of the colony to the confederation. + +In 1872 a general election was held in the Dominion, and while the +government was generally sustained, it came back with a minority from +Ontario. The Riel agitation, the Washington Treaty, and the undertaking +to finish the Pacific railway in so short a time, were questions which +weakened the ministry. The most encouraging feature of the elections +was the complete defeat of the anti-unionists in Nova Scotia,--the +prelude to their disappearance as a party--all the representatives, with +the exception of one member, being pledged to support a government whose +chief merit was its persistent effort to cement the union and extend it +from ocean to ocean. Sir Francis Hincks, finance minister since 1870, +was defeated in Ontario and Sir George Cartier in Montreal. Both these +gentlemen found constituencies elsewhere, but Sir George Cartier never +took his seat, as his health had been seriously impaired, and he died in +England in 1873. The state gave a public funeral to this great French +Canadian, always animated by a sincere desire to weld the two races +together on principles of compromise and justice. Sir Francis Hincks +also disappeared from public life in 1873, and died at Montreal in 1885 +from an attack of malignant small-pox. The sad circumstances of his +death forbade any public or even private display, and the man who filled +so many important positions in the empire was carried to the grave with +those precautions which are necessary in the case of those who fall +victims to an infectious disease. + +But while these two eminent men disappeared from the public life of +Canada, two others began now to occupy a more prominent place in +Dominion affairs. These were Mr. Edward Blake and Mr. Alexander +Mackenzie, who had retired from the Ontario legislature when an act was +passed, as in other provinces, against dual representation, which made +it necessary for them to elect between federal and provincial politics. +Sir Oliver Mowat, who had retired from the bench, was chosen prime +minister of Ontario on the 25th October, 1872, and continued to hold the +position with great success and profit to the province until 1896, when +he became minister of justice in the Liberal government formed by Sir +Wilfrid Laurier. + +In 1873 Prince Edward Island yielded to the influences which had been +working for some years in the direction of union, and allied her +fortunes with those of her sister provinces. The public men who were +mainly instrumental in bringing about this happy result, after much +discussion in the legislature and several conferences with the Dominion +government, were the following: Mr. R.P. Haythorne, afterwards a +senator; Mr. David Laird, at a later time minister in Mr. Mackenzie's +government and a lieutenant-governor of the North-west territories; Mr. +James C. Pope, who became a member of Sir John Macdonald's cabinet in +1879; Mr. T.H. Haviland, and Mr. G.W. Howlan, who were in later years +lieutenant-governors of the island. The terms of union made not only +very favourable financial arrangements for the support of the provincial +government, but also allowed a sum of money for the purpose of +extinguishing the claims of the landlords to whom the greater portion of +the public domain had been given by the British government more than a +hundred years before. The constitution of the executive authority and +the legislature remained as before confederation. Adequate +representation was allowed to the island in the Canadian parliament, and +the members accordingly took their places in the senate and the house of +commons during the short October session of 1873, when Sir John +Macdonald's government resigned on account of transactions arising out +of the first efforts to construct the Canadian Pacific railway. + +The Dominion was now extended for a distance of about 3,500 miles, from +the island of Prince Edward in the east to the island of Vancouver in +the west. The people of the great island of Newfoundland, the oldest +colony of the British crown in North America, have, however, always +shown a determined opposition to the proposed federation, from the time +when their delegates returned from the Quebec convention of 1864. +Negotiations have taken place more than once for the entrance of the +island into the federal union, but so far no satisfactory arrangement +has been attained. The advocates of union, down to the present time, +have never been able to create that strong public opinion which would +sustain any practical movement in the direction of carrying Newfoundland +out of its unfortunate position of insular, selfish isolation, and +making it an active partner in the material, political, and social +progress of the provinces of the Canadian Dominion. Financial and +political difficulties have steadily hampered the development of the +island until very recently, and the imperial government has been obliged +to intervene for the purpose of bringing about an adjustment of +questions which, more than once, have rendered the operation of local +self-government very troublesome. The government of the Dominion, on its +side, while always ready to welcome the island into the confederation, +has been perplexed by the difficulty of making satisfactory financial +arrangements for the admission of a colony, heavily burdened with debt, +and occupying a position by no means so favourable as that of the +provinces now comprised within the Dominion. Some Canadians also see +some reason for hesitation on the part of the Dominion in the existence +of the French shore question, which prejudicially affects the +territorial interests of a large portion of the coast of the island, and +affords a forcible example of the little attention paid to colonial +interests in those old times when English statesmen were chiefly swayed +by considerations of European policy. + + +SECTION 3.--Summary of noteworthy events from 1873 until 1900. + +On the 4th November, 1873, Sir John Macdonald placed his resignation in +the hands of the governor-general, the Earl of Dufferin; and the first +ministry of the Dominion came to an end after six years of office. The +circumstances of this resignation were regrettable in the extreme. In +1872 two companies received charters for the construction of the +Canadian Pacific railway--one of them under the direction of probably +the wealthiest man in Canada, Sir Hugh Allan of Montreal, and the other +under the presidency of the Honourable David Macpherson, a capitalist of +Toronto. The government was unwilling for political reasons to give the +preference to either of these companies, and tried to bring about an +amalgamation. While negotiations were proceeding with this object in +view, the general elections of 1872 came on, and Sir Hugh Allan made +large contributions to the funds of the Conservative party. The facts +were disclosed in 1873 before a royal commission appointed by the +governor-general to inquire into charges made in the Canadian house of +commons by a prominent Liberal, Mr. Huntington. An investigation ordered +by the house when the charges were first brought forward, had failed +chiefly on account of the legal inability of the committee to take +evidence under oath; and the government then advised the appointment of +the commission in question. Parliament was called together in October, +1873, to receive the report of the commissioners, and after a long and +vehement debate Sir John Macdonald, not daring to test the opinion of +the house by a vote, immediately resigned. In justice to Sir John +Macdonald it must be stated that Sir Hugh Allan knew, before he +subscribed a single farthing, that the privilege of building the railway +could be conceded only to an amalgamated company. When it was shown some +months after the elections that the proposed amalgamation could not be +effected, the government issued a royal charter to a new company in +which all the provinces were fairly represented, and in which Sir Hugh +Allan appears at first to have had no special influence, although the +directors of their own motion, subsequently selected him as president on +account of his wealth and business standing in Canada. Despite Sir John +Macdonald's plausible explanations to the governor-general, and his +vigorous and even pathetic appeal to the house before he resigned, the +whole transaction was unequivocally condemned by sound public opinion. +His own confidential secretary, whom he had chosen before his death as +his biographer, admits that even a large body of his faithful supporters +"were impelled to the conclusion that a government which had benefited +politically by large sums of money contributed by a person with whom it +was negotiating on the part of the Dominion, could no longer command +their confidence or support, and that for them the time had come to +choose between their conscience and their party." + +The immediate consequence of this very unfortunate transaction was the +formation of a Liberal government by Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, the leader +of the opposition, who had entered the old parliament of Canada in 1861, +and had been treasurer in the Ontario ministry led by Mr. Blake until +1872. He was Scotch by birth, and a stonemason by trade. He came to +Canada in early manhood, and succeeded in raising himself above his +originally humble position to the highest in the land. His great +decision of character, his clear, logical intellect, his lucid, incisive +style of speaking, his great fidelity to principle, his inflexible +honesty of purpose, made him a force in the Liberal party, who gladly +welcomed him as the leader of a government. When he appealed to the +country in 1874, he was supported by a very large majority of the +representatives of the people. His administration remained in office +until the autumn of 1878, and passed many measures of great usefulness +to the Dominion. The North-west territories were separated from the +government of Manitoba, and first organised under a lieutenant-governor +and council, appointed by the governor-general of Canada. In 1875, +pending the settlement of the western boundary of Ontario, it was +necessary to create a separate territory out of the eastern part of the +North-west, known as the district of Keewatin, which was placed under +the jurisdiction of the lieutenant-governor of Manitoba. This boundary +dispute was not settled until 1884, when the judicial committee of the +privy council, to whose decision the question had been referred, +materially altered the limits of Keewatin and extended the western +boundaries of Ontario. In 1878, in response to an address of the +Canadian parliament, an imperial order in council was passed to annex to +the Dominion all British possessions in North America not then included +within the confederation--an order intended to place beyond question the +right of Canada to all British North America except Newfoundland. In the +course of succeeding years a system of local government was established +in the North-west territories and a representation allowed them in the +senate and house of commons. + +As soon as the North-west became a part of the Dominion, the Canadian +government recognised the necessity of making satisfactory arrangements +with the Indian tribes. The policy first laid down in the proclamation +of 1763 was faithfully carried out in this great region. Between 1871 +and 1877 seven treaties were made by the Canadian government with the +Crees, Chippewas, Salteaux, Ojibways, Blackfeet, Bloods and Piegans, who +received certain reserves of land, annual payments of money and other +benefits, as compensation for making over to Canada their title to the +vast country where they had been so long the masters. From that day to +this the Indians have become the wards of the government, who have +always treated them with every consideration. The Indians live on +reserves allotted to them in certain districts where schools of various +classes have been provided for their instruction. They are +systematically taught farming and other industrial pursuits; agents and +instructors visit the reserves from time to time to see that the +interests of the Indians are protected; and the sale of spirits is +especially forbidden in the territories chiefly with the view of +guarding the Indians from such baneful influences. The policy of the +government for the past thirty years has been on the whole most +satisfactory from every point of view. In the course of a few decades +the Indians of the prairies will be an agricultural population, able to +support themselves. + +The Mackenzie ministry established a supreme court, or general court of +appeal, for Canada. The election laws were amended so as to abolish +public nominations and property qualification for members of the house +of commons, as well as to provide for vote by ballot and simultaneous +polling at a general election--a wise provision which had existed for +some years in the province of Nova Scotia. An act passed by Sir John +Macdonald's government for the trial of controverted elections by judges +was amended, and a more ample and effective provision made for the +repression and punishment of bribery and corruption at elections. A +force of mounted police was organised for the maintenance of law and +order in the North-west territories. The enlargement of the St. Lawrence +system of canals was vigorously prosecuted in accordance with the report +of a royal commission, appointed in 1870 by the previous administration +to report on this important system of waterways. A Canada temperance +act--known by the name of Senator Scott, who introduced it when +secretary of state--was passed to allow electors in any county to +exercise what is known as "local option"; that is to say, to decide by +their votes at the polls whether they would permit the sale of +intoxicating liquors within their respective districts. This act was +declared by the judicial committee of the privy council to be +constitutional and was extended in the course of time to very many +counties of the several provinces; but eventually it was found quite +impracticable to enforce the law, and the great majority of those +districts of Ontario and Quebec, which had been carried away for a time +on a great wave of moral reform to adopt the act, decided by an equally +large vote to repeal it. The agitation for the extension of this law +finally merged into a wide-spread movement among the temperance people +of the Dominion for the passage of a prohibitory liquor law by the +parliament of Canada. In 1898 the question was submitted to the electors +of the provinces and territories by the Laurier government. The result +was a majority of only 14,000 votes in favour of prohibition out of a +total vote of 543,049, polled throughout the Dominion. The province of +Quebec declared itself against the measure by an overwhelming vote. The +temperance people then demanded that the Dominion government should take +immediate action in accordance with this vote; but the prime minister +stated emphatically to the house of commons as soon as parliament opened +in March, 1899, "that the voice of the electorate, which has been +pronounced in favour of prohibition--only twenty-three per cent. of the +total electoral vote of the Dominion--is not such as to justify the +government in introducing a prohibitory law." In the premier's opinion +the government would not be justified in following such a course "unless +at least one-half of the electorate declared itself at the polls in its +favour." In the province of Manitoba, where the people have pronounced +themselves conclusively in favour of prohibition, the Macdonald +government are now moving to give effect to the popular wishes and +restrain the liquor traffic so far as it is possible to go under the +provisions of the British North America act of 1867 and the decisions of +the courts as to provincial powers. + +For two years and even longer, after its coming into office, the +Mackenzie government was harassed by the persistent effort that was made +in French Canada for the condonation of the serious offences committed +by Riel and his principal associates during the rebellion of 1870. Riel +had been elected by a Manitoba constituency in 1874 to the Dominion +house of commons and actually took the oath of allegiance in the clerk's +office, but he never attempted to sit, and was subsequently expelled as +a fugitive from criminal justice. Lepine was convicted of murder at +Winnipeg and sentenced to be hanged, when the governor-general, Lord +Dufferin, intervened and commuted the sentence to two years' +imprisonment, with the approval of the imperial authorities, to whom, as +an imperial officer entrusted with large responsibility in the exercise +of the prerogative of mercy, he had referred the whole question. Soon +afterwards the government yielded to the strong pressure from French +Canada and relieved the tension of the public situation by obtaining +from the representative of the crown an amnesty for all persons +concerned in the North-west troubles, with the exception of Riel and +Lepine, who were banished for five years, when they also were to be +pardoned. O'Donohue was not included, as his first offence had been +aggravated by his connection with the Fenian raid of 1871, but he was +allowed in 1877 the benefit of the amnesty. The action of Lord Dufferin +in pardoning Lepine and thereby relieving his ministers from all +responsibility in the matter was widely criticised, and no doubt had +much to do with bringing about an alteration in the terms of the +governor-general's commission and his instructions with respect to the +prerogative of mercy. Largely through the instrumentality of Mr. Blake, +who visited England for the purpose, in 1875, new commissions and +instructions have been issued to Lord Dufferin's successors, with a due +regard to the larger measure of constitutional freedom now possessed by +the Dominion of Canada. As respects the exercise of the prerogative of +mercy, the independent judgment of the governor-general may be exercised +in cases of imperial interest, but only after consultation with his +responsible advisers, while he is at liberty to yield to their judgment +in all cases of local concern. + +One of the most important questions with which the Mackenzie government +was called upon to deal was the construction of the Canadian Pacific +railway. It was first proposed to utilise the "water-stretches" on the +route of the railroad, and in that way lessen its cost, but the scheme +was soon found to be impracticable. The people of British Columbia were +aggrieved at the delay in building the railway, and several efforts were +made to arrange the difficulty through the intervention of the Earl of +Carnarvon, colonial secretary of state, of the governor-general when he +visited the province in 1876, and of Mr., afterwards Sir, James Edgar, +who was authorised to treat with the provincial government on the +subject. At the instance of the secretary of state the government agreed +to build immediately a road from Esquimalt to Nanaimo on Vancouver +Island, to prosecute the surveys with vigour, and make arrangements for +the completion of the railway in 1890. Mr. Blake opposed these terms, +and in doing so no doubt represented the views of a large body of the +Liberal party, who believed that the government of Canada had in 1871 +entered into the compact with British Columbia without sufficient +consideration of the gravity of the obligation they were incurring. The +commons, however, passed the Esquimalt and Nanaimo bill only to hear of +its rejection in the senate, where some Liberals united with the +Conservative majority to defeat it. When the surveys were all completed, +the government decided to build the railway as a public work; but by the +autumn of 1878, when Mr. Mackenzie was defeated at a general election, +only a few miles of the road had been completed, and the indignation of +British Columbia had become so deep that the legislature passed a +resolution for separation from the Dominion unless the terms of union +were soon fulfilled. + +During the existence of the Mackenzie government there was much +depression in trade throughout the Dominion, and the public revenues +showed large deficits in consequence of the falling-off of imports. When +the elections took place in September, 1878, the people were called upon +to give their decision on a most important issue. With that astuteness +which always enabled him to gauge correctly the tendency of public +opinion, Sir John Macdonald recognised the fact that the people were +prepared to accept any new fiscal policy which promised to relieve the +country from the great depression which had too long hampered internal +and external trade. In the session of 1878 he brought forward a +resolution, declaring emphatically that the welfare of Canada required +"the adoption of a national policy which, by a judicious readjustment of +the tariff will benefit the agricultural, the mining, the manufacturing +and other interests of the Dominion ... will retain in Canada thousands +of our fellow-countrymen now obliged to expatriate themselves in search +of the employment denied them at home ... will restore prosperity to our +struggling industries now so sadly depressed ... will prevent Canada +from being made a sacrifice market ... will encourage and develop an +interprovincial trade ... and will procure eventually for this country a +reciprocity of trade with the United States." This ingenious resolution +was admirably calculated to captivate the public mind, though it was +defeated in the house of commons by a large majority. Mr. Mackenzie was +opposed to the principle of protection, and announced the determination +of the government to adhere to a revenue tariff instead of resorting to +any protectionist policy, which would, in his opinion, largely increase +the burdens of the people under the pretence of stimulating +manufactures. As a consequence of his unbending fidelity to the +principles of his life, Mr. Mackenzie was beaten at the general election +by an overwhelming majority. If he had possessed even a little of the +flexibility of his astute opponent he would have been more successful as +a leader of a party. + +One of Lord Dufferin's last official acts in October, 1878, was to call +upon Sir John Macdonald to form a new administration on the resignation +of Mr. Mackenzie. The new governor-general, the Marquess of Lorne, and +the Princess Louise, arrived in Canada early in November and were +everywhere received with great enthusiasm. The new protective +policy--"the National Policy" as the Conservatives like best to name +it--was laid before parliament in the session of 1879, by Sir Leonard +Tilley, then finance minister; and though it has undergone some +important modifications since its introduction it has formed the basis +of the Canadian tariff for twenty years. The next important measure of +the government was the vigorous prosecution of the Canadian Pacific +railway. During the Mackenzie administration the work had made little +progress, and the people of British Columbia had become very indignant +at the failure to carry out the terms on which they had entered the +confederation. In the session of 1880-81 Sir Charles Tupper, minister of +railways, announced that the government had entered into a contract with +a company of capitalists to construct the railway from Montreal to +Burrard's Inlet. Parliament ratified the contract by a large majority +despite the vigorous opposition made by Mr. Blake, then leader of the +Liberal party, who had for years considered this part of the agreement +with British Columbia as extremely rash. Such remarkable energy was +brought to the construction of this imperial highway that it was +actually in operation at the end of five years after the commencement of +the work--only one-half of the time allowed in the charter for its +completion. The financial difficulties which the company had to +encounter in the progress of the work were very great, and they were +obliged in 1884 to obtain a large loan from the Dominion government. The +loan was secured on the company's property, and was paid off by 1887. +The political fortunes of the Conservative administration, in fact, were +indissolubly connected with the success of this national enterprise, and +from the moment when the company commenced the work Sir John Macdonald +never failed to give it his complete confidence and support. + +One of the delicate questions which the Macdonald government was called +upon to settle soon after their coming into office was what is known as +"the Letellier affair." In March, 1878, the lieutenant-governor of the +province of Quebec, Mr. Letellier de Saint-Just, who had been previously +a member of the Mackenzie Liberal government, dismissed the Boucherville +Conservative ministry on the ground that they had taken steps in regard +to both administrative and legislative measures not only contrary to his +representations, but even without previously advising him of what they +proposed to do. At his request Mr., now Sir, Henry Joly de Lotbiniere +formed a Liberal administration, which appealed to the country. The +result was that the two parties came back evenly balanced. The +Conservatives of the province were deeply irritated at this action of +the lieutenant-governor, and induced Sir John Macdonald, then leader of +the opposition, to make a motion in the house of commons, declaring Mr. +Letellier's conduct "unwise and subversive of the sound principles of +responsible government." This motion was made as an amendment on the +proposal to go into committee of supply, and under a peculiar usage of +the Canadian commons it was not permitted to move a second amendment at +this stage. Had such a course been regular, the Mackenzie government +would have proposed an amendment similar to that which was moved in the +senate, to the effect that it was inexpedient to offer any opinion on +the action of the lieutenant-governor of Quebec for the reason that "the +federal and provincial governments, each in its own sphere, enjoyed +responsible government equally, separately, and independently"--in +other words, that the wisest constitutional course to follow under the +circumstances was to allow each province to work out responsible +government without any undue interference on the part of the Dominion +government or parliament. As it happened, however, Mr. Mackenzie and his +colleagues had no alternative open to them but to vote down the motion +proposed in the commons; while in the Conservative senate the amendment, +which could not be submitted to the lower house under the rules, was +defeated, and the motion condemning the lieutenant-governor carried by a +large party vote. + +In 1879, when the Macdonald government was in office, the matter was +again brought before the house of commons and the same motion of censure +that had been defeated in 1878 was introduced in the same way as before, +and carried by a majority of 85. The prime minister then informed Lord +Lorne that in the opinion of the government Mr. Letellier's "usefulness +was gone," and he recommended his removal from office; but the +governor-general was unwilling to agree hastily to such a dangerous +precedent as the removal of a lieutenant-governor, and as an imperial +officer he referred the whole matter to her Majesty's government for +their consideration and instructions. The colonial secretary did not +hesitate to state "that the lieutenant-governor of a province has an +indisputable right to dismiss his ministers if, from any cause, he feels +it incumbent to do so," but that, in deciding whether the conduct of a +lieutenant-governor merits removal from his office, as in the exercise +of other powers vested in him by the imperial state the governor-general +"must act by and with the advice of his ministers." After further +consideration of the subject, the Canadian government again recommended +the dismissal of Mr. Letellier, and the governor-general had now no +alternative except to act on the advice of his responsible ministers. It +was unfortunate that the constitutional issue was obscured, from the +outset, by the political bitterness that was imported into it, and that +the procedure, followed in two sessions, of proposing an amendment, +condemnatory of the action of the lieutenant-governor, on the motion of +going into committee of supply, prevented the house from coming to a +decision squarely on the true constitutional issue--actually raised in +the senate in 1878--whether it was expedient for the parliament or +government of Canada to interfere in a matter of purely provincial +concern. + +In 1891 another case of the dismissal of a ministry, having a majority +in the assembly, occurred in the province of Quebec, but the +intervention of parliament was not asked for the purpose of censuring +the lieutenant-governor for the exercise of his undoubted constitutional +power. It appears that, in 1891, the evidence taken before a committee +of the senate showed that gross irregularities had occurred in +connection with the disbursement of certain government subsidies which +had been voted by parliament for the construction of the Bay des +Chaleurs railway, and that members of the Quebec cabinet were +compromised in what was clearly a misappropriation of public money. In +view of these grave charges, Lieutenant-governor Angers forced his prime +minister, Mr. Honore Mercier, to agree to the appointment of a royal +commission to hold an investigation into the transaction in question. +When the lieutenant-governor was in possession of the evidence taken +before this commission, he came to the conclusion that it was his duty +to relieve Mr. Mercier and his colleagues of their functions as +ministers "in order to protect the dignity of the crown and safeguard +the honour and interest of the province in danger." Mr. de Boucherville +was then called upon to form a ministry which