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Title: Canada under British Rule 1760-1900
Author: John G. Bourinot
Release Date: June 19, 2004 [eBook #12661]
Language: English
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CANADA UNDER BRITISH RULE
1760-1900***
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CANADA UNDER BRITISH RULE 1760-1900
BY
SIR JOHN G. BOURINOT, K.C.M.G., LL.D., LITT.D.
Author of 'Parliamentary Procedure and Practice', 'Constitutional
History of Canada,' 'The Story of Canada,' etc
WITH EIGHT MAPS
1900
CAMBRIDGE HISTORICAL SERIES
EDITED BY G. W. PROTHERO, LITT.D., LL.D.
Honorary Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and Late Professor of
History in the University of Edinburgh.
GENERAL PREFACE.
The aim of this series is to sketch the history of Modern Europe, with
that of its chief colonies and conquests, from about the end of the
fifteenth century down to the present time. In one or two cases the
story commences at an earlier date: in the case of the colonies it
generally begins later. The histories of the different countries are
described, as a rule, separately, for it is believed that, except in
epochs like that of the French Revolution and Napoleon I, the connection
of events will thus be better understood and the continuity of
historical development more clearly displayed.
The series is intended for the use of all persons anxious to understand
the nature of existing political conditions. "The roots of the present
lie deep in the past"; and the real significance of contemporary events
cannot be grasped unless the historical causes which have led to them
are known. The plan adopted makes it possible to treat the history of
the last four centuries in considerable detail, and to embody the most
important results of modern research. It is hoped therefore that the
series will be useful not only to beginners but to students who have
already acquired some general knowledge of European History. For those
who wish to carry their studies further, the bibliography appended to
each volume will act as a guide to original sources of information and
works more detailed and authoritative.
Considerable attention is paid to political geography, and each volume
is furnished with such maps and plans as may be requisite for the
illustration of the text.
G.W. PROTHERO.
PREFACE.
I devote the first chapter of this short history to a brief review of
the colonisation of the valley of the St. Lawrence by the French, and of
their political and social conditions at the Conquest, so that a reader
may be able to compare their weak and impoverished state under the
repressive dominion of France with the prosperous and influential
position they eventually attained under the liberal methods of British
rule. In the succeeding chapters I have dwelt on those important events
which have had the largest influence on the political development of the
several provinces as British possessions.
We have, first, the Quebec Act, which gave permanent guarantees for the
establishment of the Church of Rome and the maintenance of the language
and civil law of France in her old colony. Next, we read of the coming
of the United Empire Loyalists, and the consequent establishment of
British institutions on a stable basis of loyal devotion to the parent
state. Then ensued the war of 1812, to bind the provinces more closely
to Great Britain, and create that national spirit which is the natural
outcome of patriotic endeavour and individual self-sacrifice. Then
followed for several decades a persistent popular struggle for larger
political liberty, which was not successful until British statesmen
awoke at last from their indifference, on the outbreak of a rebellion in
the Canadas, and recognised the necessity of adopting a more liberal
policy towards their North American dependencies. The union of the
Canadas was succeeded by the concession of responsible government and
the complete acknowledgment of the rights of the colonists to manage
their provincial affairs without the constant interference of British
officials. With this extension of political privileges, the people
became still more ambitious, and established a confederation, which has
not only had the effect of supplying a remarkable stimulus to their
political, social and material development, but has given greater
security to British interests on the continent of North America. At
particular points of the historical narrative I have dwelt for a space
on economic, social, and intellectual conditions, so that the reader may
intelligently follow every phase to the development of the people from
the close of the French régime to the beginning of the twentieth century
In my summary of the most important political events for the last
twenty-five years, I have avoided all comment on matters which are "as
yet"--to quote the language of the epilogue to Mr. Green's "Short
History"--"too near to us to admit of a cool and purely historical
treatment." The closing chapter is a short review of the relations
between Canada and the United States since the treaty of 1783--so
conducive to international disputes concerning boundaries and fishing
rights--until the present time, when the Alaskan and other international
controversies are demanding adjustment.
I have thought, too, that it would be useful to students of political
institutions to give in the appendix comparisons between the leading
provisions of the federal systems of the Dominion of Canada and the
Commonwealth of Australia. I must add that, in the revision of the
historical narrative, I have been much aided by the judicious criticism
and apt suggestions of the Editor of the Series, Dr. Prothero.
HOUSE OF COMMONS, OTTAWA, CANADA. 1st October, 1900
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE FRENCH RÉGIME (1534--1760)
Section 1. Introduction
Section 2. Discovery and Settlement of Canada by France
Section 3. French exploration in the valleys of North America
Section 4. End of French Dominion in the valley of the St. Lawrence
Section 5. Political, Economic, and Social Conditions of Canada
during French Rule
CHAPTER II.
BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH RULE (1749--1774)
Section 1. From the Conquest until the Quebec Act
Section 2. The Foundation of Nova Scotia (1749--1783)
CHAPTER III.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS (1763--1784)
Section 1. The successful Revolution of the Thirteen Colonies in America
Section 2. Canada and Nova Scotia during the Revolution.
Section 3. The United Empire Loyalists
CHAPTER IV.
DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS (1784-1812)
Section 1. Beginnings of the Provinces of New Brunswick, Lower Canada
and Upper Canada.
Section 2. Twenty years of Political Development. (1792-1812)
CHAPTER V.
THE WAR OF 1812-1815
Section 1. Origin of the war between Great Britain and the United States
Section 2. Canada during the War
CHAPTER VI.
THE EVOLUTION OF RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT (1815-1839)
Section 1. The Rebellion in Lower Canada
Section 2. The Rebellion in Upper Canada
Section 3. Social and Economic Conditions of the Provinces in 1838
CHAPTER VII.
A NEW ERA OF COLONIAL GOVERNMENT (1839-1867)
Section 1. The Union of the Canadas and the establishment of Responsible
Government
Section 2. Results of Self-government from 1841 to 1864
CHAPTER VIII.
THE EVOLUTION OF CONFEDERATION (1789-1867)
Section 1. The beginnings of Confederation
Section 2. The Quebec Convention of 1864
Section 3. Confederation accomplished
CHAPTER IX.
CONFEDERATION (1867--1900)
Section 1. The First Parliament of the Dominion of Canada (1867--1873)
Section 2. Extension of the Dominion from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Ocean (1869--1873)
Section 3. Summary of Noteworthy Events from 1873 until 1900
Section 4. Political and Social Conditions of Canada under Confederation
CHAPTER X.
CANADA'S RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES AND HER INFLUENCE IN IMPERIAL
COUNCILS (1783--1900)
APPENDIX A: COMPARISONS BETWEEN CONSTITUTIONS OF THE CANADIAN DOMINION
AND AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH.
APPENDIX B: BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
INDEX
PLANS AND MAPS.
Map showing Boundary between Canada and the United States by Treaty of
1783.
Map of British America to illustrate the Charter of the Hudson's Bay
Company.
International Boundary as finally established in 1842 at Lake of the
Woods.
Map of the North-Eastern Boundary as established in 1842.
Map of British Columbia and Yukon District showing disputed Boundary
between Canada and the United States.
France, Spain, and Great Britain, in North America, 1756--1760.
Outline map of British Possessions in North America, 1763--1775.
Map of the Dominion of Canada illustrating the boundaries of Provinces
and Provisional Districts.
A SHORT HISTORY OF CANADA UNDER BRITISH RULE.
CHAPTER I.
THE FRENCH RÉGIME. 1534--1760.
SECTION I.--Introduction.
Though the principal object of this book is to review the political,
economic and social progress of the provinces of Canada under British
rule, yet it would be necessarily imperfect, and even unintelligible in
certain important respects, were I to ignore the deeply interesting
history of the sixteen hundred thousand French Canadians, about thirty
per cent of the total population of the Dominion. To apply to Canada an
aphorism of Carlyle, "The present is the living sum-total of the whole
past"; the sum-total not simply of the hundred and thirty years that
have elapsed since the commencement of British dominion, but primarily
of the century and a half that began with the coming of Champlain to the
heights of Quebec and ended with the death of Wolfe on the Plains of
Abraham. The soldiers and sailors, the missionaries and pioneers of
France, speak to us in eloquent tones, whether we linger in summer time
on the shores of the noble gulf which washes the eastern portals of
Canada; whether we ascend the St. Lawrence River and follow the route
taken by the explorers, who discovered the great lakes, and gave to the
world a knowledge of the West and the Mississippi, whether we walk on
the grassy mounds that recall the ruins of the formidable fortress of
Louisbourg, which once defended the eastern entrance to the St.
Lawrence; whether we linger on the rocks of the ancient city of Quebec
with its many memorials of the French régime; whether we travel over the
rich prairies with their sluggish, tortuous rivers, and memories of the
French Canadians who first found their way to that illimitable region.
In fact, Canada has a rich heritage of associations that connect us with
some of the most momentous epochs of the world's history. The victories
of Louisbourg and Quebec belong to the same series of brilliant events
that recall the famous names of Chatham, Clive, and Wolfe, and that gave
to England a mighty empire in Asia and America. Wolfe's signal victory
on the heights of the ancient capital was the prelude to the great drama
of the American revolution. Freed from the fear of France, the people of
the Thirteen Colonies, so long hemmed in between the Atlantic Ocean and
the Appalachian range, found full expression for their love of local
self-government when England asserted her imperial supremacy. After a
struggle of a few years they succeeded in laying the foundation of the
remarkable federal republic, which now embraces forty-five states with a
population of already seventy-five millions of souls, which owes its
national stability and prosperity to the energy and enterprise of the
Anglo-Norman race and the dominant influence of the common law, and the
parliamentary institutions of England. At the same time, the American
Revolution had an immediate and powerful effect upon the future of the
communities that still remained in the possession of England after the
acknowledgement of the independence of her old colonies. It drove to
Canada a large body of men and women, who remained faithful to the crown
and empire and became founders of provinces which are now comprised in a
Dominion extending for over three thousand miles to the north and east
of the federal republic.
The short review of the French régime, with which I am about to
commence this history of Canada, will not give any evidence of
political, economic, or intellectual development under the influence of
French dominion, but it is interesting to the student of comparative
politics on account of the comparisons which it enables us to make
between the absolutism of old France which crushed every semblance of
independent thought and action, and the political freedom which has been
a consequence of the supremacy of England in the province once occupied
by her ancient rival. It is quite true, as Professor Freeman has said,
that in Canada, which is pre-eminently English in the development of its
political institutions, French Canada is still "a distinct and visible
element, which is not English,--an element older than anything English
in the land,--and which shows no sign of being likely to be assimilated
by anything English." As this book will show, though a hundred and forty
years have nearly passed since the signing of the treaty of Paris, many
of the institutions which the French Canadians inherited from France
have become permanently established in the country, and we see
constantly in the various political systems given to Canada from time to
time--notably in the constitution of the federal union--the impress of
these institutions and the influence of the people of the French
section. Still, while the French Canadians by their adherence to their
language, civil law and religion are decidedly "a distinct and visible
element which is not English"--an element kept apart from the English by
positive legal and constitutional guarantees or barriers of
separation,--we shall see that it is the influence and operation of
English institutions, which have made their province one of the most
contented communities of the world. While their old institutions are
inseparably associated with the social and spiritual conditions of their
daily lives, it is after all their political constitution, which derives
its strength from English, principles, that has made the French
Canadians a free, self-governing people and developed the best elements
of their character to a degree which was never possible under the
depressing and enfeebling conditions of the French régime.
SECTION 2.--Discovery and settlement of Canada by France.
Much learning has been devoted to the elucidation of the Icelandic
Sagas, or vague accounts of voyages which Bjorne Heriulfson and Lief
Ericsson, sons of the first Norse settlers of Greenland, are supposed to
have made at the end of the tenth century, to the eastern parts of what
is now British North America, and, in the opinion of some writers, even
as far as the shores of New England. It is just possible that such
voyages were made, and that Norsemen were the first Europeans who saw
the eastern shores of Canada. It is quite certain, however, that no
permanent settlements were made by the Norsemen in any part of these
countries; and their voyages do not appear to have been known to
Columbus or other maritime adventurers of later times, when the veil of
mystery was at last lifted from the western limits of what was so long
truly described as the "sea of darkness." While the subject is
undoubtedly full of interest, it is at the same time as illusive as the
_fata morgana_, or the lakes and rivers that are created by the mists of
a summer's eve on the great prairies of the Canadian west.
Five centuries later than the Norse voyagers, there appeared on the
great field of western exploration an Italian sailor, Giovanni Caboto,
through whose agency England took the first step in the direction of
that remarkable maritime enterprise which, in later centuries, was to be
the admiration and envy of all other nations. John Cabot was a Genoese
by birth and a Venetian citizen by adoption, who came during the last
decade of the fifteenth century, to the historic town of Bristol.
Eventually he obtain from Henry VII letters-patent, granting to himself
and his three sons, Louis, Sebastian, and Sancio, the right, "at their
own cost and charges, to seek out and discover unknown lands," and to
acquire for England the dominion over the countries they might discover.
Early in May, 1497, John Cabot sailed from Bristol in "The Matthew,"
manned by English sailors. In all probability he was accompanied by
Sebastian, then about 21 years of age, who, in later times, through the
credulity of his friends and his own garrulity and vanity, took that
place in the estimation of the world which his father now rightly fills.
Some time toward the end of June, they made a land-fall on the
north-eastern coast of North America. The actual site of the land-fall
will always be a matter of controversy unless some document is found
among musty archives of Europe to solve the question to the satisfaction
of the disputants, who wax hot over the claims of a point near Cape
Chidley on the coast of Labrador, of Bonavista, on the east shore of
Newfoundland, of Cape North, or some other point, on the island of Cape
Breton. Another expedition left Bristol in 1498, but while it is now
generally believed that Cabot coasted the shores of North America from
Labrador or Cape Breton as far as Cape Hatteras, we have no details of
this famous voyage, and are even ignorant of the date when the fleet
returned to England.
The Portuguese, Gaspar and Miguel Cortereal, in the beginning of the
sixteenth century, were lost somewhere on the coast of Labrador or
Newfoundland, but not before they gave to their country a claim to new
lands. The Basques and Bretons, always noted for their love of the sea,
frequented the same prolific waters and some of the latter gave a name
to the picturesque island of Cape Breton. Giovanni da Verrazzano, a
Florentine by birth, who had for years led a roving life on the sea,
sailed in 1524 along the coasts of Nova Scotia and the present United
States and gave a shadowy claim of first discovery of a great region to
France under whose authority he sailed. Ten years later Jacques Cartier
of St. Malo was authorised by Francis I to undertake a voyage to these
new lands, but he did not venture beyond the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
though he took possession of the picturesque Gaspé peninsula in the name
of his royal master. In 1535 he made a second voyage, whose results were
most important for France and the world at large. The great river of
Canada was then discovered by the enterprising Breton, who established a
post for some months at Stadacona, now Quebec, and also visited the
Indian village of Hochelaga on the island of Montreal. Here he gave the
appropriate name of Mount Royal to the beautiful height which dominates
the picturesque country where enterprise has, in the course of
centuries, built a noble city. Hochelaga was probably inhabited by
Indians of the Huron-Iroquois family, who appear, from the best evidence
before us, to have been dwelling at that time on the banks of the St.
Lawrence, whilst the Algonquins, who took their place in later times,
were living to the north of the river.
The name of Canada--obviously the Huron-Iroquois word for Kannata, a
town--began to take a place on the maps soon after Cartier's voyages. It
appears from his _Bref Récit_ to have been applied at the time of his
visit, to a kingdom, or district, extending from Ile-aux-Coudres, which
he named on account of its hazel-nuts, on the lower St. Lawrence, to the
Kingdom of Ochelay, west of Stadacona; east of Canada was Saguenay, and
west of Ochelay was Hochelaga, to which the other communities were
tributary. After a winter of much misery Cartier left Stadacona in the
spring of 1536, and sailed into the Atlantic by the passage between Cape
Breton and Newfoundland, now appropriately called Cabot's Straits on
modern maps. He gave to France a positive claim to a great region, whose
illimitable wealth and possibilities were never fully appreciated by the
king and the people of France even in the later times of her dominion.
Francis, in 1540, gave a commission to Jean François de la Roque, Sieur
de Roberval, to act as his viceroy and lieutenant-general in the
country discovered by Cartier, who was elevated to the position of
captain general and master pilot of the new expedition. As the Viceroy
was unable to complete his arrangements by 1541, Cartier was obliged to
sail in advance, and again passed a winter on the St. Lawrence, not at
Stadacona but at Cap Rouge, a few miles to the west, where he built a
post which he named Charlesbourg-Royal. He appears to have returned to
France some time during the summer of 1542, while Roberval was on his
way to the St. Lawrence. Roberval found his way without his master pilot
to Charlesbourg-Royal, which he renamed France-Roy, and where he erected
buildings of a very substantial character in the hope of establishing a
permanent settlement. His selection of colonists--chiefly taken from
jails and purlieus of towns--was most unhappy, and after a bitter
experience he returned to France, probably in the autumn of 1543, and
disappeared from Canadian history.
From the date of Cartier's last voyage until the beginning of the
seventeenth century, a period of nearly sixty years, nothing was done to
settle the lands of the new continent. Fishermen alone continued to
frequent the great gulf, which was called for years the "Square gulf" or
"Golfo quadrado," or "Quarré," on some European maps, until it assumed,
by the end of the sixteenth century, the name it now bears. The name
Saint-Laurens was first given by Cartier to the harbour known as
Sainte-Geneviève (or sometimes Pillage Bay), on the northern shore of
Canada, and gradually extended to the gulf and river. The name of
Labrador, which was soon established on all maps, had its origin in the
fact that Gaspar Cortereal brought back with him a number of natives who
were considered to be "admirably calculated for labour."
In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the English began to take a prominent
part in that maritime enterprise which was to lead to such remarkable
results in the course of three centuries. The names of the ambitious
navigators, Frobisher and Davis, are connected with those arctic waters
where so much money, energy, and heroism have been expended down to the
present time. Under the influence of the great Ralegh, whose fertile
imagination was conceiving plans of colonization in America, Sir
Humphrey Gilbert, his brother-in-law, took possession of Newfoundland on
a hill overlooking the harbour of St. John's. English enterprise,
however, did not extend for many years to any other part of North
Eastern America than Newfoundland, which is styled Baccalaos on the
Hakluyt map of 1597, though the present name appeared from a very early
date in English statutes and records. The island, however, for a century
and longer, was practically little more than "a great ship moored near
the banks during the fishing season, for the convenience of English
fishermen," while English colonizing enterprise found a deeper interest
in Virginia with its more favourable climate and southern products. It
was England's great rival, France, that was the pioneer at the beginning
of the seventeenth century in the work of exploring, and settling the
countries now comprised within the Dominion of Canada.
France first attempted to settle the indefinite region, long known as
_La Cadie_ or _Acadie_[1]. The Sieur de Monts, Samuel Champlain, and the
Baron de Poutrincourt were the pioneers in the exploration of this
country. Their first post was erected on Dochet Island, within the mouth
of the St. Croix River, the present boundary between the state of Maine
and the province of New Brunswick; but this spot was very soon found
unsuitable, and the hopes of the pioneers were immediately turned
towards the beautiful basin, which was first named Port Royal by
Champlain. The Baron de Poutrincourt obtained a grant of land around
this basin, and determined to make his home in so beautiful a spot. De
Monts, whose charter was revoked in 1607, gave up the project of
colonizing Acadia, whose history from that time is associated for years
with the misfortunes of the Biencourts, the family name of Baron de
Poutrincourt; but the hopes of this adventurous nobleman were never
realized. In 1613 an English expedition from Virginia, under the command
of Captain Argall, destroyed the struggling settlement at Fort Royal,
and also prevented the establishment of a Jesuit mission on the island
of Monts-Déserts, which owes its name to Champlain. Acadia had
henceforth a checquered history, chiefly noted for feuds between rival
French leaders and for the efforts of the people of New England to
obtain possession of Acadia. Port Royal was captured in 1710 by General
Nicholson, at the head of an expedition composed of an English fleet and
the militia of New England. Then it received the name of Annapolis Royal
in honour of Queen Anne, and was formally ceded with all of Acadia
"according to its ancient limits" to England by the treaty of Utrecht.
[1: This name is now generally admitted to belong to the language of the
Micmac Indians of the Atlantic provinces. It means a place, or locality,
and is always associated with another word descriptive of some special
natural production; for instance, Shubenacadie, or Segubunakade, is the
place where the ground-nut, or Indian potato, grows. We find the first
official mention of the word in the commission given by Henry IV of
France to the Sieur de Monts in 1604.]
It was not in Acadia, but in the valley of the St. Lawrence, that France
made her great effort to establish her dominion in North America. Samuel
Champlain, the most famous man in the history of French Canada, laid the
foundation of the present city of Quebec in the month of June, 1608, or
three years after the removal of the little Acadian colony from St.
Croix Island to the basin of the Annapolis. The name Quebec is now
generally admitted to be an adaptation of an Indian word, meaning a
contraction of the river or strait, a distinguishing feature of the St.
Lawrence at this important point. The first buildings were constructed
by Champlain on a relatively level piece of ground, now occupied by a
market-house and close to a famous old church erected in the days of
Frontenac, in commemoration of the victorious repulse of the New England
expedition led by Phipps. For twenty-seven years Champlain struggled
against constantly accumulating difficulties to establish a colony on
the St. Lawrence. He won the confidence of the Algonquin and Huron tubes
of Canada, who then lived on the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers, and in
the vicinity of Georgian Bay. Recognizing the necessity of an alliance
with the Canadian Indians, who controlled all the principal avenues to
the great fur-bearing regions, he led two expeditions, composed of
Frenchmen, Hurons, and Algonquins, against the Iroquois or Confederacy
of the Five Nations[2]--the Mohawks, the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas,
and Senecas--who inhabited the fertile country stretching from the
Genesee to the Hudson River in the present state of New York. Champlain
consequently excited against his own people the inveterate hostility of
the bravest, cruellest and ablest Indians with whom Europeans have ever
come in contact in America. Champlain probably had no other alternative
open to him than to become the active ally of the Canadian Indians, on
whose goodwill and friendship he was forced to rely; but it is also
quite probable that he altogether underrated the ability and bravery of
the Iroquois who, in later years, so often threatened the security of
Canada, and more than once brought the infant colony to the very verge
of ruin.
[2: In 1715 the confederacy was joined by the Tuscaroras, a southern
branch of the same family, and was then called more properly the Six
Nations.]
It was during Champlain's administration of affairs that the Company of
the Hundred Associates was formed under the auspices of Cardinal
Richelieu, with the express object of colonizing Canada and developing
the fur-trade and other commercial enterprises on as large a scale as
possible. The Company had ill-fortune from the outset. The first
expedition it sent to the St. Lawrence was captured by a fleet commanded
by David Kirk, a gentleman of Derbyshire, who in the following year also
took Quebec, and carried Champlain and his followers to England. The
English were already attempting settlements on the shores of
Massachusetts Bay; and the poet and courtier, Sir William Alexander,
afterwards known as the Earl of Stirling, obtained from the King of
England all French Acadia, which he named Nova Scotia and offered to
settlers in baronial giants. A Scotch colony was actually established
for a short time at Port Royal under the auspices of Alexander, but in
1632, by the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, both Acadia and Canada were
restored to France. Champlain returned to Quebec, but the Company of the
Hundred Associates had been severely crippled by the ill-luck which
attended its first venture, and was able to do very little for the
struggling colony during the three remaining years of Champlain's life.
The Recollets or Franciscans, who had first come to the country in 1615,
now disappeared, and the Jesuits assumed full control in the wide field
of effort that Canada offered to the missionary. The Jesuits had, in
fact, made their appearance in Canada as early as 1625, or fourteen
years after two priests of their order, Ennemond Massé and Pierre Biard,
had gone to Acadia to labour among the Micmacs or Souriquois. During the
greater part of the seventeenth century, intrepid Jesuit priests are
associated with some of the most heroic incidents of Canadian history.
When Champlain died, on Christmas-day, 1635, the French population of
Canada did not exceed 150 souls, all dependent on the fur-trade. Canada
so far showed none of the elements of prosperity; it was not a colony
of settlers but of fur-traders. Still Champlain, by his indomitable
will, gave to France a footing in America which she was to retain for a
century and a quarter after his death. His courage amid the difficulties
that surrounded him, his fidelity to his church and country, his ability
to understand the Indian character, his pure unselfishness, are among
the remarkable qualities of a man who stands foremost among the pioneers
of European civilization in America.
From the day of Champlain's death until the arrival of the Marquis de
Tracy, in 1665, Canada was often in a most dangerous and pitiable
position. That period of thirty years was, however, also distinguished
by the foundation of those great religious communities which have always
exercised such an important influence upon the conditions of life
throughout French Canada. In 1652 Montreal was founded under the name of
Ville-Marie by Paul Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, and a number of
other religious enthusiasts. In 1659, the Abbé de Montigny, better known
to Canadians as Monseigneur de Laval, the first Roman Catholic bishop,
arrived in the colony and assumed charge of ecclesiastical affairs under
the titular name of Bishop of Petraea. Probably no single man has ever
exercised such powerful and lasting influence on Canadian institutions
as that famous divine. Possessed of great tenacity of purpose, most
ascetic in his habits, regardless of all worldly considerations, always
working for the welfare and extension of his church, Bishop Laval was
eminently fitted to give it that predominance in civil as well as
religious affairs which it so long possessed in Canada.
While the Church of Rome was perfecting its organization throughout
Canada, the Iroquois were constantly making raids upon the unprotected
settlements, especially in the vicinity of Montreal. The Hurons in the
Georgian Bay district were eventually driven from their comfortable
villages, and now the only remnants of a powerful nation are to be found
in the community of mixed blood at Lorette, near Quebec, or on the
banks of the Detroit River, where they are known as Wyandots. The Jesuit
mission of Sainte-Marie in their country was broken up, and Jean de
Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant suffered torture and death.
Such was the pitiable condition of things in 1663, when Louis XIV made
of Canada a royal government. At this time the total population of the
province did not exceed 2500 souls, grouped chiefly in and around
Quebec, Three Rivers and Montreal. In 1665 the Marquis de Tracy and
Governor de Courcelles, with a brilliant retinue of officers and a
regiment of soldiers, arrived in the colony, and brought with them
conditions of peace and prosperity. A small stream of immigration flowed
steadily into the country for some years, as a result of the new policy
adopted by the French government. The Mohawks, the most daring and
dangerous nation of the Iroquois confederacy, were humbled by Tracy in
1667, and forced to sue for peace. Under the influence of Talon, the
ablest intendant who ever administered Canadian affairs, the country
enjoyed a moderate degree of prosperity, although trade continued
entirely dependent on the orders and regulations of the King and his
officials.
Among the ablest governors of Canada was undoubtedly Louis de la Buade,
Count de Frontenac, who administered public affairs from 1672-1687 and
from 1689-1698. He was certainly impatient, choleric and selfish
whenever his pecuniary interests were concerned; but, despite his faults
of character, he was a brave soldier, dignified and courteous on
important occasions, a close student of the character of the Indians,
always ready when the necessity arose to adapt himself to their foibles
and at the same time able to win their confidence. He found Canada weak,
and left it a power in the affairs of America. He infused his own
never-failing confidence into the hearts of the struggling colonists on
the St. Lawrence, repulsed Sir William Phipps and his New England
expedition when they attacked Quebec in 1690, wisely erected a fort on
Lake Ontario as a fur-trading post and a bulwark against the Iroquois,
encouraged the fur-trade, and stimulated exploration in the west and in
the valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi. The settlements of New
England trembled at his name, and its annals contain many a painful
story of the misery inflicted by his cruel bands of Frenchmen and
Indians.
Despite all the efforts of the French government for some years, the
total immigration from 1663 until 1713, when the great war between
France and the Grand Alliance came to an end by the treaty of Utrecht,
did not exceed 6000 souls, and the whole population of the province in
that year was only 20,000, a small number for a century of colonization.
For some years after the formation of the royal government, a large
number of marriageable women were brought to the country under the
auspices of the religious communities, and marriages and births were
encouraged by exhortations and bounties. A considerable number of the
officers and soldiers of the Carignan-Salières regiment, who followed
the Marquis de Tracy into Canada, were induced to remain and settle new
seigniories, chiefly in palisaded villages in the Richelieu district for
purposes of defence against Iroquois expeditions. Despite all the
paternal efforts of the government to stimulate the growth of a large
population, the natural increase was small during the seventeenth
century. The disturbing influence, no doubt, was the fur-trade, which
allured so many young men into the wilderness, made them unfit for a
steady life, and destroyed their domestic habits. The emigrants from
France came chiefly from Anjou, Saintonge, Paris and its suburbs,
Normandy, Poitou, Beauce, Perche, and Picardy. The Carignan-Salières
regiment brought men from all parts of the parent state. It does not
appear that any number of persons ever came from Brittany. The larger
proportion of the settlers were natives of the north-western provinces
of France, especially from Perche and Normandy, and formed an excellent
stock on which to build up a thrifty, moral people. The seigniorial
tenure of French Canada was an adaptation of the feudal system of France
to the conditions of a new country, and was calculated in some respects
to stimulate settlement. Ambitious persons of limited means were able to
form a class of colonial _noblesse_. But unless the seignior cleared a
certain portion of his grant within a limited time, he would forfeit it
all. The conditions by which the _censitaires_ or tenants of the
seigniorial domain held their grants of land were by no means
burdensome, but they signified a dependency of tenure inconsistent with
the free nature of American life. A large portion of the best lands of
French Canada were granted under this seigniorial system to men whose
names frequently occur in the records of the colony down to the present
day: Rimouski, Bic and Métis, Kamouraska, Nicolet, Verchères,
Lotbinière, Berthier, Beloeil, Rouville, Juliette, Terrebonne,
Champlain, Sillery, Beaupré, Bellechasse, Portneuf, Chambly, Sorel,
Longueuil, Boucherville, Chateauguay, Lachine, are memorials of the
seigniorial grants of the seventeenth century.
The whole population of the Acadian Peninsula in 1710-13, was not more
than 1500 souls, nearly all descendants of the people brought to the
country by Poutrincourt and his successors Razilly and Charnisay. At no
time did the French government interest itself in immigration to
neglected Acadia. Of the total population, nearly 1000 persons were
settled in the beautiful country which the industry and ingenuity of the
Acadian peasants, in the course of many years, reclaimed from the
restless tides of the Bay of Fundy at Grand Pré and Minas. The remaining
settlements were at Beau Bassin, Annapolis, Piziquit (now Windsor),
Cobequit (now Truro), and Cape Sable. Some small settlements were also
founded on the banks of the St. John River and on the eastern bays of
the present province of New Brunswick.
SECTION 3.--French exploration in the great valleys of North America.
The hope of finding a short route to the rich lands of Asia by the St.
Lawrence River and its tributary lakes and streams, influenced French
voyagers and explorers well into the middle of the eighteenth century.
When Cartier stood on Mount Royal and saw the waters of the Ottawa there
must have flashed across his mind the thought that perhaps by this river
would be found that passage to the western sea of which he and other
sailors often dreamed both in earlier and later times. L'Escarbot tells
us that Champlain in his western explorations always hoped to reach Asia
by a Canadian route. He was able, however, long before his death to
make valuable contributions to the geography of Canada. He was the first
Frenchman to ascend the River of the Iroquois, now the Richelieu, and to
see the beautiful lake which still bears his name. In 1615 he found his
way to Georgian Bay by the route of the Ottawa and Mattawa Rivers, Lake
Nipissing and French River. Here he visited the Huron villages which
were situated in the district now known as Simcoe county in the province
of Ontario. Father le Caron, a Recollet, had preceded the French
explorer, and was performing missionary duties among the Indians, who
probably numbered 20,000 in all. This brave priest was the pioneer of an
army of faithful missionaries--mostly of a different order--who lived
for years among the Indians, suffered torture and death, and connected
their names not only with the martyrs of their faith but also with the
explorers of this continent. From this time forward we find the trader
and the priest advancing in the wilderness; sometimes one is first,
sometimes the other.
Champlain accompanied his Indian allies on an expedition against the
Onondagas, one of the five nations who occupied the country immediately
to the south of the upper St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario. The party
reached Lake Ontario by the system of inland navigation which stretches
from Lake Simcoe to the Bay of Quinté. The Onondagas repulsed the
Canadian allies who returned to their settlements, where Champlain
remained during the winter of 1616. It was during this expedition, which
did much to weaken Champlain's prestige among the Indians, that Étienne
Brulé an interpreter, was sent to the Andastes, who were then living
about the headwaters of the Susquehanna, with the hope of bringing them
to the support of the Canadian savages. He was not seen again until
1618, when he returned to Canada with a story, doubtless correct, of
having found himself on the shores of a great lake where there were
mines of copper, probably Lake Superior.
With the new era of peace that followed the coming of the Viceroy Tracy
in 1665, and the establishment of a royal government, a fresh impulse
was given to exploration and mission work in the west. Priests,
fur-traders, gentlemen-adventurers, _coureurs de bois_, now appeared
frequently on the lakes and rivers of the west, and gave in the course
of years a vast region to the dominion of France. As early as 1665
Father Allouez established a mission at La Pointe, the modern Ashland,
on the shores of Lake Superior. In 1668 one of the most interesting
persons who ever appeared in early Canada, the missionary and explorer,
Father Marquette, founded the mission of Sainte-Marie on the southern
side of the Sault, which may be considered the oldest settlement of the
north-west, as it alone has a continuous history to the present time.
In the record of those times we see strikingly displayed certain
propensities of the Canadian people which seriously interfered with the
settlement and industry of the country. The fur-trade had far more
attractions for the young and adventurous than the regular and active
life of farming on the seigniories. The French immigrant as well as the
native Canadian adapted himself to the conditions of Indian life.
Wherever the Indian tribes were camped in the forest or by the river,
and the fur-trade could be prosecuted to the best advantage, we see the
_coureurs de bois_, not the least picturesque figures of these grand
woods, then in the primeval sublimity of their solitude and vastness.
Despite the vices and weaknesses of a large proportion of this class,
not a few were most useful in the work of exploration and exercised a
great influence among the Indians of the West. But for these
forest-rangers the Michigan region would have fallen into the possession
of the English who were always intriguing with the Iroquois and
endeavouring to obtain a share of the fur-trade of the west. Joliet, the
companion of Marquette, in his ever-memorable voyage to the Mississippi,
was a type of the best class of the Canadian fur-trader.
In 1671 Sieur St. Lusson took formal possession of the Sault and the
adjacent country in the name of Louis XIV. In 1673 Fort Frontenac was
built at Cataraqui, now Kingston, as a barrier to the aggressive
movements of the Iroquois and an _entrepôt_ for the fur-trade on Lake
Ontario. In the same year Joliet and Marquette solved a part of the
problem which had so long perplexed the explorers of the West. The
trader and priest reached the Mississippi by the way of Green Bay, the
Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. They went down the Mississippi as far as the
Arkansas. Though they were still many hundreds of miles from the mouth
of the river, they grasped the fact that it must reach, not the western
ocean, but the southern gulf first discovered by the Spaniards.
Marquette died not long afterwards, worn out by his labours in the
wilderness, and was buried beneath the little chapel at St. Ignace.
Joliet's name henceforth disappears from the annals of the West.
Réné Robert Cavelier, better known as the Sieur de la Salle, completed
the work commenced by the trader and missionary. In 1666 he obtained a
grant of land at the head of the rapids above Montreal by the side of
that beautiful expanse of the St. Lawrence, still called Lachine, a name
first given in derisive allusion to his hope of finding a short route to
China. In 1679 he saw the Niagara Falls for the first time, and the
earliest sketch is to be found in _La Nouvelle Découverte_ written or
compiled by that garrulous, vain, and often mendacious Recollet Friar,
Louis Hennepin, who accompanied La Salle on this expedition. In the
winter of 1681-82 this famous explorer reached the Mississippi, and for
weeks followed its course through the novel and wondrous scenery of a
southern land. On the 9th of April, 1682, at a point just above the
mouth of the great river, La Salle took formal possession of the
Mississippi valley in the name of Louis XIV, with the same imposing
ceremonies that distinguished the claim asserted by St. Lusson at the
Sault in the lake region. By the irony of fate, La Salle failed to
discover the mouth of the river when he came direct from France to the
Gulf of Mexico in 1685, but landed somewhere on Matagorda Bay on the
Texan coast, where he built a fort for temporary protection. Finding his
position untenable, he decided in 1687 to make an effort to reach the
Illinois country, but when he had been a few days on this perilous
journey he was treacherously murdered by some of his companions near the
southern branch of Trinity River. His body was left to the beasts and
birds of prey. Two of the murderers were themselves killed by their
accomplices, none of whom appear ever to have been brought to justice
for their participation in a crime by which France lost one of the
bravest and ablest men who ever struggled for her dominion in North
America.
Some years later the famous Canadians, Iberville and Bienville, founded
a colony in the great valley, known by the name of Louisiana, which was
first given to it by La Salle himself. By the possession of the Sault,
Mackinac, and Detroit, the French were for many years supreme on the
lakes, and had full control of Indian trade. The Iroquois and their
English friends were effectively shut out of the west by the French
posts and settlements which followed the explorations of Joliet, La
Salle, Du Luth, and other adventurers. Plans continued to be formed for
reaching the Western or Pacific ocean even in the middle of the
eighteenth century. The Jesuit Charlevoix, the historian of New France,
was sent out to Canada by the French government to enquire into the
feasibility of a route which Frenchmen always hoped for. Nothing
definite came out of this mission, but the Jesuit was soon followed by
an enterprising native of Three Rivers, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes,
generally called the Sieur de la Verendrye, who with his sons ventured
into the region now known as the province of Manitoba and the north-west
territory of Canada. He built several forts, including one on the site
of the city of Winnipeg. Two of his sons are believed to have reached
the Big Horn Range, an "outlying buttress" of the Rocky Mountains, in
1743, and to have taken possession of what is now territory of the
United States. The youngest son, Chevalier de la Verendrye, who was the
first to see the Rocky Mountains, subsequently discovered the
Saskatchewan (Poskoiac) and even ascended it as far as the forks--the
furthest western limits so far touched by a white man in America. A few
years later, in 1751, M. de Niverville, under the orders of M. de St.
Pierre, then acting in the interest of the infamous Intendant Bigot, who
coveted the western fur-trade, reached the foot-hills of the Rocky
Mountains and built a fort on the Saskatchewan not far from the present
town of Calgary.
We have now followed the paths of French adventurers for nearly a
century and a half, from the day Champlain landed on the rocks of Quebec
until the Verendryes traversed the prairies and plains of the
North-west. French explorers had discovered the three great waterways of
this continent--the Mississippi, which pours its enormous volume of
water, drawn from hundreds of tributaries, into a southern gulf; the St.
Lawrence, which bears the tribute of the great lakes to the Atlantic
Ocean; the Winnipeg, with its connecting rivers and lakes which stretch
from the Rocky Mountains to the dreary Arctic sea. La Verendrye was the
first Frenchman who stood on the height of land or elevated plateau of
the continent, almost within sight of the sources of those great rivers
which flow, after devious courses, north, south and east. It has been
well said that if three men should ascend these three waterways to their
farthest sources, they would find themselves in the heart of North
America; and, so to speak, within a stone's throw of one another. Nearly
all the vast territory, through which these great waterways flow, then
belonged to France, so far as exploration, discovery and partial
occupation gave her a right to exercise dominion. Only in the great
North, where summer is a season of a very few weeks, where icebergs bar
the way for many months, where the fur-trade and the whale-fishery alone
offered an incentive to capital and enterprise, had England a right to
an indefinite dominion. Here a "Company of Gentlemen-Adventurers
trading into Hudson's Bay" occupied some fortified stations which,
during the seventeenth century, had been seized by the daring
French-Canadian corsair, Iberville, who ranks with the famous
Englishman, Drake. On the Atlantic coast the prosperous English colonies
occupied a narrow range of country bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the
Alleghanies. It was only in the middle of the eighteenth century--nearly
three-quarters of a century after Joliet's and La Salle's explorations,
and even later than the date at which Frenchmen had followed the
Saskatchewan to the Rocky Mountains--that some enterprising Virginians
and Pennsylvanians worked their way into the beautiful country watered
by the affluents of the Ohio. New France may be said to have extended at
that time from Cape Breton or Isle Royale west to the Rocky Mountains,
and from the basin of the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.
SECTION 4.--End of French dominion in the valley of the St. Lawrence.
After the treaty of Utrecht, France recognized the mistake she had made
in giving up Acadia, and devoted her attention to the island of Cape
Breton, or Isle Royale, on whose southeastern coast soon rose the
fortifications of Louisbourg. In the course of years this fortress
became a menace to English interests in Acadia and New England. In 1745
the town was taken by a force of New England volunteers, led by General
Pepperrell, a discreet and able colonist, and a small English squadron
under the command of Commodore, afterwards Admiral, Warren, both of whom
were rewarded by the British government for their distinguished services
on this memorable occasion. France, however, appreciated the importance
of Isle Royale, and obtained its restoration in exchange for Madras
which at that time was the most important British settlement in the East
Indies. England then decided to strengthen herself in Acadia, where
France retained her hold of the French Acadian population through the
secret influence of her emissaries, chiefly missionaries, and
accordingly established a town on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia,
ever since known as Halifax, in honour of a prominent statesman of those
times. The French settlers, who by the middle of the eighteenth century
numbered 12,000, a thrifty, industrious and simple-minded people, easily
influenced by French agents, called themselves "Neutrals," and could not
be forced to take the unqualified oath of allegiance which was demanded
of them by the authorities of Halifax. The English Government was now
determined to act with firmness in a province where British interests
had been so long neglected, and where the French inhabitants had in the
course of forty years shown no disposition to consider themselves
British subjects and discharge their obligations to the British Crown.
France had raised the contention that the Acadia ceded to England by the
treaty of Utrecht comprised only the present province of Nova Scotia,
and indeed only a portion of that peninsula according to some French
authorities. Commissioners were appointed by the two Powers to settle
the question of boundaries--of the meaning of "Acadie, with its ancient
boundaries"--but their negotiations came to naught and the issue was
only settled by the arbitrament of war. The French built the forts of
Beauséjour and Gaspereau--the latter a mere palisade--on the Isthmus of
Chignecto, which became the rendezvous of the French Acadians, whom the
former persuaded by promises or threats to join their fortunes. In 1755
a force of English and Colonial troops, under the command of Colonels
Moncton, Winslow and Scott, captured these forts, and this success was
followed by the banishment of the Acadian French. This cruel act of
Governor Lawrence and the English authorities at Halifax was no doubt
largely influenced by the sentiment of leading men in New England, who
were apprehensive of the neighbourhood of so large a number of an alien
people, who could not be induced to prove their loyalty to Great
Britain, and might, in case of continued French successes in America,
become open and dangerous foes. But while there are writers who defend
this sad incident of American history on the ground of stern national
necessity at a critical period in the affairs of the continent, all
humanity that listens to the dictates of the heart and tender feeling
will ever deplore the exile of those hapless people.
Previous to the expulsion of the Acadians from their pleasant homes on
the meadows of Grand Pré and Minas, England sustained a severe defeat in
the valley of the Ohio, which created much alarm throughout the English
colonies, and probably had some influence on the fortunes of those
people. France had formally taken possession of the Ohio country and
established forts in 1753 on French Creek, at its junction with the
Alleghany, and also at the forks of the Ohio. Adventurous British
pioneers were at last commencing to cross the Alleghanies, and a company
had been formed with the express intention of stimulating settlement in
the valley. George Washington, at the head of a small Colonial force,
was defeated in his attempt to drive the French from the Ohio; and the
English Government was compelled to send out a large body of regular
troops under the command of General Braddock, who met defeat and death
on the banks of the Monongahela, General Johnson, on the other hand,
defeated a force of French regulars, Canadian Militia and Indians, under
General Dieskau, at the southern end of Lake George.
In 1756 war was publicly proclaimed between France and England,
although, as we have just seen, it had already broken out many months
previously in the forests of America. During the first two years of the
war the English forces sustained several disasters through the
incompetency of the English commanders on land and sea. The French in
Canada were now led by the Marquis de Montcalm, distinguished both as a
soldier of great ability and as a man of varied intellectual
accomplishments. In the early part of the Canadian campaign he was most
fortunate. Fort William Henry, at the foot of Lake George, and Fort
Oswego, on the south side of Lake Ontario, were captured, but his signal
victory at the former place was sullied by the massacre of defenceless
men, women and children by his Indian allies, although it is now
admitted by all impartial writers that he did his utmost to prevent so
sad a sequel to his triumph. The English Commander-in-Chief, Lord
Loudoun, assembled a large military force at Halifax in 1757 for the
purpose of making a descent on Louisbourg; but he returned to New York
without accomplishing anything, when he heard of the disastrous affair
of William Henry, for which he was largely responsible on account of
having failed to give sufficient support to the defenders of the fort.
Admiral Holbourne sailed to Louisbourg, but he did not succeed in coming
to an engagement with the French fleet then anchored in the harbour, and
the only result of his expedition was the loss of several of his ships
on the reefs of that foggy, rocky coast.
In 1758 Pitt determined to enter on a vigorous campaign against France
in Europe and America. For America he chose Amherst, Boscawen, Howe,
Forbes, Wolfe, Lawrence and Whitman. Abercromby was unfortunately
allowed to remain in place of Loudoun, but it was expected by Pitt and
others that Lord Howe, one of the best soldiers in the British army,
would make up for the military weakness of that commander. Louisbourg,
Fort Duquesne, and the forts on Lake George, were the immediate objects
of attack. Abercromby at the head of a large force failed ignominiously
in his assault on Ticonderoga, and Lord Howe was one of the first to
fall in that unhappy and ill-managed battle. Amherst and Boscawen, on
the other hand, took Louisbourg, where Wolfe displayed great energy and
contributed largely to the success of the enterprise. Forbes was able to
occupy the important fort at the forks of the Ohio, now Pittsburg, which
gave to the English control of the beautiful country to the west of the
Alleghanies. Fort Frontenac was taken by Bradstreet, and Prince Edward
Island, then called Isle St. Jean, was occupied by an English force as
the necessary consequence of the fall of the Cape Breton fortress. The
nation felt that its confidence in Pitt was fully justified, and that
the power of France in America was soon to be effectually broken.
In 1759 and 1760 Pitt's designs were crowned with signal success. Wolfe
proved at Quebec that the statesman had not overestimated his value as a
soldier and leader. Wolfe was supported by Brigadiers Moncton,
Townshend, Murray, and Guy Carleton--the latter a distinguished figure
in the later annals of Canada. The fleet was commanded by Admirals
Saunders, Durell and Holmes, all of whom rendered most effective
service. The English occupied the Island of Orleans and the heights of
Lévis, from which they were able to keep up a most destructive fire on
the capital. The whole effective force under Wolfe did not reach 9000
men, or 5000 less than the regular and Colonial army under Montcalm,
whose lines extended behind batteries and earthworks from the St.
Charles River, which washes the base of the rocky heights of the town,
as far as the falls of Montmorency. The French held an impregnable
position which their general decided to maintain at all hazards, despite
the constant efforts of Wolfe for weeks to force him to the issue of
battle. Above the city for many miles there were steep heights, believed
to be unapproachable, and guarded at all important points by detachments
of soldiery. Wolfe failed in an attempt which he made at Beauport to
force Montcalm from his defences, and suffered a considerable loss
through the rashness of his grenadiers. He then resolved on a bold
stroke which succeeded by its very audacity in deceiving his opponent,
and giving the victory to the English. A rugged and dangerous path was
used at night up those very heights which, Montcalm confidently
believed, "a hundred men could easily defend against the whole British
army." On the morning of the 13th September, 1759, Wolfe marshalled an
army of four thousand five hundred men on the Plains of Abraham where he
was soon face to face with the French army. Montcalm had lost no time in
accepting the challenge of the English, in the hope that his superior
numbers would make up for their inferiority in discipline and equipment
compared with the smaller English force. His expectations were never
realized. In a few minutes the French fell in hundreds before the steady
deadly fire of the English lines, and Montcalm was forced to retreat
precipitately with the beaten remnant of his army. Wolfe received
several wounds, and died on the battlefield, but not before he was
conscious of his victory. "God be praised," were his dying words, "I now
die in peace." His brave adversary was mortally wounded while seeking
the protection of Quebec, and was buried in a cavity which a shell had
made in the floor of the chapel of the Ursuline Convent. A few days
later Quebec capitulated. Wolfe's body was taken to England, where it
was received with all the honours due to his great achievement. General
Murray was left in command at Quebec, and was defeated in the following
spring by Lévis in the battle of St. Foye, which raised the hopes of the
French until the appearance of English ships in the river relieved the
beleaguered garrison and decided for ever the fate of Quebec. A few
weeks later Montreal capitulated to Amherst, whose extreme caution
throughout the campaign was in remarkable contrast with the dash and
energy of the hero of Quebec. The war in Canada was now at an end, and
in 1763 the treaty of Paris closed the interesting chapter of French
dominion on the banks of the St. Lawrence and in the valleys of the Ohio
and the Mississippi.
SECTION 5.--Political, economic and social conditions of Canada during
French ride.
France and England entered on the struggle for dominion in America about
the same time, but long before the conquest of Canada the communities
founded by the latter had exhibited a vigour and vitality which were
never shown in the development of the relatively poor and struggling
colonies of Canada and Louisiana. The total population of New France in
1759--that is, of all the French possessions in North America--did not
exceed 70,000 souls, of whom 60,000 were inhabitants of the country of
the St. Lawrence, chiefly of the Montreal and Quebec districts. France
had a few struggling villages and posts in the very "garden of the
North-west," as the Illinois country has been aptly called; but the
total population of New France from the great lakes to the Gulf of
Mexico did not exceed 10,000 souls, the greater number of whom dwelt on
the lower banks of the Mississippi. At this time the British colonies in
America, pent up between the Atlantic Ocean and the Appalachian
mountains, had a population twenty times larger than that of Canada and
Louisiana combined, and there was not any comparison whatever between
these French and British colonies with respect to trade, wealth or any
of the essentials of prosperity.
Under the system of government established by Louis XIV, under the
advice of Colbert, the governor and intendant of Canada were, to all
intents and purposes in point of authority, the same officials who
presided over the affairs of a province of France. In Canada, as in
France, governors-general had only such powers as were expressly given
them by the king, who, jealous of all authority in others, kept them
rigidly in check. In those days the king was supreme; "I am the state,"
said Louis Quatorze in the arrogance of his power; and it is thus easy
to understand that there could be no such free government or
representative institutions in Canada as were enjoyed from the very
commencement of their history by the old English colonies.
The governor had command of the militia and troops, and was nominally
superior in authority to the intendant, but in the course of time the
latter became virtually the most influential officer in the colony and
even presided at the council-board. This official, who had the right to
report directly to the king on colonial affairs, had large civil,
commercial and maritime jurisdiction, and could issue ordinances which
had full legal effect in the country. Associated with the governor and
intendant was a council comprising in the first instance five, and
eventually twelve, persons, chosen from the leading people of the
colony. The change of name, from the "Supreme Council" to the "Superior
Council," is of itself some evidence of the determination of the king to
restrain the pretensions of all official bodies throughout the kingdom
and its dependencies. This body exercised legislative and judicial
powers. The bishop was one of its most important members, and the
history of the colony is full of the quarrels that arose between him and
the governor on points of official etiquette or with respect to more
important matters affecting the government of the country.
Protestantism was unknown in Canada under French rule, and the
enterprise of the Huguenots was consequently lost to a country always
suffering from a want of population. Even the merchants of La Rochelle,
who traded with the country, found themselves invariably subject to
restrictions which placed them at an enormous disadvantage in their
competition with their Roman Catholic rivals. The Roman Catholic Church
was all powerful at the council-board as well as in the parish. In the
past as in the present century, a large Roman Catholic church rose, the
most prominent building in every town and village, illustrating its
dominating influence in the homes of every community of the province.
The parishes were established at an early date for ecclesiastical
purposes, and their extent was defined wherever necessary by the
council at Quebec. They were practically territorial divisions for the
administration of local affairs, and were conterminous, whenever
practicable, with the seigniory. The curé, the seignior, the militia
captain (often identical with the seignior), were the important
functionaries in every parish. Even at the present time, when a
canonical parish has been once formed by the proper ecclesiastical
authority, it may be erected into a municipal or civil division after
certain legal formalities by the government of the province. Tithes were
first imposed by Bishop Laval, who practically established the basis of
ecclesiastical authority in the province. It was only in church matters
that the people had the right to meet and express their opinions, and
even then the intendant alone could give the power of assembling for
such purposes.
The civil law of French Canada relating to "property," inheritance,
marriage, and the personal or civil rights of the community generally,
had its origin, like all similar systems, in the Roman law, on which
were engrafted, in the course of centuries, those customs and usages
which were adapted to the social conditions of France. The customary law
of Paris became the fundamental law of French Canada, and despite the
changes that it has necessarily undergone in the course of many years,
its principles can still be traced throughout the present system as it
has been modified under the influences of the British regime. The
superior council of Canada gave judgment in civil and criminal cases
according to the _coutume de Paris_, and below it there were inferior
courts for the judicial districts of Quebec, Three Rivers and Montreal.
The bishop had also special jurisdiction over ecclesiastical matters.
The intendant had authority to deal with cases involving royal, or
seigniorial, rights, and to call before him any case whatever for final
review and judgment. In all cases appeals were allowable to the king
himself, but the difficulty of communication with Europe in those days
practically confined such references to a few special causes. The
seigniors had also certain judicial or magisterial powers, but they
never acted except in very trivial cases. Torture was sometimes applied
to condemned felons as in France and other parts of the old world. On
the whole justice appears to have been honestly and fairly administered.
Parkman, in a terse sentence, sums up the conditions which fettered all
Canadian trade and industry, "A system of authority, monopoly and
exclusion in which the government, and not the individual, acted always
the foremost part." Whether it was a question of ship-building, of a
brewery or a tannery, of iron works or a new fishery, appeals must be
made in the first instance to the king for aid; and the people were
never taught to depend exclusively on their individual or associated
enterprise. At the time of the conquest, and in fact for many years
previously, the principal products of the country were beaver skins,
timber, agricultural products, fish, fish oil, ginseng (for some years
only), beer, cider, rug carpets, homespun cloths--made chiefly by the
inmates of the religious houses--soap, potash, leather, stoves, tools
and other iron manufactures--made in the St. Maurice forges--never a
profitable industry, whether carried on by companies or the government
itself. All these industries were fostered by the state, but, despite
all the encouragement they received, the total value of the exports,
principally furs, seal and other oils, lumber, peas, grain and ginseng
never exceeded 3,500,000 francs, or about one-tenth of the export trade
of the English colonies to Great Britain. Two-thirds of this amount
represented beaver skins, the profits on which were very fluctuating, on
account of the unwise regulations by which, the trade was constantly
crippled. This business was heavily taxed to meet the necessities of
colonial government, which were always heavy, and could never have been
met had it not been for the liberality of the king. In the year 1755 the
amount of all exports did not reach 2,500,000 francs, while the imports
were valued at 8,000,000 francs. These imports represented wines,
brandies, hardware and various luxuries, but the bulk was made up of the
supplies required for the use of the military and civil authorities.
The whole trade of the country was carried in about thirty sea-going
vessels, none of them of heavy tonnage. The royal government attempted
to stimulate ship-building in the country, and a few war vessels were
actually built in the course of many years, though it does not appear
that this industry was ever conducted with energy or enterprise. During
the last fifty years of French rule, in all probability, not a hundred
sea-going vessels were launched in the valley of the St. Lawrence.
Duties of import, before 1748, were only imposed on wines, brandies, and
Brazilian tobacco; but after the commencement of the war with England,
the king found it necessary to establish export and import duties: a
special exception was however made in favour of the produce of the farm,
forest and sea, which were allowed to enter or go out free. The whole
amount of duties raised in ordinary years did not reach above 300,000
francs.
In the closing years of French dominion the total population of Quebec,
Montreal and Three Rivers, the only towns in the province, did not
exceed 13,000 souls--about the population of Boston. Quebec alone had
8000 inhabitants, Montreal 4000, and Three Rivers 1000. The architecture
of these places was more remarkable for solidity than elegance or
symmetry of proportions. The churches, religious and educational
establishments, official buildings and residences--notably the
intendant's palace at Quebec--were built of stone. The most pretentious
edifice was the château of St. Louis--the residence of the
governor-general--which was rebuilt by Count de Frontenac within the
limits of the fort of St. Louis, first erected by Champlain on the
historic height always associated with his name. The best buildings in
the towns were generally of one story and constructed of stone. In the
rural parishes, the villages, properly speaking, consisted of a church,
presbytery, school, and tradesmen's houses, while the farms of the
_habitants_ stretched on either side. The size and shape of the farms
were governed by the form of the seigniories throughout the province. M.
Bourdon, the first Canadian surveyor-general, originally mapped out the
seigniories in oblong shapes with very narrow frontage along the
river--a frontage of two or three _arpents_ against a depth of from
forty to eighty _arpents_--and the same inconvenient oblong plan was
followed in making sub-grants to the _censitaire_ or _habitant_. The
result was a disfigurement of a large portion of the country, as the
civil law governing the succession of estates gradually cut up all the
seigniories into a number of small farms, each in the form of the
parallelogram originally given to the seigniorial grants. The houses of
the _habitants_, then as now, were generally built of logs or sawn
lumber, all whitewashed, with thatched or wooden roofs projecting over
the front so as to form a sort of porch or verandah. The farm-houses
were generally close together, especially in the best cultivated and
most thickly settled districts between Quebec and Montreal. Travellers,
just before the Seven Years' War, tell us that the farms in that
district appeared to be well cultivated on the whole, and the homes of
the _habitants_ gave evidences of thrift and comfort. Some farmers had
orchards from which cider was made, and patches of the coarse strong
tobacco which they continue to use to this day, and which is now an
important product of their province. Until the war the condition of the
French Canadian _habitant_ was one of rude comfort. He could never
become rich, in a country where there was no enterprise or trade which
encouraged him to strenuous efforts to make and save money. Gold and
silver were to him curiosities, and paper promises to pay, paper or card
money, were widely circulated from early times, and were never for the
most part redeemed, though the British authorities after the peace of
1763 made every possible effort to induce the French government to
discharge its obligations to the French Canadian people. The life of the
_habitants_ in peaceful times was far easier and happier than that of
the peasants of old France. They had few direct taxes to bear, except
the tithes required for the support of the church and such small
contributions as were necessary for local purposes. They were, however,
liable to be called out at any moment for military duties and were
subject to _corvées_ or forced labour for which they were never paid by
the authorities.
The outbreak of the Seven Years' War was a serious blow to a people who
had at last surmounted the greatest difficulties of pioneer life, and
attained a moderate degree of comfort. The demands upon the people
capable of bearing arms were necessarily fatal to steady farming
occupations; indeed, in the towns of Quebec and Montreal there was more
than once an insufficiency of food for the garrisons, and horse-flesh
had to be served out, to the great disgust of the soldiers who at first
refused to take it. Had it not been for the opportune arrival of a ship
laden with provisions in the spring of 1759, the government would have
been unable to feed the army or the inhabitants of Quebec. The gravity
of the situation was aggravated for years by the jobbery and corruption
of the men who had the fate of the country largely in their hands. A few
French merchants, and monopolists in league with corrupt officials,
controlled the markets and robbed a long-suffering and too patient
people. The names of Bigot, Péan, and other officials of the last years
of French administration, are justly execrated by French Canadians as
robbers of the state and people in the days when the country was on the
verge of war, and Montcalm, a brave, incorruptible man, was fighting
against tremendous odds to save this unfortunate country to which he
gave up his own life in vain.
So long as France governed Canada, education was entirely in the hands
of the Roman Catholic Church. The Jesuits, Franciscans, and other
religious orders, male and female, at an early date, commenced the
establishment of those colleges and seminaries which have always had so
important a share in the education of Lower Canada. The Jesuits founded
a college at Quebec in 1635, or three years before the establishment of
Harvard, and the Ursulines opened their convent in the same city four
years later. Sister Bourgeoys of Troyes founded at Montreal in 1659 the
Congrégation de Notre-Dame for the education of girls of humble rank;
the commencement of an institution which has now its buildings in many
parts of Canada. In the latter part of the seventeenth century Bishop
Laval carried out a project for providing education for Canadian priests
drawn from the people of the country. Consequently, in addition to the
great seminary at Quebec, there was the lesser seminary where boys were
taught in the hope that they would take orders. In the inception of
education the French endeavoured in more than one of their institutions
to combine industrial pursuits with the ordinary branches of an
elementary education. But all accounts of the days of the French régime
go to show that, despite the zealous efforts of the religious bodies to
improve the education of the colonists, secular instruction was at a
very low ebb and hardly reached the seigniories. One writer tells us
that "even the children of officers and gentlemen scarcely knew how to
read and write; they were ignorant of the first elements of geography
and history." Still, dull and devoid of intellectual life as was the
life of the Canadian, he had his place of worship where he received a
moral training which elevated him immeasurably above the peasantry of
England as well as of his old home. The clergy of Lower Canada
confessedly did their best to relieve the ignorance of the people, but
they were naturally unable to accomplish, by themselves, a task which
properly devolved on the governing class. Under the French régime in
Canada the civil authorities were as little anxious to enlighten the
people by the establishment of public or common schools as they were to
give them a voice in the government of the country.
Evidence of some culture and intellectual aspirations in social circles
of the ancient capital attracted the surprise of travellers who visited
the country before the close of the French dominion. "Science and the
fine arts," wrote Charlevoix, in 1744, "have their turn and conversation
does not fail. The Canadians breathe from their birth an air of liberty,
which makes them very pleasant in the intercourse of life, and our
language is nowhere more purely spoken." La Gallissonière, a highly
cultured governor, spared no effort to encourage a sympathetic study of
scientific pursuits. Dr. Michel Sarrasin, who was a practising physician
in Quebec for nearly half a century, devoted himself most assiduously to
the natural history of the colony, and made some valuable contributions
to the French Academy. The Swedish botanist, Peter Kalm, was impressed
with the liking for scientific study which he observed in the French
colony. But such intellectual culture, as Kalm and Charlevoix mentioned,
never showed itself beyond the walls of Quebec or Montreal. The
province, as a whole, was in a state of mental sluggishness at the time
of the conquest by England, under whose benign influence the French
Canadian people were now to enter on a new career of political and
intellectual development.
Pitt and Wolfe must take a high place among the makers of the Dominion
of Canada. It was they who gave relief to French Canada from the
absolutism of old France, and started her in a career of self-government
and political liberty. When the great procession passed before the Queen
of England on the day of the "Diamond Jubilee"--when delegates from all
parts of a mighty, world-embracing empire gave her their loyal and
heartfelt homage--Canada was represented by a Prime Minister who
belonged to that race which has steadily gained in intellectual
strength, political freedom, and material prosperity, since the
memorable events of 1759 and 1760. In that imperial procession nearly
half the American Continent was represented--Acadia and Canada first
settled by France, the north-west prairies first traversed by French
Canadian adventurers, the Pacific coast first seen by Cook and
Vancouver. There, too, marched men from Bengal, Madras, Bombay,
Jeypore, Haidarabad, Kashmir, Punjaub, from all sections of that great
empire of India which was won for England by Clive and the men who, like
Wolfe, became famous for their achievements in the days of Pitt. Perhaps
there were in that imperial pageant some Canadians whose thoughts
wandered from the Present to the Past, and recalled the memory of that
illustrious statesman and of all he did for Canada and England, when
they stood in Westminster Abbey, and looked on his expressive effigy,
which, in the eloquent language of a great English historian, "seems
still, with eagle face and outstretched arm, to bid England be of good
cheer and to hurl defiance at her foes."
CHAPTER II.
BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH RULE. 1760-1774.
SECTION I.--From the Conquest until the Quebec Act.
For nearly four years after the surrender of Vaudreuil at Montreal,
Canada was under a government of military men, whose headquarters were
at Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal--the capitals of the old French
districts of the same name. General Murray and the other commanders
laboured to be just and considerate in all their relations with the new
subjects of the Crown, who were permitted to prosecute their ordinary
pursuits without the least interference on the part of the conquerors.
The conditions of the capitulations of Quebec and Montreal, which
allowed the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, were
honourably kept. All that was required then, and for many years later,
was that the priests and curés should confine themselves exclusively to
their parochial duties, and not take part in public matters. It had been
also stipulated at Montreal that the communities of nuns should not be
disturbed in their convents; and while the same privileges were not
granted by the articles of capitulation to the Jesuits, Recollets, and
Sulpitians, they had every facility given to them to dispose of their
property and remove to France. As a matter of fact there was practically
no interference with any of the religious fraternities during the early
years of British rule; and when in the course of time the Jesuits
disappeared entirely from the country their estates passed by law into
the possession of the government for the use of the people, while the
Sulpitians were eventually allowed to continue their work and develope
property which became of great value on the island of Montreal. (The
French merchants and traders were allowed all the commercial and trading
privileges that were enjoyed by the old subjects of the British
Sovereign, not only in the valley of the St. Lawrence, but in the rich
fur regions of the West and North-West.) The articles of capitulation
did not give any guarantees or pledges for the continuance of the civil
law under which French Canada had been governed for over a century, but
while that was one of the questions dependent on the ultimate fate of
Canada, the British military rulers took every possible care during the
continuance of the military régime to respect so far as possible the old
customs and laws by which the people had been previously governed.
French writers of those days admit the generosity and justice of the
administration of affairs during this military régime.
The treaty of Paris, signed on the 10th February, 1763, formally ceded
to England Canada as well as Acadia, with all their dependencies. The
French Canadians were allowed full liberty "to profess the worship of
their religion according to the rites of the Romish Church, as far as
the laws of Great Britain permit." The people had permission to retire
from Canada with all their effects within eighteen months from the date
of the ratification of the treaty. All the evidence before us goes to
show that only a few officials and seigniors ever availed themselves of
this permission to leave the country. At this time there was not a
single French settlement beyond Vaudreuil until the traveller reached
the banks of the Detroit between Lakes Erie and Huron. A chain of forts
and posts connected Montreal with the basin of the great lakes and the
country watered by the Ohio, Illinois, and other tributaries of the
Mississippi. The forts on the Niagara, at Detroit, at Michillimackinac,
at Great Bay, on the Maumee and Wabash, at Presqu' isle, at the junction
of French Creek with the Alleghany, at the forks of the Ohio, and at
less important localities in the West and South-West, were held by small
English garrisons, while the French still occupied Vincennes on the
Wabash and Chartres on the Mississippi, in the vicinity of the French
settlements at Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and the present site of St. Louis.
Soon after the fall of Montreal, French traders from New Orleans and the
French settlements on the Mississippi commenced to foment disaffection
among the western Indians, who had strong sympathy with France, and were
quite ready to believe the story that she would ere long regain Canada.
The consequence was the rising of all the western tribes under the
leadership of Pontiac, the principal chief of the Ottawas, whose
warriors surrounded and besieged Detroit when he failed to capture it by
a trick. Niagara was never attacked, and Detroit itself was successfully
defended by Major Gladwin, a fearless soldier; but all the other forts
and posts very soon fell into the hands of the Indians, who massacred
the garrisons in several places. They also ravaged the border
settlements of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and carried off a number of
women and children to their wigwams. Fort Pitt at the confluence of the
Alleghany and the Monongahela rivers--the site of the present city of
Pittsburg--was in serious peril for a time, until Colonel Bouquet, a
brave and skilful officer, won a signal victory over the Indians, who
fled in dismay to their forest fastnesses. Pontiac failed to capture
Detroit, and Bouquet followed up his first success by a direct march
into the country of the Shawnees, Mingoes and Delawares, and forced them
to agree to stern conditions of peace on the banks of the Muskingum. The
power of the western Indians was broken for the time, and the British in
1765 took possession of the French forts of Chartres and Vincennes, when
the _fleur-de-lys_ disappeared for ever from the valley of the
Mississippi. The French settlers on the Illinois and the Mississippi
preferred to remain under British rule rather than cross the great river
and become subjects of Spain, to whom Western Louisiana had been ceded
by France. From this time forward France ceased to be an influential
factor in the affairs of Canada or New France, and the Indian tribes
recognized the fact that they could no longer expect any favour or aid
from their old ally. They therefore transferred their friendship to
England, whose power they had felt in the Ohio valley, and whose policy
was now framed with a special regard to their just treatment.
This Indian war was still in progress when King George III issued his
proclamation for the temporary government of his new dependencies in
North America. As a matter of fact, though the proclamation was issued
in England on the 7th October, 1763, it did not reach Canada and come
into effect until the 10th August, 1764. The four governments of Quebec,
Grenada, East Florida, and West Florida were established in the
territories ceded by France and Spain. The eastern limit of the province
of Quebec did not extend beyond St. John's River at the mouth of the St.
