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In order to lay before the public and the Members of the House of Commons what I conceive to be a fair statement of the difficulties now existing in the Government of Canada, I have here reprinted an article published some time since in the second number of the London Review. That article carries the history of those difficulties up to the period of Lord Gosford's departure from this country. I have added a supplement, containing an account of what has happened subsequent to his arrival in Canada. In both papers I have studied to be brief, and as the subject is exceedingly exten- sive, have been able to do little more than indicate the ques- tions in dispute, and the arguments in favour of that change in their political constitution which the people of Canada now so strenuously desire and demand. In order to show somewhat more in detail what those demands are, I have also printed the Petition of the House of Assembly to his Majesty, passed on the 26th of February, by a majority of 55 to 7. The Appendix contains part of a correspondence that took place on this subject between Lord Glenelg and my- self, acting as Agent for the House of Assembly of Lower Canada. , ,, , ' ' J. A. Roebuck. "ir:>v: THE CANADAS AND THEIR GRIEVANCES. The present condition of the Canadas, viewed solely with reference to the interests of the inhabitants of that country, must, in the eyes of all who sympathize with a people struggling for good go- vernment, appear an interesting and important subject of considera- tion. If, however, we inquire into this condition as an illustration of the English system of colonial government, the matter becomes of a yet more extensive interest, and of a more peculiar import to ourselves as a nation. From our endeavours to govern the Canada^ after the approved model of colonial administration, we may, if we be prudent, gather a salutary experience ; for we may not merely learn the vices of the plans hitherto adopted, but may also acquire a knowledge of the system which true wisdom would devise for the government of distant possessions. At this moment Lower Canada is virtually without a government. The public officers have for three years been unpaid ; all com- munication between the various parts of the legislature has ceased; and the House of Assembly has passed resolutions impeaching the Governt) „ An immense number of temporary acts, absolutely needed for the very existence of society, have this year expired, and have not been renewed ; and the last session of the colonial legis- lature has been brought to a sudden termination, through disputes between the Governor and the House of Assembly : so that the ad- ministration of justice is unprovided for; the maintenance of the gaols is not voted, and all the civil functionaries are still unpaid. Such is the state of Lower Canada — Upper Canada is fast verging to the same condition, and will inevitably arrive at it, unless a wise policy be adopted, and good government introduced into these un- fortunate colonies. We shall, in the present paper, attempt to describe the circum- stances which have led to this disturbed and dangerous condition of the Canadas — (confiding our illustrations chiefly to the lower pro- vince, however, in order to avoid confusion * ) — and shall endeavour * In the progress of our remarks, the perfect coincidence of rvils in both pro- vinces «vil], w« feel assured, be made apparent to every one. HUH to make this single, though not singular case, illustrate the prin- ciple which ought to guide a mother country while administering the affairs of her colonies, in their various states of advancement. In the ycaf 1763, the province of Quebec was ceded by France to England. Two matters of great importance to the present sub- ject were agreed upon in this treaty. The King of England bound himself to allow to the people of the ceded country the free exer- cise of their religion, and the full and undisturbed enjoyment of their private property. In the liberal spirit of this treaty, the Act of 14 Geo. Ill, c. 83, was passed, more effectually to regulate the state of the laws in Canada- By this act the criminal law of England was introduced, with the jury system ; and the customs of Paris, in civil matters, were declared the law of the land. The two Canadas were at this time known by the name of the province of Quebec. By 31 Geo. Ill, c. 31, however, this large province was separated into two parts ; that portion lying on the upper part of the river St Lawrence was called Upper Canada — that on the part nearer the sea was called Lower Canada. As the upper province contained, with few exceptions, none but English settlers — that is, persons speaking the English lahguage — the laws of England, both in civil and criminal affairs, were intro- duced into that colony without admixture of any other code. But in the lower province, as the inhabitants were chiefly of French ex- traction, the law was regulated according to the provisions of the above-mentioned enactment, 14 Geo. Ill, c. 83. When the province of Quebec was thus divided, a new system of government was introduced. The arbitrary dominion of the king was given up, and the regulation of their internal affairs was con- fided to the inhabitants of the colonies. A Legislature was created for each province, composed, in both cases — 1st, of a Governor to be chosen by the King ; 2nd, of a Legislative Council, the members of which were to be chosen by the King, and for life j and, 3rd, of a House of Assembly, elected by the people. By the 18th Geo. Ill, c. 12, all power of taxing the colonies, for the benefit of the mother country, had been solemnly given up. This salutary enactment was wrung from the fears of the British parlia- ment, by the disastrous events of the struggle with our colonies, now composing the United States of America. For some years after the establishment of these legislatures, the affairs of both provinces proceeded smoothly and without interrup- tion. Upper Canada was struggling into existence. A very few inhabitants composed its whole population, and these few hud all those difficulties to encounter which beset new settlers in a new country, and were too much occupied with the pressing exigencies of their condition to have time or attention for aught else. The inhabitants of Upper Canada were at that time chiefly loyalist emi- grants from the revolted colonies. The chief men among them & composed the local government, which for a time, in thi&|Nnitk>n of affairs, had no directly evil influraoe on the mass of the inha- bitants. In Lower Canada there was the same quiet, but arising from different reasons. The French had been whoHy unaccustomed to self-gorernment — had been so long under the dominion of an absolute governor, that the milder sway of England, even when exercised by a single person, was considered as an amelioration of their condition. For the good thus conferred on them the French Canadians were intensely grateful. 1 heir love for England was en- thusiastic ; and so strong has been that feeling, that years of sub- sequent oppression have not yet effaced it. The strength of their affection for the mother country was strikhigly evinced during both the wars waged with the United States. The Canadas remained faithful to England in spite of the pressing solicitations of the Americans during their struggle for freedom, and stilt continued subject to our donunion when the thirteen provinces vindicated to themselves a glorious independence. Again, during the last war, the Canadians, unassisted by our armies, repulsed an invasion of the Americans, and gallantly turned out their militia to a man, when inaction alone would have been sufficient to set them free from England. When the Peninsular war ceased, troops were poured into Canada, and the country became one large garrison. The colony was found a profitable possession, containing the means of feeding many of our illustrious poor. The soldiery, too, now formed a society apart. They condescended only to mix with the richer merchants and official persons, who could supply them with the expensive pleasures of exalted society. Contempt for the mass of the people became fashionable ; and thu bitter seeds of animosity were profusely scattered from one end of the country to the other. We shall now describe the course of events in Lower Canada. The people at length became accustomed to the government which England had conferred on them ; and learned to appreciate the power put into their hands. The House of Assembly requested to be permitted to pay their own functionaries.^ To this demand the official people made a furious opposition. In time, however, it was complied with. The result intended followed. The official: persons became amenable to the Housie of Assembly — the House * This request was first made in 1810. Tlie mode in which this request was met vividly illustrates the spirit of the oiSeial party. We quote, from a work by Mr Andrew Stuart, now one of the chiefs of the Anti- Canadian junta, — time was when he figured as a Canadian patriot :— " The official men, who in colonies constitute a peculiar class, having been entirely uncontrolled, had obtained a de- gree of power which overshadowed all other classes in society ; and the main objeot of the highly patriotic individual who introduced this measure originally in 1810, the late Honourable Mr Justice Bedard, then advocate at the bar of Quebec, was to obtain a checlc upon the official class. As a reward for. this patriotic effort, this man, distinguished as he was for ability, for singleneu of heart, and for a devoted attachment to constitutional principles, was, with some of his supporters, U>df«d in the common gaol for ikt dittriet of Qii«6ec»"- i. T of an lb- cf Assembly was but the expression of the people's wishes — tnld that people these official persons had hitherto delighted in describing as exceedingly contemptible. They now began to reap their reward. It was a galling and humiliating thing to owe your daily bread to persons whom you despised. You had been accustomed to exclude this vulgar herd from your society, and now they suddenly became your masters. The thing being intolerable, means were sought to resist it. Means were at hand ; the evil composition of the govern- ment allowing functionaries desirous of escaping from responsi- bility to fight a harassing and mischievous fight with the people whom thev served. **' .•5\>i<> ma^-rct!!-! vj^ij hi nui.v/, r.u iw?" (n-^ Besides the legislative body above di^sci'ibed, for the purpoijle of carrying on the government, a couucil existed called the executive council. This body is compared with the privy council in England, but iu reality bears no analogy to it; being, in fact^ the actual ad- ministrative government of the province. The governor sent from England, is always ignorant of the country, and usually knows little of the business of government, being chosen, not because he is fit fbr the office, but because he wants a lucrative situation. To en- lighten his ignorance, and prevent the evil effects that might result therefrom, he is surrounded with a council to advise him. This council is permanent ; he is but a bird of passage. The moment he lands, the first persons he sees are those of the council. They describe to him the state of the country after their own opinions ; he naturally listens and believes. Besides; he dines and lives with the council. They flatter him ; they relieve him from the difficul- ties of his position ; and if any body says any ill of him while he is their tool, they are vehement in his defence, and describe the offenders as disloyal and impious. Should, however, a governor be strong-minded enough to resist these arts, they of the council quickly relieve themselves of his dominion through the influence of the Colonial Office. Thus, in fact, they rule the country. The House of Assembly was, at the period of Lord Dalhousie's government, a body possessing feelings very difierent from those entertained by their early predecessors. The leading men in it thoroughly understood the value of the political instrument placed in their hands by the government of England; they perceived moreover the many mischiefs which were produced by the actual government of the province, and they determined to use the con- stitutional powers of the House of Assembly as instruments to eradicate the evils that still existed in their political system. The use of these powers to this end has raised the furious outcry that is now being made by the official tribe — and we shall now proceed to show the nature of the evils complained of, and the method pur- sued by the House to root them out. 1. The first class of evils related to finance. The reprftsentatives of the people complained, that the resources of their country were employed by persons not responsible to the people ; that the money of the people was therefore squandered j that they, the representatives, were unable to obtain accurate accounts either of the receipts or the expenditure of the government; and that the people were taxed without the consent of their representatives. 2. The i:econd class of evils related to the administration of justice. The representatives of the people complained of the per- fect irresponsibility of the judges to any one except the English Colonial-ofiSce. They asserted, moreover, that this responsil)ility was in fact a farce, as the Colonial-cffice placed implicit confidence in the Executive Council, and this Executive Council was com- posed in a large part by the judges, and had interests and sympathies identical with theirs. Many and f^^grf^nt instances of injustice were specified and complained of. Moreover it was stated, that suspicion must ever attach to political judges ; that the judges of Lower Canada, by being mem- bers of the Legislative and Executive Councils, were of necessity m lat as' he is si; political judges, and were, in fact, suppoAcd by the people to be improperly biassed by their political opinions. It was also asserted that justice was too dear— that, especially in a poor and new country, struggling with the great difficulties which attend necessarily upon a people in the situation of the Canadians, justice should not only be cheap, but at evtfry body's door. The representatives complained, that many salutary laws passed by them, who knew the wants and wishes of the pec pie, had been rejected by the Legislative Council, which was ignorant of the wants of the people, and careless respecting their wishes. It was further urged as matter of complaint, that, under the then jury system, the sheriffs were able to coinpose a panel as they desired ; that these sheriffs, being salaried officers, depending for their possession of office on the mere will of the executive, were, in fact, subservient tools to the executive ; and being suspected, and that often but too justly, they poisoned justice at the fountain, and spread dismay throughout the country.