would necessarily assume +full responsibility for the action of the lieutenant-governor under the +circumstances, and after some delay the new ministry went to the country +and were sustained by a large majority. It is an interesting coincidence +that the lieutenant-governor who dismissed the Mercier government and +the prime minister who assumed full responsibility for the dismissal of +the Mercier administration, were respectively attorney-general and +premier in the cabinet who so deeply resented a similar action in 1878. +But Mr. Letellier was then dead--notoriously as a result of the mental +strain to which he had been subject in the constitutional crisis which +wrecked his political career--and it was left only for his friends to +feel that the whirligig of time brings its revenge even in political +affairs[5]. + +[5: Since this chapter was in type, the Dominion government have found +it necessary to dismiss Mr. McInnes from the lieutenant-governorship of +British Columbia, on the ground--as set forth in an order-in-council +--that "his official conduct had been subversive of the principles of +responsible government," and that his "usefulness was gone." While Mr. +McInnes acted as head of the executive at Victoria, the political +affairs of the province became chaotic. He dismissed ministries in the +most summary manner. When the people were at last appealed to at a +general election by Mr. Martin, his latest adviser, he was defeated by +an overwhelming majority, and the Ottawa government came to the +conclusion--to quote the order-in-council--"that the action of the +lieutenant-governor in dismissing his ministers has not been approved by +the people of British Columbia," and it was evident, "that the +government of the province cannot be successfully carried on in the +manner contemplated by the constitution under the administration of the +present incumbent of the office." Consequently, Mr. McInnes was removed +from office, and the Dominion government appointed in his place Sir +Henri Joly de Lotbiniere, who has had large experience in public affairs, +and is noted for his amiability and discretion.] + +A very important controversy involving old issues arose in 1888 in +connection with an act passed by the Mercier government of Quebec for +the settlement of the Jesuits' estates, which, so long ago as 1800, had +fallen into the hands of the British government, on the death of the +last surviving member of the order in Canada, and had been, after some +delay, applied to the promotion of public instruction in the province of +Quebec. The bishops of the Roman Catholic Church always contended that +the estates should have been vested in them "as the ordinaries of the +various dioceses in which this property was situated." After +confederation, the estates became the property of the government of +Quebec and were entirely at the disposal of the legislature. The +Jesuits in the meantime had become incorporated in the province, and +made, as well as the bishops, a claim to the estates. Eventually, to +settle the difficulty and strengthen himself with the ecclesiastics of +the province, Mr. Mercier astutely passed a bill through the +legislature, authorising the payment of $400,000 as compensation to the +Jesuits in lieu of all the lands held by them prior to the conquest and +subsequently confiscated by the crown. It was expressly set forth in the +preamble of the act--and it was this proposition which offended the +extreme Protestants--that the amount of compensation was to remain as a +special deposit until the Pope had made known his wishes respecting the +distribution. Some time later the Pope divided the money among the +Jesuits, the archbishops and bishops of the province, and Laval +University. The whole matter came before the Dominion house of commons +in 1888, when a resolution was proposed to the effect that the +government should have at once disallowed the act as beyond the power of +the legislature, because, among other reasons, "it recognizes the +usurpation of a right by a foreign authority, namely his Holiness the +Pope, to claim that his consent was necessary to dispose of and +appropriate the public funds of a province." The very large vote in +support of the action of the government-188 against 13-was chiefly +influenced by the conviction that, to quote the minute of council, "the +subject-matter of the act was one of provincial concern, only having +relation to a fiscal matter entirely within the control of the +legislature of Quebec." The best authorities agree in the wisdom of not +interfering with provincial legislation except in cases where there is +an indisputable invasion of Dominion jurisdiction or where the vital +interests of Canada as a whole may imperatively call for such +interference. + +In March, 1885, Canada was startled by the news that the half-breeds of +the Saskatchewan district in the North-west had risen in rebellion +against the authority of the Dominion government. It is difficult to +explain clearly the actual causes of an uprising which, in all +probability, would never have occurred had it not been for the fact that +Riel had been brought back from Montana by his countrymen to assist them +in obtaining a redress of certain grievances. This little insurrection +originated in the Roman Catholic mission of St. Laurent, situated +between the north and south branches of the Saskatchewan River, and +contiguous to the British settlement of Prince Albert. Within the limits +of this mission there was a considerable number of half-breeds, who had +for the most part migrated from Manitoba after selling the "scrip[6]" +for lands generously granted to them after the restoration of order in +1870 to the Red River settlements. Government surveyors had been busily +engaged for some time in laying out the Saskatchewan country in order to +keep pace with the rapidly increasing settlement. When they came to the +mission of St. Laurent they were met with the same distrust that had +done so much harm in 1870. The half-breeds feared that the system of +square blocks followed by the surveyors would seriously interfere with +the location of the farms on which they had "squatted" in accordance +with the old French system of deep lots with a narrow frontage on the +banks of the rivers. The difficulties arising out of these diverse +systems of surveys caused a considerable delay in the issue of patents +for lands, and dissatisfied the settlers who were anxious to know what +land their titles covered. The half-breeds not only contended that their +surveys should be respected, but that they should be also allowed scrip +for two hundred and forty acres of land, as had been done in the case of +their compatriots in Manitoba. Many of the Saskatchewan settlers had +actually received this scrip before they left the province, but +nevertheless they hoped to obtain it once more from the government, and +to sell it with their usual improvidence to the first speculators who +offered them some ready money. + +[6: A certificate from the government that a certain person is entitled +to receive a patent from the crown for a number of acres of the public +lands--a certificate legally transferable to another person by the +original holder.] + +The delay of the government in issuing patents and scrip and the system +of surveys were no doubt the chief grievances which enabled Riel and +Dumont--the latter a resident of Batoche--to excite the half-breeds +against the Dominion authorities at Ottawa. When a commission was +actually appointed by the government in January, 1885, to allot scrip to +those who were entitled to receive it, the half-breeds were actually +ready for a revolt under the malign influence of Riel and his +associates. Riel believed for some time after his return in 1884 that he +could use the agitation among his easily deluded countrymen for his own +selfish purposes. It is an indisputable fact that he made an offer to +the Dominion government to leave the North-west if they would pay him a +considerable sum of money. When he found that there was no likelihood of +Sir John Macdonald repeating the mistake which he had made at the end of +the first rebellion, Riel steadily fomented the agitation among the +half-breeds, who were easily persuaded to believe that a repetition of +the disturbances of 1870 would obtain them a redress of any grievances +they might have. It is understood that one of the causes that aggravated +the agitation at its inception was the belief entertained by some white +settlers of Prince Albert that they could use the disaffection among the +half-breeds for the purpose of repeating the early history of Manitoba, +and forcing the Dominion government to establish a new province in the +Saskatchewan country, though its entire population at that time would +not have exceeded ten thousand persons, of whom a large proportion were +half-breeds. Riel for a time skilfully made these people believe that he +would be a ductile instrument in their hands, but when his own plans +were ripe for execution he assumed despotic control of the whole +movement and formed a provisional government in which he and his +half-breed associates were dominant, and the white conspirators of +Prince Albert were entirely ignored. The loyal people of Prince Albert, +who had always disapproved of the agitation, as well as the priests of +the mission, who had invariably advised their flock to use only peaceful +and constitutional methods of redress, were at last openly set at +defiance and insulted by Riel and his associates. The revolt broke out +on the 25th March, 1885, when the half-breeds took forcible possession +of the government stores, and made prisoners of some traders at Duck +Lake. A small force of Mounted Police under the command of +Superintendent Crozier was defeated near the same place by Dumont, and +the former only saved his men from destruction by a skilful retreat to +Fort Carleton. The half-breed leaders circulated the news of this +victory over the dreaded troops of the government among the Indian bands +of the Saskatchewan, a number of whom immediately went on the war-path. +Fort Carleton had to be given up by the mounted police, who retired to +Prince Albert, the key of the district. The town of Battleford was +besieged by the Indians, but they were successfully kept in check for +weeks until the place was relieved. Fort Pitt was evacuated by Inspector +Dickens, a son of the great novelist, who succeeded in taking his little +force of police into Battleford. Two French missionaries and several +white men were ruthlessly murdered at Frog Lake by a band of Crees, and +two women were dragged from the bodies of their husbands and carried +away to the camp of Big Bear. Happily for them some tender-hearted +half-breeds purchased them from the Indians and kept them in safety +until they were released at the close of the disturbances. + +The heart of Canada was now deeply stirred and responded with great +heartiness to the call of the government for troops to restore order to +the distracted settlements. The minister of militia, Mr. Adolphe +Caron--afterwards knighted for his services on this trying +occasion--showed great energy in the management of his department. +Between four and five thousand men were soon on the march for the +territories under Major-General Middleton, the English officer then in +command of the Canadian militia. Happily for the rapid transport of the +troops the Canadian Pacific Railway was so far advanced that, with the +exception of 72 miles, it afforded a continuous line of communication +from Montreal to Qu'Appelle. The railway formed the base from which +three military expeditions could be despatched to the most important +points of the Saskatchewan country--one direct to Batoche, a second to +Battleford, and a third for a flank movement to Fort Edmonton, where a +descent could be made down the North Saskatchewan for the purpose of +recapturing Fort Pitt and attacking the rebellious Indians under Big +Bear. On the 24th of April General Middleton fought his first engagement +with the half-breeds, who were skilfully concealed in rifle pits in the +vicinity of Fish Creek, a small erratic tributary of the South +Saskatchewan. Dumont for the moment succeeded in checking the advance of +the Canadian forces, who fought with much bravery but were placed at a +great disadvantage on account of Middleton not having taken sufficient +precautions against a foe thoroughly acquainted with the country and +cunningly hidden. The Canadian troops were soon able to continue their +forward movement and won a decisive victory at Batoche, in which +Colonels Williams, Straubenzie, and Grasett notably distinguished +themselves. Riel was soon afterwards captured on the prairie, but Dumont +succeeded in crossing the frontier of the United States. While Middleton +was on his way to Batoche, Lieutenant-Colonel Otter of Toronto, an able +soldier who was, fifteen years later, detached for active service in +South Africa, was on the march for the relief of Battleford, and had on +the first of May an encounter with a large band of Indians under +Poundmaker on the banks of Cut Knife Creek, a small tributary of the +Battle River. Though Otter did not win a victory, he showed Poundmaker +the serious nature of the contest in which he was engaged against the +Canadian government, and soon afterwards, when the Cree chief heard of +the defeat of the half-breeds at Batoche, he surrendered +unconditionally. Another expedition under the command of +Lieutenant-Colonel Strange also relieved Fort Pitt; and Big Bear was +forced to fly into the swampy fastnesses of the prairie wilderness, but +was eventually captured near Fort Carleton by a force of Mounted Police. + +This second rebellion of the half-breeds lasted about three months, and +cost the country upwards of five million dollars. Including the persons +murdered at Frog Lake, the loyal population of Canada lost thirty-six +valuable lives, among whom was Lieutenant-Colonel Williams, a gallant +officer, and a member of the house of commons, who succumbed to a +serious illness brought on by his exposure on the prairie. The +casualties among the half-breeds were at least as large, if not greater. +Five Indian chiefs suffered the extreme penalty of the law, while +Poundmaker, Big Bear, and a number of others were imprisoned in the +territories for life or for a term of years, according to the gravity of +their complicity in the rebellion. Any hopes that Riel might have placed +in the active sympathy of the French Canadian people of Quebec were soon +dispelled. He was tried at Regina in July and sentenced to death, +although the able counsel allotted to him by the government exhausted +every available argument in his defence, even to the extent of setting +up a plea of insanity, which the prisoner himself deeply resented. The +most strenuous efforts were made by the French Canadians to force the +government to reprieve him, but Sir John Macdonald was satisfied that +the loyal sentiment of the great majority of the people of Canada +demanded imperatively that the law should be vindicated. The French +Canadian representatives in the cabinet, Langevin, Chapleau, and Caron, +resisted courageously the storm of obloquy which their determination to +support the prime minister raised against them; and Riel was duly +executed on the 16th November. For some time after his death attempts +were made to keep up the excitement which had so long existed in the +province of Quebec on the question. The Dominion government was +certainly weakened for a time in Quebec by its action in this matter, +while Mr. Honore Mercier skilfully used the Riel agitation to obtain +control of the provincial government at the general election of 1886, +but only to fall five years later, under circumstances which must always +throw a shadow over the fame of a brilliant, but unsafe, political +leader (see p. 247). The attempt to make political capital out of the +matter in the Dominion parliament had no other result than to weaken the +influence in Ontario of Mr. Edward Blake, the leader of the opposition +since the resignation of Mr. Mackenzie in 1880. He was left without the +support of the majority of the Liberal representatives of the province +in the house of commons when he condemned the execution of Riel, +principally on the ground that he was insane--a conclusion not at all +justified by the report of the medical experts who had been chosen by +the government to examine the condemned man previous to the execution. +The energy with which this rebellion was repressed showed both the +half-breeds and the Indians of the west the power of the Ottawa +government. From that day to this order has prevailed in the western +country, and grievances have been redressed as far as possible. The +readiness with which the militia force of Canada rallied to the support +of the government was conclusive evidence of the deep national sentiment +that existed throughout the Dominion. In Ottawa, Port Hope, and Toronto +monuments have been raised in memory of the brave men who gave up their +lives for the Dominion, but probably the most touching memorial of this +unfortunate episode in Canadian history is the rude cairn of stone which +still stands among the wild flowers of the prairie in memory of the +gallant fellows who were mown down by the unerring rifle shots of the +half-breeds hidden in the ravines of Fish Creek. + +In 1885 parliament passed a general franchise law for the Dominion in +place of the system--which had prevailed since 1867--of taking the +electoral lists of the several provinces as the lists for elections to +the house of commons. The opposition contested this measure with great +persistency, but Sir John Macdonald pressed it to a successful +conclusion, mainly on the ground that it was necessary in a country like +Canada, composed of such diverse elements, to have for the Dominion +uniformity of suffrage, based on a small property qualification, instead +of having diverse systems of franchise--in some provinces, universal +franchise, to which he and other Conservatives generally were strongly +opposed. + +Between 1880 and 1894 Canada was called upon to mourn the loss of a +number of her ablest and brightest statesmen--one of them the most +notable in her political history. It was on a lovely May day of 1880 +that the eminent journalist and politician, George Brown, died from the +effects of a bullet wound which he received at the hand of one Bennett, +a printer, who had been discharged by the _Globe_ for drunkenness and +incapacity. The Conservative party in 1888 suffered a great loss by the +sudden decease of Mr. Thomas White, minister of the interior in the +Macdonald ministry, who had been for the greater part of his life a +prominent journalist, and had succeeded in winning a conspicuous and +useful position in public affairs as a writer, speaker, and +administrator. Three years later, the Dominion was startled by the sad +announcement, on the 6th June, 1891, that the voice of the great prime +minister, Sir John Macdonald, who had so long controlled the affairs of +Canada, would never more be heard in that federal parliament of which he +had been one of the fathers. All classes of Canadians vied with one +another in paying a tribute of affection and respect to one who had been +in every sense a true Canadian. Men forgot for the moment his mistakes +and weaknesses, the mistakes of the politician and the weaknesses of +humanity, "only to remember"--to quote the eloquent tribute paid to him +by Mr. Laurier, then leader of the opposition--"that his actions always +displayed great originality of view, unbounded fertility of resources, a +high level of intellectual conception, and above all, a far-reaching +vision beyond the event of the day, and still higher, permeating the +whole, a broad patriotism, a devotion to Canada's welfare, Canada's +advancement, and Canada's glory." His obsequies were the most stately +and solemn that were ever witnessed in the Dominion; his bust was +subsequently unveiled in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral by the Earl +of Rosebery, when prime minister of England; noble monuments were raised +to his memory in the cities of Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal; +and the Queen addressed a letter full of gracious sympathy to his widow +and conferred on her the dignity of a peeress of the United Kingdom +under the title of Baroness of Earnscliffe, as a mark of her Majesty's +gratitude "for the devoted and faithful services which he rendered for +so many years to his sovereign and his Dominion." + +Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, stonemason, journalist, and prime minister, +died in April, 1892, a victim to the paralysis which had been steadily +creeping for years over his enfeebled frame, and made him a pitiable +spectacle as he sat like a Stoic in the front seats of the opposition, +unable to speak or even to rise without the helping arm of some +attentive friend. On the 30th October, 1893, Sir John Abbott, probably +the ablest commercial lawyer in Canada, who had been premier of Canada +since the death of Sir John Macdonald, followed his eminent predecessors +to the grave, and was succeeded by Sir John Thompson, minister of +justice in the Conservative government since September, 1885. A great +misfortune again overtook the Conservative party on the 12th December, +1894, when Sir John Thompson died in Windsor Castle, whither he had gone +at her Majesty's request to take the oath of a privy councillor of +England--high distinction conferred upon him in recognition of his +services on the Bering Sea arbitration. Sir John Thompson was gifted +with a rare judicial mind, and a remarkable capacity for the lucid +expression of his thoughts, which captivated his hearers even when they +were not convinced by arguments clothed in the choicest diction. His +remains were brought across the Atlantic by a British frigate, and +interred in his native city of Halifax with all the stately ceremony of +a national funeral. The governor-general, Lord Stanley of Preston, now +the Earl of Derby, called upon the senior privy councillor in the +cabinet, Sir Mackenzie Bowell, to form a new ministry. He continued in +office until April, 1896, when he retired in favour of Sir Charles +Tupper, who resigned the position of high commissioner for Canada in +England to enter public life as the recognised leader of the +Liberal-Conservative party. This eminent Canadian had already reached +the middle of the eighth decade of his life, but age had in no sense +impaired the vigour or astuteness of his mental powers. He has continued +ever since, as leader of the Liberal-Conservative party, to display +remarkable activity in the discussion of political questions, not only +as a leader of parliament, but on the public platform in every province +of the Dominion. + +During the session of 1891 the political career of Sir Hector Langevin, +the leader of the Liberal-Conservative party in French Canada, was +seriously affected by certain facts disclosed before the committee of +privileges and elections. This committee had been ordered by the house +of commons to inquire into charges made by Mr. Israel Tarte against +another member of the house, Mr. Thomas McGreevy, who was accused of +having used his influence as a commissioner of the Quebec harbour, a +government appointment, to obtain fraudulently from the department of +public works, presided over by Sir Hector for many years, large +government contracts in connection with the Quebec harbour and other +works. The report of the majority of the committee found Mr. McGreevy +guilty of fraudulent acts, and he was not only expelled from the house +but was subsequently imprisoned in the Ottawa common gaol after his +conviction on an indictment laid against him in the criminal court of +Ontario. With respect to the complicity of the minister of public works +in these frauds the committee reported that it was clear that, while the +conspiracy had been rendered effective by reason of the confidence which +Sir Hector Langevin placed in Mr. McGreevy and in the officers of the +department, yet the evidence did not justify them in concluding that Sir +Hector knew of the conspiracy or willingly lent himself to its objects. +A minority of the committee, on the other hand, took the opposite view +of the transactions, and claimed that the evidence showed the minister +to be cognisant of the facts of the letting of the contracts, and that +in certain specified cases he had been guilty of the violation of a +public trust by allowing frauds to be perpetrated. The report of the +majority was carried by a party vote, with the exception of two +Conservative members who voted with the minority. Sir Hector Langevin +had resigned his office in the government previous to the inquiry, and +though he continued in the house for the remainder of its constitutional +existence, he did not present himself for re-election in 1896 when +parliament was dissolved. + +Unhappily it was not only in the department of public works that +irregularities were discovered. A number of officials in several +departments were proved before the committee of public accounts to have +been guilty of carelessness or positive misconduct in the discharge of +their duties, and the government was obliged, in the face of such +disclosures, to dismiss or otherwise punish several persons in whom they +had for years reposed too much confidence. + +On the 20th and 21st of June, 1893, a convention of the most prominent +representative Liberals of the Dominion was held in the city of Ottawa; +and Sir Oliver Mowat, the veteran premier of Ontario, was unanimously +called upon to preside over this important assemblage. Resolutions were +passed with great enthusiasm in support of tariff reform, a fair measure +of reciprocal trade with the United States, a sale of public lands only +to actual settlers upon reasonable terms of settlement, an honest and +economical administration of government, the right of the house of +commons to inquire into all matters of public expenditure and charges of +misconduct against ministers, the reform of the senate, the submission +of the question of prohibition to a vote of the people, and the repeal +of the Dominion franchise act passed in 1885, as well as of the measure +of 1892, altering the boundaries of the electoral districts and +readjusting the representation in the house of commons. This convention +may be considered the commencement of that vigorous political campaign, +which ended so successfully for the Liberal party in the general +election of 1896. + +In the summer of 1894 there was held in the city of Ottawa a conference +of delegates from eight self-governing colonies in Australasia, South +Africa, and America, who assembled for the express purpose of discussing +questions which affected not merely their own peculiar interests, but +touched most nearly the unity and development of the empire at large The +imperial government was represented by the Earl of Jersey, who had been +a governor of one of the Australian colonies. After very full discussion +the conference passed resolutions in favour of the following measures: + +(1) Imperial legislation enabling the dependencies of the empire to +enter into agreements of commercial reciprocity, including the power to +make differential tariffs with Great Britain or with one another. (2) +The removal of any restrictions in existing treaties between Great +Britain and any foreign power, which prevent such agreements of +commercial reciprocity. (3) A customs arrangement between Great Britain +and her colonies by which trade within the empire might be placed on a +more favourable footing than that which is carried on with foreign +countries. (4) Improved steamship communication between Canada, +Australasia, and Great Britain. (5) Telegraph communication by cable, +free from foreign control, between Canada and Australia. These various +resolutions were brought formally by the Earl of Jersey to the notice +of the imperial government, which expressed the opinion, through the +Marquess of Ripon, then secretary of state for the colonies, that the +"general economic results" of the preferential trade recommended by the +conference "would not be beneficial to the empire." Lord Ripon even +questioned the desirability of denouncing at that time the treaties with +Belgium and Germany--a subject which had engaged the attention of the +Canadian parliament in 1892, when the government, of which Sir John +Abbott was premier, passed an address to the Queen, requesting that +immediate steps be taken to free Canada from treaty restrictions +"incompatible with the rights and powers conferred by the British North +America act of 1867 for the regulation of the trade and commerce of the +Dominion." Any advantages which might be granted by Great Britain to +either Belgium or the German Zollverein under these particular treaties, +would also have to be extended to a number of other countries which had +what is called the "favoured nations clause" in treaties with England. +While these treaty stipulations with regard to import duties did not +prevent differential treatment by the United Kingdom in favour of +British colonies, or differential treatment by British colonies in +favour of each other, they did prevent differential treatment by British +colonies in favour of the United Kingdom. As we shall presently see, +when I come to review the commercial policy of the new Dominion +government three years later, the practical consequence of these +treaties was actually to force Canada to give for some months not only +to Germany and Belgium, but to a number of other countries, the same +commercial privileges which they extended in 1897 to the parent state. + +Among the difficult questions, which have agitated the Dominion from +time to time and perplexed both Conservative and Liberal politicians, +are controversies connected with education. By the