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A»- 
 
 ^ THE CRISIS IN CANAIKA; 
 
 "U. 
 
 VIiNDICATION 
 
 •J 
 
 ;i- 
 
 
 LORD ELGIK AND HIS CABINET 
 
 AS TO 
 
 THE COURSE IMJRSUED BY THEM 
 
 IN' REFBKKNCE TO 
 
 THE EEBELLION LOSSES BILL, 
 
 BY 
 
 ALEXANDER MACKAY, Es(j. 
 
 tl^f ii)t 0iimt JCmpIc, iiavvistfr al=2.aU). 
 
 Aulbor of " The Western Wurli!, " and '• luxury into dm working oi' tlio IJerorni Bill." 
 
 jlontrou: 
 jamp:s ridgway, N' kw, Piccadilly. 
 
 i^ 
 
 MDCCCXLIX. 
 
LONDON ; 
 rUINTKl) HV i. HUr.iiKLl., KLIBUT STBEKT. fliVMAIlKEr. 
 
THE CRISIS IN CANADA, 
 
 ^c. Sfc. 
 
 Since the rebellion in 1837-38, no feature in the 
 history of Canada has elicited such general attention 
 in this country, as the Rebellion Losses Bill, "vvhich, 
 having passed all the branches of the Provincial Legis- 
 lature now awaits the action of the Queen's govern- 
 ment at home. Laying out of sight the supposition 
 indulged in by some, that the question involved is 
 one of imperial import, the excitement to which the 
 measure has given rise in the Province is, of itself, 
 sufficient to account for the unusual degree of 
 interest, which, as a colonial subject, it has evoked 
 in the mother country. 
 
 As the whole matter is likely very soon to un- 
 dergo discussion in Parliament, it is desirable that 
 the public should be made sufficiently acquainted 
 with the leading features of the case, to enable them 
 to pronounce an independent judgment upon it, 
 instead of being led away by those, who, in dealing 
 with it, will be biassed by their pre-conceptions, or 
 swayed by their prejudices. This is all the more 
 desirable, inasmuch as the view which Parliament 
 
mny take of tlio subject will have an important 
 bearing upon the immcxliate future of Canada. 
 We have every interest in averting, if 2)0ssible, a 
 hasty and hap-hazai'd decision, if we attach any 
 value to the magnificent section of our colonial 
 em})ire, irrigated by the St. Lawrence and its tri- 
 butaries. There is danger of such a decision being 
 arrived at, unless the question be discussed upon its 
 naked merits, and the public refuse to be swayed, as 
 in judging between parties in Canada, they have 
 always heretofore been by those interested in mis- 
 leading them, in favour of one party and against the 
 |0ther. Most, if not all tlie political (nils of Canada, 
 are traceable to the fatal blun<ier, into which the 
 Colonial Depaitnient was betrayed, of" always treat- 
 ing the one party with confidence, and constantly 
 'regarding the other with suspicion. The depart- 
 ment havmg had no check in public opinion, was 
 enabled to perpetuate this blunder to a ^•ery recent 
 period. The error was being rapidly repaired, wlu^n 
 the present question arose ; a question which has 
 not only rekindled in the Province the party ani- 
 mosities, which so long impeded its progress, 
 but which has also revived, in certain quarters 
 here, the narrow spirit in which Canadian questions 
 were formerly entertained and disposed of. The 
 press is, in some instances, zealous in rousing this 
 spirit into action ; but it is of the last importance 
 to the Empire and the Province that it should not 
 be permitted to influence either the views of 
 Parliament or the judgment of the public. To 
 
 1 
 1 
 
prevent, as far as possible, such a calamity, is my 
 sole object in v(!nturing to explain the scope and 
 character of the measure, which has given rise to 
 the present controversy ; and, in dohig so, I shall 
 deal with the Rebellion Losses Bill in the double 
 aspect of the relation of parties to it, and its own 
 intrinsic merits. 
 
 To enable the reader thoroughly to appreciate 
 the question at' issue between parties in Canada, a 
 brief recapitulation is necessary of some of those 
 events, which serve more prominently to illustrate 
 the political history of the Province. 
 
 In 1792, the Province of Quebec was divided 
 into the two provinces of Upper and Lower Canada. 
 To each was assigned a separate governmental 
 system, involving, to some extent, theoretically at 
 least, the principles of constitutionalism. Both 
 provinces then started upon separate political 
 careers; their paths, which then diverged, being 
 destined to re-unite about half a century afterwards. 
 It was not long ere considerable discrepancy existed 
 as to the details of their political history ; but, as 
 regarded the main principle on which thoy were 
 governed, the experience of the one was uu'tappily 
 but too coincident with that of the other. At the 
 time of the separation of the two provinces, our 
 colonial system was rapidly maturing the vices, 
 Avhicli have since disfigured it ; and, unfortunately 
 for them, the Canadas were destined, at a very early 
 period, to afford a striking illustration of the 
 faulty principles upon whicli rested our new 
 
6 
 
 system of administration for the outposts of the 
 Empire. 
 
 At the time of the conquest, with the exception 
 of those occupying the few military establishments, 
 which were situated far apart from each other, in 
 the neighbourhood of the great lakes, there were no 
 Europeans in Canada, west of the Ottawa. Its 
 population, which was exclusively of French origin, 
 was in the occupation of settlements, which stretched 
 eastward of the Ottawa, and along both shores 
 of the St. Lp.wrence to the gulf The province 
 underwent very little change in this respect until 
 the breaking out of the American war, when many 
 loyalists, outraged by the revolutionary aspect of the 
 struggle, abandoned their homes and emigrated to 
 Canada, settling themselves chiefly in that portion of 
 the province, which became afterwards known as 
 Upper Canada. A nucleus having been thus formed 
 for an Anglo-Canadian population, accessions were 
 yearly made to it, both from the Republic and the 
 Mother Country. Such as emigrated from the 
 Mother Country generally proceeded by the way of 
 the St. Lawrence, the bulk of them ascending to the 
 upper settlements, but some remaining behind and 
 obtaining employment in the ports of Quebec and 
 Montreal. At the same time Americans were 
 penetrating from the more inhospitable districts of 
 Maine and New Hampshire into the rich agricul- 
 tural belt in Lower Canada, since known as the 
 Eastern Townships, where their descendants are to 
 be found to this day, the wealthiest and most 
 
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 i 
 
 thrifty farmers in the province?. Tims, whilst the 
 wilds of Upper Canada were being rapidly appro- 
 priated by energetic English settlers, the Anglo- 
 Saxon element had established itself in the popu- 
 lation of the Lower Province. 
 
 Such was the state of things, as regards popula- 
 tion, when partition was made of the province of 
 Quebec. The difficulties in the way of colonial 
 administration, at all times great, were considerably 
 enhanced in the case of Lower Canada. It is bad 
 enough when a Government has either two races 
 or two creeds to deal with ; but its task becomes 
 infinitely more difficult, when, within the same 
 territory, it has to manage both two races and two 
 creeds. Such was the task which the Govern- 
 ment of Lower Canada devolved upon the Colonial 
 Department. In fulfilling it, the department was 
 eminently unsuccessful. The difficulties with which 
 it had to contend, have been made its excuse. But 
 this excuse will not hold, when it is considered that 
 the department, by ignorance and mismanagement, 
 immeasurably aggravated the difficulties. Tlieir 
 obvious existence should have led to the greatest 
 caution and delicacy in the management of the 
 province, whereas the course pursued was such as 
 would have created them, had they not existed. 
 From the very first, the French Canadians were 
 undisguisedly treated as an alien race. Their 
 submission to the British Crown had savoured more 
 of capitulation than conquest, their laws, manners, 
 and customs, having been guaranteed to them under 
 the walls of Quebec*. When a constitutional Go- 
 
 
vcrnmcnt was conferred upon the province, they 
 had a rif^ht to expect that, as Britisli subjects, their 
 vveiglit in the constitutional scheme would have 
 been in proportion to their numbers and influence. 
 But in this they were bitterly disappointed, and 
 their disappointment in this respect was the fun- 
 damental error committed by the Colonial Depart- 
 ment. If it was the intention of the Imperial 
 Government to extinguish the political influence of 
 tlie French race, nothing could have been more 
 absurd than to confer upon them the semblance 
 of a constitution. But having conferred upon them 
 a constitution, the wisest course would have been 
 to have carried it out, both in its spirit and its letter. 
 This, however, was not done, and the Canadians 
 soon perceived tliat, for them, the constitution ex- 
 isted only in name ; that it was a cloak which 
 covered, on the part of their rulers, either a deli- 
 berate intention to crush them, or a callous indif- 
 ference to their fate. This policy, under any cir- 
 cumstances unjust, might have savoured more of 
 worldly wisdom, had there been reason to suppose 
 that the Anglo-Saxon element of the population 
 would have speedily preponderated numerically in 
 the province. But the proofs of a contrary result 
 were made manifest by the emigration of each year, 
 nine-tenths of the emigrants making their way to 
 tlie U^jper Province ; and even to this day, the 
 French is, to the English population of the pro- 
 ^ ince, as four to one. The disproportion was, of 
 course, much greater, Avhen the blundering expe- 
 dient Ava.s resorted to, of governing the colony 
 
 
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 exclusively through its British population. It was 
 not long ere the Scotch party, so known from the 
 fact of its principal leaders being Scotchmen, arose, 
 and monopolised the political influence of the pro- 
 vinces. Almost every office of trust or emolument 
 soon passed into the hands of the British popu- 
 lation. The executive Government was at its 
 beck, and the legislation of the colony was either 
 moulded to meet its views, or impeded in obedience 
 to its caprices. In fact a little Ireland was esta- 
 blished on the banks of the St. Lawrence. And all 
 this with a constitutional form of Government in 
 the province, which placed one chamber at least 
 of the legislature at the disposal of the proscribed 
 race. The other, the Upper Chamber, like the 
 executive Government, was in the hands of the 
 English race. Here then were sedulously fulfilled 
 all the conditions to a hopeless political antagonism. 
 In the hands of the favoured minority were the 
 executive Government, two branches of the legis- 
 lature, and almost all the patronage of the province. 
 In that of the proscribed majority was the popular 
 branch of the legislature. It would have done vio- 
 lence to the established relation between cause and 
 effect, had any other result ensued than that which 
 followed this state of things. The two races soon 
 came into collision with each other and made the 
 capital their battle-ground. The breach once esta- 
 blished, it was obvious that it must soon become 
 incurable. The error was in permitting it to take 
 place. The majority pressed with the strength of 
 
 I'f 
 
 ;i 1 1 
 
 h 
 
10 
 
 numbers upon the minority; and the minority, backed 
 by the Colonial Office, upon the majority. A 
 chronic antagonism soon ripened into enmity and 
 hatred, and the rebellion of 1837 was the result. 
 The responsibility of that event rests with the Im- 
 perial Government. It was not the necessary con- 
 sequence of a diversity of race and creed in Lower 
 Canada, but of the deliberate aggravation, by the 
 Colonial Office, of the administrative difficulties 
 incident to such a diversitv. 
 