* 3. The next class of evils related to education. The represen- tatives of the people complained, that among the revenues which the Crown had possessed itself of> were certain large and growing estates belonging to the late order of Jesuits ; that these estates had, before they came into the possession of the Crown, been dedi- cated to the instruction of youth ; but that the Crown had taken the whole of the estates and applied them to other purposes, and, furthermore, had converted the College of the Jesuits at Quebec into a soldiers' barrack. They also complained that no attempts had been made by government to sp.ead education among the mass of the people; but that, on the contrary, the Legislative Council, which was wholly under the control of the executive, constantly rejected many salutary bills passed by the House of Assembly to further the education of the people in the rural districts. Connected with this subject was the complaint respecting the provision made for the clergy of the Church of England. Among a population four-fifths of whom were Catholic, one-seventh of the whole lands of the country was set apart for the clergy of the Church of England. This appropriation was bitterly complained of, first, as an attempt to introduce a church establishment in opposition to the opinion and feelings of the people; and, secondly, as a direct robbery of a fund which ought to be applied * This jury system has sinee been changed, but much of the evil complained of remains. The art of pachinf juries is not peculiar to England. We hav* taught it to our colonial subjects. The sheriffs of Canada are still officers dependent immediately on the executive, o \d when ordered, have not Mnipled to act in direct opposition to the new jury law. Witness the conduct of the sheriff of Montreal, in packing the jury which had to determine on the billa oi indictment preferred against the parties oonoerned in the too notorioiu mas- Munra of May, 1833. 12 11^ i to the education of the whole people, without reference to sect or origin. 4. The next class of evils complained of related to attempts made by the English Parliament to alter the laws regulating the interna] affairs of the colony. 5. The last class of evils to which we shall allude, as com- plained of by the Canadian representatives, related to the general administration of the government. They ccnplained that the whole administration was a scheme of favouritism ; that, in order to secure the lucrative offices in the hands of a small set of families, attempts were constantly made to sow dissentions among the different classes of the people ; that merit, if evinced by one not of the family party ruling in Quebec and Montreal, was wholly neglected ; that, by this means, constant heartburnings were raised among the educated classes, and great evil done to the community by the employment of comparatively inefficient and useless functionaries. From this catalogue of grievances, it will at once be evident, that the sum of the complaints was, that the people had not them- selves the control of their own government. Whether the repre- sentatives then saw that this was the real grievance, we cannot pretend to determine. It is certain, however, that they then proposed no plan of more effectually placing the control over the government in their own hands, but merely confined their demands to matters which could only temporarily alleviate the evil. In other words, they then sought only for the removal of obnoxious officers, and not for arganic changes in their govern- ment. When the House of Assembly, in addition to its sturdy refusal to grant a permanent civil-list, as well as to vote the whole in one sum, continued loudly to complain respecting the list of grievances above-mentioned, the case began to appear desperate in the eyes of the official party. A remedy was therefore sought equal to the occasion. Hitherto Upper Canada had showed no symptoms of complaint. A majority of the House of Assembly in the pro- vince voted with the executive government, and all was apparently peace and comfort among the official party there. The official party in Lower Canada, seeing two countries, in situations apparently so similar, pursuing courses so opposed, were per- plexed, and sought a solution of the difficulty. They fancied they had discovered it in the difference of origin, ft was btlieved that the Lower Canadians were turbulent, because they were French ; and that the Upper Canadians were quiet because descended from Americans, English, Scotch, and Irish. This explanation of the phenomenon suggested a remedy for the evil which afflicted the Lower Canadian executive. They fancied that if these two bodies of people could be united, and placed under one government, in which care was to be taken to secure a majority of votes in the 13 or >ts he H. Houae of Assembly to the quiet, viz., Upper Canadian portion, all their distresses would immediately be relieved. In this notable opinion originated the plan of uniting the two prcvinces. The Colonial-office, as usual, was ready to act as tLe Executive Government desired ; and a bill was brought into Parliament to effect a junction of the two provinces. This was done without the slightest appeal to the people of either colony ; and the proposers of it hoped that it might be smuggled through the House. Un- fortunately for them, it was opposed by Mr Hume and others. Time was given to the colonists to express their feelings respecting it, when so unanimous were both provinces against the union, that the plan was necessarily abandoned. • - During the disputes which were carried on respecting the griev- ances complained of on the part of the House of Assembly, and the demand for a permanent civil -list on the part of the Executive Government, the various officers of the country were in danger of being unpaid. The House of Assembly was induced to refuse the supplies from a variety of causes ; the most immediate and pressing, however, was the state of the treasury of the province. As the circumstances connected with this subject illustrate, in a remark- able manner, the general system of our colonial policy, and as the matter is one of the most crying cases of abuse complained of by the Canadian people, we shall relate the history of the whole affair somewhat at length. The receiver-general of the province is an officer appointed by the Crown: he is responsible also to the Crown, giving security in case of default to the executive alone, that is, to the government of England. This receiver-general receives all the revenues of Canada, as well that portion over which the House of Assembly is allowed to have control, as that which the Executive Government claims to have solely within its own power. The late receiver-general. Sir John Caldwell, succeeded his father in this situation. Both the one and the other were vehe- mently suspected of having appropriated the monies of the province to their own private use. In order to ascertain whether these sus- picions were well founded, and also in the pursuance of their ordi- nary duty, the House demanded of the receiver-general an account of their money in his hands. Will it be believed that Sir John Caldwell not only refused to render such an account, but that the Executive Government of Canada supported him in his contumacv ? Further yet than this, the C jlonial-office, the ever-ready and pow- erful engine of the colonial executive, looked on calmly while such a flagrant act of disobedience and dishonesty was performing. Lord Dalhousie. who was asking in a haughty manner of the House that they would confide in his honesty and prudence, and relieve him and his government from responsibility, was the protector of this public officer while refusing what every honest man would have voluntarily offered. The House, indignant at such conduct, were u ••I t:\\ I! ' del(>rrained to settle the matter between theitidelves and this rebellious servant. They appropriated no monies to the public service, leaving the governor to get what he cduld out of the chest of the receiver-general. Thus driven, the governor, who, while it suited his purpose, shielded the receiver-general, drew bills on him now that he could get nothing from the House. The result justi- fied the suspicion and the conduct of the House. The receiver- general was found to be a defaulter to the amount of 100,0002. It appeared that his father before him had employed the money of the people, and had bequeathed the debts and the situation to the son. The son, well knowing his father's insolvency, nevertheless took the office, and, instead of diminishing, greatly increased the debt due to the state. He lived in a sumptuous style, such as was be- fitting a person in Quebec ; he bought estates, and foreseeing that some day his bankruptcy must be known, he craftily had all his father's estates entailed upon his son. The government^ under the pressure of the House of Assembly, sued him for the money, and got judgment against him. And now was seen the exquisite ma- chinery by which justice is admioistered in Canada. The son of the defaulter claimed the estates of his grandfather under the en- tail. He lost his suit, but he has been able, by appeals from one court to another, and at last to the privy council in England, to stave off the evil hour of restitution. To this moment the debt remains unpaid.* The governor was now driven into great straits. He had no chest to draw from, and he had a clamorous set of officials. They and he devised a plan (these people are famous for their plans.) He divided the various officers into two classes, the necessary, and the urgently necessary, and proposed to pay the latter out of the funds supposed to be under the control of the executive. The revenues of Lower Canada arise from the following sources — 1. The Jesuits' and other estates. .m i . r" ,;,if ' ..t 2. The land and timber fund. 3. Fines and dues resulting from seigneuries. ;: 4. Certain duties imposed by the imperial legislature; 5. And duties imposed by the provincial legislature. The money accruing from the first four sources was at that time deemed under the control of the executive. But as this sum was not sufficient to pay the whole exfjenses of the government ; and as the Assembly was called upon to furnish the remainder, they I * We may relate the remainder of this affair in a note. Sir John Caldwell if •till a legislative councillor. He pays the government 2000/. a year out of an estate worth 5000/. a year; thus depriving the people every year of some 8000/. His debt and interest now amount to 150,000/., and no means have been taken by the government to pay Canada one farthing. A judgment has lately been dbtainea in the Pi ivy Council aga'.nst the son ; that is, some fifteen yaara after the aoknowledgmtnt of the default ; but the debt is still unpaid. ■■ 15 thus virtually became supervisors of the .whole. This is now always admitted. At that time a di^erent doctrine was promulgat- ed : It was then attempted to confine the power and the inspection of the House to the sum which the House itself specifically afforded. Having divided the civil-list as above stated, the governor deter- mined, without the permission of the House, to pay the urgently necessary officers out of the funds supposed to be under the control of the executive. The Assembly, justly indignant at such u pro- ceeding, determined to complain to the general government : the governor, on his part, commenced a system of pitiful vexations. He put affronts on the Canadians, that is, the French Canadians, as distinguished from persons speaking English. He dismissed certain officers of militia, for having voted in a manner contrary to his Lordship's desire. He induced the government of England to interfere with the internal legislation of the country ; and by an ordinary, but by no means honest proceeding, he and his party smuggled into a bill for the regulation of the trade with America, a provision for a change of the law relating to the tenure of lands in Canada. His offences towards the people amounted now to a formidable and intolerable sum. He had throughout his govern- ment vexed and insulted the people personally : he had endeavoured to unite the two provinces, in the hope of crushing the liberal party in Lower Canada: he had illegally seized upon and appropriated the monies of the people : he had endeavoured to screen a great public defaulter : he had unjustly treated a large body of the militia — had surreptitiously endeavoured to meddle with the laws of the people, thus eventually leading to the introduction and enactment of the Canada Tenures Act, in 1826* — and, finally, had fought a disgraceful fight with the House of Assembly, for a permanent civil-list, in order to ensure the irresponsibility of the official per- sons by whom he was surrounded, and by whom he was made a subservient tool. By thus linking himself with this official party, he plainly showed the people that his sympathies were with their oppressors, and they therefore determined to be rid of his dominion. The whole people were roused, and petitioned the Parliament of England to remove him. They also set forth a detailed account of their grievances, and prayed thatthey might be effectually remedied. The consequence of these petitions was the appointment of a committee by the House of Commons, to inquire into the grievances alleged. This committee allowed that all the more important asser- tions of the petitions were proved : they allowed also, that the sys- tem of government was a bad one ; and they thereupon made cer- tain suggestions — all mere palliatives, which served in the end to increase instead of alleviating the mischief. Lord Dalhousie was * This subject will be more fully treated hereafter. We shall have to speak of the disputes respecting the tenure of land, and the reader will then see vhy the Canadian people were indignant at this proceeding on the part of the goTtrnment. 