British North America +act of 1867 the legislature of each province may exclusively make laws +in relation to education, but at the same time protection is afforded +to denominational or dissentient schools by giving authority to the +Dominion government to disallow an act clearly infringing the rights or +privileges of a religious minority, or to obtain remedial legislation +from parliament itself according to the circumstances of the case. From +1871 until 1875 the government of the Dominion was pressed by petitions +from the Roman Catholic inhabitants of New Brunswick to disallow an act +passed by the provincial legislature in relation to common schools on +the ground that it was an infringement of certain rights which they +enjoyed as a religious body at the time of confederation. The question +not only came before the courts of New Brunswick and the Canadian house +of commons, but was also submitted to the judicial committee of the +imperial privy council; but only with the result of showing beyond +question that the objectionable legislation was clearly within the +jurisdiction of the legislature of New Brunswick, and could not be +constitutionally disallowed by the Dominion government on the ground +that it violated any right or privilege enjoyed by the Roman Catholics +at the time of union. A solution of the question was, however, +subsequently reached by an amicable arrangement between the Roman +Catholics and Protestants, which has ever since worked most +satisfactorily in that province. + +The Manitoba school question, which agitated the country from 1890 until +1896, was one of great gravity on account of the issues involved. The +history of the case shows that, prior to the formation of Manitoba in +1870, there was not in the province any public system of education, but +the several religious denominations had established such schools as they +thought fit to maintain by means of funds voluntarily contributed by +members of their own communion. In 1871 the legislature of Manitoba +established an educational system distinctly denominational. In 1890 +this law was repealed, and the legislature established a system of +strictly non-sectarian schools. The Roman Catholic minority of the +province was deeply aggrieved at what they considered a violation of the +rights and privileges which they enjoyed under the terms of union +adopted in 1870. The first subsection of the twenty-second section of +the act of 1870 set forth that the legislature of the province could not +pass any law with regard to schools which might "prejudicially affect +any right or privilege with respect to denominational schools which any +class of persons have, by law or practice, in the province at the time +of union." The dispute was brought before the courts of Canada, and +finally before the judicial committee of the privy council, which +decided that the legislation of 1890 was constitutional inasmuch as the +only right or privilege which the Roman Catholics then possessed "by law +or practice" was the right or privilege of establishing and maintaining +for the use of members of their own church such schools as they pleased. +The Roman Catholic minority then availed themselves of another provision +of the twenty-second section of the Manitoba act, which allows an appeal +to the governor-in-council "from any act or decision of the legislature +of the province or of any provincial authority, affecting any right or +privilege of the Protestant or Roman Catholic minority of the Queen's +subjects in relation to education." + +The ultimate result of this reference was a judgment of the judicial +committee to the effect that the appeal was well founded and that the +governor-in-council had jurisdiction in the premises, but the committee +added that "the particular course to be pursued must be determined by +the authorities to whom it has been committed by the statute." The third +subsection of the twenty-second section of the Manitoba act--a +repetition of the provision of the British North America act with +respect to denominational schools in the old provinces--provides not +only for the action of the governor-in-council in case a remedy is not +supplied by the proper provincial authority for the removal of a +grievance on the part of a religious minority, but also for the making +of "remedial laws" by the parliament of Canada for the "due execution" +of the provision protecting denominational schools. In accordance with +this provision Sir Mackenzie Bowell's government passed an +order-in-council on the 21st March, 1895, calling upon the government of +Manitoba to take the necessary measures to restore to the Roman Catholic +minority such rights and privileges as were declared by the highest +court of the empire to have been taken away from them. The Manitoba +government not only refused to move in the matter but expressed its +determination "to resist unitedly by every constitutional means any such +attempt to interfere with their provincial autonomy." The result was the +introduction of a remedial bill by Mr. Dickey, minister of justice, in +the house of commons during the session of 1896; but it met from the +outset very determined opposition during the most protracted +sittings--one of them lasting continuously for a week--ever known in the +history of the Canadian or any other legislature of the empire. On +several divisions the bill was supported by majorities ranging from 24 +to 18--several French members of the opposition having voted for it and +several Conservative Protestant members against its passage. The bill +was introduced on the 11th February, and the motion for its second +reading was made on the 3rd March, from which date it was debated +continuously until progress was reported from a committee of the whole +house on the 16th April, after the house had sat steadily from Monday +afternoon at 3 o'clock until 2 o'clock on the following Thursday +morning. It was then that Sir Charles Tupper, leader of the government +in the house, announced that no further attempt would be made to press +the bill that session. He stated that it was absolutely necessary to +vote money for the urgent requirements of the public service and pass +other important legislation during the single week that was left before +parliament would be dissolved by the efflux of time under the +constitutional law, which fixes the duration of the house of commons +"for five years from the day of the return of the writs for choosing the +house and no longer." + +In the general election of 1896 the Manitoba school question was an +issue of great importance. From the commencement to the close of the +controversy the opponents of denominational schools combined with the +supporters of provincial rights to defeat the government which had so +determinedly fought for what it considered to be the legal rights of the +Roman Catholic minority of Manitoba. It had looked confidently to the +support of the great majority of the French Canadians, but the result of +the elections was most disappointing to the Conservative party. Whilst +in the provinces, where the Protestants predominated, the Conservatives +held their own to a larger extent than had been expected even by their +sanguine friends, the French province gave a great majority to Mr. +Launer, whose popularity among his countrymen triumphed over all +influences, ecclesiastical and secular, that could be used in favour of +denominational schools in Manitoba. + +The majority against Sir Charles Tupper was conclusive, and he did not +attempt to meet parliament as the head of a government. Before his +retirement from office, immediately after his defeat at the elections, +he had some difference of opinion with the governor-general, the Earl of +Aberdeen, who refused, in the exercise of his discretionary power, to +sanction certain appointments to the senate and the judicial bench, +which the prime minister justified by reference to English and Canadian +precedents under similar conditions--notably of 1878 when Mr. Mackenzie +resigned. Soon after the general election, and Lord Dufferin was +governor-general, Sir Charles Tupper considered the subject of +sufficient constitutional importance to bring it before the house of +commons, where Sir Wilfrid Laurier, then premier, defended the course of +the governor-general. The secretary of state for the colonies also +approved in general terms of the principles which, as the +governor-general explained in his despatches, had governed his action in +this delicate matter. + +On Sir Charles Tapper's defeat at the elections, Mr. Laurier became +first minister of a Liberal administration, in which positions were +given to Sir Oliver Mowat, so long premier of Ontario, to Mr. Blair, +premier of New Brunswick, to Mr. Fielding, premier of Nova Scotia, and +eventually to Mr. Sifton, the astute attorney-general of Manitoba. Sir +Richard Cartwright and Sir Louis Davies--to give the latter the title +conferred on him in the Diamond Jubilee year--both of whom had been in +the foremost rank of the Liberal party for many years, also took office +in the new administration; but Mr. Mills, versed above most Canadian +public men in political and constitutional knowledge, was not brought in +until some time later, when Sir Oliver Mowat, the veteran minister of +justice, was appointed to the lieutenant-governorship of Ontario. A +notable acquisition was Mr. Tarte, who had acquired much influence in +French Canada by his irrepressible energy, and who was placed over the +department of public works. + +When the school question came to be discussed in 1897, during the first +session of the new parliament, the premier explained to the house that, +whilst he had always maintained "that the constitution of this country +gave to this parliament and government the right and power to interfere +with the school legislation of Manitoba, it was an extreme right and +reserved power to be exercised only when other means had been +exhausted." Believing then that "it was far better to obtain concessions +by negotiation than by coercion," he had, as soon as he came into +office, communicated with the Manitoba government on the subject, and +had "as a result succeeded in making arrangements which gave the French +Catholics of the province religious teaching in their schools and the +protection of their language," under the conditions set forth in a +statute expressly passed for the purpose by the legislature of +Manitoba[7]. The premier at the same time admitted that "the settlement +was not acceptable to certain dignitaries of the church to which he +belonged"; but subsequently the Pope published an encyclical advising +acceptance of the concessions made to the Manitoba Catholics, while +claiming at the same time that these concessions were inadequate, and +expressing the hope that full satisfaction would be obtained ere long +from the Manitoba government. Since the arrangement of this compromise, +no strenuous or effective effort has been made to revive the question as +an element of political significance in party contests. Even in Manitoba +itself, despite the defeat of the Greenway government, which was +responsible for the Manitoba school act of 1890, and the coming into +office of Mr. Hugh John Macdonald, the son of the great Conservative +leader, there has been no sign of the least intention to depart from the +legislation arranged by Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1897 as, in his opinion, +the best possible compromise under the difficult conditions surrounding +a most embarrassing question. + +[7: This statute provides that religious teaching by a Roman Catholic +priest, or other person duly authorised by him, shall take place at the +close of the hours devoted to secular instruction; that a Roman Catholic +teacher may be employed in every school in towns and cities where the +average attendance of Roman Catholic children is forty or upwards, and +in villages and rural districts where the attendance is twenty-five or +upwards; and that French as well as English shall be taught in any +school where ten pupils speak the French language.] + +In the autumn of 1898 Canada bade farewell with many expressions of +regret to Lord and Lady Aberdeen, both of whom had won the affection and +respect of the Canadian people by their earnest efforts to support every +movement that might promote the social, intellectual and moral welfare +of the people. Lord Aberdeen was the seventh governor-general appointed +by the crown to administer public affairs since the union of the +provinces in 1867. Lord Monck, who had the honour of initiating +confederation, was succeeded by Sir John Young, who was afterwards +raised to the peerage as Baron Lisgar--a just recognition of the +admirable discretion and dignity with which he discharged the duties of +his high position. His successor, the Earl of Dufferin, won the +affection of the Canadian people by his grace of demeanour, and his +Irish gift of eloquence, which he used in the spirit of the clever +diplomatist to flatter the people of the country to their heart's +content. The appointment of the Marquess of Lorne, now the Duke of +Argyll, gave to Canada the honour of the presence of a Princess of the +reigning family. He showed tact and discretion in some difficult +political situations that arose during his administration, and succeeded +above all his predecessors in stimulating the study of art, science and +literature within the Dominion. The Marquess of Lansdowne and Lord +Stanley of Preston--both inheritors of historic names, trained in the +great school of English administration--also acquired the confidence and +respect of the Canadian people. On the conclusion of Lord Aberdeen's +term of office in 1898, he was succeeded by the Earl of Minto, who had +been military secretary to the Marquess of Lansdowne, when +governor-general, from the autumn of 1883 until the end of May, 1888, +and had also acted as chief of staff to General Middleton during the +North-west disturbances of 1885. + +Since its coming into office, the Laurier administration has been called +upon to deal with many questions of Canadian as well as imperial +concern. One of its first measures--to refer first to those of Canadian +importance--was the repeal of the franchise act of 1885, which had been +found so expensive in its operation that the Conservative government had +for years taken no steps to prepare new electoral lists for the Dominion +under its own law, but had allowed elections to be held on old lists +which necessarily left out large numbers of persons entitled to vote. In +accordance with the policy to which they had always pledged themselves +as a party, the Liberal majority in parliament passed an act which +returned to the electoral lists of the provinces. An attempt was also +made in 1899 and 1900 to amend the redistribution acts of 1882 and 1892, +and to restore so far as practicable the old county lines which had been +deranged by those measures. The bill was noteworthy for the feature, +novel in Canada, of leaving to the determination of a judicial +commission the rearrangement of electoral divisions, but it was rejected +in the senate on the ground that the British North America act provides +only for the readjustment of the representation after the taking of each +Decennial census, and that it is "a violation of the spirit of the act" +to deal with the question until 1901, when the official figures of the +whole population will be before parliament. The government was also +called upon to arrange the details of a provisional government for the +great arctic region of the Yukon, where remarkable gold discoveries were +attracting a considerable population from all parts of the world. An +attempt to build a short railway to facilitate communication with that +wild and distant country was defeated in the senate by a large majority. +The department of the interior has had necessarily to encounter many +difficulties in the administration of the affairs of a country so many +thousand miles distant. These difficulties have formed the subject of +protracted debates in the house of commons and have led to involved +political controversies which it would not be possible to explain +satisfactorily within the limits of this chapter. + +In accordance with the policy laid down in 1897 by Mr. Fielding, the +finance minister, when presenting the budget, the Laurier government has +not deemed it prudent to make such radical changes in the protective or +"National Policy" of the previous administration as might derange the +business conditions of the Dominion, which had come to depend so +intimately upon it in the course of seventeen years, but simply to amend +and simplify it in certain particulars which would remove causes of +friction between the importers and the customs authorities, and at the +same time make it, as they stated, less burdensome in its operation. The +question of reciprocal trade between Canada and the United States had +for some time been disappearing in the background and was no longer a +dominant feature of the commercial policy of the Liberal party as it had +been until 1891, when its leaders were prepared under existing +conditions to enter into the fullest trade arrangements possible with +the country to the south. The illiberality of the tariff of the United +States with respect to Canadian products had led the Canadian people to +look to new markets, and especially to those of Great Britain, with whom +they were desirous, under the influence of a steadily growing imperial +spirit, to have the closest commercial relations practicable. +Consequently the most important feature of the Laurier government's +policy, since 1897, has been the preference given to British products in +Canada--a preference which now allows a reduction in the tariff of +33-1/3 per cent. on British imports compared with foreign goods. In +their endeavour, however, to give a preference to British imports, the +government was met at the outset by difficulties arising from the +operation of the Belgian and German treaties; and after very full +consultation with the imperial government, and a reference of the legal +points involved to the imperial law officers of the crown, Canada was +obliged to admit Belgian and German goods on the same terms as the +imports of Great Britain, and also to concede similar advantages to +twenty-two foreign countries which were by treaty entitled to any +commercial privileges that Great Britain or her colonies might grant to +a third power. Happily for Canada at this juncture the colonial +secretary of state was Mr. Chamberlain, who was animated by aspirations +for the strengthening of the relations between the parent state and her +dependencies, and who immediately recognised the imperial significance +of the voluntary action of the Canadian government. The result was the +"denunciation" by the imperial authorities of the Belgian and German +treaties, which consequently came to an end on the 31st July, 1898. +Down to that date Canada was obliged to give to the other countries +mentioned the preference which she had intentionally given to Great +Britain alone, and at the same time to refund to importers the duties +which had been collected in the interval from the countries in question. +With the fall, however, of the Belgian and German treaties Canada was at +last free to model her tariff with regard to imperial as well as +Canadian interests. It was a fortunate coincidence that the government +should have adopted this policy at a time when the whole British empire +was celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of the accession of her Majesty +Queen Victoria to the throne. In the magnificent demonstration of the +unity and development of the empire that took place in London in June, +1897, Canada was represented by her brilliant prime minister, who then +became the Right Honourable Sir W. Laurier, G.C.M.G., and took a +conspicuous place in the ceremonies that distinguished this memorable +episode in British and colonial history. + +A few months later the relations between Canada and Great Britain were +further strengthened by the reduction of letter postage throughout the +empire--Australia excepted--largely through the instrumentality of Mr. +Mulock, Canadian postmaster-general. The Canadian government and +parliament also made urgent representations to the imperial authorities +in favour of the immediate construction of a Pacific cable; and it may +now be hoped that the pecuniary aid offered to this imperial enterprise +by the British, Australasian and Canadian governments will secure its +speedy accomplishment. I may add here that debates have taken place in +the Canadian house of commons for several sessions on the desirability +of obtaining preferential treatment in the British market for Canadian +products The Conservative party, led by Sir Charles Tupper, have +formulated their opinions in parliament by an emphatic declaration that +"no measure of preference, which falls short of the complete realisation +of such a policy, should be considered final or satisfactory." The +Laurier government admits the desirability of such mutual trade +preference, but at the same time it recognises the formidable +difficulties that lie in the way of its realisation so long as Great +Britain continues bound to free trade, and under these circumstances +declares it the more politic and generous course to continue giving a +special preference to British products with the hope that it may +eventually bring about a change in public opinion in the parent state +which will operate to the decided commercial or other advantage of the +dependency. + +This chapter may appropriately close with a reference to the remarkable +evidences of attachment to the empire that have been given by the +Canadian people at the close of the nineteenth century. From the +mountains of the rich province washed by the Pacific Sea, from the +wheat-fields and ranches of the western prairies, from the valley of the +great lakes and the St. Lawrence where French and English Canadians +alike enjoy the blessings of British rule, from the banks of the St John +where the United Empire Loyalists first made their homes, from the +rugged coasts of Acadia and Cape Breton, from every part of the wide +Dominion men volunteered with joyous alacrity to fight in South Africa +in support of the unity of the empire. As I close these pages Canadians +are fighting side by side with men from the parent Isles, from +Australasia and from South Africa, and have shown that they are worthy +descendants of the men who performed such gallant deeds on the ever +memorable battlefields of Chateauguay, Chrystler's Farm, and Lundy's +Lane. Not the least noteworthy feature of this significant event in the +annals of Canada and the empire is the fact that a French Canadian +premier has had the good fortune to give full expression to the dominant +imperial sentiment of the people, and consequently to offer an +additional guarantee for the union of the two races and the security of +British interests on the continent of America. + + +SECTION 4.--Political and social conditions of Canada under +confederation. + +At the present time, a population of probably five million four hundred +thousand souls inhabit a Dominion of seven regularly organised +provinces, and of an immense fertile territory stretching from Manitoba +to British Columbia. This Dominion embraces an area of 3,519,000 square +miles, including its water surface, or very little less than the area of +the United States with Alaska, and measures 3500 miles from east to +west; and 1400 miles from north to south. + +No country in the world gives more conclusive evidences of substantial +development and prosperity than the Dominion under the beneficial +influences of federal union and the progressive measures of governments +for many years. The total trade of the country has grown from over +$131,000,000 in the first year of confederation to over $321,000,000 in +1899, while the national revenue has risen during the same period from +$14,000,000 to $47,000,000, and will probably be $50,000,000 in 1900. +The railways, whose expansion so closely depends on the material +conditions of the whole country, stretch for 17,250 miles compared with +2278 miles in 1868; while the remarkable system of canals, which extend +from the great lakes to Montreal, has been enlarged so as to give +admirable facilities for the growing trade of the west. The natural +resources of the country are inexhaustible, from the fisheries of Nova +Scotia to the wheat-fields of the north-west, from the coal-mines of +Cape Breton to the gold deposits of the dreary country through which the +Yukon and its tributaries flow. + +No dangerous questions like slavery, or the expansion of the African +race in the southern states, exist to complicate the political and +social conditions of the confederation, and, although there is a large +and increasing French Canadian element in the Dominion, its history so +far need not create fear as to the future, except perhaps in the minds +of gloomy pessimists. While this element naturally clings to its +national language and institutions, yet, under the influence of a +complete system of local self-government, it has always taken as active +and earnest a part as the English element in establishing and +strengthening the confederation. It has steadily grown in strength and +prosperity under the generous and inspiring influence of British +institutions, which have given full scope to the best attributes of a +nationality crushed by the depressing conditions of French rule for a +century and a half. + +The federal union gives expansion to the national energies of the whole +Dominion, and at the same time affords every security to the local +interests of each member of the federal compact. In all matters of +Dominion concern, Canada is a free agent. While the Queen is still head +of the executive authority, and can alone initiate treaties with foreign +nations (that being an act of complete sovereignty), and while appeals +are still open to the privy council of England from Canadian courts +within certain limitations, it is an admitted principle that the +Dominion is practically supreme in the exercise of all legislative +rights and privileges granted by the imperial parliament,--rights and +privileges set forth explicitly in the British North America act of +1867,--so long as her legislative action does not conflict with the +treaty obligations of the parent state, or with imperial legislation +directly applicable to Canada with her own consent. + +The crown exercises a certain supervision over the affairs of the +Dominion through a governor-general, who communicates directly with an +imperial secretary of state; but in every matter directly affecting +Canada--as for instance, in negotiations respecting the fisheries, the +Bering Sea, and other matters considered by several conferences at +Washington--the Canadian government is consulted and its statements are +carefully considered, since they represent the sentiments and interests +of the Canadian people, who, as citizens of the empire, are entitled to +as much weight as if they lived in the British Isles. + +In the administration of Canadian affairs the governor-general is +advised by a responsible council representing the majority of the house +of commons. As in England, the Canadian cabinet, or ministry, is +practically a committee of the dominant party in parliament and is +governed by the rules, conventions and usages of parliamentary +government which have grown up gradually in the parent state. Whenever +it is necessary to form a ministry in Canada, its members are summoned +by the governor-general to the privy council of Canada; another +illustration of the desire of the Canadians to imitate the old +institutions of England and copy her time-honoured procedure. + +The parliament of Canada consists of the Queen, the senate, and the +house of commons. In the formation of the upper house, three +geographical groups were arranged in the first instance, Ontario, +Quebec, and the maritime provinces, and each group received a +representation of twenty-four members. More recently other provinces +have been admitted into the Dominion without reference to this +arrangement, and now seventy-eight senators altogether may sit in +parliament. The remarkably long tenure of power enjoyed by the +Conservative party--twenty-five years from 1867--enabled it in the +course of time to fill the upper house with a very large numerical +majority of its own friends, and this fact, taken in connection with +certain elements of weakness inherent in a chamber which is not elected +by the people and has none of the ancient privileges or prestige of a +house of lords, long associated with the names of great statesmen and +the memorable events of English history, has created an agitation among +the Liberal party for radical changes in its constitution which would +bring it, in their opinion, more in harmony with the people's +representatives in the popular branch of the general legislature. While +some extremists would abolish the chamber, Sir Wilfrid Launer and other +prominent Liberals recognise its necessity in our parliamentary system. +In all probability death will ere long solve difficulties arising out +of the political composition of the body, if the Liberal party remain in +power. + +The house of commons, the great governing body of the Dominion, has been +made, so far as circumstances will permit, a copy of the English house. +Its members are not required to have a property qualification, and are +elected by the votes of the electors of the several provinces where, in +a majority of cases, universal suffrage, under limitations of +citizenship and residence, prevails. + +In each province there is a lieutenant-governor, appointed by the +Dominion government for five years, an executive council, and a +legislature consisting of only one house, except in Nova Scotia and +Quebec