 The story of the Upper Province differs from 
 that of the Lower, less in its outline than in its 
 details, whilst it tends still more forcibly to illus- 
 fitrate the shortcomings of the Colonial Department. 
 There it had no excuse for mal-administration, 
 founded on diversity of race or creed. Its diffi- 
 culties were of its own sowing, and it has since 
 reaped a plentiful harvest of them. Even were it 
 possible for it thorouglily to acquaint itself with 
 the wants and wishes of all the colonies under its 
 control, the multiplicity of its duties almost ne- 
 cessitates the department to throw itself in conduct- 
 ing the domestic affairs of a colony into the hands 
 of a local clique. This was the error committed in 
 Upper Canada. When it was constituted into a 
 separate Government, its inhabitants were promised 
 a constitution which was to be the image and tran- 
 script of that of the Mother Country. In other 
 words, they were promised Parliamentary Govern- 
 ment, instead of obtaining which, they were almost 
 immediately handed over to the tender mercies of a 
 
11 
 
 local oligarchy. A party was speedily organised in 
 the colony — the native Canadian party — which, from 
 the intermarriages which took place in the families 
 of its leaders, obtained a designation, which had, at 
 one time, an important European significance. 
 The Family Compact was to Upper, what the Scotch 
 party was to Lower Canada. It soon appropriated 
 to itself all the power and all the influence of the 
 government. To strengthen itself and perpetuate its 
 power, it conferred upon itself vast territorial pos- 
 sessions ; almost every branch, limb, and twig of 
 the great family tree acquiring immense tracts of 
 wild land ; and lest the estates thus acquired should 
 be a burden to their possessors in the then existing 
 generation, care was taken not to impose a tax 
 upon unreclaimed land. It set its face against 
 emigration, not that it was insensible to the advan- 
 tage of having capital and labour introduced into 
 the Province, but that it feared the emigration of 
 talent and influence from the Mother Country, 
 which might oust it of its authority. It created 
 present bickerings, and laid the foundation for 
 future dissensions, by embarking on a system of 
 religious persecution, and appropriating for the 
 endowment of the Episcopal Church one-seventh of 
 the surveyed lands of the province, although it was 
 obvious to every sane man, that an established 
 Church would be as much an exotic in America, 
 as a palm-tree would be in Nova Zembla. It also 
 in the same spirit misappropriated the lands set 
 apart for the purposes of education, by applying a 
 
 
12 
 
 large proportion of them to the endowment of a 
 magnificent University, as sectarian in its constitu- 
 tion as are our own Universities. It monopolised 
 every office, and dispensed all the patronage of the 
 government. It was, in short, the all and in all, 
 wielding the government as its privilege, and mana- 
 ging the colony as its patrimony. As might have 
 been expected, under such a system, a multiplicity 
 of abuses soon sprung up. As population increased, 
 these abuses were challenged, and the spirit of 
 party soon developed itself in its most virulent 
 form. The party in opposition, smarting under a 
 sense of systematic and unmerited exclusion, and 
 alarmed at the mal-administration of everv de- 
 partment of the public service, attacked the 
 party in power, by assailing the corruptions 
 which it bad engendered. But supported as the 
 latter was by the home authorities, its opponents 
 could make but little headway against it. Their 
 policy, therefore, was to influence, if possible, the 
 Colonial Department in their favour. But here 
 again they found insuperable obstacles in their way. 
 Their remonstrances could only reach the depart- 
 ment through the hands of the local government, 
 that is to say, their complaints could only be pre- 
 sented to the home authorities, by the very parties 
 complained against. The consequence was, that, 
 however well founded, their complaints were long 
 unheard, and of all the departments of the govern- 
 ment, the Colonial Office was the most uninformed, 
 as to the real state of feeling and of parties in 
 
13 
 
 Canada. This state of things gave rise to the 
 establishment of parliamentary agencies, through 
 which alone the case of the opposition in the two 
 provinces was made known to the public and the 
 government at home. Grievance accumulated upon 
 grievance without redress, until at length the very 
 hope of redress through constitutional means be- 
 came extinguished in the breasts of many of the 
 liberals. Thus stood matters in Upper Canada, 
 when, in 1836, the reins of government were re- 
 signed by Sir John Colborne into the hands of Sir 
 F. B. Head. The times were critical. The political 
 horizon of Lower Canada was becoming daily more 
 tempestuous, and affairs in the Upper Province 
 were tending towards a crisis. It was obvious then 
 that much depended upon the character of the 
 new Governor. Who was he] Whence had he 
 come ? What were the antecedents which had 
 qualified him for a charge so critical, both as to 
 time and circumstance 1 The liberals waited, in 
 almost breathless suspense for his first move. It 
 was conciliatory. Tliree of the liberal leaders, Mr. 
 Dunn, Dr. Rolph, and Mr. Baldwin, were added to 
 the Tory cabinet, which had been left him as a legacy 
 by his predecessor. But the hopes thus kindled 
 were shortlived, for, a few days afterwards, Toronto 
 was thrown into a state of consternation by the retire- 
 ment of the liberals from the council. The point 
 upon which they retired produced the issue which 
 soon afterwards provoked the contending parties to 
 an armed collision. 
 
 f' 
 
 i 
 
 41 
 
 '!■■ 
 ii i 
 
14 
 
 The issue thus raised was that of responsible 
 government. Sir Francis wished to make puppets 
 of his cabinet. Its liberal members contended that 
 they were responsible to the people for the acts of 
 the government, and that the executive should not 
 act without their consent. In the Governor's esti- 
 mation, he alone was responsible, and maintained 
 that his responsibility lay not to the people of 
 Canada, but to the Imperial Government. In 
 other words, the people of Canada were informed 
 that no department of their government was directly 
 responsible to them. Common sense was outraged 
 by this declaration, and the capital was in commo- 
 tion. The excitement soon extended itself through- 
 out the province. Parliament was dissolved, and a 
 general election ensued. By dint of intimidation 
 and corruption, and by putting a false issue to the 
 country, the government managed to secure a ma- 
 jority in the new assembly. 
 
 And here let me pause for a moment in this 
 rapid narrative, to advert to the gross and syste- 
 matic injustice, with which, up to this period, the 
 liberal party in Canada had been treated by the 
 Imperial Government. Having put itself entirely 
 into the hands of the dominant clique in the two 
 provinces, the views of the Colonial department 
 
 1' were shaped by the representations of those who 
 alone had its confidence. In Upper Canada par- 
 ticularly was the evil of this policy soon made ap- 
 parent. Every movement made by the liberals 
 against existing abuses was stigmatized by their 
 
 i 
 
10 
 
 1 
 
 local detractors as movements towards rebellion 
 and separation. The reformer was identified with 
 the rebel, and to such gross and unfounded calum- 
 nies, the Colonial Department lent too facile an ear. 
 Long before the most ultra-reformer meditated trea- 
 son, the whole body of the liberals were proscribed, 
 and treated as rebels in disguise. Governor after 
 Governor w^as sent to the colony, the spirit if not 
 the letter of the instructions fiu*nished to each being, 
 to treat one party as a connectionist, and the other 
 as a separatist party. These instructions were but 
 too punctually obeyed. The family compact, into 
 whose hands the Governor unreservedly threw him- 
 self as soon as he arrived, not content with the 
 monopoly of power, arrogated to themselves also 
 the monopoly of loyalty. Appropriating to them- 
 selves the term loyalists, they branded their oppo- 
 nents as rebels. With less profession of loyalty on 
 their lips, there was in the ranks of the liberals, 
 as much devotion to British connection as was to 
 be found amongst those constituting the antagonist 
 party. Yet, the calumnies of that party were 
 suffered to prevail; and strong in the support which 
 they received from home, the ruling faction heaped 
 insult and contumely upon those who were but 
 honestly bent upon a reform of local abuses. Un- 
 merited suspicion, if long persisted in, is very apt 
 to beget in its victim the very vices with which it 
 charges him. But although thus placed beyond 
 the pale of imperial sympathies, and insulted from 
 year to year by the dominant oligarchy in the 
 
 'I 
 
 •if 
 
16 
 
 province, the Canadian liberals forgot neither 
 their loyalty to the Crown nor their attach- 
 ment to the empire. A few of them were driven 
 into a rebellion, in which the great body 
 of them abstained from taking any share ; and 
 if the loyalty of one party in the province is 
 to be cherished more than that of another by 
 the Mother Country, it ought to be that of those 
 whose allegiance has been put to the severest 
 tests, by long years of neglect, contumely, and 
 oppression. In proof of the injustice thus 
 wrought to the liberals, in furtherance of the selfish 
 views of a dominant and insolent clique, we find 
 that it is now to this very liberal party, so long 
 charged with disaffection and disloyalty, that the 
 Mother Country has mainly to look for the main- 
 tenance of her authority in Canada. 
 
 It was on this principle that Sir F. B. Head went 
 to the country on the occasion referred to. The 
 only real issue between the parties was whether or 
 not the colony was to have the Parliamentary 
 government which was promised it. But the false 
 issue raised was whether the colony was to re- 
 main connected with the Mother Country or 
 not. " No separation" was emblazoned on the 
 electioneering banners of the Tories, and " no sepa- 
 " ration" was the cryattheir electioneering meetings. 
 But all this time, no one talked of separation but 
 themselves. By means of this cry, however, and by 
 other acts, the liberals were overborne, and the 
 British government and people were cheated into 
 
17 
 
 the belief that a great service had been rendered 
 them by those, who were working only for them- 
 selves. The triumph which ensued elated the 
 Tories, and exasperated the liberals. Never had the 
 family compact been apparently so secure in its 
 tenure of power, as during the session of parliament 
 which followed, and during that of the subsequent 
 year 1837. But the Scotch party in Lower Canada 
 were now driving the French Canadians to despe- 
 ration. In November 1837, it drove them to 
 rebellion, and, in about a month afterwards, the 
 flame of insurrection had spread to the Upper 
 Province. 
 
 It is not my intention here to dwell upon this 
 deplorable event ; I shall have occasion, by and bye, 
 to refer to the parties who really participated in 
 it. My object in the foregoing recapitulation of 
 events has been to trace the rebellion in the 
 colonies to its right source — the systematic misgo- 
 vernment of the provinces. In Lower Canada, it 
 was not the diversity of race which produced the 
 catastrophe, but the deliberate aggravation of the 
 difficulties incident to government, when different 
 races have to be reconciled. In Upper Canada the 
 difficulty of race did not exist ; and the mismanage- 
 ment, which there characterised our colonial policy, 
 was consequently all the more glaring. The case 
 of Upper Canada illustrates that of the sister pro- 
 vince. In both, the great bulk of the population 
 were driven into a state of antagonism witli the 
 Colonial Department, by findng it the chief support 
 
 B 
 
 if 
 
18 
 
 of the dominant and insolent faction, which in each 
 trampled, with impunity, on every constitutional 
 principle, and which continued to govern in de- 
 fiance of parliamentary majorities, communities 
 on whom had been conferred at least the semblance 
 of parliamentary government. 
 
