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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13066 ***
+
+LORD ELGIN
+
+by
+
+SIR JOHN GEORGE BOURINOT
+
+THE MAKERS OF CANADA
+
+EDITED BY DUNCAN CAMPBELL SCOTT, F.R.S.C., AND PELHAM EDGAR, PH.D.
+
+Edition De Luxe
+
+Toronto, 1903
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "Elgin a Kincardine."]
+
+
+
+
+EDITORS' NOTE
+
+The late Sir John Bourinot had completed and revised the following
+pages some months before his lamented death. The book represents more
+satisfactorily, perhaps, than anything else that he has written the
+author's breadth of political vision and his concrete mastery of
+historical fact. The life of Lord Elgin required to be written by one
+possessed of more than ordinary insight into the interesting aspects
+of constitutional law. That it has been singularly well presented must
+be the conclusion of all who may read this present narrative.
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+Chapter                                                 Page
+
+   I: EARLY CAREER                                         1
+
+  II: POLITICAL CONDITION IN CANADA                       17
+
+ III: POLITICAL DIFFICULTIES                              41
+
+  IV: THE INDEMNIFICATION ACT                             61
+
+   V: THE END OF THE LAFONTAINE-BALDWIN MINISTRY, 1851    85
+
+  VI: THE HINCKS-MORIN MINISTRY                          107
+
+ VII: THE HISTORY OF THE CLERGY RESERVES (1791-1854)     143
+
+VIII: SEIGNIORIAL TENURE                                 171
+
+  IX: CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES                       189
+
+   X: FAREWELL TO CANADA                                 203
+
+  XI: POLITICAL PROGRESS                                 227
+
+ XII: A COMPARISON OF SYSTEMS                            239
+
+      BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE                               269
+
+      INDEX                                              271
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+
+EARLY CAREER
+
+The Canadian people have had a varied experience in governors
+appointed by the imperial state. At the very commencement of British
+rule they were so fortunate as to find at the head of affairs Sir Guy
+Carleton--afterwards Lord Dorchester--who saved the country during the
+American revolution by his military genius, and also proved himself an
+able civil governor in his relations with the French Canadians, then
+called "the new subjects," whom he treated in a fair and generous
+spirit that did much to make them friendly to British institutions. On
+the other hand they have had military men like Sir James Craig,
+hospitable, generous, and kind, but at the same time incapable of
+understanding colonial conditions and aspirations, ignorant of the
+principles and working of representative institutions, and too ready
+to apply arbitrary methods to the administration of civil affairs.
+Then they have had men who were suddenly drawn from some inconspicuous
+position in the parent state, like Sir Francis Bond Head, and allowed
+by an apathetic or ignorant colonial office to prove their want of
+discretion, tact, and even common sense at a very critical stage of
+Canadian affairs. Again there have been governors of the highest rank
+in the peerage of England, like the Duke of Richmond, whose
+administration was chiefly remarkable for his success in aggravating
+national animosities in French Canada, and whose name would now be
+quite forgotten were it not for the unhappy circumstances of his
+death.[1] Then Canadians have had the good fortune of the presence of
+Lord Durham at a time when a most serious state of affairs
+imperatively demanded that ripe political knowledge, that cool
+judgment, and that capacity to comprehend political grievances which
+were confessedly the characteristics of this eminent British
+statesman. Happily for Canada he was followed by a keen politician and
+an astute economist who, despite his overweening vanity and his
+tendency to underrate the ability of "those fellows in the
+colonies"--his own words in a letter to England--was well able to
+gauge public sentiment accurately and to govern himself accordingly
+during his short term of office. Since the confederation of the
+provinces there has been a succession of distinguished governors, some
+bearing names famous in the history of Great Britain and Ireland, some
+bringing to the discharge of their duties a large knowledge of public
+business gained in the government of the parent state and her wide
+empire, some gifted with a happy faculty of expressing themselves with
+ease and elegance, and all equally influenced by an earnest desire to
+fill their important position with dignity, impartiality, and
+affability.
+
+But eminent as have been the services of many of the governors whose
+memories are still cherished by the people of Canada, no one among
+them stands on a higher plane than James, eighth earl of Elgin and
+twelfth earl of Kincardine, whose public career in Canada I propose to
+recall in the following narrative. He possessed to a remarkable degree
+those qualities of mind and heart which enabled him to cope most
+successfully with the racial and political difficulties which met him
+at the outset of his administration, during a very critical period of
+Canadian history. Animated by the loftiest motives, imbued with a deep
+sense of the responsibilities of his office, gifted with a rare power
+of eloquent expression, possessed of sound judgment and infinite
+discretion, never yielding to dictates of passion but always
+determined to be patient and calm at moments of violent public
+excitement, conscious of the advantages of compromise and conciliation
+in a country peopled like Canada, entering fully into the aspirations
+of a young people for self-government, ready to concede to French
+Canadians their full share in the public councils, anxious to build up
+a Canadian nation without reference to creed or race--this
+distinguished nobleman must be always placed by a Canadian historian
+in the very front rank of the great administrators happily chosen from
+time to time by the imperial state for the government of her dominions
+beyond the sea. No governor-general, it is safe to say, has come
+nearer to that ideal, described by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, when
+secretary of state for the colonies, in a letter to Sir George Bowen,
+himself distinguished for the ability with which he presided over the
+affairs of several colonial dependencies. "Remember," said Lord
+Lytton, to give that eminent author and statesman his later title,
+"that the first care of a governor in a free colony is to shun the
+reproach of being a party man. Give all parties, and all the
+ministries formed, the fairest play.... After all, men are governed as
+much by the heart as by the head. Evident sympathy in the progress of
+the colony; traits of kindness, generosity, devoted energy, where
+required for the public weal; a pure exercise of patronage; an utter
+absence of vindictiveness or spite; the fairness that belongs to
+magnanimity: these are the qualities that make governors powerful,
+while men merely sharp and clever may be weak and detested."
+
+In the following chapters it will be seen that Lord Elgin fulfilled
+this ideal, and was able to leave the country in the full confidence
+that he had won the respect, admiration, and even affection of all
+classes of the Canadian people. He came to the country when there
+existed on all sides doubts as to the satisfactory working of the
+union of 1840, suspicions as to the sincerity of the imperial
+authorities with respect to the concession of responsible government,
+a growing antagonism between the two nationalities which then, as
+always, divided the province. A very serious economic disturbance was
+crippling the whole trade of the country, and made some
+persons--happily very few in number--believe for a short time that
+independence, or annexation to the neighbouring republic, was
+preferable to continued connection with a country which so grudgingly
+conceded political rights to the colony, and so ruthlessly overturned
+the commercial system on which the province had been so long
+dependent. When he left Canada, Lord Elgin knew beyond a shadow of a
+doubt that the two nationalities were working harmoniously for the
+common advantage of the province, that the principles of responsible
+government were firmly established, and that the commercial and
+industrial progress of the country was fully on an equality with its
+political development.
+
+The man who achieved these magnificent results could claim an ancestry
+to which a Scotsman would point with national pride. He could trace
+his lineage to the ancient Norman house of which "Robert the Bruce"--a
+name ever dear to the Scottish nation--was the most distinguished
+member. He was born in London on July 20th, 1811. His father was a
+general in the British army, a representative peer in the British
+parliament from 1790-1840, and an ambassador to several European
+courts; but he is best known to history by the fact that he seriously
+crippled his private fortunes by his purchase, while in the East, of
+that magnificent collection of Athenian art which was afterwards
+bought at half its value by the British government and placed in the
+British Museum, where it is still known as the "Elgin Marbles." From
+his father, we are told by his biographer,[2] he inherited "the genial
+and playful spirit which gave such a charm to his social and parental
+relations, and which helped him to elicit from others the knowledge of
+which he made so much use in the many diverse situations of his after
+life." The deep piety and the varied culture of his mother "made her
+admirably qualified to be the depository of the ardent thoughts and
+aspirations of his boyhood." At Oxford, where he completed his
+education after leaving Eton, he showed that unselfish spirit and
+consideration for the feelings of others which were the recognized
+traits of his character in after life. Conscious of the unsatisfactory
+state of the family's fortunes, he laboured strenuously even in
+college to relieve his father as much as possible of the expenses of
+his education. While living very much to himself, he never failed to
+win the confidence and respect even at this youthful age of all those
+who had an opportunity of knowing his independence of thought and
+judgment. Among his contemporaries were Mr. Gladstone, afterwards
+prime minister; the Duke of Newcastle, who became secretary of state
+for the colonies and was chief adviser of the Prince of Wales--now
+Edward VII--during his visit to Canada in 1860; and Lord Dalhousie and
+Lord Canning, both of whom preceded him in the governor-generalship of
+India. In the college debating club he won at once a very
+distinguished place. "I well remember," wrote Mr. Gladstone, many
+years later, "placing him as to the natural gift of eloquence at the
+head of all those I knew either at Eton or at the University." He took
+a deep interest in the study of philosophy. In him--to quote the
+opinion of his own brother, Sir Frederick Bruce, "the Reason and
+Understanding, to use the distinctions of Coleridge, were both largely
+developed, and both admirably balanced. ... He set himself to work to
+form in his own mind a clear idea of each of the constituent parts of
+the problem with which he had to deal. This he effected partly by
+reading, but still more by conversation with special men, and by that
+extraordinary logical power of mind and penetration which not only
+enabled him to get out of every man all he had in him, but which
+revealed to these men themselves a knowledge of their own imperfect
+and crude conceptions, and made them constantly unwilling witnesses or
+reluctant adherents to views which originally they were prepared to
+oppose...." The result was that, "in an incredibly short time he
+attained an accurate and clear conception of the essential facts
+before him, and was thus enabled to strike out a course which he could
+consistently pursue amid all difficulties, because it was in harmony
+with the actual facts and the permanent conditions of the problem he
+had to solve." Here we have the secret of his success in grappling
+with the serious and complicated questions which constantly engaged
+his attention in the administration of Canadian affairs.
+
+After leaving the university with honour, he passed several years on
+the family estate, which he endeavoured to relieve as far as possible
+from the financial embarrassment into which it had fallen ever since
+his father's extravagant purchase in Greece. In 1840, by the death of
+his eldest brother, George, who died unmarried, James became heir to
+the earldom, and soon afterwards entered parliament as member for the
+borough of Southampton. He claimed then, as always, to be a Liberal
+Conservative, because he believed that "the institutions of our
+country, religious as well as civil, are wisely adapted, when duly and
+faithfully administered, to promote, not the interest of any class or
+classes exclusively, but the happiness and welfare of the great body
+of the people"; and because he felt that, "on the maintenance of these
+institutions, not only the economical prosperity of England, but, what
+is yet more important, the virtues that distinguish and adorn the
+English character, under God, mainly depend."
+
+During the two years Lord Elgin remained in the House of Commons he
+gave evidence to satisfy his friends that he possessed to an eminent
+degree the qualities which promised him a brilliant career in British
+politics. Happily for the administration of the affairs of Britain's
+colonial empire, he was induced by Lord Stanley, then secretary of
+state for the colonies, to surrender his prospects in parliament and
+accept the governorship of Jamaica. No doubt he was largely influenced
+to take this position by the conviction that he would be able to
+relieve his father's property from the pressure necessarily entailed
+upon it while he remained in the expensive field of national politics.
+On his way to Jamaica he was shipwrecked, and his wife, a daughter of
+Mr. Charles Cumming Bruce, M.P., of Dunphail, Stirling, suffered a
+shock which so seriously impaired her health that she died a few
+months after her arrival in the island when she had given birth to a
+daughter.[3] His administration of the government of Jamaica was
+distinguished by a strong desire to act discreetly and justly at a
+time when the economic conditions of the island were still seriously
+disturbed by the emancipation of the negroes. Planter and black alike
+found in him a true friend and sympathizer. He recognized the
+necessity of improving the methods of agriculture, and did much by the
+establishment of agricultural societies to spread knowledge among the
+ignorant blacks, as well as to create a spirit of emulation among the
+landlords, who were still sullen and apathetic, requiring much
+persuasion to adapt themselves to the new order of things, and make
+efforts to stimulate skilled labour among the coloured population whom
+they still despised. Then, as always in his career, he was animated by
+the noble impulse to administer public affairs with a sole regard to
+the public interests, irrespective of class or creed, to elevate men
+to a higher conception of their public duties. "To reconcile the
+planter"--I quote from one of his letters to Lord Stanley--"to the
+heavy burdens which he was called to bear for the improvement of our
+establishments and the benefit of the mass of the population, it was
+necessary to persuade him that he had an interest in raising the
+standard of education and morals among the peasantry; and this belief
+could be imparted only by inspiring a taste for a more artificial
+system of husbandry." "By the silent operation of such salutary
+convictions," he added, "prejudices of old standing are removed; the
+friends of the negro and of the proprietary classes find themselves
+almost unconsciously acting in concert, and conspiring to complete
+that great and holy work of which the emancipation of the slave was
+but the commencement."
+
+At this time the relations between the island and the home governments
+were always in a very strained condition on account of the difficulty
+of making the colonial office fully sensible of the financial
+embarrassment caused by the upheaval of the labour and social systems,
+and of the wisest methods of assisting the colony in its straits. As
+it too often happened in those old times of colonial rule, the home
+government could with difficulty be brought to understand that the
+economic principles which might satisfy the state of affairs in Great
+Britain could not be hastily and arbitrarily applied to a country
+suffering under peculiar difficulties. The same unintelligent spirit
+which forced taxation on the thirteen colonies, which complicated
+difficulties in the Canadas before the rebellion of 1837, seemed for
+the moment likely to prevail, as soon as the legislature of Jamaica
+passed a tariff framed naturally with regard to conditions existing
+when the receipts and expenditures could not be equalized, and the
+financial situation could not be relieved from its extreme tension in
+any other way than by the imposition of duties which happened to be in
+antagonism with the principles then favoured by the imperial
+government. At this critical juncture Lord Elgin successfully
+interposed between the colonial office and the island legislature, and
+obtained permission for the latter to manage this affair in its own
+way. He recognized the fact, obvious enough to any one conversant with
+the affairs of the island, that the tariff in question was absolutely
+necessary to relieve it from financial ruin, and that any strenuous
+interference with the right of the assembly to control its own taxes
+and expenses would only tend to create complications in the government
+and the relations with the parent state. He was convinced, as he wrote
+to the colonial office, that an indispensable condition of his
+usefulness as a governor was "a just appreciation of the difficulties
+with which the legislature of the island had yet to contend, and of
+the sacrifices and exertions already made under the pressure of no
+ordinary embarrassments."
+
+Here we see Lord Elgin, at the very commencement of his career as a
+colonial governor, fully alive to the economic, social, and political
+conditions of the country, and anxious to give its people every
+legitimate opportunity to carry out those measures which they
+believed, with a full knowledge and experience of their own affairs,
+were best calculated to promote their own interests. We shall see
+later that it was in exactly the same spirit that he administered
+Canadian questions of much more serious import.
+
+Though his government in Jamaica was in every sense a success, he
+decided not to remain any longer than three years, and so wrote in
+1845 to Lord Stanley. Despite his earnest efforts to identify himself
+with the island's interests, he had led on the whole a retired and sad
+life after the death of his wife. He naturally felt a desire to seek
+the congenial and sympathetic society of friends across the sea, and
+perhaps return to the active public life for which he was in so many
+respects well qualified. In offering his resignation to the colonial
+secretary he was able to say that the period of his administration had
+been "one of considerable social progress"; that "uninterrupted
+harmony" had "prevailed between the colonists and the local
+government"; that "the spirit of enterprise" which had proceeded from
+Jamaica for two years had "enabled the British West Indian colonies to
+endure with comparative fortitude, apprehensions and difficulties
+which otherwise might have depressed them beyond measure."
+
+It was not, however, until the spring of 1846 that Lord Elgin was able
+to return on leave of absence to England, where the seals of office
+were now held by a Liberal administration, in which Lord Grey was
+colonial secretary. Although his political opinions differed from
+those of the party in power, he was offered the governor-generalship
+of Canada when he declined to go back to Jamaica. No doubt at this
+juncture the British ministry recognized the absolute necessity that
+existed for removing all political grievances that arose from the
+tardy concession of responsible government since the death of Lord
+Sydenham, and for allaying as far as possible the discontent that
+generally prevailed against the new fiscal policy of the parent state,
+which had so seriously paralyzed Canadian industries. It was a happy
+day for Canada when Lord Elgin accepted this gracious offer of his
+political opponents, who undoubtedly recognized in him the possession
+of qualities which would enable him successfully, in all probability,
+to grapple with the perplexing problems which embarrassed public
+affairs in the province. He felt (to quote his own language at a
+public dinner given to him just before his departure for Canada) that
+he undertook no slight responsibilities when he promised "to watch
+over the interests of those great offshoots of the British race which
+plant themselves in distant lands, to aid them in their efforts to
+extend the domain of civilization, and to fulfill the first behest of
+a benevolent Creator to His intelligent creatures--'subdue the earth';
+to abet the generous endeavour to impart to these rising communities
+the full advantages of British laws, British institutions, and British
+freedom; to assist them in maintaining unimpaired--it may be in
+strengthening and confirming--those bonds of mutual affection which
+unite the parent and dependent states."
+
+Before his departure for the scene of his labours in America, he
+married Lady Mary Louisa Lambton, daughter of the Earl of Durham,
+whose short career in Canada as governor-general and high commissioner
+after the rebellion of 1837 had such a remarkable influence on the
+political conditions of the country. Whilst we cannot attach too much
+importance to the sage advice embodied in that great state paper on
+Canadian affairs which was the result of his mission to Canada, we
+cannot fail at the same time to see that the full vindication of the
+sound principles laid down in that admirable report is to be found in
+the complete success of their application by Lord Elgin. The minds of
+both these statesmen ran in the same direction. They desired to give
+adequate play to the legitimate aspirations of the Canadian people for
+that measure of self-government which must stimulate an independence
+of thought and action among colonial public men, and at the same time
+strengthen the ties between the parent state and the dependency by
+creating that harmony and confidence which otherwise could not exist
+in the relations between them. But while there is little doubt that
+Lord Elgin would under any circumstances have been animated by a deep
+desire to establish the principles of responsible government in
+Canada, this desire must have been more or less stimulated by the
+tender ties which bound him to the daughter of a statesman whose
+opinions where so entirely in harmony with his own. In Lord Elgin's
+temperament there was always a mingling of sentiment and reason, as
+may be seen by reference to his finest exhibitions of eloquence. We
+can well believe that a deep reverence for the memory of a great man,
+too soon removed from the public life of Great Britain, combined with
+the natural desire to please his daughter when he wrote these words to
+her:--
+
+     "I still adhere to my opinion that the real and effectual
+     vindication of Lord Durham's memory and proceedings will be
+     the success of a governor-general of Canada who works out
+     his views of government fairly. Depend upon it, if this
+     country is governed for a few years satisfactorily, Lord
+     Durham's reputation as a statesman will be raised beyond the
+     reach of cavil."
+
+Now, more than half a century after he penned these words and
+expressed this hope, we all perceive that Lord Elgin was the
+instrument to carry out this work.
+
+Here it is necessary to close this very brief sketch of Lord Elgin's
+early career, that I may give an account of the political and economic
+conditions of the dependency at the end of January, 1847, when he
+arrived in the city of Montreal to assume the responsibilities of his
+office. This review will show the difficulties of the political
+situation with which he was called upon to cope, and will enable us to
+obtain an insight into the high qualifications which he brought to the
+conduct of public affairs in the Canadas.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+
+POLITICAL CONDITION IN CANADA
+
+To understand clearly the political state of Canada at the time Lord
+Elgin was appointed governor-general, it is necessary to go back for a
+number of years. The unfortunate rebellions which were precipitated by
+Louis Joseph Papineau and William Lyon Mackenzie during 1837 in the
+two Canadas were the results of racial and political difficulties
+which had gradually arisen since the organization of the two provinces
+of Upper and Lower Canada under the Constitutional Act of 1791. In the
+French section, the French and English Canadians--the latter always an
+insignificant minority as respects number--had in the course of time
+formed distinct parties. As in the courts of law and in the
+legislature, so it was in social and everyday life, the French
+Canadian was in direct antagonism to the English Canadian. Many
+members of the official and governing class, composed almost
+exclusively of English, were still too ready to consider French
+Canadians as inferior beings, and not entitled to the same rights and
+privileges in the government of the country. It was a time of passion
+and declamation, when men of fervent eloquence, like Papineau, might
+have aroused the French as one man, and brought about a general
+rebellion had they not been ultimately thwarted by the efforts of the
+moderate leaders of public opinion, especially of the priests who, in
+all national crises in Canada, have happily intervened on the side of
+reason and moderation, and in the interests of British connection,
+which they have always felt to be favourable to the continuance and
+security of their religious institutions. Lord Durham, in his
+memorable report on the condition of Canada, has summed up very
+expressively the nature of the conflict in the French province. "I
+expected," he said, "to find a contest between a government and a
+people; I found two nations warring in the bosom of a single state; I
+found a struggle, not of principles, but of races."
+
+While racial antagonisms intensified the difficulties in French
+Canada, there existed in all the provinces political conditions which
+arose from the imperfect nature of the constitutional system conceded
+by England in 1791, and which kept the country in a constant ferment.
+It was a mockery to tell British subjects conversant with British
+institutions, as Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe told the Upper Canadians
+in 1792, that their new system of government was "an image and
+transcript of the British constitution." While it gave to the people
+representative institutions, it left out the very principle which was
+necessary to make them work harmoniously--a government responsible to
+the legislature, and to the people in the last resort, for the conduct
+of legislation and the administration of affairs. In consequence of
+the absence of this vital principle, the machinery of government
+became clogged, and political strife convulsed the country from one
+end to the other. An "irrepressible conflict" arose between the
+government and the governed classes, especially in Lower Canada. The
+people who in the days of the French régime were without influence and
+power, had gained under their new system, defective as it was in
+essential respects, an insight into the operation of representative
+government, as understood in England. They found they were governed,
+not by men responsible to the legislature and the people, but by
+governors and officials who controlled both the executive and
+legislative councils. If there had always been wise and patient
+governors at the head of affairs, or if the imperial authorities could
+always have been made aware of the importance of the grievances laid
+before them, or had understood their exact character, the differences
+between the government and the majority of the people's
+representatives might have been arranged satisfactorily. But,
+unhappily, military governors like Sir James Craig only aggravated the
+dangers of the situation, and gave demagogues new opportunities for
+exciting the people. The imperial authorities, as a rule, were
+sincerely desirous of meeting the wishes of the people in a reasonable
+and fair spirit, but unfortunately for the country, they were too
+often ill-advised and ill-informed in those days of slow
+communication, and the fire of public discontent was allowed to
+smoulder until it burst forth in a dangerous form.
+
+In all the provinces, but especially in Lower Canada, the people saw
+their representatives practically ignored by the governing body, their
+money expended without the authority of the legislature, and the
+country governed by irresponsible officials. A system which gave
+little or no weight to public opinion as represented in the House of
+Assembly, was necessarily imperfect and unstable, and the natural
+result was a deadlock between the legislative council, controlled by
+the official and governing class, and the house elected by the people.
+The governors necessarily took the side of the men whom they had
+themselves appointed, and with whom they were acting. In the maritime
+provinces in the course of time, the governors made an attempt now and
+then to conciliate the popular element by bringing in men who had
+influence in the assembly, but this was a matter entirely within their
+own discretion. The system of government as a whole was worked in
+direct contravention of the principle of responsibility to the
+majority in the popular house. Political agitators had abundant
+opportunities for exciting popular passion. In Lower Canada, Papineau,
+an eloquent but impulsive man, having rather the qualities of an
+agitator than those of a statesman, led the majority of his
+compatriots.
+
+For years he contended for a legislative council elected by the
+people: and it is curious to note that none of the men who were at the
+head of the popular party in Lower Canada ever recognized the fact, as
+did their contemporaries in Upper Canada, that the difficulty would be
+best solved, not by electing an upper house, but by obtaining an
+executive which would only hold office while supported by a majority
+of the representatives in the people's house. In Upper Canada the
+radical section of the Liberal party was led by Mr. William Lyon
+Mackenzie, who fought vigorously against what was generally known as
+the "Family Compact," which occupied all the public offices and
+controlled the government.
+
+In the two provinces these two men at last precipitated a rebellion,
+in which blood was shed and much property destroyed, but which never
+reached any very extensive proportions. In the maritime provinces,
+however, where the public grievances were of less magnitude, the
+people showed no sympathy whatever with the rebellious elements of the
+upper provinces.
+
+Amid the gloom that overhung Canada in those times there was one gleam
+of sunshine for England. Although discontent and dissatisfaction
+prevailed among the people on account of the manner in which the
+government was administered, and of the attempts of the minority to
+engross all power and influence, there was still a sentiment in favour
+of British connection, and the annexationists were relatively few in
+number. Even Sir Francis Bond Head--in no respect a man of
+sagacity--understood this well when he depended on the militia to
+crush the outbreak in the upper province; and Joseph Howe, the eminent
+leader of the popular party, uniformly asserted that the people of
+Nova Scotia were determined to preserve the integrity of the empire at
+all hazards. As a matter of fact, the majority of leading men, outside
+of the minority led by Papineau, Nelson and Mackenzie, had a
+conviction that England was animated by a desire to act considerately
+with the provinces and that little good would come from precipitating
+a conflict which could only add to the public misfortunes, and that
+the true remedy was to be found in constitutional methods of redress
+for the political grievances which undoubtedly existed throughout
+British North America.
+
+The most important clauses of the Union Act, which was passed by the
+imperial parliament in 1840 but did not come into effect until
+February of the following year, made provision for a legislative
+assembly in which each section of the united provinces was represented
+by an equal number of members--forty-two for each and eighty-four for
+both; for the use of the English language alone in the written or
+printed proceedings of the legislature; for the placing of the public
+indebtedness of the two provinces at the union as a first charge on
+the revenues of the united provinces; for a two-thirds vote of the
+members of each House before any change could be made in the
+representation. These enactments, excepting the last which proved
+eventually to be in their interest, were resented by the French
+Canadians as clearly intended to place them in a position of
+inferiority to the English Canadians. Indeed it was with natural
+indignation they read that portion of Lord Durham's report which
+expressed the opinion that it was necessary to unite the two races on
+terms which would give the domination to the English. "Without
+effecting the change so rapidly or so roughly," he wrote, "as to shock
+the feelings or to trample on the welfare of the existing generation,
+it must henceforth be the first and steady purpose of the British
+government to establish an English population, with English laws and
+language, in this province, and to trust its government to none but a
+decidedly English legislature."
+
+French Canadians dwelt with emphasis on the feet that their province
+had a population of 630,000 souls, or 160,000 more than Upper Canada,
+and nevertheless received only the same number of representatives.
+French Canada had been quite free from the financial embarrassment
+which had brought Upper Canada to the verge of bankruptcy before the
+union; in fact the former had actually a considerable surplus when its
+old constitution was revoked on the outbreak of the rebellion. It was,
+consequently, with some reason, considered an act of injustice to make
+the people of French Canada pay the debts of a province whose revenue
+had not for years met its liabilities. Then, to add to these decided
+grievances, there was a proscription of the French language, which was
+naturally resented as a flagrant insult to the race which first
+settled the valley of the St. Lawrence, and as the first blow levelled
+against the special institutions so dear to French Canadians and
+guaranteed by the Treaty of Paris and the Quebec Act. Mr. LaFontaine,
+whose name will frequently occur in the following chapters of this
+book, declared, when he presented himself at the first election under
+the Union Act, that "it was an act of injustice and despotism"; but,
+as we shall soon see, he became a prime minister under the very act he
+first condemned. Like the majority of his compatriots, he eventually
+found in its provisions protection for the rights of the people, and
+became perfectly satisfied with a system of government which enabled
+them to obtain their proper position in the public councils and
+restore their language to its legitimate place in the legislature.
+
+But without the complete grant of responsible government it would
+never have been possible to give to French Canadians their legitimate
+influence in the administration and legislation of the country, or to
+reconcile the differences which had grown up between the two
+nationalities before the union and seemed likely to be perpetuated by
+the conditions of the Union Act just stated. Lord Durham touched the
+weakest spot in the old constitutional system of the Canadian
+provinces when he said that it was not "possible to secure harmony in
+any other way than by administering the government on those principles
+which have been found perfectly efficacious in Great Britain." He
+would not "impair a single prerogative of the crown"; on the contrary
+he believed "that the interests of the people of these provinces
+require the protection of prerogatives which have not hitherto been
+exercised." But he recognized the fact as a constitutional statesman
+that "the crown must, on the other hand, submit to the necessary
+consequences of representative institutions; and if it has to carry on
+the government in unison with a representative body, it must consent
+to carry it on by means of those in whom that representative body has
+confidence." 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 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."
+
+No one who studies carefully the history of responsible government
+from the appearance of Lord Durham's report and Lord John Russell's
+despatches of 1839 until the coming of Lord Elgin to Canada in 1847,
+can fail to see that there was always a doubt in the minds of the
+imperial authorities--a doubt more than once actually expressed in the
+instructions to the governors--whether it was possible to work the new
+system on the basis of a governor directly responsible to the parent
+state and at the same time acting under the advice of ministers
+directly responsible to the colonial parliament. Lord John Russell had
+been compelled to recognize the fact that it was not possible to
+govern Canada by the old methods of administration--that it was
+necessary to adopt a new colonial policy which would give a larger
+measure of political freedom to the people and ensure greater harmony
+between the executive government and the popular assemblies. Mr.
+Poulett Thomson, afterwards Lord Sydenham, was appointed
+governor-general with the definite objects of completing the union of
+the Canadas and inaugurating a more liberal system of colonial
+administration. As he informed the legislature of Upper Canada
+immediately after his arrival, in his anxiety to obtain its consent to
+the union, he had received "Her Majesty's commands to administer the
+government of these provinces in accordance with the well understood
+wishes and interests of the people." When the legislature of the
+united provinces met for the first time, he communicated two
+despatches in which the colonial secretary stated emphatically that,
+"Her Majesty had no desire to maintain any system or policy among her
+North American subjects which opinion condemns," and that 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 governor-general was instructed, in order "to
+maintain the utmost possible harmony," to call to his councils and to
+employ in the public service "those persons who, by their position and
+character, have obtained the general confidence and esteem of the
+inhabitants of the province." He wished it to be generally made known
+by the governor-general that thereafter certain heads of departments
+would be called upon "to retire from the public service as often as
+any sufficient motives of public policy might suggest the expediency
+of that measure." It appears, however, that there was always a
+reservation in the minds of the colonial secretary and of governors
+who preceded Lord Elgin as to the meaning of responsible government
+and the methods of carrying it out in a colony dependent on the crown.
+Lord Sydenham himself believed that the council should be one "for the
+governor to consult and no more"; that the governor could "not be
+responsible to the government at home and also to the legislature of
+the province," for 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." But it was soon made clear to so
+astute a politician as Lord Sydenham that, whatever were his own views
+as to the meaning that should be attached to responsible government,
+he must yield as far as possible to the strong sentiment which
+prevailed in the country in favour of making the ministry dependent on
+the legislature for its continuance in office. The resolutions passed
+by the legislature in support of responsible government were
+understood to have his approval. They differed very little in
+words--in essential principle not at all--from those first introduced
+by Mr. Baldwin. The inference to be drawn from the political situation
+of that time is that the governor's friends in the council thought it
+advisable to gain all possible credit with the public in connection
+with the all-absorbing question of the day, and accordingly brought in
+the following resolutions in amendment to those presented by the
+Liberal chief:--
+
+     "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
+     exercise 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."
+
+It is quite possible that had Lord Sydenham lived to complete his term
+of office, the serious difficulties that afterwards arose in the
+practice of responsible government would not have occurred. Gifted
+with a clear insight into political conditions and a thorough
+knowledge of the working of representative institutions, he would have
+understood that if parliamentary government was ever to be introduced
+into the colony it must be not in a half-hearted way, or with such
+reservations as he had had in his mind when he first came to the
+province. Amid the regret of all parties he died from the effects of a
+fall from his horse a few months after the inauguration of the union,
+and was succeeded by Sir Charles Bagot, who distinguished himself in a
+short administration of two years by the conciliatory spirit which he
+showed to the French Canadians, even at the risk of offending the
+ultra loyalists who seemed to think, for some years after the union,
+that they alone were entitled to govern the dependency.
+
+The first ministry after that change was composed of Conservatives and
+moderate Liberals, but it was soon entirely controlled by the former,
+and never had the confidence of Mr. Baldwin. That eminent statesman
+had been a member of this administration at the time of the union, but
+he resigned on the ground that it ought to be reconstructed if it was
+to represent the true sentiment of the country at large. When Sir
+Charles Bagot became governor the Conservatives were very sanguine
+that they would soon obtain exclusive control of the government, as he
+was known to be a supporter of the Conservative party in England. It
+was not long, however, before it was evident that his administration
+would be conducted, not in the interests of any set of politicians,
+but on principles of compromise and justice to all political parties,
+and, above all, with the hope of conciliating the French Canadians and
+bringing them into harmony with the new conditions. One of his first
+acts was the appointment of an eminent French Canadian, M. Vallières
+de Saint-RĂ©al, to the chief-justiceship of Montreal. Other
+appointments of able French Canadians to prominent public positions
+evoked the ire of the Tories, then led by the Sherwoods and Sir Allan
+MacNab, who had taken a conspicuous part in putting down the rebellion
+of 1837-8. Sir Charles Bagot, however, persevered in his policy of
+attempting to stifle racial prejudices and to work out the principles
+of responsible government on broad national lines. He appointed an
+able Liberal and master of finance, Mr. Francis Hincks, to the
+position of inspector-general with a seat in the cabinet. The
+influence of the French Canadians in parliament was now steadily
+increasing, and even strong Conservatives like Mr. Draper were forced
+to acknowledge that it was not possible to govern the province
+on the principle that they were an inferior and subject people,
+whose representatives could not be safely entrusted with any
+responsibilities as ministers of the crown. Negotiations for the
+entrance of prominent French Canadians in opposition to the government
+went on without result for some time, but they were at last
+successful, and the first LaFontaine-Baldwin cabinet came into
+existence in 1842, largely through the instrumentality of Sir Charles
+Bagot. Mr. Baldwin was a statesman whose greatest desire was the
+success of responsible government without a single reservation. Mr.
+LaFontaine was a French Canadian who had wisely recognized the
+necessity of accepting the union he had at first opposed, and of
+making responsible government an instrument for the advancement of the
+interests of his compatriots and of bringing them into unison with all
+nationalities for the promotion of the common good. The other
+prominent French Canadian in the ministry was Mr. A.N. Morin, who
+possessed the confidence and respect of his people, but was wanting in
+the energy and ability to initiate and press public measures which his
+leader possessed.
+
+The new administration had not been long in office when the
+governor-general fell a victim to an attack of dropsy, complicated by
+heart disease, and was succeeded by Sir Charles Metcalfe, who had held
+prominent official positions in India, and was governor of Jamaica
+previous to Lord Elgin's appointment. No one who has studied his
+character can doubt the honesty of his motives or his amiable
+qualities, but his political education in India and Jamaica rendered
+him in many ways incapable of understanding the political conditions
+of a country like Canada, where the people were determined to work out
+the system of parliamentary government on strictly British principles.
+He could have obtained little assistance from British statesmen had he
+been desirous of mastering and applying the principles of responsible
+government to the dependency. Their opinions and instructions were
+still distinguished by a perplexing vagueness. They would not believe
+that a governor of a dependency could occupy exactly the same relation
+with respect to his responsible advisers and to political parties as
+is occupied with such admirable results by the sovereign of England.
+It was considered necessary that a governor should make himself as
+powerful a factor as possible in the administration of public
+affairs--that he should be practically the prime minister,
+responsible, not directly to the colonial legislature, but to the
+imperial government, whose servant he was and to whom he should
+constantly refer for advice and assistance whenever in his opinion the
+occasion arose. In other words it was almost impossible to remove from
+the mind of any British statesman, certainly not from the colonial
+office of those days, the idea that parliamentary government meant one
+thing in England and the reverse in the colonies, that Englishmen at
+home could be entrusted with a responsibility which it was inexpedient
+to allow to Englishmen or Frenchmen across the sea. The colonial
+office was still reluctant to give up complete control of the local
+administration of the province, and wished to retain a veto by means
+of the governor, who considered official favour more desirable than
+the approval of any colonial legislature. More or less imbued with
+such views, Sir Charles Metcalfe was bound to come into conflict with
+LaFontaine and Baldwin, who had studied deeply the principles and
+practice of parliamentary government, and knew perfectly well that
+they could be carried out only by following the precedents established
+in the parent state.
+
+It was not long before the rupture came between men holding views so
+diametrically opposed to each other with respect to the conduct of
+government. The governor-general decided not to distribute the
+patronage of the crown under the advice of his responsible ministry,
+as was, of necessity, the constitutional practice in England, but to
+ignore the latter, as he boldly declared, whenever he deemed it
+expedient. "I wish," he wrote to the colonial secretary, "to make the
+patronage of the government conducive to the conciliation of all
+parties by bringing into the public service men of the greatest merit
+and efficiency without any party distinction." These were noble
+sentiments, sound in theory, but entirely incompatible with the
+operation of responsible government. If patronage is to be properly
+exercised in the interests of the people at large, it must be done by
+men who are directly responsible to the representatives of the people.
+If a governor-general is to make appointments without reference to his
+advisers, he must be more or less subject to party criticism, without
+having the advantage of defending himself in the legislature, or of
+having men duly authorized by constitutional usage to do so. The
+revival of that personal government which had evoked so much political
+rancour, and brought governors into the arena of party strife before
+the rebellion, was the natural result of the obstinate and
+unconstitutional attitude assumed by Lord Metcalfe with respect to
+appointments to office and other matters of administration.
+
+All the members of the LaFontaine-Baldwin government, with the
+exception of Mr. Dominick Daly, resigned in consequence of the
+governor's action. Mr. Daly had no special party proclivities, and
+found it to his personal interests to remain his Excellency's sole
+adviser. Practically the province was without an administration for
+many months, and when, at last, the governor-general was forced by
+public opinion to show a measure of respect for constitutional methods
+of government, he succeeded after most strenuous efforts in forming a
+Conservative cabinet, in which Mr. Draper was the only man of
+conspicuous ability. The French Canadians were represented by Mr.
+Viger and Mr. Denis B. Papineau, a brother of the famous rebel,
+neither of whom had any real influence or strength in Lower Canada,
+where the people recognized LaFontaine as their true leader and ablest
+public man. In the general election which soon followed the
+reconstruction of the government, it was sustained by a small
+majority, won only by the most unblushing bribery, by bitter appeals
+to national passion, and by the personal influence of the
+governor-general, as was the election which immediately preceded the
+rising in Upper Canada. In later years, Lord Grey[4] remarked that
+this success was "dearly purchased, by the circumstance that the
+parliamentary opposition was no longer directed against the advisers
+of the governor but against the governor himself, and the British
+government, of which he was the organ." The majority of the government
+was obtained from Upper Canada, where a large body of people were
+misled by appeals made to their loyalty and attachment to the crown,
+and where a large number of Methodists were influenced by the
+extraordinary action of the Rev. Egerton Ryerson, a son of a United
+Empire Loyalist, who defended the position of the governor-general,
+and showed how imperfectly he understood the principles and practice
+of responsible government. In a life of Sir Charles Metcalfe,[5] which
+appeared shortly after his death, it is stated that the
+governor-general "could not disguise from himself that the government
+was not strong, that it was continually on the brink of defeat, and
+that it was only enabled to hold its position by resorting to shifts
+and expedients, or what are called tactics, which in his inmost soul
+Lord Metcalfe abhorred."
+
+The action of the British ministry during this crisis in Canadian
+affairs proved quite conclusively that it was not yet prepared to
+concede responsible government in its fullest sense. Both Lord
+Stanley, then secretary of state for the colonies, and Lord John
+Russell, who had held the same office in a Whig administration,
+endorsed the action of the governor-general, who was raised to the
+peerage under the title of Baron Metcalfe of Fernhill, in the county
+of Berks. Earthly honours were now of little avail to the new peer. He
+had been a martyr for years to a cancer in the face, and when it
+assumed a most dangerous form he went back to England and died soon
+after his return. So strong was the feeling against him among a large
+body of the people, especially in French Canada, that he was bitterly
+assailed until the hour when he left, a dying man. Personally he was
+generous and charitable to a fault, but he should never have been sent
+to a colony at a crisis when the call was for a man versed in the
+practice of parliamentary government, and able to sympathize with the
+aspirations of a people determined to enjoy political freedom in
+accordance with the principles of the parliamentary institutions of
+England. With a remarkable ignorance of the political conditions of
+the province--too often shown by British statesmen in those days--so
+great a historian and parliamentarian as Lord Macaulay actually wrote
+on a tablet to Lord Metcalfe's memory:--"In Canada, not yet recovered
+from the calamities of civil war, he reconciled contending factions to
+each other and to the mother country." The truth is, as written by Sir
+Francis Hincks[6] fifty years later, "he embittered the party feeling
+that had been considerably assuaged by Sir Charles Bagot."
+
+Lord Metcalfe was succeeded by Lord Cathcart, a military man, who was
+chosen because of the threatening aspect of the relations between
+England and the United States on the question of the Oregon boundary.
+During his short term of office he did not directly interfere in
+politics, but carefully studied the defence of the country and quietly
+made preparations for a rupture with the neighbouring republic. The
+result of his judicious action was the disappearance of much of the
+political bitterness which had existed during Lord Metcalfe's
+administration. The country, indeed, had to face issues of vital
+importance to its material progress. Industry and commerce were
+seriously affected by the adoption of free trade in England, and the
+consequent removal of duties which had given a preference in the
+British markets to Canadian wheat, flour, and other commodities. The
+effect upon the trade of the province would not have been so serious
+had England at this time repealed the old navigation laws which closed
+the St. Lawrence to foreign shipping and prevented the extension of
+commerce to other markets. Such a course might have immediately
+compensated Canadians for the loss of those of the motherland. The
+anxiety that was generally felt by Canadians on the reversal of the
+British commercial policy under which they had been able to build up a
+very profitable trade, was shown in the language of a very largely
+signed address from the assembly to the Queen. "We cannot but fear,"
+it was stated in this document, "that the abandonment of the
+protective principle, the very basis of the colonial commercial
+system, is not only calculated to retard the agricultural improvement
+of the country and check its hitherto rising prosperity, but seriously
+to impair our ability to purchase the manufactured goods of Great
+Britain--a result alike prejudicial to this country and the parent
+state." But this appeal to the selfishness of British manufacturers
+had no influence on British statesmen so far as their fiscal policy
+was concerned. But while they were not prepared to depart in any
+measure from the principles of free trade and give the colonies a
+preference in British markets over foreign countries, they became
+conscious that the time had come for removing, as far as possible, all
+causes of public discontent in the provinces, at this critical period
+of commercial depression. British statesmen had suddenly awakened to
+the mistakes of Lord Metcalfe's administration of Canadian affairs,
+and decided to pursue a policy towards Canada which would restore
+confidence in the good faith and justice of the imperial government.
+"The Queen's representative"--this is a citation from a London
+paper[7] supporting the Whig government--"should not assume that he
+degrades the crown by following in a colony with a constitutional
+government the example of the crown at home. Responsible government
+has been conceded to Canada, and should be attended in its workings
+with all the consequences of responsible government in the mother
+country. What the Queen cannot do in England the governor-general
+should not be permitted to do in Canada. In making imperial
+appointments she is bound to consult her cabinet; in making provincial
+appointments the governor-general should be bound to do the same."
+
+The Oregon dispute had been settled, like the question of the Maine
+boundary, without any regard to British interests in America, and it
+was now deemed expedient to replace Lord Cathcart by a civil governor,
+who would be able to carry out, in the valley of the St. Lawrence, the
+new policy of the colonial office, and strengthen the ties between the
+province and the parent state.
+
+As I have previously stated, Lord John Russell's ministry made a wise
+choice in the person of Lord Elgin. In the following pages I shall
+endeavour to show how fully were realized the high expectations of
+those British statesmen who sent him across the Atlantic at this
+critical epoch in the political and industrial conditions of the
+Canadian dependency.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+
+POLITICAL DIFFICULTIES
+
+Lord Elgin made a most favourable impression on the public opinion of
+Canada from the first hour he arrived in Montreal, and had
+opportunities of meeting and addressing the people. His genial manner,
+his ready speech, his knowledge of the two languages, his obvious
+desire to understand thoroughly the condition of the country and to
+pursue British methods of constitutional government, were all
+calculated to attract the confidence of all nationalities, classes,
+and creeds. The supporters of responsible government heard with
+infinite pleasure the enunciation of the principles which would guide
+him in the discharge of his public duties. "I am sensible," he said in
+answer to a Montreal address, "that I shall but maintain the
+prerogative of the Crown, and most effectually carry out the
+instructions with which Her Majesty has honoured me, by manifesting a
+due regard for the wishes and feelings of the people and by seeking
+the advice and assistance of those who enjoy their confidence."
+
+At this time the Draper Conservative ministry, formed under such
+peculiar circumstances by Lord Metcalfe, was still in office, and Lord
+Elgin, as in duty bound, gave it his support, although it was clear to
+him and to all other persons at all conversant with public opinion
+that it did not enjoy the confidence of the country at large, and must
+soon give place to an administration more worthy of popular favour. He
+recognized the fact that the crucial weakness in the political
+situation was "that a Conservative government meant a government of
+Upper Canadians, which is intolerable to the French, and a Radical
+government meant a government of French, which is no less hateful to
+the British." He believed that the political problem of "how to govern
+united Canada"--and the changes which took place later showed he was
+right--would be best solved "if the French would split into a Liberal
+and Conservative party, and join the Upper Canada parties which bear
+corresponding names." Holding these views, he decided at the outset to
+give the French Canadians full recognition in the reconstruction or
+formation of ministries during his term of office. And under all
+circumstances he was resolved to give "to his ministers all
+constitutional support, frankly and without reserve, and the benefit
+of the best advice" that he could afford them in their difficulties.
+In return for this he expected that they would, "in so far as it is
+possible for them to do so, carry out his views for the maintenance of
+the connection with Great Britain and the advancement of the interests
+of the province." On this tacit understanding, they--the
+governor-general and the Draper-Viger cabinet--had "acted together
+harmoniously," although he had "never concealed from them that he
+intended to do nothing" which would "prevent him from working
+cordially with their opponents." It was indispensable that "the head
+of the government should show that he has confidence in the loyalty of
+all the influential parties with which he has to deal, and that he
+should have no personal antipathies to prevent him from acting with
+leading men."
+
+Despite the wishes of Lord Elgin, it was impossible to reconstruct the
+government with a due regard to French Canadian interests. Mr. Caron
+and Mr. Morin, both strong men, could not be induced to become
+ministers. The government continued to show signs of disintegration.
+Several members resigned and took judgeships in Lower Canada. Even Mr.
+Draper retired with the understanding that he should also go on the
+bench at the earliest opportunity in Upper Canada. Another effort was
+made to keep the ministry together, and Mr. Henry Sherwood became its
+head; but the most notable acquisition was Mr. John Alexander
+Macdonald as receiver-general. From that time this able man took a
+conspicuous place in the councils of the country, and eventually
+became prime minister of the old province of Canada, as well as of the
+federal dominion which was formed many years later in British North
+America, largely through his instrumentality. From his first entrance
+into politics he showed that versatility of intellect, that readiness
+to adapt himself to dominant political conditions and make them
+subservient to the interests of his party, that happy faculty of
+making and keeping personal friends, which were the most striking
+traits of his character. His mind enlarged as he had greater
+experience and opportunities of studying public life, and the man who
+entered parliament as a Tory became one of the most Liberal
+Conservatives who ever administered the affairs of a colonial
+dependency, and, at the same time, a statesman of a comprehensive
+intellect who recognized the strength of British institutions and the
+advantage of British connection.
+
+The obvious weakness of the reconstructed ministry was the absence of
+any strong men from French Canada. Mr. Denis B. Papineau was in no
+sense a recognized representative of the French Canadians, and did not
+even possess those powers of eloquence--that ability to give forth
+"rhetorical flashes"--which were characteristic of his reckless but
+highly gifted brother. In fact the ministry as then organized was a
+mere makeshift until the time came for obtaining an expression of
+opinion from the people at the polls. When parliament met in June,
+1847, it was quite clear that the ministry was on the eve of its
+downfall. It was sustained only by a feeble majority of two votes on
+the motion for the adoption of the address to the governor-general.
+The opposition, in which LaFontaine, Baldwin, Aylwin, and Chauveau
+were the most prominent figures, had clearly the best of the argument
+in the political controversies with the tottering ministry. Even in
+the legislative council resolutions, condemning it chiefly on the
+ground that the French province was inadequately represented in the
+cabinet, were only negatived by the vote of the president, Mr. McGill,
+a wealthy merchant of Montreal, who was also a member of the
+administration.
+
+Despite the weakness of the government, the legislature was called
+upon to deal with several questions which pressed for immediate
+action. Among the important measures which were passed was one
+providing for the amendment of the law relating to forgery, which was
+no longer punishable by death. Another amended the law with respect to
+municipalities in Lower Canada, which, however, failed to satisfy the
+local requirements of the people, though it remained in force for
+eight years, when it was replaced by one better adapted to the
+conditions of the French province. The legislature also discussed the
+serious effects of free trade upon Canadian industry, and passed an
+address to the Crown praying for the repeal of the laws which
+prevented the free use of the St. Lawrence by ships of all nations.
+But the most important subject with which the government was called
+upon to deal was one which stifled all political rivalry and national
+prejudices, and demanded the earnest consideration of all parties.
+Canada, like the rest of the world, had heard of an unhappy land
+smitten with a hideous plague, of its crops lying in pestilential
+heaps and of its peasantry dying above them, of fathers, mothers, and
+children ghastly in their rags or nakedness, of dead unburied, and the
+living flying in terror, as it were, from a stricken battlefield. This
+dreadful Irish famine forced to Canada upwards of 100,000 persons, the
+greater number of whom were totally destitute and must have starved to
+death had they not received public or private charity. The miseries of
+these unhappy immigrants were aggravated to an inconceivable degree by
+the outbreak of disease of a most malignant character, stimulated by
+the wretched physical condition and by the disgraceful state of the
+pest ships in which they were brought across the ocean. In those days
+there was no effective inspection or other means taken to protect from
+infection the unhappy families who were driven from their old homes by
+poverty and misery. From Grosse Isle, the quarantine station on the
+Lower St. Lawrence, to the most distant towns in the western province,
+many thousands died in awful suffering, and left helpless orphans to
+evoke the aid and sympathy of pitying Canadians everywhere. Canada was
+in no sense responsible for this unfortunate state of things. The
+imperial government had allowed this Irish immigration to go on
+without making any effort whatever to prevent the evils that followed
+it from Ireland to the banks of the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes.
+It was a heavy burden which Canada should never have been called upon
+to bear at a time when money was scarce and trade was paralyzed by the
+action of the imperial parliament itself. Lord Elgin was fully alive
+to the weighty responsibility which the situation entailed upon the
+British government, and at the same time did full justice to the
+exertions of the Canadian people to cope with this sad crisis. The
+legislature voted a sum of money to relieve the distress among the
+immigrants, but it was soon found entirely inadequate to meet the
+emergency.
+
+Lord Elgin did not fail to point out to the colonial secretary "the
+severe strain" that this sad state of things made, not only upon
+charity, but upon the very loyalty of the people to a government which
+had shown such culpable negligence since the outbreak of the famine
+and the exodus from the plague-stricken island. He expressed the
+emphatic opinion that "all things considered, a great deal of
+forbearance and good feeling had been shown by the colonists under
+this trial." He gave full expression to the general feeling of the
+country that "Great Britain must make good to the province the
+expenses entailed on it by this visitation." He did full justice to
+the men and women who showed an extraordinary spirit of
+self-sacrifice, a positive heroism, during this national crisis.
+"Nothing," he wrote, "can exceed the devotion of the nuns and Roman
+Catholic priests, and the conduct of the clergy and of many of the
+laity of other denominations has been most exemplary. Many lives have
+been sacrificed in attendance on the sick, and administering to their
+temporal and spiritual need.... This day the Mayor of Montreal, Mr.
+Mills, died, a very estimable man, who did much for the immigrants,
+and to whose firmness and philanthropy we chiefly owe it, that the
+immigrant sheds here were not tossed into the river by the people of
+the town during the summer. He has fallen a victim to his zeal on
+behalf of the poor plague-stricken strangers, having died of ship
+fever caught at the sheds." Among other prominent victims were Dr.
+Power, Roman Catholic Bishop of Toronto, Vicar-General Hudon of the
+same church, Mr. Roy, curé of Charlesbourg, and Mr. Chaderton, a
+Protestant clergyman. Thirteen Roman Catholic priests, if not more,
+died from their devotion to the unhappy people thus suddenly thrown
+upon their Christian charity. When the season of navigation was nearly
+closed, a ship arrived with a large number of people from the Irish
+estates of one of Her Majesty's ministers, Lord Palmerston. The
+natural result of this incident was to increase the feeling of
+indignation already aroused by the apathy of the British government
+during this national calamity. Happily Lord Elgin's appeals to the
+colonial secretary had effect, and the province was reimbursed
+eventually for the heavy expenses incurred by it in its efforts to
+fight disease, misery and death. English statesmen, after these
+painful experiences, recognized the necessity of enforcing strict
+regulations for the protection of emigrants crossing the ocean,
+against the greed of ship-owners. The sad story of 1847-8 cannot now
+be repeated in times when nations have awakened to their
+responsibilities towards the poor and distressed who are forced to
+leave their old homes for that new world which offers them well-paid
+work, political freedom, plenty of food and countless comforts.
+
+In the autumn of 1847, Lord Elgin was able to seek some relief from
+his many cares and perplexities of government, in a tour of the
+western province, where, to quote his own words, he met "a most
+gratifying and encouraging reception." He was much impressed with the
+many signs of prosperity which he saw on all sides. "It is indeed a
+glorious country," he wrote enthusiastically to Lord Grey, "and after
+passing, as I have done within the last fortnight, from the citadel of
+Quebec to the falls of Niagara, rubbing shoulders the while with its
+free and perfectly independent inhabitants, one begins to doubt
+whether it be possible to acquire a sufficient knowledge of man or
+nature, or to obtain an insight into the future of nations, without
+visiting America." During this interesting visit to Upper Canada, he
+seized the opportunity of giving his views on a subject which may be
+considered one of his hobbies, one to which he devoted much attention
+while in Jamaica, and this was the formation of agricultural
+associations for the purpose of stimulating scientific methods of
+husbandry.
+
+Before the close of the first year of his administration Lord Elgin
+felt that the time had come for making an effort to obtain a stronger
+ministry by an appeal to the people. Accordingly he dissolved
+parliament in December, and the elections, which were hotly contested,
+resulted in the unequivocal condemnation of the Sherwood cabinet, and
+the complete success of the Liberal party led by LaFontaine and
+Baldwin. Among the prominent Liberals returned by the people of Upper
+Canada were Baldwin, Hincks, Blake, Price, Malcolm Cameron, Richards,
+Merritt and John Sandfield Macdonald. Among the leaders of the same
+party in Lower Canada were LaFontaine, Morin, Aylwin, Chauveau and
+Holmes. Several able Conservatives lost their seats, but Sir Allan
+MacNab, John A. Macdonald, Mr. Sherwood and John Hillyard Cameron
+succeeded in obtaining seats in the new parliament, which was, in
+fact, more notable than any other since the union for the ability of
+its members. Not the least noteworthy feature of the elections was the
+return of Mr. Louis J. Papineau, and Mr. Wolfred Nelson, rebels of
+1837-8, both of whom had been allowed to return some time previously
+to the country. Mr. Papineau's career in parliament was not calculated
+to strengthen his position in impartial history. He proved beyond a
+doubt that he was only a demagogue, incapable of learning lessons of
+wise statesmanship during the years of reflection that were given him
+in exile. He continued to show his ignorance of the principles and
+workings of responsible government. Before the rebellion which he so
+rashly and vehemently forced on his credulous, impulsive countrymen,
+so apt to be deceived by flashy rhetoric and glittering generalities,
+he never made a speech or proposed a measure in support of the system
+of parliamentary government as explained by Baldwin and Howe, and even
+W. Lyon Mackenzie. His energy and eloquence were directed towards the
+establishment of an elective legislative council in which his
+compatriots would have necessarily the great majority, a supremacy
+that would enable him and his following to control the whole
+legislation and government, and promote his dominant idea of a _Nation
+Canadienne_ in the valley of the St. Lawrence. After the union he made
+it the object of his political life to thwart in every way possible
+the sagacious, patriotic plans of LaFontaine, Morin, and other
+broad-minded statesmen of his own nationality, and to destroy that
+system of responsible government under which French Canada had become
+a progressive and influential section of the province.
+
+As soon as parliament assembled at the end of February, the government
+was defeated on the vote for the speakership. Its nominee, Sir Allan
+MacNab, received only nineteen votes out of fifty-four, and Morin, the
+Liberal candidate, was then unanimously chosen. When the address in
+reply to the governor-general's speech came up for consideration,
+Baldwin moved an amendment, expressing a want of confidence in the
+ministry, which was carried by a majority of thirty votes in a house
+of seventy-four members, exclusive of the speaker, who votes only in
+case of a tie. Lord Elgin received and answered the address as soon as
+it was ready for presentation, and then sent for LaFontaine and
+Baldwin.
+
+He spoke to them, as he tells us himself, "in a candid and friendly
+tone," and expressed the opinion that "there was a fair prospect, if
+they were moderate and firm, of forming an administration deserving
+and enjoying the confidence of parliament." He added that "they might
+count on all proper support and assistance from him." When they "dwelt
+on difficulties arising out of pretensions advanced in various
+quarters," he advised them "not to attach too much importance to such
+considerations, but to bring together a council strong in
+administrative talent, and to take their stand on the wisdom of their
+measures and policy." The result was the construction of a powerful
+government by LaFontaine with the aid of Baldwin. "My present
+council," Lord Elgin wrote to the colonial secretary, "unquestionably
+contains more talent, and has a firmer hold on the confidence of
+parliament and of the people than the last. There is, I think,
+moreover, on their part, a desire to prove, by proper deference for
+the authority of the governor-general (which they all admit has in my
+case never been abused), that they were libelled when they were
+accused of impracticability and anti-monarchical tendencies." These
+closing words go to show that the governor-general felt it was
+necessary to disabuse the minds of the colonial secretary and his
+colleagues of the false impression which the British government and
+people seemed to entertain, that the Tories and Conservatives were
+alone to be trusted in the conduct of public affairs. He saw at once
+that the best way of strengthening the connection with Great Britain
+was to give to the strongest political party in the country its true
+constitutional position in the administration of public affairs, and
+identify it thoroughly with the public interests.
+
+The new government was constituted as follows:
+
+     Lower Canada.--Hon. L.H. LaFontaine, attorney-general of
+     Lower Canada; Hon. James Leslie, president of the executive
+     council; Hon. R.E. Caron, president of the legislative
+     council; Hon. E.P. Taehé, chief commissioner of public
+     works; Hon. I.C. Aylwin, solicitor-general for Lower Canada;
+     Hon. L.M. Viger, receiver-general.
+
+     Upper Canada.--Hon. Robert Baldwin, attorney-general of
+     Upper Canada; Hon. R.B. Sullivan, provincial secretary; Hon.
+     F. Hincks, inspector-general; Hon. J.H. Price, commissioner
+     of crown lands; Hon. Malcolm Cameron, assistant commissioner
+     of public works; Hon. W.H. Blake, solicitor-general.
+
+The LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry must always occupy a distinguished
+place in the political history of the Canadian people. It was the
+first to be formed strictly in accordance with the principles of
+responsible government, and from its entrance into public life must be
+dated a new era in which the relations between the governor and his
+advisers were at last placed on a sound constitutional basis, in which
+the constant appeals to the imperial government on matters of purely
+provincial significance came to an end, in which local self-government
+was established in the fullest sense compatible with the continuance
+of the connection with the empire. It was a ministry notable not only
+for the ability of its members, but for the many great measures which
+it was able to pass during its term of office--measures calculated to
+promote the material advancement of the province, and above all to
+dispel racial prejudices and allay sectional antagonisms by the
+adoption of wise methods of compromise, conciliation and justice to
+all classes and creeds.
+
+In Lord Elgin's letters of 1848 to Earl Grey, we can clearly see how
+many difficulties surrounded the discharge of his administrative
+functions at this time, and how fortunate it was for Canada, as well
+as for Great Britain, that he should have been able to form a
+government which possessed so fully the confidence of both sections of
+the province, irrespective of nationality. The revolution of February
+in Paris, and the efforts of a large body of Irish in the United
+States to evoke sympathy in Canada on behalf of republicanism were
+matters of deep anxiety to the governor-general and other friends of
+the imperial state. "It is just as well," he wrote at this time to
+Lord Grey, "that I should have arranged my ministry, and committed the
+flag of Great Britain to the custody of those who are supported by the
+large majority of the representatives and constituencies of the
+province, before the arrival of the astounding news from Europe which
+reached us by the last mail. There are not wanting here persons who
+might, under different circumstances, have attempted by seditious
+harangues, if not by overt acts, to turn the example of France, and
+the sympathies of the United States to account."
+
+Under the circumstances he pressed upon the imperial authorities the
+wisdom of repealing that clause of the Union Act which restricted the
+use of the French language. "I am for one deeply convinced," and here
+he showed he differed from Lord Durham, "of the impolicy of all such
+attempts to denationalize the French. Generally speaking, they produce
+the opposite effect from that intended, causing the flame of national
+prejudice and animosity to burn more fiercely." But he went on to say,
+even were such attempts successful, what would be the inevitable
+result:
+
+     "You may perhaps Americanize, but, depend upon it, by
+     methods of this description you will never Anglicize the
+     French inhabitants of the province. Let them feel, on the
+     other hand, that their religion, their habits, their
+     prepossessions, their prejudices, if you will, are more
+     considered and respected here than in other portions of this
+     vast continent, who will venture to say that the last hand
+     which waves the British flag on American ground may not be
+     that of a French Canadian?"[8]
+
+Lord Elgin had a strong antipathy to Papineau--"Guy Fawkes Papineau,"
+as he called him in one of his letters--who was, he considered,
+"actuated by the most malignant passions, irritated vanity,
+disappointed ambition and national hatred," always ready to wave "a
+lighted torch among combustibles." Holding such opinions, he seized
+every practical opportunity of thwarting Papineau's persistent efforts
+to create a dangerous agitation among his impulsive countrymen. He
+shared fully the great desire of the bishops and clergy to stem the
+immigration of large numbers of French Canadians into the United
+States by the establishment of an association for colonization
+purposes. Papineau endeavoured to attribute this exodus to the effects
+of the policy of the imperial government, and to gain control of this
+association with the object of using it as a means of stimulating a
+feeling against England, and strengthening himself in French Canada by
+such insidious methods. Lord Elgin, with that intuitive sagacity which
+he applied to practical politics, recognized the importance of
+identifying himself with the movement initiated by the bishops and
+their friends, of putting himself "in so far as he could at its head,"
+of imparting to it "as salutary a direction as possible, and thus
+wresting from Papineau's hands a potent instrument of agitation." This
+policy of conciliating the French population, and anticipating the
+great agitator in his design, was quite successful. To use Lord
+Elgin's own language, "Papineau retired to solitude and reflection at
+his seigniory, 'La Petite Nation,'" and the governor-general was able
+at the same time to call the attention of the colonial secretary to a
+presentment of the grand jury of Montreal, "in which that body adverts
+to the singularly tranquil, contented state of the province."
+
+It was at this time that Lord Elgin commenced to give utterance to the
+views that he had formed with respect to the best method of giving a
+stimulus to the commercial and industrial interests that were so
+seriously crippled by the free trade policy of the British government.
+So serious had been its effects upon the economic conditions of the
+province that mill-owners, forwarders and merchants had been ruined
+"at one fell swoop," that the revenue had been reduced by the loss of
+the canal dues paid previously by the shipping engaged in the trade
+promoted by the old colonial policy of England, that private property
+had become unsaleable, that not a shilling could be raised on the
+credit of the province, that public officers of all grades, including
+the governor-general, had to be paid in debentures which were not
+exchangeable at par. Under such circumstances it was not strange, said
+the governor-general, that Canadians were too ready to make
+unfavourable comparisons between themselves and their republican
+neighbours. "What makes it more serious," he said, "is that all the
+prosperity of which Canada is thus robbed is transplanted to the other
+side of the line, as if to make Canadians feel more bitterly how much
+kinder England is to the children who desert her, than to those who
+remain faithful. It is the inconsistency of imperial legislation, and
+not the adoption of one policy rather than another, which is the bane
+of the colonies."
+
+He believed that "the conviction that they would be better off if they
+were annexed," was almost universal among the commercial classes at
+that time, and the peaceful condition of the province under all the
+circumstances was often a matter of great astonishment even to
+himself. In his letters urging the imperial government to find an
+immediate remedy for this unfortunate condition of things, he
+acknowledged that there was "something captivating in the project of
+forming this vast British Empire into one huge _Zollverein_, with free
+interchange of commodities, and uniform duties against the world
+without; though perhaps without some federal legislation it might have
+been impossible to carry it out."[9] Undoubtedly, under such a system
+"the component parts of the empire would have been united by bonds
+which cannot be supplied under that on which we are now entering," but
+he felt that, whatever were his own views on the subject, it was then
+impossible to disturb the policy fixed by the imperial government, and
+that the only course open to them, if they hoped "to keep the
+colonies," was to repeal the navigation laws, and to allow them "to
+turn to the best possible account their contiguity to the States, that
+they might not have cause for dissatisfaction when they contrasted
+their own condition with that of their neighbours."
+
+Some years, however, passed before the governor-general saw his views
+fully carried out. The imperial authorities, with that extraordinary
+indifference to colonial conditions which too often distinguished them
+in those times, hesitated until well into 1849 to follow his advice
+with respect to the navigation laws, and the Reciprocity Treaty was
+not successfully negotiated until a much later time. He had the
+gratification, however, before he left Canada of seeing the beneficial
+effects of the measures which he so earnestly laboured to promote in
+the interests of the country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+
+THE INDEMNIFICATION ACT
+
+The legislature opened on January 18th, 1849, when Lord Elgin had the
+gratification of informing French Canadians that the restrictions
+imposed by the Union Act on the use of their language in the public
+records had been removed by a statute of the imperial parliament. For
+the first time in Canadian history the governor-general read the
+speech in the two languages; for in the past it had been the practice
+of the president of the legislative council to give it in French after
+it had been read in English from the throne. The session was memorable
+in political annals for the number of useful measures that were
+adopted. In later pages of this book I shall give a short review of
+these and other measures which show the importance of the legislation
+passed by the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry. For the present I shall
+confine myself to the consideration of a question which created an
+extraordinary amount of public excitement, culminated in the
+destruction of valuable public property, and even threatened the life
+of the governor-general, who during one of the most trying crises in
+Canadian history, displayed a coolness and patience, an indifference
+to all personal considerations, a political sagacity and a strict
+adherence to sound methods of constitutional government, which entitle
+him to the gratitude of Canadians, who might have seen their country
+torn asunder by internecine strife, had there been then a weak and
+passionate man at the head of the executive. As it will be seen later,
+he, like the younger Pitt in England, was "the pilot who weathered the
+storm." In Canada, the storm, in which the elements of racial
+antagonism, of political rivalry and disappointment, of spoiled
+fortunes and commercial ruin raged tumultuously for a while,
+threatened not only to drive Canada back for years in its political
+and material development, but even to disturb the relations between
+the dependency and the imperial state.
+
+The legislation which gave rise to this serious convulsion in the
+country was, in a measure, an aftermath of the rebellious risings of
+1837 and 1838 in Upper and Lower Canada. Many political grievances had
+been redressed since the union, and the French Canadians had begun to
+feel that their interests were completely safe under a system of
+government which gave them an influential position in the public
+councils. The restoration of their language to its proper place in a
+country composed of two nationalities standing on a sure footing of
+equal political and civil rights, was a great consolation to the
+French people of the east. The pardon extended to the rash men who
+were directly concerned in the events of 1837 and 1838, was also well
+calculated to heal the wounds inflicted on the province during that
+troublous period. It needed only the passage of another measure to
+conceal the scars of those unhappy days, and to bury the past in that
+oblivion in which all Canadians anxious for the unity and harmony of
+the two races, and the satisfactory operation of political
+institutions, were sincerely desirous of hiding it forever. This
+measure was pecuniary compensation from the state for certain losses
+incurred by people in French Canada in consequence of the wanton
+destruction of property during the revolt. The obligation of the state
+to give such compensation had been fully recognized before and after
+the union.
+
+The special council of Lower Canada and the legislature of Upper
+Canada had authorized the payment of an indemnity to those loyal
+inhabitants in their respective provinces who had sustained losses
+during the insurrections. It was not possible, however, before the
+union, to make payments out of the public treasury in accordance with
+the ordinance of the special council of Lower Canada and the statute
+of the legislature of Upper Canada. In the case of both provinces
+these measures were enacted to satisfy the demands that were made for
+compensation by a large number of people who claimed to have suffered
+losses at the outbreak of the rebellions, or during the raids from the
+United States which followed these risings and which kept the country
+in a state of ferment for months. The legislature of the united
+provinces passed an act during its first session to extend
+compensation to losses occasioned in Upper Canada by violence on the
+part of persons "acting or assuming to act" on Her Majesty's behalf
+"for the suppression of the said rebellion or for the prevention of
+further disturbances." Funds were also voted out of the public
+revenues for the payment of indemnities to those who had met with the
+losses set forth in this legislation affecting Upper Canada. It was,
+on the whole, a fair settlement of just claims in the western
+province. The French Canadians in the legislature supported the
+measure, and urged with obvious reason that the same consideration
+should be shown to the same class of persons in Lower Canada. It was
+not, however, until the session of 1845, when the Draper-Viger
+ministry was in office, that an address was passed to the
+governor-general, Lord Metcalfe, praying him to take such steps as
+were necessary "to insure to the inhabitants of that portion of this
+province, formerly Lower Canada, an indemnity for just losses suffered
+during the rebellions of 1837 and 1838." The immediate result was the
+appointment of commissioners to make inquiry into the losses sustained
+by "Her Majesty's loyal subjects" in Lower Canada "during the late
+unfortunate rebellion." The commissioners found some difficulty in
+acting upon their instructions, which called upon them to distinguish
+the cases of those "who had joined, aided or abetted the said
+rebellion, from the cases of those who had not done so," and they
+accordingly applied for definite advice from Lord Cathcart, whose
+advisers were still the Draper-Viger ministry. The commissioners were
+officially informed that "it was his Excellency's intention that they
+should be guided by no other description of evidence than that
+furnished by the sentences of the courts of law." They were further
+informed that it was only intended that they should form a general
+estimate of the rebellion losses, "the particulars of which must form
+the subject of more minute inquiry hereafter, under legislative
+authority."
+
+During the session of 1846 the commissioners made a report which gave
+a list of 2,176 persons who made claims amounting in the aggregate to
+£241,965. At the same time the commissioners expressed the opinion
+that £100,000 would be adequate to satisfy all just demands, and
+directed attention to the fact that upwards of £25,503 were actually
+claimed by persons who had been condemned by a court-martial for their
+participation in the rebellion. The report also set forth that the
+inquiry conducted by the commissioners had been necessarily imperfect
+in the absence of legal power to make a minute investigation, and that
+they had been compelled largely to trust to the allegations of the
+claimants who had laid their cases before them, and that it was only
+from data collected in this way that they had been able to come to
+conclusions as to the amount of losses.
+
+When the Draper-Viger ministry first showed a readiness to take up the
+claims of Lower Canada for the same compensation that had been granted
+to Upper Canada, they had been doubtless influenced, not solely by the
+conviction that they were called upon to perform an act of justice,
+but mainly by a desire to strengthen themselves in the French
+province. We have already read that their efforts in this direction
+entirely failed, and that they never obtained in that section any
+support from the recognized leaders of public opinion, but were
+obliged to depend upon Denis B. Papineau and Viger to keep up a
+pretence of French Canadian representation in the cabinet. It is,
+then, easy to believe that, when the report of the commissioners came
+before them, they were not very enthusiastic on the subject, or
+prepared to adopt vigorous measures to settle the question on some
+equitable basis, and remove it entirely from the field of political
+and national conflict.
+
+They did nothing more than make provision for the payment of £9,986,
+which represented claims fully investigated and recognized as
+justifiable before the union, and left the general question of
+indemnity for future consideration. Indeed, it is doubtful if the
+Conservative ministry of that day, the mere creation of Lord Metcalfe,
+kept in power by a combination of Tories and other factions in Upper
+Canada, could have satisfactorily dealt with a question which required
+the interposition of a government having the confidence of both
+sections of the province. One thing is quite certain. This ministry,
+weak as it was, Tory and ultra-loyalist as it claimed to be, had
+recognized by the appointment of a commission, the justice of giving
+compensation to French Canada on the principles which had governed the
+settlement of claims from Upper Canada. Had the party which supported
+that ministry been influenced by any regard for consistency or
+principle, it was bound in 1849 to give full consideration to the
+question, and treat it entirely on its merits with the view of
+preventing its being made a political issue and a means of arousing
+racial and sectional animosities. As we shall now see, however, party
+passion, political demagogism, and racial hatred prevailed above all
+high considerations of the public peace and welfare, when parliament
+was asked by the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry to deal seriously and
+practically with the question of indemnity to Lower Canada.
+
+The session was not far advanced when LaFontaine brought forward a
+series of resolutions, on which were subsequently based a bill, which
+set forth in the preamble that "in order to redeem the pledge given to
+the sufferers of such losses ... it is necessary and just that the
+particulars of such losses, not yet paid and satisfied, should form
+the subject of more minute inquiry under legislative authority (see p.
+65 _ante_) and that the same, so far only as they may have arisen from
+the total or partial, unjust, unnecessary or wanton destruction of
+dwellings, buildings, property and effects ... should be paid and
+satisfied." The act provided that no indemnity should be paid to
+persons "who had been convicted of treason during the rebellion, or
+who, having been taken into custody, had submitted to Her Majesty's
+will, and been transported to Bermuda." Five commissioners were to be
+appointed to carry out the provisions of the act, which also provided
+£400,000 for the payment of legal claims.
+
+Then all the forces hostile to the government gathered their full
+strength for an onslaught on a measure which such Tories as Sir Allan
+MacNab and Henry Sherwood believed gave them an excellent opportunity
+of arousing a strong public sentiment which might awe the
+governor-general and bring about a ministerial crisis. The issue was
+not one of public principle or of devotion to the Crown, it was simply
+a question of obtaining a party victory _per fas aut nefas_. The
+debate on the second reading of the bill was full of bitterness,
+intensified even to virulence. Mr. Sherwood declared that the proposal
+of the government meant nothing else than the giving of a reward to
+the very persons who had been the cause of the shedding of blood and
+the destruction of property throughout the country. Sir Allan MacNab
+went so far in a moment of passion as to insult the French Canadian
+people by calling them "aliens and rebels." The solicitor-general, Mr.
+Hume Blake,[10] who was Irish by birth, and possessed a great power of
+invective, inveighed in severe terms against "the family compact" as
+responsible for the rebellion, and declared that the stigma of
+"rebels" applied with complete force to the men who were then
+endeavouring to prevent the passage of a bill which was a simple act
+of justice to a large body of loyal people. Sir Allan MacNab instantly
+became furious and said that if Mr. Blake called him a rebel it was
+simply a lie.
+
+Then followed a scene of tumult, in which the authority of the chair
+was disregarded, members indulged in the most disorderly cries, and
+the people in the galleries added to the excitement on the floor by
+their hisses and shouts. The galleries were cleared with the greatest
+difficulty, and a hostile encounter between Sir Allan and Mr. Blake
+was only prevented by the intervention of the sergeant-at-arms, who
+took them into custody by order of the House until they gave
+assurances that they would proceed no further in the unseemly dispute.
+When the debate was resumed on the following day, LaFontaine brought
+it again to the proper level of argument and reason, and showed that
+both parties were equally pledged to a measure based on considerations
+of justice, and declared positively that the government would take
+every possible care in its instructions to the commissioner; that no
+rebel should receive any portion of the indemnity, which was intended
+only as a compensation to those who had just claims upon the country
+for the losses that they actually sustained in the course of the
+unfortunate rebellion. At this time the Conservative and ultra-loyal
+press was making frantic appeals to party passions and racial
+prejudices, and calling upon the governor-general to intervene and
+prevent the passage of a measure which, in the opinion of loyal
+Canadians, was an insult to the Crown and its adherents. Public
+meetings were also held and efforts made to arouse a violent feeling
+against the bill. The governor-general understood his duty too well as
+the head of the executive to interfere with the bill while passing
+through the two Houses, and paid no heed to these passionate appeals
+dictated by partisan rancour, while the ministry pressed the question
+to the test of a division as soon as possible. The resolutions and the
+several readings of the bill passed both Houses by large majorities.
+The bill was carried in the assembly on March 9th by forty-seven votes
+against eighteen, and in the legislative council on the 15th, by
+fifteen against fourteen. By an analysis of the division in the
+popular chamber, it will be seen that out of thirty-one members from
+Upper Canada seventeen supported and fourteen opposed the bill, while
+out of ten Lower Canadian members of British descent there were six
+who voted yea and four nay. The representatives of French Canada as a
+matter of course were arrayed as one in favour of an act of justice to
+their compatriots. During the passage of the bill its opponents
+deluged the governor-general with petitions asking him either to
+dissolve the legislature or to reserve the bill for the consideration
+of the imperial government. Such appeals had no effect whatever upon
+Lord Elgin, who was determined to adhere to the well understood rules
+of parliamentary government in all cases of political controversy.
+
+When the bill had passed all its stages in the two Houses by large
+majorities of both French and English Canadians, the governor-general
+came to the legislative council and gave the royal assent to the
+measure, which was entitled "An Act to provide for the indemnification
+of parties in Lower Canada whose property was destroyed during the
+rebellion in the years 1837 and 1838." No other constitutional course
+could have been followed by him under all the circumstances. In his
+letters to the colonial secretary he did not hesitate to express his
+regret "that this agitation should have been stirred, and that any
+portion of the funds of the province should be diverted now from much
+more useful purposes to make good losses sustained by individuals in
+the rebellion," but he believed that "a great deal of property was
+cruelly and wantonly destroyed" in Lower Canada, and that "this
+government, after what their predecessors had done, and with Papineau
+in the rear, could not have helped taking up this question." He saw
+clearly that it was impossible to dissolve a parliament just elected
+by the people, and in which the government had a large majority. "If I
+had dissolved parliament," to quote his own words, "I might have
+produced a rebellion, but assuredly I should not have procured a
+change of ministry. The leaders of the party know that as well as I
+do, and were it possible to play tricks in such grave concerns, it
+would have been easy to throw them into utter confusion by merely
+calling upon them to form a government. They were aware, however, that
+I could not for the sake of discomfiting them hazard so desperate a
+policy; so they have played out their game of faction and violence
+without fear of consequences."
+
+His reasons for not reserving the bill for the consideration of the
+British government must be regarded as equally cogent by every student
+of our system of government, especially by those persons who believe
+in home rule in all matters involving purely Canadian interests. In
+the first place, the bill for the relief of a corresponding class of
+persons in Upper Canada, "which was couched in terms very nearly
+similar, was not reserved," and it was "difficult to discover a
+sufficient reason, so far as the representative of the Crown was
+concerned, for dealing with the one measure differently from the
+other." And in the second place, "by reserving the bill he should only
+throw upon Her Majesty's government or (as it would appear to the
+popular eye in Canada) on Her Majesty herself, a responsibility which
+rests and ought to rest" upon the governor-general of Canada. If he
+passed the bill, "whatever mischief ensues may probably be repaired,"
+if the worst came to the worst, "by the sacrifice" of himself. If the
+case were referred to England, on the other hand, it was not
+impossible that Her Majesty might "only have before her the
+alternative of provoking a rebellion in Lower Canada, by refusing her
+assent to a measure chiefly affecting the interests of the _habitants_
+and thus throwing the whole population into Papineau's hands, or of
+wounding the susceptibilities of some of the best subjects she has in
+the province."
+
+A Canadian writer at the present time can refer only with a feeling of
+indignation and humiliation to the scenes of tumult, rioting and
+incendiarism, which followed the royal assent to the bill of
+indemnity. When Lord Elgin left Parliament House--formerly the Ste.
+Anne market--a large crowd insulted him with opprobrious epithets. In
+his own words he was "received with ironical cheers and hootings, and
+a small knot of individuals, consisting, it has since been
+ascertained, of persons of a respectable class in society, pelted the
+carriage with missiles which must have been brought for that purpose."
+A meeting was held in the open air, and after several speeches of a
+very inflammatory character had been made, the mob rushed to the
+parliament building, which was soon in flames. By this disgraceful act
+of incendiarism most valuable collections of books and documents were
+destroyed, which, in some cases, could not be replaced. Supporters of
+the bill were everywhere insulted and maltreated while the excitement
+was at its height. LaFontaine's residence was attacked and injured.
+His valuable library of books and manuscripts, some of them very rare,
+was destroyed by fire--a deplorable incident which recalls the burning
+and mutilation of the rich historical collections of Hutchinson, the
+last loyalist governor of Massachusetts, at the commencement of the
+American revolution in Boston.
+
+A few days later Lord Elgin's life was in actual danger at the hands
+of the unruly mob, as he was proceeding to Government House--then the
+old ChĂ¢teau de Ramezay on Notre Dame Street--to receive an address
+from the assembly. On his return to Monklands he was obliged to take a
+circuitous route to evade the same mob who were waiting with the
+object of further insulting him and otherwise giving vent to their
+feelings.
+
+The government appears to have been quite unconscious that the public
+excitement was likely to assume so dangerous a phase, and had
+accordingly taken none of those precautions which might have prevented
+the destruction of the parliament house and its valuable contents.
+Indeed it would seem that the leaders of the movement against the bill
+had themselves no idea that the political storm which they had raised
+by their inflammatory harangues would become a whirlwind so entirely
+beyond their control. Their main object was to bring about a
+ministerial crisis. Sir Allan MacNab, the leader of the opposition,
+himself declared that he was amazed at the dangerous form which the
+public indignation had at last assumed. He had always been a devoted
+subject of the sovereign, and it is only just to say that he could
+under no circumstances become a rebel, but he had been carried away by
+his feelings and had made rash observations more than once under the
+belief that the bill would reward the same class of men whom he and
+other loyalists had fought against in Upper Canada. Whatever he felt
+in his heart, he and his followers must always be held as much
+responsible for the disturbances of 1849 as were Mackenzie and
+Papineau for those of 1837. Indeed there was this difference between
+them: the former were reckless, but at least they had, in the opinion
+of many persons, certain political grievances to redress, while the
+latter were simply opposing the settlement of a question which they
+were bound to consider fairly and impartially, if they had any respect
+for former pledges. Papineau, Mackenzie and Nelson may well have found
+a measure of justification for their past madness when they found the
+friends of the old "family compact" and the extreme loyalists of 1837
+and 1838 incited to insult the sovereign in the person of her
+representative, to create racial passion and to excite an agitation
+which might at any moment develop into a movement most fatal to Canada
+and her connection with England.
+
+Happily for the peace of the country, Lord Elgin and his councillors
+showed a forbearance and a patience which could hardly have been
+expected from them during the very serious crisis in which they lived
+for some weeks. "I am prepared," said Lord Elgin at the very moment
+his life was in danger, "to bear any amount of obloquy that may be
+cast upon me, but, if I can possibly prevent it, no stain of blood
+shall rest upon my name." When he remained quiet at Monklands and
+decided not to give his enemies further opportunities for outbursts of
+passion by paying visits to the city, even if protected by a military
+force, he was taunted by the papers of the opposition with cowardice
+for pursuing a course which, we can all now clearly see, was in the
+interests of peace and order. When at a later time LaFontaine's house
+was again attacked after the arrest of certain persons implicated in
+the destruction of the parliament house, and one of the assailants was
+killed by a shot fired from inside, he positively refused to consent
+to martial law or any measures of increased rigour until a further
+appeal had been made to the mayor and corporation of the city. The
+issue proved that he was clearly right in his opinion of the measures
+that should be taken to restore order at this time. The law-abiding
+citizens of Montreal at once responded to a proclamation of the mayor
+to assist him in the maintenance of peace, and the coroner's jury--one
+member being an Orangeman who had taken part in the funeral of the
+deceased--brought in a unanimous verdict, acquitting LaFontaine of all
+blame for the unfortunate incident that had occurred during the
+unlawful attack on his residence.
+
+The Montreal disturbances soon evoked the indignation of the truly
+loyal inhabitants of the province. Addresses came to the
+governor-general from all parts to show him that the riots were
+largely due to local causes, "especially to commercial distress acting
+on religious bigotry and national hatred." He had also the
+gratification of learning that his constitutional action was fully
+justified by the imperial government, as well as supported in
+parliament where it was fully discussed. When he offered to resign his
+office, he was assured by Lord Grey that "his relinquishment of that
+office, which, under any circumstances, would be a most serious blow
+to Her Majesty's service and to the province, could not fail, in the
+present state of affairs, to be most injurious to the public welfare,
+from the encouragement which it would give to those who have been
+concerned in the violent and illegal opposition which has been offered
+to your government." In parliament, Mr. Gladstone, who seems never to
+have been well-informed on the subject, went so far as to characterize
+the Rebellion Losses Bill as a measure for rewarding rebels, but both
+Lord John Russell, then leader of the government, and his great
+opponent, Sir Robert Peel, gave their unqualified support to the
+measure. The result was that an amendment proposed by Mr. Herries in
+favour of the disallowance of the act was defeated by a majority of
+141.
+
+This action of the imperial authorities had the effect of
+strengthening the public sentiment in Canada in support of Lord Elgin
+and his advisers. The government set to work vigorously to carry out
+the provisions of the law, appointing the same commissioners as had
+acted under the previous ministry, and was able in a very short time
+to settle definitely this very disturbing question. It was deemed
+inexpedient, however, to keep the seat of government at Montreal.
+After a very full and anxious consideration of the question, it was
+decided to act on the recommendation of the legislature that it should
+thereafter meet alternately at Toronto and Quebec, and that the next
+session should be held at Toronto in accordance with this arrangement
+This "perambulating system" was tried for several years, but it proved
+so inconvenient and expensive that the legislature in 1858 passed an
+address to Her Majesty praying her to choose a permanent capital. The
+place selected was the city of Ottawa, on account of its situation on
+the frontier of the two provinces, the almost equal division of its
+population into French and English, its remoteness from the American
+borders, and consequently its comparative security in time of war.
+Some years later it became the capital of the Dominion of Canada--the
+confederation of provinces and territories extending across the
+continent.
+
+In the autumn of 1849 Lord Elgin made a tour of the western part of
+the province of Upper Canada for the purpose of obtaining some
+expression of opinion from the people in the very section where the
+British feeling was the strongest. On this occasion he was attended
+only by an aide-de-camp and a servant, as an answer to those who were
+constantly assailing him for want of courage. Here and there, as he
+proceeded west, after leaving French Canada, he was insulted by a few
+Orangemen, notably by Mr. Ogle R. Gowan, who appeared on the wharf at
+Brockville with a black flag, but apart from such feeble exhibitions
+of political spite he met with a reception, especially west of
+Toronto, which proved beyond cavil that the heart and reason of the
+country, as a whole, were undoubtedly in his favour, and that nowhere
+was there any actual sympathy with the unhappy disturbances in
+Montreal. He had also the gratification soon after his return from
+this pleasant tour to receive from the British government an official
+notification that he had been raised to the British peerage under the
+title of Baron Elgin of Elgin in recognition of his distinguished
+services to the Crown and empire in America.
+
+But it was a long time before Lord Elgin was forgiven by a small
+clique of politicians for the part he had taken in troubles which
+ended in their signal discomfiture. The political situation continued
+for a while to be aggravated by the serious commercial embarrassment
+which existed throughout the country, and led to the circulation of a
+manifesto, signed by leading merchants and citizens of Montreal,
+urging as remedies for the prevalent depression a revival of colonial
+protection by England, reciprocal free trade with the United States, a
+federal union or republic of British North America, and even
+annexation to the neighbouring states as a last resort. This document
+did not suggest rebellion or a forceable separation from England. It
+even professed affection for the home land; but it encouraged the idea
+that the British government would doubtless yield to any colonial
+pressure in this direction when it was convinced that the step was
+beyond peradventure in the interest of the dependency. The manifesto
+represented only a temporary phase of sentiment and is explained by
+the fact that some men were dissatisfied with the existing condition
+of things and ready for any change whatever. The movement found no
+active or general response among the great mass of thinking people;
+and it was impossible for the Radicals of Lower Canada to persuade
+their compatriots that their special institutions, so dear to their
+hearts, could be safely entrusted to their American republican
+neighbours. All the men who, in the thoughtlessness of youth or in a
+moment of great excitement, signed the manifesto--notably the Molsons,
+the Redpaths, Luther H. Holton, John Rose, David Lewis MacPherson,
+A.A. Dorion, E. Goff Penny--became prominent in the later public and
+commercial life of British North America, as ministers of the Crown,
+judges, senators, millionaires, and all devoted subjects of the
+British sovereign.
+
+When Lord Elgin found that the manifesto contained the signatures of
+several persons holding office by commission from the Queen, he made
+an immediate inquiry into the matter, and gave expression to the
+displeasure of the Crown by removing from office those who confessed
+that they had signed the objectionable document, or declined to give
+any answer to the queries he had addressed to them. His action on this
+occasion was fully justified by the imperial government, which
+instructed him "to resist to the utmost any attempt that might be made
+to bring about a separation of Canada from the British dominions." But
+while Lord Elgin, as the representative of the Queen, was compelled by
+a stern sense of duty to condemn such acts of infidelity to the
+empire, he did not conceal from himself that there was a great deal in
+the economic conditions of the provinces which demanded an immediate
+remedy before all reason for discontent could disappear. He did not
+fail to point out to Lord Grey that it was necessary to remove the
+causes of the public irritation and uneasiness by the adoption of
+measures calculated to give a stimulus to Canadian industry and
+commerce. "Let me then assure your Lordship," he wrote in November
+1849, "and I speak advisedly in offering this assurance, that the
+dissatisfaction now existing in Canada, whatever may be the forms with
+which it may clothe itself, is due mainly to commercial causes. I do
+not say that there is no discontent on political grounds. Powerful
+individuals and even classes of men are, I am well aware, dissatisfied
+with the conduct of affairs. But I make bold to affirm that so general
+is the belief that, under the present circumstances of our commercial
+condition, the colonists pay a heavy pecuniary fine for their fidelity
+to Great Britain, that nothing but the existence of an unwonted degree
+of political contentment among the masses has prevented the cry for
+annexation from spreading like wildfire through the province." He then
+proceeded again to press upon the consideration of the government the
+necessity of following the removal of the imperial restrictions upon
+navigation and shipping in the colony, by the establishment of a
+reciprocity of trade between the United States and the British North
+American Provinces. The change in the navigation laws took place in
+1849, but it was not possible to obtain larger trade with the United
+States until several years later, as we shall see in a future chapter
+when we come to review the relations between that country and Canada.
+
+Posterity has fully justified the humane, patient and discreet
+constitutional course pursued by Lord Elgin during one of the most
+trying ordeals through which a colonial governor ever passed. He had
+the supreme gratification, however, before he left the province, of
+finding that his policy had met with that success which is its best
+eulogy and justification. Two years after the events of 1849, he was
+able to write to England that he did not believe that "the function of
+the governor-general under constitutional government as the moderator
+between parties, the representative of interests which are common to
+all the inhabitants of the country, as distinct from those that divide
+them into parties, was ever so fully and so frankly recognized." He
+was sure that he could not have achieved such results if he had had
+blood upon his hands. His business was "to humanize, not to harden."
+One of Canada's ablest men--not then in politics--had said to him:
+
+     "Yes, I see it all now, you were right, a thousand times
+     right, though I thought otherwise then. I own that I would
+     have reduced Montreal to ashes before I would have endured
+     half of what you did,"
+
+and he added, "I should have been justified, too." "Yes," answered
+Lord Elgin, "you would have been justified because your course would
+have been perfectly defensible; but it would not have been the best
+course. Mine was a better one." And the result was this, in his own
+words:
+
+     "700,000 French reconciled to England, not because they are
+     getting rebel money; I believe, indeed that no rebels will
+     get a farthing; but because they believe that the British
+     governor is just. 'Yes,' but you may say, 'this is purchased
+     by the alienation of the British.' Far from it, I took the
+     whole blame upon myself; and I will venture to affirm that
+     the Canadian British were never so loyal as they are at this
+     hour; [this was, remember, two years after the burning of
+     Parliament House] and, what is more remarkable still, and
+     more directly traceable to this policy of forbearance,
+     never, since Canada existed, has party spirit been more
+     moderate, and the British and French races on better terms
+     than they are now; and this in spite of the withdrawal of
+     protection, and of the proposal to throw on the colony many
+     charges which the imperial government has hitherto borne."
+
+Canadians at the beginning of the twentieth century may also say as
+Lord Elgin said at the close of this letter, _Magna est Veritas_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+
+THE END OF THE LAFONTAINE-BALDWIN MINISTRY, 1851
+
+The LaFontaine-Baldwin government remained in office until October,
+1851, when it was constitutionally dissolved by the retirement of the
+prime minister soon after the resignation of his colleague from Upper
+Canada, whose ability as a statesman and integrity as a man had given
+such popularity to the cabinet throughout the country. It has been
+well described by historians as "The Great Ministry." During its
+existence Canada obtained a full measure of self-government in all
+provincial affairs. Trade was left perfectly untrammeled by the repeal
+in June, 1849, of the navigation laws, in accordance with the urgent
+appeals of the governor-general to the colonial secretary. The
+immediate results were a stimulus to the whole commerce of the
+province, and an influx of shipping to the ports of the St. Lawrence.
+The full control of the post-office was handed over to the Canadian
+government. This was one of the most popular concessions made to the
+Canadian people, since it gave them opportunities for cheaper
+circulation of letters and newspapers, so necessary in a new and
+sparsely settled country, where the people were separated from each
+other in many districts by long distances. One of the grievances of
+the Canadians before the union had been the high postage imposed on
+letters throughout British North America. The poor settlers were not
+able to pay the three or four shillings, and even more, demanded for
+letters mailed 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 on account of the expense. The management of the
+postal service by imperial officers was in every way most
+unsatisfactory; it was chiefly carried on for the benefit of a few
+persons, and not for the convenience or consolation of the many who
+were always anxious for news of their kin in the "old country." After
+the union there was a little improvement in the system, but it was not
+really administered in the interests of the Canadian people until it
+was finally transferred to the colonial authorities. When this
+desirable change took place, an impulse was soon given to the
+dissemination of letters and newspapers. The government organized a
+post-office department, of which the head was a postmaster-general
+with a seat in the cabinet.
+
+Other important measures made provision for the introduction of the
+decimal system into the provincial currency, the taking of a census
+every ten years, the more satisfactory conduct of parliamentary
+elections and the prevention of corruption, better facilities for the
+administration of justice in the two provinces, the abolition of
+primogeniture with respect to real estate in Upper Canada, and the
+more equitable division of property among the children of an
+intestate, based on the civil law of French Canada and old France.
+
+Education also continued to show marked improvement in accordance with
+the wise policy adopted since 1841. Previous to the union popular
+education had been at a very low ebb, although there were a number of
+efficient private schools in all the provinces where the children of
+the well-to-do classes could be taught classics and many branches of
+knowledge. In Lower Canada not one-tenth of the children of the
+_habitants_ could write, and only one-fifth could read. In Upper
+Canada the schoolmasters as a rule, according to Mrs. Anna
+Jameson,[11] were "ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-paid, or not paid at
+all." In the generality of cases they were either Scotsmen or
+Americans, totally unfit for the positions they filled. As late as
+1833 Americans or anti-British adventurers taught in the greater
+proportion of the schools, where the pupils used United States
+text-books replete with sentiments hostile to England--a wretched
+state of things stopped by legislation only in 1846. Year by year
+after the union improvements were made in the school system, with the
+object of giving every possible educational facility to rich and poor
+alike.
+
+In the course of time elementary education became practically free.
+The success of the system in the progressive province of Upper Canada
+largely rested on the public spirit of the municipalities. It was
+engrafted on the municipal institutions of each county, to which
+provincial aid was given in proportion to the amount raised by local
+assessment. The establishment of normal schools and public libraries
+was one of the useful features of school legislation in those days.
+The merits of the system naturally evoked the sympathy and praise of
+the governor-general, who was deeply interested in the intellectual
+progress of the country. The development of "individual self-reliance
+and local exertion under the superintendence of a central authority
+exercising an influence almost exclusively moral is the ruling
+principle of the system."
+
+Provision was also made for the imparting of religious instruction by
+clergymen of the several religious denominations recognized by law,
+and for the establishment of separate schools for Protestants or Roman
+Catholics whenever there was a necessity for them in any local
+division. On the question of religious instruction Lord Elgin always
+entertained strong opinions. After expressing on one occasion his deep
+gratification at the adoption of legislation which had "enabled Upper
+Canada to place itself in the van among the nations in the important
+work of providing an efficient system of education for the whole
+community," he proceeded to commend the fact that "its foundation was
+laid deep in the framework of our common Christianity." He showed then
+how strong was the influence of the moral sense in his character:
+
+     "While the varying opinions of a mixed religious society are
+     scrupulously respected.... it is confidently expected that
+     every child who attends our common schools shall learn there
+     that he is a being who has an interest in eternity as well
+     as in time; that he has a Father towards whom he stands in a
+     closer and more affecting and more endearing relationship
+     than to any earthly father, and that that Father is in
+     heaven."
+
+But since the expression of these emphatic opinions the tendency of
+legislation in the majority of the provinces--but not in French
+Canada, where the Roman Catholic clergy still largely control their
+own schools--has been to encourage secular and not religious
+education. It would be instructive to learn whether either morality or
+Christianity has been the gainer.
+
+It is only justice to the memory of a man who died many years after he
+saw the full fruition of his labours to say that Upper Canada owes a
+debt of gratitude to the Rev. Egerton Ryerson for his services in
+connection with its public school system. He was far from being a man
+of deep knowledge or having a capacity for expressing his views with
+terseness or clearness. He had also a large fund of personal vanity
+which made him sometimes a busybody when inaction or silence would
+have been wiser for himself. We can only explain his conduct in
+relation to the constitutional controversy between Lord Metcalfe and
+the Liberal party by the supposition that he could not resist the
+blandishments of that eminent nobleman, when consulted by him, but
+allowed his reason to be captured and then gave expression to opinions
+and arguments which showed that he had entirely misunderstood the
+seriousness of the political crisis or the sound practice of the
+parliamentary system which Baldwin, LaFontaine and Howe had so long
+laboured to establish in British North America. The books he wrote can
+never be read with profit or interest. His "History of the United
+Empire Loyalists" is probably the dullest book ever compiled by a
+Canadian, and makes us thankful that he was never able to carry out
+the intention he expressed in a letter to Sir Francis Hincks of
+writing a constitutional history of Canada. But though he made no
+figure in Canadian letters, and was not always correct in his estimate
+of political issues, he succeeded in making for himself a reputation
+for public usefulness in connection with the educational system of
+Upper Canada far beyond that of the majority of his Canadian
+contemporaries.
+
+The desire of the imperial and Canadian governments to bury in
+oblivion the unhappy events of 1837 and 1838 was very emphatically
+impressed by the concession of an amnesty in 1849 to all the persons
+who had been engaged in the rebellions. In the time of Lord Metcalfe,
+Papineau, Nelson, and other rebels long in exile, had been allowed to
+return to Canada either by virtue of special pardons granted by the
+Crown under the great seal, or by the issue of writs of _nolle
+prosequi._ The signal result of the Amnesty Act passed in 1849 by the
+Canadian legislature, in accordance with the recommendation in the
+speech from the throne, was the return of William Lyon Mackenzie, who
+had led an obscure and wretched life in the United States ever since
+his flight from Upper Canada in 1837, and had gained an experience
+which enabled him to value British institutions more highly than those
+of the republic.
+
+An impartial historian must always acknowledge the fact that Mackenzie
+was ill-used by the family compact and English governors during his
+political career before the rebellion, and that he had sound views of
+constitutional government which were well worthy of the serious
+consideration of English statesmen. In this respect he showed more
+intelligence than Papineau, who never understood the true principles
+of parliamentary government, and whose superiority, compared with the
+little, pugnacious Upper Canadian, was the possession of a stately
+presence and a gift of fervid eloquence which was well adapted to
+impress and carry away his impulsive and too easily deceived
+countrymen. If Mackenzie had shown more control of his temper and
+confined himself to such legitimate constitutional agitation as was
+stirred up by a far abler man, Joseph Howe, the father of responsible
+government in the maritime provinces, he would have won a far higher
+place in Canadian history. He was never a statesman; only an agitator
+who failed entirely throughout his passionate career to understand the
+temper of the great body of Liberals--that they were in favour not of
+rebellion but of such a continuous and earnest enunciation of their
+constitutional principles as would win the whole province to their
+opinions and force the imperial government itself to make the reforms
+imperatively demanded in the public interests.[12] But, while we
+cannot recognize in him the qualities of a safe political leader, we
+should do justice to that honesty of purpose and that spirit of
+unselfishness which placed him on a far higher plane than many of
+those men who belonged to the combination derisively called the
+"family compact," and who never showed a willingness to consider other
+interests than their own. Like Papineau, Mackenzie became a member of
+the provincial legislature, but only to give additional evidence that
+he did not possess the capacity for discreet, practical statesmanship
+possessed by Hincks and Baldwin and other able Upper Canadians who
+could in those days devote themselves to the public interests with
+such satisfactory results to the province at large.
+
+It was Baldwin who, while a member of the ministry, succeeded in
+carrying the measure which created the University of Toronto, and
+placed it on the broad basis on which it has rested ever since. His
+measure was the result of an agitation which had commenced before the
+union. Largely through the influence of Dr. Strachan, the first
+Anglican bishop of Upper Canada, Sir Peregrine Maitland, when
+lieutenant-governor, had been induced to grant a charter establishing
+King's College "at or near York" (Toronto), with university
+privileges. Like old King's in Nova Scotia, established before the
+beginning of the century, it was directly under the control of the
+Church of England, since its governing body and its professors had to
+subscribe to its thirty-nine articles. It received an endowment of the
+public lands available for educational purposes in the province, and
+every effort was made to give it a provincial character though
+conducted entirely on sectarian principles. The agitation which
+eventually followed its establishment led to some modifications in its
+character, but, for all that, it remained practically under the
+direction of the Anglican bishop and clergy, and did not obtain the
+support or approval of any dissenters. After the union a large edifice
+was commenced in the city of Toronto, on the site where the
+legislative and government buildings now stand, and an energetic
+movement was made to equip it fully as a university.
+
+When the Draper-Viger ministry was in office, it was proposed to meet
+the growing opposition to the institution by establishing a university
+which should embrace three denominational colleges--King's College,
+Toronto, for the Church of England, Queen's College, Kingston, for the
+Presbyterians, and Victoria College, Cobourg, for the Methodists--but
+the bishop and adherents of the Anglican body strenuously opposed the
+measure, which failed to pass in a House where the Tories were in the
+ascendant. Baldwin had himself previously introduced a bill of a
+similar character as a compromise, but it had failed to meet with any
+support, and when he came into office he saw that he must go much
+further and establish a non-sectarian university if he expected to
+carry any measure on the subject in the legislature. The result was
+the establishment of the University of Toronto, on a strictly
+undenominational foundation. Bishop Strachan was deeply incensed at
+what he regarded as a violation of vested rights of the Church of
+England in the University of King's College, and never failed for
+years to style the provincial institution "the Godless university." In
+this as in other matters he failed to see that the dominant sentiment
+of the country would not sustain any attempt on the part of a single
+denomination to control a college which obtained its chief support
+from public aid. Whilst every tribute must be paid to the zeal,
+energy, and courage of the bishop, we must at the same time recognize
+the fact that his former connection with the family compact and his
+inability to understand the necessity of compromise in educational and
+other matters did much injury to a great church.
+
+He succeeded unfortunately in identifying it with the unpopular and
+aristocratic party, opposed to the extension of popular government and
+the diffusion of cheap education among all classes of people. With
+that indomitable courage which never failed him at a crisis he set to
+work to advance the denomination whose interests he had always at
+heart, and succeeded by appeals to English aid in establishing Trinity
+College, which has always occupied a high position among Canadian
+universities, although for a while it failed to arouse sympathy in the
+public mind, until the feelings which had been evoked in connection
+with the establishment of King's had passed away. An effort is now
+(1901) being made to affiliate it with the same university which the
+bishop had so obstinately and bitterly opposed, in the hope of giving
+it larger opportunities for usefulness. Its complete success of late
+has been impeded by the want of adequate funds to maintain those
+departments of scientific instruction now imperatively demanded in
+modern education. When this affiliation takes place, the friends of
+Trinity, conversant with its history from its beginning, believe that
+the portrait of the old bishop, now hanging on the walls of
+Convocation Hall, should be covered with a dark veil, emblematic of
+the sorrow which he would feel were he to return to earth and see what
+to him would be the desecration of an institution which he built as a
+great remonstrance against the spoliation of the church in 1849.
+
+The LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry also proved itself fully equal to the
+demands of public opinion by its vigorous policy with respect to the
+colonization of the wild lands of the province, the improvement of the
+navigation of the St. Lawrence, and the construction of railways.
+Measures were passed which had the effect of opening up and settling
+large districts by the offer of grants of public land at a nominal
+price and very easy terms of payment. In this way the government
+succeeded in keeping in the country a large number of French Canadians
+who otherwise would have gone to the United States, where the varied
+industries of a very enterprising people have always attracted a large
+number of Canadians of all classes and races.
+
+The canals were at last completed in accordance with the wise policy
+inaugurated after the union by Lord Sydenham, whose commercial
+instincts at once recognized the necessity of giving western trade
+easy access to the ocean by the improvement of the great waterways of
+Canada. It had always been the ambition of the people of Upper Canada
+before the union to obtain a continuous and secure system of
+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--afterwards a member of the
+LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry--and the first vessel passed its locks in
+1829; but it was very badly managed, and the legislature, after having
+aided it from time to time, was eventually obliged to take control of
+it as a provincial work. The Cornwall Canal was also undertaken at an
+early day, but work had to be stopped when it became certain that the
+legislature of Lower Canada, then controlled by Papineau, would not
+respond to the aspirations of the west and improve that portion of the
+St. Lawrence within its provincial jurisdiction.
+
+Governor Haldimand had, from 1779-1782, constructed a very simple
+temporary system of canals to overcome the rapids called the Cascades,
+Cedars and CĂ´teau, and some slight improvements were made in these
+primitive works from year to year until the completion of the
+Beauharnois Canal in 1845. The Lachine Canal was completed, after a
+fashion, in 1828, but nothing was done to give a continuous river
+navigation between Montreal and the west until 1845, when the
+Beauharnois Canal was first opened. The Rideau Canal originated in the
+experiences of the war of 1812-14, which showed the necessity of a
+secure inland communication between Montreal and the country on Lake
+Ontario; but though first constructed for defensive purposes, it had
+for years decided commercial advantages for the people of Upper
+Canada, especially of the Kingston district. The Grenville canal on
+the Ottawa was the natural continuation of this canal, as it ensured
+uninterrupted water communication between Bytown--now the city of
+Ottawa--and Montreal.
+
+The heavy public debt contracted by Upper Canada prior to 1840 had
+been largely accumulated by the efforts of its people to obtain the
+active sympathy and cooperation of the legislature of French Canada,
+where Papineau and his followers seemed averse to the development of
+British interests in the valley of the St. Lawrence. After the union,
+happily for Canada, public men of all parties and races awoke to the
+necessity of a vigorous canal policy, and large sums of money were
+annually expended to give the shipping of the lakes safe and
+continuous navigation to Montreal. At the same time the channel of
+Lake St. Peter between Montreal and Quebec was improved by the harbour
+commissioners of the former city, aided by the government. Before the
+LaFontaine-Baldwin cabinet left office, it was able to see the
+complete success of this thoroughly Canadian or national policy. The
+improvement of this canal system--now the most magnificent in the
+world--has kept pace with the development of the country down to the
+present time.
+
+It was mainly, if not entirely, through the influence of Hincks,
+finance minister in the government, that a vigorous impulse was given
+to railway construction in the province. The first railroad in British
+North America was built in 1837 by the enterprise of Montreal
+capitalists, from La Prairie on the south side of the St. Lawrence as
+far as St. John's on the Richelieu, a distance of only sixteen miles.
+The only railroad in Upper Canada for many years was a horse tramway,
+opened in 1839 between Queenston and Chippewa by the old portage road
+round the falls of Niagara. In 1845 the St. Lawrence and Atlantic
+Railway Company--afterwards a portion of the Grand Trunk
+Railway--obtained a charter for a line to connect with the Atlantic
+and St. Lawrence Railway Company of Portland, in the State of Maine.
+The year 1846 saw the commencement of the Lachine Railway. In 1849 the
+Great Western, the Northern, and the St. Lawrence and Atlantic
+Railways were stimulated by legislation which gave a provincial
+guarantee for the construction of lines not less than seventy-five
+miles in length. In 1851 Hincks succeeded in passing a measure which
+provided for the building of a great trunk line connecting Quebec with
+the western limits of Upper Canada. It was hoped at first that this
+road would join the great military railway contemplated between Quebec
+and Halifax, and then earnestly advocated by Howe and other public men
+of the maritime provinces with the prospect of receiving aid from the
+imperial government. If these railway interests could be combined, an
+Intercolonial railroad would be constructed from the Atlantic seaboard
+to the lakes, and a great stimulus given not merely to the commerce
+but to the national unity of British North America, In case, however,
+this great idea could not be realized, it was the intention of the
+Canadian government to make every possible exertion to induce British
+capitalists to invest their money in the great trunk line by a liberal
+offer of assistance from the provincial exchequer, and the
+municipalities directly interested in its construction.
+
+The practical result of Hincks's policy was the construction of the
+Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, not by public aid as originally
+proposed, but by British capitalists. The greater inter-colonial
+scheme failed in consequence of the conflict of rival routes in the
+maritime provinces, and the determination of the British government to
+give its assistance only to a road that would be constructed at a long
+distance from the United States frontier, and consequently available
+for military and defensive purposes--in fact such a road as was
+actually built after the confederation of the provinces with the aid
+of an imperial guarantee. The history of the negotiations between the
+Canadian government and the maritime provinces with respect to the
+Intercolonial scheme is exceedingly complicated. An angry controversy
+arose between Hincks and Howe; the latter always accused the former of
+a breach of faith, and of having been influenced by a desire to
+promote the interests of the capitalists concerned in the Grand Trunk
+without reference to those of the maritime provinces. Be that as it
+may, we know that Hincks left the wordy politicians of Nova Scotia and
+New Brunswick to quarrel over rival routes, and, as we shall see
+later, went ahead with the Grand Trunk, and had it successfully
+completed many years before the first sod on the Intercolonial route
+was turned.
+
+In addition to these claims of the LaFontaine-Baldwin government to be
+considered "a great ministry," there is the fact that, through the
+financial ability of Hincks, the credit of the province steadily
+advanced, and it was at last possible to borrow money in the London
+market on very favourable terms. The government entered heartily into
+the policy of Lord Elgin with respect to reciprocity with the United
+States, and the encouragement of trade between the different provinces
+of British North America. It was, however, unable to dispose of two
+great questions which had long agitated the province--the abolition of
+the seigniorial tenure, which was antagonistic to settlement and
+colonization, and the secularization of the clergy reserves, granted
+to the Protestant clergy by the Constitutional Act of 1791. These
+questions will be reviewed at some length in later chapters, and all
+that it is necessary to say here is that, while the LaFontaine-Baldwin
+cabinet supported preliminary steps that were taken in the legislature
+for the purpose of bringing about a settlement of these vexatious
+subjects, it never showed any earnest desire to take them up as parts
+of its ministerial policy, and remove them from political controversy.
+
+Indeed it is clear that LaFontaine's conservative instincts, which
+became stronger with age and experience of political conditions,
+forced him to proceed very slowly and cautiously with respect to a
+movement that would interfere with a tenure so deeply engrafted in the
+social and economic structure of his own province, while as a Roman
+Catholic he was at heart always doubtful of the justice of diverting
+to secular purposes those lands which had been granted by Great
+Britain for the support of a Protestant clergy. Baldwin was also slow
+to make up his mind as to the proper disposition of the reserves, and
+certainly weakened himself in his own province by his reluctance to
+express himself distinctly with respect to a land question which had
+been so long a grievance and a subject of earnest agitation among the
+men who supported him in and out of the legislature. Indeed when he
+presented himself for the last time before his constituents in 1857,
+he was emphatically attacked on the hustings as an opponent of the
+secularization of the reserves for refusing to give a distinct pledge
+as to the course he would take on the question. This fact, taken in
+connection with his previous utterances in the legislature, certainly
+gives force to the opinion which has been more than once expressed by
+Canadian historians that he was not prepared, any more than LaFontaine
+himself, to divert funds given for an express purpose to one of an
+entirely different character. Under these circumstances it is easy to
+come to the conclusion that the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry was not
+willing at any time to make these two questions parts of its
+policy--questions on which it was ready to stand or fall as a
+government.
+
+The first step towards the breaking up of the ministry was the
+resignation of Baldwin following upon the support given by a majority
+of the Reformers in Upper Canada to a notion presented by William Lyon
+Mackenzie for the abolition of the court of chancery and the transfer
+of its functions to the courts of common law. The motion was voted
+down in the House, but Baldwin was a believer in the doctrine that a
+minister from a particular province should receive the confidence and
+support of the majority of its representatives in cases where a
+measure affected its interests exclusively. He had taken some pride in
+the passage of the act which reorganized the court, reformed old
+abuses in its practice, and made it, as he was convinced, useful in
+litigation; but when he found that his efforts in this direction were
+condemned by the votes of the very men who should have supported him
+in the province affected by the measure, he promptly offered his
+resignation, which was accepted with great reluctance not only by
+LaFontaine but by Lord Elgin, who had learned to admire and respect
+this upright, unselfish Canadian statesman. A few months later he was
+defeated at an election in one of the ridings of York by an unknown
+man, largely on account of his attitude on the question of the clergy
+reserves. He never again offered himself for parliament, but lived in
+complete retirement in Toronto, where he died in 1858. Then the people
+whom he had so long faithfully served, after years of neglect, became
+conscious that a true patriot had passed away.
+
+LaFontaine placed his resignation in the hands of the
+governor-general, who accepted it with regret. No doubt the former had
+deeply felt the loss of his able colleague, and was alive to the
+growing belief among the Liberal politicians of Upper Canada that the
+government was not proceeding fast enough in carrying out the reforms
+which they considered necessary. LaFontaine had become a Conservative
+as is usual with men after some experience of the responsibilities of
+public administration, and probably felt that he had better retire
+before he lost his influence with his party, and before the elements
+of disintegration that were forming within it had fully developed.
+After his retirement he returned to the practice of law, and in 1853
+he became chief justice of the court of appeal of Lower Canada on the
+death of Sir James Stuart. At the same time he received from the Crown
+the honour of a baronetcy, which was also conferred on the chief
+justice of Upper Canada, Sir John Beverley Robinson.
+
+Political historians justly place LaFontaine in the first rank of
+Canadian statesmen on account of his extensive knowledge, his sound
+judgment, his breadth of view, his firmness in political crises, and
+above all his desire to promote the best interests of his countrymen
+on those principles of compromise and conciliation which alone can
+bind together the distinct nationalities and creeds of a country
+peopled like Canada. As a judge he was dignified, learned and
+impartial. His judicial decisions were distinguished by the same
+lucidity which was conspicuous in his parliamentary addresses. He died
+ten years later than the great Upper Canadian, whose honoured name
+must be always associated with his own in the annals of a memorable
+epoch, when the principles of responsible government were at last,
+after years of perplexity and trouble, carried out in their entirety,
+and when the French Canadians had come to recognize as a truth that
+under no other system would it have been possible for them to obtain
+that influence in the public councils to which they were fully
+entitled, or to reconcile and unite the diverse interests of a great
+province, divided by the Ottawa river into two sections, the one
+French and Roman Catholic, and the other English and Protestant.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+
+THE HINCKS-MORIN MINISTRY.
+
+When LaFontaine resigned the premiership the ministry was dissolved
+and it was necessary for the governor-general to choose his successor.
+After the retirement of Baldwin, Hincks and his colleagues from Upper
+Canada were induced to remain in the cabinet and the latter became the
+leader in that province. He was endowed with great natural shrewdness,
+was deeply versed in financial and commercial matters, had a complete
+comprehension of the material conditions of the province, and
+recognized the necessity of rapid railway construction if the people
+were to hold their own against the competition of their very energetic
+neighbours to the south. His ideas of trade, we can well believe,
+recommended themselves to Lord Elgin, who saw in him the very man he
+needed to help him in his favourite scheme of bringing about
+reciprocity with the United States. At the same time he was now the
+most prominent man in the Liberal party so long led by Baldwin and
+LaFontaine, and the governor-general very properly called upon him to
+reconstruct the ministry. He assumed the responsibility and formed the
+government known in the political history of Canada as the
+Hincks-Morin ministry; but before we consider its _personnel_ and
+review its measures, it is necessary to recall the condition of
+political parties at the time it came into power.
+
+During the years Baldwin and LaFontaine were in office, the politics
+of the province were in the process of changes which eventually led to
+important results in the state of parties. The _Parti Rouge_ was
+formed in Lower Canada out of the extreme democratic element of the
+people by Papineau, who, throughout his parliamentary career since his
+return from exile, showed the most determined opposition to
+LaFontaine, whose measures were always distinguished by a spirit of
+conservatism, decidedly congenial to the dominant classes in French
+Canada where the civil and religious institutions of the country had
+much to fear from the promulgation of republican principles.
+
+The new party was composed chiefly of young Frenchmen, then in the
+first stage of their political growth--notably A.A. Dorion, J.B.E.
+Dorion (_l'enfant terrible_), R. Doutre, Dessaules, Labrèche, Viger,
+and Laflamme; L.H. Holton, and a very few men of British descent were
+also associated with the party from its commencement. Its organ was
+_L'Avenir_ of Montreal, in which were constantly appearing violent
+diatribes and fervid appeals to national prejudice, always peculiar to
+French Canadian journalism. It commenced with a programme in which it
+advocated universal suffrage, the abolition of property qualification
+for members of the legislature, the repeal of the union, the abolition
+of tithes, a republican form of government, and even, in a moment of
+extreme political aberration, annexation to the United States. It was
+a feeble imitation of the red republicanism of the French revolution,
+and gave positive evidences of the inspiration of the hero of the
+fight at St. Denis in 1837. Its platform was pervaded not only by
+hatred of British institutions, but with contempt for the clergy and
+religion generally. Its revolutionary principles were at once
+repudiated by the great mass of French Canadians and for years it had
+but a feeble existence. It was only when its leading spirits
+reconstructed their platform and struck out its most objectionable
+planks, that it became something of a factor in practical Canadian
+politics. In 1851 it was still insignificant numerically in the
+legislature, and could not affect the fortunes of the Liberal party in
+Lower Canada then distinguished by the ability of A.N. Morin, P.J.O.
+Chauveau, R.E. Caron, E.P. Taché, and L.P. Drummond. The recognized
+leader of this dominant party was Morin, whose versatile knowledge,
+lucidity of style, and charm of manner gave him much strength in
+parliament. His influence, however, as I have already said, was too
+often weakened by an absence of energy and of the power to lead at
+national or political crises.