Lawrence, nearly opposite to Anticosti, while that island itself and the
Labrador country, east of the St. John's as far as the Straits of
Hudson, were placed under the jurisdiction of Newfoundland. The islands
of Cape Breton and St. John, now Prince Edward, became subject to the
Government of Nova Scotia, which then included the present province of
New Brunswick. The northern limit of the province did not extend beyond
the territory known as Rupert's Land under the charter given to the
Hudson's Bay Company in 1670, while the western boundary was drawn
obliquely from Lake Nipissing as far as Lake St. Francis on the St.
Lawrence; the southern boundary then followed line 45° across the upper
part of Lake Champlain, whence it passed along the highlands which
divide the rivers that empty themselves into the St. Lawrence from those
that flow into the sea--an absurdly defined boundary since it gave to
Canada as far as Cape Rosier on the Gaspé peninsula a territory only a
few miles wide. No provision whatever was made in the proclamation for
the government of the country west of the Appalachian range, which was
claimed by Pennsylvania, Virginia, and other colonies under the
indefinite terms of their original charters, which practically gave
them no western limits. Consequently the proclamation was regarded with
much disfavour by the English colonists on the Atlantic coast. No
provision was even made for the great territory which extended beyond
Nipissing as far as the Mississippi and included the basin of the great
lakes. It is easy to form the conclusion that the intention of the
British government was to restrain the ambition of the old English
colonies east of the Appalachian range, and to divide the immense
territory to their north-west at some future and convenient time into
several distinct and independent governments. No doubt the British
government also found it expedient for the time being to keep the
control of the fur-trade so far as possible in its own hands, and in
order to achieve this object it was necessary in the first place to
conciliate the Indian tribes, and not allow them to come in any way
under the jurisdiction of the chartered colonies. The proclamation
itself, in fact, laid down entirely new, and certainly equitable,
methods of dealing with the Indians within the limits of British
sovereignty. The governors of the old colonies were expressly forbidden
to grant authority to survey lands beyond the settled territorial limits
of their respective governments. No person was allowed to purchase land
directly from the Indians. The government itself thenceforth could alone
give a legal title to Indian lands, which must, in the first place, be
secured by treaty with the tribes that claimed to own them. This was the
beginning of that honest policy which has distinguished the relations of
England and Canada with the Indian nations for over a hundred years, and
which has obtained for the present Dominion the confidence and
friendship of the many thousand Indians, who roamed for many centuries
in Rupert's Land and in the Indian Territories where the Hudson's Bay
Company long enjoyed exclusive privileges of trade.
The language of the proclamation with respect to the government of the
province of Quebec was extremely unsatisfactory. It was ordered that so
soon as the state and circumstances of the colony admitted, the
governor-general could with the advice and consent of the members of the
council summon a general assembly, "in such manner and form as is used
and directed in those colonies and provinces in America which are under
our immediate government." Laws could be made by the governor, council,
and representatives of the people for the good government of the colony,
"as near as may be agreeable to the laws of England, and under such
regulations and restrictions as are used in other colonies." Until such
an assembly could be called, the governor could with the advice of his
council constitute courts for the trial and determination of all civil
and criminal cases, "according to law and equity, and as near as may be
agreeable to the laws of England," with liberty to appeal, in all civil
cases, to the privy council of England. General Murray, who had been in
the province since the battle on the Plains of Abraham, was appointed to
administer the government. Any persons elected to serve in an assembly
were required, by his commission and instructions, before they could sit
and vote, to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and subscribe a
declaration against transubstantiation, the adoration of the Virgin, and
the Sacrifice of the Mass.
This proclamation--in reality a mere temporary expedient to give time
for considering the whole state of the colony--was calculated to do
infinite harm, since its principal importance lay in the fact that it
attempted to establish English civil as well as criminal law, and at the
same time required oaths which effectively prevented the French
Canadians from serving in the very assembly which it professed a desire
on the part of the king to establish. The English-speaking or Protestant
people in the colony did not number in 1764 more than three hundred
persons, of little or no standing, and it was impossible to place all
power in their hands and to ignore nearly seventy thousand French
Canadian Roman Catholics. Happily the governor, General Murray, was not
only an able soldier, as his defence of Quebec against Lévis had
proved, but also a man of statesmanlike ideas, animated by a high sense
of duty and a sincere desire to do justice to the foreign people
committed to his care. He refused to lend himself to the designs of the
insignificant British minority, chiefly from the New England colonies,
or to be guided by their advice in carrying on his government. His
difficulties were lessened by the fact that the French had no conception
of representative institutions in the English sense, and were quite
content with any system of government that left them their language,
religion, and civil law without interference. The stipulations of the
capitulations of 1759-1760, and of the treaty of Paris, with respect to
the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, were always observed
in a spirit of great fairness: and in 1766 Monseigneur Briand was
chosen, with the governor's approval, Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec.
He was consecrated at Paris after his election by the chapter of Quebec,
and it does not appear that his recognition ever became the subject of
parliamentary discussion. This policy did much to reconcile the French
Canadians to their new rulers, and to make them believe that eventually
they would receive full consideration in other essential respects.
For ten years the government of Canada was in a very unsatisfactory
condition, while the British ministry was all the while worried with the
condition of things in the old colonies, then in a revolutionary
ferment. The Protestant minority continued to clamour for an assembly,
and a mixed system of French and English law, in case it was not
possible to establish the latter in its entirety. Attorney-General
Masères, an able lawyer and constitutional writer, was in favour of a
mixed system, but his views were notably influenced by his strong
prejudices against Roman Catholics. The administration of the law was
extremely confused until 1774, not only on account of the ignorance and
incapacity of the men first sent out from England to preside over the
courts, but also as a consequence of the steady determination of the
majority of French Canadians to ignore laws to which they had naturally
an insuperable objection. In fact, the condition of things became
practically chaotic. It might have been much worse had not General
Murray, at first, and Sir Guy Carleton, at a later time, endeavoured, so
far as lay in their power, to mitigate the hardships to which the people
were subject by being forced to observe laws of which they were entirely
ignorant.
At this time the governor-general was advised by an executive council,
composed of officials and some other persons chosen from the small
Protestant minority of the province. Only one French Canadian appears to
have been ever admitted to this executive body. The English residents
ignored the French as far as possible, and made the most unwarrantable
claims to rule the whole province.
A close study of official documents from 1764 until 1774 goes to show
that all this while the British government was influenced by an anxious
desire to show every justice to French Canada, and to adopt a system of
government most conducive to its best interests In 1767 Lord Shelburne
wrote to Sir Guy Carleton that "the improvement of the civil
constitution of the province was under their most serious
consideration." They were desirous of obtaining all information "which
can tend to elucidate how far it is practicable and expedient to blend
the English with the French laws, in order to form such a system as
shall be at once equitable and convenient for His Majesty's old and new
subjects." From time to time the points at issue were referred to the
law officers of the crown for their opinion, so anxious was the
government to come to a just conclusion. Attorney-General Yorke and
Solicitor-General De Grey in 1766 severely condemned any system that
would permanently "impose new, unnecessary and arbitrary rules
(especially as to the titles of land, and the mode of descent,
alienation and settlement), which would tend to confound and subvert
rights instead of supporting them." In 1772 and 1773 Attorney-General
Thurlow and Solicitor-General Wedderburne dwelt on the necessity of
dealing on principles of justice with the province of Quebec. The French
Canadians, said the former, "seem to have been strictly entitled by the
_jus gentium_ to their property, as they possessed it upon the
capitulation and treaty of peace, together with all its qualities and
incidents by tenure or otherwise." It seemed a necessary consequence
that all those laws by which that property was created, defined, and
secured, must be continued to them. The Advocate-General Marriott, in
1773, also made a number of valuable suggestions in the same spirit, and
at the same time expressed the opinion that under the existent
conditions of the country it was not possible or expedient to call an
assembly. Before the imperial government came to a positive conclusion
on the vexed questions before it, they had the advantage of the wise
experience of Sir Guy Carleton, who visited England and remained there
for some time. The result of the deliberation of years was the passage
through the British parliament of the measure known as "The Quebec Act,"
which has always been considered the charter of the special privileges
which the French Canadians have enjoyed ever since, and which, in the
course of a century, made their province one of the most influential
sections of British North America.
The preamble of the Quebec Act fixed new territorial limits for the
province. It comprised not only the country affected by the proclamation
of 1763, but also all the eastern territory which had been previously
annexed to Newfoundland. In the west and south-west the province was
extended to the Ohio and the Mississippi, and in fact embraced all the
lands beyond the Alleghanies coveted and claimed by the old English
colonies, now hemmed in between the Atlantic and the Appalachian range.
It was now expressly enacted that the Roman Catholic inhabitants of
Canada should thenceforth "enjoy the free exercise" of their religion,
"subject to the king's supremacy declared and established" by law, and
on condition of taking an oath of allegiance, set forth in the act. The
Roman Catholic clergy were allowed "to hold, receive, and enjoy their
accustomed dues and rights, with respect to such persons only as shall
confess the said religion"--that is, one twenty-sixth part of the
produce of the land, Protestants being specially exempted. The French
Canadians were allowed to enjoy all their property, together with all
customs and usages incident thereto, "in as large, ample and beneficial
manner," as if the proclamation or other acts of the crown "had not been
made", but the religious orders and communities were excepted in
accordance with the terms of the capitulation of Montreal--the effect of
which exception I have already briefly stated. In "all matters of
controversy relative to property and civil rights," resort was to be had
to the old civil law of French Canada "as the rule for the decision of
the same", but the criminal law of England was extended to the province
on the indisputable ground that its "certainty and lenity" were already
"sensibly felt by the inhabitants from an experience of more than nine
years." The government of the province was entrusted to a governor and a
legislative council appointed by the crown, "inasmuch as it was
inexpedient to call an assembly." The council was to be composed of not
more than twenty-three residents of the province. At the same time the
British parliament made special enactments for the imposition of certain
customs duties "towards defraying the charges of the administration of
justice and the support of the civil government of the province." All
deficiencies in the revenues derived from these and other sources had to
be supplied by the imperial treasury. During the passage of the act
through parliament, it evoked the bitter hostility of Lord Chatham, who
was then the self-constituted champion of the old colonies, who found
the act most objectionable, not only because it established the Roman
Catholic religion, but placed under the government of Quebec the rich
territory west of the Alleghanies. Similar views were expressed by the
Mayor and Council of London, but they had no effect. The king, in giving
his assent, declared that the measure "was founded on the clearest
principles of justice and humanity, and would have the best effect in
quieting the minds and promoting the happiness of our Canadian
subjects." In French Canada the act was received without any popular
demonstration by the French Canadians, but the men to whom the great
body of that people always looked for advice and guidance--the priests,
curés, and seigniors--naturally regarded these concessions to their
nationality as giving most unquestionable evidence of the considerate
and liberal spirit in which the British government was determined to
rule the province. They had had ever since the conquest satisfactory
proof that their religion was secure from all interference, and now the
British parliament itself came forward with legal guarantees, not only
for the free exercise of that religion, with all its incidents and
tithes, but also for the permanent establishment of the civil law to
which they attached so much importance. The fact that no provision was
made for a popular assembly could not possibly offend a people to whom
local self-government in any form was entirely unknown. It was
impossible to constitute an assembly from the few hundred Protestants
who were living in Montreal and Quebec, and it was equally impossible,
in view of the religious prejudices dominant in England and the English
colonies, to give eighty thousand French Canadian Roman Catholics
privileges which their co-religionists did not enjoy in Great Britain
and to allow them to sit in an elected assembly. Lord North seemed to
voice the general opinion of the British parliament on this difficult
subject, when he closed the debate with an expression of "the earnest
hope that the Canadians will, in the course of time, enjoy as much of
our laws and as much of our constitution as may be beneficial to that
country and safe for this", but "that time," he concluded, "had not yet
come." It does not appear from the evidence before us that the British
had any other motive in passing the Quebec Act than to do justice to
the French Canadian people, now subjects of the crown of England. It was
not a measure primarily intended to check the growth of popular
institutions, but solely framed to meet the actual conditions of a
people entirely unaccustomed to the working of representative or popular
institutions. It was a preliminary step in the development of
self-government.
On the other hand the act was received with loud expressions of
dissatisfaction by the small English minority who had hoped to see
themselves paramount in the government of the province. In Montreal, the
headquarters of the disaffected, an attempt was made to set fire to the
town, and the king's bust was set up in one of the public squares,
daubed with black, and decorated with a necklace made of potatoes, and
bearing the inscription _Voilà le pape du Canada & le sot Anglais_. The
author of this outrage was never discovered, and all the influential
French Canadian inhabitants of the community were deeply incensed that
their language should have been used to insult a king whose only offence
was his assent to a measure of justice to themselves.
Sir Guy Carleton, who had been absent in England for four years,
returned to Canada on the 18th September, 1774, and was well received in
Quebec. The first legislative council under the Quebec Act was not
appointed until the beginning of August, 1775. Of the twenty-two members
who composed it, eight were influential French Canadians bearing
historic names. The council met on the 17th August, but was forced to
adjourn on the 7th September, on account of the invasion of Canada by
the troops of the Continental Congress, composed of representatives of
the rebellious element of the Thirteen Colonies. In a later chapter I
shall very shortly review the effects of the American revolution upon
the people of Canada; but before I proceed to do so it is necessary to
take my readers first to Nova Scotia on the eastern seaboard of British
North America and give a brief summary of its political development
from the beginning of British rule.
SECTION 2.--The foundation of Nova Scotia (1749--1783).
The foundation of Halifax practically put an end to the Acadian period
of Nova Scotian settlement. Until that time the English occupation of
the country was merely nominal. Owing largely to the representations of
Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts--a statesman of considerable ability,
who distinguished himself in American affairs during a most critical
period of colonial history--the British government decided at last on a
vigorous policy in the province, which seemed more than once on the
point of passing out of their hands. Halifax was founded by the
Honourable Edward Cornwallis on the slope of a hill, whose woods then
dipped their branches into the very waters of the noble harbour long
known as Chebuctou, and renamed in honour of a distinguished member of
the Montague family, who had in those days full control of the
administration of colonial affairs.
Colonel Cornwallis, a son of the Baron of that name--a man of firmness
and discretion--entered the harbour, on the 21st of June, old style, or
2nd July present style, and soon afterwards assumed his, duties as
governor of the province. The members of his first council were sworn in
on board one of the transports in the harbour. Between 2000 and 3000
persons were brought at this time to settle the town and country. These
people were chiefly made up of retired military and naval officers,
soldiers and sailors, gentlemen, mechanics, farmers--far too few--and
some Swiss, who were extremely industrious and useful. On the whole,
they were not the best colonists to build up a prosperous industrial
community. The government gave the settlers large inducements in the
shape of free grants of land, and practically supported them for the
first two or three years. It was not until the Acadian population were
removed, and their lands were available, that the foundation of the
agricultural prosperity of the peninsula was really laid. In the summer
of 1753 a considerable number of Germans were placed in the present
county of Lunenburg, where their descendants still prosper, and take a
most active part in all the occupations of life.
With the disappearance of the French Acadian settlers Nova Scotia became
a British colony in the full sense of the phrase. The settlement of 1749
was supplemented in 1760, and subsequent years, by a valuable and large
addition of people who were induced to leave Massachusetts and other
colonies of New England and settle in townships of the present counties
of Annapolis, King's, Hants, Queen's, Yarmouth, Cumberland, and
Colchester, especially in the beautiful townships of Cornwallis and
Horton, where the Acadian meadows were the richest. A small number also
settled at Maugerville and other places on the St. John River.
During the few years that had elapsed since the Acadians were driven
from their lands, the sea had once more found its way through the ruined
dykes, which had no longer the skilful attention of their old builders.
The new owners of the Acadian lands had none of the special knowledge
that the French had acquired, and were unable for years to keep back the
ever-encroaching tides. Still there were some rich uplands and low-lying
meadows, raised above the sea, which richly rewarded the industrious
cultivator. The historian, Haliburton, describes the melancholy scene
that met the eyes of the new settlers when they reached, in 1760, the
old homes of the Acadians at Mines. They came across a few straggling
families of Acadians who "had eaten no bread for years, and had
subsisted on vegetables, fish, and the more hardy part of the cattle
that had survived the severity of the first winter of their
abandonment." They saw everywhere "ruins of the houses that had been
burned by the Provincials, small gardens encircled by cherry-trees and
currant-bushes, and clumps of apple-trees." In all parts of the country,
where the new colonists established themselves, the Indians were
unfriendly for years, and it was necessary to erect stockaded houses for
the protection of the settlements.
No better class probably could have been selected to settle Nova Scotia
than these American immigrants. The majority were descendants of the
Puritans who settled in New England, and some were actually sprung from
men and women who had landed from "The Mayflower" in 1620. Governor
Lawrence recognized the necessity of having a sturdy class of settlers,
accustomed to the climatic conditions and to agricultural labour in
America, and it was through his strenuous efforts that these immigrants
were brought into the province. They had, indeed, the choice of the best
land of the province, and everything was made as pleasant as possible
for them by a paternal government, only anxious to establish British
authority on a sound basis of industrial development.
In 1767, according to an official return in the archives of Nova Scotia,
the total population of what are now the provinces of Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, reached 13,374 souls; of whom 6913
are given as Americans, 912 as English, 2165 as Irish, 1946 as Germans,
and 1265 as Acadian French, the latter being probably a low estimate.
Some of these Irish emigrated directly from the north of Ireland, and
were Presbyterians. They were brought out by one Alexander McNutt, who
did much for the work of early colonization; others came from New
Hampshire, where they had been settled for some years. The name of
Londonderry in New Hampshire is a memorial of this important class, just
as the same name recalls them in the present county of Colchester, in
Nova Scotia.
The Scottish immigration, which has exercised such an important
influence on the eastern counties of Nova Scotia--and I include Cape
Breton--commenced in 1772, when about thirty families arrived from
Scotland and settled in the present county of Pictou, where a very few
American colonists from Philadelphia had preceded them. In later years a
steady tide of Scotch population flowed into eastern Nova Scotia and did
not cease until 1820. Gaelic is still the dominant tongue in the eastern
counties, where we find numerous names recalling the glens, lochs, and
mountains of old Scotland. Sir William Alexander's dream of a new
Scotland has been realised in a measure in the province where his
ambition would have made him "lord paramount."
Until the foundation of Halifax the government of Nova Scotia was vested
solely in a governor who had command of the garrison stationed at
Annapolis. In 1719 a commission was issued to Governor Phillips, who was
authorised to appoint a council of not less than twelve persons. This
council had advisory and judicial functions, but its legislative
authority was of a very limited scope. This provisional system of
government lasted until 1749, when Halifax became the seat of the new
administration of public affairs. The governor had a right to appoint a
council of twelve persons--as we have already seen, he did so
immediately--and to summon a general assembly "according to the usage of
the rest of our colonies and plantations in America." He was, "with the
advice and consent" of the council and assembly, "to make, constitute
and ordain laws" for the good government of the province. During nine
years the governor-in-council carried on the government without an
assembly, and passed a number of ordinances, some of which imposed
duties on trade for the purpose of raising revenue. The legality of
their acts was questioned by Chief Justice Belcher, and he was sustained
by the opinion of the English law officers, who called attention to the
governor's commission, which limited the council's powers. The result of
this decision was the establishment of a representative assembly, which
met for the first time at Halifax on the 2nd October, 1758.
Governor Lawrence, whose name will be always unhappily associated with
the merciless expatriation of the French Acadians, had the honour of
opening the first legislative assembly of Nova Scotia in 1758. One
Robert Sanderson, of whom we know nothing else, was chosen as the first
speaker, but he held his office for only one session, and was succeeded
by William Nesbitt, who presided over the house for many years. The
first sittings of the legislature were held in the court house, and
subsequently in the old grammar school at the corner of Barrington and
Sackville Streets, for very many years one of the historic memorials of
the Halifax of the eighteenth century.
At this time the present province of New Brunswick was for the most part
comprised in a county known as Sunbury, with one representative in the
assembly of Nova Scotia. The island of Cape Breton also formed a part of
the province, and had the right to send two members to the assembly, but
the only election held for that purpose was declared void on account of
there not being any freeholders entitled by law to vote. The island of
St. John, named Prince Edward in 1798, in honour of the Duke of Kent,
who was commander-in-chief of the British forces for some years in North
America, was also annexed to Nova Scotia in 1763, but it never sent
representatives to its legislature. In the following year a survey was
commenced of all the imperial dominions on the Atlantic. Various schemes
for the cultivation and settlement of the island were proposed as soon
as the surveys were in progress. The most notable suggestion was made by
the Earl of Egmont, first lord of the admiralty; he proposed the
division of the island into baronies, each with a castle or stronghold
under a feudal lord, subject to himself as lord paramount, under the
customs of the feudal system of Europe. The imperial authorities
rejected this scheme, but at the same time they adopted one which was as
unwise as that of the noble earl. The whole island, with the exception
of certain small reservations and royalties, was given away by lottery
in a single day to officers of the army and navy who had served in the
preceding war, and to other persons who were ambitious to be great
landowners, on the easy condition of paying certain quit-rents--a
condition constantly broken. This ill-advised measure led to many
troublesome complications for a hundred years, until at last they were
removed by the terms of the arrangement which brought the island into
the federal union of British North America in 1873. In 1769 the island
was separated from Nova Scotia and granted a distinct government,
although its total population at the time did not exceed one hundred and
fifty families. An assembly of eighteen representatives was called so
early as 1773, when the first governor, Captain Walter Paterson, still
administered public affairs. The assembly was not allowed to meet with
regularity during many years of the early history of the island. During
one administration it was practically without parliamentary government
for ten years. The land question always dominated public affairs in the
island for a hundred years.
From the very beginning of a regular system of government in Nova Scotia
the legislature appears to have practically controlled the
administration of local affairs except so far as it gave, from time to
time, powers to the courts of quarter sessions to regulate taxation and
carry out certain small public works and improvements. In the first
session of the legislature a joint committee of the council and assembly
chose the town officers for Halifax. We have abundant evidence that at
this time the authorities viewed with disfavour any attempt to establish
a system of town government similar to that so long in operation in New
England. The town meeting was considered the nursery of sedition in New
England, and it is no wonder that the British authorities in Halifax
frowned upon all attempts to reproduce it in their province.
Soon after his arrival in Nova Scotia, Governor Cornwallis established
courts of law to try and determine civil and criminal cases in
accordance with the laws of England. In 1774 there were in the province
courts of general session, similar to the courts of the same name in
England; courts of common pleas, formed on the practice of New England
and the mother country, and a supreme court, court of assize and general
gaol delivery, composed of a chief justice and two assistant judges. The
governor-in-council constituted a court of error in certain cases, and
from its decisions an appeal could be made to the king-in-council.
Justices of peace were also appointed in the counties and townships,
with jurisdiction over the collection of small debts.
We must now leave the province of Nova Scotia and follow the
revolutionary movement, which commenced, soon after the signing of the
Treaty of Paris, in the old British colonies on the Atlantic seaboard,
and ended in the acknowledgement of their independence in 1783, and in
the forced migration of a large body of loyal people who found their way
to the British provinces.
CHAPTER III.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS (1763--1784).
SECTION I.--The successful Revolution of the Thirteen Colonies in
America.
When Canada was formally ceded to Great Britain the Thirteen Colonies
were relieved from the menace of the presence of France in the valleys
of the St. Lawrence, the Ohio, and the Mississippi. Nowhere were there
more rejoicings on account of this auspicious event than in the homes of
the democratic Puritans. The names of Pitt and Wolfe were honoured above
all others of their countrymen, and no one in England, certainly not
among its statesmen, imagined that in the colonies, which stretched from
the river Penobscot to the peninsula of Florida, there was latent a
spirit of independence which might at any moment threaten the rule of
Great Britain on the American continent. The great expenses of the Seven
Years' War were now pressing heavily on the British taxpayer. British
statesmen were forced to consider how best they could make the colonies
themselves contribute towards their own protection in the future, and
relieve Great Britain in some measure from the serious burden which
their defence had heretofore imposed on her. In those days colonies were
considered as so many possessions to be used for the commercial
advantage of the parent state. Their commerce and industries had been
fettered for many years by acts of parliament which were intended to
give Great Britain a monopoly of their trade and at the same time
prevent them from manufacturing any article that they could buy from the
British factories. As a matter of fact, however, these restrictive
measures of imperial protection had been for a long time practically
dead-letters. The merchants and seamen of New England carried on
smuggling with the French and Spanish Indies with impunity, and
practically traded where they pleased.
The stamp act was only evidence of a vigorous colonial policy, which was
to make the people of the colonies contribute directly to their own
defence and security, and at the same time enforce the navigation laws
and acts of trade and put an end to the general system of smuggling by
which men, some of the best known merchants of Boston, had acquired a
fortune. George Grenville, who was responsible for the rigid enforcement
of the navigation laws and the stamp act, had none of that worldly
wisdom which Sir Robert Walpole showed when, years before, it was
proposed to him to tax the colonies. "No," said that astute politician,
"I have old England set against me already, and do you think I will have
New England likewise?" But Grenville and his successors, in attempting
to carry out a new colonial policy, entirely misunderstood the
conditions and feelings of the colonial communities affected and raised
a storm of indignation which eventually led to independence. The stamp
act was in itself an equitable measure, the proceeds of which were to be
exclusively used for the benefit of the colonies themselves; but its
enactment was most unfortunate at a time when the influential classes in
New England were deeply irritated at the enforcement of a policy which
was to stop the illicit trade from which they had so largely profited in
the past. The popular indignation, however, vented itself against the
stamp act, which imposed internal taxation, was declared to be in direct
violation of the principles of political liberty and self-government
long enjoyed by the colonists as British subjects, and was repealed as a
result of the violent opposition it met in the colonies. Parliament
contented itself with a statutory declaration of its supremacy in all
matters over every part of the empire; but not long afterwards the
determination of some English statesmen to bring the colonies as far as
practicable directly under the dominion of British law in all matters of
commerce and taxation, and to control their government as far as
possible, found full expression in the Townshend acts of 1767 which
imposed port duties on a few commodities, including tea, imported into
those countries. At the same time provision was made for the due
execution of existing laws relating to trade. The province of New York
was punished for openly refusing to obey an act of parliament which
required the authorities to furnish the British troops with the
necessaries of life. Writs of assistance, which allowed officials to
search everywhere for smuggled goods, were duly legalised. These writs
were the logical sequence of a rigid enforcement of the laws of trade
and navigation, and had been vehemently denounced by James Otis, so far
back as 1761, as not only irreconcilable with the colonial charters, but
as inconsistent with those natural rights which a people "derived from
nature and the Author of nature"--an assertion which obtained great
prominence for the speaker. This bold expression of opinion in
Massachusetts should be studied by the historian of those times in
connection with the equally emphatic revolutionary argument advanced by
Patrick Henry of Virginia, two years later, against the ecclesiastical
supremacy of the Anglican clergy and the right of the king to veto
legislation of the colony. Though the prerogative of the crown was thus
directly called into question in a Virginia court, the British
government did not take a determined stand on the undoubted rights of
the crown in the case. English statesmen and lawyers probably regarded
such arguments, if they paid any attention to them at all in days when
they neglected colonial opinion, as only temporary ebullitions of local
feeling, though in reality they were so many evidences of the opposition
that was sure to show itself whenever there was a direct interference
with the privileges and rights of self-governing communities. Both Henry
and Otis touched a key-note of the revolution, which was stimulated by
the revenue and stamp acts and later measures affecting the colonies.
It is somewhat remarkable that it was in aristocratic Virginia, founded
by Cavaliers, as well as in democratic Massachusetts, founded by
Puritans, that the revolutionary element gained its principal strength
during the controversy with the parent state. The makers of
Massachusetts were independents in church government and democrats in
political principle. The whole history of New England, in fact, from the
first charters until the argument on the writs of assistance, is full of
incidents which show the growth of republican ideas. The Anglican church
had no strength in the northern colonies, and the great majority of
their people were bitterly opposed to the pretensions of the English
hierarchy to establish an episcopate in America. It is not therefore
surprising that Massachusetts should have been the leader in the
revolutionary agitation; on the other hand in Virginia the Anglican
clergy belonged to what was essentially an established church, and the
whole social fabric of the colony rested on an aristocratic basis. No
doubt before the outbreak of the revolution there was a decided feeling
against England on account of the restrictions on the sale of tobacco;
and the quarrel, which I have just referred to, with respect to the
stipends of the clergy, which were to be paid in this staple commodity
according to its market value at the time of payment, had spread
discontent among a large body of the people. But above all such causes
of dissatisfaction was the growing belief that the political freedom of
the people, and the very existence of the colony as a self-governing
community, were jeopardised by the indiscreet acts of the imperial
authorities after 1763. It is easy then to understand that the action of
the British government in 1767 renewed the agitation, which had been
allayed for the moment by the repeal of the stamp act and the general
belief that there would be no rigid enforcement of old regulations which
meant the ruin of the most profitable trade of New England. The measures
of the ministry were violently assailed in parliament by Burke and
other eminent men who availed themselves of so excellent an opportunity
of exciting the public mind against a government which was doing so much
to irritate the colonies and injure British trade. All the political
conditions were unfavourable to a satisfactory adjustment of the
colonial difficulty. Chatham had been one of the earnest opponents of
the stamp act, but he was now buried in retirement--labouring under some
mental trouble--and Charles Townshend, the chancellor of the exchequer
in the cabinet of which Chatham was the real head, was responsible for
measures which his chief would have repudiated as most impolitic and
inexpedient in the existing temper of the colonies.
The action of the ministry was for years at once weak and irritating.
One day they asserted the supremacy of the British parliament, and on
the next yielded to the violent opposition of the colonies and the
appeals of British merchants whose interests were at stake. Nothing
remained eventually but the tea duty, and even that was so arranged that
the colonists could buy their tea at a much cheaper rate than the
British consumer. But by this time a strong anti-British party was in
course of formation throughout the colonies. Samuel Adams of
Massachusetts, Patrick Henry of Virginia, and a few other political
managers of consummate ability, had learned their own power, and the
weakness of English ministers. Samuel Adams, who had no love in his
heart for England, was undoubtedly by this time insidiously working
towards the independence of the colonies. Violence and outrage formed
part of his secret policy. The tea in Boston harbour was destroyed by a
mob disguised as Mohawk Indians, and was nowhere allowed to enter into
domestic consumption. The patience of English ministers was now
exhausted, and they determined to enter on a vigorous system of
repression, which might have had some effect at an earlier stage of the
revolutionary movement, when the large and influential loyal body of
people in the colonies ought to have been vigorously supported, and not
left exposed to the threats, insults, and even violence of a resolute
minority, comprising many persons influenced by purely selfish
reasons--the stoppage of illicit trade from which they had profited--as
well as men who objected on principle to a policy which seemed to them
irreconcilable with the rights of the people to the fullest possible
measure of local self-government. As it was, however, the insults and
injuries to British officials bound to obey the law, the shameless and
continuous rioting, the destruction of private property, the defiant
attitude of the opposition to England, had at last awakened the home
authorities to the dangers latent in the rebellious spirit that reckless
agitators had aroused in colonies for which England had sacrificed so
much of her blood and treasure when their integrity and dearest
interests were threatened by France. The port of Boston, where the
agitators were most influential and the most discreditable acts of
violence had taken place, was closed to trade; and important
modifications were made in the charter granted to Massachusetts by
William III in 1692. Another obnoxious act provided that persons
"questioned for any acts in execution of the laws" should be tried in
England--a measure intended to protect officials and soldiers in the
discharge of their duty against the rancour of the colonial community
where they might be at that time. These measures, undoubtedly unwise at
this juncture, were calculated to evoke the hostility of the other
colonies and to show them what was probably in store for themselves. But
while the issue certainly proved this to be the case, the course pursued
by the government under existing conditions had an appearance of
justification. Even Professor Goldwin Smith, who will not be accused of
any sympathy with the British cabinet of that day, or of antagonism to
liberal principles, admits that "a government thus bearded and insulted
had its choice between abdication and repression," and "that repression
was the most natural" course to pursue under the circumstances. Lord
North gave expression to what was then a largely prevailing sentiment in
England when he said "to repeal the tea duty would stamp us with
timidity," and that the destruction of the property of private
individuals, such as took place at Boston, "was a fitting culmination of
years of riot and lawlessness." Lord North, we all know now, was really
desirous of bringing about a reconciliation between the colonies and the
parent state, but he servilely yielded his convictions to the king, who
was determined to govern all parts of his empire, and was in favour of
coercive measures. It is quite evident that the British ministry and
their supporters entirely underrated the strength of the colonial party
that was opposing England. Even those persons who, when the war broke
out, remained faithful to their allegiance to the crown, were of opinion
that the British government was pursuing a policy unwise in the extreme,
although they had no doubt of the abstract legal right of that
government to pass the Grenville and Townshend acts for taxing the
colonies. Chatham, Burke, Conway, and Barré were the most prominent
public men who, in powerful language, showed the dangers of the unwise
course pursued by the "king's friends" in parliament.
As we review the events of those miserable years we can see that every
step taken by the British government, from the stamp act until the
closing of the port of Boston and other coercive measures, had the
effect of strengthening the hands of Samuel Adams and the other
revolutionary agitators. Their measures to create a feeling against
England exhibited great cunning and skill. The revolutionary movement
was aided by the formation of "Sons of Liberty"--a phrase taken from one
of Barré's speeches,--by circular letters and committees of
correspondence between the colonies, by petitions to the king winch were
framed in a tone of independence not calculated to conciliate that
uncompromising sovereign, by clever ingenious appeals to public
patriotism, by the assembling of a "continental congress," by acts of
"association" which meant the stoppage of all commercial intercourse
with Great Britain. New England was the head and front of the whole
revolution, and Samuel Adams was its animating spirit. Even those famous
committees of correspondence between the towns of Massachusetts, which
gave expression to public opinion and stimulated united action when the
legislative authority was prevented by the royal governor from working,
were the inspiration of this astute political manager. Prominent
Virginians saw the importance of carrying out this idea on a wider field
of action, and Virginia accordingly inaugurated a system of
intercolonial correspondence which led to the meeting of a continental
congress, and was the first practical step towards political
independence of the parent state. Adams's decision to work for
independence was made, or confirmed, as early as 1767, when Charles
Townshend succeeded in passing the measures which were so obnoxious to
the colonists, and finally led to civil war.
At a most critical moment, when the feelings of a large body of people
were aroused to a violent pitch, when ideas of independence were
ripening in the minds of others besides Samuel Adams, General Gage, then
in command of the British regular troops in Boston, sent a military
force to make prisoners of Adams and Hancock at Lexington, and seize
some stores at Concord. Then the "embattled farmers" fired the shot
"which was heard around the world." Then followed the capture of
Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and the battle of Bunker's Hill, on the
same day that Washington was appointed by congress to command the
continental army. At this critical juncture, John Adams and other
prominent colonists--not excepting Washington--were actually disavowing
all desire to sever their relations with the parent state in the face of
the warlike attitude of congress--an attitude justified by the
declaration that it was intended to force a redress of grievances. Tom
Paine, a mere adventurer, who had not been long in the country, now
issued his pamphlet, "Common Sense," which was conceived in a spirit
and written in a style admirably calculated to give strength and
cohesion to the arguments of the people, who had been for some time
coming to the conclusion that to aim at independence was the only
consistent and logical course in the actual state of controversy between
England and the colonies. On March 14th, 1776, the town of Boston, then
the most important in America, was given up to the rebels; and British
ships carried the first large body of unhappy and disappointed Loyalists
to Halifax. On July the fourth of the same year the Declaration of
Independence was passed, after much hesitation and discussion, and
published to the world by the continental congress assembled at
Philadelphia. The signal victory won by the continental army over
Burgoyne at Saratoga in the autumn of the following year led to an
alliance with France, without whose effective aid the eventual success
of the revolutionists would have been very doubtful The revolutionists
won their final triumph at Yorktown in the autumn of 1781, when a small
army of regulars and Loyalists, led by Cornwallis, was obliged to
surrender to the superior American and French forces, commanded by
Washington and Rochambeau, and supported by a French fleet which
effectively controlled the approaches to Chesapeake Bay.
The conduct of the war on the part of England was noted for the singular
incapacity of her generals. Had there been one of any energy or ability
at the head of her troops, when hostilities commenced, the undisciplined
American army might easily have been beaten and annihilated Boston need
never have been evacuated had Howe taken the most ordinary precautions
to occupy the heights of Dorchester that commanded the town. Washington
could never have organised an army had not Howe given him every possible
opportunity for months to do so. The British probably had another grand
opportunity of ending the war on their occupation of New York, when
Washington and his relatively insignificant army were virtually in their
power while in retreat. The history of the war is full of similar
instances of lost opportunities to overwhelm the continental troops. All
the efforts of the British generals appear to have been devoted to the
occupation of the important towns in a country stretching for a thousand
miles from north to south, instead of following and crushing the
constantly retreating, diminishing, and discouraged forces of the
revolutionists. The evacuation of Philadelphia at a critical moment of
the war was another signal illustration of the absence of all military
foresight and judgment, since it disheartened the Loyalists and gave up
an important base of operation against the South. Even Cornwallis, who
fought so bravely and successfully in the southern provinces, made a
most serious mistake when he chose so weak a position as Yorktown, which
was only defensible whilst the army of occupation had free access to the
sea. Admiral Rodney, then at St. Eustatius, is open to censure for not
having sent such naval reinforcements as would have enabled the British
to command Chesapeake Bay, and his failure in this respect explains the
inability of Clinton, an able general, to support Cornwallis in his hour
of need. The moment the French fleet appeared in the Chesapeake,
Cornwallis's position became perfectly untenable, and he was obliged to
surrender to the allied armies, who were vastly superior in number and
equipment to his small force, which had not even the advantage of
fighting behind well-constructed and perfect defences. No doubt, from
the beginning to the end of the war--notably in the case of
Burgoyne--the British were seriously hampered by the dilatory and unsafe
counsels of Lord George Germaine, who was allowed by the favour of the
king to direct military operations, and who, we remember, had disgraced
himself on the famous battlefield of Minden.
All the conditions in the country at large were favourable to the
imperial troops had they been commanded by generals of ability. The
Loyalists formed a large available force, rendered valueless time after
time by the incapacity of the men who directed operations. At no time
did the great body of the American people warmly respond to the demands
made upon them by congress to support Washington. Had it not been for
New England and Virginia the war must have more than once collapsed for
want of men and supplies. It is impossible to exaggerate the absence of
public spirit in the States during this critical period of their
history. The English historian, Lecky, who has reviewed the annals of
those times with great fairness, has truly said: "The nobility and
beauty of the character of Washington can hardly be surpassed; several
of the other leaders of the revolution were men of ability and public
spirit, and few armies have ever shown a nobler self-devotion than that
which remained with Washington through the dreary winter at Valley
Forge. But the army that bore those sufferings was a very small one, and
the general aspect of the American people during the contest was far
from heroic or sublime." This opinion is fully borne out by those
American historians who have reviewed the records of their national
struggle in a spirit of dispassionate criticism. We know that in the
spring of 1780 Washington himself wrote that his troops were "constantly
on the point of starving for want of provisions and forage." He saw "in
every line of the army the most serious features of mutiny and
sedition." Indeed he had "almost ceased to hope," for he found the
country in general "in such a state of insensibility and indifference to
its interests" that he dare not flatter himself "with any change for the
better." The war under such circumstances would have come to a sudden
end had not France liberally responded to Washington's appeals and
supported him with her money, her sailors and her soldiers. In the
closing years of the war Great Britain had not only to fight France,
Spain, Holland and her own colonies, but she was without a single ally
in Europe. Her dominion was threatened in India, and the king prevented
the intervention of the only statesman in the kingdom to whom the
colonists at any time were likely to listen with respect. When Chatham
died with a protest on his lips "against the dismemberment of this
ancient monarchy," the last hope of bringing about a reconciliation
between the revolutionists and the parent state disappeared for ever,
and the Thirteen Colonies became independent at Yorktown.
SECTION 2.--Canada and Nova Scotia during the Revolution.
If Canada was saved to England during the American Revolution it was not
on account of the energy and foresight shown by the king and his
ministers in providing adequately for its defence, but mainly through
the coolness and excellent judgment displayed by Governor Carleton. The
Quebec act, for which he was largely responsible, was extremely
unpopular in the Thirteen Colonies, on account of its having extended
the boundaries of the province and the civil law to that western country
beyond the Alleghanies, which the frontiersmen of Pennsylvania and
Virginia regarded as specially their own domain. The fact that the
Quebec act was passed by parliament simultaneously with the Boston port
bill and other measures especially levelled against Massachusetts, gave
additional fuel to the indignation of the people, who regarded this
group of acts as part of a settled policy to crush the British-speaking
colonies.
Under these circumstances, the invasion of Canada by Arnold in 1775,
with the full approval of the continental congress, soon after the
taking of Crown Point and Ticonderoga by the "Green Mountain boys" of
Vermont, was a most popular movement which, it was hoped generally,
would end in the easy conquest of a province, occupied by an alien
people, and likely to be a menace in the future to the country south of
the St. Lawrence. The capture of Chambly and St. John's--the keys of
Canada, by way of Lake Champlain--was immediately followed by the
surrender of Montreal, which was quite indefensible, and the flight of
Carleton to Quebec, where he wisely decided to make a stand against the
invaders. At this time there were not one thousand regular troops in the
country, and Carleton's endeavour to obtain reinforcements from Boston
had failed in consequence of the timidity of Admiral Graves, who
expressed his opinion that it was not safe to send vessels up the St.
Lawrence towards the end of the month of October. No dependence
apparently could be placed at this critical juncture on a number of the
French _habitants_, as soon as the districts of Richelieu, Montreal and
Three Rivers were occupied by the continental troops. Many of them were
quite ready to sell provisions to the invaders, provided they were paid
in coin, and a few of them even joined Montgomery on his march to
Quebec. Happily, however, the influence of the clergy and the
_seigneurs_ was sufficiently powerful to make the great mass of the
people neutral during this struggle for supremacy in the province.
The bishop and the priests, from the outset, were quite alive to the
gravity of the situation. They could not forget that the delegates to
the continental congress, who were now appealing to French Canada to
join the rebellious colonists, had only a few weeks before issued an
address to the people of England in which they expressed their
astonishment that the British parliament should have established in
Canada "a religion that had deluged their land in blood and dispersed
impiety, bigotry, persecution, murder, and rebellion through every part
of the world." Almost simultaneously with the capture of the forts on
Lake Champlain, Bishop Briand issued a _mandement_ in which he dwelt
with emphasis on the great benefits which the people of French Canada
had already derived from the British connection and called upon them all
to unite in the defence of their province. No doubt can exist that these
opinions had much effect at a time when Carleton had reason to doubt
even the loyalty of the English population, some of whom were
notoriously in league with the rebels across the frontier, and gave
material aid to the invaders as soon as they occupied Montreal. It was
assuredly the influence of the French clergy that rendered entirely
ineffectual the mission of Chase, Franklin, and the Carrolls of
Maryland--one of whom became the first Roman Catholic archbishop of the
United States--who were instructed by congress to offer every possible
inducement to the Roman Catholic subjects of England in Canada to join
the revolutionary movement.
Richard Montgomery, who had commanded the troops invading Canada, had
served at Louisbourg and Quebec, and had subsequently become a resident
of New York, where his political opinions on the outbreak of the
revolution had been influenced by his connection, through marriage, with
the Livingstones, bitter opponents of the British government. His merit
as a soldier naturally brought him into prominence when the war began,
and his own ambition gladly led him to obey the order to go to Canada,
where he hoped to emulate the fame of Wolfe and become the captor of
Quebec. He formed a junction, close to the ancient capital, with the
force under Benedict Arnold, who was at a later time to sully a
memorable career by an act of the most deliberate treachery to his
compatriots. When Montgomery and Arnold united their forces before
Quebec, the whole of Canada, from Lake Champlain to Montreal, and from
that town to the walls of the old capital, was under the control of the
continental troops. Despite the great disadvantages under which he
laboured, Carleton was able to perfect his defences of the city, which
he determined to hold until reinforcements should arrive in the spring
from England. Montgomery had neither men nor artillery to storm the
fortified city which he had hoped to surprise and easily occupy with the
aid of secret friends within its walls. Carleton, however, rallied all
loyal men to his support, and the traitors on whom the invaders had
relied were powerless to carry out any treacherous design they may have
formed. The American commanders at once recognised the folly of a
regular investment of the fortress during a long and severe winter, and
decided to attempt to surprise the garrison by a night assault. This
plan was earned out in the early morning of the thirty-first of
December, 1775, when the darkness was intensified by flurries of light
blinding snow, but it failed before the assailants could force the
barricades which barred the way to the upper town, where all the
principal offices and buildings were grouped, just below the château and
fort of St. Louis, which towers above the historic heights. Montgomery
was killed, Arnold was wounded at the very outset, and a considerable
number of their officers and men were killed or wounded.
Carleton saved Quebec at this critical hour and was able in the course
of the same year, when General Burgoyne arrived with reinforcements
largely composed of subsidised German regiments, to drive the
continental troops in confusion from the province and destroy the fleet
which congress had formed on Lake Champlain. Carleton took possession of
Crown Point but found the season too late--it was now towards the end of
autumn--to attempt an attack on Ticonderoga, which was occupied by a
strong and well-equipped garrison. After a careful view of the situation
he concluded to abandon Crown Point until the spring, when he could
easily occupy it again, and attack Ticonderoga with every prospect of
success. But Carleton, soon afterwards, was ordered to give up the
command of the royal troops to Burgoyne, who was instructed by Germaine
to proceed to the Hudson River, where Howe was to join him. Carleton
naturally resented the insult that he received and resigned the
governor-generalship, to which General Haldimand was appointed. Carleton
certainly brought Canada securely through one of the most critical
epochs of her history, and there is every reason to believe that he
would have saved the honour of England and the reputation of her
generals, had he rather than Burgoyne and Howe been entrusted with the
direction of her armies in North America.
Carleton's administration of the civil government of the province was
distinguished by a spirit of discretion and energy which deservedly
places him among the ablest governors who ever presided over the public
affairs of a colony. During the progress of the American war the
legislative council was not able to meet until nearly two years after
its abrupt adjournment in September, 1775. At this session, in 1777,
ordinances were passed for the establishment of courts of King's bench,
common pleas, and probate.
A critical perusal of the valuable documents, placed of late years in
the archives of the Dominion, clearly proves that it was a fortunate day
for Canada when so resolute a soldier and far-sighted administrator as
General Haldimand was in charge of the civil and military government of
the country after the departure of Carleton. His conduct appears to have
been dictated by a desire to do justice to all classes, and it is most
unfair to his memory to declare that he was antagonistic to French
Canadians. During the critical time when he was entrusted with the
public defence it is impossible to accuse him of an arrogant or
unwarrantable exercise of authority, even when he was sorely beset by
open and secret enemies of the British connection. The French Canadian
_habitant_ found himself treated with a generous consideration that he
never obtained during the French régime, and wherever his services were
required by the state, he was paid, not in worthless card money, but in
British coin. During Haldimand's administration the country was in a
perilous condition on account of the restlessness and uncertainty that
prevailed while the French naval and military expeditions were in
America, using every means of exciting a public sentiment hostile to
England and favourable to France among the French Canadians. Admiral
D'Estaing's proclamation in 1778 was a passionate appeal to the old
national sentiment of the people, and was distributed in every part of
the province. Dr. Kingsford believes that it had large influence in
creating a powerful feeling which might have seriously threatened
British dominion had the French been able to obtain permission from
congress to send an army into the country. Whatever may have been the
temper of the great majority of the French Canadians, it does not appear
that many of them openly expressed their sympathy with France, for whom
they would naturally still feel a deep love as their motherland. The
assertion that many priests secretly hoped for the appearance of the
French army is not justified by any substantial evidence except the fact
that one La Valinière was arrested for his disloyalty, and sent a
prisoner to England. It appears, however, that this course was taken
with the approval of the bishop himself, who was a sincere friend of the
English connection throughout the war. Haldimand arrested a number of
persons who were believed to be engaged in treasonable practices against
England, and effectively prevented any successful movement being made by
the supporters of the revolutionists, or sympathisers with France, whose
emissaries were secretly working in the parishes.
Haldimand's principal opponent during these troublous times was one
Pierre du Calvet, an unscrupulous and able intriguer, whom he imprisoned
on the strong suspicion of treasonable practices; but the evidence
against Calvet at that time appears to have been inadequate, as he
succeeded in obtaining damages against the governor-general in an
English court. The imperial government, however, in view of all the
circumstances brought to their notice, paid the cost of the defence of
the suit. History now fully justifies the action of Haldimand, for the
publication of Franklin's correspondence in these later times shows that
Calvet--who was drowned at sea and never again appeared in Canada--was
in direct correspondence with congress, and the recognised emissary of
the revolutionists at the very time he was declaring himself devoted to
the continuance of British rule in Canada.
Leaving the valley of the St. Lawrence, and reviewing the conditions of
affairs in the maritime provinces, during the American revolution, we
see that some of the settlers from New England sympathised with their
rebellious countrymen. The people of Truro, Onslow, and Londonderry,
with the exception of five persons, refused to take the oath of
allegiance, and were not allowed for some time to be represented in the
legislature. The assembly was always loyal to the crown, and refused to
consider the appeals that were made to it by circular letters, and
otherwise, to give active aid and sympathy to the rebellious colonies
During the war armed cruisers pillaged the small settlements at
Charlottetown, Annapolis, Lunenburg, and the entrance of the St. John
River. One expedition fitted out at Machias, in the present state of
Maine, under the command of a Colonel Eddy, who had been a resident of
Cumberland, attempted to seize Fort Cumberland--known as Beauséjour in
French Acadian days--at the mouth of the Missiquash. In this section of
the country there were many sympathisers with the rebels, and Eddy
expected to have an easy triumph. The military authorities were happily
on the alert, and the only result was the arrest of a number of persons
on the suspicion of treasonable designs. The inhabitants of the county
of Yarmouth--a district especially exposed to attack--only escaped the
frequent visits of privateers by secret negotiations with influential
persons in Massachusetts. The settlers on the St. John River, at
Maugerville, took measures to assist their fellow-countrymen in New
England, but the defeat of the Cumberland expedition and the activity of
the British authorities prevented the disaffected in Sunbury county--in
which the original settlements of New Brunswick were then
comprised--from rendering any practical aid to the revolutionists. The
authorities at Halifax authorised the fitting out of privateers in
retaliation for the damages inflicted on western ports by the same class
of cruisers sailing from New England. The province was generally
impoverished by the impossibility of carrying on the coasting trade and
fisheries with security in these circumstances. The constant demand for
men to fill the army and the fleet drained the country when labour was
imperatively needed for necessary industrial pursuits, including the
cultivation of the land. Some Halifax merchants and traders alone found
profit in the constant arrival of troops and ships. Apart, however, from
the signs of disaffection shown in the few localities I have mentioned,
the people generally appear to have been loyal to England, and rallied,
notably in the townships of Annapolis, Horton and Windsor, to the
defence of the country, at the call of the authorities.
In 1783 the humiliated king of England consented to a peace with his old
colonies, who owed their success not so much to the unselfishness and
determination of the great body of the rebels as to the incapacity of
British generals and to the patience, calmness, and resolution of the
one great man of the revolution, George Washington. I shall in a later
chapter refer to this treaty in which the boundaries between Canada and
the new republic were so ignorantly and clumsily defined that it took
half a century and longer to settle the vexed questions that arose in
connection with territorial rights, and then the settlement was to the
injury of Canada. So far as the treaty affected the Provinces its most
important result was the forced migration of that large body of people
who had remained faithful to the crown and empire during the revolution.
[Illustration: MAP SHOWING BOUNDARY BETWEEN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES
BY TREATY OF 1783]
SECTION 3.--The United Empire Loyalists
John Adams and other authorities in the United States have admitted that
when the first shot of the revolution was fired by "the embattled
farmers" of Concord and Lexington, the Loyalists numbered one-third of
the whole population of the colonies, or seven hundred thousand whites.
Others believe that the number was larger, and that the revolutionary
party was in a minority even after the declaration of independence. The
greater number of the Loyalists were to be found in the present state of
New York, where the capital was in possession of the British from
September, 1776, until the evacuation in 1783. They were also the
majority in Pennsylvania and the southern colonies of South Carolina and
Georgia. In all the other states they represented a large minority of
the best class of their respective communities. It is estimated that
there were actually from thirty to thirty-five thousand, at one time or
other, enrolled in regularly organised corps, without including the
bodies which waged guerilla warfare in South Carolina and elsewhere.
It is only within a decade of years that some historical writers in the
United States have had the courage and honesty to point out the false
impressions long entertained by the majority of Americans with respect
to the Loyalists, who were in their way as worthy of historical eulogy
as the people whose efforts to win independence were crowned with
success. Professor Tyler, of Cornell University, points out that these
people comprised "in general a clear majority of those who, of whatever
grade of culture or of wealth, would now be described as conservative
people." A clear majority of the official class, of men representing
large commercial interests and capital, of professional training and
occupation, clergymen, physicians, lawyers and teachers, "seem to have
been set against the ultimate measures of the revolution". He assumes
with justice that, within this conservative class, one may "usually find
at least a fair portion of the cultivation, of the moral thoughtfulness,
of the personal purity and honour, existing in the community to which
they happen to belong." He agrees with Dr. John Fiske, and other
historical writers of eminence in the United States, in comparing the
Loyalists of 1776 to the Unionists of the southern war of secession from
1861 until 1865. They were "the champions of national unity, as resting
on the paramount authority of the general government." In other words
they were the champions of a United British Empire in the eighteenth
century.
"The old colonial system," says that thoughtful writer Sir J.R. Seeley,
"was not at all tyrannous; and when the breach came the grievances of
which the Americans complained, though perfectly real, were smaller than
ever before or since led to such mighty consequences." The leaders among
the Loyalists, excepting a few rash and angry officials probably,
recognised that there were grievances which ought to be remedied. They
looked on the policy of the party in power in Great Britain as
injudicious in the extreme, but they believed that the relations between
the colonies and the mother-state could be placed on a more satisfactory
basis by a spirit of mutual compromise, and not by such methods as were
insidiously followed by the agitators against England. The Loyalists
generally contended for the legality of the action of parliament, and
were supported by the opinion of all high legal authorities; but the
causes of difficulty were not to be adjusted by mere lawyers, who
adhered to the strict letter of the law, but by statesmen who recognised
that the time had come for reconsidering the relations between the
colonies and the parent state, and meeting the new conditions of their
rapid development and political freedom. These relations were not to be
placed on an equitable and satisfactory basis by mob-violence and
revolution. All the questions at issue were of a constitutional
character, to be settled by constitutional methods.
Unhappily, English statesmen of that day paid no attention to, and had
no conception of, the aspirations, sentiments and conditions of the
colonial peoples when the revolutionary war broke out. The king wished
to govern in the colonies as well as in the British Isles, and
unfortunately the unwise assertion of his arrogant will gave dangerous
men like Samuel Adams, more than once, the opportunity they wanted to
stimulate public irritation and indignation against England.
It is an interesting fact, that the relations between Great Britain and
the Canadian Dominion are now regulated by just such principles as were
urged in the interests of England and her colonies a hundred and twenty
years ago by Governor Thomas Hutchinson, a great Loyalist, to whom
justice is at last being done by impartial historians in the country
where his motives and acts were so long misunderstood and
misrepresented. "Whatever measures," he wrote to a correspondent in
England, "you may take to maintain the authority of parliament, give me
leave to pray they may be accompanied with a declaration that it is not
the intention of parliament to deprive the colonies of their subordinate
power of legislation, nor to exercise the supreme power except in such
cases and upon such occasions as an equitable regard to the interests of
the whole empire shall make necessary." But it took three-quarters of a
century after the coming of the Loyalists to realise these statesmanlike
conceptions of Hutchinson in the colonial dominions of England to the
north of the dependencies which she lost in the latter part of the
eighteenth century.
Similar opinions were entertained by Joseph Galloway, Jonathan Boucher,
Jonathan Odell, Samuel Seabury, Chief Justice Smith, Judge Thomas Jones,
Beverley Robinson and other men of weight and ability among the
Loyalists, who recognised the short-sightedness and ignorance of the
British authorities, and the existence of real grievances. Galloway, one
of the ablest men on the constitutional side, and a member of the first
continental congress, suggested a practical scheme of imperial
federation, well worthy of earnest consideration at that crisis in
imperial affairs. Eminent men in the congress of 1774 supported this
statesmanlike mode of placing the relations of England and the colonies
on a basis which would enable them to work harmoniously, and at the same
time give full scope to the ambition and the liberties of the colonial
communities thus closely united; but unhappily for the empire the
revolutionary element carried the day. The people at large were never
given an opportunity of considering this wise proposition, and the
motion was erased from the records of congress. In its place, the people
were asked to sign "articles of association" which bound them to cease
all commercial relations with England. Had Galloway's idea been carried
out to a successful issue, we might have now presented to the world the
noble spectacle of an empire greater by half a continent and
seventy-five millions of people.
But while Galloway and other Loyalists failed in their measures of
adjusting existing difficulties and remedying grievances, history can
still do full justice to their wise counsel and resolute loyalty, which
refused to assist in tearing the empire to fragments. These men, who
remained faithful to this ideal to the very bitter end, suffered many
indignities at the hands of the professed lovers of liberty, even in
those days when the questions at issue had not got beyond the stage of
legitimate argument and agitation. The courts of law were closed and the
judges prevented from fulfilling their judicial functions. No class of
persons, not even women, were safe from the insults of intoxicated
ruffians. The clergy of the Church of England were especially the object
of contumely.
During the war the passions of both parties to the controversy were
aroused to the highest pitch, and some allowance must be made for
conditions which were different from those which existed when the
questions at issue were still matters of argument. It is impossible in
times of civil strife to cool the passions of men and prevent them from
perpetrating cruelties and outrages which would be repugnant to their
sense of humanity in moments of calmness and reflection. Both sides,
more than once, displayed a hatred of each other that was worthy of the
American Iroquois themselves. The legislative bodies were fully as
vindictive as individuals in the persecution of the Loyalists.
Confiscation of estate, imprisonment, disqualification for office,
banishment, and even death in case of return from exile, were among the
penalties to which these people were subject by the legislative acts of
the revolutionary party.
If allowance can be made for the feelings of revenge and passion which
animate persons under the abnormal conditions of civil war, no
extenuating circumstances appear at that later period when peace was
proclaimed and congress was called upon to fulfil the terms of the
treaty and recommend to the several independent states the restoration
of the confiscated property of Loyalists. Even persons who had taken up
arms were to have an opportunity of receiving their estates back on
condition of refunding the money which had been paid for them, and
protection was to be afforded to those persons during twelve months
while they were engaged in obtaining the restoration of their property.
It was also solemnly agreed by the sixth article of the treaty that
there should be no future confiscations or prosecutions, and that no
person should "suffer any future loss or damage, either in his person,
liberty or property," for the part he might have taken in the war. Now
was the time for generous terms, such terms as were even shown by the
triumphant North to the rebellious South at the close of the war of
secession. The recommendations of congress were treated with contempt by
the legislatures in all the states except in South Carolina, and even
there the popular feeling was entirely opposed to any favour or justice
being shown to the beaten party. The sixth article of the treaty, a
solemn obligation, was violated with malice and premeditation. The
Loyalists, many of whom had returned from Great Britain with the hope of
receiving back their estates, or of being allowed to remain in the
country, soon found they could expect no generous treatment from the
successful republicans. The favourite Whig occupation of tarring and
feathering was renewed. Loyalists were warned to leave the country as
soon as possible, and in the south some were shot and hanged because
they did not obey the warning. The Loyalists, for the most part, had no
other course open to them than to leave the country they still loved and
where they had hoped to die.
The British government endeavoured, so far as it was in its power, to
compensate the Loyalists for the loss of their property by liberal
grants of money and land, but despite all that was done for them the
majority felt a deep bitterness in their hearts as they landed on new
shores of which they had heard most depressing accounts. More than
thirty-five thousand men, women and children, made their homes within
the limits of the present Dominion. In addition to these actual American
Loyalists, there were several thousands of negroes, fugitives from their
owners, or servants of the exiles, who have been generally counted in
the loose estimates made of the migration of 1783, and the greater
number of whom were at a later time deported from Nova Scotia to Sierra
Leone. Of the exiles at least twenty-five thousand went to the maritime
colonies, and built up the province of New Brunswick, where
representative institutions were established in 1784. Of the ten
thousand people who sought the valley of the St Lawrence, some settled
in Montreal, at Chambly, and in parts of the present Eastern Townships,
but the great majority accepted grants of land on the banks of the St.
Lawrence--from River Beaudette, on Lake St. Francis, as far as the
beautiful Bay of Quinté--in the Niagara District, and on the shores of
Lake Erie. The coming of these people, subsequently known by the name of
"U.E. Loyalists"--a name appropriately given to them in recognition of
their fidelity to a United Empire--was a most auspicious event for the
British-American provinces, the greater part of which was still a
wilderness. As we have seen in the previous chapters, there was in the
Acadian provinces, afterwards divided into New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia, a British population of only some 14,000 souls, mostly confined
to the peninsula. In the valley of the St. Lawrence there was a French
population of probably 100,000 persons, dwelling chiefly on the banks of
the St. Lawrence between Quebec and Montreal. The total British
population of the province of Quebec did not exceed 2000, residing for
the most part in the towns of Quebec and Montreal. No English people
were found west of Lake St. Louis; and what is now the populous province
of Ontario was a mere wilderness, except where loyal refugees had
gathered about the English fort at Niagara, or a few French settlers had
made homes for themselves on the banks of the Detroit River and Lake St.
Clair. The migration of between 30,000 and 40,000 Loyalists to the
maritime provinces and the valley of the St. Lawrence was the saving of
British interests in the great region which England still happily
retained in North America.
The refugees who arrived in Halifax in 1783 were so numerous that
hundreds had to be placed in the churches or in cabooses taken from the
transports and ranged along the streets. At Guysborough, in Nova
Scotia--so named after Sir Guy Carleton--the first village, which was
hastily built by the settlers, was destroyed by a bush fire, and many
persons only saved their lives by rushing into the sea. At Shelburne, on
the first arrival of the exiles, there were seen "lines of women sitting
on the rocky shore and weeping at their altered condition." Towns and
villages, however, were soon built for the accommodation of the people.
At Shelburne, or Port Roseway--anglicised from the French _Razoir_--a
town of fourteen thousand people, with wide streets, fine houses, some
of them containing furniture and mantel-pieces brought from New York,
arose in two or three years. The name of New Jerusalem had been given to
the same locality some years before, but it seemed a mockery to the
Loyalists when they found that the place they had chosen for their new
home was quite unsuited for settlement. A beautiful harbour lay in
front, and a rocky country unfit for farmers in the rear of their
ambitious town, which at one time was the most populous in British North
America. In the course of a few years the place was almost deserted, and
sank for a time into insignificance. A pretty town now nestles by the
side of the beautiful and spacious harbour which attracted the first too
hopeful settlers; and its residents point out to the tourist the sites
of the buildings of last century, one or two of which still stand, and
can show many documents and relics of those early days.
Over twelve thousand Loyalists, largely drawn from the disbanded loyal
regiments of the old colonies, settled in New Brunswick. The name of
Parrtown was first given, in honour of the governor of Nova Scotia, to
the infant settlement which became the city of St. John, in 1785, when
it was incorporated. The first landing of the loyal pioneers took place
on the 18th of May, 1783, at what is now the Market Slip of this
interesting city. Previous to 1783, the total population of the province
did not exceed seven hundred souls, chiefly at Maugerville and other
places on the great river. The number of Loyalists who settled on the
St. John River was at least ten thousand, of whom the greater proportion
were established at the mouth of the river, which was the base of
operations for the peopling of the new province. Some adventurous
spirits took possession of the abandoned French settlements at Grimross
and St. Anne's, where they repaired some ruined huts of the original
Acadian occupants, or built temporary cabins. This was the beginning of
the settlement of Fredericton, which four years later became the
political capital on account of its central position, its greater
security in time of war, and its location on the land route to Quebec.
Many of the people spent their first winter in log-huts, bark camps, and
tents covered with spruce, or rendered habitable only by the heavy banks
of snow which were piled against them. A number of persons died through
exposure, and "strong, proud men"--to quote the words of one who lived
in those sorrowful days--"wept like children and lay down in their
snow-bound tents to die."
A small number of loyal refugees had found their way to the valley of
the St. Lawrence as early as 1778, and obtained employment in the
regiments organised under Sir John Johnson and others. It was not until
1783 and 1784 that the large proportion of the exiles came to Western
Canada. They settled chiefly on the northern banks of the St. Lawrence,
in what are now the counties of Glengarry, Stormont, Dundas, Grenville,
Leeds, Frontenac, Addington, Lennox, Hastings and Prince Edward, where
their descendants have acquired wealth and positions of honour and
trust. The first township laid out in Upper Canada, now Ontario, was
Kingston. The beautiful Bay of Quinté is surrounded by a country full of
the memories of this people, and the same is true of the picturesque
district of Niagara.
Among the Loyalists of Canada must also be honourably mentioned Joseph
Brant (Thayendanega), the astute and courageous chief of the Mohawks,
the bravest nation of the Iroquois confederacy, who fought on the side
of England during the war. At its close he and his people settled in
Canada, where they received large grants from the government, some in a
township by the Bay of Quinté, which still bears the Indian title of the
great warrior, and the majority on the Grand River, where a beautiful
city and county perpetuate the memory of this loyal subject of the
British crown. The first Anglican church built in Upper Canada was that
of the Mohawks, near Brantford, and here the church bell first broke the
silence of the illimitable forest.
The difficulties which the Upper Canadian immigrants had to undergo
before reaching their destination were much greater than was the case
with the people who went direct in ships from American ports to Halifax
and other places on the Atlantic coast. The former had to make toilsome
journeys by land, or by _bateaux_ and canoes up the St. Lawrence, the
Richelieu, the Genesee, and other streams which gave access from the
interior of the United States to the new Canadian land. The British
government did its best to supply the wants of the population suddenly
thrown upon its charitable care, but, despite all that could be done for
them in the way of food and means of fighting the wilderness, they
suffered naturally a great deal of hardship. The most influential
immigration found its way to the maritime provinces, where many received
congenial employment and adequate salaries in the new government of New
Brunswick. Many others, with the wrecks of their fortunes or the
pecuniary aid granted them by the British government, were able to make
comfortable homes and cultivate estates in the valleys of the St. John
and Annapolis, and in other fertile parts of the lower provinces. Of the
large population that founded Shelburne a few returned to the United
States, but the greater number scattered all over the provinces. The
settlers in Upper Canada had to suffer many trials for years after their
arrival, and especially in a year of famine, when large numbers had to
depend on wild fruits and roots. Indeed, had it not been for the fish
and game which were found in some, but not in all, places, starvation
and death would have been the lot of many hundreds of helpless people.
Many of the refugees could trace their descent to the early immigration
that founded the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay. Some were
connected with the Cavalier and Church families of Virginia. Others were
of the blood of persecuted Huguenots and German Protestants from the
Rhenish or Lower Palatinate. Not a few were Highland Scotchmen, who had
been followers of the Stuarts, and yet fought for King George and the
British connection during the American revolution. Among the number were
notable Anglican clergymen, eminent judges and lawyers, and probably one
hundred graduates of Harvard, Yale, King's, Pennsylvania, and William
and Mary Colleges. In the records of industrial enterprise, of social
and intellectual progress, of political development for a hundred
years, we find the names of many eminent men, sprung from these people,
to whom Canada owes a deep debt of gratitude for the services they
rendered her in the most critical period of her chequered history.
CHAPTER IV.
DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS (1784--1812).
SECTION I--Beginnings of the provinces of New Brunswick, Lower Canada
and Upper Canada.
On the 16th August, 1784, as a consequence of the coming of over ten
thousand Loyalists to the valley of the St. John River, a new province
was formed out of that portion of the ancient limits of Acadia, which
extended northward from the isthmus of Chignecto to the province of
Quebec, and eastward from the uncertain boundary of the St. Croix to the
Gulf of St. Lawrence. It received its present name in honour of the
Brunswick-Luneburg or Hanoverian line which had given a royal dynasty to
England, and its first governor was Colonel Thomas Carleton, a brother
of the distinguished governor-general, whose name is so intimately
associated with the fortunes of Canada during a most critical period of
its history. The first executive council, which was also the legislative
council, comprised some of the most eminent men of the Loyalist
migration. For instance, George Duncan Ludlow; who had been a judge of
the supreme court of New York; Jonathan Odell, the famous satirist and
divine; William Hazen, a merchant of high reputation, who had large
interests on the St. John River from 1763, and had proved his fidelity
to the crown at a time when his countrymen at Maugerville were disposed
to join the revolutionary party; Gabriel G. Ludlow, previously a colonel
in a royal regiment; Edward Winslow, Daniel Bliss and Isaac Allen, all
of whom had borne arms in the royal service and had suffered the loss of
valuable property, confiscated by the successful rebels.