 It required some startling event, like the rebel- 
 lion, to arouse the Colonial Office from its long 
 dream of negligent security. There might be 
 grievances to redress after all, and it was high time 
 to inquire into the matter. The Earl of Durham 
 was accordingly dispatched as Lord High Commis- 
 sioner to Canada. The main object of his mission 
 was to inquire into and report upon the real state 
 of the provinces. It was then that, for the first 
 time, was brought to liglit a mass of administrative 
 corruption and iniquity, so enormous, and so aggra- 
 vated, as to constitute it a virtue in any people to 
 rebel against it. Those w^ho applaud the resist- 
 ance which wa? ofiered to the payment of ship 
 money, and who justify the revolutionary attitude 
 of the American colonies in 1776, could not have 
 reasonably found fault witli the Canadian people, 
 had they risen, ew masse from Gaspe to Amherst- 
 burg against their oppressors. Perhaps the most 
 damning commentary of all, on the system which 
 had been pursued is to be found in the fact, that 
 one of the first of Lord Durham's many valuable 
 recommendations was the concession to the Cana- 
 dian people of that, the denial of which had 
 been the proximate cause of the rebellion. The 
 
19 
 
 concession, which he thus recommended, was that 
 of responsible government. 
 
 It was well, perhaps, for Canada that it was 
 reserved to another to carry out the recommenda- 
 tions contained in the report, to which Lord 
 Durham's name was appended. The High Com- 
 missioner, for reasons not yet satisfactorily explained, 
 suddenly relinquished his post, and the difficult 
 task of Canadian administration was confided to 
 the Right Hon. C. Poulett Thomson, afterwards 
 Lord Sydenham. Possessed of great administrative 
 abilities, of strong powers of discrimination, of quick 
 perceptions, and of an indomitable will, a better 
 selection, as Governor-General, could not have been 
 made by the Colonial Office at so critical a junc- 
 ture in Canadian affairs. Arrived in the Colony, he 
 took at a glance the exact measure of his position, 
 and, without delay, addressed himself to the great 
 objects of his mission. In Lower Canada, the 
 Constitution had been suspended since the outbreak 
 of the rebellion, and the province was governed by 
 the governor and his council. In Upper Canada, the 
 family compact as usual endeavoured to possess 
 themselves of the new executive ; but they soon 
 found that they had no longer to deal with a Gore, 
 a Maitland, a Colborne, a Head, or an Arthur. For 
 the first time, since the separation of the provinces, 
 the protegh of the Colonial Office found their services 
 dispensed with by the local executive. They were 
 ignominiously dismissed as unfaithful stewards, and 
 the Governor-General called to his comicil a new 
 
20 
 
 set of men possessing the conjidence of the people. 
 It was then that the new party was originated, 
 wliich, during the administration of Lord Sydenham, 
 was known as the Governor-General's party. It 
 comprised all the moderate supporters of both the 
 extreme parties, receiving a qualified support from 
 the most ultra reformers, whilst it enjoyed tlio 
 unqualified liostility of the family compact, and the 
 rump which still adhered to it. Having taken his 
 measures in both provinces, Lord Sydenham next 
 addressed himself to the great object of his govern- 
 ment — the legislative union of the two. The diffi- 
 culties in the way were great, and tlie means resorted 
 to for their removal not the most scrupulous. But 
 if ever the end justified the means, it did so in this 
 instance. The task was accomplished, and on the 
 same day on which was celebrated the union of Her 
 Majesty with Prince Albert, was announced by 
 proclamation from the capital of United Canada, 
 the re-union of the two provinces, after nearly fifty 
 years of political separation. 
 
 It is not my purpose here to comment upon the 
 subsequent administration of Lord Sydenham. In 
 some of its details, it gave umbrage to the more 
 liberal section of his party ; but, in its spirit and 
 outline, his policy was great, comprehensive, and 
 salutary. In all that he did, he had the good of 
 the Province at heart, and he demonstrated his 
 earnestness in his work by enjoining tliose around 
 him, as his life was drawing prematurely to a close, 
 to bury his remains in its soil. A plain stone 
 
21 
 
 the 
 In 
 lore 
 and 
 and 
 
 Id of 
 his 
 
 lund 
 ^ose, 
 tone 
 
 slab, in front of the altar in St. George's Chnrch, 
 Kingston, marks whore he lies ; and I am not 
 ashamed to confess that 1 have shed tears of honest 
 emotion over the grave of this truly noble character, 
 and great benefactor to Canada. 
 
 On the death of Lord Sydenham, the adminis- 
 tration of affairs devolved ad interim on Sir Richard 
 Jackson. During the brief period for which he 
 administered the affairs of the province, parties 
 gradually underwent a new evolution. During 
 Lord Sydenham's government, the discomfited 
 (actions in the two sections of the* Province had 
 been in a state of restless activity, and they 
 gained fresh strength by the dissolution, on his 
 death, of the party which he had rallied around 
 him. They cajoled many of his conservative 
 followers back into their ranks, and by the arrival 
 of Sir Charles Bagot, as Governor-General, they 
 constituted a compact and somewhat formidable 
 opposition, under the leadership of one, whose 
 opposition would be of more value to any party 
 than his support, the notorious Sir Allan M^Nab. 
 From the date of the Union, the more liberal wing 
 of the reform party in Canada "West (as Upper 
 Canada was now called, Canada East being the new 
 designation of the Lower Province), made common 
 cause with the Lower Canadian liberals, the latter 
 being chiefly composed of the French Canadians. 
 The result of the new combination, on Lord 
 Sydenham's death, was that this party soon attached 
 to itself such of the Ciovernor-General's party as 
 
 
22 
 
 luid not gone over to the Tories, that is to say, the 
 great bulk of that party. Thus matters stood 
 when Sir C. Bagot was inaugurated Governor of 
 the Province. 
 
 It was during the government of this honest 
 and straightforward administrator, that the liberals, 
 for the first time, acceded to uncontrolled power 
 in the province. Proscribed and insulted, as they 
 had been for half a century, stigmatised as rebels, 
 branded as traitors, and accused of disloyalty and of 
 every species of political crime by their opponents, 
 a noble opportunity was thus afforded them of 
 practically giving the lie to the multiplied calum- 
 nies and aspersions disseminated against them in 
 the province, and too readily credited at home. 
 And how did they use it? This, the result of 
 their government will show. Never was Canada 
 more tranquil, more contented, more flourishing, 
 more loyal, more devoted to British connection and 
 institutions, than under this liberal administration. 
 Responsibility was the practice, and no longer the 
 mere theory of the government. The province at 
 length enjoyed and appreciated the advantages 
 of parliamentary government, and the voice of 
 complaint was unheard, save from those who had 
 nothing to hope from the development of par- 
 liamentary institutions. Delightful to him who 
 descends the St. Lawrence, is the sensation of 
 quiet and repose which he experiences when he 
 enters upon the still waters at the foot of one of 
 the rapids ; and equally delightful is it to the 
 
 ' 
 
 il 
 
23 
 
 ', the 
 stood 
 or of 
 
 onest 
 crals, 
 )ower 
 they 
 cbels, 
 mdof 
 nents, 
 3m of 
 lalum- 
 em in 
 home, 
 ult of 
 !anada 
 shing, 
 )n and 
 ation. 
 er the 
 ice at 
 ntages 
 ice of 
 o had 
 par- 
 who 
 ion of 
 ten he 
 one of 
 ;o the 
 
 student of Canadian liistory, to contemplate this 
 tranquil episode in its turgid annals. It would 
 have been well for the province, had it lasted 
 longer. The Governor'^, health failed him, but he 
 stuck, to the last, to his j)ost. Sir Charles Bagot 
 left England a Viceroy and returned to it a corpse. 
 
 Lord Metcalfe succeeded him. It is difficult to 
 say what are the positive instnirtions with uliicli 
 a Governor leaves Downing Street for his post. 
 Lord Stanley best knows with what precise intent 
 Lord Metcalfe was despatched to Canada. This, 
 at least, is known, that, from the moment of his 
 arrival in the Canadian capital, the reign of re- 
 action commenced. The Tories were (piick in 
 perceiving and availing themselves of their oppor- 
 tunity. Prostrate, beyond all hope of recovery, 
 so long as responsible government had fair play, 
 they rallied with renewed hopes the moment they 
 perceived that the local Executive, backed by 
 J)owning Street, was inclined to favour them. 
 The old regime was once more possible, and they 
 made a bold push for the recovery of their lost 
 privileges. By means of artifices, similar to those 
 formerly used, they succeeded in their attempt, 
 and the astounding spectacle was once more ex- 
 liibited in Canada, of a party, having the sympathies 
 of the great bulk of the people, being dispossessed 
 of power by a faction having no real hold on the 
 country, but sustained by extraneous aid. 
 
 For a time, Lord Metcalfe went on with the 
 liberal Cabinet of his predecessor. But it soon 
 
 r, 
 
24 
 
 r 
 
 became manifest that there could be no cordial 
 co-operation between the Governor and his council. 
 It was afterwards evident that, from the very first, 
 he was determined to displace them. With this 
 intent, he first fostered petty disagreements between 
 his cabinet and himself, and having thus established 
 between them a habit of quarrelling, it was easy 
 for him, at any moment, to precipitate an open 
 rupture. Nor was this long delayed. Following 
 in the footsteps of the notable Sir F. B. Head, the 
 Governor at length ventured upon the unconstitu- 
 tional ground of making important local appoint- 
 ments, without consulting his council. Against 
 this they remonstrated, both as indecorous, and as 
 plainly incompatible with their position as respon- 
 sible ministers. But it v/as the policy of the 
 Governor to drive them from power, and their 
 remonstrances were, of course, unattended to. Mr. 
 Baldwin, the head of the Cabinet, w^as one day 
 accosted by a gentleman, in the streets of King- 
 ston, and thanked for an important appointment, 
 which had just been conferred upon him by the 
 Executive. The astonished minister frankly con- 
 fessed that he had not only not recommended him, 
 but that he had not been consulted in the matter. 
 This produced a crisis, and the ministry retired. 
 
 The Tories were now masters of the Government. 
 A new administration was formed, the head and 
 guiding spirit of which was William Henry Draper, 
 now a Judge in Canada West, A dissolution of 
 course took place, and the new Government ap- 
 
25 
 
 'i 
 
 pealed to the country. The old cry of "no separation" 
 was again raised, by the aid of which, together 
 with an unscrupulous use of Government influence, 
 the Cabinet met Parliament with a small majority 
 in their favour. To check as much as possible his 
 aptitude for mischief, Sir Allan was made Speaker 
 of the House. Although thus kept out of the 
 Cabinet, he was, nevertheless, a confidential adviser 
 of the party. It was not long, however, ere the 
 new Government developed, in all their intensity 
 and magnitude, the venality and corruption which 
 characterised it. Its majority became smaller and 
 smaller by degrees, until it at length found itself 
 in a minority in its own Parliament. There 
 were, then, but two constitutional courses open to 
 the Ministers, either to retire, or to dissolve Par- 
 liament, and appeal again to the people. But what 
 cared they for Parliamentary majorities, so long as 
 they had the local Executive and the authorities in 
 Downing Street to sustain them 1 They, therefore, 
 held on long after it was obvious that they had lost 
 the confidence of the country. Nay more, their 
 conduct became so outrageously indefensible, that 
 they found it impossible, when some of its mem- 
 bers retired, to complete the Cabinet, although 
 they left no artifice untried to fill the vacant 
 places. For nearly two years was the scandalous 
 spectacle exhibited to the world of the mere 
 fragment of a Cabinet governing, in the teeth 
 of a hostile Parliament, a colony on which a 
 constitutional Government had been conferred. 
 