+
+Parties in Upper Canada also showed the signs of change. The old Tory
+party had been gradually modifying its opinions under the influence of
+responsible government, which showed its wisest members that ideas
+that prevailed before the union had no place under the new,
+progressive order of things. This party, nominally led by Sir Allan
+MacNab, that staunch old loyalist, now called itself Conservative, and
+was quite ready, in fact anxious, to forget the part it took in
+connection with the rebellion-losses legislation, and to win that
+support in French Canada without which it could not expect to obtain
+office. The ablest man in its councils was already John Alexander
+Macdonald, whose political sagacity and keenness to seize political
+advantages for the advancement of his party, were giving him the lead
+among the Conservatives. The Liberals had shown signs of
+disintegration ever since the formation of the "Clear Grits," whose
+most conspicuous members were Peter Perry, the founder of the Liberal
+party in Upper Canada before the union; William McDougall, an eloquent
+young lawyer and journalist; Malcolm Cameron, who had been assistant
+commissioner of public works in the LaFontaine-Baldwin government; Dr.
+John Rolph, one of the leaders of the movement that ended in the
+rebellion of 1837; Caleb Hopkins, a western farmer of considerable
+energy and natural ability; David Christie, a well-known
+agriculturist; and John Leslie, the proprietor of the Toronto
+_Examiner_, the chief organ of the new party. It was organized as a
+remonstrance against what many men in the old Liberal party regarded
+as the inertness of their leaders to carry out changes considered
+necessary in the political interests of the country. Its very name was
+a proof that its leaders believed there should be no reservation in
+the opinion held by their party--that there must be no alloy or
+foreign metal in their political coinage, but it must be clear Grit.
+Its platform embraced many of the cardinal principles of the original
+Reform or Liberal party, but it also advocated such radical changes as
+the application of the elective principle to all classes of officials
+(including the governor-general), universal suffrage, vote by ballot,
+biennial parliaments, the abolition of the courts of chancery and
+common pleas, free trade and direct taxation.
+
+The Toronto _Globe_, which was for a short time the principal exponent
+of ministerial views, declared that many of the doctrines enunciated
+by the Clear Grits "embody the whole difference between a republican
+form of government and the limited monarchy of Great Britain." _The
+Globe_ was edited by George Brown, a Scotsman by birth, who came with
+his father in his youth to the western province and entered into
+journalism, in which he attained eventually signal success by his
+great intellectual force and tenacity of purpose. His support of the
+LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry gradually dropped from a moderate
+enthusiasm to a positive coolness, from its failure to carry out the
+principles urged by _The Globe_--especially the secularization of the
+clergy reserves. Then he commenced to raise the cry of French
+domination and to attack the religion and special institutions of
+French Canada with such virulence that at last he became "a
+governmental impossibility," so far as the influence of that province
+was concerned. He supported the Clear Grits in the end, and became
+their recognized leader when they gathered to themselves all the
+discontented and radical elements of the Liberal party which had for
+some years been gradually splitting into fragments. The power of the
+Clear Grits was first shown in 1851, when William Lyon Mackenzie
+succeeded in obtaining a majority of Reformers in support of his
+motion for the abolition of the court of chancery, and forced the
+retirement of Baldwin, whose conservatism had gradually brought him
+into antagonism with the extremists of his old party.
+
+Although relatively small in numbers in 1851, the Clear Grits had the
+ability to do much mischief, and Hincks at once recognized the
+expediency of making concessions to their leaders before they
+demoralized or ruined the Liberal party in the west. Accordingly, he
+invited Dr. Rolph and Malcolm Cameron to take positions in the new
+ministry. They consented on condition that the secularization of the
+clergy reserves would be a part of the ministerial policy. Hincks then
+presented the following names to the governor-general:
+
+     Upper Canada.--Hon. F. Hincks, inspector-general; Hon. W.B.
+     Richards, attorney-general of Upper Canada; Hon. Malcolm
+     Cameron, president of the executive council; Hon. John
+     Rolph, commissioner of crown lands; Hon. James Morris,
+     postmaster-general.
+
+Lower Canada.--Hon. A.N. Morin, provincial secretary, Hon. L.P.
+Drummond, attorney-general of Lower Canada; Hon. John Young,
+commissioner of public works; Hon. R.E. Caron, president of
+legislative council; Hon. E.P. Taché, receiver-general.
+
+Later, Mr. Chauveau and Mr. John Ross were appointed
+solicitors-general for Lower and Upper Canada, without seats in the
+cabinet.
+
+Parliament was dissolved in November, when it had completed its
+constitutional term of four years, and the result of the elections was
+the triumph of the new ministry. It obtained a large majority in Lower
+Canada, and only a feeble support in Upper Canada. The most notable
+acquisition to parliament was George Brown, who had been defeated
+previously in a bye-election of the same year by William Lyon
+Mackenzie, chiefly on account of his being most obnoxious to the Roman
+Catholic voters. He was assuming to be the Protestant champion in
+journalism, and had made a violent attack on the Roman Catholic faith
+on the occasion of the appointment of Cardinal Wiseman as Archbishop
+of Westminster, an act denounced by extreme Protestants throughout the
+British empire as an unconstitutional and dangerous interference by
+the Pope with the dearest rights of Protestant England. As soon as
+Brown entered the legislature he defined his political position by
+declaring that, while he saw much to condemn in the formation of the
+ministry and was dissatisfied with Hincks's explanations, he preferred
+giving it for the time being his support rather than seeing the
+government handed over to the Conservatives. As a matter of fact, he
+soon became the most dangerous adversary that the government had to
+meet. His style of speaking--full of facts and bitterness--and his
+control of an ably conducted and widely circulated newspaper made him
+a force in and out of parliament. His aim was obviously to break up
+the new ministry, and possibly to ensure the formation of some new
+combination in which his own ambition might be satisfied. As we shall
+shortly see, his schemes failed chiefly through the more skilful
+strategy of the man who was always his rival--his successful
+rival--John A. Macdonald.
+
+During its existence the Hincks-Morin ministry was distinguished by
+its energetic policy for the promotion of railway, maritime and
+commercial enterprises. It took the first steps to stimulate the
+establishment of a line of Atlantic steamers by the offer of a
+considerable subsidy for the carriage of mails between Canada and
+Great Britain. The first contract was made with a Liverpool firm,
+McKean, McLarty & Co., but the service was not satisfactorily
+performed, owing, probably--according to Hincks--to the war with
+Russia, and it was necessary to make a new arrangement with the
+Messrs. Allan, which has continued, with some modification, until the
+present time.
+
+The negotiations for the construction of an intercolonial railway
+having failed for the reasons previously stated, (p. 100), Hincks made
+successful applications to English capitalists for the construction of
+the great road always known as the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada. It
+obtained a charter authorizing it to consolidate the lines from Quebec
+to Richmond, from Quebec to Rivière du Loup, and from Toronto to
+Montreal, which had received a guarantee of $3,000 a mile in
+accordance with the law passed in 1851. It also had power to build the
+Victoria bridge across the St. Lawrence at Montreal, and lease the
+American line to Portland. By 1860, this great national highway was
+completed from Rivière du Loup on the lower St. Lawrence as far as
+Sarnia and Windsor on the western lakes. Its early history was
+notorious for much jobbery, and the English shareholders lost the
+greater part of the money which they invested in this Canadian
+undertaking.[13] It cost the province from first to last upwards of
+$16,000,000 but it was, on the whole, money expended in the interests
+of the country, whose internal development would have been very
+greatly retarded in the absence of rapid means of transit between east
+and west. The government also gave liberal aid to the Great Western
+Railway, which extended from the Niagara river to Hamilton, London and
+Windsor, and to the Northern road, which extended north from Toronto,
+both of which, many years later, became parts of the Grand Trunk
+system.
+
+In accordance with its general progressive policy, the Hincks-Morin
+ministry passed through the legislature an act empowering
+municipalities in Upper Canada, after the observance of certain
+formalities, to borrow money for the building of railways by the issue
+of municipal debentures guaranteed by the provincial government. Under
+this law a number of municipalities borrowed large sums to assist
+railways and involved themselves so heavily in debt that the province
+was ultimately obliged to come to their assistance and assume their
+obligations. For years after the passage of this measure, Lower Canada
+received the same privileges, but the people of that province were
+never carried away by the enthusiasm of the west and never burdened
+themselves with debts which they were unable to pay. The law, however,
+gave a decided impulse at the outset to railway enterprise in Upper
+Canada, and would have been a positive public advantage had it been
+carried out with some degree of caution.
+
+The government established a department of agriculture to which were
+given control of the taking of a decennial census, the encouragement
+of immigration, the collection of agricultural and other statistics,
+the establishment of model farms and agricultural schools, the holding
+of annual exhibitions and fairs, and other matters calculated to
+encourage the cultivation of the soil in both sections of the
+province. Malcolm Cameron became its first minister in connection with
+his nominal duties as president of the executive council--a position
+which he had accepted only on condition that it was accompanied by
+some more active connection with the administration of public affairs.
+
+For three sessions the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry had made vain
+efforts to pass a law increasing the representation of the two
+provinces to one hundred and thirty or sixty-five members for each
+section. As already stated the Union Act required that such a measure
+should receive a majority of two-thirds in each branch of the
+legislature. It would have become law on two occasions had it not been
+for the factious opposition of Papineau, whose one vote would have
+given the majority constitutionally necessary. When it was again
+presented in 1853 by Mr. Morin, it received the bitter opposition of
+Mr. Brown, who was now formulating the doctrine of representation by
+population which afterwards became so important a factor in provincial
+politics that it divided west from east, and made government
+practically impossible until a federal union of the British North
+American provinces was brought about as the only feasible solution of
+the serious political and sectional difficulties under which Canada
+was suffering. A number of prominent Conservatives, including Mr. John
+A. Macdonald, were also unfavourable to the measure on the ground that
+the population of Upper Canada, which was steadily increasing over
+that of Lower Canada, should be equitably considered in any
+readjustment of the provincial representation. The French Canadians,
+who had been forced to come into the union hi 1841 with the same
+representation as Upper Canada with its much smaller population, were
+now unwilling to disturb the equality originally fixed while agreeing
+to an increase in the number of representatives from each section.
+The bill, which became law in 1853, was entirely in harmony with
+the views entertained by Lord Elgin when he first took office as
+governor-general of Canada. In 1847 he gave his opinion to the
+colonial secretary that "the comparatively small number of members
+of which the popular bodies who determine the fate of provincial
+administrations" consisted was "unfavourable to the existence of a
+high order of principle and feeling among official personages." When a
+defection of two or three individuals from a majority of ten or so put
+an administration in peril, "the perpetual patchwork and trafficking
+to secure this vote and that (not to mention other evils) so engrosses
+the time and thoughts of ministers that they have not leisure for
+matters of greater moment" He clearly saw into the methods by which
+his first unstable ministry, which had its origin in Lord Metcalfe's
+time, was alone able to keep its feeble majority. "It must be
+remembered," he wrote in 1847, "that it is only of late that the
+popular assemblies in this part of the world have acquired the right
+of determining who shall govern them--of insisting, as we phrase it,
+that the administration of affairs shall be conducted by persons
+enjoying their confidence. It is not wonderful that a privilege of
+this kind should be exercised at first with some degree of
+recklessness, and that while no great principles of policy are at
+stake, methods of a more questionable character for winning and
+retaining the confidence of these arbiters of destiny should be
+resorted to."
+
+While the Hincks government was in office, the Canadian legislature
+received power from the imperial authorities--as I shall show
+later--to settle the question of the clergy reserves on condition that
+protection should be given to those members of the clergy who had been
+beneficiaries under the Constitutional Act of 1791. A measure was
+passed for the settlement of the seigniorial tenure question on an
+equitable basis, but it was defeated in the legislative council by a
+large majority amongst which we see the names of several seigneurs
+directly interested in the measure. It was not fully discussed in that
+chamber on the ground that members from Upper Canada had not had a
+sufficient opportunity of studying the details of the proposed
+settlement and of coming to a just conclusion as to its merits. The
+action of the council under these circumstances was severely
+criticized, and gave a stimulus to the movement that had been steadily
+going on for years among radical reformers of both provinces in favour
+of an elective body.
+
+The result was that in 1854 the British parliament repealed the
+clauses of the Union Act of 1840 with respect to the upper House, and
+gave full power to the Canadian legislature to make such changes as it
+might deem expedient--another concession to the principle of local
+self-government. It was not, however, until 1856, that the legislature
+passed a bill giving effect to the intentions of the imperial law, and
+the first elections were held for the council. Lord Elgin was always
+favourable to this constitutional change. "The position of the second
+chamber of our body politic"--I quote from a despatch of March,
+1853--"is at present wholly unsatisfactory. The principle of election
+must be introduced in order to give to it the influence which it ought
+to possess, and that principle must be so applied as to admit of the
+working of parliamentary government (which I for one am certainly not
+prepared to abandon for the American system) with two elective
+chambers... When our two legislative bodies shall have been placed on
+this improved footing, a greater stability will have been imparted to
+our constitution, and a greater strength." Lord Elgin's view was
+adopted and the change was made.
+
+It is interesting to note that so distinguished a statesman as Lord
+Derby, who had been colonial secretary in a previous administration,
+had only gloomy forebodings of the effects of this elective system
+applied to the upper House. He believed that the dream that he had of
+seeing the colonies form eventually "a monarchical government,
+presided over by one nearly and closely allied to the present royal
+family," would be proved quite illusory by the legislation in
+question. "Nothing," he added, "like a free and regulated monarchy
+could exist for a single moment under such a constitution as that
+which is now proposed for Canada. From the moment that you pass this
+constitution, the progress must be rapidly towards republicanism, if
+anything could be more really republican than this bill." As a matter
+of fact a very few years later than the utterance of these gloomy
+words, Canada and the other provinces of British North America entered
+into a confederation "with a constitution similar in principle to that
+of the United Kingdom"--to quote words in the preamble of the Act of
+Union--and with a parliament of which the House of Commons is alone
+elective. More than that, Lord Derby's dream has been in a measure
+realized and Canada has seen at the head of her executive a
+governor-general--the present Duke of Argyle--"nearly and closely
+allied to the present royal family" of England, by his marriage to the
+Princess Louise, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, who
+accompanied her husband to Ottawa.
+
+One remarkable feature of the Imperial Act dealing with this question
+of the council, was the introduction of a clause which gave authority
+to a mere majority of the members of the two Houses of the legislature
+to increase the representation, and consequently removed that
+safeguard to French Canada which required a two-thirds vote in each
+branch. As the legislature had never passed an address or otherwise
+expressed itself in favour of such an amendment of the Union Act,
+there was always a mystery as to the way it was brought about. Georges
+Étienne Cartier always declared that Papineau was indirectly
+responsible for this imperial legislation. As already stated, the
+leader of the Rouges had voted against the bill increasing the
+representation, and had declaimed like others against the injustice
+which the clause in the Union Act had originally done to French
+Canada. "This fact," said Cartier, "was known in England, and when
+leave was given to elect legislative councillors, the amendment
+complained of was made at the same time. It may be said then, that if
+Papineau had not systematically opposed the increase of
+representation, the change in question would have never been thought
+of in England." Hincks, however, was attacked by the French Canadian
+historian, Garneau, for having suggested the amendment while in
+England in 1854. This, however, he denied most emphatically in a
+pamphlet which he wrote at a later time when he was no longer in
+public life. He placed the responsibility on John Boulton, who called
+himself an independent Liberal and who was in England at the same time
+as Hincks, and probably got the ear of the colonial secretary or one
+of his subordinates in the colonial office, and induced him to
+introduce the amendment which passed without notice in a House where
+very little attention was given, as a rule, to purely colonial
+questions.
+
+In 1853 Lord Elgin visited England, where he received unqualified
+praise for his able administration of Canadian affairs. It was on this
+occasion that Mr. Buchanan, then minister of the United States in
+London, and afterwards a president of the Republic, paid this tribute
+to the governor-general at a public dinner given in his honour.
+
+"Lord Elgin," he said, "has solved one of the most difficult problems
+of statesmanship. He has been able, successfully and satisfactorily,
+to administer, amidst many difficulties, a colonial government over a
+free people. This is an easy task where the commands of a despot are
+law to his obedient servants, but not so in a colony where the people
+feel that they possess the rights and privileges of native-born
+Britons. Under his enlightened government, Her Majesty's North
+American provinces have realized the blessings of a wise, prudent and
+prosperous administration, and we of the neighbouring nation, though
+jealous of our rights, have reason to be abundantly satisfied with his
+just and friendly conduct towards ourselves. He has known how to
+reconcile his devotion to Her Majesty's service with a proper regard
+to the rights and interests of a kindred and neighbouring people.
+Would to heaven we had such governors-general in all the European
+colonies in the vicinity of the United States!"
+
+On his return from England Lord Elgin made a visit to Washington and
+succeeded in negotiating the reciprocity treaty which he had always at
+heart. It was not, however, until a change of government occurred in
+Canada, that the legislature was able to give its ratification to this
+important measure. This subject is of such importance that it will be
+fully considered in a separate chapter on the relations between Canada
+and the United States during Lord Elgin's term of office.
+
+In 1854 the Roman Catholic inhabitants of Quebec and Montreal were
+deeply excited by the lectures of a former monk, Father Gavazzi, who
+had become a Protestant and professed to expose the errors of the
+faith to which he once belonged. Much rioting took place in both
+cities, and blood was shed in Montreal, where the troops, which had
+been called out, suddenly fired on the mob. Mr. Wilson, the mayor, who
+was a Roman Catholic, was accused of having given the order to fire,
+but he always denied the charge, and Hincks, in his "Reminiscences,"
+expresses his conviction that he was not responsible. He was persuaded
+that "the firing was quite accidental, one man having discharged his
+piece from misapprehension, and others having followed his example
+until the officers threw themselves in front, and struck up the
+firelocks." Be this as it may, the Clear Grits in the West promptly
+made use of this incident to attack the government on the ground that
+it had failed to make a full investigation into the circumstances of
+the riot. As a matter of fact, according to Hincks, the government did
+take immediate steps to call the attention of the military commandant
+to the matter, and the result was a court of inquiry which ended in
+the removal of the regiment--then only a few days in Canada--to
+Bermuda for having shown "a want of discipline." Brown inveighed very
+bitterly against Hincks and his colleagues, as subject to Roman
+Catholic domination in French Canada, and found this unfortunate
+affair extremely useful in his systematic efforts to destroy the
+government, to which at no time had he been at all favourable.
+
+Several changes took place during 1853 in the _personnel_ of the
+ministry, which met parliament on June 13th, with the following
+members holding portfolios:
+
+     Hon. Messrs. Hincks, premier and inspector-general; John
+     Ross, formerly solicitor-general west in place of Richards,
+     elevated to the bench, attorney-general for Upper Canada;
+     James Morris, president of the legislative council, in place
+     of Mr. Caron, now a judge; John Rolph, president of the
+     executive council; Malcolm Cameron, postmaster-general; A.N.
+     Morin, commissioner of crown lands; L.P. Drummond,
+     attorney-general for Lower Canada; Mr. Chauveau, formerly
+     solicitor east, provincial secretary; J. Chabot,
+     commissioner of public works in place of John Young,
+     resigned on account of differences on commercial questions;
+     and E.P. Taché, receiver-general. Dunbar Ross became
+     solicitor-general east, and Joseph C. Morrison,
+     solicitor-general west.
+
+The government had decided to have a short session, pass a few
+necessary measures and then appeal to the country. The secularization
+of the reserves, and the question of the seigniorial tenure were not
+to be taken up until the people had given an expression of opinion as
+to the ministerial policy generally. As soon as the legislature met,
+Cauchon, already prominent in public life, proposed an amendment to
+the address, expressing regret that the government had no intention
+"to submit immediately a measure to settle the question of the
+seigniorial tenure." Then Sicotte, who had not long before declined to
+enter the ministry, moved to add the words "and one for the
+secularization of the clergy reserves." These two amendments were
+carried by a majority of thirteen in a total division of seventy-one
+votes. While the French Liberals continued to support Morin, all the
+Upper Canadian opponents of the government, Conservatives and Clear
+Grits, united with a number of Hincks's former supporters and Rouges
+in Lower Canada to bring about this ministerial defeat. The government
+accordingly was obliged either to resign or ask the governor-general
+for a dissolution. It concluded to adhere to its original
+determination, and go at once to the country. The governor-general
+consented to prorogue the legislature with a view to an immediate
+appeal to the electors. When the Usher of the Black Rod appeared at
+the door of the assembly chamber, to ask the attendance of the Commons
+in the legislative council, a scene of great excitement occurred.
+William Lyon Mackenzie made one of his vituperative attacks on the
+government, and was followed by John A. Macdonald, who declared its
+course to be most unconstitutional. When at last the messenger from
+the governor-general was admitted by order of the speaker, the House
+proceeded to the council chamber, where members were electrified by
+another extraordinary incident. The speaker of the assembly was John
+Sandfield Macdonald, an able Scotch Canadian, in whose character
+there was a spirit of vindictiveness, which always asserted itself
+when he received a positive or fancied injury. He had been a
+solicitor-general of Upper Canada in the LaFontaine-Baldwin government,
+and had never forgiven Hincks for not having promoted him to the
+attorney-generalship, instead of W.B. Richards, afterwards an eminent
+judge of the old province of Canada, and first chief justice of
+the Supreme Court of the Dominion. Hincks had offered him the
+commissionership of crown lands in the ministry, but he refused to
+accept any office except the one on which his ambition was fixed.
+Subsequently, however, he was induced by his friends to take the
+speakership of the legislative assembly, but he had never forgiven
+what he considered a slight at the hands of the prime minister in
+1851. Accordingly, when he appeared at the Bar of the Council in 1853,
+he made an attempt to pay off this old score. As soon as he had made
+his bow to the governor-general seated on the throne, Macdonald
+proceeded to read the following speech, which had been carefully
+prepared for the occasion in the two languages:
+
+     "May it please your Excellency: It has been the immemorial
+     custom of the speaker of the Commons' House of Parliament to
+     communicate to the throne the general result of the
+     deliberations of the assembly upon the principal objects
+     which have employed the attention of parliament during the
+     period of their labours. It is not now part of my duty thus
+     to address your Excellency, inasmuch as there has been no
+     act passed or judgment of parliament obtained since we were
+     honoured by your Excellency's announcement of the cause of
+     summoning of parliament by your gracious speech from the
+     throne. The passing of an act through its several stages,
+     according to the law and custom of parliament (solemnly
+     declared applicable to the parliamentary proceedings of this
+     province, by a decision of the legislative assembly of
+     1841), is held to be necessary to constitute a session of
+     parliament. This we have been unable to accomplish, owing to
+     the command which your Excellency has laid upon us to meet
+     you this day for the purpose of prorogation. At the same
+     time I feel called upon to assure your Excellency, on the
+     part of Her Majesty's faithful Commons, that it is not from
+     any want of respect to yourself, or to the August personage
+     whom you represent in these provinces, that no answer has
+     been returned by the legislative assembly to your gracious
+     speech from the throne."
+
+It is said by those who were present on this interesting occasion that
+His Excellency was the most astonished person in the council chamber.
+Mr. Fennings Taylor, the deputy clerk with a seat at the table, tells
+us in a sketch of Macdonald that Lord Elgin's face clearly marked
+"deep displeasure and annoyance when listening to the speaker's
+address," and that he gave "a motion of angry impatience when he found
+himself obliged to listen to the repetition in French of the reproof
+which had evidently galled him in English." This incident was in some
+respects without parallel in Canadian parliamentary history. There was
+a practice, now obsolete in Canada as in England, for the speaker, on
+presenting the supply or appropriation bill to the governor-general
+for the royal assent, to deliver a short address directing attention
+to the principal measures passed during the session about to be
+closed.[14] This practice grew up in days when there were no
+responsible ministers who would be the only constitutional channel of
+communication between the Crown and the assembly. The speaker was
+privileged, and could be instructed as "the mouth-piece" of the House,
+to lay before the representative of the Sovereign an expression of
+opinion on urgent questions of the day. On this occasion Mr. Macdonald
+was influenced entirely by personal spite, and made an unwarrantable
+use of an old custom which was never intended, and could not be
+constitutionally used, to insult the representative of the Crown, even
+by inference. Mr. Macdonald was not even correct in his interpretation
+of the constitution, when he positively declared that an act was
+necessary to constitute a session. The Crown makes a session by
+summoning and opening parliament, and it is always a royal prerogative
+to prorogue or dissolve it at its pleasure even before a single act
+has passed the two Houses. Such a scene could never have occurred with
+the better understanding of the duties of the speaker and of the
+responsibilities of ministers advising the Crown that has grown up
+under a more thorough study of the practice and usages of parliament,
+and of the principles of responsible government. This little political
+episode is now chiefly interesting as giving an insight into one phase
+of the character of a public man, who afterwards won a high position
+in the parliamentary and political life of Canada before and after the
+confederation of 1867, not by the display of a high order of
+statesmanship, but by the exercise of his tenacity of purpose, and by
+reason of his reputation for a spiteful disposition which made him
+feared by friend and foe.
+
+Immediately after the prorogation, parliament was dissolved and the
+Hincks-Morin ministry presented itself to the people, who were now
+called upon to elect a larger number of representatives under the act
+passed in 1853. Of the constitutionality of the course pursued by the
+government in this political crisis, there can now be no doubt. In the
+first place it was fully entitled to demand a public judgment on its
+general policy, especially in view of the fact, within the knowledge
+of all persons, that the opposition in the assembly was composed of
+discordant elements, only temporarily brought together by the hope of
+breaking up the government. In the next place it felt that it could
+not be justified by sound constitutional usage in asking a parliament
+in which the people were now imperfectly represented, to settle
+definitely such important questions as the clergy reserves and the
+seigniorial tenure. Lord Elgin had himself no doubt of the necessity
+for obtaining a clear verdict from the people by means of "the more
+perfect system of representation" provided by law. In the debate on
+the Representation Bill in 1853, John A. Macdonald did not hesitate to
+state emphatically that the House should be governed by English
+precedents in the position in which it would soon be placed by the
+passage of this measure. "Look," he said, "at the Reform Bill in
+England. That was passed by a parliament that had been elected only
+one year before, and the moment it was passed, Lord John Russell
+affirmed that the House could not continue after it had declared that
+the country was not properly represented. How can we legislate on the
+clergy reserves until another House is elected, if this bill passes? A
+great question like this cannot be left to be decided by a mere
+accidental majority. We can legislate upon no great question after we
+have ourselves declared that we do not represent the country. Do these
+gentlemen opposite mean to say that they will legislate on a question
+affecting the rights of people yet unborn, with the fag-end of a
+parliament dishonoured by its own confessions of incapacity?" Hincks
+in his "Reminiscences," printed more than three decades later than
+this ministerial crisis, still adhered to the opinion that the
+government was fully justified by established precedent in appealing
+to the country before disposing summarily of the important questions
+then agitating the people. Both Lord Elgin and Sir John A.
+Macdonald--to give the latter the title he afterwards received from
+the Crown--assuredly set forth the correct constitutional practice
+under the peculiar circumstances in which both government and
+legislature were placed by the legislation increasing the
+representation of the people.
+
+The elections took place in July and August of 1854, for in those
+times there was no system of simultaneous polling on one day, but
+elections were held on such days and as long as the necessities of
+party demanded.[15] The result was, on the whole, adverse to the
+government. While it still retained a majority in French Canada, its
+opponents returned in greater strength, and Morin himself was defeated
+in Terrebonne, though happily for the interests of his party he was
+elected by acclamation at the same time in Chicoutimi. In Upper Canada
+the ministry did not obtain half the vote of the sixty-five
+representatives now elected to the legislature by that province. This
+vote was distributed as follows: Ministerial, 30; Conservatives, 22;
+Clear Grits, 7; and Independents, 6. Malcolm Cameron was beaten in
+Lambton, but Hincks was elected by two constituencies. One auspicious
+result of this election was the disappearance of Papineau from public
+life. He retired to his pretty chateau on the banks of the Ottawa, and
+the world soon forgot the man who had once been so prominent a figure
+in Canadian politics. His graces of manner and conversation continued
+for years to charm his friends in that placid evening of his life so
+very different from those stormy days when his eloquence was a menace
+to British institutions and British connection. Before his death, he
+saw Lower Canada elevated to an independent and influential position
+in the confederation of British North America which it could never
+have reached as that _Nation Canadienne_ which he had once vainly
+hoped to see established in the valley of the St. Lawrence.
+
+The Rouges, of whom Papineau had been leader, came back in good form
+and numbered nineteen members. Antoine A. Dorion, Holton, and other
+able men in the ranks of this once republican party, had become wise
+and adopted opinions which no longer offended the national and
+religious susceptibilities of their race, although they continued to
+show for years their radical tendencies which prevented them from ever
+obtaining a firm hold of public opinion in a practically Conservative
+province, and becoming dominant in the public councils for any length
+of time.
+
+The fifth parliament of the province of Canada was opened by Lord
+Elgin on February 5th, 1854, and the ministry was defeated immediately
+on the vote for the speakership, to which Mr. Sicotte--a dignified
+cultured man, at a later time a judge--was elected. On this occasion
+Hincks resorted to a piece of strategy which enabled him to punish
+John Sandfield Macdonald for the insult he had levelled at the
+governor-general and his advisers at the close of the previous
+parliament. The government's candidate was Georges Étienne Cartier,
+who was first elected in 1849 and who had already become conspicuous
+in the politics of his province. Sicotte was the choice of the
+Opposition in Lower Canada, and while there was no belief among the
+politicians that he could be elected, there was an understanding among
+the Conservatives and Clear Grits that an effort should be made in his
+behalf, and in case of its failure, then the whole strength of the
+opponents of the ministry should be so directed as to ensure the
+election of Mr. Macdonald, who was sure to get a good Reform vote from
+the Upper Canadian representatives. These names were duly proposed in
+order, and Cartier was defeated by a large majority. When the clerk at
+the table had called for a vote for Sicotte, the number who stood up
+in his favour was quite insignificant, but before the Nays were taken,
+Hincks arose quickly and asked that his name be recorded with the
+Yeas. All the ministerialists followed the prime minister and voted
+for Sicotte, who was consequently chosen speaker by a majority of
+thirty-five. But all that Hincks gained by such clever tactics was the
+humiliation for the moment of an irascible Scotch Canadian politician.
+The vote itself had no political significance whatever, and the
+government was forced to resign on September 8th. The vote in favour
+of Cartier had shown that the ministry was in a minority of twelve in
+Upper Canada, and if Hincks had any doubt of his political weakness it
+was at once dispelled on September 7th when the House refused to grant
+to the government a short delay of twenty-four hours for the purpose
+of considering a question of privilege which had been raised by the
+Opposition. On this occasion, Dr. Rolph, who had been quite restless
+in the government for some tune, voted against his colleagues and gave
+conclusive evidence that Hincks was deserted by the majority of the
+Reform party in his own province, and could no longer bring that
+support to the French Canadian ministerialists which would enable them
+to administer public affairs.
+
+The resignation of the Hincks-Morin ministry begins a new epoch in the
+political annals of Canada. From that time dates the disruption of the
+old Liberal party which had governed the country so successfully since
+1848, and the formation of a powerful combination which was made up of
+the moderate elements of that party and of the Conservatives, which
+afterwards became known as the Liberal-Conservative party. This new
+party practically controlled public affairs for over three decades
+until the death of Sir John A. Macdonald, to whose inspiration it
+largely owed its birth. With that remarkable capacity for adapting
+himself to political conditions, which was one of the secrets of his
+strength as a party leader, he saw in 1854 that the time had come for
+forming an alliance with those moderate Liberals in the two provinces
+who, it was quite clear, had no possible affinity with the Clear
+Grits, who were not only small in numbers, but especially obnoxious to
+the French Canadians, as a people on account of the intemperate
+attacks made by Mr. Brown in the Toronto _Globe_ on their revered
+institutions.
+
+The representatives who supported the late ministry were still in
+larger numbers than any other party or faction in the House, and it
+was obvious that no government could exist without their support. Sir
+Allan MacNab, who was the oldest parliamentarian, and the leader of
+the Conservatives--a small but compact party--was then invited by the
+governor-general to assist him by his advice, during a crisis when it
+was evident to the veriest political tyro that the state of parties in
+the assembly rendered it very difficult to form a stable government
+unless a man could be found ready to lay aside all old feelings of
+personal and political rivalry and prejudice and unite all factions on
+a common platform for the public advantage. All the political
+conditions, happily, were favourable for a combination on a basis of
+conciliation and compromise. The old Liberals in French Canada under
+the influence of LaFontaine and Morin had been steadily inclining to
+Conservatism with the secure establishment of responsible government
+and the growth of the conviction that the integrity of the cherished
+institutions of their ancient province could be best assured by moving
+slowly (_festina lente_), and not by constant efforts to make radical
+changes in the body politic. The Liberals, of whom Hincks was leader,
+were also very distrustful of Brown, and clearly saw that he could
+have no strength whatever in a province where French Canada must have
+a guarantee that its language, religion, and civil law, were safe in
+the hands of any government that might at any time be formed. The
+wisest men among the Conservatives also felt that the time had arrived
+for adopting a new policy since the old questions which had once
+evoked their opposition had been at last settled by the voice of the
+people, and could no longer constitutionally or wisely be made matters
+of continued agitation in or out of parliament. "The question that
+arose in the minds of the old Liberals," as it was said many years
+later by Thomas White, an able journalist and politician,[16]
+
+     "was this: shall we hand over the government of this country
+     to the men who, calling themselves Liberals, have broken up
+     the Liberal party by the declaration of extravagant views,
+     by the enunciation of principles far more radical and
+     reckless than any we are prepared to accept, and by a
+     restless ambition which we cannot approve? Or shall we not
+     rather unite with the Conservatives who have gone to the
+     country declaring, in reference to the great questions which
+     then agitated it, that if the decision at the polls was
+     against them, they would no longer offer resistance to their
+     settlement, but would, on the contrary, assist in such
+     solution of them as would forever remove them from the
+     sphere of public or political agitation."
+
+With both Liberals and Conservatives holding such views, it was easy
+enough for John A. Macdonald to convince even Sir Allan MacNab that
+the time had come for forgetting the past as much as possible, and
+constituting a strong government from the moderate elements of the old
+parties which had served their turn and now required to be remodelled
+on a wider basis of common interests. Sir Allan MacNab recognized the
+necessity of bringing his own views into harmony with those of the
+younger men of his party who were determined not to allow such an
+opportunity for forming a powerful ministry to pass by. The political
+situation, indeed, was one calculated to appeal to both the vanity and
+self-interest of the veteran statesman, and he accordingly assumed the
+responsibility of forming an administration. He communicated
+immediately with Morin and his colleagues in Lower Canada, and when he
+received a favourable reply from them, his next step was to make
+arrangements, if possible, with the Liberals of Upper Canada. Hincks
+was only too happy to have an opportunity of resenting the opposition
+he had met with from Brown and the extreme Reformers of the western
+province, and opened negotiations with his old supporters on the
+conditions that the new ministry would take immediate steps for the
+secularization of the clergy reserves, and the settlement of the
+seigniorial tenure, and that two members of the administration would
+be taken from his own followers. The negotiations were successfully
+closed on this basis of agreement, and on September 11th the following
+ministers were duly sworn into office:
+
+     Upper Canada.--Hon. Sir Allan MacNab, president of the
+     executive council and minister of agriculture; Hon. John A.
+     Macdonald, attorney-general of Upper Canada; Hon. W. Cayley,
+     inspector-general; Hon. R. Spence, postmaster-general; Hon.
+     John Ross, president of the legislative council.
+
+     Lower Canada.--Hon. A.N. Morin, commissioner of crown lands;
+     Hon. L.P. Drummond, attorney-general for Lower Canada; Hon.
+     P.J.O. Chauveau, provincial secretary; Hon. E.P. Taché,
+     receiver-general; Hon. J. Chabot, commissioner of public
+     works.
+
+The new cabinet contained four Conservatives, and six members of the
+old ministry. Henry Smith, a Conservative, became solicitor-general
+for Upper Canada, and Dunbar Ross continued in the same office for
+Lower Canada, but neither of them had seats in the cabinet. The
+Liberal-Conservative party, organized under such circumstances was
+attacked with great bitterness by the leaders of the discordant
+factions, who were greatly disappointed at the success of the
+combination formed through the skilful management of Messrs. J.A.
+Macdonald, Hineks and Morin.
+
+The coalition was described as "an unholy alliance" of men who had
+entirely abandoned their principles. But an impartial historian must
+record the opinion that the coalition was perfectly justified by
+existing political conditions, that had it not taken place, a stable
+government would in all probability have been for some time
+impossible, and that the time had come for the reconstruction of
+parties with a broad generous policy which would ignore issues at last
+dead, and be more in harmony with modern requirements. It might with
+some reason be called a coalition when the reconstruction of parties
+was going on, but it was really a successful movement for the
+annihilation of old parties and issues, and for the formation on their
+ruins of a new party which could gather to itself the best materials
+available for the effective conduct of public affairs on the patriotic
+platform of the union of the two races, of equal rights to all classes
+and creeds, and of the avoidance of purely sectional questions
+calculated to disturb the union of 1841.
+
+The new government at once obtained the support of a large majority of
+the representatives from each section of the province, and was
+sustained by the public opinion of the country at large. During the
+session of 1854 measures were passed for the secularization of the
+reserves, the removal of the seigniorial tenure, and for the
+ratification of the reciprocity treaty with the United States. As I
+have only been able so far in this historical narrative to refer in a
+very cursory manner to these very important questions, I propose now
+to give in the following chapter a succinct review of their history
+from the time they first came into prominence down to their settlement
+at the close of Lord Elgin's administration in Canada.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+
+THE HISTORY OF THE CLERGY RESERVES, (1791-1854)
+
+For a long period in the history of Canada the development of several
+provinces was more or less seriously retarded, and the politics of the
+country constantly complicated by the existence of troublesome
+questions arising out of the lavish grants of public lands by the
+French and English governments. The territorial domain of French
+Canada was distributed by the king of France, under the inspiration of
+Richelieu, with great generosity, on a system of a modified feudal
+tenure, which, it was hoped, would strengthen the connection between
+the Crown and the dependency by the creation of a colonial
+aristocracy, and at the same time stimulate the colonization and
+settlement of the valley of the St. Lawrence; but, as we shall see in
+the course of the following chapter, despite the wise intentions of
+its promoters, the seigniorial tenure gradually became, after the
+conquest, more or less burdensome to the _habitants_, and an
+impediment rather than an incentive to the agricultural development
+and peopling of the province. Even little Prince Edward Island was
+troubled with a land question as early as 1767, when it was still
+known by the name St. John, given it in the days of French rule.
+Sixty-seven townships, containing in the aggregate 1,360,600 English
+acres, were conveyed in one day by ballot, with a few reservations to
+the Crown, to a number of military men, officials and others, who had
+real or supposed claims on the British government. In this wholesale
+fashion the island was burdened with a land monopoly which was not
+wholly removed until after the union with the Canadian Dominion in
+1873. Though some disputes arose in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
+between the old and new settlers with respect to the ownership of
+lands after the coming of the Loyalists, who received, as elsewhere,
+liberal grants of land, they were soon settled, and consequently these
+maritime provinces were not for any length of time embarrassed by the
+existence of such questions as became important issues in the politics
+of Canada. Extravagant grants were also given to the United Empire
+Loyalists who settled on the banks of the St. Lawrence and Niagara
+rivers in Upper Canada, as some compensation for the great sacrifices
+they had made for the Crown during the American revolution. Large
+tracts of this property were sold either by the Loyalists or their
+heirs, and passed into the hands of speculators at very insignificant
+prices. Lord Durham in his report cites authority to show that not
+"one-tenth of the lands granted to United Empire Loyalists had been
+occupied by the persons to whom they were granted, and in a great
+proportion of cases not occupied at all." The companies which were
+also in the course of time organized in Great Britain for the purchase
+and sale of lands in Canada, also received extraordinary favours from
+the government. Although the Canada Company, which is still in
+existence, was an important agency in the settlement of the province
+of Upper Canada, its possession of immense tracts--some of them, the
+Huron Block, for instance, locked up for years--was for a time a great
+public grievance.
+
+But all these land questions sank into utter insignificance compared
+with the dispute which arose out of the thirty-sixth clause of the
+Constitutional Act of 1791, which provided that there should be
+reserved for the maintenance and support of a "Protestant clergy," in
+the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, "a quantity of land equal in
+value to a seventh part of grants that had been made in the past, or
+might be made in the future." Subsequent clauses of the same act made
+provision for the erection and endowment of one or more rectories in
+every township or parish, "according to the establishment of the
+Church of England," and at the same time gave power to the legislature
+of the two provinces "to vary or repeal" these enactments of the law
+with the important reservation that all bills of such a character
+could not receive the royal assent until thirty days after they had
+been laid before both Houses of the imperial parliament. Whenever it
+was practicable, the lands were reserved under the act among those
+already granted to settlers with the intention of creating parishes as
+soon as possible in every settled township throughout the province.
+However, it was not always possible to carry out this plan, in
+consequence of whole townships having been granted _en bloc_ to the
+Loyalists in certain districts, especially in those of the Bay of
+Quinté, Kingston and Niagara, and it was therefore necessary to carry
+out the intention of the law in adjoining townships where no lands of
+any extent had been granted to settlers.
+
+The Church of England, at a very early period, claimed, as the only
+"Protestant clergy" recognized by English law, the exclusive use of
+the lands in question, and Bishop Mountain, who became in 1793
+Anglican bishop of Quebec, with a jurisdiction extending over all
+Canada, took the first steps to sustain this assertion of exclusive
+right. Leases were given to applicants by a clerical corporation
+established by the Anglican Church for the express purpose of
+administering the reserves. For some years the Anglican claim passed
+without special notice, and it is not until 1817 that we see the germ
+of the dispute which afterwards so seriously agitated Upper Canada. It
+was proposed in the assembly to sell half the lands and devote the
+proceeds to secular purposes, but the sudden prorogation of the
+legislature by Lieutenant-Governor Gore, prevented any definite action
+on the resolutions, although the debate that arose on the subject had
+the effect of showing the existence of a marked public grievance. The
+feeling at this time in the country was shown in answers given to
+circulars sent out by Robert Gourlay, an energetic Scottish busy-body,
+to a number of townships, asking an expression of opinion as to the
+causes which retarded improvement and the best means of developing the
+resources of the province. The answer from Sandwich emphatically set
+forth that the reasons of the existing depression were the reserves of
+land for the Crown and clergy, "which must for long keep the country a
+wilderness, a harbour for wolves, and a hindrance to compact and good
+neighbourhood; defects in the system of colonization; too great a
+quantity of land in the hands of individuals who do not reside in the
+province, and are not assessed for their property." The select
+committee of the House of Commons on the civil government of Canada
+reported in 1828 that "these reserved lands, as they are at present
+distributed over the country, retard more than any other circumstance
+the improvement of the colony, lying as they do in detached portions
+of each township and intervening between the occupations of actual
+settlers, who have no means of cutting roads through the woods and
+morasses which thus separate them from their neighbours." It appears,
+too, that the quantity of land actually reserved was in excess of that
+which appears to have been contemplated by the Constitutional Act. "A
+quantity equal to one-seventh of all grants," wrote Lord Durham in his
+report of 1839, "would be one-eighth of each township, or of all the
+public land. Instead of this proportion, the practice has been ever
+since the act passed, and in the clearest violation of its provisions,
+to set apart for the clergy in Upper Canada, a seventh of all the
+land, which is a quantity equal to a sixth of the land granted.... In
+Lower Canada the same violation of the law has taken place, with this
+difference--that upon every sale of Crown and clergy reserves, a fresh
+reserve for the clergy has been made, equal to a fifth of such
+reserves." In that way the public in both provinces was systematically
+robbed of a large quantity of land, which, Lord Durham estimated, was
+worth about £280,000 at the time he wrote. He acknowledges, however,
+that the clergy had no part in "this great misappropriation of the
+public property," but that it had arisen "entirely from heedless
+misconception, or some other error of the civil government of the
+province." All this, however, goes to show the maladministration of
+the public lands, and is one of the many reasons the people of the
+Canadas had for considering these reserves a public grievance.
+
+When political parties were organized in Upper Canada some years after
+the war of 1812-14, which had for a while united all classes and
+creeds for the common defence, we see on one side a Tory compact for
+the maintenance of the old condition of things, the control of
+patronage, and the protection of the interests of the Church of
+England; on the other, a combination of Reformers, chiefly composed of
+Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists, who clamoured for reforms in
+government and above all for relief from the dominance of the Anglican
+Church, which, with respect to the clergy reserves and other matters,
+was seeking a _quasi_ recognition as a state church. As the Puritans
+of New England at the commencement of the American Revolution
+inveighed against any attempt to establish an Anglican episcopate in
+the country as an insidious attack by the monarchy on their civil and
+religious liberty--most unjustly, as any impartial historian must now
+admit[17]--so in Upper Canada the dissenters made it one of their
+strongest grievances that favouritism was shown to the Anglican Church
+in the distribution of the public lands and the public patronage, to
+the detriment of all other religious bodies in the province. The
+bitterness that was evoked on this question had much to do with
+bringing about the rebellion of 1837. If the whole question could have
+been removed from the arena of political discussion, the Reformers
+would have been deprived of one of their most potent agencies to
+create a feeling against the "family compact" and the government at
+Toronto. But Bishop Strachan, who was a member of both the executive
+and legislative councils--in other words, the most influential member
+of the "family compact"--could not agree to any compromise which would
+conciliate the aggrieved dissenters and at the same time preserve a
+large part of the claim made by the Church of England. Such a
+compromise in the opinion of this sturdy, obstinate ecclesiastic,
+would be nothing else than a sop to his Satanic majesty. It was always
+with him a battle _Ă  l'outrance,_ and as we shall soon see, in the end
+he suffered the bitterness of defeat.
+
+In these later days when we can review the whole question without any
+of the prejudice and passion which embittered the controversy while it
+was a burning issue, we can see that the Church of England had strong
+historical and legal arguments to justify its claim to the exclusive
+use of the clergy reserves. When the Constitutional Act of 1791 was
+passed, the only Protestant clergy recognized in British statutes were
+those of the Church of England, and, as we shall see later, those of
+the established Church of Scotland. The dissenting denominations had
+no more a legal status in the constitutional system of England than
+the Roman Catholics, and indeed it was very much the same thing in
+some respects in the provinces of Canada. So late as 1824 the
+legislative council, largely composed of Anglicans, rejected a bill
+allowing Methodist ministers to solemnize marriages, and it was not
+until 1831 that recognized ministers of all denominations were placed
+on an equality with the Anglican clergy in such matters. The
+employment of the words "Protestant Clergy" in the act, it was urged
+with force, was simply to distinguish the Church of England clergy
+from those of the Church of Rome, who, otherwise, would be legally
+entitled to participate in the grant.
+
+The loyalists, who founded the province of Upper Canada, established
+formally by the Constitutional Act of 1791, were largely composed of
+adherents of the Church of England, and it was one of the dearest
+objects of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe to place that body on a stable
+basis and give it all the influence possible in the state. A
+considerable number had also settled in Lower Canada, and received, as
+in other parts of British North America, the sympathy and aid of the
+parent state. It was the object of the British government to make the
+constitution of the Canadas "an image and transcript" as far as
+possible of the British system of government. In no better way could
+this be done, in the opinion of the framers of the Constitutional Act,
+than by creating a titled legislative council;[18] and though this
+effort came to naught, it is noteworthy as showing the tendency at
+that time of imperial legislation. If such a council could be
+established, then it was all important that there should be a
+religious body, supported by the state, to surround the political
+institutions of the country with the safeguards which a conservative
+and aristocratic church like that of England would give. The erection
+and endowment of rectories "according to the establishment of the
+Church of England"--words of the act to be construed in connection
+with the previous clauses--was obviously a part of the original scheme
+of 1791 to anglicize Upper Canada and make it as far as possible a
+reflex of Anglican England.
+
+It does not appear that at any time there was any such feeling of
+dissatisfaction with respect to the reserves in French Canada as
+existed throughout Upper Canada, The Protestant clergy in the former
+province were relatively few in number, and the Roman Catholic Church,
+which dominated the whole country, was quite content with its own
+large endowments received from the bounty of the king or private
+individuals during the days of French occupation, and did not care to
+meddle in a question which in no sense affected it. On the other hand,
+in Upper Canada, the arguments used by the Anglican clergy in support
+of their claims to the exclusive administration of the reserves were
+constantly answered not only in the legislative bodies, but in the
+Liberal papers, and by appeals to the imperial government. It was
+contended that the phrase "Protestant clergy" used in the
+Constitutional Act, was simply intended to distinguish all Protestant
+denominations from the Roman Catholic Church, and that, had there been
+any intention to give exclusive rights to the Anglican Church, it
+would have been expressly so stated in the section reserving the
+lands, just as had been done in the sections specially providing for
+the erection and endowment of Anglican rectories.
+
+The first successful blow against the claims of the English Church in
+Canada was struck by that branch of the Presbyterian Church known in
+law as the Established Church of Scotland. It obtained an opinion from
+the British law officers in 1819, entirely favourable to its own
+participation in the reserves on the ground that it had been fully
+recognized as a state church, not only in the act uniting the two
+kingdoms of England and Scotland, but in several British statutes
+passed later than the Constitutional Act whose doubtful phraseology
+had originated the whole controversy. While the law officers admitted
+that the provisions of this act might be "extended also to the Church
+of Scotland, if there are any such settled in Canada (as appears to
+have been admitted in the debate upon the passing of the act)," yet
+they expressed the opinion that the clauses in question did not apply
+to dissenting ministers, since they thought that "the term 'Protestant
+clergy' could apply only to Protestant clergy recognized and
+established by law." We shall see a little farther on the truth of the
+old adage that "lawyers will differ" and that in 1840, twenty-one
+years later than the expression of the opinion just cited, eminent
+British jurists appeared to be more favourable to the claims of
+denominations other than the Church of Scotland.
+
+Until 1836--the year preceding the rebellion--the excitement with
+respect to the reserves had been intensified by the action of Sir John
+Colborne, lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, who, on the eve of his
+departure for England, was induced by Bishop Strachan to sign patents
+creating and endowing forty-four rectories[19] in Upper Canada,
+representing more than 17,000 acres of land in the aggregate or about
+486 for each of them. One can say advisedly that this action was most
+indiscreet at a time when a wise administrator would have attempted to
+allay rather than stimulate public irritation on so serious a
+question. Until this time, says Lord Durham, the Anglican clergy had
+no exclusive privileges, save such as might spring from their
+efficient discharge of their sacred duties, or from the energy,
+ability or influence of members of their body--notably Bishop
+Strachan, who practically controlled the government in religious and
+even secular matters. But, continued Lord Durham, the last public act
+of Sir John Colborne made it quite understood that every rector
+possessed "all the spiritual and other privileges enjoyed by an
+English rector," and that though he might "have no right to levy
+tithes" (for even this had been made a question), he was "in all other
+respects precisely in the same position as a clergyman of the
+established church in England." "This is regarded," added Lord Durham,
+"by all other teachers of religion in this country as having at once
+degraded them to a position of legal inferiority to the clergy of the
+Church of England; and it has been most warmly resented. In the
+opinion of many persons, this was the chief predisposing cause of the
+recent insurrection, and it is an abiding and unabated cause for
+discontent."
+
+As soon as Sir John Colborne's action was known throughout the
+province, public indignation among the opponents of the clergy
+reserves and the Church of England took the forms of public meetings
+to denounce the issue of the patents, and of memorials to the imperial
+government calling into question their legality and praying for their
+immediate annulment. An opinion was obtained from the law officers of
+the Crown that the action taken by Sir John Colborne was "not valid
+and lawful," but it was given on a mere _ex parte_ statement of the
+case prepared by the opponents of the rectories; and the same eminent
+lawyers subsequently expressed themselves favourably as to the
+legality of the patents when they were asked to reconsider the whole
+question, which was set forth in a very elaborate report prepared
+under the direction of Bishop Strachan. It is convenient to mention
+here that this phase of the clergy reserve question again came before
+able English counsel at the Equity Bar, when Hincks visited London in
+1852. After they had given an opinion unfavourable to the Colborne
+patents on the case as submitted to them by the Canadian prime
+minister, it was deemed expedient to submit the whole legal question
+to the Court of Chancery in Upper Canada, which decided unanimously,
+after a full hearing of the case, that the patents were valid. But
+this decision was not given until 1856, when the whole matter of the
+reserves had been finally adjusted, and the validity of the creation
+of the rectories was no longer a burning question in Upper Canada.
+
+When Poulett Thomson came to Canada in the autumn of 1839 as
+governor-general, he recognized the necessity of bringing about an
+immediate settlement of this very vexatious question, and of
+preventing its being made a matter of agitation after the union of the
+two provinces. The imperial authorities had already disallowed an act
+passed by the legislature of Upper Canada of 1838 to reinvest the
+clergy reserves in the Crown, and it became necessary for Lord
+Sydenham--to give the governor-general's later title--to propose a
+settlement in the shape of a compromise between the various Protestant
+bodies interested in the reserves. Lord Sydenham was opposed to the
+application of these lands to general education as proposed in several
+bills which had passed the assembly, but had been rejected by the
+legislative council owing to the dominant influence of Bishop
+Strachan. "To such a measure," says Lord Sydenham's biographer,[20]
+"he was opposed; first because it would have taken away the only fund
+exclusively devoted to purposes of religion, and secondly, because,
+even if carried in the provincial legislature, it would evidently not
+have obtained the sanction of the imperial parliament. He therefore
+entered into personal communication with the leading individuals among
+the principal religious communities, and after many interviews,
+succeeded in obtaining their support to a measure for the distribution
+of the reserves among the religious communities recognized by law, in
+proportion to their respective numbers."
+
+Lord Sydenham's efforts to obtain the consent "of leading individuals
+among the principal religious communities" did not succeed in
+preventing a strong opposition to the measure after it had passed
+through the legislature. Dr. Ryerson, a power among the Methodists,
+denounced it, after he had at the outset shown an inclination to
+support it, and the Bishop of Toronto was also among its most
+determined opponents. Lord Sydenham's well-meaning attempt to settle
+the question was thwarted at the very outset by the reference of the
+bill to English judges, who reported adversely on the ground that the
+power "to vary or repeal" given in the Constitutional Act of 1791 was
+only prospective, and did not authorize the provincial legislature to
+divert the proceeds of the lands already sold from the purpose
+originally contemplated in the imperial statute. The judges also
+expressed the opinion on this occasion that the words "Protestant
+clergy" were large enough to include and did include "other clergy
+than those of the Church of Scotland." In their opinion these words
+appeared, "both in their natural force and meaning, and still more
+from the context of the clauses in which they are found, to be there
+used to designate and intend a clergy opposed in doctrine and
+discipline to the clergy of the Church of Rome, and rather to aim at
+the encouragement of the Protestant religion in opposition to the
+Romish Church, than to point exclusively to the clergy of the Church
+of England." But as they did not find on the statute book the
+acknowledgment by the legislature of any other clergy answering the
+description of the law, they could not specify any other except the
+Church of Scotland as falling within the imperial statute.
+
+Under these circumstances the imperial government at once passed
+through parliament a bill (3 and 4 Vict., c. 78) which re-enacted the
+Canadian measure with the modifications rendered necessary by the
+judicial opinion just cited. This act put an end to future
+reservations, and at the same time recognized the claims of all the
+Protestant bodies to a share in the funds derived from the sales of
+the lands. It provided for the division of the reserves into two
+portions--those sold before the passing of the act and those sold at a
+later time. Of the previous sales, the Church of England was to
+receive two-thirds and the Church of Scotland one-third. Of future
+sales, the Church of England would receive one-third and the Church of
+Scotland one-sixth, while the residue could be applied by the
+governor-in-council "for purposes of public worship and religious
+instruction in Canada," in other words, that it should be divided
+among those other religious denominations that might make application
+at any time for a share in these particular funds.
+
+This act, however, did not prove to be a settlement of this disturbing
+question. If Bishop Strachan had been content with the compromise made
+in this act, and had endeavoured to carry out its provisions as soon
+as it was passed, the Anglican Church would have obtained positive
+advantages which it failed to receive when the question was again
+brought into the arena of angry discussion. In 1844 when Henry
+Sherwood was solicitor-general in the Draper-Viger Conservative
+government he proposed an address to the Crown for the passing of a
+new imperial act, authorizing the division of the land itself instead
+of the income arising from its sales. His object was to place the
+lands, allotted to the Church of England, under the control of the
+church societies, which could lease them, or hold them for any length
+of time at such prices as they might deem expedient. In the course of
+the debate on this proposition, which failed to receive the assent of
+the House, Baldwin, Price, and other prominent men expressed regret
+that any attempt should be made to disturb the settlement made by the
+imperial statute of 1840, which, in their opinion, should be regarded
+as final.
+
+A strong feeling now developed in Upper Canada in favour of a repeal
+of the imperial act, and the secularization of the reserves. The
+Presbyterians--apart from the Church of Scotland--were now influenced
+by the Scottish Free Church movement of 1843 and opposed to public
+provision for the support of religious denominations. The spirit which
+animated them spread to other bodies, and was stimulated by the
+uncompromising attitude still assumed by the Anglican bishop, who was
+anxious, as Sherwood's effort proved, to obtain advantages for his
+church beyond those given it by the act of 1840. When the
+LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry was formed, the movement for the
+secularization of the reserves among the Upper Canadian Liberals, or
+Reformers as many preferred to call their party, became so pronounced
+as to demand the serious consideration of the government; but there
+was no inclination shown by the French Canadians in the cabinet to
+disturb the settlement of 1840, and the serious phases of the
+Rebellion Losses Bill kept the whole question for some time in the
+background. After the appearance of the Clear Grits in Upper Canadian
+politics, with the secularization of the reserves as the principal
+plank in their platform, the LaFontaine-Baldwin cabinet felt the
+necessity of making a concession to the strong feeling which prevailed
+among Upper Canadian Reformers. As they were divided in opinion on the
+question and could not make it a part of the ministerial policy,
+Price, commissioner of Crown lands, was induced in the session of 1850
+to introduce on his sole responsibility an address to the Crown,
+praying for the repeal of the imperial act of 1840, and the passage of
+another which would authorize the Canadian legislature to dispose of
+the reserves as it should deem most expedient, but with the distinct
+understanding that, while no particular sect should be considered as
+having a vested right in the property, the emoluments derived by
+existing incumbents should be guaranteed during their lives. Mr.
+Price--the same gentleman who had objected some years previously to
+the reopening of the question--showed in the course of his speech the
+importance which the reserves had now attained. The number of acres
+reserved to this time was 2,395,687, and of sales, under two statutes,
+1,072,453. These sales had realized £720,756, of which £373,899 4s.
+4d. had been paid, and £346,856 15s. 8d. remained still due. Counting
+the interest on the sum paid, a million of pounds represented the
+value of the lands already sold, and when they were all disposed of
+there would be realized more than two millions of pounds. Price also
+pointed out the fact that only a small number of persons had derived
+advantages from these reserves. Out of the total population of 723,000
+souls in Upper Canada, the Church of England claimed 171,000 and the
+Church of Scotland 68,000, or a total of 239,000 persons who received
+the lion's share, and left comparatively little to the remaining
+population of 484,000 souls. Among the latter the Roman Catholics
+counted 123,707 communicants and received only £700 a year; the
+Wesleyans, with 90,363 adherents, received even a still more wretched
+pittance. Furthermore 269,000 persons were entirely excluded from any
+share whatever in the reserves. In the debate on the resolutions for
+the address LaFontaine did not consider the imperial act a finality,
+and was in favour of having the reserves brought under the control of
+the Canadian legislature, but he expressed the opinion most
+emphatically that all private rights and endowments conferred under
+the authority of imperial legislation should be held inviolate, and so
+far as possible, carried into effect. Baldwin's observations were
+remarkable for their vagueness. He did not object to endowment for
+religious purposes, although he was opposed to any union between
+church and state. While he did not consider the act of 1840 as a final
+settlement, inasmuch as it did not express the opinion of the Canadian
+people, he was not then prepared to commit himself as to the mode in
+which the property should he disposed of. Hincks affirmed that there
+was no desire on the part of members of the government to evade their
+responsibilities on the question, but they were not ready to adopt the
+absurd and unconstitutional course that was pressed on them by the
+Clear Grits, of attempting to repeal an imperial act by a Canadian
+statute.
+
+Malcolm Cameron and other radical Reformers advocated the complete
+secularization of the reserves, while Cayley, Macdonald, and other
+Conservatives, urged that the provisions of the imperial act of 1840
+should be carried out to the fullest extent, and that the funds, then
+or at a future time at the disposal of the government "for the
+purposes of public worship and religious instruction" under the act,
+should be apportioned among the various denominations that had not
+previously had a share in the reserves. When it came to a division, it
+was clear that there was no unanimity on the question among the
+ministers and other supporters. Indeed, the summary given above of the
+remarks made by LaFontaine, Baldwin, and Hincks, affords conclusive
+evidence of the differences of opinion that existed between them and
+of their reluctance to express themselves definitely on the subject.
+The majority of the French members, Messrs. LaFontaine, Cauchon,
+Chabot, Chauveau, LaTerrière and others, voted against the resolution
+which affirmed that "no religious denomination can be held to have
+such vested interest in the revenue derived from the proceeds of the
+said clergy reserves as should prevent further legislation with
+reference to the disposal of them, but this House is nevertheless of
+opinion that the claims of existing incumbents should be treated in
+the most liberal manner." Baldwin and other Reformers supported this
+clause, which passed by a majority of two. The address was finally
+adopted on a division of forty-six Yeas and twenty-three Nays--"the
+minority containing the names of a few Reformers who would not consent
+to pledge themselves to grant, for the lives of the existing
+incumbents, the stipends on which they had accepted their
+charges--some perhaps having come from other countries to fill them
+and having possibly thrown up other preferments."[21] The address was
+duly forwarded to England by Lord Elgin, with a despatch in which he
+explained at some length the position of the whole question. In
+accordance with the principle which guided him throughout his
+administration of Canadian affairs--to give full scope to the right of
+the province to manage its own local concerns--he advised Lord Grey to
+repeal the imperial act of 1840 if he wished "to preserve the colony."
+Lord Grey admitted that the question was one exclusively affecting the
+people of Canada and should be decided by the provincial legislature.
+It was the intention of the government, he informed Lord Elgin, to
+introduce a bill into parliament for this purpose; but action had to
+be deferred until another year when, as it happened unfortunately for
+the province, Lord John Russell's ministry was forced to resign, and
+was succeeded by a Conservative administration led by the Earl of
+Derby.
+
+The Canadian government soon ascertained from Sir John Pakington, the
+new colonial secretary, that the new advisers of Her Majesty were not
+"inclined to give their consent and support to any arrangement the
+result of which would too probably be the diversion to other purposes
+of the only public fund ... which now exists for the support of divine
+worship and religious instruction in the colony." It was also
+intimated by the secretary of state that the new government was quite
+ready to entertain a proposal for reconsidering the mode of
+distributing the proceeds of the sales of the reserves, while not
+ready to agree to any proposal that might "divert forever from its
+sacred object the fund arising from that portion of the public lands
+of Canada which, almost from the period of the British conquest of
+that province, has been set apart for the religious instruction of the
+people." Hincks, who was at that time in England, at once wrote to Sir
+John Pakington, in very emphatic terms, that he viewed "with grave
+apprehension the prospect of collision between Her Majesty's
+government and the parliament of Canada, on a question regarding which
+such strong feelings prevailed among the great mass of the
+population." The people of Canada were convinced that they were
+"better judges than any parties in England of what measures would best
+conduce to the peace and welfare of the province." As respects the
+proposal "for reconsidering the mode of distributing the income of the
+clergy reserves," Hincks had no hesitation in saying that "it would be
+received as one for the violation of the most sacred constitutional
+rights of the people."
+
+As soon as the Canadian legislature met in 1852, Hincks carried an
+address to the Crown, in which it was urged that the question of the
+reserves was "one so exclusively affecting the people of Canada that
+its decision ought not to be withdrawn from the provincial
+legislature, to which it properly belongs to regulate all matters
+concerning the domestic interests of the province." The hope was
+expressed that Her Majesty's government would lose no time in giving
+effect to the promise made by the previous administration and
+introduce the legislation necessary "to satisfy the wishes of the
+Canadian people." In the debate on this address, Moria, the leader of
+the French section of the cabinet, clearly expressed himself in favour
+of the secularization of the reserves in accordance with the views
+entertained by his Upper Canadian colleagues. It was consequently
+clear that the successors of the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry were
+fully pledged to a vigorous policy for the disposal of this vexatious
+dispute.
+
+A few months after Lord Elgin had forwarded this address to the Crown,
+the Earl of Derby's administration was defeated in the House of
+Commons, and the Aberdeen government was formed towards the close of
+1852, with the Duke of Newcastle as secretary of state for the
+colonies. One of Sir John Pakington's last official acts was to
+prepare a despatch unfavourable to the prayer of the assembly's last
+address, but it was never sent to Canada, though brought down to
+parliament. At the same time the Canadian people heard of this
+despatch they were gratified by the announcement that the new
+ministers had decided to reverse the policy of their predecessors and
+to meet the wishes of the Canadian legislature. Accordingly, in the
+session of 1853, a measure was passed by the imperial parliament to
+give full power to the provincial legislature to vary or repeal all or
+any part of the act of 1840, and to make all necessary provisions
+respecting the clergy reserves or the proceeds derived from the same,
+on the express condition that there should be no interference with the
+annual stipends or allowances of existing incumbents as long as they
+lived. The Hincks-Morin ministry was then urged to bring in at once a
+measure disposing finally of the question, in accordance with the
+latest imperial act; but, as we have read in a previous chapter, it
+came to the opinion after anxious deliberation that the existing
+parliament was not competent to deal with so important a question. It
+also held that it was a duty to obtain an immediate expression of
+opinion from the people, and the election of a House in which the
+country would be fully represented in accordance with the legislation
+increasing the number of representatives in the assembly.
+
+The various political influences arrayed against Hincks in Upper
+Canada led to his defeat, and the formation of the MacNab-Morin
+Liberal-Conservative government, which at once took steps to settle
+the question forever. John A. Macdonald commenced this new epoch in
+his political career by taking charge of the bill for the
+secularization of the reserves. It provided for the payment of all
+moneys arising from the sales of the reserves into the hands of the
+receiver-general, who would apportion them amongst the several
+municipalities of the province according to population. All annual
+stipends or allowances, charged upon the reserves before the passage
+of the imperial act of 1853, were continued during the lives of
+existing incumbents, though the latter could commute their stipends or
+allowances for their value in money, and in this way create a small
+permanent endowment for the advantage of the church to which they
+belonged.
+
+After nearly forty years of continuous agitation, during which the
+province of Upper Canada had been convulsed from the Ottawa to Lake
+Huron, and political parties had been seriously embarrassed, the
+question was at last removed from the sphere of party and religious
+controversy. The very politicians who had contended for the rights of
+the Anglican clergy were now forced by public opinion and their
+political interests to take the final steps for its settlement. Bishop
+Strachan's fight during the best years of his life had ended in
+thorough discomfiture. As the historian recalls the story of that
+fight, he cannot fail to come to the conclusion that the settlement of
+1854 relieved the Anglican Church itself of a controversy which, as
+long as it existed, created a feeling of deep hostility that seriously
+affected its usefulness and progress. Even Lord Elgin was compelled to
+write in 1851 "that the tone adopted by the Church of England here has
+almost always had the effect of driving from her even those who would
+be most disposed to co-operate with her if she would allow them." At
+last freed from the political and the religious bitterness which was
+so long evoked by the absence of a conciliatory policy on the part of
+her leaders, this great church is able peacefully to teach the noble
+lessons of her faith and win that respect among all classes which was
+not possible under the conditions that brought her into direct
+conflict with the great mass of the Canadian people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+
+SEIGNIORIAL TENURE
+
+The government of Canada in the days of the French régime bore a close
+resemblance to that of a province of France. The governor was
+generally a noble and a soldier, but while he was invested with large
+military and civil authority by the royal instructions, he had ever by
+his side a vigilant guardian in the person of the intendant, who
+possessed for all practical purposes still more substantial powers,
+and was always encouraged to report to the king every matter that
+might appear to conflict with the principles of absolute government
+laid down by the sovereign. The superior council of Canada possessed
+judicial, administrative and legislative powers, but its action was
+limited by the decrees and ordinances of the king, and its decisions
+were subject to the veto of the royal council of the parent state. The
+intendant, generally a man of legal attainments, had the special right
+to issue ordinances which had the full effect of law--in the words of
+his commission "to order everything as he shall see just and proper."
+These ordinances regulated inns and markets, the building and repairs
+of churches and presbyteries, the construction of bridges, the
+maintenance of roads, and all those matters which could affect the
+comfort, the convenience, and the security of the community at large.
+While the governmental machinery was thus modelled in a large measure
+on that of the provincial administration of France, the territory of
+the province was subject to a modified form of the old feudal system
+which was so long a dominant condition of the nations of Europe, and
+has, down to the present time left its impress on their legal and
+civil institutions, not even excepting Great Britain itself. Long
+before Jacques Cartier sailed up the River St. Lawrence this system
+had gradually been weakened in France under the persistent efforts of
+the Capets, who had eventually, out of the ruin of the feudatories,
+built up a monarchy which at last centralized all power in the king.
+The policy of the Capets had borne its full, legitimate fruit by the
+time Louis XIV ascended the throne. The power of the great nobles,
+once at the head of practically independent feudatories, had been
+effectually broken down, and now, for the most part withdrawn from the
+provinces, they ministered only to the ambition of the king, and
+contributed to the dissipation and extravagance of a voluptuous court.
+
+But while those features of the ancient feudal system, which were
+calculated to give power to the nobles, had been eliminated by the
+centralizing influence of the king, the system still continued in the
+provinces to govern the relations between the _noblesse_ and the
+peasantry who possessed their lands on old feudal conditions regulated
+by the customary or civil law. These conditions were, on the whole,
+still burdensome. The noble who spent all his time in attendance on
+the court at Versailles or other royal palaces could keep his purse
+equal to his pleasures only by constant demands on his feudal tenants,
+who dared no more refuse to obey his behests than he himself ventured
+to flout the royal will.
+
+Deeply engrafted as it still was on the social system of the parent
+state, the feudal tenure was naturally transferred to the colony of
+New France, but only with such modifications as were suited to the
+conditions of a new country. Indeed all the abuses that might hinder
+settlement or prevent agricultural development were carefully lopped
+off. Canada was given its _seigneurs_, or lords of the manor, who
+would pay fealty and homage to the sovereign himself, or to the feudal
+superior from whom they directly received their territorial estate,
+and they in their turn leased lands to peasants, or tillers of the
+soil, who held them on the modified conditions of the tenure of old
+France. It was not expedient, and indeed not possible, to transfer a
+whole body of nobles to the wilderness of the new world--they were as
+a class too wedded to the gay life of France--and all that could be
+done was to establish a feudal tenure to promote colonization, and at
+the same time possibly create a landed gentry who might be a shadowy
+reflection of the French _noblesse_, and could, in particular cases,
+receive titles directly from the king himself.
+
+This seigniorial tenure of New France was the most remarkable instance
+which the history of North America affords of the successful effort of
+European nations to reproduce on this continent the ancient
+aristocratic institutions of the old world. In the days when the Dutch
+owned the Netherlands, vast estates were partitioned out to certain
+"patroons," who held their property on _quasi_ feudal conditions, and
+bore a resemblance to the _seigneurs_ of French Canada. This manorial
+system was perpetuated under English forms when the territory was
+conquered by the English and transformed into the colony of New York,
+where it had a chequered existence, and was eventually abolished as
+inconsistent with the free conditions of American settlement. In the
+proprietary colony of Maryland the Calverts also attempted to
+establish a landed aristocracy, and give to the manorial lords certain
+rights of jurisdiction over their tenants drawn from the feudal system
+of Europe. For Carolina, Shaftesbury and Locke devised a constitution
+which provided a territorial nobility, called _landgraves_ and
+_caciques_, but it soon became a mere historical curiosity. Even in
+the early days of Prince Edward Island, when it was necessary to
+mature a plan of colonization, it was gravely proposed to the British
+government that the whole island should be divided into "hundreds," as
+in England, or into "baronies," as in Ireland, with courts-baron,
+lords of manors, courts-leet, all under the direction of a lord
+paramount; but while this ambitious aristocratic scheme was not
+favourably entertained, the imperial authorities chose one which was
+most injurious in its effects on the settlement of this fertile
+island.
+
+It was Richelieu who introduced this modified form of the feudal
+system into Canada, when he constituted, in 1627, the whole of the
+colony as a fief of the great fur-trading company of the Hundred
+Associates on the sole condition of its paying fealty and homage to
+the Crown. It had the right of establishing seigniories as a part of
+its undertaking to bring four thousand colonists to the province and
+furnish them with subsistence for three years. Both this company and
+its successor, the Company of the West Indies, created a number of
+seigniories, but for the most part they were never occupied, and the
+king revoked the grants on the ground of non-settlement, when he
+resumed possession of the country and made it a royal province. From
+that time the system was regulated by the _Coutume de Paris_, by royal
+edicts, or by ordinances of the intendant.
+
+The greater part of the soil of Canada was accordingly held _en fief_
+or _en seigneurie_. Each grant varied from sixteen _arpents_--an
+_arpent_ being about five-sixths of an English acre--by fifty, to ten
+leagues by twelve. We meet with other forms of tenure in the partition
+of land in the days of the French régime--for instance, _franc aleu
+noble_ and _franc aumone_ or _mortmain_, but these were exceptional
+grants to charitable, educational, or religious institutions, and were
+subject to none of the ordinary obligations of the feudal tenure, but
+required, as in the latter case, only the performance of certain
+devotional or other duties which fell within their special sphere.
+Some grants were also given in _franc aleu roturier_, equivalent to
+the English tenure of free and common socage, and were generally made
+for special objects.[22]
+
+The _seigneur_, on his accession to the estate, was required to pay
+homage to the king, or to his feudal superior from whom he derived his
+lands. In case he wished to transfer by sale or otherwise his
+seigniory, except in the event of direct natural succession, he had to
+pay under the _Coutume de Paris_--which, generally speaking, regulated
+such seigniorial grants--a _quint_ or fifth part of the whole purchase
+money to his feudal superior, but he was allowed a reduction _(rabat)_
+of two-thirds if the money was promptly paid down. In special cases,
+land transfers, whether by direct succession or otherwise, were
+subject to the rule of _Vixen le_ _français_, which required the
+payment of _relief_, or one year's revenue, on all changes of
+ownership, or a payment of gold (_une maille d'or_). It was obligatory
+on all seigniors to register their grants at Quebec, to concede or
+sub-infeudate them under the rule of _jeu de fief_, and settle them
+with as little delay as practicable. The Crown also reserved in most
+cases its _jura regalia_ or _regalitates_, such as mines and minerals,
+lands for military or defensive purposes, oak timber and masts for the
+building of the royal ships. It does not, however, appear that
+military service was a condition on which the seigniors of Canada held
+their grants, as was the case in France under the old feudal tenure.
+The king and his representative in his royal province held such powers
+in their own hands. The seignior had as little influence in the
+government of the country as he had in military affairs. He might be
+chosen to the superior council at the royal pleasure, and was bound to
+obey the orders of the governor whenever the militia were called out.
+The whole province was formed into a militia district, so that in time
+of war the inhabitants might be obliged to perform military service
+under the royal governor or commander-in-chief of the regular forces.
+A captain was appointed for each parish--generally conterminous with a
+seigniory--and in some cases there were two or three. These captains
+were frequently chosen from the seigniors, many of whom--in the
+Richelieu district entirely--were officers of royal regiments, notably
+of the Carignan-Salières. The seigniors had, as in France, the right
+of dispensing justice, but with the exception of the Seminary of St
+Sulpice of Montreal, it was only in very rare instances they exercised
+their judicial powers, and then simply in cases of inferior
+jurisdiction _(basse justice)_. The superior council and intendant
+adjudicated in all matters of civil and criminal importance.
+
+The whole success of the seigniorial system, as a means of settling
+the country, depended on the extent to which the seigniors were able
+to grant their lands _en censive_ or _en roture_. The _censitaire_ who
+held his lands in this way could not himself sub-infeudate. The
+grantee _en roture_ was governed by the same rules as the one _en
+censive_ except with respect to the descent of lands in cases of
+intestacy. All land grants to the _censitaires_--or as they preferred
+to call themselves in Canada, _habitants_--were invariably shaped like
+a parallelogram, with a narrow frontage on the river varying from two
+to three _arpents_, and with a depth from four to eight _arpents_.
+These farms, in the course of time assumed the appearance of a
+continuous settlement on the river and became known in local
+phraseology as _CĂ´tes_--for example, CĂ´te de Neiges, CĂ´te St. Louis,
+CĂ´te St. Paul, and many other picturesque villages on the banks of the
+St. Lawrence. In the first century of settlement the government
+induced the officers and soldiers of the Carignan-Salières regiment to
+settle lands along the Richelieu river and to build palisaded villages
+for the purposes of defence against the war-like Iroquois; but, in the
+rural parts of the province generally, the people appear to have
+followed their own convenience with respect to the location of their
+farms and dwellings, and chose the banks of the river as affording the
+easiest means of intercommunication. The narrow oblong grants, made in
+the original settlement of the province, became narrower still as the
+original occupants died and their property was divided among the heirs
+under the civil law. Consequently at the present day the traveller who
+visits French Canada sees the whole country divided into extremely
+long and narrow parallelograms each with fences and piles of stones as
+boundaries in innumerable cases.
+
+The conditions on which the _censitaire_ held his land from the
+seignior were exceedingly easy during the greater part of the French
+regime. The _cens et rentes_ which he was expected to pay annually, on
+St. Martin's day, as a rule, varied from one to two _sols_ for each
+superficial _arpent_, with the addition of a small quantity of corn,
+poultry, and some other article produced on the farm, which might be
+commuted for cash, at current prices. The _censitaire_ was also
+obliged to grind his corn at the seignior's mill (_moulin banal_), and
+though the royal authorities at Quebec were very particular in
+pressing the fulfilment of this obligation, it does not appear to have
+been successfully carried out in the early days of the colony on
+account of the inability of the seigniors to purchase the machinery,
+or erect buildings suitable for the satisfactory performance of a
+service clearly most useful to the people of the rural districts. The
+obligation of baking bread in the seigniorial oven was not generally
+exacted, and soon became obsolete as the country was settled and each
+_habitant_ naturally built his own oven in connection with his home.
+The seigniors also claimed the right to a certain amount of statute
+labour (_corvée_) from the _habitants_ on their estates, to one fish
+out of every dozen caught in seigniorial waters, and to a reservation
+of wood and stone for the construction and repairs of the manor house,
+mill, and church in the parish or seigniory. In case the _censitaire_
+wished to dispose of his holding during his lifetime, it was subject
+to the _lods et ventes_, or to a tax of one-twelfth of the purchase
+money, which had to be paid to the seignior, who usually as a favour
+remitted one-fourth on punctual payment. The most serious restriction
+on such sales was the _droit de retraite_, or right of the seignior to
+preempt the same property himself within forty days from the date of
+the sale.
+
+There was no doubt, at the establishment of the seigniorial tenure, a
+disposition to create in Canada, as far as possible, an aristocratic
+class akin to the _noblesse_ of old France, who were a social order
+quite distinct from the industrial and commercial classes, though they
+did not necessarily bear titles. Under the old feudal system the
+possession of land brought nobility and a title, but in the modified
+seigniorial system of Canada the king could alone confer titular
+distinctions. The intention of the system was to induce men of good
+social position--like the _gentils-hommes_ or officers of the Carignan
+regiment--to settle in the country and become seigniors. However, the
+latter were not confined to this class, for the title was rapidly
+extended to shopkeepers, farmers, sailors, and even mechanics who had
+a little money and were ready to pay for the cheap privilege of
+becoming nobles in a small way. Titled seigniors were very rare at any
+time in French Canada. In 1671, Des Islets, Talon's seigniory, was
+erected into a barony, and subsequently into an earldom (Count
+d'Orsainville). Francois Berthelot's seigniory of St. Laurent on the
+Island of Orleans was made in 1676 an earldom, and that of Portneuf,
+René Robineau's, into a barony. The only title which has come down to
+the present time is that of the Baron de Longueuil, which was first
+conferred on the distinguished Charles LeMoyne in 1700, and has been
+officially recognized by the British government since December, 1880.
+
+The established seigniorial system bore conclusive evidence of the
+same paternal spirit which sent shiploads of virtuous young women
+(sometimes _marchandises mĂªlĂ©es_) to the St. Lawrence to become wives
+of the forlorn Canadian bachelors, gave trousseaux of cattle and
+kitchen utensils to the newly wed, and encouraged by bounties the
+production of children. The seigniories were the ground on which these
+paternal methods of creating a farming community were to be developed,
+but despite the wise intentions of the government the whole machinery
+was far from realizing the results which might reasonably have been
+expected from its operation. The land was easily acquired and cheaply
+held, facilities were given for the grinding of grain and the making
+of flour; fish and game were quickly taken by the skilful fisherman
+and enterprising hunter, and the royal officials generally favoured
+the _habitants_ in disputes with the seigniors.
+
+Unlike the large grants made by the British government after the
+conquest to loyalists, Protestant clergy, and speculators--grants
+calculated to keep large sections of the country in a state of
+wildness--the seigniorial estates had to be cultivated and settled
+within a reasonable time if they were to be retained by the occupants.
+During the French dominion the Crown sequestrated a number of
+seigniories for the failure to observe the obligation of cultivation.
+As late as 1741 we find an ordinance restoring seventeen estates to
+the royal domain, although the Crown was ready to reinstate the former
+occupants the moment they showed that they intended to perform their
+duty of settlement. But all the care that was taken to encourage
+settlement was for a long time without large results, chiefly in
+consequence of the nomadic habits of the young men on the seigniories.
+The fur trade, from the beginning to the end of French dominion, was a
+serious bar to steady industry on the farm. The young _gentilhomme_ as
+well as the young _habitant_ loved the free life of the forest and
+river better than the monotonous work of the farm. He preferred too
+often making love to the impressionable dusky maiden of the wigwam
+rather than to the stolid, devout damsel imported for his kind by
+priest or nun. A raid on some English post or village had far more
+attraction than following the plough or threshing the grain. This
+adventurous spirit led the young Frenchman to the western prairies
+where the Red and Assiniboine waters mingle, to the foot-hills of the
+Rocky Mountains, to the Ohio and Mississippi, and to the Gulf of
+Mexico. But while Frenchmen in this way won eternal fame, the
+seigniories were too often left in a state of savagery, and even those
+_seigneurs_ and _habitants_ who devoted themselves successfully to
+pastoral pursuits found themselves in the end harassed by the constant
+calls made upon their military services during the years the French
+fought to retain the imperial domain they had been the first to
+discover and occupy in the great valleys of North America. Still,
+despite the difficulties which impeded the practical working of the
+seigniorial system, it had on the whole an excellent effect on the
+social conditions of the country. It created a friendly and even
+parental relation between _seigneur, curé,_ and _habitant_, who on
+each estate constituted as it were a seigniorial family, united to
+each other by common ties of self-interest and personal affection. If
+the system did not create an energetic self-reliant people in the
+rural communities, it arose from the fact that it was not associated
+with a system of local self-government like that which existed in the
+colonies of England. The French king had no desire to see such a
+system develop in the colonial dependencies of France. His
+governmental system in Canada was a mild despotism intended to create
+a people ever ready to obey the decrees and ordinances of royal
+officials, over whom the commonality could exercise no control
+whatever in such popular elective assemblies as were enjoyed by every
+colony of England in North America.
+
+During the French régime the officials of the French government
+frequently repressed undue or questionable exactions imposed, or
+attempted to be imposed, on the _censitaires_ by greedy or extravagant
+seigniors. It was not until the country had been for some time in the
+possession of England that abuses became fastened on the tenure, and
+retarded the agricultural and industrial development of the province.
+The _cens et rentes_ were unduly raised, the _droit de banalité_ was
+pressed to the extent that if a _habitant_ went to a better or more
+convenient mill than the seignior's, he had to pay tolls to both, the
+transfer of property was hampered by the _lods el ventes_ and the
+_droit de retraite_, and the claim always made by the seigniors to the
+exclusive use of the streams running by or through the seigniories was
+a bar to the establishment of industrial enterprise. Questions of law
+which arose between the _seigneur_ and _habitant_ and were referred to
+the courts were decided in nearly all cases in favour of the former.
+In such instances the judges were governed by precedent or by a strict
+interpretation of the law, while in the days of French dominion the
+intendants were generally influenced by principles of equity in the
+disputes that came before them, and by a desire to help the weaker
+litigant, the _censitaire_.
+
+It took nearly a century after the conquest before it was possible to
+abolish a system which had naturally become so deeply rooted in the
+social and economic conditions of the people of French Canada. As the
+abuses of the tenure became more obvious, discontent became
+widespread, and the politicians after the union were forced at last to
+recognize the necessity of a change more in harmony with modern
+principles. Measures were first passed better to facilitate the
+optional commutation of the tenure of lands _en roture_ into that of
+_franc aleu roturier_, but they never achieved any satisfactory
+results. LaFontaine did not deny the necessity for a radical change in
+the system, but he was too much wedded to the old institutions of his
+native province to take the initiative for its entire removal. Mr.
+Louis Thomas Drummond, who was attorney-general in both the
+Hincks-Morin and MacNab-Morin ministries, is deserving of honourable
+mention in Canadian history for the leading part he took in settling
+this very perplexing question. I have already shown that his first
+attempt in 1853 failed in consequence of the adverse action of the
+legislative council, and that no further steps were taken in the matter
+until the coming into office of the MacNab or Liberal-Conservative
+government in 1854, when he brought a bill into parliament to a large
+extent a copy of the first. This bill became law after it had received
+some important amendments in the upper House, where there were a number
+of representatives of seigniorial interests, now quite reconciled to
+the proposed change and prepared to make the best of it. It abolished
+all feudal rights and duties in Lower Canada, "whether hearing upon the
+_censitaire_ or _seigneur_," and provided for the appointment of
+commissioners to enquire into the respective rights of the parties
+interested. In order to enable them to come to correct conclusions with
+respect to these rights, all questions of law were first submitted to a
+seigniorial court composed of the judges of the Queen's Bench and
+Superior Court in Lower Canada. The commissioners under this law were
+as follows:--
+
+   Messrs. Chabot, H. Judah, S. Lelièvre, L. Archambault, N. Dumas, J.G.
+   Turcotte, C. Delagrave, P. Winter, J.G. Lebel, and J.B. Varin.
+
+The judges of the seigniorial court were:--
+
+   Chief Justice Sir Louis H. LaFontaine, president; Judges Bowen,
+   Aylwin, Duval, Caron, Day, Smith, Vanfelson, Mondelet, Meredith,
+   Short, Morin, and Badgley.
+
+Provision was also made by parliament for securing compensation to the
+seigniors for the giving up of all legal rights of which they were
+deprived by the decision of the commissioners. It took five years of
+enquiry and deliberation before the commissioners were able to complete
+their labours, and then it was found necessary to vote other funds to
+meet all the expenses entailed by a full settlement of the question.
+
+The result was that all lands previously held _en fief, en arrière
+fief, en censive_, or _en roture_, under the old French system, were
+henceforth placed on the footing of lands in the other provinces, that
+is to say, free and common socage. The seigniors received liberal
+remuneration for the abolition of the _lods et ventes, droit de
+banalité_, and other rights declared legal by the court. The _cens et
+ventes_ had alone to be met as an established rent (_rente
+constituée_) by the _habitant_, but even this change was so modified
+and arranged as to meet the exigencies of the _censitaires_, the
+protection of whose interests was at the basis of the whole law
+abolishing this ancient tenure. This radical change cost the country
+from first to last over ten million dollars, including a large
+indemnity paid to Upper Canada for its proportion of the fund taken
+from public revenues of the united provinces to meet the claims of the
+seigniors and the expenses of the commission. The money was well spent
+in bringing about so thorough a revolution in so peaceable and
+conclusive a manner. The _habitants_ of the east were now as free as
+the farmers of the west. The seigniors themselves largely benefited by
+the capitalization in money of their old rights, and by the
+untrammelled possession of land held _en franc aleu roturier_.
+Although the seigniorial tenure disappeared from the social system of
+French Canada nearly half a century ago, we find enduring memorials of
+its existence in such famous names as these:--Nicolet, Verchères,
+Lotbinière, Berthier, Rouville, Joliette, Terrebonne, Sillery,
+Beaupré, Bellechasse, Portneuf, Chambly, Sorel, Longueuil,
+Boucherville, Chateauguay, and many others which recall the seigniors
+of the old régime.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+
+CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES
+
+In a long letter which he wrote to Earl Grey in August, 1850, Lord
+Elgin used these significant words: "To render annexation by violence
+impossible, or by any other means improbable as may be, is, as I have
+often ventured to repeat, the polar star of my policy." To understand
+the full significance of this language it is only necessary to refer
+to the history of the difficulties with which the governor-general had
+to contend from the first hour he came to the province and began his
+efforts to allay the feeling of disaffection then too prevalent
+throughout the country--especially among the commercial classes--and
+to give encouragement to that loyal sentiment which had been severely
+shaken by the indifference or ignorance shown by British statesmen and
+people with respect to the conditions and interests of the Canadas. He
+was quite conscious that, if the province was to remain a contented
+portion of the British empire, it could be best done by giving full
+play to the principles of self-government among both nationalities who
+had been so long struggling to obtain the application of the
+parliamentary system of England in the fullest sense to the operation
+of their own internal affairs, and by giving to the industrial and
+commercial classes adequate compensation for the great losses which
+they had sustained by the sudden abolition of the privileges which
+England had so long extended to Canadian products--notably, flour,
+wheat and lumber--in the British market.
+
+Lord Elgin knew perfectly well that, while this discontent existed,
+the party which favoured annexation would not fail to find sympathy
+and encouragement in the neighbouring republic. He recalled the fact
+that both Papineau and Mackenzie, after the outbreak of their abortive
+rebellion, had many abettors across the border, as the infamous raids
+into Canada clearly proved. Many people in the United States, no
+doubt, saw some analogy between the grievances of Canadians and those
+which had led to the American revolution. "The mass of the American
+people," said Lord Durham, "had judged of the quarrel from a distance;
+they had been obliged to form their judgment on the apparent grounds
+of the controversy; and were thus deceived, as all those are apt to be
+who judge under such circumstances, and on such grounds. The contest
+bore some resemblance to that great struggle of their own forefathers,
+which they regard with the highest pride. Like that, they believed it
+to be the contest of a colony against the empire, whose misconduct
+alienated their own country; they considered it to be a contest
+undertaken by a people professing to seek independence of distant
+control, and extension of popular privileges." More than that, the
+striking contrast which was presented between Canada and the United
+States "in respect to every sign of productive industry, increasing
+wealth, and progressive civilization" was considered by the people of
+the latter country to be among the results of the absence of a
+political system which would give expansion to the energies of the
+colonists and make them self-reliant in every sense. Lord Durham's
+picture of the condition of things in 1838-9 was very painful to
+Canadians, although it was truthful in every particular. "On the
+British side of the line," he wrote, "with the exception of a few
+favoured spots, where some approach to American prosperity is
+apparent, all seems waste and desolate." But it was not only "in the
+difference between the larger towns on the two sides" that we could
+see "the best evidence of our own inferiority." That "painful and
+undeniable truth was most manifest in the country districts through
+which the line of national separation passes for one thousand miles."
+Mrs. Jameson in her "Winter Studies and Summer Rambles," written only
+a year or two before Lord Durham's report, gives an equally
+unfavourable comparison between the Canadian and United States sides
+of the western country. As she floated on the Detroit river in a
+little canoe made of a hollow tree, and saw on one side "a city with
+its towers, and spires, and animated population," and on the other "a
+little straggling hamlet with all the symptoms of apathy, indolence,
+mistrust, hopelessness," she could not help wondering at this
+"incredible difference between the two shores," and hoping that some
+of the colonial officials across the Atlantic would be soon sent "to
+behold and solve the difficulty."
+
+But while Lord Durham was bound to emphasize this unsatisfactory state
+of things he had not lost his confidence in the loyalty of the mass of
+the Canadian people, notwithstanding the severe strain to which they
+had been subject on account of the supineness of the British
+government to deal vigorously and promptly with grievances of which
+they had so long complained as seriously affecting their connection
+with the parent state and the development of their material resources.
+It was only necessary, he felt, to remove the causes of discontent to
+bring out to the fullest extent the latent affection which the mass of
+French and English Canadians had been feeling for British connection
+ever since the days when the former obtained guarantees for the
+protection of their dearest institutions and the Loyalists of the
+American Revolution crossed the frontier for the sake of Crown and
+empire. "We must not take every rash expression of disappointment,"
+wrote Lord Durham, "as an indication of a settled aversion to the
+existing constitution; and my own observation convinces me that the
+predominant feeling of all the British population of the North
+American colonies is that of devoted attachment to the mother country.
+I believe that neither the interests nor the feelings of the people
+are incompatible with a colonial government, wisely and popularly
+administered." His strong conviction then was that if connection with
+Great Britain was to be continuous, if every cause of discontent was
+to be removed, if every excuse for interference "by violence on the
+part of the United States" was to be taken away, if Canadian
+annexationists were no longer to look for sympathy and aid among their
+republican neighbours, the Canadian people must be given the full
+control of their own internal affairs, while the British government on
+their part should cease that constant interference which only
+irritated and offended the colony. "It is not by weakening," he said,
+"but strengthening the influence of the people on the government; by
+confining within much narrower bounds than those hitherto allotted to
+it, and not by extending the interference of the imperial authorities
+in the details of colonial affairs, that I believe that harmony is to
+be restored, where dissension has so long prevailed; and a regularity
+and vigour hitherto unknown, introduced into the administration of
+these provinces." And he added that if the internal struggle for
+complete self-government were renewed "the sympathy from without would
+at some time or other re-assume its former strength."
+
+Lord Elgin appeared on the scene at the very time when there was some
+reason for a repetition of that very struggle, and a renewal of that
+very "sympathy from without" which Lord Durham imagined. The political
+irritation, which had been smouldering among the great mass of
+Reformers since the days of Lord Metcalfe, was seriously aggravated by
+the discontent created by commercial ruin and industrial paralysis
+throughout Canada as a natural result of Great Britain's ruthless
+fiscal policy. The annexation party once more came to the surface, and
+contrasts were again made between Canada and the United States
+seriously to the discredit of the imperial state. "The plea of
+self-interest," wrote Lord Elgin in 1849, "the most powerful weapon,
+perhaps, which the friends of British connection have wielded in times
+past, has not only been wrested from my hands but transferred since
+1846 to those of the adversary." He then proceeded to contrast the
+condition of things on the two sides of the Niagara, only "spanned by
+a narrow bridge, which it takes a foot passenger about three minutes
+to cross." The inhabitants on the Canadian side were "for the most
+part United Empire Loyalists" and differed little in habits or modes
+of thought and expression from their neighbours. Wheat, their staple
+product, grown on the Canadian side of the line, "fetched at that time
+in the market from 9d. to 1s. less than the same article grown on the
+other." These people had protested against the Montreal annexation
+movement, but Lord Elgin was nevertheless confident that the large
+majority firmly believed "that their annexation to the United States
+would add one-fourth to the value of the produce of their farms." In
+dealing with the causes of discontent Lord Elgin came to exactly the
+same conclusion which, as I have just shown, was accepted by Lord
+Durham after a close study of the political and material conditions of
+the country. He completed the work of which his eminent predecessor
+had been able only to formulate the plan. By giving adequate scope to
+the practice of responsible government, he was able to remove all
+causes for irritation against the British government, and prevent
+annexationists from obtaining any sympathy from that body of American
+people who were always looking for an excuse for a movement--such a
+violent movement as suggested by Lord Elgin in the paragraph given
+above--which would force Canada into the states of the union. Having
+laid this foundation for a firm and popular government, he proceeded
+to remove the commercial embarrassment by giving a stimulus to
+Canadian trade by the repeal of the navigation laws, and the adoption
+of reciprocity with the United States. The results of his efforts were
+soon seen in the confidence which all nationalities and classes of the
+Canadian people felt in the working of their system of government, in
+the strengthening of the ties between the imperial state and the
+dependency, and in the decided stimulus given to the shipping and
+trade throughout the provinces of British North America.
+
+I have already in the previous chapters of this book dwelt on the
+methods which Lord Elgin so successfully adopted to establish
+responsible government in accordance with the wishes of the Canadian
+people, and it is now only necessary to refer to his strenuous efforts
+during six years to obtain reciprocal trade between Canada and the
+United States. It was impossible at the outset of his negotiations to
+arouse any active interest among the politicians of the republic as
+long as they were unable to see that the proposed treaty would be to
+the advantage of their particular party or of the nation at large. No
+party in congress was ready to take it up as a political question and
+give it that impulse which could be best given by a strong partisan
+organization. The Canadian and British governments could not get up a
+"lobby" to press the matter in the ways peculiar to professional
+politicians, party managers, and great commercial or financial
+corporations. Mr. Hincks brought the powers of his persuasive tongue
+and ingenious intellect to bear on the politicians at Washington, but
+even he with all his commercial acuteness and financial knowledge was
+unable to accomplish anything. It was not until Lord Elgin himself
+went to the national capital and made use of his diplomatic tact and
+amenity of demeanour that a successful result was reached. No
+governor-general who ever visited the United States made so deep an
+impression on its statesmen and people as was made by Lord Elgin
+during this mission to Washington, and also in the course of the
+visits he paid to Boston and Portland where he spoke with great effect
+on several occasions. He won the confidence and esteem of statesmen
+and politicians by his urbanity, dignity, and capacity for business.
+He carried away his audiences by his exhibition of a high order of
+eloquence, which evoked the admiration of those who had been
+accustomed to hear Webster, Everett, Wendell, Philipps, Choate, and
+other noted masters of oratory in America.
+
+He spoke at Portland after his success in negotiating the treaty, and
+was able to congratulate both Canada and the United States on the
+settlement of many questions which had too long alienated peoples who
+ought to be on the most friendly terms with each other. He was now
+near the close of his Canadian administration and was able to sum up
+the results of his labours. The discontent with which the people of
+the United States so often sympathized had been brought to an end "by
+granting to Canadians what they desired--the great principle of
+self-government" "The inhabitants of Canada at this moment," he went
+on to say, "exercise as much influence over their own destinies and
+government as do the people of the United States. This is the only
+cause of misunderstanding that ever existed; and this cannot arise
+when the circumstances which made them at variance have ceased to
+exist."
+
+The treaty was signed on June 5th, 1854, by Lord Elgin on the part of
+Great Britain, and by the Honourable W.L. Marcy, secretary of state,
+on behalf of the United States, but it did not legally come into force
+until it had been formally ratified by the parliament of Great
+Britain, the congress of the United States, and the several
+legislatures of the British provinces. It exempted from customs duties
+on both sides of the line certain articles which were the growth and
+produce of the British colonies and of the United States--the
+principal being grain, flour, breadstuffs, animals, fresh, smoked, and
+salted meats, fish, lumber of all kinds, poultry, cotton, wool, hides,
+ores of metal, pitch, tar, ashes, flax, hemp, rice, and unmanufactured
+tobacco. The people of the United States and of the British provinces
+were given an equal right to navigate the St. Lawrence river, the
+Canadian canals and Lake Michigan. No export duty could be levied on
+lumber cut in Maine and passing down the St. John or other streams in
+New Brunswick. The most important question temporarily settled by the
+treaty was the fishery dispute which had been assuming a troublesome
+aspect for some years previously. The government at Washington then
+began to raise the issue that the three mile limit to which their
+fishermen could be confined should follow the sinuosities of the
+coasts, including 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 generally sustained the
+contention of the provinces--a contention practically supported by the
+American authorities in the case of Delaware, Chesapeake, and other
+bays on the coasts of the United States--that the three mile limit
+should be measured from a line drawn from headland to headland 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 shut out only 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, for twelve years, by the Reciprocity
+Treaty of 1854, which provided that the inhabitants of the United
+States could take fish of any kind, except shell fish, on the sea
+coasts, and shores, in the bays, harbours, and creeks of any British
+province, without any restriction as to distance, and had also
+permission to land on these coasts and shores for the purpose of
+drying their nets and curing their fish. The same privileges
+were extended to British citizens on the eastern sea coasts and
+shores of the United States, north of the 36th parallel of north
+latitude--privileges of no practical value to the people of British
+North America compared with those they gave up in their own prolific
+waters. The farmers of the agricultural west accepted with great
+satisfaction a treaty which gave their products free access to
+their natural market, but the fishermen and seamen of the maritime
+provinces, especially of Nova Scotia, were for some time dissatisfied
+with provisions which gave away their most valuable fisheries without
+adequate compensation, and at the same time refused them the
+privilege--a great advantage to a ship-building, ship-owning
+province--of the coasting trade of the United States on the same terms
+which were allowed to American and British vessels on the coasts of
+British North America. On the whole, however, the treaty eventually
+proved of benefit to all the provinces at a time when trade required
+just such a stimulus as it gave in the markets of the United States.
+The aggregate interchange of commodities between the two countries
+rose from an annual average of $14,230,763 in the years previous to
+1854 to $33,492,754 gold currency, in the first year of its existence;
+to $42,944,754 gold currency, in the second year; to $50,339,770 gold
+currency in the third year; and to no less a sum than $84,070,955 at
+war prices, in the thirteenth year when it was terminated by the
+United States in accordance with the provision, which allowed either
+party to bring it to an end after a due notice of twelve months at the
+expiration of ten years or of any longer time it might remain in
+force. Not only was a large and remunerative trade secured between the
+United States and the provinces, but the social and friendly
+intercourse of the two countries necessarily increased with the
+expansion of commercial relations and the creation of common interests
+between them. Old antipathies and misunderstandings disappeared under
+the influence of conditions which brought these communities together
+and made each of them place a higher estimate on the other's good
+qualities. In short, the treaty in all respects fully realized the
+expectations of Lord Elgin in working so earnestly to bring it to a
+successful conclusion.
+
+However, it pleased the politicians of the United States, in a moment
+of temper, to repeal a treaty which, during its existence, gave a
+balance in favour of the commercial and industrial interests of the
+republic, to the value of over $95,000,000 without taking into account
+the value of the provincial fisheries from which the fishermen of New
+England annually derived so large a profit. Temper, no doubt, had much
+to do with the action of the United States government at a time when
+it was irritated by the sympathy extended to the Confederate States by
+many persons in the provinces as well as in Great Britain--notably by
+Mr. Gladstone himself. No doubt it was thought that the repeal of the
+treaty would be a sort of punishment to the people of British North
+America. It was even felt--as much was actually said in congress--that
+the result of the sudden repeal of the treaty would be the growth of
+discontent among those classes in Canada who had begun to depend upon
+its continuance, and that sooner or later there would arise a cry for
+annexation with a country from which they could derive such large
+commercial advantages. Canadians now know that the results have been
+very different from those anticipated by statesmen and journalists on
+the other side of the border. Instead of starving Canada and forcing
+her into annexation, they have, by the repeal of the Reciprocity
+Treaty, and by their commercial policy ever since, materially helped
+to stimulate her self-reliance, increase her commerce with other
+countries, and make her largely a self-sustaining, independent
+country. Canadians depend on themselves--on a self-reliant,
+enterprising policy of trade--not on the favour or caprice of any
+particular nation. They are always quite prepared to have the most
+liberal commercial relations with the United States, but at the same
+time feel that a reciprocity treaty is no longer absolutely essential
+to their prosperity, and cannot under any circumstances have any
+particular effect on the political destiny of the Canadian
+confederation whose strength and unity are at length so well assured.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+
+FAREWELL TO CANADA
+
+Lord Elgin assumed the governor-generalship of Canada on January 30th,
+1847, and gave place to Sir Edmund Head on December 19th, 1854. The
+address which he received from the Canadian legislature on the eve of
+his departure gave full expression to the golden opinions which he had
+succeeded in winning from the Canadian people during his able
+administration of nearly eight years. The passionate feeling which had
+been evoked during the crisis caused by the Rebellion Losses Bill had
+gradually given way to a true appreciation of the wisdom of the course
+that he had followed under such exceptionally trying circumstances,
+and to the general conviction that his strict observance of the true
+forms and methods of constitutional government had added strength and
+dignity to the political institutions of the country and placed Canada
+at last in the position of a semi-independent nation. The charm of his
+manner could never fail to captivate those who met him often in social
+life, while public men of all parties recognized his capacity for
+business, the sincerity of his convictions, and the absence of a
+spirit of intrigue in connection with the administration of public
+affairs and his relations with political parties. He received
+evidences on every side that he had won the confidence and respect and
+even affection of all nationalities, classes, and creeds in Canada. In
+the very city where he had been maltreated and his life itself
+endangered, he received manifestations of approval which were full
+compensation for the mental sufferings to which he was subject in that
+unhappy period of his life, when he proved so firm, courageous and
+far-sighted. In well chosen language--always characteristic of his
+public addresses--he spoke of the cordial reception he had met with,
+when he arrived a stranger in Montreal, of the beauty of its
+surroundings, of the kind attention with which its citizens had on
+more than one occasion listened to the advice he gave to their various
+associations, of the undaunted courage with which the merchants had
+promoted the construction of that great road which was so necessary to
+the industrial development of the province, of the patriotic energy
+which first gathered together such noble specimens of Canadian
+industry from all parts of the country, and had been the means of
+making the great World's Fair so serviceable to Canada; and then as he
+recalled the pleasing incidents of the past, there came to his mind a
+thought of the scenes of 1849, but the sole reference he allowed
+himself was this: "And I shall forget--but no, what I might have to
+forget is forgotten already, and therefore I cannot tell you what I
+shall forget."
+
+The last speech which he delivered in the picturesque city of Quebec
+gave such eloquent expression to the feelings with which he left
+Canada, is such an admirable example of the oratory with which he so
+often charmed large assemblages, that I give it below in full for the
+perusal of Canadians of the present day who had not the advantage of
+hearing him in the prime of his life.
+
+"I wish I could address you in such strains as I have sometimes
+employed on similar occasions--strains suited to a festive meeting;
+but I confess I have a weight on my heart and it is not in me to be
+merry. For the last time I stand before you in the official character
+which I have borne for nearly eight years. For the last time I am
+surrounded by a circle of friends with whom I have spent some of the
+most pleasant days of my life. For the last time I welcome you as my
+guests to this charming residence which I have been in the habit of
+calling my home.[23] I did not, I will frankly confess it, know what
+it would cost me to break this habit, until the period of my departure
+approached, and I began to feel that the great interests which have so
+long engrossed my attention and thoughts were passing out of my hands.
+I had a hint of what my feelings really were upon this point--a pretty
+broad hint too--one lovely morning in June last, when I returned to
+Quebec after my temporary absence in England, and landed in the coves
+below Spencerwood (because it was Sunday and I did not want to make a
+disturbance in the town), and when with the greetings of the old
+people in the coves who put their heads out of the windows as I passed
+along, and cried 'Welcome home again,' still ringing in my ears, I
+mounted the hill and drove through the avenue to the house door, I saw
+the drooping trees on the lawn, with every one of which I was so
+familiar, clothed in the tenderest green of spring, and the river
+beyond, calm and transparent as a mirror, and the ships fixed and
+motionless as statues on its surface, and the whole landscape bathed
+in that bright Canadian sun which so seldom pierces our murky
+atmosphere on the other side of the Atlantic. I began to think that
+persons were to be envied who were not forced by the necessities of
+their position to quit these engrossing interests and lovely scenes,
+for the purpose of proceeding to distant lands, but who are able to
+remain among them until they pass to that quiet corner of the garden
+of Mount Hermon, which juts into the river and commands a view of the
+city, the shipping, Point Levi, the Island of Orleans, and the range
+of the Laurentine; so that through the dim watches of that tranquil
+night which precedes the dawning of the eternal day, the majestic
+citadel of Quebec, with its noble tram of satellite hills, may seem to
+rest forever on the sight, and the low murmur of the waters of St.
+Lawrence, with the hum of busy life on their surface, to fall
+ceaselessly on the ear. I cannot bring myself to believe that the
+future has in store for me any interests which will fill the place of
+those I am now abandoning. But although I must henceforward be to you
+as a stranger, although my official connection with you and your
+interests will have become hi a few days matter of history, yet I
+trust that through some one channel or other, the tidings of your
+prosperity and progress may occasionally reach me; that I may hear
+from time to time of the steady growth and development of those
+principles of liberty and order, of manly independence in combination
+with respect for authority and law, of national life in harmony with
+British connection, which it has been my earnest endeavour, to the
+extent of my humble means of influence, to implant and to establish. I
+trust, too, that I shall hear that this House continues to be what I
+have ever sought to render it, a neutral territory, on which persons
+of opposite opinions, political and religious, may meet together in
+harmony and forget their differences for a season. And I have good
+hope that this will be the case for several reasons, and, among
+others, for one which I can barely allude to, for it might be an
+impertinence in me to dwell upon it But I think that without any
+breach of delicacy or decorum I may venture to say that many years
+ago, when I was much younger than I am now, and when we stood towards
+each other in a relation somewhat different from that which has
+recently subsisted between us, I learned to look up to Sir Edmund Head
+with respect, as a gentleman of the highest character, the greatest
+ability, and the most varied accomplishments and attainments. And now,
+ladies and gentlemen, I have only to add the sad word--Farewell. I
+drink this bumper to the health of you all, collectively and
+individually. I trust that I may hope to leave behind me some who will
+look back with feelings of kindly recollection to the period of our
+intercourse; some with whom I have been on terms of immediate official
+connection, whose worth and talents I have had the best means of
+appreciating, and who could bear witness at least, if they please to
+do so, to the spirit, intentions, and motives with which I have
+administered your affairs; some with whom I have been bound by the
+ties of personal regard. And if reciprocity be essential to enmity,
+then most assuredly I can leave behind me no enemies. I am aware that
+there must be persons in so large a society as this, who think that
+they have grievances to complain of, that due consideration has not in
+all cases been shown to them. Let them believe me, and they ought to
+believe me, for the testimony of a dying man is evidence, even in a
+court of justice, let them believe me, then, when I assure them, in
+this the last hour of my agony, that no such errors of omission or
+commission have been intentional on my part. Farewell, and God bless
+you." Before I proceed to review some features of his administration
+in Canada, to which it has not been possible to do adequate justice in
+previous chapters of this book, I must very briefly refer to the
+eminent services which he was able to perform for the empire before he
+closed his useful life amid the shadows of the Himalayas. On his
+return to England he took his seat in the House of Lords, but he gave
+very little attention to politics or legislation. On one occasion,
+however, he expressed a serious doubt as to the wisdom of sending to
+Canada large bodies of troops, which had come back from the Crimea, on
+the ground that such a proceeding might complicate the relations of
+the colony with the United States, and at the same time arrest its
+progress towards self-independence in all matters affecting its
+internal order and security.
+
+This opinion was in unison with the sentiments which he had often
+expressed to the secretary of state during his term of office in
+America. While he always deprecated any hasty withdrawal of imperial
+troops from the dependency as likely at that time to imperil its
+connection with the mother country, he believed most thoroughly in
+educating Canadians gradually to understand the large measure of
+responsibility which attached to self-government. He was of opinion
+"that the system of relieving colonists altogether from the duty of
+self-defence must be attended with injurious effects upon themselves."
+"It checks," he continued, "the growth of national and manly morals.
+Men seldom think anything worth preserving for which they are never
+asked to make a sacrifice." His view was that, while it was desirable
+to remove imperial troops gradually and throw the responsibility of
+self-defence largely upon Canada, "the movement in that direction
+should be made with due caution." "The present"--he was writing to the
+secretary of state in 1848 when Canadian affairs were still in an
+unsatisfactory state--"is not a favourable moment for experiments.
+British statesmen, even secretaries of state, have got into the habit
+lately of talking of the maintenance of the connection between Great
+Britain and Canada with so much indifference, that a change of system
+in respect to military defence incautiously carried out, might be
+presumed by many to argue, on the part of the mother country, a
+disposition to prepare the way for separation." And he added three
+years later:
+
+     "If these communities are only truly attached to the
+     connection and satisfied of its permanence (and as respects
+     the latter point, opinions here will be much influenced by
+     the tone of statesmen at home), elements of self-defence,
+     not moral elements only, but material elements likewise,
+     will spring up within them spontaneously as the product of
+     movements from within, not of pressure from without. Two
+     millions of people in a northern latitude can do a good deal
+     in the way of helping themselves, when their hearts are in
+     the right place."
+
+Before two decades of years had passed away, the foresight of these
+suggestions was clearly shown. Canada had become a part of a British
+North American confederation, and with the development of its material
+resources, the growth of a national spirit of self-reliance, the new
+Dominion, thus formed, was able to relieve the parent state of the
+expenses of self-defence, and come to her aid many years later when
+her interests were threatened in South Africa. If Canada has been able
+to do all this, it has been owing to the growth of that spirit of
+self-reliance--of that principle of self-government--which Lord Elgin
+did his utmost to encourage. We can then well understand that Lord
+Elgin, in 1855, should have contemplated with some apprehension the
+prospect of largely increasing the Canadian garrisons at a time when
+Canadians were learning steadily and surely to cultivate the national
+habit of depending upon their own internal resources in their working
+out of the political institutions given them by England after years of
+agitation, and even suffering, as the history of the country until
+1840 so clearly shows. It is also easy to understand that Lord Elgin
+should have regarded the scheme in contemplation as likely to create a
+feeling of doubt and suspicion as to the motives of the imperial
+government in the minds of the people of the United States. He
+recalled naturally his important visit to that country, where he had
+given eloquent expression, as the representative of the British Crown,
+to his sanguine hopes for the continuous amity of peoples allied to
+each other by so many ties of kindred and interest, and had also
+succeeded after infinite labour in negotiating a treaty so well
+calculated to create a common sympathy between Canada and the
+republic, and stimulate that friendly intercourse which would dispel
+many national prejudices and antagonisms which had unhappily arisen
+between these communities in the past. The people of the United States
+might well, he felt, see some inconsistency between such friendly
+sentiments and the sending of large military reinforcements to Canada.
+
+In the spring of 1857 Lord Elgin accepted from Lord Palmerston a
+delicate mission to China at a very critical time when the affair of
+the lorcha "Arrow" had led to a serious rupture between that country
+and Great Britain. According to the British statement of the case, in
+October, 1856, the Chinese authorities at Canton seized the lorcha
+although it was registered as a British vessel, tore down the British
+flag from its masthead, and carried away the crew as prisoners. On the
+other hand the Chinese claimed that they had arrested the crew, who
+were subjects of the emperor, as pirates, that the British ownership
+had lapsed some time previously, and that there was no flag flying on
+the vessel at the time of its seizure. The British representatives in
+China gave no credence to these explanations but demanded not only a
+prompt apology but also the fulfilment of "long evaded treaty
+obligations." When these peremptory demands were not at once complied
+with, the British proceeded in a very summary manner to blow up
+Chinese forts, and commit other acts of war, although the Chinese only
+offered a passive resistance to these efforts to bring them to terms
+of abject submission. Lord Palmerston's government was condemned in
+the House of Commons for the violent measures which had been taken in
+China, but he refused to submit to a vote made up, as he satirically
+described it, "of a fortuitous concourse of atoms," and appealed to
+the country, which sustained him. While Lord Elgin was on his way to
+China, he heard the news of the great mutiny in India, and received a
+letter from Lord Canning, then governor-general, imploring him to send
+some assistance from the troops under his direction. He at once sent
+"instructions far and wide to turn the transports back and give
+Canning the benefit of the troops for the moment." It is impossible,
+say his contemporaries, to exaggerate the importance of the aid which
+he so promptly gave at the most critical time in the Indian situation.
+"Tell Lord Elgin," wrote Sir William Peel, the commander of the famous
+Naval Brigade at a later time, "that it was the Chinese expedition
+which relieved Lucknow, relieved Cawnpore, and fought the battle of
+December 6th." But this patriotic decision delayed somewhat the
+execution of Lord Elgin's mission to China. It was nearly four months
+after he had despatched the first Chinese contingent to the relief of
+the Indian authorities, that another body of troops arrived in China
+and he was able to proceed vigorously to execute the objects of his
+visit to the East. After a good deal of fighting and bullying, Chinese
+commissioners were induced in the summer of 1859 to consent to sign
+the Treaty of Tientsin, which gave permission to the Queen of Great
+Britain to appoint, if she should see fit, an ambassador who might
+reside permanently at Pekin, or visit it occasionally according to the
+pleasure of the British government, guaranteed protection to
+Protestants and Roman Catholics alike, allowed British subjects to
+travel to all parts of the empire, under passports signed by British
+consuls, established favourable conditions for the protection of trade
+by foreigners, and indemnified the British government for the losses
+that had been sustained at Canton and for the expenses of the war.
+
+Lord Elgin then paid an official visit to Japan, where he was well
+received and succeeded in negotiating the Treaty of Yeddo, which was a
+decided advance on all previous arrangements with that country, and
+prepared the way for larger relations between it and England. On his
+return to bring the new treaty to a conclusion, he found that the
+commissioners who had gone to obtain their emperor's full consent to
+its provisions, seemed disposed to call into question some of the
+privileges which had been already conceded, and he was consequently
+forced to assume that peremptory tone which experience of the Chinese
+has shown can alone bring them to understand the full measure of their
+responsibilities in negotiations with a European power. However, he
+believed he had brought his mission to a successful close, and
+returned to England in the spring of 1859.
+
+How little interest was taken in those days in Canadian affairs by
+British public men and people, is shown by some comments of Mr.
+Waldron on the incidents which signalized Lord Elgin's return from
+China. "When he returned in 1854 from the government of Canada," this
+writer naively admits, "there were comparatively few persons in
+England who knew anything of the great work he had done in the colony.
+But his brilliant successes in the East attracted public interest and
+gave currency to his reputation." He accepted the position of
+postmaster-general in the administration just formed by Lord
+Palmerston, and was elected Lord Rector of Glasgow; but he had hardly
+commenced to study the details of his office, and enjoy the amenities
+of the social life of Great Britain, when he was again called upon by
+the government to proceed to the East, where the situation was once
+more very critical. The duplicity of the Chinese in their dealings
+with foreigners had soon shown itself after his departure from China,
+and he was instructed to go back as Ambassador Extraordinary to that
+country, where a serious rupture had occurred between the English and
+Chinese while an expedition of the former was on its way to Pekin to
+obtain the formal ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin. The French
+government, which had been a party to that treaty, sent forces to
+coöperate with those of Great Britain in obtaining prompt satisfaction
+for an attack made by the Chinese troops on the British at the Peilo,
+the due ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, and payment of an
+indemnity to the allies for the expenses of their military operations.
+
+The punishment which the Chinese received for their bad faith and
+treachery was very complete. Yuen-ming-yuen, the emperor's summer
+palace, one of the glories of the empire, was levelled to the ground
+as a just retribution for treacherous and criminal acts committed by
+the creatures of the emperor at the very moment it was believed that
+the negotiations were peacefully terminated. Five days after the
+burning of the palace, the treaty was fully ratified between the
+emperor's brother and Lord Elgin, and full satisfaction obtained from
+the imperial authorities at Pekin for their shameless disregard of
+their solemn engagements. The manner in which the British ambassador
+discharged the onerous duties of his mission, met with the warm
+approval of Her Majesty's government and when he was once more in
+England he was offered by the prime minister the governor-generalship
+of India.