where a legislative council appointed by the crown still +continues. The principles of responsible government exist in all the +provinces, and practically in the North-west territory. + +In the enumeration of the legislative powers, respectively given to the +Dominion and provincial legislatures, an effort was made to avoid the +conflicts of jurisdiction that have so frequently arisen between the +national and state governments of the United States. In the first place +we have a recapitulation of those general or national powers that +properly belong to the central authority, such as customs and excise +duties, regulation of trade and commerce, militia and defence, +post-office, banking and coinage, railways and public works "for the +general advantage," navigation and shipping, naturalisation and aliens, +fisheries, weights and measures, marriage and divorce, penitentiaries, +criminal law, census and statistics. On the other hand, the provinces +have retained control over municipal institutions, public lands, local +works and undertakings, incorporation of companies with provincial +objects, property and civil rights, administration of justice, and +generally "all matters of a merely local and private nature in the +province." The _residuary_ power rests with the general parliament of +Canada. + +The parliament of Canada, in 1875, established a supreme court, or +general court of appeal, for Canada, whose highest function is to decide +questions as to the respective legislative powers of the Dominion and +provincial parliaments, which are referred to it in due process of law +by the subordinate courts of the provinces. The decisions of this court +are already doing much to solve difficulties that impede the successful +operation of the constitution. As a rule cases come before the supreme +court on appeal from the lower courts, but the law regulating its powers +provides that the governor in council may refer any matter to this court +on which a question of constitutional jurisdiction has been raised. But +the supreme court of Canada is not necessarily the court of last resort +of Canada. The people have an inherent right as subjects of the Queen to +appeal to the judicial committee of the privy council of the United +Kingdom. + +But it is not only by means of the courts that a check is imposed upon +hasty, or unconstitutional, legislation. The constitution provides that +the governor-general may veto or reserve any bill passed by the two +houses of parliament when it conflicts with imperial interests or +imperial legislation. It is now understood that the reserve power of +disallowance which her Majesty's government possesses under the law is +sufficient to meet all possible cases. This sovereign power is never +exercised except in the case of an act clearly in conflict with an +imperial statute or in violation of a treaty affecting a foreign nation. +The Dominion government also supervises all the provincial legislation +and has in a few cases disallowed provincial acts. This power is +exercised very carefully, and it is regarded with intense jealousy by +the provincial governments, which have more than once attempted to set +it at defiance. In practice it is found the wisest course to leave to +the courts the decision in cases where doubts exist as to constitutional +authority or jurisdiction. + +The organised districts of the North-west--Assiniboia, Alberta, +Athabaska, and Saskatchewan--are governed by a lieutenant-governor +appointed by the government of Canada and aided by a council chosen by +himself from an assembly elected by the people under a very liberal +franchise. These territories have also representatives in the two houses +of the parliament of Canada. The Yukon territory in the far north-west, +where rich discoveries of gold have attracted a large number of people +within the past two years, is placed under a provisional government, +composed of a commissioner and council appointed by the Dominion +government[8], and acting under instructions given from time to time by +the same authority or by the minister of the interior. + +[8: Since this sentence was in type the Dominion government has given +effect to a provision of a law allowing the duly qualified electors of +the Yukon to choose two members of the council.] + +The public service enjoys all the advantages that arise from permanency +of tenure and appointment by the crown. It has on the whole been +creditable to the country and remarkably free from political influences. +The criminal law of England has prevailed in all the provinces since it +was formerly introduced by the Quebec act of 1774. The civil law of the +French regime, however, has continued to be the legal system in French +Canada since the Quebec act, and has now obtained a hold in that +province which insures its permanence as an institution closely allied +with the dearest rights of the people. Its principles and maxims have +been carefully collected and enacted in a code which is based on the +famous code of Napoleon. In the other provinces and territories the +common law of England forms the basis of jurisprudence on which a large +body of Canadian statutory law has been built in the course of time. + +At the present time all the provinces, with the exception of Prince +Edward Island, have an excellent municipal system, which enables every +defined district, large or small, to carry on efficiently all those +public improvements essential to the comfort, convenience and general +necessities of the different communities that make up the province at +large. Even in the territories of the north-west, every proper facility +is given to the people in a populous district, or town, to organise a +system equal to all their local requirements. + +Every Englishman will consider it an interesting and encouraging fact +that the Canadian people, despite their neighbourhood to a prosperous +federal commonwealth, should not even in the most critical and gloomy +periods of their history have shown any disposition to mould their +institutions directly on those of the United States and lay the +foundation for future political union. Previous to 1840, which was the +commencement of a new era in the political history of the provinces, +there was a time when discontent prevailed throughout the Canadas, but +not even then did any large body of the people threaten to sever the +connection with the parent state. The Act of Confederation was framed +under the direct influence of Sir John Macdonald and Sir George Cartier, +and although one was an English Canadian and the other a French +Canadian, neither yielded to the other in the desire to build up a +Dominion on the basis of English institutions, in the closest possible +connection with the mother country. While the question of union was +under consideration it was English statesmen and writers alone who +predicted that this new federation, with its great extent of territory, +its abundant resources, and ambitious people, would eventually form a +new nation independent of Great Britain. Canadian statesmen never spoke +or wrote of separation, but regarded the constitutional change in their +political condition as giving them greater weight and strength in the +empire. The influence of British example on the Canadian Dominion can be +seen throughout its governmental machinery, in the system of +parliamentary government, in the constitution of the privy council and +the houses of parliament, in an independent judiciary, in appointed +officials of every class--in the provincial as well as Dominion +system--in a permanent and non-political civil service, and in all +elements of sound administration. During the thirty-three years that +have passed since 1867, the attachment to England and her institutions +has gained in strength, and it is clear that those predictions of +Englishmen to which we have referred are completely falsified. On the +contrary, the dominant sentiment is for strengthening the ties that have +in some respects become weak in consequence of the enlargement of the +political rights of the Dominion, which has assumed the position of a +semi-independent power, since England now only retains her imperial +sovereignty by declaring peace or war with foreign nations, by +appointing a governor-general, by controlling colonial legislation +through the Queen in council and the Queen in parliament--but not so as +to diminish the rights of local self-government conceded to the +Dominion--and by requiring that all treaties with foreign nations should +be made through her own government, while recognising the right of the +dependency to be consulted and directly represented on all occasions +when its interests are immediately affected. + +In no respect have the Canadians followed the example of the United +States, and made their executive entirely separate from the legislative +authority. On the contrary, there is no institution which works more +admirably in the federation--in the general as well as provincial +governments--than the principle of making the ministry responsible to +the popular branch of the legislature, and in that way keeping the +executive and legislative departments in harmony with each other, and +preventing that conflict of authorities which is a distinguishing +feature of the very opposite system that prevails in the federal +republic. If we review the amendments made of late years in the +political constitutions of the States, and especially those ratified not +long since in New York, we see in how many respects the Canadian system +of government is superior to that of the republic. For instance, Canada +has enjoyed for years, as results of responsible government, the secret +ballot, stringent laws against bribery and corruption at all classes of +elections, the registration of voters, strict naturalisation laws, +infrequent political elections, separation of municipal from provincial +or national contests, appointive and permanent officials in every branch +of the civil service, a carefully devised code of private bill +legislation, the printing of all public as well as private bills before +their consideration by the legislative bodies; and yet all these +essentials of safe administration and legislation are now only in part +introduced by constitutional enactment in so powerful and progressive a +state as New York. + +Of course, in the methods of party government we can see in Canada at +times an attempt to follow the example of the United States, and to +introduce the party machine with its professional politicians and all +those influences that have degraded politics since the days of Jackson +and Van Buren. Happily, so far, the people of Canada have shown +themselves fully capable of removing those blots that show themselves +from time to time on the body politic. Justice has soon seized those men +who have betrayed their trust in the administration of public affairs. +Although Canadians may, according to their political proclivities, find +fault with some methods of governments and be carried away at times by +political passion beyond the bounds of reason, it is encouraging to find +that all are ready to admit the high character of the judiciary for +learning, integrity and incorruptibility. The records of Canada do not +present a single instance of the successful impeachment or removal of a +judge for improper conduct on the bench since the days of responsible +government; and the three or four petitions laid before parliament, in +the course of a quarter of a century, asking for an investigation into +vague charges against some judges, have never required a judgment of the +house. Canadians have built wisely when, in the formation of their +constitution, they followed the English plan of retaining an intimate +and invaluable connection between the executive and legislative +departments, and of keeping the judiciary practically independent of the +other authorities of government. Not only the life and prosperity of the +people, but the satisfactory working of the whole system of federal +government rests more or less on the discretion and integrity of the +judges. Canadians are satisfied that the peace and security of the whole +Dominion do not more depend on the ability and patriotism of statesmen +in the legislative halls than on that principle of the constitution, +which places the judiciary in an exalted position among all the other +departments of government, and makes law as far as possible the arbiter +of their constitutional conflicts. All political systems are very +imperfect at the best; legislatures are constantly subject to currents +of popular prejudice and passion; statesmanship is too often weak and +fluctuating, incapable of appreciating the true tendency of events, and +too ready to yield to the force of present circumstances or dictates of +expediency; but law, as worked out on English principles in all the +dependencies of the empire and countries of English origin, as +understood by Blackstone, Dicey, Story, Kent, and other great masters of +constitutional and legal learning, gives the best possible guarantee for +the security of institutions in a country of popular government. + +In an Appendix to this history I have given comparisons in parallel +columns between the principal provisions of the federal constitutions of +the Canadian Dominion, and the Australian Commonwealth. In studying +carefully these two systems we must be impressed by the fact that the +constitution of Canada appears more influenced by the spirit of English +ideas than the constitution of Australia, which has copied some features +of the fundamental law of the United States. In the preamble of the +Canadian British North America act we find expressly stated "the desire +of the Canadian provinces to be federally united into one Dominion under +the crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with a +constitution similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom," while +the preamble of the Australian constitution contains only a bald +statement of an agreement "to unite in one indissoluble federal +Commonwealth under the crown," When we consider the use of +"Commonwealth"--a word of republican significance to British ears--as +well as the selection of "state" instead of "province," of "house of +representatives" instead of "house of commons," of "executive council" +instead of "privy council," we may well wonder why the Australians, all +British by origin and aspiration, should have shown an inclination to +deviate from the precedents established by the Canadian Dominion, which, +though only partly English, resolved to carve the ancient historic names +of the parent state on the very front of its political structure. + +As the several States of the Commonwealth have full control of their own +constitutions, they may choose at any moment to elect their own +governors as in the States of the American Union, instead of having them +appointed by the crown as in Canada. We see also an imitation of the +American constitution in the principle which allots to the central +government only certain enumerated powers, and leaves the residuary +power of legislation to the States. Again, while the act provides for a +high and other federal courts, the members of which are to be appointed +and removed as in Canada by the central government, the States are still +to have full jurisdiction over the State courts as in the United States. +The Canadian constitution, which gives to the Dominion exclusive control +over the appointment and removal of the judges of all the superior +courts, offers a positive guarantee against the popular election of +judges in the provinces. It is not going too far to suppose that, with +the progress of democratic ideas in Australia--a country inclined to +political experiments--we may find the experience of the United States +repeated, and see elective judges make their appearance when a wave of +democracy has suddenly swept away all dictates of prudence and given +unbridled licence to professional political managers only anxious for +the success of party. In allowing the British Parliament to amend the +Act of Union on an address of the Canadian parliament, we have yet +another illustration of the desire of Canadians to respect the supremacy +of the sovereign legislature of the empire. On the other hand, the +Australians make themselves entirely independent of the action of the +imperial parliament, which might be invaluable in some crisis affecting +deeply the integrity and unity of the Commonwealth, and give full scope +to the will of democracy expressed at the polls. In also limiting the +right of appeal to the Queen in council--by giving to the high court the +power to prevent appeals in constitutional disputes--the Australians +have also to a serious degree weakened one of the most important ties +that now bind them to the empire, and afford additional illustration of +the inferiority of the Australian constitution, from an imperial point +of view, compared with that of the Canadian Dominion, where a reference +to the judicial committee of the privy council is highly valued. + +The Canadian people are displaying an intellectual activity commensurate +with the expansion of their territory and their accumulation of wealth. +The scientific, historical and political contributions of three decades, +make up a considerable library which shows the growth of what may be +called Canadian literature, since it deals chiefly with subjects +essentially of Canadian interest. The attention that is now particularly +devoted to the study and writing of history, and the collection of +historical documents relating to the Dominion, prove clearly the +national or thoroughly Canadian spirit that is already animating the +cultured class of its people. + +Of the numerous historical works that have appeared since 1867 two only +demand special mention in this short review. One of these is _A History +of the days of Montcalm and Levis_ by the Abbe Casgrain, who +illustrates the studious and literary character of the professors of the +great university which bears the name of the first bishop of Canada, +Monseigneur Laval. A more elaborate general history of Canada, in ten +octavo volumes, is that by Dr. Kingsford, whose life closed with his +book. Whilst it shows much industry and conscientiousness on the part of +the author, it fails too often to evoke our interest even when it deals +with the striking and picturesque story of the French regime, since the +author considered it his duty to be sober and prosaic when Parkman is +bright and eloquent. + +A good estimate of the progress of literary culture in Canada can be +formed from a careful perusal of the poems of Bliss Carman, Archibald +Lampman, Charles G.W. Roberts, Wilfred Campbell, Duncan Campbell Scott +and Frederick George Scott. The artistic finish of their verse and the +originality of their conception entitle them fairly to claim a foremost +place alongside American poets since Longfellow, Emerson, Whittier, +Bryant and Lowell have disappeared. Pauline Johnson, who has Indian +blood in her veins, Archbishop O'Brien of Halifax, Miss Machar, Ethelyn +Weatherald, Charles Mair and several others might also be named to prove +that poetry is not a lost art in Canada, despite its pressing prosaic +and material needs. + +Dr. Louis Frechette is a worthy successor of Cremazie and has won the +distinction of having his best work crowned by the French Academy. +French Canadian poetry, however, has been often purely imitative of +French models like Musset and Gautier, both in style and sentiment, and +consequently lacks strength and originality. Frechette has all the +finish of the French poets and, while it cannot be said that he has yet +originated fresh thoughts, which are likely to live among even the +people whom he has so often instructed and delighted, yet he has given +us poems like that on the discovery of the Mississippi which prove that +he is capable of even better things if he would seek inspiration from +the sources of the deeply interesting history of his own country, or +enter into the inner mysteries and social relations of his picturesque +compatriots. + +The life of the French Canadian habitant has been admirably described in +verse by Dr. Drummond, who has always lived among that class of the +Canadian people and been a close observer of their national and personal +characteristics. He is the only writer who has succeeded in giving a +striking portraiture of life in the cabin, in the "shanty" (_chantier_), +and on the river, where the French habitant, forester, and canoe-man can +be seen to best advantage. + +But if Canada can point to some creditable achievements of recent years +in history, poetry and essays, there is one department in which +Canadians never won any marked success until recently, and that is in +the novel or romance. Even Mr. Kirby's _Le Chien d'Or_ which recalls the +closing days of the French regime--the days of the infamous Intendant +Bigot who fattened on Canadian misery--does not show the finished art of +the skilled novelist, though it has a certain crude vigour of its own, +which has enabled it to live while so many other Canadian books have +died. French Canada is even weaker in this particular, and this is the +more surprising because there is abundance of material for the novelist +or the writer of romance in her peculiar society and institutions. But +this reproach has been removed by Mr. Gilbert Parker, now a resident in +London, but a Canadian by birth, education and sympathies, who is +animated by a laudable ambition of giving form and vitality to the +abundant materials that exist in the Dominion for the true story-teller. +His works show great skill in the use of historic matter, more than +ordinary power in the construction of a plot, and, above all, a literary +finish which is not equalled by any Canadian writer in the same field of +effort. Other meritorious Canadian workers in romance are Mr. William +McLennan, Mrs. Coates (Sarah Jeannette Duncan), and Miss Dougall, whose +names are familiar to English readers. + +The name of Dr. Todd is well known throughout the British empire, and +indeed wherever institutions of government are studied, as that of an +author of most useful works on the English and Canadian constitutions. +Sir William Dawson, for many years the energetic principal of McGill +University, the scientific prominence of which is due largely to his +mental bias, was the author of several geological books, written in a +graceful and readable style. The scientific work of Canadians can be +studied chiefly in the proceedings of English, American and Canadian +societies, especially, of late years, in the transactions of the Royal +Society of Canada, established over eighteen years ago by the Marquess +of Lorne when governor-general of the Dominion. This successful +association is composed of one hundred and twenty members who have +written "memoirs of merit or rendered eminent services to literature or +science." + +On the whole, there have been enough good poems, histories, and essays, +written and published in Canada during the last four or five decades, to +prove that there has been a steady intellectual growth on the part of +the Canadian people, and that it has kept pace at all events with the +mental growth in the pulpit, or in the legislative halls, where, of late +years, a keen practical debating style has taken the place of the more +rhetorical and studied oratory of old times. The intellectual faculties +of Canadians only require larger opportunities for their exercise to +bring forth rich fruit. The progress in the years to come will be much +greater than that Canadians have yet shown, and necessarily so, with the +wider distribution of wealth, the dissemination of a higher culture, and +a greater confidence in their own mental strength, and in the +opportunities that the country offers to pen and pencil. What is now +wanted is the cultivation of a good style and artistic workmanship. + +Much of the daily literature of Canadians--indeed the chief literary +aliment of large numbers--is the newspaper press, which illustrates +necessarily the haste, pressure and superficiality of writings of that +ephemeral class. Canadian journals, however, have not yet descended to +the degraded sensationalism of New York papers, too many of which +circulate in Canada to the public detriment. On the whole, the tone of +the most ably conducted journals--the Toronto _Globe_, and the Montreal +_Gazette_ notably--is quite on a level with the tone of debate in the +legislative bodies of the country. + +Now, as in all times of Canada's history, political life claims many +strong, keen and cultured intellects, though at the same time it is too +manifest that the tendency of democratic conditions and heated party +controversy is to prevent the most highly educated and sensitive +organisations from venturing on the agitated and unsafe sea of political +passion and competition. The speeches of Sir Wilfrid Laurier--the +eloquent French Canadian premier, who in his mastery of the English +tongue surpasses all his versatile compatriots--of Sir Charles Tupper, +Mr. Foster and others who might be mentioned, recall the most brilliant +period of parliamentary annals (1867--1873), when in the first +parliament of the Dominion the most prominent men of the provinces were +brought into public life, under the new conditions of federal union. The +debating power of the provincial legislative bodies is excellent, and +the chief defects are the great length and discursiveness of the +speeches on local as well as on national questions. It is also admitted +that of late years there has been a tendency to impair the dignity and +to lower the tone of discussion. + +Many Canadians have devoted themselves to art since 1867, and some +Englishmen will recognise the names of L.R. O'Brien, Robert Harris, +J.W.L. Forster, Homer Watson, George Reid--the painter of "The +Foreclosure of the Mortgage," which won great praise at the World's Fair +of Chicago--John Hammond, F.A. Verner, Miss Bell, Miss Muntz, W. +Brymner, all of whom are Canadians by birth and inspiration. The +establishment of a Canadian Academy of Art by the Princess Louise, and +of other art associations, has done a good deal to stimulate a taste +for art, though the public encouragement of native artists is still very +inadequate, when we consider the excellence already attained under great +difficulties in a relatively new country, where the great mass of people +has yet to be educated to a perception of the advantages of high +artistic effort. + +Sculpture would be hardly known in Canada were it not for the work of +the French Canadian Hebert, who is a product of the schools of Paris, +and has given to the Dominion several admirable statues and monuments of +its public men. While Canadian architecture has hitherto been generally +wanting in originality of conception, the principal edifices of the +provinces afford many good illustrations of effective adaptation of the +best art of Europe. Among these may be mentioned the following:--the +parliament and departmental buildings at Ottawa, admirable examples of +Italian Gothic; the legislative buildings at Toronto, in the Romanesque +style; the English cathedrals in Montreal and Fredericton, correct +specimens of early English Gothic; the French parish church of +Notre-Dame, in Montreal, attractive for its stately Gothic proportions; +the university of Toronto, an admirable conception of Norman +architecture; the Canadian Pacific railway station at Montreal and the +Frontenac Hotel at Quebec, fine examples of the adaptation of old Norman +architecture to modern necessities; the provincial buildings at +Victoria, in British Columbia, the general design of which is +Renaissance, rendered most effective by pearl-grey stone and several +domes; the headquarters of the bank of Montreal, a fine example of the +Corinthian order, and notable for the artistic effort to illustrate, on +the walls of the interior, memorable scenes in Canadian history; the +county and civic buildings of Toronto, an ambitious effort to reproduce +the modern Romanesque, so much favoured by the eminent American +architect, Richardson; Osgoode Hall, the seat of the great law courts of +the province of Ontario, which in its general character recalls the +architecture of the Italian Renaissance. Year by year we see additions +to our public and private buildings, interesting from an artistic point +of view, and illustrating the accumulating wealth of the country, as +well as the growth of culture and taste among the governing classes. + +The universities, colleges, academies, and high schools, the public and +common schools of the Dominion, illustrate the great desire of the +governments and the people of the provinces to give the greatest +possible facilities for the education of all classes at the smallest +possible cost to individuals. At the present time there are between +13,000 and 14,000 students attending 62 universities and colleges. The +collegiate institutes and academies of the provinces also rank with the +colleges as respects the advantages they give to young men and +women. Science is especially prominent in McGill and Toronto +Universities--which are the most largely attended--and the former +affords a notable example of the munificence of the wealthy men of +Montreal, in establishing chairs of science and otherwise advancing its +educational usefulness. Laval University stands deservedly at the head +of the Roman Catholic institutions of the continent, on account of its +deeply interesting historic associations, and the scholarly attainments +of its professors, several of whom have won fame in Canadian letters. +Several universities give instructions in medicine and law, and Toronto +has also a medical college for women. At the present time, at least +one-fifth of the people of the Dominion is in attendance at the +universities, colleges, public and private schools. The people of Canada +contribute upwards of ten millions of dollars annually to the support of +their educational establishments, in the shape of government grants, +public taxes, or private fees. Ontario alone, in 1899, raised five +millions and a half of dollars for the support of its public school +system; and of this amount the people directly contributed ninety-one +per cent, in the shape of taxes. On the other hand, the libraries of +Canada are not numerous; and it is only in Ontario that there is a law +providing for the establishment of such institutions by a vote of the +taxpayers in the municipalities. In this province there are at least +420 libraries, of which the majority are connected with mechanics' +institutes, and are made public by statute. The weakness of the public +school system--especially in Ontario--is the constant effort to teach a +child a little of everything, and to make him a mere machine. The +consequences are superficiality--a veneer of knowledge--and the loss of +individuality. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +CANADA'S RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES AND HER INFLUENCE IN IMPERIAL +COUNCILS (1783--1900). + + +I have deemed it most convenient to reserve for the conclusion of this +history a short review of the relations that have existed for more than +a century between the provinces of the Dominion and the United States, +whose diplomacy and legislation have had, and must always have, a +considerable influence on the material and social conditions of the +people of Canada.--an influence only subordinate to that exercised by +the imperial state. I shall show that during the years when there was no +confederation of Canada--when there were to the north and north-east of +the United States only a number of isolated provinces, having few common +sympathies or interests except their attachment to the crown and +empire--the United States had too often its own way in controversial +questions affecting the colonies which arose between England and the +ambitious federal republic. On the other hand, with the territorial +expansion of the provinces under one Dominion, with their political +development, which has assumed even national attributes, with the steady +growth of an imperial sentiment in the parent state, the old condition +of things that too often made the provinces the shuttlecock of skilful +American diplomacy has passed away. The statesmen of the Canadian +federation are now consulted, and exercise almost as much influence as +if they were members of the imperial councils in London. + +I shall naturally commence this review with a reference to the treaty of +1783, which acknowledged the independence of the United States, fixed +the boundaries between that country and British North America, and led +to serious international disputes which lasted until the middle of the +following century. Three of the ablest men in the United +States--Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay--succeeded by their +astuteness and persistency in extending their country's limits to the +eastern bank of the Mississippi, despite the insidious efforts of +Vergennes on the part of France to hem in the new nation between the +Atlantic and the Appalachian Range. The comparative value set upon +Canada during the preliminary negotiations may be easily deduced from +the fact that Oswald, the English plenipotentiary, proposed to give up +to the United States the south-western and most valuable part of the +present province of Ontario, and to carry the north-eastern boundary up +to the River St. John. The commissioners of the United States did not +accept this suggestion. Their ultimate object--an object actually +attained--was to make the St. Lawrence the common boundary between the +two countries by following the centre of the river and the great lakes +as far as the head of Lake Superior. The issue of negotiations so +stupidly conducted by the British commissioner, was a treaty which gave +an extremely vague definition of the boundary in the north-east between +Maine and Nova Scotia--which until 1784 included New Brunswick--and +displayed at the same time a striking example of geographical ignorance +as to the north-west. The treaty specified that the boundary should pass +from the head of Lake Superior through Long Lake to the north-west angle +of the Lake of the Woods, and thence to the Mississippi, when, as a +matter of fact there was no Long Lake, and the source of the Mississippi +was actually a hundred miles or so to the south of the Lake of the +Woods. This curious blunder in the north-west was only rectified in +1842, when Lord Ashburton settled the difficulty by conceding to the +United States an invaluable corner of British territory in the east (see +below, p 299). + +[Illustration: INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY. AS FINALLY ESTABLISHED IN 1842 AT +LAKE OF THE WOODS] + +The only practical advantage that the people of the provinces gained +from the Treaty of Ghent, which closed the war of 1812--15, was an +acknowledgment of the undoubted fishery rights of Great Britain and her +dependencies in the territorial waters of British North America. In the +treaty of 1783 the people of the United States obtained the "right" to +fish on the Grand and other banks of Newfoundland, and in the Gulf of +St. Lawrence and at "all other places in the sea, where the inhabitants +of both countries used at any time heretofore to fish", but they were to +have only "the liberty" of taking fish on the coasts of Newfoundland and +also of "all other of his Britannic Majesty's dominions in America; and +also of drying and curing fish in any of the unsettled bays, harbours, +and creeks of Nova Scotia (then including New Brunswick), Magdalen +Islands, and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain unsettled." In +the one case, it will be seen, there was a recognised right, but in the +other only a mere "liberty" or privilege extended to the fishermen of +the United States. At the close of the war of 1812 the British +government would not consent to renew the merely temporary liberties of +1783, and the United States authorities acknowledged the soundness of +the principle that any privileges extended to the republic in British +territorial waters could only rest on "conventional stipulation." The +convention of 1818 forms the legal basis of the rights, which Canadians +have always maintained in the case of disputes between themselves and +the United States as to the fisheries on their own coasts, bays, and +harbours of Canada. It provides that the inhabitants of the United +States shall have for ever the liberty to take, dry, and cure fish on +certain parts of the coast of Newfoundland, on the Magdalen Islands and +on the southern shores of Labrador, but they "renounce for ever any +liberty, heretofore enjoyed" by them to take, dry, and cure fish, "on or +within three marine miles of any of the coasts, bays or creeks or +harbours of his Britannic Majesty's other dominions in America"; +provided, however, that the American fishermen shall be admitted to +enter such bays and harbours, for the purpose of shelter, and of +repairing damages therein, of purchasing wood, and of obtaining water, +and "for no other purpose whatever." + +In April, 1817, the governments of Great Britain and the United States +came to an important agreement which ensured the neutrality of the great +lakes. It was agreed that the naval forces to be maintained upon these +inland waters should be confined to the following vessels: on Lakes +Champlain and Ontario to one vessel, on the Upper Lakes to two vessels, +not exceeding in each case a hundred tons burden and armed with only one +small cannon. Either nation had the right to bring the convention to a +termination by a previous notice of six months. This agreement is still +regarded by Great Britain and the United States to be in existence, +since Mr. Secretary Seward formally withdrew the notice which was given +for its abrogation in 1864, when the civil war was in progress and the +relations between the two nations were considerably strained at times. + +The next international complication arose out of the seizure of the +steamer _Caroline_, which was engaged in 1837 in carrying munitions of +war between the United States and Navy Island, then occupied by a number +of persons in the service of Mr. Mackenzie and other Canadian rebels. In +1840 the authorities of New York arrested one Macleod on the charge of +having murdered a man who was employed on the _Caroline_. The +Washington government for some time evaded the whole question by +throwing the responsibility on the state authorities and declaring that +they could not interfere with a matter which was then within the +jurisdiction of the state courts. The matter gave rise to much +correspondence between the two governments, but happily for the peace of +the two countries the American courts acquitted Macleod, as the evidence +was clear that he had had nothing to do with the actual seizing of the +_Caroline_; and the authorities at Washington soon afterwards +acknowledged their responsibility in such affairs by passing an act +directing that subjects of foreign powers, if taken into custody for +acts done or committed under the authority of their own government, "the +validity or effect whereof depends upon the law of nations, should be +discharged." The dissatisfaction that had arisen in the United States on +account of the cutting out of the _Caroline_ was removed in 1842, when +Sir Robert Peel expressed regret that "some explanation and apology for +the occurrence had not been previously made," and declared that it was +"the opinion of candid and honourable men that the British officers who +executed this transaction, and their government who approved it, +intended no insult or disrespect to the sovereign authority of the +United States[9]." + +[9: Hall's _Treatise on International Law_ (3rd ed.), pp. 311--313] + +In the course of time the question of the disputed boundary between +Maine and New Brunswick assumed grave proportions. By the treaty of +1783, the boundary was to be a line drawn from the source of the St. +Croix, directly north to the highlands "which divide the rivers which +fall into the Atlantic ocean from those which fall into the river St. +Lawrence;" thence along the said highlands to the north-easternmost head +of the Connecticut River; and the point at which the due north line was +to cut the highlands was also designated as the north-west angle of Nova +Scotia. The whole question was the subject of several commissions, and +of one arbitration, from 1783 until 1842, when it was finally settled. +Its history appears to be that of a series of blunders on the part of +England from the beginning to the end. The first blunder occurred in +1796 when the commissioners appointed to inquire into the question, +declared that the Schoodic was the River St. Croix mentioned in the +treaty. Instead, however, of following the main, or western, branch of +the Schoodic to its source in the Schoodic Lakes, they went beyond +their instructions and chose a northern tributary of the river, the +Chiputnaticook, as the boundary, and actually placed a monument at its +head as a basis for any future proceeding on the part of the two +governments. The British government appear to have been very anxious at +this time to settle the question, for they did not take exception to the +arrangement made by the commissioners, but in 1798 declared the decision +binding on both countries. + +Still this mistake might have been rectified had the British government +in 1835 been sufficiently alive to British interests in America to have +accepted a proposal made to them by President Jackson to ascertain the +true north-western angle of Nova Scotia, or the exact position of the +highlands, in accordance with certain well-understood rules in practical +surveying which have been always considered obligatory in that +continent. It was proposed by the United States to discard the due north +line, to seek to the west of that line the undisputed highlands that +divide the rivers which empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence +from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to find the point in the +'watershed' of these highlands nearest to the north line, and to trace a +direct course from it to the monument already established. "If this +principle had been adopted," says Sir Sandford Fleming, the eminent +Canadian engineer, "a straight line would have been drawn from the +monument at the head of the Chiputnaticook to a point which could have +been established with precision in the 'watershed' of the highlands +which separate the sources of the Chaudiere from those of the +Penobscot,--this being the most easterly point in the only highlands +agreeing beyond dispute with the treaty. The point is found a little to +the north and west of the intersection of the 70th meridian west +longitude and the 46th parallel of north latitude." Had this proposal +been accepted England would have obtained without further difficulty +eleven thousand square miles, or the combined areas of Massachusetts +and Connecticut. + +[Illustration: MAP OF THE NORTH-EASTERN BOUNDARY AS ESTABLISHED IN +1842.] + +For several years after this settlement was suggested a most serious +conflict went on between New Brunswick and the state of Maine. The +authorities of Maine paid no respect whatever to the negotiations that +were still in progress between the governments of Great Britain and the +United States, but actually took possession of the disputed territory, +gave titles for lands and constructed forts and roads within its limits. +Collisions occurred between the settlers and the intruders, and +considerable property was destroyed. The legislature of Maine voted +$800,000 for the defence of the state, and the legislature of Nova +Scotia amid great enthusiasm made a grant of $100,000 to assist New +Brunswick in support of her rights. Happily the efforts of the United +States and British governments prevented the quarrel between the +province and the state from assuming international proportions; and in +1842 Mr. Alexander Baring, afterwards Lord Ashburton, was authorised by +the ministry of the Earl of Aberdeen to negotiate with Mr. Daniel +Webster, then secretary of state in the American cabinet, for the +settlement of matters in dispute between the two nations. The result was +the Ashburton Treaty, which, in fixing the north-eastern boundary +between British North America and the United States, started due north +from the monument incorrectly placed at the head of the Chiputnaticook +instead of the source of the true St. Croix, and consequently at the +very outset gave up a strip of land extending over some two degrees of +latitude, and embracing some 3000 square miles of British territory. By +consenting to carry the line due north from the misplaced monument Lord +Ashburton ignored the other natural landmark set forth in the treaty: +"the line of headlands which divide the waters flowing into the Atlantic +from those which flow into the St. Lawrence." A most erratic boundary +was established along the St. John, which flows neither into the St. +Lawrence nor the Atlantic, but into the Bay of Fundy, far east of the +St. Croix. In later years the historian Sparks found in Paris a map on +which Franklin himself had marked in December, 1782, with a heavy red +line, what was then considered the true natural boundary between the two +countries. Mr. Sparks admitted in sending the map that it conceded more +than Great Britain actually claimed, and that "the line from the St. +Croix to the Canadian highlands is intended to exclude [from the +territory of the United States] all the waters running into the St. +John." Canadians have always believed with reason that that portion of +the present state of Maine, through which the Aroostook and other +tributaries of the St. John flow, is actually British territory. If we +look at the map of Canada we see that the state of Maine now presses +like a huge wedge into the provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec as a +sequence of the unfortunate mistakes of 1796, 1835, and 1842, on the +part of England and her agents. In these later times a "Canadian short +line" railway has been forced to go through Maine in order to connect +Montreal with St. John, and other places in the maritime provinces. Had +the true St. Croix been chosen in 1796, or President Jackson's offer +accepted in 1835, this line could go continuously through Canadian +territory, and be entirely controlled by Canadian legislation. + +Another boundary question was the subject of much heated controversy +between England and the United States for more than a quarter of a +century, and in 1845 brought the two countries very close to war. In +1819 the United States obtained from Spain a cession of all her rights +and claims north of latitude forty-two, or the southern boundary of the +present state of Oregon. By that time the ambition of the United States +was not content with the Mississippi valley, of which she had obtained +full control by the cession of the Spanish claims and by the Louisiana +purchase of 1803, but looked to the Pacific coast, where she made +pretensions to a territory stretching from 42 deg. to 54 deg. 40' north +latitude, or a territory four times the area of Great Britain and +Ireland, or of the present province of Ontario. The claims of the two +nations to this vast region rested on very contradictory statements with +respect to priority of discovery, and that occupation and settlement +which should, within reasonable limits, follow discovery; and as the +whole question was one of great perplexity, it should have been settled, +as suggested by England, on principles of compromise. But the people of +the United States, conscious at last of the importance of the territory, +began to bring their influence to bear on the politicians, until by 1845 +the Democratic party declared 'for 54 deg. 40' or fight,' Mr. Crittenden +announced that "war might now be looked upon as almost inevitable." +Happily President Polk and congress came to more pacific conclusions +after a good deal of warlike talk; and the result was a treaty (1846) by +which England accepted the line 49 degrees to the Pacific coast, and +obtained the whole of Vancouver Island, which for a while seemed likely +to be divided with the United States. But Vancouver Island was by no +means a compensation for what England gave up, for, on the continent, +she yielded all she had contended for since 1824, when she first +proposed the Columbia River as a basis of division. + +But even then the question of boundary was not finally settled by this +great victory which had been won for the United States by the +persistency of her statesmen. The treaty of 1846 continued the line of +boundary westward along "the 49th parallel of north latitude to the +middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver +Island, and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel and +of Fuca's straits to the Pacific Ocean" Anyone reading this clause for +the first time, without reference to the contentions that were raised +afterwards, would certainly interpret it to mean the whole body of water +that separates the continent from Vancouver,--such a channel, in fact, +as divides England from France; but it appears there are a number of +small channels separating the islands which lie in the great channel in +question, and the clever diplomatists at Washington immediately claimed +the Canal de Haro, the widest and deepest, as the canal of the treaty. +Instead of at once taking the ground that the whole body of water was +really in question, the English government claimed another channel, +Rosario Strait, inferior in some respects, but the one most generally, +and indeed only, used at the time by their vessels. The importance of +this difference of opinion lay chiefly in the fact, that the Haro gave +San Juan and other small islands, valuable for defensive purposes, to +the United States, while the Rosario left them to England. Then, after +much correspondence, the British government, as a compromise, offered +the middle channel, or Douglas, which would still retain San Juan. If +they had always adhered to the Douglas--which appears to answer the +conditions of the treaty, since it lies practically in the middle of the +great channel--their position would have been much stronger than it was +when they came back to the Rosario. The British representatives at the +Washington conference of 1871 suggested the reference of the question to +arbitration, but the United States' commissioners, aware of their +vantage ground, would consent to no other arrangement than to leave to +the decision of the Emperor of Germany the question whether the Haro or +the Rosario channel best accorded with the treaty; and the Emperor +decided in favour of the United States. However, with the possession of +Vancouver in its entirety, Canada can still be grateful; and San Juan is +now only remembered as an episode of skilful American diplomacy. The +same may be said of another acquisition of the republic--insignificant +from the point of view of territorial area, but still illustrative of +the methods which have won all the great districts we have named +--Rouse's Point at the outlet of Lake Champlain, "of which an exact +survey would have deprived" the United States, according to Mr. Schouler +in his excellent history. + +During this period the fishery question again assumed considerable +importance. The government at Washington raised the contention that the +three miles' limit, to which their fishermen could be confined by the +convention of 1818, should follow the sinuosities of the coasts, +including the bays, the object being to obtain access to the valuable +mackerel fisheries of the Bay of Chaleurs and other waters claimed to be +exclusively within the territorial jurisdiction of the maritime +provinces. The imperial government sustained the contention of the +provinces--a contention practically supported by American authorities in +the case of the Delaware, Chesapeake, and other bays on the coast of the +United States--that the three miles' limit should be measured from a +line drawn from headlands of all bays, harbours and creeks. In the case +of the Bay of Fundy, however, the imperial government allowed a +departure from this general principle, when it was urged by the +Washington government that one of its headlands was in the territory of +the United States, and that it was an arm of the sea rather than a bay. +The result was that foreign fishing vessels were only shut out from the +bays on the coasts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick within the Bay of +Fundy. All these questions were, however, placed in abeyance by the +reciprocity treaty of 1854 (see p. 96), which lasted until 1866, when it +was repealed by the action of the United States, in accordance with the +provision bringing it to a conclusion after one year's notice from one +of the parties interested. + +The causes which led in 1866 to the repeal of a treaty so advantageous +to the United States have been long well understood. The commercial +classes in the eastern and western states were, on the whole, favourable +to an enlargement of the treaty; but the real cause of its repeal was +the prejudice in the northern states against Canada on account of its +supposed sympathy for the confederate states during the Secession war. A +large body of men in the north believed that the repeal of the treaty +would sooner or later force Canada to join the republic; and a bill was +actually introduced in the house of representatives providing for her +admission--a mere political straw, it is true, but showing the current +of opinion in some quarters in those days. When we review the history of +those times, and consider the difficult position in which Canada was +placed, it is remarkable how honourably her government discharged its +duties of a neutral between the belligerents. In the case of the raid of +some confederate refugees in Canada on the St. Alban's bank in Vermont, +the Canadian authorities brought the culprits to trial and even paid a +large sum of money in acknowledgment of an alleged responsibility when +some of the stolen notes were returned to the robbers on their release +on technical grounds by a Montreal magistrate. It is well, too, to +remember how large a number of Canadians fought in the union +armies--twenty against one who served in the south. No doubt the +position of Canada was made more difficult at that critical time by the +fact that she was a colony of Great Britain, against whom both north and +south entertained bitter feelings by the close of the war; the former +mainly on account of the escape of confederate cruisers from English +ports, and the latter because she did not receive active support from +England. The north had also been much excited by the promptness with +which Lord Palmerston had sent troops to Canada when Mason and Slidell +were seized on an English packet on the high seas, and by the bold tone +held by some Canadian papers when it was doubtful if the prisoners would +be released. + +Before and since the union, the government of Canada has made repeated +efforts to renew a commercial treaty with the government at Washington. +In 1865 and 1866, Canadian delegates were prepared to make large +concessions, but were reluctantly brought to the conclusion that the +committee of ways and means in congress "no longer desired trade between +the two countries to be carried on upon the principle of reciprocity." +In 1866 Sir John Rose, while minister of finance, made an effort in the +same direction, but he was met by the obstinate refusal of the +republican party, then as always, highly protective. + +All this while the fishery question was assuming year by year a form +increasingly irritating to the two countries. The headland question was +the principal difficulty, and the British government, in order to +conciliate the United States at a time when the Alabama question was a +subject of anxiety, induced the Canadian government to agree, very +reluctantly it must be admitted, to shut out foreign fishing vessels +only from bays less than six miles in width at their entrances. In this, +however, as in all other matters, the Canadian authorities acknowledged +their duty to yield to the considerations of imperial interests, and +acceded to the wishes of the imperial government in almost every +respect, except actually surrendering their territorial rights in the +fisheries. They issued licenses to fish, at low rates, for several +years, only to find eventually that American fishermen did not think it +worth while to buy these permits when they could evade the regulations +with little difficulty. The correspondence went on for several years, +and eventually led to the Washington conference or commission of 1871, +which was primarily intended to settle the fishery question, but which +actually gave the precedence to the Alabama difficulty--then of most +concern in the opinion of the London and Washington governments. The +representatives of the United States would not consider a proposition +for another reciprocity treaty on the basis of that of 1854. The +questions arising out of the convention of 1818 were not settled by the +commission, but were practically laid aside for ten years by an +arrangement providing for the free admission of salt-water fish to the +United States, on the condition of allowing the fishing vessels of that +country free access to the Canadian fisheries. The free navigation of +the St. Lawrence was conceded to the United States in return for the +free use of Lake Michigan and of certain rivers in Alaska. The question +of giving to the vessels of the Canadian provinces the privilege of +trading on the coast of the United States--a privilege persistently +demanded for years by Nova Scotia--was not considered; and while the +canals of Canada were opened up to the United States on the most liberal +terms, the Washington government contented itself with a barren promise +in the treaty to use its influence with the authorities of the states to +open up their artificial waterways to Canadians. The Fenian claims were +abruptly laid aside, although, if the principle of "due diligence," +which was laid down in the new rules for the settlement of the Alabama +difficulty had been applied to this question, the government of the +United States would have been mulcted in heavy damages. In this case it +would be difficult to find a more typical instance of responsibility +assumed by a state through the permission of open and notorious acts, +and by way of complicity after the acts; however, as in many other +negotiations with the United States, Canada felt she must make +sacrifices for the empire, whose government wished all causes of +irritation between England and the United States removed as far as +possible by the treaty. One important feature of this commission was the +presence, for the first time in the history of treaties, of a Canadian +statesman. The astute prime minister of the Dominion, Sir John +Macdonald, was chosen as one of the English high commissioners: and +though he was necessarily tied down by the instructions of the imperial +state, his knowledge of Canadian questions was of great service to +Canada during the conference. If the treaty finally proved more +favourable to the Dominion than it at first appeared to be, it was owing +largely to the clause which provided for a reference to a later +commission of the question, whether the United States would not have to +pay the Canadians a sum of money, as the value of their fisheries over +and above any concessions made them in the treaty. The result of this +commission was a payment of five millions and a half of dollars to +Canada and Newfoundland, to the infinite disappointment of the +politicians of the United