 \i 
 
26 
 
 IM 
 
 Such was the state of things when Lord Metcalfe 
 relmquished his post, and returned home to 
 die. 
 
 At this juncture the Oregon controversy was 
 pending, and the relations between England and 
 the United States were of a critical description. It 
 was, therefore, thought advisable to nominate, as 
 Lord Metcalfe's successor, a military Governor. 
 The Earl of Cathcart was appointed to the vacant 
 post. The storm, however, passed without bursting. 
 As he was appointed with a view to a crisis, of 
 which there was no longer any apprehension, 
 he petitioned to be relieved. Regarding himself 
 merely in the light of an ad interim administrator, 
 he abstained as much as possible from mixing him- 
 self up in political affairs, and left parties precisely 
 as he found them. 
 
 Such was the position of affairs in Canada when 
 the arduous duties of Governor-General were de- 
 volved upon Lord Elgin. On arriving at Montreal 
 he found the fragment of the Tory Cabinet still in 
 office. His instructions were evidently the reverse 
 of those given to Lord Metcalfe ; and he proceeded 
 to carry them out with a zeal and in a spirit which 
 reflect honour alike upon himself and those who 
 appointed him. 
 
 He soon found it impossible to carry on the 
 Government by means of the Ministry bequeathed 
 to him. At the close of 1847 he dissolved Par- 
 liament, and made a hondjide appeal to the people. 
 They responded to him with enthusiasm, and re- 
 
27 
 
 turned an overwhelming liberal majority. Not 
 only was the entire French representation adverse 
 to the Ministry, but so also was that of Canada 
 West, the population of which is exclusively Anglo- 
 Saxon. The emasculated Draper ministry at length 
 retired, and the present, the Baldwin-Lafontaine , 
 Cabinet acceded to power. 
 
 To the general reader much of the foregoing 
 may appear uninteresting ; but it was necessary, to 
 enable him thoroughly to understand the present 
 views and distribution of parties. It will help him 
 to appreciate the exact position of the faction in 
 opposition, and the objects of, as well as the mate- 
 rials of which is composed, the great united liberal 
 party in power. 
 
 To place in its true light the question raised by 
 the Rebellion Losses Bill, it will be necessary again 
 to go back a little, with a view to taking up a new 
 thread of the narrative. 
 
 The insurrection in both provinces was speedily 
 crushed, the number in arms being insignificant. 
 The country, however, was kept in a state of feverish 
 excitement for some months afterwards by the 
 piratical incursions of American sympathizers. The 
 bandits were repelled, and some of their leaders 
 captured and hanged. Both the rebellion and the 
 piratical expeditions which followed it occasioned, 
 with considerable loss of life, no little destruction of 
 property. In Lower Canada, where the insurrec- 
 tionary movement was most fomiidable, the loss 
 was greatest, both of life and property ; but, in 
 both provinces, the destruction of the latter was, to 
 
 i 
 
28 
 
 i;! 
 
 u 
 
 a great extent, wanton and unnecessary. In Upper 
 Canada, the loyalists celebrated their first triumph 
 by a conflagration ; but the burning of Mont- 
 gomery's tavern was, as compared with other 
 incidents in the drama, an excusable event. Situ- 
 ated within four miles of the capital, it was, for 
 four days, the head-quarters of the rebels. When 
 the loyalists at length sallied forth and dispersed 
 them, it is no wonder that they revenged themselves 
 for their fright, for the trouble to which they were 
 put, and the risks to which they were subjected, by 
 firing the obnoxious caravansera. But nothing can 
 justify subsequent burnings, such, for instance, as 
 that of Mr. Gibson's house, four miles further back. 
 The owner was, no doubt, implicated in the re- 
 bellion ; but his house had neither been made a 
 fortress, nor a rallying-point for the insurgents ; yet 
 it was wantonly burnt to the ground by the express 
 order of Sir Francis Head. So unnecessary was 
 this act of sheer vengeance, that the Governor more 
 than once countermanded his own order for its 
 commission. The commanding officer of the day, 
 Colonel Fitzgibbon, remonstrated with him against 
 it ; and when at length the final order was given 
 liim, he was obliged to superintend its execution 
 himself the militia officers under his command 
 wctually refusing to carry it into effect. I mention 
 this, not as an isolated case, but as indicating the 
 manner in which, in the hour of their triumph, the 
 family compact gratified their vengeance, and gave 
 expression to a superfluous zeal, by the unnecessary 
 destruction of property. 
 
^1 
 
 . 
 
 29 
 
 The destruction of property which occurred both 
 necessary and wanton, fell not alone upon the rebels. 
 Numbers who took no part in the rebellion, as well 
 as some who were actively engaged in suppressing 
 it, suffered in this manner. Very little time was 
 permitted to elapse after its suppression, ere steps 
 were taken in both provinces for the indemnifi- 
 cation of the sufferers. In Lower Canada, where 
 the constitution was still suspended, an ordinance 
 was issued in 1838 by the Governor and Council 
 appointing Commissioners to inquire into and 
 report upon the losses sustained by the loyal inha- 
 bitants of the province during the rebellion. Con- 
 sidering in whose hands the province still was, it 
 is evident that by the loyal sufferers was meant 
 those attached to the dominant clique, who had 
 suffered. The Commissioners, in their fourth and 
 fifth Reports, return as good claims not amounting 
 in all to £.10,000. By a subsequent Act, pro- 
 vision was made for the payment of these claims. 
 In Upper Canada similar measures were taken, but 
 through more constitutional channels. On the 6th 
 of March, 1838, an Act was passed authorising 
 the appointment of Commissioners " to investigate 
 the claims of certain inhabitants of this province 
 for losses sustained during the late unnatural 
 rebellion." However deplorable — the rebellion, 
 considering the circumstances of the case, was 
 quite natural. In its first enacting clause, the Act 
 thus specifies the main duty of the Commissioners 
 — " to inquire into the losses so sustained by Her 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 }u 
 
 k 
 
 I : 
 
30 
 
 m 
 
 
 ti 
 
 (( 
 
 " Majesty's subjects during the late unnatural 
 " rebellion." How sustained? The j)reamble 
 will explain. " Whereas, during the late unna- 
 " tural rebellion, certain inhabitants of this pro- 
 " vince sustained much loss and damage by the 
 destruction of their dwellings and other buildings 
 by the rebels," &c. This Act was introduced 
 but a few months after the suppression of the insur- 
 rection, and was at the time regarded as having in 
 view the indemnification of some loyalists par ex- 
 cellence, in other words, of some Tory partisans, 
 whose property had been either wholly or partially 
 destroyed by the rebels. The Commission was 
 appointed, and claims were entered and adjudi- 
 cated upon. 
 
 It was whilst the Commission was in progress 
 that the House of Assembly hit upon the notable de- 
 vice of throwing, if possible, the burden of the losses 
 upon the Imperial Treasury. It will be recollected 
 tliat this was the House, which was elected in 1836 
 under the auspices of Sir F. B. Head, and which re- 
 presented, not the country, but the compact. It passed 
 a very loyal and dutiful address, praying Her M a- 
 jesty to make the people of England pay for losses 
 which were the consequences of its own misdeeds. 
 In reply to the despatch from Sir G. Arthur, 
 transmitting him this address. Lord Normanby, 
 then Colonial Secretary, expressed Her Majesty's 
 regret that she could " hold out no hope " that so 
 notable a proposition would be complied with. 
 Lord John Eussell, subsequently in a despatch to 
 
31 
 
 a 
 
 (( 
 
 (I 
 
 the Right Hon. C. P. Thomson, Governor-General , 
 alluding to the address in question, observes, that 
 the Lords of the Treasury, after considering the 
 matter, had decided " that the circumstances under 
 which the losses in question had been incurred, 
 are not such as to warrant an application to 
 Parliament for the indemnity prayed for." 
 The Commission in question having been em- 
 powered simply to inquire into losses sustained 
 by the rebellion, it became necessary in 1840, to 
 pass another Act, enabling the Governor to ap- 
 point Commissioners in each district, to inquire 
 into such losses as were entailed upon various par- 
 ties, by the piratical incursions of the American 
 sympathisers. These Commissioners were em- 
 powered to inquire into the " losses sustained by 
 " Her Majesty's subjects, and other residents 
 " within this province." At the same time, a 
 sum not exceeding £.40,000 was granted to defray 
 these losses, when made good. The Act is inti- 
 tuled, " An Act to ascertain and provide for the 
 payment of all just claims arising from the late 
 rebellion and invasion of this province." Here 
 no discrimination was made other than that be- 
 tween the actual rebels and those who were not in 
 arms against the Government. There is no attempt 
 made to exclude those from the benefit of the Act, 
 whom the soi-disant loyalists might choose to sus- 
 pect of having been implicated in the rebellion, or 
 of having had political sympathies with those who 
 had rebelled. But if such a distinction was in- 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
;^2 
 
 tended to be taken by the framers of the Act, we 
 find it rendered impossible by the letter and spirit 
 of a subsequent Act passed on the 17th of August, 
 1841, by the legislature of United Canada, for the 
 purpose of extending and enlarging the last-men- 
 tioned Act. Much of the damage incurred in both 
 provinces, particularly in Lower Canada, was the 
 wanton work, not of the rebels, but of the loyalists, 
 who, in wreaking their vengeance upon the rebels, 
 destroyed the property of many Liberals, whom 
 they suspected of having political sympathies with 
 them. To meet such cases, this Act further em- 
 powered the Commissioners to inquire into the 
 validity of " claims and demands which have ac- 
 crued to any such persons (Her l^.Iajesty's sub- 
 jects and other residents) by such losses, in 
 respect of any loss, destruction, or damage of 
 property occasioned by violence on the part of 
 persons in Her Majesty's service, or by violence 
 on the part of persons acting or assuming to act 
 on behalf of Her Majesty," &c. The Commis- 
 sioners thus empowered proceeded with the inquiry, 
 and thus matters stood until 1845, when, during 
 the government of Lord Metcalfe, and when the 
 present Canadian opposition were in power, another 
 Act was passed authorising the issue of debentures 
 for the final settlement of the claims. 
 