+
+He accepted this great office with a full sense of the arduous
+responsibilities which it entailed upon him, and said good-bye to his
+friends with words which showed that he had a foreboding that he might
+never see them again--words which proved unhappily to be too true. He
+went to the discharge of his duties in India in that spirit of modesty
+which was always characteristic of him. "I succeeded," he said, "to a
+great man (Lord Canning) and a great war, with a humble task to be
+humbly discharged." His task was indeed humble compared with that
+which had to be performed by his eminent predecessors, notably by Earl
+Canning, who had established important reforms in the land tenure, won
+the confidence of the feudatories of the Crown, and reorganized the
+whole administration of India after the tremendous upheaval caused by
+the mutiny. Lord Elgin, on the other hand, was the first
+governor-general appointed directly by the Queen, and was now subject
+to the authority of the secretary of state for India. He could
+consequently exercise relatively little of the powers and
+responsibilities which made previous imperial representatives so
+potent in the conduct of Indian affairs. Indeed he had not been long
+in India before he was forced by the Indian secretary to reverse Lord
+Canning's wise measure for the sale of a fee-simple tenure with all
+its political as well as economic advantages. He was able, however, to
+carry out loyally the wise and equitable policy of his predecessor
+towards the feudatories of England with firmness and dignity and with
+good effect for the British government.[24]
+
+In 1863 he decided on making a tour of the northern parts of India
+with the object of making himself personally acquainted with the
+people and affairs of the empire under his government. It was during
+this tour that he held a Durbar or Royal Court at Agra, which was
+remarkable even in India for the display of barbaric wealth and the
+assemblage of princes of royal descent. After reaching Simla his
+peaceful administration of Indian affairs was at last disturbed by the
+necessity--one quite clear to him--of repressing an outburst of
+certain Nahabee fanatics who dwelt in the upper valley of the Indus.
+He came to the conclusion that "the interests both of prudence and
+humanity would be best consulted by levelling a speedy and decisive
+blow at this embryo conspiracy." Having accordingly made the requisite
+arrangements for putting down promptly the trouble on the frontier and
+preventing the combination of the Mahommedan inhabitants in those
+regions against the government, he left Simla and traversed the upper
+valleys of the Beas, the Ravee, and the Chenali with the object of
+inspecting the tea plantations of that district and making inquiries
+as to the possibility of trade with LadĂ¢k and China. Eventually, after
+a wearisome journey through a most picturesque region, he reached
+Dhurmsala--"the place of piety"--in the Kangra valley, where appeared
+the unmistakable symptoms of the fatal malady which soon caused his
+death.
+
+The closing scenes in the life of the statesman have been described in
+pathetic terms by his brother-in-law, Dean Stanley.[25] The
+intelligence that the illness was mortal "was received with a calmness
+and fortitude which never deserted him" through all the scenes which
+followed. He displayed "in equal degrees, and with the most unvarying
+constancy, two of the grandest elements of human character--unselfish
+resignation of himself to the will of God, and thoughtful
+consideration down to the smallest particulars, for the interests and
+feelings of others, both public and private." When at his own request,
+Lady Elgin chose a spot for his grave in the little cemetery which
+stands on the bluff above the house where he died, "he gently
+expressed pleasure when told of the quiet and beautiful aspect of the
+place chosen, with the glorious view of the snowy range towering
+above, and the wide prospect of hill and plain below." During this
+fatal illness he had the consolation of the constant presence of his
+loving wife, whose courageous spirit enabled her to overcome the
+weakness of a delicate constitution. He died on November 20th, 1863,
+and was buried on the following day beneath the snow-clad
+Himalayas.[26]
+
+If at any time a Canadian should venture to this quiet station in the
+Kangra valley, let his first thought be, not of the sublimity of the
+mountains which rise far away, but of the grave where rest the remains
+of a statesman whose pure unselfishness, whose fidelity to duty, whose
+tender and sympathetic nature, whose love of truth and justice, whose
+compassion for the weak, whose trust in God and the teachings of
+Christ, are human qualities more worthy of the admiration of us all
+than the grandest attributes of nature.
+
+None of the distinguished Canadian statesmen who were members of Lord
+Elgin's several administrations from 1847 until 1854, or were then
+conspicuous in parliamentary life, now remain to tell us the story of
+those eventful years. Mr. Baldwin died five years before, and Sir
+Louis Hypolite LaFontaine three months after the decease of the
+governor-general of India, and in the roll of their Canadian
+contemporaries there are none who have left a fairer record. Mr.
+Hincks retired from the legislature of Canada in 1855, when he
+accepted the office of governor-in-chief of Barbadoes and the Windward
+Islands from Sir William Molesworth, colonial secretary in Lord
+Palmerston's government, and for years an eminent advocate of a
+liberal colonial policy. This appointment was well received throughout
+British North America by Mr. Hincks's friends as well as political
+opponents, who recognized the many merits of this able politician and
+administrator. It was considered, according to the London _Times_, as
+"the inauguration of a totally different system of policy from that
+which has been hitherto pursued with regard to our colonies." "It gave
+some evidence," continued the same paper, "that the more distinguished
+among our fellow-subjects in the colonies may feel that the path of
+imperial ambition is henceforth open to them." It was a direct answer
+to the appeal which had been so eloquently made on more than one
+occasion by the Honourable Joseph Howe[27] of Nova Scotia, to extend
+imperial honours and offices to distinguished colonists, and not
+reserve them, as was too often the case, for Englishmen of inferior
+merit. "This elevation of Mr. Hincks to a governorship," said the
+Montreal _Pilot_ at the time, "is the most practicable comment which
+can possibly be offered upon the solemn and sorrowful complaints of
+Mr. Howe, anent the neglect with which the colonists are treated by
+the imperial government. So sudden, complete and noble a disclaimer on
+the part of Her Majesty's minister for the colonies must have startled
+the delegate from Nova Scotia, and we trust that his turn may not be
+far distant." Fifteen years later, Mr. Howe himself became a
+lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, and an inmate of the very
+government house to which he was not admitted in the stormy days when
+he was fighting the battle of responsible government against Lord
+Falkland.
+
+Mr. Hincks was subsequently appointed governor of British Guiana, and
+at the same time received a Commandership of the Bath as a mark of
+"Her Majesty's approval honourably won by very valuable and continued
+service in several colonies of the empire." He retired from the
+imperial service with a pension in 1869, when his name was included in
+the first list of knights which was submitted to the Queen on the
+extension of the Order of St. Michael and St. George for the express
+purpose of giving adequate recognition to those persons in the
+colonies who had rendered distinguished service to the Crown and
+empire. During his Canadian administration Lord Elgin had impressed
+upon the colonial secretary that it was "very desirable that the
+prerogative of the Crown, as the fountain of honour, should be
+employed, in so far as this can properly be done, as a means of
+attaching the outlying parts of the empire to the throne." Two
+principles ought, he thought, "as a general rule to be attended to in
+the distribution of imperial honours among colonists." Firstly they
+should appear "to emanate directly from the Crown, on the advice, if
+you will, of the governors and imperial ministers, but not on the
+recommendation of the local executive." Secondly, they "should be
+conferred, as much as possible, on the eminent persons who are no
+longer engaged actively in political life." The first principle has,
+generally speaking, guided the action of the Crown in the distribution
+of honours to colonists, though the governors may receive suggestions
+from and also consult their prime ministers when the necessity arises.
+These honours, too, are no longer conferred only on men actively
+engaged in public life, but on others eminent in science, education,
+literature, and other vocations of life.[28]
+
+In 1870 Sir Francis Hincks returned to Canadian public life as finance
+minister in Sir John Macdonald's government, and held the office until
+1873, when he retired altogether from politics. Until the last hours
+of his life he continued to show that acuteness of intellect, that
+aptitude for public business, that knowledge of finance and commerce,
+which made him so influential in public affairs. During his public
+career in Canada previous to 1855, he was the subject of bitter
+attacks for his political acts, but nowadays impartial history can
+admit that, despite his tendency to commit the province to heavy
+expenditures, his energy, enterprise and financial ability did good
+service to the country at large. He was also attacked as having used
+his public position to promote his own pecuniary interests, but he
+courted and obtained inquiry into the most serious of such
+accusations, and although there appears to have been some carelessness
+in his connection with various speculations, and at times an absence
+of an adequate sense of his responsibility as a public man, there is
+no evidence that he was ever personally corrupt or dishonest. He
+devoted the close of his life to the writing of his "Reminiscences,"
+and of several essays on questions which were great public issues when
+he was so prominent in Canadian politics, and although none of his
+most ardent admirers can praise them as literary efforts of a high
+order, yet they have an interest so far as they give us some insight
+into disputed points of Canada's political history. He died in 1885 of
+the dreadful disease small-pox in the city of Montreal, and the
+veteran statesman was carried to the grave without those funeral
+honours which were due to one who had filled with distinction so many
+important positions in the service of Canada and the Crown. All his
+contemporaries when he was prime minister also lie in the grave and
+have found at last that rest which was not theirs in the busy,
+passionate years of their public life. Sir Allan MacNab, who was a
+spendthrift to the very last, lies in a quiet spot beneath the shades
+of the oaks and elms which adorn the lovely park of Dundurn in
+Hamilton, whose people have long since forgotten his weaknesses as a
+man, and now only recall his love for the beautiful city with whose
+interests he was so long identified, and his eminent services to Crown
+and state. George Brown, Hincks's inveterate opponent, continued for
+years after the formation of the first Liberal-Conservative
+administration, to keep the old province of Canada in a state of
+political ferment by his attacks on French Canada and her institutions
+until at last he succeeded in making government practically
+unworkable, and then suddenly he rose superior to the spirit of
+passionate partisanship and racial bitterness which had so long
+dominated him, and decided to aid his former opponents in consummating
+that federal union which relieved old Canada of her political
+embarrassment and sectional strife. His action at that time is his
+chief claim to the monument which has been raised in his honour in the
+great western city where he was for so many years a political force,
+and where the newspaper he established still remains at the head of
+Canadian journalism.
+
+The greatest and ablest man among all who were notable in Lord Elgin's
+days in Canada, Sir John Alexander Macdonald--the greatest not simply
+as a Canadian politician but as one of the builders of the British
+empire--lived to become one of Her Majesty's Privy Councillors of
+Great Britain, a Grand Cross of the Bath, and prime minister for
+twenty-one years of a Canadian confederation which stretches for 3,500
+miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. When death at last
+forced him from the great position he had so long occupied with
+distinction to himself and advantage to Canada, the esteem and
+affection in which he was held by the people, whom he had so long
+served during a continuous public career of half a century, were shown
+by the erection of stately monuments in five of the principal cities
+of the Dominion--an honour never before paid to a colonial statesman.
+The statues of Sir John Macdonald and Sir Georges Cartier--statues
+conceived and executed by the genius of a French Canadian
+artist--stand on either side of the noble parliament building where
+these statesmen were for years the most conspicuous figures; and as
+Canadians of the present generation survey their bronze effigies, let
+them not fail to recall those admirable qualities of statesmanship
+which distinguished them both--above all their assertion of those
+principles of compromise, conciliation and equal rights which have
+served to unite the two races in critical times when the tide of
+racial and sectional passion and political demagogism has rushed in a
+mad torrent against the walls of the national structure which
+Canadians have been so steadily and successfully building for so many
+years on the continent of North America.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+
+POLITICAL PROGRESS
+
+In the foregoing pages I have endeavoured to review--very imperfectly,
+I am afraid--all those important events in the political history of
+Canada from 1847 to 1854, which have had the most potent influence on
+its material, social, and political development. Any one who carefully
+studies the conditions of the country during that critical period of
+Canadian affairs cannot fail to come to the conclusion that the
+gradual elevation of Canada from the depression which was so prevalent
+for years in political as well as commercial matters, to a position of
+political strength and industrial prosperity, was largely owing to the
+success of the principles of self-government which Lord Elgin
+initiated and carried out while at the head of the Canadian executive.
+These principles have been clearly set forth in his speeches and in
+his despatches to the secretary of state for the colonies as well as
+in instructive volumes on the colonial policy of Lord John Russell's
+administration by Lord Grey, the imperial minister who so wisely
+recommended Lord Elgin's appointment as governor-general Briefly
+stated these principles are as follows:--
+
+     That it is neither desirable nor possible to carry on the
+     government of a province in opposition to the opinion of its
+     people.
+
+     That a governor-general can have no ministers who do not
+     enjoy the full confidence of the popular House, or, in the
+     last resort, of the people.
+
+     That the governor-general should not refuse his consent to
+     any measure proposed by the ministry unless it is clear that
+     it is of such an extreme party character that the assembly
+     or people could not approve of it.
+
+     That the governor-general should not identify himself with
+     any party but make himself "a mediator and moderator between
+     all parties."
+
+That colonial communities should be encouraged to cultivate "a
+national and manly tone of political morals," and should look to their
+own parliaments for the solution of all problems of provincial
+government instead of making constant appeals to the colonial office
+or to opinion in the mother country, "always ill-informed, and
+therefore credulous, in matters of colonial politics."
+
+That the governor-general should endeavour to impart to these rising
+communities the full advantages of British laws, British institutions,
+and British freedom, and maintain in this way the connection between
+them and the parent state.
+
+We have seen in previous chapters how industriously, patiently, and
+discreetly Lord Elgin laboured to carry out these principles in the
+administration of his government. In 1849 he risked his own life that
+he might give full scope to the principles of responsible government
+with respect to the adjustment of a question which should be settled
+by the Canadian people themselves without the interference of the
+parent state, and on the same ground he impressed on the imperial
+government the necessity of giving to the Canadian legislature full
+control of the settlement of the clergy reserves. He had no patience
+with those who believed that, in allowing the colonists to exercise
+their right to self-government in matters exclusively affecting
+themselves, there was any risk whatever so far as imperial interests
+were concerned. One of his ablest letters was that which he wrote to
+Earl Grey as an answer to the unwise utterances of the prime minister,
+Lord John Russell, in the course of a speech on the colonies in which,
+"amid the plaudits of a full senate, he declared that he looked
+forward to the day when the ties which he was endeavouring to render
+so easy and mutually advantageous would be severed." Lord Elgin held
+it to be "a perfectly unsound and most dangerous theory, that British
+colonies could not attain maturity without separation," and in this
+connection he quoted the language of Mr. Baldwin to whom he had read
+that part of Lord John Russell's speech to which he took such strong
+exception. "For myself," said the eminent Canadian, "if the
+anticipations therein expressed prove to be well founded, my interest
+in public affairs is gone forever. But is it not hard upon us while we
+are labouring, through good and evil report, to thwart the designs of
+those who would dismember the empire, that our adversaries should be
+informed that the difference between them and the prime minister of
+England is only one of time? If the British government has really come
+to the conclusion that we are a burden to be cast off, whenever a
+favourable opportunity offers, surely we ought to be warned." In Lord
+Elgin's opinion, based on a thorough study of colonial conditions, if
+the Canadian or any other system of government was to be successful,
+British statesmen must "renounce the habit of telling the colonies
+that the colonial is a provisional existence." They should be taught
+to believe that "without severing the bonds which unite them to
+England, they may attain the degree of perfection, and of social and
+political development to which organized communities of free men have
+a right to aspire." The true policy in his judgment was "to throw the
+whole weight of responsibility on those who exercise the real power,
+for after all, the sense of responsibility is the best security
+against the abuse of power; and as respects the connection, to act and
+speak on this hypothesis--that there is nothing in it to check the
+development of healthy national life in these young communities." He
+was "possessed," he used the word advisedly, "with the idea that it
+was possible to maintain on the soil of North America, and in the face
+of Republican America, British connection and British institutions, if
+you give the latter freely and trustingly." The history of Canada from
+the day those words were penned down to the beginning of the twentieth
+century proves their political wisdom. Under the inspiring influence
+of responsible government Canada has developed in 1902, not into an
+independent nation, as predicted by Lord John Russell and other
+British statesmen after him, but into a confederation of five millions
+and a half of people, in which a French Canadian prime minister gives
+expression to the dominant idea not only of his own race but of all
+nationalities within the Dominion, that the true interest lies not in
+the severance but in the continuance of the ties that have so long
+bound them to the imperial state.
+
+Lord Elgin in his valuable letters to the imperial authorities, always
+impressed on them the fact that the office of a Canadian
+governor-general has not by any means been lowered to that of a mere
+subscriber of orders-in-council--of a mere official automaton,
+speaking and acting by the orders of the prime minister and the
+cabinet. On the contrary, he gave it as his experience that in
+Jamaica, where there was no responsible government, he had "not half
+the power" he had in Canada "with a constitutional and changing
+cabinet." With respect to the maintenance of the position and due
+influence of the governor, he used language which gives a true
+solution of the problem involved in the adaptation of parliamentary
+government to the colonial system. "As the imperial government and
+parliament gradually withdraw from legislative interference, and from
+the exercise of patronage in colonial affairs, the office of governor
+tends to become, in the most emphatic sense of the term, the link
+which connects the mother country and the colony, and his influence
+the means by which harmony of action between the local and imperial
+authorities is to be preserved. It is not, however, in my humble
+judgment, by evincing an anxious desire to stretch to the utmost
+constitutional principles in his favour, but, on the contrary, by the
+frank acceptance of the conditions of the parliamentary system, that
+this influence can be most surely extended and confirmed. Placed by
+his position above the strife of parties--holding office by a tenure
+less precarious than the ministers who surround him--having no
+political interests to serve but those of the community whose affairs
+he is appointed to administer--his opinion cannot fail, when all cause
+for suspicion and jealousy is removed, to have great weight in
+colonial councils, while he is set at liberty to constitute himself in
+an especial manner the patron of those larger and higher
+interests--such interests, for example, as those of education, and of
+moral and material progress in all its branches--which, unlike the
+contests of party, unite instead of dividing the members of the body
+politic."
+
+As we study the political history of Canada for the fifty years which
+have elapsed since Lord Elgin enunciated in his admirable letters to
+the imperial government the principles which guided him in his
+Canadian administration, we cannot fail to see clearly that
+responsible government has brought about the following results, which
+are at once a guarantee of efficient home government and of a
+harmonious cooperation between the dependency and the central
+authority of the empire.
+
+The misunderstandings that so constantly occurred between the
+legislative bodies and the imperial authorities, on account of the
+latter failing so often to appreciate fully the nature of the
+political grievances that agitated the public mind, and on account of
+their constant interference in matters which should have been left
+exclusively to the control of the people directly interested, have
+been entirely removed in conformity with the wise policy of making
+Canada a self-governing country in the full sense of the phrase. These
+provinces are as a consequence no longer a source of irritation and
+danger to the parent state, but, possessing full independence in all
+matters of local concern, are now among the chief sources of England's
+pride and greatness.
+
+The governor-general instead of being constantly brought into conflict
+with the political parties of the country, and made immediately
+responsible for the continuance of public grievances, has gained in
+dignity and influence since he has been removed from the arena of
+public controversy. He now occupies a position in harmony with the
+principles that have given additional strength and prestige to the
+throne itself. As the legally accredited representative of the
+sovereign, as the recognized head of society, he represents what
+Bagehot has aptly styled "the dignified part of our constitution,"
+which has much value in a country like ours where we fortunately
+retain the permanent form of monarchy in harmony with the democratic
+machinery of our government. If the governor-general is a man of
+parliamentary experience and constitutional knowledge, possessing tact
+and judgment, and imbued with the true spirit of his high
+vocation--and these high functionaries have been notably so since the
+commencement of confederation--he can sensibly influence, in the way
+Lord Elgin points out, the course of administration and benefit the
+country at critical periods of its history. Standing above all party,
+having the unity of the empire at heart, a governor-general can at
+times soothe the public mind, and give additional confidence to the
+country, when it is threatened with some national calamity, or there
+is distrust abroad as to the future. As an imperial officer he has
+large responsibilities of which the general public has naturally no
+very clear idea, and if it were possible to obtain access to the
+confidential and secret despatches which seldom see the light in the
+colonial office--certainly not in the lifetime of the men who wrote
+them--it would be found how much, for a quarter of a century past, the
+colonial department has gained by having had in the Dominion, men, no
+longer acting under the influence of personal feeling through being
+made personally responsible for the conduct of public affairs, but
+actuated simply by a desire to benefit the country over which they
+preside, and to bring Canadian interests into union with those of the
+empire itself.
+
+The effects on the character of public men and on the body politic
+have been for the public advantage. It has brought out the best
+qualities of colonial statesmanship, lessened the influence of mere
+agitators and demagogues, and taught our public men to rely on
+themselves in all crises affecting the welfare and integrity of the
+country. Responsible government means self-reliance, the capacity to
+govern ourselves, the ability to build up a great nation.
+
+When we review the trials and struggles of the past that we may gain
+from them lessons of confidence for the future, let us not forget to
+pay a tribute to the men who have laid the foundations of these
+communities, still on the threshold of their development, and on whom
+the great burden fell; to the French Canadians who, despite the
+neglect and indifference of their kings, amid toil and privation, amid
+war and famine, built up a province which they have made their own by
+their patience and industry, and who should, differ as we may from
+them, evoke our respect for their fidelity to the institutions of
+their origin, for their appreciation of the advantages of English
+self-government, and for their cooperation in all great measures
+essential to the unity of the federation; to the Loyalists of last
+century who left their homes for the sake of "king and country," and
+laid the foundations of prosperous and loyal English communities by
+the sea and by the great lakes, and whose descendants have ever stood
+true to the principles of the institutions which have made Britain free
+and great; to the unknown body of pioneers some of whose names perhaps
+still linger on a headland or river or on a neglected gravestone, who
+let in the sunlight year by year to the dense forests of these
+countries, and built up by their industry the large and thriving
+provinces of this Dominion; above all, to the statesmen--Elgin,
+Baldwin, LaFontaine, Morin, Howe, and many others--who laid deep and
+firm, beneath the political structure of this confederation, those
+principles of self-government which give harmony to our constitutional
+system and bring out the best qualities of an intelligent people. In
+the early times in which they struggled they had to bear much obloquy,
+and their errors of judgment have been often severely arraigned at the
+bar of public opinion; many of them lived long enough to see how soon
+men may pass into oblivion; but we who enjoy the benefit of their
+earnest endeavours, now that the voice of the party passion of their
+times is hushed, should never forget that, though they are not here to
+reap the fruit of their labours, their work survives in the energetic
+and hopeful communities which stretch from Cape Breton to Victoria.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+
+A COMPARISON OF SYSTEMS
+
+In one of Lord Elgin's letters we are told that, when he had as
+visitors to government house in 1850, Sir Henry Bulwer, the elder
+brother of Lord Lytton, and British minister to the United States, as
+well as Sir Edmund Head, his successor in the governorship of Canada,
+he availed himself of so favourable an opportunity of reassuring them
+on many points of the internal policy of the province on which they
+were previously doubtful, and gave them some insight into the position
+of men and things on which Englishmen in those days were too ignorant
+as a rule. One important point which he impressed upon them--as he
+hoped successfully--was this:
+
+     "That the faithful carrying out of the principles of
+     constitutional government is a departure from the American
+     model, not an approximation to it, and, therefore, a
+     departure from republicanism in its only workable shape."
+
+The fact was: "The American system is our old colonial system, with,
+in certain cases, the principle of popular election substituted for
+that of nomination by the Crown." He was convinced "that the
+concession of constitutional government has a tendency to draw the
+colonists" towards England and not towards republicanism; "firstly,
+because it slakes that thirst for self-government which seizes on all
+British communities when they approach maturity; and secondly because
+it habituates the colonists to the working of a political mechanism
+which is both intrinsically superior to that of the Americans, and
+more unlike it than our old colonial system." In short, he felt very
+strongly that "when a people have been once thoroughly accustomed to
+the working of such a parliamentary system as ours they never will
+consent to resort to this irresponsible mechanism."
+
+Since these significant words were written half a century ago,
+Canadians have been steadily working out the principles of
+parliamentary government as understood and explained by Lord Elgin,
+and have had abundant opportunities of contrasting their experiences
+with those of their neighbours under a system in many respects the
+very reverse of that which has enabled Canada to attain so large a
+measure of political freedom and build up such prosperous communities
+to the north of the republic, while still remaining in the closest
+possible touch with the imperial state. I propose now to close this
+book with some comparisons between the respective systems of the two
+countries, and to show that in this respect as in others Lord Elgin
+proved how deep was his insight into the working of political
+institutions, and how thoroughly he had mastered the problem of the
+best methods of administering the government of a great colonial
+dependency, not solely with a regard to its own domestic interests but
+with a view of maintaining the connection with the British Crown, of
+which he was so discreet and able a servant.
+
+It is especially important to Canadians to study the development of
+the institutions of the United States, with the view of deriving
+benefit from their useful experiences, and avoiding the defects that
+have grown up under their system. All institutions are more or less on
+trial in a country like Canada, which is working out great problems of
+political science under decided advantages, since the ground is
+relatively new, and the people have before them all the experiences of
+the world, especially of England and the United States, in whose
+systems Canadians have naturally the deepest interest. The history of
+responsible government affords another illustration of a truth which
+stands out clear in the history of nations, that those constitutions
+which are of a flexible character, the natural growth of the
+experiences of centuries, and which have been created by the
+necessities and conditions of the times, possess the elements of real
+stability, and best ensure the prosperity of a people. The great
+source of the strength of the institutions of the United States lies
+in the fact that they have worked out their government in accordance
+with certain principles, which are essentially English in their
+origin, and have been naturally developed since their foundation as
+colonial settlements, and whatever weaknesses their system shows have
+chiefly arisen from new methods, and from the rigidity of their
+constitutional rules of law, which separate too sharply the executive
+and the legislative branches of government. Like their neighbours the
+Canadian people have based their system on English principles, but
+they have at the same time been able to keep pace with the progress of
+the unwritten constitution of England, to adapt it to their own
+political conditions, and to bring the executive and legislative
+authorities to assist and harmonize with one another.
+
+Each country has its "cabinet council," but the one is essentially
+different from the other in its character and functions. This term,
+the historical student will remember, was first used in the days of
+the Stuarts as one of derision and obloquy. It was frequently called
+"junto" or "cabal," and during the days of conflict between the
+commons and the king it was regarded with great disfavour by the
+parliament of England. Its unpopularity arose from the fact that it
+did not consist of men in whom parliament had confidence, and its
+proceedings were conducted with so much secrecy that it was impossible
+to decide upon whom to fix responsibility for any obnoxious measure.
+When the constitution of England was brought back to its original
+principles, and harmony was restored between the Crown and the
+parliament, the cabinet became no longer a term of reproach, but a
+position therein was regarded as the highest honour in the country,
+and was associated with the efficient administration of public
+affairs, since it meant a body of men responsible to parliament for
+every act of government.[29] The old executive councils of Canada were
+obnoxious to the people for the same reason that the councils of the
+Stuarts, and even of George III, with the exception of the régime of
+the two Pitts, became unpopular. Not only do we in Canada, in
+accordance with our desire to perpetuate the names of English
+institutions use the name "cabinet" which was applied to an
+institution that gradually grew out of the old privy council of
+England, but we have even incorporated in our fundamental law the
+older name of "privy council," which itself sprang from the original
+"permanent" or "continual" council of the Norman kings. Following
+English precedent, the Canadian cabinet or ministry is formed out of
+the privy councillors, chosen under the law by the governor-general,
+and when they retire from office they still retain the purely honorary
+distinction. In the United States the use of the term "cabinet" has
+none of the significance it has with us, and if it can be compared at
+all to any English institutions it might be to the old cabinets who
+acknowledged responsibility to the king, and were only so many heads
+of departments in the king's government. As a matter of fact the
+comparison would be closer if we said that the administration
+resembles the cabinets of the old French kings, or to quote Professor
+Bryce, "the group of ministers who surround the Czar or the Sultan, or
+who executed the bidding of a Roman emperor like Constantine or
+Justinian." Such ministers like the old executive councils of Canada,
+"are severally responsible to their master, and are severally called
+in to counsel him, but they have not necessarily any relations with
+one another, nor any duty or collective action." Not only is the
+administration conducted on the principle of responsibility to the
+president alone, in this respect the English king in old irresponsible
+days, but the legislative department is itself constructed after the
+English model as it existed a century ago, and a general system of
+government is established, lacking in that unity and elasticity which
+are essential to its effective working. On the other hand the Canadian
+cabinet is the cabinet of the English system of modern times and is
+formed so as to work in harmony with the legislative department, which
+is a copy, so far as possible, of the English legislature.
+
+The special advantages of the Canadian or English system of
+parliamentary government, compared with congressional government, may
+be briefly summed up as follows:--
+
+(1) The governor-general, his cabinet, and the popular branch of the
+legislature are governed in Canada, as in England, by a system of
+rules, conventions and understandings which enable them to work in
+harmony with one another. The Crown, the cabinet, the legislature, and
+the people, have respectively certain rights and powers which, when
+properly and constitutionally brought into operation, give strength
+and elasticity to our system of government. Dismissal of a ministry by
+the Crown under conditions of gravity, or resignation of a ministry
+defeated in the popular House, bring into play the prerogatives of the
+Crown. In all cases there must be a ministry to advise the Crown,
+assume responsibility for its acts, and obtain the support of the
+people and their representatives in parliament. As a last resort to
+bring into harmony the people, the legislature, and the Crown, there
+is the exercise of the supreme prerogative of dissolution. A governor,
+acting always under the advice of responsible ministers, may, at any
+time, generally speaking, grant an appeal to the people to test their
+opinion on vital public questions and bring the legislature into
+accord with the public mind. In short, the fundamental principle of
+popular sovereignty lies at the very basis of the Canadian system.
+
+On the other hand, in the United States, the president and his cabinet
+may be in constant conflict with the two Houses of Congress during the
+four years of his term of office. His cabinet has no direct influence
+with the legislative bodies, inasmuch as they have no seats therein.
+The political complexion of Congress does not affect their tenure of
+office, since they depend only on the favour and approval of the
+executive; dissolution, which is the safety valve of the English or
+Canadian system--"in its essence an appeal from the legal to the
+political sovereign"--is not practicable under the United States
+constitution. In a political crisis the constitution provides no
+adequate solution of the difficulty during the presidential term. In
+this respect the people of the United States are not sovereign as they
+are in Canada under the conditions just briefly stated.
+
+(2) The governor-general is not personally brought into collision with
+the legislature by the direct exercise of a veto of its legislative
+acts, since the ministry is responsible for all legislation and must
+stand or fall by its important measures. The passage of a measure of
+which it disapproved as a ministry would mean in the majority of cases
+a resignation, and it is not possible to suppose that the governor
+would be asked to exercise a prerogative of the Crown which has been
+in disuse since the establishment of responsible government and would
+now be a revolutionary measure even in Canada.
+
+In the United States there is danger of frequent collision between the
+president and the two legislative branches, should a very critical
+exercise of the veto, as in President Johnson's time, occur at a time
+when the public mind was deeply agitated. The chief magistrate loses
+in dignity and influence whenever the legislature overrides the veto,
+and congress becomes a despotic master for the time being.
+
+(3) The Canadian minister, having control of the finances and taxes
+and of all matters of administration, is directly responsible to
+parliament and sooner or later to the people for the manner in which
+public functions have been discharged. All important measures are
+initiated by the cabinet, and on every question of public interest the
+ministers are bound to have a definite policy if they wish to retain
+the confidence of the legislature. Even in the case of private
+legislation they are also the guardians of the public interests and
+are responsible to the parliament and the people for any neglect in
+particular.
+
+On the other hand in the United States the financial and general
+legislation of congress is left to the control of committees, over
+which the president and his cabinet have no direct influence, and the
+chairman of which may have ambitious objects in direct antagonism to
+the men in office.
+
+(4) In the Canadian system the speaker is a functionary who certainly
+has his party proclivities, but it is felt that as long as he occupies
+the chair all political parties can depend on his justice and
+impartiality. Responsible government makes the premier and his
+ministers responsible for the constitution of the committees and for
+the opinions and decisions that may emanate from them. A government
+that would constantly endeavour to shift its responsibilities on
+committees, even of its own selection, would soon disappear from the
+treasury benches. Responsibility in legislation is accordingly
+ensured, financial measures prevented from being made the footballs of
+ambitious and irresponsible politicians, and the impartiality and
+dignity of the speakership guaranteed by the presence in parliament of
+a cabinet having the direction and supervision of business.
+
+On the other hand, in the United States, the speaker of the House of
+Representatives becomes, from the very force of circumstances, a
+political leader, and the spectacle is presented--in fact from the
+time of Henry Clay--so strange to us familiar with English methods, of
+decisions given by him with clearly party objects, and of committees
+formed by him with purely political aims, as likely as not with a view
+to thwart the ambition either of a president who is looking to a
+second term or of some prominent member of the cabinet who has
+presidential aspirations. And all this lowering of the dignity of the
+chair is due to the absence of a responsible minister to lead the
+House. The very position which the speaker is forced to take from time
+to time--notably in the case of Mr. Reed[30]--is clearly the result of
+the defects in the constitutional system of the United States, and is
+so much evidence that a responsible party leader is an absolute
+necessity in congress. A legislature must be led, and congress has
+been attempting to get out of a crucial difficulty by all sorts of
+questionable shifts which only show the inherent weakness of the
+existing system.
+
+In the absence of any provision for the unity of policy between the
+executive and legislative authorities of the United States, it is
+impossible for any nation to have a positive guarantee that a treaty
+it may negotiate with the former can be ratified. The sovereign of
+Great Britain enters into treaties with foreign powers with the advice
+and assistance of his constitutional advisers, who are immediately
+responsible to parliament for their counsel in such matters. In theory
+it is the prerogative of the Crown to make a treaty; in practice it is
+that of the ministry. It is not constitutionally imperative to refer
+such treaties to parliament for its approval--the consent of the Crown
+is sufficient; but it is sometimes done under exceptional
+circumstances, as in the case of the cession of Heligoland. In any
+event the action of the ministry in the matter is invariably open to
+the review of parliament, and the ministry may be censured by an
+adverse vote for the advice given to the sovereign, and forced to
+retire from office. In the United States the senate must ratify all
+treaties by a two-thirds vote, but unless there is a majority in that
+House of the same political complexion as the president the treaty may
+be refused. No cabinet minister is present, to lead the House, as in
+England, and assume all the responsibility of the president's action.
+It is almost impossible to suppose that an English ministry would
+consent to a treaty that would be unpopular in parliament and the
+country. The existence of the government would depend on its action.
+In the United States both president and senate have divided
+responsibilities. The constitution makes no provision for unity in
+such important matters of national obligation.
+
+The great advantages of the English, or Canadian, system lie in the
+interest created among all classes of the people by the discussions of
+the different legislative bodies. Parliamentary debate involves the
+fate of cabinets, and the public mind is consequently led to study all
+issues of importance. The people know and feel that they must be
+called upon sooner or later to decide between the parties contending
+on the floor of the legislature, and consequently are obliged to give
+an intelligent consideration to public affairs. Let us see what
+Bagehot, ablest of critics, says on this point:--
+
+     "At present there is business in their attention (that is to
+     say, of the English or Canadian people). They assist at the
+     determining crisis; they assist or help it. Whether the
+     government will go out or remain is determined by the debate
+     and by the division in parliament And the opinion out of
+     doors, the secret pervading disposition of society, has a
+     great influence on that division. The nation feels that its
+     judgment is important, and it strives to judge. It succeeds
+     in deciding because the debates and the discussions give it
+     the facts and arguments. But under the presidential
+     government the nation has, except at the electing moment, no
+     influence; it has not the ballot-box before it; its virtue
+     is gone and it must wait till its instant of despotism again
+     returns. There are doubtless debates in the legislature, but
+     they are prologues without a play. The prize of power is not
+     in the gift of the legislature. No presidential country
+     needs to form daily delicate opinions, or is helped in
+     forming them."
+
+Then when the people do go to the ballot-box, they cannot
+intelligently influence the policy of the government. If they vote for
+a president, then congress may have a policy quite different from his;
+if they vote for members of congress, they cannot change the opinions
+of the president. If the president changes his cabinet at any time,
+they have nothing to say about it, for its members are not important
+as wheels in the legislative machinery. Congress may pass a bill of
+which the people express their disapproval at the first opportunity
+when they choose a new congress, but still it may remain on the
+statute-book because the senate holds views different from the newly
+elected House, and cannot be politically changed until after a long
+series of legislative elections. As Professor Woodrow Wilson well puts
+it in an able essay:--[31]
+
+     "Public opinion has no easy vehicle for its judgments, no
+     quick channels for its action. Nothing about the system is
+     direct and simple. Authority is perplexingly subdivided and
+     distributed, and responsibility has to be hunted down in
+     out-of-the-way corners. So that the sum of the whole matter
+     is that the means of working for the fruits of good
+     government are not readily to be found. The average citizen
+     may be excused for esteeming government at best but a
+     haphazard affair upon which his vote and all his influence
+     can have but little effect. How is his choice of
+     representative in congress to affect the policy of the
+     country as regards the questions in which he is most
+     interested if the man for whom he votes has no chance of
+     getting on the standing committee which has virtual charge
+     of those questions? How is it to make any difference who is
+     chosen president? Has the president any great authority in
+     matters of vital policy? It seems a thing of despair to get
+     any assurance that any vote he may cast will even in an
+     infinitesimal degree affect the essential courses of
+     administration. There are so many cooks mixing their
+     ingredients in the national broth that it seems hopeless,
+     this thing of changing one cook at a time."
+
+Under such a system it cannot be expected that the people will take
+the same deep interest in elections and feel as directly responsible
+for the character of the government as when they can at one election
+and by one verdict decide the fate of a government, whose policy on
+great issues must be thoroughly explained to them at the polls. This
+method of popular government is more real and substantial than a
+system which does not allow the people to influence congressional
+legislation and administrative action through a set of men sitting in
+congress and having a common policy.
+
+I think it does not require any very elaborate argument to show that
+when men feel and know that the ability they show in parliament may be
+sooner or later rewarded by a seat on the treasury benches, and that
+they will then have a determining voice in the government of the
+country, be it dominion or province, they must be stimulated by a
+keener interest in public life, a closer watchfulness over legislation
+and administration, a greater readiness for discussing all public
+questions, and a more studied appreciation of public opinion outside
+the legislative halls. Every man in parliament is a premier _in
+posse_. While asking my readers to recall what I have already said as
+to the effect of responsible government on the public men and people
+of Canada, I shall also here refer them to some authorities worthy of
+all respect.
+
+Mr. Bagehot says with his usual clearness:--[32]
+
+     "To belong to a debating society adhering to an executive
+     (and this is no inapt description of a congress under a
+     presidential constitution) is not an object to stir a noble
+     ambition, and is a position to encourage idleness. The
+     members of a parliament excluded from office can never be
+     comparable, much less equal, to those of a parliament not
+     excluded from office. The presidential government by its
+     nature divides political life into two halves, an executive
+     half and a legislative half, and by so dividing it, makes
+     neither half worth a man's having--worth his making it a
+     continuous career--worthy to absorb, as cabinet government
+     absorbs, his whole soul. The statesmen from whom a nation
+     chooses under a presidential system are much inferior to
+     those from whom it chooses under a cabinet system, while the
+     selecting apparatus is also far less discerning."
+
+An American writer, Prof. Denslow,[33] does not hesitate to express
+the opinion very emphatically that "as it is, in no country do the
+people feel such an overwhelming sense of the littleness of the men in
+charge of public affairs" as in the United States. And in another
+place he dwells on the fact that "responsible government educates
+office-holders into a high and honourable sense of their
+accountability to the people," and makes "statesmanship a permanent
+pursuit followed by a skilled class of men."
+
+Prof. Woodrow Wilson says that,[34] so far from men being trained to
+legislation by congressional government, "independence and ability are
+repressed under the tyranny of the rules, and practically the favour
+of the popular branch of congress is concentrated in the speaker and a
+few--very few--expert parliamentarians." Elsewhere he shows that
+"responsibility is spread thin, and no vote or debate can gather it."
+As a matter of fact and experience, he comes to the conclusion "the
+more power is divided the more irresponsible it becomes and the petty
+character of the leadership of each committee contributes towards
+making its despotism sure by making its duties interesting."
+
+Professor James Bryee, it will be admitted, is one of the fairest of
+critics in his review of the institutions of the United States; but
+he, too, comes to the conclusion[35] that the system of congressional
+government destroys the unity of the House (of representatives) as a
+legislative body; prevents the capacity of the best members from being
+brought to bear upon any one piece of legislation, however important;
+cramps debate; lessens the cohesion and harmony of legislation; gives
+facilities for the exercise of underhand and even corrupt influence;
+reduces responsibility; lowers the interest of the nation in the
+proceedings of congress.
+
+In another place,[36] after considering the relations between the
+executive and the legislature, he expresses his opinion that the
+framers of the constitution have "so narrowed the sphere of the
+executive as to prevent it from leading the country, or even its own
+party in the country." They endeavoured "to make members of congress
+independent, but in doing so they deprived them of some of the means
+which European legislators enjoy of learning how to administer, of
+learning even how to legislate in administrative topics. They
+condemned them to be architects without science, critics without
+experience, censors without responsibility."
+
+And further on, when discussing the faults of democratic government in
+the United States--and Professor Bryce, we must remember, is on the
+whole most hopeful of its future--he detects as amongst its
+characteristics "a certain commonness of mind and tone, a want of
+dignity and elevation in and about the conduct of public affairs, and
+insensibility to the nobler aspects and finer responsibilities of
+national life." Then he goes on to say[37] that representative and
+parliamentary system "provides the means of mitigating the evils to be
+feared from ignorance or haste, for it vests the actual conduct of
+affairs in a body of specially chosen and presumably qualified men,
+who may themselves intrust such of their functions as need peculiar
+knowledge or skill to a smaller governing body or bodies selected in
+respect of their more eminent fitness. By this method the defects of
+democracy are remedied while its strength is retained." The members of
+American legislatures, being disjoined from the administrative
+offices, "are not chosen for their ability or experience; they are not
+much respected or trusted, and finding nothing exceptional expected
+from them, they behave as ordinary men."
+
+"If corruption," wrote Judge Story, that astute political student,
+"ever silently eats its way into the vitals of this Republic, it will
+be because the people are unable to bring responsibility home to the
+executive through his chosen ministers."[38]
+
+As I have already stated in the first pages of this chapter, long
+before the inherent weaknesses of the American system were pointed out
+by the eminent authorities just quoted, Lord Elgin was able, with that
+intuitive sagacity which he applied to the study of political
+institutions, to see the unsatisfactory working of the clumsy,
+irresponsible mechanism of our republican neighbours.
+
+"Mr. Fillmore," he is writing in November, 1850, "stands to his
+congress very much in the same relation in which I stood to my
+assembly in Jamaica. There is the same absence of effective
+responsibility in the conduct of legislation, the same want of
+concurrent action between the parts of the political machine. The
+whole business of legislation in the American congress, as well as in
+the state legislatures, is conducted in the manner in which railway
+business was conducted in the House of Commons at a time when it is to
+be feared that, notwithstanding the high standard of honour in the
+British parliament, there was a good deal of jobbing. For instance,
+our reciprocity measure was pressed by us at Washington last session
+just as a railway bill in 1845 or 1846 would have been pressed in
+parliament There was no government to deal with. The interests of the
+union as a whole, distinct from local and sectional interests, had no
+organ in the representative bodies; it was all a question of
+canvassing this member of congress or the other. It is easy to
+perceive that, under such a system, jobbing must become not the
+exception but the rule,"--remarks as true in 1901 as in 1850.
+
+It is important also to dwell on the fact that in Canada the
+permanency of the tenure of public officials and the introduction of
+the secret ballot have been among the results of responsible
+government. Through the influence and agency of the same system,
+valuable reforms have been made in Canada in the election laws, and
+the trial of controverted elections has been taken away from partisan
+election committees and given to a judiciary independent of political
+influences. In these matters the irresponsible system of the United
+States has not been able to effect any needful reforms. Such measures
+can be best carried by ministers having the initiation and direction
+of legislation and must necessarily be retarded when power is divided
+among several authorities having no unity of policy on any question.
+
+Party government undoubtedly has its dangers arising from personal
+ambition and unscrupulous partisanship, but as long as men must range
+themselves in opposing camps on every subject, there is no other
+system practicable by which great questions can be carried and the
+working of representative government efficiently conducted. The
+framers of the constitution of the United States no doubt thought they
+had succeeded in placing the president and his officers above party
+when they instituted the method of electing the former by a body of
+select electors chosen for that purpose in each state, who were
+expected to act irrespective of all political considerations. A
+president so selected would probably choose his officers also on the
+same basis. The practical results, however, have been to prove that in
+every country of popular and representative institutions party
+government must prevail. Party elects men to the presidency and to the
+floor of the Senate and House of Representatives, and the election to
+those important positions is directed and controlled by a political
+machinery far exceeding in its completeness any party organization in
+England or in Canada. The party convention is now the all important
+portion of the machinery for the election of the president, and the
+safeguard provided by the constitution for the choice of the best man
+is a mere nullity. One thing is quite certain, that party government
+under the direction of a responsible ministry, responsible to
+parliament and the people for every act of administration and
+legislation, can have far less dangerous tendencies than a party
+system which elects an executive not amenable to public opinion for
+four years, divides the responsibilities of government among several
+authorities, prevents harmony among party leaders, does not give the
+executive that control over legislation necessary to efficient
+administration of public affairs, and in short offers a direct premium
+to conflict among all the authorities of the state--a conflict, not so
+much avoided by the checks and balances of the constitution as by the
+patience, common sense, prudence, and respect for law which presidents
+and their cabinets have as a rule shown at national crises. But we can
+clearly see that, while the executive has lost in influence, congress
+has gained steadily to an extent never contemplated by the founders of
+the constitution, and there are thoughtful men who say that the true
+interests of the country have not always been promoted by the change.
+Party government in Canada ensures unity of policy, since the premier
+of the cabinet becomes the controlling part of the political machinery
+of the state; no such thing as unity of policy is possible under a
+system which gives the president neither the dignity of a
+governor-general, nor the strength of a premier, and splits up
+political power among any number of would-be party leaders, who adopt
+or defeat measures by private intrigues, make irresponsible
+recommendations, and form political combinations for purely selfish
+ends.[39]
+
+It seems quite clear then that the system of responsible ministers
+makes the people more immediately responsible for the efficient
+administration of public affairs than is possible in the United
+States. The fact of having the president and the members of congress
+elected for different terms, and of dividing the responsibilities of
+government among these authorities does not allow the people to
+exercise that direct influence which is ensured, as the experience of
+Canada and of England proves, by making one body of men immediately
+responsible to the electors for the conduct of public affairs at
+frequently recurring periods, arranged by well understood rules, so as
+to ensure a correct expression of public opinion on all important
+issues. The committees which assist in governing this country are the
+choice of the people's representatives assembled in parliament, and
+every four or five years and sometimes even sooner in case of a
+crisis, the people have to decide on the wisdom of the choice.
+
+The system has assuredly its drawbacks like all systems of government
+that have been devised and worked out by the brain of man. In all
+frankness I confess that this review would be incomplete were I not to
+refer to certain features of the Canadian system of government which
+seem to me on the surface fraught with inherent danger at some time or
+other to independent legislative judgment. Any one who has closely
+watched the evolution of this system for years past must admit that
+there is a dangerous tendency in the Dominion to give the executive--I
+mean the ministry as a body--too superior a control over the
+legislative authority. When a ministry has in its gift the appointment
+not only of the heads of the executive government in the provinces,
+that is to say, of the lieutenant-governors, who can be dismissed by
+the same power at any moment, but also of the members of the Upper
+House of Parliament itself, besides the judiciary and numerous
+collectorships and other valuable offices, it is quite obvious that
+the element of human ambition and selfishness has abundant room for
+operation on the floor of the legislature, and a bold and skilful
+cabinet is also able to wield a machinery very potent under a system
+of party government. In this respect the House of Representatives may
+be less liable to insidious influences than a House of Commons at
+critical junctures when individual conscience or independent judgment
+appears on the point of asserting itself. The House of Commons may be
+made by skilful party management a mere recording or registering body
+of an able and determined cabinet. I see less liability to such silent
+though potent influences in a system which makes the president and a
+house of representatives to a large degree independent of each other,
+and leaves his important nominations to office under the control of
+the senate, a body which has no analogy whatever with the relatively
+weak branch of the Canadian parliament, essentially weak while its
+membership depends on the government itself. I admit at once that in
+the financial dependence of the provinces on the central federal
+authority, in the tenure of the office of the chief magistrates of the
+provinces, in the control exercised by the ministry over the highest
+legislative body of Canada, that is, highest in point of dignity and
+precedence, there are elements of weakness; but at the same time it
+must be remembered that, while the influence and power of the Canadian
+government may be largely increased by the exercise of its great
+patronage in the hypothetical cases I have suggested, its action is
+always open to the approval or disapproval of parliament and it has to
+meet an opposition face to face. Its acts are open to legislative
+criticism, and it may at any moment be forced to retire by public
+opinion operating upon the House of Commons.
+
+On the other hand the executive in the United States for four years
+may be dominant over congress by skilful management. A strong
+executive by means of party wields a power which may be used for
+purposes of mere personal ambition, and may by clever management of
+the party machine and with the aid of an unscrupulous majority retain
+power for a time even when it is not in accord with the true sentiment
+of the country; but under a system like that of Canada, where every
+defect in the body politic is probed to the bottom in the debates of
+parliament, which are given by the public press more fully than is the
+practice in the neighbouring republic, the people have a better
+opportunity of forming a correct judgment on every matter and giving
+an immediate verdict when the proper time comes for an appeal to them,
+the sovereign power. Sometimes this judgment is too often influenced
+by party prejudices and the real issue is too often obscured by
+skilful party management, but this is inevitable under every system of
+popular government; and happily, should it come to the worst, there is
+always in the country that saving remnant of intelligent, independent
+men of whom Matthew Arnold has written, who can come forward and by
+their fearless and bold criticism help the people in any crisis when
+truth, honour and justice are at stake and the great mass of electors
+fail to appreciate the true situation of affairs. But we may have
+confidence in the good sense and judgment of the people as a whole
+when time is given them to consider the situation of affairs. Should
+men in power be unfaithful to their public obligations, they will
+eventually be forced by the conditions of public life to yield their
+positions to those who merit public confidence. If it should ever
+happen in Canada that public opinion has become so low that public men
+feel that they can, whenever they choose, divert it to their own
+selfish ends by the unscrupulous use of partisan agencies and corrupt
+methods, and that the highest motives of public life are forgotten in
+a mere scramble for office and power, then thoughtful Canadians might
+well despair of the future of their country; but, whatever may be the
+blots at times on the surface of the body politic, there is yet no
+reason to believe that the public conscience of Canada is weak or
+indifferent to character and integrity in active politics. The
+instincts of an English people are always in the direction of the pure
+administration of justice and the efficient and honest government of
+the country, and though it may sometimes happen that unscrupulous
+politicians and demagogues will for a while dominate in the party
+arena, the time of retribution and purification must come sooner or
+later. English methods must prevail in countries governed by an
+English people and English institutions.
+
+It is sometimes said that it is vain to expect a high ideal in public
+life, that the same principles that apply to social and private life
+cannot always be applied to the political arena if party government is
+to succeed; but this is the doctrine of the mere party manager, who is
+already too influential in Canada as in the United States, and not of
+a true patriotic statesman. It is wiser to believe that the nobler the
+object the greater the inspiration, and at all events, it is better to
+aim high than to sink low. It is all important that the body politic
+should be kept pure and that public life should be considered a public
+trust. Canada is still young in her political development, and the
+fact that her population has been as a rule a steady, fixed
+population, free from those dangerous elements which have come into
+the United States with such rapidity of late years, has kept her
+relatively free from any serious social and political dangers which
+have afflicted her neighbours, and to which I believe they themselves,
+having inherited English institutions and being imbued with the spirit
+of English law, will always in the end rise superior. Great
+responsibility, therefore, rests in the first instance upon the people
+of Canada, who must select the best and purest among them to serve the
+country, and, secondly, upon the men whom the legislature chooses to
+discharge the trust of carrying on the government. No system of
+government or of laws can of itself make a people virtuous and happy
+unless their rulers recognize in the fullest sense their obligations
+to the state and exercise their powers with prudence and
+unselfishness, and endeavour to elevate and not degrade public opinion
+by the insidious acts and methods of the lowest political ethics. A
+constitution may be as perfect as human agencies can make it, and yet
+be relatively worthless while the large responsibilities and powers
+entrusted to the governing body--responsibilities and powers not
+embodied in acts of parliament--are forgotten in view of party
+triumph, personal ambition, or pecuniary gain. "The laws," says Burke,
+"reach but a very little way. Constitute government how you please,
+infinitely the greater part of it must depend upon the exercise of the
+powers which are left at large to the prudence and uprightness of
+ministers of state. Even all the use and potency of the laws depend
+upon them. Without them your commonwealth is no better than a scheme
+upon paper, and not a living, active, effective organization."
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
+
+
+For accounts of the whole career of Lord Elgin see _Letters and
+Journals of James, Eighth, Earl of Elgin_, etc., edited by Theodore
+Walrond, C.B., with a preface by his brother-in-law, Dean Stanley
+(London 2nd. ed., 1873); for China mission, _Narrative of the Earl of
+Elgin's Mission to China and Japan_ by Lawrence Oliphant, his private
+secretary (Edinburgh, 1869); for the brief Indian administration, _The
+Friend of India_ for 1862-63. Consult also article in vol. 8 of
+_Encyclopædia Britannica_, 9th ed.; John Charles Dent's _Canadian
+Portrait Gallery_ (Toronto, 1880), vol. 2, which also contains a
+portrait; W.J. Rattray's _The Scot in British North America_ (Toronto,
+1880) vol. 2, pp. 608-641.
+
+For an historical review of Lord Elgin's administration in Canada, see
+J.C. Dent's _The Last Forty Years, or Canada since the Union of 1841_
+(Toronto, 1881), chapters XXIII-XXXIV inclusive, with a portrait;
+Louis P. Turcotte's _Le Canada Sous l'Union_ (Quebec, 1871), chapters
+I-IV, inclusive; Sir Francis Hincks's _Reminiscences of His Public
+Life_ (Montreal, 1884) with a portrait of the author; Joseph Pope's
+_Memoirs of the Rt. Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald, G.C.B._ (Ottawa and
+London, 1894), with portraits of the great statesman, vol. 1, chapters
+IV-VI inclusive; Lord Grey's _Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's
+Administration_ (London, 2nd ed., 1853), vol. 1; Sir C.B. Adderley's
+_Review of the Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's Administration,
+by Earl Grey, and Subsequent Colonial History_ (London, 1869).
+
+For accounts of the evolution of responsible government in Canada
+consult the works by Dent, Turcotte, Rattray, Hincks, Grey and
+Adderley, just mentioned; Lord Durham's _Report on the Affairs of
+British North America_, submitted to parliament, 1839; Dr. Alpheus
+Todd's _Parliamentary Government in The British Colonies_ (2nd ed.
+London, 1894); Bourinot's _Manual of the Constitutional History of
+Canada_ (Toronto, 1901); his _Canada under British Rule_ (London and
+Toronto, 1901), chapters VI-VIII inclusive; _Memoir of the Life of the
+Rt. Hon. Lord Sydenham, etc._, by his brother G. Poulett Scrope, M.P.,
+(London, 1843), with a portrait of that nobleman; _Life and
+Correspondence of Charles Lord Metcalfe_, by J.W. Kaye (London, new
+ed., 1858).
+
+For comparisons between the parliamentary government of Great Britain
+or Canada, and the congressional system of the United States, see
+Walter Bagehot's _English Constitution_ and other political essays
+(New York, 1889); Woodrow Wilson's _Congressional Government_ (Boston,
+1885); Dr. James Bryce's _American Commonwealth_ (London, 1888);
+Bourinot's _Canadian Studies in Comparative Politics_, in _Trans. Roy.
+Soc. Can._, vol. VIII, sec. 2 (old ser.), and in separate form
+(Montreal, 1891). Other books and essays on the same subject are noted
+in a bibliography given in _Trans. Roy. Soc. Can._, vol. XI, old ser.,
+sec. 2, as an appendix to an article by Sir J.G. Bourinot on
+Parliamentary Government in Canada.
+
+The reader may also profitably consult the interesting series of
+sketches (with excellent portraits) of the lives of Sir Francis
+Hincks, Sir A. MacNab, Sir L.H. LaFontaine, R. Baldwin, Bishop
+Strachan, L.J. Papineau, John Sandfield Macdonald, Antoine A. Dorion,
+Sir John A. Macdonald, George Brown, Sir E.P. Taché, P.J.O. Chauveau,
+and of other men notable from 1847-1854, in the _Portraits of British
+Americans_ (Montreal 1865-67), by J. Fennings Taylor, who was deputy
+clerk of the old legislative council, and later of the senate of
+Canada, and a contemporary of the eminent men whose careers he briefly
+and graphically describes. Consult also Dent's _Canadian Portrait
+Gallery_, which has numerous portraits.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+A
+
+Amnesty Act, 91.
+
+Annexation manifesto, 80, 81.
+
+Annexation sentiment, the, caused by lack of prosperity and political
+  grievances, 191 f.
+
+Archambault, L., 186.
+
+Aylwin, Hon. I.C., 45, 50, 53, 187.
+
+
+
+B
+
+Badgley, Judge, 187.
+
+Bagehot,
+  on public interest in politics, 250, 251;
+  on the disadvantage of the presidential system, 253, 254.
+
+Bagot, Sir Charles, favourable to French Canadians, 30; 31.
+
+Baldwin, Hon. Robert, 28;
+  aims of, 31, 45, 50, 51;
+  forms a government with LaFontaine, 52;
+  his measure to create the university of Toronto, 93, 94;
+  resigns office, 103;
+  death of, 104;
+  views on the clergy reserves, 160, 162.
+
+Blake, Hon. W.H., 50, 53, 69.
+
+Boulton, John, 123.
+
+Bowen, Judge, 187.
+
+Brown, Hon. George, 110;
+  editor of _Globe_, 111;
+  raises the cry of French domination, leads the clear Grits, 112;
+  enters parliament, 113;
+  his power, 114;
+  urges representation by population, 117; 125, 137, 138;
+  his part in confederation, 225.
+
+Bryce, Rt. Hon. James, on the disadvantages of congressional
+  government, 255-257.
+
+Buchanan, Mr., his tribute to Lord Elgin, 123, 124.
+
+
+
+C
+
+Cameron, John Hillyard, 50, 112.
+
+Cameron, Malcolm, 50, 53, 110, 113, 117, 126, 134, 163.
+
+Canada Company, 145.
+
+Canada,
+  early political conditions in, 17-40;
+  difficulties connected with responsible government in, 26;
+  the principles of responsible government, 228;
+  a comparison of her political system with that of the United States,
+    241 f.
+
+Canning, Earl, 217.
+
+Caron, Hon. R.E., 43, 53, 109, 113, 126, 187.
+
+Cartier, Georges Étienne, 135, 136, 226.
+
+Cathcart, Lord, succeeds Lord Metcalfe as governor-general, 38.
+
+Cauchon, 126, 164.
+
+Cayley, Hon. W., 140, 163.
+
+Chabot, Hon. J., 126, 141, 164, 186.
+
+Chaderton, 48.
+
+Chauveau, P.J.O., 46, 50, 109, 113, 126, 141, 164.
+
+Christie, David, 110.
+
+Church of England, its claims under the Constitutional Act., 145, 150
+  f.
+
+Church Presbyterian, its successful contention, 153.
+
+Clergy Reserves, 101, 102, 103, 119, 127;
+  secularization of, 142;
+  the history of, 143, f.;
+  report of select committee on, 147;
+  Imperial act passed, 158, 159;
+  its repeal urged, 161;
+  value of the reserves, 161-162;
+  full powers granted the provincial legislature to vary or repeal the
+    act of 1840, 167;
+  important bill introduced by Sir John A. Macdonald, 168.
+
+Colborne, Sir John,
+  his action on the land question, 154;
+  the Colborne patents attacked and upheld, 155, 156.
+
+Company of the West Indies, 175.
+
+Craig, Sir James, 1, 19.
+
+
+
+D
+
+Daly, Dominick, 35.
+
+Day, Judge, 187.
+
+Delagrave, C., 187.
+
+Denslow, Prof., 254.
+
+Derby, Lord, his views of colonial development, 121.
+
+Dessaules, 108.
+
+Dorchester, Lord, 1.
+
+Dorion, A.A., 108, 134.
+
+Dorion, J.B.E., 108.
+
+Doutre, R., 108.
+
+Draper, Hon. Mr.,
+  forms a ministry, 35;
+  retires from the ministry, 43.
+
+Draper-Viger ministry,
+  its weakness 44,
+  some important measures, 45;
+  commission appointed by, 64.
+
+Drummond, L.P., 109, 113, 126, 141;
+  his action on the question of seigniorial tenure, 186.
+
+Dumas, N., 186.
+
+Durham, Lord, 2, 14;
+  his report, 15, 23, 25;
+  compared with Elgin, 15;
+  his views on the land question, 144, 145, 148, 154, 155;
+  his views on Canada after the rebellion, 191;
+  his suggestions of remedy, 192, 193.
+
+Duval, Judge, 187.
+
+
+
+E
+
+Educational Reform, 87-89.
+
+Elgin, Lord,
+  his qualities, 3-4;
+  conditions in Canada on his arrival, on his departure, birth and
+    family descent, 5;
+  his parentage, 6;
+  his contemporaries at Eton and Oxford, estimate of,
+    by Gladstone, 7;
+    by his brother, 7-8;
+  enters parliament, his political views, 8;
+  appointed governor of Jamaica, death of his wife, 9;
+  mediates between the colonial office and the Jamaica legislature,
+   12;
+  resigns governorship of Jamaica, returns to England, 13;
+  accepts governor-generalship of Canada, marriage with Lady Mary
+    Louisa Lambton, 14;
+  compared with Lord Durham, 15;
+  creates a favourable impression, recognizes the principle of
+    responsible government, 41;
+  appeals for reimbursement of plague expenses, 48;
+  visits Upper Canada, 49;
+  comments on LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry, 52-53;
+  correspondence with Lord Grey, 55;
+  hostility to Papinean, 56;
+  on the rights of French Canadians, 55-56;
+  his commercial views, 57-60;
+  his course on Rebellion Losses bill, 71-78;
+  attacked by mob, 74;
+  his course sustained by the imperial parliament, 78;
+  visits Upper Canada, 79;
+  raised to the British peerage, 80;
+  his condemnation of annexation manifesto, 81;
+  refers to causes of depressions and irritations, 82;
+  urges reciprocity with United States, urges repeal of navigation
+    laws, 82;
+  his views on education, 88-89;
+  his views on increased representation, 118-119;
+  his views on the Upper House, 120;
+  visits England, 123;
+  tribute from United States minister, 123-124;
+  visits Washington and negotiates reciprocity treaty, 124;
+  advises repeal of the imperial act of 1840, 164, 165;
+  his efforts against annexation, 189-190, 194, 195;
+  his labours for reciprocity, 196;
+  visits the United States, 197;
+  receives an address on the eve of his departure, 203;
+  his reply, 204-205;
+  his last speech in Quebec, 205-208;
+  returns to England, 209;
+  his views on self-defence, 209-212;
+  accepts a mission to China, 212;
+  his action during the Indian mutiny, 213;
+  negotiates the treaty of Tientsin, 214;
+  visits Japan officially, 214;
+  negotiates the treaty of Yeddo, 214;
+  returns to England, 215;
+  becomes postmaster-general under Palmerston, 215;
+  becomes Lord Rector of Glasgow University, 215;
+  returns to China as Ambassador Extraordinary, 215;
+  becomes governor-general of India, 216;
+  tour in northern India, 218;
+  holds Durbar at Agra, 218;
+  Uahabee outbreak, 218;
+  illness and death, 219;
+  views on imperial honours, 222;
+  on British connection, 229, 231;
+  views on the power of his office, 231-232;
+  beneficial results of his policy, 233, 235;
+  on the disadvantages of the United States political system, 257,
+    258.
+
+
+
+F
+
+Feudal System, the, in Canada, 172, f.
+
+Free Trade,
+  protest against, from Canada, 39, 45;
+  effects of, on Canada, 57-58.
+
+French Canadians,
+  resent the Union Act, 23, 24;
+  resent portions of Lord Durham's report, 23;
+  increase of their influence, 31.
+
+
+
+G
+
+Garneau, 123.
+
+Gavazzi Riots, the, 125.
+
+Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W.E., his opinion of Lord Elgin, 7; 78.
+
+Gore, Lieut.-Governor, 146.
+
+Gourlay, Robert, 147.
+
+Grey, Lord, colonial secretary, 13; 36, 77;
+  views on clergy reserves, 165.
+
+
+
+H
+
+Haldimand, Governor, 97.
+
+Head, Sir Francis Bond, 1, 22.
+
+Hincks, Sir Francis, appointed inspector-general, 31; 38, 50, 53, 100,
+  101;
+  views and qualities of 107,
+  forms a ministry, 107; 112, 113, 126, 127, 128, 133, 134, 135, 136;
+  becomes a member of the Liberal--Conservative ministry, 140, 141;
+  views on the clergy reserves, 163, 165, 166, 196;
+  appointed governor of Barbadoes and Windward Isles, appointed
+  governor of British Guiana, 220, 222;
+  receives Commandership of the Bath, 222;
+  retirement, 222;
+  receives knighthood 222;
+  becomes finance minister, 223;
+  final retirement, 223;
+  his character and closing years, 223-224.
+
+Hincks-Morin, ministry formed, 108;
+  its members, 113;
+  its chief measures, 114-120;
+  reconstructed, 125-126;
+  dissolves, 131;
+  resigns, 136.
+
+Holmes, 50.
+
+Holton, L.H., 108, 134.
+
+Hopkins, Caleb, 110.
+
+Howe, Joseph,
+  his assertion of loyalty, 22, 51, 92, 101;
+  on imperial honours and offices, 221;
+  appointed lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, 221.
+
+Hudon, Vicar-General, 48.
+
+Hundred Associates, 175.
+
+
+
+I
+
+Immigrants, Irish,
+  measures to relieve, 46-47;
+  bring plague to Canada, 47-48.
+
+Imperial Act, authorizes increased representation, 122.
+
+
+
+J
+
+Jamaica, Lord Elgin, governor of, 9-13.
+
+Jameson, Mrs., her comparison of Canada and the United States,
+  191-192.
+
+Judah, H., 186.
+
+
+
+L
+
+Labrèche, 108.
+
+LaTerrière, 164.
+
+Laflamme, 108.
+
+LaFontaine-Baldwin cabinet, 1842, 31;
+  resignation of, 35;
+  the second government, its members, 53;
+  its importance, 54;
+  dissolved, 85;
+  some of its important measures, 85-103.
+
+LaFontaine, Hon. Hippolyte,
+  and the Union Act, 24;
+  aims of, 32, 44, 45, 50;
+  forms a government with Baldwin, 52;
+  his resolutions, 67-68;
+  attack upon his house, 76;
+  resigns office, 104;
+  becomes chief justice, receives baronetcy, his qualities, 105;
+  views on the clergy reserves, 162, 164;
+  conservative views on seigniorial tenure, 185; 187.
+
+Lebel, J.G., 187.
+
+Lelièvre, S., 186.
+
+Leslie, Hon. James, 53.
+
+Leslie, John, 110.
+
+Liberal-Conservative Party, the, formed, 137.
+
+Lytton, Lord, his ideal of a governor, 4.
+
+
+
+M
+
+MacDonald, Rt. Hon. Sir John Alexander,
+  reveals his great political qualities, 43, 44, 50, 110, 114, 118,
+    127;
+  his argument on the Representation Bill, 132, 137, 139,140,163;
+  views on the clergy reserves, 163;
+  takes charge of the bill for secularization of the reserves, 168;
+  monuments to his memory, 225-226.
+
+Macdonald, John Sandfield, 50;
+  his rebuff to Lord Elgin, 127-129, 135.
+
+Mackenzie, William Lyon, 17;
+  leader of the radicals, 21; 22, 51;
+  returns to Canada, 91;
+  his qualities, 91-92; 103, 112, 127.
+
+MacNab, Sir Allan, 31, 50, 51, 68;
+  attitude on Rebellion Losses Bill, 75; 110, 137, 139;
+  becomes a member of the Liberal-Conservative ministry, 140;
+  his coalition ministry, 140; 141, 224.
+
+McDougall, Hon. William, 110.
+
+McGill, 45.
+
+Meredith, Judge, 187.
+
+Merritt, William Hamilton, 50, 97.
+
+Metcalf, Sir Charles,
+  succeeds Bagot as governor-general, 32;
+  his defects, 32, 33, 37;
+  breach with LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry, 34, 35;
+  created baron, death of, 37.
+
+Mills, Mayor, dies of plague, 48.
+
+Mondelet, Judge, 187.
+
+Montreal, ceases to be the seat of government, 78.
+
+Morin, A.N., 32, 43, 50, 51, 109, 113, 126, 127, 133, 140, 141;
+  favours secularization of the clergy reserves, 166; 187
+
+Morris, Hon. James, 113, 126.
+
+Morrison, Joseph C., 126.
+
+
+
+N
+
+Navigation laws, 38, 45;
+  repealed, 83.
+
+Nelson, Wolfred, 22, 50, 91.
+
+Newcastle, Duke of, secretary of state for the colonies, 167.
+
+
+
+O
+
+Ottawa, selected as the seat of government, later as the capital of
+  the Dominion, 79.
+
+
+P
+
+Pakington, Sir John, adverse to the colonial contention on the clergy
+  reserve question, 165, 167.
+
+Palmerston, Lord, 212, 213.
+
+Papineau, Denis B., 35, 44, 66.
+
+Papineau, Louis Joseph, 17;
+  aims of, 20, 21; 22;
+  influence of, 50, 51; 56, 66, 90, 91, 117;
+  his final defeat, 134.
+
+Peel, Sir Robert, 78.
+
+Price, Hon. J.H., 50, 53, 160, 161.
+
+Postal Reform, 85, 86.
+
+Power, Dr., 48.
+
+
+
+R
+
+Railway development,
+  under Baldwin and LaFontaine, 99-101;
+  under Hincks and Morin, 114-117.
+
+Rebellion Losses Bill,
+  history of, 63-78;
+  commission appointed by Draper-Viger ministry, 64;
+  report of commissioners, 65;
+  LaFontaine's resolutions, 67, 68;
+  new commission appointed, attacks on the measure, 68;
+  passage of measure, 70;
+  Lord Elgin's course, 71 f.;
+  serious results of, 73, 74; 203.
+
+Reciprocity treaty with United States,
+  urged by Lord Elgin, 82;
+  treaty ratified, 142;
+  signed, 198;
+  its provisions, 198-200;
+  beneficial results, 201;
+  repealed by the United States, 201;
+  results of the repeal, 202.
+
+Richards, Hon. W.B., 50, 113, 128.
+
+Richelieu, introduces feudal system into Canada, 175.
+
+Richmond, Duke of, 2.
+
+Robinson, Sir John Beverley, 105.
+
+Rolph, Dr. John, 110, 112, 113, 126, 136.
+
+Ross, Mr. Dunbar, 126, 141.
+
+Ross, Hon. John, 113, 126, 141.
+
+Roy, Mr. 48.
+
+Russell, Lord John, 26;
+  supports Metcalfe, 37; 78.
+
+Ryerson, Rev. Egerton,
+  defends Sir Charles Metcalfe, 36;
+  his educational services, 89, 90;
+  opposes Sydenham's measure, 157.
+
+
+
+S
+
+Saint Réal M. Vallières de, 31.
+
+Seigniorial Tenure, 101, 102, 119, 126, 142;
+  history of, 171 f.;
+  originates in the old feudal system, 171-174;
+  introduced by Richelieu into Canada, 175;
+  description of the system of tenure, 175 f;
+  judicial investigation by commission, 186, 187.
+
+Sherwood, Henry,
+  becomes head of ministry, 43;
+  defeat of Sherwood cabinet, 50, 68, 159.
+
+Short, Judge, 187.
+
+Sicotte, 126;
+  elected speaker, 135, 136.
+
+Simcoe, Lieutenant-Governor, 18.
+
+Smith, Henry, 141, 187.
+
+Spence, Hon. R., 140.
+
+Stanley, Lord, 9;
+  supports Metcalfe, 37.
+
+Strachan, Bishop,
+  established Trinity college, 95;
+  refuses compromise on land question, 150, 154, 159;
+  meets with defeat, 169.
+
+Sullivan, Hon. R.B., 53.
+
+Sydenham, Lord,
+  appointed governor-general to complete the union and establish
+    responsible government, 26-29;
+  qualities of, 29;
+  death of, 30;
+  his canal policy, 96-99;
+  his action on the land question, 156, 157.
+
+
+
+T
+
+Taché, Hon. E.P., 53, 109, 113, 126.
+
+Trinity College, established, 95.
+
+Turcotte, J.G., 186.
+
+
+
+U
+
+Union Act of 1840,
+  its provisions, 22, 23;
+  restrictions concerning use of French language removed, 61, 117;
+  clauses respecting the Upper House repealed, 120.
+
+United States, comparison of their political system with that of
+  Canada, 241, ff.
+
+University of Toronto, created from King's College, 94.
+
+
+
+V
+
+Vanfelson, Judge, 187.
+
+Varin, J.B., 187.
+
+Viger, Hon. L.M., forms a ministry, 35, 53, 66, 108.
+
+
+
+W
+
+Waldron, Mr., 215.
+
+White, Thos., 139.
+
+Winter, P., 187.
+
+Woodrow, Wilson, on the United States system, 252;
+  on political irresponsibility, 254, 255.
+
+
+
+Y
+
+Young, Hon. John, 113, 126.
+
+
+
+
+NOTES
+
+
+[1: He was bitten by a tame fox and died of hydrophobia at Richmond,
+in the present county of Carleton, Ontario.]
+
+[2: "Letters and Journals of James, eighth Earl of Elgin, etc." Edited
+by Theodore Waldron, C.B. For fuller references to works consulted in
+the writing of this short history, see _Bibliographical Notes_ at the
+end of this book.]
+
+[3: Lady Elma, who married, in 1864, Thomas John
+Howell-Thurlow-Camming Bruce, who was attached to the staff of Lord
+Elgin in his later career in China and India, etc., and became Baron
+Thurlow on the death of his brother in 1874. See "Debrett's Peerage."]
+
+[4: "The Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's Administration," by
+Earl Grey, London, 1857. See Vol. I, p. 205.]
+
+[5: The "Life and Correspondence of Charles, Lord Metcalfe," by John
+W. Kaye, London, 1858.]
+
+[6: "Reminiscences of his public life," by Sir Francis Hincks,
+K.C.M.G., C.B., Montreal, 1884]
+
+[7: See "McMullen's History of Canada," Vol. II (2nd Ed.), p. 201.]
+
+[8: These concluding words of Lord Elgin recall a similar expression
+of feeling by Sir Étienne Pascal Taché, "That the last gun that would
+be fired for British supremacy in America would be fired by a French
+Canadian."]
+
+[9: Fifty years after these words were written, debates have taken
+place in the House of Commons of the Canadian federation in favour of
+an imperial Zollverein, which would give preferential treatment to
+Canada's products in British markets. The Conservative party, when led
+by Sir Charles Tupper, emphatically declared that "no measure of
+preference, which falls short of the complete realization of such a
+policy, should be considered final or satisfactory." England, however,
+still clings to free trade.]
+
+[10: The father of the Hon. Edward Blake, the eminent constitutional
+lawyer, who occupied for many years a notable place in Canadian
+politics, and is now (1902) a member of the British House of Commons.]
+
+[11: See her "Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada."
+London, 1838.]
+
+[12: "I am inclined," wrote Lord Durham, "to view the insurrectionary
+movements which did take place as indicative of no deep-rooted
+disaffection, and to believe that almost the entire body of the
+reformers of this province sought only by constitutional means to
+attain those objects for which they had so long peaceably struggled
+before the unhappy troubles occasioned by the violence of a few
+unprincipled adventurers and heated enthusiasts."]
+
+[13: For a succinct history of this road see "Eighty Years' Progress
+or British North America," Toronto, 1863.]
+
+[14: "Portraits of British Americans," Montreal, 1865, vol. 1., pp.
+99-100. See Bourinot's "Parliamentary Procedure," p. 573_n_. The last
+occasion on which a Canadian speaker exercised this old privilege was
+in 1869, and then Mr. Cockburn made only a very brief reference to the
+measures of the session.]
+
+[15: It was not until 1874 when Mr. Alexander Mackenzie was first
+minister of a Liberal government that simultaneous polling at a
+general election was required by law, but it had existed some years
+previously in Nova Scotia.]
+
+[16: See "The Last Forty Years, or Canada Since the Union of 1841," by
+John Charles Dent, Toronto, 1881, vol. II., p. 309. Mr. White became
+Minister of the Interior in Sir John Macdonald's government (1885-88)
+but died suddenly in the midst of a most active and useful
+administrative career.]
+
+[17: See remarks of Dr. Kingsford in his "History of Canada" (vol.
+VII., pp. 266-273), showing how unjust was the clamour raised by the
+enemies of the church in New England when a movement was in progress
+for the establishment of a colonial episcopate simply for purposes of
+ordination and church government.]
+
+[18: A clause of the act of 1791 provided that the sovereign might, if
+he thought fit, annex hereditary titles of honour to the right of
+being summoned to the legislative council in either province, but no
+titles were ever conferred under the authority of this imperial
+statute.]
+
+[19: Thirteen other patents were left unsigned by the
+lieutenant-governor and consequently had no legal force.]
+
+[20: "Memoirs of the Life of the Right Honourable Charles Lord
+Sydenham, G.C.B.," edited by his brother G. Poulett-Scrope, M.P.;
+London, 1843.]
+
+[21: Sir Francis Hincks's "Reminiscences of his Public Life," p. 283.]
+
+[22: See on these points an excellent article on the feudal system of
+Canada in the _Queen's Quarterly_ (Kingston, January, 1899) by Dr. W.
+Bennett Munro. Also _Droit de banalité_, by the same, in the report of
+the Am. Hist Ass., Washington, for 1899, Vol. I.]
+
+[23: "Spencerwood," the governor's private residence.]
+
+[24: See article on Lord Elgin in "Encyclopædia Britannica" (9th ed.),
+Vol. VIII., p. 132.]
+
+[25: In the "North British Review," quoted by Waldron, pp. 458-461.]
+
+[26: Lord Elgin's eldest son (9th Earl) Victor Alexander Brace, who
+was born in 1849, at Monklands, near Montreal, was Viceroy of India
+1894-9. See Debrett's Peerage, arts. Elgin and Thurton for particulars
+of Lord Elgin's family.]
+
+[27: See Mr. Howe's eloquent speeches on the organization of the
+empire, in his "Speeches and Public Letters," (Boston, 1859), vol.
+II., pp. 175-207.]
+
+[28: See on this subject Todd's "Parliamentary Government in the
+British Colonies," pp. 313-329.]
+
+[29: See Todd's "Parliamentary Government in England," vol. II., p.
+101.]
+
+[30: He was speaker of the House of Representatives from 1895 to
+1899.]
+
+[31: "Congressional Government," pp. 301, 332.]
+
+[32:"The English Constitution," pp. 95, 96.]
+
+[33: In the _International Review_, March, 1877.]
+
+[34: "Congressional Government," p. 94.]
+
+[35: "The American Commonwealth," I., 210 et seq.]
+
+[36: Ibid., pp. 304, 305]
+
+[37: ibid., Chap. 95, vol. III.]
+
+[38: "Commentaries," sec. 869.]
+
+[39: See Story's "Commentaries," sec. 869.]
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13066 ***
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #13066 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13066)
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Lord Elgin, by John George Bourinot, Edited
+by Duncan Campbell Scott and Pelham Edgar
+
+
+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: Lord Elgin
+
+Author: John George Bourinot
+
+Release Date: July 31, 2004  [eBook #13066]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LORD ELGIN***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Robert Connal, Keith M. Eckrich, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+LORD ELGIN
+
+by
+
+SIR JOHN GEORGE BOURINOT
+
+THE MAKERS OF CANADA
+
+EDITED BY DUNCAN CAMPBELL SCOTT, F.R.S.C., AND PELHAM EDGAR, PH.D.
+
+Edition De Luxe
+
+Toronto, 1903
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "Elgin a Kincardine."]
+
+
+
+
+EDITORS' NOTE
+
+The late Sir John Bourinot had completed and revised the following
+pages some months before his lamented death. The book represents more
+satisfactorily, perhaps, than anything else that he has written the
+author's breadth of political vision and his concrete mastery of
+historical fact. The life of Lord Elgin required to be written by one
+possessed of more than ordinary insight into the interesting aspects
+of constitutional law. That it has been singularly well presented must
+be the conclusion of all who may read this present narrative.
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+Chapter                                                 Page
+
+   I: EARLY CAREER                                         1
+
+  II: POLITICAL CONDITION IN CANADA                       17
+
+ III: POLITICAL DIFFICULTIES                              41
+
+  IV: THE INDEMNIFICATION ACT                             61
+
+   V: THE END OF THE LAFONTAINE-BALDWIN MINISTRY, 1851    85
+
+  VI: THE HINCKS-MORIN MINISTRY                          107
+
+ VII: THE HISTORY OF THE CLERGY RESERVES (1791-1854)     143
+
+VIII: SEIGNIORIAL TENURE                                 171
+
+  IX: CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES                       189
+
+   X: FAREWELL TO CANADA                                 203
+
+  XI: POLITICAL PROGRESS                                 227
+
+ XII: A COMPARISON OF SYSTEMS                            239
+
+      BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE                               269
+
+      INDEX                                              271
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+
+EARLY CAREER
+
+The Canadian people have had a varied experience in governors
+appointed by the imperial state. At the very commencement of British
+rule they were so fortunate as to find at the head of affairs Sir Guy
+Carleton--afterwards Lord Dorchester--who saved the country during the
+American revolution by his military genius, and also proved himself an
+able civil governor in his relations with the French Canadians, then
+called "the new subjects," whom he treated in a fair and generous
+spirit that did much to make them friendly to British institutions. On
+the other hand they have had military men like Sir James Craig,
+hospitable, generous, and kind, but at the same time incapable of
+understanding colonial conditions and aspirations, ignorant of the
+principles and working of representative institutions, and too ready
+to apply arbitrary methods to the administration of civil affairs.
+Then they have had men who were suddenly drawn from some inconspicuous
+position in the parent state, like Sir Francis Bond Head, and allowed
+by an apathetic or ignorant colonial office to prove their want of
+discretion, tact, and even common sense at a very critical stage of
+Canadian affairs. Again there have been governors of the highest rank
+in the peerage of England, like the Duke of Richmond, whose
+administration was chiefly remarkable for his success in aggravating
+national animosities in French Canada, and whose name would now be
+quite forgotten were it not for the unhappy circumstances of his
+death.[1] Then Canadians have had the good fortune of the presence of
+Lord Durham at a time when a most serious state of affairs
+imperatively demanded that ripe political knowledge, that cool
+judgment, and that capacity to comprehend political grievances which
+were confessedly the characteristics of this eminent British
+statesman. Happily for Canada he was followed by a keen politician and
+an astute economist who, despite his overweening vanity and his
+tendency to underrate the ability of "those fellows in the
+colonies"--his own words in a letter to England--was well able to
+gauge public sentiment accurately and to govern himself accordingly
+during his short term of office. Since the confederation of the
+provinces there has been a succession of distinguished governors, some
+bearing names famous in the history of Great Britain and Ireland, some
+bringing to the discharge of their duties a large knowledge of public
+business gained in the government of the parent state and her wide
+empire, some gifted with a happy faculty of expressing themselves with
+ease and elegance, and all equally influenced by an earnest desire to
+fill their important position with dignity, impartiality, and
+affability.
+
+But eminent as have been the services of many of the governors whose
+memories are still cherished by the people of Canada, no one among
+them stands on a higher plane than James, eighth earl of Elgin and
+twelfth earl of Kincardine, whose public career in Canada I propose to
+recall in the following narrative. He possessed to a remarkable degree
+those qualities of mind and heart which enabled him to cope most
+successfully with the racial and political difficulties which met him
+at the outset of his administration, during a very critical period of
+Canadian history. Animated by the loftiest motives, imbued with a deep
+sense of the responsibilities of his office, gifted with a rare power
+of eloquent expression, possessed of sound judgment and infinite
+discretion, never yielding to dictates of passion but always
+determined to be patient and calm at moments of violent public
+excitement, conscious of the advantages of compromise and conciliation
+in a country peopled like Canada, entering fully into the aspirations
+of a young people for self-government, ready to concede to French
+Canadians their full share in the public councils, anxious to build up
+a Canadian nation without reference to creed or race--this
+distinguished nobleman must be always placed by a Canadian historian
+in the very front rank of the great administrators happily chosen from
+time to time by the imperial state for the government of her dominions
+beyond the sea. No governor-general, it is safe to say, has come
+nearer to that ideal, described by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, when
+secretary of state for the colonies, in a letter to Sir George Bowen,
+himself distinguished for the ability with which he presided over the
+affairs of several colonial dependencies. "Remember," said Lord
+Lytton, to give that eminent author and statesman his later title,
+"that the first care of a governor in a free colony is to shun the
+reproach of being a party man. Give all parties, and all the
+ministries formed, the fairest play.... After all, men are governed as
+much by the heart as by the head. Evident sympathy in the progress of
+the colony; traits of kindness, generosity, devoted energy, where
+required for the public weal; a pure exercise of patronage; an utter
+absence of vindictiveness or spite; the fairness that belongs to
+magnanimity: these are the qualities that make governors powerful,
+while men merely sharp and clever may be weak and detested."
+
+In the following chapters it will be seen that Lord Elgin fulfilled
+this ideal, and was able to leave the country in the full confidence
+that he had won the respect, admiration, and even affection of all
+classes of the Canadian people. He came to the country when there
+existed on all sides doubts as to the satisfactory working of the
+union of 1840, suspicions as to the sincerity of the imperial
+authorities with respect to the concession of responsible government,
+a growing antagonism between the two nationalities which then, as
+always, divided the province. A very serious economic disturbance was
+crippling the whole trade of the country, and made some
+persons--happily very few in number--believe for a short time that
+independence, or annexation to the neighbouring republic, was
+preferable to continued connection with a country which so grudgingly
+conceded political rights to the colony, and so ruthlessly overturned
+the commercial system on which the province had been so long
+dependent. When he left Canada, Lord Elgin knew beyond a shadow of a
+doubt that the two nationalities were working harmoniously for the
+common advantage of the province, that the principles of responsible
+government were firmly established, and that the commercial and
+industrial progress of the country was fully on an equality with its
+political development.
+
+The man who achieved these magnificent results could claim an ancestry
+to which a Scotsman would point with national pride. He could trace
+his lineage to the ancient Norman house of which "Robert the Bruce"--a
+name ever dear to the Scottish nation--was the most distinguished
+member. He was born in London on July 20th, 1811. His father was a
+general in the British army, a representative peer in the British
+parliament from 1790-1840, and an ambassador to several European
+courts; but he is best known to history by the fact that he seriously
+crippled his private fortunes by his purchase, while in the East, of
+that magnificent collection of Athenian art which was afterwards
+bought at half its value by the British government and placed in the
+British Museum, where it is still known as the "Elgin Marbles." From
+his father, we are told by his biographer,[2] he inherited "the genial
+and playful spirit which gave such a charm to his social and parental
+relations, and which helped him to elicit from others the knowledge of
+which he made so much use in the many diverse situations of his after
+life." The deep piety and the varied culture of his mother "made her
+admirably qualified to be the depository of the ardent thoughts and
+aspirations of his boyhood." At Oxford, where he completed his
+education after leaving Eton, he showed that unselfish spirit and
+consideration for the feelings of others which were the recognized
+traits of his character in after life. Conscious of the unsatisfactory
+state of the family's fortunes, he laboured strenuously even in
+college to relieve his father as much as possible of the expenses of
+his education. While living very much to himself, he never failed to
+win the confidence and respect even at this youthful age of all those
+who had an opportunity of knowing his independence of thought and
+judgment. Among his contemporaries were Mr. Gladstone, afterwards
+prime minister; the Duke of Newcastle, who became secretary of state
+for the colonies and was chief adviser of the Prince of Wales--now
+Edward VII--during his visit to Canada in 1860; and Lord Dalhousie and
+Lord Canning, both of whom preceded him in the governor-generalship of
+India. In the college debating club he won at once a very
+distinguished place. "I well remember," wrote Mr. Gladstone, many
+years later, "placing him as to the natural gift of eloquence at the
+head of all those I knew either at Eton or at the University." He took
+a deep interest in the study of philosophy. In him--to quote the
+opinion of his own brother, Sir Frederick Bruce, "the Reason and
+Understanding, to use the distinctions of Coleridge, were both largely
+developed, and both admirably balanced. ... He set himself to work to
+form in his own mind a clear idea of each of the constituent parts of
+the problem with which he had to deal. This he effected partly by
+reading, but still more by conversation with special men, and by that
+extraordinary logical power of mind and penetration which not only
+enabled him to get out of every man all he had in him, but which
+revealed to these men themselves a knowledge of their own imperfect
+and crude conceptions, and made them constantly unwilling witnesses or
+reluctant adherents to views which originally they were prepared to
+oppose...." The result was that, "in an incredibly short time he
+attained an accurate and clear conception of the essential facts
+before him, and was thus enabled to strike out a course which he could
+consistently pursue amid all difficulties, because it was in harmony
+with the actual facts and the permanent conditions of the problem he
+had to solve." Here we have the secret of his success in grappling
+with the serious and complicated questions which constantly engaged
+his attention in the administration of Canadian affairs.
+
+After leaving the university with honour, he passed several years on
+the family estate, which he endeavoured to relieve as far as possible
+from the financial embarrassment into which it had fallen ever since
+his father's extravagant purchase in Greece. In 1840, by the death of
+his eldest brother, George, who died unmarried, James became heir to
+the earldom, and soon afterwards entered parliament as member for the
+borough of Southampton. He claimed then, as always, to be a Liberal
+Conservative, because he believed that "the institutions of our
+country, religious as well as civil, are wisely adapted, when duly and
+faithfully administered, to promote, not the interest of any class or
+classes exclusively, but the happiness and welfare of the great body
+of the people"; and because he felt that, "on the maintenance of these
+institutions, not only the economical prosperity of England, but, what
+is yet more important, the virtues that distinguish and adorn the
+English character, under God, mainly depend."
+
+During the two years Lord Elgin remained in the House of Commons he
+gave evidence to satisfy his friends that he possessed to an eminent
+degree the qualities which promised him a brilliant career in British
+politics. Happily for the administration of the affairs of Britain's
+colonial empire, he was induced by Lord Stanley, then secretary of
+state for the colonies, to surrender his prospects in parliament and
+accept the governorship of Jamaica. No doubt he was largely influenced
+to take this position by the conviction that he would be able to
+relieve his father's property from the pressure necessarily entailed
+upon it while he remained in the expensive field of national politics.
+On his way to Jamaica he was shipwrecked, and his wife, a daughter of
+Mr. Charles Cumming Bruce, M.P., of Dunphail, Stirling, suffered a
+shock which so seriously impaired her health that she died a few
+months after her arrival in the island when she had given birth to a
+daughter.[3] His administration of the government of Jamaica was
+distinguished by a strong desire to act discreetly and justly at a
+time when the economic conditions of the island were still seriously
+disturbed by the emancipation of the negroes. Planter and black alike
+found in him a true friend and sympathizer. He recognized the
+necessity of improving the methods of agriculture, and did much by the
+establishment of agricultural societies to spread knowledge among the
+ignorant blacks, as well as to create a spirit of emulation among the
+landlords, who were still sullen and apathetic, requiring much
+persuasion to adapt themselves to the new order of things, and make
+efforts to stimulate skilled labour among the coloured population whom
+they still despised. Then, as always in his career, he was animated by
+the noble impulse to administer public affairs with a sole regard to
+the public interests, irrespective of class or creed, to elevate men
+to a higher conception of their public duties. "To reconcile the
+planter"--I quote from one of his letters to Lord Stanley--"to the
+heavy burdens which he was called to bear for the improvement of our
+establishments and the benefit of the mass of the population, it was
+necessary to persuade him that he had an interest in raising the
+standard of education and morals among the peasantry; and this belief
+could be imparted only by inspiring a taste for a more artificial
+system of husbandry." "By the silent operation of such salutary
+convictions," he added, "prejudices of old standing are removed; the
+friends of the negro and of the proprietary classes find themselves
+almost unconsciously acting in concert, and conspiring to complete
+that great and holy work of which the emancipation of the slave was
+but the commencement."
+
+At this time the relations between the island and the home governments
+were always in a very strained condition on account of the difficulty
+of making the colonial office fully sensible of the financial
+embarrassment caused by the upheaval of the labour and social systems,
+and of the wisest methods of assisting the colony in its straits. As
+it too often happened in those old times of colonial rule, the home
+government could with difficulty be brought to understand that the
+economic principles which might satisfy the state of affairs in Great
+Britain could not be hastily and arbitrarily applied to a country
+suffering under peculiar difficulties. The same unintelligent spirit
+which forced taxation on the thirteen colonies, which complicated
+difficulties in the Canadas before the rebellion of 1837, seemed for
+the moment likely to prevail, as soon as the legislature of Jamaica
+passed a tariff framed naturally with regard to conditions existing
+when the receipts and expenditures could not be equalized, and the
+financial situation could not be relieved from its extreme tension in
+any other way than by the imposition of duties which happened to be in
+antagonism with the principles then favoured by the imperial
+government. At this critical juncture Lord Elgin successfully
+interposed between the colonial office and the island legislature, and
+obtained permission for the latter to manage this affair in its own
+way. He recognized the fact, obvious enough to any one conversant with
+the affairs of the island, that the tariff in question was absolutely
+necessary to relieve it from financial ruin, and that any strenuous
+interference with the right of the assembly to control its own taxes
+and expenses would only tend to create complications in the government
+and the relations with the parent state. He was convinced, as he wrote
+to the colonial office, that an indispensable condition of his
+usefulness as a governor was "a just appreciation of the difficulties
+with which the legislature of the island had yet to contend, and of
+the sacrifices and exertions already made under the pressure of no
+ordinary embarrassments."
+
+Here we see Lord Elgin, at the very commencement of his career as a
+colonial governor, fully alive to the economic, social, and political
+conditions of the country, and anxious to give its people every
+legitimate opportunity to carry out those measures which they
+believed, with a full knowledge and experience of their own affairs,
+were best calculated to promote their own interests. We shall see
+later that it was in exactly the same spirit that he administered
+Canadian questions of much more serious import.
+
+Though his government in Jamaica was in every sense a success, he
+decided not to remain any longer than three years, and so wrote in
+1845 to Lord Stanley. Despite his earnest efforts to identify himself
+with the island's interests, he had led on the whole a retired and sad
+life after the death of his wife. He naturally felt a desire to seek
+the congenial and sympathetic society of friends across the sea, and
+perhaps return to the active public life for which he was in so many
+respects well qualified. In offering his resignation to the colonial
+secretary he was able to say that the period of his administration had
+been "one of considerable social progress"; that "uninterrupted
+harmony" had "prevailed between the colonists and the local
+government"; that "the spirit of enterprise" which had proceeded from
+Jamaica for two years had "enabled the British West Indian colonies to
+endure with comparative fortitude, apprehensions and difficulties
+which otherwise might have depressed them beyond measure."
+
+It was not, however, until the spring of 1846 that Lord Elgin was able
+to return on leave of absence to England, where the seals of office
+were now held by a Liberal administration, in which Lord Grey was
+colonial secretary. Although his political opinions differed from
+those of the party in power, he was offered the governor-generalship
+of Canada when he declined to go back to Jamaica. No doubt at this
+juncture the British ministry recognized the absolute necessity that
+existed for removing all political grievances that arose from the
+tardy concession of responsible government since the death of Lord
+Sydenham, and for allaying as far as possible the discontent that
+generally prevailed against the new fiscal policy of the parent state,
+which had so seriously paralyzed Canadian industries. It was a happy
+day for Canada when Lord Elgin accepted this gracious offer of his
+political opponents, who undoubtedly recognized in him the possession
+of qualities which would enable him successfully, in all probability,
+to grapple with the perplexing problems which embarrassed public
+affairs in the province. He felt (to quote his own language at a
+public dinner given to him just before his departure for Canada) that
+he undertook no slight responsibilities when he promised "to watch
+over the interests of those great offshoots of the British race which
+plant themselves in distant lands, to aid them in their efforts to
+extend the domain of civilization, and to fulfill the first behest of
+a benevolent Creator to His intelligent creatures--'subdue the earth';
+to abet the generous endeavour to impart to these rising communities
+the full advantages of British laws, British institutions, and British
+freedom; to assist them in maintaining unimpaired--it may be in
+strengthening and confirming--those bonds of mutual affection which
+unite the parent and dependent states."
+
+Before his departure for the scene of his labours in America, he
+married Lady Mary Louisa Lambton, daughter of the Earl of Durham,
+whose short career in Canada as governor-general and high commissioner
+after the rebellion of 1837 had such a remarkable influence on the
+political conditions of the country. Whilst we cannot attach too much
+importance to the sage advice embodied in that great state paper on
+Canadian affairs which was the result of his mission to Canada, we
+cannot fail at the same time to see that the full vindication of the
+sound principles laid down in that admirable report is to be found in
+the complete success of their application by Lord Elgin. The minds of
+both these statesmen ran in the same direction. They desired to give
+adequate play to the legitimate aspirations of the Canadian people for
+that measure of self-government which must stimulate an independence
+of thought and action among colonial public men, and at the same time
+strengthen the ties between the parent state and the dependency by
+creating that harmony and confidence which otherwise could not exist
+in the relations between them. But while there is little doubt that
+Lord Elgin would under any circumstances have been animated by a deep
+desire to establish the principles of responsible government in
+Canada, this desire must have been more or less stimulated by the
+tender ties which bound him to the daughter of a statesman whose
+opinions where so entirely in harmony with his own. In Lord Elgin's
+temperament there was always a mingling of sentiment and reason, as
+may be seen by reference to his finest exhibitions of eloquence. We
+can well believe that a deep reverence for the memory of a great man,
+too soon removed from the public life of Great Britain, combined with
+the natural desire to please his daughter when he wrote these words to
+her:--
+
+     "I still adhere to my opinion that the real and effectual
+     vindication of Lord Durham's memory and proceedings will be
+     the success of a governor-general of Canada who works out
+     his views of government fairly. Depend upon it, if this
+     country is governed for a few years satisfactorily, Lord
+     Durham's reputation as a statesman will be raised beyond the
+     reach of cavil."
+
+Now, more than half a century after he penned these words and
+expressed this hope, we all perceive that Lord Elgin was the
+instrument to carry out this work.
+
+Here it is necessary to close this very brief sketch of Lord Elgin's
+early career, that I may give an account of the political and economic
+conditions of the dependency at the end of January, 1847, when he
+arrived in the city of Montreal to assume the responsibilities of his
+office. This review will show the difficulties of the political
+situation with which he was called upon to cope, and will enable us to
+obtain an insight into the high qualifications which he brought to the
+conduct of public affairs in the Canadas.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+
+POLITICAL CONDITION IN CANADA
+
+To understand clearly the political state of Canada at the time Lord
+Elgin was appointed governor-general, it is necessary to go back for a
+number of years. The unfortunate rebellions which were precipitated by
+Louis Joseph Papineau and William Lyon Mackenzie during 1837 in the
+two Canadas were the results of racial and political difficulties
+which had gradually arisen since the organization of the two provinces
+of Upper and Lower Canada under the Constitutional Act of 1791. In the
+French section, the French and English Canadians--the latter always an
+insignificant minority as respects number--had in the course of time
+formed distinct parties. As in the courts of law and in the
+legislature, so it was in social and everyday life, the French
+Canadian was in direct antagonism to the English Canadian. Many
+members of the official and governing class, composed almost
+exclusively of English, were still too ready to consider French
+Canadians as inferior beings, and not entitled to the same rights and
+privileges in the government of the country. It was a time of passion
+and declamation, when men of fervent eloquence, like Papineau, might
+have aroused the French as one man, and brought about a general
+rebellion had they not been ultimately thwarted by the efforts of the
+moderate leaders of public opinion, especially of the priests who, in
+all national crises in Canada, have happily intervened on the side of
+reason and moderation, and in the interests of British connection,
+which they have always felt to be favourable to the continuance and
+security of their religious institutions. Lord Durham, in his
+memorable report on the condition of Canada, has summed up very
+expressively the nature of the conflict in the French province. "I
+expected," he said, "to find a contest between a government and a
+people; I found two nations warring in the bosom of a single state; I
+found a struggle, not of principles, but of races."
+
+While racial antagonisms intensified the difficulties in French
+Canada, there existed in all the provinces political conditions which
+arose from the imperfect nature of the constitutional system conceded
+by England in 1791, and which kept the country in a constant ferment.
+It was a mockery to tell British subjects conversant with British
+institutions, as Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe told the Upper Canadians
+in 1792, that their new system of government was "an image and
+transcript of the British constitution." While it gave to the people
+representative institutions, it left out the very principle which was
+necessary to make them work harmoniously--a government responsible to
+the legislature, and to the people in the last resort, for the conduct
+of legislation and the administration of affairs. In consequence of
+the absence of this vital principle, the machinery of government
+became clogged, and political strife convulsed the country from one
+end to the other. An "irrepressible conflict" arose between the
+government and the governed classes, especially in Lower Canada. The
+people who in the days of the French régime were without influence and
+power, had gained under their new system, defective as it was in
+essential respects, an insight into the operation of representative
+government, as understood in England. They found they were governed,
+not by men responsible to the legislature and the people, but by
+governors and officials who controlled both the executive and
+legislative councils. If there had always been wise and patient
+governors at the head of affairs, or if the imperial authorities could
+always have been made aware of the importance of the grievances laid
+before them, or had understood their exact character, the differences
+between the government and the majority of the people's
+representatives might have been arranged satisfactorily. But,
+unhappily, military governors like Sir James Craig only aggravated the
+dangers of the situation, and gave demagogues new opportunities for
+exciting the people. The imperial authorities, as a rule, were
+sincerely desirous of meeting the wishes of the people in a reasonable
+and fair spirit, but unfortunately for the country, they were too
+often ill-advised and ill-informed in those days of slow
+communication, and the fire of public discontent was allowed to
+smoulder until it burst forth in a dangerous form.
+
+In all the provinces, but especially in Lower Canada, the people saw
+their representatives practically ignored by the governing body, their
+money expended without the authority of the legislature, and the
+country governed by irresponsible officials. A system which gave
+little or no weight to public opinion as represented in the House of
+Assembly, was necessarily imperfect and unstable, and the natural
+result was a deadlock between the legislative council, controlled by
+the official and governing class, and the house elected by the people.
+The governors necessarily took the side of the men whom they had
+themselves appointed, and with whom they were acting. In the maritime
+provinces in the course of time, the governors made an attempt now and
+then to conciliate the popular element by bringing in men who had
+influence in the assembly, but this was a matter entirely within their
+own discretion. The system of government as a whole was worked in
+direct contravention of the principle of responsibility to the
+majority in the popular house. Political agitators had abundant
+opportunities for exciting popular passion. In Lower Canada, Papineau,
+an eloquent but impulsive man, having rather the qualities of an
+agitator than those of a statesman, led the majority of his
+compatriots.
+
+For years he contended for a legislative council elected by the
+people: and it is curious to note that none of the men who were at the
+head of the popular party in Lower Canada ever recognized the fact, as
+did their contemporaries in Upper Canada, that the difficulty would be
+best solved, not by electing an upper house, but by obtaining an
+executive which would only hold office while supported by a majority
+of the representatives in the people's house. In Upper Canada the
+radical section of the Liberal party was led by Mr. William Lyon
+Mackenzie, who fought vigorously against what was generally known as
+the "Family Compact," which occupied all the public offices and
+controlled the government.
+
+In the two provinces these two men at last precipitated a rebellion,
+in which blood was shed and much property destroyed, but which never
+reached any very extensive proportions. In the maritime provinces,
+however, where the public grievances were of less magnitude, the
+people showed no sympathy whatever with the rebellious elements of the
+upper provinces.
+
+Amid the gloom that overhung Canada in those times there was one gleam
+of sunshine for England. Although discontent and dissatisfaction
+prevailed among the people on account of the manner in which the
+government was administered, and of the attempts of the minority to
+engross all power and influence, there was still a sentiment in favour
+of British connection, and the annexationists were relatively few in
+number. Even Sir Francis Bond Head--in no respect a man of
+sagacity--understood this well when he depended on the militia to
+crush the outbreak in the upper province; and Joseph Howe, the eminent
+leader of the popular party, uniformly asserted that the people of
+Nova Scotia were determined to preserve the integrity of the empire at
+all hazards. As a matter of fact, the majority of leading men, outside
+of the minority led by Papineau, Nelson and Mackenzie, had a
+conviction that England was animated by a desire to act considerately
+with the provinces and that little good would come from precipitating
+a conflict which could only add to the public misfortunes, and that
+the true remedy was to be found in constitutional methods of redress
+for the political grievances which undoubtedly existed throughout
+British North America.
+
+The most important clauses of the Union Act, which was passed by the
+imperial parliament in 1840 but did not come into effect until
+February of the following year, made provision for a legislative
+assembly in which each section of the united provinces was represented
+by an equal number of members--forty-two for each and eighty-four for
+both; for the use of the English language alone in the written or
+printed proceedings of the legislature; for the placing of the public
+indebtedness of the two provinces at the union as a first charge on
+the revenues of the united provinces; for a two-thirds vote of the
+members of each House before any change could be made in the
+representation. These enactments, excepting the last which proved
+eventually to be in their interest, were resented by the French
+Canadians as clearly intended to place them in a position of
+inferiority to the English Canadians. Indeed it was with natural
+indignation they read that portion of Lord Durham's report which
+expressed the opinion that it was necessary to unite the two races on
+terms which would give the domination to the English. "Without
+effecting the change so rapidly or so roughly," he wrote, "as to shock
+the feelings or to trample on the welfare of the existing generation,
+it must henceforth be the first and steady purpose of the British
+government to establish an English population, with English laws and
+language, in this province, and to trust its government to none but a
+decidedly English legislature."
+
+French Canadians dwelt with emphasis on the feet that their province
+had a population of 630,000 souls, or 160,000 more than Upper Canada,
+and nevertheless received only the same number of representatives.
+French Canada had been quite free from the financial embarrassment
+which had brought Upper Canada to the verge of bankruptcy before the
+union; in fact the former had actually a considerable surplus when its
+old constitution was revoked on the outbreak of the rebellion. It was,
+consequently, with some reason, considered an act of injustice to make
+the people of French Canada pay the debts of a province whose revenue
+had not for years met its liabilities. Then, to add to these decided
+grievances, there was a proscription of the French language, which was
+naturally resented as a flagrant insult to the race which first
+settled the valley of the St. Lawrence, and as the first blow levelled
+against the special institutions so dear to French Canadians and
+guaranteed by the Treaty of Paris and the Quebec Act. Mr. LaFontaine,
+whose name will frequently occur in the following chapters of this
+book, declared, when he presented himself at the first election under
+the Union Act, that "it was an act of injustice and despotism"; but,
+as we shall soon see, he became a prime minister under the very act he
+first condemned. Like the majority of his compatriots, he eventually
+found in its provisions protection for the rights of the people, and
+became perfectly satisfied with a system of government which enabled
+them to obtain their proper position in the public councils and
+restore their language to its legitimate place in the legislature.
+
+But without the complete grant of responsible government it would
+never have been possible to give to French Canadians their legitimate
+influence in the administration and legislation of the country, or to
+reconcile the differences which had grown up between the two
+nationalities before the union and seemed likely to be perpetuated by
+the conditions of the Union Act just stated. Lord Durham touched the
+weakest spot in the old constitutional system of the Canadian
+provinces when he said that it was not "possible to secure harmony in
+any other way than by administering the government on those principles
+which have been found perfectly efficacious in Great Britain." He
+would not "impair a single prerogative of the crown"; on the contrary
+he believed "that the interests of the people of these provinces
+require the protection of prerogatives which have not hitherto been
+exercised." But he recognized the fact as a constitutional statesman
+that "the crown must, on the other hand, submit to the necessary
+consequences of representative institutions; and if it has to carry on
+the government in unison with a representative body, it must consent
+to carry it on by means of those in whom that representative body has
+confidence." 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 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."
+
+No one who studies carefully the history of responsible government
+from the appearance of Lord Durham's report and Lord John Russell's
+despatches of 1839 until the coming of Lord Elgin to Canada in 1847,
+can fail to see that there was always a doubt in the minds of the
+imperial authorities--a doubt more than once actually expressed in the
+instructions to the governors--whether it was possible to work the new
+system on the basis of a governor directly responsible to the parent
+state and at the same time acting under the advice of ministers
+directly responsible to the colonial parliament. Lord John Russell had
+been compelled to recognize the fact that it was not possible to
+govern Canada by the old methods of administration--that it was
+necessary to adopt a new colonial policy which would give a larger
+measure of political freedom to the people and ensure greater harmony
+between the executive government and the popular assemblies. Mr.
+Poulett Thomson, afterwards Lord Sydenham, was appointed
+governor-general with the definite objects of completing the union of
+the Canadas and inaugurating a more liberal system of colonial
+administration. As he informed the legislature of Upper Canada
+immediately after his arrival, in his anxiety to obtain its consent to
+the union, he had received "Her Majesty's commands to administer the
+government of these provinces in accordance with the well understood
+wishes and interests of the people." When the legislature of the
+united provinces met for the first time, he communicated two
+despatches in which the colonial secretary stated emphatically that,
+"Her Majesty had no desire to maintain any system or policy among her
+North American subjects which opinion condemns," and that 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 governor-general was instructed, in order "to
+maintain the utmost possible harmony," to call to his councils and to
+employ in the public service "those persons who, by their position and
+character, have obtained the general confidence and esteem of the
+inhabitants of the province." He wished it to be generally made known
+by the governor-general that thereafter certain heads of departments
+would be called upon "to retire from the public service as often as
+any sufficient motives of public policy might suggest the expediency
+of that measure." It appears, however, that there was always a
+reservation in the minds of the colonial secretary and of governors
+who preceded Lord Elgin as to the meaning of responsible government
+and the methods of carrying it out in a colony dependent on the crown.
+Lord Sydenham himself believed that the council should be one "for the
+governor to consult and no more"; that the governor could "not be
+responsible to the government at home and also to the legislature of
+the province," for 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." But it was soon made clear to so
+astute a politician as Lord Sydenham that, whatever were his own views
+as to the meaning that should be attached to responsible government,
+he must yield as far as possible to the strong sentiment which
+prevailed in the country in favour of making the ministry dependent on
+the legislature for its continuance in office. The resolutions passed
+by the legislature in support of responsible government were
+understood to have his approval. They differed very little in
+words--in essential principle not at all--from those first introduced
+by Mr. Baldwin. The inference to be drawn from the political situation
+of that time is that the governor's friends in the council thought it
+advisable to gain all possible credit with the public in connection
+with the all-absorbing question of the day, and accordingly brought in
+the following resolutions in amendment to those presented by the
+Liberal chief:--
+
+     "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
+     exercise 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."
+
+It is quite possible that had Lord Sydenham lived to complete his term
+of office, the serious difficulties that afterwards arose in the
+practice of responsible government would not have occurred. Gifted
+with a clear insight into political conditions and a thorough
+knowledge of the working of representative institutions, he would have
+understood that if parliamentary government was ever to be introduced
+into the colony it must be not in a half-hearted way, or with such
+reservations as he had had in his mind when he first came to the
+province. Amid the regret of all parties he died from the effects of a
+fall from his horse a few months after the inauguration of the union,
+and was succeeded by Sir Charles Bagot, who distinguished himself in a
+short administration of two years by the conciliatory spirit which he
+showed to the French Canadians, even at the risk of offending the
+ultra loyalists who seemed to think, for some years after the union,
+that they alone were entitled to govern the dependency.
+
+The first ministry after that change was composed of Conservatives and
+moderate Liberals, but it was soon entirely controlled by the former,
+and never had the confidence of Mr. Baldwin. That eminent statesman
+had been a member of this administration at the time of the union, but
+he resigned on the ground that it ought to be reconstructed if it was
+to represent the true sentiment of the country at large. When Sir
+Charles Bagot became governor the Conservatives were very sanguine
+that they would soon obtain exclusive control of the government, as he
+was known to be a supporter of the Conservative party in England. It
+was not long, however, before it was evident that his administration
+would be conducted, not in the interests of any set of politicians,
+but on principles of compromise and justice to all political parties,
+and, above all, with the hope of conciliating the French Canadians and
+bringing them into harmony with the new conditions. One of his first
+acts was the appointment of an eminent French Canadian, M. Vallières
+de Saint-Réal, to the chief-justiceship of Montreal. Other
+appointments of able French Canadians to prominent public positions
+evoked the ire of the Tories, then led by the Sherwoods and Sir Allan
+MacNab, who had taken a conspicuous part in putting down the rebellion
+of 1837-8. Sir Charles Bagot, however, persevered in his policy of
+attempting to stifle racial prejudices and to work out the principles
+of responsible government on broad national lines. He appointed an
+able Liberal and master of finance, Mr. Francis Hincks, to the
+position of inspector-general with a seat in the cabinet. The
+influence of the French Canadians in parliament was now steadily
+increasing, and even strong Conservatives like Mr. Draper were forced
+to acknowledge that it was not possible to govern the province
+on the principle that they were an inferior and subject people,
+whose representatives could not be safely entrusted with any
+responsibilities as ministers of the crown. Negotiations for the
+entrance of prominent French Canadians in opposition to the government
+went on without result for some time, but they were at last
+successful, and the first LaFontaine-Baldwin cabinet came into
+existence in 1842, largely through the instrumentality of Sir Charles
+Bagot. Mr. Baldwin was a statesman whose greatest desire was the
+success of responsible government without a single reservation. Mr.
+LaFontaine was a French Canadian who had wisely recognized the
+necessity of accepting the union he had at first opposed, and of
+making responsible government an instrument for the advancement of the
+interests of his compatriots and of bringing them into unison with all
+nationalities for the promotion of the common good. The other
+prominent French Canadian in the ministry was Mr. A.N. Morin, who
+possessed the confidence and respect of his people, but was wanting in
+the energy and ability to initiate and press public measures which his
+leader possessed.
+
+The new administration had not been long in office when the
+governor-general fell a victim to an attack of dropsy, complicated by
+heart disease, and was succeeded by Sir Charles Metcalfe, who had held
+prominent official positions in India, and was governor of Jamaica
+previous to Lord Elgin's appointment. No one who has studied his
+character can doubt the honesty of his motives or his amiable
+qualities, but his political education in India and Jamaica rendered
+him in many ways incapable of understanding the political conditions
+of a country like Canada, where the people were determined to work out
+the system of parliamentary government on strictly British principles.
+He could have obtained little assistance from British statesmen had he
+been desirous of mastering and applying the principles of responsible
+government to the dependency. Their opinions and instructions were
+still distinguished by a perplexing vagueness. They would not believe
+that a governor of a dependency could occupy exactly the same relation
+with respect to his responsible advisers and to political parties as
+is occupied with such admirable results by the sovereign of England.
+It was considered necessary that a governor should make himself as
+powerful a factor as possible in the administration of public
+affairs--that he should be practically the prime minister,
+responsible, not directly to the colonial legislature, but to the
+imperial government, whose servant he was and to whom he should
+constantly refer for advice and assistance whenever in his opinion the
+occasion arose. In other words it was almost impossible to remove from
+the mind of any British statesman, certainly not from the colonial
+office of those days, the idea that parliamentary government meant one
+thing in England and the reverse in the colonies, that Englishmen at
+home could be entrusted with a responsibility which it was inexpedient
+to allow to Englishmen or Frenchmen across the sea. The colonial
+office was still reluctant to give up complete control of the local
+administration of the province, and wished to retain a veto by means
+of the governor, who considered official favour more desirable than
+the approval of any colonial legislature. More or less imbued with
+such views, Sir Charles Metcalfe was bound to come into conflict with
+LaFontaine and Baldwin, who had studied deeply the principles and
+practice of parliamentary government, and knew perfectly well that
+they could be carried out only by following the precedents established
+in the parent state.
+
+It was not long before the rupture came between men holding views so
+diametrically opposed to each other with respect to the conduct of
+government. The governor-general decided not to distribute the
+patronage of the crown under the advice of his responsible ministry,
+as was, of necessity, the constitutional practice in England, but to
+ignore the latter, as he boldly declared, whenever he deemed it
+expedient. "I wish," he wrote to the colonial secretary, "to make the
+patronage of the government conducive to the conciliation of all
+parties by bringing into the public service men of the greatest merit
+and efficiency without any party distinction." These were noble
+sentiments, sound in theory, but entirely incompatible with the
+operation of responsible government. If patronage is to be properly
+exercised in the interests of the people at large, it must be done by
+men who are directly responsible to the representatives of the people.
+If a governor-general is to make appointments without reference to his
+advisers, he must be more or less subject to party criticism, without
+having the advantage of defending himself in the legislature, or of
+having men duly authorized by constitutional usage to do so. The
+revival of that personal government which had evoked so much political
+rancour, and brought governors into the arena of party strife before
+the rebellion, was the natural result of the obstinate and
+unconstitutional attitude assumed by Lord Metcalfe with respect to
+appointments to office and other matters of administration.
+
+All the members of the LaFontaine-Baldwin government, with the
+exception of Mr. Dominick Daly, resigned in consequence of the
+governor's action. Mr. Daly had no special party proclivities, and
+found it to his personal interests to remain his Excellency's sole
+adviser. Practically the province was without an administration for
+many months, and when, at last, the governor-general was forced by
+public opinion to show a measure of respect for constitutional methods
+of government, he succeeded after most strenuous efforts in forming a
+Conservative cabinet, in which Mr. Draper was the only man of
+conspicuous ability. The French Canadians were represented by Mr.
+Viger and Mr. Denis B. Papineau, a brother of the famous rebel,
+neither of whom had any real influence or strength in Lower Canada,
+where the people recognized LaFontaine as their true leader and ablest
+public man. In the general election which soon followed the
+reconstruction of the government, it was sustained by a small
+majority, won only by the most unblushing bribery, by bitter appeals
+to national passion, and by the personal influence of the
+governor-general, as was the election which immediately preceded the
+rising in Upper Canada. In later years, Lord Grey[4] remarked that
+this success was "dearly purchased, by the circumstance that the
+parliamentary opposition was no longer directed against the advisers
+of the governor but against the governor himself, and the British
+government, of which he was the organ." The majority of the government
+was obtained from Upper Canada, where a large body of people were
+misled by appeals made to their loyalty and attachment to the crown,
+and where a large number of Methodists were influenced by the
+extraordinary action of the Rev. Egerton Ryerson, a son of a United
+Empire Loyalist, who defended the position of the governor-general,
+and showed how imperfectly he understood the principles and practice
+of responsible government. In a life of Sir Charles Metcalfe,[5] which
+appeared shortly after his death, it is stated that the
+governor-general "could not disguise from himself that the government
+was not strong, that it was continually on the brink of defeat, and
+that it was only enabled to hold its position by resorting to shifts
+and expedients, or what are called tactics, which in his inmost soul
+Lord Metcalfe abhorred."