16 !l m MT I, 1' recalled ; and a system of conciliation was attempted. Sir James Kempt, by behaving with common civility, gained the good-will of the people. He saw, however, that the causes of evil were beyond his power, and he wisely, after a short experience, retired from the government. It was at this period that the home government made certain modified proposals to the House of Assembly respecting a perma- nent civil-list. The original demand was, that the whole of the civil servants should be permanently provided for ; now» however, the home government having taken up the matter, far less was required. It was proposed that the governor, or person acting in the place of governor;, his secretary, and the judges,* should alone be included in the permanent civil-list ; and in order to induce the House to g^ant this, the government promised to fulfil an engage^* ment made on the part of the British government some time previ-^ ous to the end of the last century, and still left unperformed. They agreed to pass an act of Parliament, placing at the disposal of the House of Assembly certain duties levied under acts of the Imperial Parliament. The House of Assembly agreed to this arrangement. At this time Lord Aylmer was appointed governor. The promised act of Parliament was passed, and the House of Assembly passed the permanent civil-list. The bill passed the legislative council, was sanctioned by the governor, and U$ confirmation was refused by the home government^ upon a point of form vrhich many have attempted to explain, but as yet the world cannot understand it. Shortly after this Mr Stanley succeeded to the seals of the Colo- nial-office, and all hope of amicable arrangement quickly dissap"' peared. The governor got into disputes and quarrels with the House of Assembly ; the Legislative Council, taking advantage of the confusion, exercised its privilege of rejecting bills passed in the Assembly far more freely than was consistant with the welfare of the people, and also quarrelled with the House of Assembly. At this period, also, arose the demand of the people for an elective council, in place of the present legislative council ap- pointed for life by the Crown. The House of Assembly ad- dressed the Crown on the subject. They stated the grievance, and proposed the remedy ; but suggested ,,hat, with regard to so great an alteration of the constitution, the wishes of the people should first be carefully inquired into. They therefore proposed that a convention should be called to ascertain the feelings of the * There is a curious fatality, it would seem, in these matters. In our disputes with our old American colonies, this precise demand was made and indignantly refused — the colonists assigning, as the reason of their refusal, that they Hked to have their own servants under their own control. In one case a judge, who on the stoppage of supplies received his salary from the executive, was impeached by the colonial le(;islature for so doing. The precedent is not a bad one, and might upon occasion be usefully followed. 17 people ; and that this convention should decide in favour of an elective council, an act of parliament sVinnld be passed to alter the present form of their government. Lord Stanley, in answer to this address, r^ad the Assembly a lecture, and put a false con- struction on their demands, calling the convention proposed a national convention, thus conveying unjust insinuations by means of an unpopular phrase with which were associated ideas of revo- lution and massacre. This conduct raised a flame that still burns, and which will continue to burn, until every evil be redressed by England, or the Canadas withdrawn from our dominion. The House of Assembly passed, on the receipt of his dispatch, their famous ninety-two resolutions ; they expunged the despatch from their journals; they formally declared the Governor guilty of crimes deserving of impeachment, and they petitioned the Im- perial Parliament to grant them redress. Mr Roebuck presented their petition, and moved for a committee to inquire into the de- fects existing in the form of the Canadian governments. Lord Stanley opposed this motion, on the ground that Upper Canada had nothing to complain of, and that she did not complain ; and moved as an amendment, that a committee should be appointed to inquire whether the recommendations of the committee of 1828 had been carried into execution. This was granted. In the midst of this committee's labours Lord Stanley left office, and Mr Spring Rice succeeded him. The new Secretary entered into negotiations with Mr Roebuck and the Canadian agents* holding out fair promises, in order that he might begin his government undisturbed by the inquiries of the committee. Pre- vious to the appointment of this committee, Lord Stanley had given notice that he would bring in a bill to repeal the late act of the Imperial Legislature, passed according to the arrangement made with the House of Assembly. He did this, in reality, be- cause the House had stopped the supplies, and thus had driven the government to extremities* He wished to get back into his power some portion of the revenue, so that he might not be dependent on the House of Assembly for the means of carrying on the government. The reason, however, which he assigned for this proceeding was that the House of Assembly had not per* formed their portion of the engagement. Lord Dalhousie, when in the same position, had actually taken the money out of the provincial treasury and applied it as he liked. Lord Stanley had too often, and too publicly, inveighed against this proceeding, to be able to follow the example. He endeavoured to gain the samv end by different means ; viz., by the assistance of Parliament. Mt * Lord Stanley found fault with the House for following this course.- though he himself had recommended such a coursn to the House of Assembly of Upper Canada. This recommendation certainly v^m made while the noble lord was out of office. B 18 Spring Rice made a voluntary offer to desist from this plan of Lord Stanley, and solemnly condemned the conduct of Lord Dalhousie. This offer to the agents, and to Mr Roebuck, was the basis of the negotiation which followed. It was acknowledged that the con- stitutional mode for the Assembly to attain its end was stopping the supplies. In his constitutional ardour, Mr Spring Rice further said, that he would be no party to any attempt to deprive the House of this proper and constitutional check upon its servants. He therefore declared that he would do nothing to pay the public servants ; he would not pursue either of the only two modes open to him ; viz., would neither seize the money after the fashion of Lord Dalhousie, nor apply for an Act of Parliament after the mode intended by Lord Stanley. He would, he said, trust to the Assem- bly. He knew nothing of the question as yet ; he was young in office, and sought time to learn his duty, and hoped the House would grant him the opportunity. They could do so only in one way : they could grant supplies, as during Sir James Kempt's ad- ministration, under protest. They would thus still retain their con- stitutional power over their servants, and yet give him a fair oppor- tunity of amicably settling the matters complained of. He asked further, that the agents and Mr Roebuck would agree to close the committee. This was agreed to, upon the understanding that nobobv should be inculpated, and a mere/orma2 report agreed upon. The committee closed its labours by making such a report, and the agents returned to Canada with the impression that Mr Rice was about immediately to recall Lord Aylmer; to call together the pro- vincial parliament early in November, in order that the servants of the public might then be paid ; and that he was about to adopt a liberal and enlightened policy as respected their country. Mr Roebuck also wrote to the leaders of the popular party to the same effect, and advised, that they should forbear for the present, and give the minister an opportunity of voluntarily doing justice to Canada. The leaders acquiesced, and all was now apparent har- mony, and men looked forward to a change of measures and men. What, then, was the surprise and indignation of the Canadians, when they found that the whole proceeding, on the part of Mr S. Rice, was a manoeuvre to gain time, and to get rid of an immediate and pressing difficulty! It was evident that he never had an in- tention of satisfying the expectations he had designedly raised. Lord Aylmer was not recalled ; the servants of the public were paid by the authority of the colonial minister,* and a furious partisan of r,; * The House of Assembly of Lower Canada, hy a petition to the Imperial Parliament, agreed to February 28, 1835, aid presented this session, has thus expressed its opinion of this proceeding : ' The continued dilapidations of the revenues of the province, in direct violation of the constitution, are another source of blame to his Majesty's Canadian subjects. After the abandonment of the late colonial secretary's project to seize upon the said revenues, by suipend- I ■.•;*.v.H>v, 19 the official party was raised to the bench. Nothing, in short, was changed ; Mr S. Rice, after all his fair promises and fine words, following in the footsteps of his predecessors. Fortunately, Mr Rice was somewhat too hasty in evincing the spirit which was to govern his councils. His proceedings were discovered before the general election, and mainly served to fill the Assembly with mem- bers pledged to the principle of an elective council. Mr Spring Rice had, among other things, promised to call the provincial parliament together early in November ; but before he could perform this promise. Lord Melbourne's ministry was dis- missed. Mr Rice declares, that on the very day on which this occurred, he was to have submitted his matured plans for the future government of Canada to the cabinet. Jt was unfortunate far Mr Rice that his good intentions were so long delayed. Judging from what he had already done, the public were not inclined to augur well of his future acts. Of the benefits that he desired to confer on Canada we have no evidence but his own declarations, — and as these are in direct opposition to his former conduct, they do not cany with them that confidence which should at all times attach to the statements of persons in powerful and exalted stations. When Lord Aberdeen succeeded Mr Rice, he found everything in Qonfusion, and the difficulties of the question far greater than when it was first submitted to Mr Rice. On the 9th of March Mr Roebuck presented a petition from members of both houses of the provincial legislature, praying for redress of grievances. Sir Robert Peel then declared, that it was the intention of his govern- ment to send out a commission to Canada, to see what could be done, and to do it.* Shortly after his ministry left office, and the Whigs returned. They took advantage of Sir Robert Peel's plan, and determined also to send a commission. Their commission, it appears, is only instructed to inquire. If this be so, it is only a pretence, as the evidence needed is already before the government; #■ ing an act which did no more than confirm to the Commons of Lower Canada a right previously recognised, without conferring any new privileges, his Majesty's Canadian subjects did not expect to be so soon called upon to resist similar un* constitutional encroachments end dilapidations ; yet very recently the indisput- able privileges of the Assembly have been again violated by the payment of the public servants without the sanction or cognizance of the only body authorized to give such sanction. That the people of the old colonies, now the United States of North America, however much they were aggravated by attempts at unconstitutional taxation, had much less to complain of on the score of executive usurpation than the people of this province — the 'Assembly having repeatedly de- clared its fixed determination not to sanction that which it must ever consider a tyrannical violation of its rights, and which the people of this province regard as a virtual dissolution of the constitution, and for the consequences of which your pititioners cannot answer.' * Sir Robert Peel said, that advices of this intention had been sent out to Canada six weeks before that day. From the despatches, however, it appears that it was three, and not six weeks. 20 1 .'* m and all that they have now to do is, to declare explicitly the con* cessions they have determined to make. The present demands of the House of Assembly include one item not mentioned in the year 1828. At that time they sought to palliate evils, not to eradicate them. Finding that even these moderate demands were not acceded to, they have wisely proceeded further j and now seek a radical reform in thpir constitution. They see whence all the mischief arises, and direct their chief attention to that point ; they see that the official party have been able to resist the wishes of the people by means of the Legislative Council. This Legislative Council they therefore seek to change, and now demand of the Home Government to constitute it in such a manner as to make it express the feelings of the great body of the popula- tion. They very properly declare, that the only mode of making it such an expression of the popular voice is to render it elective. This now forms the first and chief of the demands of the House of Assembly. In other respects the complaints now made are the same as those which the Assembly made in the year 1828. The grievances which then existed are still unredressed; and little, perhaps we might more correctly say, no advance has been made towards relieving the people from the burthen under which they labour.* It thus becomes necessary that we should briefly refer to the conduct of the Committee of the House of Commons appointed in 1828^ and remark upon some of their recommendations. In the true spirit of English legislation, that committee temporized with the evil ; they treated the symptoms of the disease as if it were the disease itself, and thus left the cause untouched, while they were trying to administer remedies to some of the more glaring effects of an evil deeply seated. They saw, for example, that a pernicious distinction had been made by the executive government between the Canadians and the English of Quebec and Montreal ; and they fancied that they themselves had done their part as legislators, when they recommended that this evil proceeding should be drop- ped. That assuredly was not the right remedy ; neither was the * It is asserted, indeed, by the opponents of the House of Assembly, that the grievances originally complained of have been redressed; and we are told that French Canadians have been admitted into the Legislative Council, and some further portions of the revenues placed under the control of the House of Assembly. As to the first assertion, it need only be said, that the Canadians who have been admitted are still in a powerless minority; and that many of them, before they were made councillors, had given unequivocal proofs of sub- serviency to the executive, and were looked upon by the people as renegades. As to the second statement, the answer is, that the principle of the right of the House of Assembly to supervise all the funds is still denied, and to this hour is still acted on ; while one of the most important funds, viz. the land and timber funds, together with parts of the Jesuits' estates, and the dues of the crown, are still wholly within the power of the executive. While things remain thus, it is idle to speak of grievances redressed. 