 This recapitulation of the course of legislation 
 with regard to Upper Canada, was necessary to 
 show the precise character of the present Bill, and 
 the exact position of parties with respect to it. It 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 C( 
 
of 
 
 tof 
 
 nee 
 
 act 
 
 mis- 
 
 livy, 
 •ing 
 the 
 ther 
 lures 
 
 tioii 
 
 y to 
 
 and 
 
 It 
 
 38 
 
 is a course of legislation which was both initiated 
 and completed by the Tories. Viewed apart from 
 all consideration of motive, it reflects the reverse of 
 discredit upon them. It enabled all who had 
 suffered by the rebellion, except such as were taken 
 in arms, or convicted of treason, or who had con- 
 fessed their guilt, to claim compensation for their 
 losses. Not a voice was raised against it, and no 
 one dreamt of objecting to it, as discouraging 
 loyalty and rewarding rebellion. 
 
 We have already seen that, at a very early 
 period, a movement of a similar nature, but to a 
 limited extent, had been made in Lower Canada. 
 It was obvious, however, that strict justice required 
 that both provinces should be dealt with alike. 
 hKT-^"[But no matter what might be the justice of his 
 ^l- ' claim, the bare idea of compensating a French 
 Canadian was distasteful to the British faction in 
 Lower Canada, particularly the clique, which 
 ruled it in Montreal. It was not long, however, 
 after their accession to power, as already explained, 
 under Lord Metcalfe, ere they and their Upper 
 Canada allies began to feel the want of Parlia- 
 mentary support. Their majority was dwindling 
 away, and the disagreeable alternative was pre- 
 sented to them of a speedy retirement from office, 
 or a violation of the Constitution. They had but 
 two sources whence to recruit their failing strength, 
 — either from the Anglo-Saxon population of th(^ 
 Upper, or the French Canadians of the Lower 
 Provhice. From the former, for the time being at 
 
 c 
 
;u 
 
 Hi: 
 
 least, they could expect no support whatever. In 
 this emergency they did not scruple to lay regular 
 siege to the latter. 
 
 How to huy them over was the difficulty. They 
 are accused of having, for tliis purpose, recalled 
 Papineau, the " arch-traitor," from Paris. If they 
 did, they reckoned without their host, for his 
 influence with his countrymen was gone. His 
 mantle had fallen on Lafontaine ; and, judging 
 of the corruptihiUty of others from their knowledge 
 of themselves, they even attempted to gain him 
 over. With this view, they went so far even as to 
 meditate a virtual repeal of the Union. They con- 
 templated a system of double majorities in a united 
 Cabinet, by which the English Members should 
 rule the Upper, and the French the Lower 
 Province. It was, of course, with the Upper 
 Canada Tories that this scheme chiefly found 
 favour. They failed, however, in their object. The 
 French were true to their liberal instincts, and 
 remained faithful to their Upper Canada allies. If 
 the Tories could not attach to themselves the whole 
 French interest, they thought they could divide it ; 
 and with this view conferred upon M. Vigor the 
 Presidency of the Council. But he had no weight 
 in the scale against Lafontaine, and here, too, they 
 were foiled. It was for the same object, to acquire 
 popularity and support amongst the French, that 
 they at length hit upon the device of indemnifying 
 the sufferers by the rebellion in Lower, as they had 
 already compensated those in Upper Canada. The 
 
 . 
 
35 
 
 reader may be surprised at finding that this \vt) 
 measure of indemnification, which is now exciting 
 such a ferment in the Province, was originated by 
 those who are at present so violently opposed to it. 
 How far that which they proposed was identical 
 with that which the Liberals have since carried 
 out, will be seen by still further pursuing the 
 narrative. 
 
 The measure was one of justice ; but it was 
 notorious that with them it was one of policy. The 
 first step taken towards it, was on the 28th of 
 February, 1845, when an address to Lord Metcalfe 
 was moved by them, and unanimously adopted by 
 the Legislative Assembly, praying that His Excel- 
 lency would be pleased " to secure proj)er measures 
 to be taken, in order to ensure to the inhabitants 
 of that part of the Province, formerly Lower 
 Canada, indemnity for just losses by them 
 sustained during the rebellions of 1837-38." 
 This was precisely the object contemplated, as 
 regarded the Upper Canadian sufferers, by the Act 
 introduced, as already alluded to, by the family 
 compact into the Parliament of Upper Canada in 
 October 1840, and extended and enlarged by the 
 Act of the subsequent year, passed by the legislature 
 of the United Provinces. We have already seen 
 that the former Act, as extended and enlarged by 
 the subsequent one, w^as, in its scope and object, 
 just and reasonable — those only being excluded 
 from the benefits of its operation, who were either 
 convicted of treason, or notoriously or confessedly 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 ki 
 
 a 
 
36 
 
 traitors. Tluit, tluMcforo, wliicli was contomplated 
 by this address, voted to Lord ^Ictcalfe under the 
 auspices of his Tory Cabinet, with respect to tlie 
 liower Canadian sufferers, was identical with that 
 which had been done by the same parties in reii:ard 
 to tlie sufferers in the U])per l*rovince. No one 
 raised a word against a proposal which was both 
 reasonable and just, and had the sanction of a 
 ])recedent. If then; was any difference of opinion 
 respecting it, it concerned, not the proposition itself, 
 but tlie motives in wliich it had originated. 
 
 The next step taken was on the 2'4th November, 
 1845, when a Commission of five was appointed, to 
 carry out the prayer of the Address. On the 18th 
 of April, 184G, the Commissioners report " that 
 the want of power to proceed to a strict and 
 regular investigation of the claims in question, 
 " left them no other resource than to trust to the 
 " allegations of the claimants as to the amount and 
 " nature of their claims." Previously to this, how- 
 ever, that is to say, on the 27th February, 1846, 
 the Earl of Cathcart then administering the affairs 
 of the Province, the provincial secretary informed 
 the Commissioners " that the object of the Execu- 
 " tive Government in appointing them was merely 
 " to obtain a general estimate of the rebellion 
 " losses, the particulars of which should form the 
 " subject of more minute inquiry hereafter^ under 
 " legislative authoriti/y Claims to the amount of 
 upwards of £.200,000 were preferred to the Com- 
 mission. Of these a large proportion was declared 
 
 a 
 
 (( 
 
37 
 
 (( 
 
 i.i 
 
 to be spcciihitivc; ujkI iiuidinissiblc. The rest were 
 rc^ceived, iiiid a round sum was niuncd by tlie Com- 
 missioners as their " general estimate" of the extent 
 of the losses, for which indemnity might be 
 claimed. In the Report of the 16th of April, 184(), 
 in wlucli they allude to the limited nature of their 
 powers, they say, inter alia, that they " are of 
 opinion that the sum of JtM()0,()()() would be 
 nearly equivalent to the losses suffered, and 
 '' sufficient to meet the amount of such claims as 
 " shall have been made the object of a closer 
 " examination." 
 
 It is desirable that the reader should bear in 
 mind that, so far, the matter proceeded under the 
 sole auspices of the Draper Government, — tliat is 
 to say, of the party now headed by the IM^Nabs, 
 the Sherwoods, the Cayleys, and other political 
 characters equally respectable. But they were again 
 baffled in their great object, that of obtaining 
 French-Canadian support. That they wxn'e impelled 
 by this motive to what they did, and not by a sense 
 of justice, is obvious from the fact that tlie matter 
 was dropi)ed the moment that its party inutility 
 was put beyond a doubt, no further steps being 
 taken in it, although the Tory Cabinet remained 
 (or nearly two years longer in power. AV'lien the 
 Liberals acceded to office, then, matters stood thus. 
 The sufferers in Upper Canada had been indemni- 
 fied on a principle, and to an extent of which no 
 one thought of complaining. Steps w^ere afterwards 
 taken by the Tories to indemnify the sufferers in 
 Lo^vcr Canada, on the same principle, and to the 
 
38 
 
 
 same extent ; but this second measure of indemni- 
 iicationjust though it was admitted to be, was sus- 
 pended, ere it was matured, and simply because it 
 became obvious that its completion would fail in 
 effecting the sinister object for which it had been 
 undertaken. 
 
 Lord Elgin was not long in discovering the ano- 
 malous position of the Cabinet which had been 
 bequeathed to him by his predecessor. Its exist- 
 ence, long: after it had lost the confidence of the 
 country, was a scandal on the Constitution. 
 Desirous of carrying honestly out the principle of 
 responsible Government to which he was instructed 
 to adhere, Lord Elgin, about the close of 1847, 
 gave it an opportunity, by dissolving Parliament, 
 of strengthening its position, if it had any hold 
 whatever upon the country. The election which 
 ensued was conducted under the auspices of the 
 Tory Government ; and yet, as Lord Elgin remarks 
 in his admirable despatch, on the first vote raising 
 a question of confidence in them, they were de- 
 feated in the new Parliament by two to one. 
 Their consequent retirement was welcomed by one 
 universal shout of satisfaction, from Lake Huron to 
 the Gulf. 
 
 The Baldwin-Lafontaine cabinet succeeded, and 
 Lord Elgin found himself, at length, surrounded 
 by men sustained by a working parliamentary 
 majority. They had much to do ; for two years of 
 irresponsible rule had left the business of the 
 Province greatly in arrear. Even had they been 
 disposed to shrink from it, it is not likely that they 
 
39 
 
 could long have postponed caiTying into eftect the 
 pledge of indemnity given by the preceding Govern- 
 ment to the Lower Canadians. But they were not 
 so disposed, and took the earliest opportunity that 
 offered for providing for their indemnification. In 
 doing this, did they start any new project of their 
 own, based upon a new principle of compensation ? 
 So far from this, they simply took ttp the measure 
 of the Tories, just where the Tories had dropped it. 
 
 The first public step was taken by them in 
 Parliament on the 27 th of February last. On that 
 day was submitted to the House a series of resolu- 
 tions, preparatory to the introduction oi a bill, the 
 submission of which was the signal for the ini- 
 quitous agitation which has since disturbed the 
 tranquillity of the Province. To judge aught of the 
 conduct of the opposition, a brief consideration is 
 necessary of the nature of the resolutions. 
 
 They were seven in number. The first four 
 merely recapitulated the steps already described, 
 as having been taken by the Tories for the indemni- 
 fication of the sufferers in Lower Canada, from the 
 address voted by them to the Governor, to the final 
 report and recommendation of the Commissioners. 
 The sixth provides for the means of paying the 
 indemnity ; the seventh having reference to deben- 
 tures issued under a former Act. The fifth and 
 main resolution was as follows : — 
 
 Resolved, — " That in order to redeem the pledge 
 given to the sufferers of such losses, or their bond 
 fide creditors, assigns, or ay ant droit, as well 
 by the said Address of the said Legislative 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
i! 
 