+
+The action of the British ministry during this crisis in Canadian
+affairs proved quite conclusively that it was not yet prepared to
+concede responsible government in its fullest sense. Both Lord
+Stanley, then secretary of state for the colonies, and Lord John
+Russell, who had held the same office in a Whig administration,
+endorsed the action of the governor-general, who was raised to the
+peerage under the title of Baron Metcalfe of Fernhill, in the county
+of Berks. Earthly honours were now of little avail to the new peer. He
+had been a martyr for years to a cancer in the face, and when it
+assumed a most dangerous form he went back to England and died soon
+after his return. So strong was the feeling against him among a large
+body of the people, especially in French Canada, that he was bitterly
+assailed until the hour when he left, a dying man. Personally he was
+generous and charitable to a fault, but he should never have been sent
+to a colony at a crisis when the call was for a man versed in the
+practice of parliamentary government, and able to sympathize with the
+aspirations of a people determined to enjoy political freedom in
+accordance with the principles of the parliamentary institutions of
+England. With a remarkable ignorance of the political conditions of
+the province--too often shown by British statesmen in those days--so
+great a historian and parliamentarian as Lord Macaulay actually wrote
+on a tablet to Lord Metcalfe's memory:--"In Canada, not yet recovered
+from the calamities of civil war, he reconciled contending factions to
+each other and to the mother country." The truth is, as written by Sir
+Francis Hincks[6] fifty years later, "he embittered the party feeling
+that had been considerably assuaged by Sir Charles Bagot."
+
+Lord Metcalfe was succeeded by Lord Cathcart, a military man, who was
+chosen because of the threatening aspect of the relations between
+England and the United States on the question of the Oregon boundary.
+During his short term of office he did not directly interfere in
+politics, but carefully studied the defence of the country and quietly
+made preparations for a rupture with the neighbouring republic. The
+result of his judicious action was the disappearance of much of the
+political bitterness which had existed during Lord Metcalfe's
+administration. The country, indeed, had to face issues of vital
+importance to its material progress. Industry and commerce were
+seriously affected by the adoption of free trade in England, and the
+consequent removal of duties which had given a preference in the
+British markets to Canadian wheat, flour, and other commodities. The
+effect upon the trade of the province would not have been so serious
+had England at this time repealed the old navigation laws which closed
+the St. Lawrence to foreign shipping and prevented the extension of
+commerce to other markets. Such a course might have immediately
+compensated Canadians for the loss of those of the motherland. The
+anxiety that was generally felt by Canadians on the reversal of the
+British commercial policy under which they had been able to build up a
+very profitable trade, was shown in the language of a very largely
+signed address from the assembly to the Queen. "We cannot but fear,"
+it was stated in this document, "that the abandonment of the
+protective principle, the very basis of the colonial commercial
+system, is not only calculated to retard the agricultural improvement
+of the country and check its hitherto rising prosperity, but seriously
+to impair our ability to purchase the manufactured goods of Great
+Britain--a result alike prejudicial to this country and the parent
+state." But this appeal to the selfishness of British manufacturers
+had no influence on British statesmen so far as their fiscal policy
+was concerned. But while they were not prepared to depart in any
+measure from the principles of free trade and give the colonies a
+preference in British markets over foreign countries, they became
+conscious that the time had come for removing, as far as possible, all
+causes of public discontent in the provinces, at this critical period
+of commercial depression. British statesmen had suddenly awakened to
+the mistakes of Lord Metcalfe's administration of Canadian affairs,
+and decided to pursue a policy towards Canada which would restore
+confidence in the good faith and justice of the imperial government.
+"The Queen's representative"--this is a citation from a London
+paper[7] supporting the Whig government--"should not assume that he
+degrades the crown by following in a colony with a constitutional
+government the example of the crown at home. Responsible government
+has been conceded to Canada, and should be attended in its workings
+with all the consequences of responsible government in the mother
+country. What the Queen cannot do in England the governor-general
+should not be permitted to do in Canada. In making imperial
+appointments she is bound to consult her cabinet; in making provincial
+appointments the governor-general should be bound to do the same."
+
+The Oregon dispute had been settled, like the question of the Maine
+boundary, without any regard to British interests in America, and it
+was now deemed expedient to replace Lord Cathcart by a civil governor,
+who would be able to carry out, in the valley of the St. Lawrence, the
+new policy of the colonial office, and strengthen the ties between the
+province and the parent state.
+
+As I have previously stated, Lord John Russell's ministry made a wise
+choice in the person of Lord Elgin. In the following pages I shall
+endeavour to show how fully were realized the high expectations of
+those British statesmen who sent him across the Atlantic at this
+critical epoch in the political and industrial conditions of the
+Canadian dependency.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+
+POLITICAL DIFFICULTIES
+
+Lord Elgin made a most favourable impression on the public opinion of
+Canada from the first hour he arrived in Montreal, and had
+opportunities of meeting and addressing the people. His genial manner,
+his ready speech, his knowledge of the two languages, his obvious
+desire to understand thoroughly the condition of the country and to
+pursue British methods of constitutional government, were all
+calculated to attract the confidence of all nationalities, classes,
+and creeds. The supporters of responsible government heard with
+infinite pleasure the enunciation of the principles which would guide
+him in the discharge of his public duties. "I am sensible," he said in
+answer to a Montreal address, "that I shall but maintain the
+prerogative of the Crown, and most effectually carry out the
+instructions with which Her Majesty has honoured me, by manifesting a
+due regard for the wishes and feelings of the people and by seeking
+the advice and assistance of those who enjoy their confidence."
+
+At this time the Draper Conservative ministry, formed under such
+peculiar circumstances by Lord Metcalfe, was still in office, and Lord
+Elgin, as in duty bound, gave it his support, although it was clear to
+him and to all other persons at all conversant with public opinion
+that it did not enjoy the confidence of the country at large, and must
+soon give place to an administration more worthy of popular favour. He
+recognized the fact that the crucial weakness in the political
+situation was "that a Conservative government meant a government of
+Upper Canadians, which is intolerable to the French, and a Radical
+government meant a government of French, which is no less hateful to
+the British." He believed that the political problem of "how to govern
+united Canada"--and the changes which took place later showed he was
+right--would be best solved "if the French would split into a Liberal
+and Conservative party, and join the Upper Canada parties which bear
+corresponding names." Holding these views, he decided at the outset to
+give the French Canadians full recognition in the reconstruction or
+formation of ministries during his term of office. And under all
+circumstances he was resolved to give "to his ministers all
+constitutional support, frankly and without reserve, and the benefit
+of the best advice" that he could afford them in their difficulties.
+In return for this he expected that they would, "in so far as it is
+possible for them to do so, carry out his views for the maintenance of
+the connection with Great Britain and the advancement of the interests
+of the province." On this tacit understanding, they--the
+governor-general and the Draper-Viger cabinet--had "acted together
+harmoniously," although he had "never concealed from them that he
+intended to do nothing" which would "prevent him from working
+cordially with their opponents." It was indispensable that "the head
+of the government should show that he has confidence in the loyalty of
+all the influential parties with which he has to deal, and that he
+should have no personal antipathies to prevent him from acting with
+leading men."
+
+Despite the wishes of Lord Elgin, it was impossible to reconstruct the
+government with a due regard to French Canadian interests. Mr. Caron
+and Mr. Morin, both strong men, could not be induced to become
+ministers. The government continued to show signs of disintegration.
+Several members resigned and took judgeships in Lower Canada. Even Mr.
+Draper retired with the understanding that he should also go on the
+bench at the earliest opportunity in Upper Canada. Another effort was
+made to keep the ministry together, and Mr. Henry Sherwood became its
+head; but the most notable acquisition was Mr. John Alexander
+Macdonald as receiver-general. From that time this able man took a
+conspicuous place in the councils of the country, and eventually
+became prime minister of the old province of Canada, as well as of the
+federal dominion which was formed many years later in British North
+America, largely through his instrumentality. From his first entrance
+into politics he showed that versatility of intellect, that readiness
+to adapt himself to dominant political conditions and make them
+subservient to the interests of his party, that happy faculty of
+making and keeping personal friends, which were the most striking
+traits of his character. His mind enlarged as he had greater
+experience and opportunities of studying public life, and the man who
+entered parliament as a Tory became one of the most Liberal
+Conservatives who ever administered the affairs of a colonial
+dependency, and, at the same time, a statesman of a comprehensive
+intellect who recognized the strength of British institutions and the
+advantage of British connection.
+
+The obvious weakness of the reconstructed ministry was the absence of
+any strong men from French Canada. Mr. Denis B. Papineau was in no
+sense a recognized representative of the French Canadians, and did not
+even possess those powers of eloquence--that ability to give forth
+"rhetorical flashes"--which were characteristic of his reckless but
+highly gifted brother. In fact the ministry as then organized was a
+mere makeshift until the time came for obtaining an expression of
+opinion from the people at the polls. When parliament met in June,
+1847, it was quite clear that the ministry was on the eve of its
+downfall. It was sustained only by a feeble majority of two votes on
+the motion for the adoption of the address to the governor-general.
+The opposition, in which LaFontaine, Baldwin, Aylwin, and Chauveau
+were the most prominent figures, had clearly the best of the argument
+in the political controversies with the tottering ministry. Even in
+the legislative council resolutions, condemning it chiefly on the
+ground that the French province was inadequately represented in the
+cabinet, were only negatived by the vote of the president, Mr. McGill,
+a wealthy merchant of Montreal, who was also a member of the
+administration.
+
+Despite the weakness of the government, the legislature was called
+upon to deal with several questions which pressed for immediate
+action. Among the important measures which were passed was one
+providing for the amendment of the law relating to forgery, which was
+no longer punishable by death. Another amended the law with respect to
+municipalities in Lower Canada, which, however, failed to satisfy the
+local requirements of the people, though it remained in force for
+eight years, when it was replaced by one better adapted to the
+conditions of the French province. The legislature also discussed the
+serious effects of free trade upon Canadian industry, and passed an
+address to the Crown praying for the repeal of the laws which
+prevented the free use of the St. Lawrence by ships of all nations.
+But the most important subject with which the government was called
+upon to deal was one which stifled all political rivalry and national
+prejudices, and demanded the earnest consideration of all parties.
+Canada, like the rest of the world, had heard of an unhappy land
+smitten with a hideous plague, of its crops lying in pestilential
+heaps and of its peasantry dying above them, of fathers, mothers, and
+children ghastly in their rags or nakedness, of dead unburied, and the
+living flying in terror, as it were, from a stricken battlefield. This
+dreadful Irish famine forced to Canada upwards of 100,000 persons, the
+greater number of whom were totally destitute and must have starved to
+death had they not received public or private charity. The miseries of
+these unhappy immigrants were aggravated to an inconceivable degree by
+the outbreak of disease of a most malignant character, stimulated by
+the wretched physical condition and by the disgraceful state of the
+pest ships in which they were brought across the ocean. In those days
+there was no effective inspection or other means taken to protect from
+infection the unhappy families who were driven from their old homes by
+poverty and misery. From Grosse Isle, the quarantine station on the
+Lower St. Lawrence, to the most distant towns in the western province,
+many thousands died in awful suffering, and left helpless orphans to
+evoke the aid and sympathy of pitying Canadians everywhere. Canada was
+in no sense responsible for this unfortunate state of things. The
+imperial government had allowed this Irish immigration to go on
+without making any effort whatever to prevent the evils that followed
+it from Ireland to the banks of the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes.
+It was a heavy burden which Canada should never have been called upon
+to bear at a time when money was scarce and trade was paralyzed by the
+action of the imperial parliament itself. Lord Elgin was fully alive
+to the weighty responsibility which the situation entailed upon the
+British government, and at the same time did full justice to the
+exertions of the Canadian people to cope with this sad crisis. The
+legislature voted a sum of money to relieve the distress among the
+immigrants, but it was soon found entirely inadequate to meet the
+emergency.
+
+Lord Elgin did not fail to point out to the colonial secretary "the
+severe strain" that this sad state of things made, not only upon
+charity, but upon the very loyalty of the people to a government which
+had shown such culpable negligence since the outbreak of the famine
+and the exodus from the plague-stricken island. He expressed the
+emphatic opinion that "all things considered, a great deal of
+forbearance and good feeling had been shown by the colonists under
+this trial." He gave full expression to the general feeling of the
+country that "Great Britain must make good to the province the
+expenses entailed on it by this visitation." He did full justice to
+the men and women who showed an extraordinary spirit of
+self-sacrifice, a positive heroism, during this national crisis.
+"Nothing," he wrote, "can exceed the devotion of the nuns and Roman
+Catholic priests, and the conduct of the clergy and of many of the
+laity of other denominations has been most exemplary. Many lives have
+been sacrificed in attendance on the sick, and administering to their
+temporal and spiritual need.... This day the Mayor of Montreal, Mr.
+Mills, died, a very estimable man, who did much for the immigrants,
+and to whose firmness and philanthropy we chiefly owe it, that the
+immigrant sheds here were not tossed into the river by the people of
+the town during the summer. He has fallen a victim to his zeal on
+behalf of the poor plague-stricken strangers, having died of ship
+fever caught at the sheds." Among other prominent victims were Dr.
+Power, Roman Catholic Bishop of Toronto, Vicar-General Hudon of the
+same church, Mr. Roy, curé of Charlesbourg, and Mr. Chaderton, a
+Protestant clergyman. Thirteen Roman Catholic priests, if not more,
+died from their devotion to the unhappy people thus suddenly thrown
+upon their Christian charity. When the season of navigation was nearly
+closed, a ship arrived with a large number of people from the Irish
+estates of one of Her Majesty's ministers, Lord Palmerston. The
+natural result of this incident was to increase the feeling of
+indignation already aroused by the apathy of the British government
+during this national calamity. Happily Lord Elgin's appeals to the
+colonial secretary had effect, and the province was reimbursed
+eventually for the heavy expenses incurred by it in its efforts to
+fight disease, misery and death. English statesmen, after these
+painful experiences, recognized the necessity of enforcing strict
+regulations for the protection of emigrants crossing the ocean,
+against the greed of ship-owners. The sad story of 1847-8 cannot now
+be repeated in times when nations have awakened to their
+responsibilities towards the poor and distressed who are forced to
+leave their old homes for that new world which offers them well-paid
+work, political freedom, plenty of food and countless comforts.
+
+In the autumn of 1847, Lord Elgin was able to seek some relief from
+his many cares and perplexities of government, in a tour of the
+western province, where, to quote his own words, he met "a most
+gratifying and encouraging reception." He was much impressed with the
+many signs of prosperity which he saw on all sides. "It is indeed a
+glorious country," he wrote enthusiastically to Lord Grey, "and after
+passing, as I have done within the last fortnight, from the citadel of
+Quebec to the falls of Niagara, rubbing shoulders the while with its
+free and perfectly independent inhabitants, one begins to doubt
+whether it be possible to acquire a sufficient knowledge of man or
+nature, or to obtain an insight into the future of nations, without
+visiting America." During this interesting visit to Upper Canada, he
+seized the opportunity of giving his views on a subject which may be
+considered one of his hobbies, one to which he devoted much attention
+while in Jamaica, and this was the formation of agricultural
+associations for the purpose of stimulating scientific methods of
+husbandry.
+
+Before the close of the first year of his administration Lord Elgin
+felt that the time had come for making an effort to obtain a stronger
+ministry by an appeal to the people. Accordingly he dissolved
+parliament in December, and the elections, which were hotly contested,
+resulted in the unequivocal condemnation of the Sherwood cabinet, and
+the complete success of the Liberal party led by LaFontaine and
+Baldwin. Among the prominent Liberals returned by the people of Upper
+Canada were Baldwin, Hincks, Blake, Price, Malcolm Cameron, Richards,
+Merritt and John Sandfield Macdonald. Among the leaders of the same
+party in Lower Canada were LaFontaine, Morin, Aylwin, Chauveau and
+Holmes. Several able Conservatives lost their seats, but Sir Allan
+MacNab, John A. Macdonald, Mr. Sherwood and John Hillyard Cameron
+succeeded in obtaining seats in the new parliament, which was, in
+fact, more notable than any other since the union for the ability of
+its members. Not the least noteworthy feature of the elections was the
+return of Mr. Louis J. Papineau, and Mr. Wolfred Nelson, rebels of
+1837-8, both of whom had been allowed to return some time previously
+to the country. Mr. Papineau's career in parliament was not calculated
+to strengthen his position in impartial history. He proved beyond a
+doubt that he was only a demagogue, incapable of learning lessons of
+wise statesmanship during the years of reflection that were given him
+in exile. He continued to show his ignorance of the principles and
+workings of responsible government. Before the rebellion which he so
+rashly and vehemently forced on his credulous, impulsive countrymen,
+so apt to be deceived by flashy rhetoric and glittering generalities,
+he never made a speech or proposed a measure in support of the system
+of parliamentary government as explained by Baldwin and Howe, and even
+W. Lyon Mackenzie. His energy and eloquence were directed towards the
+establishment of an elective legislative council in which his
+compatriots would have necessarily the great majority, a supremacy
+that would enable him and his following to control the whole
+legislation and government, and promote his dominant idea of a _Nation
+Canadienne_ in the valley of the St. Lawrence. After the union he made
+it the object of his political life to thwart in every way possible
+the sagacious, patriotic plans of LaFontaine, Morin, and other
+broad-minded statesmen of his own nationality, and to destroy that
+system of responsible government under which French Canada had become
+a progressive and influential section of the province.
+
+As soon as parliament assembled at the end of February, the government
+was defeated on the vote for the speakership. Its nominee, Sir Allan
+MacNab, received only nineteen votes out of fifty-four, and Morin, the
+Liberal candidate, was then unanimously chosen. When the address in
+reply to the governor-general's speech came up for consideration,
+Baldwin moved an amendment, expressing a want of confidence in the
+ministry, which was carried by a majority of thirty votes in a house
+of seventy-four members, exclusive of the speaker, who votes only in
+case of a tie. Lord Elgin received and answered the address as soon as
+it was ready for presentation, and then sent for LaFontaine and
+Baldwin.
+
+He spoke to them, as he tells us himself, "in a candid and friendly
+tone," and expressed the opinion that "there was a fair prospect, if
+they were moderate and firm, of forming an administration deserving
+and enjoying the confidence of parliament." He added that "they might
+count on all proper support and assistance from him." When they "dwelt
+on difficulties arising out of pretensions advanced in various
+quarters," he advised them "not to attach too much importance to such
+considerations, but to bring together a council strong in
+administrative talent, and to take their stand on the wisdom of their
+measures and policy." The result was the construction of a powerful
+government by LaFontaine with the aid of Baldwin. "My present
+council," Lord Elgin wrote to the colonial secretary, "unquestionably
+contains more talent, and has a firmer hold on the confidence of
+parliament and of the people than the last. There is, I think,
+moreover, on their part, a desire to prove, by proper deference for
+the authority of the governor-general (which they all admit has in my
+case never been abused), that they were libelled when they were
+accused of impracticability and anti-monarchical tendencies." These
+closing words go to show that the governor-general felt it was
+necessary to disabuse the minds of the colonial secretary and his
+colleagues of the false impression which the British government and
+people seemed to entertain, that the Tories and Conservatives were
+alone to be trusted in the conduct of public affairs. He saw at once
+that the best way of strengthening the connection with Great Britain
+was to give to the strongest political party in the country its true
+constitutional position in the administration of public affairs, and
+identify it thoroughly with the public interests.
+
+The new government was constituted as follows:
+
+     Lower Canada.--Hon. L.H. LaFontaine, attorney-general of
+     Lower Canada; Hon. James Leslie, president of the executive
+     council; Hon. R.E. Caron, president of the legislative
+     council; Hon. E.P. Taehé, chief commissioner of public
+     works; Hon. I.C. Aylwin, solicitor-general for Lower Canada;
+     Hon. L.M. Viger, receiver-general.
+
+     Upper Canada.--Hon. Robert Baldwin, attorney-general of
+     Upper Canada; Hon. R.B. Sullivan, provincial secretary; Hon.
+     F. Hincks, inspector-general; Hon. J.H. Price, commissioner
+     of crown lands; Hon. Malcolm Cameron, assistant commissioner
+     of public works; Hon. W.H. Blake, solicitor-general.
+
+The LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry must always occupy a distinguished
+place in the political history of the Canadian people. It was the
+first to be formed strictly in accordance with the principles of
+responsible government, and from its entrance into public life must be
+dated a new era in which the relations between the governor and his
+advisers were at last placed on a sound constitutional basis, in which
+the constant appeals to the imperial government on matters of purely
+provincial significance came to an end, in which local self-government
+was established in the fullest sense compatible with the continuance
+of the connection with the empire. It was a ministry notable not only
+for the ability of its members, but for the many great measures which
+it was able to pass during its term of office--measures calculated to
+promote the material advancement of the province, and above all to
+dispel racial prejudices and allay sectional antagonisms by the
+adoption of wise methods of compromise, conciliation and justice to
+all classes and creeds.
+
+In Lord Elgin's letters of 1848 to Earl Grey, we can clearly see how
+many difficulties surrounded the discharge of his administrative
+functions at this time, and how fortunate it was for Canada, as well
+as for Great Britain, that he should have been able to form a
+government which possessed so fully the confidence of both sections of
+the province, irrespective of nationality. The revolution of February
+in Paris, and the efforts of a large body of Irish in the United
+States to evoke sympathy in Canada on behalf of republicanism were
+matters of deep anxiety to the governor-general and other friends of
+the imperial state. "It is just as well," he wrote at this time to
+Lord Grey, "that I should have arranged my ministry, and committed the
+flag of Great Britain to the custody of those who are supported by the
+large majority of the representatives and constituencies of the
+province, before the arrival of the astounding news from Europe which
+reached us by the last mail. There are not wanting here persons who
+might, under different circumstances, have attempted by seditious
+harangues, if not by overt acts, to turn the example of France, and
+the sympathies of the United States to account."
+
+Under the circumstances he pressed upon the imperial authorities the
+wisdom of repealing that clause of the Union Act which restricted the
+use of the French language. "I am for one deeply convinced," and here
+he showed he differed from Lord Durham, "of the impolicy of all such
+attempts to denationalize the French. Generally speaking, they produce
+the opposite effect from that intended, causing the flame of national
+prejudice and animosity to burn more fiercely." But he went on to say,
+even were such attempts successful, what would be the inevitable
+result:
+
+     "You may perhaps Americanize, but, depend upon it, by
+     methods of this description you will never Anglicize the
+     French inhabitants of the province. Let them feel, on the
+     other hand, that their religion, their habits, their
+     prepossessions, their prejudices, if you will, are more
+     considered and respected here than in other portions of this
+     vast continent, who will venture to say that the last hand
+     which waves the British flag on American ground may not be
+     that of a French Canadian?"[8]
+
+Lord Elgin had a strong antipathy to Papineau--"Guy Fawkes Papineau,"
+as he called him in one of his letters--who was, he considered,
+"actuated by the most malignant passions, irritated vanity,
+disappointed ambition and national hatred," always ready to wave "a
+lighted torch among combustibles." Holding such opinions, he seized
+every practical opportunity of thwarting Papineau's persistent efforts
+to create a dangerous agitation among his impulsive countrymen. He
+shared fully the great desire of the bishops and clergy to stem the
+immigration of large numbers of French Canadians into the United
+States by the establishment of an association for colonization
+purposes. Papineau endeavoured to attribute this exodus to the effects
+of the policy of the imperial government, and to gain control of this
+association with the object of using it as a means of stimulating a
+feeling against England, and strengthening himself in French Canada by
+such insidious methods. Lord Elgin, with that intuitive sagacity which
+he applied to practical politics, recognized the importance of
+identifying himself with the movement initiated by the bishops and
+their friends, of putting himself "in so far as he could at its head,"
+of imparting to it "as salutary a direction as possible, and thus
+wresting from Papineau's hands a potent instrument of agitation." This
+policy of conciliating the French population, and anticipating the
+great agitator in his design, was quite successful. To use Lord
+Elgin's own language, "Papineau retired to solitude and reflection at
+his seigniory, 'La Petite Nation,'" and the governor-general was able
+at the same time to call the attention of the colonial secretary to a
+presentment of the grand jury of Montreal, "in which that body adverts
+to the singularly tranquil, contented state of the province."
+
+It was at this time that Lord Elgin commenced to give utterance to the
+views that he had formed with respect to the best method of giving a
+stimulus to the commercial and industrial interests that were so
+seriously crippled by the free trade policy of the British government.
+So serious had been its effects upon the economic conditions of the
+province that mill-owners, forwarders and merchants had been ruined
+"at one fell swoop," that the revenue had been reduced by the loss of
+the canal dues paid previously by the shipping engaged in the trade
+promoted by the old colonial policy of England, that private property
+had become unsaleable, that not a shilling could be raised on the
+credit of the province, that public officers of all grades, including
+the governor-general, had to be paid in debentures which were not
+exchangeable at par. Under such circumstances it was not strange, said
+the governor-general, that Canadians were too ready to make
+unfavourable comparisons between themselves and their republican
+neighbours. "What makes it more serious," he said, "is that all the
+prosperity of which Canada is thus robbed is transplanted to the other
+side of the line, as if to make Canadians feel more bitterly how much
+kinder England is to the children who desert her, than to those who
+remain faithful. It is the inconsistency of imperial legislation, and
+not the adoption of one policy rather than another, which is the bane
+of the colonies."
+
+He believed that "the conviction that they would be better off if they
+were annexed," was almost universal among the commercial classes at
+that time, and the peaceful condition of the province under all the
+circumstances was often a matter of great astonishment even to
+himself. In his letters urging the imperial government to find an
+immediate remedy for this unfortunate condition of things, he
+acknowledged that there was "something captivating in the project of
+forming this vast British Empire into one huge _Zollverein_, with free
+interchange of commodities, and uniform duties against the world
+without; though perhaps without some federal legislation it might have
+been impossible to carry it out."[9] Undoubtedly, under such a system
+"the component parts of the empire would have been united by bonds
+which cannot be supplied under that on which we are now entering," but
+he felt that, whatever were his own views on the subject, it was then
+impossible to disturb the policy fixed by the imperial government, and
+that the only course open to them, if they hoped "to keep the
+colonies," was to repeal the navigation laws, and to allow them "to
+turn to the best possible account their contiguity to the States, that
+they might not have cause for dissatisfaction when they contrasted
+their own condition with that of their neighbours."
+
+Some years, however, passed before the governor-general saw his views
+fully carried out. The imperial authorities, with that extraordinary
+indifference to colonial conditions which too often distinguished them
+in those times, hesitated until well into 1849 to follow his advice
+with respect to the navigation laws, and the Reciprocity Treaty was
+not successfully negotiated until a much later time. He had the
+gratification, however, before he left Canada of seeing the beneficial
+effects of the measures which he so earnestly laboured to promote in
+the interests of the country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+
+THE INDEMNIFICATION ACT
+
+The legislature opened on January 18th, 1849, when Lord Elgin had the
+gratification of informing French Canadians that the restrictions
+imposed by the Union Act on the use of their language in the public
+records had been removed by a statute of the imperial parliament. For
+the first time in Canadian history the governor-general read the
+speech in the two languages; for in the past it had been the practice
+of the president of the legislative council to give it in French after
+it had been read in English from the throne. The session was memorable
+in political annals for the number of useful measures that were
+adopted. In later pages of this book I shall give a short review of
+these and other measures which show the importance of the legislation
+passed by the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry. For the present I shall
+confine myself to the consideration of a question which created an
+extraordinary amount of public excitement, culminated in the
+destruction of valuable public property, and even threatened the life
+of the governor-general, who during one of the most trying crises in
+Canadian history, displayed a coolness and patience, an indifference
+to all personal considerations, a political sagacity and a strict
+adherence to sound methods of constitutional government, which entitle
+him to the gratitude of Canadians, who might have seen their country
+torn asunder by internecine strife, had there been then a weak and
+passionate man at the head of the executive. As it will be seen later,
+he, like the younger Pitt in England, was "the pilot who weathered the
+storm." In Canada, the storm, in which the elements of racial
+antagonism, of political rivalry and disappointment, of spoiled
+fortunes and commercial ruin raged tumultuously for a while,
+threatened not only to drive Canada back for years in its political
+and material development, but even to disturb the relations between
+the dependency and the imperial state.
+
+The legislation which gave rise to this serious convulsion in the
+country was, in a measure, an aftermath of the rebellious risings of
+1837 and 1838 in Upper and Lower Canada. Many political grievances had
+been redressed since the union, and the French Canadians had begun to
+feel that their interests were completely safe under a system of
+government which gave them an influential position in the public
+councils. The restoration of their language to its proper place in a
+country composed of two nationalities standing on a sure footing of
+equal political and civil rights, was a great consolation to the
+French people of the east. The pardon extended to the rash men who
+were directly concerned in the events of 1837 and 1838, was also well
+calculated to heal the wounds inflicted on the province during that
+troublous period. It needed only the passage of another measure to
+conceal the scars of those unhappy days, and to bury the past in that
+oblivion in which all Canadians anxious for the unity and harmony of
+the two races, and the satisfactory operation of political
+institutions, were sincerely desirous of hiding it forever. This
+measure was pecuniary compensation from the state for certain losses
+incurred by people in French Canada in consequence of the wanton
+destruction of property during the revolt. The obligation of the state
+to give such compensation had been fully recognized before and after
+the union.
+
+The special council of Lower Canada and the legislature of Upper
+Canada had authorized the payment of an indemnity to those loyal
+inhabitants in their respective provinces who had sustained losses
+during the insurrections. It was not possible, however, before the
+union, to make payments out of the public treasury in accordance with
+the ordinance of the special council of Lower Canada and the statute
+of the legislature of Upper Canada. In the case of both provinces
+these measures were enacted to satisfy the demands that were made for
+compensation by a large number of people who claimed to have suffered
+losses at the outbreak of the rebellions, or during the raids from the
+United States which followed these risings and which kept the country
+in a state of ferment for months. The legislature of the united
+provinces passed an act during its first session to extend
+compensation to losses occasioned in Upper Canada by violence on the
+part of persons "acting or assuming to act" on Her Majesty's behalf
+"for the suppression of the said rebellion or for the prevention of
+further disturbances." Funds were also voted out of the public
+revenues for the payment of indemnities to those who had met with the
+losses set forth in this legislation affecting Upper Canada. It was,
+on the whole, a fair settlement of just claims in the western
+province. The French Canadians in the legislature supported the
+measure, and urged with obvious reason that the same consideration
+should be shown to the same class of persons in Lower Canada. It was
+not, however, until the session of 1845, when the Draper-Viger
+ministry was in office, that an address was passed to the
+governor-general, Lord Metcalfe, praying him to take such steps as
+were necessary "to insure to the inhabitants of that portion of this
+province, formerly Lower Canada, an indemnity for just losses suffered
+during the rebellions of 1837 and 1838." The immediate result was the
+appointment of commissioners to make inquiry into the losses sustained
+by "Her Majesty's loyal subjects" in Lower Canada "during the late
+unfortunate rebellion." The commissioners found some difficulty in
+acting upon their instructions, which called upon them to distinguish
+the cases of those "who had joined, aided or abetted the said
+rebellion, from the cases of those who had not done so," and they
+accordingly applied for definite advice from Lord Cathcart, whose
+advisers were still the Draper-Viger ministry. The commissioners were
+officially informed that "it was his Excellency's intention that they
+should be guided by no other description of evidence than that
+furnished by the sentences of the courts of law." They were further
+informed that it was only intended that they should form a general
+estimate of the rebellion losses, "the particulars of which must form
+the subject of more minute inquiry hereafter, under legislative
+authority."
+
+During the session of 1846 the commissioners made a report which gave
+a list of 2,176 persons who made claims amounting in the aggregate to
+£241,965. At the same time the commissioners expressed the opinion
+that £100,000 would be adequate to satisfy all just demands, and
+directed attention to the fact that upwards of £25,503 were actually
+claimed by persons who had been condemned by a court-martial for their
+participation in the rebellion. The report also set forth that the
+inquiry conducted by the commissioners had been necessarily imperfect
+in the absence of legal power to make a minute investigation, and that
+they had been compelled largely to trust to the allegations of the
+claimants who had laid their cases before them, and that it was only
+from data collected in this way that they had been able to come to
+conclusions as to the amount of losses.
+
+When the Draper-Viger ministry first showed a readiness to take up the
+claims of Lower Canada for the same compensation that had been granted
+to Upper Canada, they had been doubtless influenced, not solely by the
+conviction that they were called upon to perform an act of justice,
+but mainly by a desire to strengthen themselves in the French
+province. We have already read that their efforts in this direction
+entirely failed, and that they never obtained in that section any
+support from the recognized leaders of public opinion, but were
+obliged to depend upon Denis B. Papineau and Viger to keep up a
+pretence of French Canadian representation in the cabinet. It is,
+then, easy to believe that, when the report of the commissioners came
+before them, they were not very enthusiastic on the subject, or
+prepared to adopt vigorous measures to settle the question on some
+equitable basis, and remove it entirely from the field of political
+and national conflict.
+
+They did nothing more than make provision for the payment of £9,986,
+which represented claims fully investigated and recognized as
+justifiable before the union, and left the general question of
+indemnity for future consideration. Indeed, it is doubtful if the
+Conservative ministry of that day, the mere creation of Lord Metcalfe,
+kept in power by a combination of Tories and other factions in Upper
+Canada, could have satisfactorily dealt with a question which required
+the interposition of a government having the confidence of both
+sections of the province. One thing is quite certain. This ministry,
+weak as it was, Tory and ultra-loyalist as it claimed to be, had
+recognized by the appointment of a commission, the justice of giving
+compensation to French Canada on the principles which had governed the
+settlement of claims from Upper Canada. Had the party which supported
+that ministry been influenced by any regard for consistency or
+principle, it was bound in 1849 to give full consideration to the
+question, and treat it entirely on its merits with the view of
+preventing its being made a political issue and a means of arousing
+racial and sectional animosities. As we shall now see, however, party
+passion, political demagogism, and racial hatred prevailed above all
+high considerations of the public peace and welfare, when parliament
+was asked by the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry to deal seriously and
+practically with the question of indemnity to Lower Canada.
+
+The session was not far advanced when LaFontaine brought forward a
+series of resolutions, on which were subsequently based a bill, which
+set forth in the preamble that "in order to redeem the pledge given to
+the sufferers of such losses ... it is necessary and just that the
+particulars of such losses, not yet paid and satisfied, should form
+the subject of more minute inquiry under legislative authority (see p.
+65 _ante_) and that the same, so far only as they may have arisen from
+the total or partial, unjust, unnecessary or wanton destruction of
+dwellings, buildings, property and effects ... should be paid and
+satisfied." The act provided that no indemnity should be paid to
+persons "who had been convicted of treason during the rebellion, or
+who, having been taken into custody, had submitted to Her Majesty's
+will, and been transported to Bermuda." Five commissioners were to be
+appointed to carry out the provisions of the act, which also provided
+£400,000 for the payment of legal claims.
+
+Then all the forces hostile to the government gathered their full
+strength for an onslaught on a measure which such Tories as Sir Allan
+MacNab and Henry Sherwood believed gave them an excellent opportunity
+of arousing a strong public sentiment which might awe the
+governor-general and bring about a ministerial crisis. The issue was
+not one of public principle or of devotion to the Crown, it was simply
+a question of obtaining a party victory _per fas aut nefas_. The
+debate on the second reading of the bill was full of bitterness,
+intensified even to virulence. Mr. Sherwood declared that the proposal
+of the government meant nothing else than the giving of a reward to
+the very persons who had been the cause of the shedding of blood and
+the destruction of property throughout the country. Sir Allan MacNab
+went so far in a moment of passion as to insult the French Canadian
+people by calling them "aliens and rebels." The solicitor-general, Mr.
+Hume Blake,[10] who was Irish by birth, and possessed a great power of
+invective, inveighed in severe terms against "the family compact" as
+responsible for the rebellion, and declared that the stigma of
+"rebels" applied with complete force to the men who were then
+endeavouring to prevent the passage of a bill which was a simple act
+of justice to a large body of loyal people. Sir Allan MacNab instantly
+became furious and said that if Mr. Blake called him a rebel it was
+simply a lie.
+
+Then followed a scene of tumult, in which the authority of the chair
+was disregarded, members indulged in the most disorderly cries, and
+the people in the galleries added to the excitement on the floor by
+their hisses and shouts. The galleries were cleared with the greatest
+difficulty, and a hostile encounter between Sir Allan and Mr. Blake
+was only prevented by the intervention of the sergeant-at-arms, who
+took them into custody by order of the House until they gave
+assurances that they would proceed no further in the unseemly dispute.
+When the debate was resumed on the following day, LaFontaine brought
+it again to the proper level of argument and reason, and showed that
+both parties were equally pledged to a measure based on considerations
+of justice, and declared positively that the government would take
+every possible care in its instructions to the commissioner; that no
+rebel should receive any portion of the indemnity, which was intended
+only as a compensation to those who had just claims upon the country
+for the losses that they actually sustained in the course of the
+unfortunate rebellion. At this time the Conservative and ultra-loyal
+press was making frantic appeals to party passions and racial
+prejudices, and calling upon the governor-general to intervene and
+prevent the passage of a measure which, in the opinion of loyal
+Canadians, was an insult to the Crown and its adherents. Public
+meetings were also held and efforts made to arouse a violent feeling
+against the bill. The governor-general understood his duty too well as
+the head of the executive to interfere with the bill while passing
+through the two Houses, and paid no heed to these passionate appeals
+dictated by partisan rancour, while the ministry pressed the question
+to the test of a division as soon as possible. The resolutions and the
+several readings of the bill passed both Houses by large majorities.
+The bill was carried in the assembly on March 9th by forty-seven votes
+against eighteen, and in the legislative council on the 15th, by
+fifteen against fourteen. By an analysis of the division in the
+popular chamber, it will be seen that out of thirty-one members from
+Upper Canada seventeen supported and fourteen opposed the bill, while
+out of ten Lower Canadian members of British descent there were six
+who voted yea and four nay. The representatives of French Canada as a
+matter of course were arrayed as one in favour of an act of justice to
+their compatriots. During the passage of the bill its opponents
+deluged the governor-general with petitions asking him either to
+dissolve the legislature or to reserve the bill for the consideration
+of the imperial government. Such appeals had no effect whatever upon
+Lord Elgin, who was determined to adhere to the well understood rules
+of parliamentary government in all cases of political controversy.
+
+When the bill had passed all its stages in the two Houses by large
+majorities of both French and English Canadians, the governor-general
+came to the legislative council and gave the royal assent to the
+measure, which was entitled "An Act to provide for the indemnification
+of parties in Lower Canada whose property was destroyed during the
+rebellion in the years 1837 and 1838." No other constitutional course
+could have been followed by him under all the circumstances. In his
+letters to the colonial secretary he did not hesitate to express his
+regret "that this agitation should have been stirred, and that any
+portion of the funds of the province should be diverted now from much
+more useful purposes to make good losses sustained by individuals in
+the rebellion," but he believed that "a great deal of property was
+cruelly and wantonly destroyed" in Lower Canada, and that "this
+government, after what their predecessors had done, and with Papineau
+in the rear, could not have helped taking up this question." He saw
+clearly that it was impossible to dissolve a parliament just elected
+by the people, and in which the government had a large majority. "If I
+had dissolved parliament," to quote his own words, "I might have
+produced a rebellion, but assuredly I should not have procured a
+change of ministry. The leaders of the party know that as well as I
+do, and were it possible to play tricks in such grave concerns, it
+would have been easy to throw them into utter confusion by merely
+calling upon them to form a government. They were aware, however, that
+I could not for the sake of discomfiting them hazard so desperate a
+policy; so they have played out their game of faction and violence
+without fear of consequences."
+
+His reasons for not reserving the bill for the consideration of the
+British government must be regarded as equally cogent by every student
+of our system of government, especially by those persons who believe
+in home rule in all matters involving purely Canadian interests. In
+the first place, the bill for the relief of a corresponding class of
+persons in Upper Canada, "which was couched in terms very nearly
+similar, was not reserved," and it was "difficult to discover a
+sufficient reason, so far as the representative of the Crown was
+concerned, for dealing with the one measure differently from the
+other." And in the second place, "by reserving the bill he should only
+throw upon Her Majesty's government or (as it would appear to the
+popular eye in Canada) on Her Majesty herself, a responsibility which
+rests and ought to rest" upon the governor-general of Canada. If he
+passed the bill, "whatever mischief ensues may probably be repaired,"
+if the worst came to the worst, "by the sacrifice" of himself. If the
+case were referred to England, on the other hand, it was not
+impossible that Her Majesty might "only have before her the
+alternative of provoking a rebellion in Lower Canada, by refusing her
+assent to a measure chiefly affecting the interests of the _habitants_
+and thus throwing the whole population into Papineau's hands, or of
+wounding the susceptibilities of some of the best subjects she has in
+the province."
+
+A Canadian writer at the present time can refer only with a feeling of
+indignation and humiliation to the scenes of tumult, rioting and
+incendiarism, which followed the royal assent to the bill of
+indemnity. When Lord Elgin left Parliament House--formerly the Ste.
+Anne market--a large crowd insulted him with opprobrious epithets. In
+his own words he was "received with ironical cheers and hootings, and
+a small knot of individuals, consisting, it has since been
+ascertained, of persons of a respectable class in society, pelted the
+carriage with missiles which must have been brought for that purpose."
+A meeting was held in the open air, and after several speeches of a
+very inflammatory character had been made, the mob rushed to the
+parliament building, which was soon in flames. By this disgraceful act
+of incendiarism most valuable collections of books and documents were
+destroyed, which, in some cases, could not be replaced. Supporters of
+the bill were everywhere insulted and maltreated while the excitement
+was at its height. LaFontaine's residence was attacked and injured.
+His valuable library of books and manuscripts, some of them very rare,
+was destroyed by fire--a deplorable incident which recalls the burning
+and mutilation of the rich historical collections of Hutchinson, the
+last loyalist governor of Massachusetts, at the commencement of the
+American revolution in Boston.
+
+A few days later Lord Elgin's life was in actual danger at the hands
+of the unruly mob, as he was proceeding to Government House--then the
+old Château de Ramezay on Notre Dame Street--to receive an address
+from the assembly. On his return to Monklands he was obliged to take a
+circuitous route to evade the same mob who were waiting with the
+object of further insulting him and otherwise giving vent to their
+feelings.
+
+The government appears to have been quite unconscious that the public
+excitement was likely to assume so dangerous a phase, and had
+accordingly taken none of those precautions which might have prevented
+the destruction of the parliament house and its valuable contents.
+Indeed it would seem that the leaders of the movement against the bill
+had themselves no idea that the political storm which they had raised
+by their inflammatory harangues would become a whirlwind so entirely
+beyond their control. Their main object was to bring about a
+ministerial crisis. Sir Allan MacNab, the leader of the opposition,
+himself declared that he was amazed at the dangerous form which the
+public indignation had at last assumed. He had always been a devoted
+subject of the sovereign, and it is only just to say that he could
+under no circumstances become a rebel, but he had been carried away by
+his feelings and had made rash observations more than once under the
+belief that the bill would reward the same class of men whom he and
+other loyalists had fought against in Upper Canada. Whatever he felt
+in his heart, he and his followers must always be held as much
+responsible for the disturbances of 1849 as were Mackenzie and
+Papineau for those of 1837. Indeed there was this difference between
+them: the former were reckless, but at least they had, in the opinion
+of many persons, certain political grievances to redress, while the
+latter were simply opposing the settlement of a question which they
+were bound to consider fairly and impartially, if they had any respect
+for former pledges. Papineau, Mackenzie and Nelson may well have found
+a measure of justification for their past madness when they found the
+friends of the old "family compact" and the extreme loyalists of 1837
+and 1838 incited to insult the sovereign in the person of her
+representative, to create racial passion and to excite an agitation
+which might at any moment develop into a movement most fatal to Canada
+and her connection with England.
+
+Happily for the peace of the country, Lord Elgin and his councillors
+showed a forbearance and a patience which could hardly have been
+expected from them during the very serious crisis in which they lived
+for some weeks. "I am prepared," said Lord Elgin at the very moment
+his life was in danger, "to bear any amount of obloquy that may be
+cast upon me, but, if I can possibly prevent it, no stain of blood
+shall rest upon my name." When he remained quiet at Monklands and
+decided not to give his enemies further opportunities for outbursts of
+passion by paying visits to the city, even if protected by a military
+force, he was taunted by the papers of the opposition with cowardice
+for pursuing a course which, we can all now clearly see, was in the
+interests of peace and order. When at a later time LaFontaine's house
+was again attacked after the arrest of certain persons implicated in
+the destruction of the parliament house, and one of the assailants was
+killed by a shot fired from inside, he positively refused to consent
+to martial law or any measures of increased rigour until a further
+appeal had been made to the mayor and corporation of the city. The
+issue proved that he was clearly right in his opinion of the measures
+that should be taken to restore order at this time. The law-abiding
+citizens of Montreal at once responded to a proclamation of the mayor
+to assist him in the maintenance of peace, and the coroner's jury--one
+member being an Orangeman who had taken part in the funeral of the
+deceased--brought in a unanimous verdict, acquitting LaFontaine of all
+blame for the unfortunate incident that had occurred during the
+unlawful attack on his residence.
+
+The Montreal disturbances soon evoked the indignation of the truly
+loyal inhabitants of the province. Addresses came to the
+governor-general from all parts to show him that the riots were
+largely due to local causes, "especially to commercial distress acting
+on religious bigotry and national hatred." He had also the
+gratification of learning that his constitutional action was fully
+justified by the imperial government, as well as supported in
+parliament where it was fully discussed. When he offered to resign his
+office, he was assured by Lord Grey that "his relinquishment of that
+office, which, under any circumstances, would be a most serious blow
+to Her Majesty's service and to the province, could not fail, in the
+present state of affairs, to be most injurious to the public welfare,
+from the encouragement which it would give to those who have been
+concerned in the violent and illegal opposition which has been offered
+to your government." In parliament, Mr. Gladstone, who seems never to
+have been well-informed on the subject, went so far as to characterize
+the Rebellion Losses Bill as a measure for rewarding rebels, but both
+Lord John Russell, then leader of the government, and his great
+opponent, Sir Robert Peel, gave their unqualified support to the
+measure. The result was that an amendment proposed by Mr. Herries in
+favour of the disallowance of the act was defeated by a majority of
+141.
+
+This action of the imperial authorities had the effect of
+strengthening the public sentiment in Canada in support of Lord Elgin
+and his advisers. The government set to work vigorously to carry out
+the provisions of the law, appointing the same commissioners as had
+acted under the previous ministry, and was able in a very short time
+to settle definitely this very disturbing question. It was deemed
+inexpedient, however, to keep the seat of government at Montreal.
+After a very full and anxious consideration of the question, it was
+decided to act on the recommendation of the legislature that it should
+thereafter meet alternately at Toronto and Quebec, and that the next
+session should be held at Toronto in accordance with this arrangement
+This "perambulating system" was tried for several years, but it proved
+so inconvenient and expensive that the legislature in 1858 passed an
+address to Her Majesty praying her to choose a permanent capital. The
+place selected was the city of Ottawa, on account of its situation on
+the frontier of the two provinces, the almost equal division of its
+population into French and English, its remoteness from the American
+borders, and consequently its comparative security in time of war.
+Some years later it became the capital of the Dominion of Canada--the
+confederation of provinces and territories extending across the
+continent.
+
+In the autumn of 1849 Lord Elgin made a tour of the western part of
+the province of Upper Canada for the purpose of obtaining some
+expression of opinion from the people in the very section where the
+British feeling was the strongest. On this occasion he was attended
+only by an aide-de-camp and a servant, as an answer to those who were
+constantly assailing him for want of courage. Here and there, as he
+proceeded west, after leaving French Canada, he was insulted by a few
+Orangemen, notably by Mr. Ogle R. Gowan, who appeared on the wharf at
+Brockville with a black flag, but apart from such feeble exhibitions
+of political spite he met with a reception, especially west of
+Toronto, which proved beyond cavil that the heart and reason of the
+country, as a whole, were undoubtedly in his favour, and that nowhere
+was there any actual sympathy with the unhappy disturbances in
+Montreal. He had also the gratification soon after his return from
+this pleasant tour to receive from the British government an official
+notification that he had been raised to the British peerage under the
+title of Baron Elgin of Elgin in recognition of his distinguished
+services to the Crown and empire in America.
+
+But it was a long time before Lord Elgin was forgiven by a small
+clique of politicians for the part he had taken in troubles which
+ended in their signal discomfiture. The political situation continued
+for a while to be aggravated by the serious commercial embarrassment
+which existed throughout the country, and led to the circulation of a
+manifesto, signed by leading merchants and citizens of Montreal,
+urging as remedies for the prevalent depression a revival of colonial
+protection by England, reciprocal free trade with the United States, a
+federal union or republic of British North America, and even
+annexation to the neighbouring states as a last resort. This document
+did not suggest rebellion or a forceable separation from England. It
+even professed affection for the home land; but it encouraged the idea
+that the British government would doubtless yield to any colonial
+pressure in this direction when it was convinced that the step was
+beyond peradventure in the interest of the dependency. The manifesto
+represented only a temporary phase of sentiment and is explained by
+the fact that some men were dissatisfied with the existing condition
+of things and ready for any change whatever. The movement found no
+active or general response among the great mass of thinking people;
+and it was impossible for the Radicals of Lower Canada to persuade
+their compatriots that their special institutions, so dear to their
+hearts, could be safely entrusted to their American republican
+neighbours. All the men who, in the thoughtlessness of youth or in a
+moment of great excitement, signed the manifesto--notably the Molsons,
+the Redpaths, Luther H. Holton, John Rose, David Lewis MacPherson,
+A.A. Dorion, E. Goff Penny--became prominent in the later public and
+commercial life of British North America, as ministers of the Crown,
+judges, senators, millionaires, and all devoted subjects of the
+British sovereign.
+
+When Lord Elgin found that the manifesto contained the signatures of
+several persons holding office by commission from the Queen, he made
+an immediate inquiry into the matter, and gave expression to the
+displeasure of the Crown by removing from office those who confessed
+that they had signed the objectionable document, or declined to give
+any answer to the queries he had addressed to them. His action on this
+occasion was fully justified by the imperial government, which
+instructed him "to resist to the utmost any attempt that might be made
+to bring about a separation of Canada from the British dominions." But
+while Lord Elgin, as the representative of the Queen, was compelled by
+a stern sense of duty to condemn such acts of infidelity to the
+empire, he did not conceal from himself that there was a great deal in
+the economic conditions of the provinces which demanded an immediate
+remedy before all reason for discontent could disappear. He did not
+fail to point out to Lord Grey that it was necessary to remove the
+causes of the public irritation and uneasiness by the adoption of
+measures calculated to give a stimulus to Canadian industry and
+commerce. "Let me then assure your Lordship," he wrote in November
+1849, "and I speak advisedly in offering this assurance, that the
+dissatisfaction now existing in Canada, whatever may be the forms with
+which it may clothe itself, is due mainly to commercial causes. I do
+not say that there is no discontent on political grounds. Powerful
+individuals and even classes of men are, I am well aware, dissatisfied
+with the conduct of affairs. But I make bold to affirm that so general
+is the belief that, under the present circumstances of our commercial
+condition, the colonists pay a heavy pecuniary fine for their fidelity
+to Great Britain, that nothing but the existence of an unwonted degree
+of political contentment among the masses has prevented the cry for
+annexation from spreading like wildfire through the province." He then
+proceeded again to press upon the consideration of the government the
+necessity of following the removal of the imperial restrictions upon
+navigation and shipping in the colony, by the establishment of a
+reciprocity of trade between the United States and the British North
+American Provinces. The change in the navigation laws took place in
+1849, but it was not possible to obtain larger trade with the United
+States until several years later, as we shall see in a future chapter
+when we come to review the relations between that country and Canada.
+
+Posterity has fully justified the humane, patient and discreet
+constitutional course pursued by Lord Elgin during one of the most
+trying ordeals through which a colonial governor ever passed. He had
+the supreme gratification, however, before he left the province, of
+finding that his policy had met with that success which is its best
+eulogy and justification. Two years after the events of 1849, he was
+able to write to England that he did not believe that "the function of
+the governor-general under constitutional government as the moderator
+between parties, the representative of interests which are common to
+all the inhabitants of the country, as distinct from those that divide
+them into parties, was ever so fully and so frankly recognized." He
+was sure that he could not have achieved such results if he had had
+blood upon his hands. His business was "to humanize, not to harden."
+One of Canada's ablest men--not then in politics--had said to him:
+
+     "Yes, I see it all now, you were right, a thousand times
+     right, though I thought otherwise then. I own that I would
+     have reduced Montreal to ashes before I would have endured
+     half of what you did,"
+
+and he added, "I should have been justified, too." "Yes," answered
+Lord Elgin, "you would have been justified because your course would
+have been perfectly defensible; but it would not have been the best
+course. Mine was a better one." And the result was this, in his own
+words:
+
+     "700,000 French reconciled to England, not because they are
+     getting rebel money; I believe, indeed that no rebels will
+     get a farthing; but because they believe that the British
+     governor is just. 'Yes,' but you may say, 'this is purchased
+     by the alienation of the British.' Far from it, I took the
+     whole blame upon myself; and I will venture to affirm that
+     the Canadian British were never so loyal as they are at this
+     hour; [this was, remember, two years after the burning of
+     Parliament House] and, what is more remarkable still, and
+     more directly traceable to this policy of forbearance,
+     never, since Canada existed, has party spirit been more
+     moderate, and the British and French races on better terms
+     than they are now; and this in spite of the withdrawal of
+     protection, and of the proposal to throw on the colony many
+     charges which the imperial government has hitherto borne."
+
+Canadians at the beginning of the twentieth century may also say as
+Lord Elgin said at the close of this letter, _Magna est Veritas_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+
+THE END OF THE LAFONTAINE-BALDWIN MINISTRY, 1851
+
+The LaFontaine-Baldwin government remained in office until October,
+1851, when it was constitutionally dissolved by the retirement of the
+prime minister soon after the resignation of his colleague from Upper
+Canada, whose ability as a statesman and integrity as a man had given
+such popularity to the cabinet throughout the country. It has been
+well described by historians as "The Great Ministry." During its
+existence Canada obtained a full measure of self-government in all
+provincial affairs. Trade was left perfectly untrammeled by the repeal
+in June, 1849, of the navigation laws, in accordance with the urgent
+appeals of the governor-general to the colonial secretary. The
+immediate results were a stimulus to the whole commerce of the
+province, and an influx of shipping to the ports of the St. Lawrence.
+The full control of the post-office was handed over to the Canadian
+government. This was one of the most popular concessions made to the
+Canadian people, since it gave them opportunities for cheaper
+circulation of letters and newspapers, so necessary in a new and
+sparsely settled country, where the people were separated from each
+other in many districts by long distances. One of the grievances of
+the Canadians before the union had been the high postage imposed on
+letters throughout British North America. The poor settlers were not
+able to pay the three or four shillings, and even more, demanded for
+letters mailed 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 on account of the expense. The management of the
+postal service by imperial officers was in every way most
+unsatisfactory; it was chiefly carried on for the benefit of a few
+persons, and not for the convenience or consolation of the many who
+were always anxious for news of their kin in the "old country." After
+the union there was a little improvement in the system, but it was not
+really administered in the interests of the Canadian people until it
+was finally transferred to the colonial authorities. When this
+desirable change took place, an impulse was soon given to the
+dissemination of letters and newspapers. The government organized a
+post-office department, of which the head was a postmaster-general
+with a seat in the cabinet.
+
+Other important measures made provision for the introduction of the
+decimal system into the provincial currency, the taking of a census
+every ten years, the more satisfactory conduct of parliamentary
+elections and the prevention of corruption, better facilities for the
+administration of justice in the two provinces, the abolition of
+primogeniture with respect to real estate in Upper Canada, and the
+more equitable division of property among the children of an
+intestate, based on the civil law of French Canada and old France.
+
+Education also continued to show marked improvement in accordance with
+the wise policy adopted since 1841. Previous to the union popular
+education had been at a very low ebb, although there were a number of
+efficient private schools in all the provinces where the children of
+the well-to-do classes could be taught classics and many branches of
+knowledge. In Lower Canada not one-tenth of the children of the
+_habitants_ could write, and only one-fifth could read. In Upper
+Canada the schoolmasters as a rule, according to Mrs. Anna
+Jameson,[11] were "ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-paid, or not paid at
+all." In the generality of cases they were either Scotsmen or
+Americans, totally unfit for the positions they filled. As late as
+1833 Americans or anti-British adventurers taught in the greater
+proportion of the schools, where the pupils used United States
+text-books replete with sentiments hostile to England--a wretched
+state of things stopped by legislation only in 1846. Year by year
+after the union improvements were made in the school system, with the
+object of giving every possible educational facility to rich and poor
+alike.
+
+In the course of time elementary education became practically free.
+The success of the system in the progressive province of Upper Canada
+largely rested on the public spirit of the municipalities. It was
+engrafted on the municipal institutions of each county, to which
+provincial aid was given in proportion to the amount raised by local
+assessment. The establishment of normal schools and public libraries
+was one of the useful features of school legislation in those days.
+The merits of the system naturally evoked the sympathy and praise of
+the governor-general, who was deeply interested in the intellectual
+progress of the country. The development of "individual self-reliance
+and local exertion under the superintendence of a central authority
+exercising an influence almost exclusively moral is the ruling
+principle of the system."
+
+Provision was also made for the imparting of religious instruction by
+clergymen of the several religious denominations recognized by law,
+and for the establishment of separate schools for Protestants or Roman
+Catholics whenever there was a necessity for them in any local
+division. On the question of religious instruction Lord Elgin always
+entertained strong opinions. After expressing on one occasion his deep
+gratification at the adoption of legislation which had "enabled Upper
+Canada to place itself in the van among the nations in the important
+work of providing an efficient system of education for the whole
+community," he proceeded to commend the fact that "its foundation was
+laid deep in the framework of our common Christianity." He showed then
+how strong was the influence of the moral sense in his character:
+
+     "While the varying opinions of a mixed religious society are
+     scrupulously respected.... it is confidently expected that
+     every child who attends our common schools shall learn there
+     that he is a being who has an interest in eternity as well
+     as in time; that he has a Father towards whom he stands in a
+     closer and more affecting and more endearing relationship
+     than to any earthly father, and that that Father is in
+     heaven."
+
+But since the expression of these emphatic opinions the tendency of
+legislation in the majority of the provinces--but not in French
+Canada, where the Roman Catholic clergy still largely control their
+own schools--has been to encourage secular and not religious
+education. It would be instructive to learn whether either morality or
+Christianity has been the gainer.
+
+It is only justice to the memory of a man who died many years after he
+saw the full fruition of his labours to say that Upper Canada owes a
+debt of gratitude to the Rev. Egerton Ryerson for his services in
+connection with its public school system. He was far from being a man
+of deep knowledge or having a capacity for expressing his views with
+terseness or clearness. He had also a large fund of personal vanity
+which made him sometimes a busybody when inaction or silence would
+have been wiser for himself. We can only explain his conduct in
+relation to the constitutional controversy between Lord Metcalfe and
+the Liberal party by the supposition that he could not resist the
+blandishments of that eminent nobleman, when consulted by him, but
+allowed his reason to be captured and then gave expression to opinions
+and arguments which showed that he had entirely misunderstood the
+seriousness of the political crisis or the sound practice of the
+parliamentary system which Baldwin, LaFontaine and Howe had so long
+laboured to establish in British North America. The books he wrote can
+never be read with profit or interest. His "History of the United
+Empire Loyalists" is probably the dullest book ever compiled by a
+Canadian, and makes us thankful that he was never able to carry out
+the intention he expressed in a letter to Sir Francis Hincks of
+writing a constitutional history of Canada. But though he made no
+figure in Canadian letters, and was not always correct in his estimate
+of political issues, he succeeded in making for himself a reputation
+for public usefulness in connection with the educational system of
+Upper Canada far beyond that of the majority of his Canadian
+contemporaries.
+
+The desire of the imperial and Canadian governments to bury in
+oblivion the unhappy events of 1837 and 1838 was very emphatically
+impressed by the concession of an amnesty in 1849 to all the persons
+who had been engaged in the rebellions. In the time of Lord Metcalfe,
+Papineau, Nelson, and other rebels long in exile, had been allowed to
+return to Canada either by virtue of special pardons granted by the
+Crown under the great seal, or by the issue of writs of _nolle
+prosequi._ The signal result of the Amnesty Act passed in 1849 by the
+Canadian legislature, in accordance with the recommendation in the
+speech from the throne, was the return of William Lyon Mackenzie, who
+had led an obscure and wretched life in the United States ever since
+his flight from Upper Canada in 1837, and had gained an experience
+which enabled him to value British institutions more highly than those
+of the republic.
+
+An impartial historian must always acknowledge the fact that Mackenzie
+was ill-used by the family compact and English governors during his
+political career before the rebellion, and that he had sound views of
+constitutional government which were well worthy of the serious
+consideration of English statesmen. In this respect he showed more
+intelligence than Papineau, who never understood the true principles
+of parliamentary government, and whose superiority, compared with the
+little, pugnacious Upper Canadian, was the possession of a stately
+presence and a gift of fervid eloquence which was well adapted to
+impress and carry away his impulsive and too easily deceived
+countrymen. If Mackenzie had shown more control of his temper and
+confined himself to such legitimate constitutional agitation as was
+stirred up by a far abler man, Joseph Howe, the father of responsible
+government in the maritime provinces, he would have won a far higher
+place in Canadian history. He was never a statesman; only an agitator
+who failed entirely throughout his passionate career to understand the
+temper of the great body of Liberals--that they were in favour not of
+rebellion but of such a continuous and earnest enunciation of their
+constitutional principles as would win the whole province to their
+opinions and force the imperial government itself to make the reforms
+imperatively demanded in the public interests.[12] But, while we
+cannot recognize in him the qualities of a safe political leader, we
+should do justice to that honesty of purpose and that spirit of
+unselfishness which placed him on a far higher plane than many of
+those men who belonged to the combination derisively called the
+"family compact," and who never showed a willingness to consider other
+interests than their own. Like Papineau, Mackenzie became a member of
+the provincial legislature, but only to give additional evidence that
+he did not possess the capacity for discreet, practical statesmanship
+possessed by Hincks and Baldwin and other able Upper Canadians who
+could in those days devote themselves to the public interests with
+such satisfactory results to the province at large.
+
+It was Baldwin who, while a member of the ministry, succeeded in
+carrying the measure which created the University of Toronto, and
+placed it on the broad basis on which it has rested ever since. His
+measure was the result of an agitation which had commenced before the
+union. Largely through the influence of Dr. Strachan, the first
+Anglican bishop of Upper Canada, Sir Peregrine Maitland, when
+lieutenant-governor, had been induced to grant a charter establishing
+King's College "at or near York" (Toronto), with university
+privileges. Like old King's in Nova Scotia, established before the
+beginning of the century, it was directly under the control of the
+Church of England, since its governing body and its professors had to
+subscribe to its thirty-nine articles. It received an endowment of the
+public lands available for educational purposes in the province, and
+every effort was made to give it a provincial character though
+conducted entirely on sectarian principles. The agitation which
+eventually followed its establishment led to some modifications in its
+character, but, for all that, it remained practically under the
+direction of the Anglican bishop and clergy, and did not obtain the
+support or approval of any dissenters. After the union a large edifice
+was commenced in the city of Toronto, on the site where the
+legislative and government buildings now stand, and an energetic
+movement was made to equip it fully as a university.
+
+When the Draper-Viger ministry was in office, it was proposed to meet
+the growing opposition to the institution by establishing a university
+which should embrace three denominational colleges--King's College,
+Toronto, for the Church of England, Queen's College, Kingston, for the
+Presbyterians, and Victoria College, Cobourg, for the Methodists--but
+the bishop and adherents of the Anglican body strenuously opposed the
+measure, which failed to pass in a House where the Tories were in the
+ascendant. Baldwin had himself previously introduced a bill of a
+similar character as a compromise, but it had failed to meet with any
+support, and when he came into office he saw that he must go much
+further and establish a non-sectarian university if he expected to
+carry any measure on the subject in the legislature. The result was
+the establishment of the University of Toronto, on a strictly
+undenominational foundation. Bishop Strachan was deeply incensed at
+what he regarded as a violation of vested rights of the Church of
+England in the University of King's College, and never failed for
+years to style the provincial institution "the Godless university." In
+this as in other matters he failed to see that the dominant sentiment
+of the country would not sustain any attempt on the part of a single
+denomination to control a college which obtained its chief support
+from public aid. Whilst every tribute must be paid to the zeal,
+energy, and courage of the bishop, we must at the same time recognize
+the fact that his former connection with the family compact and his
+inability to understand the necessity of compromise in educational and
+other matters did much injury to a great church.
+
+He succeeded unfortunately in identifying it with the unpopular and
+aristocratic party, opposed to the extension of popular government and
+the diffusion of cheap education among all classes of people. With
+that indomitable courage which never failed him at a crisis he set to
+work to advance the denomination whose interests he had always at
+heart, and succeeded by appeals to English aid in establishing Trinity
+College, which has always occupied a high position among Canadian
+universities, although for a while it failed to arouse sympathy in the
+public mind, until the feelings which had been evoked in connection
+with the establishment of King's had passed away. An effort is now
+(1901) being made to affiliate it with the same university which the
+bishop had so obstinately and bitterly opposed, in the hope of giving
+it larger opportunities for usefulness. Its complete success of late
+has been impeded by the want of adequate funds to maintain those
+departments of scientific instruction now imperatively demanded in
+modern education. When this affiliation takes place, the friends of
+Trinity, conversant with its history from its beginning, believe that
+the portrait of the old bishop, now hanging on the walls of
+Convocation Hall, should be covered with a dark veil, emblematic of
+the sorrow which he would feel were he to return to earth and see what
+to him would be the desecration of an institution which he built as a
+great remonstrance against the spoliation of the church in 1849.
+
+The LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry also proved itself fully equal to the
+demands of public opinion by its vigorous policy with respect to the
+colonization of the wild lands of the province, the improvement of the
+navigation of the St. Lawrence, and the construction of railways.
+Measures were passed which had the effect of opening up and settling
+large districts by the offer of grants of public land at a nominal
+price and very easy terms of payment. In this way the government
+succeeded in keeping in the country a large number of French Canadians
+who otherwise would have gone to the United States, where the varied
+industries of a very enterprising people have always attracted a large
+number of Canadians of all classes and races.
+
+The canals were at last completed in accordance with the wise policy
+inaugurated after the union by Lord Sydenham, whose commercial
+instincts at once recognized the necessity of giving western trade
+easy access to the ocean by the improvement of the great waterways of
+Canada. It had always been the ambition of the people of Upper Canada
+before the union to obtain a continuous and secure system of
+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--afterwards a member of the
+LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry--and the first vessel passed its locks in
+1829; but it was very badly managed, and the legislature, after having
+aided it from time to time, was eventually obliged to take control of
+it as a provincial work. The Cornwall Canal was also undertaken at an
+early day, but work had to be stopped when it became certain that the
+legislature of Lower Canada, then controlled by Papineau, would not
+respond to the aspirations of the west and improve that portion of the
+St. Lawrence within its provincial jurisdiction.
+
+Governor Haldimand had, from 1779-1782, constructed a very simple
+temporary system of canals to overcome the rapids called the Cascades,
+Cedars and Côteau, and some slight improvements were made in these
+primitive works from year to year until the completion of the
+Beauharnois Canal in 1845. The Lachine Canal was completed, after a
+fashion, in 1828, but nothing was done to give a continuous river
+navigation between Montreal and the west until 1845, when the
+Beauharnois Canal was first opened. The Rideau Canal originated in the
+experiences of the war of 1812-14, which showed the necessity of a
+secure inland communication between Montreal and the country on Lake
+Ontario; but though first constructed for defensive purposes, it had
+for years decided commercial advantages for the people of Upper
+Canada, especially of the Kingston district. The Grenville canal on
+the Ottawa was the natural continuation of this canal, as it ensured
+uninterrupted water communication between Bytown--now the city of
+Ottawa--and Montreal.
+
+The heavy public debt contracted by Upper Canada prior to 1840 had
+been largely accumulated by the efforts of its people to obtain the
+active sympathy and cooperation of the legislature of French Canada,
+where Papineau and his followers seemed averse to the development of
+British interests in the valley of the St. Lawrence. After the union,
+happily for Canada, public men of all parties and races awoke to the
+necessity of a vigorous canal policy, and large sums of money were
+annually expended to give the shipping of the lakes safe and
+continuous navigation to Montreal. At the same time the channel of
+Lake St. Peter between Montreal and Quebec was improved by the harbour
+commissioners of the former city, aided by the government. Before the
+LaFontaine-Baldwin cabinet left office, it was able to see the
+complete success of this thoroughly Canadian or national policy. The
+improvement of this canal system--now the most magnificent in the
+world--has kept pace with the development of the country down to the
+present time.
+
+It was mainly, if not entirely, through the influence of Hincks,
+finance minister in the government, that a vigorous impulse was given
+to railway construction in the province. The first railroad in British
+North America was built in 1837 by the enterprise of Montreal
+capitalists, from La Prairie on the south side of the St. Lawrence as
+far as St. John's on the Richelieu, a distance of only sixteen miles.
+The only railroad in Upper Canada for many years was a horse tramway,
+opened in 1839 between Queenston and Chippewa by the old portage road
+round the falls of Niagara. In 1845 the St. Lawrence and Atlantic
+Railway Company--afterwards a portion of the Grand Trunk
+Railway--obtained a charter for a line to connect with the Atlantic
+and St. Lawrence Railway Company of Portland, in the State of Maine.
+The year 1846 saw the commencement of the Lachine Railway. In 1849 the
+Great Western, the Northern, and the St. Lawrence and Atlantic
+Railways were stimulated by legislation which gave a provincial
+guarantee for the construction of lines not less than seventy-five
+miles in length. In 1851 Hincks succeeded in passing a measure which
+provided for the building of a great trunk line connecting Quebec with
+the western limits of Upper Canada. It was hoped at first that this
+road would join the great military railway contemplated between Quebec
+and Halifax, and then earnestly advocated by Howe and other public men
+of the maritime provinces with the prospect of receiving aid from the
+imperial government. If these railway interests could be combined, an
+Intercolonial railroad would be constructed from the Atlantic seaboard
+to the lakes, and a great stimulus given not merely to the commerce
+but to the national unity of British North America, In case, however,
+this great idea could not be realized, it was the intention of the
+Canadian government to make every possible exertion to induce British
+capitalists to invest their money in the great trunk line by a liberal
+offer of assistance from the provincial exchequer, and the
+municipalities directly interested in its construction.
+
+The practical result of Hincks's policy was the construction of the
+Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, not by public aid as originally
+proposed, but by British capitalists. The greater inter-colonial
+scheme failed in consequence of the conflict of rival routes in the
+maritime provinces, and the determination of the British government to
+give its assistance only to a road that would be constructed at a long
+distance from the United States frontier, and consequently available
+for military and defensive purposes--in fact such a road as was
+actually built after the confederation of the provinces with the aid
+of an imperial guarantee. The history of the negotiations between the
+Canadian government and the maritime provinces with respect to the
+Intercolonial scheme is exceedingly complicated. An angry controversy
+arose between Hincks and Howe; the latter always accused the former of
+a breach of faith, and of having been influenced by a desire to
+promote the interests of the capitalists concerned in the Grand Trunk
+without reference to those of the maritime provinces. Be that as it
+may, we know that Hincks left the wordy politicians of Nova Scotia and
+New Brunswick to quarrel over rival routes, and, as we shall see
+later, went ahead with the Grand Trunk, and had it successfully
+completed many years before the first sod on the Intercolonial route
+was turned.
+
+In addition to these claims of the LaFontaine-Baldwin government to be
+considered "a great ministry," there is the fact that, through the
+financial ability of Hincks, the credit of the province steadily
+advanced, and it was at last possible to borrow money in the London
+market on very favourable terms. The government entered heartily into
+the policy of Lord Elgin with respect to reciprocity with the United
+States, and the encouragement of trade between the different provinces
+of British North America. It was, however, unable to dispose of two
+great questions which had long agitated the province--the abolition of
+the seigniorial tenure, which was antagonistic to settlement and
+colonization, and the secularization of the clergy reserves, granted
+to the Protestant clergy by the Constitutional Act of 1791. These
+questions will be reviewed at some length in later chapters, and all
+that it is necessary to say here is that, while the LaFontaine-Baldwin
+cabinet supported preliminary steps that were taken in the legislature
+for the purpose of bringing about a settlement of these vexatious
+subjects, it never showed any earnest desire to take them up as parts
+of its ministerial policy, and remove them from political controversy.
+
+Indeed it is clear that LaFontaine's conservative instincts, which
+became stronger with age and experience of political conditions,
+forced him to proceed very slowly and cautiously with respect to a
+movement that would interfere with a tenure so deeply engrafted in the
+social and economic structure of his own province, while as a Roman
+Catholic he was at heart always doubtful of the justice of diverting
+to secular purposes those lands which had been granted by Great
+Britain for the support of a Protestant clergy. Baldwin was also slow
+to make up his mind as to the proper disposition of the reserves, and
+certainly weakened himself in his own province by his reluctance to
+express himself distinctly with respect to a land question which had
+been so long a grievance and a subject of earnest agitation among the
+men who supported him in and out of the legislature. Indeed when he
+presented himself for the last time before his constituents in 1857,
+he was emphatically attacked on the hustings as an opponent of the
+secularization of the reserves for refusing to give a distinct pledge
+as to the course he would take on the question. This fact, taken in
+connection with his previous utterances in the legislature, certainly
+gives force to the opinion which has been more than once expressed by
+Canadian historians that he was not prepared, any more than LaFontaine
+himself, to divert funds given for an express purpose to one of an
+entirely different character. Under these circumstances it is easy to
+come to the conclusion that the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry was not
+willing at any time to make these two questions parts of its
+policy--questions on which it was ready to stand or fall as a
+government.
+
+The first step towards the breaking up of the ministry was the
+resignation of Baldwin following upon the support given by a majority
+of the Reformers in Upper Canada to a notion presented by William Lyon
+Mackenzie for the abolition of the court of chancery and the transfer
+of its functions to the courts of common law. The motion was voted
+down in the House, but Baldwin was a believer in the doctrine that a
+minister from a particular province should receive the confidence and
+support of the majority of its representatives in cases where a
+measure affected its interests exclusively. He had taken some pride in
+the passage of the act which reorganized the court, reformed old
+abuses in its practice, and made it, as he was convinced, useful in
+litigation; but when he found that his efforts in this direction were
+condemned by the votes of the very men who should have supported him
+in the province affected by the measure, he promptly offered his
+resignation, which was accepted with great reluctance not only by
+LaFontaine but by Lord Elgin, who had learned to admire and respect
+this upright, unselfish Canadian statesman. A few months later he was
+defeated at an election in one of the ridings of York by an unknown
+man, largely on account of his attitude on the question of the clergy
+reserves. He never again offered himself for parliament, but lived in
+complete retirement in Toronto, where he died in 1858. Then the people
+whom he had so long faithfully served, after years of neglect, became
+conscious that a true patriot had passed away.
+
+LaFontaine placed his resignation in the hands of the
+governor-general, who accepted it with regret. No doubt the former had
+deeply felt the loss of his able colleague, and was alive to the
+growing belief among the Liberal politicians of Upper Canada that the
+government was not proceeding fast enough in carrying out the reforms
+which they considered necessary. LaFontaine had become a Conservative
+as is usual with men after some experience of the responsibilities of
+public administration, and probably felt that he had better retire
+before he lost his influence with his party, and before the elements
+of disintegration that were forming within it had fully developed.
+After his retirement he returned to the practice of law, and in 1853
+he became chief justice of the court of appeal of Lower Canada on the
+death of Sir James Stuart. At the same time he received from the Crown
+the honour of a baronetcy, which was also conferred on the chief
+justice of Upper Canada, Sir John Beverley Robinson.
+
+Political historians justly place LaFontaine in the first rank of
+Canadian statesmen on account of his extensive knowledge, his sound
+judgment, his breadth of view, his firmness in political crises, and
+above all his desire to promote the best interests of his countrymen
+on those principles of compromise and conciliation which alone can
+bind together the distinct nationalities and creeds of a country
+peopled like Canada. As a judge he was dignified, learned and
+impartial. His judicial decisions were distinguished by the same
+lucidity which was conspicuous in his parliamentary addresses. He died
+ten years later than the great Upper Canadian, whose honoured name
+must be always associated with his own in the annals of a memorable
+epoch, when the principles of responsible government were at last,
+after years of perplexity and trouble, carried out in their entirety,
+and when the French Canadians had come to recognize as a truth that
+under no other system would it have been possible for them to obtain
+that influence in the public councils to which they were fully
+entitled, or to reconcile and unite the diverse interests of a great
+province, divided by the Ottawa river into two sections, the one
+French and Roman Catholic, and the other English and Protestant.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+
+THE HINCKS-MORIN MINISTRY.
+
+When LaFontaine resigned the premiership the ministry was dissolved
+and it was necessary for the governor-general to choose his successor.
+After the retirement of Baldwin, Hincks and his colleagues from Upper
+Canada were induced to remain in the cabinet and the latter became the
+leader in that province. He was endowed with great natural shrewdness,
+was deeply versed in financial and commercial matters, had a complete
+comprehension of the material conditions of the province, and
+recognized the necessity of rapid railway construction if the people
+were to hold their own against the competition of their very energetic
+neighbours to the south. His ideas of trade, we can well believe,
+recommended themselves to Lord Elgin, who saw in him the very man he
+needed to help him in his favourite scheme of bringing about
+reciprocity with the United States. At the same time he was now the
+most prominent man in the Liberal party so long led by Baldwin and
+LaFontaine, and the governor-general very properly called upon him to
+reconstruct the ministry. He assumed the responsibility and formed the
+government known in the political history of Canada as the
+Hincks-Morin ministry; but before we consider its _personnel_ and
+review its measures, it is necessary to recall the condition of
+political parties at the time it came into power.
+
+During the years Baldwin and LaFontaine were in office, the politics
+of the province were in the process of changes which eventually led to
+important results in the state of parties. The _Parti Rouge_ was
+formed in Lower Canada out of the extreme democratic element of the
+people by Papineau, who, throughout his parliamentary career since his
+return from exile, showed the most determined opposition to
+LaFontaine, whose measures were always distinguished by a spirit of
+conservatism, decidedly congenial to the dominant classes in French
+Canada where the civil and religious institutions of the country had
+much to fear from the promulgation of republican principles.
+
+The new party was composed chiefly of young Frenchmen, then in the
+first stage of their political growth--notably A.A. Dorion, J.B.E.
+Dorion (_l'enfant terrible_), R. Doutre, Dessaules, Labrèche, Viger,
+and Laflamme; L.H. Holton, and a very few men of British descent were
+also associated with the party from its commencement. Its organ was
+_L'Avenir_ of Montreal, in which were constantly appearing violent
+diatribes and fervid appeals to national prejudice, always peculiar to
+French Canadian journalism. It commenced with a programme in which it
+advocated universal suffrage, the abolition of property qualification
+for members of the legislature, the repeal of the union, the abolition
+of tithes, a republican form of government, and even, in a moment of
+extreme political aberration, annexation to the United States. It was
+a feeble imitation of the red republicanism of the French revolution,
+and gave positive evidences of the inspiration of the hero of the
+fight at St. Denis in 1837. Its platform was pervaded not only by
+hatred of British institutions, but with contempt for the clergy and
+religion generally. Its revolutionary principles were at once
+repudiated by the great mass of French Canadians and for years it had
+but a feeble existence. It was only when its leading spirits
+reconstructed their platform and struck out its most objectionable
+planks, that it became something of a factor in practical Canadian
+politics. In 1851 it was still insignificant numerically in the
+legislature, and could not affect the fortunes of the Liberal party in
+Lower Canada then distinguished by the ability of A.N. Morin, P.J.O.
+Chauveau, R.E. Caron, E.P. Taché, and L.P. Drummond. The recognized
+leader of this dominant party was Morin, whose versatile knowledge,
+lucidity of style, and charm of manner gave him much strength in
+parliament. His influence, however, as I have already said, was too
+often weakened by an absence of energy and of the power to lead at
+national or political crises.
+
+Parties in Upper Canada also showed the signs of change. The old Tory
+party had been gradually modifying its opinions under the influence of
+responsible government, which showed its wisest members that ideas
+that prevailed before the union had no place under the new,
+progressive order of things. This party, nominally led by Sir Allan
+MacNab, that staunch old loyalist, now called itself Conservative, and
+was quite ready, in fact anxious, to forget the part it took in
+connection with the rebellion-losses legislation, and to win that
+support in French Canada without which it could not expect to obtain
+office. The ablest man in its councils was already John Alexander
+Macdonald, whose political sagacity and keenness to seize political
+advantages for the advancement of his party, were giving him the lead
+among the Conservatives. The Liberals had shown signs of
+disintegration ever since the formation of the "Clear Grits," whose
+most conspicuous members were Peter Perry, the founder of the Liberal
+party in Upper Canada before the union; William McDougall, an eloquent
+young lawyer and journalist; Malcolm Cameron, who had been assistant
+commissioner of public works in the LaFontaine-Baldwin government; Dr.
+John Rolph, one of the leaders of the movement that ended in the
+rebellion of 1837; Caleb Hopkins, a western farmer of considerable
+energy and natural ability; David Christie, a well-known
+agriculturist; and John Leslie, the proprietor of the Toronto
+_Examiner_, the chief organ of the new party. It was organized as a
+remonstrance against what many men in the old Liberal party regarded
+as the inertness of their leaders to carry out changes considered
+necessary in the political interests of the country. Its very name was
+a proof that its leaders believed there should be no reservation in
+the opinion held by their party--that there must be no alloy or
+foreign metal in their political coinage, but it must be clear Grit.
+Its platform embraced many of the cardinal principles of the original
+Reform or Liberal party, but it also advocated such radical changes as
+the application of the elective principle to all classes of officials
+(including the governor-general), universal suffrage, vote by ballot,
+biennial parliaments, the abolition of the courts of chancery and
+common pleas, free trade and direct taxation.
+
+The Toronto _Globe_, which was for a short time the principal exponent
+of ministerial views, declared that many of the doctrines enunciated
+by the Clear Grits "embody the whole difference between a republican
+form of government and the limited monarchy of Great Britain." _The
+Globe_ was edited by George Brown, a Scotsman by birth, who came with
+his father in his youth to the western province and entered into
+journalism, in which he attained eventually signal success by his
+great intellectual force and tenacity of purpose. His support of the
+LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry gradually dropped from a moderate
+enthusiasm to a positive coolness, from its failure to carry out the
+principles urged by _The Globe_--especially the secularization of the
+clergy reserves. Then he commenced to raise the cry of French
+domination and to attack the religion and special institutions of
+French Canada with such virulence that at last he became "a
+governmental impossibility," so far as the influence of that province
+was concerned. He supported the Clear Grits in the end, and became
+their recognized leader when they gathered to themselves all the
+discontented and radical elements of the Liberal party which had for
+some years been gradually splitting into fragments. The power of the
+Clear Grits was first shown in 1851, when William Lyon Mackenzie
+succeeded in obtaining a majority of Reformers in support of his
+motion for the abolition of the court of chancery, and forced the
+retirement of Baldwin, whose conservatism had gradually brought him
+into antagonism with the extremists of his old party.
+
+Although relatively small in numbers in 1851, the Clear Grits had the
+ability to do much mischief, and Hincks at once recognized the
+expediency of making concessions to their leaders before they
+demoralized or ruined the Liberal party in the west. Accordingly, he
+invited Dr. Rolph and Malcolm Cameron to take positions in the new
+ministry. They consented on condition that the secularization of the
+clergy reserves would be a part of the ministerial policy. Hincks then
+presented the following names to the governor-general:
+
+     Upper Canada.--Hon. F. Hincks, inspector-general; Hon. W.B.
+     Richards, attorney-general of Upper Canada; Hon. Malcolm
+     Cameron, president of the executive council; Hon. John
+     Rolph, commissioner of crown lands; Hon. James Morris,
+     postmaster-general.
+
+Lower Canada.--Hon. A.N. Morin, provincial secretary, Hon. L.P.
+Drummond, attorney-general of Lower Canada; Hon. John Young,
+commissioner of public works; Hon. R.E. Caron, president of
+legislative council; Hon. E.P. Taché, receiver-general.
+
+Later, Mr. Chauveau and Mr. John Ross were appointed
+solicitors-general for Lower and Upper Canada, without seats in the
+cabinet.
+
+Parliament was dissolved in November, when it had completed its
+constitutional term of four years, and the result of the elections was
+the triumph of the new ministry. It obtained a large majority in Lower
+Canada, and only a feeble support in Upper Canada. The most notable
+acquisition to parliament was George Brown, who had been defeated
+previously in a bye-election of the same year by William Lyon
+Mackenzie, chiefly on account of his being most obnoxious to the Roman
+Catholic voters. He was assuming to be the Protestant champion in
+journalism, and had made a violent attack on the Roman Catholic faith
+on the occasion of the appointment of Cardinal Wiseman as Archbishop
+of Westminster, an act denounced by extreme Protestants throughout the
+British empire as an unconstitutional and dangerous interference by
+the Pope with the dearest rights of Protestant England. As soon as
+Brown entered the legislature he defined his political position by
+declaring that, while he saw much to condemn in the formation of the
+ministry and was dissatisfied with Hincks's explanations, he preferred
+giving it for the time being his support rather than seeing the
+government handed over to the Conservatives. As a matter of fact, he
+soon became the most dangerous adversary that the government had to
+meet. His style of speaking--full of facts and bitterness--and his
+control of an ably conducted and widely circulated newspaper made him
+a force in and out of parliament. His aim was obviously to break up
+the new ministry, and possibly to ensure the formation of some new
+combination in which his own ambition might be satisfied. As we shall
+shortly see, his schemes failed chiefly through the more skilful
+strategy of the man who was always his rival--his successful
+rival--John A. Macdonald.
+
+During its existence the Hincks-Morin ministry was distinguished by
+its energetic policy for the promotion of railway, maritime and
+commercial enterprises. It took the first steps to stimulate the
+establishment of a line of Atlantic steamers by the offer of a
+considerable subsidy for the carriage of mails between Canada and
+Great Britain. The first contract was made with a Liverpool firm,
+McKean, McLarty & Co., but the service was not satisfactorily
+performed, owing, probably--according to Hincks--to the war with
+Russia, and it was necessary to make a new arrangement with the
+Messrs. Allan, which has continued, with some modification, until the
+present time.
+
+The negotiations for the construction of an intercolonial railway
+having failed for the reasons previously stated, (p. 100), Hincks made
+successful applications to English capitalists for the construction of
+the great road always known as the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada. It
+obtained a charter authorizing it to consolidate the lines from Quebec
+to Richmond, from Quebec to Rivière du Loup, and from Toronto to
+Montreal, which had received a guarantee of $3,000 a mile in
+accordance with the law passed in 1851. It also had power to build the
+Victoria bridge across the St. Lawrence at Montreal, and lease the
+American line to Portland. By 1860, this great national highway was
+completed from Rivière du Loup on the lower St. Lawrence as far as
+Sarnia and Windsor on the western lakes. Its early history was
+notorious for much jobbery, and the English shareholders lost the
+greater part of the money which they invested in this Canadian
+undertaking.[13] It cost the province from first to last upwards of
+$16,000,000 but it was, on the whole, money expended in the interests
+of the country, whose internal development would have been very
+greatly retarded in the absence of rapid means of transit between east
+and west. The government also gave liberal aid to the Great Western
+Railway, which extended from the Niagara river to Hamilton, London and
+Windsor, and to the Northern road, which extended north from Toronto,
+both of which, many years later, became parts of the Grand Trunk
+system.
+
+In accordance with its general progressive policy, the Hincks-Morin
+ministry passed through the legislature an act empowering
+municipalities in Upper Canada, after the observance of certain
+formalities, to borrow money for the building of railways by the issue
+of municipal debentures guaranteed by the provincial government. Under
+this law a number of municipalities borrowed large sums to assist
+railways and involved themselves so heavily in debt that the province
+was ultimately obliged to come to their assistance and assume their
+obligations. For years after the passage of this measure, Lower Canada
+received the same privileges, but the people of that province were
+never carried away by the enthusiasm of the west and never burdened
+themselves with debts which they were unable to pay. The law, however,
+gave a decided impulse at the outset to railway enterprise in Upper
+Canada, and would have been a positive public advantage had it been
+carried out with some degree of caution.
+
+The government established a department of agriculture to which were
+given control of the taking of a decennial census, the encouragement
+of immigration, the collection of agricultural and other statistics,
+the establishment of model farms and agricultural schools, the holding
+of annual exhibitions and fairs, and other matters calculated to
+encourage the cultivation of the soil in both sections of the
+province. Malcolm Cameron became its first minister in connection with
+his nominal duties as president of the executive council--a position
+which he had accepted only on condition that it was accompanied by
+some more active connection with the administration of public affairs.
+
+For three sessions the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry had made vain
+efforts to pass a law increasing the representation of the two
+provinces to one hundred and thirty or sixty-five members for each
+section. As already stated the Union Act required that such a measure
+should receive a majority of two-thirds in each branch of the
+legislature. It would have become law on two occasions had it not been
+for the factious opposition of Papineau, whose one vote would have
+given the majority constitutionally necessary. When it was again
+presented in 1853 by Mr. Morin, it received the bitter opposition of
+Mr. Brown, who was now formulating the doctrine of representation by
+population which afterwards became so important a factor in provincial
+politics that it divided west from east, and made government
+practically impossible until a federal union of the British North
+American provinces was brought about as the only feasible solution of
+the serious political and sectional difficulties under which Canada
+was suffering. A number of prominent Conservatives, including Mr. John
+A. Macdonald, were also unfavourable to the measure on the ground that
+the population of Upper Canada, which was steadily increasing over
+that of Lower Canada, should be equitably considered in any
+readjustment of the provincial representation. The French Canadians,
+who had been forced to come into the union hi 1841 with the same
+representation as Upper Canada with its much smaller population, were
+now unwilling to disturb the equality originally fixed while agreeing
+to an increase in the number of representatives from each section.
+The bill, which became law in 1853, was entirely in harmony with
+the views entertained by Lord Elgin when he first took office as
+governor-general of Canada. In 1847 he gave his opinion to the
+colonial secretary that "the comparatively small number of members
+of which the popular bodies who determine the fate of provincial
+administrations" consisted was "unfavourable to the existence of a
+high order of principle and feeling among official personages." When a
+defection of two or three individuals from a majority of ten or so put
+an administration in peril, "the perpetual patchwork and trafficking
+to secure this vote and that (not to mention other evils) so engrosses
+the time and thoughts of ministers that they have not leisure for
+matters of greater moment" He clearly saw into the methods by which
+his first unstable ministry, which had its origin in Lord Metcalfe's
+time, was alone able to keep its feeble majority. "It must be
+remembered," he wrote in 1847, "that it is only of late that the
+popular assemblies in this part of the world have acquired the right
+of determining who shall govern them--of insisting, as we phrase it,
+that the administration of affairs shall be conducted by persons
+enjoying their confidence. It is not wonderful that a privilege of
+this kind should be exercised at first with some degree of
+recklessness, and that while no great principles of policy are at
+stake, methods of a more questionable character for winning and
+retaining the confidence of these arbiters of destiny should be
+resorted to."
+
+While the Hincks government was in office, the Canadian legislature
+received power from the imperial authorities--as I shall show
+later--to settle the question of the clergy reserves on condition that
+protection should be given to those members of the clergy who had been
+beneficiaries under the Constitutional Act of 1791. A measure was
+passed for the settlement of the seigniorial tenure question on an
+equitable basis, but it was defeated in the legislative council by a
+large majority amongst which we see the names of several seigneurs
+directly interested in the measure. It was not fully discussed in that
+chamber on the ground that members from Upper Canada had not had a
+sufficient opportunity of studying the details of the proposed
+settlement and of coming to a just conclusion as to its merits. The
+action of the council under these circumstances was severely
+criticized, and gave a stimulus to the movement that had been steadily
+going on for years among radical reformers of both provinces in favour
+of an elective body.
+
+The result was that in 1854 the British parliament repealed the
+clauses of the Union Act of 1840 with respect to the upper House, and
+gave full power to the Canadian legislature to make such changes as it
+might deem expedient--another concession to the principle of local
+self-government. It was not, however, until 1856, that the legislature
+passed a bill giving effect to the intentions of the imperial law, and
+the first elections were held for the council. Lord Elgin was always
+favourable to this constitutional change. "The position of the second
+chamber of our body politic"--I quote from a despatch of March,
+1853--"is at present wholly unsatisfactory. The principle of election
+must be introduced in order to give to it the influence which it ought
+to possess, and that principle must be so applied as to admit of the
+working of parliamentary government (which I for one am certainly not
+prepared to abandon for the American system) with two elective
+chambers... When our two legislative bodies shall have been placed on
+this improved footing, a greater stability will have been imparted to
+our constitution, and a greater strength." Lord Elgin's view was
+adopted and the change was made.
+
+It is interesting to note that so distinguished a statesman as Lord
+Derby, who had been colonial secretary in a previous administration,
+had only gloomy forebodings of the effects of this elective system
+applied to the upper House. He believed that the dream that he had of
+seeing the colonies form eventually "a monarchical government,
+presided over by one nearly and closely allied to the present royal
+family," would be proved quite illusory by the legislation in
+question. "Nothing," he added, "like a free and regulated monarchy
+could exist for a single moment under such a constitution as that
+which is now proposed for Canada. From the moment that you pass this
+constitution, the progress must be rapidly towards republicanism, if
+anything could be more really republican than this bill." As a matter
+of fact a very few years later than the utterance of these gloomy
+words, Canada and the other provinces of British North America entered
+into a confederation "with a constitution similar in principle to that
+of the United Kingdom"--to quote words in the preamble of the Act of
+Union--and with a parliament of which the House of Commons is alone
+elective. More than that, Lord Derby's dream has been in a measure
+realized and Canada has seen at the head of her executive a
+governor-general--the present Duke of Argyle--"nearly and closely
+allied to the present royal family" of England, by his marriage to the
+Princess Louise, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, who
+accompanied her husband to Ottawa.
+
+One remarkable feature of the Imperial Act dealing with this question
+of the council, was the introduction of a clause which gave authority
+to a mere majority of the members of the two Houses of the legislature
+to increase the representation, and consequently removed that
+safeguard to French Canada which required a two-thirds vote in each
+branch. As the legislature had never passed an address or otherwise
+expressed itself in favour of such an amendment of the Union Act,
+there was always a mystery as to the way it was brought about. Georges
+Étienne Cartier always declared that Papineau was indirectly
+responsible for this imperial legislation. As already stated, the
+leader of the Rouges had voted against the bill increasing the
+representation, and had declaimed like others against the injustice
+which the clause in the Union Act had originally done to French
+Canada. "This fact," said Cartier, "was known in England, and when
+leave was given to elect legislative councillors, the amendment
+complained of was made at the same time. It may be said then, that if
+Papineau had not systematically opposed the increase of
+representation, the change in question would have never been thought
+of in England." Hincks, however, was attacked by the French Canadian
+historian, Garneau, for having suggested the amendment while in
+England in 1854. This, however, he denied most emphatically in a
+pamphlet which he wrote at a later time when he was no longer in
+public life. He placed the responsibility on John Boulton, who called
+himself an independent Liberal and who was in England at the same time
+as Hincks, and probably got the ear of the colonial secretary or one
+of his subordinates in the colonial office, and induced him to
+introduce the amendment which passed without notice in a House where
+very little attention was given, as a rule, to purely colonial
+questions.
+
+In 1853 Lord Elgin visited England, where he received unqualified
+praise for his able administration of Canadian affairs. It was on this
+occasion that Mr. Buchanan, then minister of the United States in
+London, and afterwards a president of the Republic, paid this tribute
+to the governor-general at a public dinner given in his honour.
+
+"Lord Elgin," he said, "has solved one of the most difficult problems
+of statesmanship. He has been able, successfully and satisfactorily,
+to administer, amidst many difficulties, a colonial government over a
+free people. This is an easy task where the commands of a despot are
+law to his obedient servants, but not so in a colony where the people
+feel that they possess the rights and privileges of native-born
+Britons. Under his enlightened government, Her Majesty's North
+American provinces have realized the blessings of a wise, prudent and
+prosperous administration, and we of the neighbouring nation, though
+jealous of our rights, have reason to be abundantly satisfied with his
+just and friendly conduct towards ourselves. He has known how to
+reconcile his devotion to Her Majesty's service with a proper regard
+to the rights and interests of a kindred and neighbouring people.
+Would to heaven we had such governors-general in all the European
+colonies in the vicinity of the United States!"
+
+On his return from England Lord Elgin made a visit to Washington and
+succeeded in negotiating the reciprocity treaty which he had always at
+heart. It was not, however, until a change of government occurred in
+Canada, that the legislature was able to give its ratification to this
+important measure. This subject is of such importance that it will be
+fully considered in a separate chapter on the relations between Canada
+and the United States during Lord Elgin's term of office.
+
+In 1854 the Roman Catholic inhabitants of Quebec and Montreal were
+deeply excited by the lectures of a former monk, Father Gavazzi, who
+had become a Protestant and professed to expose the errors of the
+faith to which he once belonged. Much rioting took place in both
+cities, and blood was shed in Montreal, where the troops, which had
+been called out, suddenly fired on the mob. Mr. Wilson, the mayor, who
+was a Roman Catholic, was accused of having given the order to fire,
+but he always denied the charge, and Hincks, in his "Reminiscences,"
+expresses his conviction that he was not responsible. He was persuaded
+that "the firing was quite accidental, one man having discharged his
+piece from misapprehension, and others having followed his example
+until the officers threw themselves in front, and struck up the
+firelocks." Be this as it may, the Clear Grits in the West promptly
+made use of this incident to attack the government on the ground that
+it had failed to make a full investigation into the circumstances of
+the riot. As a matter of fact, according to Hincks, the government did
+take immediate steps to call the attention of the military commandant
+to the matter, and the result was a court of inquiry which ended in
+the removal of the regiment--then only a few days in Canada--to
+Bermuda for having shown "a want of discipline." Brown inveighed very
+bitterly against Hincks and his colleagues, as subject to Roman
+Catholic domination in French Canada, and found this unfortunate
+affair extremely useful in his systematic efforts to destroy the
+government, to which at no time had he been at all favourable.
+
+Several changes took place during 1853 in the _personnel_ of the
+ministry, which met parliament on June 13th, with the following
+members holding portfolios:
+
+     Hon. Messrs. Hincks, premier and inspector-general; John
+     Ross, formerly solicitor-general west in place of Richards,
+     elevated to the bench, attorney-general for Upper Canada;
+     James Morris, president of the legislative council, in place
+     of Mr. Caron, now a judge; John Rolph, president of the
+     executive council; Malcolm Cameron, postmaster-general; A.N.
+     Morin, commissioner of crown lands; L.P. Drummond,
+     attorney-general for Lower Canada; Mr. Chauveau, formerly
+     solicitor east, provincial secretary; J. Chabot,
+     commissioner of public works in place of John Young,
+     resigned on account of differences on commercial questions;
+     and E.P. Taché, receiver-general. Dunbar Ross became
+     solicitor-general east, and Joseph C. Morrison,
+     solicitor-general west.
+
+The government had decided to have a short session, pass a few
+necessary measures and then appeal to the country. The secularization
+of the reserves, and the question of the seigniorial tenure were not
+to be taken up until the people had given an expression of opinion as
+to the ministerial policy generally. As soon as the legislature met,
+Cauchon, already prominent in public life, proposed an amendment to
+the address, expressing regret that the government had no intention
+"to submit immediately a measure to settle the question of the
+seigniorial tenure." Then Sicotte, who had not long before declined to
+enter the ministry, moved to add the words "and one for the
+secularization of the clergy reserves." These two amendments were
+carried by a majority of thirteen in a total division of seventy-one
+votes. While the French Liberals continued to support Morin, all the
+Upper Canadian opponents of the government, Conservatives and Clear
+Grits, united with a number of Hincks's former supporters and Rouges
+in Lower Canada to bring about this ministerial defeat. The government
+accordingly was obliged either to resign or ask the governor-general
+for a dissolution. It concluded to adhere to its original
+determination, and go at once to the country. The governor-general
+consented to prorogue the legislature with a view to an immediate
+appeal to the electors. When the Usher of the Black Rod appeared at
+the door of the assembly chamber, to ask the attendance of the Commons
+in the legislative council, a scene of great excitement occurred.
+William Lyon Mackenzie made one of his vituperative attacks on the
+government, and was followed by John A. Macdonald, who declared its
+course to be most unconstitutional. When at last the messenger from
+the governor-general was admitted by order of the speaker, the House
+proceeded to the council chamber, where members were electrified by
+another extraordinary incident. The speaker of the assembly was John
+Sandfield Macdonald, an able Scotch Canadian, in whose character
+there was a spirit of vindictiveness, which always asserted itself
+when he received a positive or fancied injury. He had been a
+solicitor-general of Upper Canada in the LaFontaine-Baldwin government,
+and had never forgiven Hincks for not having promoted him to the
+attorney-generalship, instead of W.B. Richards, afterwards an eminent
+judge of the old province of Canada, and first chief justice of
+the Supreme Court of the Dominion. Hincks had offered him the
+commissionership of crown lands in the ministry, but he refused to
+accept any office except the one on which his ambition was fixed.
+Subsequently, however, he was induced by his friends to take the
+speakership of the legislative assembly, but he had never forgiven
+what he considered a slight at the hands of the prime minister in
+1851. Accordingly, when he appeared at the Bar of the Council in 1853,
+he made an attempt to pay off this old score. As soon as he had made
+his bow to the governor-general seated on the throne, Macdonald
+proceeded to read the following speech, which had been carefully
+prepared for the occasion in the two languages:
+
+     "May it please your Excellency: It has been the immemorial
+     custom of the speaker of the Commons' House of Parliament to
+     communicate to the throne the general result of the
+     deliberations of the assembly upon the principal objects
+     which have employed the attention of parliament during the
+     period of their labours. It is not now part of my duty thus
+     to address your Excellency, inasmuch as there has been no
+     act passed or judgment of parliament obtained since we were
+     honoured by your Excellency's announcement of the cause of
+     summoning of parliament by your gracious speech from the
+     throne. The passing of an act through its several stages,
+     according to the law and custom of parliament (solemnly
+     declared applicable to the parliamentary proceedings of this
+     province, by a decision of the legislative assembly of
+     1841), is held to be necessary to constitute a session of
+     parliament. This we have been unable to accomplish, owing to
+     the command which your Excellency has laid upon us to meet
+     you this day for the purpose of prorogation. At the same
+     time I feel called upon to assure your Excellency, on the
+     part of Her Majesty's faithful Commons, that it is not from
+     any want of respect to yourself, or to the August personage
+     whom you represent in these provinces, that no answer has
+     been returned by the legislative assembly to your gracious
+     speech from the throne."
+
+It is said by those who were present on this interesting occasion that
+His Excellency was the most astonished person in the council chamber.
+Mr. Fennings Taylor, the deputy clerk with a seat at the table, tells
+us in a sketch of Macdonald that Lord Elgin's face clearly marked
+"deep displeasure and annoyance when listening to the speaker's
+address," and that he gave "a motion of angry impatience when he found
+himself obliged to listen to the repetition in French of the reproof
+which had evidently galled him in English." This incident was in some
+respects without parallel in Canadian parliamentary history. There was
+a practice, now obsolete in Canada as in England, for the speaker, on
+presenting the supply or appropriation bill to the governor-general
+for the royal assent, to deliver a short address directing attention
+to the principal measures passed during the session about to be
+closed.[14] This practice grew up in days when there were no
+responsible ministers who would be the only constitutional channel of
+communication between the Crown and the assembly. The speaker was
+privileged, and could be instructed as "the mouth-piece" of the House,
+to lay before the representative of the Sovereign an expression of
+opinion on urgent questions of the day. On this occasion Mr. Macdonald
+was influenced entirely by personal spite, and made an unwarrantable
+use of an old custom which was never intended, and could not be
+constitutionally used, to insult the representative of the Crown, even
+by inference. Mr. Macdonald was not even correct in his interpretation
+of the constitution, when he positively declared that an act was
+necessary to constitute a session. The Crown makes a session by
+summoning and opening parliament, and it is always a royal prerogative
+to prorogue or dissolve it at its pleasure even before a single act
+has passed the two Houses. Such a scene could never have occurred with
+the better understanding of the duties of the speaker and of the
+responsibilities of ministers advising the Crown that has grown up
+under a more thorough study of the practice and usages of parliament,
+and of the principles of responsible government. This little political
+episode is now chiefly interesting as giving an insight into one phase
+of the character of a public man, who afterwards won a high position
+in the parliamentary and political life of Canada before and after the
+confederation of 1867, not by the display of a high order of
+statesmanship, but by the exercise of his tenacity of purpose, and by
+reason of his reputation for a spiteful disposition which made him
+feared by friend and foe.
+
+Immediately after the prorogation, parliament was dissolved and the
+Hincks-Morin ministry presented itself to the people, who were now
+called upon to elect a larger number of representatives under the act
+passed in 1853. Of the constitutionality of the course pursued by the
+government in this political crisis, there can now be no doubt. In the
+first place it was fully entitled to demand a public judgment on its
+general policy, especially in view of the fact, within the knowledge
+of all persons, that the opposition in the assembly was composed of
+discordant elements, only temporarily brought together by the hope of
+breaking up the government. In the next place it felt that it could
+not be justified by sound constitutional usage in asking a parliament
+in which the people were now imperfectly represented, to settle
+definitely such important questions as the clergy reserves and the
+seigniorial tenure. Lord Elgin had himself no doubt of the necessity
+for obtaining a clear verdict from the people by means of "the more
+perfect system of representation" provided by law. In the debate on
+the Representation Bill in 1853, John A. Macdonald did not hesitate to
+state emphatically that the House should be governed by English
+precedents in the position in which it would soon be placed by the
+passage of this measure. "Look," he said, "at the Reform Bill in
+England. That was passed by a parliament that had been elected only
+one year before, and the moment it was passed, Lord John Russell
+affirmed that the House could not continue after it had declared that
+the country was not properly represented. How can we legislate on the
+clergy reserves until another House is elected, if this bill passes? A
+great question like this cannot be left to be decided by a mere
+accidental majority. We can legislate upon no great question after we
+have ourselves declared that we do not represent the country. Do these
+gentlemen opposite mean to say that they will legislate on a question
+affecting the rights of people yet unborn, with the fag-end of a
+parliament dishonoured by its own confessions of incapacity?" Hincks
+in his "Reminiscences," printed more than three decades later than
+this ministerial crisis, still adhered to the opinion that the
+government was fully justified by established precedent in appealing
+to the country before disposing summarily of the important questions
+then agitating the people. Both Lord Elgin and Sir John A.
+Macdonald--to give the latter the title he afterwards received from
+the Crown--assuredly set forth the correct constitutional practice
+under the peculiar circumstances in which both government and
+legislature were placed by the legislation increasing the
+representation of the people.
+
+The elections took place in July and August of 1854, for in those
+times there was no system of simultaneous polling on one day, but
+elections were held on such days and as long as the necessities of
+party demanded.[15] The result was, on the whole, adverse to the
+government. While it still retained a majority in French Canada, its
+opponents returned in greater strength, and Morin himself was defeated
+in Terrebonne, though happily for the interests of his party he was
+elected by acclamation at the same time in Chicoutimi. In Upper Canada
+the ministry did not obtain half the vote of the sixty-five
+representatives now elected to the legislature by that province. This
+vote was distributed as follows: Ministerial, 30; Conservatives, 22;
+Clear Grits, 7; and Independents, 6. Malcolm Cameron was beaten in
+Lambton, but Hincks was elected by two constituencies. One auspicious
+result of this election was the disappearance of Papineau from public
+life. He retired to his pretty chateau on the banks of the Ottawa, and
+the world soon forgot the man who had once been so prominent a figure
+in Canadian politics. His graces of manner and conversation continued
+for years to charm his friends in that placid evening of his life so
+very different from those stormy days when his eloquence was a menace
+to British institutions and British connection. Before his death, he
+saw Lower Canada elevated to an independent and influential position
+in the confederation of British North America which it could never
+have reached as that _Nation Canadienne_ which he had once vainly
+hoped to see established in the valley of the St. Lawrence.
+
+The Rouges, of whom Papineau had been leader, came back in good form
+and numbered nineteen members. Antoine A. Dorion, Holton, and other
+able men in the ranks of this once republican party, had become wise
+and adopted opinions which no longer offended the national and
+religious susceptibilities of their race, although they continued to
+show for years their radical tendencies which prevented them from ever
+obtaining a firm hold of public opinion in a practically Conservative
+province, and becoming dominant in the public councils for any length
+of time.
+
+The fifth parliament of the province of Canada was opened by Lord
+Elgin on February 5th, 1854, and the ministry was defeated immediately
+on the vote for the speakership, to which Mr. Sicotte--a dignified
+cultured man, at a later time a judge--was elected. On this occasion
+Hincks resorted to a piece of strategy which enabled him to punish
+John Sandfield Macdonald for the insult he had levelled at the
+governor-general and his advisers at the close of the previous
+parliament. The government's candidate was Georges Étienne Cartier,
+who was first elected in 1849 and who had already become conspicuous
+in the politics of his province. Sicotte was the choice of the
+Opposition in Lower Canada, and while there was no belief among the
+politicians that he could be elected, there was an understanding among
+the Conservatives and Clear Grits that an effort should be made in his
+behalf, and in case of its failure, then the whole strength of the
+opponents of the ministry should be so directed as to ensure the
+election of Mr. Macdonald, who was sure to get a good Reform vote from
+the Upper Canadian representatives. These names were duly proposed in
+order, and Cartier was defeated by a large majority. When the clerk at
+the table had called for a vote for Sicotte, the number who stood up
+in his favour was quite insignificant, but before the Nays were taken,
+Hincks arose quickly and asked that his name be recorded with the
+Yeas. All the ministerialists followed the prime minister and voted
+for Sicotte, who was consequently chosen speaker by a majority of
+thirty-five. But all that Hincks gained by such clever tactics was the
+humiliation for the moment of an irascible Scotch Canadian politician.
+The vote itself had no political significance whatever, and the
+government was forced to resign on September 8th. The vote in favour
+of Cartier had shown that the ministry was in a minority of twelve in
+Upper Canada, and if Hincks had any doubt of his political weakness it
+was at once dispelled on September 7th when the House refused to grant
+to the government a short delay of twenty-four hours for the purpose
+of considering a question of privilege which had been raised by the
+Opposition. On this occasion, Dr. Rolph, who had been quite restless
+in the government for some tune, voted against his colleagues and gave
+conclusive evidence that Hincks was deserted by the majority of the
+Reform party in his own province, and could no longer bring that
+support to the French Canadian ministerialists which would enable them
+to administer public affairs.
+
+The resignation of the Hincks-Morin ministry begins a new epoch in the
+political annals of Canada. From that time dates the disruption of the
+old Liberal party which had governed the country so successfully since
+1848, and the formation of a powerful combination which was made up of
+the moderate elements of that party and of the Conservatives, which
+afterwards became known as the Liberal-Conservative party. This new
+party practically controlled public affairs for over three decades
+until the death of Sir John A. Macdonald, to whose inspiration it
+largely owed its birth. With that remarkable capacity for adapting
+himself to political conditions, which was one of the secrets of his
+strength as a party leader, he saw in 1854 that the time had come for
+forming an alliance with those moderate Liberals in the two provinces
+who, it was quite clear, had no possible affinity with the Clear
+Grits, who were not only small in numbers, but especially obnoxious to
+the French Canadians, as a people on account of the intemperate
+attacks made by Mr. Brown in the Toronto _Globe_ on their revered
+institutions.
+
+The representatives who supported the late ministry were still in
+larger numbers than any other party or faction in the House, and it
+was obvious that no government could exist without their support. Sir
+Allan MacNab, who was the oldest parliamentarian, and the leader of
+the Conservatives--a small but compact party--was then invited by the
+governor-general to assist him by his advice, during a crisis when it
+was evident to the veriest political tyro that the state of parties in
+the assembly rendered it very difficult to form a stable government
+unless a man could be found ready to lay aside all old feelings of
+personal and political rivalry and prejudice and unite all factions on
+a common platform for the public advantage. All the political
+conditions, happily, were favourable for a combination on a basis of
+conciliation and compromise. The old Liberals in French Canada under
+the influence of LaFontaine and Morin had been steadily inclining to
+Conservatism with the secure establishment of responsible government
+and the growth of the conviction that the integrity of the cherished
+institutions of their ancient province could be best assured by moving
+slowly (_festina lente_), and not by constant efforts to make radical
+changes in the body politic. The Liberals, of whom Hincks was leader,
+were also very distrustful of Brown, and clearly saw that he could
+have no strength whatever in a province where French Canada must have
+a guarantee that its language, religion, and civil law, were safe in
+the hands of any government that might at any time be formed. The
+wisest men among the Conservatives also felt that the time had arrived
+for adopting a new policy since the old questions which had once
+evoked their opposition had been at last settled by the voice of the
+people, and could no longer constitutionally or wisely be made matters
+of continued agitation in or out of parliament. "The question that
+arose in the minds of the old Liberals," as it was said many years
+later by Thomas White, an able journalist and politician,[16]
+
+     "was this: shall we hand over the government of this country
+     to the men who, calling themselves Liberals, have broken up
+     the Liberal party by the declaration of extravagant views,
+     by the enunciation of principles far more radical and
+     reckless than any we are prepared to accept, and by a
+     restless ambition which we cannot approve? Or shall we not
+     rather unite with the Conservatives who have gone to the
+     country declaring, in reference to the great questions which
+     then agitated it, that if the decision at the polls was
+     against them, they would no longer offer resistance to their
+     settlement, but would, on the contrary, assist in such
+     solution of them as would forever remove them from the
+     sphere of public or political agitation."
+
+With both Liberals and Conservatives holding such views, it was easy
+enough for John A. Macdonald to convince even Sir Allan MacNab that
+the time had come for forgetting the past as much as possible, and
+constituting a strong government from the moderate elements of the old
+parties which had served their turn and now required to be remodelled
+on a wider basis of common interests. Sir Allan MacNab recognized the
+necessity of bringing his own views into harmony with those of the
+younger men of his party who were determined not to allow such an
+opportunity for forming a powerful ministry to pass by. The political
+situation, indeed, was one calculated to appeal to both the vanity and
+self-interest of the veteran statesman, and he accordingly assumed the
+responsibility of forming an administration. He communicated
+immediately with Morin and his colleagues in Lower Canada, and when he
+received a favourable reply from them, his next step was to make
+arrangements, if possible, with the Liberals of Upper Canada. Hincks
+was only too happy to have an opportunity of resenting the opposition
+he had met with from Brown and the extreme Reformers of the western
+province, and opened negotiations with his old supporters on the
+conditions that the new ministry would take immediate steps for the
+secularization of the clergy reserves, and the settlement of the
+seigniorial tenure, and that two members of the administration would
+be taken from his own followers. The negotiations were successfully
+closed on this basis of agreement, and on September 11th the following
+ministers were duly sworn into office:
+
+     Upper Canada.--Hon. Sir Allan MacNab, president of the
+     executive council and minister of agriculture; Hon. John A.
+     Macdonald, attorney-general of Upper Canada; Hon. W. Cayley,
+     inspector-general; Hon. R. Spence, postmaster-general; Hon.
+     John Ross, president of the legislative council.
+
+     Lower Canada.--Hon. A.N. Morin, commissioner of crown lands;
+     Hon. L.P. Drummond, attorney-general for Lower Canada; Hon.
+     P.J.O. Chauveau, provincial secretary; Hon. E.P. Taché,
+     receiver-general; Hon. J. Chabot, commissioner of public
+     works.
+
+The new cabinet contained four Conservatives, and six members of the
+old ministry. Henry Smith, a Conservative, became solicitor-general
+for Upper Canada, and Dunbar Ross continued in the same office for
+Lower Canada, but neither of them had seats in the cabinet. The
+Liberal-Conservative party, organized under such circumstances was
+attacked with great bitterness by the leaders of the discordant
+factions, who were greatly disappointed at the success of the
+combination formed through the skilful management of Messrs. J.A.
+Macdonald, Hineks and Morin.
+
+The coalition was described as "an unholy alliance" of men who had
+entirely abandoned their principles. But an impartial historian must
+record the opinion that the coalition was perfectly justified by
+existing political conditions, that had it not taken place, a stable
+government would in all probability have been for some time
+impossible, and that the time had come for the reconstruction of
+parties with a broad generous policy which would ignore issues at last
+dead, and be more in harmony with modern requirements. It might with
+some reason be called a coalition when the reconstruction of parties
+was going on, but it was really a successful movement for the
+annihilation of old parties and issues, and for the formation on their
+ruins of a new party which could gather to itself the best materials
+available for the effective conduct of public affairs on the patriotic
+platform of the union of the two races, of equal rights to all classes
+and creeds, and of the avoidance of purely sectional questions
+calculated to disturb the union of 1841.
+
+The new government at once obtained the support of a large majority of
+the representatives from each section of the province, and was
+sustained by the public opinion of the country at large. During the
+session of 1854 measures were passed for the secularization of the
+reserves, the removal of the seigniorial tenure, and for the
+ratification of the reciprocity treaty with the United States. As I
+have only been able so far in this historical narrative to refer in a
+very cursory manner to these very important questions, I propose now
+to give in the following chapter a succinct review of their history
+from the time they first came into prominence down to their settlement
+at the close of Lord Elgin's administration in Canada.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+
+THE HISTORY OF THE CLERGY RESERVES, (1791-1854)
+
+For a long period in the history of Canada the development of several
+provinces was more or less seriously retarded, and the politics of the
+country constantly complicated by the existence of troublesome
+questions arising out of the lavish grants of public lands by the
+French and English governments. The territorial domain of French
+Canada was distributed by the king of France, under the inspiration of
+Richelieu, with great generosity, on a system of a modified feudal
+tenure, which, it was hoped, would strengthen the connection between
+the Crown and the dependency by the creation of a colonial
+aristocracy, and at the same time stimulate the colonization and
+settlement of the valley of the St. Lawrence; but, as we shall see in
+the course of the following chapter, despite the wise intentions of
+its promoters, the seigniorial tenure gradually became, after the
+conquest, more or less burdensome to the _habitants_, and an
+impediment rather than an incentive to the agricultural development
+and peopling of the province. Even little Prince Edward Island was
+troubled with a land question as early as 1767, when it was still
+known by the name St. John, given it in the days of French rule.
+Sixty-seven townships, containing in the aggregate 1,360,600 English
+acres, were conveyed in one day by ballot, with a few reservations to
+the Crown, to a number of military men, officials and others, who had
+real or supposed claims on the British government. In this wholesale
+fashion the island was burdened with a land monopoly which was not
+wholly removed until after the union with the Canadian Dominion in
+1873. Though some disputes arose in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
+between the old and new settlers with respect to the ownership of
+lands after the coming of the Loyalists, who received, as elsewhere,
+liberal grants of land, they were soon settled, and consequently these
+maritime provinces were not for any length of time embarrassed by the
+existence of such questions as became important issues in the politics
+of Canada. Extravagant grants were also given to the United Empire
+Loyalists who settled on the banks of the St. Lawrence and Niagara
+rivers in Upper Canada, as some compensation for the great sacrifices
+they had made for the Crown during the American revolution. Large
+tracts of this property were sold either by the Loyalists or their
+heirs, and passed into the hands of speculators at very insignificant
+prices. Lord Durham in his report cites authority to show that not
+"one-tenth of the lands granted to United Empire Loyalists had been
+occupied by the persons to whom they were granted, and in a great
+proportion of cases not occupied at all." The companies which were
+also in the course of time organized in Great Britain for the purchase
+and sale of lands in Canada, also received extraordinary favours from
+the government. Although the Canada Company, which is still in
+existence, was an important agency in the settlement of the province
+of Upper Canada, its possession of immense tracts--some of them, the
+Huron Block, for instance, locked up for years--was for a time a great
+public grievance.