1 2i now attempt made in the right place. They perceived that the people were discontented ; they perceived that this discontent arose in consequence of the conduct of a small party who had got posses- sion of power in the colony ; they saw, or ought to have seen, that this party were endeavouring — first, to enjoy exclusively the good things which this power placed within their reach ; and, secondly, to make themselves completely irresponsible. In the furtherance of the first object, they necessarily excluded the people at large ; viz. the Canadian people, from all places of power and profit : in further- ance of the second, they used the legislative as well as administrative authority they possessed, to prevent the people's representatives, viz. the Assembly, from prying into their proceedings, or in any way controlling them. The cause, then, of the evil, that is, such cause as a legislature could deal with, was the power, the irrespon- sible power they possessed. The exclusion of the Canadians from office, the peculation of the public money, the rejection of useful measures, and the refusal to give accounts of monies received and expended, were all results of the same system, symptoms or effects of the same disease, viz. irresponsible power. The committee appear to have had a glimmering of this fact, and therefore recom- mended that the legislative council, which gave this pernicious power to the executive government, should be liberalized ; that is, that a certain number of Canadians should be admitted into it. A more futile scheme could not have been devised. How easy to obey the letter of this law, and completely avoid its spirit! — in other words, to change some of the persons of the council, and yet leave the composition of the council in reality the same. I go out of the council myself, but place in my stead a friend, having pre- cisely the same feelings and the same interests as myself. I put in a very small minority of persons opposed to me and my friends; as all our decisions are by majorities, what is this liberal infusion but a mere mockery ? The acts of the council will be the same, spite of the apparent change in its composition. To any one at all con- versant with the state of Canada, — to any one instructed in the ways of men who would look at the case with an impartial eye, it must have been evident that these recommendations of the com- mittee would raise expectations only to have them disappointed; and that the discontent which it was intended to allay would be greatly and justly increased. Such has been the result. Lord Stanley pretended that the council had been thus changed. What is really the fact? A few Canadians are now in the legislative council ; but so convinced are they of their utter uselessness, be- cause they are only a small minority, that they have of late abstained even from appearing at Quebec. But what could have been -the cause which induced the commit- tee to deal thus gently with so glaring an evil? The cause was partly their peculiar leanings and opinions respecting government in general, and partly their ignorance respecting the situation of 22 Canada. The House of Commons is essentialiv an aristocratic assembly; its committee, in this case, represented fairly its general character. The House of Assembly was believed by them, and correctly, to be a democratic body — a body fairly representing^ the wishes and feelings of the whole people. Its complaints were therefore looked upon with suspicion, and all its recommendations distrusted, as supposed to tend to the direct increase of popular power. On the other hand, the legislative council and the official party were supposed to constitute an aristocracy ; and the fight that was going on in Canada was supposed to be the same as that which was at that time, and is now also, so furiously raging between the aristocratic and democratic principles in England. It was thought then, and is thought now, that this supposed aristocracy is the link which binds Canada to the mother country. The official party have been extremely anxious to create and maintain this opinion, well knowing that powerful and steady would then be the support they would receive from England. Nothing, however, could be more incorrect than this conception of the nature and utility of this Legislative Council and Company. They are not an aristocracy like that of England, powerful by its wealth and its large landed possessions. This supposed aristocracy of Canada are a set of hungry officials, poor and rapacious, and possessed of no landed property, but such wild lands as they have granted to themselves, and which generations yet unborn may see as wild as at present.* They therefore cannot pretend to any of that species of influence which an aristocracy like that of England is, by its admirers, supposed to exercise. They are not the lords of the soil — they have no tenantry — they have no influence over the House of Assembly, — here, in truth, in one view, we have in practice something like the theory of the English constitution. The House of Assembly, and Legislative Councils, are two completely separate, equal, and checking bodies: and the result of this exquisite machinery is, what philosophers have predicted would be the fate of the constitution of England, if its practice were made to con- form to its theory ; viz. both parties have so effectually checked each other, that the government is at a stand-still, and nought remains but to destroy one body or the other. But this indepen- dence of the House of Assembly must make it apparent to every one, that a comparison between what is called the Upper House in Canada, and the Upper House in England, is simply ridiculous. The official party in Canada are actually, as far as regards some of their interests, in opposition to the aristocracy of England ; but they have, not unskilfully, kept this view of the subject from the governing powers in England. Tlie official party have not more * It is true that Sir John Caldveell, or, perhaps we ought to say, his son, has or had a seigneurie, bought with the spoils of the people, and which, it is hoped, will be soon sold for the people's benefit. places in Canada than are sufficient for themselves : they not oiily exclude the Canadians, therefore, but strive their utmost to exclude the retainers of the English aristocracy. Canada, however rich in pldces, is but a poor field for the place-hunters of England, and must become less and less so daily, if the present order of things be permitted to exist. Every lucrative office is now filled up by some expectant of the official party ; whereas, if this party no longer existed, a much larger share of the good things would fall directly to the Governor, who would make them available to the friends of himself and of the Coloniai Office. The idea that the Legislative Council forms the connecting link between England and Canada is equally erroneous. A colony is retained by her interests. The interests of Canada, as connected with her relation to England, relate to the government and the commerce of the province. If the people, through the intervention of England, obtained an equitable, wise, and cheap government, then feelings of gratitude and kindness would be entertained towards the mother country, and a desire to maintain connexion with her kept fresh and strong. This feeling would be common to the mass of the population, would be transmitted from one genera- tion to another, and inculcated much in the same way as the religion of tbs community. It is evident that, at the present mo- ment, the reverse of this has taken place, precisely by the deeds of the Legislative Council and their party. The people see that the evils of their government spring directly from the Legislative Council, and that this council is maintained solely by the influence of England. The connexion with England is therefore looked upon as an evil — and every day is strengthening the desire of the people to be completely relieved from it. If this party be allowed to exist but a few years longer, all attachment to England will be utterly destroyed, and a separation will immediately follow. It is equally clear, that any commercial advantage derived by the colony from England cannot result from the Legislative Council and party. Mercantile intercourse subsists, because it is for the interest of the individuals between whom it exists. This interest is in no way dependent upon this supposed link between England and her colony. Abolish the council tomorrow, and the Canadian merchant will require the same shipments from England. The people will still demand her cheap fabrics, and if England be wise she would buy the cheap corn of Canada — if she be foolish she may continue to buy her dear ana mferior timber — but neither the one demand nor the dther depends upon the Legislative Council and the hungry tribe of official hirelings by whom it is surrounded. In what way, then, does this council maintain the connexion between England and Canada ? It may Indeed be said, that the council serves as a counterpoise to the democratic opinions prevalent in America, and may thus be supposed to favour the dominion of England. On the con- S3B masses 24 : iiiii. Mi'" trary, however, by confounding the small official body with aristo- cracy generally, the ill-feelings which arise against the one are extended to the other. * t a distance, and exercising but a small and unimportant influence, the English aristocracy might have been held in honour, and viewed with respect and deference — but the petty, paltry, and mischievous aristocracy (so called) which rules Canada is so near to the people, and so evil in its influence, and, at the same time derives so much of its power from England, that it strengthens, in place of weakening, the democratic feeling, and has created a sha~r> and virulent hatred of all aristocracy. In this way, therefore, the council cannot be the connecting link so much talked of. There was, however, still another argument in favour of this body, which had a powerful influence with the Committe, and in- duced it to palter with the evil rather than manfully grapple with it. It is generally supposed by those who know little of Canada, that the whole population is separated into the two classes of English and French, The English party, allowed to be a small mi- nority, are supposed to be represented and protected by the Legis- lative Council ; and the French party, the immense majority of the people, to be represented b^ the House of Assembly. The persons who have made this division, proceed further, and attribute certain designs and wishes to the French party — the most formid- able of which is, an intention to obtain supreme power, and then to use it in oppressing and harassing the English minority ; the next is, a determination to maintain in predominance French customs and laws, and the Catholic religion, and carefully to pre- vent any innovation which savours of English habits, manners, or feelings. The immediate carrying into effect of these dreadful designs is supposed to be prevented solely by the conservative protection of the Legislative Council. The alarmists, who have conjured up this direful chimera, go yet further in their anticipation of coming evils. They say, that if the Canadian majority were permitted to have their way, and were to attempt ihis oppression of the English, these latter, possessing, as these alarmists assert, the wealth, intelligence, and energy of the country, would fly to America for relief; that thereupon the Unitea States would grant them assistance, and Canada would incontinently become a member of the great federal union. Such is the picture which the terror of these persons has conjured up, and which we know had a powerful influence upon the Committee of 1828. We are, however, prepared to prove that tne whole of this series of assertions results from the grossest ignorance of the present condition of Canada — that, from beginning to the end, it depends upon a most extraordinary delusion — that a more wild and erro- neous conception of the present and the future never entered the brain of any one speculating upon the condition and destinies of a nation. '••'^tp^T " iTvr. \ ^ ^ir'P:V''?f3TWT'v^**^*"' T?'- 25 : so We are prepared, in answer to these assertions, to prove the fol- lowing propositions : 1. That no such division, as that supposed, exists, of the people into an English and a French party. 2. That the large majority of the people represented by the House have no such designs as those attributed to them ; that is, that they do not wi^h to oppress any party — that they have no blind and prejudiced admiration of their own laws and customs — that they do not desire to retain such parts of them as are op- posed to the improvement of the country — nor do they desire so to maintain their religion as to make it galling or oppressive to others. 3. And lastly,— '"hat the Legislative Council Is not the represen- tative of any party in the country but the official party — and that its conservative eflPorts are wholly confined to the maintenance of a corrupt, ignorant, and mischievous government. Lower Canada is, at the present time, divided into seigneuries and townships. The seigneuries aie inhabited, almost exclusively, by French Canadians — the townships, almost exclusively, by persons speaking English.