 : i 
 
 40 
 
 Assembly, and the appointment of the said Com- 
 mission, as by the said letter so addressed by the 
 Honourable the said Provincial vSecretary, it is 
 necessary and just tliat the particulars of such 
 losses not yet paid and satisfied, should form the 
 subject of more minute inquiry under Legislative 
 authority; and that the said losses so far only as 
 they have arisen from the total or partial unjust, 
 unnecessary or wanton destruction of the dwell- 
 ings, bidldings, pro})erty and effects of the said 
 inliabitants, and by the seizure, taking or carry- 
 ing away of their property and effects, should be 
 paid and satisfied : Provided, that none of the 
 persons who have been convicted of high treason 
 alleged to have been committed in that part of 
 this Province formerly liOwer Canada, since the 
 first day of November, 1837, or who, having 
 been charged with high treason, or other offences 
 of a treasonable nature, and having been com- 
 mitted to the custody of the Sheriff in the Gaol 
 " of Montreal, submitted themselves to the will and 
 pleasure of 11 er Majesty, and were thereupon 
 transported to Pier Majesty's Island of Bermuda — 
 shall be entitled to any indemnity for losses sus- 
 tained during or after the said llebellion, or 
 in consequence thereof" 
 If what has just been related be correct, and it 
 cannot be disputed, it is evident that had the 
 Ministry anticipated any resistance to the course 
 which they were taking, the Opposition must have 
 been the last source whence they could have 
 e\})ected it to emanate. It was the measure con- 
 
 it 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 (I 
 
 a 
 
 (,i 
 
 li 
 
 u 
 
 (( 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 i( 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 (( 
 
 (; 
 
 li 
 
 li 
 
 i 
 
41 
 
 templated, and partly executed by themselves when 
 in power, and taken up by their successors at the 
 point where they had dropped it. Instead of 
 resistance, the Ministry had every reason to look 
 for the most strenous support from the occupants 
 of the opposition benches. Yet no sooner did 
 they move in the matter, than the opposition 
 adopted a line of conduct, without a parallel even 
 in the most discreditable annals of party. The 
 most violent resistance was at once offered to the 
 resolutions ; and not only this, but from the very 
 first the most menacing language was resorted to, 
 accompanied by a degree of ferocity and a reckless- 
 ness of consequences, which would have been 
 disgraceful to a horde of savages. 
 
 As the first four resolutions merely affirmed a 
 series of occurrences, yet fresh in the recollection of 
 all, it was natural to suppose that they, at least, 
 would ha'se passed unresisted. But not so ; for on 
 the first resolution being put, an endeavour was 
 made to falsify the whole. Mr. Cayley moved 
 an amendment to the effect, that it was in order 
 to ascertain the losses suffered by the loyal inhabi- 
 tants of the i'rovince, that the Address alluded to 
 had been voted to the Governor. As it never was 
 . in the contemplation of any one to indemnify actual 
 rebels, the scope of this amendment finds its only 
 illustration in the spirit of the mover and his 
 clique, Mr. Cayley being one of those who confine 
 loyalty in Upper Canada to the adherents of the 
 Family Compact, and to those of the Scotch party 
 in the Lower Province. This being well under- 
 
42 
 
 stood by the House, the amendment was rejected 
 by a vote of fifty-two to twenty ; its object being to 
 exclude from the indemnity a large body of French 
 Canadians, against whom no treasonable charge had 
 been, or could be preferred. The amendment having 
 been negatived, the first four resolutions were 
 agreed to, the vote, as before, being fifty-two to 
 twenty. The great battle was of course on the 
 |/(fifth resolution. Notwithstanding that its object 
 was to redeem the jiledge given by themselves, 
 and to subject, as contemplated by themselves, to 
 " more minute Legislative inquiry," those claims, 
 of which their own Commission was empowered to 
 make but a " general estimate," it was resisted in a 
 manner, which argued that the opposition had 
 either lost their memories, or had become callous 
 to all sense of shame or decency. An amendment 
 was moved to it by the same Mr. Cayley, similar in 
 spirit to the other amendment, which was also 
 rejected by the House, the vote being fifty-one to 
 twenty-one. Mr. Robinson, brother to the Chief 
 Justice of Upper Canada, the root and trunk 
 of the family tree, then moved an amendment, 
 to exclude from indemnity any person " in 
 " any manner implicated in the said rebellion," 
 &c. This, Mr. Robinson and his party being 
 the interpreters, would have embraced all those 
 Avho had had political sympathies with the rebels 
 previous to the outbreak. This amendment was 
 also rejected, by a vote of forty-six to twenty-six. 
 Another amendment was moved, excluding all who 
 " aided, assisted, or abetted the said rebellion." 
 
 
43 
 
 This was also levelled against the whole body of 
 the French Canadians, and like its predecessors, 
 was rejected — the vote in this instance being 
 forty-four to twenty-eight. Colonel Prince then 
 moved an amendment, limiting the indemnity to 
 loyalists -'and none others." The whole object 
 of the bill would have been lost were the task 
 of distinguishing the loyalists from the " none 
 " others," to have devolved on this quondam Chel- 
 tenham attorney. The amendment was negatived 
 by a vote of fifty-two to seventeen. No further im- 
 pediment was offered, and the fifth resolution was 
 finally agreed to by a vote of forty-eight to twenty- 
 three. The sixth and seventh were afterwards 
 agreed to, whereupon Mr. Lafontaine introduced a 
 bill founded upon the resolutions. 
 
 Nothing can be more unreasonable than the 
 charge preferred against the Cabinet and their par- 
 liamentary majority, by the local opposition and 
 their abettors at home, that, by resisting these 
 amendments, they evidenced their determination to 
 extend the indemnity to those who had actually 
 been guilty of treason. It must be borne in mind 
 that, if their opponents objected to the resolutions 
 because they might include the fjuilty, they resisted 
 the amendments, because their object and tendency 
 was to exclude the innocent. It was during the 
 discussion on those amendments that Mr. Blake, 
 the Solicitor-General for Canada West, made that 
 powerful, eloquent, and convincing speech, which 
 exposed the selfish and unscrupulous conduct of the 
 opposition in a manner which well nigh drove 
 
 I 
 
u 
 
 \i i 
 
 \h 
 
 -ifp' 
 
 lfB« 
 
 them to desperation. But, independently of the 
 reasons which existed for opposing the amendments, 
 a sufficient refutation of the calumny alluded to is 
 to be found in the very terms of the fifth resolution. 
 By the last section of it two classes of persons are 
 expressly excluded — those who were convicted of 
 treason, and those who, having confessed their 
 guilt, were sent temporarily to the Island of Ber- 
 muda, by Lord Durham. The Government contem- 
 plated nothing more than compensation for just 
 losses, sustained during the rebellion. Such was the 
 compensation given in Upper Canada, under the 
 auspices of the opposition, when in power, none 
 having been excluded then, but such as had been 
 actually guilty of treason. Such, also, was the 
 compensation contemplated by the same opposition 
 when in power, for the sufferers in Lower Canada, 
 their intention having been to exclude none but 
 such as had been actually guilty of treason. But 
 they were not now satisfied that their own pre- 
 cedent should be followed out, or their own inten- 
 tions carried into effect by their opponents. They 
 could not urge that either the precedent or the in- 
 tention had been departed from. Their alternative 
 was to imagine a sinister motive on the part of 
 the Cabinet, and ostensibly to base their opposition 
 upon their own disinterested suspicions. " Look," 
 cried they, " not to the measure itself, but to those 
 " who propose it." They alleged that the Cabinet 
 was French Canadian, and rebel, and that its 
 object was to tax the loyalists for the benefit of 
 French Canadian rebels. How far thcv were 
 
45 
 
 correct in saying that the Cabinet was French will 
 be afterwards considered. And wlio were the 
 rebels which this French Cabinet was thus accused 
 of favouring'? In the estimation of the Tories, 
 every French Canadian claiming indemnity was 
 prima facie a rebel. They, therefore, insisted that 
 before receiving indemnity his conduct, for the last 
 twelve years, should be inquired into, a course which, 
 if pursued, would have infused additional acerbity 
 into the rekindled political animosities of 1837. 
 No such odious inquisition was made a condition 
 to indemnity in Upper Canada ; nor was such con- 
 templated for the Lower Province, by the opposi- 
 tion, when they originated the present measure. 
 They acted in the one case, and proposed to act in 
 the other, on the prudent principle of letting 
 by-gones be by-gones, and of excluding from the 
 indemnity only those who had been shown to have 
 been actually guilty of treason, either by conviction 
 or confession. They would not, however, permit 
 their opponents thus to act, but recklessly urged 
 them to a course, which, if pursued, would have 
 been perilous to the peace of the Province. As the 
 bill progressed through its different stages the 
 conduct of the opposition became more and more 
 outrageous, and the agitaticn which they ex- 
 cited was sustained by riots and monster meet- 
 ings. But, notwithstanding the resistance offered 
 in parliament and out of doors, the bill passed by 
 large majorities, whereupon it Avas sent to the 
 Governor-CTeneral for approval. It was evident 
 tliat, Ill's KxrolJeiiCY hnfi. iirKlf]* tIh^ rirrumstances. 
 
•I 
 
 46 
 
 but one course to take ; and the excitement was 
 kept up, not so much to dissuade him from appro- 
 ving of the measure, as, if possible, to lioodwink the 
 British Government and public. The lloyal assent 
 was given to the bill by the Governor-General on 
 the 25th of April, when the English rabble of 
 Montreal were incited by their leaders first to insult 
 the Queen's representative, and afterwards to the 
 commission of those acts of riot, pillage and arson, 
 Avhich appropriately consummated an agitation 
 iniquitous in its conception, treasonable in its ten- 
 dencies, and reckless in its conduct. 
 
 The reader will here pause to observe that con- 
 duct so extraordinary on the part of a set of men 
 affecting to have the slightest regard for the decen- 
 cies of political warfare, must have been prompted 
 by some extraordinary motive, which requires ex- 
 planation. To those acquainted with the position 
 of the faction, and the character of those who lead 
 it, the explanation is an easy one. From first to 
 last, their whole conduct resolves itself into a reck- 
 less attempt at regaining power. 
 
 It may be mortifying to many in this country, 
 who have been led away by the pretence that the 
 question was one of imperial concern, to find that, 
 after all, they have been but betrayed, more or less, 
 into playing the game of a despicable and despe- 
 rate provincial faction. But so it is, nevertheless — 
 the whole affair on the part of the Canadian Tories 
 having been neither more nor less than a reckless 
 party evolution. The illustration of their tactics is 
 to be found in the explanation, which has already 
 
47 
 
 been given of the conduct and relative positions of 
 Canadian pai'ties. Most of the Tory leaders being 
 needy, penniless opposition was found to be exces- 
 sively inconvenient. But Lord Elgin's evident 
 determination to adhere strictly to the principle of 
 responsible Government, had postponed, indefinitely, 
 their prospects of a return to power. Having but 
 little chance with the new principle of Government, 
 their only resource was to endeavour to revert to 
 the old — in other words, the unjust, odious, and 
 exploded principle of enabling the minority, backed 
 by the Colonial Office at home, to override the 
 majority in the province. This, whilst the true, 
 is also the most respectable explanation that can 
 be given of their conduct. It was for this, and 
 this alone, that they endeavoured by seeking to in- 
 vest the question with an imperial character, to 
 excite sympathies favourable to them in the 
 Mother Country. At first they were not altogether 
 unsuccessful, but the tide has now turned hope- 
 lessly against them. 
 