+
+But all these land questions sank into utter insignificance compared
+with the dispute which arose out of the thirty-sixth clause of the
+Constitutional Act of 1791, which provided that there should be
+reserved for the maintenance and support of a "Protestant clergy," in
+the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, "a quantity of land equal in
+value to a seventh part of grants that had been made in the past, or
+might be made in the future." Subsequent clauses of the same act made
+provision for the erection and endowment of one or more rectories in
+every township or parish, "according to the establishment of the
+Church of England," and at the same time gave power to the legislature
+of the two provinces "to vary or repeal" these enactments of the law
+with the important reservation that all bills of such a character
+could not receive the royal assent until thirty days after they had
+been laid before both Houses of the imperial parliament. Whenever it
+was practicable, the lands were reserved under the act among those
+already granted to settlers with the intention of creating parishes as
+soon as possible in every settled township throughout the province.
+However, it was not always possible to carry out this plan, in
+consequence of whole townships having been granted _en bloc_ to the
+Loyalists in certain districts, especially in those of the Bay of
+Quinté, Kingston and Niagara, and it was therefore necessary to carry
+out the intention of the law in adjoining townships where no lands of
+any extent had been granted to settlers.
+
+The Church of England, at a very early period, claimed, as the only
+"Protestant clergy" recognized by English law, the exclusive use of
+the lands in question, and Bishop Mountain, who became in 1793
+Anglican bishop of Quebec, with a jurisdiction extending over all
+Canada, took the first steps to sustain this assertion of exclusive
+right. Leases were given to applicants by a clerical corporation
+established by the Anglican Church for the express purpose of
+administering the reserves. For some years the Anglican claim passed
+without special notice, and it is not until 1817 that we see the germ
+of the dispute which afterwards so seriously agitated Upper Canada. It
+was proposed in the assembly to sell half the lands and devote the
+proceeds to secular purposes, but the sudden prorogation of the
+legislature by Lieutenant-Governor Gore, prevented any definite action
+on the resolutions, although the debate that arose on the subject had
+the effect of showing the existence of a marked public grievance. The
+feeling at this time in the country was shown in answers given to
+circulars sent out by Robert Gourlay, an energetic Scottish busy-body,
+to a number of townships, asking an expression of opinion as to the
+causes which retarded improvement and the best means of developing the
+resources of the province. The answer from Sandwich emphatically set
+forth that the reasons of the existing depression were the reserves of
+land for the Crown and clergy, "which must for long keep the country a
+wilderness, a harbour for wolves, and a hindrance to compact and good
+neighbourhood; defects in the system of colonization; too great a
+quantity of land in the hands of individuals who do not reside in the
+province, and are not assessed for their property." The select
+committee of the House of Commons on the civil government of Canada
+reported in 1828 that "these reserved lands, as they are at present
+distributed over the country, retard more than any other circumstance
+the improvement of the colony, lying as they do in detached portions
+of each township and intervening between the occupations of actual
+settlers, who have no means of cutting roads through the woods and
+morasses which thus separate them from their neighbours." It appears,
+too, that the quantity of land actually reserved was in excess of that
+which appears to have been contemplated by the Constitutional Act. "A
+quantity equal to one-seventh of all grants," wrote Lord Durham in his
+report of 1839, "would be one-eighth of each township, or of all the
+public land. Instead of this proportion, the practice has been ever
+since the act passed, and in the clearest violation of its provisions,
+to set apart for the clergy in Upper Canada, a seventh of all the
+land, which is a quantity equal to a sixth of the land granted.... In
+Lower Canada the same violation of the law has taken place, with this
+difference--that upon every sale of Crown and clergy reserves, a fresh
+reserve for the clergy has been made, equal to a fifth of such
+reserves." In that way the public in both provinces was systematically
+robbed of a large quantity of land, which, Lord Durham estimated, was
+worth about £280,000 at the time he wrote. He acknowledges, however,
+that the clergy had no part in "this great misappropriation of the
+public property," but that it had arisen "entirely from heedless
+misconception, or some other error of the civil government of the
+province." All this, however, goes to show the maladministration of
+the public lands, and is one of the many reasons the people of the
+Canadas had for considering these reserves a public grievance.
+
+When political parties were organized in Upper Canada some years after
+the war of 1812-14, which had for a while united all classes and
+creeds for the common defence, we see on one side a Tory compact for
+the maintenance of the old condition of things, the control of
+patronage, and the protection of the interests of the Church of
+England; on the other, a combination of Reformers, chiefly composed of
+Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists, who clamoured for reforms in
+government and above all for relief from the dominance of the Anglican
+Church, which, with respect to the clergy reserves and other matters,
+was seeking a _quasi_ recognition as a state church. As the Puritans
+of New England at the commencement of the American Revolution
+inveighed against any attempt to establish an Anglican episcopate in
+the country as an insidious attack by the monarchy on their civil and
+religious liberty--most unjustly, as any impartial historian must now
+admit[17]--so in Upper Canada the dissenters made it one of their
+strongest grievances that favouritism was shown to the Anglican Church
+in the distribution of the public lands and the public patronage, to
+the detriment of all other religious bodies in the province. The
+bitterness that was evoked on this question had much to do with
+bringing about the rebellion of 1837. If the whole question could have
+been removed from the arena of political discussion, the Reformers
+would have been deprived of one of their most potent agencies to
+create a feeling against the "family compact" and the government at
+Toronto. But Bishop Strachan, who was a member of both the executive
+and legislative councils--in other words, the most influential member
+of the "family compact"--could not agree to any compromise which would
+conciliate the aggrieved dissenters and at the same time preserve a
+large part of the claim made by the Church of England. Such a
+compromise in the opinion of this sturdy, obstinate ecclesiastic,
+would be nothing else than a sop to his Satanic majesty. It was always
+with him a battle _à l'outrance,_ and as we shall soon see, in the end
+he suffered the bitterness of defeat.
+
+In these later days when we can review the whole question without any
+of the prejudice and passion which embittered the controversy while it
+was a burning issue, we can see that the Church of England had strong
+historical and legal arguments to justify its claim to the exclusive
+use of the clergy reserves. When the Constitutional Act of 1791 was
+passed, the only Protestant clergy recognized in British statutes were
+those of the Church of England, and, as we shall see later, those of
+the established Church of Scotland. The dissenting denominations had
+no more a legal status in the constitutional system of England than
+the Roman Catholics, and indeed it was very much the same thing in
+some respects in the provinces of Canada. So late as 1824 the
+legislative council, largely composed of Anglicans, rejected a bill
+allowing Methodist ministers to solemnize marriages, and it was not
+until 1831 that recognized ministers of all denominations were placed
+on an equality with the Anglican clergy in such matters. The
+employment of the words "Protestant Clergy" in the act, it was urged
+with force, was simply to distinguish the Church of England clergy
+from those of the Church of Rome, who, otherwise, would be legally
+entitled to participate in the grant.
+
+The loyalists, who founded the province of Upper Canada, established
+formally by the Constitutional Act of 1791, were largely composed of
+adherents of the Church of England, and it was one of the dearest
+objects of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe to place that body on a stable
+basis and give it all the influence possible in the state. A
+considerable number had also settled in Lower Canada, and received, as
+in other parts of British North America, the sympathy and aid of the
+parent state. It was the object of the British government to make the
+constitution of the Canadas "an image and transcript" as far as
+possible of the British system of government. In no better way could
+this be done, in the opinion of the framers of the Constitutional Act,
+than by creating a titled legislative council;[18] and though this
+effort came to naught, it is noteworthy as showing the tendency at
+that time of imperial legislation. If such a council could be
+established, then it was all important that there should be a
+religious body, supported by the state, to surround the political
+institutions of the country with the safeguards which a conservative
+and aristocratic church like that of England would give. The erection
+and endowment of rectories "according to the establishment of the
+Church of England"--words of the act to be construed in connection
+with the previous clauses--was obviously a part of the original scheme
+of 1791 to anglicize Upper Canada and make it as far as possible a
+reflex of Anglican England.
+
+It does not appear that at any time there was any such feeling of
+dissatisfaction with respect to the reserves in French Canada as
+existed throughout Upper Canada, The Protestant clergy in the former
+province were relatively few in number, and the Roman Catholic Church,
+which dominated the whole country, was quite content with its own
+large endowments received from the bounty of the king or private
+individuals during the days of French occupation, and did not care to
+meddle in a question which in no sense affected it. On the other hand,
+in Upper Canada, the arguments used by the Anglican clergy in support
+of their claims to the exclusive administration of the reserves were
+constantly answered not only in the legislative bodies, but in the
+Liberal papers, and by appeals to the imperial government. It was
+contended that the phrase "Protestant clergy" used in the
+Constitutional Act, was simply intended to distinguish all Protestant
+denominations from the Roman Catholic Church, and that, had there been
+any intention to give exclusive rights to the Anglican Church, it
+would have been expressly so stated in the section reserving the
+lands, just as had been done in the sections specially providing for
+the erection and endowment of Anglican rectories.
+
+The first successful blow against the claims of the English Church in
+Canada was struck by that branch of the Presbyterian Church known in
+law as the Established Church of Scotland. It obtained an opinion from
+the British law officers in 1819, entirely favourable to its own
+participation in the reserves on the ground that it had been fully
+recognized as a state church, not only in the act uniting the two
+kingdoms of England and Scotland, but in several British statutes
+passed later than the Constitutional Act whose doubtful phraseology
+had originated the whole controversy. While the law officers admitted
+that the provisions of this act might be "extended also to the Church
+of Scotland, if there are any such settled in Canada (as appears to
+have been admitted in the debate upon the passing of the act)," yet
+they expressed the opinion that the clauses in question did not apply
+to dissenting ministers, since they thought that "the term 'Protestant
+clergy' could apply only to Protestant clergy recognized and
+established by law." We shall see a little farther on the truth of the
+old adage that "lawyers will differ" and that in 1840, twenty-one
+years later than the expression of the opinion just cited, eminent
+British jurists appeared to be more favourable to the claims of
+denominations other than the Church of Scotland.
+
+Until 1836--the year preceding the rebellion--the excitement with
+respect to the reserves had been intensified by the action of Sir John
+Colborne, lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, who, on the eve of his
+departure for England, was induced by Bishop Strachan to sign patents
+creating and endowing forty-four rectories[19] in Upper Canada,
+representing more than 17,000 acres of land in the aggregate or about
+486 for each of them. One can say advisedly that this action was most
+indiscreet at a time when a wise administrator would have attempted to
+allay rather than stimulate public irritation on so serious a
+question. Until this time, says Lord Durham, the Anglican clergy had
+no exclusive privileges, save such as might spring from their
+efficient discharge of their sacred duties, or from the energy,
+ability or influence of members of their body--notably Bishop
+Strachan, who practically controlled the government in religious and
+even secular matters. But, continued Lord Durham, the last public act
+of Sir John Colborne made it quite understood that every rector
+possessed "all the spiritual and other privileges enjoyed by an
+English rector," and that though he might "have no right to levy
+tithes" (for even this had been made a question), he was "in all other
+respects precisely in the same position as a clergyman of the
+established church in England." "This is regarded," added Lord Durham,
+"by all other teachers of religion in this country as having at once
+degraded them to a position of legal inferiority to the clergy of the
+Church of England; and it has been most warmly resented. In the
+opinion of many persons, this was the chief predisposing cause of the
+recent insurrection, and it is an abiding and unabated cause for
+discontent."
+
+As soon as Sir John Colborne's action was known throughout the
+province, public indignation among the opponents of the clergy
+reserves and the Church of England took the forms of public meetings
+to denounce the issue of the patents, and of memorials to the imperial
+government calling into question their legality and praying for their
+immediate annulment. An opinion was obtained from the law officers of
+the Crown that the action taken by Sir John Colborne was "not valid
+and lawful," but it was given on a mere _ex parte_ statement of the
+case prepared by the opponents of the rectories; and the same eminent
+lawyers subsequently expressed themselves favourably as to the
+legality of the patents when they were asked to reconsider the whole
+question, which was set forth in a very elaborate report prepared
+under the direction of Bishop Strachan. It is convenient to mention
+here that this phase of the clergy reserve question again came before
+able English counsel at the Equity Bar, when Hincks visited London in
+1852. After they had given an opinion unfavourable to the Colborne
+patents on the case as submitted to them by the Canadian prime
+minister, it was deemed expedient to submit the whole legal question
+to the Court of Chancery in Upper Canada, which decided unanimously,
+after a full hearing of the case, that the patents were valid. But
+this decision was not given until 1856, when the whole matter of the
+reserves had been finally adjusted, and the validity of the creation
+of the rectories was no longer a burning question in Upper Canada.
+
+When Poulett Thomson came to Canada in the autumn of 1839 as
+governor-general, he recognized the necessity of bringing about an
+immediate settlement of this very vexatious question, and of
+preventing its being made a matter of agitation after the union of the
+two provinces. The imperial authorities had already disallowed an act
+passed by the legislature of Upper Canada of 1838 to reinvest the
+clergy reserves in the Crown, and it became necessary for Lord
+Sydenham--to give the governor-general's later title--to propose a
+settlement in the shape of a compromise between the various Protestant
+bodies interested in the reserves. Lord Sydenham was opposed to the
+application of these lands to general education as proposed in several
+bills which had passed the assembly, but had been rejected by the
+legislative council owing to the dominant influence of Bishop
+Strachan. "To such a measure," says Lord Sydenham's biographer,[20]
+"he was opposed; first because it would have taken away the only fund
+exclusively devoted to purposes of religion, and secondly, because,
+even if carried in the provincial legislature, it would evidently not
+have obtained the sanction of the imperial parliament. He therefore
+entered into personal communication with the leading individuals among
+the principal religious communities, and after many interviews,
+succeeded in obtaining their support to a measure for the distribution
+of the reserves among the religious communities recognized by law, in
+proportion to their respective numbers."
+
+Lord Sydenham's efforts to obtain the consent "of leading individuals
+among the principal religious communities" did not succeed in
+preventing a strong opposition to the measure after it had passed
+through the legislature. Dr. Ryerson, a power among the Methodists,
+denounced it, after he had at the outset shown an inclination to
+support it, and the Bishop of Toronto was also among its most
+determined opponents. Lord Sydenham's well-meaning attempt to settle
+the question was thwarted at the very outset by the reference of the
+bill to English judges, who reported adversely on the ground that the
+power "to vary or repeal" given in the Constitutional Act of 1791 was
+only prospective, and did not authorize the provincial legislature to
+divert the proceeds of the lands already sold from the purpose
+originally contemplated in the imperial statute. The judges also
+expressed the opinion on this occasion that the words "Protestant
+clergy" were large enough to include and did include "other clergy
+than those of the Church of Scotland." In their opinion these words
+appeared, "both in their natural force and meaning, and still more
+from the context of the clauses in which they are found, to be there
+used to designate and intend a clergy opposed in doctrine and
+discipline to the clergy of the Church of Rome, and rather to aim at
+the encouragement of the Protestant religion in opposition to the
+Romish Church, than to point exclusively to the clergy of the Church
+of England." But as they did not find on the statute book the
+acknowledgment by the legislature of any other clergy answering the
+description of the law, they could not specify any other except the
+Church of Scotland as falling within the imperial statute.
+
+Under these circumstances the imperial government at once passed
+through parliament a bill (3 and 4 Vict., c. 78) which re-enacted the
+Canadian measure with the modifications rendered necessary by the
+judicial opinion just cited. This act put an end to future
+reservations, and at the same time recognized the claims of all the
+Protestant bodies to a share in the funds derived from the sales of
+the lands. It provided for the division of the reserves into two
+portions--those sold before the passing of the act and those sold at a
+later time. Of the previous sales, the Church of England was to
+receive two-thirds and the Church of Scotland one-third. Of future
+sales, the Church of England would receive one-third and the Church of
+Scotland one-sixth, while the residue could be applied by the
+governor-in-council "for purposes of public worship and religious
+instruction in Canada," in other words, that it should be divided
+among those other religious denominations that might make application
+at any time for a share in these particular funds.
+
+This act, however, did not prove to be a settlement of this disturbing
+question. If Bishop Strachan had been content with the compromise made
+in this act, and had endeavoured to carry out its provisions as soon
+as it was passed, the Anglican Church would have obtained positive
+advantages which it failed to receive when the question was again
+brought into the arena of angry discussion. In 1844 when Henry
+Sherwood was solicitor-general in the Draper-Viger Conservative
+government he proposed an address to the Crown for the passing of a
+new imperial act, authorizing the division of the land itself instead
+of the income arising from its sales. His object was to place the
+lands, allotted to the Church of England, under the control of the
+church societies, which could lease them, or hold them for any length
+of time at such prices as they might deem expedient. In the course of
+the debate on this proposition, which failed to receive the assent of
+the House, Baldwin, Price, and other prominent men expressed regret
+that any attempt should be made to disturb the settlement made by the
+imperial statute of 1840, which, in their opinion, should be regarded
+as final.
+
+A strong feeling now developed in Upper Canada in favour of a repeal
+of the imperial act, and the secularization of the reserves. The
+Presbyterians--apart from the Church of Scotland--were now influenced
+by the Scottish Free Church movement of 1843 and opposed to public
+provision for the support of religious denominations. The spirit which
+animated them spread to other bodies, and was stimulated by the
+uncompromising attitude still assumed by the Anglican bishop, who was
+anxious, as Sherwood's effort proved, to obtain advantages for his
+church beyond those given it by the act of 1840. When the
+LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry was formed, the movement for the
+secularization of the reserves among the Upper Canadian Liberals, or
+Reformers as many preferred to call their party, became so pronounced
+as to demand the serious consideration of the government; but there
+was no inclination shown by the French Canadians in the cabinet to
+disturb the settlement of 1840, and the serious phases of the
+Rebellion Losses Bill kept the whole question for some time in the
+background. After the appearance of the Clear Grits in Upper Canadian
+politics, with the secularization of the reserves as the principal
+plank in their platform, the LaFontaine-Baldwin cabinet felt the
+necessity of making a concession to the strong feeling which prevailed
+among Upper Canadian Reformers. As they were divided in opinion on the
+question and could not make it a part of the ministerial policy,
+Price, commissioner of Crown lands, was induced in the session of 1850
+to introduce on his sole responsibility an address to the Crown,
+praying for the repeal of the imperial act of 1840, and the passage of
+another which would authorize the Canadian legislature to dispose of
+the reserves as it should deem most expedient, but with the distinct
+understanding that, while no particular sect should be considered as
+having a vested right in the property, the emoluments derived by
+existing incumbents should be guaranteed during their lives. Mr.
+Price--the same gentleman who had objected some years previously to
+the reopening of the question--showed in the course of his speech the
+importance which the reserves had now attained. The number of acres
+reserved to this time was 2,395,687, and of sales, under two statutes,
+1,072,453. These sales had realized £720,756, of which £373,899 4s.
+4d. had been paid, and £346,856 15s. 8d. remained still due. Counting
+the interest on the sum paid, a million of pounds represented the
+value of the lands already sold, and when they were all disposed of
+there would be realized more than two millions of pounds. Price also
+pointed out the fact that only a small number of persons had derived
+advantages from these reserves. Out of the total population of 723,000
+souls in Upper Canada, the Church of England claimed 171,000 and the
+Church of Scotland 68,000, or a total of 239,000 persons who received
+the lion's share, and left comparatively little to the remaining
+population of 484,000 souls. Among the latter the Roman Catholics
+counted 123,707 communicants and received only £700 a year; the
+Wesleyans, with 90,363 adherents, received even a still more wretched
+pittance. Furthermore 269,000 persons were entirely excluded from any
+share whatever in the reserves. In the debate on the resolutions for
+the address LaFontaine did not consider the imperial act a finality,
+and was in favour of having the reserves brought under the control of
+the Canadian legislature, but he expressed the opinion most
+emphatically that all private rights and endowments conferred under
+the authority of imperial legislation should be held inviolate, and so
+far as possible, carried into effect. Baldwin's observations were
+remarkable for their vagueness. He did not object to endowment for
+religious purposes, although he was opposed to any union between
+church and state. While he did not consider the act of 1840 as a final
+settlement, inasmuch as it did not express the opinion of the Canadian
+people, he was not then prepared to commit himself as to the mode in
+which the property should he disposed of. Hincks affirmed that there
+was no desire on the part of members of the government to evade their
+responsibilities on the question, but they were not ready to adopt the
+absurd and unconstitutional course that was pressed on them by the
+Clear Grits, of attempting to repeal an imperial act by a Canadian
+statute.
+
+Malcolm Cameron and other radical Reformers advocated the complete
+secularization of the reserves, while Cayley, Macdonald, and other
+Conservatives, urged that the provisions of the imperial act of 1840
+should be carried out to the fullest extent, and that the funds, then
+or at a future time at the disposal of the government "for the
+purposes of public worship and religious instruction" under the act,
+should be apportioned among the various denominations that had not
+previously had a share in the reserves. When it came to a division, it
+was clear that there was no unanimity on the question among the
+ministers and other supporters. Indeed, the summary given above of the
+remarks made by LaFontaine, Baldwin, and Hincks, affords conclusive
+evidence of the differences of opinion that existed between them and
+of their reluctance to express themselves definitely on the subject.
+The majority of the French members, Messrs. LaFontaine, Cauchon,
+Chabot, Chauveau, LaTerrière and others, voted against the resolution
+which affirmed that "no religious denomination can be held to have
+such vested interest in the revenue derived from the proceeds of the
+said clergy reserves as should prevent further legislation with
+reference to the disposal of them, but this House is nevertheless of
+opinion that the claims of existing incumbents should be treated in
+the most liberal manner." Baldwin and other Reformers supported this
+clause, which passed by a majority of two. The address was finally
+adopted on a division of forty-six Yeas and twenty-three Nays--"the
+minority containing the names of a few Reformers who would not consent
+to pledge themselves to grant, for the lives of the existing
+incumbents, the stipends on which they had accepted their
+charges--some perhaps having come from other countries to fill them
+and having possibly thrown up other preferments."[21] The address was
+duly forwarded to England by Lord Elgin, with a despatch in which he
+explained at some length the position of the whole question. In
+accordance with the principle which guided him throughout his
+administration of Canadian affairs--to give full scope to the right of
+the province to manage its own local concerns--he advised Lord Grey to
+repeal the imperial act of 1840 if he wished "to preserve the colony."
+Lord Grey admitted that the question was one exclusively affecting the
+people of Canada and should be decided by the provincial legislature.
+It was the intention of the government, he informed Lord Elgin, to
+introduce a bill into parliament for this purpose; but action had to
+be deferred until another year when, as it happened unfortunately for
+the province, Lord John Russell's ministry was forced to resign, and
+was succeeded by a Conservative administration led by the Earl of
+Derby.
+
+The Canadian government soon ascertained from Sir John Pakington, the
+new colonial secretary, that the new advisers of Her Majesty were not
+"inclined to give their consent and support to any arrangement the
+result of which would too probably be the diversion to other purposes
+of the only public fund ... which now exists for the support of divine
+worship and religious instruction in the colony." It was also
+intimated by the secretary of state that the new government was quite
+ready to entertain a proposal for reconsidering the mode of
+distributing the proceeds of the sales of the reserves, while not
+ready to agree to any proposal that might "divert forever from its
+sacred object the fund arising from that portion of the public lands
+of Canada which, almost from the period of the British conquest of
+that province, has been set apart for the religious instruction of the
+people." Hincks, who was at that time in England, at once wrote to Sir
+John Pakington, in very emphatic terms, that he viewed "with grave
+apprehension the prospect of collision between Her Majesty's
+government and the parliament of Canada, on a question regarding which
+such strong feelings prevailed among the great mass of the
+population." The people of Canada were convinced that they were
+"better judges than any parties in England of what measures would best
+conduce to the peace and welfare of the province." As respects the
+proposal "for reconsidering the mode of distributing the income of the
+clergy reserves," Hincks had no hesitation in saying that "it would be
+received as one for the violation of the most sacred constitutional
+rights of the people."
+
+As soon as the Canadian legislature met in 1852, Hincks carried an
+address to the Crown, in which it was urged that the question of the
+reserves was "one so exclusively affecting the people of Canada that
+its decision ought not to be withdrawn from the provincial
+legislature, to which it properly belongs to regulate all matters
+concerning the domestic interests of the province." The hope was
+expressed that Her Majesty's government would lose no time in giving
+effect to the promise made by the previous administration and
+introduce the legislation necessary "to satisfy the wishes of the
+Canadian people." In the debate on this address, Moria, the leader of
+the French section of the cabinet, clearly expressed himself in favour
+of the secularization of the reserves in accordance with the views
+entertained by his Upper Canadian colleagues. It was consequently
+clear that the successors of the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry were
+fully pledged to a vigorous policy for the disposal of this vexatious
+dispute.
+
+A few months after Lord Elgin had forwarded this address to the Crown,
+the Earl of Derby's administration was defeated in the House of
+Commons, and the Aberdeen government was formed towards the close of
+1852, with the Duke of Newcastle as secretary of state for the
+colonies. One of Sir John Pakington's last official acts was to
+prepare a despatch unfavourable to the prayer of the assembly's last
+address, but it was never sent to Canada, though brought down to
+parliament. At the same time the Canadian people heard of this
+despatch they were gratified by the announcement that the new
+ministers had decided to reverse the policy of their predecessors and
+to meet the wishes of the Canadian legislature. Accordingly, in the
+session of 1853, a measure was passed by the imperial parliament to
+give full power to the provincial legislature to vary or repeal all or
+any part of the act of 1840, and to make all necessary provisions
+respecting the clergy reserves or the proceeds derived from the same,
+on the express condition that there should be no interference with the
+annual stipends or allowances of existing incumbents as long as they
+lived. The Hincks-Morin ministry was then urged to bring in at once a
+measure disposing finally of the question, in accordance with the
+latest imperial act; but, as we have read in a previous chapter, it
+came to the opinion after anxious deliberation that the existing
+parliament was not competent to deal with so important a question. It
+also held that it was a duty to obtain an immediate expression of
+opinion from the people, and the election of a House in which the
+country would be fully represented in accordance with the legislation
+increasing the number of representatives in the assembly.
+
+The various political influences arrayed against Hincks in Upper
+Canada led to his defeat, and the formation of the MacNab-Morin
+Liberal-Conservative government, which at once took steps to settle
+the question forever. John A. Macdonald commenced this new epoch in
+his political career by taking charge of the bill for the
+secularization of the reserves. It provided for the payment of all
+moneys arising from the sales of the reserves into the hands of the
+receiver-general, who would apportion them amongst the several
+municipalities of the province according to population. All annual
+stipends or allowances, charged upon the reserves before the passage
+of the imperial act of 1853, were continued during the lives of
+existing incumbents, though the latter could commute their stipends or
+allowances for their value in money, and in this way create a small
+permanent endowment for the advantage of the church to which they
+belonged.
+
+After nearly forty years of continuous agitation, during which the
+province of Upper Canada had been convulsed from the Ottawa to Lake
+Huron, and political parties had been seriously embarrassed, the
+question was at last removed from the sphere of party and religious
+controversy. The very politicians who had contended for the rights of
+the Anglican clergy were now forced by public opinion and their
+political interests to take the final steps for its settlement. Bishop
+Strachan's fight during the best years of his life had ended in
+thorough discomfiture. As the historian recalls the story of that
+fight, he cannot fail to come to the conclusion that the settlement of
+1854 relieved the Anglican Church itself of a controversy which, as
+long as it existed, created a feeling of deep hostility that seriously
+affected its usefulness and progress. Even Lord Elgin was compelled to
+write in 1851 "that the tone adopted by the Church of England here has
+almost always had the effect of driving from her even those who would
+be most disposed to co-operate with her if she would allow them." At
+last freed from the political and the religious bitterness which was
+so long evoked by the absence of a conciliatory policy on the part of
+her leaders, this great church is able peacefully to teach the noble
+lessons of her faith and win that respect among all classes which was
+not possible under the conditions that brought her into direct
+conflict with the great mass of the Canadian people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+
+SEIGNIORIAL TENURE
+
+The government of Canada in the days of the French régime bore a close
+resemblance to that of a province of France. The governor was
+generally a noble and a soldier, but while he was invested with large
+military and civil authority by the royal instructions, he had ever by
+his side a vigilant guardian in the person of the intendant, who
+possessed for all practical purposes still more substantial powers,
+and was always encouraged to report to the king every matter that
+might appear to conflict with the principles of absolute government
+laid down by the sovereign. The superior council of Canada possessed
+judicial, administrative and legislative powers, but its action was
+limited by the decrees and ordinances of the king, and its decisions
+were subject to the veto of the royal council of the parent state. The
+intendant, generally a man of legal attainments, had the special right
+to issue ordinances which had the full effect of law--in the words of
+his commission "to order everything as he shall see just and proper."
+These ordinances regulated inns and markets, the building and repairs
+of churches and presbyteries, the construction of bridges, the
+maintenance of roads, and all those matters which could affect the
+comfort, the convenience, and the security of the community at large.
+While the governmental machinery was thus modelled in a large measure
+on that of the provincial administration of France, the territory of
+the province was subject to a modified form of the old feudal system
+which was so long a dominant condition of the nations of Europe, and
+has, down to the present time left its impress on their legal and
+civil institutions, not even excepting Great Britain itself. Long
+before Jacques Cartier sailed up the River St. Lawrence this system
+had gradually been weakened in France under the persistent efforts of
+the Capets, who had eventually, out of the ruin of the feudatories,
+built up a monarchy which at last centralized all power in the king.
+The policy of the Capets had borne its full, legitimate fruit by the
+time Louis XIV ascended the throne. The power of the great nobles,
+once at the head of practically independent feudatories, had been
+effectually broken down, and now, for the most part withdrawn from the
+provinces, they ministered only to the ambition of the king, and
+contributed to the dissipation and extravagance of a voluptuous court.
+
+But while those features of the ancient feudal system, which were
+calculated to give power to the nobles, had been eliminated by the
+centralizing influence of the king, the system still continued in the
+provinces to govern the relations between the _noblesse_ and the
+peasantry who possessed their lands on old feudal conditions regulated
+by the customary or civil law. These conditions were, on the whole,
+still burdensome. The noble who spent all his time in attendance on
+the court at Versailles or other royal palaces could keep his purse
+equal to his pleasures only by constant demands on his feudal tenants,
+who dared no more refuse to obey his behests than he himself ventured
+to flout the royal will.
+
+Deeply engrafted as it still was on the social system of the parent
+state, the feudal tenure was naturally transferred to the colony of
+New France, but only with such modifications as were suited to the
+conditions of a new country. Indeed all the abuses that might hinder
+settlement or prevent agricultural development were carefully lopped
+off. Canada was given its _seigneurs_, or lords of the manor, who
+would pay fealty and homage to the sovereign himself, or to the feudal
+superior from whom they directly received their territorial estate,
+and they in their turn leased lands to peasants, or tillers of the
+soil, who held them on the modified conditions of the tenure of old
+France. It was not expedient, and indeed not possible, to transfer a
+whole body of nobles to the wilderness of the new world--they were as
+a class too wedded to the gay life of France--and all that could be
+done was to establish a feudal tenure to promote colonization, and at
+the same time possibly create a landed gentry who might be a shadowy
+reflection of the French _noblesse_, and could, in particular cases,
+receive titles directly from the king himself.
+
+This seigniorial tenure of New France was the most remarkable instance
+which the history of North America affords of the successful effort of
+European nations to reproduce on this continent the ancient
+aristocratic institutions of the old world. In the days when the Dutch
+owned the Netherlands, vast estates were partitioned out to certain
+"patroons," who held their property on _quasi_ feudal conditions, and
+bore a resemblance to the _seigneurs_ of French Canada. This manorial
+system was perpetuated under English forms when the territory was
+conquered by the English and transformed into the colony of New York,
+where it had a chequered existence, and was eventually abolished as
+inconsistent with the free conditions of American settlement. In the
+proprietary colony of Maryland the Calverts also attempted to
+establish a landed aristocracy, and give to the manorial lords certain
+rights of jurisdiction over their tenants drawn from the feudal system
+of Europe. For Carolina, Shaftesbury and Locke devised a constitution
+which provided a territorial nobility, called _landgraves_ and
+_caciques_, but it soon became a mere historical curiosity. Even in
+the early days of Prince Edward Island, when it was necessary to
+mature a plan of colonization, it was gravely proposed to the British
+government that the whole island should be divided into "hundreds," as
+in England, or into "baronies," as in Ireland, with courts-baron,
+lords of manors, courts-leet, all under the direction of a lord
+paramount; but while this ambitious aristocratic scheme was not
+favourably entertained, the imperial authorities chose one which was
+most injurious in its effects on the settlement of this fertile
+island.
+
+It was Richelieu who introduced this modified form of the feudal
+system into Canada, when he constituted, in 1627, the whole of the
+colony as a fief of the great fur-trading company of the Hundred
+Associates on the sole condition of its paying fealty and homage to
+the Crown. It had the right of establishing seigniories as a part of
+its undertaking to bring four thousand colonists to the province and
+furnish them with subsistence for three years. Both this company and
+its successor, the Company of the West Indies, created a number of
+seigniories, but for the most part they were never occupied, and the
+king revoked the grants on the ground of non-settlement, when he
+resumed possession of the country and made it a royal province. From
+that time the system was regulated by the _Coutume de Paris_, by royal
+edicts, or by ordinances of the intendant.
+
+The greater part of the soil of Canada was accordingly held _en fief_
+or _en seigneurie_. Each grant varied from sixteen _arpents_--an
+_arpent_ being about five-sixths of an English acre--by fifty, to ten
+leagues by twelve. We meet with other forms of tenure in the partition
+of land in the days of the French régime--for instance, _franc aleu
+noble_ and _franc aumone_ or _mortmain_, but these were exceptional
+grants to charitable, educational, or religious institutions, and were
+subject to none of the ordinary obligations of the feudal tenure, but
+required, as in the latter case, only the performance of certain
+devotional or other duties which fell within their special sphere.
+Some grants were also given in _franc aleu roturier_, equivalent to
+the English tenure of free and common socage, and were generally made
+for special objects.[22]
+
+The _seigneur_, on his accession to the estate, was required to pay
+homage to the king, or to his feudal superior from whom he derived his
+lands. In case he wished to transfer by sale or otherwise his
+seigniory, except in the event of direct natural succession, he had to
+pay under the _Coutume de Paris_--which, generally speaking, regulated
+such seigniorial grants--a _quint_ or fifth part of the whole purchase
+money to his feudal superior, but he was allowed a reduction _(rabat)_
+of two-thirds if the money was promptly paid down. In special cases,
+land transfers, whether by direct succession or otherwise, were
+subject to the rule of _Vixen le_ _français_, which required the
+payment of _relief_, or one year's revenue, on all changes of
+ownership, or a payment of gold (_une maille d'or_). It was obligatory
+on all seigniors to register their grants at Quebec, to concede or
+sub-infeudate them under the rule of _jeu de fief_, and settle them
+with as little delay as practicable. The Crown also reserved in most
+cases its _jura regalia_ or _regalitates_, such as mines and minerals,
+lands for military or defensive purposes, oak timber and masts for the
+building of the royal ships. It does not, however, appear that
+military service was a condition on which the seigniors of Canada held
+their grants, as was the case in France under the old feudal tenure.
+The king and his representative in his royal province held such powers
+in their own hands. The seignior had as little influence in the
+government of the country as he had in military affairs. He might be
+chosen to the superior council at the royal pleasure, and was bound to
+obey the orders of the governor whenever the militia were called out.
+The whole province was formed into a militia district, so that in time
+of war the inhabitants might be obliged to perform military service
+under the royal governor or commander-in-chief of the regular forces.
+A captain was appointed for each parish--generally conterminous with a
+seigniory--and in some cases there were two or three. These captains
+were frequently chosen from the seigniors, many of whom--in the
+Richelieu district entirely--were officers of royal regiments, notably
+of the Carignan-Salières. The seigniors had, as in France, the right
+of dispensing justice, but with the exception of the Seminary of St
+Sulpice of Montreal, it was only in very rare instances they exercised
+their judicial powers, and then simply in cases of inferior
+jurisdiction _(basse justice)_. The superior council and intendant
+adjudicated in all matters of civil and criminal importance.
+
+The whole success of the seigniorial system, as a means of settling
+the country, depended on the extent to which the seigniors were able
+to grant their lands _en censive_ or _en roture_. The _censitaire_ who
+held his lands in this way could not himself sub-infeudate. The
+grantee _en roture_ was governed by the same rules as the one _en
+censive_ except with respect to the descent of lands in cases of
+intestacy. All land grants to the _censitaires_--or as they preferred
+to call themselves in Canada, _habitants_--were invariably shaped like
+a parallelogram, with a narrow frontage on the river varying from two
+to three _arpents_, and with a depth from four to eight _arpents_.
+These farms, in the course of time assumed the appearance of a
+continuous settlement on the river and became known in local
+phraseology as _Côtes_--for example, Côte de Neiges, Côte St. Louis,
+Côte St. Paul, and many other picturesque villages on the banks of the
+St. Lawrence. In the first century of settlement the government
+induced the officers and soldiers of the Carignan-Salières regiment to
+settle lands along the Richelieu river and to build palisaded villages
+for the purposes of defence against the war-like Iroquois; but, in the
+rural parts of the province generally, the people appear to have
+followed their own convenience with respect to the location of their
+farms and dwellings, and chose the banks of the river as affording the
+easiest means of intercommunication. The narrow oblong grants, made in
+the original settlement of the province, became narrower still as the
+original occupants died and their property was divided among the heirs
+under the civil law. Consequently at the present day the traveller who
+visits French Canada sees the whole country divided into extremely
+long and narrow parallelograms each with fences and piles of stones as
+boundaries in innumerable cases.
+
+The conditions on which the _censitaire_ held his land from the
+seignior were exceedingly easy during the greater part of the French
+regime. The _cens et rentes_ which he was expected to pay annually, on
+St. Martin's day, as a rule, varied from one to two _sols_ for each
+superficial _arpent_, with the addition of a small quantity of corn,
+poultry, and some other article produced on the farm, which might be
+commuted for cash, at current prices. The _censitaire_ was also
+obliged to grind his corn at the seignior's mill (_moulin banal_), and
+though the royal authorities at Quebec were very particular in
+pressing the fulfilment of this obligation, it does not appear to have
+been successfully carried out in the early days of the colony on
+account of the inability of the seigniors to purchase the machinery,
+or erect buildings suitable for the satisfactory performance of a
+service clearly most useful to the people of the rural districts. The
+obligation of baking bread in the seigniorial oven was not generally
+exacted, and soon became obsolete as the country was settled and each
+_habitant_ naturally built his own oven in connection with his home.
+The seigniors also claimed the right to a certain amount of statute
+labour (_corvée_) from the _habitants_ on their estates, to one fish
+out of every dozen caught in seigniorial waters, and to a reservation
+of wood and stone for the construction and repairs of the manor house,
+mill, and church in the parish or seigniory. In case the _censitaire_
+wished to dispose of his holding during his lifetime, it was subject
+to the _lods et ventes_, or to a tax of one-twelfth of the purchase
+money, which had to be paid to the seignior, who usually as a favour
+remitted one-fourth on punctual payment. The most serious restriction
+on such sales was the _droit de retraite_, or right of the seignior to
+preempt the same property himself within forty days from the date of
+the sale.
+
+There was no doubt, at the establishment of the seigniorial tenure, a
+disposition to create in Canada, as far as possible, an aristocratic
+class akin to the _noblesse_ of old France, who were a social order
+quite distinct from the industrial and commercial classes, though they
+did not necessarily bear titles. Under the old feudal system the
+possession of land brought nobility and a title, but in the modified
+seigniorial system of Canada the king could alone confer titular
+distinctions. The intention of the system was to induce men of good
+social position--like the _gentils-hommes_ or officers of the Carignan
+regiment--to settle in the country and become seigniors. However, the
+latter were not confined to this class, for the title was rapidly
+extended to shopkeepers, farmers, sailors, and even mechanics who had
+a little money and were ready to pay for the cheap privilege of
+becoming nobles in a small way. Titled seigniors were very rare at any
+time in French Canada. In 1671, Des Islets, Talon's seigniory, was
+erected into a barony, and subsequently into an earldom (Count
+d'Orsainville). Francois Berthelot's seigniory of St. Laurent on the
+Island of Orleans was made in 1676 an earldom, and that of Portneuf,
+René Robineau's, into a barony. The only title which has come down to
+the present time is that of the Baron de Longueuil, which was first
+conferred on the distinguished Charles LeMoyne in 1700, and has been
+officially recognized by the British government since December, 1880.
+
+The established seigniorial system bore conclusive evidence of the
+same paternal spirit which sent shiploads of virtuous young women
+(sometimes _marchandises mêlées_) to the St. Lawrence to become wives
+of the forlorn Canadian bachelors, gave trousseaux of cattle and
+kitchen utensils to the newly wed, and encouraged by bounties the
+production of children. The seigniories were the ground on which these
+paternal methods of creating a farming community were to be developed,
+but despite the wise intentions of the government the whole machinery
+was far from realizing the results which might reasonably have been
+expected from its operation. The land was easily acquired and cheaply
+held, facilities were given for the grinding of grain and the making
+of flour; fish and game were quickly taken by the skilful fisherman
+and enterprising hunter, and the royal officials generally favoured
+the _habitants_ in disputes with the seigniors.
+
+Unlike the large grants made by the British government after the
+conquest to loyalists, Protestant clergy, and speculators--grants
+calculated to keep large sections of the country in a state of
+wildness--the seigniorial estates had to be cultivated and settled
+within a reasonable time if they were to be retained by the occupants.
+During the French dominion the Crown sequestrated a number of
+seigniories for the failure to observe the obligation of cultivation.
+As late as 1741 we find an ordinance restoring seventeen estates to
+the royal domain, although the Crown was ready to reinstate the former
+occupants the moment they showed that they intended to perform their
+duty of settlement. But all the care that was taken to encourage
+settlement was for a long time without large results, chiefly in
+consequence of the nomadic habits of the young men on the seigniories.
+The fur trade, from the beginning to the end of French dominion, was a
+serious bar to steady industry on the farm. The young _gentilhomme_ as
+well as the young _habitant_ loved the free life of the forest and
+river better than the monotonous work of the farm. He preferred too
+often making love to the impressionable dusky maiden of the wigwam
+rather than to the stolid, devout damsel imported for his kind by
+priest or nun. A raid on some English post or village had far more
+attraction than following the plough or threshing the grain. This
+adventurous spirit led the young Frenchman to the western prairies
+where the Red and Assiniboine waters mingle, to the foot-hills of the
+Rocky Mountains, to the Ohio and Mississippi, and to the Gulf of
+Mexico. But while Frenchmen in this way won eternal fame, the
+seigniories were too often left in a state of savagery, and even those
+_seigneurs_ and _habitants_ who devoted themselves successfully to
+pastoral pursuits found themselves in the end harassed by the constant
+calls made upon their military services during the years the French
+fought to retain the imperial domain they had been the first to
+discover and occupy in the great valleys of North America. Still,
+despite the difficulties which impeded the practical working of the
+seigniorial system, it had on the whole an excellent effect on the
+social conditions of the country. It created a friendly and even
+parental relation between _seigneur, curé,_ and _habitant_, who on
+each estate constituted as it were a seigniorial family, united to
+each other by common ties of self-interest and personal affection. If
+the system did not create an energetic self-reliant people in the
+rural communities, it arose from the fact that it was not associated
+with a system of local self-government like that which existed in the
+colonies of England. The French king had no desire to see such a
+system develop in the colonial dependencies of France. His
+governmental system in Canada was a mild despotism intended to create
+a people ever ready to obey the decrees and ordinances of royal
+officials, over whom the commonality could exercise no control
+whatever in such popular elective assemblies as were enjoyed by every
+colony of England in North America.
+
+During the French régime the officials of the French government
+frequently repressed undue or questionable exactions imposed, or
+attempted to be imposed, on the _censitaires_ by greedy or extravagant
+seigniors. It was not until the country had been for some time in the
+possession of England that abuses became fastened on the tenure, and
+retarded the agricultural and industrial development of the province.
+The _cens et rentes_ were unduly raised, the _droit de banalité_ was
+pressed to the extent that if a _habitant_ went to a better or more
+convenient mill than the seignior's, he had to pay tolls to both, the
+transfer of property was hampered by the _lods el ventes_ and the
+_droit de retraite_, and the claim always made by the seigniors to the
+exclusive use of the streams running by or through the seigniories was
+a bar to the establishment of industrial enterprise. Questions of law
+which arose between the _seigneur_ and _habitant_ and were referred to
+the courts were decided in nearly all cases in favour of the former.
+In such instances the judges were governed by precedent or by a strict
+interpretation of the law, while in the days of French dominion the
+intendants were generally influenced by principles of equity in the
+disputes that came before them, and by a desire to help the weaker
+litigant, the _censitaire_.
+
+It took nearly a century after the conquest before it was possible to
+abolish a system which had naturally become so deeply rooted in the
+social and economic conditions of the people of French Canada. As the
+abuses of the tenure became more obvious, discontent became
+widespread, and the politicians after the union were forced at last to
+recognize the necessity of a change more in harmony with modern
+principles. Measures were first passed better to facilitate the
+optional commutation of the tenure of lands _en roture_ into that of
+_franc aleu roturier_, but they never achieved any satisfactory
+results. LaFontaine did not deny the necessity for a radical change in
+the system, but he was too much wedded to the old institutions of his
+native province to take the initiative for its entire removal. Mr.
+Louis Thomas Drummond, who was attorney-general in both the
+Hincks-Morin and MacNab-Morin ministries, is deserving of honourable
+mention in Canadian history for the leading part he took in settling
+this very perplexing question. I have already shown that his first
+attempt in 1853 failed in consequence of the adverse action of the
+legislative council, and that no further steps were taken in the matter
+until the coming into office of the MacNab or Liberal-Conservative
+government in 1854, when he brought a bill into parliament to a large
+extent a copy of the first. This bill became law after it had received
+some important amendments in the upper House, where there were a number
+of representatives of seigniorial interests, now quite reconciled to
+the proposed change and prepared to make the best of it. It abolished
+all feudal rights and duties in Lower Canada, "whether hearing upon the
+_censitaire_ or _seigneur_," and provided for the appointment of
+commissioners to enquire into the respective rights of the parties
+interested. In order to enable them to come to correct conclusions with
+respect to these rights, all questions of law were first submitted to a
+seigniorial court composed of the judges of the Queen's Bench and
+Superior Court in Lower Canada. The commissioners under this law were
+as follows:--
+
+   Messrs. Chabot, H. Judah, S. Lelièvre, L. Archambault, N. Dumas, J.G.
+   Turcotte, C. Delagrave, P. Winter, J.G. Lebel, and J.B. Varin.
+
+The judges of the seigniorial court were:--
+
+   Chief Justice Sir Louis H. LaFontaine, president; Judges Bowen,
+   Aylwin, Duval, Caron, Day, Smith, Vanfelson, Mondelet, Meredith,
+   Short, Morin, and Badgley.
+
+Provision was also made by parliament for securing compensation to the
+seigniors for the giving up of all legal rights of which they were
+deprived by the decision of the commissioners. It took five years of
+enquiry and deliberation before the commissioners were able to complete
+their labours, and then it was found necessary to vote other funds to
+meet all the expenses entailed by a full settlement of the question.
+
+The result was that all lands previously held _en fief, en arrière
+fief, en censive_, or _en roture_, under the old French system, were
+henceforth placed on the footing of lands in the other provinces, that
+is to say, free and common socage. The seigniors received liberal
+remuneration for the abolition of the _lods et ventes, droit de
+banalité_, and other rights declared legal by the court. The _cens et
+ventes_ had alone to be met as an established rent (_rente
+constituée_) by the _habitant_, but even this change was so modified
+and arranged as to meet the exigencies of the _censitaires_, the
+protection of whose interests was at the basis of the whole law
+abolishing this ancient tenure. This radical change cost the country
+from first to last over ten million dollars, including a large
+indemnity paid to Upper Canada for its proportion of the fund taken
+from public revenues of the united provinces to meet the claims of the
+seigniors and the expenses of the commission. The money was well spent
+in bringing about so thorough a revolution in so peaceable and
+conclusive a manner. The _habitants_ of the east were now as free as
+the farmers of the west. The seigniors themselves largely benefited by
+the capitalization in money of their old rights, and by the
+untrammelled possession of land held _en franc aleu roturier_.
+Although the seigniorial tenure disappeared from the social system of
+French Canada nearly half a century ago, we find enduring memorials of
+its existence in such famous names as these:--Nicolet, Verchères,
+Lotbinière, Berthier, Rouville, Joliette, Terrebonne, Sillery,
+Beaupré, Bellechasse, Portneuf, Chambly, Sorel, Longueuil,
+Boucherville, Chateauguay, and many others which recall the seigniors
+of the old régime.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+
+CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES
+
+In a long letter which he wrote to Earl Grey in August, 1850, Lord
+Elgin used these significant words: "To render annexation by violence
+impossible, or by any other means improbable as may be, is, as I have
+often ventured to repeat, the polar star of my policy." To understand
+the full significance of this language it is only necessary to refer
+to the history of the difficulties with which the governor-general had
+to contend from the first hour he came to the province and began his
+efforts to allay the feeling of disaffection then too prevalent
+throughout the country--especially among the commercial classes--and
+to give encouragement to that loyal sentiment which had been severely
+shaken by the indifference or ignorance shown by British statesmen and
+people with respect to the conditions and interests of the Canadas. He
+was quite conscious that, if the province was to remain a contented
+portion of the British empire, it could be best done by giving full
+play to the principles of self-government among both nationalities who
+had been so long struggling to obtain the application of the
+parliamentary system of England in the fullest sense to the operation
+of their own internal affairs, and by giving to the industrial and
+commercial classes adequate compensation for the great losses which
+they had sustained by the sudden abolition of the privileges which
+England had so long extended to Canadian products--notably, flour,
+wheat and lumber--in the British market.
+
+Lord Elgin knew perfectly well that, while this discontent existed,
+the party which favoured annexation would not fail to find sympathy
+and encouragement in the neighbouring republic. He recalled the fact
+that both Papineau and Mackenzie, after the outbreak of their abortive
+rebellion, had many abettors across the border, as the infamous raids
+into Canada clearly proved. Many people in the United States, no
+doubt, saw some analogy between the grievances of Canadians and those
+which had led to the American revolution. "The mass of the American
+people," said Lord Durham, "had judged of the quarrel from a distance;
+they had been obliged to form their judgment on the apparent grounds
+of the controversy; and were thus deceived, as all those are apt to be
+who judge under such circumstances, and on such grounds. The contest
+bore some resemblance to that great struggle of their own forefathers,
+which they regard with the highest pride. Like that, they believed it
+to be the contest of a colony against the empire, whose misconduct
+alienated their own country; they considered it to be a contest
+undertaken by a people professing to seek independence of distant
+control, and extension of popular privileges." More than that, the
+striking contrast which was presented between Canada and the United
+States "in respect to every sign of productive industry, increasing
+wealth, and progressive civilization" was considered by the people of
+the latter country to be among the results of the absence of a
+political system which would give expansion to the energies of the
+colonists and make them self-reliant in every sense. Lord Durham's
+picture of the condition of things in 1838-9 was very painful to
+Canadians, although it was truthful in every particular. "On the
+British side of the line," he wrote, "with the exception of a few
+favoured spots, where some approach to American prosperity is
+apparent, all seems waste and desolate." But it was not only "in the
+difference between the larger towns on the two sides" that we could
+see "the best evidence of our own inferiority." That "painful and
+undeniable truth was most manifest in the country districts through
+which the line of national separation passes for one thousand miles."
+Mrs. Jameson in her "Winter Studies and Summer Rambles," written only
+a year or two before Lord Durham's report, gives an equally
+unfavourable comparison between the Canadian and United States sides
+of the western country. As she floated on the Detroit river in a
+little canoe made of a hollow tree, and saw on one side "a city with
+its towers, and spires, and animated population," and on the other "a
+little straggling hamlet with all the symptoms of apathy, indolence,
+mistrust, hopelessness," she could not help wondering at this
+"incredible difference between the two shores," and hoping that some
+of the colonial officials across the Atlantic would be soon sent "to
+behold and solve the difficulty."
+
+But while Lord Durham was bound to emphasize this unsatisfactory state
+of things he had not lost his confidence in the loyalty of the mass of
+the Canadian people, notwithstanding the severe strain to which they
+had been subject on account of the supineness of the British
+government to deal vigorously and promptly with grievances of which
+they had so long complained as seriously affecting their connection
+with the parent state and the development of their material resources.
+It was only necessary, he felt, to remove the causes of discontent to
+bring out to the fullest extent the latent affection which the mass of
+French and English Canadians had been feeling for British connection
+ever since the days when the former obtained guarantees for the
+protection of their dearest institutions and the Loyalists of the
+American Revolution crossed the frontier for the sake of Crown and
+empire. "We must not take every rash expression of disappointment,"
+wrote Lord Durham, "as an indication of a settled aversion to the
+existing constitution; and my own observation convinces me that the
+predominant feeling of all the British population of the North
+American colonies is that of devoted attachment to the mother country.
+I believe that neither the interests nor the feelings of the people
+are incompatible with a colonial government, wisely and popularly
+administered." His strong conviction then was that if connection with
+Great Britain was to be continuous, if every cause of discontent was
+to be removed, if every excuse for interference "by violence on the
+part of the United States" was to be taken away, if Canadian
+annexationists were no longer to look for sympathy and aid among their
+republican neighbours, the Canadian people must be given the full
+control of their own internal affairs, while the British government on
+their part should cease that constant interference which only
+irritated and offended the colony. "It is not by weakening," he said,
+"but strengthening the influence of the people on the government; by
+confining within much narrower bounds than those hitherto allotted to
+it, and not by extending the interference of the imperial authorities
+in the details of colonial affairs, that I believe that harmony is to
+be restored, where dissension has so long prevailed; and a regularity
+and vigour hitherto unknown, introduced into the administration of
+these provinces." And he added that if the internal struggle for
+complete self-government were renewed "the sympathy from without would
+at some time or other re-assume its former strength."
+
+Lord Elgin appeared on the scene at the very time when there was some
+reason for a repetition of that very struggle, and a renewal of that
+very "sympathy from without" which Lord Durham imagined. The political
+irritation, which had been smouldering among the great mass of
+Reformers since the days of Lord Metcalfe, was seriously aggravated by
+the discontent created by commercial ruin and industrial paralysis
+throughout Canada as a natural result of Great Britain's ruthless
+fiscal policy. The annexation party once more came to the surface, and
+contrasts were again made between Canada and the United States
+seriously to the discredit of the imperial state. "The plea of
+self-interest," wrote Lord Elgin in 1849, "the most powerful weapon,
+perhaps, which the friends of British connection have wielded in times
+past, has not only been wrested from my hands but transferred since
+1846 to those of the adversary." He then proceeded to contrast the
+condition of things on the two sides of the Niagara, only "spanned by
+a narrow bridge, which it takes a foot passenger about three minutes
+to cross." The inhabitants on the Canadian side were "for the most
+part United Empire Loyalists" and differed little in habits or modes
+of thought and expression from their neighbours. Wheat, their staple
+product, grown on the Canadian side of the line, "fetched at that time
+in the market from 9d. to 1s. less than the same article grown on the
+other." These people had protested against the Montreal annexation
+movement, but Lord Elgin was nevertheless confident that the large
+majority firmly believed "that their annexation to the United States
+would add one-fourth to the value of the produce of their farms." In
+dealing with the causes of discontent Lord Elgin came to exactly the
+same conclusion which, as I have just shown, was accepted by Lord
+Durham after a close study of the political and material conditions of
+the country. He completed the work of which his eminent predecessor
+had been able only to formulate the plan. By giving adequate scope to
+the practice of responsible government, he was able to remove all
+causes for irritation against the British government, and prevent
+annexationists from obtaining any sympathy from that body of American
+people who were always looking for an excuse for a movement--such a
+violent movement as suggested by Lord Elgin in the paragraph given
+above--which would force Canada into the states of the union. Having
+laid this foundation for a firm and popular government, he proceeded
+to remove the commercial embarrassment by giving a stimulus to
+Canadian trade by the repeal of the navigation laws, and the adoption
+of reciprocity with the United States. The results of his efforts were
+soon seen in the confidence which all nationalities and classes of the
+Canadian people felt in the working of their system of government, in
+the strengthening of the ties between the imperial state and the
+dependency, and in the decided stimulus given to the shipping and
+trade throughout the provinces of British North America.
+
+I have already in the previous chapters of this book dwelt on the
+methods which Lord Elgin so successfully adopted to establish
+responsible government in accordance with the wishes of the Canadian
+people, and it is now only necessary to refer to his strenuous efforts
+during six years to obtain reciprocal trade between Canada and the
+United States. It was impossible at the outset of his negotiations to
+arouse any active interest among the politicians of the republic as
+long as they were unable to see that the proposed treaty would be to
+the advantage of their particular party or of the nation at large. No
+party in congress was ready to take it up as a political question and
+give it that impulse which could be best given by a strong partisan
+organization. The Canadian and British governments could not get up a
+"lobby" to press the matter in the ways peculiar to professional
+politicians, party managers, and great commercial or financial
+corporations. Mr. Hincks brought the powers of his persuasive tongue
+and ingenious intellect to bear on the politicians at Washington, but
+even he with all his commercial acuteness and financial knowledge was
+unable to accomplish anything. It was not until Lord Elgin himself
+went to the national capital and made use of his diplomatic tact and
+amenity of demeanour that a successful result was reached. No
+governor-general who ever visited the United States made so deep an
+impression on its statesmen and people as was made by Lord Elgin
+during this mission to Washington, and also in the course of the
+visits he paid to Boston and Portland where he spoke with great effect
+on several occasions. He won the confidence and esteem of statesmen
+and politicians by his urbanity, dignity, and capacity for business.
+He carried away his audiences by his exhibition of a high order of
+eloquence, which evoked the admiration of those who had been
+accustomed to hear Webster, Everett, Wendell, Philipps, Choate, and
+other noted masters of oratory in America.
+
+He spoke at Portland after his success in negotiating the treaty, and
+was able to congratulate both Canada and the United States on the
+settlement of many questions which had too long alienated peoples who
+ought to be on the most friendly terms with each other. He was now
+near the close of his Canadian administration and was able to sum up
+the results of his labours. The discontent with which the people of
+the United States so often sympathized had been brought to an end "by
+granting to Canadians what they desired--the great principle of
+self-government" "The inhabitants of Canada at this moment," he went
+on to say, "exercise as much influence over their own destinies and
+government as do the people of the United States. This is the only
+cause of misunderstanding that ever existed; and this cannot arise
+when the circumstances which made them at variance have ceased to
+exist."
+
+The treaty was signed on June 5th, 1854, by Lord Elgin on the part of
+Great Britain, and by the Honourable W.L. Marcy, secretary of state,
+on behalf of the United States, but it did not legally come into force
+until it had been formally ratified by the parliament of Great
+Britain, the congress of the United States, and the several
+legislatures of the British provinces. It exempted from customs duties
+on both sides of the line certain articles which were the growth and
+produce of the British colonies and of the United States--the
+principal being grain, flour, breadstuffs, animals, fresh, smoked, and
+salted meats, fish, lumber of all kinds, poultry, cotton, wool, hides,
+ores of metal, pitch, tar, ashes, flax, hemp, rice, and unmanufactured
+tobacco. The people of the United States and of the British provinces
+were given an equal right to navigate the St. Lawrence river, the
+Canadian canals and Lake Michigan. No export duty could be levied on
+lumber cut in Maine and passing down the St. John or other streams in
+New Brunswick. The most important question temporarily settled by the
+treaty was the fishery dispute which had been assuming a troublesome
+aspect for some years previously. The government at Washington then
+began to raise the issue that the three mile limit to which their
+fishermen could be confined should follow the sinuosities of the
+coasts, including 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 generally sustained the
+contention of the provinces--a contention practically supported by the
+American authorities in the case of Delaware, Chesapeake, and other
+bays on the coasts of the United States--that the three mile limit
+should be measured from a line drawn from headland to headland 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 shut out only 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, for twelve years, by the Reciprocity
+Treaty of 1854, which provided that the inhabitants of the United
+States could take fish of any kind, except shell fish, on the sea
+coasts, and shores, in the bays, harbours, and creeks of any British
+province, without any restriction as to distance, and had also
+permission to land on these coasts and shores for the purpose of
+drying their nets and curing their fish. The same privileges
+were extended to British citizens on the eastern sea coasts and
+shores of the United States, north of the 36th parallel of north
+latitude--privileges of no practical value to the people of British
+North America compared with those they gave up in their own prolific
+waters. The farmers of the agricultural west accepted with great
+satisfaction a treaty which gave their products free access to
+their natural market, but the fishermen and seamen of the maritime
+provinces, especially of Nova Scotia, were for some time dissatisfied
+with provisions which gave away their most valuable fisheries without
+adequate compensation, and at the same time refused them the
+privilege--a great advantage to a ship-building, ship-owning
+province--of the coasting trade of the United States on the same terms
+which were allowed to American and British vessels on the coasts of
+British North America. On the whole, however, the treaty eventually
+proved of benefit to all the provinces at a time when trade required
+just such a stimulus as it gave in the markets of the United States.
+The aggregate interchange of commodities between the two countries
+rose from an annual average of $14,230,763 in the years previous to
+1854 to $33,492,754 gold currency, in the first year of its existence;
+to $42,944,754 gold currency, in the second year; to $50,339,770 gold
+currency in the third year; and to no less a sum than $84,070,955 at
+war prices, in the thirteenth year when it was terminated by the
+United States in accordance with the provision, which allowed either
+party to bring it to an end after a due notice of twelve months at the
+expiration of ten years or of any longer time it might remain in
+force. Not only was a large and remunerative trade secured between the
+United States and the provinces, but the social and friendly
+intercourse of the two countries necessarily increased with the
+expansion of commercial relations and the creation of common interests
+between them. Old antipathies and misunderstandings disappeared under
+the influence of conditions which brought these communities together
+and made each of them place a higher estimate on the other's good
+qualities. In short, the treaty in all respects fully realized the
+expectations of Lord Elgin in working so earnestly to bring it to a
+successful conclusion.
+
+However, it pleased the politicians of the United States, in a moment
+of temper, to repeal a treaty which, during its existence, gave a
+balance in favour of the commercial and industrial interests of the
+republic, to the value of over $95,000,000 without taking into account
+the value of the provincial fisheries from which the fishermen of New
+England annually derived so large a profit. Temper, no doubt, had much
+to do with the action of the United States government at a time when
+it was irritated by the sympathy extended to the Confederate States by
+many persons in the provinces as well as in Great Britain--notably by
+Mr. Gladstone himself. No doubt it was thought that the repeal of the
+treaty would be a sort of punishment to the people of British North
+America. It was even felt--as much was actually said in congress--that
+the result of the sudden repeal of the treaty would be the growth of
+discontent among those classes in Canada who had begun to depend upon
+its continuance, and that sooner or later there would arise a cry for
+annexation with a country from which they could derive such large
+commercial advantages. Canadians now know that the results have been
+very different from those anticipated by statesmen and journalists on
+the other side of the border. Instead of starving Canada and forcing
+her into annexation, they have, by the repeal of the Reciprocity
+Treaty, and by their commercial policy ever since, materially helped
+to stimulate her self-reliance, increase her commerce with other
+countries, and make her largely a self-sustaining, independent
+country. Canadians depend on themselves--on a self-reliant,
+enterprising policy of trade--not on the favour or caprice of any
+particular nation. They are always quite prepared to have the most
+liberal commercial relations with the United States, but at the same
+time feel that a reciprocity treaty is no longer absolutely essential
+to their prosperity, and cannot under any circumstances have any
+particular effect on the political destiny of the Canadian
+confederation whose strength and unity are at length so well assured.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+
+FAREWELL TO CANADA
+
+Lord Elgin assumed the governor-generalship of Canada on January 30th,
+1847, and gave place to Sir Edmund Head on December 19th, 1854. The
+address which he received from the Canadian legislature on the eve of
+his departure gave full expression to the golden opinions which he had
+succeeded in winning from the Canadian people during his able
+administration of nearly eight years. The passionate feeling which had
+been evoked during the crisis caused by the Rebellion Losses Bill had
+gradually given way to a true appreciation of the wisdom of the course
+that he had followed under such exceptionally trying circumstances,
+and to the general conviction that his strict observance of the true
+forms and methods of constitutional government had added strength and
+dignity to the political institutions of the country and placed Canada
+at last in the position of a semi-independent nation. The charm of his
+manner could never fail to captivate those who met him often in social
+life, while public men of all parties recognized his capacity for
+business, the sincerity of his convictions, and the absence of a
+spirit of intrigue in connection with the administration of public
+affairs and his relations with political parties. He received
+evidences on every side that he had won the confidence and respect and
+even affection of all nationalities, classes, and creeds in Canada. In
+the very city where he had been maltreated and his life itself
+endangered, he received manifestations of approval which were full
+compensation for the mental sufferings to which he was subject in that
+unhappy period of his life, when he proved so firm, courageous and
+far-sighted. In well chosen language--always characteristic of his
+public addresses--he spoke of the cordial reception he had met with,
+when he arrived a stranger in Montreal, of the beauty of its
+surroundings, of the kind attention with which its citizens had on
+more than one occasion listened to the advice he gave to their various
+associations, of the undaunted courage with which the merchants had
+promoted the construction of that great road which was so necessary to
+the industrial development of the province, of the patriotic energy
+which first gathered together such noble specimens of Canadian
+industry from all parts of the country, and had been the means of
+making the great World's Fair so serviceable to Canada; and then as he
+recalled the pleasing incidents of the past, there came to his mind a
+thought of the scenes of 1849, but the sole reference he allowed
+himself was this: "And I shall forget--but no, what I might have to
+forget is forgotten already, and therefore I cannot tell you what I
+shall forget."
+
+The last speech which he delivered in the picturesque city of Quebec
+gave such eloquent expression to the feelings with which he left
+Canada, is such an admirable example of the oratory with which he so
+often charmed large assemblages, that I give it below in full for the
+perusal of Canadians of the present day who had not the advantage of
+hearing him in the prime of his life.
+
+"I wish I could address you in such strains as I have sometimes
+employed on similar occasions--strains suited to a festive meeting;
+but I confess I have a weight on my heart and it is not in me to be
+merry. For the last time I stand before you in the official character
+which I have borne for nearly eight years. For the last time I am
+surrounded by a circle of friends with whom I have spent some of the
+most pleasant days of my life. For the last time I welcome you as my
+guests to this charming residence which I have been in the habit of
+calling my home.[23] I did not, I will frankly confess it, know what
+it would cost me to break this habit, until the period of my departure
+approached, and I began to feel that the great interests which have so
+long engrossed my attention and thoughts were passing out of my hands.
+I had a hint of what my feelings really were upon this point--a pretty
+broad hint too--one lovely morning in June last, when I returned to
+Quebec after my temporary absence in England, and landed in the coves
+below Spencerwood (because it was Sunday and I did not want to make a
+disturbance in the town), and when with the greetings of the old
+people in the coves who put their heads out of the windows as I passed
+along, and cried 'Welcome home again,' still ringing in my ears, I
+mounted the hill and drove through the avenue to the house door, I saw
+the drooping trees on the lawn, with every one of which I was so
+familiar, clothed in the tenderest green of spring, and the river
+beyond, calm and transparent as a mirror, and the ships fixed and
+motionless as statues on its surface, and the whole landscape bathed
+in that bright Canadian sun which so seldom pierces our murky
+atmosphere on the other side of the Atlantic. I began to think that
+persons were to be envied who were not forced by the necessities of
+their position to quit these engrossing interests and lovely scenes,
+for the purpose of proceeding to distant lands, but who are able to
+remain among them until they pass to that quiet corner of the garden
+of Mount Hermon, which juts into the river and commands a view of the
+city, the shipping, Point Levi, the Island of Orleans, and the range
+of the Laurentine; so that through the dim watches of that tranquil
+night which precedes the dawning of the eternal day, the majestic
+citadel of Quebec, with its noble tram of satellite hills, may seem to
+rest forever on the sight, and the low murmur of the waters of St.
+Lawrence, with the hum of busy life on their surface, to fall
+ceaselessly on the ear. I cannot bring myself to believe that the
+future has in store for me any interests which will fill the place of
+those I am now abandoning. But although I must henceforward be to you
+as a stranger, although my official connection with you and your
+interests will have become hi a few days matter of history, yet I
+trust that through some one channel or other, the tidings of your
+prosperity and progress may occasionally reach me; that I may hear
+from time to time of the steady growth and development of those
+principles of liberty and order, of manly independence in combination
+with respect for authority and law, of national life in harmony with
+British connection, which it has been my earnest endeavour, to the
+extent of my humble means of influence, to implant and to establish. I
+trust, too, that I shall hear that this House continues to be what I
+have ever sought to render it, a neutral territory, on which persons
+of opposite opinions, political and religious, may meet together in
+harmony and forget their differences for a season. And I have good
+hope that this will be the case for several reasons, and, among
+others, for one which I can barely allude to, for it might be an
+impertinence in me to dwell upon it But I think that without any
+breach of delicacy or decorum I may venture to say that many years
+ago, when I was much younger than I am now, and when we stood towards
+each other in a relation somewhat different from that which has
+recently subsisted between us, I learned to look up to Sir Edmund Head
+with respect, as a gentleman of the highest character, the greatest
+ability, and the most varied accomplishments and attainments. And now,
+ladies and gentlemen, I have only to add the sad word--Farewell. I
+drink this bumper to the health of you all, collectively and
+individually. I trust that I may hope to leave behind me some who will
+look back with feelings of kindly recollection to the period of our
+intercourse; some with whom I have been on terms of immediate official
+connection, whose worth and talents I have had the best means of
+appreciating, and who could bear witness at least, if they please to
+do so, to the spirit, intentions, and motives with which I have
+administered your affairs; some with whom I have been bound by the
+ties of personal regard. And if reciprocity be essential to enmity,
+then most assuredly I can leave behind me no enemies. I am aware that
+there must be persons in so large a society as this, who think that
+they have grievances to complain of, that due consideration has not in
+all cases been shown to them. Let them believe me, and they ought to
+believe me, for the testimony of a dying man is evidence, even in a
+court of justice, let them believe me, then, when I assure them, in
+this the last hour of my agony, that no such errors of omission or
+commission have been intentional on my part. Farewell, and God bless
+you." Before I proceed to review some features of his administration
+in Canada, to which it has not been possible to do adequate justice in
+previous chapters of this book, I must very briefly refer to the
+eminent services which he was able to perform for the empire before he
+closed his useful life amid the shadows of the Himalayas. On his
+return to England he took his seat in the House of Lords, but he gave
+very little attention to politics or legislation. On one occasion,
+however, he expressed a serious doubt as to the wisdom of sending to
+Canada large bodies of troops, which had come back from the Crimea, on
+the ground that such a proceeding might complicate the relations of
+the colony with the United States, and at the same time arrest its
+progress towards self-independence in all matters affecting its
+internal order and security.
+
+This opinion was in unison with the sentiments which he had often
+expressed to the secretary of state during his term of office in
+America. While he always deprecated any hasty withdrawal of imperial
+troops from the dependency as likely at that time to imperil its
+connection with the mother country, he believed most thoroughly in
+educating Canadians gradually to understand the large measure of
+responsibility which attached to self-government. He was of opinion
+"that the system of relieving colonists altogether from the duty of
+self-defence must be attended with injurious effects upon themselves."
+"It checks," he continued, "the growth of national and manly morals.
+Men seldom think anything worth preserving for which they are never
+asked to make a sacrifice." His view was that, while it was desirable
+to remove imperial troops gradually and throw the responsibility of
+self-defence largely upon Canada, "the movement in that direction
+should be made with due caution." "The present"--he was writing to the
+secretary of state in 1848 when Canadian affairs were still in an
+unsatisfactory state--"is not a favourable moment for experiments.
+British statesmen, even secretaries of state, have got into the habit
+lately of talking of the maintenance of the connection between Great
+Britain and Canada with so much indifference, that a change of system
+in respect to military defence incautiously carried out, might be
+presumed by many to argue, on the part of the mother country, a
+disposition to prepare the way for separation." And he added three
+years later:
+
+     "If these communities are only truly attached to the
+     connection and satisfied of its permanence (and as respects
+     the latter point, opinions here will be much influenced by
+     the tone of statesmen at home), elements of self-defence,
+     not moral elements only, but material elements likewise,
+     will spring up within them spontaneously as the product of
+     movements from within, not of pressure from without. Two
+     millions of people in a northern latitude can do a good deal
+     in the way of helping themselves, when their hearts are in
+     the right place."
+
+Before two decades of years had passed away, the foresight of these
+suggestions was clearly shown. Canada had become a part of a British
+North American confederation, and with the development of its material
+resources, the growth of a national spirit of self-reliance, the new
+Dominion, thus formed, was able to relieve the parent state of the
+expenses of self-defence, and come to her aid many years later when
+her interests were threatened in South Africa. If Canada has been able
+to do all this, it has been owing to the growth of that spirit of
+self-reliance--of that principle of self-government--which Lord Elgin
+did his utmost to encourage. We can then well understand that Lord
+Elgin, in 1855, should have contemplated with some apprehension the
+prospect of largely increasing the Canadian garrisons at a time when
+Canadians were learning steadily and surely to cultivate the national
+habit of depending upon their own internal resources in their working
+out of the political institutions given them by England after years of
+agitation, and even suffering, as the history of the country until
+1840 so clearly shows. It is also easy to understand that Lord Elgin
+should have regarded the scheme in contemplation as likely to create a
+feeling of doubt and suspicion as to the motives of the imperial
+government in the minds of the people of the United States. He
+recalled naturally his important visit to that country, where he had
+given eloquent expression, as the representative of the British Crown,
+to his sanguine hopes for the continuous amity of peoples allied to
+each other by so many ties of kindred and interest, and had also
+succeeded after infinite labour in negotiating a treaty so well
+calculated to create a common sympathy between Canada and the
+republic, and stimulate that friendly intercourse which would dispel
+many national prejudices and antagonisms which had unhappily arisen
+between these communities in the past. The people of the United States
+might well, he felt, see some inconsistency between such friendly
+sentiments and the sending of large military reinforcements to Canada.
+
+In the spring of 1857 Lord Elgin accepted from Lord Palmerston a
+delicate mission to China at a very critical time when the affair of
+the lorcha "Arrow" had led to a serious rupture between that country
+and Great Britain. According to the British statement of the case, in
+October, 1856, the Chinese authorities at Canton seized the lorcha
+although it was registered as a British vessel, tore down the British
+flag from its masthead, and carried away the crew as prisoners. On the
+other hand the Chinese claimed that they had arrested the crew, who
+were subjects of the emperor, as pirates, that the British ownership
+had lapsed some time previously, and that there was no flag flying on
+the vessel at the time of its seizure. The British representatives in
+China gave no credence to these explanations but demanded not only a
+prompt apology but also the fulfilment of "long evaded treaty
+obligations." When these peremptory demands were not at once complied
+with, the British proceeded in a very summary manner to blow up
+Chinese forts, and commit other acts of war, although the Chinese only
+offered a passive resistance to these efforts to bring them to terms
+of abject submission. Lord Palmerston's government was condemned in
+the House of Commons for the violent measures which had been taken in
+China, but he refused to submit to a vote made up, as he satirically
+described it, "of a fortuitous concourse of atoms," and appealed to
+the country, which sustained him. While Lord Elgin was on his way to
+China, he heard the news of the great mutiny in India, and received a
+letter from Lord Canning, then governor-general, imploring him to send
+some assistance from the troops under his direction. He at once sent
+"instructions far and wide to turn the transports back and give
+Canning the benefit of the troops for the moment." It is impossible,
+say his contemporaries, to exaggerate the importance of the aid which
+he so promptly gave at the most critical time in the Indian situation.
+"Tell Lord Elgin," wrote Sir William Peel, the commander of the famous
+Naval Brigade at a later time, "that it was the Chinese expedition
+which relieved Lucknow, relieved Cawnpore, and fought the battle of
+December 6th." But this patriotic decision delayed somewhat the
+execution of Lord Elgin's mission to China. It was nearly four months
+after he had despatched the first Chinese contingent to the relief of
+the Indian authorities, that another body of troops arrived in China
+and he was able to proceed vigorously to execute the objects of his
+visit to the East. After a good deal of fighting and bullying, Chinese
+commissioners were induced in the summer of 1859 to consent to sign
+the Treaty of Tientsin, which gave permission to the Queen of Great
+Britain to appoint, if she should see fit, an ambassador who might
+reside permanently at Pekin, or visit it occasionally according to the
+pleasure of the British government, guaranteed protection to
+Protestants and Roman Catholics alike, allowed British subjects to
+travel to all parts of the empire, under passports signed by British
+consuls, established favourable conditions for the protection of trade
+by foreigners, and indemnified the British government for the losses
+that had been sustained at Canton and for the expenses of the war.
+
+Lord Elgin then paid an official visit to Japan, where he was well
+received and succeeded in negotiating the Treaty of Yeddo, which was a
+decided advance on all previous arrangements with that country, and
+prepared the way for larger relations between it and England. On his
+return to bring the new treaty to a conclusion, he found that the
+commissioners who had gone to obtain their emperor's full consent to
+its provisions, seemed disposed to call into question some of the
+privileges which had been already conceded, and he was consequently
+forced to assume that peremptory tone which experience of the Chinese
+has shown can alone bring them to understand the full measure of their
+responsibilities in negotiations with a European power. However, he
+believed he had brought his mission to a successful close, and
+returned to England in the spring of 1859.
+
+How little interest was taken in those days in Canadian affairs by
+British public men and people, is shown by some comments of Mr.
+Waldron on the incidents which signalized Lord Elgin's return from
+China. "When he returned in 1854 from the government of Canada," this
+writer naively admits, "there were comparatively few persons in
+England who knew anything of the great work he had done in the colony.
+But his brilliant successes in the East attracted public interest and
+gave currency to his reputation." He accepted the position of
+postmaster-general in the administration just formed by Lord
+Palmerston, and was elected Lord Rector of Glasgow; but he had hardly
+commenced to study the details of his office, and enjoy the amenities
+of the social life of Great Britain, when he was again called upon by
+the government to proceed to the East, where the situation was once
+more very critical. The duplicity of the Chinese in their dealings
+with foreigners had soon shown itself after his departure from China,
+and he was instructed to go back as Ambassador Extraordinary to that
+country, where a serious rupture had occurred between the English and
+Chinese while an expedition of the former was on its way to Pekin to
+obtain the formal ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin. The French
+government, which had been a party to that treaty, sent forces to
+coöperate with those of Great Britain in obtaining prompt satisfaction
+for an attack made by the Chinese troops on the British at the Peilo,
+the due ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, and payment of an
+indemnity to the allies for the expenses of their military operations.
+
+The punishment which the Chinese received for their bad faith and
+treachery was very complete. Yuen-ming-yuen, the emperor's summer
+palace, one of the glories of the empire, was levelled to the ground
+as a just retribution for treacherous and criminal acts committed by
+the creatures of the emperor at the very moment it was believed that
+the negotiations were peacefully terminated. Five days after the
+burning of the palace, the treaty was fully ratified between the
+emperor's brother and Lord Elgin, and full satisfaction obtained from
+the imperial authorities at Pekin for their shameless disregard of
+their solemn engagements. The manner in which the British ambassador
+discharged the onerous duties of his mission, met with the warm
+approval of Her Majesty's government and when he was once more in
+England he was offered by the prime minister the governor-generalship
+of India.
+
+He accepted this great office with a full sense of the arduous
+responsibilities which it entailed upon him, and said good-bye to his
+friends with words which showed that he had a foreboding that he might
+never see them again--words which proved unhappily to be too true. He
+went to the discharge of his duties in India in that spirit of modesty
+which was always characteristic of him. "I succeeded," he said, "to a
+great man (Lord Canning) and a great war, with a humble task to be
+humbly discharged." His task was indeed humble compared with that
+which had to be performed by his eminent predecessors, notably by Earl
+Canning, who had established important reforms in the land tenure, won
+the confidence of the feudatories of the Crown, and reorganized the
+whole administration of India after the tremendous upheaval caused by
+the mutiny. Lord Elgin, on the other hand, was the first
+governor-general appointed directly by the Queen, and was now subject
+to the authority of the secretary of state for India. He could
+consequently exercise relatively little of the powers and
+responsibilities which made previous imperial representatives so
+potent in the conduct of Indian affairs. Indeed he had not been long
+in India before he was forced by the Indian secretary to reverse Lord
+Canning's wise measure for the sale of a fee-simple tenure with all
+its political as well as economic advantages. He was able, however, to
+carry out loyally the wise and equitable policy of his predecessor
+towards the feudatories of England with firmness and dignity and with
+good effect for the British government.[24]
+
+In 1863 he decided on making a tour of the northern parts of India
+with the object of making himself personally acquainted with the
+people and affairs of the empire under his government. It was during
+this tour that he held a Durbar or Royal Court at Agra, which was
+remarkable even in India for the display of barbaric wealth and the
+assemblage of princes of royal descent. After reaching Simla his
+peaceful administration of Indian affairs was at last disturbed by the
+necessity--one quite clear to him--of repressing an outburst of
+certain Nahabee fanatics who dwelt in the upper valley of the Indus.
+He came to the conclusion that "the interests both of prudence and
+humanity would be best consulted by levelling a speedy and decisive
+blow at this embryo conspiracy." Having accordingly made the requisite
+arrangements for putting down promptly the trouble on the frontier and
+preventing the combination of the Mahommedan inhabitants in those
+regions against the government, he left Simla and traversed the upper
+valleys of the Beas, the Ravee, and the Chenali with the object of
+inspecting the tea plantations of that district and making inquiries
+as to the possibility of trade with Ladâk and China. Eventually, after
+a wearisome journey through a most picturesque region, he reached
+Dhurmsala--"the place of piety"--in the Kangra valley, where appeared
+the unmistakable symptoms of the fatal malady which soon caused his
+death.
+
+The closing scenes in the life of the statesman have been described in
+pathetic terms by his brother-in-law, Dean Stanley.[25] The
+intelligence that the illness was mortal "was received with a calmness
+and fortitude which never deserted him" through all the scenes which
+followed. He displayed "in equal degrees, and with the most unvarying
+constancy, two of the grandest elements of human character--unselfish
+resignation of himself to the will of God, and thoughtful
+consideration down to the smallest particulars, for the interests and
+feelings of others, both public and private." When at his own request,
+Lady Elgin chose a spot for his grave in the little cemetery which
+stands on the bluff above the house where he died, "he gently
+expressed pleasure when told of the quiet and beautiful aspect of the
+place chosen, with the glorious view of the snowy range towering
+above, and the wide prospect of hill and plain below." During this
+fatal illness he had the consolation of the constant presence of his
+loving wife, whose courageous spirit enabled her to overcome the
+weakness of a delicate constitution. He died on November 20th, 1863,
+and was buried on the following day beneath the snow-clad
+Himalayas.[26]
+
+If at any time a Canadian should venture to this quiet station in the
+Kangra valley, let his first thought be, not of the sublimity of the
+mountains which rise far away, but of the grave where rest the remains
+of a statesman whose pure unselfishness, whose fidelity to duty, whose
+tender and sympathetic nature, whose love of truth and justice, whose
+compassion for the weak, whose trust in God and the teachings of
+Christ, are human qualities more worthy of the admiration of us all
+than the grandest attributes of nature.
+
+None of the distinguished Canadian statesmen who were members of Lord
+Elgin's several administrations from 1847 until 1854, or were then
+conspicuous in parliamentary life, now remain to tell us the story of
+those eventful years. Mr. Baldwin died five years before, and Sir
+Louis Hypolite LaFontaine three months after the decease of the
+governor-general of India, and in the roll of their Canadian
+contemporaries there are none who have left a fairer record. Mr.
+Hincks retired from the legislature of Canada in 1855, when he
+accepted the office of governor-in-chief of Barbadoes and the Windward
+Islands from Sir William Molesworth, colonial secretary in Lord
+Palmerston's government, and for years an eminent advocate of a
+liberal colonial policy. This appointment was well received throughout
+British North America by Mr. Hincks's friends as well as political
+opponents, who recognized the many merits of this able politician and
+administrator. It was considered, according to the London _Times_, as
+"the inauguration of a totally different system of policy from that
+which has been hitherto pursued with regard to our colonies." "It gave
+some evidence," continued the same paper, "that the more distinguished
+among our fellow-subjects in the colonies may feel that the path of
+imperial ambition is henceforth open to them." It was a direct answer
+to the appeal which had been so eloquently made on more than one
+occasion by the Honourable Joseph Howe[27] of Nova Scotia, to extend
+imperial honours and offices to distinguished colonists, and not
+reserve them, as was too often the case, for Englishmen of inferior
+merit. "This elevation of Mr. Hincks to a governorship," said the
+Montreal _Pilot_ at the time, "is the most practicable comment which
+can possibly be offered upon the solemn and sorrowful complaints of
+Mr. Howe, anent the neglect with which the colonists are treated by
+the imperial government. So sudden, complete and noble a disclaimer on
+the part of Her Majesty's minister for the colonies must have startled
+the delegate from Nova Scotia, and we trust that his turn may not be
+far distant." Fifteen years later, Mr. Howe himself became a
+lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, and an inmate of the very
+government house to which he was not admitted in the stormy days when
+he was fighting the battle of responsible government against Lord
+Falkland.
+
+Mr. Hincks was subsequently appointed governor of British Guiana, and
+at the same time received a Commandership of the Bath as a mark of
+"Her Majesty's approval honourably won by very valuable and continued
+service in several colonies of the empire." He retired from the
+imperial service with a pension in 1869, when his name was included in
+the first list of knights which was submitted to the Queen on the
+extension of the Order of St. Michael and St. George for the express
+purpose of giving adequate recognition to those persons in the
+colonies who had rendered distinguished service to the Crown and
+empire. During his Canadian administration Lord Elgin had impressed
+upon the colonial secretary that it was "very desirable that the
+prerogative of the Crown, as the fountain of honour, should be
+employed, in so far as this can properly be done, as a means of
+attaching the outlying parts of the empire to the throne." Two
+principles ought, he thought, "as a general rule to be attended to in
+the distribution of imperial honours among colonists." Firstly they
+should appear "to emanate directly from the Crown, on the advice, if
+you will, of the governors and imperial ministers, but not on the
+recommendation of the local executive." Secondly, they "should be
+conferred, as much as possible, on the eminent persons who are no
+longer engaged actively in political life." The first principle has,
+generally speaking, guided the action of the Crown in the distribution
+of honours to colonists, though the governors may receive suggestions
+from and also consult their prime ministers when the necessity arises.
+These honours, too, are no longer conferred only on men actively
+engaged in public life, but on others eminent in science, education,
+literature, and other vocations of life.[28]
+
+In 1870 Sir Francis Hincks returned to Canadian public life as finance
+minister in Sir John Macdonald's government, and held the office until
+1873, when he retired altogether from politics. Until the last hours
+of his life he continued to show that acuteness of intellect, that
+aptitude for public business, that knowledge of finance and commerce,
+which made him so influential in public affairs. During his public
+career in Canada previous to 1855, he was the subject of bitter
+attacks for his political acts, but nowadays impartial history can
+admit that, despite his tendency to commit the province to heavy
+expenditures, his energy, enterprise and financial ability did good
+service to the country at large. He was also attacked as having used
+his public position to promote his own pecuniary interests, but he
+courted and obtained inquiry into the most serious of such
+accusations, and although there appears to have been some carelessness
+in his connection with various speculations, and at times an absence
+of an adequate sense of his responsibility as a public man, there is
+no evidence that he was ever personally corrupt or dishonest. He
+devoted the close of his life to the writing of his "Reminiscences,"
+and of several essays on questions which were great public issues when
+he was so prominent in Canadian politics, and although none of his
+most ardent admirers can praise them as literary efforts of a high
+order, yet they have an interest so far as they give us some insight
+into disputed points of Canada's political history. He died in 1885 of
+the dreadful disease small-pox in the city of Montreal, and the
+veteran statesman was carried to the grave without those funeral
+honours which were due to one who had filled with distinction so many
+important positions in the service of Canada and the Crown. All his
+contemporaries when he was prime minister also lie in the grave and
+have found at last that rest which was not theirs in the busy,
+passionate years of their public life. Sir Allan MacNab, who was a
+spendthrift to the very last, lies in a quiet spot beneath the shades
+of the oaks and elms which adorn the lovely park of Dundurn in
+Hamilton, whose people have long since forgotten his weaknesses as a
+man, and now only recall his love for the beautiful city with whose
+interests he was so long identified, and his eminent services to Crown
+and state. George Brown, Hincks's inveterate opponent, continued for
+years after the formation of the first Liberal-Conservative
+administration, to keep the old province of Canada in a state of
+political ferment by his attacks on French Canada and her institutions
+until at last he succeeded in making government practically
+unworkable, and then suddenly he rose superior to the spirit of
+passionate partisanship and racial bitterness which had so long
+dominated him, and decided to aid his former opponents in consummating
+that federal union which relieved old Canada of her political
+embarrassment and sectional strife. His action at that time is his
+chief claim to the monument which has been raised in his honour in the
+great western city where he was for so many years a political force,
+and where the newspaper he established still remains at the head of
+Canadian journalism.
+
+The greatest and ablest man among all who were notable in Lord Elgin's
+days in Canada, Sir John Alexander Macdonald--the greatest not simply
+as a Canadian politician but as one of the builders of the British
+empire--lived to become one of Her Majesty's Privy Councillors of
+Great Britain, a Grand Cross of the Bath, and prime minister for
+twenty-one years of a Canadian confederation which stretches for 3,500
+miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. When death at last
+forced him from the great position he had so long occupied with
+distinction to himself and advantage to Canada, the esteem and
+affection in which he was held by the people, whom he had so long
+served during a continuous public career of half a century, were shown
+by the erection of stately monuments in five of the principal cities
+of the Dominion--an honour never before paid to a colonial statesman.
+The statues of Sir John Macdonald and Sir Georges Cartier--statues
+conceived and executed by the genius of a French Canadian
+artist--stand on either side of the noble parliament building where
+these statesmen were for years the most conspicuous figures; and as
+Canadians of the present generation survey their bronze effigies, let
+them not fail to recall those admirable qualities of statesmanship
+which distinguished them both--above all their assertion of those
+principles of compromise, conciliation and equal rights which have
+served to unite the two races in critical times when the tide of
+racial and sectional passion and political demagogism has rushed in a
+mad torrent against the walls of the national structure which
+Canadians have been so steadily and successfully building for so many
+years on the continent of North America.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+
+POLITICAL PROGRESS
+
+In the foregoing pages I have endeavoured to review--very imperfectly,
+I am afraid--all those important events in the political history of
+Canada from 1847 to 1854, which have had the most potent influence on
+its material, social, and political development. Any one who carefully
+studies the conditions of the country during that critical period of
+Canadian affairs cannot fail to come to the conclusion that the
+gradual elevation of Canada from the depression which was so prevalent
+for years in political as well as commercial matters, to a position of
+political strength and industrial prosperity, was largely owing to the
+success of the principles of self-government which Lord Elgin
+initiated and carried out while at the head of the Canadian executive.
+These principles have been clearly set forth in his speeches and in
+his despatches to the secretary of state for the colonies as well as
+in instructive volumes on the colonial policy of Lord John Russell's
+administration by Lord Grey, the imperial minister who so wisely
+recommended Lord Elgin's appointment as governor-general Briefly
+stated these principles are as follows:--
+
+     That it is neither desirable nor possible to carry on the
+     government of a province in opposition to the opinion of its
+     people.
+
+     That a governor-general can have no ministers who do not
+     enjoy the full confidence of the popular House, or, in the
+     last resort, of the people.
+
+     That the governor-general should not refuse his consent to
+     any measure proposed by the ministry unless it is clear that
+     it is of such an extreme party character that the assembly
+     or people could not approve of it.
+
+     That the governor-general should not identify himself with
+     any party but make himself "a mediator and moderator between
+     all parties."
+
+That colonial communities should be encouraged to cultivate "a
+national and manly tone of political morals," and should look to their
+own parliaments for the solution of all problems of provincial
+government instead of making constant appeals to the colonial office
+or to opinion in the mother country, "always ill-informed, and
+therefore credulous, in matters of colonial politics."
+
+That the governor-general should endeavour to impart to these rising
+communities the full advantages of British laws, British institutions,
+and British freedom, and maintain in this way the connection between
+them and the parent state.
+
+We have seen in previous chapters how industriously, patiently, and
+discreetly Lord Elgin laboured to carry out these principles in the
+administration of his government. In 1849 he risked his own life that
+he might give full scope to the principles of responsible government
+with respect to the adjustment of a question which should be settled
+by the Canadian people themselves without the interference of the
+parent state, and on the same ground he impressed on the imperial
+government the necessity of giving to the Canadian legislature full
+control of the settlement of the clergy reserves. He had no patience
+with those who believed that, in allowing the colonists to exercise
+their right to self-government in matters exclusively affecting
+themselves, there was any risk whatever so far as imperial interests
+were concerned. One of his ablest letters was that which he wrote to
+Earl Grey as an answer to the unwise utterances of the prime minister,
+Lord John Russell, in the course of a speech on the colonies in which,
+"amid the plaudits of a full senate, he declared that he looked
+forward to the day when the ties which he was endeavouring to render
+so easy and mutually advantageous would be severed." Lord Elgin held
+it to be "a perfectly unsound and most dangerous theory, that British
+colonies could not attain maturity without separation," and in this
+connection he quoted the language of Mr. Baldwin to whom he had read
+that part of Lord John Russell's speech to which he took such strong
+exception. "For myself," said the eminent Canadian, "if the
+anticipations therein expressed prove to be well founded, my interest
+in public affairs is gone forever. But is it not hard upon us while we
+are labouring, through good and evil report, to thwart the designs of
+those who would dismember the empire, that our adversaries should be
+informed that the difference between them and the prime minister of
+England is only one of time? If the British government has really come
+to the conclusion that we are a burden to be cast off, whenever a
+favourable opportunity offers, surely we ought to be warned." In Lord
+Elgin's opinion, based on a thorough study of colonial conditions, if
+the Canadian or any other system of government was to be successful,
+British statesmen must "renounce the habit of telling the colonies
+that the colonial is a provisional existence." They should be taught
+to believe that "without severing the bonds which unite them to
+England, they may attain the degree of perfection, and of social and
+political development to which organized communities of free men have
+a right to aspire." The true policy in his judgment was "to throw the
+whole weight of responsibility on those who exercise the real power,
+for after all, the sense of responsibility is the best security
+against the abuse of power; and as respects the connection, to act and
+speak on this hypothesis--that there is nothing in it to check the
+development of healthy national life in these young communities." He
+was "possessed," he used the word advisedly, "with the idea that it
+was possible to maintain on the soil of North America, and in the face
+of Republican America, British connection and British institutions, if
+you give the latter freely and trustingly." The history of Canada from
+the day those words were penned down to the beginning of the twentieth
+century proves their political wisdom. Under the inspiring influence
+of responsible government Canada has developed in 1902, not into an
+independent nation, as predicted by Lord John Russell and other
+British statesmen after him, but into a confederation of five millions
+and a half of people, in which a French Canadian prime minister gives
+expression to the dominant idea not only of his own race but of all
+nationalities within the Dominion, that the true interest lies not in
+the severance but in the continuance of the ties that have so long
+bound them to the imperial state.
+
+Lord Elgin in his valuable letters to the imperial authorities, always
+impressed on them the fact that the office of a Canadian
+governor-general has not by any means been lowered to that of a mere
+subscriber of orders-in-council--of a mere official automaton,
+speaking and acting by the orders of the prime minister and the
+cabinet. On the contrary, he gave it as his experience that in
+Jamaica, where there was no responsible government, he had "not half
+the power" he had in Canada "with a constitutional and changing
+cabinet." With respect to the maintenance of the position and due
+influence of the governor, he used language which gives a true
+solution of the problem involved in the adaptation of parliamentary
+government to the colonial system. "As the imperial government and
+parliament gradually withdraw from legislative interference, and from
+the exercise of patronage in colonial affairs, the office of governor
+tends to become, in the most emphatic sense of the term, the link
+which connects the mother country and the colony, and his influence
+the means by which harmony of action between the local and imperial
+authorities is to be preserved. It is not, however, in my humble
+judgment, by evincing an anxious desire to stretch to the utmost
+constitutional principles in his favour, but, on the contrary, by the
+frank acceptance of the conditions of the parliamentary system, that
+this influence can be most surely extended and confirmed. Placed by
+his position above the strife of parties--holding office by a tenure
+less precarious than the ministers who surround him--having no
+political interests to serve but those of the community whose affairs
+he is appointed to administer--his opinion cannot fail, when all cause
+for suspicion and jealousy is removed, to have great weight in
+colonial councils, while he is set at liberty to constitute himself in
+an especial manner the patron of those larger and higher
+interests--such interests, for example, as those of education, and of
+moral and material progress in all its branches--which, unlike the
+contests of party, unite instead of dividing the members of the body
+politic."
+
+As we study the political history of Canada for the fifty years which
+have elapsed since Lord Elgin enunciated in his admirable letters to
+the imperial government the principles which guided him in his
+Canadian administration, we cannot fail to see clearly that
+responsible government has brought about the following results, which
+are at once a guarantee of efficient home government and of a
+harmonious cooperation between the dependency and the central
+authority of the empire.
+
+The misunderstandings that so constantly occurred between the
+legislative bodies and the imperial authorities, on account of the
+latter failing so often to appreciate fully the nature of the
+political grievances that agitated the public mind, and on account of
+their constant interference in matters which should have been left
+exclusively to the control of the people directly interested, have
+been entirely removed in conformity with the wise policy of making
+Canada a self-governing country in the full sense of the phrase. These
+provinces are as a consequence no longer a source of irritation and
+danger to the parent state, but, possessing full independence in all
+matters of local concern, are now among the chief sources of England's
+pride and greatness.
+
+The governor-general instead of being constantly brought into conflict
+with the political parties of the country, and made immediately
+responsible for the continuance of public grievances, has gained in
+dignity and influence since he has been removed from the arena of
+public controversy. He now occupies a position in harmony with the
+principles that have given additional strength and prestige to the
+throne itself. As the legally accredited representative of the
+sovereign, as the recognized head of society, he represents what
+Bagehot has aptly styled "the dignified part of our constitution,"
+which has much value in a country like ours where we fortunately
+retain the permanent form of monarchy in harmony with the democratic
+machinery of our government. If the governor-general is a man of
+parliamentary experience and constitutional knowledge, possessing tact
+and judgment, and imbued with the true spirit of his high
+vocation--and these high functionaries have been notably so since the
+commencement of confederation--he can sensibly influence, in the way
+Lord Elgin points out, the course of administration and benefit the
+country at critical periods of its history. Standing above all party,
+having the unity of the empire at heart, a governor-general can at
+times soothe the public mind, and give additional confidence to the
+country, when it is threatened with some national calamity, or there
+is distrust abroad as to the future. As an imperial officer he has
+large responsibilities of which the general public has naturally no
+very clear idea, and if it were possible to obtain access to the
+confidential and secret despatches which seldom see the light in the
+colonial office--certainly not in the lifetime of the men who wrote
+them--it would be found how much, for a quarter of a century past, the
+colonial department has gained by having had in the Dominion, men, no
+longer acting under the influence of personal feeling through being
+made personally responsible for the conduct of public affairs, but
+actuated simply by a desire to benefit the country over which they
+preside, and to bring Canadian interests into union with those of the
+empire itself.
+
+The effects on the character of public men and on the body politic
+have been for the public advantage. It has brought out the best
+qualities of colonial statesmanship, lessened the influence of mere
+agitators and demagogues, and taught our public men to rely on
+themselves in all crises affecting the welfare and integrity of the
+country. Responsible government means self-reliance, the capacity to
+govern ourselves, the ability to build up a great nation.
+
+When we review the trials and struggles of the past that we may gain
+from them lessons of confidence for the future, let us not forget to
+pay a tribute to the men who have laid the foundations of these
+communities, still on the threshold of their development, and on whom
+the great burden fell; to the French Canadians who, despite the
+neglect and indifference of their kings, amid toil and privation, amid
+war and famine, built up a province which they have made their own by
+their patience and industry, and who should, differ as we may from
+them, evoke our respect for their fidelity to the institutions of
+their origin, for their appreciation of the advantages of English
+self-government, and for their cooperation in all great measures
+essential to the unity of the federation; to the Loyalists of last
+century who left their homes for the sake of "king and country," and
+laid the foundations of prosperous and loyal English communities by
+the sea and by the great lakes, and whose descendants have ever stood
+true to the principles of the institutions which have made Britain free
+and great; to the unknown body of pioneers some of whose names perhaps
+still linger on a headland or river or on a neglected gravestone, who
+let in the sunlight year by year to the dense forests of these
+countries, and built up by their industry the large and thriving
+provinces of this Dominion; above all, to the statesmen--Elgin,
+Baldwin, LaFontaine, Morin, Howe, and many others--who laid deep and
+firm, beneath the political structure of this confederation, those
+principles of self-government which give harmony to our constitutional
+system and bring out the best qualities of an intelligent people. In
+the early times in which they struggled they had to bear much obloquy,
+and their errors of judgment have been often severely arraigned at the
+bar of public opinion; many of them lived long enough to see how soon
+men may pass into oblivion; but we who enjoy the benefit of their
+earnest endeavours, now that the voice of the party passion of their
+times is hushed, should never forget that, though they are not here to
+reap the fruit of their labours, their work survives in the energetic
+and hopeful communities which stretch from Cape Breton to Victoria.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+
+A COMPARISON OF SYSTEMS
+
+In one of Lord Elgin's letters we are told that, when he had as
+visitors to government house in 1850, Sir Henry Bulwer, the elder
+brother of Lord Lytton, and British minister to the United States, as
+well as Sir Edmund Head, his successor in the governorship of Canada,
+he availed himself of so favourable an opportunity of reassuring them
+on many points of the internal policy of the province on which they
+were previously doubtful, and gave them some insight into the position
+of men and things on which Englishmen in those days were too ignorant
+as a rule. One important point which he impressed upon them--as he
+hoped successfully--was this:
+
+     "That the faithful carrying out of the principles of
+     constitutional government is a departure from the American
+     model, not an approximation to it, and, therefore, a
+     departure from republicanism in its only workable shape."
+
+The fact was: "The American system is our old colonial system, with,
+in certain cases, the principle of popular election substituted for
+that of nomination by the Crown." He was convinced "that the
+concession of constitutional government has a tendency to draw the
+colonists" towards England and not towards republicanism; "firstly,
+because it slakes that thirst for self-government which seizes on all
+British communities when they approach maturity; and secondly because
+it habituates the colonists to the working of a political mechanism
+which is both intrinsically superior to that of the Americans, and
+more unlike it than our old colonial system." In short, he felt very
+strongly that "when a people have been once thoroughly accustomed to
+the working of such a parliamentary system as ours they never will
+consent to resort to this irresponsible mechanism."
+
+Since these significant words were written half a century ago,
+Canadians have been steadily working out the principles of
+parliamentary government as understood and explained by Lord Elgin,
+and have had abundant opportunities of contrasting their experiences
+with those of their neighbours under a system in many respects the
+very reverse of that which has enabled Canada to attain so large a
+measure of political freedom and build up such prosperous communities
+to the north of the republic, while still remaining in the closest
+possible touch with the imperial state. I propose now to close this
+book with some comparisons between the respective systems of the two
+countries, and to show that in this respect as in others Lord Elgin
+proved how deep was his insight into the working of political
+institutions, and how thoroughly he had mastered the problem of the
+best methods of administering the government of a great colonial
+dependency, not solely with a regard to its own domestic interests but
+with a view of maintaining the connection with the British Crown, of
+which he was so discreet and able a servant.
+
+It is especially important to Canadians to study the development of
+the institutions of the United States, with the view of deriving
+benefit from their useful experiences, and avoiding the defects that
+have grown up under their system. All institutions are more or less on
+trial in a country like Canada, which is working out great problems of
+political science under decided advantages, since the ground is
+relatively new, and the people have before them all the experiences of
+the world, especially of England and the United States, in whose
+systems Canadians have naturally the deepest interest. The history of
+responsible government affords another illustration of a truth which
+stands out clear in the history of nations, that those constitutions
+which are of a flexible character, the natural growth of the
+experiences of centuries, and which have been created by the
+necessities and conditions of the times, possess the elements of real
+stability, and best ensure the prosperity of a people. The great
+source of the strength of the institutions of the United States lies
+in the fact that they have worked out their government in accordance
+with certain principles, which are essentially English in their
+origin, and have been naturally developed since their foundation as
+colonial settlements, and whatever weaknesses their system shows have
+chiefly arisen from new methods, and from the rigidity of their
+constitutional rules of law, which separate too sharply the executive
+and the legislative branches of government. Like their neighbours the
+Canadian people have based their system on English principles, but
+they have at the same time been able to keep pace with the progress of
+the unwritten constitution of England, to adapt it to their own
+political conditions, and to bring the executive and legislative
+authorities to assist and harmonize with one another.
+
+Each country has its "cabinet council," but the one is essentially
+different from the other in its character and functions. This term,
+the historical student will remember, was first used in the days of
+the Stuarts as one of derision and obloquy. It was frequently called
+"junto" or "cabal," and during the days of conflict between the
+commons and the king it was regarded with great disfavour by the
+parliament of England. Its unpopularity arose from the fact that it
+did not consist of men in whom parliament had confidence, and its
+proceedings were conducted with so much secrecy that it was impossible
+to decide upon whom to fix responsibility for any obnoxious measure.
+When the constitution of England was brought back to its original
+principles, and harmony was restored between the Crown and the
+parliament, the cabinet became no longer a term of reproach, but a
+position therein was regarded as the highest honour in the country,
+and was associated with the efficient administration of public
+affairs, since it meant a body of men responsible to parliament for
+every act of government.[29] The old executive councils of Canada were
+obnoxious to the people for the same reason that the councils of the
+Stuarts, and even of George III, with the exception of the régime of
+the two Pitts, became unpopular. Not only do we in Canada, in
+accordance with our desire to perpetuate the names of English
+institutions use the name "cabinet" which was applied to an
+institution that gradually grew out of the old privy council of
+England, but we have even incorporated in our fundamental law the
+older name of "privy council," which itself sprang from the original
+"permanent" or "continual" council of the Norman kings. Following
+English precedent, the Canadian cabinet or ministry is formed out of
+the privy councillors, chosen under the law by the governor-general,
+and when they retire from office they still retain the purely honorary
+distinction. In the United States the use of the term "cabinet" has
+none of the significance it has with us, and if it can be compared at
+all to any English institutions it might be to the old cabinets who
+acknowledged responsibility to the king, and were only so many heads
+of departments in the king's government. As a matter of fact the
+comparison would be closer if we said that the administration
+resembles the cabinets of the old French kings, or to quote Professor
+Bryce, "the group of ministers who surround the Czar or the Sultan, or
+who executed the bidding of a Roman emperor like Constantine or
+Justinian." Such ministers like the old executive councils of Canada,
+"are severally responsible to their master, and are severally called
+in to counsel him, but they have not necessarily any relations with
+one another, nor any duty or collective action." Not only is the
+administration conducted on the principle of responsibility to the
+president alone, in this respect the English king in old irresponsible
+days, but the legislative department is itself constructed after the
+English model as it existed a century ago, and a general system of
+government is established, lacking in that unity and elasticity which
+are essential to its effective working. On the other hand the Canadian
+cabinet is the cabinet of the English system of modern times and is
+formed so as to work in harmony with the legislative department, which
+is a copy, so far as possible, of the English legislature.
+
+The special advantages of the Canadian or English system of
+parliamentary government, compared with congressional government, may
+be briefly summed up as follows:--
+
+(1) The governor-general, his cabinet, and the popular branch of the
+legislature are governed in Canada, as in England, by a system of
+rules, conventions and understandings which enable them to work in
+harmony with one another. The Crown, the cabinet, the legislature, and
+the people, have respectively certain rights and powers which, when
+properly and constitutionally brought into operation, give strength
+and elasticity to our system of government. Dismissal of a ministry by
+the Crown under conditions of gravity, or resignation of a ministry
+defeated in the popular House, bring into play the prerogatives of the
+Crown. In all cases there must be a ministry to advise the Crown,
+assume responsibility for its acts, and obtain the support of the
+people and their representatives in parliament. As a last resort to
+bring into harmony the people, the legislature, and the Crown, there
+is the exercise of the supreme prerogative of dissolution. A governor,
+acting always under the advice of responsible ministers, may, at any
+time, generally speaking, grant an appeal to the people to test their
+opinion on vital public questions and bring the legislature into
+accord with the public mind. In short, the fundamental principle of
+popular sovereignty lies at the very basis of the Canadian system.
+
+On the other hand, in the United States, the president and his cabinet
+may be in constant conflict with the two Houses of Congress during the
+four years of his term of office. His cabinet has no direct influence
+with the legislative bodies, inasmuch as they have no seats therein.
+The political complexion of Congress does not affect their tenure of
+office, since they depend only on the favour and approval of the
+executive; dissolution, which is the safety valve of the English or
+Canadian system--"in its essence an appeal from the legal to the
+political sovereign"--is not practicable under the United States
+constitution. In a political crisis the constitution provides no
+adequate solution of the difficulty during the presidential term. In
+this respect the people of the United States are not sovereign as they
+are in Canada under the conditions just briefly stated.
+
+(2) The governor-general is not personally brought into collision with
+the legislature by the direct exercise of a veto of its legislative
+acts, since the ministry is responsible for all legislation and must
+stand or fall by its important measures. The passage of a measure of
+which it disapproved as a ministry would mean in the majority of cases
+a resignation, and it is not possible to suppose that the governor
+would be asked to exercise a prerogative of the Crown which has been
+in disuse since the establishment of responsible government and would
+now be a revolutionary measure even in Canada.
+
+In the United States there is danger of frequent collision between the
+president and the two legislative branches, should a very critical
+exercise of the veto, as in President Johnson's time, occur at a time
+when the public mind was deeply agitated. The chief magistrate loses
+in dignity and influence whenever the legislature overrides the veto,
+and congress becomes a despotic master for the time being.
+
+(3) The Canadian minister, having control of the finances and taxes
+and of all matters of administration, is directly responsible to
+parliament and sooner or later to the people for the manner in which
+public functions have been discharged. All important measures are
+initiated by the cabinet, and on every question of public interest the
+ministers are bound to have a definite policy if they wish to retain
+the confidence of the legislature. Even in the case of private
+legislation they are also the guardians of the public interests and
+are responsible to the parliament and the people for any neglect in
+particular.
+
+On the other hand in the United States the financial and general
+legislation of congress is left to the control of committees, over
+which the president and his cabinet have no direct influence, and the
+chairman of which may have ambitious objects in direct antagonism to
+the men in office.
+
+(4) In the Canadian system the speaker is a functionary who certainly
+has his party proclivities, but it is felt that as long as he occupies
+the chair all political parties can depend on his justice and
+impartiality. Responsible government makes the premier and his
+ministers responsible for the constitution of the committees and for
+the opinions and decisions that may emanate from them. A government
+that would constantly endeavour to shift its responsibilities on
+committees, even of its own selection, would soon disappear from the
+treasury benches. Responsibility in legislation is accordingly
+ensured, financial measures prevented from being made the footballs of
+ambitious and irresponsible politicians, and the impartiality and
+dignity of the speakership guaranteed by the presence in parliament of
+a cabinet having the direction and supervision of business.
+
+On the other hand, in the United States, the speaker of the House of
+Representatives becomes, from the very force of circumstances, a
+political leader, and the spectacle is presented--in fact from the
+time of Henry Clay--so strange to us familiar with English methods, of
+decisions given by him with clearly party objects, and of committees
+formed by him with purely political aims, as likely as not with a view
+to thwart the ambition either of a president who is looking to a
+second term or of some prominent member of the cabinet who has
+presidential aspirations. And all this lowering of the dignity of the
+chair is due to the absence of a responsible minister to lead the
+House. The very position which the speaker is forced to take from time
+to time--notably in the case of Mr. Reed[30]--is clearly the result of
+the defects in the constitutional system of the United States, and is
+so much evidence that a responsible party leader is an absolute
+necessity in congress. A legislature must be led, and congress has
+been attempting to get out of a crucial difficulty by all sorts of
+questionable shifts which only show the inherent weakness of the
+existing system.
+
+In the absence of any provision for the unity of policy between the
+executive and legislative authorities of the United States, it is
+impossible for any nation to have a positive guarantee that a treaty
+it may negotiate with the former can be ratified. The sovereign of
+Great Britain enters into treaties with foreign powers with the advice
+and assistance of his constitutional advisers, who are immediately
+responsible to parliament for their counsel in such matters. In theory
+it is the prerogative of the Crown to make a treaty; in practice it is
+that of the ministry. It is not constitutionally imperative to refer
+such treaties to parliament for its approval--the consent of the Crown
+is sufficient; but it is sometimes done under exceptional
+circumstances, as in the case of the cession of Heligoland. In any
+event the action of the ministry in the matter is invariably open to
+the review of parliament, and the ministry may be censured by an
+adverse vote for the advice given to the sovereign, and forced to
+retire from office. In the United States the senate must ratify all
+treaties by a two-thirds vote, but unless there is a majority in that
+House of the same political complexion as the president the treaty may
+be refused. No cabinet minister is present, to lead the House, as in
+England, and assume all the responsibility of the president's action.
+It is almost impossible to suppose that an English ministry would
+consent to a treaty that would be unpopular in parliament and the
+country. The existence of the government would depend on its action.
+In the United States both president and senate have divided
+responsibilities. The constitution makes no provision for unity in
+such important matters of national obligation.
+
+The great advantages of the English, or Canadian, system lie in the
+interest created among all classes of the people by the discussions of
+the different legislative bodies. Parliamentary debate involves the
+fate of cabinets, and the public mind is consequently led to study all
+issues of importance. The people know and feel that they must be
+called upon sooner or later to decide between the parties contending
+on the floor of the legislature, and consequently are obliged to give
+an intelligent consideration to public affairs. Let us see what
+Bagehot, ablest of critics, says on this point:--
+
+     "At present there is business in their attention (that is to
+     say, of the English or Canadian people). They assist at the
+     determining crisis; they assist or help it. Whether the
+     government will go out or remain is determined by the debate
+     and by the division in parliament And the opinion out of
+     doors, the secret pervading disposition of society, has a
+     great influence on that division. The nation feels that its
+     judgment is important, and it strives to judge. It succeeds
+     in deciding because the debates and the discussions give it
+     the facts and arguments. But under the presidential
+     government the nation has, except at the electing moment, no
+     influence; it has not the ballot-box before it; its virtue
+     is gone and it must wait till its instant of despotism again
+     returns. There are doubtless debates in the legislature, but
+     they are prologues without a play. The prize of power is not
+     in the gift of the legislature. No presidential country
+     needs to form daily delicate opinions, or is helped in
+     forming them."
+
+Then when the people do go to the ballot-box, they cannot
+intelligently influence the policy of the government. If they vote for
+a president, then congress may have a policy quite different from his;
+if they vote for members of congress, they cannot change the opinions
+of the president. If the president changes his cabinet at any time,
+they have nothing to say about it, for its members are not important
+as wheels in the legislative machinery. Congress may pass a bill of
+which the people express their disapproval at the first opportunity
+when they choose a new congress, but still it may remain on the
+statute-book because the senate holds views different from the newly
+elected House, and cannot be politically changed until after a long
+series of legislative elections. As Professor Woodrow Wilson well puts
+it in an able essay:--[31]
+
+     "Public opinion has no easy vehicle for its judgments, no
+     quick channels for its action. Nothing about the system is
+     direct and simple. Authority is perplexingly subdivided and
+     distributed, and responsibility has to be hunted down in
+     out-of-the-way corners. So that the sum of the whole matter
+     is that the means of working for the fruits of good
+     government are not readily to be found. The average citizen
+     may be excused for esteeming government at best but a
+     haphazard affair upon which his vote and all his influence
+     can have but little effect. How is his choice of
+     representative in congress to affect the policy of the
+     country as regards the questions in which he is most
+     interested if the man for whom he votes has no chance of
+     getting on the standing committee which has virtual charge
+     of those questions? How is it to make any difference who is
+     chosen president? Has the president any great authority in
+     matters of vital policy? It seems a thing of despair to get
+     any assurance that any vote he may cast will even in an
+     infinitesimal degree affect the essential courses of
+     administration. There are so many cooks mixing their
+     ingredients in the national broth that it seems hopeless,
+     this thing of changing one cook at a time."
+
+Under such a system it cannot be expected that the people will take
+the same deep interest in elections and feel as directly responsible
+for the character of the government as when they can at one election
+and by one verdict decide the fate of a government, whose policy on
+great issues must be thoroughly explained to them at the polls. This
+method of popular government is more real and substantial than a
+system which does not allow the people to influence congressional
+legislation and administrative action through a set of men sitting in
+congress and having a common policy.
+
+I think it does not require any very elaborate argument to show that
+when men feel and know that the ability they show in parliament may be
+sooner or later rewarded by a seat on the treasury benches, and that
+they will then have a determining voice in the government of the
+country, be it dominion or province, they must be stimulated by a
+keener interest in public life, a closer watchfulness over legislation
+and administration, a greater readiness for discussing all public
+questions, and a more studied appreciation of public opinion outside
+the legislative halls. Every man in parliament is a premier _in
+posse_. While asking my readers to recall what I have already said as
+to the effect of responsible government on the public men and people
+of Canada, I shall also here refer them to some authorities worthy of
+all respect.
+
+Mr. Bagehot says with his usual clearness:--[32]
+
+     "To belong to a debating society adhering to an executive
+     (and this is no inapt description of a congress under a
+     presidential constitution) is not an object to stir a noble
+     ambition, and is a position to encourage idleness. The
+     members of a parliament excluded from office can never be
+     comparable, much less equal, to those of a parliament not
+     excluded from office. The presidential government by its
+     nature divides political life into two halves, an executive
+     half and a legislative half, and by so dividing it, makes
+     neither half worth a man's having--worth his making it a
+     continuous career--worthy to absorb, as cabinet government
+     absorbs, his whole soul. The statesmen from whom a nation
+     chooses under a presidential system are much inferior to
+     those from whom it chooses under a cabinet system, while the
+     selecting apparatus is also far less discerning."
+
+An American writer, Prof. Denslow,[33] does not hesitate to express
+the opinion very emphatically that "as it is, in no country do the
+people feel such an overwhelming sense of the littleness of the men in
+charge of public affairs" as in the United States. And in another
+place he dwells on the fact that "responsible government educates
+office-holders into a high and honourable sense of their
+accountability to the people," and makes "statesmanship a permanent
+pursuit followed by a skilled class of men."
+
+Prof. Woodrow Wilson says that,[34] so far from men being trained to
+legislation by congressional government, "independence and ability are
+repressed under the tyranny of the rules, and practically the favour
+of the popular branch of congress is concentrated in the speaker and a
+few--very few--expert parliamentarians." Elsewhere he shows that
+"responsibility is spread thin, and no vote or debate can gather it."