The constitution of 1784 provided for an assembly of twenty-six members
who were elected in 1785, and met for the first time on the 3rd of
January, 1786, at the Mallard House, a plain two-storey building on the
north side of King Street. The city of St. John ceased to be the seat of
government in 1787, when the present capital, Fredericton, first known
as St. Anne's, was chosen. Of the twenty-six members elected to this
assembly, twenty-three were Loyalists, and the same class necessarily
continued for many years to predominate in the legislature. The first
speaker was Amos Botsford, the pioneer of the Loyalist migration to New
Brunswick, whose grandson occupied the same position for a short time in
the senate of the Dominion of Canada.
Coming to the province of Lower Canada we find it contained at this time
a population of about a hundred thousand souls, of whom six thousand
lived in Quebec and Montreal respectively. Only two thousand
English-speaking persons resided in the province, almost entirely in the
towns. Small as was the British minority, it continued that agitation
for an assembly which had been commenced long before the passage of the
Quebec act. A nominated council did not satisfy the political ambition
of this class, who obtained little support from the French Canadian
people. The objections of the latter arose from the working of the act
itself. Difficulties had grown up in the administration of the law,
chiefly in consequence of its being entrusted exclusively to men
acquainted only with English jurisprudence, and not disposed to comply
with the letter and intention of the imperial statute. As a matter of
practice, French law was only followed as equity suggested; and the
consequence was great legal confusion in the province. A question had
also arisen as to the legality of the issue of writs of _habeas corpus_,
and it was eventually necessary to pass an ordinance to remove all
doubts on this important point.
The Loyalist settlers on the St. Lawrence and Niagara Rivers sent a
petition in 1785 to the home government, praying for the establishment
of a new district west of the River Beaudette "with the blessings of
British laws and British government, and of exemption from French tenure
of property." While such matters were under the consideration of the
imperial authorities, Sir Guy Carleton, once more governor-general of
Canada, and lately raised to the peerage as Lord Dorchester,
established, in 1788, five new districts for the express object of
providing for the temporary government of the territory where the
Loyalists had settled. These districts were known as Luneburg,
Mecklenburg, Nassau and Hesse, in the western country, and Gaspé in the
extreme east of the province of Quebec, where a small number of the same
class of people had also found new homes. Townships, ranging from eighty
to forty thousand acres each, were also surveyed within these districts
and parcelled out with great liberality among the Loyalists. Magistrates
wore appointed to administer justice with the simplest possible
machinery at a time when men trained in the law were not available.
The grants of land made to the Loyalists and their children were large,
and in later years a considerable portion passed into the hands of
speculators who bought them up at nominal sums. It was in connection
with these grants that the name of "United Empire Loyalists" originated.
An order-in-council was passed on the 9th of November, 1780, in
accordance with the wish of Lord Dorchester "to put a mark of honour
upon the families who had adhered to the _unity of the empire_ and
joined the royal standard in America before the treaty of separation in
1783." Accordingly the names of all persons falling under this
designation were to be recorded as far as possible, in order that "their
posterity may be discriminated from future settlers in the parish lists
and rolls of militia of their respective districts, and other public
remembrances of the province."
The British cabinet, of which Mr. Pitt, the famous son of the Earl of
Chatham, was first minister, now decided to divide the province of
Quebec into two districts, with separate legislatures and governments.
Lord Grenville, while in charge of the department of colonial affairs,
wrote in 1789 to Lord Dorchester that the "general object of the plan is
to assimilate the constitution of the province to that of Great Britain
as nearly as the differences arising from the names of the people and
from the present situation of the province will admit." He also
emphatically expressed the opinion that "a considerable degree of
attention is due to the prejudices and habits of the French inhabitants,
and every degree of caution should be used to continue to them the
enjoyment of those civil and religious rights which were secured to them
by the capitulation of the province, or have since been granted by the
liberal and enlightened spirit of the British government." When the bill
for the formation of the two provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada
came before the house of commons, Mr. Adam Lymburner, an influential
merchant of Quebec, appeared at the Bar and ably opposed the separation
"as dangerous in every point of view to British interests in America,
and to the safety, tranquillity and prosperity of the inhabitants of the
province of Quebec" He pressed the repeal of the Quebec act in its
entirety and the enactment of a perfectly new constitution "unclogged
and unembarrassed with any laws prior to this period" He professed to
represent the views "of the most intelligent and respectable of the
French Canadians"; but their antagonism was not directed against the
Quebec act in itself, but against the administration of the law,
influenced as this was by the opposition of the British people to the
French civil code. Nor does it appear, as Mr. Lymburner asserted, that
the western Loyalists were hostile to the formation of two distinct
provinces. He represented simply the views of the English-speaking
inhabitants of Lower Canada, who believed that the proposed division
would place them in a very small minority in the legislature and, as the
issue finally proved, at the mercy of the great majority of the French
Canadian representatives, while on the other hand the formation of one
large province extending from Gaspé to the head of the great lakes would
ensure an English representation sufficiently formidable to lessen the
danger of French Canadian domination. However, the British government
seems to have been actuated by a sincere desire to do justice to the
French Canadians and the Loyalists of the upper province at one and the
same time. When introducing the bill in the house of commons on the 7th
March, 1791, Mr. Pitt expressed the hope that "the division would remove
the differences of opinion which had arisen between the old and new
inhabitants, since each province would have the right of enacting laws
desired in its own house of assembly." He believed a division to be
essential, as "otherwise he could not reconcile the clashing interests
known to exist." Mr. Burke was of opinion that "to attempt to amalgamate
two populations composed of races of men diverse in language, laws and
customs, was a complete absurdity", and he consequently approved of the
division. Mr. Fox, from whom Burke became alienated during this debate,
looked at the question in an entirely different light and was strongly
of opinion that "it was most desirable to see the French and English
inhabitants coalesce into one body, and the different distinctions of
people extinguished for ever."
The Constitutional act of 1791 established in each province a
legislative council and assembly, with powers to make laws. The
legislative council was to be appointed by the king for life, in Upper
Canada it was to consist of not less than seven, and in Lower Canada of
not less than fifteen members. The sovereign might, if he thought
proper, annex hereditary titles of honour to the right of being summoned
to the legislative council in either province--a provision which was
never brought into operation. The whole number of members in the
assembly of Upper Canada was not to be less than sixteen; in Lower
Canada not less than fifty--to be chosen by a majority of votes in
either case. The British parliament reserved to itself the right of
levying and collecting customs-duties, for the regulation of navigation
and commerce to be carried on between the two provinces, or between
either of them and any other part of the British dominions or any
foreign country. Parliament also reserved the power of directing the
payment of these duties, but at the same time left the exclusive
apportionment of all moneys levied in this way to the legislature, which
could apply them to such public uses as it might deem expedient. The
free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion was guaranteed permanently.
The king was to have the right to set apart, for the use of the
Protestant clergy in the colony, a seventh part of all uncleared crown
lands. The governor might also be empowered to erect parsonages and
endow them, and to present incumbents or ministers of the Church of
England. The English criminal law was to obtain in both provinces.
In the absence of Lord Dorchester in England, the duty devolved on
Major-General Alured Clarke, as lieutenant-governor, to bring the Lower
Canadian constitution into force by a proclamation on the 18th February,
1791. On the 7th May, in the following year, the new province of Lower
Canada was divided into fifty electoral districts, composed of
twenty-one counties, the towns of Montreal and Quebec, and the boroughs
of Three Rivers and William Henry (now Sorel). The elections to the
assembly took place in June, and a legislative council of fifteen
influential Canadians was appointed. The new legislature was convoked
"for the despatch of business" on the 17th December, in the same year,
in an old stone building known as the Bishop's Palace, which stood on a
rocky eminence in the upper town of the old capital.
Chief Justice Smith took the chair of the legislative council under
appointment by the crown, and the assembly elected as its speaker Mr.
Joseph Antome Panet, an eminent advocate, who was able to speak the two
languages. In the house there were only sixteen members of British
origin--and in later parliaments there was even a still smaller
representation--while the council was nearly divided between the two
nationalities. When the house proceeded to business, one of its first
acts was to order that all motions, bills and other proceedings should
be put in the two languages. We find in the list of French Canadian
members of the two houses representatives of the most ancient and
distinguished families of the province. A descendant of Pierre Boucher,
governor of Three Rivers in 1653, and the author of a rare history of
Canada, sat in the council of 1792 just as a Boucherville sits
now-a-days in the senate of the Dominion. A Lotbinière had been king's
councillor in 1680. A Chaussegros de Lery had been an engineer in the
royal colonial corps; a Lanaudière had been an officer in the Carignan
regiment in 1652; a Salaberry was a captain in the royal navy, and his
family won further honours on the field of Chateauguay in the war of
1812-15, when the soil of Lower Canada was invaded. A Taschereau had
been a royal councillor in 1732. The names of Belestre, Valtric, Bonne,
Rouville, St. Ours, and Duchesnay, are often met in the annals of the
French régime, and show the high character of the representation in the
first parliament of Lower Canada.
The village of Newark was chosen as the capital of Upper Canada by
Colonel (afterwards Major-General) Simcoe, the first lieutenant-governor
of the province. He had served with much distinction during the
revolution as the commander of the Queen's Rangers, some of whom had
settled in the Niagara district. He was remarkable for his decision of
character and for his ardent desire to establish the principles of
British government in the new province. He was a sincere friend of the
Loyalists, whose attachment to the crown he had had many opportunities
of appreciating during his career in the rebellious colonies, and,
consequently, was an uncompromising opponent of the new republic and of
the people who were labouring to make it a success on the other side of
the border. The new parliament met in a wooden building nearly completed
on the sloping bank of the river, at a spot subsequently covered by a
rampart of Fort George, which was constructed by Governor Simcoe on the
surrender of Fort Niagara. A large boulder has been placed on the top of
the rampart to mark the site of the humble parliament house of Upper
Canada, which had to be eventually demolished to make place for new
fortifications. The sittings of the first legislature were not
unfrequently held under a large tent set up in front of the house, and
having an interesting history of its own, since it had been carried
around the world by the famous navigator, Captain Cook.
As soon as Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe assumed the direction of the
government, he issued a proclamation dividing the province of Upper
Canada into nineteen counties, some of winch were again divided into
ridings for the purpose of electing the sixteen representatives to which
the province was entitled under the act of 1791. One of the first acts
of the legislature was to change the names of the divisions, proclaimed
in 1788, to Eastern, Midland, Home, and Western Districts, which
received additions in the course of years until they were entirely
superseded by the county organisations. These districts were originally
intended for judicial and legal purposes.
The legislature met under these humble circumstances at Newark on the
17th September, 1792. Chief Justice Osgoode was the speaker of the
council, and Colonel John Macdonell, of Aberchalder, who had gallantly
served in the royal forces during the revolution, was chosen presiding
officer of the assembly. Besides him, there were eleven Loyalists among
the sixteen members of the lower house. In the council of nine members
there were also several Loyalists, the most prominent being the
Honourable Richard Cartwright, the grandfather of the minister of trade
and commerce in the Dominion ministry of 1896-1900.
SECTION 2.--Twenty years of political development (1792-1812).
The political conditions of the two decades from 1792 until 1812, when
war broke out between England and the United States, were for the
greater part of the time quite free from political agitation, and the
representatives of the people in both the provinces of Canada were
mostly occupied with the consideration of measures of purely provincial
and local import. Nevertheless a year or two before the close of this
period we can see in the province of Lower Canada premonitions of that
irrepressible conflict between the two houses--one elected by the
people and the other nominated by and under the influence of the
crown--which eventually clogged the machinery of legislation. We can
also see the beginnings of that strife of races which ultimately led to
bloodshed and the suspension of the constitution given to Lower Canada
in 1791.
In 1806 _Le Canadien_, published in the special interest of "Nos
institutions, notre langue, et nos lois," commenced that career of
bitter hostility to the government which steadily inflamed the
antagonism between the races. The arrogance of the principal officials,
who had the ear of the governor, and practically engrossed all the
influence in the management of public affairs, alienated the French
Canadians, who came to believe that they were regarded by the British as
an inferior race. As a matter of fact, many of the British inhabitants
themselves had no very cordial feelings towards the officials, whose
social exclusiveness offended all who did not belong to their special
"set." In those days the principal officials were appointed by the
colonial office and the governor-general, and had little or no respect
for the assembly, on which they depended in no wise for their
continuance in office or their salaries. The French Canadians eventually
made few distinctions among the British but looked on them as, generally
speaking, enemies to their institutions.
It was unfortunate, at a time when great discretion and good temper were
so essential, that Sir James Craig should have been entrusted with the
administration of the government of Lower Canada. The critical state of
relations with the United States no doubt influenced his appointment,
which, from a purely military point of view, was excellent. As it was,
however, his qualities as a soldier were not called into requisition,
while his want of political experience, his utter incapacity to
understand the political conditions of the country, his supreme
indifference to the wishes of the assembly, made his administration an
egregious failure. Indeed it may he said that it was during his time
that the seed was sown for the growth of that political and racial
antagonism which led to the rebellion of 1837. It is not possible to
exaggerate the importance of the consequences of his unjustifiable
dismissal of Mr. Speaker Panet, and other prominent French Canadians,
from the militia on the ground that they had an interest in the
_Canadien_, or of his having followed up this very indiscreet act by the
unwarrantable arrest of Mr. Bedard and some other persons, on the charge
that they were the authors or publishers of what he declared to be
treasonable writings. It is believed that the governor's action was
largely influenced by the statements and advice of Chief Justice Sewell,
the head of the legislative council and the official class. Several
persons were released when they expressed regret for the expression of
any opinions considered extreme by the governor and his advisers, but
Mr. Bedard remained in prison for a year rather than directly or
indirectly admit that the governor had any justification for his
arbitrary act Sir James attempted to obtain the approval of the home
government; but his agent, a Mr. Ryland, a man of ability and suavity,
prominent always in the official life of the country, signally failed to
obtain the endorsement of his master's action. He was unable to secure a
promise that the constitution of 1791 should be repealed, and the
legislative council of the Quebec act again given the supremacy in the
province. Mr. Bedard was released just before the governor left the
country, with the declaration that "his detention had been a matter of
precaution and not of punishment"--by no means a manly or graceful
withdrawal from what was assuredly a most untenable position from the
very first moment Mr. Bedard was thrown into prison. Sir James Craig
left the province a disappointed man, and died in England a few months
after his return, from the effects of an incurable disease to which he
had been a victim for many years. He was hospitable, generous and
charitable, but the qualities of a soldier dominated all his acts of
civil government.
In the other provinces, happily, there were no racial differences to
divide the community and aggravate those political disputes that are
sure to arise in the working of representative institutions in a British
country. In Upper Canada for years the questions under discussion were
chiefly connected with the disposal of the public lands, which in early
times were too lavishly granted by Simcoe; and this led to the bringing
in for a while of some undesirable immigrants from the United States
--undesirable because they were imbued with republican and levelling
ideas by no means favourable to the development and stability of English
institutions of government. One of the first acts of the legislature was
the establishment of courts of law and equity, in accordance with the
practice and principles of English jurisprudence. Another very important
measure was one for the legalisation of marriages which had been
irregularly performed during early times in the absence of the clergy of
the Anglican Church by justices of the peace, and even the officers in
charge of military posts. Magistrates were still allowed to perform the
marriage ceremony according to the ritual of the Church of England, when
the services of a clergyman of that denomination were not available. Not
until 1830 were more liberal provisions passed and the clergy of any
recognised creed permitted to unite persons legally in wedlock.
It was in the second session of the first parliament of Upper Canada,
where the Loyalists were in so huge a majority, that an act was passed
"to prevent the further introduction of slaves and to limit the term of
contract for servitude within this province." A considerable number of
slave servants accompanied their Loyalist masters to the provinces at
the end of the war, and we find for many years after in the newspapers
advertisements relating to runaway servants of this class. The Loyalists
in the maritime provinces, like the same class in Upper Canada, never
gave their approval to the continuance of slavery. So early as 1800 some
prominent persons brought before the supreme court of New Brunswick the
case of one Nancy Morton, a slave, on a writ of _habeas corpus_; and her
right to freedom was argued by Ward Chipmim, one of the Loyalist makers
of New Brunswick. Although the argument in this case was not followed by
a judicial conclusion--the four judges being divided in opinion--slavery
thereafter practically ceased to exist, not only in New Brunswick, but
in the other maritime provinces, leaving behind it a memory so faint,
that the mere suggestion that there ever was a slave in either of these
provinces is very generally received with surprise, if not with
incredulity.
The early history of representative government in Prince Edward Island
is chiefly a dull narrative of political conflict between the governors
and the assemblies, and of difficulties and controversies arising out of
the extraordinary concessions of lands to a few proprietors, who
generally infringed the conditions of their grants and retarded the
settlement of the island. In New Brunswick the legislature was entirely
occupied with the consideration of measures for the administration of
justice and local affairs in an entirely new country. Party government
had not yet declared itself, and the Loyalists who had founded the
province controlled the legislature for many years until a spirit of
liberalism and reform found full expression and led to the enlargement
of the public liberty.
In Nova Scotia the Loyalists gradually acquired considerable influence
in the government of the province, as the imperial authorities felt it
incumbent on them to provide official positions for those men who had
sacrificed so much for the empire. Their power was increased after the
arrival of Governor John Wentworth--afterwards made a baronet--who had
been the royal governor of New Hampshire, and had naturally a strong
antipathy to democratic principles in any form. In his time there grew
up an official oligarchy, chiefly composed of members of the legislative
council, then embodying within itself executive, legislative and
judicial powers. A Liberal party soon arose in Nova Scotia, not only
among the early New England settlers of the time of Governor Lawrence,
but among the Loyalists themselves, for it is inevitable that wherever
we find an English people, the spirit of popular liberty and the
determination to enjoy self-government in a complete sense will sooner
or later assert itself among all classes of men. The first prominent
leader of the opposition to the Tory methods of the government was one
William Cottnam Tonge, who was for some years in the employ of the naval
department. Sir John Wentworth carried his hostility to the extent of
dismissing him from his naval office and also of refusing to accept him
as speaker of the assembly--the first example in colonial history of an
extreme exercise of the royal prerogative by a governor. Mr. Tonge's
only crime appears to have been his bold assertion from time to time of
the privileges of the house of assembly, as the guardian of the revenues
and expenditures, against the interference of the governor and council.
We find in Nova Scotia, as in the other provinces, during the period in
question, the elements of perpetual discord, which found more serious
expression after the war of 1812-15, and led to important constitutional
changes.
The governors of those times became, from the very nature of their
position, so many provincial autocrats, brought constantly into
conflict with the popular body, and unable to conceive any system of
government possible that did not place the province directly under the
control of the imperial authorities, to whom appeals must be made in the
most trivial cases of doubt or difficulty. The representative of the
crown brooked no interference on the part of the assembly with what he
considered his prerogatives and rights, and as a rule threw himself into
the arms of the council, composed of the official oligarchy. In the
course of time, the whole effort of the Liberal or Reform party, which
gathered strength after 1815, was directed against the power of the
legislative council. We hear nothing in the assemblies or the literature
of the period under review in advocacy of the system of parliamentary or
responsible government which was then in existence in the parent state
and which we now enjoy in British North America. In fact, it was not
until the beginning of the fourth decade of the nineteenth century that
the Liberal politicians of Nova Scotia, like those of Upper Canada,
recognised that the real remedy for existing political grievances was to
be found in the harmonious operation of the three branches of the
legislature. Even then we look in vain for an enunciation of this
essential principle of representative government in the speeches or
writings of a single French Canadian from 1791 until 1838, when the
constitution of Lower Canada was suspended as a result of rebellion.
During the twenty years of which I am writing the government of Canada
had much reason for anxiety on account of the unsatisfactory state of
the relations between Great Britain and the United States, and of the
attempts of French emissaries after the outbreak of the revolution in
France to stir up sedition in Lower Canada. One of the causes of the war
of 1812-15 was undoubtedly the irritation that was caused by the
retention of the western posts by Great Britain despite the stipulation
in the definitive treaty of peace to give them up "with all convenient
speed." This policy of delay was largely influenced by the fact that the
new republic had failed to take effective measures for the restitution
of the estates of the Loyalists or for the payment of debts due to
British creditors; but in addition there was probably still, as in 1763
and 1774, a desire to control the fur-trade and the Indians of the west,
who claimed that the lands between the Canadian frontier and the Ohio
were exclusively their hunting-grounds, not properly included within the
territory ceded to the United States. Jay's treaty, arranged in 1794,
with the entire approval of Washington, who thereby incurred the
hostility of the anti-British party, was a mere temporary expedient for
tiding over the difficulties between England and the United States. Its
most important result so far as it affected Canada was the giving up in
1797 of the western posts including Old Fort Niagara. It became then
necessary to remove the seat of government from Niagara, as an insecure
position, and York, which regained its original Indian name of Toronto
in 1834, was chosen as the capital by Lord Dorchester in preference to a
place suggested by Simcoe on the Tranche, now the Thames, near where
London now stands. The second parliament of Upper Canada met in York on
the first of June, 1797, when Mr. Russell, who had been secretary to Sir
Henry Clinton during the American war, was administrator of the
government after the departure of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe from a
province whose interests he had so deeply at heart.
After the declaration of war against England by the republican
convention of France in 1793, French agents found their way into the
French parishes of Lower Canada, and endeavoured to make the credulous
and ignorant _habitants_ believe that France would soon regain dominion
in her old colony. During General Prescott's administration, one McLane,
who was said to be not quite mentally responsible for his acts, was
convicted at Quebec for complicity in the designs of French agents, and
was executed near St. John's gate with all the revolting incidents of a
traitor's death in those relentless times. His illiterate accomplice,
Frechétte, was sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was soon released
on the grounds of his ignorance of the serious crime he was committing.
No doubt in these days some restlessness existed in the French Canadian
districts, and the English authorities found it difficult for a time to
enforce the provisions of the militia act. Happily for the peace and
security of Canada, the influence of the Bishop and Roman Catholic
clergy, who looked with horror on the murderous acts of the
revolutionists of France, was successfully exerted for the support of
British rule, whose justice and benignity their church had felt ever
since the conquest. The name of Bishop Plessis must always be mentioned
in terms of sincere praise by every English writer who reviews the
history of those trying times, when British interests would have been
more than once in jeopardy had it not been for the loyal conduct of this
distinguished prelate and the priests under his direction.
I shall now proceed to narrate the events of the unfortunate war which
broke out in 1812 between England and the United States, as a result of
the unsettled relations of years, and made Canada a battle ground on
which were given many illustrations of the patriotism and devotion of
the Canadian people, whose conquest, the invaders thought, would be a
very easy task.
CHAPTER V.
THE WAR OF 1812--15.
SECTION I.--Origin of the war between England and the United States.
The causes of the war of 1812-15 must be sought in the history of Europe
and the relations between England and the United States for several
decades before it actually broke out. Great Britain was engaged in a
supreme struggle not only for national existence but even for the
liberties of Europe, from the moment when Napoleon, in pursuance of his
overweening ambition, led his armies over the continent on those
victorious marches which only ended amid the ice and snow of Russia.
Britain's battles were mainly to be fought on the sea where her great
fleet made her supreme. The restriction of all commerce that was not
British was a necessary element in the assertion of her naval
superiority. If neutral nations were to be allowed freely to carry the
produce of the colonies of Powers with whom Great Britain was at war,
then they were practically acting as allies of her enemies, and were
liable to search and seizure. For some time, however, Great Britain
thought it expedient to concur in the practice that when a cargo was
trans-shipped in the United States, and paid a duty there, it became to
all intents and purposes American property and might be carried to a
foreign country and there sold, as if it were the actual produce of the
republic itself. This became a very profitable business to the merchants
of the United States, as a neutral nation, during the years when Great
Britain was at war with France, since they controlled a large proportion
of all foreign commerce. Frauds constantly occurred during the
continuance of this traffic, and at last British statesmen felt the
injury to their commerce was so great that the practice was changed to
one which made American vessels liable to be seized and condemned in
British prize courts whenever it was clear that their cargoes were not
American produce, but were actually purchased at the port of an enemy.
Even provisions purchased from an enemy or its colonies were considered
"contraband of war" on the ground that they afforded actual aid and
encouragement to an enemy. The United States urged at first that only
military stores could fall under this category, and eventually went so
far as to assert the principle that under all circumstances "free ships
make free goods," and that neutral ships had a right to carry any
property, even that of a nation at war with another power, and to trade
when and where they liked without fear of capture. England, however,
would not admit in those days of trial principles which would
practically make a neutral nation an ally of her foe. She persisted in
restricting the commerce of the United States by all the force she had
upon the sea.
This restrictive policy, which touched the American pocket and
consequently the American heart so deeply, was complicated by another
question of equal, if not greater, import. The forcible impressment of
men to man the British fleet had been for many years a necessary evil in
view of the national emergency, and of the increase in the mercantile
marine which attracted large numbers to its service. Great abuses were
perpetrated in the operation of this harsh method of maintaining an
efficient naval force, and there was no part of the British Isles where
the presence of a press gang did not bring dismay into many a home.
Great Britain, then and for many years later, upheld to an extreme
degree the doctrine of perpetual allegiance; she refused to recognise
the right of any of her citizens to divest themselves of their national
fealty and become by naturalisation the subject of a foreign power or a
citizen of the United States Such a doctrine was necessarily most
obnoxious to the government and people of a new republic like the United
States, whose future development rested on the basis of a steady and
large immigration, which lost much of its strength and usefulness as
long as the men who came into the country were not recognised as
American citizens at home and abroad. Great Britain claimed the right,
as a corollary of this doctrine of indefeasible allegiance, to search
the neutral ships of the United States during the war with France, to
enquire into the nationality of the seaman on board of those vessels, to
impress all those whom her officers had reason to consider British
subjects by birth, and to pay no respect to the fact that they may have
been naturalised in the country of their adoption. The assertion of the
right to search a neutral vessel and to impress seamen who were British
subjects has in these modern times been condemned as a breach of the
sound principle, that a right of search can only be properly exercised
in the case of a neutral's violation of his neutrality--that is to say,
the giving of aid to one of the parties to the war The forcible
abduction of a seaman under the circumstances stated was simply an
unwarrantable attempt to enforce municipal law on board a neutral
vessel, which was in effect foreign territory, to be regarded as sacred
and inviolate except in a case where it was brought under the operation
of a recognised doctrine of international law. Great Britain at that
critical period of her national existence would not look beyond the fact
that the acts of the United States as a neutral were most antagonistic
to the energetic efforts she was making to maintain her naval supremacy
during the European crisis created by Napoleon's ambitious designs.
The desertion of British seamen from British ships, for the purpose of
finding refuge in the United States and then taking service in American
vessels, caused great irritation in Great Britain and justified, in the
opinion of some statesmen and publicists who only regarded national
necessities, the harsh and arbitrary manner in which English officials
stopped and searched American shipping on the high seas, seized men whom
they claimed to be deserters, and impressed any whom they asserted to be
still British subjects. In 1807 the British frigate "Leopard," acting
directly under the orders of the admiral at Halifax, even ventured to
fire a broadside into the United States cruiser "Chesapeake" a few miles
from Chesapeake Bay, killed and wounded a number of her crew, and then
carried off several sailors who were said to be, and no doubt were,
deserters from the English service and who were the primary cause of the
detention of this American man-of-war. For this unjustifiable act
England subsequently made some reparation, but nevertheless it rankled
for years in the minds of the party hostile to Great Britain and helped
to swell the list of grievances which the American government in the
course of years accumulated against the parent state as a reason for
war.
The difficulties between England and the United States, which culminated
in war before the present century was far advanced, were also
intensified by disputes which commenced soon after the treaty of 1783. I
have already shown that for some years the north-west posts were still
retained by the English on the ground, it is understood, that the claims
of English creditors, and especially those of the Loyalists, should be
first settled before all the conditions of the treaty could be carried
out. The subsequent treaty of 1794, negotiated by Chief Justice Jay,
adjusted these and other questions, and led for some years to a better
understanding with Great Britain, but at the same time led to a rupture
of friendly relations with the French Directory, who demanded the repeal
of that treaty as in conflict with the one made with France in 1778, and
looked for some tangible evidence of sympathetic interest with the
French revolution. The war that followed with the French republic was
insignificant in its operations, and was immediately terminated by
Napoleon when he overthrew the Directory, and seized the government for
his own ambitious objects. Subsequently, the administration of the
United States refused to renew the Jay Treaty when it duly expired, and
as a consequence the relatively amicable relations that had existed
between the Republic and England again became critical, since American
commerce and shipping were exposed to all the irritating measures that
England felt compelled under existing conditions to carry out in
pursuance of the policy of restricting the trade of neutral vessels.
Several attempts were made by the British government, between the expiry
of the Jay Treaty and the actual rupture of friendly relations with the
United States, to come to a better understanding with respect to some of
the questions in dispute, but the differences between the two Powers
were so radical that all negotiations came to naught. Difficulties were
also complicated by the condition of political parties in the American
republic and the ambition of American statesmen. When the democratic
republicans or "Strict constructionists," as they have been happily
named, with Jefferson at their head, obtained office, French ideas came
into favour; while the federalists or "Broad constitutionalists," of
whom Washington, Hamilton and Adams had been the first exponents, were
anxious to keep the nation free from European complications and to
settle international difficulties by treaty and not by war. But this
party was in a hopeless minority, during the critical times when
international difficulties were resolving themselves into war, and was
unable to influence public opinion sufficiently to make negotiations for
the maintenance of peace successful, despite the fact that it had a
considerable weight in the states of New England.
The international difficulties of the United States entered upon a
critical condition when Great Britain, in her assertion of naval
supremacy and restricted commerce as absolutely essential to her
national security, issued an order-in-council which declared a strict
blockade of the European coast from Brest to the Elbe. Napoleon
retaliated with the Berlin decree, which merely promulgated a paper
blockade of the British Isles. Then followed the later British
orders-in-council, which prevented the shipping of the United States
from trading with any country where British vessels could not enter, and
allowed them only to trade with other European ports where they made
entries and paid duties in English custom-houses. Napoleon increased the
duties of neutral commerce by the Milan decree of 1807, which ordered
the seizure of all neutral vessels which might have been searched by
English cruisers. These orders meant the ruin of American commerce,
which had become so profitable; and the Washington government attempted
to retaliate, first by forbidding the importation of manufactures from
England and her colonies, and, when this effort was ineffective, by
declaring an embargo in its own ports, which had only the result of
still further crippling American commerce at home and abroad.
Eventually, in place of this unwise measure, which, despite its
systematic evasion, brought serious losses to the whole nation and
seemed likely to result in civil war in the east, where the discontent
was greatest, a system of non-intercourse with both England and France
was adopted, to last so long as either should press its restrictive
measures against the republic, but this new policy of retaliation hardly
impeded American commerce, of which the profits were far greater than
the risks. The leaders of the Democratic party were now anxious to
conciliate France, and endeavoured to persuade the nation that Napoleon
had practically freed the United States from the restrictions to which
it so strongly objected. It is a matter beyond dispute that the French
decrees were never exactly annulled; and the Emperor was pursuing an
insidious policy which confiscated American vessels in French ports at
the very moment he was professing friendship with the United States. His
object was to force the government of that country into war with
England, and, unfortunately for its interests, its statesmen lent
themselves to his designs.
The Democratic leaders, determined to continue in power, fanned the
flame against England, whose maritime superiority enabled her to inflict
the greatest injury on American shipping and commerce. The governing
party looked to the south and west for their principal support. In these
sections the interests were exclusively agricultural, while in New
England, where the Federalists were generally in the majority, the
commercial and maritime elements predominated. In Kentucky, Ohio, and
other states there was a strong feeling against England on account of
the current belief that the English authorities in Canada had tampered
with the Indian tribes and induced them to harass the settlers until
Harrison, on the eve of the war of 1812, effectually cowed them. It is,
however, now well established by the Canadian archives that Sir James
Craig, when governor-general in 1807, actually warned the Washington
government of the restlessness of the western Indians, and of the
anxiety of the Canadian authorities to avoid an Indian war in the
north-west, which might prejudicially operate against the western
province. This fact was not, however, generally known, and the feeling
against Canada and England was kept alive by the dominant party in the
United States by the disclosure that one John Henry had been sent by the
Canadian government in 1808 to ascertain the sentiment of the people of
New England with respect to the relations between the two countries and
the maintenance of peace. Henry's correspondence was really quite
harmless, but when it had been purchased from him by Madison, on the
refusal of the imperial government to buy his silence, it served the
temporary purpose of making the people of the west believe that England
was all the while intriguing against the national interests, and
endeavouring to create a discontent which might end in civil strife.
Under these circumstances the southern leaders, Clay of Kentucky, and
Calhoun of South Carolina, who always showed an inveterate animosity
against England, forced Madison, then anxious to be re-elected
president, to send a warlike message to congress, which culminated in a
formal declaration of hostilities on the 18th of June, 1812, only one
day later than the repeal of the obnoxious order-in-council by England.
When the repeal became known some weeks later in Canada and the United
States, the province of Upper Canada had been actually invaded by Hull,
and the government of the United States had no desire whatever to desist
from warlike operations, which, they confidently believed, would end in
the successful occupation of Canada at a time when England was unable,
on account of her European responsibilities, to extend to its defenders
effective assistance.
SECTION 2.--Canada during the war.
In 1812 there were five hundred thousand people living in the provinces
of British North America. Of this number, the French people of Lower
Canada made up at least one half. These people had some grievances, and
political agitators, notably the writers of the _Canadien_, were
creating jealousies and rivalries between the French and English races
chiefly on the ground of the dominant influence of the British minority
in the administration of public affairs. On the whole, however, the
country was prosperous and the people generally contented with British
rule, the freedom of which presented such striking contrast to the
absolutism of the old French régime. The great majority of the eighty
thousand inhabitants of Upper or Western Canada were Loyalists or
descendants of Loyalists, who had become deeply attached to their new
homes, whilst recalling with feelings of deep bitterness the sufferings
and trials of the American revolution. This class was naturally attached
to British rule and hostile to every innovation which had the least
semblance of American republicanism. In the western part of the province
of Upper Canada there was, however, an American element composed of
people who had been brought into the country by the liberal grants of
land made to settlers, and who were not animated by the high sentiments
of the Loyalists of 1783 and succeeding years. These people, for some
years previous to 1812, were misled by political demagogues like Wilcox
and Marcle, both of whom deserted to the enemy soon after the outbreak
of the war. Emissaries from the republic were busily engaged for months,
we now know, in fomenting a feeling against England among these later
immigrants, and in persuading them that the time was close at hand when
Canada would be annexed to the federal republic. Some attempts were even
made to create discontent among the French Canadians, but no success
appears to have followed these efforts in a country where the bishop,
priests and leading men of the rural communities perfectly appreciated
the value of British connection.
The statesmen of the United States, who were responsible for the war,
looked on the provinces as so many weak communities which could be
easily invaded and conquered by the republican armies. Upper Canada,
with its long and exposed frontier and its small and scattered
population, was considered utterly indefensible and almost certain to be
successfully occupied by the invading forces. There was not a town of
one thousand souls in the whole of that province, and the only forts of
any pretension were those on the Niagara frontier. Kingston was a
fortified town of some importance in the eastern part of the province,
but Toronto had no adequate means of defence. At the commencement of the
war there were only fourteen hundred and fifty regular troops in the
whole country west of Montreal, and these men were scattered at
Kingston, York, Niagara, Chippewa, Erie, Amherstburg, and St. Joseph.
The total available militia did not exceed four thousand men, the
majority of whom had little or no knowledge of military discipline, and
were not even in the possession of suitable arms and accoutrements,
though, happily, all were animated by the loftiest sentiments of courage
and patriotism. In the lower provinces of Eastern Canada and Nova
Scotia there was a considerable military force, varying in the aggregate
from four to five thousand men. The fortifications of Quebec were in a
tolerable state of repair, but the citadel which dominates Halifax was
in a dilapidated condition. The latter port was, however, the rendezvous
of the English fleet, which always afforded adequate protection to
British interests on the Atlantic coasts of British North America,
despite the depredations of privateers and the successes attained during
the first months of the war by the superior tonnage and equipment of the
frigates of the republic. But the hopes that were entertained by the war
party in the United States could be gathered from the speeches of Henry
Clay of Kentucky, who believed that the issue would be favourable to
their invading forces, who would even "negotiate terms of peace at
Quebec or Halifax."
The United States had now a population of at least six millions and a
half of whites. It was estimated that during the war the government had
a militia force of between four and five hundred thousand men available
for service, while the regular army amounted to thirty-four thousand
officers and privates. The forces that invaded Canada by the way of Lake
Champlain, Sackett's Harbour, the Niagara and Detroit Rivers, were
vastly superior in numbers to the Canadian army of defence, except in
the closing months of the war, when Prevost had under his command a
large body of Peninsular veterans. One condition was always in favour of
Canada, and that was the sullen apathy or antagonism felt by the people
of New England with respect to the war. Had they been in a different
spirit, Lower Canada would have been in far greater danger of successful
invasion and occupation than was the case at any time during the
progress of the conflict. The famous march of Arnold on Quebec by the
Kennebec and Chaudière Rivers might have been repeated with more serious
consequences while Prevost, and not Guy Carleton, was in supreme command
in the French Canadian province.
I can attempt to limn only the events which stand out most plainly on
the graphic pages of this momentous epoch in Canadian history, and to
pay a humble tribute to the memory of men, whose achievements saved
Canada for England in those days of trial. From the beginning to the end
of the conflict, Upper Canada was the principal battle ground upon which
the combatants fought for the supremacy in North America. Its frontiers
were frequently crossed, its territory was invaded, and its towns and
villages were destroyed by the ruthless hand of a foe who entered the
province not only with the sword of the soldier but even with the torch
of the incendiary. The plan of operations at the outset of the campaign
was to invade the province across the Niagara and Detroit Rivers,
neither of which offered any real obstacles to the passage of a
determined and well-managed army in the absence of strong
fortifications, or a superior defensive force, at every vulnerable point
along the Canadian banks. Queenston was to be a base of operations for a
large force, which would overrun the whole province and eventually
co-operate with troops which could come up from Lake Champlain and march
on Montreal. The forces of the United States in 1812 acted with
considerable promptitude as soon as war was officially declared, and had
they been led by able commanders the result might have been most
unfortunate for Canada. The resources for defence were relatively
insignificant, and indecision and weakness were shown by Sir George
Prevost, then commander-in-chief and governor-general--a well meaning
man but wanting in ability as a military leader, who was also hampered
by the vacillating counsels of the Liverpool administration, which did
not believe in war until the province was actually invaded. It was
fortunate for Canada that she had then at the head of the government in
the upper province General Brock, who possessed decision of character
and the ability to comprehend the serious situation of affairs at a
critical juncture, when his superiors both in England and Canada did
not appear to understand its full significance.
The assembly of Upper Canada passed an address giving full expression to
the patriotic sentiments which animated all classes of people when the
perilous state of affairs and the necessity for energetic action became
apparent to the dullest minds. The Loyalists and their descendants, as
well as other loyal people, rallied at the moment of danger to the
support of Brock; and the immediate result of his decided orders was the
capture of the post of Michillimackinac, which had been, ever since the
days of the French régime, a position of great importance on the upper
lakes. Then followed the ignominious surrender of General Hull and his
army to Brock, and the consequent occupation of Detroit and the present
state of Michigan by the British troops. Later, on the Niagara frontier,
an army of invaders was driven from Queenston Heights, but this victory
cost the life of the great English general, whose promptitude at the
commencement of hostilities had saved the province. Among other brave
men who fell with Brock was the attorney-general of the province,
Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell, who was one of the general's aides.
General Sheaffe, the son of a Loyalist, took command and drove the enemy
across the river, in whose rapid waters many were drowned while
struggling to save themselves from the pursuing British soldiery,
determined to avenge the death of their honoured chief. A later attempt
by General Smyth to invade Canadian territory opposite Black Rock on the
Niagara River, was also attended with the same failure that attended the
futile attempts to cross the Detroit and to occupy the heights of
Queenston. At the close of 1812 Upper Canada was entirely free from the
army of the republic, the Union Jack floated above the fort at Detroit,
and the ambitious plan of invading the French province and seizing
Montreal was given up as a result of the disasters to the enemy in the
west. The party of peace in New England gathered strength, and the
promoters of the war had no consolation except the triumphs obtained at
sea by some heavily armed and well manned frigates of the United States
to the surprise of the government and people of England, who never
anticipated that their maritime superiority could be in any way
endangered by a nation whose naval strength was considered so
insignificant. But these victories of the republic on the ocean during
the first year of the war were soon effaced by the records of the two
subsequent years when "The Chesapeake" was captured by "The Shannon" and
other successes of the British ships restored the prestige of England on
the sea.
During the second year of the war the United States won some military
and naval successes in the upper province, although the final results of
the campaign were largely in favour of the defenders of Canada. The war
opened with the defeat of General Winchester at Frenchtown on the River
Raisins in the present state of Michigan; but this success, which was
won by General Procter, was soon forgotten in the taking of York, the
capital of the province, and the destruction of its public buildings.
This event forced General Sheaffe to retire to Kingston, while General
Vincent retreated to Burlington Heights as soon as the invading army
occupied Fort George and dominated the Niagara frontier. Sir George
Prevost showed his military incapacity at Sackett's Harbour, where he
had it in his power to capture a post which was an important base of
operations against the province. On the other hand Colonel George
Macdonell made a successful attack on Ogdensburg and fittingly avenged
the raid that an American force had made a short time previously on
Elizabethtown, which was called Brockville not long afterwards in honour
of the noted general. An advance of the invading army against General
Vincent was checked by the memorable success won at Stoney Creek by
Colonel Harvey and the surrender at Beaver Dams of Colonel Boerstler to
Lieutenant Fitzgibbon, whose clever strategy enabled him to capture a
large force of the enemy while in command of a few soldiers and Indians.
When September arrived, the small, though all-important, British fleet
on Lake Erie, under the command of Captain Barclay, sustained a fatal
defeat at Put-in-Bay, and the United States vessels under Commodore
Perry held full control of Lake Erie. A few weeks later, General Procter
lost the reputation which he had won in January by his defeat of
Winchester, and was beaten, under circumstances which disgraced him in
the opinion of his superiors, on the River Thames not far from the
Indian village of Moraviantown. The American forces were led by General
Harrison, who had won some reputation in the Indian campaign in the
north-west and who subsequently became, as his son in later times, a
president of the United States.
It was in this engagement that the Shawenese chief, Tecumseh, was
killed, in him England lost a faithful and brave ally. English prospects
in the west were consequently gloomy for some time, until the autumn of
1813, when the auspicious tidings spread from the lakes to the Atlantic
that the forces of the republic, while on their march to Montreal by the
way of Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence, had been successfully met
and repulsed at Chateauguay and Chrysler's Farm, two of the most
memorable engagements of the war, when we consider the insignificant
forces that checked the invasion and saved Canada at a most critical
time.
In the last month of the same year Fort George was evacuated by the
American garrison, but not before General McLure had shamelessly burned
the pretty town of Niagara, and driven helpless women and children into
the ice and snow of a Canadian winter. General Drummond, who was in
command of the western army, retaliated by the capture of Fort Niagara
and the destruction of all the villages on the American side of the
river as far as Buffalo, then a very insignificant place. When the new
year dawned the only Canadian place in possession of the enemy was
Amherstburg on the western frontier.
The third and last year of the war was distinguished by the capture of
Oswego and Prairie-des-Chiens by British expeditions; the repulse of a
large force of the invaders at Lacolle Mills in Lower Canada; the
surrender of Fort Erie to the enemy, the defeat of General Riall at
Street's or Usher's Creek in the Niagara district, the hotly contested
battle won at Lundy's Lane by Drummond, and the ignominious retreat from
Plattsburg of Sir George Prevost, in command of a splendid force of
peninsular veterans, after the defeat of Commodore Downey's fleet on
Lake Champlain. Before the year closed and peace was proclaimed, Fort
Erie was evacuated, the stars and stripes were driven from Lake Ontario,
and all Canadian territory except Amherstburg was free from the invader.
The capital of the United States had been captured by the British and
its public buildings burned as a severe retaliation for the conduct of
the invading forces at York, Niagara, Moraviantown, St. David's and Port
Dover. Both combatants were by this time heartily tired of the war, and
terms of peace were arranged by the treaty of Ghent at the close of
1814; but before the news reached the south, General Jackson repulsed
General Packenham with heavy losses at New Orleans, and won a reputation
which made him president a few years later.
The maritime provinces never suffered from invasion, but on the contrary
obtained some advantages from the presence of large numbers of British
men-of-war in their seaports, and the expenditure on military and naval
supplies during the three years of war. Following the example of the
Canadas, the assemblies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia voted large
sums of money and embodied the militia for active service or general
purposes of defence. The assembly of New Brunswick, essentially the
province of the Loyalists, declared in 1813 that the people were "ready
and determined to repel every aggression which the infatuated policy of
the American government may induce it to commit on the soil of New
Brunswick." But the war was so unpopular in the state of Maine and other
parts of New England that the provinces by the sea were comparatively
safe from aggression and conflict. Soon after the commencement of
hostilities the governors of Maine and New Brunswick issued
proclamations which prevented hostilities for two years along their
respective borders. In Nova Scotia there was much activity during the
war, and letters of marque were issued to privateers which made many
captures, and offered some compensation for the losses inflicted on the
coasting and fishing interests by the same class of American vessels. In
1814 it was decided by the imperial authorities to break the truce which
had practically left Maine free from invasion, and Sir John Sherbrooke,
then governor of Nova Scotia, and Rear-Admiral Griffith took possession
of Machias, Eastport, Moose, and other islands in Passamaquoddy Bay.
The people of the United States generally welcomed the end of a war
which brought them neither honour nor profit and seemed likely to break
the union into fragments in consequence of the hostility that had
existed in New England through the conflict from the very beginning. The
news of Prevost's retreat from Plattsburg no doubt hastened the decision
of the British government to enter into negotiations for peace, which
was settled on terms by no means favourable to Canadian interests. The
question of the New Brunswick boundary might have been then adjusted on
conditions which would have prevented at a later day the sacrifice of a
large tract of territory in Maine which would be now of great value to
the Dominion. The only advantage which accrued to the Canadians was a
later convention which gave the people of the provinces full control of
fisheries, ignorantly sacrificed by the treaty of 1783.
No class of the people of Canada contributed more to the effectiveness
of the militia and the successful defence of the country than the
descendants of the Loyalists, who formed so large and influential a
portion of the English population of British North America. All the
loyal settlements on the banks of the St. Lawrence, on the Niagara
frontier, and on the shores of Lake Erie, sent many men to fight by the
side of the regular British forces. Even aged men, who had borne arms in
the revolutionary war, came forward with an enthusiasm which showed that
age had not impaired their courage or patriotism, and although they were
exempted from active service, they were found most useful in stationary
duties at a time when Canada demanded the experience of such veterans.
"Their lessons and example," wrote General Sheaffe, "will have a happy
influence on the youth of the militia ranks." When Hull invaded the
province and issued his boastful and threatening proclamation he used
language which must have seemed a mockery to the children of the
Loyalists. They remembered too well the sufferings of their fathers and
brothers during "the stormy period of the revolution," and it seemed
derisive to tell them now that they were to be "emancipated from tyranny
and oppression and restored to the dignified station of free men." The
proclamation issued by Governor Brock touched the loyal hearts of a
people whose family histories were full of examples of "oppression and
tyranny," and of the kind consideration and justice of England in their
new homes. "Where," asked Brock, with the confidence of truth, "is the
Canadian subject who can truly affirm to himself that he has been
injured by the government in his person, his property, or his liberty?
Where is to be found, in any part of the world, a growth so rapid in
prosperity and wealth as this colony exhibits?" These people, to whom
this special appeal was made at this national crisis, responded with a
heartiness which showed that gratitude and affection lay deep in their
hearts. Even the women worked in the field that their husbands, brothers
and sons might drive the invaders from Canadian soil. The 104th
Regiment, which accomplished a remarkable march of thirteen days in the
depth of winter, from Fredericton to Quebec--a distance of three hundred
and fifty miles--and lost only one man by illness, was composed of
descendants of the loyal founders of New Brunswick. This march was
accomplished practically without loss, while more than three hundred
men were lost by Benedict Arnold in his expedition of 1777 against
Quebec by the way of Kennebec--a journey not more dangerous or arduous
than that so successfully accomplished by the New Brunswick Loyalists.
In 1814 considerable numbers of seamen for service in the upper lakes
passed through New Brunswick to Quebec, and were soon followed by
several companies of the 8th or King's Regiment. The patriotism of the
Loyalists of New Brunswick was shown by grants of public money and every
other means in their power, while these expeditions were on their way to
the seat of war in the upper provinces.
Historians and poets have often dwelt on the heroism of Laura Secord,
daughter and wife of Loyalists, who made a perilous journey in 1814
through the Niagara district, and succeeded in warning Lieutenant
Fitzgibbon of the approach of the enemy, thus enabling him with a few
soldiers and Indians to surprise Colonel Boerstler near Beaver Dams and
force him by clever strategy to surrender with nearly 600 men and
several cannon. Even boys fled from home and were found fighting in the
field. The Prince Regent, at the close of the war, expressly thanked the
Canadian militia, who had "mainly contributed to the immediate
preservation of the province and its future security." The Loyalists,
who could not save the old colonies to England, did their full share in
maintaining her supremacy in the country she still owned in the valley
of the St. Lawrence and on the shores of the Atlantic.
As Bishop Plessis stimulated a patriotic sentiment among the French
Canadians, so Vicar-General Macdonell of Glengarry, subsequently the
first Roman Catholic bishop of Upper Canada, performed good service by
assisting in the formation of a Glengarry regiment, and otherwise taking
an active part in the defence of the province, where his will always be
an honoured name. Equally indefatigable in patriotic endeavour was
Bishop Strachan, then rector of York, who established "The Loyal and
Patriotic Society," which did incalculable good by relieving the
necessities of women and children, when the men were serving in the
battlefield, by providing clothing and food for the soldiery, and
otherwise contributing towards the comfort and succour of all those who
were taking part in the public defences. Of the engagements of the war
there are two which, above all others, possess features on which the
historian must always like to dwell. The battle which was fought against
such tremendous odds on the banks of the Chateauguay by less than a
thousand French Canadians, led by Salaberry and Macdonell, recalls in
some respects the defeat of Braddock in 1755. The disaster to the
British forces near the Monongahela was mainly the result of the
strategy of the Indians, who were dispersed in the woods which reechoed
to their wild yells and their ever fatal shots fired under cover of
trees, rocks and stumps. The British were paralysed as they saw their
ranks steadily decimated by the fire of an enemy whom they could never
see, and who seemed multitudinous as their shrieks and shouts were heard
far and wide in that Bedlam of the forest. The leaves that lay thick and
deep on the ground were reddened with the blood of many victims helpless
against the concealed, relentless savages. The woods of the Chateauguay
did not present such a scene of carnage as was witnessed at the battle
of the Monongahela, but nevertheless they seemed to the panic-stricken
invaders, who numbered many thousands, alive with an enemy whose
strength was enormously exaggerated as bugle sounds and Indian yells
made a fearful din on every side. Believing themselves surrounded by
forces far superior in numbers, the invaders became paralysed with fear
and fled in disorder from an enemy whom they could not see, and who
might close upon them at any moment. In this way Canadian pluck and
strategy won a famous victory which saved the province of Lower Canada
at a most critical moment of the war.
If we leave the woods of Chateauguay, where a monument has been raised
in recognition of this brilliant episode of the war, and come to the
country above which rises the mist of the cataract of Niagara, we see a
little acclivity over which passes that famous thoroughfare called
"Lundy's Lane." Here too rises a stately shaft in commemoration of
another famous victory--in many respects the most notable of the
war--won by a gallant Englishman, whose name still clings to the pretty
town close by.
This battle was fought on a midsummer night, when less than three
thousand British and Canadian troops fought six hours against a much
superior force, led by the ablest officers who had taken part in the
war. For three hours, from six to nine o'clock at night, less than two
thousand held the height, which was the main object of attack from the
beginning to the end of the conflict, and kept at bay the forces that
were led against them with a stern determination to win the position.
Sunlight gave way to the twilight of a July evening, and dense darkness
at last covered the combatants, but still the fight went on. Columns of
the enemy charged in such close and rapid succession that the British
artillerymen were constantly assailed in the very act of sponging and
loading their guns. The assailants once won the height, but only to find
themselves repulsed the next instant by the resolute daring of the
British. Happily at the most critical moment, when the defenders of the
hill were almost exhausted by the heroic struggle, reinforcements
arrived, and the battle was renewed with a supreme effort on both sides.
For three hours longer, from nine o'clock to midnight, the battle was
fought in the darkness, only relieved by the unceasing flashes from the
guns, whose sharp reports mingled with the deep and monotonous roar of
the great falls. It was a scene worthy of a painter whose imagination
could grasp all the incidents of a situation essentially dramatic in its
nature. The assailants of the Canadian position gave way at last and
withdrew their wearied and disheartened forces. It was in all respects a
victory for England and Canada, since the United States army did not
attempt to renew the battle on the next day, but retired to Fort Erie,
then in their possession. As Canadians look down "the corridors of
time," they will always see those flashes from the musketry and cannon
of Lundy's Lane, and hear the bugles which drove the invaders of their
country from the woods of Chateauguay.
The war did much to solidify the various racial elements of British
North America during its formative stage. Frenchmen, Englishmen,
Scotsmen from the Lowlands and Highlands, Irishmen and Americans, united
to support the British connection. The character of the people,
especially in Upper Canada, was strengthened from a national point of
view by the severe strain to which it was subjected. Men and women alike
were elevated above the conditions of a mere colonial life and the
struggle for purely material necessities, and became animated by that
spirit of self-sacrifice and patriotic endeavour which tend to make a
people truly great.
CHAPTER VI.
THE EVOLUTION OF RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT (1815--1839)
SECTION I.--The rebellion in Lower Canada.
Responsible government in Canada is the logical sequence of the
political struggles, which commenced soon after the close of the war of
1812-15. As we review the history of Canada since the conquest we can
recognise "one ever increasing purpose" through all political changes,
and the ardent desire of men, entrusted at the outset with a very
moderate degree of political responsibility, to win for themselves a
larger measure of political liberty in the management of their own local
affairs. Grave mistakes were often made by the advocates of reform in
the government of the several provinces--notably, as I shall show, in
Lower Canada, where the French Canadian majority were carried often
beyond reason at the dictation of Papineau--but, whatever may have been
the indiscretions of politicians, there were always at the bottom of
their demands the germs of political development.
The political troubles that continued from 1817 until 1836 in Lower
Canada eventually made the working of legislative institutions
impracticable. The contest gradually became one between the
governor-general representing the crown and the assembly controlled
almost entirely by a French Canadian majority, with respect to the
disposition of the public revenues and expenditures. Imperial statutes,
passed as far back as 1774-1775, provided for the levying of duties, to
be applied solely by the crown, primarily "towards defraying the
expenses of the administration of justice and the support of the civil
government of the province", and any sums that remained in the hands of
the government were "for the future disposition of parliament." Then
there were "the casual or territorial revenues," such as money arising
from the Jesuits' estates, royal seigniorial dues, timber and land, all
of which were also exclusively under the control of the government. The
assembly had been given jurisdiction only over the amount of duties
payable into the treasury under the authority of laws passed by the
legislature itself. In case the royal revenues were not sufficient to
meet the annual expenditure of the government, the deficiency was met
until the war of 1812-15 by drawing on the military exchequer. As the
expenses of the provincial administration increased the royal revenues
became inadequate, while the provincial revenues gradually showed a
considerable surplus over the expenditure voted by the legislature. In
1813 the cost of the war made it impossible for the government to use
the military funds, and it resorted to the provincial moneys for the
expenses of justice and civil government. In this way, by 1817, the
government had incurred a debt of a hundred and twenty thousand pounds
to the province without the direct authority of the legislature. The
assembly of Lower Canada was not disposed to raise troublesome issues
during the war, or in any way to embarrass the action of Sir George
Prevost, who, whatever may have been his incompetency as a military
chief, succeeded by his conciliatory and persuasive methods in winning
the good opinions of the French Canadian majority and making himself an
exceptionally popular civil governor. After closing the accounts of the
war, the government felt it expedient to stop such irregular
proceedings, to obtain from the legislature a general appropriation act,
covering the amount of expenditures in the past, and to prevent the
necessity of such a questionable application of provincial funds in the
future. This may be considered the beginning of the financial
controversies that were so constant, as years passed by, between the
governors and the assemblies, and never ended until the rebellion broke
out. The assembly, desirous of obtaining power in the management of
public affairs, learned that it could best embarrass the government and
force them to consider and adjust public grievances, as set forth by the
majority in the house, by means of the appropriation bills required for
the public service. The assembly not only determined to exercise sole
control over its own funds but eventually demanded the disposal of the
duties imposed and regulated by imperial statutes. The conflict was
remarkable for the hot and uncompromising temper constantly exhibited by
the majority on the discussion of the generally moderate and fair
propositions submitted by the government for settling vexed questions.
The assembly found a powerful argument in favour of their persistent
contention for a complete control of the public revenues and
expenditures in the defalcation of Mr. Caldwell, the receiver-general,
who had been allowed for years to use the public funds in his business
speculations, and whose property was entirely inadequate to cover the
deficiency in his accounts.
The legislative council was always ready to resist what it often
asserted to be unconstitutional acts on the part of the house and direct
infringements of "the rights of the crown" sometimes a mere convenient
phrase used in an emergency to justify resistance to the assembly. It
often happened, however, that the upper chamber had law on its side,
when the house became perfectly unreasonable and uncompromising in its
attitude of hostility to the government. The council, on several
occasions, rejected a supply bill because it contained provisions
asserting the assembly's right to control the crown revenues and to vote
the estimates, item by item, from the governor's salary down to that of
the humblest official. Every part of the official and legislative
machinery became clogged by the obstinacy of governor, councils, and
assembly. To such an extent, indeed, did the assembly's assumption of
power carry it in 1836, that the majority actually asserted its own
right to amend the constitution of the council as defined in the
imperial statute of 1791. Its indiscreet acts eventually alienated the
sympathy and support of such English members as Mr. Neilson, a
journalist and politician of repute, Mr. Andrew Stuart, a lawyer of
ability, and others who believed in the necessity of constitutional
reforms, but could not follow Mr. Papineau and his party in their
reckless career of attack on the government, which they thought would
probably in the end imperil British connection.
The government was in the habit of regularly submitting its accounts and
estimates to the legislature, and expressed its desire eventually to
grant that body the disposal of all the crown revenues, provided it
would consent to vote a civil list for the king's life, or even for a
fixed number of years, but the assembly was not willing to agree to any
proposal which prevented it from annually taking up the expenditures for
the civil government item by item, and making them matters of yearly
vote. In this way every person in the public service would be subject to
the caprice, or ill-feeling, of any single member of the legislature,
and the whole administration of the public departments would probably be
made ineffective. Under the plan suggested by the government in
accordance with English constitutional forms, the assembly would have
every opportunity of criticising all the public expenditures, and even
reducing the gross sum in cases of extravagance. But the same
contumacious spirit, which several times expelled Mr. Christie, member
for Gaspé, on purely vexatious and frivolous charges, and constantly
impeached judges without the least legal justification, simply to
satisfy personal spite or political malice, would probably have been
exhibited towards all officials had the majority in the assembly been
given the right of voting each salary separately. The assembly never
once showed a disposition to meet the wishes of the government even
half-way. Whatever may have been the vacillation or blundering of
officials in Downing Street, it must be admitted that the imperial
government showed a conciliatory spirit throughout the whole financial
controversy. Step by step it yielded to all the demands of the assembly
on this point. In 1831, when Lord Grey was premier, the British
parliament passed an act, making it lawful for the legislatures of Upper
and Lower Canada to appropriate the duties raised by imperial statutes
for the purpose of defraying the charges of the administration of
justice and the support of civil government. The government consequently
retained only the relatively small sum arising from casual and
territorial dues. When Lord Aylmer, the governor-general, communicated
this important concession to the legislature, he also sent a message
setting forth the fact that it was the settled policy of the crown on no
future occasion to nominate a judge either to the executive or the
legislative council, the sole exception being the chief justice of
Quebec. He also gave the consent of the government to the passage of an
act declaring that judges of the supreme court should thereafter hold
office "during good behaviour," on the essential condition that their
salaries were made permanent by the legislature. The position of the
judiciary had long been a source of great and even just complaint, and,
in the time of Sir James Craig, judges were disqualified from sitting in
the assembly on the demand of that body. They continued, however, to
hold office "during the pleasure" of the crown, and to be called at its
will to the executive and legislative councils. Under these
circumstances they were, with some reason, believed to be more or less
under the influence of the governor-general; and particular judges
consequently fell at times under the ban of the assembly, and were
attacked on the most frivolous grounds. The assembly passed a bill
providing for the independence of the judiciary, but it had to be
reserved because it was not in accordance with the conditions considered
necessary by the crown for the protection of the bench.
The governor-general also in his message promised reforms of the
judicial and legal systems, the disposal of the funds arising from the
Jesuits' estates by the legislature, and, in fact, nearly all the
reforms which had been demanded by the house for years. Yet when the
government asked at the same time for a permanent civil list, the
message was simply referred to a committee of the whole house which
never reported. Until this time the efforts of the assembly to obtain
complete control of the public revenues and expenditures had a
justification in the fact that it is a recognised English principle that
the elected house should impose the taxes and vote the supplies; but
their action on this occasion, when the imperial government made most
important concessions, giving them full control over the public funds,
simply on condition that they should follow the English system of voting
the salaries of the judiciary and civil list, showed that the majority
were earned away by a purely factious spirit. During the progress of
these controversies, Mr. Louis Joseph Papineau, a brilliant but an
unsafe leader, had become the recognised chief of the French Canadian
majority, who for years elected him speaker of the assembly. In the
absence of responsible government, there was witnessed in those times
the extraordinary spectacle--only now-a-days seen in the American
congress--of the speaker, who should be above all political antagonisms,
acting as the leader of an arrogant majority, and urging them to
continue in their hostility to the government. It was Mr. Papineau who
first brought the governor-general directly into the arena of political
conflict by violent personal attacks; and indeed he went so far in the
case of Lord Dalhousie, a fair-minded man anxious to act moderately
within the limits of the constitution, that the latter felt compelled by
a sense of dignity to refuse the confirmation of the great agitator as
speaker in 1827. The majority in the assembly vehemently asserted their
right to elect their speaker independently of the governor, whose
confirmation was a mere matter of form, and not of statutory right; and
the only course at last open to Lord Dalhousie was to prorogue the
legislature. Mr. Papineau was re-elected speaker at the next session,
when Lord Dalhousie had gone to England and Sir James Kempt was
administrator.
After 1831, Mr. Papineau steadily evoked the opposition of the more
conservative and thoughtful British Liberals who were not disposed to be
carried into a questionable position, inimical to British connection and
the peace of the country, Dr. Wolfred Nelson, and Dr. O'Callaghan, a
journalist, were soon the only supporters of ability left him among the
British and Irish, the great majority of whom rallied to the support of
the government when a perilous crisis arrived in the affairs of the
province. The British party dwindled away in every appeal to the people,
and no French Canadian representative who presumed to differ from Mr.
Papineau was ever again returned to the assembly. Mr. Papineau became
not only a political despot but an "irreconcilable," whose vanity led
him to believe that he would soon become supreme in French Canada, and
the founder of _La Nation Canadienne_ in the valley of the St. Lawrence.
The ninety-two resolutions passed in 1834 may be considered the climax
of the demands of his party, which for years had resisted immigration as
certain to strengthen the British population, had opposed the
establishment of registry offices as inconsistent with the French
institutions of the province, and had thrown every possible opposition
in the way of the progress of the Eastern Townships, which were
attracting year by year an industrious and energetic British population
from the British Isles and New England.
In these resolutions of 1834 there is not a single paragraph or even
phrase which can be tortured into showing that the French Canadian
agitator and his friends were in favour of responsible government. The
key-note of the whole document is an elective legislative council, which
would inevitably increase the power of the French Canadians and place
the British in a hopeless minority. Mr. Roebuck, the paid agent of the
assembly in England, is said to have suggested the idea of this elective
body, and assuredly his writings and speeches were always calculated to
do infinite harm, by helping to inflame discontent in Canada, and
misrepresenting in England the true condition of affairs in the
province. The resolutions are noteworthy for their verbosity and entire
absence of moderate and wise suggestion. They were obviously written
under the inspiration of Mr. Papineau with the object of irritating the
British government, and preventing the settlement of political
difficulties. They even eulogised the institutions of the neighbouring
states which "commanded the affection of the people in a larger measure
than those of any other country," and should be regarded "as models of
government for Canada." They even went so far as "to remind parliament
of the consequences of its efforts to overrule the wishes of the
American colonies," in case they should make any "modification" in the
constitution of the province "independently of the wishes of its
people." Colonel Gugy, Mr. Andrew Stuart, Mr. Neilson and other
prominent Englishmen opposed the passage of these resolutions, as
calculated to do infinite harm, but they were carried by a very large
French Canadian majority at the dictation of Mr. Papineau. Whatever may
have been its effect for the moment, this wordy effusion has long since
been assigned to the limbo where are buried other examples of the
demagogism of those trying times.
In 1835 the imperial government decided to send three commissioners to
examine into the various questions which had been so long matters of
agitation in Lower Canada. Lord Aberdeen, then Colonial Secretary of
State, emphatically stated that it was the intention of the government
"to review and enquire into every alleged grievance and examine every
cause of complaint, and apply a remedy to every abuse that may still be
found to prevail."
The choice of the government as chief commissioner and governor-general
was Lord Gosford, an amiable, inexperienced and weak man, who failed
either to conciliate the French Canadian majority to whom he was even
humble for a while, or to obtain the confidence of the British party to
whose counsels and warnings he did not pay sufficient heed at the
outset of the crisis which culminated during his administration. The
majority in the assembly were determined not to abate one iota of their
pretensions, which now included the control of the casual and
territorial revenues; and no provision whatever was made for four years
for the payment of the public service. The commissioners reported
strongly against the establishment of an elected council, and in favour
of a modified system of responsible government, not dependent on the
vote of the house. They recommended also the surrender of the casual and
territorial revenues on condition of proper provision for the payment of
the civil service, and the administration of justice.
The imperial government immediately recognised that they had to face a
very serious crisis in the affairs of Lower Canada. On the 6th March,
1836, Lord John Russell, then home secretary in Lord Melbourne's
administration, introduced a series of ten resolutions, providing for
the immediate payment of the arrears of £142,160. 14s. 6d., due to the
public service, out of the moneys in the hands of the receiver-general.
While it was admitted that measures should be taken to secure for the
legislative council a greater degree of public confidence, the
government deemed it inexpedient to make that body elective. The
necessity of improving the position of the executive council was also
acknowledged, but the suggestion of a ministry responsible to the
assembly was not approved. This disapproval was quite in accordance with
the policy adopted by Englishmen since 1822, when a measure had been
introduced in parliament for the reunion of the two Canadas--the
precursor of the measure of 1840. This measure originally provided that
two members of the executive council should sit and speak in the
assembly but not vote. Those parts of the bill of 1822 which provided
for a union were not pressed on account of the objections raised in both
the provinces, but certain other provisions became law under the title
of "The Canadian Trade Acts," relieving Upper Canada from the
capricious action of Lower Canada with respect to the duties from which
the former obtained the principal part of her fund for carrying on her
government. This share had been originally fixed at one-fifth of the
proceeds of the customs duties collected by the province of Lower
Canada, but when the population of the western section increased
considerably and consumed a far greater quantity of dutiable goods, its
government justly demanded a larger proportion of the revenues collected
in the ports of the lower St. Lawrence. The legislature of Lower Canada
paid no attention to this equitable demand, and eventually even refused
to renew the legislation providing for the payment of one-fifth of the
duties. Under these circumstances the imperial government found it
necessary to intervene, and pass the "Trade Acts," making the past
legislation of Lower Canada on the subject permanent, and preventing its
legislature from imposing new duties on imports without the consent of
the upper province. As this was a question of grave import, the
resolutions of 1836 gave authority to the legislatures of Upper and
Lower Canada to provide joint legislation "for determining and adjusting
all questions respecting the trade and commerce of the provinces."
As soon as the passage of these resolutions became known throughout
Lower Canada, Papineau and his supporters commenced an active campaign
of denunciation against England, from whom, they declared, there was no
redress whatever to be expected. Wherever the revolutionists were in the
majority, they shouted, "_Vive la liberté!" "Vive la Nation Canadienne!"