States, who had been long accustomed to have +the best in all the bargains with their neighbours. Nothing shows more +clearly the measure of the local self-government at last won by Canada +and the importance of her position in the empire, than the fact that the +English government recognised the right of the Dominion government to +name the commissioner who represented Canada on an arbitration which +decided a question of such deep importance to her interests. + +The clauses of the Washington treaty relating to the fisheries and to +trade with Canada lasted for fourteen years, and then were repealed by +the action of the United States government. In the year 1874 the +Mackenzie ministry attempted, through Mr. George Brown, to negotiate a +new reciprocity treaty, but met with a persistent hostility from leading +men in congress. The relations between Canada and the United States +again assumed a phase of great uncertainty. Canada from 1885 adhered to +the letter of the convention of 1818, and allowed no fishing vessels to +fish within the three miles limit, to transship cargoes of fish in her +ports, or to enter them for any purpose except for shelter, wood, water, +and repairs. For the infractions of the treaty several vessels were +seized, and more than one of them condemned. A clamour was raised in the +United States on the ground that the Canadians were wanting in that +spirit of friendly intercourse which should characterise the relations +of neighbouring peoples. The fact is, the Canadians were bound to adhere +to their legal rights--rights which had always been maintained before +1854; which had remained in abeyance between 1854 and 1866; which +naturally revived after the repeal of the reciprocity treaty of 1854; +which again remained in abeyance between 1871 and 1885; and were revived +when the United States themselves chose to go back to the terms of the +convention of 1818. + +In 1887 President Cleveland and Mr. Secretary Bayard, acting in a +statesmanlike spirit, obtained the consent of England to a special +commission to consider the fishery question. Sir Sackville West, Mr. +Joseph Chamberlain, and Sir Charles Tupper represented England; Mr. +Bayard, then secretary of state, Mr. Putnam of Maine, and Mr. Angell of +Michigan University, represented the United States. Sir Charles Tupper +could not induce the American commissioners to consider a mutual +arrangement providing for greater freedom of commercial intercourse +between Canada and the United States. Eventually the commission agreed +unanimously to a treaty which was essentially a compromise. Foreign +fishermen were to be at liberty to go into any waters where the bay was +more than ten miles wide at the mouth, but certain bays, including the +Bay of Chaleurs, were expressly excepted in the interests of Canada from +the operation of this provision. The United States did not attempt to +acquire the right to fish on the inshore fishing-grounds of Canada--that +is, within three miles of the coasts--but these fisheries were to be +left for the exclusive use of the Canadian fishermen. More satisfactory +arrangements were made for vessels obliged to resort to the Canadian +ports in distress; and a provision was made for allowing American +fishing-vessels to obtain supplies and other privileges in the harbours +of the Dominion whenever congress allowed the fish of that country to +enter free into the market of the United States, President Cleveland in +his message, submitting the treaty to the senate, acknowledged that it +"supplied a satisfactory, practical and final adjustment, upon a basis +honourable and just to both parties, of the difficult and vexed +questions to which it relates." The republican party, however, at that +important juncture--just before a presidential election--had a majority +in the senate, and the result was the failure in that body of a measure, +which, although by no means too favourable to Canadian interests, was +framed in a spirit of judicious statesmanship. + +As a sequel of the acquisition of British Columbia, the Canadian +government was called upon in 1886 to urge the interests of the +Dominion in an international question that had arisen in Bering Sea. A +United States cutter seized in the open sea, at a distance of more than +sixty miles from the nearest land, certain Canadian schooners, fitted +out in British Columbia, and lawfully engaged in the capture of seals in +the North Pacific Ocean, adjacent to Vancouver Island, Queen Charlotte +Islands, and Alaska--a portion of the territory of the United States +acquired in 1867 from Russia. These vessels were taken into a port of +Alaska, where they were subjected to forfeiture, and the masters and +mates fined and imprisoned. Great Britain at once resisted the claim of +the United States to the sole sovereignty of that part of Bering Sea +lying beyond the westerly boundary of Alaska--a stretch of sea extending +in its widest part some 600 or 700 miles beyond the mainland of Alaska, +and clearly under the law of nations a part of the great sea and open to +all nations. Lord Salisbury's government, from the beginning to the end +of the controversy, sustained the rights of Canada as a portion of the +British empire. After very protracted and troublesome negotiations it +was agreed to refer the international question in dispute to a court of +arbitration, in which Sir John Thompson, prime minister of Canada, was +one of the British arbitrators. The arbitrators decided in favour of the +British contention that the United States had no jurisdiction in Bering +Sea outside of the three miles limit, and at the same time made certain +regulations to restrict the wholesale slaughter of fur-bearing seals in +the North Pacific Ocean. In 1897 two commissioners, appointed by the +governments of the United States and Canada, awarded the sum of $463,454 +as compensation to Canada for the damages sustained by the fishermen of +British Columbia, while engaged in the lawful prosecution of their +industry on that portion of the Bering Sea declared to be open to all +nations. This sum was paid in the summer of 1898 by the United States. + +In 1897 the Canadian government succeeded in obtaining the consent of +the governments of Great Britain and the United States to the +appointment of a joint high commission to settle various questions in +dispute between Canada and the United States. Canada was represented on +this commission by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Sir Richard Cartwright, Sir +Louis Davies, and Mr. John Charlton, M.P., Newfoundland by Sir James +Winter; the United States by Messieurs C.W. Fairbanks, George Gray, J.W. +Foster, Nelson Dingley Jr., J.A. Kasson, and T. Jefferson Coolidge. The +eminent jurist, Baron Herschell, who had been lord chancellor in the +last Gladstone ministry, was chosen chairman of this commission, which +met in the historic city of Quebec on several occasions from the 23rd +August until the 10th October, 1898, and subsequently at Washington from +November until the 20th February, 1899, when it adjourned. Mr. Dingley +died in January and was replaced by Mr. Payne, and Lord Herschell also +unhappily succumbed to the effects of an accident soon after the close +of the sittings of the commission. In an eulogy of this eminent man in +the Canadian house of commons, the Canadian prime minister stated that +during the sittings of the commission "he fought for Canada not only +with enthusiasm, but with conviction and devotion." England happily in +these modern times has felt the necessity of giving to the consideration +of Canadian interests the services of her most astute and learned +statesmen and diplomatists. + +This commission was called upon to consider a number of international +questions--the Atlantic and inland fisheries, the Alaska boundary, the +alien labour law, the bonding privilege, the seal fishery in the Bering +Sea, reciprocity of trade in certain products of the two countries, and +other minor issues. For the reasons given in a previous part of this +chapter (page 269), when referring to the commercial policy of the +Laurier government, reciprocity was no longer the all-important question +to be discussed, though the commissioners were desirous of making fiscal +arrangements with respect to lumber, coal, and some other Canadian +products for which there is an increasing demand in the markets of the +United States. The long and earnest discussions of the commission on the +various questions before them were, however, abruptly terminated by the +impossibility of reaching a satisfactory conclusion with respect to the +best means of adjusting the vexed question of the Alaska boundary, which +had become of great international import in consequence of the discovery +of gold in the territory of Alaska and the district of Yukon in Canada. + +The dispute between Great Britain and the United States has arisen as to +the interpretation to be given to the Anglo-Russian treaty of 1825, +which was made forty-two years before Russia sold her territorial rights +in Alaska to the United States, that sale being subject of course to the +conditions of the treaty in question. Under the third article of this +treaty[10]--the governing clause of the contract between England and +Russia--boundary line between Canada and Alaska commences at the south +end of Prince of Wales Island, thence runs north through Portland +Channel to the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude, thence follows the +summit of the mountains situated parallel to the coast of the continent, +to one hundred and forty-one west longitude and thence to the frozen +ocean. That part of the line between fifty-six north latitude and one +hundred and forty-one west longitude is where the main dispute arises. +Great Britain on behalf of Canada contends that, by following the +summits of the mountains between these two points, the true boundary +would cross Lynn Canal, about half way between the headlands and +tide-water at the head of the canal, and leave both Skagway and +Dyea--towns built up chiefly by United States citizens--within British +territory. The contention of Great Britain always has been that the +boundary should follow the general contour of the coast line and not the +inlets to their head waters. On the other hand the United States contend +that the whole of Lynn Canal up to the very top, to the extent of +tide-water, is a part of the ocean, and that the territory of the United +States goes back for ten leagues from the head of the canal and +consequently includes Skagway and Dyea. In other words the United States +claim that the boundary should not follow the coast line but pass +around the head of this important inlet, which controls access to the +interior of the gold-bearing region. + +[10: The following is the article in full: "The line of demarcation +between the possessions of the high contracting parties upon the coast +of the continent and the islands of America to the north-west, shall be +drawn in the following manner: commencing from the southernmost point of +the island called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the +parallel of fifty-four degrees forty minutes north latitude, and between +the one hundred and thirty-first and the one hundred and thirty-third +degree of west longitude, the said line shall ascend to the north along +the channel called Portland Channel as far as the point of the continent +where it strikes the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude. From this +last-mentioned point the line of demarcation shall follow the summit of +the mountains situated parallel to the coast as far as the point of +intersection of the one hundred and forty-first degree of west longitude +(of the same meridian), and finally from the said point of intersection +of the one hundred and forty-first degree in its prolongation as far as +the frozen ocean, shall form the limit between the Russian and British +possessions, on the continent of America to the north-west"] + +[Illustration: MAP OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AND YUKON DISTRICT SHOWING +DISPUTED BOUNDARY BETWEEN] + +The Canadian commissioners first offered as a compromise to leave Dyea +and Skagway in the possession of the United States if the commissioners +of that country would agree that Canada should retain Pyramid Harbour, +which would give to Canadians a highway into the Yukon district. The +acceptance of this compromise would have made a common water of the Lynn +Canal, and at the same time left to the United States the greater +portion of the territory in dispute. When the commissioners of the +United States refused this fair compromise, the Canadians offered to +refer the whole question to arbitration in order to ascertain the true +boundary under the Anglo-Russian treaty. They proposed that the +arbitrators should be three jurists of repute: one chosen for Great +Britain by the judicial committee of the privy council, one appointed by +the president of the United States, and the third a high international +authority to act as an umpire. The commissioners of the United States +positively refused to agree to this proposition and suggested the +appointment of six jurists, three to be appointed by Great Britain, and +the others by the United States. The Canadian representatives were +unable to agree to the amendment suggested by their American colleagues, +on the ground that it did not "provide a tribunal which would +necessarily, and in the possible event of differences of opinion, +finally dispose of the question," They also refused to agree to other +propositions of the United States as "a marked and important departure +from the rules of the Venezuelan boundary reference." The commissioners +of the United States were not only unwilling to agree to the selection +of an impartial European umpire, but were desirous of the appointment of +an American umpire--from the South American Republics--over whom the +United States would have more or less influence. Under these +circumstances the Canadian commissioners were unwilling to proceed to +the determination of other questions (on which a conclusion had been +nearly reached) "until the boundary question had been disposed of either +by agreement or reference to arbitration." The commission adjourned +until August in the same year, but the negotiations that took place in +the interval between the governments of Great Britain and the United +States on the question at issue were not sufficiently advanced to enable +a meeting at the proposed date. In these circumstances a _modus vivendi_ +was arranged between the United States and Canada, whose interests have +been carefully guarded throughout the controversy by the government of +the imperial state. + +This review of Canada's relations with the United States and England for +more than a century illustrates at once her weakness and her +strength--her weakness in the days of provincial isolation and imperial +indifference; her strength under the inspiring influences of federal +union and of an imperial spirit which gives her due recognition in the +councils of the empire. It may now be said that, in a limited sense, +there is already a loose system of federation between Great Britain and +her dependencies. The central government of Great Britain, as the +guardian of the welfare of the whole empire, cooperates with the several +governments of her colonial dependencies, and, by common consultation +and arrangement, endeavours to come to such a determination as will be +to the advantage of all the interests at stake. In other words, the +conditions of the relations between Great Britain and Canada are such as +to insure unity of policy so long as each government considers the +interests of Great Britain and the dependency as identical, and keeps in +view the obligations, welfare, and unity of the empire at large. Full +consultation in all negotiations affecting Canada, representation in +every arbitration and commission that may be the result of such +negotiations, are the principles which, of late years, have been +admitted by Great Britain in acknowledgement of the development of +Canada and of her present position in the empire; and any departure +from so sound a doctrine would be a serious injury to the imperial +connection, and an insult to the ability of Canadians to take a part in +the great councils of the world. The same mysterious Providence that has +already divided the continent of North America, as far as Mexico, +between Canada and the United States, and that in the past prevented +their political fortunes from becoming one, still forces the Canadian +communities with an irresistible power to press onward until they +realise those high conceptions which some statesmen already imagine for +them in a not very distant future. These conceptions are of a still +closer union with the parent state, which shall increase their national +responsibilities, and at the same time give the Dominion a recognised +position in the central councils of the empire. + + + + + APPENDIX A. + + COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE MAIN PROVISIONS OF + THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA + AND THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH. + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA. | + _Name._ _Name_ + The Dominion of Canada The Commonwealth of Australia. + + _How Constituted._ _How Constituted_ + Of provinces. Of states. + + _Seat of Government._ _Seat of Government_ + At Ottawa until the Queen Within federal territory in + otherwise directs. New South Wales, at least 100 + miles from Sydney + + _Executive Power._ _Executive Power_ + Vested in the Queen. Vested in the Queen. + Queen's representative, a Queen's representative, a + governor-general, appointed by governor-general, appointed by + the Queen in council. the Queen in council. + + Salary of governor-general Not less than L10,000 paid + L10,000 sterling, paid by Dominion by the commonwealth, fixed by + government, alterable by parliament from time to time, + the parliament of Canada, but not diminished during tenure of + subject to the disallowance of a governor-general. + the crown, as in 1868, when + parliament passed a bill to reduce + this salary. + + + + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA. + Ministers called by governor-general Same--only for "privy + to form a cabinet, first councillors" read "executive + sworn in as privy councillors, councillors" + hold office while they have the + confidence of the popular house + of parliament, in accordance with + the conventions, understandings, + and maxims of responsible or + parliamentary government. + + Privy councillors hold, as the Executive councillors administer + crown may designate, certain such departments as + departments of state, not limited governor-general from time to + in name or number, but left to time establishes. Until other + the discretionary action of provision is made by parliament, + parliament. Such heads of number of such officers, who + departments must seek a new may sit in parliament, shall not + election on accepting these exceed seven. + office of emolument. + + _Command of Military and _Command of Military and + Naval Forces_ Naval Forces_ + Vested in the Queen. In the Queen's representative. + + _Parliament_ _Parliament_ + The Queen. The Queen. + Senate. Senate. + House of commons. House of representatives. + Session once at least every The same. + year. + Privileges, immunities and Such as declared by the parliament + powers held by senate and house of the commonwealth, + of commons, such as are defined and, until declared, such as are + by act of the parliament of held by the commons' house of + Canada, but not to exceed those parliament of Great Britain at + enjoyed at the passing of such the date of the establishment of + act by the commons' house of the commonwealth. + parliament of Great Britain. + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA + + Senate composed of twenty-four Senate composed of six + members for each of the senators for each state, directly + three following divisions (1) chosen for six years by the + Ontario, (2) Quebec, and (3) people of the state voting as + maritime provinces of Nova one electorate; half the number + Scotia, New Brunswick, and shall retire every three years, + Prince Edward Island. Other but shall be eligible for + provinces can be represented re-election. No property + under the constitution, but the qualification is required, but the + total number of senators shall senators must be British subjects + not at any time exceed of the full age of twenty-one years. + seventy-eight, except in the In Queensland the people can + case of the admission of vote in divisions, instead of in + Newfoundland, when the maximum one electorate. + may be eighty-two. Senators + appointed by the crown for life, + but removable for certain + disabilities. They must have + a property qualification and be + of the full age of thirty years. + + Speaker of the senate appointed President of the senate elected + by the governor-general by that body. + (in council). + + Fifteen senators form a quorum One-third of whole number of + until parliament of Canada senators form a quorum until + otherwise provides. parliament of commonwealth + otherwise provides. + Non-attendance for two whole Non-attendance for two consecutive + sessions vacates a senator's seat. months of any session + vacates a senator's seat. + Members of house of commons Every three years. + elected every five years, + or whenever parliament is dissolved + by the governor-general. + + No property qualification, but The same. + must be British subjects of full + age of twenty-one years. + + + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA + The electors for the Dominion Qualification of electors for + commons are the electors of the members of the house of + several provinces, under the representatives is that + limitations of a statute passed prescribed by the law of each + by the Dominion parliament in state for the electors of the + 1878. Qualifications vary, but more numerous house of the + universal suffrage, qualified by parlianment of the state. + residence, generally prevails. + + A fresh apportionment of The same. + representatives to be made after + each census, or not longer than + intervals of ten years. + + Speaker of house of commons The same. + elected by the members of the + house. + + Quorum of house of commons Quorum of house of representatives + --twenty members, of whom the --one-third of the + speaker counts one. whole number of members + until otherwise provided by + parliament. + + No such provision. Member vacates his seat + when absent, without permission, + for two months of a + session. + + No such provision. Parliament to be called together + not later than thirty days + after that appointment for return + of writs. + + Allowance to each member of Allowance of L400 to members + senate and commons $1,000 for of both houses until other + a session of thirty days, and provision is made by parliament. + mileage expenses, 10 cents a + mile going and returning. Not + expressly provided for by + constitution but by statute of + parliament from time to time. + + + + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA. + Canadian statutes disqualify Same classes disqualified in + contractors and certain persons the constitution. + holding office on receiving emoluments + or fees from the crown + while sitting in parliament. + + Each house determines the The constitution has a special + rules, and orders necessary for provision on the subject. + the regulation of its own proceedings; + not in the constitution. + + _Money And Tax Bills_ _Money and Tax Bills_ + The same. Money and tax bills can only + originate in the house of + representatives. + + |Same by practice. The senate can reject, but not + amend, taxation or appropriation + bills. + + Not in Canadian constitution. The senate may return money + and appropriation bills to the + house of representatives, + requesting the omission or + amendment of any provision + therein, but it is optional + for the house to make such + omissions or amendments. + + No such provision. If bills, other than money + bills, + have twice been passed by the + house of representatives and + twice been rejected by the + senate or passed by that body + with amendments to which the + house of representatives will + not agree, the governor-general + may dissolve the two houses + simultaneously; and if, after + the new election + they continue to disagree, + the governor-general may convene + a joint sitting of the members + of the two houses, who shall + deliberate and vote upon the + bill, which can only become + law if passed by an absolute + majority of the members sitting + and voting. + + _Legislative Powers of the _Legislative Powers of the + Parliament of the Dominion_. Parliament of the + Commonwealth_. + + Respective powers of the federal The Legislative powers of the + parliament and provincial federal parliament are alone + legislatures are enumerated and enumerated, and the states + defined in the constitution; the expressly retain all the powers + residuum of power rests with the vested in them by their + central government in relation respective constitutions at the + to all matters not coming within establishment of the + the classes of subjects by the commonwealth as to matters not + British North America act of specified as being within the + 1867 assigned exclusively to the exclusive jurisdiction of the + legislatures. federal parliament. + + _The Provinces._ _The States._ + + Legislatures may alter provincial Constitutions may be altered + constitutions except as under the authority of the + regards the office of lieutenant parliaments thereof. + -governor. + + Lieutenant-governors are appointed The constitution of each state + by the governor-general-in-council, continues (subject to the + and removable by constitution) as at the + him within five years only for establishment of the + cause assigned and communicated commonwealth, or as at the + by message to the two admission or establishment + houses of parliament. of the states, as the case + may be, until altered in + accordance with the + constitution of the + states. In other words, + the powers of the states + over their own constitutions + are preserved. + + Acts of the provincial When a law of the state is + legislatures may be disallowed inconsistent with one of the + by the governor-general-in-council commonwealth, the latter shall, + one year after their receipt. to the extent of such + inconsistency, be invalid. + + Education is within exclusive No special provisions in the + jurisdiction of the provinces, constitution; education being + but with conditions for the one of the subjects exclusively + maintenance and protection of within the powers of the state + rights and privileges of parliaments, under the clause + religious bodies in a province leaving them in possession of + with respect to denominational all powers not expressly given + schools. to the federal parliament. + + The federal parliament can A state shall not impose any + alone impose duties or taxes on taxes or duties upon imports + imports. except such as are necessary + for executing the inspection + laws of a state, but the net + produce of all charges so + levied shall be for use of the, + commonwealth, and such + inspection laws may be annulled + by the parliament of the + commonwealth. + + Similar power. The parliament of the + commonwealth may from time to + time admit new states, and make + laws for the provisional + administration and government + of any territory surrendered by + any state to the commonwealth, + or of any territory placed by + the Queen under the + commonwealth, or otherwise + acquired by the same. + + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA. + + _The Judiciary._ _The Judiciary._ + + The same. The parliament of the + commonwealth can establish a + federal supreme court, called + the High Court of Australia, + and other federal courts for + the commonwealth; the judges + to be appointed by the + governor-general, to hold + office during good behaviour, + No such provision with respect not to be removed except upon + to diminution of salary during an address of both houses of + tenure of office. parliament, but so that the + salary paid to any judge shall + not be diminished during his + continuance in office. + + Similar provisions by statutory The high court can adjudicate + enactments of Dominion in cases arising out of the + parliament. constitution, or controversies + between states, or in which the + commonwealth is a party. + + No such stringent provision Appeals only allowed to + exists in the Canadian Queen-in-council from high court + constitution, but appeals in all on constitutional issues between + civil--though not in commonwealth and any state, + criminal--cases are allowed, by or between two or more states, + virtue of the exercise of the when high court gives leave to + royal prerogative, from appeal. Otherwise, the royal + provincial courts as well as prerogative to grant appeals is + from the supreme court of Canada not impaired. Parliament may, + to the Queen-in-council; however, make laws limiting + _i.e._, in practice, to the such appeals, but they must + judicial committee of the privy be reserved for her Majesty's + council. pleasure. + + + + + + CANADA. AUSTRALIA. + + Judges of the superior and Judges in the states are appointed + county courts in the provinces and removable under existing state + (except those of probate in New constitutions, which the state + Brunswick, Nova Scotia and parliaments can change at will. + Prince Edward Island) are appointed + by the governor-general-in-council, + and removable only + by the same on the address of + the two houses of parliament. + Their salaries and allowances + are fixed by the parliament of + Canada. + + The provinces have jurisdiction Similar powers in the states. + over the