 The Morning Chronicle was the first to sound the 
 tocsin at home. That journal, usually so discriminat- 
 ing, either could not or would not see that rebels 
 being expressly excluded from the proposed indem- 
 nity, the question resolved itself into one of mere 
 local import, and thatin dealing with it, the Canadian 
 people should be left entirely to themselves. Nor 
 would it admit the mere party character and 
 objects of the agitation, which the question had 
 excited, although it was notorious, from first to 
 last, that the line of demarcation between the 
 
48 
 
 >'' 
 
 I „ 
 
 two parties, was singularly coincident with that 
 which separated them at the last general election. 
 It, at once, took up the question, as an imperial 
 one, and in contending for the dignity of the Crown 
 and the integrity of the l^lmpire, neither of which 
 were in the slightest degree compromised, warmly 
 espoused the cause of the soi-disant imperialists in 
 tlic province, with " annexation " on their lips. 
 
 But on wliat ground is this assumed to be an 
 imperial question? The bill merely contemplates 
 the appropriation of local funds for a local purpose. 
 If treason were to be rewarded bv it, the case 
 would be different. But as the proposed compen- 
 sation, like that given in Upper Canada, is only 
 to embrace just losses, it cannot be said that treason 
 is to be rewarded by it. Besides, the time for 
 taking exception to it, as an imperial question,, is past. 
 If there is anything, cither in the principle or in 
 the objects of this bill, incompatible with the dig- 
 nity of the Crown or the interests of the Empire, 
 so also was there that which was equally exception- 
 able in the Upper Canada Bill passed by the Tories, 
 and likewise in the course which they after- 
 wards pursued, in initiating the measure for the 
 Lower Province. How was it that objection was not 
 then taken "? Simply because no good ground for 
 objection existed. And if none existed then, none 
 exist now. To oppose this bill on the ground of 
 its being objectionable, in an imperial point of 
 view, is only on the part of the abettors of Canadian 
 Toryism at home, to stultify and inculpate their 
 pro^inci^l proteges. But it may be said that an 
 
ir in 
 
 cion- 
 
 ries, 
 
 heir 
 an 
 
 49 
 
 oversight committed in the one case does not jus- 
 tify its repetition in the other. But there was no 
 oversight. In the former, as in the present case, 
 the question was simply a local one, and it was 
 treated as such, both in the colony and the ^lother 
 Country. And this would have been similarly 
 viewed by all parties; but for the exigencies of a 
 desperate faction, and it is of the last importance 
 that the imperial authorities should refuse to fur- 
 ther the views of that faction, by recognising a 
 difference between the two cases, a difference, 
 which, if it have any foundation on which to rest, 
 must solely rest upon the dangerous one of distinc- 
 tions of race. 
 
 It would be amusing, were it not also somewhat 
 painful to witness the readiness with which many 
 here, who have aided and abetted the factious 
 movement in the province, fell into the trap there 
 laid for them, by the cry of " No compensation to 
 " French rebels." The object of this cry was two- 
 fold, to rouse, if possible, a hostile feeling between 
 the two races in the province by which the Tories 
 might profit, and ride into power, and to secure 
 for them, in case the first object should fail, the 
 support of the home authorities, by exciting the 
 sympathies of their kindred in the Mother Country. 
 They are now as likely to fail here, as they have 
 already done in the province ; although the public 
 mind here seemed for a moment to be favourably 
 disposed tow^ards them. Such of their organs as 
 were carried awav bv the " French -Ilebel" cry, 
 
 D 
 
50 
 
 accused the present cabinet of being a French 
 Canadian Cabinet. This was tantamount, in tlieir 
 estimation, and it was meant as such, to designate 
 them a rebel cabinet. The sequitiir here is neither 
 complimentary nor logical. But what is meant by 
 the assertion that the cabinet is French Canadian t 
 If it mean that the cabinet has the support of the 
 great body of the French Canadian population, it 
 may be so — but if it mean that the men composing 
 the cabinet, or the majority of them, are French 
 Canadians, or that it has no support but that which 
 the French Canadians give it, the assertion is utterly 
 groimdless. The cabinet, as will presently be 
 shown, commands the confidence, not only of the 
 French Canadians, but also of the bulk of the 
 Anglo-Saxon population of the province, whilst a 
 large majority of those composing it are of Anglo- 
 Saxon origin, representing Anglo-Saxon consti- 
 tuencies. The supposed taint arises from their 
 being some French Canadians in the cabinet, and 
 from its being supported, out of doors, by the 
 French Canadian people. But if this constitutes it 
 a conclave of rebels, wliat are we to say of the 
 cabinet which preceded it ? If Baldwin is asso- 
 ciated with liafontaine, so was Draper with 
 Vigor. This last named gentleman was not only 
 suspected of being a traitor, but was actually in 
 gaol as such, and with the exception of Papineau, 
 who had fled, there was no man, for whose blood 
 the loyalists imr cjccellencc of Lower Canada, so 
 much thirsted as for Viger's. Yet this man was 
 
51 
 
 )nly 
 in 
 au, 
 ood 
 so 
 I was 
 
 President of tlic Council, during the Draper ad- 
 ministration. Nor was lie tlie only Frenchman 
 associated with the British Tories. So far, then, as 
 the mixed constitution of the Cabinet went, that of 
 Mr. Draper was as much a rebel Cabinet as is that 
 of Mr. Baldwin. If it was not so much so as regards 
 the sources of its support out of doors, it was not for 
 want of the will, but of the ability to complete its 
 infamy. I have already drawn attention to some of 
 its devices, for the purpose of conciliating tlu^ 
 French population. From whatever motive Pa- 
 pineau was recalled, certain it is that, after his 
 return to the province, the Tories lavished every 
 favour upon him, in order to secure the support of 
 his countrymen. The worst case that the Chronicle 
 could make against the proceedings of the present 
 Government was that, under them, such men as 
 Papineau and M'Kenzie could receive compen- 
 sation. Even wev(^ there grounds for such an 
 allegation, it came but ill from a quarter in which 
 the battl') of Canadian toryism had been so ob- 
 stinately fought. Papineau fled, a proclaimed 
 traitor, from Canada. He was recalled by Lord 
 Metcalfe's Government — the present opposition. 
 On his return, he entered into the quiet enjoyment 
 of his property, which had never been confiscated. 
 He was also restored to all political rights, forfeited 
 by treason, and is now, once more, a representative 
 of the people. Nor was this all. As Speaker of 
 the House of Assembly, his salary had, previously 
 to the rebellion, got considerably into arrcar. At 
 
o2 
 
 f\ 
 
 tlie time of the outbreak, tlie Government wliich 
 proclaimed him a traitor, owed him, in this respect, 
 iup wards of £.4000. Of course this little account 
 was also forfeited by treason ; yet it was paid to 
 jhim nevertheless, and by the Chronicles proteges 
 in Canada. And whilst this was the manner in 
 wliich tliey treated the " arch traitor," in other 
 words, him who had excited the insurrection in 
 Lower Canada, how did they act by Colonel Fitz- 
 gibbon, who, by dispersing the insurgents at Mont- 
 gomery's hill, crushed the rebellion in the Upper 
 Proviii'"e \ They paid him exactly one-half the sum 
 previously voted him by the Liberals, whom they 
 now stigmatize as rebels. Dr. Wolfred Nelson 
 who has been held up as such an ogre, has also 
 come witliin the sunshine of their favours. It is 
 true that they did not indemnify him for his dis- 
 mantled house, but they conferred official appoint- 
 ments both on him and on his friends. His claim 
 for £.23,000 was, as he himself explains, simply 
 put in, not in the expectation of its being allowed, 
 but to vindicate the rights of others. When he saw 
 that persisting in it w^ould damage the cause of many 
 innocent sufferers, he himself seconded an amend- 
 ment in the committee, in which the resolutions 
 Avere first considered, excluding himself and others 
 similarly situated from the indemnity. I am aware 
 that all this is aside of the main issue, which has 
 reference only to the merits of the present Bill ; but 
 I mention it as illustrating how ill it becomes the 
 Canadian Tories and their advocates at home to 
 
53 
 
 ions 
 lers 
 are 
 has 
 but 
 the 
 '. to 
 
 denounce the measure as one under wliich such 
 men as Papmeau could claim compensation, seeing 
 that they themselves have compensated Papineau 
 for all his losses. It also shows the inconsistency, 
 to say nothing of the dishonesty, of those who now 
 seek to calumniate the present Cabinet for being- 
 successful in conciliating those whose support they 
 themselves resorted to every trick, but in vain to 
 secure. Many talk here as if responsible and con- 
 stitutional Government could be conducted in 
 Canada, with the French left entirely out of sight. 
 This is impossible. The population is a mixed one 
 of English and French, and no Government can 
 stand unless they have the support of the majority. 
 To denounce, then, as a rebel Cabinet, that which 
 has acquired this support of the majority is an 
 ineffable absurdity. The two races are now, for 
 good or for evil, politically speaking, in the same 
 boat; and that which is regarded as just or expe- 
 dient for one cannot safely be withheld from the 
 other. 
 
 But both here and in the Province there are 
 those who believe, or affect to believe, that the two 
 races can and should be differently dealt with. 
 They regard the fact that the money is, in this 
 case, to go into French pockets, whereas, in 
 the other, it went into those of Anglo-Saxons, as 
 drawing a broad line of demarcation between the 
 two measures. The Bill for Upper Canada, they 
 argue, was unexceptionable, inasmuch as it was to 
 apply to that section of the United Province in 
 
54 
 
 which the rebels were few and the loyalists 
 numerous ; whilst that for Lower Canada applies to 
 that section of the United Province in which the 
 loyalists w^erc few and the rebels numerous. In 
 the one case they think that there was but little 
 probability of any but loyalists being indemnified, 
 whereas in the other, it is assumed that all, or the 
 majority of those, who are to receive indemnity were 
 rebels. But this species of self-deception, I cannot 
 call it reasoning, is founded upon the gratuitous 
 assumption, that the whole French Canidian popu- 
 lation was tainted with rebellion, whilst but few of 
 the inhabitants of Upper Canada were so. Let us 
 see what grounds there are for this assumption. 
 Proscribed, insulted, and oppressed as the French 
 Canadians were anterior to 1837, it was no wonder 
 that they rallied almost to a man around leaders 
 wlio, whatever might have been their objects at a 
 later stage of their political action, commenced 
 their career with the honest desire of improving 
 the social and political position of their countrymen. 
 It is not to be denied that, linked together as they 
 were by ties of blood and creed, and by a sense of 
 common injustice and oppression, they had common 
 sympathies, which permeated the whole body of the 
 French Canadian population. In 1837, a few of 
 them, and but a few of them, rebelled ; but more 
 than nine-tenths of them remained quiescent, and 
 took no part whatever in the treasonable projects 
 of those who were in arms. Their political sym- 
 pathies were with them up to the rebellion, but by 
 