"Vive Papineau!" "Point de despotisme_!": while flags and placards were
displayed with similar illustrations of popular frenzy. _La Nation
Canadienne_ was now launched on the turbulent waves of a little
rebellion in which the phrases of the French revolution were glibly
shouted by the _habitants_ with very little conception of their real
significance. The British or Constitutional party took active steps in
support of British connection, but Lord Gosford, unhappily still
governor-general, did not for some time awaken to the reality of the
public danger. Happily for British interests, Sir John Culhorne,
afterwards Lord Seaforth, a courageous and vigilant soldier, was in the
country, and was able, when orders were given him by the reluctant
governor, to deal determinedly with the rebels who had taken up arms in
the Richelieu district. Dr. Wolfred Nelson made a brave stand at St.
Denis, and repulsed Colonel Gore's small detachment of regulars.
Papineau was present for a while at the scene of conflict, but he took
no part in it and lost no time in making a hurried flight to the United
States--an ignominious close to a successful career of rhetorical
flashes which had kindled a conflagration that he took very good care
should not even scorch him. Colonel Wetherall defeated another band of
rebels at St. Charles, and their commander, Mr. Thomas Storrow Brown, a
well-meaning but gullible man, fled across the border. Dr. Wolfred
Nelson was captured, and a number of other rebels of less importance
were equally unfortunate. Some of the refugees made a public
demonstration from Vermont, but precipitately fled before a small force
which met them. At St. Eustache, one Girod, a plausible, mendacious
Swiss or Alsatian, who had become a leader in the rebellious movement,
and Dr. Chenier, a rash but courageous man, collected a considerable
body of rebels, chiefly from St. Benoit, despite the remonstrances of
Mr. Paquin, the curé of the village, and defended the stone church and
adjacent buildings against a large force, led by Sir John Colborne
himself. Dr. Chenier and many others--at least seventy, it is said on
good authority--were killed, and the former has in the course of time
been elevated to the dignity of a national hero and a monument raised in
his honour on a public square of the French Canadian quarters of
Montreal. Mad recklessness rather than true heroism signalised his
action in this unhappy affair, when he led so many of his credulous
compatriots to certain death, but at least he gave up his life manfully
to a lost cause rather than fly like Papineau who had beguiled him to
this melancholy conclusion. Even Girod showed courage and ended his own
life when he found that he could not evade the law. The rebellious
element at St. Benoit was cowed by the results at St. Eustache; and the
Abbé Chartier, who had taken an active part in urging the people to
resistance, fled to the United States whence he never returned. The
greater part of the village was destroyed by fire, probably in
retaliation for the losses and injuries suffered by the volunteers at
the hands of the rebels in different parts of the district of Montreal.
One of the most unfortunate and discreditable incidents of the rising in
the Richelieu district was the murder of Lieutenant Weir, who had been
taken prisoner while carrying despatches to Sorel, and was literally
hacked to pieces, when he tried to escape from a _calèche_ in which he
was being conveyed to St. Charles. An equally unhappy incident was the
cold-blooded execution, after a mock trial, of one Chartrand, a harmless
non-combatant who was accused, without a tittle of evidence, of being a
spy. The temper of the country can be gauged by the fact that when it
was attempted, some time later, to convict the murderers on clear
evidence, it was impossible to obtain a verdict. Jolbert, the alleged
murderer of Weir, was never punished, but François Nicholas and Amable
Daumais, who had aided in the trial and execution of Chartrand, were
subsequently hanged for having taken an active part in the second
insurrection of 1838.
The rebellion of 1837 never reached any large proportions, and very few
French Canadians of social or political standing openly participated in
the movement. Monseigneur Lartigue, Roman Catholic bishop of Montreal,
issued a _mandement_ severely censuring the misguided men who had joined
in the rebellious movement and caused so much misery throughout the
province. In England, strange to say, there were men found, even in
parliament, ready to misrepresent the facts and glory in a rebellion the
causes of which they did not understand. The animating motive with
these persons was then--and there were similar examples during the
American revolution--to assail the government of the day and make
political capital against them, but, it must be admitted, in all
fairness to the reform ministry of that day and even to preceding
cabinets for some years, that the policy of all was to be just and
conciliatory in their relations with the provincial agitators, though it
is also evident that a more thorough knowledge of political conditions
and a more resolute effort to a reach the bottom of grievances might
have long before removed causes of irritation and saved the loss of
property and life in 1837 and 1838.
In the presence of a grave emergency, the British government felt
compelled to suspend the constitution of Lower Canada, and send out Lord
Durham, a Liberal statesman of great ability, to act as governor-general
and high commissioner "for the determining of certain important
questions depending in the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada
respecting the form and future government of the said provinces" Despite
a certain haughtiness of manner which was apt to wound his inferiors and
irritate his equals in position, he was possessed of a great fund of
accurate political knowledge and a happy faculty of grasping all the
essential facts of a difficult situation, and suggesting the best remedy
to apply under all the circumstances. He endeavoured, to the utmost of
his ability, to redeem the pledge with which he entered on his mission
to Canada, in the first instance "to assert the supremacy of her
majesty's government," in the next "to vindicate the honour and dignity
of the law," and above all "to know nothing of a British, a French, or a
Canadian party," but "to look on them all alike as her majesty's
subjects." After he had appointed a special council he set to work
energetically to secure the peace of the country. Humanity was the
distinguishing feature of his too short career in Canada. A
comprehensive amnesty was proclaimed to all those engaged in the
rebellion with the exception of Dr. Wolfred Nelson, R.S.M. Bouchette,
Bonaventure Viger, Dr. Masson, and four others of less importance, who
were ordered by an ordinance to be transported to Bermuda during the
queen's pleasure. These persons, as well as sixteen others, including
Papineau, who had fled from justice, were declared to be subject to
death should they venture to enter the province. Not a single rebel
suffered death on the scaffold during Lord Durham's administration.
Unfortunately the ordinance, transporting a number of persons without
trial to an island where the governor-general had no jurisdiction, gave
an opportunity to Lord Brougham, who hated the high commissioner, to
attack him in the house of lords. Lord Melbourne, then premier, was
forced to repeal the ordinance and to consent to the passage of a bill
indemnifying all those who had acted under its provisions Lord Glenelg,
colonial secretary, endeavoured to diminish the force of this
parliamentary censure by writing to the high commissioner that "her
majesty's government repeat their approbation of the spirit in which
these measures were conceived and state their conviction that they have
been dictated by a judicious and enlightened humanity"; but a statesman
of Lord Durham's haughty character was not ready to submit to such a
rebuke as he had sustained in parliament He therefore immediately placed
his resignation in the hands of the government which had commissioned
him with powers to give peace and justice to distracted Canada, and yet
failed to sustain him at the crucial moment. Before leaving the country
he issued a proclamation in defence of his public acts. His course in
this particular offended the ministry who, according to Lord Glenelg,
considered it a dangerous innovation, as it was practically an appeal by
a public officer to the public against the measures of parliament. Lord
Durham may be pardoned under all the circumstances for resenting at the
earliest possible moment his desertion by the government, who were bound
in honour to defend him, at all hazards, in his absence, and should not
have given him over for the moment to his enemies, led by a spiteful
Scotch lawyer. Lord Durham left Canada with the assurance that he had
won the confidence of all loyal British subjects and proved to all
French Canadians that there were English statesmen prepared to treat
them with patience, humanity and justice.
Sir John Colborne became administrator on the departure of Lord Durham,
and subsequently governor-general. Unhappily he was immediately called
upon to crush another outbreak of the rebels, in November, 1838, in the
counties watered by the Richelieu River, and in the district immediately
south of Montreal. Dr. Robert Nelson and some other rebels, who had
found refuge in the frontier towns and villages of Vermont and New York,
organised this second insurrection, which had the support of a
considerable number of _habitants_, though only a few actually took up
arms. The rising, which began at Caughnawaga, was put down at
Beauharnois, within a week from the day on which it commenced. The
authorities now felt that the time had passed for such leniency as had
been shown by Lord Durham; and Sir John Colborne accordingly established
courts-martial for the trial of the prisoners taken during this second
insurrection, as it was utterly impossible to obtain justice through the
ordinary process of the courts. Only twelve persons, however, suffered
the extreme penalty of the law; some were sent to New South Wales--where
however they were detained only a short time; and the great majority
were pardoned on giving security for good behaviour.
While these trials were in progress, and the government were anxious to
give peace and security to the province, refugees in the border states
were despatching hands of ruffians to attack and plunder the Loyalists
in the Eastern Townships; but the government of the United States
intervened and instructed its officers to take decisive measures for the
repression of every movement in the territory of a friendly Power. Thus
the mad insurrection incited by Papineau, but actually led by the
Nelsons, Chenier and Brown, came at last to an end.
A new era of political development was now to dawn on the province, as a
result of a more vigorous and remedial policy initiated by the imperial
government, at last thoroughly awakened to an intelligent comprehension
of the political conditions of the Canadas. But before I proceed to
explain the details of measures fraught with such important
consequences, I must give an historical summary of the events which led
also to a rash uprising in Upper Canada, simultaneously with the one
which ended so disastrously for its leaders in the French province.
SECTION 2.--The rebellion in Upper Canada.
The financial disputes between the executive and the assembly never
attained such prominence in Upper Canada as in the lower province. In
1831 the assembly consented to make permanent provision for the civil
list and the judiciary, on condition of the government's giving up to
the legislature all the revenues previously at its own disposition.
Three years later the legislature also passed an act to provide that the
judges should hold their offices during good behaviour, and not at the
pleasure of the crown--a measure rendered possible by the fact that the
assembly had made the salaries of the bench permanent.
Nor did the differences between the assembly and the legislative council
ever assume such serious proportions as they did in the French province.
Still the leaders of the reform party of Upper Canada had strong
objections to the constitution of the council; and a committee of
grievances reported in 1835 in favour of an elected body as well as a
responsible council, although it did not very clearly outline the
methods of working out the system in a colony where the head of the
executive was an imperial officer acting under royal instructions. The
different lieutenant-governors, the executive and legislative
councillors, and the whole body of officials, from the very moment
responsible government was suggested in any form, threw every possible
obstacle in the way of its concession by the imperial government.
It was largely the dominant influence of the official combination, long
known in Canadian history as the "family compact," which prevented the
concession of responsible government before the union of the Canadas.
This phrase, as Lord Durham said in his report, was misleading inasmuch
as there "was very little of family connection between the persons thus
united." As a matter of fact the phrase represented a political and
aristocratic combination, which grew up as a consequence of the social
conditions of the province and eventually monopolised all offices and
influence in government. This bureaucracy permeated all branches of
government--the executive, the legislative council, and even the
assembly where for years there sat several members holding offices of
emolument under the crown. It practically controlled the banks and
monetary circles. The Church of England was bound up in its interests.
The judiciary was more or less under its influence while judges were
appointed during pleasure and held seats in the councils. This governing
class was largely composed of the descendants of the Loyalists of 1784,
who had taken so important a part in the war with the United States and
always asserted their claims to special consideration in the
distribution of government favour. The old settlers--all those who had
come into the country before the war--demanded and obtained greater
consideration at the hands of the government than the later immigrants,
who eventually found themselves shut out of office and influence. The
result was the growth of a Liberal or Reform party, which, while
generally composed of the later immigrants, comprised several persons of
Loyalist extraction, who did not happen to belong to the favoured class
or church, but recognised the necessity for a change in the methods of
administration. Among these Loyalists must be specially mentioned Peter
Perry, who was really the founder of the Reform party in 1834, and the
Reverend Egerton Ryerson, a Methodist minister of great natural ability.
Unfortunately creed also became a powerful factor in the political
controversies of Upper Canada. By the constitutional act of 1791 large
tracts of land were set aside for the support of a "Protestant clergy",
and the Church of England successfully claimed for years an exclusive
right to these "clergy reserves" on the ground that it was the
Protestant church recognised by the state. The clergy of the Church of
Scotland in Canada, though very few in number for years, at a later time
obtained a share of these grants as a national religious body; but all
the dissentient denominations did not participate in the advantages of
these reserves. The Methodists claimed in the course of years to be
numerically equal to, if not more numerous than, the English
Episcopalians, and were deeply irritated at the inferior position they
long occupied in the province. So late as 1824 the legislative council,
composed of members of the dominant church, rejected a bill allowing
Methodist ministers to solemnise marriages, and it was not until 1831
that recognised ministers of all denominations were placed on an
equality in this respect. Christian charity was not more a
characteristic of those times than political liberality. Methodism was
considered by the governing class as a sign of democracy and social
inferiority. History repeated itself in Upper Canada. As the Puritans of
New England feared the establishment of an Anglican episcopacy, and used
it to stimulate a feeling against the parent state during the beginnings
of the revolution, so in Upper Canada the dissenting religious bodies
made political capital out of the favouritism shown to the Church of
England in the distribution of the public lands and public patronage.
The Roman Catholics and members of all Protestant sects eventually
demanded the secularisation of the reserves for educational or other
public purposes, or the application of the funds to the use of all
religious creeds. The feeling against that church culminated in 1836,
when Sir John Colborne, then lieutenant-governor, established forty-four
rectories in accordance with a suggestion made by Lord Goderich some
years previously. While the legality of Sir John Colborne's course was
undoubted, it was calculated to create much indignant feeling among the
dissenting bodies, who saw in the establishment of these rectories an
evidence of the intention of the British government to create a state
church so far as practicable by law within the province. This act, so
impolitic at a critical time of political discussion, was an
illustration of the potent influence exercised in the councils of the
government by Archdeacon Strachan, who had come into the province from
Scotland in 1799 as a schoolmaster. He had been brought up in the tenets
of the Presbyterian Church, but some time after his arrival in Canada he
became an ordained minister of the Church of England, in which he rose
step by step to the episcopacy. He became a member of both the executive
and legislative councils in 1816 and 1817, and exercised continuously
until the union of 1841 a singular influence in the government of the
province. He was endowed with that indomitable will, which distinguished
his great countryman, John Knox. His unbending toryism was the natural
outcome of his determination to sustain what he considered the just
rights of his church against the liberalism of her opponents--chiefly
dissenters--who wished to rob her of her clergy reserves and destroy her
influence in education and public affairs generally. This very fidelity
to his church became to some extent her weakness, since it evoked the
bitter hostility of a large body of persons and created the impression
that she was the church of the aristocratic and official class rather
than that of the people--an impression which existed for many years
after the fall of the "family compact."
The public grievances connected with the disposition of the public
lands were clearly exposed by one Robert Gourlay, a somewhat meddlesome
Scotchman, who had addressed a circular, soon after his arrival in
Canada, to a number of townships with regard to the causes which
retarded improvement and the best means of developing the resources of
the province. An answer from Sandwich virtually set forth the feeling of
the rural districts generally on these points. It stated that the
reasons for the existing depression were the reserves of land for the
crown and clergy, "which must for a long time keep the country a
wilderness, a harbour for wolves, and a hindrance to compact and good
neighbourhood; defects in the system of colonisation; too great a
quantity of lands in the hands of individuals who do not reside in the
province, and are not assessed for their property." Mr. Gourlay's
questions were certainly asked in the public interest, but they excited
the indignation of the official class who resented any interference with
a state of things which favoured themselves and their friends, and were
not desirous of an investigation into the management of public affairs.
The subsequent treatment of Mr. Gourlay was shameful in the extreme. He
was declared a most dangerous character when he followed up his circular
by a pamphlet, attacking the methods by which public affairs generally
were conducted, and contrasting them with the energetic and progressive
system on the other side of the border. The indignation of the officials
became a positive fever when he suggested the calling of public meetings
to elect delegates to a provincial convention--a term which recalled the
days of the American revolution, and was cleverly used by Gourlay's
enemies to excite the ire and fear of the descendants of the Loyalists.
Sir Peregrine Maitland succeeded in obtaining from the legislature an
opinion against conventions as "repugnant to the constitution," and
declaring the holding of such public meetings a misdemeanour, while
admitting the constitutional right of the people to petition. These
proceedings evoked a satirical reply from Gourlay, who was arrested for
seditious libel, but the prosecutions failed. It was then decided to
resort to the provisions of a practically obsolete statute passed in
1804, authorising the arrest of any person who had resided in the
province for six months without taking the oath of allegiance, and was
suspected to be a seditious character. Such a person could be ordered by
the authorities to leave the province, or give security for good
behaviour. This act had been originally passed to prevent the
immigration of aliens unfavourable to England, especially of Irishmen
who had taken part in the rebellion of 1798 and found refuge in the
United States. Gourlay had been a resident of Upper Canada for nearly
two years, and in no single instance had the law been construed to apply
to an immigrant from the British Isles. Gourlay was imprisoned in the
Niagara gaol, and when his friends attempted to bring him out on a writ
of _habeas corpus_ they failed simply because Chief Justice Powell, an
able lawyer of a Loyalist family and head of the official party, refused
to grant the writ on a mere technical plea, afterwards declared by the
highest legal authorities in England to be entirely contrary to sound
law. Gourlay consequently remained in prison for nearly eight months,
and when he was brought again before the chief justice, his mental
faculties were obviously impaired for the moment, but despite his
wretched condition, which prevented him from conducting his defence, he
was summarily convicted and ordered to leave the province within
twenty-four hours, under penalty of death should he not obey the order
or return to the country.
This unjust sentence created wide-spread indignation among all
right-thinking people, especially as it followed a message of the
lieutenant-governor to the legislature, that he did not feel justified
in extending the grants of land, made to actors in the war of 1812-15,
to "any of the inhabitants who composed the late convention of
delegates, the proceedings of which were very properly subjected to your
very severe animadversion" This undoubtedly illegal action of the
lieutenant-governor only escaped the censure of the assembly by the
casting vote of the speaker, but was naturally justified in the
legislative council where Chief Justice Powell presided. Gourlay became
a martyr in the opinion of a large body of people, and a Reform party
began to grow up in the country. The man himself disappeared for years
from Canadian history, and did not return to the province until 1856,
after a chequered and unhappy career in Great Britain and the United
States. The assembly of the United Canadas in 1842 declared his arrest
to be "unjust and illegal," and his sentence "null and void," and he was
offered a pension as some compensation for the injuries he had received;
but he refused it unless it was accompanied by an official declaration
of the illegality of the conviction and its elision from the records of
the courts. The Canadian government thought he should be satisfied with
the action of the assembly and the offer of the pension. Gourlay died
abroad, and his daughters on his death received the money which he
rejected with the obstinacy so characteristic of his life.
During these days of struggle we find most prominent among the official
class Attorney-General Robinson, afterwards chief justice of Upper
Canada for many years. He was the son of a Virginian Loyalist, and a
Tory of extreme views, calm, polished, and judicial in his demeanour.
But whatever his opinions on the questions of the day he was too
discreet a politician and too honest a judge ever to have descended to
such a travesty of justice as had been shown by his predecessor in the
case of Gourlay. His influence, however was never in the direction of
liberal measures. He opposed responsible government and the union of the
two provinces, both when proposed unsuccessfully in 1822, and when
carried in Upper Canada eighteen years later.
The elections of 1825 had a very important influence on the political
conditions of the upper province, since they brought into the assembly
Peter Perry, Dr. Rolph, and Marshall Spring Bidwell, who became leading
actors in the Reform movement which culminated in the concession of
responsible government. But the most conspicuous man from 1826 until
1837 was William Lyon Mackenzie, a Scotchman of fair education, who came
to Canada in 1820, and eventually embraced journalism as the profession
most suited to his controversial temperament. Deeply imbued with a
spirit of liberalism in politics, courageous and even defiant in the
expression of his opinions, sadly wanting in sound judgment and common
sense when his feelings were excited, able to write with vigour, but
more inclined to emphatic vituperation than well-reasoned argument, he
made himself a force in the politics of the province. In the _Colonial
Advocate_, which he established in 1824, he commenced a series of
attacks on the government which naturally evoked the resentment of the
official class, and culminated in the destruction of his printing office
in 1826 by a number of young men, relatives of the principal
officials--one of them actually the private secretary of the
lieutenant-governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland. Mr. Mackenzie obtained
large damages in the courts, and was consequently able to continue the
publication of his paper at a time when he was financially embarrassed.
The sympathy felt for Mr. Mackenzie brought him into the assembly as
member for York during the session of 1829. So obnoxious did he become
to the governing class that he was expelled four times from the assembly
between 1831 and 1834, and prevented from taking his seat by the orders
of the speaker in 1835--practically the fifth expulsion. In 1832 he went
to England and presented largely signed petitions asking for a redress
of grievances. He appears to have made some impression on English
statesmen, and the colonial minister recommended a few reforms to the
lieutenant-governor, but they were entirely ignored by the official
party. Lord Glenelg also disapproved of the part taken by
Attorney-General Boulton--Mr. Robinson being then chief justice--and
Solicitor-General Hagerman in the expulsion of Mr. Mackenzie; but they
treated the rebuke with contempt and were removed from office for again
assisting in the expulsion of Mr. Mackenzie.
In 1834 he was elected first mayor of Toronto, then incorporated under
its present name, as a consequence of the public sympathy aroused in his
favour by his several expulsions. Previous to the election of 1835, in
which he was returned to the assembly, he made one of the most serious
blunders of his life, in the publication of a letter from Mr. Joseph
Hume, the famous Radical, whose acquaintance he had made while in
England. Mr. Hume emphatically stated his opinion that "a crisis was
fast approaching in the affairs of Canada which would terminate in
independence and freedom from the baneful domination of the mother
country, and the tyrannical conduct of a small and despicable faction in
the colony." The official class availed themselves of this egregious
blunder to excite the indignation of the Loyalist population against Mr.
Mackenzie and other Reformers, many of whom, like the Baldwins and
Perrys, disavowed all sympathy with such language. Mr. Mackenzie's
motive was really to insult Mr. Ryerson, with whom he had quarrelled.
Mr. Ryerson in the _Christian Guardian_, organ of the Methodists, had
attacked Mr. Hume as a person unfit to present petitions from the
Liberals of Canada, since he had opposed the measure for the
emancipation of slaves in the West Indies, and had consequently
alienated the confidence and sympathy of the best part of the nation.
Mr. Hume then wrote the letter in question, in which he also stated that
he "never knew a more worthless hypocrite or so base a man as Mr.
Ryerson proved himself to be." Mr. Mackenzie in this way incurred the
wrath of a wily clergyman and religious journalist who exercised much
influence over the Methodists, and at the same time fell under the ban
of all people who were deeply attached to the British connection.
Moderate Reformers now looked doubtfully on Mackenzie, whose principal
supporters were Dr. Duncombe, Samuel Lount, Peter Matthews, and other
men who took an active part in the insurrection of 1837.
In the session of 1835 a committee of grievances, appointed on the
motion of Mr. Mackenzie himself, reported in favour of a system of
responsible government, an elective legislative council, the appointment
of civil governors, a diminution of the patronage exercised by the
crown, the independence of the legislature, and other reforms declared
to be in the interest of good government. The report was temperately
expressed, and created some effect for a time in England, but the
colonial minister could not yet be induced to move in the direction of
positive reform in the restrictive system of colonial government.
Unhappily, at this juncture, when good judgment and discretion were so
necessary in political affairs, all the circumstances combined to hasten
a perilous crisis, and to give full scope to the passionate impulses of
Mackenzie's nature. Sir John Colborne was replaced in the government of
the province by one of the most incapable governors ever chosen by the
colonial office, Sir Francis Bond Head. He had been chiefly known in
England as a sprightly writer of travels, and had had no political
experience except such as could be gathered in the discharge of the
duties of a poor-law commissioner in Wales. His first official act was
an indiscretion. He communicated to the legislature the full text of the
instructions which he had received from the king, although he had been
advised to give only their substance, as least calculated to hamper Lord
Gosford, who was then attempting to conciliate the French Canadian
majority in Lower Canada. These instructions, in express terms,
disapproved of a responsible executive and particularly of an elected
legislative council, to obtain which was the great object of Papineau
and his friends. Mr. Bidwell, then speaker of the assembly, recognised
the importance of this despatch, and forwarded it immediately to Mr.
Papineau, at that time speaker of the Lower Canadian house, with whom he
and other Reformers had correspondence from time to time. Lord Gosford
was consequently forced to lay his own instructions in full before the
legislature and to show the majority that the British government was
opposed to such vital changes in the provincial constitution as they
persistently demanded. The action of the Lower Canadian house on this
matter was communicated to the assembly of Upper Canada by a letter of
Mr. Papineau to Mr. Bidwell, who laid it before his house just before
the prorogation in 1835. In this communication the policy of the
imperial government was described as "the naked deformity of the
colonial system," and the royal commissioners were styled "deceitful
agents," while the methods of government in the neighbouring states were
again eulogised as in the ninety-two resolutions of 1834. Sir Francis
Bond Head seized the opportunity to create a feeling against the
Reformers, to whom he was now hostile. Shortly after he sent his
indiscreet message to the legislature he persuaded Dr. Rolph, Mr.
Bidwell and Receiver-General Dunn to enter the executive council on the
pretence that he wished to bring that body more into harmony with public
opinion. The new councillors soon found that they were not to be
consulted in public affairs, and when the whole council actually
resigned Sir Francis told them plainly that he alone was responsible for
his acts, and that he would only consult them when he deemed it
expedient in the public interest. This action of the lieutenant-governor
showed the Reformers that he was determined to initiate no changes which
would disturb the official party, or give self-government to the people.
The assembly, in which the Liberals were dominant, passed an address to
the king, declaring the lieutenant-governor's conduct "derogatory to the
honour of the king," and also a memorial to the British house of commons
charging him with "misrepresentation, and a deviation from candour and
truth."
Under these circumstances Sir Francis eagerly availed himself of
Papineau's letter to show the country the dangerous tendencies of the
opinions and acts of the Reformers in the two provinces. In an answer he
made to an address from some inhabitants of the Home District, he warned
the people that there were individuals in Lower Canada, who were
inculcating the idea that "this province is to be disturbed by the
interference of foreigners, whose powers and influence will prove
invincible"--an allusion to the sympathy shown by Papineau and his
friends for the institutions of the United States. Then Sir Francis
closed his reply with this rhodomontade: "In the name of every regiment
of militia in Upper Canada, I publicly promulgate 'Let them come if they
dare'" He dissolved the legislature and went directly to the country on
the issue that the British connection was endangered by the Reformers.
"He succeeded, in fact," said Lord Durham in his report of 1839, "in
putting the issue in such a light before the province, that a great
portion of the people really imagined that they were called upon to
decide the question of separation by their votes." These strong appeals
to the loyalty of a province founded by the Loyalists of 1784, combined
with the influence exercised by the "family compact," who had all
offices and lands at their disposal, defeated Mackenzie, Bidwell, Perry
and other Reformers of less note, and brought into the legislature a
solid phalanx of forty-two supporters of the government against eighteen
elected by the opposition. It was a triumph dearly paid for in the end.
The unfair tactics of the lieutenant-governor rankled in the minds of a
large body of people, and hastened the outbreak of the insurrection of
1837. The British government seems for a time to have been deceived by
this victory of the lieutenant-governor and actually lauded his
"foresight, energy and moral courage"; but ere long, after more mature
consideration of the political conditions of the province, it dawned
upon the dense mind of Lord Glenelg that the situation was not very
satisfactory, and that it would be well to conciliate the moderate
element among the Reformers. Sir Francis was accordingly instructed to
appoint Mr. Bidwell to the Bench, but he stated emphatically that such
an appointment would be a recognition on disloyalty. He preferred to
resign rather than obey the instructions of the colonial department, and
greatly to his surprise and chagrin his proffer of resignation was
accepted without the least demur. The colonial office by this time
recognised the mistake they had made in appointing Sir Francis to a
position, for which he was utterly unfit, but unhappily for the province
they awoke too late to a sense of their own folly.
Mackenzie became so embittered by his defeat in 1836, and the
unscrupulous methods by which it was accomplished, that he made up his
mind that reform in government was not to be obtained except by a resort
to extreme measures. At meetings of Reformers, held at Lloydtown and
other places during the summer of 1837, resolutions were carried that it
was their duty to arm in defence of their rights and those of their
countrymen. Mackenzie visited many parts of the province, in order to
stimulate a revolutionary movement among the disaffected people, a
system of training volunteers was organised; pikes were manufactured and
old arms were put in order. It was decided that Dr. Rolph should be the
executive chief of the provisional government, and Mackenzie in the
meantime had charge of all the details of the movement. Mr. Bidwell
appears to have steadily kept aloof from the disloyal party, but Dr.
Rolph was secretly in communication with Mackenzie, Lount, Matthews,
Lloyd, Morrison, Duncombe, and other actors in the rebellion. The plan
was to march on Toronto, where it was notorious that no precautions for
defence were being taken, to seize the lieutenant-governor, to proclaim
a provisional government, and to declare the independence of the
province unless Sir Francis should give a solemn promise to constitute a
responsible council. It is quite certain that Mackenzie entirely
misunderstood the sentiment of the country, and exaggerated the support
that would be given to a disloyal movement. Lord Durham truly said that
the insurrectionary movements which did take place were "indicative of
no deep rooted disaffection," and that "almost the entire body of the
Reformers of the province sought only by constitutional means to obtain
those objects for which they had so long peacefully struggled before
the unhappy troubles occasioned by the violence of a few unprincipled
adventurers and heated enthusiasts."
Despite the warnings that he was constantly receiving of the seditious
doings of Mackenzie and his lieutenants, Sir Francis Bond Head could not
be persuaded an uprising was imminent. So complete was his fatuity that
he allowed all the regular troops to be withdrawn to Lower Canada at the
request of Sir John Colborne. Had he taken adequate measures for the
defence of Toronto, and showed he was prepared for any contingency, the
rising of Mackenzie's immediate followers would never have occurred. His
apathy and negligence at this crisis actually incited an insurrection.
The repulse of Gore at St. Denis on the 23rd November (p. 134) no doubt
hastened the rebellious movement in Upper Canada, and it was decided to
collect all available men and assemble at Montgomery's tavern, only four
miles from Toronto by way of Yonge Street, the road connecting Toronto
with Lake Simcoe. The subsequent news of the dispersion of the rebels at
St. Charles was very discouraging to Mackenzie and Lount, but they felt
that matters had proceeded too far for them to stop at that juncture.
They still hoped to surprise Toronto and occupy it without much
difficulty. A Colonel Moodie, who had taken part in the war of 1812-15,
had heard of the march of the insurgents from Lake Simcoe, and was
riding rapidly to Toronto to warn the lieutenant-governor, when he was
suddenly shot down and died immediately. Sir Francis was unconscious of
danger when he was aroused late at night by Alderman Powell, who had
been taken prisoner by the rebels but succeeded in making his escape and
finding his way to Government House. Sir Francis at last awoke from his
lethargy and listened to the counsels of Colonel Fitzgibbon--the hero of
Beaver Dams in 1813--and other residents of Toronto, who had constantly
endeavoured to force him to take measures for the public security. The
loyal people of the province rallied with great alacrity to put down the
revolt. The men of the western district of Gore came up in force, and
the first man to arrive on the scene was Allan MacNab, the son of a
Loyalist and afterwards prime minister of Canada. A large and well
equipped force was at once organised under the command of Colonel
Fitzgibbon.
The insurrection was effectually quelled on the 7th December at
Montgomery's tavern by the militia and volunteer forces under Colonel
Fitzgibbon. The insurgents had at no time mustered more than eight
hundred men, and in the engagement on the 7th there were only four
hundred, badly armed and already disheartened. In twenty minutes, or
less time, the fight was over and the insurgents fled with the loss of
one man killed and several seriously wounded. The Loyalists, who did not
lose a single man, took a number of prisoners, who were immediately
released by the lieutenant-governor on condition of returning quietly to
their homes. Mackenzie succeeded in escaping across the Niagara
frontier, but Matthews was taken prisoner as he was leading a detachment
across the Don into Toronto. Lount was identified at Chippewa while
attempting to find his way to the United States and brought back to
Toronto. Rolph, Gibson and Duncombe found a refuge in the republic, but
Van Egmond, who had served under Napoleon, and commanded the insurgents,
was arrested and died in prison of inflammatory rheumatism. Mr. Bidwell
was induced to fly from the province by the insidious representations of
the lieutenant-governor, who used the fact of his flight as an argument
that he had been perfectly justified in not appointing him to the Bench.
In later years, the Canadian government, recognising the injustice Mr.
Bidwell had received, offered him a judgeship, but he never could be
induced to return to Canada Mackenzie had definite grievances against
Sir Francis and his party; and a British people, always ready to
sympathise with men who resent injustice and assert principles of
popular government, might have soon condoned the serious mistake he had
made in exciting a rash revolt against his sovereign. But his
apologists can find no extenuating circumstances for his mad conduct in
stirring up bands of ruffians at Buffalo and other places on the
frontier to invade the province. The base of operations for these raids
was Navy Island, just above the Niagara Falls in British territory. A
small steamer, "The Caroline," was purchased from some Americans, and
used to bring munitions of war to the island. Colonel MacNab was sent to
the frontier, and successfully organised an expedition of boats under
the charge of Captain Drew--afterwards an Admiral--to seize the steamer
at Fort Schlosser, an insignificant place on the American side. The
capture was successfully accomplished and the steamer set on fire and
sent down the river, where she soon sank before reaching the cataract.
Only one man was killed--one Durfee, a citizen of the United States.
This audacious act of the Canadians was deeply resented in the republic
as a violation of its territorial rights, and was a subject of
international controversy until 1842 when it was settled with other
questions at issue between Great Britain and the United States.
Mackenzie now disappeared for some years from Canadian history, as the
United States authorities felt compelled to imprison him for a time. It
was not until the end of 1838 that the people of the Canada were free
from filibustering expeditions organised in the neighboring states.
"Hunters' Lodges" were formed under the pledge "never to rest until all
tyrants of Britain cease to have any dominion or footing whatever in
North America." These marauding expeditions on the exposed parts of the
western frontier--especially on the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers--were
successfully resisted. At Prescott, a considerable body of persons,
chiefly youths under age, under the leadership of Von Schoultz, a Pole,
were beaten at the Old Stone Windmill, which they attempted to hold
against a Loyalist force. At Sandwich, Colonel Prince, a conspicuous
figure in Canadian political history of later years, routed a band of
filibusters, four of whom he ordered to instant death. This resolute
deed created some excitement in England, where it was condemned by some
and justified by others. Canadians, who were in constant fear of such
raids, naturally approved of summary justice in the case of persons who
were really brigands, not entitled to any consideration under the laws
of war.
In 1838 President Buren issued a proclamation calling upon all citizens
of the United States to observe the neutrality laws; but the difficulty
in those days was the indisposition of the federal government to
interfere with the states where such expeditions were organised. The
vigilance of the Canadian authorities and the loyalty of the people
alone saved the country in these trying times. A great many of the
raiders were taken prisoners and punished with the severity due to their
unjustifiable acts. Von Schoultz and eight others were hanged, a good
many were pardoned, while others were transported to Van Diemen's Land,
whence they were soon allowed to return. The names of these filibusters
are forgotten, but those of Lount and Matthews, who perished on the
scaffold, have been inscribed on some Canadian hearts as patriots. Sir
George Arthur, who succeeded Sir Francis Head, was a soldier, who had
had experience as a governor among the convicts of Van Diemen's Land,
and the negro population of Honduras, where he had crushed a revolt of
slaves. Powerful appeals were made to him on behalf of Lount and
Matthews, but not even the tears and prayers of Lount's distracted wife
could reach his heart. Such clemency as was shown by Lord Durham would
have been a bright incident in Sir George Arthur's career in Canada, but
he looked only to the approval of the Loyalists, deeply incensed against
the rebels of 1837. His action in these two cases was regarded with
disapprobation in England, and the colonial minister expressed the hope
that no further executions would occur--advice followed in the case of
other actors of the revolt of 1837. Sir George Arthur's place in
colonial annals is not one of high distinction. Like his predecessors,
he became the resolute opponent of responsible government, which he
declared in a despatch to be "Mackenzie's scheme for getting rid of what
Mr. Hume called 'the baneful domination' of the mother country"; "and
never" he added, "was any scheme better devised to bring about such an
end speedily".
SECTION 3.--Social and economic conditions of the Provinces in 1838.
We have now reached a turning-point in the political development of the
provinces of British North America, and may well pause for a moment to
review the social and economic condition of their people. Since the
beginning of the century there had been a large immigration into the
provinces, except during the war of 1812. In the nine years preceding
1837, 263,089 British and Irish immigrants arrived at Quebec, and in one
year alone there were over 50,000. By 1838 the population of the five
provinces of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and
Prince Edward Island had reached about 1,400,000 souls. In Upper Canada,
with the exception of a very few people of German or Dutch descent, and
some French Canadians opposite Detroit and on the Ottawa River, there
was an entirely British population of at least 400,000 souls. The
population of Lower Canada was estimated at 600,000, of whom hardly
one-quarter were of British origin, living chiefly in Montreal, the
Townships, and Quebec. Nova Scotia had nearly 200,000 inhabitants, of
whom probably 16,000 were French Acadians, resident in Cape Breton and
in Western Nova Scotia. In New Brunswick there were at least 150,000
people, of whom some 15,000 were descendants of the original inhabitants
of Acadie. The Island of Prince Edward had 30,000 people, of whom the
French Acadians made up nearly one-sixth. The total trade of the country
amounted, in round figures, to about £5,000,000 sterling in imports,
and somewhat less in exports The imports were chiefly manufactures from
Great Britain, and the exports were lumber, wheat and fish. Those were
days when colonial trade was stimulated by differential duties in favour
of colonial products, and the building of vessels was encouraged by the
old navigation laws which shut out foreign commerce from the St.
Lawrence and the Atlantic ports, and kept the carrying trade between
Great Britain and the colonies in the hands of British and colonial
merchants, by means of British registered ships. While colonists could
not trade directly with foreign ports, they were given a monopoly for
their timber, fish, and provisions in the profitable markets of the
British West Indies.
The character of the immigration varied considerably, but on the whole
the thrifty and industrious formed the larger proportion. In 1833 the
immigrants deposited 300,000 sovereigns, or nearly a million and a half
of dollars, in the Upper Canadian banks. An important influence in the
settlement of Upper Canada was exercised by one Colonel Talbot, the
founder of the county of Elgin. Mrs. Anna Jameson, the wife of a
vice-chancellor of Upper Canada, describes in her _Winter Studies and
Summer Rambles_, written in 1838, the home of this great proprietor, a
Talbot of Malahide, one of the oldest families in the parent state. The
château--as she calls it, perhaps sarcastically--was a "long wooden
building, chiefly of rough logs, with a covered porch running along the
south side." Such homes as Colonel Talbot's were common enough in the
country. Some of the higher class of immigrants, however, made efforts
to surround themselves with some of the luxuries of the old world. Mrs.
Jameson tells us of an old Admiral, who had settled in the London
district--now the most prosperous agricultural part of Ontario--and had
the best of society in his neighbourhood; "several gentlemen of family,
superior education, and large capital (among them the brother of an
English and the son of an Irish peer, a colonel and a major in the army)
whose estates were in a flourishing state." The common characteristic
of the Canadian settlements was the humble log hut of the poor
immigrant, struggling with axe and hoe amid the stumps to make a home
for his family. Year by year the sunlight was let into the dense
forests, and fertile meadows soon stretched far and wide in the once
untrodden wilderness. Despite all the difficulties of a pioneer's life,
industry reaped its adequate rewards in the fruitful lands of the west,
bread was easily raised in abundance, and animals of all kinds thrived.
Unhappily the great bane of the province was the inordinate use of
liquor. "The erection of a church or chapel," says Mrs. Jameson,
"generally preceded that of a school-house in Upper Canada, but the mill
and the tavern invariably preceded both." The roads were of the most
wretched character and at some seasons actually prohibitory of all
social intercourse. The towns were small and ill-built. Toronto, long
known as "muddy little York," had a population of about 10,000, but with
the exception of the new parliament house, it had no public buildings of
architectural pretensions. The houses were generally of wood, a few of
staring ugly red brick; the streets had not a single side-walk until
1834, and in 1838 this comfort for the pedestrian was still exceptional.
Kingston, the ancient Cataraqui, was even a better built town than
Toronto, and had in 1838 a population of perhaps 4500 persons. Hamilton
and London were beginning to be places of importance. Bytown, now
Ottawa, had its beginnings in 1826, when Colonel By of the Royal
Engineers, commenced the construction of the Rideau Canal on the chain
of lakes and rivers between the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence at Kingston.
The ambition of the people of Upper Canada was always to obtain a
continuous and secure system of water navigation from the lakes to
Montreal. The Welland Canal between Lakes Erie and Ontario was commenced
as early as 1824 through the enterprise of Mr. William Hamilton Merritt,
but it was very badly managed; and the legislature, which had from year
to year aided the undertaking, was obliged eventually to acquire it as
a provincial work. The Cornwall Canal was also undertaken, but work was
stopped when it was certain that Lower Canada would not respond to the
aspirations of the West and improve that portion of the St. Lawrence
within its direct control. Flat-bottomed _bateaux_ and Durham boats were
generally in use for the carriage of goods on the inland waters, and it
was not until the completion of a canal system between the lakes and
Montreal, after the Union, that steamers came into vogue.
The province of Upper Canada had in 1838 reached a crisis in its
affairs. In the course of the seven years preceding the rebellion,
probably eighty thousand or one half of the immigrants, who had come to
the province, had crossed the frontier into the United States, where
greater inducements were held out to capital and population. As Mrs.
Jameson floated in a canoe, in the middle of the Detroit River, she saw
on the one side "all the bustle of prosperity and commerce," and on the
other "all the symptoms of apathy, indolence, mistrust, hopelessness."
At the time such comparisons were made, Upper Canada was on the very
verge of bankruptcy.
Turning to Lower Canada, we find that the financial position of the
province was very different from that of Upper Canada. The public
accounts showed an annual surplus, and the financial difficulties of the
province were caused entirely by the disputes between the executive and
the assembly which would not vote the necessary supplies. The timber
trade had grown to large proportions and constituted the principal
export to Great Britain from Quebec, which presented a scene of much
activity in the summer. Montreal was already showing its great
advantages as a headquarters of commerce on account of its natural
relations to the West and the United States. Quebec and Montreal had
each about 35,000 inhabitants. Travellers admitted that Montreal, on
account of the solidity of its buildings, generally of stone, compared
most favourably with many of the finest and oldest towns in the United
States. The Parish Church of Notre Dame was the largest ecclesiastical
edifice in America, and notable for its simple grandeur. With its
ancient walls girdling the heights first seen by Jacques Cartier, with
its numerous churches and convents, illustrating the power and wealth of
the Romish religion, with its rugged, erratic streets creeping through
hewn rock, with its picturesque crowd of red-coated soldiers of England
mingling with priests and sisters in sombre attire, or with the
_habitants_ in _étoffe du pays_,--the old city of Quebec, whose history
went back to the beginning of the seventeenth century, was certainly a
piece of mediaevalism transported from northern France. The plain stone
buildings of 1837 still remain in all their evidences of sombre
antiquity. None of the religious or government edifices were
distinguished for architectural beauty--except perhaps the English
cathedral--but represented solidity and convenience, while harmonising
with the rocks amid which they had risen.
The parliament of Lower Canada still met in the Bishop's Palace, which
was in want of repair. The old Château St. Louis had been destroyed by
fire in 1834, and a terrace bearing the name of Durham was in course of
construction over its ruins. It now gives one of the most picturesque
views in the world on a summer evening as the descending sun lights up
the dark green of the western hills, or brightens the tin spires and
roofs of the churches and convents, or lingers amid the masts of the
ships moored in the river or in the coves, filled with great rafts of
timber.
As in the days of French rule, the environs of Quebec and Montreal, and
the north side of the St. Lawrence between these two towns, presented
French Canadian life in its most picturesque and favourable aspect.
These settlements on the river formed one continuous village, with
tinned spires rising every few miles amid poplars, maples and elms.
While the homes of the seigniors and of a few professional men were more
commodious and comfortable than in the days of French rule, while the
churches and presbyteries illustrated the increasing prosperity of the
dominant religion, the surroundings of the _habitants_ gave evidences of
their want of energy and enterprise. But crime was rare in the rural
districts and intemperance was not so prevalent as in parts of the west.
Nearly 150,000 people of British origin resided in Lower Canada--a
British people animated for the most part by that spirit of energy
natural to their race. What prosperity Montreal and Quebec enjoyed as
commercial communities was largely due to the enterprise of British
merchants. The timber trade was chiefly in their hands, and the bank of
Montreal was founded by this class in 1817--seven years before the bank
of Upper Canada was established in Toronto. As political strife
increased in bitterness, the differences between the races became
accentuated. Papineau alienated all the British by his determination to
found a "_Nation Canadienne_" in which the British would occupy a very
inferior place. "French and British," said Lord Durham, "combined for no
public objects or improvements, and could not harmonise even in
associations of charity." The French Canadians looked with jealousy and
dislike on the increase and prosperity of what they regarded as a
foreign and hostile race. It is quite intelligible, then, why trade
languished, internal development ceased, landed property decreased in
value, the revenue showed a diminution, roads and all classes of local
improvements were neglected, agricultural industry was stagnant, wheat
had to be imported for the consumption of the people, and immigration
fell off from 52,000 in 1832 to less than 5000 in 1838.
In the maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince
Edward Island, there were no racial antagonisms to affect internal
development; and the political conflict never reached such proportions
as to threaten the peace and security of the people. In New Brunswick
the chief industry was the timber trade--deals especially--which
received its first stimulus in 1809, when a heavy duty was placed on
Baltic timber, while that from the colonies came free into the British
Isles. Shipbuilding was also profitably followed in New Brunswick, and
was beginning to be prosecuted in Nova Scotia, where, a few years later,
it made that province one of the greatest ship-owning and ship-sailing
communities of the world until iron steamers gradually drove wooden
vessels from the carrying trade. The cod, mackerel, and herring
fisheries--chiefly the first--were the staple industry of Nova Scotia,
and kept up a large trade with the British West Indies, whence sugar,
molasses and rum were imported. Prince Edward Island was chiefly an
agricultural community, whose development was greatly retarded by the
wholesale grant of lands in 1767 to absentee proprietors. Halifax and
St. John had each a population of twenty thousand. The houses were
mostly of wood, the only buildings of importance being the government
house, finished in 1805, and the provincial or parliament house,
considered in its day one of the handsomest structures in North America.
In the beautiful valleys of Kings and Annapolis--now famous for their
fruit--there was a prosperous farming population. Yarmouth illustrated
the thrift and enterprise of the Puritan element that came into the
province from New England at an early date in its development. The
eastern counties, with the exception of Pictou, showed no sign of
progress. The Scotch population of Cape Breton, drawn from a poor class
of people in the north of Scotland, for years added nothing to the
wealth of an island whose resources were long dormant from the absence
of capital and enterprise.
Popular education in those days was at the lowest possible ebb. In 1837
there were in all the private and public schools of the provinces only
one-fifteenth of the total population. In Lower Canada not one-tenth
could write. The children of the _habitants_ repeated the Catechism by
rote, and yet could not read as a rule. In Upper Canada things were no
better. Dr. Thomas Rolph tells us that, so late as 1833, Americans or
other anti-British adventurers carried on the greater proportion of the
common schools, where the youth were taught sentiments "hostile to the
parent state" from books used in the United States--a practice stopped
by statute in 1846.
Adequate provision, however, was made for the higher education of youth
in all the provinces. "I know of no people," wrote Lord Durham of Lower
Canada, "among whom a larger provision exists for the higher kinds of
elementary education." The piety and benevolence of the early possessors
of the country founded seminaries and colleges, which gave an education
resembling the kind given in the English public schools, though more
varied. In Upper Canada, so early as 1807, grammar schools were
established by the government. By 1837 Upper Canada College--an
institution still flourishing--offered special advantages to youths
whose parents had some money. In Nova Scotia King's College--the oldest
university in Canada--had its beginning as an academy as early as 1788,
and educated many eminent men during its palmy days. Pictou Academy was
established by the Reverend Dr. McCulloch as a remonstrance against the
sectarianism of King's; and the political history of the province was
long disturbed by the struggle of its promoters against the narrowness
of the Anglicans, who dominated the legislative council, and frequently
rejected the grant made by the assembly. Dalhousie College was founded
in 1820 by Lord Dalhousie, then governor of Nova Scotia, to afford that
higher education to all denominations which old King's denied. Acadia
College was founded by the Baptists at Wolfville, on a gently rising
ground overlooking the fertile meadows of Grand Pré. The foundations of
the University of New Brunswick were laid in 1800. McGill University,
founded by one of those generous Montreal merchants who have always been
its benefactors, received a charter in 1821, but it was not opened until
1829. The Methodists laid the foundation of Victoria College at Cobourg
in 1834, but it did not commence its work until after the Union; and the
same was the case with King's College, the beginning of the University
of Toronto.
We need not linger on the literary output of those early times. Joseph
Bouchette, surveyor-general, had made in the first part of the century a
notable contribution to the geography and cartography of Lower Canada.
Major Richardson, who had served in the war of 1812 and in the Spanish
peninsula, wrote in 1833 "Wacousta or the Prophecy," a spirited romance
of Indian life. In Nova Scotia the "Sayings and Doings of Sam Slick, of
Slickville"--truly a remarkable original creation in humorous
literature--first appeared in a Halifax paper. The author, Judge
Haliburton, also published as early as 1829 an excellent work in two
volumes on the history of his native province. Small libraries and book
stores could only be seen in the cities.
In these early times of the provinces, when books and magazines were
rarities, the newspaper press naturally exercised much influence on the
social and intellectual conditions of the people at large. By 1838 there
were no less than forty papers printed in the province of Upper Canada
alone, some of them written with ability, though too often in a bitter,
personal tone. In those days English papers did not circulate to any
extent in a country where postage was exorbitant. People could hardly
afford to pay postage rates on letters. The poor settler was often
unable to pay the three or four shillings or even more, imposed on
letters from their old homes across the sea; and it was not unusual to
find in country post-offices a large accumulation of dead letters,
refused or neglected on account of the expense. The management of the
post-office by imperial officers was one of the grievances of the people
of the provinces generally. It was carried on for the benefit of a few
persons, and not for the convenience or solace of the many thousands who
were anxious for news of their kin across the ocean.
CHAPTER VII.
A NEW ERA OF COLONIAL GOVERNMENT (1839--1867).
SECTION I.--The union of the Canadas and the establishment of
responsible government.
Lord Durham's report on the affairs of British North America was
presented to the British government on the 31st January, 1839, and
attracted an extraordinary amount of interest in England, where the two
rebellions had at last awakened statesmen to the absolute necessity of
providing an effective remedy for difficulties which had been pressing
upon their attention for years, but had never been thoroughly understood
until the appearance of this famous state paper. A legislative union of
the two Canadas and the concession of responsible government were the
two radical changes which stood out prominently in the report among
minor suggestions in the direction of stable government. On the question
of responsible government Lord Durham expressed opinions of the deepest
political wisdom. He found it impossible "to understand how any English
statesman could have ever imagined that representative and irresponsible
government could be successfully combined....To suppose that such a
system would work well there, implied a belief that the French Canadians
have enjoyed representative institutions for half a century, without
acquiring any of the characteristics of a free people; that Englishmen
renounce every political opinion and feeling when they enter a colony,
or that the spirit of Anglo-Saxon freedom is utterly changed and
weakened among those who are transplanted across the Atlantic[3]."
[3: For the full text of Lord Durham's report, which was laid before
Parliament, 11 February, 1839, see _English Parliamentary Papers_ for
1839.]
In June, 1839, Lord John Russell introduced a bill to reunite the two
provinces, but it was allowed, after its second reading, to lie over for
that session of parliament, in order that the matter might be fully
considered in Canada. Mr. Poulett Thomson was appointed governor-general
with the avowed object of carrying out the policy of the imperial
government. Immediately after his arrival in Canada, in the autumn of
1839, the special council of Lower Canada and the legislature of Upper
Canada passed addresses in favour of a union of the two provinces. These
necessary preliminaries having been made, Lord John Russell, in the
session of 1840, again brought forward "An act to reunite the provinces
of Upper and Lower Canada, and for the government of Canada," which was
assented to on the 23rd of July, but did not come into effect until the
10th of February in the following year.
The act provided for a legislative council of not less than twenty
members, and for a legislative assembly in which each section of the
united provinces would be represented by an equal number of
members--that is to say, forty-two for each or eighty-four in all. The
number of representatives allotted to each province could not be changed
except with the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of each house.
The members of the legislative council were appointed by the crown for
life, and the members of the assembly were chosen by electors possessing
a small property qualification. Members of both bodies were required to
hold property to a certain amount. The assembly had a duration of four
years, subject of course to be sooner dissolved by the governor-general.
Provision was made for a consolidated revenue fund, on which the first
charges were expenses of collection, management and receipt of revenues,
interest of public debt, payment of the clergy, and civil list. The
English language alone was to be used in the legislative records. All
votes, resolutions or bills involving the expenditure of public money
were to be first recommended by the governor-general.
The first parliament of the United Canadas was opened on the 14th June,
1841, in the city of Kingston, by the governor-general, who had been
created Baron Sydenham of Sydenham and of Toronto. This session was the
commencement of a series of parliaments which lasted until the
confederation of all the provinces in 1867, and forcibly illustrated the
capacity of the people of Canada to manage their internal affairs. For
the moment, I propose to refer exclusively to those political conditions
which brought about responsible government, and the removal of
grievances which had so long perplexed the imperial state and distracted
the whole of British North America.
In Lord John Russell's despatches of 1839,--the sequence of Lord
Durham's report--we can clearly see the doubt in the minds of the
imperial authorities whether it was possible to work the system of
responsible government on the basis of a governor directly responsible
to the parent state, and at the same time acting under the advice of
ministers who would be responsible to a colonial legislature. But the
colonial secretary had obviously come to the opinion that it was
necessary to make a radical change which would insure greater harmony
between the executive and the popular bodies of the provinces. Her
Majesty, he stated emphatically, "had no desire to maintain any system
of policy among her North American subjects which opinion condemns", and
there was "no surer way of gaining the approbation of the Queen than by
maintaining the harmony of the executive with the legislative
authorities." The new governor-general was expressly appointed to carry
out this new policy. If he was extremely vain, at all events he was also
astute, practical, and well able to gauge the public sentiment by which
he should be guided at so critical a period of Canadian history. The
evidence is clear that he was not individually in favour of responsible
government, as it was understood by men like Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Howe,
when he arrived in Canada. He believed that the council should be one
"for the governor to consult and no more"; and voicing the doubts that
existed in the minds of imperial statesmen, he added, the governor
"cannot be responsible to the government at home" and also to the
legislature of the province, if it were so, "then all colonial
government becomes impossible." The governor, in his opinion, "must
therefore be the minister [i.e. the colonial secretary], in which case
he cannot be under control of men in the colony."
When the assembly met it was soon evident that the Reformers in that
body were determined to have a definite understanding on the
all-important question of responsible government; and the result was
that the governor-general, a keen politician, immediately recognised the
fact that, unless he yielded to the feeling of the majority, he would
lose all his influence. There is every reason to believe that the
resolutions which were eventually passed in favour of responsible
government, in amendment to those moved by Mr. Baldwin, had his approval
before their introduction. The two sets of resolutions practically
differed little from each other, and the inference to be drawn from the
political situation of these times is that the governor's friends in the
council thought it advisable to gain all the credit possible with the
public for the passage of resolutions on the all-absorbing question of
the day, since it was obvious that it had to be settled in some
satisfactory and definite form. These resolutions embodying the
principles of the new constitution of Canada, were as follows: (1) "That
the head of the executive government of the province, being within the
limits of his government the representative of the sovereign, is
responsible to the imperial authority alone, but that, nevertheless, the
management of our local affairs can only be conducted by him with the
assistance, counsel, and information of subordinate officers in the
province. (2) That, in order to preserve between the different branches
of the provincial parliament that harmony which is essential to the
peace, welfare and good government of the province, the chief advisers
of the representative of the sovereign, constituting a provincial
administration under him, ought to be men possessed of the confidence of
the representatives of the people; thus affording a guarantee that the
well-understood wishes and interests of the people, which our gracious
sovereign has declared shall be the rule of the provincial government,
will on all occasions be faithfully represented and advocated. (3) That
the people of this province have, moreover, the right to expect from
such provincial administration, the exertion of their best endeavours
that the imperial authority, within its constitutional limits, shall be
exercised in the manner most consistent with their well-understood
wishes and interests."
On the 4th September, 1841, Lord Sydenham met with a serious accident
while riding, and as his constitution had been impaired for years he
died a fortnight later, to the regret of all political parties. He was
succeeded by Sir Charles Bagot, a Conservative and High Churchman, whose
brief administration was notable for the display of infinite discretion
on his part, and for his desire to do justice to the French Canadians
even at the risk of offending the ultra-loyal party, who claimed special
consideration in the management of public affairs. Responsible
government was in a fair way of being permanently established when Sir
Charles Bagot unhappily died in 1843 of dropsy, complicated by
heart-disease; and Lord Metcalfe was brought from India to create--as it
soon appeared--confusion and discord in the political affairs of the
province. His ideas of responsible government were those which had been
steadily inculcated by colonial secretaries since 1839, and were even
entertained by Lord Sydenham himself, namely, that the governor should
be as influential a factor as possible in the government, and should
always remember that he was directly responsible to the crown, and
should consider its prerogatives and interests as superior to all local
considerations.
When Lord Metcalfe assumed the responsibilities of his post, he found in
office a Liberal administration, led by Mr. Baldwin, the eminent Reform
leader of Upper Canada, and Mr. Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine, afterwards
chief justice of Lower Canada and a baronet, who had been at the outset,
like all his countrymen, opposed to the union, as unjust to their
province. What originally excited their antagonism were the conditions
exacted by the legislature of Upper Canada: an equality of
representation, though the French section had a population of two
hundred thousand more than the western province, the exclusion of the
French language from the legislature, and the imposition of the heavy
debt of Upper Canada on the revenues of the united provinces. But unlike
Mr. Papineau, with whom he had acted during the political struggles in
Lower Canada, Mr. Lafontaine developed a high order of discreet
statesmanship after the union, and recognised the possibility of making
French Canada a force in government. He did not follow the example of
Mr. John Neilson, who steadily opposed the union--but determined to work
it out fairly and patiently on the principles of responsible government.
Lord Metcalfe, at the very outset, decided not to distribute the
patronage of the crown under the advice of his responsible advisers, but
to ignore them, as he declared, whenever he deemed it expedient. No
responsible ministers could, with any regard to their own self-respect,
or to the public interests, submit to a practice directly antagonistic
to responsible government, then on its trial. Consequently, all the
members of the Baldwin-Lafontaine government, with the exception of Mr.
Daly, immediately resigned, when Lord Metcalfe followed so
unconstitutional a course. Mr. Dominick Daly, afterwards knighted when
governor of Prince Edward's Island--who had no party proclivities, and
was always ready to support the crown in a crisis--became nominally
head of a weak administration. The ministry was only completed after a
most unconstitutional delay of several months, and was even then only
composed of men whose chief merit was their friendliness to the
governor, who dissolved the assembly and threw all the weight of the
crown into the contest. The governor's party was returned with a very
small majority, but it was a victory, like that of Sir Francis Bond Head
in 1835, won at the sacrifice of the dignity of the crown, and at the
risk of exciting once more public discontent to a dangerous degree. Lord
Metcalfe's administration was strengthened when Mr. Draper resigned his
legislative councillorship and took a seat in the assembly as leader.
Lord Metcalfe's conduct received the approval of the imperial
authorities, who elevated him to the peerage--so much evidence that they
were not yet ready to concede responsible government in a complete
sense. The result was a return to the days of old paternal government,
when the parliamentary opposition was directed against the governor
himself and the British government of which he was the organ. Lord
Metcalfe had been a sufferer from cancer, and when it appeared again in
its most aggravated form he returned to England, where he died a few
months later (1846). The abuse that followed him almost to the grave was
a discreditable exhibition of party rancour, but it indicated the
condition to which the public mind had been brought by his unwise and
unconstitutional conduct of public affairs--conduct for which his only
apology must be the half-hearted, doubtful policy of the imperial
authorities with regard to the province, and his own inability to
understand the fundamental principles of responsible government.
Lord Metcalfe's successor was Lord Cathcart, who had served with
distinction in the Peninsular War, and was appointed with a view to
contingencies that might arise out of the dispute between England and
the United States on the Oregon boundary question, to which I shall
refer in another chapter. He pursued a judicious course at a time when
politics were complicated by the fact that the industry and commerce of
the country were seriously deranged by the adoption of free trade in
England, and the consequent removal of duties which had given the
preference in the British market to Canadian wheat, flour and other
products. What aggravated the commercial situation was the fact that the
navigation laws, being still in force, closed the St. Lawrence to
foreign shipping and prevented the extension of trade to other markets
so as to compensate Canadians for the loss of that with the parent
state. Lord Cathcart was recalled within less than a year, when all
prospect of war with the United States had disappeared, and was followed
(1847) by a civil governor, the Earl of Elgin, who was chosen by the
Whig ministry, in which Lord John Russell was prime minister, and Earl
Grey the secretary of state for the colonies. It had dawned upon English
statesmen that the time had come for giving the colonists of British
North America a system of responsible government without such reserves
as had so seriously shackled its beginnings. In all probability they
thought that the free-trade policy of England had momentarily weakened
the ties that had bound the colonies to the parent state, and that it
was advisable to follow up the new commercial policy by removing causes
of public discontent in the province.
Lord Elgin was happily chosen to inaugurate a new era of colonial
self-government. Gifted with a judicial mind and no ordinary amount of
political sagacity, able to originate as well as carry out a
statesmanlike policy, animated, like Lord Durham--whose daughter he had
married--by a sincere desire to give full scope to the aspirations of
the people for self-government, so far as compatible with the supremacy
of the crown, possessed of eloquence which at once charmed and
convinced, Lord Elgin was able to establish on sure foundations the
principles of responsible government, and eventually to leave Canada
with the conviction that no subsequent representative of the crown
could again impair its efficient operation, and convulse the public
mind, as Lord Metcalfe had done. On his arrival he gave his confidence
to the Draper ministry, who were still in office; but shortly afterwards
its ablest member was elevated to the bench, and Mr. Sherwood became
attorney-general and head of a government, chiefly interesting now for
the fact that one of its members was Mr. John Alexander Macdonald, who,
on becoming a member of the assembly in 1844, had commenced a public
career which made him one of the most notable figures in the history of
the colonial empire of England.
Parliament was dissolved, and the elections were held in January, 1848,
when the government were defeated by a large majority and the second
Lafontaine-Baldwin ministry was formed; a ministry conspicuous for the
ability of its members, and the useful character of its legislation
during the four years it remained in power. It is noteworthy here that
Lord Elgin did not follow the example of his predecessors and select the
ministers himself, but followed the strict constitutional usage of
calling upon Mr. Lafontaine as a recognised leader of a party in
parliament to form a government. It does not fall within the scope of
this chapter to go into the merits of this great administration, whose
coming into office may be considered the crowning of the principles
adopted by Lord Elgin for the unreserved concession of responsible
government, and never violated from that time forward by any governor of
Canada.
We must now direct our attention to the maritime provinces, that we may
complete this review of the progress of responsible government in
British North America. In 1836 the revenues of New Brunswick had been
placed at the disposal of the legislature, and administrative power
entrusted to those who possessed the confidence of the assembly. The
lieutenant-governor, Sir John Harvey, who had distinguished himself in
the war of 1812-15, recognised in Lord John Russell's despatches "a new
and improved constitution," and by an official memorandum informed the
heads of departments that "thenceforward their offices would be held by
the tenure of public confidence"; but after his departure (in 1841) an
attempt was made by Sir William Colebrooke to imitate the example of
Lord Metcalfe. He appointed to the provincial secretaryship a Mr. Reade,
who had been only a few months in the province, and never represented a
constituency or earned promotion in the public service. The members of
the executive council were never consulted, and four of the most popular
and influential councillors soon resigned. One of them, Mr. Lemuel A.
Wilmot, the recognised leader of the Liberals, addressed a strong
remonstrance to the lieutenant-governor, and vindicated those principles
of colonial government "which require the administration to be conducted
by heads of departments responsible to the legislature, and holding
their offices contingently upon the approbation and confidence of the
country, as expressed through the representatives of the people." The
colonial secretary of state disapproved of the action of the
lieutenant-governor, and constitutional government was strengthened in
this province of the Loyalists. From that time there was a regularly
organised administration and an opposition contending for office and
popular favour.
In Nova Scotia a despatch from Lord Glenelg brought to a close in 1838
the agitation which had been going on for years for a separation of the
executive from the legislative functions of the legislative council, and
the formation of two distinct bodies in accordance with the existing
English system. In this state paper--the first important step towards
responsible government in the province--the secretary of state, Lord
Glenelg, stated that it was her Majesty's pleasure that neither the
chief justice nor any of his colleagues should sit in the council, that
all the judges should entirely withdraw from all political discussions;
that the assembly's claim to control and appropriate all the revenues
arising in the province should be fully recognised by the government;
that the two councils should be thereafter divided, and that the members
of these bodies should be drawn from different parts of the
province--Halifax previously having obtained all the appointments except
one or two--and selected without reference to distinctions of religious
opinions. Unfortunately for Nova Scotia there was at that time at the
head of the executive a brave, obstinate old soldier, Sir Colin
Campbell, who had petrified ideas on the subject of colonial
administration, and showed no disposition to carry out the obvious
desire of the imperial authorities to give a more popular form to the
government of the province. One of his first official acts was to give
to the Anglican Church a numerical superiority to which it had no valid
claim. As in Upper Canada, at that time, there was a combination or
compact, composed of descendants of English Tories or of the Loyalists
of 1783, who belonged to the Anglican Church, and were opposed to
popular government. Two men were now becoming most prominent in
politics. One of these was Mr. James William Johnston, the son of a
Georgia Loyalist, an able lawyer, gifted with a persuasive tongue which
chimed most harmoniously with the views of Sir Colin. On the other side
was Mr. Joseph Howe, the son of a Loyalist printer of Boston, who had no
such aristocratic connections as Mr. Johnston, and soon became the
dominant influence in the Reform party, which had within its ranks such
able and eloquent men as S.G.W. Archibald, Herbert Huntington, Lawrence
O'Connor Doyle, William and George R. Young, and, very soon, James Boyle
Uniacke. Sir Colin Campbell completely ignored the despatches of Lord
John Russell, which were recognised by Sir John Harvey as conferring "an
improved constitution" upon the colonies. In February, 1840, Mr. Howe
moved a series of resolutions, in which it was emphatically stated that
"no satisfactory settlement of questions before the country could be
obtained until the executive council was remodelled," and that, as then
constituted, "it did not enjoy the confidence of the country." The
motion was carried by a majority of eighteen votes, in a house of
forty-two members, and indeed, so untenable was the position of the
executive council that Mr. James Boyle Uniacke, a member of the
government, retired, rather than vote, and subsequently placed his
resignation in the hands of the lieutenant-governor, on the ground that
it was his duty to yield to the opinions of the representative house,
and facilitate the introduction of a better system of government, in
accordance with the well-understood wishes of the people. From that time
Mr. Uniacke became one of Mr. Howe's ablest allies in the struggle for
self-government. Sir Colin, however, would not recede from the attitude
he had assumed, but expressed the opinion, in his reply to the address
of the legislature, that he could not recognise in the despatch of the
colonial secretary of state "any instruction for a fundamental change in
the colonial constitution." The assembly then prayed her Majesty, in a
powerful and temperate address, to recall Sir Colin Campbell. Though
Lord John Russell did not present the address to the Queen, the imperial
government soon afterwards appointed Lord Falkland to succeed Sir Colin
Campbell, whose honesty of purpose had won the respect of all parties.
Lord Falkland was a Whig, a lord of the bedchamber, and married to one
of the Fitzclarences--a daughter of William IV and Mrs. Jordan. He
arrived at Halifax in September, 1840, and his first political act was
in the direction of conciliating the Liberals, who were in the majority
in the assembly. He dismissed--to the disgust of the official
party--four members of the executive who had no seats in either branch
of the legislature, and induced Mr. Howe and Mr. James MacNab to enter
the government, on the understanding that other Liberals would be
brought in according as vacancies occurred, and that the members of the
council should hold their seats only upon the tenure of public
confidence. A dissolution took place, the coalition government was
sustained, and the Liberals came into the assembly with a majority. Mr.