+As a matter of fact and experience, he comes to the conclusion "the
+more power is divided the more irresponsible it becomes and the petty
+character of the leadership of each committee contributes towards
+making its despotism sure by making its duties interesting."
+
+Professor James Bryee, it will be admitted, is one of the fairest of
+critics in his review of the institutions of the United States; but
+he, too, comes to the conclusion[35] that the system of congressional
+government destroys the unity of the House (of representatives) as a
+legislative body; prevents the capacity of the best members from being
+brought to bear upon any one piece of legislation, however important;
+cramps debate; lessens the cohesion and harmony of legislation; gives
+facilities for the exercise of underhand and even corrupt influence;
+reduces responsibility; lowers the interest of the nation in the
+proceedings of congress.
+
+In another place,[36] after considering the relations between the
+executive and the legislature, he expresses his opinion that the
+framers of the constitution have "so narrowed the sphere of the
+executive as to prevent it from leading the country, or even its own
+party in the country." They endeavoured "to make members of congress
+independent, but in doing so they deprived them of some of the means
+which European legislators enjoy of learning how to administer, of
+learning even how to legislate in administrative topics. They
+condemned them to be architects without science, critics without
+experience, censors without responsibility."
+
+And further on, when discussing the faults of democratic government in
+the United States--and Professor Bryce, we must remember, is on the
+whole most hopeful of its future--he detects as amongst its
+characteristics "a certain commonness of mind and tone, a want of
+dignity and elevation in and about the conduct of public affairs, and
+insensibility to the nobler aspects and finer responsibilities of
+national life." Then he goes on to say[37] that representative and
+parliamentary system "provides the means of mitigating the evils to be
+feared from ignorance or haste, for it vests the actual conduct of
+affairs in a body of specially chosen and presumably qualified men,
+who may themselves intrust such of their functions as need peculiar
+knowledge or skill to a smaller governing body or bodies selected in
+respect of their more eminent fitness. By this method the defects of
+democracy are remedied while its strength is retained." The members of
+American legislatures, being disjoined from the administrative
+offices, "are not chosen for their ability or experience; they are not
+much respected or trusted, and finding nothing exceptional expected
+from them, they behave as ordinary men."
+
+"If corruption," wrote Judge Story, that astute political student,
+"ever silently eats its way into the vitals of this Republic, it will
+be because the people are unable to bring responsibility home to the
+executive through his chosen ministers."[38]
+
+As I have already stated in the first pages of this chapter, long
+before the inherent weaknesses of the American system were pointed out
+by the eminent authorities just quoted, Lord Elgin was able, with that
+intuitive sagacity which he applied to the study of political
+institutions, to see the unsatisfactory working of the clumsy,
+irresponsible mechanism of our republican neighbours.
+
+"Mr. Fillmore," he is writing in November, 1850, "stands to his
+congress very much in the same relation in which I stood to my
+assembly in Jamaica. There is the same absence of effective
+responsibility in the conduct of legislation, the same want of
+concurrent action between the parts of the political machine. The
+whole business of legislation in the American congress, as well as in
+the state legislatures, is conducted in the manner in which railway
+business was conducted in the House of Commons at a time when it is to
+be feared that, notwithstanding the high standard of honour in the
+British parliament, there was a good deal of jobbing. For instance,
+our reciprocity measure was pressed by us at Washington last session
+just as a railway bill in 1845 or 1846 would have been pressed in
+parliament There was no government to deal with. The interests of the
+union as a whole, distinct from local and sectional interests, had no
+organ in the representative bodies; it was all a question of
+canvassing this member of congress or the other. It is easy to
+perceive that, under such a system, jobbing must become not the
+exception but the rule,"--remarks as true in 1901 as in 1850.
+
+It is important also to dwell on the fact that in Canada the
+permanency of the tenure of public officials and the introduction of
+the secret ballot have been among the results of responsible
+government. Through the influence and agency of the same system,
+valuable reforms have been made in Canada in the election laws, and
+the trial of controverted elections has been taken away from partisan
+election committees and given to a judiciary independent of political
+influences. In these matters the irresponsible system of the United
+States has not been able to effect any needful reforms. Such measures
+can be best carried by ministers having the initiation and direction
+of legislation and must necessarily be retarded when power is divided
+among several authorities having no unity of policy on any question.
+
+Party government undoubtedly has its dangers arising from personal
+ambition and unscrupulous partisanship, but as long as men must range
+themselves in opposing camps on every subject, there is no other
+system practicable by which great questions can be carried and the
+working of representative government efficiently conducted. The
+framers of the constitution of the United States no doubt thought they
+had succeeded in placing the president and his officers above party
+when they instituted the method of electing the former by a body of
+select electors chosen for that purpose in each state, who were
+expected to act irrespective of all political considerations. A
+president so selected would probably choose his officers also on the
+same basis. The practical results, however, have been to prove that in
+every country of popular and representative institutions party
+government must prevail. Party elects men to the presidency and to the
+floor of the Senate and House of Representatives, and the election to
+those important positions is directed and controlled by a political
+machinery far exceeding in its completeness any party organization in
+England or in Canada. The party convention is now the all important
+portion of the machinery for the election of the president, and the
+safeguard provided by the constitution for the choice of the best man
+is a mere nullity. One thing is quite certain, that party government
+under the direction of a responsible ministry, responsible to
+parliament and the people for every act of administration and
+legislation, can have far less dangerous tendencies than a party
+system which elects an executive not amenable to public opinion for
+four years, divides the responsibilities of government among several
+authorities, prevents harmony among party leaders, does not give the
+executive that control over legislation necessary to efficient
+administration of public affairs, and in short offers a direct premium
+to conflict among all the authorities of the state--a conflict, not so
+much avoided by the checks and balances of the constitution as by the
+patience, common sense, prudence, and respect for law which presidents
+and their cabinets have as a rule shown at national crises. But we can
+clearly see that, while the executive has lost in influence, congress
+has gained steadily to an extent never contemplated by the founders of
+the constitution, and there are thoughtful men who say that the true
+interests of the country have not always been promoted by the change.
+Party government in Canada ensures unity of policy, since the premier
+of the cabinet becomes the controlling part of the political machinery
+of the state; no such thing as unity of policy is possible under a
+system which gives the president neither the dignity of a
+governor-general, nor the strength of a premier, and splits up
+political power among any number of would-be party leaders, who adopt
+or defeat measures by private intrigues, make irresponsible
+recommendations, and form political combinations for purely selfish
+ends.[39]
+
+It seems quite clear then that the system of responsible ministers
+makes the people more immediately responsible for the efficient
+administration of public affairs than is possible in the United
+States. The fact of having the president and the members of congress
+elected for different terms, and of dividing the responsibilities of
+government among these authorities does not allow the people to
+exercise that direct influence which is ensured, as the experience of
+Canada and of England proves, by making one body of men immediately
+responsible to the electors for the conduct of public affairs at
+frequently recurring periods, arranged by well understood rules, so as
+to ensure a correct expression of public opinion on all important
+issues. The committees which assist in governing this country are the
+choice of the people's representatives assembled in parliament, and
+every four or five years and sometimes even sooner in case of a
+crisis, the people have to decide on the wisdom of the choice.
+
+The system has assuredly its drawbacks like all systems of government
+that have been devised and worked out by the brain of man. In all
+frankness I confess that this review would be incomplete were I not to
+refer to certain features of the Canadian system of government which
+seem to me on the surface fraught with inherent danger at some time or
+other to independent legislative judgment. Any one who has closely
+watched the evolution of this system for years past must admit that
+there is a dangerous tendency in the Dominion to give the executive--I
+mean the ministry as a body--too superior a control over the
+legislative authority. When a ministry has in its gift the appointment
+not only of the heads of the executive government in the provinces,
+that is to say, of the lieutenant-governors, who can be dismissed by
+the same power at any moment, but also of the members of the Upper
+House of Parliament itself, besides the judiciary and numerous
+collectorships and other valuable offices, it is quite obvious that
+the element of human ambition and selfishness has abundant room for
+operation on the floor of the legislature, and a bold and skilful
+cabinet is also able to wield a machinery very potent under a system
+of party government. In this respect the House of Representatives may
+be less liable to insidious influences than a House of Commons at
+critical junctures when individual conscience or independent judgment
+appears on the point of asserting itself. The House of Commons may be
+made by skilful party management a mere recording or registering body
+of an able and determined cabinet. I see less liability to such silent
+though potent influences in a system which makes the president and a
+house of representatives to a large degree independent of each other,
+and leaves his important nominations to office under the control of
+the senate, a body which has no analogy whatever with the relatively
+weak branch of the Canadian parliament, essentially weak while its
+membership depends on the government itself. I admit at once that in
+the financial dependence of the provinces on the central federal
+authority, in the tenure of the office of the chief magistrates of the
+provinces, in the control exercised by the ministry over the highest
+legislative body of Canada, that is, highest in point of dignity and
+precedence, there are elements of weakness; but at the same time it
+must be remembered that, while the influence and power of the Canadian
+government may be largely increased by the exercise of its great
+patronage in the hypothetical cases I have suggested, its action is
+always open to the approval or disapproval of parliament and it has to
+meet an opposition face to face. Its acts are open to legislative
+criticism, and it may at any moment be forced to retire by public
+opinion operating upon the House of Commons.
+
+On the other hand the executive in the United States for four years
+may be dominant over congress by skilful management. A strong
+executive by means of party wields a power which may be used for
+purposes of mere personal ambition, and may by clever management of
+the party machine and with the aid of an unscrupulous majority retain
+power for a time even when it is not in accord with the true sentiment
+of the country; but under a system like that of Canada, where every
+defect in the body politic is probed to the bottom in the debates of
+parliament, which are given by the public press more fully than is the
+practice in the neighbouring republic, the people have a better
+opportunity of forming a correct judgment on every matter and giving
+an immediate verdict when the proper time comes for an appeal to them,
+the sovereign power. Sometimes this judgment is too often influenced
+by party prejudices and the real issue is too often obscured by
+skilful party management, but this is inevitable under every system of
+popular government; and happily, should it come to the worst, there is
+always in the country that saving remnant of intelligent, independent
+men of whom Matthew Arnold has written, who can come forward and by
+their fearless and bold criticism help the people in any crisis when
+truth, honour and justice are at stake and the great mass of electors
+fail to appreciate the true situation of affairs. But we may have
+confidence in the good sense and judgment of the people as a whole
+when time is given them to consider the situation of affairs. Should
+men in power be unfaithful to their public obligations, they will
+eventually be forced by the conditions of public life to yield their
+positions to those who merit public confidence. If it should ever
+happen in Canada that public opinion has become so low that public men
+feel that they can, whenever they choose, divert it to their own
+selfish ends by the unscrupulous use of partisan agencies and corrupt
+methods, and that the highest motives of public life are forgotten in
+a mere scramble for office and power, then thoughtful Canadians might
+well despair of the future of their country; but, whatever may be the
+blots at times on the surface of the body politic, there is yet no
+reason to believe that the public conscience of Canada is weak or
+indifferent to character and integrity in active politics. The
+instincts of an English people are always in the direction of the pure
+administration of justice and the efficient and honest government of
+the country, and though it may sometimes happen that unscrupulous
+politicians and demagogues will for a while dominate in the party
+arena, the time of retribution and purification must come sooner or
+later. English methods must prevail in countries governed by an
+English people and English institutions.
+
+It is sometimes said that it is vain to expect a high ideal in public
+life, that the same principles that apply to social and private life
+cannot always be applied to the political arena if party government is
+to succeed; but this is the doctrine of the mere party manager, who is
+already too influential in Canada as in the United States, and not of
+a true patriotic statesman. It is wiser to believe that the nobler the
+object the greater the inspiration, and at all events, it is better to
+aim high than to sink low. It is all important that the body politic
+should be kept pure and that public life should be considered a public
+trust. Canada is still young in her political development, and the
+fact that her population has been as a rule a steady, fixed
+population, free from those dangerous elements which have come into
+the United States with such rapidity of late years, has kept her
+relatively free from any serious social and political dangers which
+have afflicted her neighbours, and to which I believe they themselves,
+having inherited English institutions and being imbued with the spirit
+of English law, will always in the end rise superior. Great
+responsibility, therefore, rests in the first instance upon the people
+of Canada, who must select the best and purest among them to serve the
+country, and, secondly, upon the men whom the legislature chooses to
+discharge the trust of carrying on the government. No system of
+government or of laws can of itself make a people virtuous and happy
+unless their rulers recognize in the fullest sense their obligations
+to the state and exercise their powers with prudence and
+unselfishness, and endeavour to elevate and not degrade public opinion
+by the insidious acts and methods of the lowest political ethics. A
+constitution may be as perfect as human agencies can make it, and yet
+be relatively worthless while the large responsibilities and powers
+entrusted to the governing body--responsibilities and powers not
+embodied in acts of parliament--are forgotten in view of party
+triumph, personal ambition, or pecuniary gain. "The laws," says Burke,
+"reach but a very little way. Constitute government how you please,
+infinitely the greater part of it must depend upon the exercise of the
+powers which are left at large to the prudence and uprightness of
+ministers of state. Even all the use and potency of the laws depend
+upon them. Without them your commonwealth is no better than a scheme
+upon paper, and not a living, active, effective organization."
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
+
+
+For accounts of the whole career of Lord Elgin see _Letters and
+Journals of James, Eighth, Earl of Elgin_, etc., edited by Theodore
+Walrond, C.B., with a preface by his brother-in-law, Dean Stanley
+(London 2nd. ed., 1873); for China mission, _Narrative of the Earl of
+Elgin's Mission to China and Japan_ by Lawrence Oliphant, his private
+secretary (Edinburgh, 1869); for the brief Indian administration, _The
+Friend of India_ for 1862-63. Consult also article in vol. 8 of
+_Encyclopædia Britannica_, 9th ed.; John Charles Dent's _Canadian
+Portrait Gallery_ (Toronto, 1880), vol. 2, which also contains a
+portrait; W.J. Rattray's _The Scot in British North America_ (Toronto,
+1880) vol. 2, pp. 608-641.
+
+For an historical review of Lord Elgin's administration in Canada, see
+J.C. Dent's _The Last Forty Years, or Canada since the Union of 1841_
+(Toronto, 1881), chapters XXIII-XXXIV inclusive, with a portrait;
+Louis P. Turcotte's _Le Canada Sous l'Union_ (Quebec, 1871), chapters
+I-IV, inclusive; Sir Francis Hincks's _Reminiscences of His Public
+Life_ (Montreal, 1884) with a portrait of the author; Joseph Pope's
+_Memoirs of the Rt. Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald, G.C.B._ (Ottawa and
+London, 1894), with portraits of the great statesman, vol. 1, chapters
+IV-VI inclusive; Lord Grey's _Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's
+Administration_ (London, 2nd ed., 1853), vol. 1; Sir C.B. Adderley's
+_Review of the Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's Administration,
+by Earl Grey, and Subsequent Colonial History_ (London, 1869).
+
+For accounts of the evolution of responsible government in Canada
+consult the works by Dent, Turcotte, Rattray, Hincks, Grey and
+Adderley, just mentioned; Lord Durham's _Report on the Affairs of
+British North America_, submitted to parliament, 1839; Dr. Alpheus
+Todd's _Parliamentary Government in The British Colonies_ (2nd ed.
+London, 1894); Bourinot's _Manual of the Constitutional History of
+Canada_ (Toronto, 1901); his _Canada under British Rule_ (London and
+Toronto, 1901), chapters VI-VIII inclusive; _Memoir of the Life of the
+Rt. Hon. Lord Sydenham, etc._, by his brother G. Poulett Scrope, M.P.,
+(London, 1843), with a portrait of that nobleman; _Life and
+Correspondence of Charles Lord Metcalfe_, by J.W. Kaye (London, new
+ed., 1858).
+
+For comparisons between the parliamentary government of Great Britain
+or Canada, and the congressional system of the United States, see
+Walter Bagehot's _English Constitution_ and other political essays
+(New York, 1889); Woodrow Wilson's _Congressional Government_ (Boston,
+1885); Dr. James Bryce's _American Commonwealth_ (London, 1888);
+Bourinot's _Canadian Studies in Comparative Politics_, in _Trans. Roy.
+Soc. Can._, vol. VIII, sec. 2 (old ser.), and in separate form
+(Montreal, 1891). Other books and essays on the same subject are noted
+in a bibliography given in _Trans. Roy. Soc. Can._, vol. XI, old ser.,
+sec. 2, as an appendix to an article by Sir J.G. Bourinot on
+Parliamentary Government in Canada.
+
+The reader may also profitably consult the interesting series of
+sketches (with excellent portraits) of the lives of Sir Francis
+Hincks, Sir A. MacNab, Sir L.H. LaFontaine, R. Baldwin, Bishop
+Strachan, L.J. Papineau, John Sandfield Macdonald, Antoine A. Dorion,
+Sir John A. Macdonald, George Brown, Sir E.P. Taché, P.J.O. Chauveau,
+and of other men notable from 1847-1854, in the _Portraits of British
+Americans_ (Montreal 1865-67), by J. Fennings Taylor, who was deputy
+clerk of the old legislative council, and later of the senate of
+Canada, and a contemporary of the eminent men whose careers he briefly
+and graphically describes. Consult also Dent's _Canadian Portrait
+Gallery_, which has numerous portraits.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+A
+
+Amnesty Act, 91.
+
+Annexation manifesto, 80, 81.
+
+Annexation sentiment, the, caused by lack of prosperity and political
+  grievances, 191 f.
+
+Archambault, L., 186.
+
+Aylwin, Hon. I.C., 45, 50, 53, 187.
+
+
+
+B
+
+Badgley, Judge, 187.
+
+Bagehot,
+  on public interest in politics, 250, 251;
+  on the disadvantage of the presidential system, 253, 254.
+
+Bagot, Sir Charles, favourable to French Canadians, 30; 31.
+
+Baldwin, Hon. Robert, 28;
+  aims of, 31, 45, 50, 51;
+  forms a government with LaFontaine, 52;
+  his measure to create the university of Toronto, 93, 94;
+  resigns office, 103;
+  death of, 104;
+  views on the clergy reserves, 160, 162.
+
+Blake, Hon. W.H., 50, 53, 69.
+
+Boulton, John, 123.
+
+Bowen, Judge, 187.
+
+Brown, Hon. George, 110;
+  editor of _Globe_, 111;
+  raises the cry of French domination, leads the clear Grits, 112;
+  enters parliament, 113;
+  his power, 114;
+  urges representation by population, 117; 125, 137, 138;
+  his part in confederation, 225.
+
+Bryce, Rt. Hon. James, on the disadvantages of congressional
+  government, 255-257.
+
+Buchanan, Mr., his tribute to Lord Elgin, 123, 124.
+
+
+
+C
+
+Cameron, John Hillyard, 50, 112.
+
+Cameron, Malcolm, 50, 53, 110, 113, 117, 126, 134, 163.
+
+Canada Company, 145.
+
+Canada,
+  early political conditions in, 17-40;
+  difficulties connected with responsible government in, 26;
+  the principles of responsible government, 228;
+  a comparison of her political system with that of the United States,
+    241 f.
+
+Canning, Earl, 217.
+
+Caron, Hon. R.E., 43, 53, 109, 113, 126, 187.
+
+Cartier, Georges Étienne, 135, 136, 226.
+
+Cathcart, Lord, succeeds Lord Metcalfe as governor-general, 38.
+
+Cauchon, 126, 164.
+
+Cayley, Hon. W., 140, 163.
+
+Chabot, Hon. J., 126, 141, 164, 186.
+
+Chaderton, 48.
+
+Chauveau, P.J.O., 46, 50, 109, 113, 126, 141, 164.
+
+Christie, David, 110.
+
+Church of England, its claims under the Constitutional Act., 145, 150
+  f.
+
+Church Presbyterian, its successful contention, 153.
+
+Clergy Reserves, 101, 102, 103, 119, 127;
+  secularization of, 142;
+  the history of, 143, f.;
+  report of select committee on, 147;
+  Imperial act passed, 158, 159;
+  its repeal urged, 161;
+  value of the reserves, 161-162;
+  full powers granted the provincial legislature to vary or repeal the
+    act of 1840, 167;
+  important bill introduced by Sir John A. Macdonald, 168.
+
+Colborne, Sir John,
+  his action on the land question, 154;
+  the Colborne patents attacked and upheld, 155, 156.
+
+Company of the West Indies, 175.
+
+Craig, Sir James, 1, 19.
+
+
+
+D
+
+Daly, Dominick, 35.
+
+Day, Judge, 187.
+
+Delagrave, C., 187.
+
+Denslow, Prof., 254.
+
+Derby, Lord, his views of colonial development, 121.
+
+Dessaules, 108.
+
+Dorchester, Lord, 1.
+
+Dorion, A.A., 108, 134.
+
+Dorion, J.B.E., 108.
+
+Doutre, R., 108.
+
+Draper, Hon. Mr.,
+  forms a ministry, 35;
+  retires from the ministry, 43.
+
+Draper-Viger ministry,
+  its weakness 44,
+  some important measures, 45;
+  commission appointed by, 64.
+
+Drummond, L.P., 109, 113, 126, 141;
+  his action on the question of seigniorial tenure, 186.
+
+Dumas, N., 186.
+
+Durham, Lord, 2, 14;
+  his report, 15, 23, 25;
+  compared with Elgin, 15;
+  his views on the land question, 144, 145, 148, 154, 155;
+  his views on Canada after the rebellion, 191;
+  his suggestions of remedy, 192, 193.
+
+Duval, Judge, 187.
+
+
+
+E
+
+Educational Reform, 87-89.
+
+Elgin, Lord,
+  his qualities, 3-4;
+  conditions in Canada on his arrival, on his departure, birth and
+    family descent, 5;
+  his parentage, 6;
+  his contemporaries at Eton and Oxford, estimate of,
+    by Gladstone, 7;
+    by his brother, 7-8;
+  enters parliament, his political views, 8;
+  appointed governor of Jamaica, death of his wife, 9;
+  mediates between the colonial office and the Jamaica legislature,
+   12;
+  resigns governorship of Jamaica, returns to England, 13;
+  accepts governor-generalship of Canada, marriage with Lady Mary
+    Louisa Lambton, 14;
+  compared with Lord Durham, 15;
+  creates a favourable impression, recognizes the principle of
+    responsible government, 41;
+  appeals for reimbursement of plague expenses, 48;
+  visits Upper Canada, 49;
+  comments on LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry, 52-53;
+  correspondence with Lord Grey, 55;
+  hostility to Papinean, 56;
+  on the rights of French Canadians, 55-56;
+  his commercial views, 57-60;
+  his course on Rebellion Losses bill, 71-78;
+  attacked by mob, 74;
+  his course sustained by the imperial parliament, 78;
+  visits Upper Canada, 79;
+  raised to the British peerage, 80;
+  his condemnation of annexation manifesto, 81;
+  refers to causes of depressions and irritations, 82;
+  urges reciprocity with United States, urges repeal of navigation
+    laws, 82;
+  his views on education, 88-89;
+  his views on increased representation, 118-119;
+  his views on the Upper House, 120;
+  visits England, 123;
+  tribute from United States minister, 123-124;
+  visits Washington and negotiates reciprocity treaty, 124;
+  advises repeal of the imperial act of 1840, 164, 165;
+  his efforts against annexation, 189-190, 194, 195;
+  his labours for reciprocity, 196;
+  visits the United States, 197;
+  receives an address on the eve of his departure, 203;
+  his reply, 204-205;
+  his last speech in Quebec, 205-208;
+  returns to England, 209;
+  his views on self-defence, 209-212;
+  accepts a mission to China, 212;
+  his action during the Indian mutiny, 213;
+  negotiates the treaty of Tientsin, 214;
+  visits Japan officially, 214;
+  negotiates the treaty of Yeddo, 214;
+  returns to England, 215;
+  becomes postmaster-general under Palmerston, 215;
+  becomes Lord Rector of Glasgow University, 215;
+  returns to China as Ambassador Extraordinary, 215;
+  becomes governor-general of India, 216;
+  tour in northern India, 218;
+  holds Durbar at Agra, 218;
+  Uahabee outbreak, 218;
+  illness and death, 219;
+  views on imperial honours, 222;
+  on British connection, 229, 231;
+  views on the power of his office, 231-232;
+  beneficial results of his policy, 233, 235;
+  on the disadvantages of the United States political system, 257,
+    258.
+
+
+
+F
+
+Feudal System, the, in Canada, 172, f.
+
+Free Trade,
+  protest against, from Canada, 39, 45;
+  effects of, on Canada, 57-58.
+
+French Canadians,
+  resent the Union Act, 23, 24;
+  resent portions of Lord Durham's report, 23;
+  increase of their influence, 31.
+
+
+
+G
+
+Garneau, 123.
+
+Gavazzi Riots, the, 125.
+
+Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W.E., his opinion of Lord Elgin, 7; 78.
+
+Gore, Lieut.-Governor, 146.
+
+Gourlay, Robert, 147.
+
+Grey, Lord, colonial secretary, 13; 36, 77;
+  views on clergy reserves, 165.
+
+
+
+H
+
+Haldimand, Governor, 97.
+
+Head, Sir Francis Bond, 1, 22.
+
+Hincks, Sir Francis, appointed inspector-general, 31; 38, 50, 53, 100,
+  101;
+  views and qualities of 107,
+  forms a ministry, 107; 112, 113, 126, 127, 128, 133, 134, 135, 136;
+  becomes a member of the Liberal--Conservative ministry, 140, 141;
+  views on the clergy reserves, 163, 165, 166, 196;
+  appointed governor of Barbadoes and Windward Isles, appointed
+  governor of British Guiana, 220, 222;
+  receives Commandership of the Bath, 222;
+  retirement, 222;
+  receives knighthood 222;
+  becomes finance minister, 223;
+  final retirement, 223;
+  his character and closing years, 223-224.
+
+Hincks-Morin, ministry formed, 108;
+  its members, 113;
+  its chief measures, 114-120;
+  reconstructed, 125-126;
+  dissolves, 131;
+  resigns, 136.
+
+Holmes, 50.
+
+Holton, L.H., 108, 134.
+
+Hopkins, Caleb, 110.
+
+Howe, Joseph,
+  his assertion of loyalty, 22, 51, 92, 101;
+  on imperial honours and offices, 221;
+  appointed lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, 221.
+
+Hudon, Vicar-General, 48.
+
+Hundred Associates, 175.
+
+
+
+I
+
+Immigrants, Irish,
+  measures to relieve, 46-47;
+  bring plague to Canada, 47-48.
+
+Imperial Act, authorizes increased representation, 122.
+
+
+
+J
+
+Jamaica, Lord Elgin, governor of, 9-13.
+
+Jameson, Mrs., her comparison of Canada and the United States,
+  191-192.
+
+Judah, H., 186.
+
+
+
+L
+
+Labrèche, 108.
+
+LaTerrière, 164.
+
+Laflamme, 108.
+
+LaFontaine-Baldwin cabinet, 1842, 31;
+  resignation of, 35;
+  the second government, its members, 53;
+  its importance, 54;
+  dissolved, 85;
+  some of its important measures, 85-103.
+
+LaFontaine, Hon. Hippolyte,
+  and the Union Act, 24;
+  aims of, 32, 44, 45, 50;
+  forms a government with Baldwin, 52;
+  his resolutions, 67-68;
+  attack upon his house, 76;
+  resigns office, 104;
+  becomes chief justice, receives baronetcy, his qualities, 105;
+  views on the clergy reserves, 162, 164;
+  conservative views on seigniorial tenure, 185; 187.
+
+Lebel, J.G., 187.
+
+Lelièvre, S., 186.
+
+Leslie, Hon. James, 53.
+
+Leslie, John, 110.
+
+Liberal-Conservative Party, the, formed, 137.
+
+Lytton, Lord, his ideal of a governor, 4.
+
+
+
+M
+
+MacDonald, Rt. Hon. Sir John Alexander,
+  reveals his great political qualities, 43, 44, 50, 110, 114, 118,
+    127;
+  his argument on the Representation Bill, 132, 137, 139,140,163;
+  views on the clergy reserves, 163;
+  takes charge of the bill for secularization of the reserves, 168;
+  monuments to his memory, 225-226.
+
+Macdonald, John Sandfield, 50;
+  his rebuff to Lord Elgin, 127-129, 135.
+
+Mackenzie, William Lyon, 17;
+  leader of the radicals, 21; 22, 51;
+  returns to Canada, 91;
+  his qualities, 91-92; 103, 112, 127.
+
+MacNab, Sir Allan, 31, 50, 51, 68;
+  attitude on Rebellion Losses Bill, 75; 110, 137, 139;
+  becomes a member of the Liberal-Conservative ministry, 140;
+  his coalition ministry, 140; 141, 224.
+
+McDougall, Hon. William, 110.
+
+McGill, 45.
+
+Meredith, Judge, 187.
+
+Merritt, William Hamilton, 50, 97.
+
+Metcalf, Sir Charles,
+  succeeds Bagot as governor-general, 32;
+  his defects, 32, 33, 37;
+  breach with LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry, 34, 35;
+  created baron, death of, 37.
+
+Mills, Mayor, dies of plague, 48.
+
+Mondelet, Judge, 187.
+
+Montreal, ceases to be the seat of government, 78.
+
+Morin, A.N., 32, 43, 50, 51, 109, 113, 126, 127, 133, 140, 141;
+  favours secularization of the clergy reserves, 166; 187
+
+Morris, Hon. James, 113, 126.
+
+Morrison, Joseph C., 126.
+
+
+
+N
+
+Navigation laws, 38, 45;
+  repealed, 83.
+
+Nelson, Wolfred, 22, 50, 91.
+
+Newcastle, Duke of, secretary of state for the colonies, 167.
+
+
+
+O
+
+Ottawa, selected as the seat of government, later as the capital of
+  the Dominion, 79.
+
+
+P
+
+Pakington, Sir John, adverse to the colonial contention on the clergy
+  reserve question, 165, 167.
+
+Palmerston, Lord, 212, 213.
+
+Papineau, Denis B., 35, 44, 66.
+
+Papineau, Louis Joseph, 17;
+  aims of, 20, 21; 22;
+  influence of, 50, 51; 56, 66, 90, 91, 117;
+  his final defeat, 134.
+
+Peel, Sir Robert, 78.
+
+Price, Hon. J.H., 50, 53, 160, 161.
+
+Postal Reform, 85, 86.
+
+Power, Dr., 48.
+
+
+
+R
+
+Railway development,
+  under Baldwin and LaFontaine, 99-101;
+  under Hincks and Morin, 114-117.
+
+Rebellion Losses Bill,
+  history of, 63-78;
+  commission appointed by Draper-Viger ministry, 64;
+  report of commissioners, 65;
+  LaFontaine's resolutions, 67, 68;
+  new commission appointed, attacks on the measure, 68;
+  passage of measure, 70;
+  Lord Elgin's course, 71 f.;
+  serious results of, 73, 74; 203.
+
+Reciprocity treaty with United States,
+  urged by Lord Elgin, 82;
+  treaty ratified, 142;
+  signed, 198;
+  its provisions, 198-200;
+  beneficial results, 201;
+  repealed by the United States, 201;
+  results of the repeal, 202.
+
+Richards, Hon. W.B., 50, 113, 128.
+
+Richelieu, introduces feudal system into Canada, 175.
+
+Richmond, Duke of, 2.
+
+Robinson, Sir John Beverley, 105.
+
+Rolph, Dr. John, 110, 112, 113, 126, 136.
+
+Ross, Mr. Dunbar, 126, 141.
+
+Ross, Hon. John, 113, 126, 141.
+
+Roy, Mr. 48.
+
+Russell, Lord John, 26;
+  supports Metcalfe, 37; 78.
+
+Ryerson, Rev. Egerton,
+  defends Sir Charles Metcalfe, 36;
+  his educational services, 89, 90;
+  opposes Sydenham's measure, 157.
+
+
+
+S
+
+Saint Réal M. Vallières de, 31.
+
+Seigniorial Tenure, 101, 102, 119, 126, 142;
+  history of, 171 f.;
+  originates in the old feudal system, 171-174;
+  introduced by Richelieu into Canada, 175;
+  description of the system of tenure, 175 f;
+  judicial investigation by commission, 186, 187.
+
+Sherwood, Henry,
+  becomes head of ministry, 43;
+  defeat of Sherwood cabinet, 50, 68, 159.
+
+Short, Judge, 187.
+
+Sicotte, 126;
+  elected speaker, 135, 136.
+
+Simcoe, Lieutenant-Governor, 18.
+
+Smith, Henry, 141, 187.
+
+Spence, Hon. R., 140.
+
+Stanley, Lord, 9;
+  supports Metcalfe, 37.
+
+Strachan, Bishop,
+  established Trinity college, 95;
+  refuses compromise on land question, 150, 154, 159;
+  meets with defeat, 169.
+
+Sullivan, Hon. R.B., 53.
+
+Sydenham, Lord,
+  appointed governor-general to complete the union and establish
+    responsible government, 26-29;
+  qualities of, 29;
+  death of, 30;
+  his canal policy, 96-99;
+  his action on the land question, 156, 157.
+
+
+
+T
+
+Taché, Hon. E.P., 53, 109, 113, 126.
+
+Trinity College, established, 95.
+
+Turcotte, J.G., 186.
+
+
+
+U
+
+Union Act of 1840,
+  its provisions, 22, 23;
+  restrictions concerning use of French language removed, 61, 117;
+  clauses respecting the Upper House repealed, 120.
+
+United States, comparison of their political system with that of
+  Canada, 241, ff.
+
+University of Toronto, created from King's College, 94.
+
+
+
+V
+
+Vanfelson, Judge, 187.
+
+Varin, J.B., 187.
+
+Viger, Hon. L.M., forms a ministry, 35, 53, 66, 108.
+
+
+
+W
+
+Waldron, Mr., 215.
+
+White, Thos., 139.
+
+Winter, P., 187.
+
+Woodrow, Wilson, on the United States system, 252;
+  on political irresponsibility, 254, 255.
+
+
+
+Y
+
+Young, Hon. John, 113, 126.
+
+
+
+
+NOTES
+
+
+[1: He was bitten by a tame fox and died of hydrophobia at Richmond,
+in the present county of Carleton, Ontario.]
+
+[2: "Letters and Journals of James, eighth Earl of Elgin, etc." Edited
+by Theodore Waldron, C.B. For fuller references to works consulted in
+the writing of this short history, see _Bibliographical Notes_ at the
+end of this book.]
+
+[3: Lady Elma, who married, in 1864, Thomas John
+Howell-Thurlow-Camming Bruce, who was attached to the staff of Lord
+Elgin in his later career in China and India, etc., and became Baron
+Thurlow on the death of his brother in 1874. See "Debrett's Peerage."]
+
+[4: "The Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's Administration," by
+Earl Grey, London, 1857. See Vol. I, p. 205.]
+
+[5: The "Life and Correspondence of Charles, Lord Metcalfe," by John
+W. Kaye, London, 1858.]
+
+[6: "Reminiscences of his public life," by Sir Francis Hincks,
+K.C.M.G., C.B., Montreal, 1884]
+
+[7: See "McMullen's History of Canada," Vol. II (2nd Ed.), p. 201.]
+
+[8: These concluding words of Lord Elgin recall a similar expression
+of feeling by Sir Étienne Pascal Taché, "That the last gun that would
+be fired for British supremacy in America would be fired by a French
+Canadian."]
+
+[9: Fifty years after these words were written, debates have taken
+place in the House of Commons of the Canadian federation in favour of
+an imperial Zollverein, which would give preferential treatment to
+Canada's products in British markets. The Conservative party, when led
+by Sir Charles Tupper, emphatically declared that "no measure of
+preference, which falls short of the complete realization of such a
+policy, should be considered final or satisfactory." England, however,
+still clings to free trade.]
+
+[10: The father of the Hon. Edward Blake, the eminent constitutional
+lawyer, who occupied for many years a notable place in Canadian
+politics, and is now (1902) a member of the British House of Commons.]
+
+[11: See her "Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada."
+London, 1838.]
+
+[12: "I am inclined," wrote Lord Durham, "to view the insurrectionary
+movements which did take place as indicative of no deep-rooted
+disaffection, and to believe that almost the entire body of the
+reformers of this province sought only by constitutional means to
+attain those objects for which they had so long peaceably struggled
+before the unhappy troubles occasioned by the violence of a few
+unprincipled adventurers and heated enthusiasts."]
+
+[13: For a succinct history of this road see "Eighty Years' Progress
+or British North America," Toronto, 1863.]
+
+[14: "Portraits of British Americans," Montreal, 1865, vol. 1., pp.
+99-100. See Bourinot's "Parliamentary Procedure," p. 573_n_. The last
+occasion on which a Canadian speaker exercised this old privilege was
+in 1869, and then Mr. Cockburn made only a very brief reference to the
+measures of the session.]
+
+[15: It was not until 1874 when Mr. Alexander Mackenzie was first
+minister of a Liberal government that simultaneous polling at a
+general election was required by law, but it had existed some years
+previously in Nova Scotia.]
+
+[16: See "The Last Forty Years, or Canada Since the Union of 1841," by
+John Charles Dent, Toronto, 1881, vol. II., p. 309. Mr. White became
+Minister of the Interior in Sir John Macdonald's government (1885-88)
+but died suddenly in the midst of a most active and useful
+administrative career.]
+
+[17: See remarks of Dr. Kingsford in his "History of Canada" (vol.
+VII., pp. 266-273), showing how unjust was the clamour raised by the
+enemies of the church in New England when a movement was in progress
+for the establishment of a colonial episcopate simply for purposes of
+ordination and church government.]
+
+[18: A clause of the act of 1791 provided that the sovereign might, if
+he thought fit, annex hereditary titles of honour to the right of
+being summoned to the legislative council in either province, but no
+titles were ever conferred under the authority of this imperial
+statute.]
+
+[19: Thirteen other patents were left unsigned by the
+lieutenant-governor and consequently had no legal force.]
+
+[20: "Memoirs of the Life of the Right Honourable Charles Lord
+Sydenham, G.C.B.," edited by his brother G. Poulett-Scrope, M.P.;
+London, 1843.]
+
+[21: Sir Francis Hincks's "Reminiscences of his Public Life," p. 283.]
+
+[22: See on these points an excellent article on the feudal system of
+Canada in the _Queen's Quarterly_ (Kingston, January, 1899) by Dr. W.
+Bennett Munro. Also _Droit de banalité_, by the same, in the report of
+the Am. Hist Ass., Washington, for 1899, Vol. I.]
+
+[23: "Spencerwood," the governor's private residence.]
+
+[24: See article on Lord Elgin in "Encyclopædia Britannica" (9th ed.),
+Vol. VIII., p. 132.]
+
+[25: In the "North British Review," quoted by Waldron, pp. 458-461.]
+
+[26: Lord Elgin's eldest son (9th Earl) Victor Alexander Brace, who
+was born in 1849, at Monklands, near Montreal, was Viceroy of India
+1894-9. See Debrett's Peerage, arts. Elgin and Thurton for particulars
+of Lord Elgin's family.]
+
+[27: See Mr. Howe's eloquent speeches on the organization of the
+empire, in his "Speeches and Public Letters," (Boston, 1859), vol.
+II., pp. 175-207.]
+
+[28: See on this subject Todd's "Parliamentary Government in the
+British Colonies," pp. 313-329.]
+
+[29: See Todd's "Parliamentary Government in England," vol. II., p.
+101.]
+
+[30: He was speaker of the House of Representatives from 1895 to
+1899.]
+
+[31: "Congressional Government," pp. 301, 332.]
+
+[32:"The English Constitution," pp. 95, 96.]
+
+[33: In the _International Review_, March, 1877.]
+
+[34: "Congressional Government," p. 94.]
+
+[35: "The American Commonwealth," I., 210 et seq.]
+
+[36: Ibid., pp. 304, 305]
+
+[37: ibid., Chap. 95, vol. III.]
+
+[38: "Commentaries," sec. 869.]
+
+[39: See Story's "Commentaries," sec. 869.]
+
+
+
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Lord Elgin, by John George Bourinot, Edited
+by Duncan Campbell Scott and Pelham Edgar
+
+
+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: Lord Elgin
+
+Author: John George Bourinot
+
+Release Date: July 31, 2004  [eBook #13066]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LORD ELGIN***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Robert Connal, Keith M. Eckrich, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+LORD ELGIN
+
+by
+
+SIR JOHN GEORGE BOURINOT
+
+THE MAKERS OF CANADA
+
+EDITED BY DUNCAN CAMPBELL SCOTT, F.R.S.C., AND PELHAM EDGAR, PH.D.
+
+Edition De Luxe
+
+Toronto, 1903
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "Elgin a Kincardine."]
+
+
+
+
+EDITORS' NOTE
+
+The late Sir John Bourinot had completed and revised the following
+pages some months before his lamented death. The book represents more
+satisfactorily, perhaps, than anything else that he has written the
+author's breadth of political vision and his concrete mastery of
+historical fact. The life of Lord Elgin required to be written by one
+possessed of more than ordinary insight into the interesting aspects
+of constitutional law. That it has been singularly well presented must
+be the conclusion of all who may read this present narrative.
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+Chapter                                                 Page
+
+   I: EARLY CAREER                                         1
+
+  II: POLITICAL CONDITION IN CANADA                       17
+
+ III: POLITICAL DIFFICULTIES                              41
+
+  IV: THE INDEMNIFICATION ACT                             61
+
+   V: THE END OF THE LAFONTAINE-BALDWIN MINISTRY, 1851    85
+
+  VI: THE HINCKS-MORIN MINISTRY                          107
+
+ VII: THE HISTORY OF THE CLERGY RESERVES (1791-1854)     143
+
+VIII: SEIGNIORIAL TENURE                                 171
+
+  IX: CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES                       189
+
+   X: FAREWELL TO CANADA                                 203
+
+  XI: POLITICAL PROGRESS                                 227
+
+ XII: A COMPARISON OF SYSTEMS                            239
+
+      BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE                               269
+
+      INDEX                                              271
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+
+EARLY CAREER
+
+The Canadian people have had a varied experience in governors
+appointed by the imperial state. At the very commencement of British
+rule they were so fortunate as to find at the head of affairs Sir Guy
+Carleton--afterwards Lord Dorchester--who saved the country during the
+American revolution by his military genius, and also proved himself an
+able civil governor in his relations with the French Canadians, then
+called "the new subjects," whom he treated in a fair and generous
+spirit that did much to make them friendly to British institutions. On
+the other hand they have had military men like Sir James Craig,
+hospitable, generous, and kind, but at the same time incapable of
+understanding colonial conditions and aspirations, ignorant of the
+principles and working of representative institutions, and too ready
+to apply arbitrary methods to the administration of civil affairs.
+Then they have had men who were suddenly drawn from some inconspicuous
+position in the parent state, like Sir Francis Bond Head, and allowed
+by an apathetic or ignorant colonial office to prove their want of
+discretion, tact, and even common sense at a very critical stage of
+Canadian affairs. Again there have been governors of the highest rank
+in the peerage of England, like the Duke of Richmond, whose
+administration was chiefly remarkable for his success in aggravating
+national animosities in French Canada, and whose name would now be
+quite forgotten were it not for the unhappy circumstances of his
+death.[1] Then Canadians have had the good fortune of the presence of
+Lord Durham at a time when a most serious state of affairs
+imperatively demanded that ripe political knowledge, that cool
+judgment, and that capacity to comprehend political grievances which
+were confessedly the characteristics of this eminent British
+statesman. Happily for Canada he was followed by a keen politician and
+an astute economist who, despite his overweening vanity and his
+tendency to underrate the ability of "those fellows in the
+colonies"--his own words in a letter to England--was well able to
+gauge public sentiment accurately and to govern himself accordingly
+during his short term of office. Since the confederation of the
+provinces there has been a succession of distinguished governors, some
+bearing names famous in the history of Great Britain and Ireland, some
+bringing to the discharge of their duties a large knowledge of public
+business gained in the government of the parent state and her wide
+empire, some gifted with a happy faculty of expressing themselves with
+ease and elegance, and all equally influenced by an earnest desire to
+fill their important position with dignity, impartiality, and
+affability.
+
+But eminent as have been the services of many of the governors whose
+memories are still cherished by the people of Canada, no one among
+them stands on a higher plane than James, eighth earl of Elgin and
+twelfth earl of Kincardine, whose public career in Canada I propose to
+recall in the following narrative. He possessed to a remarkable degree
+those qualities of mind and heart which enabled him to cope most
+successfully with the racial and political difficulties which met him
+at the outset of his administration, during a very critical period of
+Canadian history. Animated by the loftiest motives, imbued with a deep
+sense of the responsibilities of his office, gifted with a rare power
+of eloquent expression, possessed of sound judgment and infinite
+discretion, never yielding to dictates of passion but always
+determined to be patient and calm at moments of violent public
+excitement, conscious of the advantages of compromise and conciliation
+in a country peopled like Canada, entering fully into the aspirations
+of a young people for self-government, ready to concede to French
+Canadians their full share in the public councils, anxious to build up
+a Canadian nation without reference to creed or race--this
+distinguished nobleman must be always placed by a Canadian historian
+in the very front rank of the great administrators happily chosen from
+time to time by the imperial state for the government of her dominions
+beyond the sea. No governor-general, it is safe to say, has come
+nearer to that ideal, described by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, when
+secretary of state for the colonies, in a letter to Sir George Bowen,
+himself distinguished for the ability with which he presided over the
+affairs of several colonial dependencies. "Remember," said Lord
+Lytton, to give that eminent author and statesman his later title,
+"that the first care of a governor in a free colony is to shun the
+reproach of being a party man. Give all parties, and all the
+ministries formed, the fairest play.... After all, men are governed as
+much by the heart as by the head. Evident sympathy in the progress of
+the colony; traits of kindness, generosity, devoted energy, where
+required for the public weal; a pure exercise of patronage; an utter
+absence of vindictiveness or spite; the fairness that belongs to
+magnanimity: these are the qualities that make governors powerful,
+while men merely sharp and clever may be weak and detested."
+
+In the following chapters it will be seen that Lord Elgin fulfilled
+this ideal, and was able to leave the country in the full confidence
+that he had won the respect, admiration, and even affection of all
+classes of the Canadian people. He came to the country when there
+existed on all sides doubts as to the satisfactory working of the
+union of 1840, suspicions as to the sincerity of the imperial
+authorities with respect to the concession of responsible government,
+a growing antagonism between the two nationalities which then, as
+always, divided the province. A very serious economic disturbance was
+crippling the whole trade of the country, and made some
+persons--happily very few in number--believe for a short time that
+independence, or annexation to the neighbouring republic, was
+preferable to continued connection with a country which so grudgingly
+conceded political rights to the colony, and so ruthlessly overturned
+the commercial system on which the province had been so long
+dependent. When he left Canada, Lord Elgin knew beyond a shadow of a
+doubt that the two nationalities were working harmoniously for the
+common advantage of the province, that the principles of responsible
+government were firmly established, and that the commercial and
+industrial progress of the country was fully on an equality with its
+political development.
+
+The man who achieved these magnificent results could claim an ancestry
+to which a Scotsman would point with national pride. He could trace
+his lineage to the ancient Norman house of which "Robert the Bruce"--a
+name ever dear to the Scottish nation--was the most distinguished
+member. He was born in London on July 20th, 1811. His father was a
+general in the British army, a representative peer in the British
+parliament from 1790-1840, and an ambassador to several European
+courts; but he is best known to history by the fact that he seriously
+crippled his private fortunes by his purchase, while in the East, of
+that magnificent collection of Athenian art which was afterwards
+bought at half its value by the British government and placed in the
+British Museum, where it is still known as the "Elgin Marbles." From
+his father, we are told by his biographer,[2] he inherited "the genial
+and playful spirit which gave such a charm to his social and parental
+relations, and which helped him to elicit from others the knowledge of
+which he made so much use in the many diverse situations of his after
+life." The deep piety and the varied culture of his mother "made her
+admirably qualified to be the depository of the ardent thoughts and
+aspirations of his boyhood." At Oxford, where he completed his
+education after leaving Eton, he showed that unselfish spirit and
+consideration for the feelings of others which were the recognized
+traits of his character in after life. Conscious of the unsatisfactory
+state of the family's fortunes, he laboured strenuously even in
+college to relieve his father as much as possible of the expenses of
+his education. While living very much to himself, he never failed to
+win the confidence and respect even at this youthful age of all those
+who had an opportunity of knowing his independence of thought and
+judgment. Among his contemporaries were Mr. Gladstone, afterwards
+prime minister; the Duke of Newcastle, who became secretary of state
+for the colonies and was chief adviser of the Prince of Wales--now
+Edward VII--during his visit to Canada in 1860; and Lord Dalhousie and
+Lord Canning, both of whom preceded him in the governor-generalship of
+India. In the college debating club he won at once a very
+distinguished place. "I well remember," wrote Mr. Gladstone, many
+years later, "placing him as to the natural gift of eloquence at the
+head of all those I knew either at Eton or at the University." He took
+a deep interest in the study of philosophy. In him--to quote the
+opinion of his own brother, Sir Frederick Bruce, "the Reason and
+Understanding, to use the distinctions of Coleridge, were both largely
+developed, and both admirably balanced. ... He set himself to work to
+form in his own mind a clear idea of each of the constituent parts of
+the problem with which he had to deal. This he effected partly by
+reading, but still more by conversation with special men, and by that
+extraordinary logical power of mind and penetration which not only
+enabled him to get out of every man all he had in him, but which
+revealed to these men themselves a knowledge of their own imperfect
+and crude conceptions, and made them constantly unwilling witnesses or
+reluctant adherents to views which originally they were prepared to
+oppose...." The result was that, "in an incredibly short time he
+attained an accurate and clear conception of the essential facts
+before him, and was thus enabled to strike out a course which he could
+consistently pursue amid all difficulties, because it was in harmony
+with the actual facts and the permanent conditions of the problem he
+had to solve." Here we have the secret of his success in grappling
+with the serious and complicated questions which constantly engaged
+his attention in the administration of Canadian affairs.
+
+After leaving the university with honour, he passed several years on
+the family estate, which he endeavoured to relieve as far as possible
+from the financial embarrassment into which it had fallen ever since
+his father's extravagant purchase in Greece. In 1840, by the death of
+his eldest brother, George, who died unmarried, James became heir to
+the earldom, and soon afterwards entered parliament as member for the
+borough of Southampton. He claimed then, as always, to be a Liberal
+Conservative, because he believed that "the institutions of our
+country, religious as well as civil, are wisely adapted, when duly and
+faithfully administered, to promote, not the interest of any class or
+classes exclusively, but the happiness and welfare of the great body
+of the people"; and because he felt that, "on the maintenance of these
+institutions, not only the economical prosperity of England, but, what
+is yet more important, the virtues that distinguish and adorn the
+English character, under God, mainly depend."
+
+During the two years Lord Elgin remained in the House of Commons he
+gave evidence to satisfy his friends that he possessed to an eminent
+degree the qualities which promised him a brilliant career in British
+politics. Happily for the administration of the affairs of Britain's
+colonial empire, he was induced by Lord Stanley, then secretary of
+state for the colonies, to surrender his prospects in parliament and
+accept the governorship of Jamaica. No doubt he was largely influenced
+to take this position by the conviction that he would be able to
+relieve his father's property from the pressure necessarily entailed
+upon it while he remained in the expensive field of national politics.
+On his way to Jamaica he was shipwrecked, and his wife, a daughter of
+Mr. Charles Cumming Bruce, M.P., of Dunphail, Stirling, suffered a
+shock which so seriously impaired her health that she died a few
+months after her arrival in the island when she had given birth to a
+daughter.[3] His administration of the government of Jamaica was
+distinguished by a strong desire to act discreetly and justly at a
+time when the economic conditions of the island were still seriously
+disturbed by the emancipation of the negroes. Planter and black alike
+found in him a true friend and sympathizer. He recognized the
+necessity of improving the methods of agriculture, and did much by the
+establishment of agricultural societies to spread knowledge among the
+ignorant blacks, as well as to create a spirit of emulation among the
+landlords, who were still sullen and apathetic, requiring much
+persuasion to adapt themselves to the new order of things, and make
+efforts to stimulate skilled labour among the coloured population whom
+they still despised. Then, as always in his career, he was animated by
+the noble impulse to administer public affairs with a sole regard to
+the public interests, irrespective of class or creed, to elevate men
+to a higher conception of their public duties. "To reconcile the
+planter"--I quote from one of his letters to Lord Stanley--"to the
+heavy burdens which he was called to bear for the improvement of our
+establishments and the benefit of the mass of the population, it was
+necessary to persuade him that he had an interest in raising the
+standard of education and morals among the peasantry; and this belief
+could be imparted only by inspiring a taste for a more artificial
+system of husbandry." "By the silent operation of such salutary
+convictions," he added, "prejudices of old standing are removed; the
+friends of the negro and of the proprietary classes find themselves
+almost unconsciously acting in concert, and conspiring to complete
+that great and holy work of which the emancipation of the slave was
+but the commencement."
+
+At this time the relations between the island and the home governments
+were always in a very strained condition on account of the difficulty
+of making the colonial office fully sensible of the financial
+embarrassment caused by the upheaval of the labour and social systems,
+and of the wisest methods of assisting the colony in its straits. As
+it too often happened in those old times of colonial rule, the home
+government could with difficulty be brought to understand that the
+economic principles which might satisfy the state of affairs in Great
+Britain could not be hastily and arbitrarily applied to a country
+suffering under peculiar difficulties. The same unintelligent spirit
+which forced taxation on the thirteen colonies, which complicated
+difficulties in the Canadas before the rebellion of 1837, seemed for
+the moment likely to prevail, as soon as the legislature of Jamaica
+passed a tariff framed naturally with regard to conditions existing
+when the receipts and expenditures could not be equalized, and the
+financial situation could not be relieved from its extreme tension in
+any other way than by the imposition of duties which happened to be in
+antagonism with the principles then favoured by the imperial
+government. At this critical juncture Lord Elgin successfully
+interposed between the colonial office and the island legislature, and
+obtained permission for the latter to manage this affair in its own
+way. He recognized the fact, obvious enough to any one conversant with
+the affairs of the island, that the tariff in question was absolutely
+necessary to relieve it from financial ruin, and that any strenuous
+interference with the right of the assembly to control its own taxes
+and expenses would only tend to create complications in the government
+and the relations with the parent state. He was convinced, as he wrote
+to the colonial office, that an indispensable condition of his
+usefulness as a governor was "a just appreciation of the difficulties
+with which the legislature of the island had yet to contend, and of
+the sacrifices and exertions already made under the pressure of no
+ordinary embarrassments."
+
+Here we see Lord Elgin, at the very commencement of his career as a
+colonial governor, fully alive to the economic, social, and political
+conditions of the country, and anxious to give its people every
+legitimate opportunity to carry out those measures which they
+believed, with a full knowledge and experience of their own affairs,
+were best calculated to promote their own interests. We shall see
+later that it was in exactly the same spirit that he administered
+Canadian questions of much more serious import.
+
+Though his government in Jamaica was in every sense a success, he
+decided not to remain any longer than three years, and so wrote in
+1845 to Lord Stanley. Despite his earnest efforts to identify himself
+with the island's interests, he had led on the whole a retired and sad
+life after the death of his wife. He naturally felt a desire to seek
+the congenial and sympathetic society of friends across the sea, and
+perhaps return to the active public life for which he was in so many
+respects well qualified. In offering his resignation to the colonial
+secretary he was able to say that the period of his administration had
+been "one of considerable social progress"; that "uninterrupted
+harmony" had "prevailed between the colonists and the local
+government"; that "the spirit of enterprise" which had proceeded from
+Jamaica for two years had "enabled the British West Indian colonies to
+endure with comparative fortitude, apprehensions and difficulties
+which otherwise might have depressed them beyond measure."
+
+It was not, however, until the spring of 1846 that Lord Elgin was able
+to return on leave of absence to England, where the seals of office
+were now held by a Liberal administration, in which Lord Grey was
+colonial secretary. Although his political opinions differed from
+those of the party in power, he was offered the governor-generalship
+of Canada when he declined to go back to Jamaica. No doubt at this
+juncture the British ministry recognized the absolute necessity that
+existed for removing all political grievances that arose from the
+tardy concession of responsible government since the death of Lord
+Sydenham, and for allaying as far as possible the discontent that
+generally prevailed against the new fiscal policy of the parent state,
+which had so seriously paralyzed Canadian industries. It was a happy
+day for Canada when Lord Elgin accepted this gracious offer of his
+political opponents, who undoubtedly recognized in him the possession
+of qualities which would enable him successfully, in all probability,
+to grapple with the perplexing problems which embarrassed public
+affairs in the province. He felt (to quote his own language at a
+public dinner given to him just before his departure for Canada) that
+he undertook no slight responsibilities when he promised "to watch
+over the interests of those great offshoots of the British race which
+plant themselves in distant lands, to aid them in their efforts to
+extend the domain of civilization, and to fulfill the first behest of
+a benevolent Creator to His intelligent creatures--'subdue the earth';
+to abet the generous endeavour to impart to these rising communities
+the full advantages of British laws, British institutions, and British
+freedom; to assist them in maintaining unimpaired--it may be in
+strengthening and confirming--those bonds of mutual affection which
+unite the parent and dependent states."
+
+Before his departure for the scene of his labours in America, he
+married Lady Mary Louisa Lambton, daughter of the Earl of Durham,
+whose short career in Canada as governor-general and high commissioner
+after the rebellion of 1837 had such a remarkable influence on the
+political conditions of the country. Whilst we cannot attach too much
+importance to the sage advice embodied in that great state paper on
+Canadian affairs which was the result of his mission to Canada, we
+cannot fail at the same time to see that the full vindication of the
+sound principles laid down in that admirable report is to be found in
+the complete success of their application by Lord Elgin. The minds of
+both these statesmen ran in the same direction. They desired to give
+adequate play to the legitimate aspirations of the Canadian people for
+that measure of self-government which must stimulate an independence
+of thought and action among colonial public men, and at the same time
+strengthen the ties between the parent state and the dependency by
+creating that harmony and confidence which otherwise could not exist
+in the relations between them. But while there is little doubt that
+Lord Elgin would under any circumstances have been animated by a deep
+desire to establish the principles of responsible government in
+Canada, this desire must have been more or less stimulated by the
+tender ties which bound him to the daughter of a statesman whose
+opinions where so entirely in harmony with his own. In Lord Elgin's
+temperament there was always a mingling of sentiment and reason, as
+may be seen by reference to his finest exhibitions of eloquence. We
+can well believe that a deep reverence for the memory of a great man,
+too soon removed from the public life of Great Britain, combined with
+the natural desire to please his daughter when he wrote these words to
+her:--
+
+     "I still adhere to my opinion that the real and effectual
+     vindication of Lord Durham's memory and proceedings will be
+     the success of a governor-general of Canada who works out
+     his views of government fairly. Depend upon it, if this
+     country is governed for a few years satisfactorily, Lord
+     Durham's reputation as a statesman will be raised beyond the
+     reach of cavil."
+
+Now, more than half a century after he penned these words and
+expressed this hope, we all perceive that Lord Elgin was the
+instrument to carry out this work.
+
+Here it is necessary to close this very brief sketch of Lord Elgin's
+early career, that I may give an account of the political and economic
+conditions of the dependency at the end of January, 1847, when he
+arrived in the city of Montreal to assume the responsibilities of his
+office. This review will show the difficulties of the political
+situation with which he was called upon to cope, and will enable us to
+obtain an insight into the high qualifications which he brought to the
+conduct of public affairs in the Canadas.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+
+POLITICAL CONDITION IN CANADA
+
+To understand clearly the political state of Canada at the time Lord
+Elgin was appointed governor-general, it is necessary to go back for a
+number of years. The unfortunate rebellions which were precipitated by
+Louis Joseph Papineau and William Lyon Mackenzie during 1837 in the
+two Canadas were the results of racial and political difficulties
+which had gradually arisen since the organization of the two provinces
+of Upper and Lower Canada under the Constitutional Act of 1791. In the
+French section, the French and English Canadians--the latter always an
+insignificant minority as respects number--had in the course of time
+formed distinct parties. As in the courts of law and in the
+legislature, so it was in social and everyday life, the French
+Canadian was in direct antagonism to the English Canadian. Many
+members of the official and governing class, composed almost
+exclusively of English, were still too ready to consider French
+Canadians as inferior beings, and not entitled to the same rights and
+privileges in the government of the country. It was a time of passion
+and declamation, when men of fervent eloquence, like Papineau, might
+have aroused the French as one man, and brought about a general
+rebellion had they not been ultimately thwarted by the efforts of the
+moderate leaders of public opinion, especially of the priests who, in
+all national crises in Canada, have happily intervened on the side of
+reason and moderation, and in the interests of British connection,
+which they have always felt to be favourable to the continuance and
+security of their religious institutions. Lord Durham, in his
+memorable report on the condition of Canada, has summed up very
+expressively the nature of the conflict in the French province. "I
+expected," he said, "to find a contest between a government and a
+people; I found two nations warring in the bosom of a single state; I
+found a struggle, not of principles, but of races."
+
+While racial antagonisms intensified the difficulties in French
+Canada, there existed in all the provinces political conditions which
+arose from the imperfect nature of the constitutional system conceded
+by England in 1791, and which kept the country in a constant ferment.
+It was a mockery to tell British subjects conversant with British
+institutions, as Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe told the Upper Canadians
+in 1792, that their new system of government was "an image and
+transcript of the British constitution." While it gave to the people
+representative institutions, it left out the very principle which was
+necessary to make them work harmoniously--a government responsible to
+the legislature, and to the people in the last resort, for the conduct
+of legislation and the administration of affairs. In consequence of
+the absence of this vital principle, the machinery of government
+became clogged, and political strife convulsed the country from one
+end to the other. An "irrepressible conflict" arose between the
+government and the governed classes, especially in Lower Canada. The
+people who in the days of the French regime were without influence and
+power, had gained under their new system, defective as it was in
+essential respects, an insight into the operation of representative
+government, as understood in England. They found they were governed,
+not by men responsible to the legislature and the people, but by
+governors and officials who controlled both the executive and
+legislative councils. If there had always been wise and patient
+governors at the head of affairs, or if the imperial authorities could
+always have been made aware of the importance of the grievances laid
+before them, or had understood their exact character, the differences
+between the government and the majority of the people's
+representatives might have been arranged satisfactorily. But,
+unhappily, military governors like Sir James Craig only aggravated the
+dangers of the situation, and gave demagogues new opportunities for
+exciting the people. The imperial authorities, as a rule, were
+sincerely desirous of meeting the wishes of the people in a reasonable
+and fair spirit, but unfortunately for the country, they were too
+often ill-advised and ill-informed in those days of slow
+communication, and the fire of public discontent was allowed to
+smoulder until it burst forth in a dangerous form.
+
+In all the provinces, but especially in Lower Canada, the people saw
+their representatives practically ignored by the governing body, their
+money expended without the authority of the legislature, and the
+country governed by irresponsible officials. A system which gave
+little or no weight to public opinion as represented in the House of
+Assembly, was necessarily imperfect and unstable, and the natural
+result was a deadlock between the legislative council, controlled by
+the official and governing class, and the house elected by the people.
+The governors necessarily took the side of the men whom they had
+themselves appointed, and with whom they were acting. In the maritime
+provinces in the course of time, the governors made an attempt now and
+then to conciliate the popular element by bringing in men who had
+influence in the assembly, but this was a matter entirely within their
+own discretion. The system of government as a whole was worked in
+direct contravention of the principle of responsibility to the
+majority in the popular house. Political agitators had abundant
+opportunities for exciting popular passion. In Lower Canada, Papineau,
+an eloquent but impulsive man, having rather the qualities of an
+agitator than those of a statesman, led the majority of his
+compatriots.
+
+For years he contended for a legislative council elected by the
+people: and it is curious to note that none of the men who were at the
+head of the popular party in Lower Canada ever recognized the fact, as
+did their contemporaries in Upper Canada, that the difficulty would be
+best solved, not by electing an upper house, but by obtaining an
+executive which would only hold office while supported by a majority
+of the representatives in the people's house. In Upper Canada the
+radical section of the Liberal party was led by Mr. William Lyon
+Mackenzie, who fought vigorously against what was generally known as
+the "Family Compact," which occupied all the public offices and
+controlled the government.
+
+In the two provinces these two men at last precipitated a rebellion,
+in which blood was shed and much property destroyed, but which never
+reached any very extensive proportions. In the maritime provinces,
+however, where the public grievances were of less magnitude, the
+people showed no sympathy whatever with the rebellious elements of the
+upper provinces.
+
+Amid the gloom that overhung Canada in those times there was one gleam
+of sunshine for England. Although discontent and dissatisfaction
+prevailed among the people on account of the manner in which the
+government was administered, and of the attempts of the minority to
+engross all power and influence, there was still a sentiment in favour
+of British connection, and the annexationists were relatively few in
+number. Even Sir Francis Bond Head--in no respect a man of
+sagacity--understood this well when he depended on the militia to
+crush the outbreak in the upper province; and Joseph Howe, the eminent
+leader of the popular party, uniformly asserted that the people of
+Nova Scotia were determined to preserve the integrity of the empire at
+all hazards. As a matter of fact, the majority of leading men, outside
+of the minority led by Papineau, Nelson and Mackenzie, had a
+conviction that England was animated by a desire to act considerately
+with the provinces and that little good would come from precipitating
+a conflict which could only add to the public misfortunes, and that
+the true remedy was to be found in constitutional methods of redress
+for the political grievances which undoubtedly existed throughout
+British North America.
+
+The most important clauses of the Union Act, which was passed by the
+imperial parliament in 1840 but did not come into effect until
+February of the following year, made provision for a legislative
+assembly in which each section of the united provinces was represented
+by an equal number of members--forty-two for each and eighty-four for
+both; for the use of the English language alone in the written or
+printed proceedings of the legislature; for the placing of the public
+indebtedness of the two provinces at the union as a first charge on
+the revenues of the united provinces; for a two-thirds vote of the
+members of each House before any change could be made in the
+representation. These enactments, excepting the last which proved
+eventually to be in their interest, were resented by the French
+Canadians as clearly intended to place them in a position of
+inferiority to the English Canadians. Indeed it was with natural
+indignation they read that portion of Lord Durham's report which
+expressed the opinion that it was necessary to unite the two races on
+terms which would give the domination to the English. "Without
+effecting the change so rapidly or so roughly," he wrote, "as to shock
+the feelings or to trample on the welfare of the existing generation,
+it must henceforth be the first and steady purpose of the British
+government to establish an English population, with English laws and
+language, in this province, and to trust its government to none but a
+decidedly English legislature."
+
+French Canadians dwelt with emphasis on the feet that their province
+had a population of 630,000 souls, or 160,000 more than Upper Canada,
+and nevertheless received only the same number of representatives.
+French Canada had been quite free from the financial embarrassment
+which had brought Upper Canada to the verge of bankruptcy before the
+union; in fact the former had actually a considerable surplus when its
+old constitution was revoked on the outbreak of the rebellion. It was,
+consequently, with some reason, considered an act of injustice to make
+the people of French Canada pay the debts of a province whose revenue
+had not for years met its liabilities. Then, to add to these decided
+grievances, there was a proscription of the French language, which was
+naturally resented as a flagrant insult to the race which first
+settled the valley of the St. Lawrence, and as the first blow levelled
+against the special institutions so dear to French Canadians and
+guaranteed by the Treaty of Paris and the Quebec Act. Mr. LaFontaine,
+whose name will frequently occur in the following chapters of this
+book, declared, when he presented himself at the first election under
+the Union Act, that "it was an act of injustice and despotism"; but,
+as we shall soon see, he became a prime minister under the very act he
+first condemned. Like the majority of his compatriots, he eventually
+found in its provisions protection for the rights of the people, and
+became perfectly satisfied with a system of government which enabled
+them to obtain their proper position in the public councils and
+restore their language to its legitimate place in the legislature.
+
+But without the complete grant of responsible government it would
+never have been possible to give to French Canadians their legitimate
+influence in the administration and legislation of the country, or to
+reconcile the differences which had grown up between the two
+nationalities before the union and seemed likely to be perpetuated by
+the conditions of the Union Act just stated. Lord Durham touched the
+weakest spot in the old constitutional system of the Canadian
+provinces when he said that it was not "possible to secure harmony in
+any other way than by administering the government on those principles
+which have been found perfectly efficacious in Great Britain." He
+would not "impair a single prerogative of the crown"; on the contrary
+he believed "that the interests of the people of these provinces
+require the protection of prerogatives which have not hitherto been
+exercised." But he recognized the fact as a constitutional statesman
+that "the crown must, on the other hand, submit to the necessary
+consequences of representative institutions; and if it has to carry on
+the government in unison with a representative body, it must consent
+to carry it on by means of those in whom that representative body has
+confidence." 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 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."
+
+No one who studies carefully the history of responsible government
+from the appearance of Lord Durham's report and Lord John Russell's
+despatches of 1839 until the coming of Lord Elgin to Canada in 1847,
+can fail to see that there was always a doubt in the minds of the
+imperial authorities--a doubt more than once actually expressed in the
+instructions to the governors--whether it was possible to work the new
+system on the basis of a governor directly responsible to the parent
+state and at the same time acting under the advice of ministers
+directly responsible to the colonial parliament. Lord John Russell had
+been compelled to recognize the fact that it was not possible to
+govern Canada by the old methods of administration--that it was
+necessary to adopt a new colonial policy which would give a larger
+measure of political freedom to the people and ensure greater harmony
+between the executive government and the popular assemblies. Mr.
+Poulett Thomson, afterwards Lord Sydenham, was appointed
+governor-general with the definite objects of completing the union of
+the Canadas and inaugurating a more liberal system of colonial
+administration. As he informed the legislature of Upper Canada
+immediately after his arrival, in his anxiety to obtain its consent to
+the union, he had received "Her Majesty's commands to administer the
+government of these provinces in accordance with the well understood
+wishes and interests of the people." When the legislature of the
+united provinces met for the first time, he communicated two
+despatches in which the colonial secretary stated emphatically that,
+"Her Majesty had no desire to maintain any system or policy among her
+North American subjects which opinion condemns," and that 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 governor-general was instructed, in order "to
+maintain the utmost possible harmony," to call to his councils and to
+employ in the public service "those persons who, by their position and
+character, have obtained the general confidence and esteem of the
+inhabitants of the province." He wished it to be generally made known
+by the governor-general that thereafter certain heads of departments
+would be called upon "to retire from the public service as often as
+any sufficient motives of public policy might suggest the expediency
+of that measure." It appears, however, that there was always a
+reservation in the minds of the colonial secretary and of governors
+who preceded Lord Elgin as to the meaning of responsible government
+and the methods of carrying it out in a colony dependent on the crown.
+Lord Sydenham himself believed that the council should be one "for the
+governor to consult and no more"; that the governor could "not be
+responsible to the government at home and also to the legislature of
+the province," for 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." But it was soon made clear to so
+astute a politician as Lord Sydenham that, whatever were his own views
+as to the meaning that should be attached to responsible government,
+he must yield as far as possible to the strong sentiment which
+prevailed in the country in favour of making the ministry dependent on
+the legislature for its continuance in office. The resolutions passed
+by the legislature in support of responsible government were
+understood to have his approval. They differed very little in
+words--in essential principle not at all--from those first introduced
+by Mr. Baldwin. The inference to be drawn from the political situation
+of that time is that the governor's friends in the council thought it
+advisable to gain all possible credit with the public in connection
+with the all-absorbing question of the day, and accordingly brought in
+the following resolutions in amendment to those presented by the
+Liberal chief:--
+
+     "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
+     exercise 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."
+
+It is quite possible that had Lord Sydenham lived to complete his term
+of office, the serious difficulties that afterwards arose in the
+practice of responsible government would not have occurred. Gifted
+with a clear insight into political conditions and a thorough
+knowledge of the working of representative institutions, he would have
+understood that if parliamentary government was ever to be introduced
+into the colony it must be not in a half-hearted way, or with such
+reservations as he had had in his mind when he first came to the
+province. Amid the regret of all parties he died from the effects of a
+fall from his horse a few months after the inauguration of the union,
+and was succeeded by Sir Charles Bagot, who distinguished himself in a
+short administration of two years by the conciliatory spirit which he
+showed to the French Canadians, even at the risk of offending the
+ultra loyalists who seemed to think, for some years after the union,
+that they alone were entitled to govern the dependency.
+
+The first ministry after that change was composed of Conservatives and
+moderate Liberals, but it was soon entirely controlled by the former,
+and never had the confidence of Mr. Baldwin. That eminent statesman
+had been a member of this administration at the time of the union, but
+he resigned on the ground that it ought to be reconstructed if it was
+to represent the true sentiment of the country at large. When Sir
+Charles Bagot became governor the Conservatives were very sanguine
+that they would soon obtain exclusive control of the government, as he
+was known to be a supporter of the Conservative party in England. It
+was not long, however, before it was evident that his administration
+would be conducted, not in the interests of any set of politicians,
+but on principles of compromise and justice to all political parties,
+and, above all, with the hope of conciliating the French Canadians and
+bringing them into harmony with the new conditions. One of his first
+acts was the appointment of an eminent French Canadian, M. Vallieres
+de Saint-Real, to the chief-justiceship of Montreal. Other
+appointments of able French Canadians to prominent public positions
+evoked the ire of the Tories, then led by the Sherwoods and Sir Allan
+MacNab, who had taken a conspicuous part in putting down the rebellion
+of 1837-8. Sir Charles Bagot, however, persevered in his policy of
+attempting to stifle racial prejudices and to work out the principles
+of responsible government on broad national lines. He appointed an
+able Liberal and master of finance, Mr. Francis Hincks, to the
+position of inspector-general with a seat in the cabinet. The
+influence of the French Canadians in parliament was now steadily
+increasing, and even strong Conservatives like Mr. Draper were forced
+to acknowledge that it was not possible to govern the province
+on the principle that they were an inferior and subject people,
+whose representatives could not be safely entrusted with any
+responsibilities as ministers of the crown. Negotiations for the
+entrance of prominent French Canadians in opposition to the government
+went on without result for some time, but they were at last
+successful, and the first LaFontaine-Baldwin cabinet came into
+existence in 1842, largely through the instrumentality of Sir Charles
+Bagot. Mr. Baldwin was a statesman whose greatest desire was the
+success of responsible government without a single reservation. Mr.
+LaFontaine was a French Canadian who had wisely recognized the
+necessity of accepting the union he had at first opposed, and of
+making responsible government an instrument for the advancement of the
+interests of his compatriots and of bringing them into unison with all
+nationalities for the promotion of the common good. The other
+prominent French Canadian in the ministry was Mr. A.N. Morin, who
+possessed the confidence and respect of his people, but was wanting in
+the energy and ability to initiate and press public measures which his
+leader possessed.
+
+The new administration had not been long in office when the
+governor-general fell a victim to an attack of dropsy, complicated by
+heart disease, and was succeeded by Sir Charles Metcalfe, who had held
+prominent official positions in India, and was governor of Jamaica
+previous to Lord Elgin's appointment. No one who has studied his
+character can doubt the honesty of his motives or his amiable
+qualities, but his political education in India and Jamaica rendered
+him in many ways incapable of understanding the political conditions
+of a country like Canada, where the people were determined to work out
+the system of parliamentary government on strictly British principles.
+He could have obtained little assistance from British statesmen had he
+been desirous of mastering and applying the principles of responsible
+government to the dependency. Their opinions and instructions were
+still distinguished by a perplexing vagueness. They would not believe
+that a governor of a dependency could occupy exactly the same relation
+with respect to his responsible advisers and to political parties as
+is occupied with such admirable results by the sovereign of England.
+It was considered necessary that a governor should make himself as
+powerful a factor as possible in the administration of public
+affairs--that he should be practically the prime minister,
+responsible, not directly to the colonial legislature, but to the
+imperial government, whose servant he was and to whom he should
+constantly refer for advice and assistance whenever in his opinion the
+occasion arose. In other words it was almost impossible to remove from
+the mind of any British statesman, certainly not from the colonial
+office of those days, the idea that parliamentary government meant one
+thing in England and the reverse in the colonies, that Englishmen at
+home could be entrusted with a responsibility which it was inexpedient
+to allow to Englishmen or Frenchmen across the sea. The colonial
+office was still reluctant to give up complete control of the local
+administration of the province, and wished to retain a veto by means
+of the governor, who considered official favour more desirable than
+the approval of any colonial legislature. More or less imbued with
+such views, Sir Charles Metcalfe was bound to come into conflict with
+LaFontaine and Baldwin, who had studied deeply the principles and
+practice of parliamentary government, and knew perfectly well that
+they could be carried out only by following the precedents established
+in the parent state.
+
+It was not long before the rupture came between men holding views so
+diametrically opposed to each other with respect to the conduct of
+government. The governor-general decided not to distribute the
+patronage of the crown under the advice of his responsible ministry,
+as was, of necessity, the constitutional practice in England, but to
+ignore the latter, as he boldly declared, whenever he deemed it
+expedient. "I wish," he wrote to the colonial secretary, "to make the
+patronage of the government conducive to the conciliation of all
+parties by bringing into the public service men of the greatest merit
+and efficiency without any party distinction." These were noble
+sentiments, sound in theory, but entirely incompatible with the
+operation of responsible government. If patronage is to be properly
+exercised in the interests of the people at large, it must be done by
+men who are directly responsible to the representatives of the people.
+If a governor-general is to make appointments without reference to his
+advisers, he must be more or less subject to party criticism, without
+having the advantage of defending himself in the legislature, or of
+having men duly authorized by constitutional usage to do so. The
+revival of that personal government which had evoked so much political
+rancour, and brought governors into the arena of party strife before
+the rebellion, was the natural result of the obstinate and
+unconstitutional attitude assumed by Lord Metcalfe with respect to
+appointments to office and other matters of administration.
+
+All the members of the LaFontaine-Baldwin government, with the
+exception of Mr. Dominick Daly, resigned in consequence of the
+governor's action. Mr. Daly had no special party proclivities, and
+found it to his personal interests to remain his Excellency's sole
+adviser. Practically the province was without an administration for
+many months, and when, at last, the governor-general was forced by
+public opinion to show a measure of respect for constitutional methods
+of government, he succeeded after most strenuous efforts in forming a
+Conservative cabinet, in which Mr. Draper was the only man of
+conspicuous ability. The French Canadians were represented by Mr.
+Viger and Mr. Denis B. Papineau, a brother of the famous rebel,
+neither of whom had any real influence or strength in Lower Canada,
+where the people recognized LaFontaine as their true leader and ablest
+public man. In the general election which soon followed the
+reconstruction of the government, it was sustained by a small
+majority, won only by the most unblushing bribery, by bitter appeals
+to national passion, and by the personal influence of the
+governor-general, as was the election which immediately preceded the
+rising in Upper Canada. In later years, Lord Grey[4] remarked that
+this success was "dearly purchased, by the circumstance that the
+parliamentary opposition was no longer directed against the advisers
+of the governor but against the governor himself, and the British
+government, of which he was the organ." The majority of the government
+was obtained from Upper Canada, where a large body of people were
+misled by appeals made to their loyalty and attachment to the crown,
+and where a large number of Methodists were influenced by the
+extraordinary action of the Rev. Egerton Ryerson, a son of a United
+Empire Loyalist, who defended the position of the governor-general,
+and showed how imperfectly he understood the principles and practice
+of responsible government. In a life of Sir Charles Metcalfe,[5] which
+appeared shortly after his death, it is stated that the
+governor-general "could not disguise from himself that the government
+was not strong, that it was continually on the brink of defeat, and
+that it was only enabled to hold its position by resorting to shifts
+and expedients, or what are called tactics, which in his inmost soul
+Lord Metcalfe abhorred."
+
+The action of the British ministry during this crisis in Canadian
+affairs proved quite conclusively that it was not yet prepared to
+concede responsible government in its fullest sense. Both Lord
+Stanley, then secretary of state for the colonies, and Lord John
+Russell, who had held the same office in a Whig administration,
+endorsed the action of the governor-general, who was raised to the
+peerage under the title of Baron Metcalfe of Fernhill, in the county
+of Berks. Earthly honours were now of little avail to the new peer. He
+had been a martyr for years to a cancer in the face, and when it
+assumed a most dangerous form he went back to England and died soon
+after his return. So strong was the feeling against him among a large
+body of the people, especially in French Canada, that he was bitterly
+assailed until the hour when he left, a dying man. Personally he was
+generous and charitable to a fault, but he should never have been sent
+to a colony at a crisis when the call was for a man versed in the
+practice of parliamentary government, and able to sympathize with the
+aspirations of a people determined to enjoy political freedom in
+accordance with the principles of the parliamentary institutions of
+England. With a remarkable ignorance of the political conditions of
+the province--too often shown by British statesmen in those days--so
+great a historian and parliamentarian as Lord Macaulay actually wrote
+on a tablet to Lord Metcalfe's memory:--"In Canada, not yet recovered
+from the calamities of civil war, he reconciled contending factions to
+each other and to the mother country." The truth is, as written by Sir
+Francis Hincks[6] fifty years later, "he embittered the party feeling
+that had been considerably assuaged by Sir Charles Bagot."
+
+Lord Metcalfe was succeeded by Lord Cathcart, a military man, who was
+chosen because of the threatening aspect of the relations between
+England and the United States on the question of the Oregon boundary.
+During his short term of office he did not directly interfere in
+politics, but carefully studied the defence of the country and quietly
+made preparations for a rupture with the neighbouring republic. The
+result of his judicious action was the disappearance of much of the
+political bitterness which had existed during Lord Metcalfe's
+administration. The country, indeed, had to face issues of vital
+importance to its material progress. Industry and commerce were
+seriously affected by the adoption of free trade in England, and the
+consequent removal of duties which had given a preference in the
+British markets to Canadian wheat, flour, and other commodities. The
+effect upon the trade of the province would not have been so serious
+had England at this time repealed the old navigation laws which closed
+the St. Lawrence to foreign shipping and prevented the extension of
+commerce to other markets. Such a course might have immediately
+compensated Canadians for the loss of those of the motherland. The
+anxiety that was generally felt by Canadians on the reversal of the
+British commercial policy under which they had been able to build up a
+very profitable trade, was shown in the language of a very largely
+signed address from the assembly to the Queen. "We cannot but fear,"
+it was stated in this document, "that the abandonment of the
+protective principle, the very basis of the colonial commercial
+system, is not only calculated to retard the agricultural improvement
+of the country and check its hitherto rising prosperity, but seriously
+to impair our ability to purchase the manufactured goods of Great
+Britain--a result alike prejudicial to this country and the parent
+state." But this appeal to the selfishness of British manufacturers
+had no influence on British statesmen so far as their fiscal policy
+was concerned. But while they were not prepared to depart in any
+measure from the principles of free trade and give the colonies a
+preference in British markets over foreign countries, they became
+conscious that the time had come for removing, as far as possible, all
+causes of public discontent in the provinces, at this critical period
+of commercial depression. British statesmen had suddenly awakened to
+the mistakes of Lord Metcalfe's administration of Canadian affairs,
+and decided to pursue a policy towards Canada which would restore
+confidence in the good faith and justice of the imperial government.
+"The Queen's representative"--this is a citation from a London
+paper[7] supporting the Whig government--"should not assume that he
+degrades the crown by following in a colony with a constitutional
+government the example of the crown at home. Responsible government
+has been conceded to Canada, and should be attended in its workings
+with all the consequences of responsible government in the mother
+country. What the Queen cannot do in England the governor-general
+should not be permitted to do in Canada. In making imperial
+appointments she is bound to consult her cabinet; in making provincial
+appointments the governor-general should be bound to do the same."
+
+The Oregon dispute had been settled, like the question of the Maine
+boundary, without any regard to British interests in America, and it
+was now deemed expedient to replace Lord Cathcart by a civil governor,
+who would be able to carry out, in the valley of the St. Lawrence, the
+new policy of the colonial office, and strengthen the ties between the
+province and the parent state.
+
+As I have previously stated, Lord John Russell's ministry made a wise
+choice in the person of Lord Elgin. In the following pages I shall
+endeavour to show how fully were realized the high expectations of
+those British statesmen who sent him across the Atlantic at this
+critical epoch in the political and industrial conditions of the
+Canadian dependency.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+
+POLITICAL DIFFICULTIES
+
+Lord Elgin made a most favourable impression on the public opinion of
+Canada from the first hour he arrived in Montreal, and had
+opportunities of meeting and addressing the people. His genial manner,
+his ready speech, his knowledge of the two languages, his obvious
+desire to understand thoroughly the condition of the country and to
+pursue British methods of constitutional government, were all
+calculated to attract the confidence of all nationalities, classes,
+and creeds. The supporters of responsible government heard with
+infinite pleasure the enunciation of the principles which would guide
+him in the discharge of his public duties. "I am sensible," he said in
+answer to a Montreal address, "that I shall but maintain the
+prerogative of the Crown, and most effectually carry out the
+instructions with which Her Majesty has honoured me, by manifesting a
+due regard for the wishes and feelings of the people and by seeking
+the advice and assistance of those who enjoy their confidence."
+
+At this time the Draper Conservative ministry, formed under such
+peculiar circumstances by Lord Metcalfe, was still in office, and Lord
+Elgin, as in duty bound, gave it his support, although it was clear to
+him and to all other persons at all conversant with public opinion
+that it did not enjoy the confidence of the country at large, and must
+soon give place to an administration more worthy of popular favour. He
+recognized the fact that the crucial weakness in the political
+situation was "that a Conservative government meant a government of
+Upper Canadians, which is intolerable to the French, and a Radical
+government meant a government of French, which is no less hateful to
+the British." He believed that the political problem of "how to govern
+united Canada"--and the changes which took place later showed he was
+right--would be best solved "if the French would split into a Liberal
+and Conservative party, and join the Upper Canada parties which bear
+corresponding names." Holding these views, he decided at the outset to
+give the French Canadians full recognition in the reconstruction or
+formation of ministries during his term of office. And under all
+circumstances he was resolved to give "to his ministers all
+constitutional support, frankly and without reserve, and the benefit
+of the best advice" that he could afford them in their difficulties.
+In return for this he expected that they would, "in so far as it is
+possible for them to do so, carry out his views for the maintenance of
+the connection with Great Britain and the advancement of the interests
+of the province." On this tacit understanding, they--the
+governor-general and the Draper-Viger cabinet--had "acted together
+harmoniously," although he had "never concealed from them that he
+intended to do nothing" which would "prevent him from working
+cordially with their opponents." It was indispensable that "the head
+of the government should show that he has confidence in the loyalty of
+all the influential parties with which he has to deal, and that he
+should have no personal antipathies to prevent him from acting with
+leading men."
+
+Despite the wishes of Lord Elgin, it was impossible to reconstruct the
+government with a due regard to French Canadian interests. Mr. Caron
+and Mr. Morin, both strong men, could not be induced to become
+ministers. The government continued to show signs of disintegration.
+Several members resigned and took judgeships in Lower Canada. Even Mr.
+Draper retired with the understanding that he should also go on the
+bench at the earliest opportunity in Upper Canada. Another effort was
+made to keep the ministry together, and Mr. Henry Sherwood became its
+head; but the most notable acquisition was Mr. John Alexander
+Macdonald as receiver-general. From that time this able man took a
+conspicuous place in the councils of the country, and eventually
+became prime minister of the old province of Canada, as well as of the
+federal dominion which was formed many years later in British North
+America, largely through his instrumentality. From his first entrance
+into politics he showed that versatility of intellect, that readiness
+to adapt himself to dominant political conditions and make them
+subservient to the interests of his party, that happy faculty of
+making and keeping personal friends, which were the most striking
+traits of his character. His mind enlarged as he had greater
+experience and opportunities of studying public life, and the man who
+entered parliament as a Tory became one of the most Liberal
+Conservatives who ever administered the affairs of a colonial
+dependency, and, at the same time, a statesman of a comprehensive
+intellect who recognized the strength of British institutions and the
+advantage of British connection.
+
+The obvious weakness of the reconstructed ministry was the absence of
+any strong men from French Canada. Mr. Denis B. Papineau was in no
+sense a recognized representative of the French Canadians, and did not
+even possess those powers of eloquence--that ability to give forth
+"rhetorical flashes"--which were characteristic of his reckless but
+highly gifted brother. In fact the ministry as then organized was a
+mere makeshift until the time came for obtaining an expression of
+opinion from the people at the polls. When parliament met in June,
+1847, it was quite clear that the ministry was on the eve of its
+downfall. It was sustained only by a feeble majority of two votes on
+the motion for the adoption of the address to the governor-general.
+The opposition, in which LaFontaine, Baldwin, Aylwin, and Chauveau
+were the most prominent figures, had clearly the best of the argument
+in the political controversies with the tottering ministry. Even in
+the legislative council resolutions, condemning it chiefly on the
+ground that the French province was inadequately represented in the
+cabinet, were only negatived by the vote of the president, Mr. McGill,
+a wealthy merchant of Montreal, who was also a member of the
+administration.
+
+Despite the weakness of the government, the legislature was called
+upon to deal with several questions which pressed for immediate
+action. Among the important measures which were passed was one
+providing for the amendment of the law relating to forgery, which was
+no longer punishable by death. Another amended the law with respect to
+municipalities in Lower Canada, which, however, failed to satisfy the
+local requirements of the people, though it remained in force for
+eight years, when it was replaced by one better adapted to the
+conditions of the French province. The legislature also discussed the
+serious effects of free trade upon Canadian industry, and passed an
+address to the Crown praying for the repeal of the laws which
+prevented the free use of the St. Lawrence by ships of all nations.
+But the most important subject with which the government was called
+upon to deal was one which stifled all political rivalry and national
+prejudices, and demanded the earnest consideration of all parties.
+Canada, like the rest of the world, had heard of an unhappy land
+smitten with a hideous plague, of its crops lying in pestilential
+heaps and of its peasantry dying above them, of fathers, mothers, and
+children ghastly in their rags or nakedness, of dead unburied, and the
+living flying in terror, as it were, from a stricken battlefield. This
+dreadful Irish famine forced to Canada upwards of 100,000 persons, the
+greater number of whom were totally destitute and must have starved to
+death had they not received public or private charity. The miseries of
+these unhappy immigrants were aggravated to an inconceivable degree by
+the outbreak of disease of a most malignant character, stimulated by
+the wretched physical condition and by the disgraceful state of the
+pest ships in which they were brought across the ocean. In those days
+there was no effective inspection or other means taken to protect from
+infection the unhappy families who were driven from their old homes by
+poverty and misery. From Grosse Isle, the quarantine station on the
+Lower St. Lawrence, to the most distant towns in the western province,
+many thousands died in awful suffering, and left helpless orphans to
+evoke the aid and sympathy of pitying Canadians everywhere. Canada was
+in no sense responsible for this unfortunate state of things. The
+imperial government had allowed this Irish immigration to go on
+without making any effort whatever to prevent the evils that followed
+it from Ireland to the banks of the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes.
+It was a heavy burden which Canada should never have been called upon
+to bear at a time when money was scarce and trade was paralyzed by the
+action of the imperial parliament itself. Lord Elgin was fully alive
+to the weighty responsibility which the situation entailed upon the
+British government, and at the same time did full justice to the
+exertions of the Canadian people to cope with this sad crisis. The
+legislature voted a sum of money to relieve the distress among the
+immigrants, but it was soon found entirely inadequate to meet the
+emergency.
+
+Lord Elgin did not fail to point out to the colonial secretary "the
+severe strain" that this sad state of things made, not only upon
+charity, but upon the very loyalty of the people to a government which
+had shown such culpable negligence since the outbreak of the famine
+and the exodus from the plague-stricken island. He expressed the
+emphatic opinion that "all things considered, a great deal of
+forbearance and good feeling had been shown by the colonists under
+this trial." He gave full expression to the general feeling of the
+country that "Great Britain must make good to the province the
+expenses entailed on it by this visitation." He did full justice to
+the men and women who showed an extraordinary spirit of
+self-sacrifice, a positive heroism, during this national crisis.
+"Nothing," he wrote, "can exceed the devotion of the nuns and Roman
+Catholic priests, and the conduct of the clergy and of many of the
+laity of other denominations has been most exemplary. Many lives have
+been sacrificed in attendance on the sick, and administering to their
+temporal and spiritual need.... This day the Mayor of Montreal, Mr.
+Mills, died, a very estimable man, who did much for the immigrants,
+and to whose firmness and philanthropy we chiefly owe it, that the
+immigrant sheds here were not tossed into the river by the people of
+the town during the summer. He has fallen a victim to his zeal on
+behalf of the poor plague-stricken strangers, having died of ship
+fever caught at the sheds." Among other prominent victims were Dr.
+Power, Roman Catholic Bishop of Toronto, Vicar-General Hudon of the
+same church, Mr. Roy, cure of Charlesbourg, and Mr. Chaderton, a
+Protestant clergyman. Thirteen Roman Catholic priests, if not more,
+died from their devotion to the unhappy people thus suddenly thrown
+upon their Christian charity. When the season of navigation was nearly
+closed, a ship arrived with a large number of people from the Irish
+estates of one of Her Majesty's ministers, Lord Palmerston. The
+natural result of this incident was to increase the feeling of
+indignation already aroused by the apathy of the British government
+during this national calamity. Happily Lord Elgin's appeals to the
+colonial secretary had effect, and the province was reimbursed
+eventually for the heavy expenses incurred by it in its efforts to
+fight disease, misery and death. English statesmen, after these
+painful experiences, recognized the necessity of enforcing strict
+regulations for the protection of emigrants crossing the ocean,
+against the greed of ship-owners. The sad story of 1847-8 cannot now
+be repeated in times when nations have awakened to their
+responsibilities towards the poor and distressed who are forced to
+leave their old homes for that new world which offers them well-paid
+work, political freedom, plenty of food and countless comforts.
+
+In the autumn of 1847, Lord Elgin was able to seek some relief from
+his many cares and perplexities of government, in a tour of the
+western province, where, to quote his own words, he met "a most
+gratifying and encouraging reception." He was much impressed with the
+many signs of prosperity which he saw on all sides. "It is indeed a
+glorious country," he wrote enthusiastically to Lord Grey, "and after
+passing, as I have done within the last fortnight, from the citadel of
+Quebec to the falls of Niagara, rubbing shoulders the while with its
+free and perfectly independent inhabitants, one begins to doubt
+whether it be possible to acquire a sufficient knowledge of man or
+nature, or to obtain an insight into the future of nations, without
+visiting America." During this interesting visit to Upper Canada, he
+seized the opportunity of giving his views on a subject which may be
+considered one of his hobbies, one to which he devoted much attention
+while in Jamaica, and this was the formation of agricultural
+associations for the purpose of stimulating scientific methods of
+husbandry.
+
+Before the close of the first year of his administration Lord Elgin
+felt that the time had come for making an effort to obtain a stronger
+ministry by an appeal to the people. Accordingly he dissolved
+parliament in December, and the elections, which were hotly contested,
+resulted in the unequivocal condemnation of the Sherwood cabinet, and
+the complete success of the Liberal party led by LaFontaine and
+Baldwin. Among the prominent Liberals returned by the people of Upper
+Canada were Baldwin, Hincks, Blake, Price, Malcolm Cameron, Richards,
+Merritt and John Sandfield Macdonald. Among the leaders of the same
+party in Lower Canada were LaFontaine, Morin, Aylwin, Chauveau and
+Holmes. Several able Conservatives lost their seats, but Sir Allan
+MacNab, John A. Macdonald, Mr. Sherwood and John Hillyard Cameron
+succeeded in obtaining seats in the new parliament, which was, in
+fact, more notable than any other since the union for the ability of
+its members. Not the least noteworthy feature of the elections was the
+return of Mr. Louis J. Papineau, and Mr. Wolfred Nelson, rebels of
+1837-8, both of whom had been allowed to return some time previously
+to the country. Mr. Papineau's career in parliament was not calculated
+to strengthen his position in impartial history. He proved beyond a
+doubt that he was only a demagogue, incapable of learning lessons of
+wise statesmanship during the years of reflection that were given him
+in exile. He continued to show his ignorance of the principles and
+workings of responsible government. Before the rebellion which he so
+rashly and vehemently forced on his credulous, impulsive countrymen,
+so apt to be deceived by flashy rhetoric and glittering generalities,
+he never made a speech or proposed a measure in support of the system
+of parliamentary government as explained by Baldwin and Howe, and even
+W. Lyon Mackenzie. His energy and eloquence were directed towards the
+establishment of an elective legislative council in which his
+compatriots would have necessarily the great majority, a supremacy
+that would enable him and his following to control the whole
+legislation and government, and promote his dominant idea of a _Nation
+Canadienne_ in the valley of the St. Lawrence. After the union he made
+it the object of his political life to thwart in every way possible
+the sagacious, patriotic plans of LaFontaine, Morin, and other
+broad-minded statesmen of his own nationality, and to destroy that
+system of responsible government under which French Canada had become
+a progressive and influential section of the province.
+
+As soon as parliament assembled at the end of February, the government
+was defeated on the vote for the speakership. Its nominee, Sir Allan
+MacNab, received only nineteen votes out of fifty-four, and Morin, the
+Liberal candidate, was then unanimously chosen. When the address in
+reply to the governor-general's speech came up for consideration,
+Baldwin moved an amendment, expressing a want of confidence in the
+ministry, which was carried by a majority of thirty votes in a house
+of seventy-four members, exclusive of the speaker, who votes only in
+case of a tie. Lord Elgin received and answered the address as soon as
+it was ready for presentation, and then sent for LaFontaine and
+Baldwin.
+
+He spoke to them, as he tells us himself, "in a candid and friendly
+tone," and expressed the opinion that "there was a fair prospect, if
+they were moderate and firm, of forming an administration deserving
+and enjoying the confidence of parliament." He added that "they might
+count on all proper support and assistance from him." When they "dwelt
+on difficulties arising out of pretensions advanced in various
+quarters," he advised them "not to attach too much importance to such
+considerations, but to bring together a council strong in
+administrative talent, and to take their stand on the wisdom of their
+measures and policy." The result was the construction of a powerful
+government by LaFontaine with the aid of Baldwin. "My present
+council," Lord Elgin wrote to the colonial secretary, "unquestionably
+contains more talent, and has a firmer hold on the confidence of
+parliament and of the people than the last. There is, I think,
+moreover, on their part, a desire to prove, by proper deference for
+the authority of the governor-general (which they all admit has in my
+case never been abused), that they were libelled when they were
+accused of impracticability and anti-monarchical tendencies." These
+closing words go to show that the governor-general felt it was
+necessary to disabuse the minds of the colonial secretary and his
+colleagues of the false impression which the British government and
+people seemed to entertain, that the Tories and Conservatives were
+alone to be trusted in the conduct of public affairs. He saw at once
+that the best way of strengthening the connection with Great Britain
+was to give to the strongest political party in the country its true
+constitutional position in the administration of public affairs, and
+identify it thoroughly with the public interests.
+
+The new government was constituted as follows:
+
+     Lower Canada.--Hon. L.H. LaFontaine, attorney-general of
+     Lower Canada; Hon. James Leslie, president of the executive
+     council; Hon. R.E. Caron, president of the legislative
+     council; Hon. E.P. Taehe, chief commissioner of public
+     works; Hon. I.C. Aylwin, solicitor-general for Lower Canada;
+     Hon. L.M. Viger, receiver-general.
+
+     Upper Canada.--Hon. Robert Baldwin, attorney-general of
+     Upper Canada; Hon. R.B. Sullivan, provincial secretary; Hon.
+     F. Hincks, inspector-general; Hon. J.H. Price, commissioner
+     of crown lands; Hon. Malcolm Cameron, assistant commissioner
+     of public works; Hon. W.H. Blake, solicitor-general.
+
+The LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry must always occupy a distinguished
+place in the political history of the Canadian people. It was the
+first to be formed strictly in accordance with the principles of
+responsible government, and from its entrance into public life must be
+dated a new era in which the relations between the governor and his
+advisers were at last placed on a sound constitutional basis, in which
+the constant appeals to the imperial government on matters of purely
+provincial significance came to an end, in which local self-government
+was established in the fullest sense compatible with the continuance
+of the connection with the empire. It was a ministry notable not only
+for the ability of its members, but for the many great measures which
+it was able to pass during its term of office--measures calculated to
+promote the material advancement of the province, and above all to
+dispel racial prejudices and allay sectional antagonisms by the
+adoption of wise methods of compromise, conciliation and justice to
+all classes and creeds.
+
+In Lord Elgin's letters of 1848 to Earl Grey, we can clearly see how
+many difficulties surrounded the discharge of his administrative
+functions at this time, and how fortunate it was for Canada, as well
+as for Great Britain, that he should have been able to form a
+government which possessed so fully the confidence of both sections of
+the province, irrespective of nationality. The revolution of February
+in Paris, and the efforts of a large body of Irish in the United
+States to evoke sympathy in Canada on behalf of republicanism were
+matters of deep anxiety to the governor-general and other friends of
+the imperial state. "It is just as well," he wrote at this time to
+Lord Grey, "that I should have arranged my ministry, and committed the
+flag of Great Britain to the custody of those who are supported by the
+large majority of the representatives and constituencies of the
+province, before the arrival of the astounding news from Europe which
+reached us by the last mail. There are not wanting here persons who
+might, under different circumstances, have attempted by seditious
+harangues, if not by overt acts, to turn the example of France, and
+the sympathies of the United States to account."
+
+Under the circumstances he pressed upon the imperial authorities the
+wisdom of repealing that clause of the Union Act which restricted the
+use of the French language. "I am for one deeply convinced," and here
+he showed he differed from Lord Durham, "of the impolicy of all such
+attempts to denationalize the French. Generally speaking, they produce
+the opposite effect from that intended, causing the flame of national
+prejudice and animosity to burn more fiercely." But he went on to say,
+even were such attempts successful, what would be the inevitable
+result:
+
+     "You may perhaps Americanize, but, depend upon it, by
+     methods of this description you will never Anglicize the
+     French inhabitants of the province. Let them feel, on the
+     other hand, that their religion, their habits, their
+     prepossessions, their prejudices, if you will, are more
+     considered and respected here than in other portions of this
+     vast continent, who will venture to say that the last hand
+     which waves the British flag on American ground may not be
+     that of a French Canadian?"[8]
+
+Lord Elgin had a strong antipathy to Papineau--"Guy Fawkes Papineau,"
+as he called him in one of his letters--who was, he considered,
+"actuated by the most malignant passions, irritated vanity,
+disappointed ambition and national hatred," always ready to wave "a
+lighted torch among combustibles." Holding such opinions, he seized
+every practical opportunity of thwarting Papineau's persistent efforts
+to create a dangerous agitation among his impulsive countrymen. He
+shared fully the great desire of the bishops and clergy to stem the
+immigration of large numbers of French Canadians into the United
+States by the establishment of an association for colonization
+purposes. Papineau endeavoured to attribute this exodus to the effects
+of the policy of the imperial government, and to gain control of this
+association with the object of using it as a means of stimulating a
+feeling against England, and strengthening himself in French Canada by
+such insidious methods. Lord Elgin, with that intuitive sagacity which
+he applied to practical politics, recognized the importance of
+identifying himself with the movement initiated by the bishops and
+their friends, of putting himself "in so far as he could at its head,"
+of imparting to it "as salutary a direction as possible, and thus
+wresting from Papineau's hands a potent instrument of agitation." This
+policy of conciliating the French population, and anticipating the
+great agitator in his design, was quite successful. To use Lord
+Elgin's own language, "Papineau retired to solitude and reflection at
+his seigniory, 'La Petite Nation,'" and the governor-general was able
+at the same time to call the attention of the colonial secretary to a
+presentment of the grand jury of Montreal, "in which that body adverts
+to the singularly tranquil, contented state of the province."
+
+It was at this time that Lord Elgin commenced to give utterance to the
+views that he had formed with respect to the best method of giving a
+stimulus to the commercial and industrial interests that were so
+seriously crippled by the free trade policy of the British government.
+So serious had been its effects upon the economic conditions of the
+province that mill-owners, forwarders and merchants had been ruined
+"at one fell swoop," that the revenue had been reduced by the loss of
+the canal dues paid previously by the shipping engaged in the trade
+promoted by the old colonial policy of England, that private property
+had become unsaleable, that not a shilling could be raised on the
+credit of the province, that public officers of all grades, including
+the governor-general, had to be paid in debentures which were not
+exchangeable at par. Under such circumstances it was not strange, said
+the governor-general, that Canadians were too ready to make
+unfavourable comparisons between themselves and their republican
+neighbours. "What makes it more serious," he said, "is that all the
+prosperity of which Canada is thus robbed is transplanted to the other
+side of the line, as if to make Canadians feel more bitterly how much
+kinder England is to the children who desert her, than to those who
+remain faithful. It is the inconsistency of imperial legislation, and
+not the adoption of one policy rather than another, which is the bane
+of the colonies."
+
+He believed that "the conviction that they would be better off if they
+were annexed," was almost universal among the commercial classes at
+that time, and the peaceful condition of the province under all the
+circumstances was often a matter of great astonishment even to
+himself. In his letters urging the imperial government to find an
+immediate remedy for this unfortunate condition of things, he
+acknowledged that there was "something captivating in the project of
+forming this vast British Empire into one huge _Zollverein_, with free
+interchange of commodities, and uniform duties against the world
+without; though perhaps without some federal legislation it might have
+been impossible to carry it out."[9] Undoubtedly, under such a system
+"the component parts of the empire would have been united by bonds
+which cannot be supplied under that on which we are now entering," but
+he felt that, whatever were his own views on the subject, it was then
+impossible to disturb the policy fixed by the imperial government, and
+that the only course open to them, if they hoped "to keep the
+colonies," was to repeal the navigation laws, and to allow them "to
+turn to the best possible account their contiguity to the States, that
+they might not have cause for dissatisfaction when they contrasted
+their own condition with that of their neighbours."
+
+Some years, however, passed before the governor-general saw his views
+fully carried out. The imperial authorities, with that extraordinary
+indifference to colonial conditions which too often distinguished them
+in those times, hesitated until well into 1849 to follow his advice
+with respect to the navigation laws, and the Reciprocity Treaty was
+not successfully negotiated until a much later time. He had the
+gratification, however, before he left Canada of seeing the beneficial
+effects of the measures which he so earnestly laboured to promote in
+the interests of the country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+
+THE INDEMNIFICATION ACT
+
+The legislature opened on January 18th, 1849, when Lord Elgin had the
+gratification of informing French Canadians that the restrictions
+imposed by the Union Act on the use of their language in the public
+records had been removed by a statute of the imperial parliament. For
+the first time in Canadian history the governor-general read the
+speech in the two languages; for in the past it had been the practice
+of the president of the legislative council to give it in French after
+it had been read in English from the throne. The session was memorable
+in political annals for the number of useful measures that were
+adopted. In later pages of this book I shall give a short review of
+these and other measures which show the importance of the legislation
+passed by the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry. For the present I shall
+confine myself to the consideration of a question which created an
+extraordinary amount of public excitement, culminated in the
+destruction of valuable public property, and even threatened the life
+of the governor-general, who during one of the most trying crises in
+Canadian history, displayed a coolness and patience, an indifference
+to all personal considerations, a political sagacity and a strict
+adherence to sound methods of constitutional government, which entitle
+him to the gratitude of Canadians, who might have seen their country
+torn asunder by internecine strife, had there been then a weak and
+passionate man at the head of the executive. As it will be seen later,
+he, like the younger Pitt in England, was "the pilot who weathered the
+storm." In Canada, the storm, in which the elements of racial
+antagonism, of political rivalry and disappointment, of spoiled
+fortunes and commercial ruin raged tumultuously for a while,
+threatened not only to drive Canada back for years in its political
+and material development, but even to disturb the relations between
+the dependency and the imperial state.
+
+The legislation which gave rise to this serious convulsion in the
+country was, in a measure, an aftermath of the rebellious risings of
+1837 and 1838 in Upper and Lower Canada. Many political grievances had
+been redressed since the union, and the French Canadians had begun to
+feel that their interests were completely safe under a system of
+government which gave them an influential position in the public
+councils. The restoration of their language to its proper place in a
+country composed of two nationalities standing on a sure footing of
+equal political and civil rights, was a great consolation to the
+French people of the east. The pardon extended to the rash men who
+were directly concerned in the events of 1837 and 1838, was also well
+calculated to heal the wounds inflicted on the province during that
+troublous period. It needed only the passage of another measure to
+conceal the scars of those unhappy days, and to bury the past in that
+oblivion in which all Canadians anxious for the unity and harmony of
+the two races, and the satisfactory operation of political
+institutions, were sincerely desirous of hiding it forever. This
+measure was pecuniary compensation from the state for certain losses
+incurred by people in French Canada in consequence of the wanton
+destruction of property during the revolt. The obligation of the state
+to give such compensation had been fully recognized before and after
+the union.
+
+The special council of Lower Canada and the legislature of Upper
+Canada had authorized the payment of an indemnity to those loyal
+inhabitants in their respective provinces who had sustained losses
+during the insurrections. It was not possible, however, before the
+union, to make payments out of the public treasury in accordance with
+the ordinance of the special council of Lower Canada and the statute
+of the legislature of Upper Canada. In the case of both provinces
+these measures were enacted to satisfy the demands that were made for
+compensation by a large number of people who claimed to have suffered
+losses at the outbreak of the rebellions, or during the raids from the
+United States which followed these risings and which kept the country
+in a state of ferment for months. The legislature of the united
+provinces passed an act during its first session to extend
+compensation to losses occasioned in Upper Canada by violence on the
+part of persons "acting or assuming to act" on Her Majesty's behalf
+"for the suppression of the said rebellion or for the prevention of
+further disturbances." Funds were also voted out of the public
+revenues for the payment of indemnities to those who had met with the
+losses set forth in this legislation affecting Upper Canada. It was,
+on the whole, a fair settlement of just claims in the western
+province. The French Canadians in the legislature supported the
+measure, and urged with obvious reason that the same consideration
+should be shown to the same class of persons in Lower Canada. It was
+not, however, until the session of 1845, when the Draper-Viger
+ministry was in office, that an address was passed to the
+governor-general, Lord Metcalfe, praying him to take such steps as
+were necessary "to insure to the inhabitants of that portion of this
+province, formerly Lower Canada, an indemnity for just losses suffered
+during the rebellions of 1837 and 1838." The immediate result was the
+appointment of commissioners to make inquiry into the losses sustained
+by "Her Majesty's loyal subjects" in Lower Canada "during the late
+unfortunate rebellion." The commissioners found some difficulty in
+acting upon their instructions, which called upon them to distinguish
+the cases of those "who had joined, aided or abetted the said
+rebellion, from the cases of those who had not done so," and they
+accordingly applied for definite advice from Lord Cathcart, whose
+advisers were still the Draper-Viger ministry. The commissioners were
+officially informed that "it was his Excellency's intention that they
+should be guided by no other description of evidence than that
+furnished by the sentences of the courts of law." They were further
+informed that it was only intended that they should form a general
+estimate of the rebellion losses, "the particulars of which must form
+the subject of more minute inquiry hereafter, under legislative
+authority."
+
+During the session of 1846 the commissioners made a report which gave
+a list of 2,176 persons who made claims amounting in the aggregate to
+L241,965. At the same time the commissioners expressed the opinion
+that L100,000 would be adequate to satisfy all just demands, and
+directed attention to the fact that upwards of L25,503 were actually
+claimed by persons who had been condemned by a court-martial for their
+participation in the rebellion. The report also set forth that the
+inquiry conducted by the commissioners had been necessarily imperfect
+in the absence of legal power to make a minute investigation, and that
+they had been compelled largely to trust to the allegations of the
+claimants who had laid their cases before them, and that it was only
+from data collected in this way that they had been able to come to
+conclusions as to the amount of losses.
+
+When the Draper-Viger ministry first showed a readiness to take up the
+claims of Lower Canada for the same compensation that had been granted
+to Upper Canada, they had been doubtless influenced, not solely by the
+conviction that they were called upon to perform an act of justice,
+but mainly by a desire to strengthen themselves in the French
+province. We have already read that their efforts in this direction
+entirely failed, and that they never obtained in that section any
+support from the recognized leaders of public opinion, but were
+obliged to depend upon Denis B. Papineau and Viger to keep up a
+pretence of French Canadian representation in the cabinet. It is,
+then, easy to believe that, when the report of the commissioners came
+before them, they were not very enthusiastic on the subject, or
+prepared to adopt vigorous measures to settle the question on some
+equitable basis, and remove it entirely from the field of political
+and national conflict.
+
+They did nothing more than make provision for the payment of L9,986,
+which represented claims fully investigated and recognized as
+justifiable before the union, and left the general question of
+indemnity for future consideration. Indeed, it is doubtful if the
+Conservative ministry of that day, the mere creation of Lord Metcalfe,
+kept in power by a combination of Tories and other factions in Upper
+Canada, could have satisfactorily dealt with a question which required
+the interposition of a government having the confidence of both
+sections of the province. One thing is quite certain. This ministry,
+weak as it was, Tory and ultra-loyalist as it claimed to be, had
+recognized by the appointment of a commission, the justice of giving
+compensation to French Canada on the principles which had governed the
+settlement of claims from Upper Canada. Had the party which supported
+that ministry been influenced by any regard for consistency or
+principle, it was bound in 1849 to give full consideration to the
+question, and treat it entirely on its merits with the view of
+preventing its being made a political issue and a means of arousing
+racial and sectional animosities. As we shall now see, however, party
+passion, political demagogism, and racial hatred prevailed above all
+high considerations of the public peace and welfare, when parliament
+was asked by the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry to deal seriously and
+practically with the question of indemnity to Lower Canada.
+
+The session was not far advanced when LaFontaine brought forward a
+series of resolutions, on which were subsequently based a bill, which
+set forth in the preamble that "in order to redeem the pledge given to
+the sufferers of such losses ... it is necessary and just that the
+particulars of such losses, not yet paid and satisfied, should form
+the subject of more minute inquiry under legislative authority (see p.
+65 _ante_) and that the same, so far only as they may have arisen from
+the total or partial, unjust, unnecessary or wanton destruction of
+dwellings, buildings, property and effects ... should be paid and
+satisfied." The act provided that no indemnity should be paid to
+persons "who had been convicted of treason during the rebellion, or
+who, having been taken into custody, had submitted to Her Majesty's
+will, and been transported to Bermuda." Five commissioners were to be
+appointed to carry out the provisions of the act, which also provided
+L400,000 for the payment of legal claims.
+
+Then all the forces hostile to the government gathered their full
+strength for an onslaught on a measure which such Tories as Sir Allan
+MacNab and Henry Sherwood believed gave them an excellent opportunity
+of arousing a strong public sentiment which might awe the
+governor-general and bring about a ministerial crisis. The issue was
+not one of public principle or of devotion to the Crown, it was simply
+a question of obtaining a party victory _per fas aut nefas_. The
+debate on the second reading of the bill was full of bitterness,
+intensified even to virulence. Mr. Sherwood declared that the proposal
+of the government meant nothing else than the giving of a reward to
+the very persons who had been the cause of the shedding of blood and
+the destruction of property throughout the country. Sir Allan MacNab
+went so far in a moment of passion as to insult the French Canadian
+people by calling them "aliens and rebels." The solicitor-general, Mr.
+Hume Blake,[10] who was Irish by birth, and possessed a great power of
+invective, inveighed in severe terms against "the family compact" as
+responsible for the rebellion, and declared that the stigma of
+"rebels" applied with complete force to the men who were then
+endeavouring to prevent the passage of a bill which was a simple act
+of justice to a large body of loyal people. Sir Allan MacNab instantly
+became furious and said that if Mr. Blake called him a rebel it was
+simply a lie.
+
+Then followed a scene of tumult, in which the authority of the chair
+was disregarded, members indulged in the most disorderly cries, and
+the people in the galleries added to the excitement on the floor by
+their hisses and shouts. The galleries were cleared with the greatest
+difficulty, and a hostile encounter between Sir Allan and Mr. Blake
+was only prevented by the intervention of the sergeant-at-arms, who
+took them into custody by order of the House until they gave
+assurances that they would proceed no further in the unseemly dispute.
+When the debate was resumed on the following day, LaFontaine brought
+it again to the proper level of argument and reason, and showed that
+both parties were equally pledged to a measure based on considerations
+of justice, and declared positively that the government would take
+every possible care in its instructions to the commissioner; that no
+rebel should receive any portion of the indemnity, which was intended
+only as a compensation to those who had just claims upon the country
+for the losses that they actually sustained in the course of the
+unfortunate rebellion. At this time the Conservative and ultra-loyal
+press was making frantic appeals to party passions and racial
+prejudices, and calling upon the governor-general to intervene and
+prevent the passage of a measure which, in the opinion of loyal
+Canadians, was an insult to the Crown and its adherents. Public
+meetings were also held and efforts made to arouse a violent feeling
+against the bill. The governor-general understood his duty too well as
+the head of the executive to interfere with the bill while passing
+through the two Houses, and paid no heed to these passionate appeals
+dictated by partisan rancour, while the ministry pressed the question
+to the test of a division as soon as possible. The resolutions and the
+several readings of the bill passed both Houses by large majorities.
+The bill was carried in the assembly on March 9th by forty-seven votes
+against eighteen, and in the legislative council on the 15th, by
+fifteen against fourteen. By an analysis of the division in the
+popular chamber, it will be seen that out of thirty-one members from
+Upper Canada seventeen supported and fourteen opposed the bill, while
+out of ten Lower Canadian members of British descent there were six
+who voted yea and four nay. The representatives of French Canada as a
+matter of course were arrayed as one in favour of an act of justice to
+their compatriots. During the passage of the bill its opponents
+deluged the governor-general with petitions asking him either to
+dissolve the legislature or to reserve the bill for the consideration
+of the imperial government. Such appeals had no effect whatever upon
+Lord Elgin, who was determined to adhere to the well understood rules
+of parliamentary government in all cases of political controversy.
+
+When the bill had passed all its stages in the two Houses by large
+majorities of both French and English Canadians, the governor-general
+came to the legislative council and gave the royal assent to the
+measure, which was entitled "An Act to provide for the indemnification
+of parties in Lower Canada whose property was destroyed during the
+rebellion in the years 1837 and 1838." No other constitutional course
+could have been followed by him under all the circumstances. In his
+letters to the colonial secretary he did not hesitate to express his
+regret "that this agitation should have been stirred, and that any
+portion of the funds of the province should be diverted now from much
+more useful purposes to make good losses sustained by individuals in
+the rebellion," but he believed that "a great deal of property was
+cruelly and wantonly destroyed" in Lower Canada, and that "this
+government, after what their predecessors had done, and with Papineau
+in the rear, could not have helped taking up this question." He saw
+clearly that it was impossible to dissolve a parliament just elected
+by the people, and in which the government had a large majority. "If I
+had dissolved parliament," to quote his own words, "I might have
+produced a rebellion, but assuredly I should not have procured a
+change of ministry. The leaders of the party know that as well as I
+do, and were it possible to play tricks in such grave concerns, it
+would have been easy to throw them into utter confusion by merely
+calling upon them to form a government. They were aware, however, that
+I could not for the sake of discomfiting them hazard so desperate a
+policy; so they have played out their game of faction and violence
+without fear of consequences."