* It is asserted that politic"^ completely divide these two sections of the population, and, supposing the House of Assembly were paramount, that they would stand in the relation of oppressor and oppressed — the French being the oppressors the English the oppressed. It so happens, however, that the interests of the inhabitants of the townships and of the seigneuries are, in fact, identical ; and that any general law which should oppress the one would necessarily oppress the other. Both portions of the population are purely at^ricul- tural, and the circumstances affecting their welfare, as mercbers of the said community, are common to both. It might so happen, however, that notwithstanding this identity of interests, they might, in consequence of their ignorance, be ranged in hostility to each other. Attempts have, we know, been made to place them in this position. Appeals have been made to fanaticism, to prejudices of country, in order to rouse a feeling of hatred in the minds of the persons dwelling in the townships against their French brethren. But these attempts have signally failed. A general election took place last year ; the liberal party and the anti-liberals * The setgncurie of Beauharnois, belonging to Mr Edward Ellice, is, we be- lieve, for the most part inhabited by English. Now one of the charges brought against the Canadians generally is, that they are so enamoured of their mis- chievous seignorial tenure, thiit nothing can induce thim to change it. We should like to know, as a matter of curiosity, ho ^ many of Mr Ellice's English tenants have changed their tenure for that of free and common soocage under the Canada Tenure Act. We arc pretty certain that none has — the reason being, that An immediate outlay would be required exceeding their powers. The same reasons acts with the French Canadians. were in violent opposition to each other. The principle on which the elections turned was adherence or opposition to certain resolutions of the House of Assembly. It was attempted by the anti'liberals to make the division an English and French one, and it was hoped that the townships would second their attempts. The result we appeal to with perfect confidence, as decisive of the question respecting an English and a French party. It is clear, if there were such a division, that the townships would have returned members inimical to the resolutions of the House of Abocmbly. The anti-liberals, v;ho called themselves English, were furiously opposed to these resolutions, and called upon the English to join in their opposition. Did they so? Did not a large portion of the townships return firm adherents to the Assembly and its resolutions? Did not Stanstead, the largest of the townships, not merely return two such members, but also invite M. Papineau to a public dinner amongst them, at which they avowedly disclaimed the attempted division of the people into English and French ? Moreover, did not the immense majority of the Irish of Montreal vote for M. Papineau? Are not these things sufficient to show that the supposed division is altogether a pure invention ? There is another curious circumstance connected with this assertion. It is said that the majority of the inhabitants of Quebec and Montreal are English, and that almost all the wealth and intelligence of those towns belong to them. If these assertions be true — and if it be true that the English are wholly opposed to the House of Assembly — how has it happened, that, in the strong-holds of this p&eudo- English party, the members returned have been warmly attached to the cause of the Assem- bly? The truth is, that the division of the people is n-*. into English and French, but into friends of popular government, and friends of government by a small body of place-holders. This last party is contemptible as to numbers, and power over the people ; their sole strength lies in the mischievous support of an ill- informed Colonial-office situated in Downing street. The former party comprehends almost all the French Canadians, and all such of the English as are unconnected with the official tribe. The richer merchants of Quebec and Montreal have joined the official party. The dinner giving and dinner-receiving gentry herd toge- ther ; and as the official party have made an exclusive society, and have graciously admitted the rich merchants within the magic circle, the heads ot these foolish traders have thereby been turned. They fancied thu., they had suddenly become exalted mortals, and, like ail such great men, they quickly learned to despise the vulgar people. All this is very natural and was to be expected — but the folly of these merchants must not be supposed to be common to the yeomanry of the townships. They (the yeomen) do not dine at the chateau, and walk arm-in-arm with a chief- f ich ain the t 27 justice,* but are hard-working farmers, desirous of having a hard- working and useful government. They side naturally with the people, without asking whether they be French or English. So much, then, as to this division of the people into English and French parties. . ,, ..'i . ..#. We now proceed to disprove the assertions respecting the oppressive designs of the Assembly. These assertions, when explained, mean a very different thing from that which people would commonly suppose them to mean. The petitions of the Canadian people complain of the unjust exclusion of persons of French Canadian extraction from all offices of honour and profit. This complaint was, and is still, well-founded, and it is supposed that if the Canadians were once in power they would practise the same exclusion. We have no positive evidence of what their con- duct in this case would be, but we muy draw conclusions, perhaps not altogether unfounded, from their conduct at present. The Canadian leaders and people do not at this time herd together in the same exclusive style as the English party. They associate freely with the English, and quickly give them their confidence and respect. One of the great leaders of the Canadian liberal party, up to the present year, was a Scotsman. It is true that, having ratted, he was at the last election, after more than twenty years of confidence, ignominously expelled from the representation of the county of Quebec. His history proves the willing and steady confidence, as well as the ready justice, of the people. At the present time, many of the members of the Assembly chosen by the French Canadians, are Englishmen, and these En- glishmen enjoy quite as much of the confidence and respect of the people as the French Canadians. These facts, we think, plainly show that this dread of exclusion at the hands of the French Canadians is unfounded. The truth is, that a popular government would quickly make, as in the Uniteu ,. ates, a com- plete fusion of the people. There French, English, Dutch, Germans, Spaniards, have all become one people, and Louisiana is as free from divisions arising from origin as Pennsylvania. Such would quickly be the case in Canada, if this division were not sought to be perpetuated by the mischievous intrigues and supercilious bearing of the official faction. They, in their pride and glory, separate themselves from the people, and style them- * The effect of this sort of proceeding can easily be estimated by any one con- versant with England and English society. A merchant's clerk goes out to Canada as a merchant. In England this merchant's clerk might as soon think of walking with the Grand Turk as with a Chief-justice — or of dining with his Majesty as with a member of the Upper House. With the immense distance between him and the leading men of his own country fresh iu his mind, he suddenly is transported to Quebec, and actually finds himself on speaking and dining terms with Chief- justices, Attorney- Generals, and perhaps the Governor himself. Who, in his senses, would expect this merchant's clerk not to be overwhelmed by such a contact ? How could he resist being the devoted adhe- rent of the ruling powers ? 28 selves English. They are striving at this moment to introduce re- ligious differences in the hope of making a breach between different sections of the people, and are fostering an Established Church, for the purpose of creating a means of livelihood, and also an engine to divide and oppress the population generally. The danger of division and exclusion does not arise from the people, but from their oppressors. But it is said the Canadians are blindly attached to their old French customSi and that by this unwise adherence to antiquated usages they will prevent the improvement of the colony— and it is therefore assumed that, notwithstanding they constitute the majo- rity, their wishes ought to be overruled, and made to yield to what others conceive to be more in accordance with their views of this enlightened age. We object entirely to this doctrine ; yet shall not at present wait to refute it, but proceed to examine the matter of fact. When we endeavour to learn what these old French customs are, which so much offend these enlightened friends of Canada, they resolve themselves entirely into the tenure of land now existing there — and it is the supposed attachment to this tenure which has given rise to the extraordinary outcry regularly raised when the subject of Canada is mentioned, either within or without the walls of Parliament. The French Canadians wish, it is asserted, to preserve the mischievous tenure of lands, called the tenure en fief et seigneurie, and this renders it absolutely necessary to perpe- tuate bad government in their country, because such a wish is incompatible with the enlightened spirit of the present age. Such are the supposed facts, such the argument. It would be well, in the ffrst place, to understand what the tenure complained of really is; and, secondly, to ascertain the truth as to the wishes of the Canadians respecting it. Lord Stanley, with that peculiar precision and accuracy which distin- guishes him, asserted, that there existed in Canada a feudal and barbarous system ; whereupon, without doubt, his hearers faucied that the system prevalent in Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries now exists in Canada. The tenure en fief in Canada signifies nothing like it — meaning only that the seigneur, like a lord of the manor, possesses an estate, which in Canada is called a seigneurie, much like that which in England is called a manor, the difference being in some matters favourable to the seigneurie*. Under the seigneur there are certain tenants, called cemiaif^. The seigneur, holding of the kiij^, pays hin certain dues and fines; the tenant, holding of the seigneur, pays him a rent. Now, respecting this rent there is no complaint. The obnoxious incidents of the tenure are those of * The seigneur has no jurisdiction of any kind, like the lord of the manor, though Lord Stanley seemed to suppose that he was still a judge, as well as landlord. 29 which we are now about to speak. Upon every transmission by sale of the censitaire's holding, to use an Engliish law phrase* a fine is due to the seigneur, much in thr same manner as in Eng- land is the case with copyholds. The fine is one-twelfth of the purchase-money : this fine is termed lods et ventes. Besides this, the seigneur, if he pleases, may himself take the land, paying the whole purchase-money : this is called his droit de retrait. Fur- thermore, the parens (relations) in certain degree of the censitaires have also the power of preventing the estate going out of the family, if they please^ by themselves purchasing it : this is called the retrait lignager. The seigneur, also, within his seigneurie, has the exclusive right, under certain conditions, of grinding the corn of his tenants. This last power exists in many places iu England. Now, that this tenure is a bad one we acknowledge : the Canadians acknowledge the same. It is chiefly bad for the same reason that tithe in England is bad ; it taxes improvement. But because the tenure is a bad one, that is no reason for robbing the seigneur, by depriving him of his rights without a fair compen- sation ; neither would it justify the interference of persons ignor- ant of the laws of Canada, who, by their ill judged endeavours to remedy the evil, would create one yet more mischievous. The Canadians, by their representatives, say that they are exceedingly desirous of rendering the tenure of land a beneficial tenure : they are willing, and even desirous, to devote their best endeavours to that end ; but they most strenuously deprecate the interference of the imperial legislature in such matters, and assert, that by the ignorant attempts of our legislators on this side of the Atlantic, they have been deprived of the power of effecting the end desired. The case of the tithes in England is one precisely analogous to this of the tenure en fief in Canada. The English people demand a change of this property; the legislature desire to change it ; but it is said that there are great 'difficulties connected with the subject, and therefore delay has arisen. The case has been pre- cisely the same in Canada. The tenure or fief, be it remembered, is not obnoxious on the additional ground of being a tax for service, which in some cases is not desired, and in others not rendered ; therefore, in this case, there is not that strong and pressing reason for immediately changing it which exists in the case of tithes. Moreover, the great body of people are willing that their representatives should. act with care, and without haste — they do not press them to hurry on a change ; they are willing to wait until all precautions shall have been taken to render the change efficient and beneficial But suppose that some one should state that the delay on the part of the English Parliament respect- ing tithe was a proof that they were attached to old and mis- chievous institutions — that they were wholly behind the present enlightened age, and that therefore we should solicit the assistance 30 of the Cong^^ss of the United States to aid us in legislating on the master of tithe. Such a proposition wo■' •i»v/ . i-i 'Jili: ••':! .V'.; ;•?'» .<-' 'i;'" '■ j- .!. / . 'J i'. I ■Miss lli , J 1 X- f 1 .,.- .1; . ;.. 81 ^i!,'> . ^ -I- ■ :w/ • ...'-•.: " • ',. .....