Howe was elected speaker of the assembly, though an executive
councillor--without salary; but he and others began to recognise the
impropriety of one man occupying such positions, and in a later session
a resolution was passed against the continuance of what was really an
un-British and unconstitutional practice. It was also an illustration of
the ignorance that prevailed as to the principles that should guide the
words and acts of a cabinet, that members of the executive, who had
seats in the legislative council, notably Mr. Stewart, stated openly, in
contradiction of the assertions of Mr. Howe and his Liberal colleagues,
that "no change had been made in the constitution of the country, and
that responsible government in a colony was responsible nonsense, and
meant independence." It was at last found necessary to give some sort of
explanation of such extraordinary opinions, to avert a political crisis
in the assembly. Then, to add to the political embarrassment, there was
brought before the people the question of abandoning the practice of
endowing denominational colleges, and of establishing in their place one
large non-sectarian University. At this time the legislature voted
annual grants to five sectarian educational institutions of a high
class. The most important were King's College, belonging to the Anglican
Church, and Acadia College, supported by the Baptists. The Anglican
Church was still influential in the councils of the province, and the
Baptists had now the support of Mr. Johnston, the able attorney-general,
who had seceded from the Church of England. This able lawyer and
politician had won the favour of the aristocratic governor, and
persuaded him to dissolve the assembly, during the absence of Mr. Howe
in the country, though it had continuously supported the government, and
the people had given no signs of a want of confidence in the house as
then constituted. The fact was, Mr. Johnston and his friends in the
council thought it necessary to lose no time in arousing the feelings of
the supporters of denominational colleges against Mr. Howe and other
Liberals, who had commenced to hold meetings throughout the country in
favour of a non-sectarian University. The two parties came back from
the electors almost evenly divided, and Mr. Howe had an interview with
Lord Falkland. He consented to remain in the cabinet until the assembly
had an opportunity of expressing its opinion on the question at issue,
when the governor himself precipitated a crisis by appointing to the
executive and legislative councils Mr. M.B. Almon, a wealthy banker, and
a brother-in-law of the attorney-general. Mr. Howe and Mr. MacNab at
once resigned their seats in the government on the ground that Mr.
Almon's appointment was a violation of the compact by which two Liberals
had been induced to join the ministry, and was most unjust to the forty
or fifty gentlemen who, in both branches, had sustained the
administration for several years. Instead of authorising Mr. Johnston to
fill the two vacancies and justify the course taken by the governor, the
latter actually published a letter in a newspaper, in which he boldly
stated that he was entirely opposed to the formation of a government
composed of individuals of one political party, that he would steadily
resist any invasion of the royal prerogatives with respect to
appointments, and that he had chosen Mr. Almon, not simply on the ground
that he had not been previously engaged in political life to any extent,
but chiefly because he wished to show his own confidence in Mr.
Johnston, Mr. Almon's brother-in-law. Lord Falkland had obviously thrown
himself into the arms of the astute attorney-general and his political
friends.
It was now a political war _à outrance_ between Lord Falkland and Mr.
Howe, from 1842 until the governor left the province in 1846. Lord
Falkland made strenuous efforts to detach Mr. MacNab, Mr. Uniacke and
other Liberals from Mr. Howe, and induce them to enter the government,
but all to no purpose. He now gave up writing letters to the press, and
attacked his opponents in official communications addressed to the
colonial office, which supported him, as it did Lord Metcalfe, under
analogous circumstances. These despatches were laid without delay on
the tables of the houses, to be used far and wide against the
recalcitrant Liberals. Mr. Howe had again renewed his connection with
the press, which he had left on becoming speaker and councillor, and had
become editor of the _Nova Scotian_, and the _Morning Chronicle_, of
which Mr. Annand was the proprietor. In these influential organs of the
Liberal party--papers still in existence--Mr. Howe attacked Lord
Falkland, both in bitter prose and sarcastic verse. All this while the
governor and his council contrived to control the assembly, sometimes by
two or three votes, sometimes by a prorogation when it was necessary to
dispose summarily of a troublesome question. Public opinion began to set
in steadily against the government. The controversy between Lord
Falkland and Mr. Howe reached its climax on the 21st February, 1846,
when a despatch was brought down to the house, referring to the speaker,
Mr. William Young, and his brother, George R. Young, as the associates
of "reckless" and "insolvent" men--the reference being to Mr. Howe and
his immediate political friends. When the despatch had been read, Mr.
Howe became greatly excited, and declared amid much disorder that if
"the infamous system" of libelling respectable colonists in despatches
sent to the colonial office was continued, "without their having any
means of redress ... some colonist would by-and-by, or he was much
mistaken, hire a black fellow to horsewhip a lieutenant-governor."
It was time that this unhappy conflict should end. The imperial
authorities wisely transferred Lord Falkland to Bombay, where he could
do no harm, and appointed Sir John Harvey to the government of Nova
Scotia. Like Lord Elgin in Canada, he was discreetly chosen by the
Reform ministry, as the sequel showed. He was at first in favour of a
coalition government like his predecessors, but he wisely dissolved the
assembly when he found that the leading Liberals positively refused to
go into an alliance with the members of the executive council, or any
other set of men, until the people had decided between parties at the
polls. The result was a victory for the Liberals, and as soon as the
assembly met a direct motion of want of confidence was carried against
the government, and for the first time in the history of the country the
governor called to his council men exclusively belonging to the
opposition in the popular branch. Mr. Howe was not called upon to form a
cabinet--his quarrel with Lord Falkland had to be resented somehow--but
the governor's choice was Mr. James Boyle Uniacke, who gave a prominent
position in the new government to the great Liberal, to whom responsible
government owed its final success in this maritime province.
Responsible government was not introduced into Prince Edward Island
until 1851, when an address on the prosperous state of the island was
presented to the imperial authorities, who at once consented to concede
responsible government on the condition that adequate provision was made
for certain public officers affected by the new order of things. The
leader of the new government was the Honourable George Coles.
In the history of the past there is much to deplore, the blunders of
English ministers, the want of judgment on the part of governors, the
selfishness of "family compacts," the arrogance of office-holders, the
recklessness of Canadian politicians. But the very trials of the crisis
through which Canada passed brought out the fact, that if English
statesmen had mistaken the spirit of the Canadian people, and had not
always taken the best methods of removing grievances, it was not from
any studied disposition to do these countries an injustice, but rather
because they were unable to see until the very last moment that, even in
a colony, a representative system must be worked in accordance with
those principles that obtained in England, and that it was impossible to
direct the internal affairs of dependencies many thousand miles distant
through a colonial office, generally managed by a few clerks.
Of all the conspicuous figures of these memorable times, which already
seem so far away from Canadians of the present day, who possess so many
political rights, there are several who stand out more prominently than
all others, and represent the distinct types of politicians, who
influenced the public mind during the first half of the nineteenth
century, when responsible government was in slow process of evolution
from the political struggles which arose in the operation of
representative institutions. Around the figure of Louis Joseph Papineau
there has always been a sort of glamour which has helped to conceal his
vanity, his rashness and his want of political sagacity, which would,
under any circumstances, have prevented his success as a safe statesman,
capable of guiding a people through a trying ordeal. His eloquence was
fervid and had much influence over his impulsive countrymen, his
sincerity was undoubted, and in all likelihood his very indiscretions
made more palpable the defects of the political system against which he
so persistently and so often justly declaimed. He lived to see his
countrymen enjoy power and influence under the very union which they
resented, and to find himself no longer a leader among men, but isolated
from a great majority of his own people, and representing a past whose
methods were antagonistic to the new régime that had grown up since
1838. It would have been well for his reputation had he remained in
obscurity on his return from exile in 1847, when he and other rebels of
1837 were wisely pardoned, and had he never stood again on the floor of
the parliament of Canada, as he did from 1848 until 1854, since he could
only prove, in those later times, that he had never understood the true
working of responsible government. While the Lafontaine-Baldwin ministry
were in power, he revived an agitation for an elective legislative
council and declared himself utterly hostile to responsible government;
but his influence was at an end in the country, and he could make little
impression on the assembly. The days of reckless agitation had passed,
and the time for astute and calm statesmanship had come. Lafontaine and
Morin were now safer political guides for his countrymen. He soon
disappeared entirely from public view, and in the solitude of his
picturesque château, amid the groves that overhang the Ottawa River,
only visited from time to time by a few staunch friends, or by curious
tourists who found their way to that quiet spot, he passed the remainder
of his days with a tranquillity in wondrous contrast to the stormy and
eventful drama of his life. The writer often saw his noble, dignified
figure--erect even in age--passing unnoticed on the streets of Ottawa,
when perhaps at the same time there were strangers, walking through the
lobbies of the parliament house, asking for his portrait.
William Lyon Mackenzie is a far less picturesque figure in Canadian
history than Papineau, who possessed an eloquence of tongue and a grace
of demeanour which were not the attributes of the little peppery,
undignified Scotchman who, for a few years, played so important a part
in the English-speaking province. With his disinterestedness and
unselfishness, with his hatred of political injustice and oppression,
Canadians who remember the history of the constitutional struggles of
England will always sympathise. Revolt against absolutism and tyranny is
permissible in the opinion of men who love political freedom, but the
conditions of Upper Canada were hardly such as justified the rash
insurrection into which he led his deluded followers, many to misery and
some to death. Mackenzie lived long enough to regret these sad mistakes
of a reckless period of his life, and to admit that "the success of the
rebellion would have deeply injured the people of Canada," whom he
believed he was then serving, and that it was the interest of the
Canadian people to strengthen in every way the connection with England.
Like Papineau, he returned to Canada in 1849 to find himself entirely
unequal to the new conditions of political life, where a large
constitutional knowledge, a spirit of moderation and a statesmanlike
conduct could alone give a man influence in the councils of his country.
One historian has attempted to elevate Dr. Rolph at his expense, but a
careful study of the career of those two actors will lead fair-minded
readers to the conclusion that even the reckless course followed at the
last by Mackenzie was preferable to the double-dealing of his more
astute colleague. Dr. Rolph came again into prominence as one of the
founders of the Clear Grits, who formed in 1849 an extreme branch of the
Reform party. Dr. Rolph's qualities ensured him success in political
intrigue, and he soon became a member of the Hincks-Morin government,
which was formed on the reconstruction of the Lafontaine-Baldwin
ministry in 1851, when its two moderate leaders were practically pushed
aside by men more in harmony with the aggressive elements of the Reform
party. But Mr. Mackenzie could never win such triumphs as were won by
his wily and more manageable associate of old times. He published a
newspaper--_The Weekly Message_--replete with the eccentricities of the
editor, but it was never a financial success, while his career in the
assembly from 1851 until 1858 only proved him almost a nullity in public
affairs. Until his death in 1861 his life was a constant fight with
poverty, although his closing years were somewhat soothed by the gift of
a homestead. He might have received some public position which would
have given him comfort and rest, but he would not surrender what he
called his political freedom to the men in office, who, he believed,
wished to purchase his silence--the veriest delusion, as his influence
had practically disappeared with his flight to the United States.
Joseph Howe, unlike the majority of his compeers who struggled for
popular rights, was a prominent figure in public life until the very
close of his career in 1873. All his days, even when his spirit was
sorely tried by the obstinacy and indifference of some English
ministers, he loved England, for he knew--like the Loyalists, from one
of whom he sprung--it was in her institutions, after all, his country
could best find prosperity and happiness. It is an interesting fact
that, among the many able essays and addresses which the question of
imperial federation has drawn forth, none can equal his great speech on
the consolidation of the empire in eloquence, breadth, and fervour. Of
all the able men Nova Scotia has produced no one has surpassed that
great tribune of the people in his power to persuade and delight the
masses by his oratory. Yet, strange to say, his native province has
never raised a monument to his memory.
One of the most admirable figures in the political history of the
Dominion was undoubtedly Robert Baldwin. Compared with other popular
leaders of his generation, he was calm in council, unselfish in motive,
and moderate in opinion. If there is any significance in the political
phrase "Liberal-Conservative," it could be applied with justice
to him. The "great ministry," of which he and Louis Hippolyte
Lafontaine--afterwards a baronet and chief justice--were the leaders,
left behind it many monuments of broad statesmanship, and made a deep
impression on the institutions of the country. In 1851 he resigned from
the Reform ministry, of which he had been the Upper Canadian leader, in
consequence of a vote of the Reformers of that province adverse to the
continuance of the court of chancery, the constitution of which had been
improved chiefly by himself. When he presented himself as a candidate
before his old constituency he was defeated by a nominee of the Clear
Grits, who were then, as always, pressing their opinions with great
vehemence and hostility to all moderate men. He illustrated the fickle
character of popular favour, when a man will not surrender his
principles and descend to the arts of the politician. He lived until
1858 in retirement, almost forgotten by the people for whom he had
worked so fearlessly and sincerely.
In New Brunswick the triumph of responsible government must always be
associated with the name of Lemuel A. Wilmot, the descendant of
a famous United Empire Loyalist stock, afterwards a judge and a
lieutenant-governor of his native province. He was in some respects the
most notable figure, after Joseph Howe and J.W. Johnston, the leaders
of the Liberal and Conservative parties in Nova Scotia, in that famous
body of public men who so long brightened the political life of the
maritime provinces. But neither those two leaders nor their
distinguished compeers, James Boyle Uniacke, William Young, John
Hamilton Gray and Charles Fisher, all names familiar to students of Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick history, surpassed Mr. Wilmot in that magnetic
eloquence which carries an audience off its feet, in versatility of
knowledge, in humorous sarcasm, and in conversational gifts, which made
him a most interesting personality in social life. He impressed his
strong individuality upon his countrymen until the latest hour of his
useful career.
In Prince Edward Island, the name most intimately connected with the
struggle for responsible government is that of George Coles, who,
despite the absence of educational and social advantages in his youth,
eventually triumphed over all obstacles, and occupied a most prominent
position by dint of unconquerable courage and ability to influence the
opinions of the great mass of people.
SECTION 2.--Results of self-government from 1841 to 1864.
The new colonial policy, adopted by the imperial government immediately
after the presentation of Lord Durham's report, had a remarkable effect
upon the political and social development of the British North American
provinces during the quarter of a century that elapsed between the union
of the Canadas in 1841 and the federal union of 1867. In 1841 Mr.
Harrison, provincial secretary of the upper province in the coalition
government formed by Lord Sydenham, brought in a measure which laid the
foundations of the elaborate system of municipal institutions which the
Canadian provinces now enjoy. In 1843 Attorney-General Lafontaine
presented a bill "for better serving the independence of the legislative
assembly of this province," which became law in 1844 and formed the
basis of all subsequent legislation in Canada.
The question of the clergy reserves continued for some years after the
union to perplex politicians and harass governments. At last in 1854 the
Hincks government was defeated by a combination of factions, and the
Liberal-Conservative party was formed out of the union of the
Conservatives and the moderate Reformers. Sir Allan MacNab was the
leader of this coalition government, but the most influential member was
Mr. John A. Macdonald, then attorney-general of Upper Canada, whose
first important act was the settlement of the clergy reserves. Reform
ministers had for years evaded the question, and it was now left to a
government, largely composed of men who had been Tories in the early
part of their political career, to yield to the force of public opinion
and take it out of the arena of political agitation by means of
legislation which handed over this property to the municipal
corporations of the province for secular purposes, and at the same time
made a small endowment for the protection of the clergy who had legal
claims on the fund. The same government had also the honour of removing
the old French seigniorial system, recognised to be incompatible with
the modern condition of a country of free government, and injurious to
the agricultural development of the province at large. The question was
practically settled in 1854, when Mr. Drummond, then attorney-general
for Lower Canada, brought in a bill providing for the appointment of a
commission to ascertain the amount of compensation that could be fairly
asked by the seigniors for the cession of their seigniorial rights. The
seigniors, from first to last, received about a million of dollars, and
it also became necessary to revise those old French laws which affected
the land tenure of Lower Canada. Accordingly in 1856 Mr. George Cartier,
attorney-general for Lower Canada in the Taché-Macdonald ministry,
introduced the legislation necessary for the codification of the civil
law. In 1857 Mr. Spence, post-master-general in the same ministry,
brought in a measure to organise the civil service, on whose character
and ability so much depends in the working of parliamentary
institutions. From that day to this the Canadian government has
practically recognised the British principle of retaining public
officers without reference to a change of political administration.
Soon after the union the legislating obtained full control of the civil
list and the post-office. The last tariff framed by the imperial
parliament for British North America was mentioned in the speech at the
opening of the Canadian legislature in 1842. In 1846 the British
colonies in America were authorised by an imperial statute to reduce or
repeal by their own legislation duties imposed by imperial acts upon
foreign goods imported from foreign countries into the colonies in
question. Canada soon availed herself of this privilege, which was
granted to her as the logical sequence of the free-trade policy of Great
Britain, and, from that time to the present, she has been enabled to
legislate very freely with regard to her own commercial interests. In
1849 the imperial parliament repealed the navigation laws, and allowed
the river St. Lawrence to be used by vessels of all nations. With the
repeal of laws, the continuance of which had seriously crippled Canadian
trade after the adoption of free trade by England, the provinces
gradually entered on a new career of industrial enterprise.
No part of the constitution of 1840 gave greater offence to the French
Canadian population than the clause restricting the use of the French
language in the legislature. It was considered as a part of the policy,
foreshadowed in Lord Durham's report, to denationalise, if possible, the
French Canadian province. The repeal of the clause, in 1848, was one
evidence of the harmonious operation of the union, and of a better
feeling between the two sections of the population. Still later,
provision was made for the gradual establishment of an elective
legislative council, so long and earnestly demanded by the old
legislature of Lower Canada.
The members of the Lafontaine-Baldwin government became the legislative
executors of a troublesome legacy left to them by a Conservative
ministry. In 1839 acts had been passed by the special council of Lower
Canada and the legislature of Upper Canada to compensate the loyal
inhabitants of those provinces for the loss they had sustained during
the rebellions. In the first session of the union parliament the Upper
Canadian act was amended, and money voted to reimburse all persons in
Upper Canada whose property had been unnecessarily, or wantonly,
destroyed by persons acting, or pretending to act, on behalf of the
crown. An agitation then commenced for the application of the same
principle to Lower Canada, and in 1845 commissioners were appointed by
the Draper administration to inquire into the nature and value of the
losses suffered by her Majesty's loyal subjects in Lower Canada. When
their report was presented in favour of certain claims the Draper
ministry brought in some legislation on the subject, but went out of
office before any action could be taken thereon. The Lafontaine-Baldwin
government then determined to set the question at rest, and introduced
legislation for the issue of debentures to the amount of $400,000 for
the payment of losses sustained by persons who had not been convicted
of, or charged with, high treason or other offences of a treasonable
nature, or had been committed to the custody of the sheriff in the gaol
of Montreal and subsequently transported to the island of Bermuda.
Although the principle of this measure was fully justified by the action
of the Tory Draper government, extreme Loyalists and even some Reformers
of Upper Canada declaimed against it in the most violent terms, and a
few persons even declared that they would prefer annexation to the
United States to the payment of the rebels. The bill, however, passed
the legislature by a large majority, and received the crown's assent
through Lord Elgin on the 25th April, 1849. A large crowd immediately
assembled around the parliament house--formerly the St. Anne Market
House--and insulted the governor-general by opprobrious epithets, and by
throwing missiles at him as he drove away to Monklands, his residence in
the country. The government and members of the legislature appear to
have been unconscious of the danger to which they were exposed until a
great crowd rushed into the building, which was immediately destroyed by
fire with its fine collection of books and archives. A few days later,
when the assembly, then temporarily housed in the hall of Bonsecours
Market, attempted to present an address to Lord Elgin, he was in
imminent danger of his life while on his way to the government
house--then the old Château de Ramesay in Nôtre-Dame Street--and the
consequences might have been most serious had he not evaded the mob on
his return to Monklands. This disgraceful affair was a remarkable
illustration not simply of the violence of faction, but largely of the
discontent then so prevalent in Montreal and other industrial centres,
on account of the commercial policy of Great Britain, which seriously
crippled colonial trade and was the main cause of the creation of a
small party which actually advocated for a short time annexation to the
United States as preferable to the existing state of things. The result
was the removal of the seat of government from Montreal, and the
establishment of a nomadic system of government by which the legislature
met alternately at Toronto and Quebec every five years until Ottawa was
chosen by the Queen as a permanent political capital. Lord Elgin felt
his position keenly, and offered his resignation to the imperial
government, but they refused to entertain it, and his course as a
constitutional governor under such trying circumstances was approved by
parliament.
The material condition of the provinces--especially of Upper Canada,
which now became the first in population and wealth--kept pace with the
rapid progress of the people in self-government. The population of the
five provinces had increased from about 1,500,000, in 1841, to about
3,200,000 when the census was taken in 1861 The greatest increase had
been in the province of Upper Canada, chiefly in consequence of the
large immigration which flowed into the country from Ireland, where the
potato rot had caused wide-spread destitution and misery. The population
of this province had now reached 1,396,091, or nearly 300,000 more than
the population of Lower Canada--an increase which, as I shall show in
the next chapter, had important effects on the political conditions of
the two provinces. The eastern or maritime provinces received but a
small part of the yearly immigration from Europe, and even that was
balanced by an exodus to the United States. Montreal had a population of
100,000, or double that of Quebec, and was now recognised as the
commercial capital of British North America. Toronto had reached 60,000,
and was making more steady progress in population and wealth than any
other city, except Montreal. Towns and villages were springing up with
great rapidity in the midst of the enterprising farming population of
the western province. In Lower Canada the townships showed the energy of
a British people, but the _habitants_ pursued the even tenor of ways
which did not include enterprise and improved methods of agriculture.
The value of the total exports and imports of the provinces reached
$150,000,000 by 1864, or an increase of $100,000,000 in a quarter of a
century. The great bulk of the import trade was with Great Britain and
the United States, but the value of the exports to the United States was
largely in excess of the goods purchased by Great Britain--especially
after 1854, when Lord Elgin arranged a reciprocity treaty with the
United States. Lord Elgin represented Great Britain in the negotiations
at Washington, and the Congress of the United States and the several
legislatures of the Canadian provinces passed the legislation necessary
to give effect to the treaty. Its most important provisions established
free trade between British North America and the United States in
products of the forest, mine, and sea, conceded the navigation of the
St. Lawrence to the Americans, and the use of the canals of Canada on
the same terms as were imposed upon British subjects, gave Canadians the
right to navigate Lake Michigan, and allowed the fishermen of the United
States to fish on the sea-coasts of the British provinces without
regard to distance from the shore, in return for a similar but
relatively worthless privilege on the eastern shores of the republic,
north of the 30th parallel of north latitude. During the thirteen years
the treaty lasted the trade between the two countries rose from over
thirty-three million dollars in 1854 to over eighty million dollars in
1866, when it was repealed by the action of the United States government
itself, for reasons which I shall explain in a later chapter.
The navigation of the St. Lawrence was now made continuous and secure by
the enlargement of the Welland and Lachine canals, and the construction
of the Cornwall, Williamsburgh, and Beauharnois canals. Railways
received their great stimulus during the government of Sir Francis
Hincks, who largely increased the debt of Canada by guaranteeing in 1852
the bonds of the Grand Trunk Railway--a noble, national work, now
extending from Quebec to Lake Michigan, with branches in every
direction, but whose early history was marred by jobbery and
mismanagement, which not only ruined or crippled many of the original
shareholders, but cost Canada eventually twenty-three million dollars.
In 1864 there were two thousand miles of railway working in British
North America, of which the Grand Trunk Railway owned at least one-half.
The railways in the maritime provinces were very insignificant, and all
attempts to obtain the co-operation of the imperial and Canadian
governments for the construction of an Intercolonial Railway through
British American territory failed, despite the energetic efforts of Mr.
Howe to bring it about.
After the union of the Canadas in 1841, a steady movement for the
improvement of the elementary, public, or common schools continued for
years, and the services of the Reverend Egerton Ryerson were engaged as
chief superintendent of education with signal advantage to the country.
In 1850, when the Lafontaine-Baldwin government was in office, the
results of the superintendent's studies of the systems of other
countries were embodied in a bill based on the principle of local
assessment, aided by legislative grants, for the carrying on of the
public schools. This measure is the basis of the present admirable
school system of Upper Canada, and to a large extent of that of the
other English-speaking provinces. In Lower Canada the history of public
schools must be always associated with the names of Dr. Meilleur and the
Honourable Mr. Chauveau; but the system has never been as effective as
in the upper province. In both provinces, separate or dissentient
schools were eventually established for the benefit of the Roman
Catholics in Upper or Protestant Canada, and of the Protestants in Lower
or Catholic Canada. In the maritime provinces satisfactory progress was
also made in the development of a sound school system. In Nova Scotia
Dr. Tupper, when provincial secretary (1863-1867), laid the foundations
of the excellent schools that the province now enjoys.
During this period the newspaper press increased remarkably in influence
and circulation. The most important newspaper in the Dominion, the
_Globe_, was established at Toronto in 1844 by Mr. George Brown, a
Scotchman by birth, who became a power from that time among the Liberal
politicians of Canada. No notable books were produced in the
English-speaking provinces except "Acadian Geology," a work by Dr.
Dawson, who became in 1855 principal of McGill University, and was, in
later years, knighted by the Queen; but the polished verses of Crémazie
and the lucid histories of Canada by Ferland and Garneau already showed
that French Canada had both a history and a literature.
Towards the close of this memorable period of Canadian development, the
Prince of Wales, heir-apparent to the throne, visited the British
American provinces, where the people gave full expression to their loyal
feelings. This was the third occasion on which these communities had
been favoured by the presence of members of the royal family. Prince
William Henry, afterward William IV, visited Nova Scotia during the
years 1786-1788, in command of a frigate. From 1791 until 1797 Prince
Edward, Duke of Kent, father of the present sovereign, was in command of
the imperial forces, first at Quebec, and later at Halifax. The year
1860 was an opportune time for a royal visit to provinces where the
people were in the full enjoyment of the results of the liberal system
of self-government extended to them at the commencement of the Queen's
reign by the mother-country.
A quarter of a century had passed after the union of the Canadas when
the necessities of the provinces of British North America forced them to
a momentous constitutional change, which gave a greater scope to the
statesmanship of their public men, and opened up a wider sphere of
effort to capital and enterprise. In the following chapter I shall show
the nature of the conditions which brought about this union.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE EVOLUTION OF CONFEDERATION (1789--1864).
SECTION 1--The beginnings of confederation.
The idea of a union of the provinces of British North America had been
under discussion for half a century before it reached the domain of
practical statesmanship. The eminent Loyalist, Chief Justice Smith of
Quebec, so early as 1789, in a letter to Lord Dorchester, gave an
outline of a scheme for uniting all the provinces of British North
America "under one general direction." A quarter of a century later
Chief Justice Sewell of Quebec, also a Loyalist, addressed a letter to
the father of the present Queen, the Duke of Kent, in which he urged a
federal union of the isolated provinces. Lord Durham was also of opinion
in 1839 that a legislative union of all the provinces "would at once
decisively settle the question of races," but he did not find it
possible to carry it out at that critical time in the history of the
Canadas.
Some ten years later, at a meeting of prominent public men in Toronto,
known as the British American League, the project of a federal union was
submitted to the favourable consideration of the provinces. In 1854 the
subject was formally brought before the legislature of Nova Scotia by
the Honourable James William Johnston, the able leader of the
Conservative party, and found its most eloquent exposition in the speech
of the Honourable Joseph Howe, one of the fathers of responsible
government. The result of the discussion was the unanimous adoption of a
resolution--the first formally adopted by any provincial
legislature--setting forth that "the union or confederation of the
British provinces, while calculated to perpetuate their connection with
the parent state, will promote their advancement and prosperity,
increase their strength, and influence and elevate their position." Mr.
Howe, on that occasion, expressed himself in favour of a federation of
the empire, of which he was always an earnest advocate until his death.
In the legislature of Canada Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Tilloch Galt
was an able exponent of union, and when he became a member of the
Cartier-Macdonald government in 1858 the question was made a part of the
ministerial policy, and received special mention in the speech of Sir
Edmund Head, the governor-general, at the end of the session. The matter
was brought to the attention of the imperial government on more than one
occasion during these years by delegates from Canada and Nova Scotia,
but no definite conclusion could be reached in view of the fact that the
question had not been taken up generally in the provinces.
The political condition of the Canadas brought about a union much sooner
than was anticipated by its most sanguine promoters. In a despatch
written to the colonial minister by the Canadian delegates,--members of
the Cartier-Macdonald ministry--who visited England in 1858 and laid the
question of union before the government, they represented that "very
grave difficulties now present themselves in conducting the government
of Canada"; that "the progress of population has been more rapid in the
western province, and claims are now made on behalf of its inhabitants
for giving them representation in the legislature in proportion to their
numbers"; that "the result is shown by agitation fraught with great
danger to the peaceful and harmonious working of our constitutional
system, and, consequently, detrimental to the progress of the province"
that "this state of things is yearly becoming worse"; and that "the
Canadian government are impressed with the necessity for seeking such a
mode of dealing with these difficulties as may for ever remove them." In
addition to this expression of opinion on the part of the
representatives of the Conservative government of 1858, the Reformers of
Upper Canada held a large and influential convention at Toronto in
1859, and adopted a resolution in which it was emphatically set forth,
"that the best practicable remedy for the evils now encountered in the
government of Canada is to be found in the formation of two or more
local governments to which shall be committed the control of all matters
of a local and sectional character, and some general authority charged
with such matters as are necessarily common to both sections of the
provinces"--language almost identical with that used by the Quebec
convention six years later in one of its resolutions with respect to the
larger scheme of federation. Mr. George Brown brought this scheme before
the assembly in 1860, but it was rejected by a large majority. At this
time constitutional and political difficulties of a serious nature had
arisen between the French and English speaking sections of the united
Canadian provinces. A large and influential party in Upper Canada had
become deeply dissatisfied with the conditions of the union of 1840,
which maintained equality of representation to the two provinces when
statistics clearly showed that the western section exceeded French
Canada both in population and wealth.
A demand was persistently and even fiercely made at times for such a
readjustment of the representation in the assembly as would do full
justice to the more populous and richer province. The French Canadian
leaders resented this demand as an attempt to violate the terms on which
they were brought into the union, and as calculated, and indeed
intended, to place them in a position of inferiority to the people of a
province where such fierce and unjust attacks were systematically made
on their language, religion, and institutions generally. With much
justice they pressed the fact that at the commencement of, and for some
years subsequent to, the union, the French Canadians were numerically in
the majority, and yet had no larger representation in the assembly than
the inhabitants of the upper province, then inferior in population. Mr.
George Brown, who had under his control a powerful newspaper, the
_Globe_, of Toronto, was remarkable for his power of invective and his
tenacity of purpose, and he made persistent and violent attacks upon the
conditions of the union, and upon the French and English Conservatives,
who were not willing to violate a solemn contract.
The difficulties between the Canadian provinces at last became so
intensified by the public opinion created by Mr. Brown in Upper Canada
in favour of representation by population, that good and stable
government was no longer possible on account of the close division of
parties in the legislature. Appeals were made frequently to the people,
and new ministries formed,--in fact, five within two years--but the
sectional difficulties had obviously reached a point where it was not
possible to carry on successfully the administration of public affairs.
On the 14th June, 1864, a committee of the legislative assembly of
Canada, of whom Mr. Brown was chairman, reported that "a strong feeling
was found to exist among the members of the committee in favour of
changes in the direction of a federal system, applied either to Canada
alone or to the whole of the British North American provinces." On the
day when this report was presented, the Conservative government, known
as the Taché-Macdonald ministry, suffered the fate of many previous
governments for years, and it became necessary either to appeal at once
to the people, or find some other practical solution of the political
difficulties which prevented the formation of a stable government. Then
it was that Mr. Brown rose above the level of mere party selfishness,
and assumed the attitude of a statesman, animated by patriotic and noble
impulses which must help us to forget the spirit of sectionalism and
illiberality which so often animated him in his career of heated
partisanship. Negotiations took place between Mr. John A. Macdonald, Mr.
Brown, Mr. Cartier, Mr. Galt, Mr. Morris, Mr. McDougall, Mr. Mowat, and
other prominent members of the Conservative and Reform parties, with the
result that a coalition government was formed on the distinct
understanding that it would "bring in a measure next session for the
purpose of removing existing difficulties by introducing the federal
principle into Canada, coupled with such provisions as will permit the
maritime provinces and the north-west territories to be incorporated
into the same system of government." The Reformers who entered the
government with Macdonald and Cartier on this fundamental condition were
Mr. Brown, Mr. Oliver Mowat, and Mr. William McDougall, who stood
deservedly high in public estimation.
While these events were happening in the Canadas, the maritime provinces
were taking steps in the direction of their own union. In 1861 Mr. Howe,
the leader of a Liberal government in Nova Scotia, carried a resolution
in favour of such a scheme. Three years later the Conservative ministry
of which Dr., now Sir, Charles Tupper, was premier, took measures in the
legislature of Nova Scotia to carry out the proposition of his
predecessor; and a conference was arranged at Charlottetown between
delegates from the three provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and
Prince Edward Island By a happy forethought the government of Canada,
immediately on hearing of this important conference, decided to send a
delegation, composed of Messrs J.A. Macdonald, Brown, Cartier, Galt,
McGee, Langevin, McDougall, and Campbell. The result of the conference
was favourable to the consideration of the larger question of the union
of all the provinces; and it was decided to hold a further conference at
Quebec in October for the purpose of discussing the question as fully as
its great importance demanded.
SECTION 2.--The Quebec convention of 1864.
Thirty-three delegates met in the parliament house of this historic
city. They were all men of large experience in the work of
administration or legislation in their respective provinces. Not a few
of them were noted lawyers who had thoroughly studied the systems of
government in other countries. Some were gifted with rare eloquence and
power of argument. At no time, before or since, has the city of Quebec
been visited by an assemblage of notables with so many high
qualifications for the foundation of a nation. Descendants of the
pioneers of French Canada, English Canadians sprung from the Loyalists
of the eighteenth century, eloquent Irishmen and astute Scotchmen, all,
thoroughly conversant with Canadian interests, met in a convention
summoned to discharge the greatest responsibilities ever entrusted to
any body of men in Canada.
The chairman was Sir Etienne Paschal Taché, who had proved in his youth
his fidelity to England on the famous battlefield of Chateauguay, and
had won the respect of all classes and parties by the display of many
admirable qualities. Like the majority of his compatriots he had learned
to believe thoroughly in the government and institutions of Great
Britain, and never lost an opportunity of recognising the benefits which
his race derived from British connection. He it was who gave utterance
to the oft-quoted words: "That the last gun that would be fired for
British supremacy in America would be fired by a French Canadian." He
lived to move the resolutions of the Quebec convention in the
legislative council of Canada, but he died a few months before the union
was formally established in 1867, and never had an opportunity of
experiencing the positive advantages which his race, of whose interests
he was always an earnest exponent, derived from a condition of things
which gave additional guarantees for the preservation of their special
institutions. But there were in the convention other men of much greater
political force, more deeply versed in constitutional knowledge, more
capable of framing a plan of union than the esteemed and discreet
president. Most prominent among these was Mr., afterwards Sir, John A.
Macdonald, who had been for years one of the most conspicuous figures in
Canadian politics, and had been able to win to a remarkable degree the
confidence not only or the great majority of the French Canadians but
also of a powerful minority in the western province where his able
antagonist, Mr. Brown, until 1864 held the vantage ground by his
persistency in urging its claims to greater weight in the administration
of public affairs. Mr. Macdonald had a great knowledge of men and did
not hesitate to avail himself of their weaknesses in order to strengthen
his political power. His greatest faults were those of a politician
anxious for the success of his party. His strength lay largely in his
ability to understand the working of British institutions, and in his
recognition of the necessity of carrying on the government in a country
of diverse nationalities, on principles of justice and compromise. He
had a happy faculty of adapting himself to the decided current of public
opinion even at the risk of leaving himself open to a charge of
inconsistency, and he was just as ready to adopt the measures of his
opponents as he was willing to enter their ranks and steal away some
prominent men whose support he thought necessary to his political
success.
So early as 1861 he had emphatically expressed himself on the floor of
the assembly in favour of the main principles of just such a federal
union as was initiated at Quebec. The moment he found that the question
of union was likely to be something more than a mere subject for
academic discussion or eloquent expression in legislative halls, he
recognised immediately the great advantages it offered, not only for the
solution of the difficulties of his own party, but also for the
consolidation of British American as well as imperial interests on the
continent of North America From the hour when he became convinced of
this fact he devoted his consummate ability not merely as a party
leader, but as a statesman of broad national views, to the perfection of
a measure which promised so much for the welfare and security of the
British provinces. It was his good fortune, after the establishment of
the federation, to be the first premier of the new Dominion and to mould
its destinies with a firm and capable hand. He saw it extended to the
Pacific shores long before he died, amid the regrets of all classes and
creeds and races of a country he loved and in whose future he had the
most perfect confidence.
The name of the Right Honourable Sir John Macdonald, to give him the
titles he afterwards received from the crown, naturally brings up that
of Mr., afterwards Sir, George Etienne Cartier, who was his faithful
colleague and ally for many years in the legislature of old Canada, and
for a short time after the completion of the federal union, until his
death. This able French Canadian had taken an insignificant part in the
unfortunate rising of 1837, but like many other men of his nationality
he recognised the mistakes of his impetuous youth, and, unlike Papineau
after the union of 1840, endeavoured to work out earnestly and honestly
the principles of responsible government. While a true friend of his
race, he was generous and fair in his relations with other
nationalities, and understood the necessity of compromise and
conciliation in a country of diverse races, needs, and interests. Sir
John Macdonald appreciated at their full value his statesmanlike
qualities, and succeeded in winning his sympathetic and faithful
co-operation during the many years they acted together in opposition to
the war of nationalities which would have been the eventual consequence
of Mr. Brown's determined agitation if it had been carried to its
logical and natural conclusion--conclusion happily averted by the wise
stand taken by Mr. Brown himself with respect to the settlement of
provincial troubles. In the settlement of the terms of union, we can see
not only the master hand of Sir John Macdonald in the British framework
of the system, but also the successful effort of Sir George Cartier to
preserve intact the peculiar institutions of his native province.
All those who have studied Mr. Brown's career know something of his
independent and uncompromising character; but for some time after he
entered the coalition government his speeches in favour of federation
assumed a dignified style and a breadth of view which stand out in great
contrast with his bitter arguments as leader of the Clear Grits. In the
framing of the Quebec resolutions his part was chiefly in arranging the
financial terms with a regard to the interests of his own province.
Another influential member of the Canadian delegation was Mr.,
afterwards Sir, Alexander Galt, the son of the creator of that original
character in fiction, Laurie Todd, who had been a resident for many
years in Western Canada, where a pretty city perpetuates his name. His
able son had been for a long time a prominent figure in Canadian
politics, and was distinguished for his intelligent advocacy of railway
construction and political union as measures essential to the material
and political development of the provinces. His earnest and eloquent
exposition of the necessity of union had no doubt much to do with
creating a wide-spread public sentiment in its favour, and with
preparing the way for the formation of the coalition government of 1864,
on the basis of such a political measure. His knowledge of financial and
commercial questions was found to be invaluable in the settlement of the
financial basis of the union, while his recognised position as a
representative of the Protestant English-speaking people in French
Canada gave him much weight when it was a question of securing their
rights and interests in the Quebec resolutions.
The other members of the Canadian delegation were men of varied
accomplishments, some of whom played an important part in the working
out of the federal system, the foundations of which they laid. There was
a brilliant Irishman, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, poet, historian and orator,
who had been in his rash youth obliged to fly from Ireland to the United
States on account of his connection with the rebellious party known as
Young Ireland during the troubles of 1848. When he removed from the
United States in 1857 he advocated with much force a union of the
provinces in the _New Era_, of which he was editor during its short
existence. He was elected to parliament in 1858, and became a notable
figure in Canadian politics on account of his eloquence and _bonhomie_.
His most elaborate addresses had never the easy flow of Joseph Howe's
speeches, but were laboured essays, showing too obviously the results of
careful compilation in libraries, while brightened by touches of natural
humour. He had been president of the council in the Sandfield Macdonald
government of 1862--a moderate Reform ministry--but later he joined the
Liberal-Conservative party as less sectional in its aspirations and more
generous in its general policy than the one led by Mr. Brown. Mr. McGee
was during his residence in Canada a firm friend of the British
connection, having observed the beneficent character of British rule in
his new Canadian home, with whose interests he so thoroughly identified
himself.
Mr. William McDougall, the descendant of a Loyalist, had been long
connected with the advocacy of Reform principles in the press and on the
floor of parliament, and was distinguished for his clear, incisive style
of debating. He had been for years a firm believer in the advantages of
union, which he had been the first to urge at the Reform convention of
1859. Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Campbell, who had been for some
years a legal partner of Sir John Macdonald, was gifted with a
remarkably clear intellect, great common sense, and business capacity,
which he displayed later as leader of the senate and as minister of the
crown. Mr., afterwards Sir, Oliver Mowat, who had been a student of law
in Sir John Macdonald's office at Kingston, brought to the discharge of
the important positions he held in later times as minister,
vice-chancellor, and premier of the province of Ontario, great legal
learning, and admirable judgment. Mr., now Sir, Hector Langevin was
considered a man of promise, likely to exercise in the future much
influence among his countrymen. For some years after the establishment
of the new Dominion he occupied important positions in the government of
the country, and led the French Conservative party after the death of
Sir George Cartier. Mr. James Cockburn was an excellent lawyer, who
three years later was chosen speaker of the first house of commons of
the federal parliament--a position which his sound judgment, knowledge
of parliamentary law, and dignity of manner enabled him to discharge
with signal ability. Mr. J.C. Chapais was a man of sound judgment, which
made him equal to the administrative duties entrusted to him from time
to time.
Of the five men sent by Nova Scotia, the two ablest were Dr., now Sir,
Charles Tupper, who was first minister of the Conservative government,
and Mr., later Sir, Adams G. Archibald, who was leader of the Liberal
opposition in the assembly. The former was then as now distinguished for
his great power as a debater and for the forcible expression of his
opinions on the public questions on which he had made up his mind. When
he had a great end in view he followed it with a tenacity of purpose
that generally gave him success. Ever since he entered public life as an
opponent of Mr. Howe, he has been a dominant force in the politics of
Nova Scotia. While Conservative in name he entertained broad Liberal
views which found expression in the improvement of the school system, at
a very low ebb when he came into office, and in the readiness and energy
with which he identified himself with the cause of the union of the
provinces. Mr. Archibald was noted for his dignified demeanour, sound
legal attainments, and clear plausible style of oratory, well calculated
to instruct a learned audience. Mr. William A. Henry was a lawyer of
considerable ability, who was at a later time elevated to the bench of
the supreme court of Canada. Mr. Jonathan J. McCully, afterwards a judge
in Nova Scotia, had never sat in the assembly, but he exercised
influence in the legislative council on the Liberal side and was an
editorial writer of no mean ability. Mr. Dickey was a leader of the
Conservatives in the upper house and distinguished for his general
culture and legal knowledge.
New Brunswick sent seven delegates, drawn from the government and
opposition. The Loyalists who founded this province were represented by
four of the most prominent members of the delegation, Tilley, Chandler,
Gray, and Fisher. Mr., afterwards Sir, Samuel Leonard Tilley had been
long engaged in public life and possessed admirable ability as an
administrator. He had for years taken a deep interest in questions of
intercolonial trade, railway intercourse and political union. He was a
Reformer of pronounced opinions, most earnest in the advocacy of
temperance, possessed of great tact and respected for his high character
in all the relations of life. In later times he became finance minister
of the Dominion and lieutenant-governor of his native province.
Mr. John Hamilton Gray, later a judge in British Columbia, was one of
the most eloquent and accomplished men in the convention, and brought to
the consideration of legal and constitutional questions much knowledge
and experience. Mr. Fisher, afterwards a judge in his province, was also
a well equipped lawyer and speaker who displayed a cultured mind. Like
all the delegates from New Brunswick he was animated by a great love for
British connection and institutions. Mr. Peter Mitchell was a Liberal,
conspicuous for the energy he brought to the administration of public
affairs, both in his own province and at a later time in the new
Dominion as a minister of the crown. Mr. Edward Barron Chandler had long
been a notable figure in the politics of New Brunswick, and was
universally respected for his probity and worth. He had the honour of
being at a later time the lieutenant-governor of the province with which
he had been so long and honourably associated. Mr. John Johnson and Mr.
William H. Steeves were also fully qualified to deal intelligently with
the questions submitted to the convention.
Of the seven members of the Prince Edward Island delegation, four were
members of the government and the rest were prominent men in one or
other branch of the legislature. Colonel Gray--a descendant of a
Virginia Loyalist--was prime minister of the island. Mr. George Coles
was one of the fathers of responsible government in the island, and long
associated with the advocacy and passage of many progressive measures,
including the improvement of the educational system. Mr. Edward Whelan
was a journalist, an Irishman by birth, and endowed, like so many of his
countrymen, with a natural gift of eloquence. Mr. Thomas Heath Haviland,
afterwards lieutenant-governor of the island, was a man of culture, and
Mr. Edward Palmer was a lawyer of good reputation. Mr. William H. Pope
and Mr. Andrew Archibald Macdonald were also thoroughly capable of
watching over the special interests of the island.
Newfoundland had the advantage of being represented by Mr. Frederick
B.T. Carter, then speaker of the house of assembly, and by Mr. Ambrose
Shea, also a distinguished politician of the great island. Both were
knighted at later times; the former became chief justice of his own
province, and the latter governor of the Bahamas.
SECTION 3.--Confederation accomplished.
The Quebec convention sat with closed doors for eighteen days, and
agreed to seventy-two resolutions, which form the basis of the Act of
Union, subsequently passed by the imperial parliament. These resolutions
set forth at the outset that in a federation of the British American
provinces "the system of government best adapted under existing
circumstances to protect the diversified interests of the several
provinces, and secure harmony and permanency in the working of the
union, would be a general government charged with matters of common
interest to the whole country, and local governments for each of the
Canadas, and for the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince
Edward Island, charged with the control of local matters in their
respective sections" In another paragraph the resolutions declared that
"in forming a constitution for a general government, the conference,
with a view to the perpetuation of our connection with the
mother-country, and the promotion of the best interests of the people of
these provinces, desire to follow the model of the British constitution
so far as our circumstances permit" In a subsequent paragraph it was set
forth: "the executive authority or government shall be vested in the
sovereign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and be
administered according to the well-understood principles of the British
constitution, by a sovereign personally, or by the representative of the
sovereign duly authorised."
In these three paragraphs of the Quebec resolutions we see clearly
expressed the leading principles on which the Canadian federation
rests--a federation, with a central government having jurisdiction over
matters of common interest to the whole country comprised in the union,
and a number of provincial governments having the control and management
of certain local matters naturally and conveniently belonging to them,
each government being administered in accordance with the
well-understood principles of the British system of parliamentary
institutions.
The resolutions also defined in express terms the respective powers of
the central and provincial governments. Any subject that did not fall
within the enumerated powers of the provincial legislatures was placed
under the control of the general parliament. The convention recognised
the necessity of preventing, as far as possible, the difficulties that
had arisen in the working of the constitution of the United States,
where the residuary power of legislation is given to the people of the
respective states and not to the federal government. In a subsequent
chapter I give a brief summary of these and other details of the system
of government, generally laid down in the Quebec resolutions and
practically embodied in an imperial statute three years later.
Although we have no official report of the discussions of the Quebec
convention, we know on good authority that the question of providing
revenues for the provinces was one that gave the delegates the greatest
difficulty. In all the provinces the sources of revenue were chiefly
customs and excise-duties which had to be set apart for the general
government of the federation. Some of the delegates from Ontario, where
there had existed for many years an admirable system of municipal
government, which provided funds for education and local improvements,
recognised the advantages of direct taxation; but the representatives of
the other provinces would not consent to such a system, especially in
the case of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, where
there were no municipal institutions, and the people depended almost
exclusively on the annual votes of the legislature for the means to meet
their local necessities. All of the delegates, in fact, felt that to
force the maritime provinces to resort to direct taxes as the only
method of carrying on their government, would be probably fatal to the
success of the scheme, and it was finally decided that the central
government should grant annual subsidies, based on population, relative
debts, financial position, and such other facts as should be fairly
brought into the consideration of the case.
It is unfortunate that we have no full report of the deliberations and
debates of this great conference. We have only a fragmentary record from
which it is difficult to form any adequate conclusions as to the part
taken by the several delegates in the numerous questions which
necessarily came under their purview.[4] Under these circumstances, a
careful writer hesitates to form any positive opinion based upon these
reports of the discussions, but no one can doubt that the directing
spirit of the conference was Sir John Macdonald. Meagre as is the record
of what he said, we can yet see that his words were those of a man who
rose above the level of the mere politician, and grasped the magnitude
of the questions involved. What he aimed at especially was to follow as
closely as possible the fundamental principles of English parliamentary
government, and to engraft them upon the general system of federal
union. Mr. George Brown took a prominent part in the deliberations. His
opinions read curiously now. He was in favour of having the
lieutenant-governors appointed by the general government, and he was
willing to give them an effective veto over provincial legislation. He
advocated the election of a legislative chamber on a fixed day every
third year, not subject to a dissolution during its term--also an
adaptation of the American system. He went so far as to urge the
advisability of having the executive council elected for three years--by
the assembly, we may assume, though the imperfect report before us does
not state so--and also of giving the lieutenant-governor the right of
dismissing any of its members when the house was not sitting. Mr. Brown
consequently appears to have been the advocate, so far as the provinces
were concerned, of principles that prevail in the federal republic
across the border. He opposed the introduction of responsible
government, as it now obtains, in all the provinces of the Dominion,
while conceding its necessity for the central government.
[4: Mr. Joseph Pope, for years the able confidential secretary of Sir
John Macdonald, has edited and published all the official documents
bearing on the origin and evolution of the British North America Act of
1867; but despite all the ability and fidelity he has devoted to the
task the result is most imperfect and unsatisfactory on account of the
absence of any full or exact original report of proceedings.]
We gather from the report of discussions that the Prince Edward Island
delegates hesitated from the beginning to enter a union where their
province would necessarily have so small a numerical representation--one
of the main objections which subsequently operated against the island
coming into the confederation. With respect to education we see that it
was Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Galt, who was responsible for the
provision in the constitution which gives the general government and
parliament a certain control over provincial legislation in case the
rights of a Protestant or a Roman Catholic minority are prejudicially
affected. The minutes on this point are defective, but we have the
original motion on the subject, and a note of Sir John Macdonald himself
that it was passed, with the assent of all the provinces, at the
subsequent London conference in 1867. The majority of the delegates
appear from the outset to have supported strenuously the principle which
lies at the basis of the confederation, that all powers not expressly
reserved to the provinces should appertain to the general government, as
against the opposite principle, which, as Sir John Macdonald pointed
out, had led to great difficulties in the working of the federal system
in the United States. Sir John Macdonald also, with his usual sagacity,
showed that, in all cases of conflict of jurisdiction, recourse would be
necessarily made to the courts, as was the practice even then whenever
there was a conflict between imperial and Canadian statutes.
Addresses to the Queen embodying the Quebec resolutions were submitted
to the legislature of Canada during the winter of 1865, and passed in
both houses by large majorities after a very full discussion of the
merits of the scheme. The opposition in the assembly came chiefly from
Mr. Antoine A. Dorion, Mr. Luther H. Holton, Mr. Dunkin, Mr. Lucius Seth
Huntington, Mr. John Sandfield Macdonald, and other able Liberals who
were not disposed to follow Mr. Brown and his two colleagues in their
patriotic abandonment of "partyism."
The vote on the address was, in the council--Contents 45, Non-contents
15. In the assembly it stood--Yeas 91, Nays 33. The minority in the
assembly comprised 25 out of 65 representatives of French Canada, and
only 8 out of the 65 from Upper Canada. With the speaker in the chair
there were only 5 members absent on the taking of the final vote.
Efforts were made both in the council and assembly to obtain an
unequivocal expression of public opinion at the polls before the address
was submitted to the imperial government for final action. It was argued
with much force that the legislature had had no special mandate from the
people to carry out so vital a change in the political condition of the
provinces, but this argument had relatively little weight in either
house in view of the dominant public sentiment which, as it was obvious
to the most superficial observer, existed in the valley of the St.
Lawrence in favour of a scheme which seemed certain to settle the
difficulties so long in the way of stable government, and offered so
many auspicious auguries for the development of the provinces embraced
in federation.
Soon after the close of the session Messrs Macdonald, Galt, Cartier, and
Brown went to England to confer with the imperial authorities on various
matters of grave public import. The British government agreed to
guarantee a loan for the construction of the Intercolonial Railway and
gave additional assurances of their deep interest in the proposed
confederation. An understanding was reached with respect to the mutual
obligations of the parent state and the dependency to provide for the
defences of the country. Preliminary steps were taken in the direction
of acquiring the north-west from the Hudson's Bay Company on equitable
terms whenever their exact legal rights were ascertained. The report of
the delegates was laid before the Canadian parliament during a very
short session held in August and September of 1865. It was then that
parliament formally ratified the Civil Code of Lower Canada, with which
must be always honourably associated the name of Mr. Cartier.
In the maritime provinces, however, the prospect for some months was far
from encouraging. Much dissatisfaction was expressed with the financial
terms, and the haste with which the maritime delegates had yielded to
the propositions of the Canadian government and given their adhesion to
the larger scheme, when they were only authorised in the first instance
by their respective legislatures to consider the feasibility of a union
of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. In New
Brunswick Mr. Tilley found himself in a minority as a result of an
appeal to the people on the question in 1865, but his successor Mr.,
afterwards Sir, Albert Smith, minister of marine in the Mackenzie
government of 1873-78, was forced to resign a year later on some
question purposely raised by Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton Gordon, then
very anxious to carry the union before he left the province. A new
government was immediately formed by Mr. Peter Mitchell, a very
energetic Liberal politician--the first minister of marine in
the first Dominion ministry--who had notoriously influenced the
lieutenant-governor in his arbitrary action of practically dismissing
the Smith cabinet. On an appeal to the people Mr. Mitchell was
sustained, and the new legislature gave its approval to the union by a
large majority. The opinion then generally prevailed in New Brunswick
that a federation was essential to the security of the provinces, then
threatened by the Fenians, and would strengthen the hands of the parent
state on the American continent. In Nova Scotia the situation was
aggravated by the fact that the opposition was led by Mr. Howe, who had
always been the idol of a large party in the country, and an earnest and
consistent supporter of the right of the people to be first consulted on
every measure immediately affecting their interests. He succeeded
in creating a powerful sentiment against the terms of the
measure--especially the financial conditions--and it was not possible
during 1865 to carry it in the legislature. It was not attempted to
submit the question to the polls, as was done in New Brunswick, indeed
such a course would have been fatal to its progress; but it was
eventually sanctioned by a large vote of the two houses. A strong
influence was exerted by the fact that confederation was approved by the
imperial government, which sent out Sir Fenwick Williams of Kars as
lieutenant-governor with special instructions that, both Canada and New
Brunswick having given their consent, it was proposed to make such
changes in the financial terms as would be more favourable to the
maritime provinces. In Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland it was not
possible for the advocates of federation to move successfully in the
matter. The opposition to the scheme of union, as proposed at Quebec,
was so bitter in these two provinces that the delegates found it useless
to press the matter in their legislatures.
In the meantime, while confederation was on the eve of accomplishment,
the people of Canada were subjected to an attack which supplied the
strongest possible evidence of the necessity for a union enabling them
to combine for purposes of general defence as well as other matters of
national importance. In the month of April, 1866, the Fenians, an Irish
organisation in the United States, made an insignificant demonstration
on the New Brunswick frontier, which had no other effect than to excite
the loyal action of the people of the province and strengthen the hands
of the advocates of confederation. In the beginning of June a
considerable body of the same order, under the command of one O'Neil,
crossed from Buffalo into the Niagara district of Upper Canada and won a
temporary success near Ridgeway, where the Queen's Own, a body of
Toronto Volunteers, chiefly students and other young men, were badly
handled by Colonel Booker. Subsequently Colonel Dennis and a small
detachment of militia were surprised at Fort Erie by O'Neil. The
knowledge that a large force of regulars and volunteers were marching
against him under Colonel Peacock forced O'Neil and his men to disperse
and find their way back to the United States, where a number were
arrested by the orders of the Washington government. The Eastern
Townships of Lower Canada were also invaded but the raiders retreated
before a Canadian force with greater rapidity than they had shown in
entering the province, and found themselves prisoners as soon as they
crossed the frontier. Canada was kept in a state of anxiety for some
months after these reckless invasions of a country where the Irish like
all other nationalities have always had the greatest possible freedom;
but the vigilance of the authorities and the readiness of the people of
Canada to defend their soil prevented any more hostile demonstrations
from the United States. The prisoners taken in the Niagara district were
treated with a degree of clemency which their shameless conduct did not
merit from an outraged people. No persons were ever executed, though a
number were confined for a while in Kingston penitentiary. The invasion
had the effect of stimulating the patriotism of the Canadian people to
an extraordinary degree, and of showing them the necessity that existed
for improving their home forces, whose organisation and equipment proved
sadly defective during the invasion.
In the summer of 1866 the Canadian legislature met for the last time
under the provisions of the Union Act of 1840, and passed addresses to
the Queen, setting forth constitutions for the new provinces of Upper
and Lower Canada, afterwards incorporated in the imperial act of union.
A conference of delegates from the provinces of Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, and Canada was held in the December of 1866 at the
Westminster Palace Hotel in the City of London. The members on behalf of
Canada were Messrs Macdonald, Cartier, Galt, McDougall, Langevin, and
W.P. Howland (in the place of Mr. Brown); on behalf of Nova Scotia,
Messrs Tupper, Henry, McCully, Archibald, and J.W. Ritchie (who took Mr.
Dickey's place); of New Brunswick, Messrs Tilley, Johnson, Mitchell,
Fisher, and R.D. Wilmot. The last named, who took the place of Mr.
Steeves, was a Loyalist by descent, and afterwards became speaker of
the senate and a lieutenant-governor of his native province. Their
deliberations led to some changes in the financial provisions of the
Quebec plan, made with the view of satisfying the opposition as far as
possible in the maritime provinces but without disturbing the
fundamental basis to which Canada had already pledged itself in the
legislative session of 1865. All the difficulties being now removed the
Earl of Carnarvon, then secretary of state for the colonies, submitted
to the house of lords on the 17th of February, 1867, a bill intituled,
"An act for the union of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the
government thereof; and for purposes connected therewith." It passed the
two houses with very little discussion, and the royal assent was given
to it on the 29th of March of the same year as "The British North
America Act, 1867." It is interesting to know that in the original draft
of the bill the united provinces were called the "Kingdom of Canada,"
but when it came eventually before parliament they were designated as
the "Dominion of Canada"; and the writer had it from Sir John Macdonald
himself that this amendment did not emanate from the colonial delegates
but from the imperial ministry, one of whose members was afraid of
wounding the susceptibilities of United States statesmen.
During the same session the imperial parliament passed a bill to
guarantee a loan of three million pounds sterling for the construction
of an intercolonial railway between Quebec and the coast of the maritime
provinces--a work recognised as indispensable to the success of the new
federation. Her Majesty's proclamation, giving effect to the Union Act,
was issued on the 22nd May, 1867, declaring that "on and after the first
of July, 1867, the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick,
shall form and be one Dominion, under the name of Canada."
CHAPTER IX.
CONFEDERATION. 1867--1900.
SECTION I--The first parliament of the Dominion of Canada. 1867--1872.
The Dominion of Canada took its place among the federal states of the
world on the first of July, 1867. Upper and Lower Canada now became
known as Ontario and Quebec, while Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
retained their original historic names. The first governor-general was
Viscount Monk, who had been head of the executive government of Canada
throughout all the stages of confederation. He was an Irish nobleman,
who had been a junior lord of the treasury in Lord Palmerston's
government. He was a collateral descendant of the famous general of the
commonwealth, created Duke of Albemarle after the Restoration. Without
being a man of remarkable ability he was gifted with much discretion,
and gave all the weight of his influence to bring about a federation,
whose great benefits from an imperial as well as a colonial point of
view he fully recognised.
The prime minister of the first federal government was naturally Sir
John Macdonald, who chose as his colleagues Sir George E. Cartier, Sir
S.L. Tilley,--to give them all their later titles--Sir A.T. Galt, Sir
W.P. Howland, Mr. William McDougall, Mr. P. Mitchell, Sir A.G.
Archibald, Mr. A.F. Blair, Sir A. Campbell, Sir H.L. Langevin, Sir E.
Kenny, and Mr. J.C. Chapais. Mr. Brown had retired from the coalition
government of 1864 some months before the union, nominally on a
disagreement with his colleagues as to the best mode of conducting
negotiations for a new reciprocity treaty with the United States. The
ministry had appointed delegates to confer with the Washington
government on the subject, but, while Mr. Brown recognised the
desirability of reciprocal trade relations with the United States on
equitable conditions, he did not deem it expedient to appear before
American statesmen "as suitors for any terms they might be pleased to
grant." A general impression, however, prevailed that this difference of
opinion was not the real reason of Mr. Brown's resignation, but that
the animating motive was his intense jealousy of Sir John Macdonald,
whose dominant influence in the government he could no longer brook.
The governments of the four provinces were also regularly constituted at
this time in accordance with the act of union. The first
lieutenant-governor of Ontario was Lieutenant-General Stisted, of
Quebec, Sir Narcisse Belleau; of Nova Scotia, Lieutenant-General Sir
Fenwick Williams, the hero of Kars; of New Brunswick, Major-General
Doyle, but only for three months. With the exception of the case of
Quebec, these appointments were only temporary. It was considered
prudent to select military men in view of the continuous reports of
Fenian aggression. Sir William Howland became, a year later,
lieutenant-governor of Ontario, Major-General Sir Francis Hastings Doyle
of Nova Scotia in the fall of 1867, and Hon. L.A. Wilmot, of New
Brunswick in July 1868. The first prime minister of Ontario was Mr. John
Sandfield Macdonald, who had been leader of a Canadian ministry before
confederation. He had been a moderate Liberal in politics, and opposed
at the outset to the federal union, but before 1867 he became identified
with the Liberal-Conservative party and gave his best assistance to the
success of the federation. In Quebec, Mr. Pierre Chauveau, a man of high
culture, formed the first government, which was also associated with the
Liberal-Conservative party. In New Brunswick, Attorney-General Wetmore
was the first prime minister, but he was appointed a judge in 1870, and
Mr. George E. King, a judge of the supreme court of Canada some years
later, became his successor. In Nova Scotia, Mr. Hiram Blanchard, a
Liberal and unionist, formed a government, but it was defeated at the
elections by an overwhelming majority by the anti-unionists, and Mr.
Annand, the old friend of Mr. Howe, became first minister.
The elections for the Dominion house of commons took place in the
summer of 1867, and Sir John Macdonald's government was sustained by
nearly three-fourths of the entire representation. The most notable
incident in this contest was the defeat of Mr. Brown. Soon after his
resignation in 1866 he assumed his old position of hostility to Sir John
Macdonald and the Conservatives. At a later date, when the Liberals were
in office, he accepted a seat in the senate, but in the meantime he
continued to manage the _Globe_ and denounce his too successful and wily
antagonist in its columns with his usual vehemence.
The first parliament of the new Dominion met in the autumn of 1867 in
the new buildings at Ottawa--also chosen as the seat of government of
the federation--and was probably the ablest body of men that ever
assembled for legislative purposes within the limits of old or new
Canada. In the absence of the legislation which was subsequently passed
both in Ontario and Quebec against dual representation--or the election
of the same representatives to both the Dominion parliament and the
local legislatures--it comprised the leading public men of all parties
in the two provinces in question. Such legislation had been enacted in
the maritime provinces before 1867, but it did not prevent the ablest
men of New Brunswick from selecting the larger and more ambitious field
of parliamentary action. In Nova Scotia Sir Charles Tupper was the only
man who emerged from the battle in which so many unionists were for the
moment defeated. Even Sir Adams Archibald, the secretary of state, was
defeated in a county where he had been always returned by a large
majority. Mr. Howe came in at the head of a strong phalanx of
anti-unionists--"Repealers" as they called themselves for a short time.
The legislation of the first parliament during its five years of
existence was noteworthy in many respects. The departments of government
were reorganised with due regard to the larger interests now intrusted
to their care. The new department of marine and fisheries, rendered
necessary by the admission of the maritime provinces, was placed under
the direction of Mr. Peter Mitchell, then a member of the senate, who
had done so much to bring New Brunswick into the union. An act was
passed to provide for the immediate commencement of the Intercolonial
Railway, which was actually completed by the 1st of July, 1876, under
the supervision of Mr., now Sir, Sandford Fleming, as chief government
engineer; and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec were at last directly
connected with the maritime sections of the Dominion.
The repeal agitation in Nova Scotia received its first blow by the
defection of Mr. Howe, who had been elected to the house of commons. He
proceeded to England in 1868 with an address from the assembly of Nova
Scotia, demanding a repeal of the union, but he made no impression
whatever on a government and parliament convinced of the necessity of
the measure from an imperial as well as colonial point of view. Dr.
Tupper was present on behalf of the Dominion government to answer any
arguments that the Repealers might advance against the union. The visit
to England convinced Mr. Howe that further agitation on the question
might be injurious to British connection, and that the wisest course was
to make the union as useful as possible to the provinces. Then, as
always, he was true to those principles of fidelity to the crown and
empire which had forced his father to seek refuge in Nova Scotia, and
which had been ever the mainspring of his action, even in the trying
days when he and others were struggling for responsible government. He
believed always in constitutional agitation, not in rebellion. He now
agreed to enter the ministry as president of the council on condition
that the financial basis, on which Nova Scotia had been admitted to the
federation, was enlarged by the parliament of Canada. These "better
terms" were brought before the Canadian parliament in the session of
1869, and provided for the granting of additional allowances to the
provinces, calculated on increased amounts of debt as compared with the
maximum fixed by the terms of the British North America Act of 1867.
They met with strong opposition from Edward Blake, a very eminent
lawyer and Reformer of Ontario, on the ground that they violated the
original compact of union as set forth in the British North America Act;
but despite the opposition of the western Reformers they were ratified
by a large majority, who recognised the supreme necessity of
conciliating Nova Scotia. On account of his decision to yield to the
inevitable, Mr. Howe incurred the bitter antagonism of many men who had
been his staunch followers in all the political contests of Nova Scotia,
and it was with the greatest difficulty that he was re-elected for the
county of Hants as a minister of the crown. He remained in the
government until May, 1873, when he was appointed lieutenant-governor of
Nova Scotia. The worries of a long life of political struggles, and
especially the fatigue and exposure of the last election in Hants, had
impaired his health and made it absolutely necessary that he should
retire from active politics. Only a month after his appointment, the
printer, poet and politician died in the famous old government house,
admittance to which had been denied him in the stormy days when he
fought Lord Falkland. It was a fit ending, assuredly, to the life of the
statesman, who, with eloquent pen and voice, in the days when his
opinions were even offensive to governors and social leaders, ever urged
the right of his countrymen to a full measure of self-government.
Canada and all other parts of the British empire were deeply shocked on
an April day of 1868 by the tragic announcement of the assassination of
the brilliant Irishman, Thomas D'Arcy McGee on his return late at night
from his parliamentary duties. He had never been forgiven by the Irish
enemies of England for his strenuous efforts in Canada to atone for the
indiscretion of his thoughtless youth. His remains were buried with all
the honours that the state could give him, and proper provision was made
for the members of his family by that parliament of which he had been
one of the most notable figures. The murderer, Thomas Whelan, a member
of the secret society that had ordered his death, was executed at
Ottawa on the 11th February, 1869.
SECTION 2.--Extension of the Dominion from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Ocean. 1869-1873.
The government and parliament, to whom were entrusted the destinies of
the federation of four provinces, had a great work to accomplish in the
way of perfecting and extending the Dominion, which was necessarily
incomplete whilst its western territorial limits were confined to the
boundaries of Ontario, and the provinces of British Columbia on the
Pacific coast and of Prince Edward Island in the Gulf of the St.
Lawrence remained in a position of isolation. The provisions of the
British North America Act of 1867 provided in general terms for the
addition of the immense territories which extend from the head of Lake
Superior in a north-westerly direction as far as the Rocky Mountains.