administration of + justice in a province, including + the constitution, maintenance, + and organisation of provincial + courts, both of civil and criminal + jurisdiction, and including the + procedure in civil matters in + those courts. + + The enactment and amendment With the states. + of the criminal law rest + with the Dominion parliament. + + The enactment and amendment With the states. + of all laws relating to property + and civil rights rest with + the provinces. + + _Trade and Finance._ _Trade and Finance._ + Customs and excise, trade and The parliament of the commonwealth + commerce, are within exclusive has sole power to + jurisdiction of Dominion parliament. impose uniform duties of customs + and excise, and to grant bounties + upon goods when it thinks it + expedient. As soon as + such duties or customs + are imposed, trade and + intercourse throughout the + commonwealth, whether by + internal carriageor ocean + navigation, is to be free. + + The Dominion government The parliament of the commonwealth + can veto any such unconstitutional may annul any state + law. law interfering with the freedom + of trade or commerce between + the different parts of the + commonwealth, or giving preference + to the ports of one part over + those of another. + + The power of direct taxation Direct taxation may be imposed + is within the jurisdiction of both by the commonwealth + Dominion parliament and provincial and by each state within its own + legislatures, the one for limits--but taxation, when + Dominion and the other solely exercised by the commonwealth, + for provincial purposes. must be uniform. + + Both Dominion and provincial Same is true of commonwealth + governments have unlimited and states. + borrowing power under the authority + of parliament and legislatures. + + Certain money subsidies are Of the net revenue of the + paid annually to the provinces commonwealth from duties of + towards the support of their customs and excise, not more + governments and legislatures. than one-fourth shall be applied + annually by the commonwealth + towards its expenditure. The + balance shall, in accordance + with certain conditions of the + constitution, be paid to the + several states, or applied + towards the payment of + interest on debts of the + several states. This arrangement + is limited to ten years. Financial + aid may be granted to any state + upon such terms as the federal + parliament may deem expedient. + Western Australia may, subject + to certain restrictions, impose + duties on goods imported from + other parts of the commonwealth. + + + No such provision; but the For the administration of the + Dominion parliament and provincial laws relating to interstate trade + legislatures could by the governor-general-in-council + legislation arrange a similar may appoint an interstate + commission. commission. + + Canada is liable for amount of The parliament of the commonwealth + the debts and liabilities of the may consolidate or + provinces existing at the time of take over state debts by general + the union, under the conditions consent, but a state shall + and terms laid down in the indemnify the commonwealth, and + constitution. the amount of interest payable in + respect to a debt shall be + deducted from its share of the + surplus revenue of the + commonwealth. + + _Imperial Control over_ _Imperial Control over_ + _Dominion Legislation._ _Australian Legislation._ + Bills may be reserved by the The same. + governor-general for the Queen's + pleasure, and her Majesty in As the old state constitutions + council may within two years continue in force until amended + after receipt of any Dominion by the state, state legislation is + act disallow the same. still subject to power of + disallowance by Queen in council. + + No such provision. The governor-general may return + any "law" presented to him for + the Queen's assent and suggest + amendments therein, and + the houses may deal with them + as they think fit. + + The recommendation of the The same. + crown is required before initiation + of a money vote in parliament. + + _Amendments to the _Amendments to the + Constitution_. Constitution._ + + By the imperial parliament on Any proposed amendment to + an address of the houses of the the constitution must be first + Dominion parliament to the passed by an absolute majority + Queen. of each house of parliament, + and submitted in each state to + the electors qualified to vote for + members of the house of + representatives. If in majority of + the states a majority of the + electors voting approve the + proposed law, and if a majority + of all the electors + voting also approve the + proposed law, it shall be + presented to the governor-general + for the royal assent. + + +APPENDIX B. + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. + + +I confine these notes to the most accurate and available books and +essays on the history of Canada. + +For the French regime consult.--_Jacques Cartier's Voyages_, by Joseph +Pope (Ottawa, 1889), Charlevoix's _History and General Description of +New France_, translated by J. Gilmary Shea (New York, 1868); _Cours +d'histoire du Canada_, by Abbe Ferland (Quebec, 1861); _Histoire du +Canada_, by F.X. Garneau (4th ed., Montreal, 1882); F. Parkman's series +of admirable histories of the French regime (Boston, 1865--1884), _The +Story of Canada_ (Nations' Series, London, New York and Toronto, 1896), +by J.G. Bourinot, necessarily written in a light vein, is largely +devoted to the days of French rule, and may profitably be read on that +account in connection with this later book, chiefly devoted to British +dominion. + +For the history of Acadia, consult.--_Acadia_, by James Hannay (St. +John, N.B., 1879); _History of Nova Scotia_, by Thomas C. Haliburton +(Halifax, N.S., 1829). A valuable compilation of annals is _A History of +Nova Scotia or Acadie_, by Beamish Murdoch (Halifax, 1867). _Builders of +Nova Scotia_, by J.G. Bourinot (Toronto, and "Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.," +1900), contains many portraits of famous Nova Scotians down to +confederation, and appendices of valuable historical documents. + +_Cape Breton and its Memorials of the French Regime_ ("Trans. Roy. Soc. +Can.," vol. IX, and in separate form, Montreal, 1891) by J.G. Bourinot, +gives a full bibliography of voyages of Northmen, the Cabots, Carrier, +and Champlain, and of the Histories of the Seven Years' War. The same +remarks apply to Winsor's _Narrative and Critical History of America_ +(Boston, 1886--89). The "Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.," since 1894, have +several important papers by Archbishop O'Brien, Dr. S.E. Dawson, and +others on the Cabot discovery. + +British rule, 1760-1900:--Garneau's _History_, already mentioned, gives +the French Canadian view of the political situation from 1760 until +1840; William Kingsford's _History of Canada_ (Toronto, 1887-1898) has a +fairly accurate account of events from 1760 until 1840, in vols. V-X; _A +History of Lower Canada_, by R. Christie, a member of the assembly of +the province (Quebec, 1848-1854) is very useful for copies of public +documents from 1774 until 1840. + +The most important accounts of the U.E. Loyalists of the American +Revolution by writers in the United States are:--L. Sabine's _Loyalists_ +(Boston, 1864), and Tyler's _Literary History of the American +Revolution_ (New York, 1897). Canadian accounts are to be found in +Egerton Ryerson's _Loyalists of America_ (Toronto, 1880)--remarkably +prosaic--and Canniff's _History of Upper Canada_ (Toronto, 1872). +Consult also articles of J.G. Bourinot in the _Quarterly Review_ for +October, 1898, and the _Canadian Magazine_ for April, 1898, in which +names of prominent Canadian descendants of Loyalists are given. + +Kingsford's _History_, vol. VIII, has the best Canadian account of the +War of 1812-15. The most impartial American record of its causes and +progress is Henry Adams's _History of the United States of America_ (New +York, 1860), vols VI and VII. + +Garneau's _History_ gives the most favourable estimate of Papineau and +his party, who brought about the Rebellion in Lower Canada. Kingsford +(vols. IX and X) writes impartially on the risings in the two Canadas. + +Other works to be consulted are:--Lord Durham's _Report on the Affairs +of British North America_ (London, 1839); _Life of W. Lyon Mackenzie_, +by Charles Lindsey, his son-in-law (Toronto, 1863); _The Upper Canadian +Rebellion_, by J. Charles Dent (Toronto, 1885). The _Speeches and +Letters_ of the Hon. Joseph Howe (Boston, 1858) contain the ablest +expositions of the principles of responsible government by its greatest +advocate in British North America. See also Campbell's _History of +Prince Edward Island_ (Charlottetown, 1875). New Brunswick has not a +single good history. _The Life and Times of Sir Leonard Tilley_, by +James Hannay (St. John, N.B. 1897), can be read with advantage. See +Prof. Ganong's valuable essays on the early history of New Brunswick in +"Trans. Roy. Soc. Can," New Series, vols. I--v. Rev. Dr. Withrow's +_History of Canada_ (Toronto, 1888) has chapters on affairs of Prince +Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, to date of publication. + +For the history of Canada since 1840, consult.--_Canada since the Union_ +(1840--1880), by J. Charles Dent (Toronto, 1880--81); _Le Canada sous +l'Union_, by Louis Turcotte (Quebec, 1871); _Memoirs of the Right Hon. +Sir John A. Macdonald_, by Joseph Pope, his private secretary (London +and Ottawa, 1894); _Debates on Confederation_ (Quebec, 1865); +_Confederation_, by Hon. J.H. Gray, M.P., a delegate to the Quebec +Conference (Toronto, 1872). + +For the constitutional development of Canada, consult.--_A Manual_, by +J.G. Bourinot (Montreal, 1888, and included in latest edition of his +_Parliamentary Procedure_, 1891); _How Canada is Governed_, by the same +(Toronto, 1897--1900); _Parliamentary Government in the Colonies_, by +Alpheus Todd (London, 1894); _Documents illustrative of the Canadian +Constitution_, by W. Houston (Toronto, 1891). _Parliamentary Government +in Canada_, by J.G. Bourinot (Amer. Hist. Association, Washington, 1892, +and "Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.," 1892), contains a long list of books +relating to the constitutional history of Canada. Also consult _How +Canada is Governed_ for works on constitutional, legal, municipal and +educational history of the provinces of Canada. + +For Manitoba and the North-west Territories the reader may +consult:--_Manitoba. Its Infancy, Growth and Present Condition_, by Rev. +Prof. Bryce (London, 1882); _History of the North-west_, by A. Begg +(Toronto, 1894); _The Great Company_, by Beckles Wilson (Toronto and +London, 1899); _Reminiscences of the North-west Rebellions_, by Major +Boulton (Toronto, 1886). A remarkable _History of the Hudson's Bay +Company_, by Rev. Prof. Bryce (London, New York and Toronto, 1900). For +British Columbia:--A. Begg's _History_ (Toronto, 1896). + +For the literary progress of Canada, consult:--_The Intellectual +Development of the Canadian People_, by J.G. Bourinot (Toronto, 1881); +_Canada's Intellectual Strength and Weakness_ ("Trans. Roy. Soc. +Canada," vol. XI, also in separate form, Montreal, 1893), by the same, +contains an elaborate list of Canadian literature, French and English, +to date. The 17 volumes of the same Transactions contain numerous +valuable essays on French Canadian literary progress. + +Other valuable books to be consulted are:--_Canada and Newfoundland_ in +Stanford's _Compendium of Geography and Travel_ (London, 1897), by Dr. +S.E. Dawson, F.R.S.C.; _The Statistical Year Book of Canada_, a +government publication issued annually at Ottawa, and edited by Geo. +Johnson, F.S.S.; _The Great Dominion_ (London, 1895), by Dr. G.R. +Parkin, C.M.G., LL.D., the eloquent advocate of imperial federation for +many years, merits careful reading. _Canada and the United States_, in +Papers of the Amer. Hist Assoc. (Washington, July, 1891), and _Canada +and the United States: their Past and Present Relations_, in the +_Quarterly Review_ for April, 1891, both by the present author, have +been largely used in the preparation of the last chapter of this book. + +With respect to the boundaries of Canada and the English colonies during +the days of French dominion, and from 1763 until 1774--_i.e._ from the +Treaty of Paris until the Quebec Act--consult a valuable collection of +early French and English maps, given in _A Report on the Boundaries of +Ontario_ (Toronto, 1873), by Hon. David Mills, now Minister of Justice +in the Laurier government, who was an Ontario commissioner to collect +evidence with respect to the western limits of the province. Consult +also Prof. Hinsdale's _Old North-west_ (New York, 1888); _Epochs of +American History_, edited by Prof. Hart, of Harvard University (London +and Boston, 1893); _Remarks on the French Memorials concerning the +Limits of Acadia_ (London, 1756) by T. Jefferys, who gives maps showing +clearly French and English claims with respect to Nova Scotia or Acadia +"according to its ancient limits" (Treaty of Utrecht). These and other +maps are given in that invaluable compilation, Winsor's _Narrative and +Critical History of America_. See also Mitchell's map of British and +French possessions in North America, issued by the British Board of +Plantations in 1758, and reprinted (in part) in the _Debates on the +Quebec Act_, by Sir H. Cavendish (London, 1839). For text of Treaties of +Utrecht (1612), of Paris (1763), of Quebec Act (1774), and other +treaties and imperial acts relating to Canada, see Houston's +_Documents_, cited above, p. 329. The maps of Canada and the disputed +boundary in Alaska, which I give in this book, are taken from the small +maps issued in 1899 by the Department of the Interior at Ottawa. + +INDEX + + +Abbott, Sir John; prime minister of Canada, 257; death of, ib + +Aberdeen, Earl of; governor-general of Canada, 265-267 + +Aberdeen, Lady, 267 + +Acadia College, N.S., founded, 163 + +_Acadie_ or _La Cadie_; name of, 8; settled by France, 8, 9; ceded to +Great Britain by Treaty of Utrecht (1713), 9; French inhabitants +expelled from, 22, 23 + +Adams, President John; on the U.K. Loyalists, 76 + +Alaskan Boundary, 310-312; map of, 311 + +Alexander, Sir William (Lord Stirling); names Nova Scotia, 11 + +Allan, Sir Hugh; contributes funds to Conservative elections, 236; +results of, 237 + +Allouez, Father; founds mission at La Pointe (Ashland), 17 + +Almon, M, B.; banker and politician of Nova Scotia, 178 + +American Revolution; causes of, 56-65; momentous events of, 63-67; its +effects upon Canada and Maritime Provinces, 67-74, 81 + +Angers, lieutenant-governor; dismisses Mercier ministry in Quebec, 247 + +Anglican Church: first built in Upper Canada, 84 + +Annand, William; Nova Scotian journalist, and first minister of province +after Confederation, 218 + +Annapolis (Port Royal) named, 9 + +Archibald, Sir Adams, delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204; first +lieutenant-governor of Manitoba, 230 + +Architecture in Canada, 288, 289 + +Art in Canada, 288 + +Assiniboia; name of Lord Selkirk's domain in North-west, 225 + +Australia, Commonwealth of; constitution of, 282, 283; comparisons +between Canadian and Australian federal systems, 315-326 (Appendix A) + +Baccalaos, or Newfoundland, 8 + +Bagot, Sir Charles, governor-general of Canada, 169 + +Baldwin, Robert, efforts of, for responsible government, 168, 169; joint +leader with Lafontaine in Reform ministry, 170, 173; admirable character +of, 184 + +Ballot, vote by; established, 239 + +Basques in Canada, 5 + +Batoche, N.W.T.; victory of loyal Canadian forces at, in second +North-west rebellion of 1885, 253 + +Bay of Chaleurs Railway; scandal connected with, 247 + +Bering Sea dispute, 308, 309 + +Bibliographical notes, see App. B + +Bidwell, Marshall Spring; reformer of Upper Canada, 146, 149, 151; +unjust treatment of, by lieutenant-governor Head, 153 + +Big Bear, Indian Chief in N.W.T.; rebels against Canada and is punished, +253-254 + +Bishop's Palace; first parliament house of Lower Canada, 92, 160 + +Blair, Mr.; Canadian statesman, 265 + +Blake, Edward; Canadian statesman, 230, 231, 234, 241, 244, 255 + +Blanchard, Hiram; Nova Scotia, Unionist, defeated in 1867, 218 + +Botsford, Amos; first speaker of assembly of New Brunswick, 88 + +Boucherville, M. de; prime minister of Quebec, 245, 247 + +Bouchette, Joseph, Canadian general and author, 164 + +Boundary disputes; in North-west, 292; in Maine, 296-300; in Oregon, +300-302; in British Columbia (San Juan) 301, 302; in Alaska, 310-312. +See _Maps_ + +Boundary of Ontario settled, 238 + +Bourgeoys, Sister, 34 + +Bowell, Sir Mackenzie; prime minister of Canada, 257 + +Brant, Joseph (Thayendanega), Mohawk Chief, 84; his loyalty to Great +Britain, ib. + +Brebeuf, Jean de, Jesuit martyr, 12 + +Bretons in Canada, 51 + +Briand, Bishop; consecrated after conquest, 43; loyal _mandement_ of, in +1775, 58 + +British American League suggests federal union of provinces, 194 + +British Columbia, province of; its early history, 231, 232; enters +Confederation, 232 + +British North America Act of 1867; passed to unite provinces, 215. See +_Constitution of Canada._ + +Brock, General; services of, during war of 1812-15, 114, 119; death of, +ib. + +Brown, George; Canadian journalist and reformer, suggests federal union, +196; advocates representation by population, 197; assists in bringing +about Confederation, 197; joins the Tache-Macdonald government with +other reformers, 198; leaves the coalition ministry, 217; unsuccessful +mission to Washington to obtain reciprocity, 306; assassination of, 256; +character of, 197, 202 + +Brown, Thomas Storrow; leads Canadian rebels at St. Charles in 1837, 134 + +By, Colonel, founder of Bytown (Ottawa), 158; engineer of Ruleau Canal, +ib. + +Cabot, John; voyages of, to North America, 4, 5 + +Caldwell, Receiver-General; defaulter to government, 126 + +Calvet, Pierre du; opponent of Governor Haldimand, 72; disloyalty of, +72, 73 + +Campbell, Sir Alexander; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 203 + +Campbell, Sir Colin; governor of Nova Scotia, 173; opposes responsible +government, ib. + +Canada, name of, 6; discovery and settlement of, by France, 4-15; French +exploration of, 15-21; conquered by Great Britain, 21-27; political, +economic, and social conditions of, during French rule, 27-36; +beginnings of British rule in, 37-45; influence of Quebec Act of 1774 +upon, 45-48; during American Revolution, 67-74; United Empire Loyalists +settle in, 81-86; political divisions of (in 1792), 91; effects of war +of 1812-15 upon, 110-123; rebellion in, 134-156; social and economic +condition of, in 1838, 156-164; union of, in 1840, 166; responsible +government in, 167-173; social and economic conditions of, in 1866, +185-192; Confederation of, 215, 216; federal constitution of, 273-284, +315-326; first ministry of, under Confederation, 216, first parliament +of, 218, 219; trade and revenue of, in 1899, 273; literature in, +284-287, art in, 288; sculpture in, ib.; architecture in, 288, 289; +education in 289, 290; libraries in, ib.; relations with England and the +United States, 390-314; bibliographical notes of, 327-330; maps of, see +_Maps_ + +Canada's representation at "Diamond Jubilee" (1897), 35, 36, 270, 271 + +Canada Temperance Act. See _Temperance Legislation_ + +Canada and the United States, relations between (1783-1900), 290-313 + +_Canadien, Le_; established in French Canada, 95 + +Canadian Pacific Railway; history of 232, 233, 236, 242, 244 + +Canadian Trade Acts; respecting Upper and Lower Canada, 153 + +Canals of Canada, 273 + +Cape Breton, name of, 5 + +Carignan-Salieres regiment settled in Canada 14 + +Carleton, Guy (Lord Dorchester); governor general of Canada, 44; his +just treatment of French Canadians, ib.; his part in framing of the +Quebec Act, 45; saves Canada during American revolution, 67; again +governor-general, 89; his tribute to the U.E. Loyalists, ib. + +Carleton, Colonel John; first governor of New Brunswick, 87 + +Carnarvon, Earl of; introduces British North America Act of 1867 in +British Parliament, 215 + +Caroline steamer; seized by Canadians 295; international complications +respecting 295, 296 + +Caron Father le; French missionary, 16 + +Caron, Sir Adolphe; minister of militia during North-west rebellion of +1885, 252; resists Riel agitation in French Canada, 254 + +Carter, Frederick B.T.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Cartier, Sir George; a father of Confederation, 201; great public +services of, ib.; death of, 233 + +Cartier, Jacques, discovers the St. Lawrence, 6, 7 + +Cartwright, Sir Richard; Canadian statesman, 94, 265 + +Casgrain, Abbe; Canadian author, 284 + +Cathcart, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 171, 172 + +Champlain, Samuel; founds Quebec, 9; career of, in Canada, 9-12, +character of, ib. + +Chandler, Edward Barron delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205; +public career of, 206 + +Chapais, J.C., delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 304 + +Chapleau, Sir Adolphe; resists popular clamour in French Canada for +Riel's pardon after rebellion of 1885, 254 + +Charlesbourg-Royal, 7 + +Charlevoix, Jesuit priest; historian of New France, 19 + +Chartier, Abbe; Canadian rebel of 1837, 135 + +Chartrand, murder of, in Lower Canadian rebellion of 1837, 135 + +Chateauguay, battle of; won by French Canadians, 116, 121 + +Chateau of St. Louis; founded at Quebec, 31; destroyed by fire, 160 + +Chauveau, Pierre O.J.; his services to education, 192; first prime +minister of Quebec after Confederation, 217 + +Chenier, Dr.; Canadian rebel, 134; monument to, 135 + +Christie, Mr.; expelled from assembly of Lower Canada, 127; + +Chrystler's Farm, battle at; won by British troops in 1813, 116 + +Civil Law of French Canada, 29; established under British rule, 46, 278 + +Clergy Reserves Question; origin of, 141; powerful factor in political +controversy for years, ib.; settled, 186 + +Cockburn, James; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204; first +speaker of commons' house of Dominion parliament, ib. + +Code Napoleon in French Canada, 278 + +Colbert, French minister, 27 + +Colborne, Sir John (Lord Seaforth); represses rebellion in Lower Canada, +134, 138; governor-general of Canada, 138 + +Colebrooke, Sir William; lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, 174 + +Coles, George; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Colonial Conference at Ottawa (1894), 200 + +Commissions, International, affecting Canada; Maine boundary, 296, +Washington (1871), 302, 304-306; Washington (1887), 307, 308, Bering +Sea, 309; joint high commission (Quebec and Washington, 1897-98), +309-313 + +Commonwealth of Australia. See _Australia_ + +Confederation of the British North American provinces; foreshadowed, +194; beginnings of, 195-198; initiated at Quebec Convention of 1864, +199; fathers of, 199-206, consummated, 206-215; birth of Dominion of +Canada, 216; constitution of, 206-209, 273-284; first ministry under, +216; first parliament under, 217; results of, 272, 273 + +Congregation de Notre-Dame established, 34 + +Constitutional Act of 1791; forms provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, +90, 91; general provisions of, 91, 92 + +Constitution of Canadian Dominion, 273-281; compared with that of +Australian Commonwealth, 282-284, 315, 326 (App. A) + +Cornwallis, Colonel, founds Halifax, 49 + +Corrupt elections: measures to restrain and punish, 239 + +Cortereal, Gaspar and Miguel; voyages of, to North America, 5 + +_Coureurs-de-bois,_ 17, 18 + +_Coutume de Paris_ established in French Canada, 29 + +Craig, Sir James; governor-general of Canada, 96; quarrels of, with +leading French Canadians, character of, 96, 97 + +Cremazie, Canadian poet, 192 + +Crozier, Superintendent; defeated by half-breeds in North-west rebellion +of 1885, 252 + +Cut Knife Greek, N.W.T.; Colonel Otter engages Indians at, in North-west +rebellion of 1885, 253 + +Dalhousie College, Nova Scotia; founded, 163 + +Dalhousie, Lord, governor-general of Canada; quarrel of, with Papineau, +129 + +Daly, Sir Dominick; first minister of Canada under Lord Metcalfe, 170 + +Davies, Sir Louis; Canadian statesman, 265 + +Davies, English navigator; voyages of, to Canada, 7 + +Dawson, Sir William; Canadian scientist, 192, 286 + +Dickey, R.B.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 305 + +Dochet Island (St. Croix River); first settlement of French on, 8 + +Dominion of Canada; origin of name, 215; established, 215, 216; first +ministry of, 216; first parliament of, 217; completed from Atlantic to +Pacific, 227, 232, 234; history of, from 1873-1900, 236-272; map of, _at +end._ + +Dorchester, Lord; see _Carleton, Sir Guy_ + +Douglas, Sir James; governor of British Columbia, 232 + +Drew, Captain; seizes steamer Caroline on U.S. frontier, 154. See +_Caroline._ + +Drummond, Attorney-General; member of MacNab-Morin ministry, 186 + +Drummond, Dr., Canadian poet, 285 + +Drummond, General, services of, during war of 1812-15, 116, 117, 122 + +Duck Lake, N.W.T., defeat of government forces at, in Canadian rebellion +of 1885, 252 + +Dumont Gabriel; takes part in Riel's North-west revolt of 1885, 252, 253 + +Dufferin, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 241, 243, 267 + +Durham, Earl of; high commissioner to Canada after rebellion of 1837, +136; his humanity and justice, 137; returns from Canada when rebuked in +England, ib., his report on Canadian affairs, 165 + +Durham Terrace, constructed, 160 + +Education in Canada; state of, under French rule, 33, 34, in 1838, 162, +163; after union of 1840, 192; present condition of, 290; contributions +by government and people, ib. + +Elgin, Lord; governor-general of Canada, character of, 172, 173; +established responsible government, 173; action of, on Rebellion Losses +Bill in 1849, 188, 189 + +Falkland, Lord; governor of Nova Scotia, 176; quarrels with Joseph Howe +and Liberal party, 177-179; returns to England, 179 + +Family Compact in Upper Canada; meaning of, 141; controls government, +ib. + +Fenian raids; in 1866, 213; in 1870-71, 230, 231, Canada never +indemnified for, 305 + +Ferland, French Canadian historian, 192 + +Fielding, Mr., finance minister of Canada, 265, his budget of 1897, 209 + +Fish Creek, N.W.T.; General Middleton checked at, in engagement with +rebels of 1885, 253 + +Fisher, Charles; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205 + +Fishery question between Canada and the United States, 293, 302, 304, +307, 308 + +Fitzgibbon, Lieutenant; successful strategy of, at Beaver Dams in 1813, +116 + +Franchise Act of Dominion, passed, 255, repealed, 268 + +Frechette, French Canadian poet, 285 + +Free Trade policy of England; its early effects upon Canada, 172, 187, +189 + +French Acadians See _Neutrals_ + +French Canada; during French regime (1534-1760), 4-37; under military +government after conquest by Great Britain, 37, 38; desire of British +government to do justice to, 44, 45, provisions of Quebec Act affecting, +45, 48; political struggles and rebellion in, 124-138; influence of +Union Act of 1840 upon, 170, 187; brought into confederation, 216; +results of union upon, 273; literature in, 284, 285 + +French exploration in great valleys of North America, 15-21 + +French language; use of, restricted by Union Act of 1840, 187; +restriction removed, ib. + +Frobisher, English navigator; voyages of, to Canada, 8 + +Frog Lake, massacre at, in North-west rebellion of 1885, 252 + +Frontenac, Count de (Louis de La Buade); French governor of Canada, 13; +eminent services of, ib. + +Galloway, Thomas; his scheme for readjusting relations between Great +Britain and her old Colonies, 79 + +Galt, Sir Alexander; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 20; public +services of, ib. + +Garneau, French Canadian historian, 192 + +German and Belgian Treaties; denunciation of, 261, 271 + +Gilbert, Sir Humphrey; takes possession of Newfoundland, 8 + +Glenelg, Lord; colonial secretary in 1838, 137 + +Gordon, Lt.-Governor; promotes federal union in New Brunswick, 212 + +Gosford, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 132, 134 + +Gourlay, Robert; misfortunes of, as a reformer in Upper Canada, 143-145 + +Grasett, Colonel; assists in repressing North-west rebellion of 1885, +253 + +Gray, Colonel; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Gray, John Hamilton, delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205 + +Grey, Earl; colonial secretary, 172 + + +Haldimand, general; governor-general of Canada, 71, 72 + +Haliburton, Judge, author of _Sam Sack_, etc., 164 + +Halifax, founded, 49 + +Harvey, Colonel; victory of, at Stoney Creek in 1813, 116. See _Harvey, +Sir John._ + +Harvey, Sir John; governor of Nova Scotia, of New Brunswick, establishes +responsible government in the maritime provinces. See _Harvey, Colonel._ + +Haviland, Thomas Heath; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206; +public career of, ib. + +Head, Sir Francis Bond; lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, 148; his +unjust treatment of reformers, 149-151; his rashness before rebellion, +152; represses rebellion, 153 + +Henry, William A.