( ,t\UiJ:'( V:>\'3/.:', SUBSEQUENT EVENTS. :' ' ■ ' ,• ," •■ Vi., •; ,'w( ';r. Since the foregoing urticle was written, the cominissiou therein spoken of has issued, and the Commissioners, with Lord Gosford, the Governor General at their head, have commenced their labours. The result, as far as at present known, is curious, and affords us an instructive lesson respecting the value of schemes devised for the purpose of cajoling a whole people defended and guided by honest and intelligent representatives. When Lord Gosford was about to sail, I, in the character of Agent of the House of Assembly, laid before the Colonial Minister, Lord Glenelg, the views and demands of that house. With this document before him,* the Minister could not ])lead ignorance of the circumstances respecting which he was about to give instructions to the Commissoners. Now, then, let the reader mark the thorough disingenuousness of the whole proceedings connected with this matter on the part of the Government and their officers, and then let him ask himself what is likely to be the ultimate effect of such conduct on a people already but too justly prone to suspi- cion, and greatly excited by a long course of insulting and mischievous abuse. I'he Colonial Minister was distinctly toUl that the House of Assembly would require a change in the constitution of the Legislative Council ; that they would demand more complete responsibility on the part of the judges ; and also the absolute control over their own revenues. Pains were taken to make him sensible that to the first of these demands the greatest importance was attached, and that any attempt to conciliate the House of Assembly, which did not promise a change in the constitution of the Council, would prove abortive. With all this information before him, the Minister frames his instructions, telling the House of Commons, at the same * This paper, together with a portion of the correspondence which arose out of it, is in the Appendix. 35 time, that as it would be more respectful to the House of Assembly to communicate these instructions in t!ie first place to them, he proposed not to lay them on the table of the House of Commons until tlic Commissioners had arrived in Canada, and the Governor had communicated with the pro- vincial Legislature. So soon as this should be the case, he promised to publisli the instructiouPi given to the Commis- sioners. Lord Gosford arrived in Canada, and talked every where of the extreme liberality of the instructions with which he was intrusted. He himself also professed great liberality ; called himself the personal friend of Mr O'Connell, and on this ground entreated the confidence of the Canadian people and their representatives. What was the necessary — what was the intended result of this proceeding ? .' " ,; T Liberal instmctions wei'e said to have be^ti given id fhfe Governor General. He called them liberal in the hearing of men whom he well- knew to expect a great organic change in their political constitution. He called them liberal, using at the same time, the name of Mr O'Connell as a j)aRsport — of Mr O'Connell, who had openly avowed that this change desired by the people was absolutely necessary. The inten- tion, then, of all this proceeding was, to persuade the Cana- dian representatives that the instructions were liberal in their sense ; that the Governor was authorised to consider the change in the constitution of the Council a subject fairly open to inquiry and discussion ; and that he was prepared to recommend a change, should he find it imperatively demanded by the people. So, also, on the matter of the control oVer the revenues ; by the same language he led his hearers to believe that he was prepared to recommend just what the necessitv of the case demanded, without being hampered by pre-con- ceived notions, or pre-determined instructions relating to the terms on which the revenues were to be given up. If this was intended, and that it was so no one can doubt, I feel myself justified in saying, that seeing what the instructions really are, the whole proceeding was a discreditable artifice — a poor piece of political manoeuvring, destined of necessity to destroy what little confidence in the English Government still remained in the minds of the Canadian people. Two days before the opening of the Session of the provin- cial Legislature, the Governor had a conversation on the subject of his instructions with u leading member of the 36 House of Assembly. During that conversation he said, " I am convinced that my instructions will satisfy you when they are known. The day after to-morrow will be the great day of revelations: the whole country will then know as much as I know of the intentions of his Majesty. 1 shall speak all I know without reserve" The day comes, and Lord Gosford made his speech. The speech contains a multitude of fair promises, without one definite or decided statement. No opinion is expressed upon the matters most interesting to the Canadian people, and all men believed that the instmc- tions of Lord Gosford contained non«. "I will speak all I know," said his Lordship, "without reserve." He said nothing about the decided repugnance to any change in the Legislative Council, entertained by the Colonial Minister. It was therefore fairly concluded that no such repugnance was expressed in his instructions. He said nothing about the often disputed conditions on which the revenue was to be given up to the control of the Assembly. Therefore it was concluded, that these conditions werq not to be found in his instnictions. It was, in short, believed, that the instruc- tions said little more in substance than this : " Go and inquire into the state of the province ; learn what is the decided wish of the people at large ; tell them that we have every desire to yield to their requests, and that we have sent you out, an unbiassed person, to learn accurately what those requests are. Tell the people also, that we have as yet formed no opinions on this difficult subject, but that our minds are open to receive evidence, and listen with patience and candour to the exposition of their grievances. In the meantime, while you are making your inquiries, treat the Canadians with courtesy and kindness, and set an eximple in your own con- duct of honesty and justice." vSuch was the impression made by the speech of the Governor, who declared " he would tell all he knew without reserve ;" but who, in fact, did not tell the most material things contained in his instruc- tions. The House of Assembly, and the Legislative Council, even, very properly declined to have any communication with the commission. To Lord Gosford, as Governor, the House of Assembly and the Canadian people paid every pos- sible respect ; but the commission, of which he formed a |)art, could in no way be recognised by that house. The House of Assembly represents the people ; they are the legi- timate and constitutional channel through which the people declare their grievances and make their demands. The 37 croWn can go to none so properly, as to them, fur informa- tion respecting the wishes of the people ; and these wishes have already been formally and very explicitly stated. As the Legislatnre did not demand of the Governor any information respecting his instructions, he carefully kept them to himself, and endeavoured, by his personal courtesy, to attain the g^'eat end for which he would seem to have been dispatched to Canada. The grand objects of the Ministry were, firet, delay \ and second, money; and the Governor apparently iioped, that by keeping secret the actual instructions given to him, he might induce the House of Assembly to believe them on his word to be liberal, and that under this delusion they might be induced to grant the sup- plies which had been so long withheld. Whether he would have succeeded cannot now be determined. The house was in no hurry to grant supplies, and delayed that business to the very end of their session. Grievances were to be inquired into, local matters to be discussed and settled, and the actual revenuQ to be ascertained, before the expenses of the Government were to be provided for. This delay has led to a result unfortunate for Lord Gosford and the Ministry, for whom he acted. Early in March I asked in the House of Commons for a copy of the instructions given to Lord Gosford. I did so, expecting thi.t the Government would willingly fulfil their promise of la.-t year. I was, however, met by a refusal, and an entreaty on the part of the Govern- ment not to persist in my demand. As I was determined to let the Ministry have a complete trial on this matter, I yielded. Some ten days after, however, the morning papers contained the greater part of the document I had asked for. Sir F. Head, the new Governor of Upper Canada, not being of a diplomatic character, had, it seems, very unexpectedly, at once published his instructions, to which there was an appendix containing important extracts from those of Lord Gosford. The immediate consequence was the annihilation of all confidence hitherto felt by the House of Assembly in the intentions and character of the Governor. Measures were instantly adopted by the house to mark their sense of the disingenuous conduct pursued by the Ministry and his Excel- lency the Governor-General ; and again, to lay before the people of England, as the ultimate tribunal of appeal, a statement of the many wrongs to which the province has for so many years been subjected. fc5l?!r?' 36 Intrigues of every dcscript^ni had been carried on, to coax, cajole, and threaten tlie meiw 'ers of the House of Assembly into granting- the arrears of supplies, together with the expenses of the coming year. Before the unexpected dis- closures of Sir Francis Head, promises and profcspjons were profusely hazarded ; and one determination on the part of the executive ^vas expressed to the pembers of the House of Assembly, which marks, ?n a significant manner, the exact estimation in which tlic JjCgislative Council is held by the existing authorities. When demands of a. rear? and supplies for the coming year were made to one of the most powerful membei-s of the House of Assembly, the following amongst other statements were made to him, in order to induce him to consent to the grant. It was stated to bin- by one of the authorities, that if the money were given, the Commissioners coulil recom- mend^ with some cliance of success, all the plans of reform proposed by the /iheiwils of ihe uissembly ; that the Commis- sioners had alreiidy sent their lirst report upon the finances of Canada to Englanci ; and that this report ivas in every thini^ favourable to the demands of the u4sscinbh/. These statements, tocfetlier with manv others of the same description, induced the pci*son thus appealed to to offer the supplies on the following conditions : — That they should agree to give to any person holding u'lore than one office only the salary attached to the one the best paid, and for his other places nothing. Also, to give to the persons whose salaries had been re- duced by the bill of 183^, that sum to which they had been so reduced. Further, that Mr Ryland, jun., whose dismi' al had been dfniand«'d hy the Hoiiseof Assembly, was to receive nothing. That :Mi'(tr(l«', xvlioc ap|ioiMiiu«'nt fl-- Ikmi^c had ton drMtni'd. jind Mr h'icc rciiisrd to .'aii«'t,i<.»ij. >vas al-o ti* ifcri\e iiutiiini:. Aim! il»ar the coiMlitiuits nt' tie- t>ill ol' IK»o, as to ilic ""./iirees tiom wlitnoc ilic mom y to pay (lu>e arrears was to come, were alFO to be adopted. The answer made by the authorised person who :-.poke on this occasion was — '' Although yoiu* conditions are hard, they are sonnnvhat better on t'je whole than tl)e bill of 1833^ vuMJ stich a bill would he accejtted with pleasure." It was then aJsLed bv the member of the House of Assem- Liy, " How will yon get ilr^ Legislative Coimcil to accede to 89 be Is- ro of lise this bill P" Mark well the answer of this high functionary, *' Oh, if they ^yill not pa'js it we will do without them, and will receive your money, upon your address. Vote by ad- dress that which you would have revoked by bill, you pass by the council, ar i we will receive and distribute the money cheerfully." When the house, after the discovery of the instructions, voted only supplies for six months, inquiries were made to know whether this diminished supply would be received according to the former agreement, on the address of the house ; and intimation was rjiven that the Governor would rather that the question should not be put to him. It con- sequently was not put. Thus it appears that the present executive would, for the three years' arrears and a year's supply, have annihilated the privileges of the Legislative Council, but that they thought six months supply a price insufficient for such a concession. The House of Assembly having discovered the real nature of the instructions given to Lord Gosford, determined at once to refuse all the arrears due, and to vote only a six months supply, attaching to that vote the conditions I have above mentioned. This bill was lost in the Legislative Council. The Legislative Council, on this determination of the house, resolved to do all the mischief they were able. They refused to pass the Elementary School Bill, thus putting a stop to edjcation all over the coiuury. The party of the Legislative Council are usually uncommonly pathetic in their lamenta- tions over the ignorance of the Canadian population. The true worth of their hypocritical whining is here made mani- fest. They talk of ignorance, and deprecate it, so \o\\p; as such talk forwards, or seems to forward, their paltry pur- poses. They willii»<^ly do all they can to foster and continue Ignorance, the monifrtt fhitl by ,-o doiiiir tbo waine vih- «mkIs limy be "•ervrc!. The LeuislHiivf C«Miia'il also i'<'fus«.d to pas» any liill ap(M<'- priating iiiont\v. no juatter !".»\v useful the puipose, luitil iIm- arrears were paid. Thu>; many uilis for internal improvo ments of the highest importanee have been thrown out, and the an.« t"f«ire pHi nulie i^^^ponse. Croyant et. {>if: nous p.i\ 'lions .SHtislails. Kn ott'et, dr quoi ont relent! les papiers uepuis quatre njois? olonial Minister will le?Ml U> H changr in lii,« instrmtions, For my ^"wn part. 1 li»ve no *uc\i iu'liot". Tlie ('ol<»nii(l Minister is evidently ut'terlv ignorant ot the whole of this important subject. His lean ings and prejudices all lead him to conclude that the change desiretl is a mischievous step towards democracy ; and he will, with such energy as he possesses, and all his apathy (of which he has no small share,) oppose the reasonable demands of the Canadian people. The inevitable result will be, if such policy be persevered in, a violent and complete dis- ruption of Upper and I^ower Canada from our dominion. 