Three great basins divide these territories; Hudson Bay Basin, with
probably a drainage of 2,250,000 square miles; the Winnipeg sub-basin
tributary to the former, with nearly 400,000 square miles; the Mackenzie
River basin with nearly 700,000 square miles. The Winnipeg basin covers
a great area of prairie lands, whose luxuriant grasses and wild flowers
were indented for centuries only by the tracks of herds of innumerable
buffaloes on their way to the tortuous and sluggish streams which flow
through that wide region. This plain slopes gently towards the arctic
seas into which its waters flow, and is also remarkable for rising
gradually from its eastern limits in three distinct elevations or
steppes as far as the foot hills of the Rocky Mountains. Forests of
trees, small for the most part, are found only when the prairies are
left and we reach the more picturesque undulating country through which
the North Saskatchewan flows. An extraordinary feature of this great
region is the continuous chain of lakes and rivers which stretch from
the basin of the St. Lawrence as far as the distant northern sea into
which the Mackenzie, the second largest river in North America, carries
its enormous volume of waters. As we stand on the rugged heights of
land which divides the Winnipeg from the Laurentian basin we are within
easy reach of rivers which flow, some to arctic seas, some to the
Atlantic, and some to the Gulf of Mexico. If we ascend the Saskatchewan
River, from Lake Winnipeg to the Rocky Mountains, we shall find
ourselves within a measurable distance not only of the sources of the
Mackenzie, one of whose tributaries reaches the head waters of the
Yukon, a river of golden promise like the Pactolus of the eastern
lands--but also within reach of the head waters of the rapid Columbia,
and the still more impetuous Fraser, both of which pour into the Pacific
Ocean, as well as of the Missouri, which here accumulates strength for
its alliance with the Mississippi, that great artery of a more southern
land. It was to this remarkable geographical feature that Oliver Wendell
Holmes referred in the following well-known verses:
"Yon stream whose sources run
Turned by a pebble's edge,
Is Athabaska rolling toward the Sun
Through the cleft mountain ledge."
"The slender rill had strayed,
But for the slanting stone,
To evening's ocean, with the tangled braid
Of foam-flecked Oregon."
[ILLUSTRATION: MAP OF BRITISH AMERICA TO ILLUSTRATE THE CHARTER OF THE
HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY]
A great company claimed for two centuries exclusive trading privileges
over a large portion of these territories, known as Rupert's Land, by
virtue of a charter given by King Charles II, on the 2nd May, 1670, to
Prince Rupert, the Duke of Albemarle, and other Englishmen of rank and
wealth. The early operations of this Company of Adventurers of England
were confined to the vicinity of Hudson and James Bays. The French of
Canada for many years disputed the rights of the English company to this
great region, but it was finally ceded to England by the Treaty of
Utrecht. Twenty years after the Treaty of Paris (1763) a number of
wealthy and enterprising merchants, chiefly Scotch, established at
Montreal the North-West Company for the purpose of trading in those
north-western territories to which French traders had been the first to
venture. This new company carried on its operations with such activity
that in thirty years' time it employed four thousand persons and
occupied sixty posts in different parts of the territories.
The Hudson's Bay Company's headquarters was York Factory, on the great
bay to which British ships, every summer, brought out supplies for the
posts. The North-West Company followed the route of the old French
traders from Lachine by way of the Ottawa or the lakes to the head of
Lake Superior, and its principal depot was Fort William on the
Kaministiquia River. The servants of the North-West Company became
indefatigable explorers of the territories as far as the Pacific Ocean
and arctic seas. Mr., afterwards Sir, Alexander Mackenzie first followed
the river which now bears his name, to the Arctic Ocean, into which it
pours its mighty volume of water. He was also the first to cross the
Rocky Mountains and reach the Pacific coast. Simon Fraser, another
employee of the company, discovered, in 1808, the river which still
recalls his exploits; and a little later, David Thompson, from whom a
river is named, crossed further south and reached Oregon by the Columbia
River. The energetic operations of the North-west Company so seriously
affected the business of the Hudson's Bay Company that in some years the
latter declared no dividends. The rivalry between the two companies
reached its highest between 1811 and 1818, when Thomas Douglas, fifth
Earl of Selkirk, who was an enthusiastic promoter of colonisation in
British North America, obtained from the Hudson's Bay Company an immense
tract of land in the Red River country and made an earnest effort to
establish a Scotch settlement at Kildonan. But his efforts to people
Assiniboia--the Indian name he gave to his wide domain--were baulked by
the opposition of the employees of the North-west Company, who regarded
this colonising scheme as fatal to the fur trade. In the territory
conveyed to Lord Selkirk, the Montreal Company had established posts
upon every river and lake, while the Hudson's Bay Company had only one
fort of importance, Fort Douglas, within a short distance of the
North-west Company's post of Fort Gibraltar, at the confluence of the
Red and Assiniboine Rivers, where the city of Winnipeg now stands. The
quarrel between the Scotch settlers who were under the protection of the
Hudson's Bay Company and the North-westers, chiefly composed of French
Canadians and French half-breeds, or _Métis_ culminated in 1816, in the
massacre of Governor Semple and twenty-six other persons connected with
the new colony by a number of half-breeds. Two years later, a number of
persons who had been arrested for this murder were tried at York in
Upper Canada, but the evidence was so conflicting on account of the
false swearing on the part of the witnesses that the jury were forced to
acquit the accused. Lord Selkirk died at Pau, in 1820, but not before he
had made an attempt to assist his young settlement, almost broken up by
the shameful attack of 1816.
The little colony managed to exist, but its difficulties were aggravated
from time to time by the ravages of clouds of grasshoppers which
devastated the territories and brought the people to the verge of
starvation. In March, 1821, the North-west Company made over all their
property to the older company, which now reigned supreme throughout the
territories. All doubts as to their rights were set at rest by an act of
parliament giving them a monopoly of trade for twenty-one years in what
were then generally known as the Indian territories, that vast region
which lay beyond the confines of Rupert's Land, and was not strictly
covered by the charter of 1670. This act was re-enacted in 1838 for
another twenty-one years. No further extension, however, was ever
granted, as an agitation had commenced in Canada by 1859 for the
surrender of the company's privileges and the opening up of the
territories, so long a great "lone land," to enterprise and settlement.
When the two rival companies were united, Mr., afterwards Sir, George
Simpson, became governor, and he continued to occupy that position until
1860, when he died in his residence at Lachine, near Montreal. This
energetic man largely extended the geographical knowledge of the wide
dominions entrusted to his charge, though like all the servants of the
company, he discouraged settlement and minimised the agricultural
capabilities of the country, when examined in 1857 before a committee of
the English house of commons. In 1837 the company purchased from Lord
Selkirk's heirs all their rights in Assiniboia. The Scotch settlers and
the French half-breeds were now in close contiguity to each other on the
Red and Assiniboine Rivers. The company established a simple form of
government for the maintenance of law and order. In the course of time,
their council included not only their principal factors and officials,
but a few persons selected from the inhabitants. On the whole, law and
order prevailed in the settlements, although there was always latent a
certain degree of sullen discontent against the selfish rule of a mere
fur company, invested with such great powers. The great object of the
company was always to keep out the pioneers of settlement, and give no
information of the value of the land and resources of their vast domain.
Some years before the federation of the British-American provinces the
public men of Canada had commenced an agitation against the company,
with the view of relieving from its monopoly a country whose resources
were beginning to be known. Colonial delegates on several occasions
interviewed the imperial authorities on the subject, but no practical
results were obtained until federation became an accomplished fact.
Then, at length, the company recognised the necessity of yielding to
the pressure that was brought to bear upon them by the British
government, at a time when the interests of the empire as well as of the
new Dominion demanded the abolition of a monopoly so hostile to the
conditions of modern progress in British North America. In 1868
successful negotiations took place between a Canadian delegation--Sir
George Cartier and the Hon. William Macdougall--and the Hudson's Bay
Company's representatives for the surrender of their imperial domain.
Canada agreed to pay £300,000 sterling, and to reserve certain lands for
the company. The terms were approved by the Canadian parliament in 1869,
and an act was passed for the temporary government of Rupert's Land and
the North-west territory when regularly transferred to Canada. In the
summer of that year, surveyors were sent under Colonel Dennis to make
surveys of townships in Assiniboia; and early in the autumn Mr.
Macdougall was appointed lieutenant-governor of the territories, with
the understanding that he should not act in an official capacity until
he was authoritatively informed from Ottawa of the legal transfer of the
country to the Canadian government. Mr. Macdougall left for Fort Garry
in September, but he was unable to reach Red River on account of a
rising of the half-breeds. The cause of the troubles is to be traced not
simply to the apathy of the Hudson's Bay Company's officials, who took
no steps to prepare the settlers for the change of government, nor to
the fact that the Canadian authorities neglected to consult the wishes
of the inhabitants, but chiefly to the belief that prevailed among the
ignorant French half-breeds that it was proposed to take their lands
from them. Sir John Macdonald admitted, at a later time, that much of
the trouble arose "from the lack of conciliation, tact and prudence
shown by the surveyors during the summer of 1869." Mr. Macdougall also
appears to have disobeyed his instructions, for he attempted to set up
his government by a _coup-de-main_ on the 1st December, though he had no
official information of the transfer of the country to Canada, and was
not legally entitled to perform a single official act.
The rebellious half-breeds of the Red River settlement formed a
provisional government, in which one Louis Riel was the controlling
spirit from the beginning until the end of the revolt. He was a French
Canadian half-breed, who had been educated in one of the French Canadian
colleges, and always exercised much influence over his ignorant,
impulsive, easily-deluded countrymen. The total population living in the
settlements of Assiniboia at that time was about twelve thousand, of
whom nearly one-half were _Métis_ or half-breeds, mostly the descendants
of the _coureurs-de-bois_ and _voyageurs_ of early times. So long as the
buffalo ranged the prairies in large numbers, they were hunters, and
cared nothing for the relatively tame pursuit of agriculture. Their
small farms generally presented a neglected, impoverished appearance.
The great majority had adopted the habits of their Indian lineage, and
would neglect their farms for weeks to follow the scarce buffalo to
their distant feeding grounds. The Scotch half-breed, the offspring of
the marriage of Scotchmen with Indian women, still illustrated the
industry and energy of his paternal race, and rose superior to Indian
surroundings. It was among the French half-breeds that Riel found his
supporters. The Scotch and English settlers had disapproved of the
sudden transfer of the territory in which they and their parents had so
long lived, without any attempt having been made to consult their
feelings as to the future government of the country. Though they took no
active part in the rebellion, they allowed matters to take their course
with indifference and sullen resignation. The employees of the Hudson's
Bay Company were dissatisfied with the sale of the company's rights, as
it meant, in their opinion, a loss of occupation and influence. The
portion of the population that was always quite ready to hasten the
acquisition of the territory by Canada, and resolutely opposed Riel from
the outset, was the small Canadian element, which was led by Dr.
Schultz, an able, determined man, afterwards lieutenant-governor of
Manitoba. Riel imprisoned and insulted several of the loyal party who
opposed him. At last he ruthlessly ordered the execution of one Thomas
Scott, an Ontario man, who had defied him.
While these events were in progress, the Canadian government enlisted in
the interests of law and order the services of Mr. Donald Smith, now
Lord Strathcona, who had been long connected with the Hudson's Bay
Company, and also of Archbishop Taché, of St. Boniface--the principal
French settlement in the country--who returned from Rome to act as
mediator between the Canadian authorities and his deluded flock.
Unhappily, before the Archbishop could reach Fort Garry, Scott had been
murdered, and the Dominion government could not consider themselves
bound by the terms they were ready to offer to the insurgents under a
very different condition of things. The murder of Scott had clearly
brought Riel and his associates under the provisions of the criminal
law; and public opinion in Ontario would not tolerate an amnesty, as was
hastily promised by the Archbishop, in his zeal to bring the rebellion
to an end. A force of 1200 regulars and volunteers was sent to the Red
River towards the end of May, 1870, under the command of Colonel
Wolseley, now a field-marshal and a peer of the realm. Riel fled across
the frontier before the troops, after a tedious journey of three months
from the day they left Toronto, reached Fort Garry. Peace was restored
once more to the settlers of Assiniboia. The Canadian government had had
several interviews with delegates from the discontented people of Red
River, who had prepared what they called "a Bill of Rights," and it was
therefore able intelligently to decide on the best form of governing the
territories. The imperial government completed the formal transfer of
the country to Canada, and the Canadian parliament in 1870 passed an act
to provide for the government of a new province of Manitoba.
Representation was given to the people in both houses of the Canadian
parliament, and provision was made for a provincial government on the
same basis that existed in the old provinces of the Dominion. The
lieutenant-governor of the province was also, for the present, to govern
the unorganised portion of the North-west with the assistance of a
council of eleven persons. The first legislature of Manitoba was elected
in the early part of 1871, and a provincial government was formed, with
Mr. Albert Boyd as provincial secretary. The first lieutenant-governor
was Sir Adams Archibald, the eminent Nova Scotian, who had been defeated
in the elections of 1867. Mr. Macdougall had returned from the
North-west frontier a deeply disappointed man, who would never admit
that he had shown any undue haste in commencing the exercise of his
powers as governor. Some years later he disappeared from active public
life, after a career during which he had performed many useful services
for Canada.
In another chapter on the relations between Canada and the United States
I shall refer to the results of the international commission which met
at Washington in 1870, to consider the Alabama difficulty, the fishery
dispute, and other questions, the settlement of which could be no longer
delayed. In 1870, while the Red River settlements were still in a
troublous state, the Fenians made two attempts to invade the Eastern
Townships, but they were easily repulsed and forced to cross the
frontier. They were next heard of in 1871, when they attempted, under
the leadership of the irrepressible O'Neil, who had also been engaged in
1870, and of O'Donohue, one of Riel's rebellious associates, to make a
raid into Manitoba by way of Pembina, but their prompt arrest by a
company of United States troops was the inglorious conclusion of the
last effort of a dying and worthless organisation to strike a blow at
England through Canada.
The Dominion government was much embarrassed for some years by the
complications that arose from Riel's revolt and the murder of Scott. An
agitation grew up in Ontario for the arrest of the murderers; and when
Mr. Blake succeeded Mr. Sandfield Macdonald as leader of the Ontario
government, a large reward was offered for the capture of Riel and such
of his associates as were still in the territories. On the other hand,
Sir George Cartier and the French Canadians were in favour of an
amnesty. The Macdonald ministry consequently found itself on the horns
of a dilemma; and the political tension was only relieved for a time
when Riel and Lepine left Manitoba, on receiving a considerable sum of
money from Sir John Macdonald. Although this fact was not known until
1875, when a committee of the house of commons investigated the affairs
of the North-west, there was a general impression after 1870 throughout
Ontario--an impression which had much effect on the general election of
1872--that the government had no sincere desire to bring Riel and his
associates to justice.
In 1871 the Dominion welcomed into the union the great mountainous
province of British Columbia, whose picturesque shores recall the
memories of Cook, Vancouver and other maritime adventurers of the last
century, and whose swift rivers are associated with the exploits of
Mackenzie, Thompson, Quesnel, Fraser and other daring men, who first saw
the impetuous waters which rush through the cañons of the great
mountains of the province until at last they empty themselves into the
Pacific Ocean. For many years Vancouver Island and the mainland, first
known as New Caledonia, were under the control of the Hudson's Bay
Company. Vancouver Island was nominally made a crown colony in 1849;
that is, a colony without representative institutions, in which the
government is carried on by a governor and council, appointed by the
crown. The official authority continued from 1851 practically in the
hands of the company's chief factor, Sir James Douglas, a man of signal
ability, who was also the governor of the infant colony. In 1856 an
assembly was called, despite the insignificant population of the island.
In 1858 New Caledonia was organised as a crown colony under the name of
British Columbia, as a consequence of the gold discoveries which brought
in many people. Sir James Douglas was also appointed governor of
British Columbia, and continued in that position until 1864. In 1866,
the colony was united with Vancouver Island under the general
designation of British Columbia. When the province entered the
confederation of Canada in 1871 it was governed by a lieutenant-governor
appointed by the crown, a legislature composed of heads of the public
departments and several elected members. With the entrance of this
province, so famous now for its treasures of gold, coal and other
minerals in illimitable quantities, must be associated the name of Sir
Joseph Trutch, the first lieutenant-governor under the auspices of the
federation. The province did not come into the union with the same
constitution that was enjoyed by the other provinces, but it was
expressly declared in the terms of union that "the government of the
Dominion will readily consent to the introduction of responsible
government when desired by the inhabitants of British Columbia."
Accordingly, soon after its admission, the province obtained a
constitution similar to that of other provinces: a lieutenant-governor,
a responsible executive council and an elective assembly. Representation
was given it in both houses of the Dominion parliament, and the members
took their seats during the session of 1872. In addition to the payment
of a considerable subsidy for provincial expenses, the Dominion
government pledged itself to secure the construction of a railway within
two years from the date of union to connect the seaboard of British
Columbia with the railway system of Canada, to commence the work
simultaneously at both ends of the line, and to complete it within ten
years from the admission of the colony to the confederation.
In 1872 a general election was held in the Dominion, and while the
government was generally sustained, it came back with a minority from
Ontario. The Riel agitation, the Washington Treaty, and the undertaking
to finish the Pacific railway in so short a time, were questions which
weakened the ministry. The most encouraging feature of the elections
was the complete defeat of the anti-unionists in Nova Scotia,--the
prelude to their disappearance as a party--all the representatives, with
the exception of one member, being pledged to support a government whose
chief merit was its persistent effort to cement the union and extend it
from ocean to ocean. Sir Francis Hincks, finance minister since 1870,
was defeated in Ontario and Sir George Cartier in Montreal. Both these
gentlemen found constituencies elsewhere, but Sir George Cartier never
took his seat, as his health had been seriously impaired, and he died in
England in 1873. The state gave a public funeral to this great French
Canadian, always animated by a sincere desire to weld the two races
together on principles of compromise and justice. Sir Francis Hincks
also disappeared from public life in 1873, and died at Montreal in 1885
from an attack of malignant small-pox. The sad circumstances of his
death forbade any public or even private display, and the man who filled
so many important positions in the empire was carried to the grave with
those precautions which are necessary in the case of those who fall
victims to an infectious disease.
But while these two eminent men disappeared from the public life of
Canada, two others began now to occupy a more prominent place in
Dominion affairs. These were Mr. Edward Blake and Mr. Alexander
Mackenzie, who had retired from the Ontario legislature when an act was
passed, as in other provinces, against dual representation, which made
it necessary for them to elect between federal and provincial politics.
Sir Oliver Mowat, who had retired from the bench, was chosen prime
minister of Ontario on the 25th October, 1872, and continued to hold the
position with great success and profit to the province until 1896, when
he became minister of justice in the Liberal government formed by Sir
Wilfrid Laurier.
In 1873 Prince Edward Island yielded to the influences which had been
working for some years in the direction of union, and allied her
fortunes with those of her sister provinces. The public men who were
mainly instrumental in bringing about this happy result, after much
discussion in the legislature and several conferences with the Dominion
government, were the following: Mr. R.P. Haythorne, afterwards a
senator; Mr. David Laird, at a later time minister in Mr. Mackenzie's
government and a lieutenant-governor of the North-west territories; Mr.
James C. Pope, who became a member of Sir John Macdonald's cabinet in
1879; Mr. T.H. Haviland, and Mr. G.W. Howlan, who were in later years
lieutenant-governors of the island. The terms of union made not only
very favourable financial arrangements for the support of the provincial
government, but also allowed a sum of money for the purpose of
extinguishing the claims of the landlords to whom the greater portion of
the public domain had been given by the British government more than a
hundred years before. The constitution of the executive authority and
the legislature remained as before confederation. Adequate
representation was allowed to the island in the Canadian parliament, and
the members accordingly took their places in the senate and the house of
commons during the short October session of 1873, when Sir John
Macdonald's government resigned on account of transactions arising out
of the first efforts to construct the Canadian Pacific railway.
The Dominion was now extended for a distance of about 3,500 miles, from
the island of Prince Edward in the east to the island of Vancouver in
the west. The people of the great island of Newfoundland, the oldest
colony of the British crown in North America, have, however, always
shown a determined opposition to the proposed federation, from the time
when their delegates returned from the Quebec convention of 1864.
Negotiations have taken place more than once for the entrance of the
island into the federal union, but so far no satisfactory arrangement
has been attained. The advocates of union, down to the present time,
have never been able to create that strong public opinion which would
sustain any practical movement in the direction of carrying Newfoundland
out of its unfortunate position of insular, selfish isolation, and
making it an active partner in the material, political, and social
progress of the provinces of the Canadian Dominion. Financial and
political difficulties have steadily hampered the development of the
island until very recently, and the imperial government has been obliged
to intervene for the purpose of bringing about an adjustment of
questions which, more than once, have rendered the operation of local
self-government very troublesome. The government of the Dominion, on its
side, while always ready to welcome the island into the confederation,
has been perplexed by the difficulty of making satisfactory financial
arrangements for the admission of a colony, heavily burdened with debt,
and occupying a position by no means so favourable as that of the
provinces now comprised within the Dominion. Some Canadians also see
some reason for hesitation on the part of the Dominion in the existence
of the French shore question, which prejudicially affects the
territorial interests of a large portion of the coast of the island, and
affords a forcible example of the little attention paid to colonial
interests in those old times when English statesmen were chiefly swayed
by considerations of European policy.
SECTION 3.--Summary of noteworthy events from 1873 until 1900.
On the 4th November, 1873, Sir John Macdonald placed his resignation in
the hands of the governor-general, the Earl of Dufferin; and the first
ministry of the Dominion came to an end after six years of office. The
circumstances of this resignation were regrettable in the extreme. In
1872 two companies received charters for the construction of the
Canadian Pacific railway--one of them under the direction of probably
the wealthiest man in Canada, Sir Hugh Allan of Montreal, and the other
under the presidency of the Honourable David Macpherson, a capitalist of
Toronto. The government was unwilling for political reasons to give the
preference to either of these companies, and tried to bring about an
amalgamation. While negotiations were proceeding with this object in
view, the general elections of 1872 came on, and Sir Hugh Allan made
large contributions to the funds of the Conservative party. The facts
were disclosed in 1873 before a royal commission appointed by the
governor-general to inquire into charges made in the Canadian house of
commons by a prominent Liberal, Mr. Huntington. An investigation ordered
by the house when the charges were first brought forward, had failed
chiefly on account of the legal inability of the committee to take
evidence under oath; and the government then advised the appointment of
the commission in question. Parliament was called together in October,
1873, to receive the report of the commissioners, and after a long and
vehement debate Sir John Macdonald, not daring to test the opinion of
the house by a vote, immediately resigned. In justice to Sir John
Macdonald it must be stated that Sir Hugh Allan knew, before he
subscribed a single farthing, that the privilege of building the railway
could be conceded only to an amalgamated company. When it was shown some
months after the elections that the proposed amalgamation could not be
effected, the government issued a royal charter to a new company in
which all the provinces were fairly represented, and in which Sir Hugh
Allan appears at first to have had no special influence, although the
directors of their own motion, subsequently selected him as president on
account of his wealth and business standing in Canada. Despite Sir John
Macdonald's plausible explanations to the governor-general, and his
vigorous and even pathetic appeal to the house before he resigned, the
whole transaction was unequivocally condemned by sound public opinion.
His own confidential secretary, whom he had chosen before his death as
his biographer, admits that even a large body of his faithful supporters
"were impelled to the conclusion that a government which had benefited
politically by large sums of money contributed by a person with whom it
was negotiating on the part of the Dominion, could no longer command
their confidence or support, and that for them the time had come to
choose between their conscience and their party."
The immediate consequence of this very unfortunate transaction was the
formation of a Liberal government by Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, the leader
of the opposition, who had entered the old parliament of Canada in 1861,
and had been treasurer in the Ontario ministry led by Mr. Blake until
1872. He was Scotch by birth, and a stonemason by trade. He came to
Canada in early manhood, and succeeded in raising himself above his
originally humble position to the highest in the land. His great
decision of character, his clear, logical intellect, his lucid, incisive
style of speaking, his great fidelity to principle, his inflexible
honesty of purpose, made him a force in the Liberal party, who gladly
welcomed him as the leader of a government. When he appealed to the
country in 1874, he was supported by a very large majority of the
representatives of the people. His administration remained in office
until the autumn of 1878, and passed many measures of great usefulness
to the Dominion. The North-west territories were separated from the
government of Manitoba, and first organised under a lieutenant-governor
and council, appointed by the governor-general of Canada. In 1875,
pending the settlement of the western boundary of Ontario, it was
necessary to create a separate territory out of the eastern part of the
North-west, known as the district of Keewatin, which was placed under
the jurisdiction of the lieutenant-governor of Manitoba. This boundary
dispute was not settled until 1884, when the judicial committee of the
privy council, to whose decision the question had been referred,
materially altered the limits of Keewatin and extended the western
boundaries of Ontario. In 1878, in response to an address of the
Canadian parliament, an imperial order in council was passed to annex to
the Dominion all British possessions in North America not then included
within the confederation--an order intended to place beyond question the
right of Canada to all British North America except Newfoundland. In the
course of succeeding years a system of local government was established
in the North-west territories and a representation allowed them in the
senate and house of commons.
As soon as the North-west became a part of the Dominion, the Canadian
government recognised the necessity of making satisfactory arrangements
with the Indian tribes. The policy first laid down in the proclamation
of 1763 was faithfully carried out in this great region. Between 1871
and 1877 seven treaties were made by the Canadian government with the
Crees, Chippewas, Salteaux, Ojibways, Blackfeet, Bloods and Piegans, who
received certain reserves of land, annual payments of money and other
benefits, as compensation for making over to Canada their title to the
vast country where they had been so long the masters. From that day to
this the Indians have become the wards of the government, who have
always treated them with every consideration. The Indians live on
reserves allotted to them in certain districts where schools of various
classes have been provided for their instruction. They are
systematically taught farming and other industrial pursuits; agents and
instructors visit the reserves from time to time to see that the
interests of the Indians are protected; and the sale of spirits is
especially forbidden in the territories chiefly with the view of
guarding the Indians from such baneful influences. The policy of the
government for the past thirty years has been on the whole most
satisfactory from every point of view. In the course of a few decades
the Indians of the prairies will be an agricultural population, able to
support themselves.
The Mackenzie ministry established a supreme court, or general court of
appeal, for Canada. The election laws were amended so as to abolish
public nominations and property qualification for members of the house
of commons, as well as to provide for vote by ballot and simultaneous
polling at a general election--a wise provision which had existed for
some years in the province of Nova Scotia. An act passed by Sir John
Macdonald's government for the trial of controverted elections by judges
was amended, and a more ample and effective provision made for the
repression and punishment of bribery and corruption at elections. A
force of mounted police was organised for the maintenance of law and
order in the North-west territories. The enlargement of the St. Lawrence
system of canals was vigorously prosecuted in accordance with the report
of a royal commission, appointed in 1870 by the previous administration
to report on this important system of waterways. A Canada temperance
act--known by the name of Senator Scott, who introduced it when
secretary of state--was passed to allow electors in any county to
exercise what is known as "local option"; that is to say, to decide by
their votes at the polls whether they would permit the sale of
intoxicating liquors within their respective districts. This act was
declared by the judicial committee of the privy council to be
constitutional and was extended in the course of time to very many
counties of the several provinces; but eventually it was found quite
impracticable to enforce the law, and the great majority of those
districts of Ontario and Quebec, which had been carried away for a time
on a great wave of moral reform to adopt the act, decided by an equally
large vote to repeal it. The agitation for the extension of this law
finally merged into a wide-spread movement among the temperance people
of the Dominion for the passage of a prohibitory liquor law by the
parliament of Canada. In 1898 the question was submitted to the electors
of the provinces and territories by the Laurier government. The result
was a majority of only 14,000 votes in favour of prohibition out of a
total vote of 543,049, polled throughout the Dominion. The province of
Quebec declared itself against the measure by an overwhelming vote. The
temperance people then demanded that the Dominion government should take
immediate action in accordance with this vote; but the prime minister
stated emphatically to the house of commons as soon as parliament opened
in March, 1899, "that the voice of the electorate, which has been
pronounced in favour of prohibition--only twenty-three per cent. of the
total electoral vote of the Dominion--is not such as to justify the
government in introducing a prohibitory law." In the premier's opinion
the government would not be justified in following such a course "unless
at least one-half of the electorate declared itself at the polls in its
favour." In the province of Manitoba, where the people have pronounced
themselves conclusively in favour of prohibition, the Macdonald
government are now moving to give effect to the popular wishes and
restrain the liquor traffic so far as it is possible to go under the
provisions of the British North America act of 1867 and the decisions of
the courts as to provincial powers.
For two years and even longer, after its coming into office, the
Mackenzie government was harassed by the persistent effort that was made
in French Canada for the condonation of the serious offences committed
by Riel and his principal associates during the rebellion of 1870. Riel
had been elected by a Manitoba constituency in 1874 to the Dominion
house of commons and actually took the oath of allegiance in the clerk's
office, but he never attempted to sit, and was subsequently expelled as
a fugitive from criminal justice. Lepine was convicted of murder at
Winnipeg and sentenced to be hanged, when the governor-general, Lord
Dufferin, intervened and commuted the sentence to two years'
imprisonment, with the approval of the imperial authorities, to whom, as
an imperial officer entrusted with large responsibility in the exercise
of the prerogative of mercy, he had referred the whole question. Soon
afterwards the government yielded to the strong pressure from French
Canada and relieved the tension of the public situation by obtaining
from the representative of the crown an amnesty for all persons
concerned in the North-west troubles, with the exception of Riel and
Lepine, who were banished for five years, when they also were to be
pardoned. O'Donohue was not included, as his first offence had been
aggravated by his connection with the Fenian raid of 1871, but he was
allowed in 1877 the benefit of the amnesty. The action of Lord Dufferin
in pardoning Lepine and thereby relieving his ministers from all
responsibility in the matter was widely criticised, and no doubt had
much to do with bringing about an alteration in the terms of the
governor-general's commission and his instructions with respect to the
prerogative of mercy. Largely through the instrumentality of Mr. Blake,
who visited England for the purpose, in 1875, new commissions and
instructions have been issued to Lord Dufferin's successors, with a due
regard to the larger measure of constitutional freedom now possessed by
the Dominion of Canada. As respects the exercise of the prerogative of
mercy, the independent judgment of the governor-general may be exercised
in cases of imperial interest, but only after consultation with his
responsible advisers, while he is at liberty to yield to their judgment
in all cases of local concern.
One of the most important questions with which the Mackenzie government
was called upon to deal was the construction of the Canadian Pacific
railway. It was first proposed to utilise the "water-stretches" on the
route of the railroad, and in that way lessen its cost, but the scheme
was soon found to be impracticable. The people of British Columbia were
aggrieved at the delay in building the railway, and several efforts were
made to arrange the difficulty through the intervention of the Earl of
Carnarvon, colonial secretary of state, of the governor-general when he
visited the province in 1876, and of Mr., afterwards Sir, James Edgar,
who was authorised to treat with the provincial government on the
subject. At the instance of the secretary of state the government agreed
to build immediately a road from Esquimalt to Nanaimo on Vancouver
Island, to prosecute the surveys with vigour, and make arrangements for
the completion of the railway in 1890. Mr. Blake opposed these terms,
and in doing so no doubt represented the views of a large body of the
Liberal party, who believed that the government of Canada had in 1871
entered into the compact with British Columbia without sufficient
consideration of the gravity of the obligation they were incurring. The
commons, however, passed the Esquimalt and Nanaimo bill only to hear of
its rejection in the senate, where some Liberals united with the
Conservative majority to defeat it. When the surveys were all completed,
the government decided to build the railway as a public work; but by the
autumn of 1878, when Mr. Mackenzie was defeated at a general election,
only a few miles of the road had been completed, and the indignation of
British Columbia had become so deep that the legislature passed a
resolution for separation from the Dominion unless the terms of union
were soon fulfilled.
During the existence of the Mackenzie government there was much
depression in trade throughout the Dominion, and the public revenues
showed large deficits in consequence of the falling-off of imports. When
the elections took place in September, 1878, the people were called upon
to give their decision on a most important issue. With that astuteness
which always enabled him to gauge correctly the tendency of public
opinion, Sir John Macdonald recognised the fact that the people were
prepared to accept any new fiscal policy which promised to relieve the
country from the great depression which had too long hampered internal
and external trade. In the session of 1878 he brought forward a
resolution, declaring emphatically that the welfare of Canada required
"the adoption of a national policy which, by a judicious readjustment of
the tariff will benefit the agricultural, the mining, the manufacturing
and other interests of the Dominion ... will retain in Canada thousands
of our fellow-countrymen now obliged to expatriate themselves in search
of the employment denied them at home ... will restore prosperity to our
struggling industries now so sadly depressed ... will prevent Canada
from being made a sacrifice market ... will encourage and develop an
interprovincial trade ... and will procure eventually for this country a
reciprocity of trade with the United States." This ingenious resolution
was admirably calculated to captivate the public mind, though it was
defeated in the house of commons by a large majority. Mr. Mackenzie was
opposed to the principle of protection, and announced the determination
of the government to adhere to a revenue tariff instead of resorting to
any protectionist policy, which would, in his opinion, largely increase
the burdens of the people under the pretence of stimulating
manufactures. As a consequence of his unbending fidelity to the
principles of his life, Mr. Mackenzie was beaten at the general election
by an overwhelming majority. If he had possessed even a little of the
flexibility of his astute opponent he would have been more successful as
a leader of a party.
One of Lord Dufferin's last official acts in October, 1878, was to call
upon Sir John Macdonald to form a new administration on the resignation
of Mr. Mackenzie. The new governor-general, the Marquess of Lorne, and
the Princess Louise, arrived in Canada early in November and were
everywhere received with great enthusiasm. The new protective
policy--"the National Policy" as the Conservatives like best to name
it--was laid before parliament in the session of 1879, by Sir Leonard
Tilley, then finance minister; and though it has undergone some
important modifications since its introduction it has formed the basis
of the Canadian tariff for twenty years. The next important measure of
the government was the vigorous prosecution of the Canadian Pacific
railway. During the Mackenzie administration the work had made little
progress, and the people of British Columbia had become very indignant
at the failure to carry out the terms on which they had entered the
confederation. In the session of 1880-81 Sir Charles Tupper, minister of
railways, announced that the government had entered into a contract with
a company of capitalists to construct the railway from Montreal to
Burrard's Inlet. Parliament ratified the contract by a large majority
despite the vigorous opposition made by Mr. Blake, then leader of the
Liberal party, who had for years considered this part of the agreement
with British Columbia as extremely rash. Such remarkable energy was
brought to the construction of this imperial highway that it was
actually in operation at the end of five years after the commencement of
the work--only one-half of the time allowed in the charter for its
completion. The financial difficulties which the company had to
encounter in the progress of the work were very great, and they were
obliged in 1884 to obtain a large loan from the Dominion government. The
loan was secured on the company's property, and was paid off by 1887.
The political fortunes of the Conservative administration, in fact, were
indissolubly connected with the success of this national enterprise, and
from the moment when the company commenced the work Sir John Macdonald
never failed to give it his complete confidence and support.
One of the delicate questions which the Macdonald government was called
upon to settle soon after their coming into office was what is known as
"the Letellier affair." In March, 1878, the lieutenant-governor of the
province of Quebec, Mr. Letellier de Saint-Just, who had been previously
a member of the Mackenzie Liberal government, dismissed the Boucherville
Conservative ministry on the ground that they had taken steps in regard
to both administrative and legislative measures not only contrary to his
representations, but even without previously advising him of what they
proposed to do. At his request Mr., now Sir, Henry Joly de Lotbinière
formed a Liberal administration, which appealed to the country. The
result was that the two parties came back evenly balanced. The
Conservatives of the province were deeply irritated at this action of
the lieutenant-governor, and induced Sir John Macdonald, then leader of
the opposition, to make a motion in the house of commons, declaring Mr.
Letellier's conduct "unwise and subversive of the sound principles of
responsible government." This motion was made as an amendment on the
proposal to go into committee of supply, and under a peculiar usage of
the Canadian commons it was not permitted to move a second amendment at
this stage. Had such a course been regular, the Mackenzie government
would have proposed an amendment similar to that which was moved in the
senate, to the effect that it was inexpedient to offer any opinion on
the action of the lieutenant-governor of Quebec for the reason that "the
federal and provincial governments, each in its own sphere, enjoyed
responsible government equally, separately, and independently"--in
other words, that the wisest constitutional course to follow under the
circumstances was to allow each province to work out responsible
government without any undue interference on the part of the Dominion
government or parliament. As it happened, however, Mr. Mackenzie and his
colleagues had no alternative open to them but to vote down the motion
proposed in the commons; while in the Conservative senate the amendment,
which could not be submitted to the lower house under the rules, was
defeated, and the motion condemning the lieutenant-governor carried by a
large party vote.
In 1879, when the Macdonald government was in office, the matter was
again brought before the house of commons and the same motion of censure
that had been defeated in 1878 was introduced in the same way as before,
and carried by a majority of 85. The prime minister then informed Lord
Lorne that in the opinion of the government Mr. Letellier's "usefulness
was gone," and he recommended his removal from office; but the
governor-general was unwilling to agree hastily to such a dangerous
precedent as the removal of a lieutenant-governor, and as an imperial
officer he referred the whole matter to her Majesty's government for
their consideration and instructions. The colonial secretary did not
hesitate to state "that the lieutenant-governor of a province has an
indisputable right to dismiss his ministers if, from any cause, he feels
it incumbent to do so," but that, in deciding whether the conduct of a
lieutenant-governor merits removal from his office, as in the exercise
of other powers vested in him by the imperial state the governor-general
"must act by and with the advice of his ministers." After further
consideration of the subject, the Canadian government again recommended
the dismissal of Mr. Letellier, and the governor-general had now no
alternative except to act on the advice of his responsible ministers. It
was unfortunate that the constitutional issue was obscured, from the
outset, by the political bitterness that was imported into it, and that
the procedure, followed in two sessions, of proposing an amendment,
condemnatory of the action of the lieutenant-governor, on the motion of
going into committee of supply, prevented the house from coming to a
decision squarely on the true constitutional issue--actually raised in
the senate in 1878--whether it was expedient for the parliament or
government of Canada to interfere in a matter of purely provincial
concern.
In 1891 another case of the dismissal of a ministry, having a majority
in the assembly, occurred in the province of Quebec, but the
intervention of parliament was not asked for the purpose of censuring
the lieutenant-governor for the exercise of his undoubted constitutional
power. It appears that, in 1891, the evidence taken before a committee
of the senate showed that gross irregularities had occurred in
connection with the disbursement of certain government subsidies which
had been voted by parliament for the construction of the Bay des
Chaleurs railway, and that members of the Quebec cabinet were
compromised in what was clearly a misappropriation of public money. In
view of these grave charges, Lieutenant-governor Angers forced his prime
minister, Mr. Honoré Mercier, to agree to the appointment of a royal
commission to hold an investigation into the transaction in question.
When the lieutenant-governor was in possession of the evidence taken
before this commission, he came to the conclusion that it was his duty
to relieve Mr. Mercier and his colleagues of their functions as
ministers "in order to protect the dignity of the crown and safeguard
the honour and interest of the province in danger." Mr. de Boucherville
was then called upon to form a ministry which would necessarily assume
full responsibility for the action of the lieutenant-governor under the
circumstances, and after some delay the new ministry went to the country
and were sustained by a large majority. It is an interesting coincidence
that the lieutenant-governor who dismissed the Mercier government and
the prime minister who assumed full responsibility for the dismissal of
the Mercier administration, were respectively attorney-general and
premier in the cabinet who so deeply resented a similar action in 1878.
But Mr. Letellier was then dead--notoriously as a result of the mental
strain to which he had been subject in the constitutional crisis which
wrecked his political career--and it was left only for his friends to
feel that the whirligig of time brings its revenge even in political
affairs[5].
[5: Since this chapter was in type, the Dominion government have found
it necessary to dismiss Mr. McInnes from the lieutenant-governorship of
British Columbia, on the ground--as set forth in an order-in-council
--that "his official conduct had been subversive of the principles of
responsible government," and that his "usefulness was gone." While Mr.
McInnes acted as head of the executive at Victoria, the political
affairs of the province became chaotic. He dismissed ministries in the
most summary manner. When the people were at last appealed to at a
general election by Mr. Martin, his latest adviser, he was defeated by
an overwhelming majority, and the Ottawa government came to the
conclusion--to quote the order-in-council--"that the action of the
lieutenant-governor in dismissing his ministers has not been approved by
the people of British Columbia," and it was evident, "that the
government of the province cannot be successfully carried on in the
manner contemplated by the constitution under the administration of the
present incumbent of the office." Consequently, Mr. McInnes was removed
from office, and the Dominion government appointed in his place Sir
Henri Joly de Lotbinière, who has had large experience in public affairs,
and is noted for his amiability and discretion.]
A very important controversy involving old issues arose in 1888 in
connection with an act passed by the Mercier government of Quebec for
the settlement of the Jesuits' estates, which, so long ago as 1800, had
fallen into the hands of the British government, on the death of the
last surviving member of the order in Canada, and had been, after some
delay, applied to the promotion of public instruction in the province of
Quebec. The bishops of the Roman Catholic Church always contended that
the estates should have been vested in them "as the ordinaries of the
various dioceses in which this property was situated." After
confederation, the estates became the property of the government of
Quebec and were entirely at the disposal of the legislature. The
Jesuits in the meantime had become incorporated in the province, and
made, as well as the bishops, a claim to the estates. Eventually, to
settle the difficulty and strengthen himself with the ecclesiastics of
the province, Mr. Mercier astutely passed a bill through the
legislature, authorising the payment of $400,000 as compensation to the
Jesuits in lieu of all the lands held by them prior to the conquest and
subsequently confiscated by the crown. It was expressly set forth in the
preamble of the act--and it was this proposition which offended the
extreme Protestants--that the amount of compensation was to remain as a
special deposit until the Pope had made known his wishes respecting the
distribution. Some time later the Pope divided the money among the
Jesuits, the archbishops and bishops of the province, and Laval
University. The whole matter came before the Dominion house of commons
in 1888, when a resolution was proposed to the effect that the
government should have at once disallowed the act as beyond the power of
the legislature, because, among other reasons, "it recognizes the
usurpation of a right by a foreign authority, namely his Holiness the
Pope, to claim that his consent was necessary to dispose of and
appropriate the public funds of a province." The very large vote in
support of the action of the government-188 against 13-was chiefly
influenced by the conviction that, to quote the minute of council, "the
subject-matter of the act was one of provincial concern, only having
relation to a fiscal matter entirely within the control of the
legislature of Quebec." The best authorities agree in the wisdom of not
interfering with provincial legislation except in cases where there is
an indisputable invasion of Dominion jurisdiction or where the vital
interests of Canada as a whole may imperatively call for such
interference.
In March, 1885, Canada was startled by the news that the half-breeds of
the Saskatchewan district in the North-west had risen in rebellion
against the authority of the Dominion government. It is difficult to
explain clearly the actual causes of an uprising which, in all
probability, would never have occurred had it not been for the fact that
Riel had been brought back from Montana by his countrymen to assist them
in obtaining a redress of certain grievances. This little insurrection
originated in the Roman Catholic mission of St. Laurent, situated
between the north and south branches of the Saskatchewan River, and
contiguous to the British settlement of Prince Albert. Within the limits
of this mission there was a considerable number of half-breeds, who had
for the most part migrated from Manitoba after selling the "scrip[6]"
for lands generously granted to them after the restoration of order in
1870 to the Red River settlements. Government surveyors had been busily
engaged for some time in laying out the Saskatchewan country in order to
keep pace with the rapidly increasing settlement. When they came to the
mission of St. Laurent they were met with the same distrust that had
done so much harm in 1870. The half-breeds feared that the system of
square blocks followed by the surveyors would seriously interfere with
the location of the farms on which they had "squatted" in accordance
with the old French system of deep lots with a narrow frontage on the
banks of the rivers. The difficulties arising out of these diverse
systems of surveys caused a considerable delay in the issue of patents
for lands, and dissatisfied the settlers who were anxious to know what
land their titles covered. The half-breeds not only contended that their
surveys should be respected, but that they should be also allowed scrip
for two hundred and forty acres of land, as had been done in the case of
their compatriots in Manitoba. Many of the Saskatchewan settlers had
actually received this scrip before they left the province, but
nevertheless they hoped to obtain it once more from the government, and
to sell it with their usual improvidence to the first speculators who
offered them some ready money.
[6: A certificate from the government that a certain person is entitled
to receive a patent from the crown for a number of acres of the public
lands--a certificate legally transferable to another person by the
original holder.]
The delay of the government in issuing patents and scrip and the system
of surveys were no doubt the chief grievances which enabled Riel and
Dumont--the latter a resident of Batoche--to excite the half-breeds
against the Dominion authorities at Ottawa. When a commission was
actually appointed by the government in January, 1885, to allot scrip to
those who were entitled to receive it, the half-breeds were actually
ready for a revolt under the malign influence of Riel and his
associates. Riel believed for some time after his return in 1884 that he
could use the agitation among his easily deluded countrymen for his own
selfish purposes. It is an indisputable fact that he made an offer to
the Dominion government to leave the North-west if they would pay him a
considerable sum of money. When he found that there was no likelihood of
Sir John Macdonald repeating the mistake which he had made at the end of
the first rebellion, Riel steadily fomented the agitation among the
half-breeds, who were easily persuaded to believe that a repetition of
the disturbances of 1870 would obtain them a redress of any grievances
they might have. It is understood that one of the causes that aggravated
the agitation at its inception was the belief entertained by some white
settlers of Prince Albert that they could use the disaffection among the
half-breeds for the purpose of repeating the early history of Manitoba,
and forcing the Dominion government to establish a new province in the
Saskatchewan country, though its entire population at that time would
not have exceeded ten thousand persons, of whom a large proportion were
half-breeds. Riel for a time skilfully made these people believe that he
would be a ductile instrument in their hands, but when his own plans
were ripe for execution he assumed despotic control of the whole
movement and formed a provisional government in which he and his
half-breed associates were dominant, and the white conspirators of
Prince Albert were entirely ignored. The loyal people of Prince Albert,
who had always disapproved of the agitation, as well as the priests of
the mission, who had invariably advised their flock to use only peaceful
and constitutional methods of redress, were at last openly set at
defiance and insulted by Riel and his associates. The revolt broke out
on the 25th March, 1885, when the half-breeds took forcible possession
of the government stores, and made prisoners of some traders at Duck
Lake. A small force of Mounted Police under the command of
Superintendent Crozier was defeated near the same place by Dumont, and
the former only saved his men from destruction by a skilful retreat to
Fort Carleton. The half-breed leaders circulated the news of this
victory over the dreaded troops of the government among the Indian bands
of the Saskatchewan, a number of whom immediately went on the war-path.
Fort Carleton had to be given up by the mounted police, who retired to
Prince Albert, the key of the district. The town of Battleford was
besieged by the Indians, but they were successfully kept in check for
weeks until the place was relieved. Fort Pitt was evacuated by Inspector
Dickens, a son of the great novelist, who succeeded in taking his little
force of police into Battleford. Two French missionaries and several
white men were ruthlessly murdered at Frog Lake by a band of Crees, and
two women were dragged from the bodies of their husbands and carried
away to the camp of Big Bear. Happily for them some tender-hearted
half-breeds purchased them from the Indians and kept them in safety
until they were released at the close of the disturbances.
The heart of Canada was now deeply stirred and responded with great
heartiness to the call of the government for troops to restore order to
the distracted settlements. The minister of militia, Mr. Adolphe
Caron--afterwards knighted for his services on this trying
occasion--showed great energy in the management of his department.
Between four and five thousand men were soon on the march for the
territories under Major-General Middleton, the English officer then in
command of the Canadian militia. Happily for the rapid transport of the
troops the Canadian Pacific Railway was so far advanced that, with the
exception of 72 miles, it afforded a continuous line of communication
from Montreal to Qu'Appelle. The railway formed the base from which
three military expeditions could be despatched to the most important
points of the Saskatchewan country--one direct to Batoche, a second to
Battleford, and a third for a flank movement to Fort Edmonton, where a
descent could be made down the North Saskatchewan for the purpose of
recapturing Fort Pitt and attacking the rebellious Indians under Big
Bear. On the 24th of April General Middleton fought his first engagement
with the half-breeds, who were skilfully concealed in rifle pits in the
vicinity of Fish Creek, a small erratic tributary of the South
Saskatchewan. Dumont for the moment succeeded in checking the advance of
the Canadian forces, who fought with much bravery but were placed at a
great disadvantage on account of Middleton not having taken sufficient
precautions against a foe thoroughly acquainted with the country and
cunningly hidden. The Canadian troops were soon able to continue their
forward movement and won a decisive victory at Batoche, in which
Colonels Williams, Straubenzie, and Grasett notably distinguished
themselves. Riel was soon afterwards captured on the prairie, but Dumont
succeeded in crossing the frontier of the United States. While Middleton
was on his way to Batoche, Lieutenant-Colonel Otter of Toronto, an able
soldier who was, fifteen years later, detached for active service in
South Africa, was on the march for the relief of Battleford, and had on
the first of May an encounter with a large band of Indians under
Poundmaker on the banks of Cut Knife Creek, a small tributary of the
Battle River. Though Otter did not win a victory, he showed Poundmaker
the serious nature of the contest in which he was engaged against the
Canadian government, and soon afterwards, when the Cree chief heard of
the defeat of the half-breeds at Batoche, he surrendered
unconditionally. Another expedition under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel Strange also relieved Fort Pitt; and Big Bear was
forced to fly into the swampy fastnesses of the prairie wilderness, but
was eventually captured near Fort Carleton by a force of Mounted Police.
This second rebellion of the half-breeds lasted about three months, and
cost the country upwards of five million dollars. Including the persons
murdered at Frog Lake, the loyal population of Canada lost thirty-six
valuable lives, among whom was Lieutenant-Colonel Williams, a gallant
officer, and a member of the house of commons, who succumbed to a
serious illness brought on by his exposure on the prairie. The
casualties among the half-breeds were at least as large, if not greater.
Five Indian chiefs suffered the extreme penalty of the law, while
Poundmaker, Big Bear, and a number of others were imprisoned in the
territories for life or for a term of years, according to the gravity of
their complicity in the rebellion. Any hopes that Riel might have placed
in the active sympathy of the French Canadian people of Quebec were soon
dispelled. He was tried at Regina in July and sentenced to death,
although the able counsel allotted to him by the government exhausted
every available argument in his defence, even to the extent of setting
up a plea of insanity, which the prisoner himself deeply resented. The
most strenuous efforts were made by the French Canadians to force the
government to reprieve him, but Sir John Macdonald was satisfied that
the loyal sentiment of the great majority of the people of Canada
demanded imperatively that the law should be vindicated. The French
Canadian representatives in the cabinet, Langevin, Chapleau, and Caron,
resisted courageously the storm of obloquy which their determination to
support the prime minister raised against them; and Riel was duly
executed on the 16th November. For some time after his death attempts
were made to keep up the excitement which had so long existed in the
province of Quebec on the question. The Dominion government was
certainly weakened for a time in Quebec by its action in this matter,
while Mr. Honoré Mercier skilfully used the Riel agitation to obtain
control of the provincial government at the general election of 1886,
but only to fall five years later, under circumstances which must always
throw a shadow over the fame of a brilliant, but unsafe, political
leader (see p. 247). The attempt to make political capital out of the
matter in the Dominion parliament had no other result than to weaken the
influence in Ontario of Mr. Edward Blake, the leader of the opposition
since the resignation of Mr. Mackenzie in 1880. He was left without the
support of the majority of the Liberal representatives of the province
in the house of commons when he condemned the execution of Riel,
principally on the ground that he was insane--a conclusion not at all
justified by the report of the medical experts who had been chosen by
the government to examine the condemned man previous to the execution.
The energy with which this rebellion was repressed showed both the
half-breeds and the Indians of the west the power of the Ottawa
government. From that day to this order has prevailed in the western
country, and grievances have been redressed as far as possible. The
readiness with which the militia force of Canada rallied to the support
of the government was conclusive evidence of the deep national sentiment
that existed throughout the Dominion. In Ottawa, Port Hope, and Toronto
monuments have been raised in memory of the brave men who gave up their
lives for the Dominion, but probably the most touching memorial of this
unfortunate episode in Canadian history is the rude cairn of stone which
still stands among the wild flowers of the prairie in memory of the
gallant fellows who were mown down by the unerring rifle shots of the
half-breeds hidden in the ravines of Fish Creek.
In 1885 parliament passed a general franchise law for the Dominion in
place of the system--which had prevailed since 1867--of taking the
electoral lists of the several provinces as the lists for elections to
the house of commons. The opposition contested this measure with great
persistency, but Sir John Macdonald pressed it to a successful
conclusion, mainly on the ground that it was necessary in a country like
Canada, composed of such diverse elements, to have for the Dominion
uniformity of suffrage, based on a small property qualification, instead
of having diverse systems of franchise--in some provinces, universal
franchise, to which he and other Conservatives generally were strongly
opposed.
Between 1880 and 1894 Canada was called upon to mourn the loss of a
number of her ablest and brightest statesmen--one of them the most
notable in her political history. It was on a lovely May day of 1880
that the eminent journalist and politician, George Brown, died from the
effects of a bullet wound which he received at the hand of one Bennett,
a printer, who had been discharged by the _Globe_ for drunkenness and
incapacity. The Conservative party in 1888 suffered a great loss by the
sudden decease of Mr. Thomas White, minister of the interior in the
Macdonald ministry, who had been for the greater part of his life a
prominent journalist, and had succeeded in winning a conspicuous and
useful position in public affairs as a writer, speaker, and
administrator. Three years later, the Dominion was startled by the sad
announcement, on the 6th June, 1891, that the voice of the great prime
minister, Sir John Macdonald, who had so long controlled the affairs of
Canada, would never more be heard in that federal parliament of which he
had been one of the fathers. All classes of Canadians vied with one
another in paying a tribute of affection and respect to one who had been
in every sense a true Canadian. Men forgot for the moment his mistakes
and weaknesses, the mistakes of the politician and the weaknesses of
humanity, "only to remember"--to quote the eloquent tribute paid to him
by Mr. Laurier, then leader of the opposition--"that his actions always
displayed great originality of view, unbounded fertility of resources, a
high level of intellectual conception, and above all, a far-reaching
vision beyond the event of the day, and still higher, permeating the
whole, a broad patriotism, a devotion to Canada's welfare, Canada's
advancement, and Canada's glory." His obsequies were the most stately
and solemn that were ever witnessed in the Dominion; his bust was
subsequently unveiled in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral by the Earl
of Rosebery, when prime minister of England; noble monuments were raised
to his memory in the cities of Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal;
and the Queen addressed a letter full of gracious sympathy to his widow
and conferred on her the dignity of a peeress of the United Kingdom
under the title of Baroness of Earnscliffe, as a mark of her Majesty's
gratitude "for the devoted and faithful services which he rendered for
so many years to his sovereign and his Dominion."
Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, stonemason, journalist, and prime minister,
died in April, 1892, a victim to the paralysis which had been steadily
creeping for years over his enfeebled frame, and made him a pitiable
spectacle as he sat like a Stoic in the front seats of the opposition,
unable to speak or even to rise without the helping arm of some
attentive friend. On the 30th October, 1893, Sir John Abbott, probably
the ablest commercial lawyer in Canada, who had been premier of Canada
since the death of Sir John Macdonald, followed his eminent predecessors
to the grave, and was succeeded by Sir John Thompson, minister of
justice in the Conservative government since September, 1885. A great
misfortune again overtook the Conservative party on the 12th December,
1894, when Sir John Thompson died in Windsor Castle, whither he had gone
at her Majesty's request to take the oath of a privy councillor of
England--high distinction conferred upon him in recognition of his
services on the Bering Sea arbitration. Sir John Thompson was gifted
with a rare judicial mind, and a remarkable capacity for the lucid
expression of his thoughts, which captivated his hearers even when they
were not convinced by arguments clothed in the choicest diction. His
remains were brought across the Atlantic by a British frigate, and
interred in his native city of Halifax with all the stately ceremony of
a national funeral. The governor-general, Lord Stanley of Preston, now
the Earl of Derby, called upon the senior privy councillor in the
cabinet, Sir Mackenzie Bowell, to form a new ministry. He continued in
office until April, 1896, when he retired in favour of Sir Charles
Tupper, who resigned the position of high commissioner for Canada in
England to enter public life as the recognised leader of the
Liberal-Conservative party. This eminent Canadian had already reached
the middle of the eighth decade of his life, but age had in no sense
impaired the vigour or astuteness of his mental powers. He has continued
ever since, as leader of the Liberal-Conservative party, to display
remarkable activity in the discussion of political questions, not only
as a leader of parliament, but on the public platform in every province
of the Dominion.
During the session of 1891 the political career of Sir Hector Langevin,
the leader of the Liberal-Conservative party in French Canada, was
seriously affected by certain facts disclosed before the committee of
privileges and elections. This committee had been ordered by the house
of commons to inquire into charges made by Mr. Israel Tarte against
another member of the house, Mr. Thomas McGreevy, who was accused of
having used his influence as a commissioner of the Quebec harbour, a
government appointment, to obtain fraudulently from the department of
public works, presided over by Sir Hector for many years, large
government contracts in connection with the Quebec harbour and other
works. The report of the majority of the committee found Mr. McGreevy
guilty of fraudulent acts, and he was not only expelled from the house
but was subsequently imprisoned in the Ottawa common gaol after his
conviction on an indictment laid against him in the criminal court of
Ontario. With respect to the complicity of the minister of public works
in these frauds the committee reported that it was clear that, while the
conspiracy had been rendered effective by reason of the confidence which
Sir Hector Langevin placed in Mr. McGreevy and in the officers of the
department, yet the evidence did not justify them in concluding that Sir
Hector knew of the conspiracy or willingly lent himself to its objects.
A minority of the committee, on the other hand, took the opposite view
of the transactions, and claimed that the evidence showed the minister
to be cognisant of the facts of the letting of the contracts, and that
in certain specified cases he had been guilty of the violation of a
public trust by allowing frauds to be perpetrated. The report of the
majority was carried by a party vote, with the exception of two
Conservative members who voted with the minority. Sir Hector Langevin
had resigned his office in the government previous to the inquiry, and
though he continued in the house for the remainder of its constitutional
existence, he did not present himself for re-election in 1896 when
parliament was dissolved.
Unhappily it was not only in the department of public works that
irregularities were discovered. A number of officials in several
departments were proved before the committee of public accounts to have
been guilty of carelessness or positive misconduct in the discharge of
their duties, and the government was obliged, in the face of such
disclosures, to dismiss or otherwise punish several persons in whom they
had for years reposed too much confidence.
On the 20th and 21st of June, 1893, a convention of the most prominent
representative Liberals of the Dominion was held in the city of Ottawa;
and Sir Oliver Mowat, the veteran premier of Ontario, was unanimously
called upon to preside over this important assemblage. Resolutions were
passed with great enthusiasm in support of tariff reform, a fair measure
of reciprocal trade with the United States, a sale of public lands only
to actual settlers upon reasonable terms of settlement, an honest and
economical administration of government, the right of the house of
commons to inquire into all matters of public expenditure and charges of
misconduct against ministers, the reform of the senate, the submission
of the question of prohibition to a vote of the people, and the repeal
of the Dominion franchise act passed in 1885, as well as of the measure
of 1892, altering the boundaries of the electoral districts and
readjusting the representation in the house of commons. This convention
may be considered the commencement of that vigorous political campaign,
which ended so successfully for the Liberal party in the general
election of 1896.
In the summer of 1894 there was held in the city of Ottawa a conference
of delegates from eight self-governing colonies in Australasia, South
Africa, and America, who assembled for the express purpose of discussing
questions which affected not merely their own peculiar interests, but
touched most nearly the unity and development of the empire at large The
imperial government was represented by the Earl of Jersey, who had been
a governor of one of the Australian colonies. After very full discussion
the conference passed resolutions in favour of the following measures:
(1) Imperial legislation enabling the dependencies of the empire to
enter into agreements of commercial reciprocity, including the power to
make differential tariffs with Great Britain or with one another. (2)
The removal of any restrictions in existing treaties between Great
Britain and any foreign power, which prevent such agreements of
commercial reciprocity. (3) A customs arrangement between Great Britain
and her colonies by which trade within the empire might be placed on a
more favourable footing than that which is carried on with foreign
countries. (4) Improved steamship communication between Canada,
Australasia, and Great Britain. (5) Telegraph communication by cable,
free from foreign control, between Canada and Australia. These various
resolutions were brought formally by the Earl of Jersey to the notice
of the imperial government, which expressed the opinion, through the
Marquess of Ripon, then secretary of state for the colonies, that the
"general economic results" of the preferential trade recommended by the
conference "would not be beneficial to the empire." Lord Ripon even
questioned the desirability of denouncing at that time the treaties with
Belgium and Germany--a subject which had engaged the attention of the
Canadian parliament in 1892, when the government, of which Sir John
Abbott was premier, passed an address to the Queen, requesting that
immediate steps be taken to free Canada from treaty restrictions
"incompatible with the rights and powers conferred by the British North
America act of 1867 for the regulation of the trade and commerce of the
Dominion." Any advantages which might be granted by Great Britain to
either Belgium or the German Zollverein under these particular treaties,
would also have to be extended to a number of other countries which had
what is called the "favoured nations clause" in treaties with England.
While these treaty stipulations with regard to import duties did not
prevent differential treatment by the United Kingdom in favour of
British colonies, or differential treatment by British colonies in
favour of each other, they did prevent differential treatment by British
colonies in favour of the United Kingdom. As we shall presently see,
when I come to review the commercial policy of the new Dominion
government three years later, the practical consequence of these
treaties was actually to force Canada to give for some months not only
to Germany and Belgium, but to a number of other countries, the same
commercial privileges which they extended in 1897 to the parent state.
Among the difficult questions, which have agitated the Dominion from
time to time and perplexed both Conservative and Liberal politicians,
are controversies connected with education. By the British North America
act of 1867 the legislature of each province may exclusively make laws
in relation to education, but at the same time protection is afforded
to denominational or dissentient schools by giving authority to the
Dominion government to disallow an act clearly infringing the rights or
privileges of a religious minority, or to obtain remedial legislation
from parliament itself according to the circumstances of the case. From
1871 until 1875 the government of the Dominion was pressed by petitions
from the Roman Catholic inhabitants of New Brunswick to disallow an act
passed by the provincial legislature in relation to common schools on
the ground that it was an infringement of certain rights which they
enjoyed as a religious body at the time of confederation. The question
not only came before the courts of New Brunswick and the Canadian house
of commons, but was also submitted to the judicial committee of the
imperial privy council; but only with the result of showing beyond
question that the objectionable legislation was clearly within the
jurisdiction of the legislature of New Brunswick, and could not be
constitutionally disallowed by the Dominion government on the ground
that it violated any right or privilege enjoyed by the Roman Catholics
at the time of union. A solution of the question was, however,
subsequently reached by an amicable arrangement between the Roman
Catholics and Protestants, which has ever since worked most
satisfactorily in that province.
The Manitoba school question, which agitated the country from 1890 until
1896, was one of great gravity on account of the issues involved. The
history of the case shows that, prior to the formation of Manitoba in
1870, there was not in the province any public system of education, but
the several religious denominations had established such schools as they
thought fit to maintain by means of funds voluntarily contributed by
members of their own communion. In 1871 the legislature of Manitoba
established an educational system distinctly denominational. In 1890
this law was repealed, and the legislature established a system of
strictly non-sectarian schools. The Roman Catholic minority of the
province was deeply aggrieved at what they considered a violation of the
rights and privileges which they enjoyed under the terms of union
adopted in 1870. The first subsection of the twenty-second section of
the act of 1870 set forth that the legislature of the province could not
pass any law with regard to schools which might "prejudicially affect
any right or privilege with respect to denominational schools which any
class of persons have, by law or practice, in the province at the time
of union." The dispute was brought before the courts of Canada, and
finally before the judicial committee of the privy council, which
decided that the legislation of 1890 was constitutional inasmuch as the
only right or privilege which the Roman Catholics then possessed "by law
or practice" was the right or privilege of establishing and maintaining
for the use of members of their own church such schools as they pleased.
The Roman Catholic minority then availed themselves of another provision
of the twenty-second section of the Manitoba act, which allows an appeal
to the governor-in-council "from any act or decision of the legislature
of the province or of any provincial authority, affecting any right or
privilege of the Protestant or Roman Catholic minority of the Queen's
subjects in relation to education."
The ultimate result of this reference was a judgment of the judicial
committee to the effect that the appeal was well founded and that the
governor-in-council had jurisdiction in the premises, but the committee
added that "the particular course to be pursued must be determined by
the authorities to whom it has been committed by the statute." The third
subsection of the twenty-second section of the Manitoba act--a
repetition of the provision of the British North America act with
respect to denominational schools in the old provinces--provides not
only for the action of the governor-in-council in case a remedy is not
supplied by the proper provincial authority for the removal of a
grievance on the part of a religious minority, but also for the making
of "remedial laws" by the parliament of Canada for the "due execution"
of the provision protecting denominational schools. In accordance with
this provision Sir Mackenzie Bowell's government passed an
order-in-council on the 21st March, 1895, calling upon the government of
Manitoba to take the necessary measures to restore to the Roman Catholic
minority such rights and privileges as were declared by the highest
court of the empire to have been taken away from them. The Manitoba
government not only refused to move in the matter but expressed its
determination "to resist unitedly by every constitutional means any such
attempt to interfere with their provincial autonomy." The result was the
introduction of a remedial bill by Mr. Dickey, minister of justice, in
the house of commons during the session of 1896; but it met from the
outset very determined opposition during the most protracted
sittings--one of them lasting continuously for a week--ever known in the
history of the Canadian or any other legislature of the empire. On
several divisions the bill was supported by majorities ranging from 24
to 18--several French members of the opposition having voted for it and
several Conservative Protestant members against its passage. The bill
was introduced on the 11th February, and the motion for its second
reading was made on the 3rd March, from which date it was debated
continuously until progress was reported from a committee of the whole
house on the 16th April, after the house had sat steadily from Monday
afternoon at 3 o'clock until 2 o'clock on the following Thursday
morning. It was then that Sir Charles Tupper, leader of the government
in the house, announced that no further attempt would be made to press
the bill that session. He stated that it was absolutely necessary to
vote money for the urgent requirements of the public service and pass
other important legislation during the single week that was left before
parliament would be dissolved by the efflux of time under the
constitutional law, which fixes the duration of the house of commons
"for five years from the day of the return of the writs for choosing the
house and no longer."
In the general election of 1896 the Manitoba school question was an
issue of great importance. From the commencement to the close of the
controversy the opponents of denominational schools combined with the
supporters of provincial rights to defeat the government which had so
determinedly fought for what it considered to be the legal rights of the
Roman Catholic minority of Manitoba. It had looked confidently to the
support of the great majority of the French Canadians, but the result of
the elections was most disappointing to the Conservative party. Whilst
in the provinces, where the Protestants predominated, the Conservatives
held their own to a larger extent than had been expected even by their
sanguine friends, the French province gave a great majority to Mr.
Launer, whose popularity among his countrymen triumphed over all
influences, ecclesiastical and secular, that could be used in favour of
denominational schools in Manitoba.
The majority against Sir Charles Tupper was conclusive, and he did not
attempt to meet parliament as the head of a government. Before his
retirement from office, immediately after his defeat at the elections,
he had some difference of opinion with the governor-general, the Earl of
Aberdeen, who refused, in the exercise of his discretionary power, to
sanction certain appointments to the senate and the judicial bench,
which the prime minister justified by reference to English and Canadian
precedents under similar conditions--notably of 1878 when Mr. Mackenzie
resigned. Soon after the general election, and Lord Dufferin was
governor-general, Sir Charles Tupper considered the subject of
sufficient constitutional importance to bring it before the house of
commons, where Sir Wilfrid Laurier, then premier, defended the course of
the governor-general. The secretary of state for the colonies also
approved in general terms of the principles which, as the
governor-general explained in his despatches, had governed his action in
this delicate matter.
On Sir Charles Tapper's defeat at the elections, Mr. Laurier became
first minister of a Liberal administration, in which positions were
given to Sir Oliver Mowat, so long premier of Ontario, to Mr. Blair,
premier of New Brunswick, to Mr. Fielding, premier of Nova Scotia, and
eventually to Mr. Sifton, the astute attorney-general of Manitoba. Sir
Richard Cartwright and Sir Louis Davies--to give the latter the title
conferred on him in the Diamond Jubilee year--both of whom had been in
the foremost rank of the Liberal party for many years, also took office
in the new administration; but Mr. Mills, versed above most Canadian
public men in political and constitutional knowledge, was not brought in
until some time later, when Sir Oliver Mowat, the veteran minister of
justice, was appointed to the lieutenant-governorship of Ontario. A
notable acquisition was Mr. Tarte, who had acquired much influence in
French Canada by his irrepressible energy, and who was placed over the
department of public works.