+
+His reasons for not reserving the bill for the consideration of the
+British government must be regarded as equally cogent by every student
+of our system of government, especially by those persons who believe
+in home rule in all matters involving purely Canadian interests. In
+the first place, the bill for the relief of a corresponding class of
+persons in Upper Canada, "which was couched in terms very nearly
+similar, was not reserved," and it was "difficult to discover a
+sufficient reason, so far as the representative of the Crown was
+concerned, for dealing with the one measure differently from the
+other." And in the second place, "by reserving the bill he should only
+throw upon Her Majesty's government or (as it would appear to the
+popular eye in Canada) on Her Majesty herself, a responsibility which
+rests and ought to rest" upon the governor-general of Canada. If he
+passed the bill, "whatever mischief ensues may probably be repaired,"
+if the worst came to the worst, "by the sacrifice" of himself. If the
+case were referred to England, on the other hand, it was not
+impossible that Her Majesty might "only have before her the
+alternative of provoking a rebellion in Lower Canada, by refusing her
+assent to a measure chiefly affecting the interests of the _habitants_
+and thus throwing the whole population into Papineau's hands, or of
+wounding the susceptibilities of some of the best subjects she has in
+the province."
+
+A Canadian writer at the present time can refer only with a feeling of
+indignation and humiliation to the scenes of tumult, rioting and
+incendiarism, which followed the royal assent to the bill of
+indemnity. When Lord Elgin left Parliament House--formerly the Ste.
+Anne market--a large crowd insulted him with opprobrious epithets. In
+his own words he was "received with ironical cheers and hootings, and
+a small knot of individuals, consisting, it has since been
+ascertained, of persons of a respectable class in society, pelted the
+carriage with missiles which must have been brought for that purpose."
+A meeting was held in the open air, and after several speeches of a
+very inflammatory character had been made, the mob rushed to the
+parliament building, which was soon in flames. By this disgraceful act
+of incendiarism most valuable collections of books and documents were
+destroyed, which, in some cases, could not be replaced. Supporters of
+the bill were everywhere insulted and maltreated while the excitement
+was at its height. LaFontaine's residence was attacked and injured.
+His valuable library of books and manuscripts, some of them very rare,
+was destroyed by fire--a deplorable incident which recalls the burning
+and mutilation of the rich historical collections of Hutchinson, the
+last loyalist governor of Massachusetts, at the commencement of the
+American revolution in Boston.
+
+A few days later Lord Elgin's life was in actual danger at the hands
+of the unruly mob, as he was proceeding to Government House--then the
+old Chateau de Ramezay on Notre Dame Street--to receive an address
+from the assembly. On his return to Monklands he was obliged to take a
+circuitous route to evade the same mob who were waiting with the
+object of further insulting him and otherwise giving vent to their
+feelings.
+
+The government appears to have been quite unconscious that the public
+excitement was likely to assume so dangerous a phase, and had
+accordingly taken none of those precautions which might have prevented
+the destruction of the parliament house and its valuable contents.
+Indeed it would seem that the leaders of the movement against the bill
+had themselves no idea that the political storm which they had raised
+by their inflammatory harangues would become a whirlwind so entirely
+beyond their control. Their main object was to bring about a
+ministerial crisis. Sir Allan MacNab, the leader of the opposition,
+himself declared that he was amazed at the dangerous form which the
+public indignation had at last assumed. He had always been a devoted
+subject of the sovereign, and it is only just to say that he could
+under no circumstances become a rebel, but he had been carried away by
+his feelings and had made rash observations more than once under the
+belief that the bill would reward the same class of men whom he and
+other loyalists had fought against in Upper Canada. Whatever he felt
+in his heart, he and his followers must always be held as much
+responsible for the disturbances of 1849 as were Mackenzie and
+Papineau for those of 1837. Indeed there was this difference between
+them: the former were reckless, but at least they had, in the opinion
+of many persons, certain political grievances to redress, while the
+latter were simply opposing the settlement of a question which they
+were bound to consider fairly and impartially, if they had any respect
+for former pledges. Papineau, Mackenzie and Nelson may well have found
+a measure of justification for their past madness when they found the
+friends of the old "family compact" and the extreme loyalists of 1837
+and 1838 incited to insult the sovereign in the person of her
+representative, to create racial passion and to excite an agitation
+which might at any moment develop into a movement most fatal to Canada
+and her connection with England.
+
+Happily for the peace of the country, Lord Elgin and his councillors
+showed a forbearance and a patience which could hardly have been
+expected from them during the very serious crisis in which they lived
+for some weeks. "I am prepared," said Lord Elgin at the very moment
+his life was in danger, "to bear any amount of obloquy that may be
+cast upon me, but, if I can possibly prevent it, no stain of blood
+shall rest upon my name." When he remained quiet at Monklands and
+decided not to give his enemies further opportunities for outbursts of
+passion by paying visits to the city, even if protected by a military
+force, he was taunted by the papers of the opposition with cowardice
+for pursuing a course which, we can all now clearly see, was in the
+interests of peace and order. When at a later time LaFontaine's house
+was again attacked after the arrest of certain persons implicated in
+the destruction of the parliament house, and one of the assailants was
+killed by a shot fired from inside, he positively refused to consent
+to martial law or any measures of increased rigour until a further
+appeal had been made to the mayor and corporation of the city. The
+issue proved that he was clearly right in his opinion of the measures
+that should be taken to restore order at this time. The law-abiding
+citizens of Montreal at once responded to a proclamation of the mayor
+to assist him in the maintenance of peace, and the coroner's jury--one
+member being an Orangeman who had taken part in the funeral of the
+deceased--brought in a unanimous verdict, acquitting LaFontaine of all
+blame for the unfortunate incident that had occurred during the
+unlawful attack on his residence.
+
+The Montreal disturbances soon evoked the indignation of the truly
+loyal inhabitants of the province. Addresses came to the
+governor-general from all parts to show him that the riots were
+largely due to local causes, "especially to commercial distress acting
+on religious bigotry and national hatred." He had also the
+gratification of learning that his constitutional action was fully
+justified by the imperial government, as well as supported in
+parliament where it was fully discussed. When he offered to resign his
+office, he was assured by Lord Grey that "his relinquishment of that
+office, which, under any circumstances, would be a most serious blow
+to Her Majesty's service and to the province, could not fail, in the
+present state of affairs, to be most injurious to the public welfare,
+from the encouragement which it would give to those who have been
+concerned in the violent and illegal opposition which has been offered
+to your government." In parliament, Mr. Gladstone, who seems never to
+have been well-informed on the subject, went so far as to characterize
+the Rebellion Losses Bill as a measure for rewarding rebels, but both
+Lord John Russell, then leader of the government, and his great
+opponent, Sir Robert Peel, gave their unqualified support to the
+measure. The result was that an amendment proposed by Mr. Herries in
+favour of the disallowance of the act was defeated by a majority of
+141.
+
+This action of the imperial authorities had the effect of
+strengthening the public sentiment in Canada in support of Lord Elgin
+and his advisers. The government set to work vigorously to carry out
+the provisions of the law, appointing the same commissioners as had
+acted under the previous ministry, and was able in a very short time
+to settle definitely this very disturbing question. It was deemed
+inexpedient, however, to keep the seat of government at Montreal.
+After a very full and anxious consideration of the question, it was
+decided to act on the recommendation of the legislature that it should
+thereafter meet alternately at Toronto and Quebec, and that the next
+session should be held at Toronto in accordance with this arrangement
+This "perambulating system" was tried for several years, but it proved
+so inconvenient and expensive that the legislature in 1858 passed an
+address to Her Majesty praying her to choose a permanent capital. The
+place selected was the city of Ottawa, on account of its situation on
+the frontier of the two provinces, the almost equal division of its
+population into French and English, its remoteness from the American
+borders, and consequently its comparative security in time of war.
+Some years later it became the capital of the Dominion of Canada--the
+confederation of provinces and territories extending across the
+continent.
+
+In the autumn of 1849 Lord Elgin made a tour of the western part of
+the province of Upper Canada for the purpose of obtaining some
+expression of opinion from the people in the very section where the
+British feeling was the strongest. On this occasion he was attended
+only by an aide-de-camp and a servant, as an answer to those who were
+constantly assailing him for want of courage. Here and there, as he
+proceeded west, after leaving French Canada, he was insulted by a few
+Orangemen, notably by Mr. Ogle R. Gowan, who appeared on the wharf at
+Brockville with a black flag, but apart from such feeble exhibitions
+of political spite he met with a reception, especially west of
+Toronto, which proved beyond cavil that the heart and reason of the
+country, as a whole, were undoubtedly in his favour, and that nowhere
+was there any actual sympathy with the unhappy disturbances in
+Montreal. He had also the gratification soon after his return from
+this pleasant tour to receive from the British government an official
+notification that he had been raised to the British peerage under the
+title of Baron Elgin of Elgin in recognition of his distinguished
+services to the Crown and empire in America.
+
+But it was a long time before Lord Elgin was forgiven by a small
+clique of politicians for the part he had taken in troubles which
+ended in their signal discomfiture. The political situation continued
+for a while to be aggravated by the serious commercial embarrassment
+which existed throughout the country, and led to the circulation of a
+manifesto, signed by leading merchants and citizens of Montreal,
+urging as remedies for the prevalent depression a revival of colonial
+protection by England, reciprocal free trade with the United States, a
+federal union or republic of British North America, and even
+annexation to the neighbouring states as a last resort. This document
+did not suggest rebellion or a forceable separation from England. It
+even professed affection for the home land; but it encouraged the idea
+that the British government would doubtless yield to any colonial
+pressure in this direction when it was convinced that the step was
+beyond peradventure in the interest of the dependency. The manifesto
+represented only a temporary phase of sentiment and is explained by
+the fact that some men were dissatisfied with the existing condition
+of things and ready for any change whatever. The movement found no
+active or general response among the great mass of thinking people;
+and it was impossible for the Radicals of Lower Canada to persuade
+their compatriots that their special institutions, so dear to their
+hearts, could be safely entrusted to their American republican
+neighbours. All the men who, in the thoughtlessness of youth or in a
+moment of great excitement, signed the manifesto--notably the Molsons,
+the Redpaths, Luther H. Holton, John Rose, David Lewis MacPherson,
+A.A. Dorion, E. Goff Penny--became prominent in the later public and
+commercial life of British North America, as ministers of the Crown,
+judges, senators, millionaires, and all devoted subjects of the
+British sovereign.
+
+When Lord Elgin found that the manifesto contained the signatures of
+several persons holding office by commission from the Queen, he made
+an immediate inquiry into the matter, and gave expression to the
+displeasure of the Crown by removing from office those who confessed
+that they had signed the objectionable document, or declined to give
+any answer to the queries he had addressed to them. His action on this
+occasion was fully justified by the imperial government, which
+instructed him "to resist to the utmost any attempt that might be made
+to bring about a separation of Canada from the British dominions." But
+while Lord Elgin, as the representative of the Queen, was compelled by
+a stern sense of duty to condemn such acts of infidelity to the
+empire, he did not conceal from himself that there was a great deal in
+the economic conditions of the provinces which demanded an immediate
+remedy before all reason for discontent could disappear. He did not
+fail to point out to Lord Grey that it was necessary to remove the
+causes of the public irritation and uneasiness by the adoption of
+measures calculated to give a stimulus to Canadian industry and
+commerce. "Let me then assure your Lordship," he wrote in November
+1849, "and I speak advisedly in offering this assurance, that the
+dissatisfaction now existing in Canada, whatever may be the forms with
+which it may clothe itself, is due mainly to commercial causes. I do
+not say that there is no discontent on political grounds. Powerful
+individuals and even classes of men are, I am well aware, dissatisfied
+with the conduct of affairs. But I make bold to affirm that so general
+is the belief that, under the present circumstances of our commercial
+condition, the colonists pay a heavy pecuniary fine for their fidelity
+to Great Britain, that nothing but the existence of an unwonted degree
+of political contentment among the masses has prevented the cry for
+annexation from spreading like wildfire through the province." He then
+proceeded again to press upon the consideration of the government the
+necessity of following the removal of the imperial restrictions upon
+navigation and shipping in the colony, by the establishment of a
+reciprocity of trade between the United States and the British North
+American Provinces. The change in the navigation laws took place in
+1849, but it was not possible to obtain larger trade with the United
+States until several years later, as we shall see in a future chapter
+when we come to review the relations between that country and Canada.
+
+Posterity has fully justified the humane, patient and discreet
+constitutional course pursued by Lord Elgin during one of the most
+trying ordeals through which a colonial governor ever passed. He had
+the supreme gratification, however, before he left the province, of
+finding that his policy had met with that success which is its best
+eulogy and justification. Two years after the events of 1849, he was
+able to write to England that he did not believe that "the function of
+the governor-general under constitutional government as the moderator
+between parties, the representative of interests which are common to
+all the inhabitants of the country, as distinct from those that divide
+them into parties, was ever so fully and so frankly recognized." He
+was sure that he could not have achieved such results if he had had
+blood upon his hands. His business was "to humanize, not to harden."
+One of Canada's ablest men--not then in politics--had said to him:
+
+     "Yes, I see it all now, you were right, a thousand times
+     right, though I thought otherwise then. I own that I would
+     have reduced Montreal to ashes before I would have endured
+     half of what you did,"
+
+and he added, "I should have been justified, too." "Yes," answered
+Lord Elgin, "you would have been justified because your course would
+have been perfectly defensible; but it would not have been the best
+course. Mine was a better one." And the result was this, in his own
+words:
+
+     "700,000 French reconciled to England, not because they are
+     getting rebel money; I believe, indeed that no rebels will
+     get a farthing; but because they believe that the British
+     governor is just. 'Yes,' but you may say, 'this is purchased
+     by the alienation of the British.' Far from it, I took the
+     whole blame upon myself; and I will venture to affirm that
+     the Canadian British were never so loyal as they are at this
+     hour; [this was, remember, two years after the burning of
+     Parliament House] and, what is more remarkable still, and
+     more directly traceable to this policy of forbearance,
+     never, since Canada existed, has party spirit been more
+     moderate, and the British and French races on better terms
+     than they are now; and this in spite of the withdrawal of
+     protection, and of the proposal to throw on the colony many
+     charges which the imperial government has hitherto borne."
+
+Canadians at the beginning of the twentieth century may also say as
+Lord Elgin said at the close of this letter, _Magna est Veritas_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+
+THE END OF THE LAFONTAINE-BALDWIN MINISTRY, 1851
+
+The LaFontaine-Baldwin government remained in office until October,
+1851, when it was constitutionally dissolved by the retirement of the
+prime minister soon after the resignation of his colleague from Upper
+Canada, whose ability as a statesman and integrity as a man had given
+such popularity to the cabinet throughout the country. It has been
+well described by historians as "The Great Ministry." During its
+existence Canada obtained a full measure of self-government in all
+provincial affairs. Trade was left perfectly untrammeled by the repeal
+in June, 1849, of the navigation laws, in accordance with the urgent
+appeals of the governor-general to the colonial secretary. The
+immediate results were a stimulus to the whole commerce of the
+province, and an influx of shipping to the ports of the St. Lawrence.
+The full control of the post-office was handed over to the Canadian
+government. This was one of the most popular concessions made to the
+Canadian people, since it gave them opportunities for cheaper
+circulation of letters and newspapers, so necessary in a new and
+sparsely settled country, where the people were separated from each
+other in many districts by long distances. One of the grievances of
+the Canadians before the union had been the high postage imposed on
+letters throughout British North America. The poor settlers were not
+able to pay the three or four shillings, and even more, demanded for
+letters mailed 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 on account of the expense. The management of the
+postal service by imperial officers was in every way most
+unsatisfactory; it was chiefly carried on for the benefit of a few
+persons, and not for the convenience or consolation of the many who
+were always anxious for news of their kin in the "old country." After
+the union there was a little improvement in the system, but it was not
+really administered in the interests of the Canadian people until it
+was finally transferred to the colonial authorities. When this
+desirable change took place, an impulse was soon given to the
+dissemination of letters and newspapers. The government organized a
+post-office department, of which the head was a postmaster-general
+with a seat in the cabinet.
+
+Other important measures made provision for the introduction of the
+decimal system into the provincial currency, the taking of a census
+every ten years, the more satisfactory conduct of parliamentary
+elections and the prevention of corruption, better facilities for the
+administration of justice in the two provinces, the abolition of
+primogeniture with respect to real estate in Upper Canada, and the
+more equitable division of property among the children of an
+intestate, based on the civil law of French Canada and old France.
+
+Education also continued to show marked improvement in accordance with
+the wise policy adopted since 1841. Previous to the union popular
+education had been at a very low ebb, although there were a number of
+efficient private schools in all the provinces where the children of
+the well-to-do classes could be taught classics and many branches of
+knowledge. In Lower Canada not one-tenth of the children of the
+_habitants_ could write, and only one-fifth could read. In Upper
+Canada the schoolmasters as a rule, according to Mrs. Anna
+Jameson,[11] were "ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-paid, or not paid at
+all." In the generality of cases they were either Scotsmen or
+Americans, totally unfit for the positions they filled. As late as
+1833 Americans or anti-British adventurers taught in the greater
+proportion of the schools, where the pupils used United States
+text-books replete with sentiments hostile to England--a wretched
+state of things stopped by legislation only in 1846. Year by year
+after the union improvements were made in the school system, with the
+object of giving every possible educational facility to rich and poor
+alike.
+
+In the course of time elementary education became practically free.
+The success of the system in the progressive province of Upper Canada
+largely rested on the public spirit of the municipalities. It was
+engrafted on the municipal institutions of each county, to which
+provincial aid was given in proportion to the amount raised by local
+assessment. The establishment of normal schools and public libraries
+was one of the useful features of school legislation in those days.
+The merits of the system naturally evoked the sympathy and praise of
+the governor-general, who was deeply interested in the intellectual
+progress of the country. The development of "individual self-reliance
+and local exertion under the superintendence of a central authority
+exercising an influence almost exclusively moral is the ruling
+principle of the system."
+
+Provision was also made for the imparting of religious instruction by
+clergymen of the several religious denominations recognized by law,
+and for the establishment of separate schools for Protestants or Roman
+Catholics whenever there was a necessity for them in any local
+division. On the question of religious instruction Lord Elgin always
+entertained strong opinions. After expressing on one occasion his deep
+gratification at the adoption of legislation which had "enabled Upper
+Canada to place itself in the van among the nations in the important
+work of providing an efficient system of education for the whole
+community," he proceeded to commend the fact that "its foundation was
+laid deep in the framework of our common Christianity." He showed then
+how strong was the influence of the moral sense in his character:
+
+     "While the varying opinions of a mixed religious society are
+     scrupulously respected.... it is confidently expected that
+     every child who attends our common schools shall learn there
+     that he is a being who has an interest in eternity as well
+     as in time; that he has a Father towards whom he stands in a
+     closer and more affecting and more endearing relationship
+     than to any earthly father, and that that Father is in
+     heaven."
+
+But since the expression of these emphatic opinions the tendency of
+legislation in the majority of the provinces--but not in French
+Canada, where the Roman Catholic clergy still largely control their
+own schools--has been to encourage secular and not religious
+education. It would be instructive to learn whether either morality or
+Christianity has been the gainer.
+
+It is only justice to the memory of a man who died many years after he
+saw the full fruition of his labours to say that Upper Canada owes a
+debt of gratitude to the Rev. Egerton Ryerson for his services in
+connection with its public school system. He was far from being a man
+of deep knowledge or having a capacity for expressing his views with
+terseness or clearness. He had also a large fund of personal vanity
+which made him sometimes a busybody when inaction or silence would
+have been wiser for himself. We can only explain his conduct in
+relation to the constitutional controversy between Lord Metcalfe and
+the Liberal party by the supposition that he could not resist the
+blandishments of that eminent nobleman, when consulted by him, but
+allowed his reason to be captured and then gave expression to opinions
+and arguments which showed that he had entirely misunderstood the
+seriousness of the political crisis or the sound practice of the
+parliamentary system which Baldwin, LaFontaine and Howe had so long
+laboured to establish in British North America. The books he wrote can
+never be read with profit or interest. His "History of the United
+Empire Loyalists" is probably the dullest book ever compiled by a
+Canadian, and makes us thankful that he was never able to carry out
+the intention he expressed in a letter to Sir Francis Hincks of
+writing a constitutional history of Canada. But though he made no
+figure in Canadian letters, and was not always correct in his estimate
+of political issues, he succeeded in making for himself a reputation
+for public usefulness in connection with the educational system of
+Upper Canada far beyond that of the majority of his Canadian
+contemporaries.
+
+The desire of the imperial and Canadian governments to bury in
+oblivion the unhappy events of 1837 and 1838 was very emphatically
+impressed by the concession of an amnesty in 1849 to all the persons
+who had been engaged in the rebellions. In the time of Lord Metcalfe,
+Papineau, Nelson, and other rebels long in exile, had been allowed to
+return to Canada either by virtue of special pardons granted by the
+Crown under the great seal, or by the issue of writs of _nolle
+prosequi._ The signal result of the Amnesty Act passed in 1849 by the
+Canadian legislature, in accordance with the recommendation in the
+speech from the throne, was the return of William Lyon Mackenzie, who
+had led an obscure and wretched life in the United States ever since
+his flight from Upper Canada in 1837, and had gained an experience
+which enabled him to value British institutions more highly than those
+of the republic.
+
+An impartial historian must always acknowledge the fact that Mackenzie
+was ill-used by the family compact and English governors during his
+political career before the rebellion, and that he had sound views of
+constitutional government which were well worthy of the serious
+consideration of English statesmen. In this respect he showed more
+intelligence than Papineau, who never understood the true principles
+of parliamentary government, and whose superiority, compared with the
+little, pugnacious Upper Canadian, was the possession of a stately
+presence and a gift of fervid eloquence which was well adapted to
+impress and carry away his impulsive and too easily deceived
+countrymen. If Mackenzie had shown more control of his temper and
+confined himself to such legitimate constitutional agitation as was
+stirred up by a far abler man, Joseph Howe, the father of responsible
+government in the maritime provinces, he would have won a far higher
+place in Canadian history. He was never a statesman; only an agitator
+who failed entirely throughout his passionate career to understand the
+temper of the great body of Liberals--that they were in favour not of
+rebellion but of such a continuous and earnest enunciation of their
+constitutional principles as would win the whole province to their
+opinions and force the imperial government itself to make the reforms
+imperatively demanded in the public interests.[12] But, while we
+cannot recognize in him the qualities of a safe political leader, we
+should do justice to that honesty of purpose and that spirit of
+unselfishness which placed him on a far higher plane than many of
+those men who belonged to the combination derisively called the
+"family compact," and who never showed a willingness to consider other
+interests than their own. Like Papineau, Mackenzie became a member of
+the provincial legislature, but only to give additional evidence that
+he did not possess the capacity for discreet, practical statesmanship
+possessed by Hincks and Baldwin and other able Upper Canadians who
+could in those days devote themselves to the public interests with
+such satisfactory results to the province at large.
+
+It was Baldwin who, while a member of the ministry, succeeded in
+carrying the measure which created the University of Toronto, and
+placed it on the broad basis on which it has rested ever since. His
+measure was the result of an agitation which had commenced before the
+union. Largely through the influence of Dr. Strachan, the first
+Anglican bishop of Upper Canada, Sir Peregrine Maitland, when
+lieutenant-governor, had been induced to grant a charter establishing
+King's College "at or near York" (Toronto), with university
+privileges. Like old King's in Nova Scotia, established before the
+beginning of the century, it was directly under the control of the
+Church of England, since its governing body and its professors had to
+subscribe to its thirty-nine articles. It received an endowment of the
+public lands available for educational purposes in the province, and
+every effort was made to give it a provincial character though
+conducted entirely on sectarian principles. The agitation which
+eventually followed its establishment led to some modifications in its
+character, but, for all that, it remained practically under the
+direction of the Anglican bishop and clergy, and did not obtain the
+support or approval of any dissenters. After the union a large edifice
+was commenced in the city of Toronto, on the site where the
+legislative and government buildings now stand, and an energetic
+movement was made to equip it fully as a university.
+
+When the Draper-Viger ministry was in office, it was proposed to meet
+the growing opposition to the institution by establishing a university
+which should embrace three denominational colleges--King's College,
+Toronto, for the Church of England, Queen's College, Kingston, for the
+Presbyterians, and Victoria College, Cobourg, for the Methodists--but
+the bishop and adherents of the Anglican body strenuously opposed the
+measure, which failed to pass in a House where the Tories were in the
+ascendant. Baldwin had himself previously introduced a bill of a
+similar character as a compromise, but it had failed to meet with any
+support, and when he came into office he saw that he must go much
+further and establish a non-sectarian university if he expected to
+carry any measure on the subject in the legislature. The result was
+the establishment of the University of Toronto, on a strictly
+undenominational foundation. Bishop Strachan was deeply incensed at
+what he regarded as a violation of vested rights of the Church of
+England in the University of King's College, and never failed for
+years to style the provincial institution "the Godless university." In
+this as in other matters he failed to see that the dominant sentiment
+of the country would not sustain any attempt on the part of a single
+denomination to control a college which obtained its chief support
+from public aid. Whilst every tribute must be paid to the zeal,
+energy, and courage of the bishop, we must at the same time recognize
+the fact that his former connection with the family compact and his
+inability to understand the necessity of compromise in educational and
+other matters did much injury to a great church.
+
+He succeeded unfortunately in identifying it with the unpopular and
+aristocratic party, opposed to the extension of popular government and
+the diffusion of cheap education among all classes of people. With
+that indomitable courage which never failed him at a crisis he set to
+work to advance the denomination whose interests he had always at
+heart, and succeeded by appeals to English aid in establishing Trinity
+College, which has always occupied a high position among Canadian
+universities, although for a while it failed to arouse sympathy in the
+public mind, until the feelings which had been evoked in connection
+with the establishment of King's had passed away. An effort is now
+(1901) being made to affiliate it with the same university which the
+bishop had so obstinately and bitterly opposed, in the hope of giving
+it larger opportunities for usefulness. Its complete success of late
+has been impeded by the want of adequate funds to maintain those
+departments of scientific instruction now imperatively demanded in
+modern education. When this affiliation takes place, the friends of
+Trinity, conversant with its history from its beginning, believe that
+the portrait of the old bishop, now hanging on the walls of
+Convocation Hall, should be covered with a dark veil, emblematic of
+the sorrow which he would feel were he to return to earth and see what
+to him would be the desecration of an institution which he built as a
+great remonstrance against the spoliation of the church in 1849.
+
+The LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry also proved itself fully equal to the
+demands of public opinion by its vigorous policy with respect to the
+colonization of the wild lands of the province, the improvement of the
+navigation of the St. Lawrence, and the construction of railways.
+Measures were passed which had the effect of opening up and settling
+large districts by the offer of grants of public land at a nominal
+price and very easy terms of payment. In this way the government
+succeeded in keeping in the country a large number of French Canadians
+who otherwise would have gone to the United States, where the varied
+industries of a very enterprising people have always attracted a large
+number of Canadians of all classes and races.
+
+The canals were at last completed in accordance with the wise policy
+inaugurated after the union by Lord Sydenham, whose commercial
+instincts at once recognized the necessity of giving western trade
+easy access to the ocean by the improvement of the great waterways of
+Canada. It had always been the ambition of the people of Upper Canada
+before the union to obtain a continuous and secure system of
+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--afterwards a member of the
+LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry--and the first vessel passed its locks in
+1829; but it was very badly managed, and the legislature, after having
+aided it from time to time, was eventually obliged to take control of
+it as a provincial work. The Cornwall Canal was also undertaken at an
+early day, but work had to be stopped when it became certain that the
+legislature of Lower Canada, then controlled by Papineau, would not
+respond to the aspirations of the west and improve that portion of the
+St. Lawrence within its provincial jurisdiction.
+
+Governor Haldimand had, from 1779-1782, constructed a very simple
+temporary system of canals to overcome the rapids called the Cascades,
+Cedars and Coteau, and some slight improvements were made in these
+primitive works from year to year until the completion of the
+Beauharnois Canal in 1845. The Lachine Canal was completed, after a
+fashion, in 1828, but nothing was done to give a continuous river
+navigation between Montreal and the west until 1845, when the
+Beauharnois Canal was first opened. The Rideau Canal originated in the
+experiences of the war of 1812-14, which showed the necessity of a
+secure inland communication between Montreal and the country on Lake
+Ontario; but though first constructed for defensive purposes, it had
+for years decided commercial advantages for the people of Upper
+Canada, especially of the Kingston district. The Grenville canal on
+the Ottawa was the natural continuation of this canal, as it ensured
+uninterrupted water communication between Bytown--now the city of
+Ottawa--and Montreal.
+
+The heavy public debt contracted by Upper Canada prior to 1840 had
+been largely accumulated by the efforts of its people to obtain the
+active sympathy and cooperation of the legislature of French Canada,
+where Papineau and his followers seemed averse to the development of
+British interests in the valley of the St. Lawrence. After the union,
+happily for Canada, public men of all parties and races awoke to the
+necessity of a vigorous canal policy, and large sums of money were
+annually expended to give the shipping of the lakes safe and
+continuous navigation to Montreal. At the same time the channel of
+Lake St. Peter between Montreal and Quebec was improved by the harbour
+commissioners of the former city, aided by the government. Before the
+LaFontaine-Baldwin cabinet left office, it was able to see the
+complete success of this thoroughly Canadian or national policy. The
+improvement of this canal system--now the most magnificent in the
+world--has kept pace with the development of the country down to the
+present time.
+
+It was mainly, if not entirely, through the influence of Hincks,
+finance minister in the government, that a vigorous impulse was given
+to railway construction in the province. The first railroad in British
+North America was built in 1837 by the enterprise of Montreal
+capitalists, from La Prairie on the south side of the St. Lawrence as
+far as St. John's on the Richelieu, a distance of only sixteen miles.
+The only railroad in Upper Canada for many years was a horse tramway,
+opened in 1839 between Queenston and Chippewa by the old portage road
+round the falls of Niagara. In 1845 the St. Lawrence and Atlantic
+Railway Company--afterwards a portion of the Grand Trunk
+Railway--obtained a charter for a line to connect with the Atlantic
+and St. Lawrence Railway Company of Portland, in the State of Maine.
+The year 1846 saw the commencement of the Lachine Railway. In 1849 the
+Great Western, the Northern, and the St. Lawrence and Atlantic
+Railways were stimulated by legislation which gave a provincial
+guarantee for the construction of lines not less than seventy-five
+miles in length. In 1851 Hincks succeeded in passing a measure which
+provided for the building of a great trunk line connecting Quebec with
+the western limits of Upper Canada. It was hoped at first that this
+road would join the great military railway contemplated between Quebec
+and Halifax, and then earnestly advocated by Howe and other public men
+of the maritime provinces with the prospect of receiving aid from the
+imperial government. If these railway interests could be combined, an
+Intercolonial railroad would be constructed from the Atlantic seaboard
+to the lakes, and a great stimulus given not merely to the commerce
+but to the national unity of British North America, In case, however,
+this great idea could not be realized, it was the intention of the
+Canadian government to make every possible exertion to induce British
+capitalists to invest their money in the great trunk line by a liberal
+offer of assistance from the provincial exchequer, and the
+municipalities directly interested in its construction.
+
+The practical result of Hincks's policy was the construction of the
+Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, not by public aid as originally
+proposed, but by British capitalists. The greater inter-colonial
+scheme failed in consequence of the conflict of rival routes in the
+maritime provinces, and the determination of the British government to
+give its assistance only to a road that would be constructed at a long
+distance from the United States frontier, and consequently available
+for military and defensive purposes--in fact such a road as was
+actually built after the confederation of the provinces with the aid
+of an imperial guarantee. The history of the negotiations between the
+Canadian government and the maritime provinces with respect to the
+Intercolonial scheme is exceedingly complicated. An angry controversy
+arose between Hincks and Howe; the latter always accused the former of
+a breach of faith, and of having been influenced by a desire to
+promote the interests of the capitalists concerned in the Grand Trunk
+without reference to those of the maritime provinces. Be that as it
+may, we know that Hincks left the wordy politicians of Nova Scotia and
+New Brunswick to quarrel over rival routes, and, as we shall see
+later, went ahead with the Grand Trunk, and had it successfully
+completed many years before the first sod on the Intercolonial route
+was turned.
+
+In addition to these claims of the LaFontaine-Baldwin government to be
+considered "a great ministry," there is the fact that, through the
+financial ability of Hincks, the credit of the province steadily
+advanced, and it was at last possible to borrow money in the London
+market on very favourable terms. The government entered heartily into
+the policy of Lord Elgin with respect to reciprocity with the United
+States, and the encouragement of trade between the different provinces
+of British North America. It was, however, unable to dispose of two
+great questions which had long agitated the province--the abolition of
+the seigniorial tenure, which was antagonistic to settlement and
+colonization, and the secularization of the clergy reserves, granted
+to the Protestant clergy by the Constitutional Act of 1791. These
+questions will be reviewed at some length in later chapters, and all
+that it is necessary to say here is that, while the LaFontaine-Baldwin
+cabinet supported preliminary steps that were taken in the legislature
+for the purpose of bringing about a settlement of these vexatious
+subjects, it never showed any earnest desire to take them up as parts
+of its ministerial policy, and remove them from political controversy.
+
+Indeed it is clear that LaFontaine's conservative instincts, which
+became stronger with age and experience of political conditions,
+forced him to proceed very slowly and cautiously with respect to a
+movement that would interfere with a tenure so deeply engrafted in the
+social and economic structure of his own province, while as a Roman
+Catholic he was at heart always doubtful of the justice of diverting
+to secular purposes those lands which had been granted by Great
+Britain for the support of a Protestant clergy. Baldwin was also slow
+to make up his mind as to the proper disposition of the reserves, and
+certainly weakened himself in his own province by his reluctance to
+express himself distinctly with respect to a land question which had
+been so long a grievance and a subject of earnest agitation among the
+men who supported him in and out of the legislature. Indeed when he
+presented himself for the last time before his constituents in 1857,
+he was emphatically attacked on the hustings as an opponent of the
+secularization of the reserves for refusing to give a distinct pledge
+as to the course he would take on the question. This fact, taken in
+connection with his previous utterances in the legislature, certainly
+gives force to the opinion which has been more than once expressed by
+Canadian historians that he was not prepared, any more than LaFontaine
+himself, to divert funds given for an express purpose to one of an
+entirely different character. Under these circumstances it is easy to
+come to the conclusion that the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry was not
+willing at any time to make these two questions parts of its
+policy--questions on which it was ready to stand or fall as a
+government.
+
+The first step towards the breaking up of the ministry was the
+resignation of Baldwin following upon the support given by a majority
+of the Reformers in Upper Canada to a notion presented by William Lyon
+Mackenzie for the abolition of the court of chancery and the transfer
+of its functions to the courts of common law. The motion was voted
+down in the House, but Baldwin was a believer in the doctrine that a
+minister from a particular province should receive the confidence and
+support of the majority of its representatives in cases where a
+measure affected its interests exclusively. He had taken some pride in
+the passage of the act which reorganized the court, reformed old
+abuses in its practice, and made it, as he was convinced, useful in
+litigation; but when he found that his efforts in this direction were
+condemned by the votes of the very men who should have supported him
+in the province affected by the measure, he promptly offered his
+resignation, which was accepted with great reluctance not only by
+LaFontaine but by Lord Elgin, who had learned to admire and respect
+this upright, unselfish Canadian statesman. A few months later he was
+defeated at an election in one of the ridings of York by an unknown
+man, largely on account of his attitude on the question of the clergy
+reserves. He never again offered himself for parliament, but lived in
+complete retirement in Toronto, where he died in 1858. Then the people
+whom he had so long faithfully served, after years of neglect, became
+conscious that a true patriot had passed away.
+
+LaFontaine placed his resignation in the hands of the
+governor-general, who accepted it with regret. No doubt the former had
+deeply felt the loss of his able colleague, and was alive to the
+growing belief among the Liberal politicians of Upper Canada that the
+government was not proceeding fast enough in carrying out the reforms
+which they considered necessary. LaFontaine had become a Conservative
+as is usual with men after some experience of the responsibilities of
+public administration, and probably felt that he had better retire
+before he lost his influence with his party, and before the elements
+of disintegration that were forming within it had fully developed.
+After his retirement he returned to the practice of law, and in 1853
+he became chief justice of the court of appeal of Lower Canada on the
+death of Sir James Stuart. At the same time he received from the Crown
+the honour of a baronetcy, which was also conferred on the chief
+justice of Upper Canada, Sir John Beverley Robinson.
+
+Political historians justly place LaFontaine in the first rank of
+Canadian statesmen on account of his extensive knowledge, his sound
+judgment, his breadth of view, his firmness in political crises, and
+above all his desire to promote the best interests of his countrymen
+on those principles of compromise and conciliation which alone can
+bind together the distinct nationalities and creeds of a country
+peopled like Canada. As a judge he was dignified, learned and
+impartial. His judicial decisions were distinguished by the same
+lucidity which was conspicuous in his parliamentary addresses. He died
+ten years later than the great Upper Canadian, whose honoured name
+must be always associated with his own in the annals of a memorable
+epoch, when the principles of responsible government were at last,
+after years of perplexity and trouble, carried out in their entirety,
+and when the French Canadians had come to recognize as a truth that
+under no other system would it have been possible for them to obtain
+that influence in the public councils to which they were fully
+entitled, or to reconcile and unite the diverse interests of a great
+province, divided by the Ottawa river into two sections, the one
+French and Roman Catholic, and the other English and Protestant.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+
+THE HINCKS-MORIN MINISTRY.
+
+When LaFontaine resigned the premiership the ministry was dissolved
+and it was necessary for the governor-general to choose his successor.
+After the retirement of Baldwin, Hincks and his colleagues from Upper
+Canada were induced to remain in the cabinet and the latter became the
+leader in that province. He was endowed with great natural shrewdness,
+was deeply versed in financial and commercial matters, had a complete
+comprehension of the material conditions of the province, and
+recognized the necessity of rapid railway construction if the people
+were to hold their own against the competition of their very energetic
+neighbours to the south. His ideas of trade, we can well believe,
+recommended themselves to Lord Elgin, who saw in him the very man he
+needed to help him in his favourite scheme of bringing about
+reciprocity with the United States. At the same time he was now the
+most prominent man in the Liberal party so long led by Baldwin and
+LaFontaine, and the governor-general very properly called upon him to
+reconstruct the ministry. He assumed the responsibility and formed the
+government known in the political history of Canada as the
+Hincks-Morin ministry; but before we consider its _personnel_ and
+review its measures, it is necessary to recall the condition of
+political parties at the time it came into power.
+
+During the years Baldwin and LaFontaine were in office, the politics
+of the province were in the process of changes which eventually led to
+important results in the state of parties. The _Parti Rouge_ was
+formed in Lower Canada out of the extreme democratic element of the
+people by Papineau, who, throughout his parliamentary career since his
+return from exile, showed the most determined opposition to
+LaFontaine, whose measures were always distinguished by a spirit of
+conservatism, decidedly congenial to the dominant classes in French
+Canada where the civil and religious institutions of the country had
+much to fear from the promulgation of republican principles.
+
+The new party was composed chiefly of young Frenchmen, then in the
+first stage of their political growth--notably A.A. Dorion, J.B.E.
+Dorion (_l'enfant terrible_), R. Doutre, Dessaules, Labreche, Viger,
+and Laflamme; L.H. Holton, and a very few men of British descent were
+also associated with the party from its commencement. Its organ was
+_L'Avenir_ of Montreal, in which were constantly appearing violent
+diatribes and fervid appeals to national prejudice, always peculiar to
+French Canadian journalism. It commenced with a programme in which it
+advocated universal suffrage, the abolition of property qualification
+for members of the legislature, the repeal of the union, the abolition
+of tithes, a republican form of government, and even, in a moment of
+extreme political aberration, annexation to the United States. It was
+a feeble imitation of the red republicanism of the French revolution,
+and gave positive evidences of the inspiration of the hero of the
+fight at St. Denis in 1837. Its platform was pervaded not only by
+hatred of British institutions, but with contempt for the clergy and
+religion generally. Its revolutionary principles were at once
+repudiated by the great mass of French Canadians and for years it had
+but a feeble existence. It was only when its leading spirits
+reconstructed their platform and struck out its most objectionable
+planks, that it became something of a factor in practical Canadian
+politics. In 1851 it was still insignificant numerically in the
+legislature, and could not affect the fortunes of the Liberal party in
+Lower Canada then distinguished by the ability of A.N. Morin, P.J.O.
+Chauveau, R.E. Caron, E.P. Tache, and L.P. Drummond. The recognized
+leader of this dominant party was Morin, whose versatile knowledge,
+lucidity of style, and charm of manner gave him much strength in
+parliament. His influence, however, as I have already said, was too
+often weakened by an absence of energy and of the power to lead at
+national or political crises.
+
+Parties in Upper Canada also showed the signs of change. The old Tory
+party had been gradually modifying its opinions under the influence of
+responsible government, which showed its wisest members that ideas
+that prevailed before the union had no place under the new,
+progressive order of things. This party, nominally led by Sir Allan
+MacNab, that staunch old loyalist, now called itself Conservative, and
+was quite ready, in fact anxious, to forget the part it took in
+connection with the rebellion-losses legislation, and to win that
+support in French Canada without which it could not expect to obtain
+office. The ablest man in its councils was already John Alexander
+Macdonald, whose political sagacity and keenness to seize political
+advantages for the advancement of his party, were giving him the lead
+among the Conservatives. The Liberals had shown signs of
+disintegration ever since the formation of the "Clear Grits," whose
+most conspicuous members were Peter Perry, the founder of the Liberal
+party in Upper Canada before the union; William McDougall, an eloquent
+young lawyer and journalist; Malcolm Cameron, who had been assistant
+commissioner of public works in the LaFontaine-Baldwin government; Dr.
+John Rolph, one of the leaders of the movement that ended in the
+rebellion of 1837; Caleb Hopkins, a western farmer of considerable
+energy and natural ability; David Christie, a well-known
+agriculturist; and John Leslie, the proprietor of the Toronto
+_Examiner_, the chief organ of the new party. It was organized as a
+remonstrance against what many men in the old Liberal party regarded
+as the inertness of their leaders to carry out changes considered
+necessary in the political interests of the country. Its very name was
+a proof that its leaders believed there should be no reservation in
+the opinion held by their party--that there must be no alloy or
+foreign metal in their political coinage, but it must be clear Grit.
+Its platform embraced many of the cardinal principles of the original
+Reform or Liberal party, but it also advocated such radical changes as
+the application of the elective principle to all classes of officials
+(including the governor-general), universal suffrage, vote by ballot,
+biennial parliaments, the abolition of the courts of chancery and
+common pleas, free trade and direct taxation.
+
+The Toronto _Globe_, which was for a short time the principal exponent
+of ministerial views, declared that many of the doctrines enunciated
+by the Clear Grits "embody the whole difference between a republican
+form of government and the limited monarchy of Great Britain." _The
+Globe_ was edited by George Brown, a Scotsman by birth, who came with
+his father in his youth to the western province and entered into
+journalism, in which he attained eventually signal success by his
+great intellectual force and tenacity of purpose. His support of the
+LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry gradually dropped from a moderate
+enthusiasm to a positive coolness, from its failure to carry out the
+principles urged by _The Globe_--especially the secularization of the
+clergy reserves. Then he commenced to raise the cry of French
+domination and to attack the religion and special institutions of
+French Canada with such virulence that at last he became "a
+governmental impossibility," so far as the influence of that province
+was concerned. He supported the Clear Grits in the end, and became
+their recognized leader when they gathered to themselves all the
+discontented and radical elements of the Liberal party which had for
+some years been gradually splitting into fragments. The power of the
+Clear Grits was first shown in 1851, when William Lyon Mackenzie
+succeeded in obtaining a majority of Reformers in support of his
+motion for the abolition of the court of chancery, and forced the
+retirement of Baldwin, whose conservatism had gradually brought him
+into antagonism with the extremists of his old party.
+
+Although relatively small in numbers in 1851, the Clear Grits had the
+ability to do much mischief, and Hincks at once recognized the
+expediency of making concessions to their leaders before they
+demoralized or ruined the Liberal party in the west. Accordingly, he
+invited Dr. Rolph and Malcolm Cameron to take positions in the new
+ministry. They consented on condition that the secularization of the
+clergy reserves would be a part of the ministerial policy. Hincks then
+presented the following names to the governor-general:
+
+     Upper Canada.--Hon. F. Hincks, inspector-general; Hon. W.B.
+     Richards, attorney-general of Upper Canada; Hon. Malcolm
+     Cameron, president of the executive council; Hon. John
+     Rolph, commissioner of crown lands; Hon. James Morris,
+     postmaster-general.
+
+Lower Canada.--Hon. A.N. Morin, provincial secretary, Hon. L.P.
+Drummond, attorney-general of Lower Canada; Hon. John Young,
+commissioner of public works; Hon. R.E. Caron, president of
+legislative council; Hon. E.P. Tache, receiver-general.
+
+Later, Mr. Chauveau and Mr. John Ross were appointed
+solicitors-general for Lower and Upper Canada, without seats in the
+cabinet.
+
+Parliament was dissolved in November, when it had completed its
+constitutional term of four years, and the result of the elections was
+the triumph of the new ministry. It obtained a large majority in Lower
+Canada, and only a feeble support in Upper Canada. The most notable
+acquisition to parliament was George Brown, who had been defeated
+previously in a bye-election of the same year by William Lyon
+Mackenzie, chiefly on account of his being most obnoxious to the Roman
+Catholic voters. He was assuming to be the Protestant champion in
+journalism, and had made a violent attack on the Roman Catholic faith
+on the occasion of the appointment of Cardinal Wiseman as Archbishop
+of Westminster, an act denounced by extreme Protestants throughout the
+British empire as an unconstitutional and dangerous interference by
+the Pope with the dearest rights of Protestant England. As soon as
+Brown entered the legislature he defined his political position by
+declaring that, while he saw much to condemn in the formation of the
+ministry and was dissatisfied with Hincks's explanations, he preferred
+giving it for the time being his support rather than seeing the
+government handed over to the Conservatives. As a matter of fact, he
+soon became the most dangerous adversary that the government had to
+meet. His style of speaking--full of facts and bitterness--and his
+control of an ably conducted and widely circulated newspaper made him
+a force in and out of parliament. His aim was obviously to break up
+the new ministry, and possibly to ensure the formation of some new
+combination in which his own ambition might be satisfied. As we shall
+shortly see, his schemes failed chiefly through the more skilful
+strategy of the man who was always his rival--his successful
+rival--John A. Macdonald.
+
+During its existence the Hincks-Morin ministry was distinguished by
+its energetic policy for the promotion of railway, maritime and
+commercial enterprises. It took the first steps to stimulate the
+establishment of a line of Atlantic steamers by the offer of a
+considerable subsidy for the carriage of mails between Canada and
+Great Britain. The first contract was made with a Liverpool firm,
+McKean, McLarty & Co., but the service was not satisfactorily
+performed, owing, probably--according to Hincks--to the war with
+Russia, and it was necessary to make a new arrangement with the
+Messrs. Allan, which has continued, with some modification, until the
+present time.
+
+The negotiations for the construction of an intercolonial railway
+having failed for the reasons previously stated, (p. 100), Hincks made
+successful applications to English capitalists for the construction of
+the great road always known as the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada. It
+obtained a charter authorizing it to consolidate the lines from Quebec
+to Richmond, from Quebec to Riviere du Loup, and from Toronto to
+Montreal, which had received a guarantee of $3,000 a mile in
+accordance with the law passed in 1851. It also had power to build the
+Victoria bridge across the St. Lawrence at Montreal, and lease the
+American line to Portland. By 1860, this great national highway was
+completed from Riviere du Loup on the lower St. Lawrence as far as
+Sarnia and Windsor on the western lakes. Its early history was
+notorious for much jobbery, and the English shareholders lost the
+greater part of the money which they invested in this Canadian
+undertaking.[13] It cost the province from first to last upwards of
+$16,000,000 but it was, on the whole, money expended in the interests
+of the country, whose internal development would have been very
+greatly retarded in the absence of rapid means of transit between east
+and west. The government also gave liberal aid to the Great Western
+Railway, which extended from the Niagara river to Hamilton, London and
+Windsor, and to the Northern road, which extended north from Toronto,
+both of which, many years later, became parts of the Grand Trunk
+system.
+
+In accordance with its general progressive policy, the Hincks-Morin
+ministry passed through the legislature an act empowering
+municipalities in Upper Canada, after the observance of certain
+formalities, to borrow money for the building of railways by the issue
+of municipal debentures guaranteed by the provincial government. Under
+this law a number of municipalities borrowed large sums to assist
+railways and involved themselves so heavily in debt that the province
+was ultimately obliged to come to their assistance and assume their
+obligations. For years after the passage of this measure, Lower Canada
+received the same privileges, but the people of that province were
+never carried away by the enthusiasm of the west and never burdened
+themselves with debts which they were unable to pay. The law, however,
+gave a decided impulse at the outset to railway enterprise in Upper
+Canada, and would have been a positive public advantage had it been
+carried out with some degree of caution.
+
+The government established a department of agriculture to which were
+given control of the taking of a decennial census, the encouragement
+of immigration, the collection of agricultural and other statistics,
+the establishment of model farms and agricultural schools, the holding
+of annual exhibitions and fairs, and other matters calculated to
+encourage the cultivation of the soil in both sections of the
+province. Malcolm Cameron became its first minister in connection with
+his nominal duties as president of the executive council--a position
+which he had accepted only on condition that it was accompanied by
+some more active connection with the administration of public affairs.
+
+For three sessions the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry had made vain
+efforts to pass a law increasing the representation of the two
+provinces to one hundred and thirty or sixty-five members for each
+section. As already stated the Union Act required that such a measure
+should receive a majority of two-thirds in each branch of the
+legislature. It would have become law on two occasions had it not been
+for the factious opposition of Papineau, whose one vote would have
+given the majority constitutionally necessary. When it was again
+presented in 1853 by Mr. Morin, it received the bitter opposition of
+Mr. Brown, who was now formulating the doctrine of representation by
+population which afterwards became so important a factor in provincial
+politics that it divided west from east, and made government
+practically impossible until a federal union of the British North
+American provinces was brought about as the only feasible solution of
+the serious political and sectional difficulties under which Canada
+was suffering. A number of prominent Conservatives, including Mr. John
+A. Macdonald, were also unfavourable to the measure on the ground that
+the population of Upper Canada, which was steadily increasing over
+that of Lower Canada, should be equitably considered in any
+readjustment of the provincial representation. The French Canadians,
+who had been forced to come into the union hi 1841 with the same
+representation as Upper Canada with its much smaller population, were
+now unwilling to disturb the equality originally fixed while agreeing
+to an increase in the number of representatives from each section.
+The bill, which became law in 1853, was entirely in harmony with
+the views entertained by Lord Elgin when he first took office as
+governor-general of Canada. In 1847 he gave his opinion to the
+colonial secretary that "the comparatively small number of members
+of which the popular bodies who determine the fate of provincial
+administrations" consisted was "unfavourable to the existence of a
+high order of principle and feeling among official personages." When a
+defection of two or three individuals from a majority of ten or so put
+an administration in peril, "the perpetual patchwork and trafficking
+to secure this vote and that (not to mention other evils) so engrosses
+the time and thoughts of ministers that they have not leisure for
+matters of greater moment" He clearly saw into the methods by which
+his first unstable ministry, which had its origin in Lord Metcalfe's
+time, was alone able to keep its feeble majority. "It must be
+remembered," he wrote in 1847, "that it is only of late that the
+popular assemblies in this part of the world have acquired the right
+of determining who shall govern them--of insisting, as we phrase it,
+that the administration of affairs shall be conducted by persons
+enjoying their confidence. It is not wonderful that a privilege of
+this kind should be exercised at first with some degree of
+recklessness, and that while no great principles of policy are at
+stake, methods of a more questionable character for winning and
+retaining the confidence of these arbiters of destiny should be
+resorted to."
+
+While the Hincks government was in office, the Canadian legislature
+received power from the imperial authorities--as I shall show
+later--to settle the question of the clergy reserves on condition that
+protection should be given to those members of the clergy who had been
+beneficiaries under the Constitutional Act of 1791. A measure was
+passed for the settlement of the seigniorial tenure question on an
+equitable basis, but it was defeated in the legislative council by a
+large majority amongst which we see the names of several seigneurs
+directly interested in the measure. It was not fully discussed in that
+chamber on the ground that members from Upper Canada had not had a
+sufficient opportunity of studying the details of the proposed
+settlement and of coming to a just conclusion as to its merits. The
+action of the council under these circumstances was severely
+criticized, and gave a stimulus to the movement that had been steadily
+going on for years among radical reformers of both provinces in favour
+of an elective body.
+
+The result was that in 1854 the British parliament repealed the
+clauses of the Union Act of 1840 with respect to the upper House, and
+gave full power to the Canadian legislature to make such changes as it
+might deem expedient--another concession to the principle of local
+self-government. It was not, however, until 1856, that the legislature
+passed a bill giving effect to the intentions of the imperial law, and
+the first elections were held for the council. Lord Elgin was always
+favourable to this constitutional change. "The position of the second
+chamber of our body politic"--I quote from a despatch of March,
+1853--"is at present wholly unsatisfactory. The principle of election
+must be introduced in order to give to it the influence which it ought
+to possess, and that principle must be so applied as to admit of the
+working of parliamentary government (which I for one am certainly not
+prepared to abandon for the American system) with two elective
+chambers... When our two legislative bodies shall have been placed on
+this improved footing, a greater stability will have been imparted to
+our constitution, and a greater strength." Lord Elgin's view was
+adopted and the change was made.
+
+It is interesting to note that so distinguished a statesman as Lord
+Derby, who had been colonial secretary in a previous administration,
+had only gloomy forebodings of the effects of this elective system
+applied to the upper House. He believed that the dream that he had of
+seeing the colonies form eventually "a monarchical government,
+presided over by one nearly and closely allied to the present royal
+family," would be proved quite illusory by the legislation in
+question. "Nothing," he added, "like a free and regulated monarchy
+could exist for a single moment under such a constitution as that
+which is now proposed for Canada. From the moment that you pass this
+constitution, the progress must be rapidly towards republicanism, if
+anything could be more really republican than this bill." As a matter
+of fact a very few years later than the utterance of these gloomy
+words, Canada and the other provinces of British North America entered
+into a confederation "with a constitution similar in principle to that
+of the United Kingdom"--to quote words in the preamble of the Act of
+Union--and with a parliament of which the House of Commons is alone
+elective. More than that, Lord Derby's dream has been in a measure
+realized and Canada has seen at the head of her executive a
+governor-general--the present Duke of Argyle--"nearly and closely
+allied to the present royal family" of England, by his marriage to the
+Princess Louise, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, who
+accompanied her husband to Ottawa.
+
+One remarkable feature of the Imperial Act dealing with this question
+of the council, was the introduction of a clause which gave authority
+to a mere majority of the members of the two Houses of the legislature
+to increase the representation, and consequently removed that
+safeguard to French Canada which required a two-thirds vote in each
+branch. As the legislature had never passed an address or otherwise
+expressed itself in favour of such an amendment of the Union Act,
+there was always a mystery as to the way it was brought about. Georges
+Etienne Cartier always declared that Papineau was indirectly
+responsible for this imperial legislation. As already stated, the
+leader of the Rouges had voted against the bill increasing the
+representation, and had declaimed like others against the injustice
+which the clause in the Union Act had originally done to French
+Canada. "This fact," said Cartier, "was known in England, and when
+leave was given to elect legislative councillors, the amendment
+complained of was made at the same time. It may be said then, that if
+Papineau had not systematically opposed the increase of
+representation, the change in question would have never been thought
+of in England." Hincks, however, was attacked by the French Canadian
+historian, Garneau, for having suggested the amendment while in
+England in 1854. This, however, he denied most emphatically in a
+pamphlet which he wrote at a later time when he was no longer in
+public life. He placed the responsibility on John Boulton, who called
+himself an independent Liberal and who was in England at the same time
+as Hincks, and probably got the ear of the colonial secretary or one
+of his subordinates in the colonial office, and induced him to
+introduce the amendment which passed without notice in a House where
+very little attention was given, as a rule, to purely colonial
+questions.
+
+In 1853 Lord Elgin visited England, where he received unqualified
+praise for his able administration of Canadian affairs. It was on this
+occasion that Mr. Buchanan, then minister of the United States in
+London, and afterwards a president of the Republic, paid this tribute
+to the governor-general at a public dinner given in his honour.
+
+"Lord Elgin," he said, "has solved one of the most difficult problems
+of statesmanship. He has been able, successfully and satisfactorily,
+to administer, amidst many difficulties, a colonial government over a
+free people. This is an easy task where the commands of a despot are
+law to his obedient servants, but not so in a colony where the people
+feel that they possess the rights and privileges of native-born
+Britons. Under his enlightened government, Her Majesty's North
+American provinces have realized the blessings of a wise, prudent and
+prosperous administration, and we of the neighbouring nation, though
+jealous of our rights, have reason to be abundantly satisfied with his
+just and friendly conduct towards ourselves. He has known how to
+reconcile his devotion to Her Majesty's service with a proper regard
+to the rights and interests of a kindred and neighbouring people.
+Would to heaven we had such governors-general in all the European
+colonies in the vicinity of the United States!"
+
+On his return from England Lord Elgin made a visit to Washington and
+succeeded in negotiating the reciprocity treaty which he had always at
+heart. It was not, however, until a change of government occurred in
+Canada, that the legislature was able to give its ratification to this
+important measure. This subject is of such importance that it will be
+fully considered in a separate chapter on the relations between Canada
+and the United States during Lord Elgin's term of office.
+
+In 1854 the Roman Catholic inhabitants of Quebec and Montreal were
+deeply excited by the lectures of a former monk, Father Gavazzi, who
+had become a Protestant and professed to expose the errors of the
+faith to which he once belonged. Much rioting took place in both
+cities, and blood was shed in Montreal, where the troops, which had
+been called out, suddenly fired on the mob. Mr. Wilson, the mayor, who
+was a Roman Catholic, was accused of having given the order to fire,
+but he always denied the charge, and Hincks, in his "Reminiscences,"
+expresses his conviction that he was not responsible. He was persuaded
+that "the firing was quite accidental, one man having discharged his
+piece from misapprehension, and others having followed his example
+until the officers threw themselves in front, and struck up the
+firelocks." Be this as it may, the Clear Grits in the West promptly
+made use of this incident to attack the government on the ground that
+it had failed to make a full investigation into the circumstances of
+the riot. As a matter of fact, according to Hincks, the government did
+take immediate steps to call the attention of the military commandant
+to the matter, and the result was a court of inquiry which ended in
+the removal of the regiment--then only a few days in Canada--to
+Bermuda for having shown "a want of discipline." Brown inveighed very
+bitterly against Hincks and his colleagues, as subject to Roman
+Catholic domination in French Canada, and found this unfortunate
+affair extremely useful in his systematic efforts to destroy the
+government, to which at no time had he been at all favourable.
+
+Several changes took place during 1853 in the _personnel_ of the
+ministry, which met parliament on June 13th, with the following
+members holding portfolios:
+
+     Hon. Messrs. Hincks, premier and inspector-general; John
+     Ross, formerly solicitor-general west in place of Richards,
+     elevated to the bench, attorney-general for Upper Canada;
+     James Morris, president of the legislative council, in place
+     of Mr. Caron, now a judge; John Rolph, president of the
+     executive council; Malcolm Cameron, postmaster-general; A.N.
+     Morin, commissioner of crown lands; L.P. Drummond,
+     attorney-general for Lower Canada; Mr. Chauveau, formerly
+     solicitor east, provincial secretary; J. Chabot,
+     commissioner of public works in place of John Young,
+     resigned on account of differences on commercial questions;
+     and E.P. Tache, receiver-general. Dunbar Ross became
+     solicitor-general east, and Joseph C. Morrison,
+     solicitor-general west.
+
+The government had decided to have a short session, pass a few
+necessary measures and then appeal to the country. The secularization
+of the reserves, and the question of the seigniorial tenure were not
+to be taken up until the people had given an expression of opinion as
+to the ministerial policy generally. As soon as the legislature met,
+Cauchon, already prominent in public life, proposed an amendment to
+the address, expressing regret that the government had no intention
+"to submit immediately a measure to settle the question of the
+seigniorial tenure." Then Sicotte, who had not long before declined to
+enter the ministry, moved to add the words "and one for the
+secularization of the clergy reserves." These two amendments were
+carried by a majority of thirteen in a total division of seventy-one
+votes. While the French Liberals continued to support Morin, all the
+Upper Canadian opponents of the government, Conservatives and Clear
+Grits, united with a number of Hincks's former supporters and Rouges
+in Lower Canada to bring about this ministerial defeat. The government
+accordingly was obliged either to resign or ask the governor-general
+for a dissolution. It concluded to adhere to its original
+determination, and go at once to the country. The governor-general
+consented to prorogue the legislature with a view to an immediate
+appeal to the electors. When the Usher of the Black Rod appeared at
+the door of the assembly chamber, to ask the attendance of the Commons
+in the legislative council, a scene of great excitement occurred.
+William Lyon Mackenzie made one of his vituperative attacks on the
+government, and was followed by John A. Macdonald, who declared its
+course to be most unconstitutional. When at last the messenger from
+the governor-general was admitted by order of the speaker, the House
+proceeded to the council chamber, where members were electrified by
+another extraordinary incident. The speaker of the assembly was John
+Sandfield Macdonald, an able Scotch Canadian, in whose character
+there was a spirit of vindictiveness, which always asserted itself
+when he received a positive or fancied injury. He had been a
+solicitor-general of Upper Canada in the LaFontaine-Baldwin government,
+and had never forgiven Hincks for not having promoted him to the
+attorney-generalship, instead of W.B. Richards, afterwards an eminent
+judge of the old province of Canada, and first chief justice of
+the Supreme Court of the Dominion. Hincks had offered him the
+commissionership of crown lands in the ministry, but he refused to
+accept any office except the one on which his ambition was fixed.
+Subsequently, however, he was induced by his friends to take the
+speakership of the legislative assembly, but he had never forgiven
+what he considered a slight at the hands of the prime minister in
+1851. Accordingly, when he appeared at the Bar of the Council in 1853,
+he made an attempt to pay off this old score. As soon as he had made
+his bow to the governor-general seated on the throne, Macdonald
+proceeded to read the following speech, which had been carefully
+prepared for the occasion in the two languages:
+
+     "May it please your Excellency: It has been the immemorial
+     custom of the speaker of the Commons' House of Parliament to
+     communicate to the throne the general result of the
+     deliberations of the assembly upon the principal objects
+     which have employed the attention of parliament during the
+     period of their labours. It is not now part of my duty thus
+     to address your Excellency, inasmuch as there has been no
+     act passed or judgment of parliament obtained since we were
+     honoured by your Excellency's announcement of the cause of
+     summoning of parliament by your gracious speech from the
+     throne. The passing of an act through its several stages,
+     according to the law and custom of parliament (solemnly
+     declared applicable to the parliamentary proceedings of this
+     province, by a decision of the legislative assembly of
+     1841), is held to be necessary to constitute a session of
+     parliament. This we have been unable to accomplish, owing to
+     the command which your Excellency has laid upon us to meet
+     you this day for the purpose of prorogation. At the same
+     time I feel called upon to assure your Excellency, on the
+     part of Her Majesty's faithful Commons, that it is not from
+     any want of respect to yourself, or to the August personage
+     whom you represent in these provinces, that no answer has
+     been returned by the legislative assembly to your gracious
+     speech from the throne."
+
+It is said by those who were present on this interesting occasion that
+His Excellency was the most astonished person in the council chamber.
+Mr. Fennings Taylor, the deputy clerk with a seat at the table, tells
+us in a sketch of Macdonald that Lord Elgin's face clearly marked
+"deep displeasure and annoyance when listening to the speaker's
+address," and that he gave "a motion of angry impatience when he found
+himself obliged to listen to the repetition in French of the reproof
+which had evidently galled him in English." This incident was in some
+respects without parallel in Canadian parliamentary history. There was
+a practice, now obsolete in Canada as in England, for the speaker, on
+presenting the supply or appropriation bill to the governor-general
+for the royal assent, to deliver a short address directing attention
+to the principal measures passed during the session about to be
+closed.[14] This practice grew up in days when there were no
+responsible ministers who would be the only constitutional channel of
+communication between the Crown and the assembly. The speaker was
+privileged, and could be instructed as "the mouth-piece" of the House,
+to lay before the representative of the Sovereign an expression of
+opinion on urgent questions of the day. On this occasion Mr. Macdonald
+was influenced entirely by personal spite, and made an unwarrantable
+use of an old custom which was never intended, and could not be
+constitutionally used, to insult the representative of the Crown, even
+by inference. Mr. Macdonald was not even correct in his interpretation
+of the constitution, when he positively declared that an act was
+necessary to constitute a session. The Crown makes a session by
+summoning and opening parliament, and it is always a royal prerogative
+to prorogue or dissolve it at its pleasure even before a single act
+has passed the two Houses. Such a scene could never have occurred with
+the better understanding of the duties of the speaker and of the
+responsibilities of ministers advising the Crown that has grown up
+under a more thorough study of the practice and usages of parliament,
+and of the principles of responsible government. This little political
+episode is now chiefly interesting as giving an insight into one phase
+of the character of a public man, who afterwards won a high position
+in the parliamentary and political life of Canada before and after the
+confederation of 1867, not by the display of a high order of
+statesmanship, but by the exercise of his tenacity of purpose, and by
+reason of his reputation for a spiteful disposition which made him
+feared by friend and foe.
+
+Immediately after the prorogation, parliament was dissolved and the
+Hincks-Morin ministry presented itself to the people, who were now
+called upon to elect a larger number of representatives under the act
+passed in 1853. Of the constitutionality of the course pursued by the
+government in this political crisis, there can now be no doubt. In the
+first place it was fully entitled to demand a public judgment on its
+general policy, especially in view of the fact, within the knowledge
+of all persons, that the opposition in the assembly was composed of
+discordant elements, only temporarily brought together by the hope of
+breaking up the government. In the next place it felt that it could
+not be justified by sound constitutional usage in asking a parliament
+in which the people were now imperfectly represented, to settle
+definitely such important questions as the clergy reserves and the
+seigniorial tenure. Lord Elgin had himself no doubt of the necessity
+for obtaining a clear verdict from the people by means of "the more
+perfect system of representation" provided by law. In the debate on
+the Representation Bill in 1853, John A. Macdonald did not hesitate to
+state emphatically that the House should be governed by English
+precedents in the position in which it would soon be placed by the
+passage of this measure. "Look," he said, "at the Reform Bill in
+England. That was passed by a parliament that had been elected only
+one year before, and the moment it was passed, Lord John Russell
+affirmed that the House could not continue after it had declared that
+the country was not properly represented. How can we legislate on the
+clergy reserves until another House is elected, if this bill passes? A
+great question like this cannot be left to be decided by a mere
+accidental majority. We can legislate upon no great question after we
+have ourselves declared that we do not represent the country. Do these
+gentlemen opposite mean to say that they will legislate on a question
+affecting the rights of people yet unborn, with the fag-end of a
+parliament dishonoured by its own confessions of incapacity?" Hincks
+in his "Reminiscences," printed more than three decades later than
+this ministerial crisis, still adhered to the opinion that the
+government was fully justified by established precedent in appealing
+to the country before disposing summarily of the important questions
+then agitating the people. Both Lord Elgin and Sir John A.
+Macdonald--to give the latter the title he afterwards received from
+the Crown--assuredly set forth the correct constitutional practice
+under the peculiar circumstances in which both government and
+legislature were placed by the legislation increasing the
+representation of the people.
+
+The elections took place in July and August of 1854, for in those
+times there was no system of simultaneous polling on one day, but
+elections were held on such days and as long as the necessities of
+party demanded.[15] The result was, on the whole, adverse to the
+government. While it still retained a majority in French Canada, its
+opponents returned in greater strength, and Morin himself was defeated
+in Terrebonne, though happily for the interests of his party he was
+elected by acclamation at the same time in Chicoutimi. In Upper Canada
+the ministry did not obtain half the vote of the sixty-five
+representatives now elected to the legislature by that province. This
+vote was distributed as follows: Ministerial, 30; Conservatives, 22;
+Clear Grits, 7; and Independents, 6. Malcolm Cameron was beaten in
+Lambton, but Hincks was elected by two constituencies. One auspicious
+result of this election was the disappearance of Papineau from public
+life. He retired to his pretty chateau on the banks of the Ottawa, and
+the world soon forgot the man who had once been so prominent a figure
+in Canadian politics. His graces of manner and conversation continued
+for years to charm his friends in that placid evening of his life so
+very different from those stormy days when his eloquence was a menace
+to British institutions and British connection. Before his death, he
+saw Lower Canada elevated to an independent and influential position
+in the confederation of British North America which it could never
+have reached as that _Nation Canadienne_ which he had once vainly
+hoped to see established in the valley of the St. Lawrence.
+
+The Rouges, of whom Papineau had been leader, came back in good form
+and numbered nineteen members. Antoine A. Dorion, Holton, and other
+able men in the ranks of this once republican party, had become wise
+and adopted opinions which no longer offended the national and
+religious susceptibilities of their race, although they continued to
+show for years their radical tendencies which prevented them from ever
+obtaining a firm hold of public opinion in a practically Conservative
+province, and becoming dominant in the public councils for any length
+of time.
+
+The fifth parliament of the province of Canada was opened by Lord
+Elgin on February 5th, 1854, and the ministry was defeated immediately
+on the vote for the speakership, to which Mr. Sicotte--a dignified
+cultured man, at a later time a judge--was elected. On this occasion
+Hincks resorted to a piece of strategy which enabled him to punish
+John Sandfield Macdonald for the insult he had levelled at the
+governor-general and his advisers at the close of the previous
+parliament. The government's candidate was Georges Etienne Cartier,
+who was first elected in 1849 and who had already become conspicuous
+in the politics of his province. Sicotte was the choice of the
+Opposition in Lower Canada, and while there was no belief among the
+politicians that he could be elected, there was an understanding among
+the Conservatives and Clear Grits that an effort should be made in his
+behalf, and in case of its failure, then the whole strength of the
+opponents of the ministry should be so directed as to ensure the
+election of Mr. Macdonald, who was sure to get a good Reform vote from
+the Upper Canadian representatives. These names were duly proposed in
+order, and Cartier was defeated by a large majority. When the clerk at
+the table had called for a vote for Sicotte, the number who stood up
+in his favour was quite insignificant, but before the Nays were taken,
+Hincks arose quickly and asked that his name be recorded with the
+Yeas. All the ministerialists followed the prime minister and voted
+for Sicotte, who was consequently chosen speaker by a majority of
+thirty-five. But all that Hincks gained by such clever tactics was the
+humiliation for the moment of an irascible Scotch Canadian politician.
+The vote itself had no political significance whatever, and the
+government was forced to resign on September 8th. The vote in favour
+of Cartier had shown that the ministry was in a minority of twelve in
+Upper Canada, and if Hincks had any doubt of his political weakness it
+was at once dispelled on September 7th when the House refused to grant
+to the government a short delay of twenty-four hours for the purpose
+of considering a question of privilege which had been raised by the
+Opposition. On this occasion, Dr. Rolph, who had been quite restless
+in the government for some tune, voted against his colleagues and gave
+conclusive evidence that Hincks was deserted by the majority of the
+Reform party in his own province, and could no longer bring that
+support to the French Canadian ministerialists which would enable them
+to administer public affairs.
+
+The resignation of the Hincks-Morin ministry begins a new epoch in the
+political annals of Canada. From that time dates the disruption of the
+old Liberal party which had governed the country so successfully since
+1848, and the formation of a powerful combination which was made up of
+the moderate elements of that party and of the Conservatives, which
+afterwards became known as the Liberal-Conservative party. This new
+party practically controlled public affairs for over three decades
+until the death of Sir John A. Macdonald, to whose inspiration it
+largely owed its birth. With that remarkable capacity for adapting
+himself to political conditions, which was one of the secrets of his
+strength as a party leader, he saw in 1854 that the time had come for
+forming an alliance with those moderate Liberals in the two provinces
+who, it was quite clear, had no possible affinity with the Clear
+Grits, who were not only small in numbers, but especially obnoxious to
+the French Canadians, as a people on account of the intemperate
+attacks made by Mr. Brown in the Toronto _Globe_ on their revered
+institutions.
+
+The representatives who supported the late ministry were still in
+larger numbers than any other party or faction in the House, and it
+was obvious that no government could exist without their support. Sir
+Allan MacNab, who was the oldest parliamentarian, and the leader of
+the Conservatives--a small but compact party--was then invited by the
+governor-general to assist him by his advice, during a crisis when it
+was evident to the veriest political tyro that the state of parties in
+the assembly rendered it very difficult to form a stable government
+unless a man could be found ready to lay aside all old feelings of
+personal and political rivalry and prejudice and unite all factions on
+a common platform for the public advantage. All the political
+conditions, happily, were favourable for a combination on a basis of
+conciliation and compromise. The old Liberals in French Canada under
+the influence of LaFontaine and Morin had been steadily inclining to
+Conservatism with the secure establishment of responsible government
+and the growth of the conviction that the integrity of the cherished
+institutions of their ancient province could be best assured by moving
+slowly (_festina lente_), and not by constant efforts to make radical
+changes in the body politic. The Liberals, of whom Hincks was leader,
+were also very distrustful of Brown, and clearly saw that he could
+have no strength whatever in a province where French Canada must have
+a guarantee that its language, religion, and civil law, were safe in
+the hands of any government that might at any time be formed. The
+wisest men among the Conservatives also felt that the time had arrived
+for adopting a new policy since the old questions which had once
+evoked their opposition had been at last settled by the voice of the
+people, and could no longer constitutionally or wisely be made matters
+of continued agitation in or out of parliament. "The question that
+arose in the minds of the old Liberals," as it was said many years
+later by Thomas White, an able journalist and politician,[16]
+
+     "was this: shall we hand over the government of this country
+     to the men who, calling themselves Liberals, have broken up
+     the Liberal party by the declaration of extravagant views,
+     by the enunciation of principles far more radical and
+     reckless than any we are prepared to accept, and by a
+     restless ambition which we cannot approve? Or shall we not
+     rather unite with the Conservatives who have gone to the
+     country declaring, in reference to the great questions which
+     then agitated it, that if the decision at the polls was
+     against them, they would no longer offer resistance to their
+     settlement, but would, on the contrary, assist in such
+     solution of them as would forever remove them from the
+     sphere of public or political agitation."
+
+With both Liberals and Conservatives holding such views, it was easy
+enough for John A. Macdonald to convince even Sir Allan MacNab that
+the time had come for forgetting the past as much as possible, and
+constituting a strong government from the moderate elements of the old
+parties which had served their turn and now required to be remodelled
+on a wider basis of common interests. Sir Allan MacNab recognized the
+necessity of bringing his own views into harmony with those of the
+younger men of his party who were determined not to allow such an
+opportunity for forming a powerful ministry to pass by. The political
+situation, indeed, was one calculated to appeal to both the vanity and
+self-interest of the veteran statesman, and he accordingly assumed the
+responsibility of forming an administration. He communicated
+immediately with Morin and his colleagues in Lower Canada, and when he
+received a favourable reply from them, his next step was to make
+arrangements, if possible, with the Liberals of Upper Canada. Hincks
+was only too happy to have an opportunity of resenting the opposition
+he had met with from Brown and the extreme Reformers of the western
+province, and opened negotiations with his old supporters on the
+conditions that the new ministry would take immediate steps for the
+secularization of the clergy reserves, and the settlement of the
+seigniorial tenure, and that two members of the administration would
+be taken from his own followers. The negotiations were successfully
+closed on this basis of agreement, and on September 11th the following
+ministers were duly sworn into office:
+
+     Upper Canada.--Hon. Sir Allan MacNab, president of the
+     executive council and minister of agriculture; Hon. John A.
+     Macdonald, attorney-general of Upper Canada; Hon. W. Cayley,
+     inspector-general; Hon. R. Spence, postmaster-general; Hon.
+     John Ross, president of the legislative council.
+
+     Lower Canada.--Hon. A.N. Morin, commissioner of crown lands;
+     Hon. L.P. Drummond, attorney-general for Lower Canada; Hon.
+     P.J.O. Chauveau, provincial secretary; Hon. E.P. Tache,
+     receiver-general; Hon. J. Chabot, commissioner of public
+     works.
+
+The new cabinet contained four Conservatives, and six members of the
+old ministry. Henry Smith, a Conservative, became solicitor-general
+for Upper Canada, and Dunbar Ross continued in the same office for
+Lower Canada, but neither of them had seats in the cabinet. The
+Liberal-Conservative party, organized under such circumstances was
+attacked with great bitterness by the leaders of the discordant
+factions, who were greatly disappointed at the success of the
+combination formed through the skilful management of Messrs. J.A.
+Macdonald, Hineks and Morin.
+
+The coalition was described as "an unholy alliance" of men who had
+entirely abandoned their principles. But an impartial historian must
+record the opinion that the coalition was perfectly justified by
+existing political conditions, that had it not taken place, a stable
+government would in all probability have been for some time
+impossible, and that the time had come for the reconstruction of
+parties with a broad generous policy which would ignore issues at last
+dead, and be more in harmony with modern requirements. It might with
+some reason be called a coalition when the reconstruction of parties
+was going on, but it was really a successful movement for the
+annihilation of old parties and issues, and for the formation on their
+ruins of a new party which could gather to itself the best materials
+available for the effective conduct of public affairs on the patriotic
+platform of the union of the two races, of equal rights to all classes
+and creeds, and of the avoidance of purely sectional questions
+calculated to disturb the union of 1841.
+
+The new government at once obtained the support of a large majority of
+the representatives from each section of the province, and was
+sustained by the public opinion of the country at large. During the
+session of 1854 measures were passed for the secularization of the
+reserves, the removal of the seigniorial tenure, and for the
+ratification of the reciprocity treaty with the United States. As I
+have only been able so far in this historical narrative to refer in a
+very cursory manner to these very important questions, I propose now
+to give in the following chapter a succinct review of their history
+from the time they first came into prominence down to their settlement
+at the close of Lord Elgin's administration in Canada.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+
+THE HISTORY OF THE CLERGY RESERVES, (1791-1854)
+
+For a long period in the history of Canada the development of several
+provinces was more or less seriously retarded, and the politics of the
+country constantly complicated by the existence of troublesome
+questions arising out of the lavish grants of public lands by the
+French and English governments. The territorial domain of French
+Canada was distributed by the king of France, under the inspiration of
+Richelieu, with great generosity, on a system of a modified feudal
+tenure, which, it was hoped, would strengthen the connection between
+the Crown and the dependency by the creation of a colonial
+aristocracy, and at the same time stimulate the colonization and
+settlement of the valley of the St. Lawrence; but, as we shall see in
+the course of the following chapter, despite the wise intentions of
+its promoters, the seigniorial tenure gradually became, after the
+conquest, more or less burdensome to the _habitants_, and an
+impediment rather than an incentive to the agricultural development
+and peopling of the province. Even little Prince Edward Island was
+troubled with a land question as early as 1767, when it was still
+known by the name St. John, given it in the days of French rule.
+Sixty-seven townships, containing in the aggregate 1,360,600 English
+acres, were conveyed in one day by ballot, with a few reservations to
+the Crown, to a number of military men, officials and others, who had
+real or supposed claims on the British government. In this wholesale
+fashion the island was burdened with a land monopoly which was not
+wholly removed until after the union with the Canadian Dominion in
+1873. Though some disputes arose in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
+between the old and new settlers with respect to the ownership of
+lands after the coming of the Loyalists, who received, as elsewhere,
+liberal grants of land, they were soon settled, and consequently these
+maritime provinces were not for any length of time embarrassed by the
+existence of such questions as became important issues in the politics
+of Canada. Extravagant grants were also given to the United Empire
+Loyalists who settled on the banks of the St. Lawrence and Niagara
+rivers in Upper Canada, as some compensation for the great sacrifices
+they had made for the Crown during the American revolution. Large
+tracts of this property were sold either by the Loyalists or their
+heirs, and passed into the hands of speculators at very insignificant
+prices. Lord Durham in his report cites authority to show that not
+"one-tenth of the lands granted to United Empire Loyalists had been
+occupied by the persons to whom they were granted, and in a great
+proportion of cases not occupied at all." The companies which were
+also in the course of time organized in Great Britain for the purchase
+and sale of lands in Canada, also received extraordinary favours from
+the government. Although the Canada Company, which is still in
+existence, was an important agency in the settlement of the province
+of Upper Canada, its possession of immense tracts--some of them, the
+Huron Block, for instance, locked up for years--was for a time a great
+public grievance.
+
+But all these land questions sank into utter insignificance compared
+with the dispute which arose out of the thirty-sixth clause of the
+Constitutional Act of 1791, which provided that there should be
+reserved for the maintenance and support of a "Protestant clergy," in
+the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, "a quantity of land equal in
+value to a seventh part of grants that had been made in the past, or
+might be made in the future." Subsequent clauses of the same act made
+provision for the erection and endowment of one or more rectories in
+every township or parish, "according to the establishment of the
+Church of England," and at the same time gave power to the legislature
+of the two provinces "to vary or repeal" these enactments of the law
+with the important reservation that all bills of such a character
+could not receive the royal assent until thirty days after they had
+been laid before both Houses of the imperial parliament. Whenever it
+was practicable, the lands were reserved under the act among those
+already granted to settlers with the intention of creating parishes as
+soon as possible in every settled township throughout the province.
+However, it was not always possible to carry out this plan, in
+consequence of whole townships having been granted _en bloc_ to the
+Loyalists in certain districts, especially in those of the Bay of
+Quinte, Kingston and Niagara, and it was therefore necessary to carry
+out the intention of the law in adjoining townships where no lands of
+any extent had been granted to settlers.
+
+The Church of England, at a very early period, claimed, as the only
+"Protestant clergy" recognized by English law, the exclusive use of
+the lands in question, and Bishop Mountain, who became in 1793
+Anglican bishop of Quebec, with a jurisdiction extending over all
+Canada, took the first steps to sustain this assertion of exclusive
+right. Leases were given to applicants by a clerical corporation
+established by the Anglican Church for the express purpose of
+administering the reserves. For some years the Anglican claim passed
+without special notice, and it is not until 1817 that we see the germ
+of the dispute which afterwards so seriously agitated Upper Canada. It
+was proposed in the assembly to sell half the lands and devote the
+proceeds to secular purposes, but the sudden prorogation of the
+legislature by Lieutenant-Governor Gore, prevented any definite action
+on the resolutions, although the debate that arose on the subject had
+the effect of showing the existence of a marked public grievance. The
+feeling at this time in the country was shown in answers given to
+circulars sent out by Robert Gourlay, an energetic Scottish busy-body,
+to a number of townships, asking an expression of opinion as to the
+causes which retarded improvement and the best means of developing the
+resources of the province. The answer from Sandwich emphatically set
+forth that the reasons of the existing depression were the reserves of
+land for the Crown and clergy, "which must for long keep the country a
+wilderness, a harbour for wolves, and a hindrance to compact and good
+neighbourhood; defects in the system of colonization; too great a
+quantity of land in the hands of individuals who do not reside in the
+province, and are not assessed for their property." The select
+committee of the House of Commons on the civil government of Canada
+reported in 1828 that "these reserved lands, as they are at present
+distributed over the country, retard more than any other circumstance
+the improvement of the colony, lying as they do in detached portions
+of each township and intervening between the occupations of actual
+settlers, who have no means of cutting roads through the woods and
+morasses which thus separate them from their neighbours." It appears,
+too, that the quantity of land actually reserved was in excess of that
+which appears to have been contemplated by the Constitutional Act. "A
+quantity equal to one-seventh of all grants," wrote Lord Durham in his
+report of 1839, "would be one-eighth of each township, or of all the
+public land. Instead of this proportion, the practice has been ever
+since the act passed, and in the clearest violation of its provisions,
+to set apart for the clergy in Upper Canada, a seventh of all the
+land, which is a quantity equal to a sixth of the land granted.... In
+Lower Canada the same violation of the law has taken place, with this
+difference--that upon every sale of Crown and clergy reserves, a fresh
+reserve for the clergy has been made, equal to a fifth of such
+reserves." In that way the public in both provinces was systematically
+robbed of a large quantity of land, which, Lord Durham estimated, was
+worth about L280,000 at the time he wrote. He acknowledges, however,
+that the clergy had no part in "this great misappropriation of the
+public property," but that it had arisen "entirely from heedless
+misconception, or some other error of the civil government of the
+province." All this, however, goes to show the maladministration of
+the public lands, and is one of the many reasons the people of the
+Canadas had for considering these reserves a public grievance.
+
+When political parties were organized in Upper Canada some years after
+the war of 1812-14, which had for a while united all classes and
+creeds for the common defence, we see on one side a Tory compact for
+the maintenance of the old condition of things, the control of
+patronage, and the protection of the interests of the Church of
+England; on the other, a combination of Reformers, chiefly composed of
+Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists, who clamoured for reforms in
+government and above all for relief from the dominance of the Anglican
+Church, which, with respect to the clergy reserves and other matters,
+was seeking a _quasi_ recognition as a state church. As the Puritans
+of New England at the commencement of the American Revolution
+inveighed against any attempt to establish an Anglican episcopate in
+the country as an insidious attack by the monarchy on their civil and
+religious liberty--most unjustly, as any impartial historian must now
+admit[17]--so in Upper Canada the dissenters made it one of their
+strongest grievances that favouritism was shown to the Anglican Church
+in the distribution of the public lands and the public patronage, to
+the detriment of all other religious bodies in the province. The
+bitterness that was evoked on this question had much to do with
+bringing about the rebellion of 1837. If the whole question could have
+been removed from the arena of political discussion, the Reformers
+would have been deprived of one of their most potent agencies to
+create a feeling against the "family compact" and the government at
+Toronto. But Bishop Strachan, who was a member of both the executive
+and legislative councils--in other words, the most influential member
+of the "family compact"--could not agree to any compromise which would
+conciliate the aggrieved dissenters and at the same time preserve a
+large part of the claim made by the Church of England. Such a
+compromise in the opinion of this sturdy, obstinate ecclesiastic,
+would be nothing else than a sop to his Satanic majesty. It was always
+with him a battle _a l'outrance,_ and as we shall soon see, in the end
+he suffered the bitterness of defeat.
+
+In these later days when we can review the whole question without any
+of the prejudice and passion which embittered the controversy while it
+was a burning issue, we can see that the Church of England had strong
+historical and legal arguments to justify its claim to the exclusive
+use of the clergy reserves. When the Constitutional Act of 1791 was
+passed, the only Protestant clergy recognized in British statutes were
+those of the Church of England, and, as we shall see later, those of
+the established Church of Scotland. The dissenting denominations had
+no more a legal status in the constitutional system of England than
+the Roman Catholics, and indeed it was very much the same thing in
+some respects in the provinces of Canada. So late as 1824 the
+legislative council, largely composed of Anglicans, rejected a bill
+allowing Methodist ministers to solemnize marriages, and it was not
+until 1831 that recognized ministers of all denominations were placed
+on an equality with the Anglican clergy in such matters. The
+employment of the words "Protestant Clergy" in the act, it was urged
+with force, was simply to distinguish the Church of England clergy
+from those of the Church of Rome, who, otherwise, would be legally
+entitled to participate in the grant.
+
+The loyalists, who founded the province of Upper Canada, established
+formally by the Constitutional Act of 1791, were largely composed of
+adherents of the Church of England, and it was one of the dearest
+objects of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe to place that body on a stable
+basis and give it all the influence possible in the state. A
+considerable number had also settled in Lower Canada, and received, as
+in other parts of British North America, the sympathy and aid of the
+parent state. It was the object of the British government to make the
+constitution of the Canadas "an image and transcript" as far as
+possible of the British system of government. In no better way could
+this be done, in the opinion of the framers of the Constitutional Act,
+than by creating a titled legislative council;[18] and though this
+effort came to naught, it is noteworthy as showing the tendency at
+that time of imperial legislation. If such a council could be
+established, then it was all important that there should be a
+religious body, supported by the state, to surround the political
+institutions of the country with the safeguards which a conservative
+and aristocratic church like that of England would give. The erection
+and endowment of rectories "according to the establishment of the
+Church of England"--words of the act to be construed in connection
+with the previous clauses--was obviously a part of the original scheme
+of 1791 to anglicize Upper Canada and make it as far as possible a
+reflex of Anglican England.
+
+It does not appear that at any time there was any such feeling of
+dissatisfaction with respect to the reserves in French Canada as
+existed throughout Upper Canada, The Protestant clergy in the former
+province were relatively few in number, and the Roman Catholic Church,
+which dominated the whole country, was quite content with its own
+large endowments received from the bounty of the king or private
+individuals during the days of French occupation, and did not care to
+meddle in a question which in no sense affected it. On the other hand,
+in Upper Canada, the arguments used by the Anglican clergy in support
+of their claims to the exclusive administration of the reserves were
+constantly answered not only in the legislative bodies, but in the
+Liberal papers, and by appeals to the imperial government. It was
+contended that the phrase "Protestant clergy" used in the
+Constitutional Act, was simply intended to distinguish all Protestant
+denominations from the Roman Catholic Church, and that, had there been
+any intention to give exclusive rights to the Anglican Church, it
+would have been expressly so stated in the section reserving the
+lands, just as had been done in the sections specially providing for
+the erection and endowment of Anglican rectories.
+
+The first successful blow against the claims of the English Church in
+Canada was struck by that branch of the Presbyterian Church known in
+law as the Established Church of Scotland. It obtained an opinion from
+the British law officers in 1819, entirely favourable to its own
+participation in the reserves on the ground that it had been fully
+recognized as a state church, not only in the act uniting the two
+kingdoms of England and Scotland, but in several British statutes
+passed later than the Constitutional Act whose doubtful phraseology
+had originated the whole controversy. While the law officers admitted
+that the provisions of this act might be "extended also to the Church
+of Scotland, if there are any such settled in Canada (as appears to
+have been admitted in the debate upon the passing of the act)," yet
+they expressed the opinion that the clauses in question did not apply
+to dissenting ministers, since they thought that "the term 'Protestant
+clergy' could apply only to Protestant clergy recognized and
+established by law." We shall see a little farther on the truth of the
+old adage that "lawyers will differ" and that in 1840, twenty-one
+years later than the expression of the opinion just cited, eminent
+British jurists appeared to be more favourable to the claims of
+denominations other than the Church of Scotland.
+
+Until 1836--the year preceding the rebellion--the excitement with
+respect to the reserves had been intensified by the action of Sir John
+Colborne, lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, who, on the eve of his
+departure for England, was induced by Bishop Strachan to sign patents
+creating and endowing forty-four rectories[19] in Upper Canada,
+representing more than 17,000 acres of land in the aggregate or about
+486 for each of them. One can say advisedly that this action was most
+indiscreet at a time when a wise administrator would have attempted to
+allay rather than stimulate public irritation on so serious a
+question. Until this time, says Lord Durham, the Anglican clergy had
+no exclusive privileges, save such as might spring from their
+efficient discharge of their sacred duties, or from the energy,
+ability or influence of members of their body--notably Bishop
+Strachan, who practically controlled the government in religious and
+even secular matters. But, continued Lord Durham, the last public act
+of Sir John Colborne made it quite understood that every rector
+possessed "all the spiritual and other privileges enjoyed by an
+English rector," and that though he might "have no right to levy
+tithes" (for even this had been made a question), he was "in all other
+respects precisely in the same position as a clergyman of the
+established church in England." "This is regarded," added Lord Durham,
+"by all other teachers of religion in this country as having at once
+degraded them to a position of legal inferiority to the clergy of the
+Church of England; and it has been most warmly resented. In the
+opinion of many persons, this was the chief predisposing cause of the
+recent insurrection, and it is an abiding and unabated cause for
+discontent."
+
+As soon as Sir John Colborne's action was known throughout the
+province, public indignation among the opponents of the clergy
+reserves and the Church of England took the forms of public meetings
+to denounce the issue of the patents, and of memorials to the imperial
+government calling into question their legality and praying for their
+immediate annulment. An opinion was obtained from the law officers of
+the Crown that the action taken by Sir John Colborne was "not valid
+and lawful," but it was given on a mere _ex parte_ statement of the
+case prepared by the opponents of the rectories; and the same eminent
+lawyers subsequently expressed themselves favourably as to the
+legality of the patents when they were asked to reconsider the whole
+question, which was set forth in a very elaborate report prepared
+under the direction of Bishop Strachan. It is convenient to mention
+here that this phase of the clergy reserve question again came before
+able English counsel at the Equity Bar, when Hincks visited London in
+1852. After they had given an opinion unfavourable to the Colborne
+patents on the case as submitted to them by the Canadian prime
+minister, it was deemed expedient to submit the whole legal question
+to the Court of Chancery in Upper Canada, which decided unanimously,
+after a full hearing of the case, that the patents were valid. But
+this decision was not given until 1856, when the whole matter of the
+reserves had been finally adjusted, and the validity of the creation
+of the rectories was no longer a burning question in Upper Canada.
+
+When Poulett Thomson came to Canada in the autumn of 1839 as
+governor-general, he recognized the necessity of bringing about an
+immediate settlement of this very vexatious question, and of
+preventing its being made a matter of agitation after the union of the
+two provinces. The imperial authorities had already disallowed an act
+passed by the legislature of Upper Canada of 1838 to reinvest the
+clergy reserves in the Crown, and it became necessary for Lord
+Sydenham--to give the governor-general's later title--to propose a
+settlement in the shape of a compromise between the various Protestant
+bodies interested in the reserves. Lord Sydenham was opposed to the
+application of these lands to general education as proposed in several
+bills which had passed the assembly, but had been rejected by the
+legislative council owing to the dominant influence of Bishop
+Strachan. "To such a measure," says Lord Sydenham's biographer,[20]
+"he was opposed; first because it would have taken away the only fund
+exclusively devoted to purposes of religion, and secondly, because,
+even if carried in the provincial legislature, it would evidently not
+have obtained the sanction of the imperial parliament. He therefore
+entered into personal communication with the leading individuals among
+the principal religious communities, and after many interviews,
+succeeded in obtaining their support to a measure for the distribution
+of the reserves among the religious communities recognized by law, in
+proportion to their respective numbers."
+
+Lord Sydenham's efforts to obtain the consent "of leading individuals
+among the principal religious communities" did not succeed in
+preventing a strong opposition to the measure after it had passed
+through the legislature. Dr. Ryerson, a power among the Methodists,
+denounced it, after he had at the outset shown an inclination to
+support it, and the Bishop of Toronto was also among its most
+determined opponents. Lord Sydenham's well-meaning attempt to settle
+the question was thwarted at the very outset by the reference of the
+bill to English judges, who reported adversely on the ground that the
+power "to vary or repeal" given in the Constitutional Act of 1791 was
+only prospective, and did not authorize the provincial legislature to
+divert the proceeds of the lands already sold from the purpose
+originally contemplated in the imperial statute. The judges also
+expressed the opinion on this occasion that the words "Protestant
+clergy" were large enough to include and did include "other clergy
+than those of the Church of Scotland." In their opinion these words
+appeared, "both in their natural force and meaning, and still more
+from the context of the clauses in which they are found, to be there
+used to designate and intend a clergy opposed in doctrine and
+discipline to the clergy of the Church of Rome, and rather to aim at
+the encouragement of the Protestant religion in opposition to the
+Romish Church, than to point exclusively to the clergy of the Church
+of England." But as they did not find on the statute book the
+acknowledgment by the legislature of any other clergy answering the
+description of the law, they could not specify any other except the
+Church of Scotland as falling within the imperial statute.
+
+Under these circumstances the imperial government at once passed
+through parliament a bill (3 and 4 Vict., c. 78) which re-enacted the
+Canadian measure with the modifications rendered necessary by the
+judicial opinion just cited. This act put an end to future
+reservations, and at the same time recognized the claims of all the
+Protestant bodies to a share in the funds derived from the sales of
+the lands. It provided for the division of the reserves into two
+portions--those sold before the passing of the act and those sold at a
+later time. Of the previous sales, the Church of England was to
+receive two-thirds and the Church of Scotland one-third. Of future
+sales, the Church of England would receive one-third and the Church of
+Scotland one-sixth, while the residue could be applied by the
+governor-in-council "for purposes of public worship and religious
+instruction in Canada," in other words, that it should be divided
+among those other religious denominations that might make application
+at any time for a share in these particular funds.
+
+This act, however, did not prove to be a settlement of this disturbing
+question. If Bishop Strachan had been content with the compromise made
+in this act, and had endeavoured to carry out its provisions as soon
+as it was passed, the Anglican Church would have obtained positive
+advantages which it failed to receive when the question was again
+brought into the arena of angry discussion. In 1844 when Henry
+Sherwood was solicitor-general in the Draper-Viger Conservative
+government he proposed an address to the Crown for the passing of a
+new imperial act, authorizing the division of the land itself instead
+of the income arising from its sales. His object was to place the
+lands, allotted to the Church of England, under the control of the
+church societies, which could lease them, or hold them for any length
+of time at such prices as they might deem expedient. In the course of
+the debate on this proposition, which failed to receive the assent of
+the House, Baldwin, Price, and other prominent men expressed regret
+that any attempt should be made to disturb the settlement made by the
+imperial statute of 1840, which, in their opinion, should be regarded
+as final.
+
+A strong feeling now developed in Upper Canada in favour of a repeal
+of the imperial act, and the secularization of the reserves. The
+Presbyterians--apart from the Church of Scotland--were now influenced
+by the Scottish Free Church movement of 1843 and opposed to public
+provision for the support of religious denominations. The spirit which
+animated them spread to other bodies, and was stimulated by the
+uncompromising attitude still assumed by the Anglican bishop, who was
+anxious, as Sherwood's effort proved, to obtain advantages for his
+church beyond those given it by the act of 1840. When the
+LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry was formed, the movement for the
+secularization of the reserves among the Upper Canadian Liberals, or
+Reformers as many preferred to call their party, became so pronounced
+as to demand the serious consideration of the government; but there
+was no inclination shown by the French Canadians in the cabinet to
+disturb the settlement of 1840, and the serious phases of the
+Rebellion Losses Bill kept the whole question for some time in the
+background. After the appearance of the Clear Grits in Upper Canadian
+politics, with the secularization of the reserves as the principal
+plank in their platform, the LaFontaine-Baldwin cabinet felt the
+necessity of making a concession to the strong feeling which prevailed
+among Upper Canadian Reformers. As they were divided in opinion on the
+question and could not make it a part of the ministerial policy,
+Price, commissioner of Crown lands, was induced in the session of 1850
+to introduce on his sole responsibility an address to the Crown,
+praying for the repeal of the imperial act of 1840, and the passage of
+another which would authorize the Canadian legislature to dispose of
+the reserves as it should deem most expedient, but with the distinct
+understanding that, while no particular sect should be considered as
+having a vested right in the property, the emoluments derived by
+existing incumbents should be guaranteed during their lives. Mr.
+Price--the same gentleman who had objected some years previously to
+the reopening of the question--showed in the course of his speech the
+importance which the reserves had now attained. The number of acres
+reserved to this time was 2,395,687, and of sales, under two statutes,
+1,072,453. These sales had realized L720,756, of which L373,899 4s.
+4d. had been paid, and L346,856 15s. 8d. remained still due. Counting
+the interest on the sum paid, a million of pounds represented the
+value of the lands already sold, and when they were all disposed of
+there would be realized more than two millions of pounds. Price also
+pointed out the fact that only a small number of persons had derived
+advantages from these reserves. Out of the total population of 723,000
+souls in Upper Canada, the Church of England claimed 171,000 and the
+Church of Scotland 68,000, or a total of 239,000 persons who received
+the lion's share, and left comparatively little to the remaining
+population of 484,000 souls. Among the latter the Roman Catholics
+counted 123,707 communicants and received only L700 a year; the
+Wesleyans, with 90,363 adherents, received even a still more wretched
+pittance. Furthermore 269,000 persons were entirely excluded from any
+share whatever in the reserves. In the debate on the resolutions for
+the address LaFontaine did not consider the imperial act a finality,
+and was in favour of having the reserves brought under the control of
+the Canadian legislature, but he expressed the opinion most
+emphatically that all private rights and endowments conferred under
+the authority of imperial legislation should be held inviolate, and so
+far as possible, carried into effect. Baldwin's observations were
+remarkable for their vagueness. He did not object to endowment for
+religious purposes, although he was opposed to any union between
+church and state. While he did not consider the act of 1840 as a final
+settlement, inasmuch as it did not express the opinion of the Canadian
+people, he was not then prepared to commit himself as to the mode in
+which the property should he disposed of. Hincks affirmed that there
+was no desire on the part of members of the government to evade their
+responsibilities on the question, but they were not ready to adopt the
+absurd and unconstitutional course that was pressed on them by the
+Clear Grits, of attempting to repeal an imperial act by a Canadian
+statute.
+
+Malcolm Cameron and other radical Reformers advocated the complete
+secularization of the reserves, while Cayley, Macdonald, and other
+Conservatives, urged that the provisions of the imperial act of 1840
+should be carried out to the fullest extent, and that the funds, then
+or at a future time at the disposal of the government "for the
+purposes of public worship and religious instruction" under the act,
+should be apportioned among the various denominations that had not
+previously had a share in the reserves. When it came to a division, it
+was clear that there was no unanimity on the question among the
+ministers and other supporters. Indeed, the summary given above of the
+remarks made by LaFontaine, Baldwin, and Hincks, affords conclusive
+evidence of the differences of opinion that existed between them and
+of their reluctance to express themselves definitely on the subject.
+The majority of the French members, Messrs. LaFontaine, Cauchon,
+Chabot, Chauveau, LaTerriere and others, voted against the resolution
+which affirmed that "no religious denomination can be held to have
+such vested interest in the revenue derived from the proceeds of the
+said clergy reserves as should prevent further legislation with
+reference to the disposal of them, but this House is nevertheless of
+opinion that the claims of existing incumbents should be treated in
+the most liberal manner." Baldwin and other Reformers supported this
+clause, which passed by a majority of two. The address was finally
+adopted on a division of forty-six Yeas and twenty-three Nays--"the
+minority containing the names of a few Reformers who would not consent
+to pledge themselves to grant, for the lives of the existing
+incumbents, the stipends on which they had accepted their
+charges--some perhaps having come from other countries to fill them
+and having possibly thrown up other preferments."[21] The address was
+duly forwarded to England by Lord Elgin, with a despatch in which he
+explained at some length the position of the whole question. In
+accordance with the principle which guided him throughout his
+administration of Canadian affairs--to give full scope to the right of
+the province to manage its own local concerns--he advised Lord Grey to
+repeal the imperial act of 1840 if he wished "to preserve the colony."
+Lord Grey admitted that the question was one exclusively affecting the
+people of Canada and should be decided by the provincial legislature.
+It was the intention of the government, he informed Lord Elgin, to
+introduce a bill into parliament for this purpose; but action had to
+be deferred until another year when, as it happened unfortunately for
+the province, Lord John Russell's ministry was forced to resign, and
+was succeeded by a Conservative administration led by the Earl of
+Derby.
+
+The Canadian government soon ascertained from Sir John Pakington, the
+new colonial secretary, that the new advisers of Her Majesty were not
+"inclined to give their consent and support to any arrangement the
+result of which would too probably be the diversion to other purposes
+of the only public fund ... which now exists for the support of divine
+worship and religious instruction in the colony." It was also
+intimated by the secretary of state that the new government was quite
+ready to entertain a proposal for reconsidering the mode of
+distributing the proceeds of the sales of the reserves, while not
+ready to agree to any proposal that might "divert forever from its
+sacred object the fund arising from that portion of the public lands
+of Canada which, almost from the period of the British conquest of
+that province, has been set apart for the religious instruction of the
+people." Hincks, who was at that time in England, at once wrote to Sir
+John Pakington, in very emphatic terms, that he viewed "with grave
+apprehension the prospect of collision between Her Majesty's
+government and the parliament of Canada, on a question regarding which
+such strong feelings prevailed among the great mass of the
+population." The people of Canada were convinced that they were
+"better judges than any parties in England of what measures would best
+conduce to the peace and welfare of the province." As respects the
+proposal "for reconsidering the mode of distributing the income of the
+clergy reserves," Hincks had no hesitation in saying that "it would be
+received as one for the violation of the most sacred constitutional
+rights of the people."
+
+As soon as the Canadian legislature met in 1852, Hincks carried an
+address to the Crown, in which it was urged that the question of the
+reserves was "one so exclusively affecting the people of Canada that
+its decision ought not to be withdrawn from the provincial
+legislature, to which it properly belongs to regulate all matters
+concerning the domestic interests of the province." The hope was
+expressed that Her Majesty's government would lose no time in giving
+effect to the promise made by the previous administration and
+introduce the legislation necessary "to satisfy the wishes of the
+Canadian people." In the debate on this address, Moria, the leader of
+the French section of the cabinet, clearly expressed himself in favour
+of the secularization of the reserves in accordance with the views
+entertained by his Upper Canadian colleagues. It was consequently
+clear that the successors of the LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry were
+fully pledged to a vigorous policy for the disposal of this vexatious
+dispute.
+
+A few months after Lord Elgin had forwarded this address to the Crown,
+the Earl of Derby's administration was defeated in the House of
+Commons, and the Aberdeen government was formed towards the close of
+1852, with the Duke of Newcastle as secretary of state for the
+colonies. One of Sir John Pakington's last official acts was to
+prepare a despatch unfavourable to the prayer of the assembly's last
+address, but it was never sent to Canada, though brought down to
+parliament. At the same time the Canadian people heard of this
+despatch they were gratified by the announcement that the new
+ministers had decided to reverse the policy of their predecessors and
+to meet the wishes of the Canadian legislature. Accordingly, in the
+session of 1853, a measure was passed by the imperial parliament to
+give full power to the provincial legislature to vary or repeal all or
+any part of the act of 1840, and to make all necessary provisions
+respecting the clergy reserves or the proceeds derived from the same,
+on the express condition that there should be no interference with the
+annual stipends or allowances of existing incumbents as long as they
+lived. The Hincks-Morin ministry was then urged to bring in at once a
+measure disposing finally of the question, in accordance with the
+latest imperial act; but, as we have read in a previous chapter, it
+came to the opinion after anxious deliberation that the existing
+parliament was not competent to deal with so important a question. It
+also held that it was a duty to obtain an immediate expression of
+opinion from the people, and the election of a House in which the
+country would be fully represented in accordance with the legislation
+increasing the number of representatives in the assembly.
+
+The various political influences arrayed against Hincks in Upper
+Canada led to his defeat, and the formation of the MacNab-Morin
+Liberal-Conservative government, which at once took steps to settle
+the question forever. John A. Macdonald commenced this new epoch in
+his political career by taking charge of the bill for the
+secularization of the reserves. It provided for the payment of all
+moneys arising from the sales of the reserves into the hands of the
+receiver-general, who would apportion them amongst the several
+municipalities of the province according to population. All annual
+stipends or allowances, charged upon the reserves before the passage
+of the imperial act of 1853, were continued during the lives of
+existing incumbents, though the latter could commute their stipends or
+allowances for their value in money, and in this way create a small
+permanent endowment for the advantage of the church to which they
+belonged.
+
+After nearly forty years of continuous agitation, during which the
+province of Upper Canada had been convulsed from the Ottawa to Lake
+Huron, and political parties had been seriously embarrassed, the
+question was at last removed from the sphere of party and religious
+controversy. The very politicians who had contended for the rights of
+the Anglican clergy were now forced by public opinion and their
+political interests to take the final steps for its settlement. Bishop
+Strachan's fight during the best years of his life had ended in
+thorough discomfiture. As the historian recalls the story of that
+fight, he cannot fail to come to the conclusion that the settlement of
+1854 relieved the Anglican Church itself of a controversy which, as
+long as it existed, created a feeling of deep hostility that seriously
+affected its usefulness and progress. Even Lord Elgin was compelled to
+write in 1851 "that the tone adopted by the Church of England here has
+almost always had the effect of driving from her even those who would
+be most disposed to co-operate with her if she would allow them." At
+last freed from the political and the religious bitterness which was
+so long evoked by the absence of a conciliatory policy on the part of
+her leaders, this great church is able peacefully to teach the noble
+lessons of her faith and win that respect among all classes which was
+not possible under the conditions that brought her into direct
+conflict with the great mass of the Canadian people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+
+SEIGNIORIAL TENURE
+
+The government of Canada in the days of the French regime bore a close
+resemblance to that of a province of France. The governor was
+generally a noble and a soldier, but while he was invested with large
+military and civil authority by the royal instructions, he had ever by
+his side a vigilant guardian in the person of the intendant, who
+possessed for all practical purposes still more substantial powers,
+and was always encouraged to report to the king every matter that
+might appear to conflict with the principles of absolute government
+laid down by the sovereign. The superior council of Canada possessed
+judicial, administrative and legislative powers, but its action was
+limited by the decrees and ordinances of the king, and its decisions
+were subject to the veto of the royal council of the parent state. The
+intendant, generally a man of legal attainments, had the special right
+to issue ordinances which had the full effect of law--in the words of
+his commission "to order everything as he shall see just and proper."
+These ordinances regulated inns and markets, the building and repairs
+of churches and presbyteries, the construction of bridges, the
+maintenance of roads, and all those matters which could affect the
+comfort, the convenience, and the security of the community at large.
+While the governmental machinery was thus modelled in a large measure
+on that of the provincial administration of France, the territory of
+the province was subject to a modified form of the old feudal system
+which was so long a dominant condition of the nations of Europe, and
+has, down to the present time left its impress on their legal and
+civil institutions, not even excepting Great Britain itself. Long
+before Jacques Cartier sailed up the River St. Lawrence this system
+had gradually been weakened in France under the persistent efforts of
+the Capets, who had eventually, out of the ruin of the feudatories,
+built up a monarchy which at last centralized all power in the king.
+The policy of the Capets had borne its full, legitimate fruit by the
+time Louis XIV ascended the throne. The power of the great nobles,
+once at the head of practically independent feudatories, had been
+effectually broken down, and now, for the most part withdrawn from the
+provinces, they ministered only to the ambition of the king, and
+contributed to the dissipation and extravagance of a voluptuous court.
+
+But while those features of the ancient feudal system, which were
+calculated to give power to the nobles, had been eliminated by the
+centralizing influence of the king, the system still continued in the
+provinces to govern the relations between the _noblesse_ and the
+peasantry who possessed their lands on old feudal conditions regulated
+by the customary or civil law. These conditions were, on the whole,
+still burdensome. The noble who spent all his time in attendance on
+the court at Versailles or other royal palaces could keep his purse
+equal to his pleasures only by constant demands on his feudal tenants,
+who dared no more refuse to obey his behests than he himself ventured
+to flout the royal will.
+
+Deeply engrafted as it still was on the social system of the parent
+state, the feudal tenure was naturally transferred to the colony of
+New France, but only with such modifications as were suited to the
+conditions of a new country. Indeed all the abuses that might hinder
+settlement or prevent agricultural development were carefully lopped
+off. Canada was given its _seigneurs_, or lords of the manor, who
+would pay fealty and homage to the sovereign himself, or to the feudal
+superior from whom they directly received their territorial estate,
+and they in their turn leased lands to peasants, or tillers of the
+soil, who held them on the modified conditions of the tenure of old
+France. It was not expedient, and indeed not possible, to transfer a
+whole body of nobles to the wilderness of the new world--they were as
+a class too wedded to the gay life of France--and all that could be
+done was to establish a feudal tenure to promote colonization, and at
+the same time possibly create a landed gentry who might be a shadowy
+reflection of the French _noblesse_, and could, in particular cases,
+receive titles directly from the king himself.
+
+This seigniorial tenure of New France was the most remarkable instance
+which the history of North America affords of the successful effort of
+European nations to reproduce on this continent the ancient
+aristocratic institutions of the old world. In the days when the Dutch
+owned the Netherlands, vast estates were partitioned out to certain
+"patroons," who held their property on _quasi_ feudal conditions, and
+bore a resemblance to the _seigneurs_ of French Canada. This manorial
+system was perpetuated under English forms when the territory was
+conquered by the English and transformed into the colony of New York,
+where it had a chequered existence, and was eventually abolished as
+inconsistent with the free conditions of American settlement. In the
+proprietary colony of Maryland the Calverts also attempted to
+establish a landed aristocracy, and give to the manorial lords certain
+rights of jurisdiction over their tenants drawn from the feudal system
+of Europe. For Carolina, Shaftesbury and Locke devised a constitution
+which provided a territorial nobility, called _landgraves_ and
+_caciques_, but it soon became a mere historical curiosity. Even in
+the early days of Prince Edward Island, when it was necessary to
+mature a plan of colonization, it was gravely proposed to the British
+government that the whole island should be divided into "hundreds," as
+in England, or into "baronies," as in Ireland, with courts-baron,
+lords of manors, courts-leet, all under the direction of a lord
+paramount; but while this ambitious aristocratic scheme was not
+favourably entertained, the imperial authorities chose one which was
+most injurious in its effects on the settlement of this fertile
+island.
+
+It was Richelieu who introduced this modified form of the feudal
+system into Canada, when he constituted, in 1627, the whole of the
+colony as a fief of the great fur-trading company of the Hundred
+Associates on the sole condition of its paying fealty and homage to
+the Crown. It had the right of establishing seigniories as a part of
+its undertaking to bring four thousand colonists to the province and
+furnish them with subsistence for three years. Both this company and
+its successor, the Company of the West Indies, created a number of
+seigniories, but for the most part they were never occupied, and the
+king revoked the grants on the ground of non-settlement, when he
+resumed possession of the country and made it a royal province. From
+that time the system was regulated by the _Coutume de Paris_, by royal
+edicts, or by ordinances of the intendant.
+
+The greater part of the soil of Canada was accordingly held _en fief_
+or _en seigneurie_. Each grant varied from sixteen _arpents_--an
+_arpent_ being about five-sixths of an English acre--by fifty, to ten
+leagues by twelve. We meet with other forms of tenure in the partition
+of land in the days of the French regime--for instance, _franc aleu
+noble_ and _franc aumone_ or _mortmain_, but these were exceptional
+grants to charitable, educational, or religious institutions, and were
+subject to none of the ordinary obligations of the feudal tenure, but
+required, as in the latter case, only the performance of certain
+devotional or other duties which fell within their special sphere.
+Some grants were also given in _franc aleu roturier_, equivalent to
+the English tenure of free and common socage, and were generally made
+for special objects.[22]
+
+The _seigneur_, on his accession to the estate, was required to pay
+homage to the king, or to his feudal superior from whom he derived his
+lands. In case he wished to transfer by sale or otherwise his
+seigniory, except in the event of direct natural succession, he had to
+pay under the _Coutume de Paris_--which, generally speaking, regulated
+such seigniorial grants--a _quint_ or fifth part of the whole purchase
+money to his feudal superior, but he was allowed a reduction _(rabat)_
+of two-thirds if the money was promptly paid down. In special cases,
+land transfers, whether by direct succession or otherwise, were
+subject to the rule of _Vixen le_ _francais_, which required the
+payment of _relief_, or one year's revenue, on all changes of
+ownership, or a payment of gold (_une maille d'or_). It was obligatory
+on all seigniors to register their grants at Quebec, to concede or
+sub-infeudate them under the rule of _jeu de fief_, and settle them
+with as little delay as practicable. The Crown also reserved in most
+cases its _jura regalia_ or _regalitates_, such as mines and minerals,
+lands for military or defensive purposes, oak timber and masts for the
+building of the royal ships. It does not, however, appear that
+military service was a condition on which the seigniors of Canada held
+their grants, as was the case in France under the old feudal tenure.
+The king and his representative in his royal province held such powers
+in their own hands. The seignior had as little influence in the
+government of the country as he had in military affairs. He might be
+chosen to the superior council at the royal pleasure, and was bound to
+obey the orders of the governor whenever the militia were called out.
+The whole province was formed into a militia district, so that in time
+of war the inhabitants might be obliged to perform military service
+under the royal governor or commander-in-chief of the regular forces.
+A captain was appointed for each parish--generally conterminous with a
+seigniory--and in some cases there were two or three. These captains
+were frequently chosen from the seigniors, many of whom--in the
+Richelieu district entirely--were officers of royal regiments, notably
+of the Carignan-Salieres. The seigniors had, as in France, the right
+of dispensing justice, but with the exception of the Seminary of St
+Sulpice of Montreal, it was only in very rare instances they exercised
+their judicial powers, and then simply in cases of inferior
+jurisdiction _(basse justice)_. The superior council and intendant
+adjudicated in all matters of civil and criminal importance.
+
+The whole success of the seigniorial system, as a means of settling
+the country, depended on the extent to which the seigniors were able
+to grant their lands _en censive_ or _en roture_. The _censitaire_ who
+held his lands in this way could not himself sub-infeudate. The
+grantee _en roture_ was governed by the same rules as the one _en
+censive_ except with respect to the descent of lands in cases of
+intestacy. All land grants to the _censitaires_--or as they preferred
+to call themselves in Canada, _habitants_--were invariably shaped like
+a parallelogram, with a narrow frontage on the river varying from two
+to three _arpents_, and with a depth from four to eight _arpents_.
+These farms, in the course of time assumed the appearance of a
+continuous settlement on the river and became known in local
+phraseology as _Cotes_--for example, Cote de Neiges, Cote St. Louis,
+Cote St. Paul, and many other picturesque villages on the banks of the
+St. Lawrence. In the first century of settlement the government
+induced the officers and soldiers of the Carignan-Salieres regiment to
+settle lands along the Richelieu river and to build palisaded villages
+for the purposes of defence against the war-like Iroquois; but, in the
+rural parts of the province generally, the people appear to have
+followed their own convenience with respect to the location of their
+farms and dwellings, and chose the banks of the river as affording the
+easiest means of intercommunication. The narrow oblong grants, made in
+the original settlement of the province, became narrower still as the
+original occupants died and their property was divided among the heirs
+under the civil law. Consequently at the present day the traveller who
+visits French Canada sees the whole country divided into extremely
+long and narrow parallelograms each with fences and piles of stones as
+boundaries in innumerable cases.
+
+The conditions on which the _censitaire_ held his land from the
+seignior were exceedingly easy during the greater part of the French
+regime. The _cens et rentes_ which he was expected to pay annually, on
+St. Martin's day, as a rule, varied from one to two _sols_ for each
+superficial _arpent_, with the addition of a small quantity of corn,
+poultry, and some other article produced on the farm, which might be
+commuted for cash, at current prices. The _censitaire_ was also
+obliged to grind his corn at the seignior's mill (_moulin banal_), and
+though the royal authorities at Quebec were very particular in
+pressing the fulfilment of this obligation, it does not appear to have
+been successfully carried out in the early days of the colony on
+account of the inability of the seigniors to purchase the machinery,
+or erect buildings suitable for the satisfactory performance of a
+service clearly most useful to the people of the rural districts. The
+obligation of baking bread in the seigniorial oven was not generally
+exacted, and soon became obsolete as the country was settled and each
+_habitant_ naturally built his own oven in connection with his home.
+The seigniors also claimed the right to a certain amount of statute
+labour (_corvee_) from the _habitants_ on their estates, to one fish
+out of every dozen caught in seigniorial waters, and to a reservation
+of wood and stone for the construction and repairs of the manor house,
+mill, and church in the parish or seigniory. In case the _censitaire_
+wished to dispose of his holding during his lifetime, it was subject
+to the _lods et ventes_, or to a tax of one-twelfth of the purchase
+money, which had to be paid to the seignior, who usually as a favour
+remitted one-fourth on punctual payment. The most serious restriction
+on such sales was the _droit de retraite_, or right of the seignior to
+preempt the same property himself within forty days from the date of
+the sale.