44 The time under any circumstances at which separation must take place is not far distant. But wise and good men desire that this separation should be made amicably, that thorough good feeling should remain between England and the Canadas, and that we should mutually enjoy all the advan- tages which we could derive from a large and increasing trade with a rapidly improving people. A commotion would put oif the hope of such an amicable feeling to a distant day, and we in our time should see again played over the same ruinous game with the Canadas, that ©ur forefathers played with the United States of America. A disgraceful and ex- pensive war, terminated by an humiliating peace, attended with anger and hatred on both sides, will be the conse- quence of all this wild and ignorant policy. The people of both countries will suffer, because our rulers have been ignorant and unbending. But what> it may be asked, is really the thing dreaded in this elective council, demanded by the Canadian people ? Two answers may be given. One answer is intended to meet the case of Lower, the other of Upper Canada :— First, it is said that by an Elective Council you will create a French supremacy ; secondly, you will, in fact, by allowing such a Government to exist, wholly destroy the power of the mother country. I will now consider both these assertions, and endeavour to p'*ove them, what every sensible man, who knows the country and the people, must believe them to be, viz. utterly erroneous, and only hazarded for mere pergonal purposes. It is said that an Elective Council in Canada will create a French supremacy ; that to this the English party will not submit ; that a commotion will follow, and that the Ameri- cans will be appealed to. This, it is said, will be mis- chievous even to the French Canadians, because the Ameri- cans will over-ride the Canadian p' ^ple, their religion, and their peculiar institutions ; and this, it is supposed, will be deemed disastrous even bv the French Canadians themselves. Now 1 answer, if the fact were likely to be as here sup- posed, the people of Canada have no fears respecting it. No one has ever yet said that the French of Louisiana are unhappy, though forming a portion of the American union. The Dutch of New York never complain ; and there is no reason to believe that the Canadians would have cause to deem themselves injured. If lower Canada were to-morrow joined to the United States, she would join the union as an r»."f T-' RA»i-!"."-A?»..jy. sHjya. '-^.-um 45 independent state, and all changes in her institutions would be effected by her own Legislature. The Americans could have no influence upon the determinations of this Legislature, excepting in the character of inhabitants of Canada ; and no one in his senses believes that the people of Canada know so little of the benefits of constitutional government as to dread the conduct of a majority of the people. Should the time ever arrive at which the English, or persons speaking English, should outnumber those speaking French, the latter do not dread any oppression at the hands of the former. The interests of the majority, in the present case would be the interests, in fact, of the whole people, the mino- rity included ; and the rules by which the majority would be guided would conduce to the happiness and security of all. The dread of an opposite conduct is, in fact, a mere chimera, and is conjured up in the hope of terrifying the Canadian population who are supposed to be so ignorant as to be easily imposed on in matters affecting their religion, customs, and laws.** But is there really any chance of all these consequences, disastrous, if you will, following the establishment of an elective Legislative Council ? Let us understand the steps of the process by which evil would be produced. An elec- tive council is established, and then both houses of the Legis- lature will act according to the wishes of the majority of the people. It is said that this majority desires to retain the language, laws, manners, and religion of the present Cana- dians. Be it so ; and thereupon it is said, so great will be the indignation of the English living in Lower Canada, that they will appeal to the United States, and a war will be the consequence. First, I deny the assertion respecting the indignation of the English portion of the inhabitants. The official .people will be angry — true; but the official people do not constitute one-tenth of the English'inhabitants ; and why, let me ask, will the official people be angry ? They do not care about French or English institutions j that about which they are * I would refer the Colonial Minister, who m. ten hear staletrents made in proof of the dislike and fear entertained by the Canadians of the people of the United States, to his own Commissioners. Let him ask them if they believe that any such terror is felt by the leaders of the Canadian people. I have before me at this moment a letter, containing a description of a conversation between the Secretary to the Commission and one of the leading men of the Assembly, which certainly must have dissipated any doubts that might have been in Mr Elliott's mind on that matter. I would refer Lord Glenelg to that gentleman for information on this head. ■f^f^f^ 46 lolicitom IS pay— money — plunder. Tliey will be frantic* because no longer able to fleece the people at will. But no one will believe, that at this the farmers of the townships, and the shopkeepers of the towns, will be angry. They do not share in the spoil. Their interests require a modest and economical government — one over which they themselves may have their fair share of control. By the proposed change they will obtain this control. Why then should they be indignant ? The answer is, because the French will oppress them. I ask how ? By what means will the persons speaking English be marked out for persecution, and in what matters will persecution take place. In religion, says some one, an exclusive church will be erected. Now at this moment danger of this sort does exist on the other side, attempts are really making to erect a national Protestant church in wanton opposition to the immense m^ority of the people ; but there has never yet appeared the slightest evi- dence of intolerance on the part of the Catholic majority. The persons who make this terrible outciy about persecu- tion, and the evils of an exclusive dominant church, are the sole parties in the country who ever attempted to create one. At this very moment they are striving their utmost to rear up an English Episcopal state church in Lower Canada — they are about to endow it; in fact, they have endowed it with enormous landed possessions, and they are living in the hopes of one day being able to use it as a political engine. Their real dread is, that this intention will be frustrated if the people be allowed to govern themselves. It is not persecu- tion which they dread — that at which they are terrified is, that they themselves will not be allowed to persecute. In a country where nine-tenths of the population differ in creed from the .Episcopal church, we cannot expect that episcopa- lions would be allowed to domineer if the public governed themselves. This terror of not being able to persecute I allow to be well founded — I rejoice that it should be so. The sooner that all religious persecution and domination are put down the better — and the quickest way in Canada of effecting this desirable end, is to take away from the oflicial party their present irresponsible power. But still the question comes ?ound, will not the French majority of Catholics persecute the minority of * English Protestants?' I answer boldly — No I The feelings of the whole continent of North America are opposed to religious persecution— and the spirit of toleration is quite as apparent in Canada as elsewhere. All sects are not merely upon a -T^rtr "wry" r^V Jirv'f tl.'-WV^r^" 47 political but social equality. You meet iu society the Jew as well as the Christian — and the Jew no more fears perse- cution or insult than does the Christian. Again I appeal to experience — has there been any persecution in Louisiana or in Florida ? If not, why should there be any in Canada.* * In the article taken from the London Kevieir, I have shewn that of the people of the townships a very large portion have taken part with the nuqority of the colonists. Since that paper was written, the feeling in the townships ir. fisyour of self-goverument has much increased ; and it is well known that if « dissolution ware to occur, a very decided stand would be made by the English of that part of the country against the official tribe of Quebec. I say this, with out the slightest apprehension of any plausible attempt at contradiction. At a specimen of the intolerance of the Protestant clergy of Quebec, I insert the following Address issued by the clergy to their flocks, warning tliem against attending the Catholic churches on St Patrick's Day. Does ihu Government sanction such a proceeding on the part of the chaplain to the forces? It is a happy thing that the congregations are far more christian than their ministers. I give the Address in French, not having seen the English version. *' Les ministres de I'^glise Protestante et Anglicane a Quebec ont lanc£ la circulaire suivante pour empecher leurs ouailles d'assister a la messe de la St Patrice. " Aux membrea Protettant Epi»etpalitn» dea Societea de St Georges, St Andre, et St Patrice. •< ' Frere Ciiretiens : — Nous, le clerge de I'eglise d'Angleterre soussigne, ehargS par la providence du Dieu Tout- Puissant, du soin de veiller pour le salut de Vos &mes oomme ceux qui en doivent rendre compte, nous vous requerons de porter votre attention aux observations suivantes : " ' Nous voyons par des avis de vos diverses societes que Ton vous propose d'assister coUectivement au service divin le 17 du courant a I'^gliae Catholique Homaine de St Patrice. £n toute charite chr^tienne autant que par devoir nous desirous vous faire des remontrances a se sujet. " ' Nous observons d'abord que vos frercs Catboliqucs Romains ne peuvent s'oflPenter si vous n'assistcz pas et leurs 6glises, car assistent-ils jamais aux votres ? " ' Mais lors mSme qu'ils s'en oiFenseraient, notre devoir rcste le meme, et nous devons vous prier de ne pas assister a des offices contrc iesquels vous protestez et que vous considerez par profession comme idolatres. Idoi4tres, en autant qu'ils consistent en partie de prieres adress6es u la Vierge MarJe, aux saints et aux anges ; idolatres sp^'cialement, si, comme nous croyons que ce sera le oas la grande messe a lieu, car alors I'eau consacree est consideree comme etant Dieu I el adoree commk'telle I Si vou distes que vous pouvez fitre present et cependant que vous ne participerez par dans cette idolatrie, soyez surs que vous vous troiix* pez. Vous y participez par votre presence volontaire pour ne pas dire vos^^nu- flexions, que Ton exige de vous, ainsi que nous le croyons, lors de T^levation de I'llolocauste. *' ' £n consequence, par consistence, par charite et par foi, nous vous prions comme protestans, de ne pas assister a ce service. Nous devons " craindre Dieu/' sans quoi nous ne pouvons aimer la fraternity. - - - "* Harvey Vachull, recfeur deQueiwc. " ' J. Hudson, Chapelain dea Forcea. '"E. W. Skwell, Miniatre de la ChapeUedela Ste Trinite.^Ci'devatU Cha- pelain dea Jhuitea. ) «* * J. Brown, Miniatre Chapelle St Pierre. " • Wm, Anderson, Miniatre ' Chapelle, St Pierre.' " Comme I'on voit cette circulaire ne respire que le fanatisme le plus odieux." 48 While Lower Canada alone demanded an elective legisla- tive council, it was the custom to assert that the only object of such a demand was to create a French supremacy. Un- fortunately for this assertion, Upper Canada has made pre- cisely the same demand, and as there are no French in Upper Canada, it became necessary to find or to forge some other cause for this untoward request. Why then do the people of Upper Canada seek an elective council ? I answer, as I do in the case of Lower Canada, because the people seek a good, that is, a responsible government. The eneniy of the elective council says, however, no j the real object in view is to throw off the control of England. Let us endeavour to learn what force there is, in this second objection, to an elective council. i, ,;, If the people wish for an elective council, in order to throw off the control of England — it would seem to follow that the legislative council, as at present constituted, is a poweiful means of maintaining that control. No w my answer to this assertion, that the people seek this elective council for the purpose of getting rid of English dominion, is, that the legislative council in no way wha'tever contri- butes to the power and control of England ; and that it on the contrary, by keeping up a constant ill-will and quarrel between the people and the executive, is the only circum- stance which, at the present moment, really endangers En- glish iTile. And I assert that he is the best friend to this, our dominion, who seeks, by making the council elective, to render the government satisfactory to the people. Let us look at this matter somewhat more closely, and in so doing, let us set the futur« before us, without endeavouring to deceive ourselves. If the people become seriously discontented, can we, I ask, maintain our dominion over them ? Are the people of England likely, in their present temper, to support a minister who should endeavour by arms to maintain bad government in Canada. We must know that a people surrounded as the Canadians are, by others who are in the daily habit of go- verning themselves, cannot, will not permit an irresponsible government to lord it over them. I only speak out what every man, who has looked at this question, must have often said to himself, when I say, that irresponsible government and peace are incompatible in the Canadas. If we are to maintain a mischievous dominion in that country, it must be done by war— and to war we shall be driven if the present mm 49 system be niucli longer continued. For saying tliis I shall be vehemently abused. I care not. The truth must be told, and none shall be able to say, " no one warned us of this danger — we never expected this result." I have said it before — 1 have said it in the House of Commons. I mean again in the same place to make the same assertion— I now make the statement to the people of England — and I wish them to decide whether for the purpose of maintaining the mischiev- ous dominion of a small band of plundering functionaries, they are willing to create discontent among a whole people, to keep up painful and distracting animosity, and in the end as an inevitable consequence to involve the whole of our North American provinces in open and armed rebellion. If they be prepared for this, let tliem despise and treat with contempt the present demands of the Canadian people, an posed his Lordship well knew. The Assembly of Upper Canada had declared the same opinion in a strong resolution, of which I supposed he was cognizant. His Lordship answered that be was so. The repeal of these two acts, I said, were matters over which the commission could have no control. No inquiry was needed to prove that the passing of the acts was an interference with their internal government, and the Imperial Government could give no more certain earnest of tiieir good intentions, than by immediately repealing them. So far, I said, I have spoken of interference by the Imperial Par- liament. I was now about to speak of acts of direct thwarting of the House of Assembly in the exercise of their constitutional right,^ by the executive, both at home and in the colony. The stopping of the supplies was a great constitutional privilege it was true, but was an effective one only when by so doing the parties for whom the supplies were intended^ remained unpaid. 