When the school question came to be discussed in 1897, during the first
session of the new parliament, the premier explained to the house that,
whilst he had always maintained "that the constitution of this country
gave to this parliament and government the right and power to interfere
with the school legislation of Manitoba, it was an extreme right and
reserved power to be exercised only when other means had been
exhausted." Believing then that "it was far better to obtain concessions
by negotiation than by coercion," he had, as soon as he came into
office, communicated with the Manitoba government on the subject, and
had "as a result succeeded in making arrangements which gave the French
Catholics of the province religious teaching in their schools and the
protection of their language," under the conditions set forth in a
statute expressly passed for the purpose by the legislature of
Manitoba[7]. The premier at the same time admitted that "the settlement
was not acceptable to certain dignitaries of the church to which he
belonged"; but subsequently the Pope published an encyclical advising
acceptance of the concessions made to the Manitoba Catholics, while
claiming at the same time that these concessions were inadequate, and
expressing the hope that full satisfaction would be obtained ere long
from the Manitoba government. Since the arrangement of this compromise,
no strenuous or effective effort has been made to revive the question as
an element of political significance in party contests. Even in Manitoba
itself, despite the defeat of the Greenway government, which was
responsible for the Manitoba school act of 1890, and the coming into
office of Mr. Hugh John Macdonald, the son of the great Conservative
leader, there has been no sign of the least intention to depart from the
legislation arranged by Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1897 as, in his opinion,
the best possible compromise under the difficult conditions surrounding
a most embarrassing question.
[7: This statute provides that religious teaching by a Roman Catholic
priest, or other person duly authorised by him, shall take place at the
close of the hours devoted to secular instruction; that a Roman Catholic
teacher may be employed in every school in towns and cities where the
average attendance of Roman Catholic children is forty or upwards, and
in villages and rural districts where the attendance is twenty-five or
upwards; and that French as well as English shall be taught in any
school where ten pupils speak the French language.]
In the autumn of 1898 Canada bade farewell with many expressions of
regret to Lord and Lady Aberdeen, both of whom had won the affection and
respect of the Canadian people by their earnest efforts to support every
movement that might promote the social, intellectual and moral welfare
of the people. Lord Aberdeen was the seventh governor-general appointed
by the crown to administer public affairs since the union of the
provinces in 1867. Lord Monck, who had the honour of initiating
confederation, was succeeded by Sir John Young, who was afterwards
raised to the peerage as Baron Lisgar--a just recognition of the
admirable discretion and dignity with which he discharged the duties of
his high position. His successor, the Earl of Dufferin, won the
affection of the Canadian people by his grace of demeanour, and his
Irish gift of eloquence, which he used in the spirit of the clever
diplomatist to flatter the people of the country to their heart's
content. The appointment of the Marquess of Lorne, now the Duke of
Argyll, gave to Canada the honour of the presence of a Princess of the
reigning family. He showed tact and discretion in some difficult
political situations that arose during his administration, and succeeded
above all his predecessors in stimulating the study of art, science and
literature within the Dominion. The Marquess of Lansdowne and Lord
Stanley of Preston--both inheritors of historic names, trained in the
great school of English administration--also acquired the confidence and
respect of the Canadian people. On the conclusion of Lord Aberdeen's
term of office in 1898, he was succeeded by the Earl of Minto, who had
been military secretary to the Marquess of Lansdowne, when
governor-general, from the autumn of 1883 until the end of May, 1888,
and had also acted as chief of staff to General Middleton during the
North-west disturbances of 1885.
Since its coming into office, the Laurier administration has been called
upon to deal with many questions of Canadian as well as imperial
concern. One of its first measures--to refer first to those of Canadian
importance--was the repeal of the franchise act of 1885, which had been
found so expensive in its operation that the Conservative government had
for years taken no steps to prepare new electoral lists for the Dominion
under its own law, but had allowed elections to be held on old lists
which necessarily left out large numbers of persons entitled to vote. In
accordance with the policy to which they had always pledged themselves
as a party, the Liberal majority in parliament passed an act which
returned to the electoral lists of the provinces. An attempt was also
made in 1899 and 1900 to amend the redistribution acts of 1882 and 1892,
and to restore so far as practicable the old county lines which had been
deranged by those measures. The bill was noteworthy for the feature,
novel in Canada, of leaving to the determination of a judicial
commission the rearrangement of electoral divisions, but it was rejected
in the senate on the ground that the British North America act provides
only for the readjustment of the representation after the taking of each
Decennial census, and that it is "a violation of the spirit of the act"
to deal with the question until 1901, when the official figures of the
whole population will be before parliament. The government was also
called upon to arrange the details of a provisional government for the
great arctic region of the Yukon, where remarkable gold discoveries were
attracting a considerable population from all parts of the world. An
attempt to build a short railway to facilitate communication with that
wild and distant country was defeated in the senate by a large majority.
The department of the interior has had necessarily to encounter many
difficulties in the administration of the affairs of a country so many
thousand miles distant. These difficulties have formed the subject of
protracted debates in the house of commons and have led to involved
political controversies which it would not be possible to explain
satisfactorily within the limits of this chapter.
In accordance with the policy laid down in 1897 by Mr. Fielding, the
finance minister, when presenting the budget, the Laurier government has
not deemed it prudent to make such radical changes in the protective or
"National Policy" of the previous administration as might derange the
business conditions of the Dominion, which had come to depend so
intimately upon it in the course of seventeen years, but simply to amend
and simplify it in certain particulars which would remove causes of
friction between the importers and the customs authorities, and at the
same time make it, as they stated, less burdensome in its operation. The
question of reciprocal trade between Canada and the United States had
for some time been disappearing in the background and was no longer a
dominant feature of the commercial policy of the Liberal party as it had
been until 1891, when its leaders were prepared under existing
conditions to enter into the fullest trade arrangements possible with
the country to the south. The illiberality of the tariff of the United
States with respect to Canadian products had led the Canadian people to
look to new markets, and especially to those of Great Britain, with whom
they were desirous, under the influence of a steadily growing imperial
spirit, to have the closest commercial relations practicable.
Consequently the most important feature of the Laurier government's
policy, since 1897, has been the preference given to British products in
Canada--a preference which now allows a reduction in the tariff of
33-1/3 per cent. on British imports compared with foreign goods. In
their endeavour, however, to give a preference to British imports, the
government was met at the outset by difficulties arising from the
operation of the Belgian and German treaties; and after very full
consultation with the imperial government, and a reference of the legal
points involved to the imperial law officers of the crown, Canada was
obliged to admit Belgian and German goods on the same terms as the
imports of Great Britain, and also to concede similar advantages to
twenty-two foreign countries which were by treaty entitled to any
commercial privileges that Great Britain or her colonies might grant to
a third power. Happily for Canada at this juncture the colonial
secretary of state was Mr. Chamberlain, who was animated by aspirations
for the strengthening of the relations between the parent state and her
dependencies, and who immediately recognised the imperial significance
of the voluntary action of the Canadian government. The result was the
"denunciation" by the imperial authorities of the Belgian and German
treaties, which consequently came to an end on the 31st July, 1898.
Down to that date Canada was obliged to give to the other countries
mentioned the preference which she had intentionally given to Great
Britain alone, and at the same time to refund to importers the duties
which had been collected in the interval from the countries in question.
With the fall, however, of the Belgian and German treaties Canada was at
last free to model her tariff with regard to imperial as well as
Canadian interests. It was a fortunate coincidence that the government
should have adopted this policy at a time when the whole British empire
was celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of the accession of her Majesty
Queen Victoria to the throne. In the magnificent demonstration of the
unity and development of the empire that took place in London in June,
1897, Canada was represented by her brilliant prime minister, who then
became the Right Honourable Sir W. Laurier, G.C.M.G., and took a
conspicuous place in the ceremonies that distinguished this memorable
episode in British and colonial history.
A few months later the relations between Canada and Great Britain were
further strengthened by the reduction of letter postage throughout the
empire--Australia excepted--largely through the instrumentality of Mr.
Mulock, Canadian postmaster-general. The Canadian government and
parliament also made urgent representations to the imperial authorities
in favour of the immediate construction of a Pacific cable; and it may
now be hoped that the pecuniary aid offered to this imperial enterprise
by the British, Australasian and Canadian governments will secure its
speedy accomplishment. I may add here that debates have taken place in
the Canadian house of commons for several sessions on the desirability
of obtaining preferential treatment in the British market for Canadian
products The Conservative party, led by Sir Charles Tupper, have
formulated their opinions in parliament by an emphatic declaration that
"no measure of preference, which falls short of the complete realisation
of such a policy, should be considered final or satisfactory." The
Laurier government admits the desirability of such mutual trade
preference, but at the same time it recognises the formidable
difficulties that lie in the way of its realisation so long as Great
Britain continues bound to free trade, and under these circumstances
declares it the more politic and generous course to continue giving a
special preference to British products with the hope that it may
eventually bring about a change in public opinion in the parent state
which will operate to the decided commercial or other advantage of the
dependency.
This chapter may appropriately close with a reference to the remarkable
evidences of attachment to the empire that have been given by the
Canadian people at the close of the nineteenth century. From the
mountains of the rich province washed by the Pacific Sea, from the
wheat-fields and ranches of the western prairies, from the valley of the
great lakes and the St. Lawrence where French and English Canadians
alike enjoy the blessings of British rule, from the banks of the St John
where the United Empire Loyalists first made their homes, from the
rugged coasts of Acadia and Cape Breton, from every part of the wide
Dominion men volunteered with joyous alacrity to fight in South Africa
in support of the unity of the empire. As I close these pages Canadians
are fighting side by side with men from the parent Isles, from
Australasia and from South Africa, and have shown that they are worthy
descendants of the men who performed such gallant deeds on the ever
memorable battlefields of Chateauguay, Chrystler's Farm, and Lundy's
Lane. Not the least noteworthy feature of this significant event in the
annals of Canada and the empire is the fact that a French Canadian
premier has had the good fortune to give full expression to the dominant
imperial sentiment of the people, and consequently to offer an
additional guarantee for the union of the two races and the security of
British interests on the continent of America.
SECTION 4.--Political and social conditions of Canada under
confederation.
At the present time, a population of probably five million four hundred
thousand souls inhabit a Dominion of seven regularly organised
provinces, and of an immense fertile territory stretching from Manitoba
to British Columbia. This Dominion embraces an area of 3,519,000 square
miles, including its water surface, or very little less than the area of
the United States with Alaska, and measures 3500 miles from east to
west; and 1400 miles from north to south.
No country in the world gives more conclusive evidences of substantial
development and prosperity than the Dominion under the beneficial
influences of federal union and the progressive measures of governments
for many years. The total trade of the country has grown from over
$131,000,000 in the first year of confederation to over $321,000,000 in
1899, while the national revenue has risen during the same period from
$14,000,000 to $47,000,000, and will probably be $50,000,000 in 1900.
The railways, whose expansion so closely depends on the material
conditions of the whole country, stretch for 17,250 miles compared with
2278 miles in 1868; while the remarkable system of canals, which extend
from the great lakes to Montreal, has been enlarged so as to give
admirable facilities for the growing trade of the west. The natural
resources of the country are inexhaustible, from the fisheries of Nova
Scotia to the wheat-fields of the north-west, from the coal-mines of
Cape Breton to the gold deposits of the dreary country through which the
Yukon and its tributaries flow.
No dangerous questions like slavery, or the expansion of the African
race in the southern states, exist to complicate the political and
social conditions of the confederation, and, although there is a large
and increasing French Canadian element in the Dominion, its history so
far need not create fear as to the future, except perhaps in the minds
of gloomy pessimists. While this element naturally clings to its
national language and institutions, yet, under the influence of a
complete system of local self-government, it has always taken as active
and earnest a part as the English element in establishing and
strengthening the confederation. It has steadily grown in strength and
prosperity under the generous and inspiring influence of British
institutions, which have given full scope to the best attributes of a
nationality crushed by the depressing conditions of French rule for a
century and a half.
The federal union gives expansion to the national energies of the whole
Dominion, and at the same time affords every security to the local
interests of each member of the federal compact. In all matters of
Dominion concern, Canada is a free agent. While the Queen is still head
of the executive authority, and can alone initiate treaties with foreign
nations (that being an act of complete sovereignty), and while appeals
are still open to the privy council of England from Canadian courts
within certain limitations, it is an admitted principle that the
Dominion is practically supreme in the exercise of all legislative
rights and privileges granted by the imperial parliament,--rights and
privileges set forth explicitly in the British North America act of
1867,--so long as her legislative action does not conflict with the
treaty obligations of the parent state, or with imperial legislation
directly applicable to Canada with her own consent.
The crown exercises a certain supervision over the affairs of the
Dominion through a governor-general, who communicates directly with an
imperial secretary of state; but in every matter directly affecting
Canada--as for instance, in negotiations respecting the fisheries, the
Bering Sea, and other matters considered by several conferences at
Washington--the Canadian government is consulted and its statements are
carefully considered, since they represent the sentiments and interests
of the Canadian people, who, as citizens of the empire, are entitled to
as much weight as if they lived in the British Isles.
In the administration of Canadian affairs the governor-general is
advised by a responsible council representing the majority of the house
of commons. As in England, the Canadian cabinet, or ministry, is
practically a committee of the dominant party in parliament and is
governed by the rules, conventions and usages of parliamentary
government which have grown up gradually in the parent state. Whenever
it is necessary to form a ministry in Canada, its members are summoned
by the governor-general to the privy council of Canada; another
illustration of the desire of the Canadians to imitate the old
institutions of England and copy her time-honoured procedure.
The parliament of Canada consists of the Queen, the senate, and the
house of commons. In the formation of the upper house, three
geographical groups were arranged in the first instance, Ontario,
Quebec, and the maritime provinces, and each group received a
representation of twenty-four members. More recently other provinces
have been admitted into the Dominion without reference to this
arrangement, and now seventy-eight senators altogether may sit in
parliament. The remarkably long tenure of power enjoyed by the
Conservative party--twenty-five years from 1867--enabled it in the
course of time to fill the upper house with a very large numerical
majority of its own friends, and this fact, taken in connection with
certain elements of weakness inherent in a chamber which is not elected
by the people and has none of the ancient privileges or prestige of a
house of lords, long associated with the names of great statesmen and
the memorable events of English history, has created an agitation among
the Liberal party for radical changes in its constitution which would
bring it, in their opinion, more in harmony with the people's
representatives in the popular branch of the general legislature. While
some extremists would abolish the chamber, Sir Wilfrid Launer and other
prominent Liberals recognise its necessity in our parliamentary system.
In all probability death will ere long solve difficulties arising out
of the political composition of the body, if the Liberal party remain in
power.
The house of commons, the great governing body of the Dominion, has been
made, so far as circumstances will permit, a copy of the English house.
Its members are not required to have a property qualification, and are
elected by the votes of the electors of the several provinces where, in
a majority of cases, universal suffrage, under limitations of
citizenship and residence, prevails.
In each province there is a lieutenant-governor, appointed by the
Dominion government for five years, an executive council, and a
legislature consisting of only one house, except in Nova Scotia and
Quebec where a legislative council appointed by the crown still
continues. The principles of responsible government exist in all the
provinces, and practically in the North-west territory.
In the enumeration of the legislative powers, respectively given to the
Dominion and provincial legislatures, an effort was made to avoid the
conflicts of jurisdiction that have so frequently arisen between the
national and state governments of the United States. In the first place
we have a recapitulation of those general or national powers that
properly belong to the central authority, such as customs and excise
duties, regulation of trade and commerce, militia and defence,
post-office, banking and coinage, railways and public works "for the
general advantage," navigation and shipping, naturalisation and aliens,
fisheries, weights and measures, marriage and divorce, penitentiaries,
criminal law, census and statistics. On the other hand, the provinces
have retained control over municipal institutions, public lands, local
works and undertakings, incorporation of companies with provincial
objects, property and civil rights, administration of justice, and
generally "all matters of a merely local and private nature in the
province." The _residuary_ power rests with the general parliament of
Canada.
The parliament of Canada, in 1875, established a supreme court, or
general court of appeal, for Canada, whose highest function is to decide
questions as to the respective legislative powers of the Dominion and
provincial parliaments, which are referred to it in due process of law
by the subordinate courts of the provinces. The decisions of this court
are already doing much to solve difficulties that impede the successful
operation of the constitution. As a rule cases come before the supreme
court on appeal from the lower courts, but the law regulating its powers
provides that the governor in council may refer any matter to this court
on which a question of constitutional jurisdiction has been raised. But
the supreme court of Canada is not necessarily the court of last resort
of Canada. The people have an inherent right as subjects of the Queen to
appeal to the judicial committee of the privy council of the United
Kingdom.
But it is not only by means of the courts that a check is imposed upon
hasty, or unconstitutional, legislation. The constitution provides that
the governor-general may veto or reserve any bill passed by the two
houses of parliament when it conflicts with imperial interests or
imperial legislation. It is now understood that the reserve power of
disallowance which her Majesty's government possesses under the law is
sufficient to meet all possible cases. This sovereign power is never
exercised except in the case of an act clearly in conflict with an
imperial statute or in violation of a treaty affecting a foreign nation.
The Dominion government also supervises all the provincial legislation
and has in a few cases disallowed provincial acts. This power is
exercised very carefully, and it is regarded with intense jealousy by
the provincial governments, which have more than once attempted to set
it at defiance. In practice it is found the wisest course to leave to
the courts the decision in cases where doubts exist as to constitutional
authority or jurisdiction.
The organised districts of the North-west--Assiniboia, Alberta,
Athabaska, and Saskatchewan--are governed by a lieutenant-governor
appointed by the government of Canada and aided by a council chosen by
himself from an assembly elected by the people under a very liberal
franchise. These territories have also representatives in the two houses
of the parliament of Canada. The Yukon territory in the far north-west,
where rich discoveries of gold have attracted a large number of people
within the past two years, is placed under a provisional government,
composed of a commissioner and council appointed by the Dominion
government[8], and acting under instructions given from time to time by
the same authority or by the minister of the interior.
[8: Since this sentence was in type the Dominion government has given
effect to a provision of a law allowing the duly qualified electors of
the Yukon to choose two members of the council.]
The public service enjoys all the advantages that arise from permanency
of tenure and appointment by the crown. It has on the whole been
creditable to the country and remarkably free from political influences.
The criminal law of England has prevailed in all the provinces since it
was formerly introduced by the Quebec act of 1774. The civil law of the
French regime, however, has continued to be the legal system in French
Canada since the Quebec act, and has now obtained a hold in that
province which insures its permanence as an institution closely allied
with the dearest rights of the people. Its principles and maxims have
been carefully collected and enacted in a code which is based on the
famous code of Napoleon. In the other provinces and territories the
common law of England forms the basis of jurisprudence on which a large
body of Canadian statutory law has been built in the course of time.
At the present time all the provinces, with the exception of Prince
Edward Island, have an excellent municipal system, which enables every
defined district, large or small, to carry on efficiently all those
public improvements essential to the comfort, convenience and general
necessities of the different communities that make up the province at
large. Even in the territories of the north-west, every proper facility
is given to the people in a populous district, or town, to organise a
system equal to all their local requirements.
Every Englishman will consider it an interesting and encouraging fact
that the Canadian people, despite their neighbourhood to a prosperous
federal commonwealth, should not even in the most critical and gloomy
periods of their history have shown any disposition to mould their
institutions directly on those of the United States and lay the
foundation for future political union. Previous to 1840, which was the
commencement of a new era in the political history of the provinces,
there was a time when discontent prevailed throughout the Canadas, but
not even then did any large body of the people threaten to sever the
connection with the parent state. The Act of Confederation was framed
under the direct influence of Sir John Macdonald and Sir George Cartier,
and although one was an English Canadian and the other a French
Canadian, neither yielded to the other in the desire to build up a
Dominion on the basis of English institutions, in the closest possible
connection with the mother country. While the question of union was
under consideration it was English statesmen and writers alone who
predicted that this new federation, with its great extent of territory,
its abundant resources, and ambitious people, would eventually form a
new nation independent of Great Britain. Canadian statesmen never spoke
or wrote of separation, but regarded the constitutional change in their
political condition as giving them greater weight and strength in the
empire. The influence of British example on the Canadian Dominion can be
seen throughout its governmental machinery, in the system of
parliamentary government, in the constitution of the privy council and
the houses of parliament, in an independent judiciary, in appointed
officials of every class--in the provincial as well as Dominion
system--in a permanent and non-political civil service, and in all
elements of sound administration. During the thirty-three years that
have passed since 1867, the attachment to England and her institutions
has gained in strength, and it is clear that those predictions of
Englishmen to which we have referred are completely falsified. On the
contrary, the dominant sentiment is for strengthening the ties that have
in some respects become weak in consequence of the enlargement of the
political rights of the Dominion, which has assumed the position of a
semi-independent power, since England now only retains her imperial
sovereignty by declaring peace or war with foreign nations, by
appointing a governor-general, by controlling colonial legislation
through the Queen in council and the Queen in parliament--but not so as
to diminish the rights of local self-government conceded to the
Dominion--and by requiring that all treaties with foreign nations should
be made through her own government, while recognising the right of the
dependency to be consulted and directly represented on all occasions
when its interests are immediately affected.
In no respect have the Canadians followed the example of the United
States, and made their executive entirely separate from the legislative
authority. On the contrary, there is no institution which works more
admirably in the federation--in the general as well as provincial
governments--than the principle of making the ministry responsible to
the popular branch of the legislature, and in that way keeping the
executive and legislative departments in harmony with each other, and
preventing that conflict of authorities which is a distinguishing
feature of the very opposite system that prevails in the federal
republic. If we review the amendments made of late years in the
political constitutions of the States, and especially those ratified not
long since in New York, we see in how many respects the Canadian system
of government is superior to that of the republic. For instance, Canada
has enjoyed for years, as results of responsible government, the secret
ballot, stringent laws against bribery and corruption at all classes of
elections, the registration of voters, strict naturalisation laws,
infrequent political elections, separation of municipal from provincial
or national contests, appointive and permanent officials in every branch
of the civil service, a carefully devised code of private bill
legislation, the printing of all public as well as private bills before
their consideration by the legislative bodies; and yet all these
essentials of safe administration and legislation are now only in part
introduced by constitutional enactment in so powerful and progressive a
state as New York.
Of course, in the methods of party government we can see in Canada at
times an attempt to follow the example of the United States, and to
introduce the party machine with its professional politicians and all
those influences that have degraded politics since the days of Jackson
and Van Buren. Happily, so far, the people of Canada have shown
themselves fully capable of removing those blots that show themselves
from time to time on the body politic. Justice has soon seized those men
who have betrayed their trust in the administration of public affairs.
Although Canadians may, according to their political proclivities, find
fault with some methods of governments and be carried away at times by
political passion beyond the bounds of reason, it is encouraging to find
that all are ready to admit the high character of the judiciary for
learning, integrity and incorruptibility. The records of Canada do not
present a single instance of the successful impeachment or removal of a
judge for improper conduct on the bench since the days of responsible
government; and the three or four petitions laid before parliament, in
the course of a quarter of a century, asking for an investigation into
vague charges against some judges, have never required a judgment of the
house. Canadians have built wisely when, in the formation of their
constitution, they followed the English plan of retaining an intimate
and invaluable connection between the executive and legislative
departments, and of keeping the judiciary practically independent of the
other authorities of government. Not only the life and prosperity of the
people, but the satisfactory working of the whole system of federal
government rests more or less on the discretion and integrity of the
judges. Canadians are satisfied that the peace and security of the whole
Dominion do not more depend on the ability and patriotism of statesmen
in the legislative halls than on that principle of the constitution,
which places the judiciary in an exalted position among all the other
departments of government, and makes law as far as possible the arbiter
of their constitutional conflicts. All political systems are very
imperfect at the best; legislatures are constantly subject to currents
of popular prejudice and passion; statesmanship is too often weak and
fluctuating, incapable of appreciating the true tendency of events, and
too ready to yield to the force of present circumstances or dictates of
expediency; but law, as worked out on English principles in all the
dependencies of the empire and countries of English origin, as
understood by Blackstone, Dicey, Story, Kent, and other great masters of
constitutional and legal learning, gives the best possible guarantee for
the security of institutions in a country of popular government.
In an Appendix to this history I have given comparisons in parallel
columns between the principal provisions of the federal constitutions of
the Canadian Dominion, and the Australian Commonwealth. In studying
carefully these two systems we must be impressed by the fact that the
constitution of Canada appears more influenced by the spirit of English
ideas than the constitution of Australia, which has copied some features
of the fundamental law of the United States. In the preamble of the
Canadian British North America act we find expressly stated "the desire
of the Canadian provinces to be federally united into one Dominion under
the crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with a
constitution similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom," while
the preamble of the Australian constitution contains only a bald
statement of an agreement "to unite in one indissoluble federal
Commonwealth under the crown," When we consider the use of
"Commonwealth"--a word of republican significance to British ears--as
well as the selection of "state" instead of "province," of "house of
representatives" instead of "house of commons," of "executive council"
instead of "privy council," we may well wonder why the Australians, all
British by origin and aspiration, should have shown an inclination to
deviate from the precedents established by the Canadian Dominion, which,
though only partly English, resolved to carve the ancient historic names
of the parent state on the very front of its political structure.
As the several States of the Commonwealth have full control of their own
constitutions, they may choose at any moment to elect their own
governors as in the States of the American Union, instead of having them
appointed by the crown as in Canada. We see also an imitation of the
American constitution in the principle which allots to the central
government only certain enumerated powers, and leaves the residuary
power of legislation to the States. Again, while the act provides for a
high and other federal courts, the members of which are to be appointed
and removed as in Canada by the central government, the States are still
to have full jurisdiction over the State courts as in the United States.
The Canadian constitution, which gives to the Dominion exclusive control
over the appointment and removal of the judges of all the superior
courts, offers a positive guarantee against the popular election of
judges in the provinces. It is not going too far to suppose that, with
the progress of democratic ideas in Australia--a country inclined to
political experiments--we may find the experience of the United States
repeated, and see elective judges make their appearance when a wave of
democracy has suddenly swept away all dictates of prudence and given
unbridled licence to professional political managers only anxious for
the success of party. In allowing the British Parliament to amend the
Act of Union on an address of the Canadian parliament, we have yet
another illustration of the desire of Canadians to respect the supremacy
of the sovereign legislature of the empire. On the other hand, the
Australians make themselves entirely independent of the action of the
imperial parliament, which might be invaluable in some crisis affecting
deeply the integrity and unity of the Commonwealth, and give full scope
to the will of democracy expressed at the polls. In also limiting the
right of appeal to the Queen in council--by giving to the high court the
power to prevent appeals in constitutional disputes--the Australians
have also to a serious degree weakened one of the most important ties
that now bind them to the empire, and afford additional illustration of
the inferiority of the Australian constitution, from an imperial point
of view, compared with that of the Canadian Dominion, where a reference
to the judicial committee of the privy council is highly valued.
The Canadian people are displaying an intellectual activity commensurate
with the expansion of their territory and their accumulation of wealth.
The scientific, historical and political contributions of three decades,
make up a considerable library which shows the growth of what may be
called Canadian literature, since it deals chiefly with subjects
essentially of Canadian interest. The attention that is now particularly
devoted to the study and writing of history, and the collection of
historical documents relating to the Dominion, prove clearly the
national or thoroughly Canadian spirit that is already animating the
cultured class of its people.
Of the numerous historical works that have appeared since 1867 two only
demand special mention in this short review. One of these is _A History
of the days of Montcalm and Lévis_ by the Abbé Casgrain, who
illustrates the studious and literary character of the professors of the
great university which bears the name of the first bishop of Canada,
Monseigneur Laval. A more elaborate general history of Canada, in ten
octavo volumes, is that by Dr. Kingsford, whose life closed with his
book. Whilst it shows much industry and conscientiousness on the part of
the author, it fails too often to evoke our interest even when it deals
with the striking and picturesque story of the French régime, since the
author considered it his duty to be sober and prosaic when Parkman is
bright and eloquent.
A good estimate of the progress of literary culture in Canada can be
formed from a careful perusal of the poems of Bliss Carman, Archibald
Lampman, Charles G.W. Roberts, Wilfred Campbell, Duncan Campbell Scott
and Frederick George Scott. The artistic finish of their verse and the
originality of their conception entitle them fairly to claim a foremost
place alongside American poets since Longfellow, Emerson, Whittier,
Bryant and Lowell have disappeared. Pauline Johnson, who has Indian
blood in her veins, Archbishop O'Brien of Halifax, Miss Machar, Ethelyn
Weatherald, Charles Mair and several others might also be named to prove
that poetry is not a lost art in Canada, despite its pressing prosaic
and material needs.
Dr. Louis Fréchette is a worthy successor of Crémazie and has won the
distinction of having his best work crowned by the French Academy.
French Canadian poetry, however, has been often purely imitative of
French models like Musset and Gautier, both in style and sentiment, and
consequently lacks strength and originality. Fréchette has all the
finish of the French poets and, while it cannot be said that he has yet
originated fresh thoughts, which are likely to live among even the
people whom he has so often instructed and delighted, yet he has given
us poems like that on the discovery of the Mississippi which prove that
he is capable of even better things if he would seek inspiration from
the sources of the deeply interesting history of his own country, or
enter into the inner mysteries and social relations of his picturesque
compatriots.
The life of the French Canadian habitant has been admirably described in
verse by Dr. Drummond, who has always lived among that class of the
Canadian people and been a close observer of their national and personal
characteristics. He is the only writer who has succeeded in giving a
striking portraiture of life in the cabin, in the "shanty" (_chantier_),
and on the river, where the French habitant, forester, and canoe-man can
be seen to best advantage.
But if Canada can point to some creditable achievements of recent years
in history, poetry and essays, there is one department in which
Canadians never won any marked success until recently, and that is in
the novel or romance. Even Mr. Kirby's _Le Chien d'Or_ which recalls the
closing days of the French régime--the days of the infamous Intendant
Bigot who fattened on Canadian misery--does not show the finished art of
the skilled novelist, though it has a certain crude vigour of its own,
which has enabled it to live while so many other Canadian books have
died. French Canada is even weaker in this particular, and this is the
more surprising because there is abundance of material for the novelist
or the writer of romance in her peculiar society and institutions. But
this reproach has been removed by Mr. Gilbert Parker, now a resident in
London, but a Canadian by birth, education and sympathies, who is
animated by a laudable ambition of giving form and vitality to the
abundant materials that exist in the Dominion for the true story-teller.
His works show great skill in the use of historic matter, more than
ordinary power in the construction of a plot, and, above all, a literary
finish which is not equalled by any Canadian writer in the same field of
effort. Other meritorious Canadian workers in romance are Mr. William
McLennan, Mrs. Coates (Sarah Jeannette Duncan), and Miss Dougall, whose
names are familiar to English readers.
The name of Dr. Todd is well known throughout the British empire, and
indeed wherever institutions of government are studied, as that of an
author of most useful works on the English and Canadian constitutions.
Sir William Dawson, for many years the energetic principal of McGill
University, the scientific prominence of which is due largely to his
mental bias, was the author of several geological books, written in a
graceful and readable style. The scientific work of Canadians can be
studied chiefly in the proceedings of English, American and Canadian
societies, especially, of late years, in the transactions of the Royal
Society of Canada, established over eighteen years ago by the Marquess
of Lorne when governor-general of the Dominion. This successful
association is composed of one hundred and twenty members who have
written "memoirs of merit or rendered eminent services to literature or
science."
On the whole, there have been enough good poems, histories, and essays,
written and published in Canada during the last four or five decades, to
prove that there has been a steady intellectual growth on the part of
the Canadian people, and that it has kept pace at all events with the
mental growth in the pulpit, or in the legislative halls, where, of late
years, a keen practical debating style has taken the place of the more
rhetorical and studied oratory of old times. The intellectual faculties
of Canadians only require larger opportunities for their exercise to
bring forth rich fruit. The progress in the years to come will be much
greater than that Canadians have yet shown, and necessarily so, with the
wider distribution of wealth, the dissemination of a higher culture, and
a greater confidence in their own mental strength, and in the
opportunities that the country offers to pen and pencil. What is now
wanted is the cultivation of a good style and artistic workmanship.
Much of the daily literature of Canadians--indeed the chief literary
aliment of large numbers--is the newspaper press, which illustrates
necessarily the haste, pressure and superficiality of writings of that
ephemeral class. Canadian journals, however, have not yet descended to
the degraded sensationalism of New York papers, too many of which
circulate in Canada to the public detriment. On the whole, the tone of
the most ably conducted journals--the Toronto _Globe_, and the Montreal
_Gazette_ notably--is quite on a level with the tone of debate in the
legislative bodies of the country.
Now, as in all times of Canada's history, political life claims many
strong, keen and cultured intellects, though at the same time it is too
manifest that the tendency of democratic conditions and heated party
controversy is to prevent the most highly educated and sensitive
organisations from venturing on the agitated and unsafe sea of political
passion and competition. The speeches of Sir Wilfrid Laurier--the
eloquent French Canadian premier, who in his mastery of the English
tongue surpasses all his versatile compatriots--of Sir Charles Tupper,
Mr. Foster and others who might be mentioned, recall the most brilliant
period of parliamentary annals (1867--1873), when in the first
parliament of the Dominion the most prominent men of the provinces were
brought into public life, under the new conditions of federal union. The
debating power of the provincial legislative bodies is excellent, and
the chief defects are the great length and discursiveness of the
speeches on local as well as on national questions. It is also admitted
that of late years there has been a tendency to impair the dignity and
to lower the tone of discussion.
Many Canadians have devoted themselves to art since 1867, and some
Englishmen will recognise the names of L.R. O'Brien, Robert Harris,
J.W.L. Forster, Homer Watson, George Reid--the painter of "The
Foreclosure of the Mortgage," which won great praise at the World's Fair
of Chicago--John Hammond, F.A. Verner, Miss Bell, Miss Muntz, W.
Brymner, all of whom are Canadians by birth and inspiration. The
establishment of a Canadian Academy of Art by the Princess Louise, and
of other art associations, has done a good deal to stimulate a taste
for art, though the public encouragement of native artists is still very
inadequate, when we consider the excellence already attained under great
difficulties in a relatively new country, where the great mass of people
has yet to be educated to a perception of the advantages of high
artistic effort.
Sculpture would be hardly known in Canada were it not for the work of
the French Canadian Hebert, who is a product of the schools of Paris,
and has given to the Dominion several admirable statues and monuments of
its public men. While Canadian architecture has hitherto been generally
wanting in originality of conception, the principal edifices of the
provinces afford many good illustrations of effective adaptation of the
best art of Europe. Among these may be mentioned the following:--the
parliament and departmental buildings at Ottawa, admirable examples of
Italian Gothic; the legislative buildings at Toronto, in the Romanesque
style; the English cathedrals in Montreal and Fredericton, correct
specimens of early English Gothic; the French parish church of
Notre-Dame, in Montreal, attractive for its stately Gothic proportions;
the university of Toronto, an admirable conception of Norman
architecture; the Canadian Pacific railway station at Montreal and the
Frontenac Hotel at Quebec, fine examples of the adaptation of old Norman
architecture to modern necessities; the provincial buildings at
Victoria, in British Columbia, the general design of which is
Renaissance, rendered most effective by pearl-grey stone and several
domes; the headquarters of the bank of Montreal, a fine example of the
Corinthian order, and notable for the artistic effort to illustrate, on
the walls of the interior, memorable scenes in Canadian history; the
county and civic buildings of Toronto, an ambitious effort to reproduce
the modern Romanesque, so much favoured by the eminent American
architect, Richardson; Osgoode Hall, the seat of the great law courts of
the province of Ontario, which in its general character recalls the
architecture of the Italian Renaissance. Year by year we see additions
to our public and private buildings, interesting from an artistic point
of view, and illustrating the accumulating wealth of the country, as
well as the growth of culture and taste among the governing classes.
The universities, colleges, academies, and high schools, the public and
common schools of the Dominion, illustrate the great desire of the
governments and the people of the provinces to give the greatest
possible facilities for the education of all classes at the smallest
possible cost to individuals. At the present time there are between
13,000 and 14,000 students attending 62 universities and colleges. The
collegiate institutes and academies of the provinces also rank with the
colleges as respects the advantages they give to young men and
women. Science is especially prominent in McGill and Toronto
Universities--which are the most largely attended--and the former
affords a notable example of the munificence of the wealthy men of
Montreal, in establishing chairs of science and otherwise advancing its
educational usefulness. Laval University stands deservedly at the head
of the Roman Catholic institutions of the continent, on account of its
deeply interesting historic associations, and the scholarly attainments
of its professors, several of whom have won fame in Canadian letters.
Several universities give instructions in medicine and law, and Toronto
has also a medical college for women. At the present time, at least
one-fifth of the people of the Dominion is in attendance at the
universities, colleges, public and private schools. The people of Canada
contribute upwards of ten millions of dollars annually to the support of
their educational establishments, in the shape of government grants,
public taxes, or private fees. Ontario alone, in 1899, raised five
millions and a half of dollars for the support of its public school
system; and of this amount the people directly contributed ninety-one
per cent, in the shape of taxes. On the other hand, the libraries of
Canada are not numerous; and it is only in Ontario that there is a law
providing for the establishment of such institutions by a vote of the
taxpayers in the municipalities. In this province there are at least
420 libraries, of which the majority are connected with mechanics'
institutes, and are made public by statute. The weakness of the public
school system--especially in Ontario--is the constant effort to teach a
child a little of everything, and to make him a mere machine. The
consequences are superficiality--a veneer of knowledge--and the loss of
individuality.
CHAPTER X.
CANADA'S RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES AND HER INFLUENCE IN IMPERIAL
COUNCILS (1783--1900).
I have deemed it most convenient to reserve for the conclusion of this
history a short review of the relations that have existed for more than
a century between the provinces of the Dominion and the United States,
whose diplomacy and legislation have had, and must always have, a
considerable influence on the material and social conditions of the
people of Canada.--an influence only subordinate to that exercised by
the imperial state. I shall show that during the years when there was no
confederation of Canada--when there were to the north and north-east of
the United States only a number of isolated provinces, having few common
sympathies or interests except their attachment to the crown and
empire--the United States had too often its own way in controversial
questions affecting the colonies which arose between England and the
ambitious federal republic. On the other hand, with the territorial
expansion of the provinces under one Dominion, with their political
development, which has assumed even national attributes, with the steady
growth of an imperial sentiment in the parent state, the old condition
of things that too often made the provinces the shuttlecock of skilful
American diplomacy has passed away. The statesmen of the Canadian
federation are now consulted, and exercise almost as much influence as
if they were members of the imperial councils in London.
I shall naturally commence this review with a reference to the treaty of
1783, which acknowledged the independence of the United States, fixed
the boundaries between that country and British North America, and led
to serious international disputes which lasted until the middle of the
following century. Three of the ablest men in the United
States--Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay--succeeded by their
astuteness and persistency in extending their country's limits to the
eastern bank of the Mississippi, despite the insidious efforts of
Vergennes on the part of France to hem in the new nation between the
Atlantic and the Appalachian Range. The comparative value set upon
Canada during the preliminary negotiations may be easily deduced from
the fact that Oswald, the English plenipotentiary, proposed to give up
to the United States the south-western and most valuable part of the
present province of Ontario, and to carry the north-eastern boundary up
to the River St. John. The commissioners of the United States did not
accept this suggestion. Their ultimate object--an object actually
attained--was to make the St. Lawrence the common boundary between the
two countries by following the centre of the river and the great lakes
as far as the head of Lake Superior. The issue of negotiations so
stupidly conducted by the British commissioner, was a treaty which gave
an extremely vague definition of the boundary in the north-east between
Maine and Nova Scotia--which until 1784 included New Brunswick--and
displayed at the same time a striking example of geographical ignorance
as to the north-west. The treaty specified that the boundary should pass
from the head of Lake Superior through Long Lake to the north-west angle
of the Lake of the Woods, and thence to the Mississippi, when, as a
matter of fact there was no Long Lake, and the source of the Mississippi
was actually a hundred miles or so to the south of the Lake of the
Woods. This curious blunder in the north-west was only rectified in
1842, when Lord Ashburton settled the difficulty by conceding to the
United States an invaluable corner of British territory in the east (see
below, p 299).
[Illustration: INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY. AS FINALLY ESTABLISHED IN 1842 AT
LAKE OF THE WOODS]
The only practical advantage that the people of the provinces gained
from the Treaty of Ghent, which closed the war of 1812--15, was an
acknowledgment of the undoubted fishery rights of Great Britain and her
dependencies in the territorial waters of British North America. In the
treaty of 1783 the people of the United States obtained the "right" to
fish on the Grand and other banks of Newfoundland, and in the Gulf of
St. Lawrence and at "all other places in the sea, where the inhabitants
of both countries used at any time heretofore to fish", but they were to
have only "the liberty" of taking fish on the coasts of Newfoundland and
also of "all other of his Britannic Majesty's dominions in America; and
also of drying and curing fish in any of the unsettled bays, harbours,
and creeks of Nova Scotia (then including New Brunswick), Magdalen
Islands, and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain unsettled." In
the one case, it will be seen, there was a recognised right, but in the
other only a mere "liberty" or privilege extended to the fishermen of
the United States. At the close of the war of 1812 the British
government would not consent to renew the merely temporary liberties of
1783, and the United States authorities acknowledged the soundness of
the principle that any privileges extended to the republic in British
territorial waters could only rest on "conventional stipulation." The
convention of 1818 forms the legal basis of the rights, which Canadians
have always maintained in the case of disputes between themselves and
the United States as to the fisheries on their own coasts, bays, and
harbours of Canada. It provides that the inhabitants of the United
States shall have for ever the liberty to take, dry, and cure fish on
certain parts of the coast of Newfoundland, on the Magdalen Islands and
on the southern shores of Labrador, but they "renounce for ever any
liberty, heretofore enjoyed" by them to take, dry, and cure fish, "on or
within three marine miles of any of the coasts, bays or creeks or
harbours of his Britannic Majesty's other dominions in America";
provided, however, that the American fishermen shall be admitted to
enter such bays and harbours, for the purpose of shelter, and of
repairing damages therein, of purchasing wood, and of obtaining water,
and "for no other purpose whatever."
In April, 1817, the governments of Great Britain and the United States
came to an important agreement which ensured the neutrality of the great
lakes. It was agreed that the naval forces to be maintained upon these
inland waters should be confined to the following vessels: on Lakes
Champlain and Ontario to one vessel, on the Upper Lakes to two vessels,
not exceeding in each case a hundred tons burden and armed with only one
small cannon. Either nation had the right to bring the convention to a
termination by a previous notice of six months. This agreement is still
regarded by Great Britain and the United States to be in existence,
since Mr. Secretary Seward formally withdrew the notice which was given
for its abrogation in 1864, when the civil war was in progress and the
relations between the two nations were considerably strained at times.
The next international complication arose out of the seizure of the
steamer _Caroline_, which was engaged in 1837 in carrying munitions of
war between the United States and Navy Island, then occupied by a number
of persons in the service of Mr. Mackenzie and other Canadian rebels. In
1840 the authorities of New York arrested one Macleod on the charge of
having murdered a man who was employed on the _Caroline_. The
Washington government for some time evaded the whole question by
throwing the responsibility on the state authorities and declaring that
they could not interfere with a matter which was then within the
jurisdiction of the state courts. The matter gave rise to much
correspondence between the two governments, but happily for the peace of
the two countries the American courts acquitted Macleod, as the evidence
was clear that he had had nothing to do with the actual seizing of the
_Caroline_; and the authorities at Washington soon afterwards
acknowledged their responsibility in such affairs by passing an act
directing that subjects of foreign powers, if taken into custody for
acts done or committed under the authority of their own government, "the
validity or effect whereof depends upon the law of nations, should be
discharged." The dissatisfaction that had arisen in the United States on
account of the cutting out of the _Caroline_ was removed in 1842, when
Sir Robert Peel expressed regret that "some explanation and apology for
the occurrence had not been previously made," and declared that it was
"the opinion of candid and honourable men that the British officers who
executed this transaction, and their government who approved it,
intended no insult or disrespect to the sovereign authority of the
United States[9]."
[9: Hall's _Treatise on International Law_ (3rd ed.), pp. 311--313]
In the course of time the question of the disputed boundary between
Maine and New Brunswick assumed grave proportions. By the treaty of
1783, the boundary was to be a line drawn from the source of the St.
Croix, directly north to the highlands "which divide the rivers which
fall into the Atlantic ocean from those which fall into the river St.
Lawrence;" thence along the said highlands to the north-easternmost head
of the Connecticut River; and the point at which the due north line was
to cut the highlands was also designated as the north-west angle of Nova
Scotia. The whole question was the subject of several commissions, and
of one arbitration, from 1783 until 1842, when it was finally settled.
Its history appears to be that of a series of blunders on the part of
England from the beginning to the end. The first blunder occurred in
1796 when the commissioners appointed to inquire into the question,
declared that the Schoodic was the River St. Croix mentioned in the
treaty. Instead, however, of following the main, or western, branch of
the Schoodic to its source in the Schoodic Lakes, they went beyond
their instructions and chose a northern tributary of the river, the
Chiputnaticook, as the boundary, and actually placed a monument at its
head as a basis for any future proceeding on the part of the two
governments. The British government appear to have been very anxious at
this time to settle the question, for they did not take exception to the
arrangement made by the commissioners, but in 1798 declared the decision
binding on both countries.
Still this mistake might have been rectified had the British government
in 1835 been sufficiently alive to British interests in America to have
accepted a proposal made to them by President Jackson to ascertain the
true north-western angle of Nova Scotia, or the exact position of the
highlands, in accordance with certain well-understood rules in practical
surveying which have been always considered obligatory in that
continent. It was proposed by the United States to discard the due north
line, to seek to the west of that line the undisputed highlands that
divide the rivers which empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence
from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to find the point in the
'watershed' of these highlands nearest to the north line, and to trace a
direct course from it to the monument already established. "If this
principle had been adopted," says Sir Sandford Fleming, the eminent
Canadian engineer, "a straight line would have been drawn from the
monument at the head of the Chiputnaticook to a point which could have
been established with precision in the 'watershed' of the highlands
which separate the sources of the Chaudière from those of the
Penobscot,--this being the most easterly point in the only highlands
agreeing beyond dispute with the treaty. The point is found a little to
the north and west of the intersection of the 70th meridian west
longitude and the 46th parallel of north latitude." Had this proposal
been accepted England would have obtained without further difficulty
eleven thousand square miles, or the combined areas of Massachusetts
and Connecticut.
[Illustration: MAP OF THE NORTH-EASTERN BOUNDARY AS ESTABLISHED IN
1842.]
For several years after this settlement was suggested a most serious
conflict went on between New Brunswick and the state of Maine. The
authorities of Maine paid no respect whatever to the negotiations that
were still in progress between the governments of Great Britain and the
United States, but actually took possession of the disputed territory,
gave titles for lands and constructed forts and roads within its limits.
Collisions occurred between the settlers and the intruders, and
considerable property was destroyed. The legislature of Maine voted
$800,000 for the defence of the state, and the legislature of Nova
Scotia amid great enthusiasm made a grant of $100,000 to assist New
Brunswick in support of her rights. Happily the efforts of the United
States and British governments prevented the quarrel between the
province and the state from assuming international proportions; and in
1842 Mr. Alexander Baring, afterwards Lord Ashburton, was authorised by
the ministry of the Earl of Aberdeen to negotiate with Mr. Daniel
Webster, then secretary of state in the American cabinet, for the
settlement of matters in dispute between the two nations. The result was
the Ashburton Treaty, which, in fixing the north-eastern boundary
between British North America and the United States, started due north
from the monument incorrectly placed at the head of the Chiputnaticook
instead of the source of the true St. Croix, and consequently at the
very outset gave up a strip of land extending over some two degrees of
latitude, and embracing some 3000 square miles of British territory. By
consenting to carry the line due north from the misplaced monument Lord
Ashburton ignored the other natural landmark set forth in the treaty:
"the line of headlands which divide the waters flowing into the Atlantic
from those which flow into the St. Lawrence." A most erratic boundary
was established along the St. John, which flows neither into the St.
Lawrence nor the Atlantic, but into the Bay of Fundy, far east of the
St. Croix. In later years the historian Sparks found in Paris a map on
which Franklin himself had marked in December, 1782, with a heavy red
line, what was then considered the true natural boundary between the two
countries. Mr. Sparks admitted in sending the map that it conceded more
than Great Britain actually claimed, and that "the line from the St.
Croix to the Canadian highlands is intended to exclude [from the
territory of the United States] all the waters running into the St.
John." Canadians have always believed with reason that that portion of
the present state of Maine, through which the Aroostook and other
tributaries of the St. John flow, is actually British territory. If we
look at the map of Canada we see that the state of Maine now presses
like a huge wedge into the provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec as a
sequence of the unfortunate mistakes of 1796, 1835, and 1842, on the
part of England and her agents. In these later times a "Canadian short
line" railway has been forced to go through Maine in order to connect
Montreal with St. John, and other places in the maritime provinces. Had
the true St. Croix been chosen in 1796, or President Jackson's offer
accepted in 1835, this line could go continuously through Canadian
territory, and be entirely controlled by Canadian legislation.
Another boundary question was the subject of much heated controversy
between England and the United States for more than a quarter of a
century, and in 1845 brought the two countries very close to war. In
1819 the United States obtained from Spain a cession of all her rights
and claims north of latitude forty-two, or the southern boundary of the
present state of Oregon. By that time the ambition of the United States
was not content with the Mississippi valley, of which she had obtained
full control by the cession of the Spanish claims and by the Louisiana
purchase of 1803, but looked to the Pacific coast, where she made
pretensions to a territory stretching from 42° to 54° 40' north
latitude, or a territory four times the area of Great Britain and
Ireland, or of the present province of Ontario. The claims of the two
nations to this vast region rested on very contradictory statements with
respect to priority of discovery, and that occupation and settlement
which should, within reasonable limits, follow discovery; and as the
whole question was one of great perplexity, it should have been settled,
as suggested by England, on principles of compromise. But the people of
the United States, conscious at last of the importance of the territory,
began to bring their influence to bear on the politicians, until by 1845
the Democratic party declared 'for 54° 40' or fight,' Mr. Crittenden
announced that "war might now be looked upon as almost inevitable."
Happily President Polk and congress came to more pacific conclusions
after a good deal of warlike talk; and the result was a treaty (1846) by
which England accepted the line 49 degrees to the Pacific coast, and
obtained the whole of Vancouver Island, which for a while seemed likely
to be divided with the United States. But Vancouver Island was by no
means a compensation for what England gave up, for, on the continent,
she yielded all she had contended for since 1824, when she first
proposed the Columbia River as a basis of division.
But even then the question of boundary was not finally settled by this
great victory which had been won for the United States by the
persistency of her statesmen. The treaty of 1846 continued the line of
boundary westward along "the 49th parallel of north latitude to the
middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver
Island, and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel and
of Fuca's straits to the Pacific Ocean" Anyone reading this clause for
the first time, without reference to the contentions that were raised
afterwards, would certainly interpret it to mean the whole body of water
that separates the continent from Vancouver,--such a channel, in fact,
as divides England from France; but it appears there are a number of
small channels separating the islands which lie in the great channel in
question, and the clever diplomatists at Washington immediately claimed
the Canal de Haro, the widest and deepest, as the canal of the treaty.
Instead of at once taking the ground that the whole body of water was
really in question, the English government claimed another channel,
Rosario Strait, inferior in some respects, but the one most generally,
and indeed only, used at the time by their vessels. The importance of
this difference of opinion lay chiefly in the fact, that the Haro gave
San Juan and other small islands, valuable for defensive purposes, to
the United States, while the Rosario left them to England. Then, after
much correspondence, the British government, as a compromise, offered
the middle channel, or Douglas, which would still retain San Juan. If
they had always adhered to the Douglas--which appears to answer the
conditions of the treaty, since it lies practically in the middle of the
great channel--their position would have been much stronger than it was
when they came back to the Rosario. The British representatives at the
Washington conference of 1871 suggested the reference of the question to
arbitration, but the United States' commissioners, aware of their
vantage ground, would consent to no other arrangement than to leave to
the decision of the Emperor of Germany the question whether the Haro or
the Rosario channel best accorded with the treaty; and the Emperor
decided in favour of the United States. However, with the possession of
Vancouver in its entirety, Canada can still be grateful; and San Juan is
now only remembered as an episode of skilful American diplomacy. The
same may be said of another acquisition of the republic--insignificant
from the point of view of territorial area, but still illustrative of
the methods which have won all the great districts we have named
--Rouse's Point at the outlet of Lake Champlain, "of which an exact
survey would have deprived" the United States, according to Mr. Schouler
in his excellent history.
During this period the fishery question again assumed considerable
importance. The government at Washington raised the contention that the
three miles' limit, to which their fishermen could be confined by the
convention of 1818, should follow the sinuosities of the coasts,
including the bays, the object being to obtain access to the valuable
mackerel fisheries of the Bay of Chaleurs and other waters claimed to be
exclusively within the territorial jurisdiction of the maritime
provinces. The imperial government sustained the contention of the
provinces--a contention practically supported by American authorities in
the case of the Delaware, Chesapeake, and other bays on the coast of the
United States--that the three miles' limit should be measured from a
line drawn from headlands of all bays, harbours and creeks. In the case
of the Bay of Fundy, however, the imperial government allowed a
departure from this general principle, when it was urged by the
Washington government that one of its headlands was in the territory of
the United States, and that it was an arm of the sea rather than a bay.
The result was that foreign fishing vessels were only shut out from the
bays on the coasts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick within the Bay of
Fundy. All these questions were, however, placed in abeyance by the
reciprocity treaty of 1854 (see p. 96), which lasted until 1866, when it
was repealed by the action of the United States, in accordance with the
provision bringing it to a conclusion after one year's notice from one
of the parties interested.
The causes which led in 1866 to the repeal of a treaty so advantageous
to the United States have been long well understood. The commercial
classes in the eastern and western states were, on the whole, favourable
to an enlargement of the treaty; but the real cause of its repeal was
the prejudice in the northern states against Canada on account of its
supposed sympathy for the confederate states during the Secession war. A
large body of men in the north believed that the repeal of the treaty
would sooner or later force Canada to join the republic; and a bill was
actually introduced in the house of representatives providing for her
admission--a mere political straw, it is true, but showing the current
of opinion in some quarters in those days. When we review the history of
those times, and consider the difficult position in which Canada was
placed, it is remarkable how honourably her government discharged its
duties of a neutral between the belligerents. In the case of the raid of
some confederate refugees in Canada on the St. Alban's bank in Vermont,
the Canadian authorities brought the culprits to trial and even paid a
large sum of money in acknowledgment of an alleged responsibility when
some of the stolen notes were returned to the robbers on their release
on technical grounds by a Montreal magistrate. It is well, too, to
remember how large a number of Canadians fought in the union
armies--twenty against one who served in the south. No doubt the
position of Canada was made more difficult at that critical time by the
fact that she was a colony of Great Britain, against whom both north and
south entertained bitter feelings by the close of the war; the former
mainly on account of the escape of confederate cruisers from English
ports, and the latter because she did not receive active support from
England. The north had also been much excited by the promptness with
which Lord Palmerston had sent troops to Canada when Mason and Slidell
were seized on an English packet on the high seas, and by the bold tone
held by some Canadian papers when it was doubtful if the prisoners would
be released.
Before and since the union, the government of Canada has made repeated
efforts to renew a commercial treaty with the government at Washington.
In 1865 and 1866, Canadian delegates were prepared to make large
concessions, but were reluctantly brought to the conclusion that the
committee of ways and means in congress "no longer desired trade between
the two countries to be carried on upon the principle of reciprocity."
In 1866 Sir John Rose, while minister of finance, made an effort in the
same direction, but he was met by the obstinate refusal of the
republican party, then as always, highly protective.
All this while the fishery question was assuming year by year a form
increasingly irritating to the two countries. The headland question was
the principal difficulty, and the British government, in order to
conciliate the United States at a time when the Alabama question was a
subject of anxiety, induced the Canadian government to agree, very
reluctantly it must be admitted, to shut out foreign fishing vessels
only from bays less than six miles in width at their entrances. In this,
however, as in all other matters, the Canadian authorities acknowledged
their duty to yield to the considerations of imperial interests, and
acceded to the wishes of the imperial government in almost every
respect, except actually surrendering their territorial rights in the
fisheries. They issued licenses to fish, at low rates, for several
years, only to find eventually that American fishermen did not think it
worth while to buy these permits when they could evade the regulations
with little difficulty. The correspondence went on for several years,
and eventually led to the Washington conference or commission of 1871,
which was primarily intended to settle the fishery question, but which
actually gave the precedence to the Alabama difficulty--then of most
concern in the opinion of the London and Washington governments. The
representatives of the United States would not consider a proposition
for another reciprocity treaty on the basis of that of 1854. The
questions arising out of the convention of 1818 were not settled by the
commission, but were practically laid aside for ten years by an
arrangement providing for the free admission of salt-water fish to the
United States, on the condition of allowing the fishing vessels of that
country free access to the Canadian fisheries. The free navigation of
the St. Lawrence was conceded to the United States in return for the
free use of Lake Michigan and of certain rivers in Alaska. The question
of giving to the vessels of the Canadian provinces the privilege of
trading on the coast of the United States--a privilege persistently
demanded for years by Nova Scotia--was not considered; and while the
canals of Canada were opened up to the United States on the most liberal
terms, the Washington government contented itself with a barren promise
in the treaty to use its influence with the authorities of the states to
open up their artificial waterways to Canadians. The Fenian claims were
abruptly laid aside, although, if the principle of "due diligence,"
which was laid down in the new rules for the settlement of the Alabama
difficulty had been applied to this question, the government of the
United States would have been mulcted in heavy damages. In this case it
would be difficult to find a more typical instance of responsibility
assumed by a state through the permission of open and notorious acts,
and by way of complicity after the acts; however, as in many other
negotiations with the United States, Canada felt she must make
sacrifices for the empire, whose government wished all causes of
irritation between England and the United States removed as far as
possible by the treaty. One important feature of this commission was the
presence, for the first time in the history of treaties, of a Canadian
statesman. The astute prime minister of the Dominion, Sir John
Macdonald, was chosen as one of the English high commissioners: and
though he was necessarily tied down by the instructions of the imperial
state, his knowledge of Canadian questions was of great service to
Canada during the conference. If the treaty finally proved more
favourable to the Dominion than it at first appeared to be, it was owing
largely to the clause which provided for a reference to a later
commission of the question, whether the United States would not have to
pay the Canadians a sum of money, as the value of their fisheries over
and above any concessions made them in the treaty. The result of this
commission was a payment of five millions and a half of dollars to
Canada and Newfoundland, to the infinite disappointment of the
politicians of the United States, who had been long accustomed to have
the best in all the bargains with their neighbours. Nothing shows more
clearly the measure of the local self-government at last won by Canada
and the importance of her position in the empire, than the fact that the
English government recognised the right of the Dominion government to
name the commissioner who represented Canada on an arbitration which
decided a question of such deep importance to her interests.
The clauses of the Washington treaty relating to the fisheries and to
trade with Canada lasted for fourteen years, and then were repealed by
the action of the United States government. In the year 1874 the
Mackenzie ministry attempted, through Mr. George Brown, to negotiate a
new reciprocity treaty, but met with a persistent hostility from leading
men in congress. The relations between Canada and the United States
again assumed a phase of great uncertainty. Canada from 1885 adhered to
the letter of the convention of 1818, and allowed no fishing vessels to
fish within the three miles limit, to transship cargoes of fish in her
ports, or to enter them for any purpose except for shelter, wood, water,
and repairs. For the infractions of the treaty several vessels were
seized, and more than one of them condemned. A clamour was raised in the
United States on the ground that the Canadians were wanting in that
spirit of friendly intercourse which should characterise the relations
of neighbouring peoples. The fact is, the Canadians were bound to adhere
to their legal rights--rights which had always been maintained before
1854; which had remained in abeyance between 1854 and 1866; which
naturally revived after the repeal of the reciprocity treaty of 1854;
which again remained in abeyance between 1871 and 1885; and were revived
when the United States themselves chose to go back to the terms of the
convention of 1818.
In 1887 President Cleveland and Mr. Secretary Bayard, acting in a
statesmanlike spirit, obtained the consent of England to a special
commission to consider the fishery question. Sir Sackville West, Mr.
Joseph Chamberlain, and Sir Charles Tupper represented England; Mr.
Bayard, then secretary of state, Mr. Putnam of Maine, and Mr. Angell of
Michigan University, represented the United States. Sir Charles Tupper
could not induce the American commissioners to consider a mutual
arrangement providing for greater freedom of commercial intercourse
between Canada and the United States. Eventually the commission agreed
unanimously to a treaty which was essentially a compromise. Foreign
fishermen were to be at liberty to go into any waters where the bay was
more than ten miles wide at the mouth, but certain bays, including the
Bay of Chaleurs, were expressly excepted in the interests of Canada from
the operation of this provision. The United States did not attempt to
acquire the right to fish on the inshore fishing-grounds of Canada--that
is, within three miles of the coasts--but these fisheries were to be
left for the exclusive use of the Canadian fishermen. More satisfactory
arrangements were made for vessels obliged to resort to the Canadian
ports in distress; and a provision was made for allowing American
fishing-vessels to obtain supplies and other privileges in the harbours
of the Dominion whenever congress allowed the fish of that country to
enter free into the market of the United States, President Cleveland in
his message, submitting the treaty to the senate, acknowledged that it
"supplied a satisfactory, practical and final adjustment, upon a basis
honourable and just to both parties, of the difficult and vexed
questions to which it relates." The republican party, however, at that
important juncture--just before a presidential election--had a majority
in the senate, and the result was the failure in that body of a measure,
which, although by no means too favourable to Canadian interests, was
framed in a spirit of judicious statesmanship.
As a sequel of the acquisition of British Columbia, the Canadian
government was called upon in 1886 to urge the interests of the
Dominion in an international question that had arisen in Bering Sea. A
United States cutter seized in the open sea, at a distance of more than
sixty miles from the nearest land, certain Canadian schooners, fitted
out in British Columbia, and lawfully engaged in the capture of seals in
the North Pacific Ocean, adjacent to Vancouver Island, Queen Charlotte
Islands, and Alaska--a portion of the territory of the United States
acquired in 1867 from Russia. These vessels were taken into a port of
Alaska, where they were subjected to forfeiture, and the masters and
mates fined and imprisoned. Great Britain at once resisted the claim of
the United States to the sole sovereignty of that part of Bering Sea
lying beyond the westerly boundary of Alaska--a stretch of sea extending
in its widest part some 600 or 700 miles beyond the mainland of Alaska,
and clearly under the law of nations a part of the great sea and open to
all nations. Lord Salisbury's government, from the beginning to the end
of the controversy, sustained the rights of Canada as a portion of the
British empire. After very protracted and troublesome negotiations it
was agreed to refer the international question in dispute to a court of
arbitration, in which Sir John Thompson, prime minister of Canada, was
one of the British arbitrators. The arbitrators decided in favour of the
British contention that the United States had no jurisdiction in Bering
Sea outside of the three miles limit, and at the same time made certain
regulations to restrict the wholesale slaughter of fur-bearing seals in
the North Pacific Ocean. In 1897 two commissioners, appointed by the
governments of the United States and Canada, awarded the sum of $463,454
as compensation to Canada for the damages sustained by the fishermen of
British Columbia, while engaged in the lawful prosecution of their
industry on that portion of the Bering Sea declared to be open to all
nations. This sum was paid in the summer of 1898 by the United States.
In 1897 the Canadian government succeeded in obtaining the consent of
the governments of Great Britain and the United States to the
appointment of a joint high commission to settle various questions in
dispute between Canada and the United States. Canada was represented on
this commission by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Sir Richard Cartwright, Sir
Louis Davies, and Mr. John Charlton, M.P., Newfoundland by Sir James
Winter; the United States by Messieurs C.W. Fairbanks, George Gray, J.W.
Foster, Nelson Dingley Jr., J.A. Kasson, and T. Jefferson Coolidge. The
eminent jurist, Baron Herschell, who had been lord chancellor in the
last Gladstone ministry, was chosen chairman of this commission, which
met in the historic city of Quebec on several occasions from the 23rd
August until the 10th October, 1898, and subsequently at Washington from
November until the 20th February, 1899, when it adjourned. Mr. Dingley
died in January and was replaced by Mr. Payne, and Lord Herschell also
unhappily succumbed to the effects of an accident soon after the close
of the sittings of the commission. In an eulogy of this eminent man in
the Canadian house of commons, the Canadian prime minister stated that
during the sittings of the commission "he fought for Canada not only
with enthusiasm, but with conviction and devotion." England happily in
these modern times has felt the necessity of giving to the consideration
of Canadian interests the services of her most astute and learned
statesmen and diplomatists.
This commission was called upon to consider a number of international
questions--the Atlantic and inland fisheries, the Alaska boundary, the
alien labour law, the bonding privilege, the seal fishery in the Bering
Sea, reciprocity of trade in certain products of the two countries, and
other minor issues. For the reasons given in a previous part of this
chapter (page 269), when referring to the commercial policy of the
Laurier government, reciprocity was no longer the all-important question
to be discussed, though the commissioners were desirous of making fiscal
arrangements with respect to lumber, coal, and some other Canadian
products for which there is an increasing demand in the markets of the
United States. The long and earnest discussions of the commission on the
various questions before them were, however, abruptly terminated by the
impossibility of reaching a satisfactory conclusion with respect to the
best means of adjusting the vexed question of the Alaska boundary, which
had become of great international import in consequence of the discovery
of gold in the territory of Alaska and the district of Yukon in Canada.
The dispute between Great Britain and the United States has arisen as to
the interpretation to be given to the Anglo-Russian treaty of 1825,
which was made forty-two years before Russia sold her territorial rights
in Alaska to the United States, that sale being subject of course to the
conditions of the treaty in question. Under the third article of this
treaty[10]--the governing clause of the contract between England and
Russia--boundary line between Canada and Alaska commences at the south
end of Prince of Wales Island, thence runs north through Portland
Channel to the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude, thence follows the
summit of the mountains situated parallel to the coast of the continent,
to one hundred and forty-one west longitude and thence to the frozen
ocean. That part of the line between fifty-six north latitude and one
hundred and forty-one west longitude is where the main dispute arises.
Great Britain on behalf of Canada contends that, by following the
summits of the mountains between these two points, the true boundary
would cross Lynn Canal, about half way between the headlands and
tide-water at the head of the canal, and leave both Skagway and
Dyea--towns built up chiefly by United States citizens--within British
territory. The contention of Great Britain always has been that the
boundary should follow the general contour of the coast line and not the
inlets to their head waters. On the other hand the United States contend
that the whole of Lynn Canal up to the very top, to the extent of
tide-water, is a part of the ocean, and that the territory of the United
States goes back for ten leagues from the head of the canal and
consequently includes Skagway and Dyea. In other words the United States
claim that the boundary should not follow the coast line but pass
around the head of this important inlet, which controls access to the
interior of the gold-bearing region.
[10: The following is the article in full: "The line of demarcation
between the possessions of the high contracting parties upon the coast
of the continent and the islands of America to the north-west, shall be
drawn in the following manner: commencing from the southernmost point of
the island called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the
parallel of fifty-four degrees forty minutes north latitude, and between
the one hundred and thirty-first and the one hundred and thirty-third
degree of west longitude, the said line shall ascend to the north along
the channel called Portland Channel as far as the point of the continent
where it strikes the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude. From this
last-mentioned point the line of demarcation shall follow the summit of
the mountains situated parallel to the coast as far as the point of
intersection of the one hundred and forty-first degree of west longitude
(of the same meridian), and finally from the said point of intersection
of the one hundred and forty-first degree in its prolongation as far as
the frozen ocean, shall form the limit between the Russian and British
possessions, on the continent of America to the north-west"]
[Illustration: MAP OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AND YUKON DISTRICT SHOWING
DISPUTED BOUNDARY BETWEEN]
The Canadian commissioners first offered as a compromise to leave Dyea
and Skagway in the possession of the United States if the commissioners
of that country would agree that Canada should retain Pyramid Harbour,
which would give to Canadians a highway into the Yukon district. The
acceptance of this compromise would have made a common water of the Lynn
Canal, and at the same time left to the United States the greater
portion of the territory in dispute. When the commissioners of the
United States refused this fair compromise, the Canadians offered to
refer the whole question to arbitration in order to ascertain the true
boundary under the Anglo-Russian treaty. They proposed that the
arbitrators should be three jurists of repute: one chosen for Great
Britain by the judicial committee of the privy council, one appointed by
the president of the United States, and the third a high international
authority to act as an umpire. The commissioners of the United States
positively refused to agree to this proposition and suggested the
appointment of six jurists, three to be appointed by Great Britain, and
the others by the United States. The Canadian representatives were
unable to agree to the amendment suggested by their American colleagues,
on the ground that it did not "provide a tribunal which would
necessarily, and in the possible event of differences of opinion,
finally dispose of the question," They also refused to agree to other
propositions of the United States as "a marked and important departure
from the rules of the Venezuelan boundary reference." The commissioners
of the United States were not only unwilling to agree to the selection
of an impartial European umpire, but were desirous of the appointment of
an American umpire--from the South American Republics--over whom the
United States would have more or less influence. Under these
circumstances the Canadian commissioners were unwilling to proceed to
the determination of other questions (on which a conclusion had been
nearly reached) "until the boundary question had been disposed of either
by agreement or reference to arbitration." The commission adjourned
until August in the same year, but the negotiations that took place in
the interval between the governments of Great Britain and the United
States on the question at issue were not sufficiently advanced to enable
a meeting at the proposed date. In these circumstances a _modus vivendi_
was arranged between the United States and Canada, whose interests have
been carefully guarded throughout the controversy by the government of
the imperial state.