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204 + +Hincks, Sir Francis; Canadian statesman, melancholy death of, 233 + +Historian of Canada, 192, 284 + +Hochelaga (Montreal); Indian village of, visited by Jacques Cartier, 6 + +Howe, Joseph; father of responsible government in Nova Scotia, 175, 176; +his quarrel with Lord Falkland, 176-179; ability of, 183, 184; advocate +of imperial federation, 195; opposes confederation from 1864-1868, 212, +219; his reasons for receding from his hostile position, 219; enters the +Macdonald ministry, 220; lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, ib; sudden +death of, ib; orator, poet, and statesman, 220, 221 + +Howland, Sir William P.; delegate to Westminster Palace Conference of +1866-67, 214; lieutenant-governor of Ontario, 217 + +Hudson's Bay Company; its great territorial privileges, 231-324; its +claims purchased by the Canadian government, 227; map illustrating its +charter, 222 + +Hull, General; defeat of, by Brock at Detroit, 114 + +Hundred Associates, Company of; established in Canada, 10 + +"Hunter's Lodges"; formed in United States to invade Canada, 154 + +Huntington, Lucius Seth; makes charges against Sir John Macdonald, 236 + +Huron Indians; massacre of, by the Iroquois, 12 + +Hutchinson, Governor Thomas (of Massachusetts); on relations between +Great Britain and her old Colonies, 98 + +Iberville, founder of Louisiana, 19 + +Immigration to Canada, 78, 79 + +Independence of old Thirteen Colonies acknowledged, by Great Britain, 74 + +Indians; British treatment of, 41,42; Canadian relations with, 238, 239 + +Intellectual culture in Canada; under French rule, 35; under British +rule, 164, 192, 284, 285 + +Intercolonial Railway; history of, 191, 215, 219 + +Iroquois Indians; ferocity of, 10-13 + +Jameson, Miss Anna, her "Winter Studies and Summer Rambles" in Upper +Canada in 1838, 157-159 + +Jesuit College at Quebec, 34 + +Jesuits' Estates, Act; political controversies respecting, 248 + +Jesuits in Canada, 11, 12; their estates confiscated by the British +government, 38; restored in part, 248 + +Johnson, John; delegate to the Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Johnston, James William; public career of, 175; eminence of, 185; early +advocate of confederation, 194, 195 + +Joliet, Louis; discovers the Mississippi, 18 + +Journalism in Canada, 164, 287 + +Judiciary, independence of; political contests for, 128, 139 + +Keewatin, district of; established provisionally, 238 + +Kent, Duke of; commander of British forces in Canada, 193; gives name to +P.E. Island, 53; letter to, from Chief Justice B.C. Sewell on union of +provinces, 194 + +King, George E.; prime minister of New Brunswick after Confederation, +218 + +King's University, Nova Scotia; founded, 163 + +Kingsford, Dr.; Canadian historian, 284 + +Kingston, city of; first parliament of Canada meets at, in 1841, 167 + +Kirk, David; captures Quebec, 10, 11 + +Labrador, discovery of, 5; origin of name of, 7 + +Lafontaine-Baldwin Ministry, 170, 173; its successful administration of +Canadian affairs, 173 + +Lafontaine, Sir Louis Hippolyte; Canadian statesman and jurist, 170, +173, 184 + +La Gallissoniere, French governor of Canada, 35 + +Lake of Woods, international boundary at, 292, 293; map of, 293 + +Lalemant, Gabriel; Jesuit martyr, 12 + +Land question; in Upper Canada, 143; in Prince Edward Island, 54, 234 + +Langevin, Sir Hector; Canadian statesman, delegate to Quebec Convention +of 1864, 205; charges against, 258 + +Lansdowne, Marquess of; governor-general of Canada, 207 + +Lartigue, Bishop; _mandement_ of, against French Canadian rebels, 135, +136 + +La Salle, Sieur de (Rene Robert Cavelier); at Lachine, 18; descends the +Mississippi, 18, 19; assassination of, 19 + +Laurier government; formation of, 265; measures of, 268-272 + +Laurier, Rt Hon. Sir Wilfrid; prime minister of Canada, 265; settles +Manitoba school question, 266 267; represents Canada at celebration of +"Diamond Jubilee" (1897), 36, 270; his action on Canadian aid to England +in South African War, 372; his mastery of English, 267 + +Laval, Bishop; first Roman Catholic Bishop of Canada, 12; establishes +tithes, 29 + +Laval University, Quebec, 290 + +La Valmiere, a disloyal priest, 72 + +Lawrence, Governor; expels French Acadians from Nova Scotia, 23; +encourages New England emigration, 51; opens first assembly in Halifax, +53 + +Lepine, Canadian rebel; punished, 241; his sentence commuted, _ib_. + +Letellier de Saint-Just; lieutenant-governor of Quebec, 246; dismissed, +246, 247 + +Levis, General; defeats Murray at St. Foye, 26 + +Liberal or Reform party; formed in Nova Scotia, 99; in Upper Canada, 141 + +Liberal Convention in Ottawa (1893), 259 + +Libraries in Canada, 290 + +Lisgar, Lord, governor-general of Canada, 267 + +Literature in Canada, during French regime, 35; before union of 1840, +164; after union, 192; since Confederation, 284-287 + +Londonderry in Nova Scotia; origin of name of, 51, 52 + +Lome, Marquess of; governor-general of Canada, 244; His services to Art, +Science, and Literature, 267 + +Louisiana, named by La Salle, 19 + +Louis XIV establishes royal government in Canada, 12, 27, 28 + +Lount, Samuel; Upper Canadian rebel of 1837, 148, 152-153; executed, 155 + +Loyalists. See _United Empire Loyalists_ + +Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canada; usefulness of, during war +of 1819-15, 121 + +Lundy's Lane, battle of; won by British in 1814, 117, 120 + +Lymburner, Adam; opposes separation of Upper from Lower Canada, 90 + +Macdonald, Andrew Archibald; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Macdonald, Baroness (of Earnscliffe), 257 + +Macdonald, Colonel George; at Ogdensburg in 1813, 115; at Chateauguay, +121 + +Macdonald, John Sanfield; first prime minister of Ontario after +Confederation, 217 + +Macdonald, Rt. Hon. Sir John; enters public life, 173; member of +government, ib.; settles Clergy Reserves question, 186; takes lead in +establishing Confederation, 198, 199, 209; first prime minister of the +Dominion, 216; resigns under unfortunate circumstances, 236; initiates +the "National Policy" of Conservative party, 243; prime minister again, +ib.; death of, 256; great ability, and patriotism of, 200, 256; mourned +by all Canada, 257; monuments and tributes to his memory, ib. + +Macdonell; Colonel John; first speaker of assembly of Upper Canada in +1792, 94 + +Macdonell, Vicar-General; first Roman Catholic Bishop of Upper Canada, +120 + +Mackenzie, Alexander; prime minister of Canada, 237; character of, ib., +243; his administration of public affairs (1873-78), 238-242; death of, +257 + +Mackenzie, Sir Alexander; North-west explorer, 224 + +Mackenzie, William Lyon; journalist and reformer, 146; enters Upper +Canada legislature, 146; unjustly expelled, ib., first mayor of Toronto, +147; indiscretions of, ib.; moves for committee of grievances, 148, its +report, ib.; defeat of, at elections of 1836, 150, resorts to rebellion, +152; defeat of, at Montgomery's and flight from Canada, 153; on Navy +Island, 154; imprisoned in the United States, ib.; returns from exile, +182, exercises no influence in Canadian politics, ib.; poverty and death +of, ib.; character of, 182, 183 + +MacLeod, international dispute respecting, 295 + +MacNab, Sir Allan; leads loyal "Men of Gore" against Canadian rebels in +1837, 153; orders seizure of steamer Caroline on. U.S. frontier, 154; +prime minister of Canada, 186 + +Maine Boundary Dispute, 292, 296-300; map of, 296 + +Maisonneuve, Sieur de (Paul de Chomedey); founds Montreal, 12 + +Manitoba, first visited by French, 20; province of, established, 230 + +Manitoba school question, 262-265, 266, 267 + +Maps relating to Canada; of French, Spanish and British possessions in +North America in 1756-1761, _at end_; of British possessions in +1763-1775, at end; of boundary established in 1783 between Canada and +the United States, 75; of Hudson's Bay Co.'s territory, 222; of +North-west boundary in 1842, 293; of North-eastern boundary in 1842, +297; of Alaskan disputed boundary, 311; of the Dominion of Canada in +1900, at end. + +Marquette, Father, founds mission of Sainte-Maria, 17; discovers the +Mississippi, 18; death of, _ib_.; + +Marriage laws in early Canada, 97 + +Maseres, Attorney-general, 43 + +Matthews, Peter; Upper Canadian rebel, 148, 151, 153; executed, 155 + +McCully, Jonathan; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205 + +McDougall, William, delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 203; +provisional lieutenant-governor of N.W.T., 227; Half-breed rebellion +prevents him assuming office, ib.; disappears from public life, 230 + +McGee, Thomas D'Arcy; historian and orator, delegate to Quebec +Convention of 1864, 203; his political career in Canada, ib.; +assassinated, 221 + +McGill University, Montreal; founded, 163 + +McGreevy, Thomas, impeached for serious misdemeanors, 258; punishment +of, ib. + +McLane, executed for treason in 1793, 101, 102 + +McLure, General (United States General); burns Niagara in 1814, 116 + +Mercier, Honore, prime minister of Quebec, 247; dismissed, ib. + +Merritt, W. Hamilton; originator of Welland Canal, 159 + +Metcalfe, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 170; antagonism of, to +responsible government, 171; retirement and death of, ib. + +_Metis_ or Half-breeds of the Canadian North-west, 225, 228, 249 + +Middleton, Major-general; commands Canadian forces on Riel's revolt of +1885 in North-west, 252-254 + +Military rule in Canada after 1760, 37, 38 + +Mills, David; Canadian statesman, 206 + +Minto, Earl of; governor-general of Canada, 268 + +Mitchell, Peter; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205; public +career of, ib. + +Mohawks, members of the Iroquois confederacy, 10; humbled by the Marquis +de Tracy, 13. See _Brant Joseph, Iroquois._ + +Monk, Lord; governor-general of Canada at Confederation, 216, 267 + +Montcalm, Marquis de; loses battle on Plains of Abraham, 26; death of +ib. + +Montgomery, Brigadier-General; invades Canada, 69, 70; death of, at +Quebec, 70 + +Montreal founded, 12 + +Monts, Sieur de; founder of French _Acadie_, 8 + +Monts-Deserts named by Champlain, 9 + +Mowat, Sir Oliver; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1804, 203; public +career of, 203, 265, 266 + +Municipal system of Canada; established, 185, 186; nature of, 278 + +Murray, General; in command at Quebec, 26; defeat of, at St. Foye, ib.; +governor-general of Canada, 42; his just treatment of French +Canadians, 43 + +Mutual or reciprocal preferential trade between Canada and England; +advocacy of, 260, 271 + +_Nation Canadienne, La_; Papineau's dream of, 130, 133, 134 + +"National Policy," or Protective system; established by Conservative +party (1879), 243, 244 + +Navigation Laws repealed, 187 + +Navy Island, see _Mackenzie, William Lyon_ + +Neilson, John; Canadian journalist and politician, 127, 131 + +Nelson, Robert; Canadian rebel of 1837-38, 138 + +Nelson, Dr. Wolfred; leader in Lower Canadian rebellion of 1837, 134 + +Neutrality of the Great Lakes, 294, 295 + +"Neutrals," on French Acadians; expulsion of from Nova Scotia, 22, 23 + +Newark (Niagara), meeting of first Upper Canadian legislature at, 93; +seat of government removed from, to York, 101 + +New Brunswick; originally part of Acadie and Nova Scotia, 53; province +of founded by Loyalists, 83; capital ib.; state of, in 1838, 162; +political struggle for self-government in, 173, 174; takes part in +Quebec Convention, 198, 205; brought into Confederation, 215, 216; +boundary dispute with Maine, 296-300 + +New Brunswick school question, 201, 2O2 + +New Brunswick University; founded at Fredericton, 163 + +New Caledonia; old name of British Columbia, 232 + +Newfoundland; delegates from, to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206; refuses +to join the Dominion, 235 + +Niagara, see _Newark_ + +Nicholson, General; captures Port Royal, 9 + +Norse voyages to Canada, 4 + +North-eastern Boundary question, 296-299; map of Boundary, 1842, 297 + +North-west Company; rival of the Hudson's Bay Company in North America, +224, 225 + +North-west Boundary dispute, 292, 293; map of, 293 + +North-west Territories, early history of, 221-227; annexation of, to +Canada, 227, 230; first rebellion in, 227-230; government of, 277; +second rebellion in, 249-255; districts of, 277 + +Nova Scotia (Acadie); first settled by France, 8, 9; foundation of Port +Royal (Annapolis), 8; ceded to Great Britain by Treaty of Utrecht, 9; +population of, at conquest, 15; first called Nova Scotia, 11; Halifax +founded, 49; settlement by colonists of New England, 50, 51; +expatriation of the Acadian French, 22, 23, 50, 51; population of, in +1767, 51; Irish immigration, ib.; Scotch immigration, 52; early +government of, 52, 53, included New Brunswick, C. Breton, and St. John's +Island (Pr. Edward I), 53; early courts of justice, 55; coming of +Loyalists to, 82; state of in 1837-38, 162, political struggles in, for +self-government, 174-180; take part in Quebec Convention of 1864, 198, +204; brought into Confederation, 215; people opposed to, 212, 218, 219; +repeal movement gradually ceases in, 233 + +Novelists, Canadian, 164, 285, 286 + +O'Callaghan, Dr.; Canadian journalist and rebel, 130 + +O'Donohue, Canadian rebel, 231; amnesty to, 241 + +Ohio Valley, French in, 23 + +Oregon Boundary, dispute respecting, 300-302 + +Osgoode, Chief Justice; first speaker of legislative council of Upper +Canada in 1792, 94 + +Ottawa, city of; founded, 158 + +Pacific Cable; action of Canadian government with respect to, 271 + +Palmer, Edward; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Panet, Joseph Antoine; first speaker of assembly of Lower Canada in +1792, 93 + +Papineau, Louis J.; leader of French Canadian malcontents in rebellion +of 1837, 129-134; conduct of, on outbreak of rebellion, 134, 135; return +of, from exile, 181; opposes responsible government, ib.; loses +political influence, ib.; character of, 180-182 + +Pardon, prerogative of; instructions respecting exercise of, 241 + +Parishes established in French Canada, 29 + +Parker, Gilbert; Canadian novelist, 286 + +Parr Town, first name of St. John, New Brunswick, 83 + +Perry, Peter; founder of Upper Canadian Reform party, 141, 146, 150 + +Pictou Academy, Nova Scotia; founded, 163 + +Pitt, the elder (Lord Chatham); gives Canada to Great Britain, 25, 35, +36 + +Pitt, William (the younger); introduces Act separating Upper from Lower +Canada (Constitutional Act of 1791), 90, 91 + +Plains of Abraham; Wolfe's victory on, 26 + +Plattsburg, battle of, pusillanimity of General Prevost at, 117 + +Plessis, Bishop (Roman Catholic); patriotism of, in war of 1812-15, 120 + +Poets in Canada, 192, 284, 285 + +Pontiac's Conspiracy, 39 + +Pope, William H., delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Portuguese discovery in Canada, 5 + +Post Office in Canada; under British management, 164; transferred to +Canada, 187 + +Poundmaker, Indian chief in North-west; rebels against Canadian +government, 253; punished, 254 + +Poutrincourt, Baron de; founder of Port Royal, 8 + +Powell, Chief Justice, his unjust treatment of Robert Gourlay, 145 + +Preferential trade with Great Britain, 200, 201, 269, 271 + +Prevost, Sir George (governor-general of Canada), retires from Sackett's +Harbour 1813, 115; retreats from Plattsburg in 1814, 117; character of, +113 + +Prince, Colonel; orders execution of American raiders in 1838, 155 + +Prince Edward Island. See _St. John's Island_ + +Prince of Wales visits Canada, 193 + + +Princess Louise, arrives in Canada with the Marquess of Lome, 244; her +support of Art, 288 + +Proclamation of 1764; for government of Canada, 40-42 + +Procter, General, defeats General Winchester in 1813, 115; beaten at +Moraviantown in 1813, 116 + +Prohibitory Liquor Law; agitation for, 340; popular vote on, ib. + +Protestantism unknown in French Canada, 28 + +Provincial governments established under Confederation, 217, 218 + +Provinces, constitution of, under Confederation, 275, 276 + +Puritan migration to Nova Scotia, 50 + +Put-in Bay (Lake Erie); British fleet defeated at, in 1813, 116 + +Quebec Act; origin of, 44, 45, its provisions, 45-47; how received in +Canada, 46; unpopularity of, in old British colonies, 67 + +Quebec, Convention of, 1864; delegates to, 199-206; passes resolutions +in favour of federal union, 206-209 + +Quebec founded, 9 + +Queenston Heights; battle of, in 1812, 114 + +Railways in Canada; in 1865, 191, in 1899, 273. See _Intercolonial R. +Canadian Pacific R._ + +Rebellion in Lower Canada; its origin, 124-133; Louis J. Papineau's part +in, 129-134; outbreak of, 134; prompt action of authorities against, +ib.; Dr. Nelson wins success at St. Denis, ib.; defeat of Brown at St. +Charles, ib.; flight of Papineau and rebel leaders, ib.; fight at St. +Eustache and death of Chenier, ib.; murder of Weir and Chartrand, 135; +collapse of the rebellion of 1837, 135, 136; loyal action of Bishop +Lartigue, 135; arrival of Lord Durham as British high-commissioner and +governor-general, 136; his career in Canada, 137-138; Sir John Colborne; +governor-general, 139; second outbreak of rebellion, 1838, ib.; promptly +subdued, ib.; punishment of prominent insurgents, ib.; action of United +States government during, 139; social and economic condition of Canada +during, 159-162; remedial policy of British government, and new era of +political development. See _Responsible Government in Canada._ + +Rebellion in Upper Canada; effect of family compact on, 140, 141; of +clergy reserves on, 141, 142; influence of Archdeacon, afterwards +Bishop, Strachan in public affairs, 142; unjust treatment of Robert +Gourlay, 143-145; persecution of William Lyon Mackenzie, 146-148; other +prominent actors in, 148; indiscretions of the lieutenant-governor, Sir +Francis Bond Head, 149-152; outbreak and repression of, 152, 153; flight +of Mackenzie and other rebel leaders, 153; Mackenzie's seizure of Navy +Island, 154; affair of the Caroline, ib.; filibustering expeditions +against Canada from United States in 1838, 154, 155; prompt execution of +filibusters by Colonel Prince, 155; action of U.S. authorities during, +ib.; execution of Von Schoultz, Lount, Matthews, and other rebels, ib.; +Sir George Arthur, harshness of, ib.; social and economic conditions of +Upper Canada at time of, 156-159; rebellion leads to the enlargement of +political privileges of people, See _Responsible Government in Canada._ + +Rebellion Losses Bill (of 1849); its nature, 188; assented to by Lord +Elgin, 189; consequent rioting and burning of parliament house at +Montreal, 189, Lord Elgin's life in danger, ib.; his wise constitutional +action, ib. Rebellions in North-west: See _North-western Territories, +_and _Riel, Louis._ + +Reciprocity of Trade between Canada and the United States; treaty of +1814, 190, 191; repeal of the same, 303; efforts to renew it, 304, 307; +Canadians not now so favourable to, 310 + +Recollets, or Franciscans, in Canada, 11 + +Redistribution Acts of 1882 and 1897; measures to amend, rejected by +Senate, 268 + +Representative institutions in Canada; established in Nova Scotia, 53; +in New Brunswick, 88; in French or Lower Canada (Quebec), 91; in Upper +Canada (Ontario), ib.; in Prince Edward Island, 54; in Manitoba, 230; in +British Columbia, 232 + +Responsible government in Canada; beginnings of, 165-175; consummated +by Lord Elgin, 173; struggle for, in New Brunswick, 173, 174; in Nova +Scotia, 174-180; in Prince Edward Island, 180; prominent advocates of, +183-185; results of (1841-1867), 185-192 + +Revenue of Canada in 1899, 273 + +Riall, General; defeated by United States troops at Street's Creek in +1814, 117 + +Richardson, Major; Canadian author, 164 + +Richelieu, Cardinal; his effort to colonise Canada, 10 + +Rideau Canal, constructed, 158 + +Riel, Louis; leads revolt of French half-breeds in North-west, 228; +murders Ross, 229; flies from the country, ib; elected to and expelled +from the Canadian Commons, 241; reappears in North-west, and leads +second revolt, 249-253; captured and executed, 253, 254; political +complications concerning, 240, 254 + +Roberval, Sieur de (Jean Francois de la Rocque); attempts to settle +Canada, 7 + +Robinson, Chief Justice; public career of, in Upper Canada, 145 + +Rocque, Jean Francois de la. See _Roberval_ + +Roebuck, Mr.; Canadian agent in England, 131 + +Rolph, Dr.; his part in Canadian rebellion of 1837, 151-153; character +of, 183 + +Roman Catholic Church in Canada, 28, 29, 43, 46, 47 + +Rose, Sir John, effort of, to obtain reciprocity with United States, 304 + +Rosebery, Earl of, unveils Sir John Macdonald's bust in St. Paul's +Cathedral, 256 + +Rouse's Point, boundary at, 302 + +Royal Society of Canada, 286 + +Rupert's Land; origin of name of, 224. See _North-west Territories of +Canada_. + +Russell, Administrator, 101 + +Russell, Lord John; introduces resolutions respecting Canada in British +parliament in 1836, 132; also Act reuniting the Canadas in 1840, 166; +lays basis of responsible government in Canada, 167. See _Responsible +Government in Canada_. + +Ryerson, Rev. Egerton; Loyalist, Methodist, and educationalist, 141, +147, 192 + +Sainte-Genevieve (Pillage Bay); named St. Laurens by Jacques Carrier, 7 + +Salaberry, Colonel de; defeats United States troops at Chateauguay, 121 + +Sanderson, Robert; first speaker of assembly of Nova Scotia, 53 + +San Juan Island; international dispute respecting, 301, 302 + +Sarrasin, Dr., French Canadian scientist, 35 + +Saskatchewan River (Poskoiac), discovery of, 20 + +Sculpture in Canada, 288 + +Seaforth, Lord. See _Colborne, Sir John_ + +Secord, Laura; heroic exploit of, in 1814, 120 + +Seigniorial tenure in French Canada, 14, 32; abolished under British +rule, 186 + +Selkirk, Lord; attempts to colonise North-west, 225; death of, _ib._ + +Seven Years' War; between France and Great Britain in America, 21-27 + +Sewell, Chief Justice (Loyalist); adviser of Sir James Craig, 96; +suggests union of provinces, 194 + +Shea, Ambrose; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Sheaffe, General; services of, during war of 1812-15, 114 + +Shelburne, in Nova Scotia, founded by Loyalists, 82 + +Sherbrooke, Sir John, governor of Nova Scotia, 118; occupies Maine in +war of 1812-15, ib. + +Shirley, Governor; deep interest of, in Nova Scotia, 49 + +Simcoe, Colonel; first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, 93; public +career of, 94 + +Simultaneous polling at elections established, 239 + +Slavery in Canada, 98 + +Smith, Chief Justice (Loyalist); first president of legislative council +of Lower Canada in 1792, 92; suggests federal union of provinces, 194 + +Smith, Donald (Lord Strathcona); intervenes in North-west rebellion of +1870, 229 + +Social and economic conditions of the Canadian provinces; in 1838, +156-164; in 1866, 189-192; in 1900, 272-290 + +South African War; Canadians take part in, 271, 272 + +Square Gulf, or "golfo quadrado"; old name of St. Lawrence Gulf, 7 + +St. Charles; defeat of Canadian rebels in 1837 at, 134 + +St. Denis; Canadian rebels repulsed by British regulars in 1837 at, 134 + +St. Eustache; stand of Canadian rebels at, 134; death of Chenier, ib. + +St. John, New Brunswick; founded, 83 + +St. John's, Island; named Prince Edward, 53; under government of Nova +Scotia, _ib_.; survey of, ib.; separated from Nova Scotia, 54; public +lands of, granted by lottery, ib.; political struggles in, for +self-government, 180, 185; takes part in Quebec Convention of 1864, 206; +enters Confederation, 234; settlement of its land question, ib. + +St. Lawrence, River and Gulf of; origin of name of, 7 + +St. Lusson, Sieur; takes possession of the Sault, 18 + +St. Maurice forges founded, 30 + +Stadacona (Quebec), Indian village of, visited by Jacques Cartier, 6 + +Stanley, Lord, governor-general of Canada, 267 + +Steeves, William H.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +Strachan, Bishop (Anglican); patriotism of, during war of 1812-15, 121; +his influence in Upper Canadian politics, 142 + +Strange, Lt.-Col.; engaged in repressing North-west rebellion of 1885, +253 + +Stuart, Andrew; prominent Canadian lawyer and politician, 127, 131 + +Sulpitians in Canada, 37 + +Superior Council of French Canada. See _Supreme Council_ + +Supreme Council, established by Louis XIV in French Canada, 28, 29 + + +Supreme Court, established in Canada, 239 + +Sydenham, Lord (Poulett Thomson); governor-general of Canada, 166; +carries out scheme of uniting the Canadas in 1840, 167; opinions of, on +responsible government, 168; death of, 169 + +Tache, Sir Etienne Paschal; chairman of Quebec Convention of 1864, 199; +character of, ib. + +Talbot, Colonel, pioneer in Upper Canada, 157 + +Talon, Intendant, 13 + +Taite, Israel; accuses McGreevy of grave misdemeanours, 258; member of +Laurier ministry, 206 + +Temperance Legislation; "Scott Act" passed, 239; _plebiscite_ on +Prohibition, 240 + +Thompson, Sir John; prime minister of Canada, 257; sudden death of, +ib; great ability of, ib. + +Thomson, Poulett. See _Sydenham, Lord_ + +Tilley, Sir Leonard; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205; public +career of, ib.; introduces scheme of "National Policy," 244 + +Timber trade in Canada, in early time, 162 + +Tithes established in French Canada, 29 + +Todd, Dr.; Constitutional writer, 286 + +Tonge, William Cottnam Tonge; Nova Scotian Liberal, 99; his controversy +with Governor Wentworth, ib. + +Trade of Canada in 1899, 273 + +Treaties, international, affecting Canada; of St. Germain-en-Laye +(1632), 11; of Utrecht (1713), 9, 21, 22; of Paris (1763), 38; of +Versailles, 292; of Ghent, 293; of 1818, 294; Ashburton (1842), 299; +Oregon (1846), 301; reciprocity (1854), 303; of Washington (1871), 305, +306; Bering Sea, 308, 309, Anglo-Russian (Alaska), 310-312 + +Treaties with Indian tribes of Canada, 41, 238 + +Trutch, Sir Joseph; first lieutenant-governor of British Columbia under +Confederation, 232 + +Tupper, Sir Charles; prime minister of Nova Scotia, 192; services of, to +education, ib.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204; introduces +legislation for construction of Canadian Pacific Railway, 244; high +commissioner of Canada in London, 258; re-enters political life, ib.; +action of, on Manitoba school question, 264; prime minister of Canada, +265; defeat of, at general elections of 1896, ib; difference with Lord +Aberdeen, when governor-general, ib.; remarkable ability of, 204, 258; +leader of Liberal Conservative party from 1896-1900, 258; policy of, on +"preferential trade" with Great Britain, 271 + +Tyler, Professor, on U.E. Loyalists, 76 + +Uniacke, James Boyle; Nova Scotian statesman, 175; advocate of +responsible government, 176; first minister of Nova Scotia, 180 + +Union of the Canadas in 1840, 166, 167 + +United Empire Loyalists; number of, during American Revolution, 76; +justice done to, ib.; opinions of, on issues of revolution, 77, 78; +suffering of, during revolution, 79; treatment of, after the peace of +1783, 80; compensation to, by British government, 81; settle in British +America, ib; privations of, in Nova Scotia, 80; founders of New +Brunswick, 83; of Upper Canada, 84; eminent descent of, 86; Canada's +debt to, ib origin of name of, 89; representatives of, in first +legislature of New Brunswick, 87, 88; of Upper Canada, 94; services of, +during war of 1812-15, 188-120 + +Universities in Canada, 163, 289 + +University of Toronto, beginning of, 164 + +Upper Canada, founded by Loyalists, 84; first districts of, 89, 94; made +separate province, 91, first government of, 93; Newark, first capital +of, ib.; York (Toronto), second capital of, 94; rebellion in, see +_Rebellion in Upper Canada_; state of, in 1838, 159; reunited with Lower +Canada, 166; joins Confederation as Ontario, 216 + +Upper Canada College, Toronto, founded, 163 + +Ursulines at Quebec, 34 + +Vancouver Island; history of, 231, 232 + +Verendrye, Sieur de la (Pierre Gauthier de Varennes); discovers +Manitoba and North-west of Canada, 19, 20 + +Verrazzano, Giovanni di; voyages of, to North America, 5 + +Victoria College, Upper Canada, founded, 164 + +Vincent, General; services of, in war of 1812-15, 115 + +Von Schoultz; leads filibusters into Canada, 155; executed, ib. + + +War of 1812-15; origin of, 103-110; population of Canada and United +States during, 110-112; loyalty of Canadian people during, 113; services +of General Brock during, 114; campaign of 1812 in Upper Canada, 114, +115; of 1813, 115, 116; of 1814, 117; maritime provinces during, 117, +118, close of, 118; services of Loyalists during, 118-120; Laura Secord, +heroism of, 120; description of striking incidents of battles during, +121-123 + +Washington, George; eminent character of, 66 + +Washington Treaty of 1871, 304, 305 + +Weir, Lieutenant, murder of, in Lower Canadian rebellion of 1837, 135 + +Welland Canal commenced, 159; completed, 190 + +Wentworth, Sir John; Loyalist governor of Nova Scotia, 99 + +Westminster Palace Conference in London; Canadian delegates arrange +final terms of federation at, 214, 215 + +Wetmore, Attorney-general; first minister of New Brunswick after +Confederation, 218 + +Whelan, Edward; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206 + +White, Thomas; Canadian journalist and statesman, 256; sudden death of, +ib. + +William IV visits Canada as Prince William Henry, 193 + +Williams, Lt.-Col.; death of, in North-west rebellion of 1885, 254 + +Williams, Sir Fenwick ("hero of Kars"); lieutenant-governor of Nova +Scotia, 213, 217 + +Wilmot, Lemuel A.; father of responsible government in New Brunswick, +174, 185; lieutenant-governor of the province, 217 + +Wolfe, General; at Quebec, 25; his bold ascent of heights, 25, 26; wins +battle on Plains of Abraham, 26; death of, 26; a maker of Canada, 35 + +York (Toronto) made capital of Upper Canada, 101 + +Young, Sir William; Nova Scotian statesman and jurist, 185 + +Yukon, district of; gold discovery in, 209; administration of, ib, 277; +boundaries of, 310-312 + +[Illustration: (map) FRANCE, SPAIN, AND ENGLAND, IN NORTH AMERICA, +1756-1760.] + +[Illustration: OUTLINE MAP OF ENGLISH POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA, +1763-1775.] + +[Illustration: MAP OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA ILLUSTRATING THE BOUNDARIES +OF PROVINCES AND PROVISIONAL DISTRICTS] + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CANADA UNDER BRITISH RULE +1760-1900*** + + +******* This file should be named 12661.txt or 12661.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/6/6/12661 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/old/12661.zip b/old/12661.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3a85de9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12661.zip |