+
+There was no doubt, at the establishment of the seigniorial tenure, a
+disposition to create in Canada, as far as possible, an aristocratic
+class akin to the _noblesse_ of old France, who were a social order
+quite distinct from the industrial and commercial classes, though they
+did not necessarily bear titles. Under the old feudal system the
+possession of land brought nobility and a title, but in the modified
+seigniorial system of Canada the king could alone confer titular
+distinctions. The intention of the system was to induce men of good
+social position--like the _gentils-hommes_ or officers of the Carignan
+regiment--to settle in the country and become seigniors. However, the
+latter were not confined to this class, for the title was rapidly
+extended to shopkeepers, farmers, sailors, and even mechanics who had
+a little money and were ready to pay for the cheap privilege of
+becoming nobles in a small way. Titled seigniors were very rare at any
+time in French Canada. In 1671, Des Islets, Talon's seigniory, was
+erected into a barony, and subsequently into an earldom (Count
+d'Orsainville). Francois Berthelot's seigniory of St. Laurent on the
+Island of Orleans was made in 1676 an earldom, and that of Portneuf,
+Rene Robineau's, into a barony. The only title which has come down to
+the present time is that of the Baron de Longueuil, which was first
+conferred on the distinguished Charles LeMoyne in 1700, and has been
+officially recognized by the British government since December, 1880.
+
+The established seigniorial system bore conclusive evidence of the
+same paternal spirit which sent shiploads of virtuous young women
+(sometimes _marchandises melees_) to the St. Lawrence to become wives
+of the forlorn Canadian bachelors, gave trousseaux of cattle and
+kitchen utensils to the newly wed, and encouraged by bounties the
+production of children. The seigniories were the ground on which these
+paternal methods of creating a farming community were to be developed,
+but despite the wise intentions of the government the whole machinery
+was far from realizing the results which might reasonably have been
+expected from its operation. The land was easily acquired and cheaply
+held, facilities were given for the grinding of grain and the making
+of flour; fish and game were quickly taken by the skilful fisherman
+and enterprising hunter, and the royal officials generally favoured
+the _habitants_ in disputes with the seigniors.
+
+Unlike the large grants made by the British government after the
+conquest to loyalists, Protestant clergy, and speculators--grants
+calculated to keep large sections of the country in a state of
+wildness--the seigniorial estates had to be cultivated and settled
+within a reasonable time if they were to be retained by the occupants.
+During the French dominion the Crown sequestrated a number of
+seigniories for the failure to observe the obligation of cultivation.
+As late as 1741 we find an ordinance restoring seventeen estates to
+the royal domain, although the Crown was ready to reinstate the former
+occupants the moment they showed that they intended to perform their
+duty of settlement. But all the care that was taken to encourage
+settlement was for a long time without large results, chiefly in
+consequence of the nomadic habits of the young men on the seigniories.
+The fur trade, from the beginning to the end of French dominion, was a
+serious bar to steady industry on the farm. The young _gentilhomme_ as
+well as the young _habitant_ loved the free life of the forest and
+river better than the monotonous work of the farm. He preferred too
+often making love to the impressionable dusky maiden of the wigwam
+rather than to the stolid, devout damsel imported for his kind by
+priest or nun. A raid on some English post or village had far more
+attraction than following the plough or threshing the grain. This
+adventurous spirit led the young Frenchman to the western prairies
+where the Red and Assiniboine waters mingle, to the foot-hills of the
+Rocky Mountains, to the Ohio and Mississippi, and to the Gulf of
+Mexico. But while Frenchmen in this way won eternal fame, the
+seigniories were too often left in a state of savagery, and even those
+_seigneurs_ and _habitants_ who devoted themselves successfully to
+pastoral pursuits found themselves in the end harassed by the constant
+calls made upon their military services during the years the French
+fought to retain the imperial domain they had been the first to
+discover and occupy in the great valleys of North America. Still,
+despite the difficulties which impeded the practical working of the
+seigniorial system, it had on the whole an excellent effect on the
+social conditions of the country. It created a friendly and even
+parental relation between _seigneur, cure,_ and _habitant_, who on
+each estate constituted as it were a seigniorial family, united to
+each other by common ties of self-interest and personal affection. If
+the system did not create an energetic self-reliant people in the
+rural communities, it arose from the fact that it was not associated
+with a system of local self-government like that which existed in the
+colonies of England. The French king had no desire to see such a
+system develop in the colonial dependencies of France. His
+governmental system in Canada was a mild despotism intended to create
+a people ever ready to obey the decrees and ordinances of royal
+officials, over whom the commonality could exercise no control
+whatever in such popular elective assemblies as were enjoyed by every
+colony of England in North America.
+
+During the French regime the officials of the French government
+frequently repressed undue or questionable exactions imposed, or
+attempted to be imposed, on the _censitaires_ by greedy or extravagant
+seigniors. It was not until the country had been for some time in the
+possession of England that abuses became fastened on the tenure, and
+retarded the agricultural and industrial development of the province.
+The _cens et rentes_ were unduly raised, the _droit de banalite_ was
+pressed to the extent that if a _habitant_ went to a better or more
+convenient mill than the seignior's, he had to pay tolls to both, the
+transfer of property was hampered by the _lods el ventes_ and the
+_droit de retraite_, and the claim always made by the seigniors to the
+exclusive use of the streams running by or through the seigniories was
+a bar to the establishment of industrial enterprise. Questions of law
+which arose between the _seigneur_ and _habitant_ and were referred to
+the courts were decided in nearly all cases in favour of the former.
+In such instances the judges were governed by precedent or by a strict
+interpretation of the law, while in the days of French dominion the
+intendants were generally influenced by principles of equity in the
+disputes that came before them, and by a desire to help the weaker
+litigant, the _censitaire_.
+
+It took nearly a century after the conquest before it was possible to
+abolish a system which had naturally become so deeply rooted in the
+social and economic conditions of the people of French Canada. As the
+abuses of the tenure became more obvious, discontent became
+widespread, and the politicians after the union were forced at last to
+recognize the necessity of a change more in harmony with modern
+principles. Measures were first passed better to facilitate the
+optional commutation of the tenure of lands _en roture_ into that of
+_franc aleu roturier_, but they never achieved any satisfactory
+results. LaFontaine did not deny the necessity for a radical change in
+the system, but he was too much wedded to the old institutions of his
+native province to take the initiative for its entire removal. Mr.
+Louis Thomas Drummond, who was attorney-general in both the
+Hincks-Morin and MacNab-Morin ministries, is deserving of honourable
+mention in Canadian history for the leading part he took in settling
+this very perplexing question. I have already shown that his first
+attempt in 1853 failed in consequence of the adverse action of the
+legislative council, and that no further steps were taken in the matter
+until the coming into office of the MacNab or Liberal-Conservative
+government in 1854, when he brought a bill into parliament to a large
+extent a copy of the first. This bill became law after it had received
+some important amendments in the upper House, where there were a number
+of representatives of seigniorial interests, now quite reconciled to
+the proposed change and prepared to make the best of it. It abolished
+all feudal rights and duties in Lower Canada, "whether hearing upon the
+_censitaire_ or _seigneur_," and provided for the appointment of
+commissioners to enquire into the respective rights of the parties
+interested. In order to enable them to come to correct conclusions with
+respect to these rights, all questions of law were first submitted to a
+seigniorial court composed of the judges of the Queen's Bench and
+Superior Court in Lower Canada. The commissioners under this law were
+as follows:--
+
+   Messrs. Chabot, H. Judah, S. Lelievre, L. Archambault, N. Dumas, J.G.
+   Turcotte, C. Delagrave, P. Winter, J.G. Lebel, and J.B. Varin.
+
+The judges of the seigniorial court were:--
+
+   Chief Justice Sir Louis H. LaFontaine, president; Judges Bowen,
+   Aylwin, Duval, Caron, Day, Smith, Vanfelson, Mondelet, Meredith,
+   Short, Morin, and Badgley.
+
+Provision was also made by parliament for securing compensation to the
+seigniors for the giving up of all legal rights of which they were
+deprived by the decision of the commissioners. It took five years of
+enquiry and deliberation before the commissioners were able to complete
+their labours, and then it was found necessary to vote other funds to
+meet all the expenses entailed by a full settlement of the question.
+
+The result was that all lands previously held _en fief, en arriere
+fief, en censive_, or _en roture_, under the old French system, were
+henceforth placed on the footing of lands in the other provinces, that
+is to say, free and common socage. The seigniors received liberal
+remuneration for the abolition of the _lods et ventes, droit de
+banalite_, and other rights declared legal by the court. The _cens et
+ventes_ had alone to be met as an established rent (_rente
+constituee_) by the _habitant_, but even this change was so modified
+and arranged as to meet the exigencies of the _censitaires_, the
+protection of whose interests was at the basis of the whole law
+abolishing this ancient tenure. This radical change cost the country
+from first to last over ten million dollars, including a large
+indemnity paid to Upper Canada for its proportion of the fund taken
+from public revenues of the united provinces to meet the claims of the
+seigniors and the expenses of the commission. The money was well spent
+in bringing about so thorough a revolution in so peaceable and
+conclusive a manner. The _habitants_ of the east were now as free as
+the farmers of the west. The seigniors themselves largely benefited by
+the capitalization in money of their old rights, and by the
+untrammelled possession of land held _en franc aleu roturier_.
+Although the seigniorial tenure disappeared from the social system of
+French Canada nearly half a century ago, we find enduring memorials of
+its existence in such famous names as these:--Nicolet, Vercheres,
+Lotbiniere, Berthier, Rouville, Joliette, Terrebonne, Sillery,
+Beaupre, Bellechasse, Portneuf, Chambly, Sorel, Longueuil,
+Boucherville, Chateauguay, and many others which recall the seigniors
+of the old regime.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+
+CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES
+
+In a long letter which he wrote to Earl Grey in August, 1850, Lord
+Elgin used these significant words: "To render annexation by violence
+impossible, or by any other means improbable as may be, is, as I have
+often ventured to repeat, the polar star of my policy." To understand
+the full significance of this language it is only necessary to refer
+to the history of the difficulties with which the governor-general had
+to contend from the first hour he came to the province and began his
+efforts to allay the feeling of disaffection then too prevalent
+throughout the country--especially among the commercial classes--and
+to give encouragement to that loyal sentiment which had been severely
+shaken by the indifference or ignorance shown by British statesmen and
+people with respect to the conditions and interests of the Canadas. He
+was quite conscious that, if the province was to remain a contented
+portion of the British empire, it could be best done by giving full
+play to the principles of self-government among both nationalities who
+had been so long struggling to obtain the application of the
+parliamentary system of England in the fullest sense to the operation
+of their own internal affairs, and by giving to the industrial and
+commercial classes adequate compensation for the great losses which
+they had sustained by the sudden abolition of the privileges which
+England had so long extended to Canadian products--notably, flour,
+wheat and lumber--in the British market.
+
+Lord Elgin knew perfectly well that, while this discontent existed,
+the party which favoured annexation would not fail to find sympathy
+and encouragement in the neighbouring republic. He recalled the fact
+that both Papineau and Mackenzie, after the outbreak of their abortive
+rebellion, had many abettors across the border, as the infamous raids
+into Canada clearly proved. Many people in the United States, no
+doubt, saw some analogy between the grievances of Canadians and those
+which had led to the American revolution. "The mass of the American
+people," said Lord Durham, "had judged of the quarrel from a distance;
+they had been obliged to form their judgment on the apparent grounds
+of the controversy; and were thus deceived, as all those are apt to be
+who judge under such circumstances, and on such grounds. The contest
+bore some resemblance to that great struggle of their own forefathers,
+which they regard with the highest pride. Like that, they believed it
+to be the contest of a colony against the empire, whose misconduct
+alienated their own country; they considered it to be a contest
+undertaken by a people professing to seek independence of distant
+control, and extension of popular privileges." More than that, the
+striking contrast which was presented between Canada and the United
+States "in respect to every sign of productive industry, increasing
+wealth, and progressive civilization" was considered by the people of
+the latter country to be among the results of the absence of a
+political system which would give expansion to the energies of the
+colonists and make them self-reliant in every sense. Lord Durham's
+picture of the condition of things in 1838-9 was very painful to
+Canadians, although it was truthful in every particular. "On the
+British side of the line," he wrote, "with the exception of a few
+favoured spots, where some approach to American prosperity is
+apparent, all seems waste and desolate." But it was not only "in the
+difference between the larger towns on the two sides" that we could
+see "the best evidence of our own inferiority." That "painful and
+undeniable truth was most manifest in the country districts through
+which the line of national separation passes for one thousand miles."
+Mrs. Jameson in her "Winter Studies and Summer Rambles," written only
+a year or two before Lord Durham's report, gives an equally
+unfavourable comparison between the Canadian and United States sides
+of the western country. As she floated on the Detroit river in a
+little canoe made of a hollow tree, and saw on one side "a city with
+its towers, and spires, and animated population," and on the other "a
+little straggling hamlet with all the symptoms of apathy, indolence,
+mistrust, hopelessness," she could not help wondering at this
+"incredible difference between the two shores," and hoping that some
+of the colonial officials across the Atlantic would be soon sent "to
+behold and solve the difficulty."
+
+But while Lord Durham was bound to emphasize this unsatisfactory state
+of things he had not lost his confidence in the loyalty of the mass of
+the Canadian people, notwithstanding the severe strain to which they
+had been subject on account of the supineness of the British
+government to deal vigorously and promptly with grievances of which
+they had so long complained as seriously affecting their connection
+with the parent state and the development of their material resources.
+It was only necessary, he felt, to remove the causes of discontent to
+bring out to the fullest extent the latent affection which the mass of
+French and English Canadians had been feeling for British connection
+ever since the days when the former obtained guarantees for the
+protection of their dearest institutions and the Loyalists of the
+American Revolution crossed the frontier for the sake of Crown and
+empire. "We must not take every rash expression of disappointment,"
+wrote Lord Durham, "as an indication of a settled aversion to the
+existing constitution; and my own observation convinces me that the
+predominant feeling of all the British population of the North
+American colonies is that of devoted attachment to the mother country.
+I believe that neither the interests nor the feelings of the people
+are incompatible with a colonial government, wisely and popularly
+administered." His strong conviction then was that if connection with
+Great Britain was to be continuous, if every cause of discontent was
+to be removed, if every excuse for interference "by violence on the
+part of the United States" was to be taken away, if Canadian
+annexationists were no longer to look for sympathy and aid among their
+republican neighbours, the Canadian people must be given the full
+control of their own internal affairs, while the British government on
+their part should cease that constant interference which only
+irritated and offended the colony. "It is not by weakening," he said,
+"but strengthening the influence of the people on the government; by
+confining within much narrower bounds than those hitherto allotted to
+it, and not by extending the interference of the imperial authorities
+in the details of colonial affairs, that I believe that harmony is to
+be restored, where dissension has so long prevailed; and a regularity
+and vigour hitherto unknown, introduced into the administration of
+these provinces." And he added that if the internal struggle for
+complete self-government were renewed "the sympathy from without would
+at some time or other re-assume its former strength."
+
+Lord Elgin appeared on the scene at the very time when there was some
+reason for a repetition of that very struggle, and a renewal of that
+very "sympathy from without" which Lord Durham imagined. The political
+irritation, which had been smouldering among the great mass of
+Reformers since the days of Lord Metcalfe, was seriously aggravated by
+the discontent created by commercial ruin and industrial paralysis
+throughout Canada as a natural result of Great Britain's ruthless
+fiscal policy. The annexation party once more came to the surface, and
+contrasts were again made between Canada and the United States
+seriously to the discredit of the imperial state. "The plea of
+self-interest," wrote Lord Elgin in 1849, "the most powerful weapon,
+perhaps, which the friends of British connection have wielded in times
+past, has not only been wrested from my hands but transferred since
+1846 to those of the adversary." He then proceeded to contrast the
+condition of things on the two sides of the Niagara, only "spanned by
+a narrow bridge, which it takes a foot passenger about three minutes
+to cross." The inhabitants on the Canadian side were "for the most
+part United Empire Loyalists" and differed little in habits or modes
+of thought and expression from their neighbours. Wheat, their staple
+product, grown on the Canadian side of the line, "fetched at that time
+in the market from 9d. to 1s. less than the same article grown on the
+other." These people had protested against the Montreal annexation
+movement, but Lord Elgin was nevertheless confident that the large
+majority firmly believed "that their annexation to the United States
+would add one-fourth to the value of the produce of their farms." In
+dealing with the causes of discontent Lord Elgin came to exactly the
+same conclusion which, as I have just shown, was accepted by Lord
+Durham after a close study of the political and material conditions of
+the country. He completed the work of which his eminent predecessor
+had been able only to formulate the plan. By giving adequate scope to
+the practice of responsible government, he was able to remove all
+causes for irritation against the British government, and prevent
+annexationists from obtaining any sympathy from that body of American
+people who were always looking for an excuse for a movement--such a
+violent movement as suggested by Lord Elgin in the paragraph given
+above--which would force Canada into the states of the union. Having
+laid this foundation for a firm and popular government, he proceeded
+to remove the commercial embarrassment by giving a stimulus to
+Canadian trade by the repeal of the navigation laws, and the adoption
+of reciprocity with the United States. The results of his efforts were
+soon seen in the confidence which all nationalities and classes of the
+Canadian people felt in the working of their system of government, in
+the strengthening of the ties between the imperial state and the
+dependency, and in the decided stimulus given to the shipping and
+trade throughout the provinces of British North America.
+
+I have already in the previous chapters of this book dwelt on the
+methods which Lord Elgin so successfully adopted to establish
+responsible government in accordance with the wishes of the Canadian
+people, and it is now only necessary to refer to his strenuous efforts
+during six years to obtain reciprocal trade between Canada and the
+United States. It was impossible at the outset of his negotiations to
+arouse any active interest among the politicians of the republic as
+long as they were unable to see that the proposed treaty would be to
+the advantage of their particular party or of the nation at large. No
+party in congress was ready to take it up as a political question and
+give it that impulse which could be best given by a strong partisan
+organization. The Canadian and British governments could not get up a
+"lobby" to press the matter in the ways peculiar to professional
+politicians, party managers, and great commercial or financial
+corporations. Mr. Hincks brought the powers of his persuasive tongue
+and ingenious intellect to bear on the politicians at Washington, but
+even he with all his commercial acuteness and financial knowledge was
+unable to accomplish anything. It was not until Lord Elgin himself
+went to the national capital and made use of his diplomatic tact and
+amenity of demeanour that a successful result was reached. No
+governor-general who ever visited the United States made so deep an
+impression on its statesmen and people as was made by Lord Elgin
+during this mission to Washington, and also in the course of the
+visits he paid to Boston and Portland where he spoke with great effect
+on several occasions. He won the confidence and esteem of statesmen
+and politicians by his urbanity, dignity, and capacity for business.
+He carried away his audiences by his exhibition of a high order of
+eloquence, which evoked the admiration of those who had been
+accustomed to hear Webster, Everett, Wendell, Philipps, Choate, and
+other noted masters of oratory in America.
+
+He spoke at Portland after his success in negotiating the treaty, and
+was able to congratulate both Canada and the United States on the
+settlement of many questions which had too long alienated peoples who
+ought to be on the most friendly terms with each other. He was now
+near the close of his Canadian administration and was able to sum up
+the results of his labours. The discontent with which the people of
+the United States so often sympathized had been brought to an end "by
+granting to Canadians what they desired--the great principle of
+self-government" "The inhabitants of Canada at this moment," he went
+on to say, "exercise as much influence over their own destinies and
+government as do the people of the United States. This is the only
+cause of misunderstanding that ever existed; and this cannot arise
+when the circumstances which made them at variance have ceased to
+exist."
+
+The treaty was signed on June 5th, 1854, by Lord Elgin on the part of
+Great Britain, and by the Honourable W.L. Marcy, secretary of state,
+on behalf of the United States, but it did not legally come into force
+until it had been formally ratified by the parliament of Great
+Britain, the congress of the United States, and the several
+legislatures of the British provinces. It exempted from customs duties
+on both sides of the line certain articles which were the growth and
+produce of the British colonies and of the United States--the
+principal being grain, flour, breadstuffs, animals, fresh, smoked, and
+salted meats, fish, lumber of all kinds, poultry, cotton, wool, hides,
+ores of metal, pitch, tar, ashes, flax, hemp, rice, and unmanufactured
+tobacco. The people of the United States and of the British provinces
+were given an equal right to navigate the St. Lawrence river, the
+Canadian canals and Lake Michigan. No export duty could be levied on
+lumber cut in Maine and passing down the St. John or other streams in
+New Brunswick. The most important question temporarily settled by the
+treaty was the fishery dispute which had been assuming a troublesome
+aspect for some years previously. The government at Washington then
+began to raise the issue that the three mile limit to which their
+fishermen could be confined should follow the sinuosities of the
+coasts, including 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 generally sustained the
+contention of the provinces--a contention practically supported by the
+American authorities in the case of Delaware, Chesapeake, and other
+bays on the coasts of the United States--that the three mile limit
+should be measured from a line drawn from headland to headland 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 shut out only 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, for twelve years, by the Reciprocity
+Treaty of 1854, which provided that the inhabitants of the United
+States could take fish of any kind, except shell fish, on the sea
+coasts, and shores, in the bays, harbours, and creeks of any British
+province, without any restriction as to distance, and had also
+permission to land on these coasts and shores for the purpose of
+drying their nets and curing their fish. The same privileges
+were extended to British citizens on the eastern sea coasts and
+shores of the United States, north of the 36th parallel of north
+latitude--privileges of no practical value to the people of British
+North America compared with those they gave up in their own prolific
+waters. The farmers of the agricultural west accepted with great
+satisfaction a treaty which gave their products free access to
+their natural market, but the fishermen and seamen of the maritime
+provinces, especially of Nova Scotia, were for some time dissatisfied
+with provisions which gave away their most valuable fisheries without
+adequate compensation, and at the same time refused them the
+privilege--a great advantage to a ship-building, ship-owning
+province--of the coasting trade of the United States on the same terms
+which were allowed to American and British vessels on the coasts of
+British North America. On the whole, however, the treaty eventually
+proved of benefit to all the provinces at a time when trade required
+just such a stimulus as it gave in the markets of the United States.
+The aggregate interchange of commodities between the two countries
+rose from an annual average of $14,230,763 in the years previous to
+1854 to $33,492,754 gold currency, in the first year of its existence;
+to $42,944,754 gold currency, in the second year; to $50,339,770 gold
+currency in the third year; and to no less a sum than $84,070,955 at
+war prices, in the thirteenth year when it was terminated by the
+United States in accordance with the provision, which allowed either
+party to bring it to an end after a due notice of twelve months at the
+expiration of ten years or of any longer time it might remain in
+force. Not only was a large and remunerative trade secured between the
+United States and the provinces, but the social and friendly
+intercourse of the two countries necessarily increased with the
+expansion of commercial relations and the creation of common interests
+between them. Old antipathies and misunderstandings disappeared under
+the influence of conditions which brought these communities together
+and made each of them place a higher estimate on the other's good
+qualities. In short, the treaty in all respects fully realized the
+expectations of Lord Elgin in working so earnestly to bring it to a
+successful conclusion.
+
+However, it pleased the politicians of the United States, in a moment
+of temper, to repeal a treaty which, during its existence, gave a
+balance in favour of the commercial and industrial interests of the
+republic, to the value of over $95,000,000 without taking into account
+the value of the provincial fisheries from which the fishermen of New
+England annually derived so large a profit. Temper, no doubt, had much
+to do with the action of the United States government at a time when
+it was irritated by the sympathy extended to the Confederate States by
+many persons in the provinces as well as in Great Britain--notably by
+Mr. Gladstone himself. No doubt it was thought that the repeal of the
+treaty would be a sort of punishment to the people of British North
+America. It was even felt--as much was actually said in congress--that
+the result of the sudden repeal of the treaty would be the growth of
+discontent among those classes in Canada who had begun to depend upon
+its continuance, and that sooner or later there would arise a cry for
+annexation with a country from which they could derive such large
+commercial advantages. Canadians now know that the results have been
+very different from those anticipated by statesmen and journalists on
+the other side of the border. Instead of starving Canada and forcing
+her into annexation, they have, by the repeal of the Reciprocity
+Treaty, and by their commercial policy ever since, materially helped
+to stimulate her self-reliance, increase her commerce with other
+countries, and make her largely a self-sustaining, independent
+country. Canadians depend on themselves--on a self-reliant,
+enterprising policy of trade--not on the favour or caprice of any
+particular nation. They are always quite prepared to have the most
+liberal commercial relations with the United States, but at the same
+time feel that a reciprocity treaty is no longer absolutely essential
+to their prosperity, and cannot under any circumstances have any
+particular effect on the political destiny of the Canadian
+confederation whose strength and unity are at length so well assured.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+
+FAREWELL TO CANADA
+
+Lord Elgin assumed the governor-generalship of Canada on January 30th,
+1847, and gave place to Sir Edmund Head on December 19th, 1854. The
+address which he received from the Canadian legislature on the eve of
+his departure gave full expression to the golden opinions which he had
+succeeded in winning from the Canadian people during his able
+administration of nearly eight years. The passionate feeling which had
+been evoked during the crisis caused by the Rebellion Losses Bill had
+gradually given way to a true appreciation of the wisdom of the course
+that he had followed under such exceptionally trying circumstances,
+and to the general conviction that his strict observance of the true
+forms and methods of constitutional government had added strength and
+dignity to the political institutions of the country and placed Canada
+at last in the position of a semi-independent nation. The charm of his
+manner could never fail to captivate those who met him often in social
+life, while public men of all parties recognized his capacity for
+business, the sincerity of his convictions, and the absence of a
+spirit of intrigue in connection with the administration of public
+affairs and his relations with political parties. He received
+evidences on every side that he had won the confidence and respect and
+even affection of all nationalities, classes, and creeds in Canada. In
+the very city where he had been maltreated and his life itself
+endangered, he received manifestations of approval which were full
+compensation for the mental sufferings to which he was subject in that
+unhappy period of his life, when he proved so firm, courageous and
+far-sighted. In well chosen language--always characteristic of his
+public addresses--he spoke of the cordial reception he had met with,
+when he arrived a stranger in Montreal, of the beauty of its
+surroundings, of the kind attention with which its citizens had on
+more than one occasion listened to the advice he gave to their various
+associations, of the undaunted courage with which the merchants had
+promoted the construction of that great road which was so necessary to
+the industrial development of the province, of the patriotic energy
+which first gathered together such noble specimens of Canadian
+industry from all parts of the country, and had been the means of
+making the great World's Fair so serviceable to Canada; and then as he
+recalled the pleasing incidents of the past, there came to his mind a
+thought of the scenes of 1849, but the sole reference he allowed
+himself was this: "And I shall forget--but no, what I might have to
+forget is forgotten already, and therefore I cannot tell you what I
+shall forget."
+
+The last speech which he delivered in the picturesque city of Quebec
+gave such eloquent expression to the feelings with which he left
+Canada, is such an admirable example of the oratory with which he so
+often charmed large assemblages, that I give it below in full for the
+perusal of Canadians of the present day who had not the advantage of
+hearing him in the prime of his life.
+
+"I wish I could address you in such strains as I have sometimes
+employed on similar occasions--strains suited to a festive meeting;
+but I confess I have a weight on my heart and it is not in me to be
+merry. For the last time I stand before you in the official character
+which I have borne for nearly eight years. For the last time I am
+surrounded by a circle of friends with whom I have spent some of the
+most pleasant days of my life. For the last time I welcome you as my
+guests to this charming residence which I have been in the habit of
+calling my home.[23] I did not, I will frankly confess it, know what
+it would cost me to break this habit, until the period of my departure
+approached, and I began to feel that the great interests which have so
+long engrossed my attention and thoughts were passing out of my hands.
+I had a hint of what my feelings really were upon this point--a pretty
+broad hint too--one lovely morning in June last, when I returned to
+Quebec after my temporary absence in England, and landed in the coves
+below Spencerwood (because it was Sunday and I did not want to make a
+disturbance in the town), and when with the greetings of the old
+people in the coves who put their heads out of the windows as I passed
+along, and cried 'Welcome home again,' still ringing in my ears, I
+mounted the hill and drove through the avenue to the house door, I saw
+the drooping trees on the lawn, with every one of which I was so
+familiar, clothed in the tenderest green of spring, and the river
+beyond, calm and transparent as a mirror, and the ships fixed and
+motionless as statues on its surface, and the whole landscape bathed
+in that bright Canadian sun which so seldom pierces our murky
+atmosphere on the other side of the Atlantic. I began to think that
+persons were to be envied who were not forced by the necessities of
+their position to quit these engrossing interests and lovely scenes,
+for the purpose of proceeding to distant lands, but who are able to
+remain among them until they pass to that quiet corner of the garden
+of Mount Hermon, which juts into the river and commands a view of the
+city, the shipping, Point Levi, the Island of Orleans, and the range
+of the Laurentine; so that through the dim watches of that tranquil
+night which precedes the dawning of the eternal day, the majestic
+citadel of Quebec, with its noble tram of satellite hills, may seem to
+rest forever on the sight, and the low murmur of the waters of St.
+Lawrence, with the hum of busy life on their surface, to fall
+ceaselessly on the ear. I cannot bring myself to believe that the
+future has in store for me any interests which will fill the place of
+those I am now abandoning. But although I must henceforward be to you
+as a stranger, although my official connection with you and your
+interests will have become hi a few days matter of history, yet I
+trust that through some one channel or other, the tidings of your
+prosperity and progress may occasionally reach me; that I may hear
+from time to time of the steady growth and development of those
+principles of liberty and order, of manly independence in combination
+with respect for authority and law, of national life in harmony with
+British connection, which it has been my earnest endeavour, to the
+extent of my humble means of influence, to implant and to establish. I
+trust, too, that I shall hear that this House continues to be what I
+have ever sought to render it, a neutral territory, on which persons
+of opposite opinions, political and religious, may meet together in
+harmony and forget their differences for a season. And I have good
+hope that this will be the case for several reasons, and, among
+others, for one which I can barely allude to, for it might be an
+impertinence in me to dwell upon it But I think that without any
+breach of delicacy or decorum I may venture to say that many years
+ago, when I was much younger than I am now, and when we stood towards
+each other in a relation somewhat different from that which has
+recently subsisted between us, I learned to look up to Sir Edmund Head
+with respect, as a gentleman of the highest character, the greatest
+ability, and the most varied accomplishments and attainments. And now,
+ladies and gentlemen, I have only to add the sad word--Farewell. I
+drink this bumper to the health of you all, collectively and
+individually. I trust that I may hope to leave behind me some who will
+look back with feelings of kindly recollection to the period of our
+intercourse; some with whom I have been on terms of immediate official
+connection, whose worth and talents I have had the best means of
+appreciating, and who could bear witness at least, if they please to
+do so, to the spirit, intentions, and motives with which I have
+administered your affairs; some with whom I have been bound by the
+ties of personal regard. And if reciprocity be essential to enmity,
+then most assuredly I can leave behind me no enemies. I am aware that
+there must be persons in so large a society as this, who think that
+they have grievances to complain of, that due consideration has not in
+all cases been shown to them. Let them believe me, and they ought to
+believe me, for the testimony of a dying man is evidence, even in a
+court of justice, let them believe me, then, when I assure them, in
+this the last hour of my agony, that no such errors of omission or
+commission have been intentional on my part. Farewell, and God bless
+you." Before I proceed to review some features of his administration
+in Canada, to which it has not been possible to do adequate justice in
+previous chapters of this book, I must very briefly refer to the
+eminent services which he was able to perform for the empire before he
+closed his useful life amid the shadows of the Himalayas. On his
+return to England he took his seat in the House of Lords, but he gave
+very little attention to politics or legislation. On one occasion,
+however, he expressed a serious doubt as to the wisdom of sending to
+Canada large bodies of troops, which had come back from the Crimea, on
+the ground that such a proceeding might complicate the relations of
+the colony with the United States, and at the same time arrest its
+progress towards self-independence in all matters affecting its
+internal order and security.
+
+This opinion was in unison with the sentiments which he had often
+expressed to the secretary of state during his term of office in
+America. While he always deprecated any hasty withdrawal of imperial
+troops from the dependency as likely at that time to imperil its
+connection with the mother country, he believed most thoroughly in
+educating Canadians gradually to understand the large measure of
+responsibility which attached to self-government. He was of opinion
+"that the system of relieving colonists altogether from the duty of
+self-defence must be attended with injurious effects upon themselves."
+"It checks," he continued, "the growth of national and manly morals.
+Men seldom think anything worth preserving for which they are never
+asked to make a sacrifice." His view was that, while it was desirable
+to remove imperial troops gradually and throw the responsibility of
+self-defence largely upon Canada, "the movement in that direction
+should be made with due caution." "The present"--he was writing to the
+secretary of state in 1848 when Canadian affairs were still in an
+unsatisfactory state--"is not a favourable moment for experiments.
+British statesmen, even secretaries of state, have got into the habit
+lately of talking of the maintenance of the connection between Great
+Britain and Canada with so much indifference, that a change of system
+in respect to military defence incautiously carried out, might be
+presumed by many to argue, on the part of the mother country, a
+disposition to prepare the way for separation." And he added three
+years later:
+
+     "If these communities are only truly attached to the
+     connection and satisfied of its permanence (and as respects
+     the latter point, opinions here will be much influenced by
+     the tone of statesmen at home), elements of self-defence,
+     not moral elements only, but material elements likewise,
+     will spring up within them spontaneously as the product of
+     movements from within, not of pressure from without. Two
+     millions of people in a northern latitude can do a good deal
+     in the way of helping themselves, when their hearts are in
+     the right place."
+
+Before two decades of years had passed away, the foresight of these
+suggestions was clearly shown. Canada had become a part of a British
+North American confederation, and with the development of its material
+resources, the growth of a national spirit of self-reliance, the new
+Dominion, thus formed, was able to relieve the parent state of the
+expenses of self-defence, and come to her aid many years later when
+her interests were threatened in South Africa. If Canada has been able
+to do all this, it has been owing to the growth of that spirit of
+self-reliance--of that principle of self-government--which Lord Elgin
+did his utmost to encourage. We can then well understand that Lord
+Elgin, in 1855, should have contemplated with some apprehension the
+prospect of largely increasing the Canadian garrisons at a time when
+Canadians were learning steadily and surely to cultivate the national
+habit of depending upon their own internal resources in their working
+out of the political institutions given them by England after years of
+agitation, and even suffering, as the history of the country until
+1840 so clearly shows. It is also easy to understand that Lord Elgin
+should have regarded the scheme in contemplation as likely to create a
+feeling of doubt and suspicion as to the motives of the imperial
+government in the minds of the people of the United States. He
+recalled naturally his important visit to that country, where he had
+given eloquent expression, as the representative of the British Crown,
+to his sanguine hopes for the continuous amity of peoples allied to
+each other by so many ties of kindred and interest, and had also
+succeeded after infinite labour in negotiating a treaty so well
+calculated to create a common sympathy between Canada and the
+republic, and stimulate that friendly intercourse which would dispel
+many national prejudices and antagonisms which had unhappily arisen
+between these communities in the past. The people of the United States
+might well, he felt, see some inconsistency between such friendly
+sentiments and the sending of large military reinforcements to Canada.
+
+In the spring of 1857 Lord Elgin accepted from Lord Palmerston a
+delicate mission to China at a very critical time when the affair of
+the lorcha "Arrow" had led to a serious rupture between that country
+and Great Britain. According to the British statement of the case, in
+October, 1856, the Chinese authorities at Canton seized the lorcha
+although it was registered as a British vessel, tore down the British
+flag from its masthead, and carried away the crew as prisoners. On the
+other hand the Chinese claimed that they had arrested the crew, who
+were subjects of the emperor, as pirates, that the British ownership
+had lapsed some time previously, and that there was no flag flying on
+the vessel at the time of its seizure. The British representatives in
+China gave no credence to these explanations but demanded not only a
+prompt apology but also the fulfilment of "long evaded treaty
+obligations." When these peremptory demands were not at once complied
+with, the British proceeded in a very summary manner to blow up
+Chinese forts, and commit other acts of war, although the Chinese only
+offered a passive resistance to these efforts to bring them to terms
+of abject submission. Lord Palmerston's government was condemned in
+the House of Commons for the violent measures which had been taken in
+China, but he refused to submit to a vote made up, as he satirically
+described it, "of a fortuitous concourse of atoms," and appealed to
+the country, which sustained him. While Lord Elgin was on his way to
+China, he heard the news of the great mutiny in India, and received a
+letter from Lord Canning, then governor-general, imploring him to send
+some assistance from the troops under his direction. He at once sent
+"instructions far and wide to turn the transports back and give
+Canning the benefit of the troops for the moment." It is impossible,
+say his contemporaries, to exaggerate the importance of the aid which
+he so promptly gave at the most critical time in the Indian situation.
+"Tell Lord Elgin," wrote Sir William Peel, the commander of the famous
+Naval Brigade at a later time, "that it was the Chinese expedition
+which relieved Lucknow, relieved Cawnpore, and fought the battle of
+December 6th." But this patriotic decision delayed somewhat the
+execution of Lord Elgin's mission to China. It was nearly four months
+after he had despatched the first Chinese contingent to the relief of
+the Indian authorities, that another body of troops arrived in China
+and he was able to proceed vigorously to execute the objects of his
+visit to the East. After a good deal of fighting and bullying, Chinese
+commissioners were induced in the summer of 1859 to consent to sign
+the Treaty of Tientsin, which gave permission to the Queen of Great
+Britain to appoint, if she should see fit, an ambassador who might
+reside permanently at Pekin, or visit it occasionally according to the
+pleasure of the British government, guaranteed protection to
+Protestants and Roman Catholics alike, allowed British subjects to
+travel to all parts of the empire, under passports signed by British
+consuls, established favourable conditions for the protection of trade
+by foreigners, and indemnified the British government for the losses
+that had been sustained at Canton and for the expenses of the war.
+
+Lord Elgin then paid an official visit to Japan, where he was well
+received and succeeded in negotiating the Treaty of Yeddo, which was a
+decided advance on all previous arrangements with that country, and
+prepared the way for larger relations between it and England. On his
+return to bring the new treaty to a conclusion, he found that the
+commissioners who had gone to obtain their emperor's full consent to
+its provisions, seemed disposed to call into question some of the
+privileges which had been already conceded, and he was consequently
+forced to assume that peremptory tone which experience of the Chinese
+has shown can alone bring them to understand the full measure of their
+responsibilities in negotiations with a European power. However, he
+believed he had brought his mission to a successful close, and
+returned to England in the spring of 1859.
+
+How little interest was taken in those days in Canadian affairs by
+British public men and people, is shown by some comments of Mr.
+Waldron on the incidents which signalized Lord Elgin's return from
+China. "When he returned in 1854 from the government of Canada," this
+writer naively admits, "there were comparatively few persons in
+England who knew anything of the great work he had done in the colony.
+But his brilliant successes in the East attracted public interest and
+gave currency to his reputation." He accepted the position of
+postmaster-general in the administration just formed by Lord
+Palmerston, and was elected Lord Rector of Glasgow; but he had hardly
+commenced to study the details of his office, and enjoy the amenities
+of the social life of Great Britain, when he was again called upon by
+the government to proceed to the East, where the situation was once
+more very critical. The duplicity of the Chinese in their dealings
+with foreigners had soon shown itself after his departure from China,
+and he was instructed to go back as Ambassador Extraordinary to that
+country, where a serious rupture had occurred between the English and
+Chinese while an expedition of the former was on its way to Pekin to
+obtain the formal ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin. The French
+government, which had been a party to that treaty, sent forces to
+cooeperate with those of Great Britain in obtaining prompt satisfaction
+for an attack made by the Chinese troops on the British at the Peilo,
+the due ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, and payment of an
+indemnity to the allies for the expenses of their military operations.
+
+The punishment which the Chinese received for their bad faith and
+treachery was very complete. Yuen-ming-yuen, the emperor's summer
+palace, one of the glories of the empire, was levelled to the ground
+as a just retribution for treacherous and criminal acts committed by
+the creatures of the emperor at the very moment it was believed that
+the negotiations were peacefully terminated. Five days after the
+burning of the palace, the treaty was fully ratified between the
+emperor's brother and Lord Elgin, and full satisfaction obtained from
+the imperial authorities at Pekin for their shameless disregard of
+their solemn engagements. The manner in which the British ambassador
+discharged the onerous duties of his mission, met with the warm
+approval of Her Majesty's government and when he was once more in
+England he was offered by the prime minister the governor-generalship
+of India.
+
+He accepted this great office with a full sense of the arduous
+responsibilities which it entailed upon him, and said good-bye to his
+friends with words which showed that he had a foreboding that he might
+never see them again--words which proved unhappily to be too true. He
+went to the discharge of his duties in India in that spirit of modesty
+which was always characteristic of him. "I succeeded," he said, "to a
+great man (Lord Canning) and a great war, with a humble task to be
+humbly discharged." His task was indeed humble compared with that
+which had to be performed by his eminent predecessors, notably by Earl
+Canning, who had established important reforms in the land tenure, won
+the confidence of the feudatories of the Crown, and reorganized the
+whole administration of India after the tremendous upheaval caused by
+the mutiny. Lord Elgin, on the other hand, was the first
+governor-general appointed directly by the Queen, and was now subject
+to the authority of the secretary of state for India. He could
+consequently exercise relatively little of the powers and
+responsibilities which made previous imperial representatives so
+potent in the conduct of Indian affairs. Indeed he had not been long
+in India before he was forced by the Indian secretary to reverse Lord
+Canning's wise measure for the sale of a fee-simple tenure with all
+its political as well as economic advantages. He was able, however, to
+carry out loyally the wise and equitable policy of his predecessor
+towards the feudatories of England with firmness and dignity and with
+good effect for the British government.[24]
+
+In 1863 he decided on making a tour of the northern parts of India
+with the object of making himself personally acquainted with the
+people and affairs of the empire under his government. It was during
+this tour that he held a Durbar or Royal Court at Agra, which was
+remarkable even in India for the display of barbaric wealth and the
+assemblage of princes of royal descent. After reaching Simla his
+peaceful administration of Indian affairs was at last disturbed by the
+necessity--one quite clear to him--of repressing an outburst of
+certain Nahabee fanatics who dwelt in the upper valley of the Indus.
+He came to the conclusion that "the interests both of prudence and
+humanity would be best consulted by levelling a speedy and decisive
+blow at this embryo conspiracy." Having accordingly made the requisite
+arrangements for putting down promptly the trouble on the frontier and
+preventing the combination of the Mahommedan inhabitants in those
+regions against the government, he left Simla and traversed the upper
+valleys of the Beas, the Ravee, and the Chenali with the object of
+inspecting the tea plantations of that district and making inquiries
+as to the possibility of trade with Ladak and China. Eventually, after
+a wearisome journey through a most picturesque region, he reached
+Dhurmsala--"the place of piety"--in the Kangra valley, where appeared
+the unmistakable symptoms of the fatal malady which soon caused his
+death.
+
+The closing scenes in the life of the statesman have been described in
+pathetic terms by his brother-in-law, Dean Stanley.[25] The
+intelligence that the illness was mortal "was received with a calmness
+and fortitude which never deserted him" through all the scenes which
+followed. He displayed "in equal degrees, and with the most unvarying
+constancy, two of the grandest elements of human character--unselfish
+resignation of himself to the will of God, and thoughtful
+consideration down to the smallest particulars, for the interests and
+feelings of others, both public and private." When at his own request,
+Lady Elgin chose a spot for his grave in the little cemetery which
+stands on the bluff above the house where he died, "he gently
+expressed pleasure when told of the quiet and beautiful aspect of the
+place chosen, with the glorious view of the snowy range towering
+above, and the wide prospect of hill and plain below." During this
+fatal illness he had the consolation of the constant presence of his
+loving wife, whose courageous spirit enabled her to overcome the
+weakness of a delicate constitution. He died on November 20th, 1863,
+and was buried on the following day beneath the snow-clad
+Himalayas.[26]
+
+If at any time a Canadian should venture to this quiet station in the
+Kangra valley, let his first thought be, not of the sublimity of the
+mountains which rise far away, but of the grave where rest the remains
+of a statesman whose pure unselfishness, whose fidelity to duty, whose
+tender and sympathetic nature, whose love of truth and justice, whose
+compassion for the weak, whose trust in God and the teachings of
+Christ, are human qualities more worthy of the admiration of us all
+than the grandest attributes of nature.
+
+None of the distinguished Canadian statesmen who were members of Lord
+Elgin's several administrations from 1847 until 1854, or were then
+conspicuous in parliamentary life, now remain to tell us the story of
+those eventful years. Mr. Baldwin died five years before, and Sir
+Louis Hypolite LaFontaine three months after the decease of the
+governor-general of India, and in the roll of their Canadian
+contemporaries there are none who have left a fairer record. Mr.
+Hincks retired from the legislature of Canada in 1855, when he
+accepted the office of governor-in-chief of Barbadoes and the Windward
+Islands from Sir William Molesworth, colonial secretary in Lord
+Palmerston's government, and for years an eminent advocate of a
+liberal colonial policy. This appointment was well received throughout
+British North America by Mr. Hincks's friends as well as political
+opponents, who recognized the many merits of this able politician and
+administrator. It was considered, according to the London _Times_, as
+"the inauguration of a totally different system of policy from that
+which has been hitherto pursued with regard to our colonies." "It gave
+some evidence," continued the same paper, "that the more distinguished
+among our fellow-subjects in the colonies may feel that the path of
+imperial ambition is henceforth open to them." It was a direct answer
+to the appeal which had been so eloquently made on more than one
+occasion by the Honourable Joseph Howe[27] of Nova Scotia, to extend
+imperial honours and offices to distinguished colonists, and not
+reserve them, as was too often the case, for Englishmen of inferior
+merit. "This elevation of Mr. Hincks to a governorship," said the
+Montreal _Pilot_ at the time, "is the most practicable comment which
+can possibly be offered upon the solemn and sorrowful complaints of
+Mr. Howe, anent the neglect with which the colonists are treated by
+the imperial government. So sudden, complete and noble a disclaimer on
+the part of Her Majesty's minister for the colonies must have startled
+the delegate from Nova Scotia, and we trust that his turn may not be
+far distant." Fifteen years later, Mr. Howe himself became a
+lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, and an inmate of the very
+government house to which he was not admitted in the stormy days when
+he was fighting the battle of responsible government against Lord
+Falkland.
+
+Mr. Hincks was subsequently appointed governor of British Guiana, and
+at the same time received a Commandership of the Bath as a mark of
+"Her Majesty's approval honourably won by very valuable and continued
+service in several colonies of the empire." He retired from the
+imperial service with a pension in 1869, when his name was included in
+the first list of knights which was submitted to the Queen on the
+extension of the Order of St. Michael and St. George for the express
+purpose of giving adequate recognition to those persons in the
+colonies who had rendered distinguished service to the Crown and
+empire. During his Canadian administration Lord Elgin had impressed
+upon the colonial secretary that it was "very desirable that the
+prerogative of the Crown, as the fountain of honour, should be
+employed, in so far as this can properly be done, as a means of
+attaching the outlying parts of the empire to the throne." Two
+principles ought, he thought, "as a general rule to be attended to in
+the distribution of imperial honours among colonists." Firstly they
+should appear "to emanate directly from the Crown, on the advice, if
+you will, of the governors and imperial ministers, but not on the
+recommendation of the local executive." Secondly, they "should be
+conferred, as much as possible, on the eminent persons who are no
+longer engaged actively in political life." The first principle has,
+generally speaking, guided the action of the Crown in the distribution
+of honours to colonists, though the governors may receive suggestions
+from and also consult their prime ministers when the necessity arises.
+These honours, too, are no longer conferred only on men actively
+engaged in public life, but on others eminent in science, education,
+literature, and other vocations of life.[28]
+
+In 1870 Sir Francis Hincks returned to Canadian public life as finance
+minister in Sir John Macdonald's government, and held the office until
+1873, when he retired altogether from politics. Until the last hours
+of his life he continued to show that acuteness of intellect, that
+aptitude for public business, that knowledge of finance and commerce,
+which made him so influential in public affairs. During his public
+career in Canada previous to 1855, he was the subject of bitter
+attacks for his political acts, but nowadays impartial history can
+admit that, despite his tendency to commit the province to heavy
+expenditures, his energy, enterprise and financial ability did good
+service to the country at large. He was also attacked as having used
+his public position to promote his own pecuniary interests, but he
+courted and obtained inquiry into the most serious of such
+accusations, and although there appears to have been some carelessness
+in his connection with various speculations, and at times an absence
+of an adequate sense of his responsibility as a public man, there is
+no evidence that he was ever personally corrupt or dishonest. He
+devoted the close of his life to the writing of his "Reminiscences,"
+and of several essays on questions which were great public issues when
+he was so prominent in Canadian politics, and although none of his
+most ardent admirers can praise them as literary efforts of a high
+order, yet they have an interest so far as they give us some insight
+into disputed points of Canada's political history. He died in 1885 of
+the dreadful disease small-pox in the city of Montreal, and the
+veteran statesman was carried to the grave without those funeral
+honours which were due to one who had filled with distinction so many
+important positions in the service of Canada and the Crown. All his
+contemporaries when he was prime minister also lie in the grave and
+have found at last that rest which was not theirs in the busy,
+passionate years of their public life. Sir Allan MacNab, who was a
+spendthrift to the very last, lies in a quiet spot beneath the shades
+of the oaks and elms which adorn the lovely park of Dundurn in
+Hamilton, whose people have long since forgotten his weaknesses as a
+man, and now only recall his love for the beautiful city with whose
+interests he was so long identified, and his eminent services to Crown
+and state. George Brown, Hincks's inveterate opponent, continued for
+years after the formation of the first Liberal-Conservative
+administration, to keep the old province of Canada in a state of
+political ferment by his attacks on French Canada and her institutions
+until at last he succeeded in making government practically
+unworkable, and then suddenly he rose superior to the spirit of
+passionate partisanship and racial bitterness which had so long
+dominated him, and decided to aid his former opponents in consummating
+that federal union which relieved old Canada of her political
+embarrassment and sectional strife. His action at that time is his
+chief claim to the monument which has been raised in his honour in the
+great western city where he was for so many years a political force,
+and where the newspaper he established still remains at the head of
+Canadian journalism.
+
+The greatest and ablest man among all who were notable in Lord Elgin's
+days in Canada, Sir John Alexander Macdonald--the greatest not simply
+as a Canadian politician but as one of the builders of the British
+empire--lived to become one of Her Majesty's Privy Councillors of
+Great Britain, a Grand Cross of the Bath, and prime minister for
+twenty-one years of a Canadian confederation which stretches for 3,500
+miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. When death at last
+forced him from the great position he had so long occupied with
+distinction to himself and advantage to Canada, the esteem and
+affection in which he was held by the people, whom he had so long
+served during a continuous public career of half a century, were shown
+by the erection of stately monuments in five of the principal cities
+of the Dominion--an honour never before paid to a colonial statesman.
+The statues of Sir John Macdonald and Sir Georges Cartier--statues
+conceived and executed by the genius of a French Canadian
+artist--stand on either side of the noble parliament building where
+these statesmen were for years the most conspicuous figures; and as
+Canadians of the present generation survey their bronze effigies, let
+them not fail to recall those admirable qualities of statesmanship
+which distinguished them both--above all their assertion of those
+principles of compromise, conciliation and equal rights which have
+served to unite the two races in critical times when the tide of
+racial and sectional passion and political demagogism has rushed in a
+mad torrent against the walls of the national structure which
+Canadians have been so steadily and successfully building for so many
+years on the continent of North America.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+
+POLITICAL PROGRESS
+
+In the foregoing pages I have endeavoured to review--very imperfectly,
+I am afraid--all those important events in the political history of
+Canada from 1847 to 1854, which have had the most potent influence on
+its material, social, and political development. Any one who carefully
+studies the conditions of the country during that critical period of
+Canadian affairs cannot fail to come to the conclusion that the
+gradual elevation of Canada from the depression which was so prevalent
+for years in political as well as commercial matters, to a position of
+political strength and industrial prosperity, was largely owing to the
+success of the principles of self-government which Lord Elgin
+initiated and carried out while at the head of the Canadian executive.
+These principles have been clearly set forth in his speeches and in
+his despatches to the secretary of state for the colonies as well as
+in instructive volumes on the colonial policy of Lord John Russell's
+administration by Lord Grey, the imperial minister who so wisely
+recommended Lord Elgin's appointment as governor-general Briefly
+stated these principles are as follows:--
+
+     That it is neither desirable nor possible to carry on the
+     government of a province in opposition to the opinion of its
+     people.
+
+     That a governor-general can have no ministers who do not
+     enjoy the full confidence of the popular House, or, in the
+     last resort, of the people.
+
+     That the governor-general should not refuse his consent to
+     any measure proposed by the ministry unless it is clear that
+     it is of such an extreme party character that the assembly
+     or people could not approve of it.
+
+     That the governor-general should not identify himself with
+     any party but make himself "a mediator and moderator between
+     all parties."
+
+That colonial communities should be encouraged to cultivate "a
+national and manly tone of political morals," and should look to their
+own parliaments for the solution of all problems of provincial
+government instead of making constant appeals to the colonial office
+or to opinion in the mother country, "always ill-informed, and
+therefore credulous, in matters of colonial politics."
+
+That the governor-general should endeavour to impart to these rising
+communities the full advantages of British laws, British institutions,
+and British freedom, and maintain in this way the connection between
+them and the parent state.
+
+We have seen in previous chapters how industriously, patiently, and
+discreetly Lord Elgin laboured to carry out these principles in the
+administration of his government. In 1849 he risked his own life that
+he might give full scope to the principles of responsible government
+with respect to the adjustment of a question which should be settled
+by the Canadian people themselves without the interference of the
+parent state, and on the same ground he impressed on the imperial
+government the necessity of giving to the Canadian legislature full
+control of the settlement of the clergy reserves. He had no patience
+with those who believed that, in allowing the colonists to exercise
+their right to self-government in matters exclusively affecting
+themselves, there was any risk whatever so far as imperial interests
+were concerned. One of his ablest letters was that which he wrote to
+Earl Grey as an answer to the unwise utterances of the prime minister,
+Lord John Russell, in the course of a speech on the colonies in which,
+"amid the plaudits of a full senate, he declared that he looked
+forward to the day when the ties which he was endeavouring to render
+so easy and mutually advantageous would be severed." Lord Elgin held
+it to be "a perfectly unsound and most dangerous theory, that British
+colonies could not attain maturity without separation," and in this
+connection he quoted the language of Mr. Baldwin to whom he had read
+that part of Lord John Russell's speech to which he took such strong
+exception. "For myself," said the eminent Canadian, "if the
+anticipations therein expressed prove to be well founded, my interest
+in public affairs is gone forever. But is it not hard upon us while we
+are labouring, through good and evil report, to thwart the designs of
+those who would dismember the empire, that our adversaries should be
+informed that the difference between them and the prime minister of
+England is only one of time? If the British government has really come
+to the conclusion that we are a burden to be cast off, whenever a
+favourable opportunity offers, surely we ought to be warned." In Lord
+Elgin's opinion, based on a thorough study of colonial conditions, if
+the Canadian or any other system of government was to be successful,
+British statesmen must "renounce the habit of telling the colonies
+that the colonial is a provisional existence." They should be taught
+to believe that "without severing the bonds which unite them to
+England, they may attain the degree of perfection, and of social and
+political development to which organized communities of free men have
+a right to aspire." The true policy in his judgment was "to throw the
+whole weight of responsibility on those who exercise the real power,
+for after all, the sense of responsibility is the best security
+against the abuse of power; and as respects the connection, to act and
+speak on this hypothesis--that there is nothing in it to check the
+development of healthy national life in these young communities." He
+was "possessed," he used the word advisedly, "with the idea that it
+was possible to maintain on the soil of North America, and in the face
+of Republican America, British connection and British institutions, if
+you give the latter freely and trustingly." The history of Canada from
+the day those words were penned down to the beginning of the twentieth
+century proves their political wisdom. Under the inspiring influence
+of responsible government Canada has developed in 1902, not into an
+independent nation, as predicted by Lord John Russell and other
+British statesmen after him, but into a confederation of five millions
+and a half of people, in which a French Canadian prime minister gives
+expression to the dominant idea not only of his own race but of all
+nationalities within the Dominion, that the true interest lies not in
+the severance but in the continuance of the ties that have so long
+bound them to the imperial state.
+
+Lord Elgin in his valuable letters to the imperial authorities, always
+impressed on them the fact that the office of a Canadian
+governor-general has not by any means been lowered to that of a mere
+subscriber of orders-in-council--of a mere official automaton,
+speaking and acting by the orders of the prime minister and the
+cabinet. On the contrary, he gave it as his experience that in
+Jamaica, where there was no responsible government, he had "not half
+the power" he had in Canada "with a constitutional and changing
+cabinet." With respect to the maintenance of the position and due
+influence of the governor, he used language which gives a true
+solution of the problem involved in the adaptation of parliamentary
+government to the colonial system. "As the imperial government and
+parliament gradually withdraw from legislative interference, and from
+the exercise of patronage in colonial affairs, the office of governor
+tends to become, in the most emphatic sense of the term, the link
+which connects the mother country and the colony, and his influence
+the means by which harmony of action between the local and imperial
+authorities is to be preserved. It is not, however, in my humble
+judgment, by evincing an anxious desire to stretch to the utmost
+constitutional principles in his favour, but, on the contrary, by the
+frank acceptance of the conditions of the parliamentary system, that
+this influence can be most surely extended and confirmed. Placed by
+his position above the strife of parties--holding office by a tenure
+less precarious than the ministers who surround him--having no
+political interests to serve but those of the community whose affairs
+he is appointed to administer--his opinion cannot fail, when all cause
+for suspicion and jealousy is removed, to have great weight in
+colonial councils, while he is set at liberty to constitute himself in
+an especial manner the patron of those larger and higher
+interests--such interests, for example, as those of education, and of
+moral and material progress in all its branches--which, unlike the
+contests of party, unite instead of dividing the members of the body
+politic."
+
+As we study the political history of Canada for the fifty years which
+have elapsed since Lord Elgin enunciated in his admirable letters to
+the imperial government the principles which guided him in his
+Canadian administration, we cannot fail to see clearly that
+responsible government has brought about the following results, which
+are at once a guarantee of efficient home government and of a
+harmonious cooperation between the dependency and the central
+authority of the empire.
+
+The misunderstandings that so constantly occurred between the
+legislative bodies and the imperial authorities, on account of the
+latter failing so often to appreciate fully the nature of the
+political grievances that agitated the public mind, and on account of
+their constant interference in matters which should have been left
+exclusively to the control of the people directly interested, have
+been entirely removed in conformity with the wise policy of making
+Canada a self-governing country in the full sense of the phrase. These
+provinces are as a consequence no longer a source of irritation and
+danger to the parent state, but, possessing full independence in all
+matters of local concern, are now among the chief sources of England's
+pride and greatness.
+
+The governor-general instead of being constantly brought into conflict
+with the political parties of the country, and made immediately
+responsible for the continuance of public grievances, has gained in
+dignity and influence since he has been removed from the arena of
+public controversy. He now occupies a position in harmony with the
+principles that have given additional strength and prestige to the
+throne itself. As the legally accredited representative of the
+sovereign, as the recognized head of society, he represents what
+Bagehot has aptly styled "the dignified part of our constitution,"
+which has much value in a country like ours where we fortunately
+retain the permanent form of monarchy in harmony with the democratic
+machinery of our government. If the governor-general is a man of
+parliamentary experience and constitutional knowledge, possessing tact
+and judgment, and imbued with the true spirit of his high
+vocation--and these high functionaries have been notably so since the
+commencement of confederation--he can sensibly influence, in the way
+Lord Elgin points out, the course of administration and benefit the
+country at critical periods of its history. Standing above all party,
+having the unity of the empire at heart, a governor-general can at
+times soothe the public mind, and give additional confidence to the
+country, when it is threatened with some national calamity, or there
+is distrust abroad as to the future. As an imperial officer he has
+large responsibilities of which the general public has naturally no
+very clear idea, and if it were possible to obtain access to the
+confidential and secret despatches which seldom see the light in the
+colonial office--certainly not in the lifetime of the men who wrote
+them--it would be found how much, for a quarter of a century past, the
+colonial department has gained by having had in the Dominion, men, no
+longer acting under the influence of personal feeling through being
+made personally responsible for the conduct of public affairs, but
+actuated simply by a desire to benefit the country over which they
+preside, and to bring Canadian interests into union with those of the
+empire itself.
+
+The effects on the character of public men and on the body politic
+have been for the public advantage. It has brought out the best
+qualities of colonial statesmanship, lessened the influence of mere
+agitators and demagogues, and taught our public men to rely on
+themselves in all crises affecting the welfare and integrity of the
+country. Responsible government means self-reliance, the capacity to
+govern ourselves, the ability to build up a great nation.
+
+When we review the trials and struggles of the past that we may gain
+from them lessons of confidence for the future, let us not forget to
+pay a tribute to the men who have laid the foundations of these
+communities, still on the threshold of their development, and on whom
+the great burden fell; to the French Canadians who, despite the
+neglect and indifference of their kings, amid toil and privation, amid
+war and famine, built up a province which they have made their own by
+their patience and industry, and who should, differ as we may from
+them, evoke our respect for their fidelity to the institutions of
+their origin, for their appreciation of the advantages of English
+self-government, and for their cooperation in all great measures
+essential to the unity of the federation; to the Loyalists of last
+century who left their homes for the sake of "king and country," and
+laid the foundations of prosperous and loyal English communities by
+the sea and by the great lakes, and whose descendants have ever stood
+true to the principles of the institutions which have made Britain free
+and great; to the unknown body of pioneers some of whose names perhaps
+still linger on a headland or river or on a neglected gravestone, who
+let in the sunlight year by year to the dense forests of these
+countries, and built up by their industry the large and thriving
+provinces of this Dominion; above all, to the statesmen--Elgin,
+Baldwin, LaFontaine, Morin, Howe, and many others--who laid deep and
+firm, beneath the political structure of this confederation, those
+principles of self-government which give harmony to our constitutional
+system and bring out the best qualities of an intelligent people. In
+the early times in which they struggled they had to bear much obloquy,
+and their errors of judgment have been often severely arraigned at the
+bar of public opinion; many of them lived long enough to see how soon
+men may pass into oblivion; but we who enjoy the benefit of their
+earnest endeavours, now that the voice of the party passion of their
+times is hushed, should never forget that, though they are not here to
+reap the fruit of their labours, their work survives in the energetic
+and hopeful communities which stretch from Cape Breton to Victoria.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+
+A COMPARISON OF SYSTEMS
+
+In one of Lord Elgin's letters we are told that, when he had as
+visitors to government house in 1850, Sir Henry Bulwer, the elder
+brother of Lord Lytton, and British minister to the United States, as
+well as Sir Edmund Head, his successor in the governorship of Canada,
+he availed himself of so favourable an opportunity of reassuring them
+on many points of the internal policy of the province on which they
+were previously doubtful, and gave them some insight into the position
+of men and things on which Englishmen in those days were too ignorant
+as a rule. One important point which he impressed upon them--as he
+hoped successfully--was this:
+
+     "That the faithful carrying out of the principles of
+     constitutional government is a departure from the American
+     model, not an approximation to it, and, therefore, a
+     departure from republicanism in its only workable shape."
+
+The fact was: "The American system is our old colonial system, with,
+in certain cases, the principle of popular election substituted for
+that of nomination by the Crown." He was convinced "that the
+concession of constitutional government has a tendency to draw the
+colonists" towards England and not towards republicanism; "firstly,
+because it slakes that thirst for self-government which seizes on all
+British communities when they approach maturity; and secondly because
+it habituates the colonists to the working of a political mechanism
+which is both intrinsically superior to that of the Americans, and
+more unlike it than our old colonial system." In short, he felt very
+strongly that "when a people have been once thoroughly accustomed to
+the working of such a parliamentary system as ours they never will
+consent to resort to this irresponsible mechanism."
+
+Since these significant words were written half a century ago,
+Canadians have been steadily working out the principles of
+parliamentary government as understood and explained by Lord Elgin,
+and have had abundant opportunities of contrasting their experiences
+with those of their neighbours under a system in many respects the
+very reverse of that which has enabled Canada to attain so large a
+measure of political freedom and build up such prosperous communities
+to the north of the republic, while still remaining in the closest
+possible touch with the imperial state. I propose now to close this
+book with some comparisons between the respective systems of the two
+countries, and to show that in this respect as in others Lord Elgin
+proved how deep was his insight into the working of political
+institutions, and how thoroughly he had mastered the problem of the
+best methods of administering the government of a great colonial
+dependency, not solely with a regard to its own domestic interests but
+with a view of maintaining the connection with the British Crown, of
+which he was so discreet and able a servant.
+
+It is especially important to Canadians to study the development of
+the institutions of the United States, with the view of deriving
+benefit from their useful experiences, and avoiding the defects that
+have grown up under their system. All institutions are more or less on
+trial in a country like Canada, which is working out great problems of
+political science under decided advantages, since the ground is
+relatively new, and the people have before them all the experiences of
+the world, especially of England and the United States, in whose
+systems Canadians have naturally the deepest interest. The history of
+responsible government affords another illustration of a truth which
+stands out clear in the history of nations, that those constitutions
+which are of a flexible character, the natural growth of the
+experiences of centuries, and which have been created by the
+necessities and conditions of the times, possess the elements of real
+stability, and best ensure the prosperity of a people. The great
+source of the strength of the institutions of the United States lies
+in the fact that they have worked out their government in accordance
+with certain principles, which are essentially English in their
+origin, and have been naturally developed since their foundation as
+colonial settlements, and whatever weaknesses their system shows have
+chiefly arisen from new methods, and from the rigidity of their
+constitutional rules of law, which separate too sharply the executive
+and the legislative branches of government. Like their neighbours the
+Canadian people have based their system on English principles, but
+they have at the same time been able to keep pace with the progress of
+the unwritten constitution of England, to adapt it to their own
+political conditions, and to bring the executive and legislative
+authorities to assist and harmonize with one another.
+
+Each country has its "cabinet council," but the one is essentially
+different from the other in its character and functions. This term,
+the historical student will remember, was first used in the days of
+the Stuarts as one of derision and obloquy. It was frequently called
+"junto" or "cabal," and during the days of conflict between the
+commons and the king it was regarded with great disfavour by the
+parliament of England. Its unpopularity arose from the fact that it
+did not consist of men in whom parliament had confidence, and its
+proceedings were conducted with so much secrecy that it was impossible
+to decide upon whom to fix responsibility for any obnoxious measure.
+When the constitution of England was brought back to its original
+principles, and harmony was restored between the Crown and the
+parliament, the cabinet became no longer a term of reproach, but a
+position therein was regarded as the highest honour in the country,
+and was associated with the efficient administration of public
+affairs, since it meant a body of men responsible to parliament for
+every act of government.[29] The old executive councils of Canada were
+obnoxious to the people for the same reason that the councils of the
+Stuarts, and even of George III, with the exception of the regime of
+the two Pitts, became unpopular. Not only do we in Canada, in
+accordance with our desire to perpetuate the names of English
+institutions use the name "cabinet" which was applied to an
+institution that gradually grew out of the old privy council of
+England, but we have even incorporated in our fundamental law the
+older name of "privy council," which itself sprang from the original
+"permanent" or "continual" council of the Norman kings. Following
+English precedent, the Canadian cabinet or ministry is formed out of
+the privy councillors, chosen under the law by the governor-general,
+and when they retire from office they still retain the purely honorary
+distinction. In the United States the use of the term "cabinet" has
+none of the significance it has with us, and if it can be compared at
+all to any English institutions it might be to the old cabinets who
+acknowledged responsibility to the king, and were only so many heads
+of departments in the king's government. As a matter of fact the
+comparison would be closer if we said that the administration
+resembles the cabinets of the old French kings, or to quote Professor
+Bryce, "the group of ministers who surround the Czar or the Sultan, or
+who executed the bidding of a Roman emperor like Constantine or
+Justinian." Such ministers like the old executive councils of Canada,
+"are severally responsible to their master, and are severally called
+in to counsel him, but they have not necessarily any relations with
+one another, nor any duty or collective action." Not only is the
+administration conducted on the principle of responsibility to the
+president alone, in this respect the English king in old irresponsible
+days, but the legislative department is itself constructed after the
+English model as it existed a century ago, and a general system of
+government is established, lacking in that unity and elasticity which
+are essential to its effective working. On the other hand the Canadian
+cabinet is the cabinet of the English system of modern times and is
+formed so as to work in harmony with the legislative department, which
+is a copy, so far as possible, of the English legislature.
+
+The special advantages of the Canadian or English system of
+parliamentary government, compared with congressional government, may
+be briefly summed up as follows:--
+
+(1) The governor-general, his cabinet, and the popular branch of the
+legislature are governed in Canada, as in England, by a system of
+rules, conventions and understandings which enable them to work in
+harmony with one another. The Crown, the cabinet, the legislature, and
+the people, have respectively certain rights and powers which, when
+properly and constitutionally brought into operation, give strength
+and elasticity to our system of government. Dismissal of a ministry by
+the Crown under conditions of gravity, or resignation of a ministry
+defeated in the popular House, bring into play the prerogatives of the
+Crown. In all cases there must be a ministry to advise the Crown,
+assume responsibility for its acts, and obtain the support of the
+people and their representatives in parliament. As a last resort to
+bring into harmony the people, the legislature, and the Crown, there
+is the exercise of the supreme prerogative of dissolution. A governor,
+acting always under the advice of responsible ministers, may, at any
+time, generally speaking, grant an appeal to the people to test their
+opinion on vital public questions and bring the legislature into
+accord with the public mind. In short, the fundamental principle of
+popular sovereignty lies at the very basis of the Canadian system.
+
+On the other hand, in the United States, the president and his cabinet
+may be in constant conflict with the two Houses of Congress during the
+four years of his term of office. His cabinet has no direct influence
+with the legislative bodies, inasmuch as they have no seats therein.
+The political complexion of Congress does not affect their tenure of
+office, since they depend only on the favour and approval of the
+executive; dissolution, which is the safety valve of the English or
+Canadian system--"in its essence an appeal from the legal to the
+political sovereign"--is not practicable under the United States
+constitution. In a political crisis the constitution provides no
+adequate solution of the difficulty during the presidential term. In
+this respect the people of the United States are not sovereign as they
+are in Canada under the conditions just briefly stated.
+
+(2) The governor-general is not personally brought into collision with
+the legislature by the direct exercise of a veto of its legislative
+acts, since the ministry is responsible for all legislation and must
+stand or fall by its important measures. The passage of a measure of
+which it disapproved as a ministry would mean in the majority of cases
+a resignation, and it is not possible to suppose that the governor
+would be asked to exercise a prerogative of the Crown which has been
+in disuse since the establishment of responsible government and would
+now be a revolutionary measure even in Canada.
+
+In the United States there is danger of frequent collision between the
+president and the two legislative branches, should a very critical
+exercise of the veto, as in President Johnson's time, occur at a time
+when the public mind was deeply agitated. The chief magistrate loses
+in dignity and influence whenever the legislature overrides the veto,
+and congress becomes a despotic master for the time being.
+
+(3) The Canadian minister, having control of the finances and taxes
+and of all matters of administration, is directly responsible to
+parliament and sooner or later to the people for the manner in which
+public functions have been discharged. All important measures are
+initiated by the cabinet, and on every question of public interest the
+ministers are bound to have a definite policy if they wish to retain
+the confidence of the legislature. Even in the case of private
+legislation they are also the guardians of the public interests and
+are responsible to the parliament and the people for any neglect in
+particular.
+
+On the other hand in the United States the financial and general
+legislation of congress is left to the control of committees, over
+which the president and his cabinet have no direct influence, and the
+chairman of which may have ambitious objects in direct antagonism to
+the men in office.
+
+(4) In the Canadian system the speaker is a functionary who certainly
+has his party proclivities, but it is felt that as long as he occupies
+the chair all political parties can depend on his justice and
+impartiality. Responsible government makes the premier and his
+ministers responsible for the constitution of the committees and for
+the opinions and decisions that may emanate from them. A government
+that would constantly endeavour to shift its responsibilities on
+committees, even of its own selection, would soon disappear from the
+treasury benches. Responsibility in legislation is accordingly
+ensured, financial measures prevented from being made the footballs of
+ambitious and irresponsible politicians, and the impartiality and
+dignity of the speakership guaranteed by the presence in parliament of
+a cabinet having the direction and supervision of business.
+
+On the other hand, in the United States, the speaker of the House of
+Representatives becomes, from the very force of circumstances, a
+political leader, and the spectacle is presented--in fact from the
+time of Henry Clay--so strange to us familiar with English methods, of
+decisions given by him with clearly party objects, and of committees
+formed by him with purely political aims, as likely as not with a view
+to thwart the ambition either of a president who is looking to a
+second term or of some prominent member of the cabinet who has
+presidential aspirations. And all this lowering of the dignity of the
+chair is due to the absence of a responsible minister to lead the
+House. The very position which the speaker is forced to take from time
+to time--notably in the case of Mr. Reed[30]--is clearly the result of
+the defects in the constitutional system of the United States, and is
+so much evidence that a responsible party leader is an absolute
+necessity in congress. A legislature must be led, and congress has
+been attempting to get out of a crucial difficulty by all sorts of
+questionable shifts which only show the inherent weakness of the
+existing system.
+
+In the absence of any provision for the unity of policy between the
+executive and legislative authorities of the United States, it is
+impossible for any nation to have a positive guarantee that a treaty
+it may negotiate with the former can be ratified. The sovereign of
+Great Britain enters into treaties with foreign powers with the advice
+and assistance of his constitutional advisers, who are immediately
+responsible to parliament for their counsel in such matters. In theory
+it is the prerogative of the Crown to make a treaty; in practice it is
+that of the ministry. It is not constitutionally imperative to refer
+such treaties to parliament for its approval--the consent of the Crown
+is sufficient; but it is sometimes done under exceptional
+circumstances, as in the case of the cession of Heligoland. In any
+event the action of the ministry in the matter is invariably open to
+the review of parliament, and the ministry may be censured by an
+adverse vote for the advice given to the sovereign, and forced to
+retire from office. In the United States the senate must ratify all
+treaties by a two-thirds vote, but unless there is a majority in that
+House of the same political complexion as the president the treaty may
+be refused. No cabinet minister is present, to lead the House, as in
+England, and assume all the responsibility of the president's action.
+It is almost impossible to suppose that an English ministry would
+consent to a treaty that would be unpopular in parliament and the
+country. The existence of the government would depend on its action.
+In the United States both president and senate have divided
+responsibilities. The constitution makes no provision for unity in
+such important matters of national obligation.
+
+The great advantages of the English, or Canadian, system lie in the
+interest created among all classes of the people by the discussions of
+the different legislative bodies. Parliamentary debate involves the
+fate of cabinets, and the public mind is consequently led to study all
+issues of importance. The people know and feel that they must be
+called upon sooner or later to decide between the parties contending
+on the floor of the legislature, and consequently are obliged to give
+an intelligent consideration to public affairs. Let us see what
+Bagehot, ablest of critics, says on this point:--
+
+     "At present there is business in their attention (that is to
+     say, of the English or Canadian people). They assist at the
+     determining crisis; they assist or help it. Whether the
+     government will go out or remain is determined by the debate
+     and by the division in parliament And the opinion out of
+     doors, the secret pervading disposition of society, has a
+     great influence on that division. The nation feels that its
+     judgment is important, and it strives to judge. It succeeds
+     in deciding because the debates and the discussions give it
+     the facts and arguments. But under the presidential
+     government the nation has, except at the electing moment, no
+     influence; it has not the ballot-box before it; its virtue
+     is gone and it must wait till its instant of despotism again
+     returns. There are doubtless debates in the legislature, but
+     they are prologues without a play. The prize of power is not
+     in the gift of the legislature. No presidential country
+     needs to form daily delicate opinions, or is helped in
+     forming them."
+
+Then when the people do go to the ballot-box, they cannot
+intelligently influence the policy of the government. If they vote for
+a president, then congress may have a policy quite different from his;
+if they vote for members of congress, they cannot change the opinions
+of the president. If the president changes his cabinet at any time,
+they have nothing to say about it, for its members are not important
+as wheels in the legislative machinery. Congress may pass a bill of
+which the people express their disapproval at the first opportunity
+when they choose a new congress, but still it may remain on the
+statute-book because the senate holds views different from the newly
+elected House, and cannot be politically changed until after a long
+series of legislative elections. As Professor Woodrow Wilson well puts
+it in an able essay:--[31]
+
+     "Public opinion has no easy vehicle for its judgments, no
+     quick channels for its action. Nothing about the system is
+     direct and simple. Authority is perplexingly subdivided and
+     distributed, and responsibility has to be hunted down in
+     out-of-the-way corners. So that the sum of the whole matter
+     is that the means of working for the fruits of good
+     government are not readily to be found. The average citizen
+     may be excused for esteeming government at best but a
+     haphazard affair upon which his vote and all his influence
+     can have but little effect. How is his choice of
+     representative in congress to affect the policy of the
+     country as regards the questions in which he is most
+     interested if the man for whom he votes has no chance of
+     getting on the standing committee which has virtual charge
+     of those questions? How is it to make any difference who is
+     chosen president? Has the president any great authority in
+     matters of vital policy? It seems a thing of despair to get
+     any assurance that any vote he may cast will even in an
+     infinitesimal degree affect the essential courses of
+     administration. There are so many cooks mixing their
+     ingredients in the national broth that it seems hopeless,
+     this thing of changing one cook at a time."
+
+Under such a system it cannot be expected that the people will take
+the same deep interest in elections and feel as directly responsible
+for the character of the government as when they can at one election
+and by one verdict decide the fate of a government, whose policy on
+great issues must be thoroughly explained to them at the polls. This
+method of popular government is more real and substantial than a
+system which does not allow the people to influence congressional
+legislation and administrative action through a set of men sitting in
+congress and having a common policy.
+
+I think it does not require any very elaborate argument to show that
+when men feel and know that the ability they show in parliament may be
+sooner or later rewarded by a seat on the treasury benches, and that
+they will then have a determining voice in the government of the
+country, be it dominion or province, they must be stimulated by a
+keener interest in public life, a closer watchfulness over legislation
+and administration, a greater readiness for discussing all public
+questions, and a more studied appreciation of public opinion outside
+the legislative halls. Every man in parliament is a premier _in
+posse_. While asking my readers to recall what I have already said as
+to the effect of responsible government on the public men and people
+of Canada, I shall also here refer them to some authorities worthy of
+all respect.
+
+Mr. Bagehot says with his usual clearness:--[32]
+
+     "To belong to a debating society adhering to an executive
+     (and this is no inapt description of a congress under a
+     presidential constitution) is not an object to stir a noble
+     ambition, and is a position to encourage idleness. The
+     members of a parliament excluded from office can never be
+     comparable, much less equal, to those of a parliament not
+     excluded from office. The presidential government by its
+     nature divides political life into two halves, an executive
+     half and a legislative half, and by so dividing it, makes
+     neither half worth a man's having--worth his making it a
+     continuous career--worthy to absorb, as cabinet government
+     absorbs, his whole soul. The statesmen from whom a nation
+     chooses under a presidential system are much inferior to
+     those from whom it chooses under a cabinet system, while the
+     selecting apparatus is also far less discerning."
+
+An American writer, Prof. Denslow,[33] does not hesitate to express
+the opinion very emphatically that "as it is, in no country do the
+people feel such an overwhelming sense of the littleness of the men in
+charge of public affairs" as in the United States. And in another
+place he dwells on the fact that "responsible government educates
+office-holders into a high and honourable sense of their
+accountability to the people," and makes "statesmanship a permanent
+pursuit followed by a skilled class of men."
+
+Prof. Woodrow Wilson says that,[34] so far from men being trained to
+legislation by congressional government, "independence and ability are
+repressed under the tyranny of the rules, and practically the favour
+of the popular branch of congress is concentrated in the speaker and a
+few--very few--expert parliamentarians." Elsewhere he shows that
+"responsibility is spread thin, and no vote or debate can gather it."
+As a matter of fact and experience, he comes to the conclusion "the
+more power is divided the more irresponsible it becomes and the petty
+character of the leadership of each committee contributes towards
+making its despotism sure by making its duties interesting."
+
+Professor James Bryee, it will be admitted, is one of the fairest of
+critics in his review of the institutions of the United States; but
+he, too, comes to the conclusion[35] that the system of congressional
+government destroys the unity of the House (of representatives) as a
+legislative body; prevents the capacity of the best members from being
+brought to bear upon any one piece of legislation, however important;
+cramps debate; lessens the cohesion and harmony of legislation; gives
+facilities for the exercise of underhand and even corrupt influence;
+reduces responsibility; lowers the interest of the nation in the
+proceedings of congress.
+
+In another place,[36] after considering the relations between the
+executive and the legislature, he expresses his opinion that the
+framers of the constitution have "so narrowed the sphere of the
+executive as to prevent it from leading the country, or even its own
+party in the country." They endeavoured "to make members of congress
+independent, but in doing so they deprived them of some of the means
+which European legislators enjoy of learning how to administer, of
+learning even how to legislate in administrative topics. They
+condemned them to be architects without science, critics without
+experience, censors without responsibility."
+
+And further on, when discussing the faults of democratic government in
+the United States--and Professor Bryce, we must remember, is on the
+whole most hopeful of its future--he detects as amongst its
+characteristics "a certain commonness of mind and tone, a want of
+dignity and elevation in and about the conduct of public affairs, and
+insensibility to the nobler aspects and finer responsibilities of
+national life." Then he goes on to say[37] that representative and
+parliamentary system "provides the means of mitigating the evils to be
+feared from ignorance or haste, for it vests the actual conduct of
+affairs in a body of specially chosen and presumably qualified men,
+who may themselves intrust such of their functions as need peculiar
+knowledge or skill to a smaller governing body or bodies selected in
+respect of their more eminent fitness. By this method the defects of
+democracy are remedied while its strength is retained." The members of
+American legislatures, being disjoined from the administrative
+offices, "are not chosen for their ability or experience; they are not
+much respected or trusted, and finding nothing exceptional expected
+from them, they behave as ordinary men."
+
+"If corruption," wrote Judge Story, that astute political student,
+"ever silently eats its way into the vitals of this Republic, it will
+be because the people are unable to bring responsibility home to the
+executive through his chosen ministers."[38]
+
+As I have already stated in the first pages of this chapter, long
+before the inherent weaknesses of the American system were pointed out
+by the eminent authorities just quoted, Lord Elgin was able, with that
+intuitive sagacity which he applied to the study of political
+institutions, to see the unsatisfactory working of the clumsy,
+irresponsible mechanism of our republican neighbours.
+
+"Mr. Fillmore," he is writing in November, 1850, "stands to his
+congress very much in the same relation in which I stood to my
+assembly in Jamaica. There is the same absence of effective
+responsibility in the conduct of legislation, the same want of
+concurrent action between the parts of the political machine. The
+whole business of legislation in the American congress, as well as in
+the state legislatures, is conducted in the manner in which railway
+business was conducted in the House of Commons at a time when it is to
+be feared that, notwithstanding the high standard of honour in the
+British parliament, there was a good deal of jobbing. For instance,
+our reciprocity measure was pressed by us at Washington last session
+just as a railway bill in 1845 or 1846 would have been pressed in
+parliament There was no government to deal with. The interests of the
+union as a whole, distinct from local and sectional interests, had no
+organ in the representative bodies; it was all a question of
+canvassing this member of congress or the other. It is easy to
+perceive that, under such a system, jobbing must become not the
+exception but the rule,"--remarks as true in 1901 as in 1850.
+
+It is important also to dwell on the fact that in Canada the
+permanency of the tenure of public officials and the introduction of
+the secret ballot have been among the results of responsible
+government. Through the influence and agency of the same system,
+valuable reforms have been made in Canada in the election laws, and
+the trial of controverted elections has been taken away from partisan
+election committees and given to a judiciary independent of political
+influences. In these matters the irresponsible system of the United
+States has not been able to effect any needful reforms. Such measures
+can be best carried by ministers having the initiation and direction
+of legislation and must necessarily be retarded when power is divided
+among several authorities having no unity of policy on any question.
+
+Party government undoubtedly has its dangers arising from personal
+ambition and unscrupulous partisanship, but as long as men must range
+themselves in opposing camps on every subject, there is no other
+system practicable by which great questions can be carried and the
+working of representative government efficiently conducted. The
+framers of the constitution of the United States no doubt thought they
+had succeeded in placing the president and his officers above party
+when they instituted the method of electing the former by a body of
+select electors chosen for that purpose in each state, who were
+expected to act irrespective of all political considerations. A
+president so selected would probably choose his officers also on the
+same basis. The practical results, however, have been to prove that in
+every country of popular and representative institutions party
+government must prevail. Party elects men to the presidency and to the
+floor of the Senate and House of Representatives, and the election to
+those important positions is directed and controlled by a political
+machinery far exceeding in its completeness any party organization in
+England or in Canada. The party convention is now the all important
+portion of the machinery for the election of the president, and the
+safeguard provided by the constitution for the choice of the best man
+is a mere nullity. One thing is quite certain, that party government
+under the direction of a responsible ministry, responsible to
+parliament and the people for every act of administration and
+legislation, can have far less dangerous tendencies than a party
+system which elects an executive not amenable to public opinion for
+four years, divides the responsibilities of government among several
+authorities, prevents harmony among party leaders, does not give the
+executive that control over legislation necessary to efficient
+administration of public affairs, and in short offers a direct premium
+to conflict among all the authorities of the state--a conflict, not so
+much avoided by the checks and balances of the constitution as by the
+patience, common sense, prudence, and respect for law which presidents
+and their cabinets have as a rule shown at national crises. But we can
+clearly see that, while the executive has lost in influence, congress
+has gained steadily to an extent never contemplated by the founders of
+the constitution, and there are thoughtful men who say that the true
+interests of the country have not always been promoted by the change.
+Party government in Canada ensures unity of policy, since the premier
+of the cabinet becomes the controlling part of the political machinery
+of the state; no such thing as unity of policy is possible under a
+system which gives the president neither the dignity of a
+governor-general, nor the strength of a premier, and splits up
+political power among any number of would-be party leaders, who adopt
+or defeat measures by private intrigues, make irresponsible
+recommendations, and form political combinations for purely selfish
+ends.[39]
+
+It seems quite clear then that the system of responsible ministers
+makes the people more immediately responsible for the efficient
+administration of public affairs than is possible in the United
+States. The fact of having the president and the members of congress
+elected for different terms, and of dividing the responsibilities of
+government among these authorities does not allow the people to
+exercise that direct influence which is ensured, as the experience of
+Canada and of England proves, by making one body of men immediately
+responsible to the electors for the conduct of public affairs at
+frequently recurring periods, arranged by well understood rules, so as
+to ensure a correct expression of public opinion on all important
+issues. The committees which assist in governing this country are the
+choice of the people's representatives assembled in parliament, and
+every four or five years and sometimes even sooner in case of a
+crisis, the people have to decide on the wisdom of the choice.
+
+The system has assuredly its drawbacks like all systems of government
+that have been devised and worked out by the brain of man. In all
+frankness I confess that this review would be incomplete were I not to
+refer to certain features of the Canadian system of government which
+seem to me on the surface fraught with inherent danger at some time or
+other to independent legislative judgment. Any one who has closely
+watched the evolution of this system for years past must admit that
+there is a dangerous tendency in the Dominion to give the executive--I
+mean the ministry as a body--too superior a control over the
+legislative authority. When a ministry has in its gift the appointment
+not only of the heads of the executive government in the provinces,
+that is to say, of the lieutenant-governors, who can be dismissed by
+the same power at any moment, but also of the members of the Upper
+House of Parliament itself, besides the judiciary and numerous
+collectorships and other valuable offices, it is quite obvious that
+the element of human ambition and selfishness has abundant room for
+operation on the floor of the legislature, and a bold and skilful
+cabinet is also able to wield a machinery very potent under a system
+of party government. In this respect the House of Representatives may
+be less liable to insidious influences than a House of Commons at
+critical junctures when individual conscience or independent judgment
+appears on the point of asserting itself. The House of Commons may be
+made by skilful party management a mere recording or registering body
+of an able and determined cabinet. I see less liability to such silent
+though potent influences in a system which makes the president and a
+house of representatives to a large degree independent of each other,
+and leaves his important nominations to office under the control of
+the senate, a body which has no analogy whatever with the relatively
+weak branch of the Canadian parliament, essentially weak while its
+membership depends on the government itself. I admit at once that in
+the financial dependence of the provinces on the central federal
+authority, in the tenure of the office of the chief magistrates of the
+provinces, in the control exercised by the ministry over the highest
+legislative body of Canada, that is, highest in point of dignity and
+precedence, there are elements of weakness; but at the same time it
+must be remembered that, while the influence and power of the Canadian
+government may be largely increased by the exercise of its great
+patronage in the hypothetical cases I have suggested, its action is
+always open to the approval or disapproval of parliament and it has to
+meet an opposition face to face. Its acts are open to legislative
+criticism, and it may at any moment be forced to retire by public
+opinion operating upon the House of Commons.
+
+On the other hand the executive in the United States for four years
+may be dominant over congress by skilful management. A strong
+executive by means of party wields a power which may be used for
+purposes of mere personal ambition, and may by clever management of
+the party machine and with the aid of an unscrupulous majority retain
+power for a time even when it is not in accord with the true sentiment
+of the country; but under a system like that of Canada, where every
+defect in the body politic is probed to the bottom in the debates of
+parliament, which are given by the public press more fully than is the
+practice in the neighbouring republic, the people have a better
+opportunity of forming a correct judgment on every matter and giving
+an immediate verdict when the proper time comes for an appeal to them,
+the sovereign power. Sometimes this judgment is too often influenced
+by party prejudices and the real issue is too often obscured by
+skilful party management, but this is inevitable under every system of
+popular government; and happily, should it come to the worst, there is
+always in the country that saving remnant of intelligent, independent
+men of whom Matthew Arnold has written, who can come forward and by
+their fearless and bold criticism help the people in any crisis when
+truth, honour and justice are at stake and the great mass of electors
+fail to appreciate the true situation of affairs. But we may have
+confidence in the good sense and judgment of the people as a whole
+when time is given them to consider the situation of affairs. Should
+men in power be unfaithful to their public obligations, they will
+eventually be forced by the conditions of public life to yield their
+positions to those who merit public confidence. If it should ever
+happen in Canada that public opinion has become so low that public men
+feel that they can, whenever they choose, divert it to their own
+selfish ends by the unscrupulous use of partisan agencies and corrupt
+methods, and that the highest motives of public life are forgotten in
+a mere scramble for office and power, then thoughtful Canadians might
+well despair of the future of their country; but, whatever may be the
+blots at times on the surface of the body politic, there is yet no
+reason to believe that the public conscience of Canada is weak or
+indifferent to character and integrity in active politics. The
+instincts of an English people are always in the direction of the pure
+administration of justice and the efficient and honest government of
+the country, and though it may sometimes happen that unscrupulous
+politicians and demagogues will for a while dominate in the party
+arena, the time of retribution and purification must come sooner or
+later. English methods must prevail in countries governed by an
+English people and English institutions.
+
+It is sometimes said that it is vain to expect a high ideal in public
+life, that the same principles that apply to social and private life
+cannot always be applied to the political arena if party government is
+to succeed; but this is the doctrine of the mere party manager, who is
+already too influential in Canada as in the United States, and not of
+a true patriotic statesman. It is wiser to believe that the nobler the
+object the greater the inspiration, and at all events, it is better to
+aim high than to sink low. It is all important that the body politic
+should be kept pure and that public life should be considered a public
+trust. Canada is still young in her political development, and the
+fact that her population has been as a rule a steady, fixed
+population, free from those dangerous elements which have come into
+the United States with such rapidity of late years, has kept her
+relatively free from any serious social and political dangers which
+have afflicted her neighbours, and to which I believe they themselves,
+having inherited English institutions and being imbued with the spirit
+of English law, will always in the end rise superior. Great
+responsibility, therefore, rests in the first instance upon the people
+of Canada, who must select the best and purest among them to serve the
+country, and, secondly, upon the men whom the legislature chooses to
+discharge the trust of carrying on the government. No system of
+government or of laws can of itself make a people virtuous and happy
+unless their rulers recognize in the fullest sense their obligations
+to the state and exercise their powers with prudence and
+unselfishness, and endeavour to elevate and not degrade public opinion
+by the insidious acts and methods of the lowest political ethics. A
+constitution may be as perfect as human agencies can make it, and yet
+be relatively worthless while the large responsibilities and powers
+entrusted to the governing body--responsibilities and powers not
+embodied in acts of parliament--are forgotten in view of party
+triumph, personal ambition, or pecuniary gain. "The laws," says Burke,
+"reach but a very little way. Constitute government how you please,
+infinitely the greater part of it must depend upon the exercise of the
+powers which are left at large to the prudence and uprightness of
+ministers of state. Even all the use and potency of the laws depend
+upon them. Without them your commonwealth is no better than a scheme
+upon paper, and not a living, active, effective organization."
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
+
+
+For accounts of the whole career of Lord Elgin see _Letters and
+Journals of James, Eighth, Earl of Elgin_, etc., edited by Theodore
+Walrond, C.B., with a preface by his brother-in-law, Dean Stanley
+(London 2nd. ed., 1873); for China mission, _Narrative of the Earl of
+Elgin's Mission to China and Japan_ by Lawrence Oliphant, his private
+secretary (Edinburgh, 1869); for the brief Indian administration, _The
+Friend of India_ for 1862-63. Consult also article in vol. 8 of
+_Encyclopaedia Britannica_, 9th ed.; John Charles Dent's _Canadian
+Portrait Gallery_ (Toronto, 1880), vol. 2, which also contains a
+portrait; W.J. Rattray's _The Scot in British North America_ (Toronto,
+1880) vol. 2, pp. 608-641.
+
+For an historical review of Lord Elgin's administration in Canada, see
+J.C. Dent's _The Last Forty Years, or Canada since the Union of 1841_
+(Toronto, 1881), chapters XXIII-XXXIV inclusive, with a portrait;
+Louis P. Turcotte's _Le Canada Sous l'Union_ (Quebec, 1871), chapters
+I-IV, inclusive; Sir Francis Hincks's _Reminiscences of His Public
+Life_ (Montreal, 1884) with a portrait of the author; Joseph Pope's
+_Memoirs of the Rt. Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald, G.C.B._ (Ottawa and
+London, 1894), with portraits of the great statesman, vol. 1, chapters
+IV-VI inclusive; Lord Grey's _Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's
+Administration_ (London, 2nd ed., 1853), vol. 1; Sir C.B. Adderley's
+_Review of the Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's Administration,
+by Earl Grey, and Subsequent Colonial History_ (London, 1869).
+
+For accounts of the evolution of responsible government in Canada
+consult the works by Dent, Turcotte, Rattray, Hincks, Grey and
+Adderley, just mentioned; Lord Durham's _Report on the Affairs of
+British North America_, submitted to parliament, 1839; Dr. Alpheus
+Todd's _Parliamentary Government in The British Colonies_ (2nd ed.
+London, 1894); Bourinot's _Manual of the Constitutional History of
+Canada_ (Toronto, 1901); his _Canada under British Rule_ (London and
+Toronto, 1901), chapters VI-VIII inclusive; _Memoir of the Life of the
+Rt. Hon. Lord Sydenham, etc._, by his brother G. Poulett Scrope, M.P.,
+(London, 1843), with a portrait of that nobleman; _Life and
+Correspondence of Charles Lord Metcalfe_, by J.W. Kaye (London, new
+ed., 1858).
+
+For comparisons between the parliamentary government of Great Britain
+or Canada, and the congressional system of the United States, see
+Walter Bagehot's _English Constitution_ and other political essays
+(New York, 1889); Woodrow Wilson's _Congressional Government_ (Boston,
+1885); Dr. James Bryce's _American Commonwealth_ (London, 1888);
+Bourinot's _Canadian Studies in Comparative Politics_, in _Trans. Roy.
+Soc. Can._, vol. VIII, sec. 2 (old ser.), and in separate form
+(Montreal, 1891). Other books and essays on the same subject are noted
+in a bibliography given in _Trans. Roy. Soc. Can._, vol. XI, old ser.,
+sec. 2, as an appendix to an article by Sir J.G. Bourinot on
+Parliamentary Government in Canada.
+
+The reader may also profitably consult the interesting series of
+sketches (with excellent portraits) of the lives of Sir Francis
+Hincks, Sir A. MacNab, Sir L.H. LaFontaine, R. Baldwin, Bishop
+Strachan, L.J. Papineau, John Sandfield Macdonald, Antoine A. Dorion,
+Sir John A. Macdonald, George Brown, Sir E.P. Tache, P.J.O. Chauveau,
+and of other men notable from 1847-1854, in the _Portraits of British
+Americans_ (Montreal 1865-67), by J. Fennings Taylor, who was deputy
+clerk of the old legislative council, and later of the senate of
+Canada, and a contemporary of the eminent men whose careers he briefly
+and graphically describes. Consult also Dent's _Canadian Portrait
+Gallery_, which has numerous portraits.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+A
+
+Amnesty Act, 91.
+
+Annexation manifesto, 80, 81.
+
+Annexation sentiment, the, caused by lack of prosperity and political
+  grievances, 191 f.
+
+Archambault, L., 186.
+
+Aylwin, Hon. I.C., 45, 50, 53, 187.
+
+
+
+B
+
+Badgley, Judge, 187.
+
+Bagehot,
+  on public interest in politics, 250, 251;
+  on the disadvantage of the presidential system, 253, 254.
+
+Bagot, Sir Charles, favourable to French Canadians, 30; 31.
+
+Baldwin, Hon. Robert, 28;
+  aims of, 31, 45, 50, 51;
+  forms a government with LaFontaine, 52;
+  his measure to create the university of Toronto, 93, 94;
+  resigns office, 103;
+  death of, 104;
+  views on the clergy reserves, 160, 162.
+
+Blake, Hon. W.H., 50, 53, 69.
+
+Boulton, John, 123.
+
+Bowen, Judge, 187.
+
+Brown, Hon. George, 110;
+  editor of _Globe_, 111;
+  raises the cry of French domination, leads the clear Grits, 112;
+  enters parliament, 113;
+  his power, 114;
+  urges representation by population, 117; 125, 137, 138;
+  his part in confederation, 225.
+
+Bryce, Rt. Hon. James, on the disadvantages of congressional
+  government, 255-257.
+
+Buchanan, Mr., his tribute to Lord Elgin, 123, 124.
+
+
+
+C
+
+Cameron, John Hillyard, 50, 112.
+
+Cameron, Malcolm, 50, 53, 110, 113, 117, 126, 134, 163.
+
+Canada Company, 145.
+
+Canada,
+  early political conditions in, 17-40;
+  difficulties connected with responsible government in, 26;
+  the principles of responsible government, 228;
+  a comparison of her political system with that of the United States,
+    241 f.
+
+Canning, Earl, 217.
+
+Caron, Hon. R.E., 43, 53, 109, 113, 126, 187.
+
+Cartier, Georges Etienne, 135, 136, 226.
+
+Cathcart, Lord, succeeds Lord Metcalfe as governor-general, 38.
+
+Cauchon, 126, 164.
+
+Cayley, Hon. W., 140, 163.
+
+Chabot, Hon. J., 126, 141, 164, 186.
+
+Chaderton, 48.
+
+Chauveau, P.J.O., 46, 50, 109, 113, 126, 141, 164.
+
+Christie, David, 110.
+
+Church of England, its claims under the Constitutional Act., 145, 150
+  f.
+
+Church Presbyterian, its successful contention, 153.
+
+Clergy Reserves, 101, 102, 103, 119, 127;
+  secularization of, 142;
+  the history of, 143, f.;
+  report of select committee on, 147;
+  Imperial act passed, 158, 159;
+  its repeal urged, 161;
+  value of the reserves, 161-162;
+  full powers granted the provincial legislature to vary or repeal the
+    act of 1840, 167;
+  important bill introduced by Sir John A. Macdonald, 168.
+
+Colborne, Sir John,
+  his action on the land question, 154;
+  the Colborne patents attacked and upheld, 155, 156.
+
+Company of the West Indies, 175.
+
+Craig, Sir James, 1, 19.
+
+
+
+D
+
+Daly, Dominick, 35.
+
+Day, Judge, 187.
+
+Delagrave, C., 187.
+
+Denslow, Prof., 254.
+
+Derby, Lord, his views of colonial development, 121.
+
+Dessaules, 108.
+
+Dorchester, Lord, 1.
+
+Dorion, A.A., 108, 134.
+
+Dorion, J.B.E., 108.
+
+Doutre, R., 108.
+
+Draper, Hon. Mr.,
+  forms a ministry, 35;
+  retires from the ministry, 43.
+
+Draper-Viger ministry,
+  its weakness 44,
+  some important measures, 45;
+  commission appointed by, 64.
+
+Drummond, L.P., 109, 113, 126, 141;
+  his action on the question of seigniorial tenure, 186.
+
+Dumas, N., 186.
+
+Durham, Lord, 2, 14;
+  his report, 15, 23, 25;
+  compared with Elgin, 15;
+  his views on the land question, 144, 145, 148, 154, 155;
+  his views on Canada after the rebellion, 191;
+  his suggestions of remedy, 192, 193.
+
+Duval, Judge, 187.
+
+
+
+E
+
+Educational Reform, 87-89.
+
+Elgin, Lord,
+  his qualities, 3-4;
+  conditions in Canada on his arrival, on his departure, birth and
+    family descent, 5;
+  his parentage, 6;
+  his contemporaries at Eton and Oxford, estimate of,
+    by Gladstone, 7;
+    by his brother, 7-8;
+  enters parliament, his political views, 8;
+  appointed governor of Jamaica, death of his wife, 9;
+  mediates between the colonial office and the Jamaica legislature,
+   12;
+  resigns governorship of Jamaica, returns to England, 13;
+  accepts governor-generalship of Canada, marriage with Lady Mary
+    Louisa Lambton, 14;
+  compared with Lord Durham, 15;
+  creates a favourable impression, recognizes the principle of
+    responsible government, 41;
+  appeals for reimbursement of plague expenses, 48;
+  visits Upper Canada, 49;
+  comments on LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry, 52-53;
+  correspondence with Lord Grey, 55;
+  hostility to Papinean, 56;
+  on the rights of French Canadians, 55-56;
+  his commercial views, 57-60;
+  his course on Rebellion Losses bill, 71-78;
+  attacked by mob, 74;
+  his course sustained by the imperial parliament, 78;
+  visits Upper Canada, 79;
+  raised to the British peerage, 80;
+  his condemnation of annexation manifesto, 81;
+  refers to causes of depressions and irritations, 82;
+  urges reciprocity with United States, urges repeal of navigation
+    laws, 82;
+  his views on education, 88-89;
+  his views on increased representation, 118-119;
+  his views on the Upper House, 120;
+  visits England, 123;
+  tribute from United States minister, 123-124;
+  visits Washington and negotiates reciprocity treaty, 124;
+  advises repeal of the imperial act of 1840, 164, 165;
+  his efforts against annexation, 189-190, 194, 195;
+  his labours for reciprocity, 196;
+  visits the United States, 197;
+  receives an address on the eve of his departure, 203;
+  his reply, 204-205;
+  his last speech in Quebec, 205-208;
+  returns to England, 209;
+  his views on self-defence, 209-212;
+  accepts a mission to China, 212;
+  his action during the Indian mutiny, 213;
+  negotiates the treaty of Tientsin, 214;
+  visits Japan officially, 214;
+  negotiates the treaty of Yeddo, 214;
+  returns to England, 215;
+  becomes postmaster-general under Palmerston, 215;
+  becomes Lord Rector of Glasgow University, 215;
+  returns to China as Ambassador Extraordinary, 215;
+  becomes governor-general of India, 216;
+  tour in northern India, 218;
+  holds Durbar at Agra, 218;
+  Uahabee outbreak, 218;
+  illness and death, 219;
+  views on imperial honours, 222;
+  on British connection, 229, 231;
+  views on the power of his office, 231-232;
+  beneficial results of his policy, 233, 235;
+  on the disadvantages of the United States political system, 257,
+    258.
+
+
+
+F
+
+Feudal System, the, in Canada, 172, f.
+
+Free Trade,
+  protest against, from Canada, 39, 45;
+  effects of, on Canada, 57-58.
+
+French Canadians,
+  resent the Union Act, 23, 24;
+  resent portions of Lord Durham's report, 23;
+  increase of their influence, 31.
+
+
+
+G
+
+Garneau, 123.
+
+Gavazzi Riots, the, 125.
+
+Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W.E., his opinion of Lord Elgin, 7; 78.
+
+Gore, Lieut.-Governor, 146.
+
+Gourlay, Robert, 147.
+
+Grey, Lord, colonial secretary, 13; 36, 77;
+  views on clergy reserves, 165.
+
+
+
+H
+
+Haldimand, Governor, 97.
+
+Head, Sir Francis Bond, 1, 22.
+
+Hincks, Sir Francis, appointed inspector-general, 31; 38, 50, 53, 100,
+  101;
+  views and qualities of 107,
+  forms a ministry, 107; 112, 113, 126, 127, 128, 133, 134, 135, 136;
+  becomes a member of the Liberal--Conservative ministry, 140, 141;
+  views on the clergy reserves, 163, 165, 166, 196;
+  appointed governor of Barbadoes and Windward Isles, appointed
+  governor of British Guiana, 220, 222;
+  receives Commandership of the Bath, 222;
+  retirement, 222;
+  receives knighthood 222;
+  becomes finance minister, 223;
+  final retirement, 223;
+  his character and closing years, 223-224.
+
+Hincks-Morin, ministry formed, 108;
+  its members, 113;
+  its chief measures, 114-120;
+  reconstructed, 125-126;
+  dissolves, 131;
+  resigns, 136.
+
+Holmes, 50.
+
+Holton, L.H., 108, 134.
+
+Hopkins, Caleb, 110.
+
+Howe, Joseph,
+  his assertion of loyalty, 22, 51, 92, 101;
+  on imperial honours and offices, 221;
+  appointed lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, 221.
+
+Hudon, Vicar-General, 48.
+
+Hundred Associates, 175.
+
+
+
+I
+
+Immigrants, Irish,
+  measures to relieve, 46-47;
+  bring plague to Canada, 47-48.
+
+Imperial Act, authorizes increased representation, 122.
+
+
+
+J
+
+Jamaica, Lord Elgin, governor of, 9-13.
+
+Jameson, Mrs., her comparison of Canada and the United States,
+  191-192.
+
+Judah, H., 186.
+
+
+
+L
+
+Labreche, 108.
+
+LaTerriere, 164.
+
+Laflamme, 108.
+
+LaFontaine-Baldwin cabinet, 1842, 31;
+  resignation of, 35;
+  the second government, its members, 53;
+  its importance, 54;
+  dissolved, 85;
+  some of its important measures, 85-103.
+
+LaFontaine, Hon. Hippolyte,
+  and the Union Act, 24;
+  aims of, 32, 44, 45, 50;
+  forms a government with Baldwin, 52;
+  his resolutions, 67-68;
+  attack upon his house, 76;
+  resigns office, 104;
+  becomes chief justice, receives baronetcy, his qualities, 105;
+  views on the clergy reserves, 162, 164;
+  conservative views on seigniorial tenure, 185; 187.
+
+Lebel, J.G., 187.
+
+Lelievre, S., 186.
+
+Leslie, Hon. James, 53.
+
+Leslie, John, 110.
+
+Liberal-Conservative Party, the, formed, 137.
+
+Lytton, Lord, his ideal of a governor, 4.
+
+
+
+M
+
+MacDonald, Rt. Hon. Sir John Alexander,
+  reveals his great political qualities, 43, 44, 50, 110, 114, 118,
+    127;
+  his argument on the Representation Bill, 132, 137, 139,140,163;
+  views on the clergy reserves, 163;
+  takes charge of the bill for secularization of the reserves, 168;
+  monuments to his memory, 225-226.
+
+Macdonald, John Sandfield, 50;
+  his rebuff to Lord Elgin, 127-129, 135.
+
+Mackenzie, William Lyon, 17;
+  leader of the radicals, 21; 22, 51;
+  returns to Canada, 91;
+  his qualities, 91-92; 103, 112, 127.
+
+MacNab, Sir Allan, 31, 50, 51, 68;
+  attitude on Rebellion Losses Bill, 75; 110, 137, 139;
+  becomes a member of the Liberal-Conservative ministry, 140;
+  his coalition ministry, 140; 141, 224.
+
+McDougall, Hon. William, 110.
+
+McGill, 45.
+
+Meredith, Judge, 187.
+
+Merritt, William Hamilton, 50, 97.
+
+Metcalf, Sir Charles,
+  succeeds Bagot as governor-general, 32;
+  his defects, 32, 33, 37;
+  breach with LaFontaine-Baldwin ministry, 34, 35;
+  created baron, death of, 37.
+
+Mills, Mayor, dies of plague, 48.
+
+Mondelet, Judge, 187.
+
+Montreal, ceases to be the seat of government, 78.
+
+Morin, A.N., 32, 43, 50, 51, 109, 113, 126, 127, 133, 140, 141;
+  favours secularization of the clergy reserves, 166; 187
+
+Morris, Hon. James, 113, 126.
+
+Morrison, Joseph C., 126.
+
+
+
+N
+
+Navigation laws, 38, 45;
+  repealed, 83.
+
+Nelson, Wolfred, 22, 50, 91.
+
+Newcastle, Duke of, secretary of state for the colonies, 167.
+
+
+
+O
+
+Ottawa, selected as the seat of government, later as the capital of
+  the Dominion, 79.
+
+
+P
+
+Pakington, Sir John, adverse to the colonial contention on the clergy
+  reserve question, 165, 167.
+
+Palmerston, Lord, 212, 213.
+
+Papineau, Denis B., 35, 44, 66.
+
+Papineau, Louis Joseph, 17;
+  aims of, 20, 21; 22;
+  influence of, 50, 51; 56, 66, 90, 91, 117;
+  his final defeat, 134.
+
+Peel, Sir Robert, 78.
+
+Price, Hon. J.H., 50, 53, 160, 161.
+
+Postal Reform, 85, 86.
+
+Power, Dr., 48.
+
+
+
+R
+
+Railway development,
+  under Baldwin and LaFontaine, 99-101;
+  under Hincks and Morin, 114-117.
+
+Rebellion Losses Bill,
+  history of, 63-78;
+  commission appointed by Draper-Viger ministry, 64;
+  report of commissioners, 65;
+  LaFontaine's resolutions, 67, 68;
+  new commission appointed, attacks on the measure, 68;
+  passage of measure, 70;
+  Lord Elgin's course, 71 f.;
+  serious results of, 73, 74; 203.
+
+Reciprocity treaty with United States,
+  urged by Lord Elgin, 82;
+  treaty ratified, 142;
+  signed, 198;
+  its provisions, 198-200;
+  beneficial results, 201;
+  repealed by the United States, 201;
+  results of the repeal, 202.
+
+Richards, Hon. W.B., 50, 113, 128.
+
+Richelieu, introduces feudal system into Canada, 175.
+
+Richmond, Duke of, 2.
+
+Robinson, Sir John Beverley, 105.
+
+Rolph, Dr. John, 110, 112, 113, 126, 136.
+
+Ross, Mr. Dunbar, 126, 141.
+
+Ross, Hon. John, 113, 126, 141.
+
+Roy, Mr. 48.
+
+Russell, Lord John, 26;
+  supports Metcalfe, 37; 78.
+
+Ryerson, Rev. Egerton,
+  defends Sir Charles Metcalfe, 36;
+  his educational services, 89, 90;
+  opposes Sydenham's measure, 157.
+
+
+
+S
+
+Saint Real M. Vallieres de, 31.
+
+Seigniorial Tenure, 101, 102, 119, 126, 142;
+  history of, 171 f.;
+  originates in the old feudal system, 171-174;
+  introduced by Richelieu into Canada, 175;
+  description of the system of tenure, 175 f;
+  judicial investigation by commission, 186, 187.
+
+Sherwood, Henry,
+  becomes head of ministry, 43;
+  defeat of Sherwood cabinet, 50, 68, 159.
+
+Short, Judge, 187.
+
+Sicotte, 126;
+  elected speaker, 135, 136.
+
+Simcoe, Lieutenant-Governor, 18.
+
+Smith, Henry, 141, 187.
+
+Spence, Hon. R., 140.
+
+Stanley, Lord, 9;
+  supports Metcalfe, 37.
+
+Strachan, Bishop,
+  established Trinity college, 95;
+  refuses compromise on land question, 150, 154, 159;
+  meets with defeat, 169.
+
+Sullivan, Hon. R.B., 53.
+
+Sydenham, Lord,
+  appointed governor-general to complete the union and establish
+    responsible government, 26-29;
+  qualities of, 29;
+  death of, 30;
+  his canal policy, 96-99;
+  his action on the land question, 156, 157.
+
+
+
+T
+
+Tache, Hon. E.P., 53, 109, 113, 126.
+
+Trinity College, established, 95.
+
+Turcotte, J.G., 186.
+
+
+
+U
+
+Union Act of 1840,
+  its provisions, 22, 23;
+  restrictions concerning use of French language removed, 61, 117;
+  clauses respecting the Upper House repealed, 120.
+
+United States, comparison of their political system with that of
+  Canada, 241, ff.
+
+University of Toronto, created from King's College, 94.
+
+
+
+V
+
+Vanfelson, Judge, 187.
+
+Varin, J.B., 187.
+
+Viger, Hon. L.M., forms a ministry, 35, 53, 66, 108.
+
+
+
+W
+
+Waldron, Mr., 215.
+
+White, Thos., 139.
+
+Winter, P., 187.
+
+Woodrow, Wilson, on the United States system, 252;
+  on political irresponsibility, 254, 255.
+
+
+
+Y
+
+Young, Hon. John, 113, 126.
+
+
+
+
+NOTES
+
+
+[1: He was bitten by a tame fox and died of hydrophobia at Richmond,
+in the present county of Carleton, Ontario.]
+
+[2: "Letters and Journals of James, eighth Earl of Elgin, etc." Edited
+by Theodore Waldron, C.B. For fuller references to works consulted in
+the writing of this short history, see _Bibliographical Notes_ at the
+end of this book.]
+
+[3: Lady Elma, who married, in 1864, Thomas John
+Howell-Thurlow-Camming Bruce, who was attached to the staff of Lord
+Elgin in his later career in China and India, etc., and became Baron
+Thurlow on the death of his brother in 1874. See "Debrett's Peerage."]
+
+[4: "The Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's Administration," by
+Earl Grey, London, 1857. See Vol. I, p. 205.]
+
+[5: The "Life and Correspondence of Charles, Lord Metcalfe," by John
+W. Kaye, London, 1858.]
+
+[6: "Reminiscences of his public life," by Sir Francis Hincks,
+K.C.M.G., C.B., Montreal, 1884]
+
+[7: See "McMullen's History of Canada," Vol. II (2nd Ed.), p. 201.]
+
+[8: These concluding words of Lord Elgin recall a similar expression
+of feeling by Sir Etienne Pascal Tache, "That the last gun that would
+be fired for British supremacy in America would be fired by a French
+Canadian."]
+
+[9: Fifty years after these words were written, debates have taken
+place in the House of Commons of the Canadian federation in favour of
+an imperial Zollverein, which would give preferential treatment to
+Canada's products in British markets. The Conservative party, when led
+by Sir Charles Tupper, emphatically declared that "no measure of
+preference, which falls short of the complete realization of such a
+policy, should be considered final or satisfactory." England, however,
+still clings to free trade.]
+
+[10: The father of the Hon. Edward Blake, the eminent constitutional
+lawyer, who occupied for many years a notable place in Canadian
+politics, and is now (1902) a member of the British House of Commons.]
+
+[11: See her "Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada."
+London, 1838.]
+
+[12: "I am inclined," wrote Lord Durham, "to view the insurrectionary
+movements which did take place as indicative of no deep-rooted
+disaffection, and to believe that almost the entire body of the
+reformers of this province sought only by constitutional means to
+attain those objects for which they had so long peaceably struggled
+before the unhappy troubles occasioned by the violence of a few
+unprincipled adventurers and heated enthusiasts."]
+
+[13: For a succinct history of this road see "Eighty Years' Progress
+or British North America," Toronto, 1863.]
+
+[14: "Portraits of British Americans," Montreal, 1865, vol. 1., pp.
+99-100. See Bourinot's "Parliamentary Procedure," p. 573_n_. The last
+occasion on which a Canadian speaker exercised this old privilege was
+in 1869, and then Mr. Cockburn made only a very brief reference to the
+measures of the session.]
+
+[15: It was not until 1874 when Mr. Alexander Mackenzie was first
+minister of a Liberal government that simultaneous polling at a
+general election was required by law, but it had existed some years
+previously in Nova Scotia.]
+
+[16: See "The Last Forty Years, or Canada Since the Union of 1841," by
+John Charles Dent, Toronto, 1881, vol. II., p. 309. Mr. White became
+Minister of the Interior in Sir John Macdonald's government (1885-88)
+but died suddenly in the midst of a most active and useful
+administrative career.]
+
+[17: See remarks of Dr. Kingsford in his "History of Canada" (vol.
+VII., pp. 266-273), showing how unjust was the clamour raised by the
+enemies of the church in New England when a movement was in progress
+for the establishment of a colonial episcopate simply for purposes of
+ordination and church government.]
+
+[18: A clause of the act of 1791 provided that the sovereign might, if
+he thought fit, annex hereditary titles of honour to the right of
+being summoned to the legislative council in either province, but no
+titles were ever conferred under the authority of this imperial
+statute.]
+
+[19: Thirteen other patents were left unsigned by the
+lieutenant-governor and consequently had no legal force.]
+
+[20: "Memoirs of the Life of the Right Honourable Charles Lord
+Sydenham, G.C.B.," edited by his brother G. Poulett-Scrope, M.P.;
+London, 1843.]
+
+[21: Sir Francis Hincks's "Reminiscences of his Public Life," p. 283.]
+
+[22: See on these points an excellent article on the feudal system of
+Canada in the _Queen's Quarterly_ (Kingston, January, 1899) by Dr. W.
+Bennett Munro. Also _Droit de banalite_, by the same, in the report of
+the Am. Hist Ass., Washington, for 1899, Vol. I.]
+
+[23: "Spencerwood," the governor's private residence.]
+
+[24: See article on Lord Elgin in "Encyclopaedia Britannica" (9th ed.),
+Vol. VIII., p. 132.]
+
+[25: In the "North British Review," quoted by Waldron, pp. 458-461.]
+
+[26: Lord Elgin's eldest son (9th Earl) Victor Alexander Brace, who
+was born in 1849, at Monklands, near Montreal, was Viceroy of India
+1894-9. See Debrett's Peerage, arts. Elgin and Thurton for particulars
+of Lord Elgin's family.]
+
+[27: See Mr. Howe's eloquent speeches on the organization of the
+empire, in his "Speeches and Public Letters," (Boston, 1859), vol.
+II., pp. 175-207.]
+
+[28: See on this subject Todd's "Parliamentary Government in the
+British Colonies," pp. 313-329.]
+
+[29: See Todd's "Parliamentary Government in England," vol. II., p.
+101.]
+
+[30: He was speaker of the House of Representatives from 1895 to
+1899.]
+
+[31: "Congressional Government," pp. 301, 332.]
+
+[32:"The English Constitution," pp. 95, 96.]
+
+[33: In the _International Review_, March, 1877.]
+
+[34: "Congressional Government," p. 94.]
+
+[35: "The American Commonwealth," I., 210 et seq.]
+
+[36: Ibid., pp. 304, 305]
+
+[37: ibid., Chap. 95, vol. III.]
+
+[38: "Commentaries," sec. 869.]
+
+[39: See Story's "Commentaries," sec. 869.]
+
+
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