This review of Canada's relations with the United States and England for
more than a century illustrates at once her weakness and her
strength--her weakness in the days of provincial isolation and imperial
indifference; her strength under the inspiring influences of federal
union and of an imperial spirit which gives her due recognition in the
councils of the empire. It may now be said that, in a limited sense,
there is already a loose system of federation between Great Britain and
her dependencies. The central government of Great Britain, as the
guardian of the welfare of the whole empire, cooperates with the several
governments of her colonial dependencies, and, by common consultation
and arrangement, endeavours to come to such a determination as will be
to the advantage of all the interests at stake. In other words, the
conditions of the relations between Great Britain and Canada are such as
to insure unity of policy so long as each government considers the
interests of Great Britain and the dependency as identical, and keeps in
view the obligations, welfare, and unity of the empire at large. Full
consultation in all negotiations affecting Canada, representation in
every arbitration and commission that may be the result of such
negotiations, are the principles which, of late years, have been
admitted by Great Britain in acknowledgement of the development of
Canada and of her present position in the empire; and any departure
from so sound a doctrine would be a serious injury to the imperial
connection, and an insult to the ability of Canadians to take a part in
the great councils of the world. The same mysterious Providence that has
already divided the continent of North America, as far as Mexico,
between Canada and the United States, and that in the past prevented
their political fortunes from becoming one, still forces the Canadian
communities with an irresistible power to press onward until they
realise those high conceptions which some statesmen already imagine for
them in a not very distant future. These conceptions are of a still
closer union with the parent state, which shall increase their national
responsibilities, and at the same time give the Dominion a recognised
position in the central councils of the empire.
APPENDIX A.
COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE MAIN PROVISIONS OF
THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA
AND THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH.
CANADA. AUSTRALIA. |
_Name._ _Name_
The Dominion of Canada The Commonwealth of Australia.
_How Constituted._ _How Constituted_
Of provinces. Of states.
_Seat of Government._ _Seat of Government_
At Ottawa until the Queen Within federal territory in
otherwise directs. New South Wales, at least 100
miles from Sydney
_Executive Power._ _Executive Power_
Vested in the Queen. Vested in the Queen.
Queen's representative, a Queen's representative, a
governor-general, appointed by governor-general, appointed by
the Queen in council. the Queen in council.
Salary of governor-general Not less than £10,000 paid
£10,000 sterling, paid by Dominion by the commonwealth, fixed by
government, alterable by parliament from time to time,
the parliament of Canada, but not diminished during tenure of
subject to the disallowance of a governor-general.
the crown, as in 1868, when
parliament passed a bill to reduce
this salary.
CANADA. AUSTRALIA.
Ministers called by governor-general Same--only for "privy
to form a cabinet, first councillors" read "executive
sworn in as privy councillors, councillors"
hold office while they have the
confidence of the popular house
of parliament, in accordance with
the conventions, understandings,
and maxims of responsible or
parliamentary government.
Privy councillors hold, as the Executive councillors administer
crown may designate, certain such departments as
departments of state, not limited governor-general from time to
in name or number, but left to time establishes. Until other
the discretionary action of provision is made by parliament,
parliament. Such heads of number of such officers, who
departments must seek a new may sit in parliament, shall not
election on accepting these exceed seven.
office of emolument.
_Command of Military and _Command of Military and
Naval Forces_ Naval Forces_
Vested in the Queen. In the Queen's representative.
_Parliament_ _Parliament_
The Queen. The Queen.
Senate. Senate.
House of commons. House of representatives.
Session once at least every The same.
year.
Privileges, immunities and Such as declared by the parliament
powers held by senate and house of the commonwealth,
of commons, such as are defined and, until declared, such as are
by act of the parliament of held by the commons' house of
Canada, but not to exceed those parliament of Great Britain at
enjoyed at the passing of such the date of the establishment of
act by the commons' house of the commonwealth.
parliament of Great Britain.
CANADA. AUSTRALIA
Senate composed of twenty-four Senate composed of six
members for each of the senators for each state, directly
three following divisions (1) chosen for six years by the
Ontario, (2) Quebec, and (3) people of the state voting as
maritime provinces of Nova one electorate; half the number
Scotia, New Brunswick, and shall retire every three years,
Prince Edward Island. Other but shall be eligible for
provinces can be represented re-election. No property
under the constitution, but the qualification is required, but the
total number of senators shall senators must be British subjects
not at any time exceed of the full age of twenty-one years.
seventy-eight, except in the In Queensland the people can
case of the admission of vote in divisions, instead of in
Newfoundland, when the maximum one electorate.
may be eighty-two. Senators
appointed by the crown for life,
but removable for certain
disabilities. They must have
a property qualification and be
of the full age of thirty years.
Speaker of the senate appointed President of the senate elected
by the governor-general by that body.
(in council).
Fifteen senators form a quorum One-third of whole number of
until parliament of Canada senators form a quorum until
otherwise provides. parliament of commonwealth
otherwise provides.
Non-attendance for two whole Non-attendance for two consecutive
sessions vacates a senator's seat. months of any session
vacates a senator's seat.
Members of house of commons Every three years.
elected every five years,
or whenever parliament is dissolved
by the governor-general.
No property qualification, but The same.
must be British subjects of full
age of twenty-one years.
CANADA. AUSTRALIA
The electors for the Dominion Qualification of electors for
commons are the electors of the members of the house of
several provinces, under the representatives is that
limitations of a statute passed prescribed by the law of each
by the Dominion parliament in state for the electors of the
1878. Qualifications vary, but more numerous house of the
universal suffrage, qualified by parlianment of the state.
residence, generally prevails.
A fresh apportionment of The same.
representatives to be made after
each census, or not longer than
intervals of ten years.
Speaker of house of commons The same.
elected by the members of the
house.
Quorum of house of commons Quorum of house of representatives
--twenty members, of whom the --one-third of the
speaker counts one. whole number of members
until otherwise provided by
parliament.
No such provision. Member vacates his seat
when absent, without permission,
for two months of a
session.
No such provision. Parliament to be called together
not later than thirty days
after that appointment for return
of writs.
Allowance to each member of Allowance of £400 to members
senate and commons $1,000 for of both houses until other
a session of thirty days, and provision is made by parliament.
mileage expenses, 10 cents a
mile going and returning. Not
expressly provided for by
constitution but by statute of
parliament from time to time.
CANADA. AUSTRALIA.
Canadian statutes disqualify Same classes disqualified in
contractors and certain persons the constitution.
holding office on receiving emoluments
or fees from the crown
while sitting in parliament.
Each house determines the The constitution has a special
rules, and orders necessary for provision on the subject.
the regulation of its own proceedings;
not in the constitution.
_Money And Tax Bills_ _Money and Tax Bills_
The same. Money and tax bills can only
originate in the house of
representatives.
|Same by practice. The senate can reject, but not
amend, taxation or appropriation
bills.
Not in Canadian constitution. The senate may return money
and appropriation bills to the
house of representatives,
requesting the omission or
amendment of any provision
therein, but it is optional
for the house to make such
omissions or amendments.
No such provision. If bills, other than money
bills,
have twice been passed by the
house of representatives and
twice been rejected by the
senate or passed by that body
with amendments to which the
house of representatives will
not agree, the governor-general
may dissolve the two houses
simultaneously; and if, after
the new election
they continue to disagree,
the governor-general may convene
a joint sitting of the members
of the two houses, who shall
deliberate and vote upon the
bill, which can only become
law if passed by an absolute
majority of the members sitting
and voting.
_Legislative Powers of the _Legislative Powers of the
Parliament of the Dominion_. Parliament of the
Commonwealth_.
Respective powers of the federal The Legislative powers of the
parliament and provincial federal parliament are alone
legislatures are enumerated and enumerated, and the states
defined in the constitution; the expressly retain all the powers
residuum of power rests with the vested in them by their
central government in relation respective constitutions at the
to all matters not coming within establishment of the
the classes of subjects by the commonwealth as to matters not
British North America act of specified as being within the
1867 assigned exclusively to the exclusive jurisdiction of the
legislatures. federal parliament.
_The Provinces._ _The States._
Legislatures may alter provincial Constitutions may be altered
constitutions except as under the authority of the
regards the office of lieutenant parliaments thereof.
-governor.
Lieutenant-governors are appointed The constitution of each state
by the governor-general-in-council, continues (subject to the
and removable by constitution) as at the
him within five years only for establishment of the
cause assigned and communicated commonwealth, or as at the
by message to the two admission or establishment
houses of parliament. of the states, as the case
may be, until altered in
accordance with the
constitution of the
states. In other words,
the powers of the states
over their own constitutions
are preserved.
Acts of the provincial When a law of the state is
legislatures may be disallowed inconsistent with one of the
by the governor-general-in-council commonwealth, the latter shall,
one year after their receipt. to the extent of such
inconsistency, be invalid.
Education is within exclusive No special provisions in the
jurisdiction of the provinces, constitution; education being
but with conditions for the one of the subjects exclusively
maintenance and protection of within the powers of the state
rights and privileges of parliaments, under the clause
religious bodies in a province leaving them in possession of
with respect to denominational all powers not expressly given
schools. to the federal parliament.
The federal parliament can A state shall not impose any
alone impose duties or taxes on taxes or duties upon imports
imports. except such as are necessary
for executing the inspection
laws of a state, but the net
produce of all charges so
levied shall be for use of the,
commonwealth, and such
inspection laws may be annulled
by the parliament of the
commonwealth.
Similar power. The parliament of the
commonwealth may from time to
time admit new states, and make
laws for the provisional
administration and government
of any territory surrendered by
any state to the commonwealth,
or of any territory placed by
the Queen under the
commonwealth, or otherwise
acquired by the same.
CANADA. AUSTRALIA.
_The Judiciary._ _The Judiciary._
The same. The parliament of the
commonwealth can establish a
federal supreme court, called
the High Court of Australia,
and other federal courts for
the commonwealth; the judges
to be appointed by the
governor-general, to hold
office during good behaviour,
No such provision with respect not to be removed except upon
to diminution of salary during an address of both houses of
tenure of office. parliament, but so that the
salary paid to any judge shall
not be diminished during his
continuance in office.
Similar provisions by statutory The high court can adjudicate
enactments of Dominion in cases arising out of the
parliament. constitution, or controversies
between states, or in which the
commonwealth is a party.
No such stringent provision Appeals only allowed to
exists in the Canadian Queen-in-council from high court
constitution, but appeals in all on constitutional issues between
civil--though not in commonwealth and any state,
criminal--cases are allowed, by or between two or more states,
virtue of the exercise of the when high court gives leave to
royal prerogative, from appeal. Otherwise, the royal
provincial courts as well as prerogative to grant appeals is
from the supreme court of Canada not impaired. Parliament may,
to the Queen-in-council; however, make laws limiting
_i.e._, in practice, to the such appeals, but they must
judicial committee of the privy be reserved for her Majesty's
council. pleasure.
CANADA. AUSTRALIA.
Judges of the superior and Judges in the states are appointed
county courts in the provinces and removable under existing state
(except those of probate in New constitutions, which the state
Brunswick, Nova Scotia and parliaments can change at will.
Prince Edward Island) are appointed
by the governor-general-in-council,
and removable only
by the same on the address of
the two houses of parliament.
Their salaries and allowances
are fixed by the parliament of
Canada.
The provinces have jurisdiction Similar powers in the states.
over the administration of
justice in a province, including
the constitution, maintenance,
and organisation of provincial
courts, both of civil and criminal
jurisdiction, and including the
procedure in civil matters in
those courts.
The enactment and amendment With the states.
of the criminal law rest
with the Dominion parliament.
The enactment and amendment With the states.
of all laws relating to property
and civil rights rest with
the provinces.
_Trade and Finance._ _Trade and Finance._
Customs and excise, trade and The parliament of the commonwealth
commerce, are within exclusive has sole power to
jurisdiction of Dominion parliament. impose uniform duties of customs
and excise, and to grant bounties
upon goods when it thinks it
expedient. As soon as
such duties or customs
are imposed, trade and
intercourse throughout the
commonwealth, whether by
internal carriageor ocean
navigation, is to be free.
The Dominion government The parliament of the commonwealth
can veto any such unconstitutional may annul any state
law. law interfering with the freedom
of trade or commerce between
the different parts of the
commonwealth, or giving preference
to the ports of one part over
those of another.
The power of direct taxation Direct taxation may be imposed
is within the jurisdiction of both by the commonwealth
Dominion parliament and provincial and by each state within its own
legislatures, the one for limits--but taxation, when
Dominion and the other solely exercised by the commonwealth,
for provincial purposes. must be uniform.
Both Dominion and provincial Same is true of commonwealth
governments have unlimited and states.
borrowing power under the authority
of parliament and legislatures.
Certain money subsidies are Of the net revenue of the
paid annually to the provinces commonwealth from duties of
towards the support of their customs and excise, not more
governments and legislatures. than one-fourth shall be applied
annually by the commonwealth
towards its expenditure. The
balance shall, in accordance
with certain conditions of the
constitution, be paid to the
several states, or applied
towards the payment of
interest on debts of the
several states. This arrangement
is limited to ten years. Financial
aid may be granted to any state
upon such terms as the federal
parliament may deem expedient.
Western Australia may, subject
to certain restrictions, impose
duties on goods imported from
other parts of the commonwealth.
No such provision; but the For the administration of the
Dominion parliament and provincial laws relating to interstate trade
legislatures could by the governor-general-in-council
legislation arrange a similar may appoint an interstate
commission. commission.
Canada is liable for amount of The parliament of the commonwealth
the debts and liabilities of the may consolidate or
provinces existing at the time of take over state debts by general
the union, under the conditions consent, but a state shall
and terms laid down in the indemnify the commonwealth, and
constitution. the amount of interest payable in
respect to a debt shall be
deducted from its share of the
surplus revenue of the
commonwealth.
_Imperial Control over_ _Imperial Control over_
_Dominion Legislation._ _Australian Legislation._
Bills may be reserved by the The same.
governor-general for the Queen's
pleasure, and her Majesty in As the old state constitutions
council may within two years continue in force until amended
after receipt of any Dominion by the state, state legislation is
act disallow the same. still subject to power of
disallowance by Queen in council.
No such provision. The governor-general may return
any "law" presented to him for
the Queen's assent and suggest
amendments therein, and
the houses may deal with them
as they think fit.
The recommendation of the The same.
crown is required before initiation
of a money vote in parliament.
_Amendments to the _Amendments to the
Constitution_. Constitution._
By the imperial parliament on Any proposed amendment to
an address of the houses of the the constitution must be first
Dominion parliament to the passed by an absolute majority
Queen. of each house of parliament,
and submitted in each state to
the electors qualified to vote for
members of the house of
representatives. If in majority of
the states a majority of the
electors voting approve the
proposed law, and if a majority
of all the electors
voting also approve the
proposed law, it shall be
presented to the governor-general
for the royal assent.
APPENDIX B.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
I confine these notes to the most accurate and available books and
essays on the history of Canada.
For the French régime consult.--_Jacques Cartier's Voyages_, by Joseph
Pope (Ottawa, 1889), Charlevoix's _History and General Description of
New France_, translated by J. Gilmary Shea (New York, 1868); _Cours
d'histoire du Canada_, by Abbé Ferland (Quebec, 1861); _Histoire du
Canada_, by F.X. Garneau (4th ed., Montreal, 1882); F. Parkman's series
of admirable histories of the French régime (Boston, 1865--1884), _The
Story of Canada_ (Nations' Series, London, New York and Toronto, 1896),
by J.G. Bourinot, necessarily written in a light vein, is largely
devoted to the days of French rule, and may profitably be read on that
account in connection with this later book, chiefly devoted to British
dominion.
For the history of Acadia, consult.--_Acadia_, by James Hannay (St.
John, N.B., 1879); _History of Nova Scotia_, by Thomas C. Haliburton
(Halifax, N.S., 1829). A valuable compilation of annals is _A History of
Nova Scotia or Acadie_, by Beamish Murdoch (Halifax, 1867). _Builders of
Nova Scotia_, by J.G. Bourinot (Toronto, and "Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.,"
1900), contains many portraits of famous Nova Scotians down to
confederation, and appendices of valuable historical documents.
_Cape Breton and its Memorials of the French Régime_ ("Trans. Roy. Soc.
Can.," vol. IX, and in separate form, Montreal, 1891) by J.G. Bourinot,
gives a full bibliography of voyages of Northmen, the Cabots, Carrier,
and Champlain, and of the Histories of the Seven Years' War. The same
remarks apply to Winsor's _Narrative and Critical History of America_
(Boston, 1886--89). The "Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.," since 1894, have
several important papers by Archbishop O'Brien, Dr. S.E. Dawson, and
others on the Cabot discovery.
British rule, 1760-1900:--Garneau's _History_, already mentioned, gives
the French Canadian view of the political situation from 1760 until
1840; William Kingsford's _History of Canada_ (Toronto, 1887-1898) has a
fairly accurate account of events from 1760 until 1840, in vols. V-X; _A
History of Lower Canada_, by R. Christie, a member of the assembly of
the province (Quebec, 1848-1854) is very useful for copies of public
documents from 1774 until 1840.
The most important accounts of the U.E. Loyalists of the American
Revolution by writers in the United States are:--L. Sabine's _Loyalists_
(Boston, 1864), and Tyler's _Literary History of the American
Revolution_ (New York, 1897). Canadian accounts are to be found in
Egerton Ryerson's _Loyalists of America_ (Toronto, 1880)--remarkably
prosaic--and Canniff's _History of Upper Canada_ (Toronto, 1872).
Consult also articles of J.G. Bourinot in the _Quarterly Review_ for
October, 1898, and the _Canadian Magazine_ for April, 1898, in which
names of prominent Canadian descendants of Loyalists are given.
Kingsford's _History_, vol. VIII, has the best Canadian account of the
War of 1812-15. The most impartial American record of its causes and
progress is Henry Adams's _History of the United States of America_ (New
York, 1860), vols VI and VII.
Garneau's _History_ gives the most favourable estimate of Papineau and
his party, who brought about the Rebellion in Lower Canada. Kingsford
(vols. IX and X) writes impartially on the risings in the two Canadas.
Other works to be consulted are:--Lord Durham's _Report on the Affairs
of British North America_ (London, 1839); _Life of W. Lyon Mackenzie_,
by Charles Lindsey, his son-in-law (Toronto, 1863); _The Upper Canadian
Rebellion_, by J. Charles Dent (Toronto, 1885). The _Speeches and
Letters_ of the Hon. Joseph Howe (Boston, 1858) contain the ablest
expositions of the principles of responsible government by its greatest
advocate in British North America. See also Campbell's _History of
Prince Edward Island_ (Charlottetown, 1875). New Brunswick has not a
single good history. _The Life and Times of Sir Leonard Tilley_, by
James Hannay (St. John, N.B. 1897), can be read with advantage. See
Prof. Ganong's valuable essays on the early history of New Brunswick in
"Trans. Roy. Soc. Can," New Series, vols. I--v. Rev. Dr. Withrow's
_History of Canada_ (Toronto, 1888) has chapters on affairs of Prince
Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, to date of publication.
For the history of Canada since 1840, consult.--_Canada since the Union_
(1840--1880), by J. Charles Dent (Toronto, 1880--81); _Le Canada sous
l'Union_, by Louis Turcotte (Quebec, 1871); _Memoirs of the Right Hon.
Sir John A. Macdonald_, by Joseph Pope, his private secretary (London
and Ottawa, 1894); _Debates on Confederation_ (Quebec, 1865);
_Confederation_, by Hon. J.H. Gray, M.P., a delegate to the Quebec
Conference (Toronto, 1872).
For the constitutional development of Canada, consult.--_A Manual_, by
J.G. Bourinot (Montreal, 1888, and included in latest edition of his
_Parliamentary Procedure_, 1891); _How Canada is Governed_, by the same
(Toronto, 1897--1900); _Parliamentary Government in the Colonies_, by
Alpheus Todd (London, 1894); _Documents illustrative of the Canadian
Constitution_, by W. Houston (Toronto, 1891). _Parliamentary Government
in Canada_, by J.G. Bourinot (Amer. Hist. Association, Washington, 1892,
and "Trans. Roy. Soc. Can.," 1892), contains a long list of books
relating to the constitutional history of Canada. Also consult _How
Canada is Governed_ for works on constitutional, legal, municipal and
educational history of the provinces of Canada.
For Manitoba and the North-west Territories the reader may
consult:--_Manitoba. Its Infancy, Growth and Present Condition_, by Rev.
Prof. Bryce (London, 1882); _History of the North-west_, by A. Begg
(Toronto, 1894); _The Great Company_, by Beckles Wilson (Toronto and
London, 1899); _Reminiscences of the North-west Rebellions_, by Major
Boulton (Toronto, 1886). A remarkable _History of the Hudson's Bay
Company_, by Rev. Prof. Bryce (London, New York and Toronto, 1900). For
British Columbia:--A. Begg's _History_ (Toronto, 1896).
For the literary progress of Canada, consult:--_The Intellectual
Development of the Canadian People_, by J.G. Bourinot (Toronto, 1881);
_Canada's Intellectual Strength and Weakness_ ("Trans. Roy. Soc.
Canada," vol. XI, also in separate form, Montreal, 1893), by the same,
contains an elaborate list of Canadian literature, French and English,
to date. The 17 volumes of the same Transactions contain numerous
valuable essays on French Canadian literary progress.
Other valuable books to be consulted are:--_Canada and Newfoundland_ in
Stanford's _Compendium of Geography and Travel_ (London, 1897), by Dr.
S.E. Dawson, F.R.S.C.; _The Statistical Year Book of Canada_, a
government publication issued annually at Ottawa, and edited by Geo.
Johnson, F.S.S.; _The Great Dominion_ (London, 1895), by Dr. G.R.
Parkin, C.M.G., LL.D., the eloquent advocate of imperial federation for
many years, merits careful reading. _Canada and the United States_, in
Papers of the Amer. Hist Assoc. (Washington, July, 1891), and _Canada
and the United States: their Past and Present Relations_, in the
_Quarterly Review_ for April, 1891, both by the present author, have
been largely used in the preparation of the last chapter of this book.
With respect to the boundaries of Canada and the English colonies during
the days of French dominion, and from 1763 until 1774--_i.e._ from the
Treaty of Paris until the Quebec Act--consult a valuable collection of
early French and English maps, given in _A Report on the Boundaries of
Ontario_ (Toronto, 1873), by Hon. David Mills, now Minister of Justice
in the Laurier government, who was an Ontario commissioner to collect
evidence with respect to the western limits of the province. Consult
also Prof. Hinsdale's _Old North-west_ (New York, 1888); _Epochs of
American History_, edited by Prof. Hart, of Harvard University (London
and Boston, 1893); _Remarks on the French Memorials concerning the
Limits of Acadia_ (London, 1756) by T. Jefferys, who gives maps showing
clearly French and English claims with respect to Nova Scotia or Acadia
"according to its ancient limits" (Treaty of Utrecht). These and other
maps are given in that invaluable compilation, Winsor's _Narrative and
Critical History of America_. See also Mitchell's map of British and
French possessions in North America, issued by the British Board of
Plantations in 1758, and reprinted (in part) in the _Debates on the
Quebec Act_, by Sir H. Cavendish (London, 1839). For text of Treaties of
Utrecht (1612), of Paris (1763), of Quebec Act (1774), and other
treaties and imperial acts relating to Canada, see Houston's
_Documents_, cited above, p. 329. The maps of Canada and the disputed
boundary in Alaska, which I give in this book, are taken from the small
maps issued in 1899 by the Department of the Interior at Ottawa.
INDEX
Abbott, Sir John; prime minister of Canada, 257; death of, ib
Aberdeen, Earl of; governor-general of Canada, 265-267
Aberdeen, Lady, 267
Acadia College, N.S., founded, 163
_Acadie_ or _La Cadie_; name of, 8; settled by France, 8, 9; ceded to
Great Britain by Treaty of Utrecht (1713), 9; French inhabitants
expelled from, 22, 23
Adams, President John; on the U.K. Loyalists, 76
Alaskan Boundary, 310-312; map of, 311
Alexander, Sir William (Lord Stirling); names Nova Scotia, 11
Allan, Sir Hugh; contributes funds to Conservative elections, 236;
results of, 237
Allouez, Father; founds mission at La Pointe (Ashland), 17
Almon, M, B.; banker and politician of Nova Scotia, 178
American Revolution; causes of, 56-65; momentous events of, 63-67; its
effects upon Canada and Maritime Provinces, 67-74, 81
Angers, lieutenant-governor; dismisses Mercier ministry in Quebec, 247
Anglican Church: first built in Upper Canada, 84
Annand, William; Nova Scotian journalist, and first minister of province
after Confederation, 218
Annapolis (Port Royal) named, 9
Archibald, Sir Adams, delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204; first
lieutenant-governor of Manitoba, 230
Architecture in Canada, 288, 289
Art in Canada, 288
Assiniboia; name of Lord Selkirk's domain in North-west, 225
Australia, Commonwealth of; constitution of, 282, 283; comparisons
between Canadian and Australian federal systems, 315-326 (Appendix A)
Baccalaos, or Newfoundland, 8
Bagot, Sir Charles, governor-general of Canada, 169
Baldwin, Robert, efforts of, for responsible government, 168, 169; joint
leader with Lafontaine in Reform ministry, 170, 173; admirable character
of, 184
Ballot, vote by; established, 239
Basques in Canada, 5
Batoche, N.W.T.; victory of loyal Canadian forces at, in second
North-west rebellion of 1885, 253
Bay of Chaleurs Railway; scandal connected with, 247
Bering Sea dispute, 308, 309
Bibliographical notes, see App. B
Bidwell, Marshall Spring; reformer of Upper Canada, 146, 149, 151;
unjust treatment of, by lieutenant-governor Head, 153
Big Bear, Indian Chief in N.W.T.; rebels against Canada and is punished,
253-254
Bishop's Palace; first parliament house of Lower Canada, 92, 160
Blair, Mr.; Canadian statesman, 265
Blake, Edward; Canadian statesman, 230, 231, 234, 241, 244, 255
Blanchard, Hiram; Nova Scotia, Unionist, defeated in 1867, 218
Botsford, Amos; first speaker of assembly of New Brunswick, 88
Boucherville, M. de; prime minister of Quebec, 245, 247
Bouchette, Joseph, Canadian general and author, 164
Boundary disputes; in North-west, 292; in Maine, 296-300; in Oregon,
300-302; in British Columbia (San Juan) 301, 302; in Alaska, 310-312.
See _Maps_
Boundary of Ontario settled, 238
Bourgeoys, Sister, 34
Bowell, Sir Mackenzie; prime minister of Canada, 257
Brant, Joseph (Thayendanega), Mohawk Chief, 84; his loyalty to Great
Britain, ib.
Brébeuf, Jean de, Jesuit martyr, 12
Bretons in Canada, 51
Briand, Bishop; consecrated after conquest, 43; loyal _mandement_ of, in
1775, 58
British American League suggests federal union of provinces, 194
British Columbia, province of; its early history, 231, 232; enters
Confederation, 232
British North America Act of 1867; passed to unite provinces, 215. See
_Constitution of Canada._
Brock, General; services of, during war of 1812-15, 114, 119; death of,
ib.
Brown, George; Canadian journalist and reformer, suggests federal union,
196; advocates representation by population, 197; assists in bringing
about Confederation, 197; joins the Taché-Macdonald government with
other reformers, 198; leaves the coalition ministry, 217; unsuccessful
mission to Washington to obtain reciprocity, 306; assassination of, 256;
character of, 197, 202
Brown, Thomas Storrow; leads Canadian rebels at St. Charles in 1837, 134
By, Colonel, founder of Bytown (Ottawa), 158; engineer of Ruleau Canal,
ib.
Cabot, John; voyages of, to North America, 4, 5
Caldwell, Receiver-General; defaulter to government, 126
Calvet, Pierre du; opponent of Governor Haldimand, 72; disloyalty of,
72, 73
Campbell, Sir Alexander; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 203
Campbell, Sir Colin; governor of Nova Scotia, 173; opposes responsible
government, ib.
Canada, name of, 6; discovery and settlement of, by France, 4-15; French
exploration of, 15-21; conquered by Great Britain, 21-27; political,
economic, and social conditions of, during French rule, 27-36;
beginnings of British rule in, 37-45; influence of Quebec Act of 1774
upon, 45-48; during American Revolution, 67-74; United Empire Loyalists
settle in, 81-86; political divisions of (in 1792), 91; effects of war
of 1812-15 upon, 110-123; rebellion in, 134-156; social and economic
condition of, in 1838, 156-164; union of, in 1840, 166; responsible
government in, 167-173; social and economic conditions of, in 1866,
185-192; Confederation of, 215, 216; federal constitution of, 273-284,
315-326; first ministry of, under Confederation, 216, first parliament
of, 218, 219; trade and revenue of, in 1899, 273; literature in,
284-287, art in, 288; sculpture in, ib.; architecture in, 288, 289;
education in 289, 290; libraries in, ib.; relations with England and the
United States, 390-314; bibliographical notes of, 327-330; maps of, see
_Maps_
Canada's representation at "Diamond Jubilee" (1897), 35, 36, 270, 271
Canada Temperance Act. See _Temperance Legislation_
Canada and the United States, relations between (1783-1900), 290-313
_Canadien, Le_; established in French Canada, 95
Canadian Pacific Railway; history of 232, 233, 236, 242, 244
Canadian Trade Acts; respecting Upper and Lower Canada, 153
Canals of Canada, 273
Cape Breton, name of, 5
Carignan-Salières regiment settled in Canada 14
Carleton, Guy (Lord Dorchester); governor general of Canada, 44; his
just treatment of French Canadians, ib.; his part in framing of the
Quebec Act, 45; saves Canada during American revolution, 67; again
governor-general, 89; his tribute to the U.E. Loyalists, ib.
Carleton, Colonel John; first governor of New Brunswick, 87
Carnarvon, Earl of; introduces British North America Act of 1867 in
British Parliament, 215
Caroline steamer; seized by Canadians 295; international complications
respecting 295, 296
Caron Father le; French missionary, 16
Caron, Sir Adolphe; minister of militia during North-west rebellion of
1885, 252; resists Riel agitation in French Canada, 254
Carter, Frederick B.T.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206
Cartier, Sir George; a father of Confederation, 201; great public
services of, ib.; death of, 233
Cartier, Jacques, discovers the St. Lawrence, 6, 7
Cartwright, Sir Richard; Canadian statesman, 94, 265
Casgrain, Abbé; Canadian author, 284
Cathcart, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 171, 172
Champlain, Samuel; founds Quebec, 9; career of, in Canada, 9-12,
character of, ib.
Chandler, Edward Barron delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205;
public career of, 206
Chapais, J.C., delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 304
Chapleau, Sir Adolphe; resists popular clamour in French Canada for
Riel's pardon after rebellion of 1885, 254
Charlesbourg-Royal, 7
Charlevoix, Jesuit priest; historian of New France, 19
Chartier, Abbé; Canadian rebel of 1837, 135
Chartrand, murder of, in Lower Canadian rebellion of 1837, 135
Chateauguay, battle of; won by French Canadians, 116, 121
Château of St. Louis; founded at Quebec, 31; destroyed by fire, 160
Chauveau, Pierre O.J.; his services to education, 192; first prime
minister of Quebec after Confederation, 217
Chenier, Dr.; Canadian rebel, 134; monument to, 135
Christie, Mr.; expelled from assembly of Lower Canada, 127;
Chrystler's Farm, battle at; won by British troops in 1813, 116
Civil Law of French Canada, 29; established under British rule, 46, 278
Clergy Reserves Question; origin of, 141; powerful factor in political
controversy for years, ib.; settled, 186
Cockburn, James; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204; first
speaker of commons' house of Dominion parliament, ib.
Code Napoléon in French Canada, 278
Colbert, French minister, 27
Colborne, Sir John (Lord Seaforth); represses rebellion in Lower Canada,
134, 138; governor-general of Canada, 138
Colebrooke, Sir William; lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, 174
Coles, George; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206
Colonial Conference at Ottawa (1894), 200
Commissions, International, affecting Canada; Maine boundary, 296,
Washington (1871), 302, 304-306; Washington (1887), 307, 308, Bering
Sea, 309; joint high commission (Quebec and Washington, 1897-98),
309-313
Commonwealth of Australia. See _Australia_
Confederation of the British North American provinces; foreshadowed,
194; beginnings of, 195-198; initiated at Quebec Convention of 1864,
199; fathers of, 199-206, consummated, 206-215; birth of Dominion of
Canada, 216; constitution of, 206-209, 273-284; first ministry under,
216; first parliament under, 217; results of, 272, 273
Congrégation de Notre-Dame established, 34
Constitutional Act of 1791; forms provinces of Upper and Lower Canada,
90, 91; general provisions of, 91, 92
Constitution of Canadian Dominion, 273-281; compared with that of
Australian Commonwealth, 282-284, 315, 326 (App. A)
Cornwallis, Colonel, founds Halifax, 49
Corrupt elections: measures to restrain and punish, 239
Cortereal, Gaspar and Miguel; voyages of, to North America, 5
_Coureurs-de-bois,_ 17, 18
_Coutume de Paris_ established in French Canada, 29
Craig, Sir James; governor-general of Canada, 96; quarrels of, with
leading French Canadians, character of, 96, 97
Crémazie, Canadian poet, 192
Crozier, Superintendent; defeated by half-breeds in North-west rebellion
of 1885, 252
Cut Knife Greek, N.W.T.; Colonel Otter engages Indians at, in North-west
rebellion of 1885, 253
Dalhousie College, Nova Scotia; founded, 163
Dalhousie, Lord, governor-general of Canada; quarrel of, with Papineau,
129
Daly, Sir Dominick; first minister of Canada under Lord Metcalfe, 170
Davies, Sir Louis; Canadian statesman, 265
Davies, English navigator; voyages of, to Canada, 7
Dawson, Sir William; Canadian scientist, 192, 286
Dickey, R.B.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 305
Dochet Island (St. Croix River); first settlement of French on, 8
Dominion of Canada; origin of name, 215; established, 215, 216; first
ministry of, 216; first parliament of, 217; completed from Atlantic to
Pacific, 227, 232, 234; history of, from 1873-1900, 236-272; map of, _at
end._
Dorchester, Lord; see _Carleton, Sir Guy_
Douglas, Sir James; governor of British Columbia, 232
Drew, Captain; seizes steamer Caroline on U.S. frontier, 154. See
_Caroline._
Drummond, Attorney-General; member of MacNab-Morin ministry, 186
Drummond, Dr., Canadian poet, 285
Drummond, General, services of, during war of 1812-15, 116, 117, 122
Duck Lake, N.W.T., defeat of government forces at, in Canadian rebellion
of 1885, 252
Dumont Gabriel; takes part in Riel's North-west revolt of 1885, 252, 253
Dufferin, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 241, 243, 267
Durham, Earl of; high commissioner to Canada after rebellion of 1837,
136; his humanity and justice, 137; returns from Canada when rebuked in
England, ib., his report on Canadian affairs, 165
Durham Terrace, constructed, 160
Education in Canada; state of, under French rule, 33, 34, in 1838, 162,
163; after union of 1840, 192; present condition of, 290; contributions
by government and people, ib.
Elgin, Lord; governor-general of Canada, character of, 172, 173;
established responsible government, 173; action of, on Rebellion Losses
Bill in 1849, 188, 189
Falkland, Lord; governor of Nova Scotia, 176; quarrels with Joseph Howe
and Liberal party, 177-179; returns to England, 179
Family Compact in Upper Canada; meaning of, 141; controls government,
ib.
Fenian raids; in 1866, 213; in 1870-71, 230, 231, Canada never
indemnified for, 305
Ferland, French Canadian historian, 192
Fielding, Mr., finance minister of Canada, 265, his budget of 1897, 209
Fish Creek, N.W.T.; General Middleton checked at, in engagement with
rebels of 1885, 253
Fisher, Charles; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205
Fishery question between Canada and the United States, 293, 302, 304,
307, 308
Fitzgibbon, Lieutenant; successful strategy of, at Beaver Dams in 1813,
116
Franchise Act of Dominion, passed, 255, repealed, 268
Frechétte, French Canadian poet, 285
Free Trade policy of England; its early effects upon Canada, 172, 187,
189
French Acadians See _Neutrals_
French Canada; during French regime (1534-1760), 4-37; under military
government after conquest by Great Britain, 37, 38; desire of British
government to do justice to, 44, 45, provisions of Quebec Act affecting,
45, 48; political struggles and rebellion in, 124-138; influence of
Union Act of 1840 upon, 170, 187; brought into confederation, 216;
results of union upon, 273; literature in, 284, 285
French exploration in great valleys of North America, 15-21
French language; use of, restricted by Union Act of 1840, 187;
restriction removed, ib.
Frobisher, English navigator; voyages of, to Canada, 8
Frog Lake, massacre at, in North-west rebellion of 1885, 252
Frontenac, Count de (Louis de La Buade); French governor of Canada, 13;
eminent services of, ib.
Galloway, Thomas; his scheme for readjusting relations between Great
Britain and her old Colonies, 79
Galt, Sir Alexander; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 20; public
services of, ib.
Garneau, French Canadian historian, 192
German and Belgian Treaties; denunciation of, 261, 271
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey; takes possession of Newfoundland, 8
Glenelg, Lord; colonial secretary in 1838, 137
Gordon, Lt.-Governor; promotes federal union in New Brunswick, 212
Gosford, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 132, 134
Gourlay, Robert; misfortunes of, as a reformer in Upper Canada, 143-145
Grasett, Colonel; assists in repressing North-west rebellion of 1885,
253
Gray, Colonel; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206
Gray, John Hamilton, delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205
Grey, Earl; colonial secretary, 172
Haldimand, general; governor-general of Canada, 71, 72
Haliburton, Judge, author of _Sam Sack_, etc., 164
Halifax, founded, 49
Harvey, Colonel; victory of, at Stoney Creek in 1813, 116. See _Harvey,
Sir John._
Harvey, Sir John; governor of Nova Scotia, of New Brunswick, establishes
responsible government in the maritime provinces. See _Harvey, Colonel._
Haviland, Thomas Heath; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206;
public career of, ib.
Head, Sir Francis Bond; lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, 148; his
unjust treatment of reformers, 149-151; his rashness before rebellion,
152; represses rebellion, 153
Henry, William A.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204
Hincks, Sir Francis; Canadian statesman, melancholy death of, 233
Historian of Canada, 192, 284
Hochelaga (Montreal); Indian village of, visited by Jacques Cartier, 6
Howe, Joseph; father of responsible government in Nova Scotia, 175, 176;
his quarrel with Lord Falkland, 176-179; ability of, 183, 184; advocate
of imperial federation, 195; opposes confederation from 1864-1868, 212,
219; his reasons for receding from his hostile position, 219; enters the
Macdonald ministry, 220; lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, ib; sudden
death of, ib; orator, poet, and statesman, 220, 221
Howland, Sir William P.; delegate to Westminster Palace Conference of
1866-67, 214; lieutenant-governor of Ontario, 217
Hudson's Bay Company; its great territorial privileges, 231-324; its
claims purchased by the Canadian government, 227; map illustrating its
charter, 222
Hull, General; defeat of, by Brock at Detroit, 114
Hundred Associates, Company of; established in Canada, 10
"Hunter's Lodges"; formed in United States to invade Canada, 154
Huntington, Lucius Seth; makes charges against Sir John Macdonald, 236
Huron Indians; massacre of, by the Iroquois, 12
Hutchinson, Governor Thomas (of Massachusetts); on relations between
Great Britain and her old Colonies, 98
Iberville, founder of Louisiana, 19
Immigration to Canada, 78, 79
Independence of old Thirteen Colonies acknowledged, by Great Britain, 74
Indians; British treatment of, 41,42; Canadian relations with, 238, 239
Intellectual culture in Canada; under French rule, 35; under British
rule, 164, 192, 284, 285
Intercolonial Railway; history of, 191, 215, 219
Iroquois Indians; ferocity of, 10-13
Jameson, Miss Anna, her "Winter Studies and Summer Rambles" in Upper
Canada in 1838, 157-159
Jesuit College at Quebec, 34
Jesuits' Estates, Act; political controversies respecting, 248
Jesuits in Canada, 11, 12; their estates confiscated by the British
government, 38; restored in part, 248
Johnson, John; delegate to the Quebec Convention of 1864, 206
Johnston, James William; public career of, 175; eminence of, 185; early
advocate of confederation, 194, 195
Joliet, Louis; discovers the Mississippi, 18
Journalism in Canada, 164, 287
Judiciary, independence of; political contests for, 128, 139
Keewatin, district of; established provisionally, 238
Kent, Duke of; commander of British forces in Canada, 193; gives name to
P.E. Island, 53; letter to, from Chief Justice B.C. Sewell on union of
provinces, 194
King, George E.; prime minister of New Brunswick after Confederation,
218
King's University, Nova Scotia; founded, 163
Kingsford, Dr.; Canadian historian, 284
Kingston, city of; first parliament of Canada meets at, in 1841, 167
Kirk, David; captures Quebec, 10, 11
Labrador, discovery of, 5; origin of name of, 7
Lafontaine-Baldwin Ministry, 170, 173; its successful administration of
Canadian affairs, 173
Lafontaine, Sir Louis Hippolyte; Canadian statesman and jurist, 170,
173, 184
La Gallissonière, French governor of Canada, 35
Lake of Woods, international boundary at, 292, 293; map of, 293
Lalemant, Gabriel; Jesuit martyr, 12
Land question; in Upper Canada, 143; in Prince Edward Island, 54, 234
Langevin, Sir Hector; Canadian statesman, delegate to Quebec Convention
of 1864, 205; charges against, 258
Lansdowne, Marquess of; governor-general of Canada, 207
Lartigue, Bishop; _mandement_ of, against French Canadian rebels, 135,
136
La Salle, Sieur de (Réné Robert Cavelier); at Lachine, 18; descends the
Mississippi, 18, 19; assassination of, 19
Laurier government; formation of, 265; measures of, 268-272
Laurier, Rt Hon. Sir Wilfrid; prime minister of Canada, 265; settles
Manitoba school question, 266 267; represents Canada at celebration of
"Diamond Jubilee" (1897), 36, 270; his action on Canadian aid to England
in South African War, 372; his mastery of English, 267
Laval, Bishop; first Roman Catholic Bishop of Canada, 12; establishes
tithes, 29
Laval University, Quebec, 290
La Valmière, a disloyal priest, 72
Lawrence, Governor; expels French Acadians from Nova Scotia, 23;
encourages New England emigration, 51; opens first assembly in Halifax,
53
Lepine, Canadian rebel; punished, 241; his sentence commuted, _ib_.
Letellier de Saint-Just; lieutenant-governor of Quebec, 246; dismissed,
246, 247
Lévis, General; defeats Murray at St. Foye, 26
Liberal or Reform party; formed in Nova Scotia, 99; in Upper Canada, 141
Liberal Convention in Ottawa (1893), 259
Libraries in Canada, 290
Lisgar, Lord, governor-general of Canada, 267
Literature in Canada, during French régime, 35; before union of 1840,
164; after union, 192; since Confederation, 284-287
Londonderry in Nova Scotia; origin of name of, 51, 52
Lome, Marquess of; governor-general of Canada, 244; His services to Art,
Science, and Literature, 267
Louisiana, named by La Salle, 19
Louis XIV establishes royal government in Canada, 12, 27, 28
Lount, Samuel; Upper Canadian rebel of 1837, 148, 152-153; executed, 155
Loyalists. See _United Empire Loyalists_
Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canada; usefulness of, during war
of 1819-15, 121
Lundy's Lane, battle of; won by British in 1814, 117, 120
Lymburner, Adam; opposes separation of Upper from Lower Canada, 90
Macdonald, Andrew Archibald; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206
Macdonald, Baroness (of Earnscliffe), 257
Macdonald, Colonel George; at Ogdensburg in 1813, 115; at Chateauguay,
121
Macdonald, John Sanfield; first prime minister of Ontario after
Confederation, 217
Macdonald, Rt. Hon. Sir John; enters public life, 173; member of
government, ib.; settles Clergy Reserves question, 186; takes lead in
establishing Confederation, 198, 199, 209; first prime minister of the
Dominion, 216; resigns under unfortunate circumstances, 236; initiates
the "National Policy" of Conservative party, 243; prime minister again,
ib.; death of, 256; great ability, and patriotism of, 200, 256; mourned
by all Canada, 257; monuments and tributes to his memory, ib.
Macdonell; Colonel John; first speaker of assembly of Upper Canada in
1792, 94
Macdonell, Vicar-General; first Roman Catholic Bishop of Upper Canada,
120
Mackenzie, Alexander; prime minister of Canada, 237; character of, ib.,
243; his administration of public affairs (1873-78), 238-242; death of,
257
Mackenzie, Sir Alexander; North-west explorer, 224
Mackenzie, William Lyon; journalist and reformer, 146; enters Upper
Canada legislature, 146; unjustly expelled, ib., first mayor of Toronto,
147; indiscretions of, ib.; moves for committee of grievances, 148, its
report, ib.; defeat of, at elections of 1836, 150, resorts to rebellion,
152; defeat of, at Montgomery's and flight from Canada, 153; on Navy
Island, 154; imprisoned in the United States, ib.; returns from exile,
182, exercises no influence in Canadian politics, ib.; poverty and death
of, ib.; character of, 182, 183
MacLeod, international dispute respecting, 295
MacNab, Sir Allan; leads loyal "Men of Gore" against Canadian rebels in
1837, 153; orders seizure of steamer Caroline on. U.S. frontier, 154;
prime minister of Canada, 186
Maine Boundary Dispute, 292, 296-300; map of, 296
Maisonneuve, Sieur de (Paul de Chomedey); founds Montreal, 12
Manitoba, first visited by French, 20; province of, established, 230
Manitoba school question, 262-265, 266, 267
Maps relating to Canada; of French, Spanish and British possessions in
North America in 1756-1761, _at end_; of British possessions in
1763-1775, at end; of boundary established in 1783 between Canada and
the United States, 75; of Hudson's Bay Co.'s territory, 222; of
North-west boundary in 1842, 293; of North-eastern boundary in 1842,
297; of Alaskan disputed boundary, 311; of the Dominion of Canada in
1900, at end.
Marquette, Father, founds mission of Sainte-Maria, 17; discovers the
Mississippi, 18; death of, _ib_.;
Marriage laws in early Canada, 97
Masères, Attorney-general, 43
Matthews, Peter; Upper Canadian rebel, 148, 151, 153; executed, 155
McCully, Jonathan; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205
McDougall, William, delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 203;
provisional lieutenant-governor of N.W.T., 227; Half-breed rebellion
prevents him assuming office, ib.; disappears from public life, 230
McGee, Thomas D'Arcy; historian and orator, delegate to Quebec
Convention of 1864, 203; his political career in Canada, ib.;
assassinated, 221
McGill University, Montreal; founded, 163
McGreevy, Thomas, impeached for serious misdemeanors, 258; punishment
of, ib.
McLane, executed for treason in 1793, 101, 102
McLure, General (United States General); burns Niagara in 1814, 116
Mercier, Honoré, prime minister of Quebec, 247; dismissed, ib.
Merritt, W. Hamilton; originator of Welland Canal, 159
Metcalfe, Lord; governor-general of Canada, 170; antagonism of, to
responsible government, 171; retirement and death of, ib.
_Métis_ or Half-breeds of the Canadian North-west, 225, 228, 249
Middleton, Major-general; commands Canadian forces on Riel's revolt of
1885 in North-west, 252-254
Military rule in Canada after 1760, 37, 38
Mills, David; Canadian statesman, 206
Minto, Earl of; governor-general of Canada, 268
Mitchell, Peter; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205; public
career of, ib.
Mohawks, members of the Iroquois confederacy, 10; humbled by the Marquis
de Tracy, 13. See _Brant Joseph, Iroquois._
Monk, Lord; governor-general of Canada at Confederation, 216, 267
Montcalm, Marquis de; loses battle on Plains of Abraham, 26; death of
ib.
Montgomery, Brigadier-General; invades Canada, 69, 70; death of, at
Quebec, 70
Montreal founded, 12
Monts, Sieur de; founder of French _Acadie_, 8
Monts-Déserts named by Champlain, 9
Mowat, Sir Oliver; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1804, 203; public
career of, 203, 265, 266
Municipal system of Canada; established, 185, 186; nature of, 278
Murray, General; in command at Quebec, 26; defeat of, at St. Foye, ib.;
governor-general of Canada, 42; his just treatment of French
Canadians, 43
Mutual or reciprocal preferential trade between Canada and England;
advocacy of, 260, 271
_Nation Canadienne, La_; Papineau's dream of, 130, 133, 134
"National Policy," or Protective system; established by Conservative
party (1879), 243, 244
Navigation Laws repealed, 187
Navy Island, see _Mackenzie, William Lyon_
Neilson, John; Canadian journalist and politician, 127, 131
Nelson, Robert; Canadian rebel of 1837-38, 138
Nelson, Dr. Wolfred; leader in Lower Canadian rebellion of 1837, 134
Neutrality of the Great Lakes, 294, 295
"Neutrals," on French Acadians; expulsion of from Nova Scotia, 22, 23
Newark (Niagara), meeting of first Upper Canadian legislature at, 93;
seat of government removed from, to York, 101
New Brunswick; originally part of Acadie and Nova Scotia, 53; province
of founded by Loyalists, 83; capital ib.; state of, in 1838, 162;
political struggle for self-government in, 173, 174; takes part in
Quebec Convention, 198, 205; brought into Confederation, 215, 216;
boundary dispute with Maine, 296-300
New Brunswick school question, 201, 2O2
New Brunswick University; founded at Fredericton, 163
New Caledonia; old name of British Columbia, 232
Newfoundland; delegates from, to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206; refuses
to join the Dominion, 235
Niagara, see _Newark_
Nicholson, General; captures Port Royal, 9
Norse voyages to Canada, 4
North-eastern Boundary question, 296-299; map of Boundary, 1842, 297
North-west Company; rival of the Hudson's Bay Company in North America,
224, 225
North-west Boundary dispute, 292, 293; map of, 293
North-west Territories, early history of, 221-227; annexation of, to
Canada, 227, 230; first rebellion in, 227-230; government of, 277;
second rebellion in, 249-255; districts of, 277
Nova Scotia (Acadie); first settled by France, 8, 9; foundation of Port
Royal (Annapolis), 8; ceded to Great Britain by Treaty of Utrecht, 9;
population of, at conquest, 15; first called Nova Scotia, 11; Halifax
founded, 49; settlement by colonists of New England, 50, 51;
expatriation of the Acadian French, 22, 23, 50, 51; population of, in
1767, 51; Irish immigration, ib.; Scotch immigration, 52; early
government of, 52, 53, included New Brunswick, C. Breton, and St. John's
Island (Pr. Edward I), 53; early courts of justice, 55; coming of
Loyalists to, 82; state of in 1837-38, 162, political struggles in, for
self-government, 174-180; take part in Quebec Convention of 1864, 198,
204; brought into Confederation, 215; people opposed to, 212, 218, 219;
repeal movement gradually ceases in, 233
Novelists, Canadian, 164, 285, 286
O'Callaghan, Dr.; Canadian journalist and rebel, 130
O'Donohue, Canadian rebel, 231; amnesty to, 241
Ohio Valley, French in, 23
Oregon Boundary, dispute respecting, 300-302
Osgoode, Chief Justice; first speaker of legislative council of Upper
Canada in 1792, 94
Ottawa, city of; founded, 158
Pacific Cable; action of Canadian government with respect to, 271
Palmer, Edward; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206
Panet, Joseph Antoine; first speaker of assembly of Lower Canada in
1792, 93
Papineau, Louis J.; leader of French Canadian malcontents in rebellion
of 1837, 129-134; conduct of, on outbreak of rebellion, 134, 135; return
of, from exile, 181; opposes responsible government, ib.; loses
political influence, ib.; character of, 180-182
Pardon, prerogative of; instructions respecting exercise of, 241
Parishes established in French Canada, 29
Parker, Gilbert; Canadian novelist, 286
Parr Town, first name of St. John, New Brunswick, 83
Perry, Peter; founder of Upper Canadian Reform party, 141, 146, 150
Pictou Academy, Nova Scotia; founded, 163
Pitt, the elder (Lord Chatham); gives Canada to Great Britain, 25, 35,
36
Pitt, William (the younger); introduces Act separating Upper from Lower
Canada (Constitutional Act of 1791), 90, 91
Plains of Abraham; Wolfe's victory on, 26
Plattsburg, battle of, pusillanimity of General Prevost at, 117
Plessis, Bishop (Roman Catholic); patriotism of, in war of 1812-15, 120
Poets in Canada, 192, 284, 285
Pontiac's Conspiracy, 39
Pope, William H., delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206
Portuguese discovery in Canada, 5
Post Office in Canada; under British management, 164; transferred to
Canada, 187
Poundmaker, Indian chief in North-west; rebels against Canadian
government, 253; punished, 254
Poutrincourt, Baron de; founder of Port Royal, 8
Powell, Chief Justice, his unjust treatment of Robert Gourlay, 145
Preferential trade with Great Britain, 200, 201, 269, 271
Prevost, Sir George (governor-general of Canada), retires from Sackett's
Harbour 1813, 115; retreats from Plattsburg in 1814, 117; character of,
113
Prince, Colonel; orders execution of American raiders in 1838, 155
Prince Edward Island. See _St. John's Island_
Prince of Wales visits Canada, 193
Princess Louise, arrives in Canada with the Marquess of Lome, 244; her
support of Art, 288
Proclamation of 1764; for government of Canada, 40-42
Procter, General, defeats General Winchester in 1813, 115; beaten at
Moraviantown in 1813, 116
Prohibitory Liquor Law; agitation for, 340; popular vote on, ib.
Protestantism unknown in French Canada, 28
Provincial governments established under Confederation, 217, 218
Provinces, constitution of, under Confederation, 275, 276
Puritan migration to Nova Scotia, 50
Put-in Bay (Lake Erie); British fleet defeated at, in 1813, 116
Quebec Act; origin of, 44, 45, its provisions, 45-47; how received in
Canada, 46; unpopularity of, in old British colonies, 67
Quebec, Convention of, 1864; delegates to, 199-206; passes resolutions
in favour of federal union, 206-209
Quebec founded, 9
Queenston Heights; battle of, in 1812, 114
Railways in Canada; in 1865, 191, in 1899, 273. See _Intercolonial R.
Canadian Pacific R._
Rebellion in Lower Canada; its origin, 124-133; Louis J. Papineau's part
in, 129-134; outbreak of, 134; prompt action of authorities against,
ib.; Dr. Nelson wins success at St. Denis, ib.; defeat of Brown at St.
Charles, ib.; flight of Papineau and rebel leaders, ib.; fight at St.
Eustache and death of Chenier, ib.; murder of Weir and Chartrand, 135;
collapse of the rebellion of 1837, 135, 136; loyal action of Bishop
Lartigue, 135; arrival of Lord Durham as British high-commissioner and
governor-general, 136; his career in Canada, 137-138; Sir John Colborne;
governor-general, 139; second outbreak of rebellion, 1838, ib.; promptly
subdued, ib.; punishment of prominent insurgents, ib.; action of United
States government during, 139; social and economic condition of Canada
during, 159-162; remedial policy of British government, and new era of
political development. See _Responsible Government in Canada._
Rebellion in Upper Canada; effect of family compact on, 140, 141; of
clergy reserves on, 141, 142; influence of Archdeacon, afterwards
Bishop, Strachan in public affairs, 142; unjust treatment of Robert
Gourlay, 143-145; persecution of William Lyon Mackenzie, 146-148; other
prominent actors in, 148; indiscretions of the lieutenant-governor, Sir
Francis Bond Head, 149-152; outbreak and repression of, 152, 153; flight
of Mackenzie and other rebel leaders, 153; Mackenzie's seizure of Navy
Island, 154; affair of the Caroline, ib.; filibustering expeditions
against Canada from United States in 1838, 154, 155; prompt execution of
filibusters by Colonel Prince, 155; action of U.S. authorities during,
ib.; execution of Von Schoultz, Lount, Matthews, and other rebels, ib.;
Sir George Arthur, harshness of, ib.; social and economic conditions of
Upper Canada at time of, 156-159; rebellion leads to the enlargement of
political privileges of people, See _Responsible Government in Canada._
Rebellion Losses Bill (of 1849); its nature, 188; assented to by Lord
Elgin, 189; consequent rioting and burning of parliament house at
Montreal, 189, Lord Elgin's life in danger, ib.; his wise constitutional
action, ib. Rebellions in North-west: See _North-western Territories,
_and _Riel, Louis._
Reciprocity of Trade between Canada and the United States; treaty of
1814, 190, 191; repeal of the same, 303; efforts to renew it, 304, 307;
Canadians not now so favourable to, 310
Recollets, or Franciscans, in Canada, 11
Redistribution Acts of 1882 and 1897; measures to amend, rejected by
Senate, 268
Representative institutions in Canada; established in Nova Scotia, 53;
in New Brunswick, 88; in French or Lower Canada (Quebec), 91; in Upper
Canada (Ontario), ib.; in Prince Edward Island, 54; in Manitoba, 230; in
British Columbia, 232
Responsible government in Canada; beginnings of, 165-175; consummated
by Lord Elgin, 173; struggle for, in New Brunswick, 173, 174; in Nova
Scotia, 174-180; in Prince Edward Island, 180; prominent advocates of,
183-185; results of (1841-1867), 185-192
Revenue of Canada in 1899, 273
Riall, General; defeated by United States troops at Street's Creek in
1814, 117
Richardson, Major; Canadian author, 164
Richelieu, Cardinal; his effort to colonise Canada, 10
Rideau Canal, constructed, 158
Riel, Louis; leads revolt of French half-breeds in North-west, 228;
murders Ross, 229; flies from the country, ib; elected to and expelled
from the Canadian Commons, 241; reappears in North-west, and leads
second revolt, 249-253; captured and executed, 253, 254; political
complications concerning, 240, 254
Roberval, Sieur de (Jean François de la Rocque); attempts to settle
Canada, 7
Robinson, Chief Justice; public career of, in Upper Canada, 145
Rocque, Jean François de la. See _Roberval_
Roebuck, Mr.; Canadian agent in England, 131
Rolph, Dr.; his part in Canadian rebellion of 1837, 151-153; character
of, 183
Roman Catholic Church in Canada, 28, 29, 43, 46, 47
Rose, Sir John, effort of, to obtain reciprocity with United States, 304
Rosebery, Earl of, unveils Sir John Macdonald's bust in St. Paul's
Cathedral, 256
Rouse's Point, boundary at, 302
Royal Society of Canada, 286
Rupert's Land; origin of name of, 224. See _North-west Territories of
Canada_.
Russell, Administrator, 101
Russell, Lord John; introduces resolutions respecting Canada in British
parliament in 1836, 132; also Act reuniting the Canadas in 1840, 166;
lays basis of responsible government in Canada, 167. See _Responsible
Government in Canada_.
Ryerson, Rev. Egerton; Loyalist, Methodist, and educationalist, 141,
147, 192
Sainte-Geneviève (Pillage Bay); named St. Laurens by Jacques Carrier, 7
Salaberry, Colonel de; defeats United States troops at Chateauguay, 121
Sanderson, Robert; first speaker of assembly of Nova Scotia, 53
San Juan Island; international dispute respecting, 301, 302
Sarrasin, Dr., French Canadian scientist, 35
Saskatchewan River (Poskoiac), discovery of, 20
Sculpture in Canada, 288
Seaforth, Lord. See _Colborne, Sir John_
Secord, Laura; heroic exploit of, in 1814, 120
Seigniorial tenure in French Canada, 14, 32; abolished under British
rule, 186
Selkirk, Lord; attempts to colonise North-west, 225; death of, _ib._
Seven Years' War; between France and Great Britain in America, 21-27
Sewell, Chief Justice (Loyalist); adviser of Sir James Craig, 96;
suggests union of provinces, 194
Shea, Ambrose; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206
Sheaffe, General; services of, during war of 1812-15, 114
Shelburne, in Nova Scotia, founded by Loyalists, 82
Sherbrooke, Sir John, governor of Nova Scotia, 118; occupies Maine in
war of 1812-15, ib.
Shirley, Governor; deep interest of, in Nova Scotia, 49
Simcoe, Colonel; first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, 93; public
career of, 94
Simultaneous polling at elections established, 239
Slavery in Canada, 98
Smith, Chief Justice (Loyalist); first president of legislative council
of Lower Canada in 1792, 92; suggests federal union of provinces, 194
Smith, Donald (Lord Strathcona); intervenes in North-west rebellion of
1870, 229
Social and economic conditions of the Canadian provinces; in 1838,
156-164; in 1866, 189-192; in 1900, 272-290
South African War; Canadians take part in, 271, 272
Square Gulf, or "golfo quadrado"; old name of St. Lawrence Gulf, 7
St. Charles; defeat of Canadian rebels in 1837 at, 134
St. Denis; Canadian rebels repulsed by British regulars in 1837 at, 134
St. Eustache; stand of Canadian rebels at, 134; death of Chenier, ib.
St. John, New Brunswick; founded, 83
St. John's, Island; named Prince Edward, 53; under government of Nova
Scotia, _ib_.; survey of, ib.; separated from Nova Scotia, 54; public
lands of, granted by lottery, ib.; political struggles in, for
self-government, 180, 185; takes part in Quebec Convention of 1864, 206;
enters Confederation, 234; settlement of its land question, ib.
St. Lawrence, River and Gulf of; origin of name of, 7
St. Lusson, Sieur; takes possession of the Sault, 18
St. Maurice forges founded, 30
Stadacona (Quebec), Indian village of, visited by Jacques Cartier, 6
Stanley, Lord, governor-general of Canada, 267
Steeves, William H.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206
Strachan, Bishop (Anglican); patriotism of, during war of 1812-15, 121;
his influence in Upper Canadian politics, 142
Strange, Lt.-Col.; engaged in repressing North-west rebellion of 1885,
253
Stuart, Andrew; prominent Canadian lawyer and politician, 127, 131
Sulpitians in Canada, 37
Superior Council of French Canada. See _Supreme Council_
Supreme Council, established by Louis XIV in French Canada, 28, 29
Supreme Court, established in Canada, 239
Sydenham, Lord (Poulett Thomson); governor-general of Canada, 166;
carries out scheme of uniting the Canadas in 1840, 167; opinions of, on
responsible government, 168; death of, 169
Taché, Sir Etienne Paschal; chairman of Quebec Convention of 1864, 199;
character of, ib.
Talbot, Colonel, pioneer in Upper Canada, 157
Talon, Intendant, 13
Taite, Israel; accuses McGreevy of grave misdemeanours, 258; member of
Laurier ministry, 206
Temperance Legislation; "Scott Act" passed, 239; _plèbiscite_ on
Prohibition, 240
Thompson, Sir John; prime minister of Canada, 257; sudden death of,
ib; great ability of, ib.
Thomson, Poulett. See _Sydenham, Lord_
Tilley, Sir Leonard; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 205; public
career of, ib.; introduces scheme of "National Policy," 244
Timber trade in Canada, in early time, 162
Tithes established in French Canada, 29
Todd, Dr.; Constitutional writer, 286
Tonge, William Cottnam Tonge; Nova Scotian Liberal, 99; his controversy
with Governor Wentworth, ib.
Trade of Canada in 1899, 273
Treaties, international, affecting Canada; of St. Germain-en-Laye
(1632), 11; of Utrecht (1713), 9, 21, 22; of Paris (1763), 38; of
Versailles, 292; of Ghent, 293; of 1818, 294; Ashburton (1842), 299;
Oregon (1846), 301; reciprocity (1854), 303; of Washington (1871), 305,
306; Bering Sea, 308, 309, Anglo-Russian (Alaska), 310-312
Treaties with Indian tribes of Canada, 41, 238
Trutch, Sir Joseph; first lieutenant-governor of British Columbia under
Confederation, 232
Tupper, Sir Charles; prime minister of Nova Scotia, 192; services of, to
education, ib.; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 204; introduces
legislation for construction of Canadian Pacific Railway, 244; high
commissioner of Canada in London, 258; re-enters political life, ib.;
action of, on Manitoba school question, 264; prime minister of Canada,
265; defeat of, at general elections of 1896, ib; difference with Lord
Aberdeen, when governor-general, ib.; remarkable ability of, 204, 258;
leader of Liberal Conservative party from 1896-1900, 258; policy of, on
"preferential trade" with Great Britain, 271
Tyler, Professor, on U.E. Loyalists, 76
Uniacke, James Boyle; Nova Scotian statesman, 175; advocate of
responsible government, 176; first minister of Nova Scotia, 180
Union of the Canadas in 1840, 166, 167
United Empire Loyalists; number of, during American Revolution, 76;
justice done to, ib.; opinions of, on issues of revolution, 77, 78;
suffering of, during revolution, 79; treatment of, after the peace of
1783, 80; compensation to, by British government, 81; settle in British
America, ib; privations of, in Nova Scotia, 80; founders of New
Brunswick, 83; of Upper Canada, 84; eminent descent of, 86; Canada's
debt to, ib origin of name of, 89; representatives of, in first
legislature of New Brunswick, 87, 88; of Upper Canada, 94; services of,
during war of 1812-15, 188-120
Universities in Canada, 163, 289
University of Toronto, beginning of, 164
Upper Canada, founded by Loyalists, 84; first districts of, 89, 94; made
separate province, 91, first government of, 93; Newark, first capital
of, ib.; York (Toronto), second capital of, 94; rebellion in, see
_Rebellion in Upper Canada_; state of, in 1838, 159; reunited with Lower
Canada, 166; joins Confederation as Ontario, 216
Upper Canada College, Toronto, founded, 163
Ursulines at Quebec, 34
Vancouver Island; history of, 231, 232
Verendrye, Sieur de la (Pierre Gauthier de Varennes); discovers
Manitoba and North-west of Canada, 19, 20
Verrazzano, Giovanni di; voyages of, to North America, 5
Victoria College, Upper Canada, founded, 164
Vincent, General; services of, in war of 1812-15, 115
Von Schoultz; leads filibusters into Canada, 155; executed, ib.
War of 1812-15; origin of, 103-110; population of Canada and United
States during, 110-112; loyalty of Canadian people during, 113; services
of General Brock during, 114; campaign of 1812 in Upper Canada, 114,
115; of 1813, 115, 116; of 1814, 117; maritime provinces during, 117,
118, close of, 118; services of Loyalists during, 118-120; Laura Secord,
heroism of, 120; description of striking incidents of battles during,
121-123
Washington, George; eminent character of, 66
Washington Treaty of 1871, 304, 305
Weir, Lieutenant, murder of, in Lower Canadian rebellion of 1837, 135
Welland Canal commenced, 159; completed, 190
Wentworth, Sir John; Loyalist governor of Nova Scotia, 99
Westminster Palace Conference in London; Canadian delegates arrange
final terms of federation at, 214, 215
Wetmore, Attorney-general; first minister of New Brunswick after
Confederation, 218
Whelan, Edward; delegate to Quebec Convention of 1864, 206
White, Thomas; Canadian journalist and statesman, 256; sudden death of,
ib.
William IV visits Canada as Prince William Henry, 193
Williams, Lt.-Col.; death of, in North-west rebellion of 1885, 254
Williams, Sir Fenwick ("hero of Kars"); lieutenant-governor of Nova
Scotia, 213, 217
Wilmot, Lemuel A.; father of responsible government in New Brunswick,
174, 185; lieutenant-governor of the province, 217
Wolfe, General; at Quebec, 25; his bold ascent of heights, 25, 26; wins
battle on Plains of Abraham, 26; death of, 26; a maker of Canada, 35
York (Toronto) made capital of Upper Canada, 101
Young, Sir William; Nova Scotian statesman and jurist, 185
Yukon, district of; gold discovery in, 209; administration of, ib, 277;
boundaries of, 310-312
[Illustration: (map) FRANCE, SPAIN, AND ENGLAND, IN NORTH AMERICA,
1756-1760.]
[Illustration: OUTLINE MAP OF ENGLISH POSSESSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA,
1763-1775.]
[Illustration: MAP OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA ILLUSTRATING THE BOUNDARIES
OF PROVINCES AND PROVISIONAL DISTRICTS]
***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CANADA UNDER BRITISH RULE
1760-1900***
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