'Ihe privilege be- came nugatory, if, on the supplies being stopped, another party was to come in and furnish money. This has been done by Mr Spring Rice. The Assembly cared not whose was the money ; for the pre- sent they inquired not to whom it belonged. It was equally in- fringing their rights whether the money came from England or from Canada. The payment was the thing complained of. The House had determined not to pay, and Mr Rice stepped in, and payed 64 what they refused. I snid that I was given to understand that a second payment beyond the 31,000/. authorised by Mr Rice, had been made by the governor. I understood Lord Glenelg on this to say that he knew of no authority to make such payment. I put a case in illustration of the utter destruction of the privilege by another party paying when the House refused, by supposing the House of Commons to have stopped the supplies, and thereupon some one, no matter whom, paying all the persons left unpaid. Whereupon Sir George Grey observed, that this to a certain extent would be the case, because certain persons had fixed and permanent salaries, and some had fees, and that in England, the Ci^il List was for the King's life. I answered that this did not touch the question. Those who had fixed salaries or settled fees, were not included in the supplies; and by stopping the Supplies, it was not intended to reach them. Neither was the case of the Civil List of England analogous to that of Canada, inasmuch as the House of Commons of England had made their Civil List partially perma- nent ; the House of Commons of Canada had refused to do so. The one, therefore, by stopping the Supplies, would not intend to reach the Civil List, while the other would specifically intend to include it. I then said, that the interference was so direct an infringement of the Constitutional privilege of the House of Assembly, that some direct acknowledgment was needed of the impropriety of such interference, as a pieliminary to the proceedings of the Com- mission. If such acknowledgment were made, if the two Acts they had spoken of were repealed, then, I said, the House would enter upon the investigation of their grievances with the Commis- sion, in the firm belief that the Imperial Government intended to do them justice. Respecting their grievances, I would now say nothing beyond this. The House was desirous of entering upon the investigation in a conciliatory spirit, but that there were certain matters which must be included in the inquiry. They deemed all of minor importance as compared with the grievance of the Legis- lative Council. On that they would be compelled to make a stand While in little matters they would avoid all dispute, on this great parent source of all their ills, they must not disguise from the government that a bitter experience has taught them that unshrink- ing firmness was absolutely necessary. In this view of the Legis- lative Council, his Lordship must be aware that they were not sin- gular. Upper Canada had declared the same opinion ; so had New Brunswick and Nova Scotia ; and he would find, I observed, a very similar feeling in all our North American colonies on that matter. There was one more subject, I said to which, in the name and behalf of the House of Assembly, I wished to call his Lordship's most gracious attention. This subject was the appointment of Mr Gale. The declaration of Mr Spring Rice respecting that gen- :^^::^7^mmmm u tleman'8 appointment had necessarily destroyed aU his moral influ- ence as a judge. Do what he Would he could not administer justice to the satiftfactioD of the people. He had been eoMidered uii• • So far, I said, I had spoken in the name of the Howse ofAnukA- bly. I would now, with bis Lonkhip's permission, mention, in my private capacity, a circumstance which, as a mere matter of policy, ought to be checked. It was, I was given to understand, ^e custom of the soldiery of Montreal, and as an imtanoe of the fact, I could mention their cooduct out last Saint George's Day, not to go in a direct line from their barraclu to church, but to make at^fremt, in order to pass by the house of Mr Papineau, and before it to play party tunes. That also Uie regimental bands were sent to the din- ners of the Anti-Canadian party, and it was well understood^ would be refused to the Canadians.* We all know what such proceedings had produced in Ireland, and I hope that good feeling would at once suggest the necessity of immediately suppressing ttiem in Canada. lijc*" uuiurs ^ 1 then apologised to his Lordship for takiifg up so much Of hit time, 9,n4 retired. Vitft-:- >-h ■(' Lettefrom Mr Roebuck to the Right Hon. Lard Qlenelg, datid \7th ^, ; June 1835, mentumeA Mirier the letter B, in No. 5 abrce. *<•' ■ Gray's Inn, June 17, 1835. My Lord, . .h-,i:Hkn ■ 'i-»'.t Hav'Tig left town for a few days I did not receive your letter of the Uth instant till late on Saturday, 13th ; since then I have had no leisure until this day to answer it ; otherwise I should before this have made those observations upon it which the tenour of that letter compels me now to send to your Lordship. I cannot but regret that the objecUons therein contained, did not suggest themselves while I was conversing with your Lordship. They would in that case have been answered at the moment; while * On referring to my letter, 1 find theo«w of the £t George's Day proceeding was somewhat different from this statement. A society, called St George's society, borrowed the band of Colonel Tidy, and went from an hotel called Rasco's, doubling the distance to church. This society is a partisan club, as well as the Carleton olub, and the lending of the band by Col. lldy on thit Occasion, produced the same eflbet as would be produced in Dublin, by the oommandfllr- is-ehief lending an orange society • regimental band. .< . < ^ - .: < i i> , >. > 1 G6 those misconceptions into which you have fallen, as to my object and intention in making that statement would not have occurred, and your Lordship would have been spared the trouble of this, my present answer. The resolutions of the House of Assembly, which I had the honour to transmit lo you on the 30th May last, contained the fbllowing passage : " The said John Arthur Roe^uck, Esq, be " requested as Agent of this House to represent to his Majesty's *' Government the interests and sentiments of the inhabitants of " this Province, and to support the Petitions of the House to his " Majesty and both Houses of Parliament." In my note of the statement when received by your Lordship in the capacity of Agent of the House of Assembly, the first para- graph is to the following effect : *< I obser%'ed that a Petition had been forwarded by the House of Assembly through the ordinary ard est?blished channel, the Governor, in order to be presented to his Majesty, which Petition by this time I supposed had been re- ceived. Lord Glenelg answered that it was I then said that the statement I had to make had reference to the grievances com- plained of in- that Petition ; that I wished very briefly indeed to place before his Lordship the view that the Assembly took of those frievancesj and to point out certain matters resulting from that 'etition which bore upon the Royal Commission about to be issued." I would now on these passages from the above-mentioned papers beg leave to observe : 1st. Your Lordship's objection is, that the House of Assembly having been prorogued before the knowlege of a Comrr 'ssion being about to be issued had reached Canada. I could not have any direct communication from the House of Assembly on that subject. Now, although this be the case, the statement I made was per- fectly justified and warranted by my instructions. From the opinions of the House communicated to me, I am enabled and authorised to state what they intend to do in certain supposed cases. It was supposed that some sort of negociation would be entered into on the subject of Canadian grievances, and I was authorised to state the views of the House should such be proposed. The House has granted me a wide discretion. I am authorised to re- present their interests and sentiments and to support their Petitions to his Majesty and to both Houses of Parliament. My desire in the present case was to call your Lordship's attention to the Peti- tion to his Majesty, and to the bearing which the contents of ihat Petition would have on the Royal Commission about to be issued. I supposed that your Lordship desired to know how that Com- mission was likely to be received by the Canadian people and by the House of Assembly, and speaking in the name of the latter, I 67 insisted on certain preliminaries on which they had insisted, and which I know they will require to be performed, before they enter into any negociation. " I observed," says ray note, and I reiterate ths statement, '* that the Assembly desired to meet that Commis- sion in a spirit of wise conciliation, but that there were certain preliminaries requisite in order to create a feeling of perfect confi* dence as to the real objects intended by the Commission." I am justified in this statement by the whole tenour of the instructions conveyed to me, and by the language of the very Petition to which I sought your attention. In the Petition which I had hoped yester- day to have been able to present to the House of Commons, they first reiterate all the grievances complained of in the Petition pre- sented last year. They then complained of the Land Company ; of the payment of money without their consent ; of the appoint" ment of Mr Gale to be Judge of Montreal. These three matters together with the Tenures Act, mentioned in the Petition of last year, are the prelin.inaries on which they insist, and on which I, ir their name, insisted. If your Lordship will re.f*^«- to the Petition before you, you will find my statement bor.ie out to the letter. If your Lordship thinks fit to disregard the statement I have made respecting the Commission, its failure m\\ but too fatally prove who was really in error. 2nd. But your Lordship may still insist that I had no specific instructions respecting this Commission. This compels me to re- monstrate on reasons which, I had hoped, your Lordship would, without any aid, have perceived. There are two parties in Canada. The one, the great majority of the People, headed by their representatives: by this party, acting through the representatives of the People, 1 have been appointed their accredited Agent, and from me you refuse to receive any com- munication as being the expression of their wishes and opinions, except such as may be formally conveyed through me, thereby while granting the House of Assembly the name of an Agent, depriving It of the utility of one. The second party in Canada is a small, very small minority, acting through no constituted authority; some persons at a public meeting choose to select certain individuals to represent them ; they say they represent a class, what class, I know not. However, I perceive that your Lordship is re- ported to have said that on the rc,)resentations of the persons thus sent home by unrecognized and unrecognizable indivi- duals, you have changed your- instructions. Has your Lordship done so merely on the representations of these individuals in their individual capacity, or their capacity as agents of a particular class or section of the community? I cannot for a moment suppose, but that it is in the latter capacity Messrs Nelson and Walker made certain representations, stating them to be the opinions of a class of his Majesty's subjects in Canada. What is the evidence of such being the fact? A Petition, perhaps. I have ^1 68 also presented Petitions ; indeed so many that I am almost tired of the cnlic^i^ seeing how fruitless is the result. But it would seem Ihat mert private individuals, unaccredited, representing, if they represent any body, a minority of the people so small as to be tttteiiy insignificant, are to be listened to as speaking the opinions of the persons who they say they represent, while I, the accredited Agent o'f the House of Assembly, endowed with full powers to speak in their behalf, may not be heard— and am only to be the channel of formal communications between the House of Assem- bly and the <3overDment. Your Lordship knows as well as I do, that confining me to such means of communication with the Government robs me of all utility to the House. The House are not constantly sitting ; they are 3,000 miles off, «nd ^ongb it is well known that every word I utter is perfectly in accordance with the opinion of the House ; that I am on iny own discretion bade to speak on their behalf, I am to be put off on a point of form, and the complaints of the representatives Of the people are to be shut out by a side-wind. The private agents may say and do what they please, but the House ^r Assembly are for- bidden to give their agent any discretionary p>jv/er— ^are compelled to use him as a mere channel of communicatio . Does your Lord- ship believe that this will conciliate the already :ighly excited peo- ple of the colony, or that they are likely to conceive that justice will eventually be done when ushered in by so inauspicious a commence- ment? I will dare to assure your Lordship of one result — you will in future have formal complaints of grievances sufficient to satisfy any craving — and that you will 4nd your commission, how- ever well intentioned, utterly aliorti^^e, how that you have thus manifested to the people of Oanada the spirit which governs your councils. This proceeding on di« part of your Lordship compels me to adopt a course to, which I am unwillingly driven. I shall now conceive it my duty to apprise the House of Assembly of the objec- tions taken by vour Lordship, and demand of them as a matter of justice to myself, previous to any resolution or proceedings on their part, to sanction my statement to your Lordship and to adopt it as tbeir own. *«'=■■ 1 am, my Lord, ^ j:-*^ v^'-'-,- ^--^w.-^^'-^jr-^ ' . .-./kJ . Tour obedient servant, ^ ^ ' J. A. tlOEBUCK. Bight Hon. the J^ord Glenelg. ; :^'::'\;1 \fi tit \ » (O .I «■?■ i"' > i ( 1 I t (it ;t'. H.'s jh-; (»(«■(» ' f-i^ . '