55 
 
 ?cts 
 
 by 
 
 no overt act did they prove that their sympathies 
 embraced the rebelUon itself within their range. 
 Certainly by no overt act did they either aid or 
 abet it. In Upper Canada precisely the same 
 occurred. There, too, but a few of the Liberals 
 Avere in arms. But it would be a great mistake to 
 suppose that the political sympathies of the great 
 body of the Liberal party were with the family 
 compact, or the loyalists j'ar excellence. On the 
 contrary, they were with those who had rebelled 
 up to the point of the rebellion. That they sym- 
 pathised with, or aided or abetted the movement in 
 any way, w^as proved by no overt act on their part. 
 Under these circumstances no one has been hardy 
 enough to accuse the great bulk of the Liberal 
 party in Ur for Canada of having been rebels. 
 How, then. ,)arallel being complete between 
 
 their conduct tind that of the great bulk of the 
 Liberal party in Lower Canada, can the latter be, 
 with any decency, accused of treason ? Such an 
 accusation is as malicious as it is absurd. Begotten 
 in malice, it has been propagated by selfishness, 
 prejudice, and ignorance. The fault of a few 
 Liberals in Upper Canada, is not magnified into 
 the crime of all, but the fault of a few Liberals in 
 Lower Canada is magnified into the crime of all. 
 And whilst the fault of a few of their number is 
 thus tenaciously remembered, and all are unjustly 
 involved in it, their loyalty, sacrifices, and services 
 during the revolutionary war and the war with 
 \merica in 1812, as well as at several intervening 
 
Mi; 
 
 66 
 
 I:; 
 
 % .' 
 
 periods, when their defection would have been most 
 disastrous, are carefully forgotten. Is this just — is it 
 generous] During the brief period of the insur- 
 rection, the destruction of property, as in Upper 
 Canada, fell, but to a much greater extent, upon 
 the innocent, as well as upon the guilty in the 
 Lower Province. It was also, in many instances, 
 as wanton as in the upper country, whilst, in some, 
 it was accompanied with a peculiar degree of 
 ferocity. In one case a body of transplanted is- 
 landers, equipped and organised, in a border county, 
 made a descent upon a Canadian village. They 
 left their homes a body of infantry, and returned 
 to them a body of cavalry. They carried dismay 
 and devastation wherever they went, extorting, 
 under an extemporised gibbet, from the terrified 
 inhabitants, such secrets, with respect to the insur- 
 gents, as they might possess. It was thus that the 
 loyalty of Glengarry was established, beyond a 
 doubt in Beauharnois. It is for such wanton and 
 unnecessary destruction that compensation is now 
 sought to be given, and it is for such that compen- 
 sation would be withheld by the M'^Nab party, if 
 there was reason to suspect that the sufferers were 
 implicated (how vague the word), in the rebellion. 
 The Chronicle would throw upon them the onus of 
 proving their loyalty, ere they could establish a 
 title to compensation. But not so. Deprivation 
 of property is part of the varied penalties of un- 
 successful treason. A large class of persons have 
 been deprived, in whole or in part, of their 
 
57 
 
 property, without having been even charged with 
 treason, and so long as they are not even charged 
 wdth treason, it is inconsistent to call upon them to 
 prove their loyalty. View the matter which way 
 you will, there is not the shadow of a reason for 
 withholding this indemnity, unless the re-instating 
 of a minority in power, or the fact that the recipients 
 of the indemnity will be British subjects having 
 French instead of Anglo-Saxon blood in their 
 veins, be good reasons for withholding it. 
 
 And this brings me to consider the point, in 
 reference to which the most groundless fallacies have 
 been propagated, that the question as raised by 
 the Bill, involves a ivar of races. Many have 
 been led to believe that the two parties confronting 
 each other are French Canadians on the one side, and 
 British Canadians on the other. The population 
 of United Canada is at this moment about 1,500,000 
 souls. Of these there are about 780,000 in Lower 
 and about 720,000 in Upper Canada. In the latter 
 the population is exclusively Anglo-Saxon, whereas 
 in the former the Anglo-Saxons do not much exceed 
 130,000. This leaves 650,000 as the French Cana- 
 dian population, and 850,000 as the combined 
 British population of the two provinces. It follows 
 that, if parties were arrayed against each other in 
 the manner above indicated, that is to say, the 
 Cabinet and the French Canadians on the one side, 
 and M'^Nab and the Anglo-Saxons on the other, 
 the Cabinet would be in a very decided minority. 
 How comes it, then, that they command so large a 
 
58 
 
 '% 
 
 majority ; the average majority cu all the divisions 
 on the bill having been from 30 to 32. This, in a 
 House of 84, is equivalent to a majority of 242 in 
 a House of 658. It arises simply from this — That 
 there is no such division of parties as is alleged ; in 
 other words that the bill has not given rise to a war 
 of races. If it had, the M^Nab party would com- 
 mand a large majority, whereas, in fact, it musters 
 only a small minority. It is when it has put forth its 
 greatest strength that it has most completely shown 
 its utter weakness. And what has come of that 
 portion of the Anglo-Saxon population, which de- 
 clines the leadership of M^'Nab and his instruments'? 
 The simple answer is that it is in harmonious action 
 with the French. It is from the fusion and good 
 understanding of the two that the cabinet derives 
 its strength. Nor is it a portion only, but the 
 greater portion of the Anglo-Saxons, who are thus 
 in harmony with their French-Canadian fellow 
 subjects. The present government, with all the 
 French, carries with it the majority of the Anglo- 
 Saxon constituencies. It has the support of the 
 majority of the representatives from Upper Canada. 
 At the same time it must be borne in mind that 
 all the Liberal members from the Anglo-Saxon 
 portion of the province represent counties and large 
 constituencies, whilst most, if not all, on the other 
 side, represent small constituencies and rotten 
 boroughs, — the Horshams^ and Yarmouths of 
 Canada. Thus, with the majority of all the con- 
 stituencies, they may be said to have the support 
 
59 
 
 m 
 
 of all the large ones in Upper Canada. The 
 M^'Nab-Sherwood clique cannot at this n^jment 
 muster 250,000 supporters in all Upper Canada. 
 Giving them the whole of the British population of 
 Lower Canada, the aggregate number of their 
 followers will not exceed 380,000. They have 
 this number to set off against the remaining 470,000 
 in Upper Canada. Setting the French, therefore, 
 aside, and leaving the Anglo-Saxons to fight the 
 matter out amongst themselves, the turbulent 
 clique in opposition would have but little chance 
 of success. But when to this Anglo-Saxon majority 
 is added the whole body of the French Canadians, 
 it gives a strength to the Government which their 
 opponents are maddened to contemplate. Let us 
 hear no more, then, of the bill giving rise to a war 
 of races. The division of parties upon it, instead 
 of proving the existence of such a war, affords 
 cheering indications of the fusion, and not the 
 disruption of races. As divided upon it, the parties 
 stand thus: 650,000 French Canadians, plus 
 470,000 Anglo-Saxons, versus 380,000 Anglo- 
 Saxons. As to this cry, the boot is on quite the 
 other leg, for it is they who are inciting to a war of 
 races, who would interpose, as a wedge, the mino- 
 rity of the Anglo-Saxons between the French 
 Canadians and the majority of the Anglo-Saxons, 
 who are now acting in harmony with them. 
 
 Let this be well pondered upon. If anything is 
 calculated to excite a war of races in the Province 
 it is the establishment of a different measure of 
 
60 
 
 i.'. I 
 
 justice, as respects tlic two races inhabiting it. It 
 is this that the opposition arc bent upon effecting — 
 it is this that Lord Elgin and liis Cabinet are bent 
 upon preventing. The object of the Bill is simply 
 to do for the French Canadians that which has 
 already been done without a murmur for their 
 Anglo-Saxon fellow-subjects. The powers vested 
 by it in the Commission of Inquiry are identical 
 with those vested in the Upper Canadian Commis- 
 sion by the Act of 1840, as extended and enlarged 
 by the subsequent Act of 1841. This being so, if 
 the Bill is rejected, the French Canadians will be 
 thereby taught that the great barrier to their ob- 
 taining justice is to be found in their descent. 
 Could anything be more calculated than this to 
 give rise to a war of races ] 
 
 But it is urged by the provincial Tories, and 
 reiterated by their advocates here, that, even ad- 
 mitting the Government to possess a Parliamentary 
 majority, representing the bulk not only of the 
 whole people, but also of the Anglo-Saxons them- 
 selves, inasmuch as the present House was not 
 elected in contemplation of such a measure. Lord 
 Elgin should, in deference to the feeling of hostility 
 which had been manifested to it, have dissolved 
 Parliament and appealed to the people. But why 
 resort to a dissolution, when there was no antagonism 
 between Parliament and the Cabinet ? " Because," 
 say those who urge it, " both Parliament and the 
 Cabinet are, in this matter, in antagonism with 
 the people." But it is for the people to show 
 
 u 
 
 (( 
 
61 
 
 ;m 
 
 this. Have they done so ? 80 far from this, they 
 have sustained their representatives in all that they 
 done ; not one Liberal Member from either section 
 of the Province having received the slightest indi- 
 cation from his constituents that they disapproved 
 of his conduct. Lord Elgin has very properly 
 refused to treat the noisy ravings of a faction as the 
 exponent of public sentiment on the subject ; and 
 nothing can be more preposterous than for a 
 minority to call for a dissolution, when the Cabinet, 
 Parliament, and the public, are in harmony with 
 each other. In proof of the true state of public 
 feeling we now find, as was expected, that meetings 
 are being held everywhere in Upper (Anglo-Saxon) 
 Canada, to express their confidence in Lord Elgin, 
 and testify their abhorrence of the late frantic and / 
 atrocious proceedings in jNIontreal. If they were 
 confident that the people were really with them, 
 the course of the Tories was to have persisted in 
 demanding a dissolution. But, by shifting their 
 ground, as they have latterly done, and petitioning 
 the Home Government for the recal of Lord Elgin, 
 they virtually acknowledge themselves the minority. 
 To demand the recal of the Go>'ernor-Gencral, 
 because, in shaping his local policy, he has deferred 
 to the opinions of the great body of the people, 
 expressed through the constitutional channel of 
 Parliament, is in wonderful keeping with the whole 
 conduct of those who have just been signalizing 
 their loyalty by tumult and arson. 
 
 Again, it is charged against the Government 
 
 
 
 ^^y 
 
M 
 
 ■<i 
 
 
 that the Upper House was packed, in order to 
 secure the passage of the measure. This, however, 
 is but one of the many points raised by the local 
 opposition, less with a view to local effect, than to 
 influencing, in their favour, the Government and 
 people at home, who are presumed to be ignorant 
 of the real state of the case. Nearly six months 
 before a single step had been taken in reference 
 to the Rebellion Losses Bill, that is to say, in 
 September last, some additional members were 
 nominated to the Legislative Council. The addition 
 was necessary to save the upper branch of tlio 
 Legislature from falling into utter contempt. Its 
 number had somewhat decreased, and its delibera- 
 tions were very irregularly attended. It was thus 
 to rescue it from the disrepute into which it had 
 fallen, and not with a view to the success of any 
 particular measure, that new blood was infused 
 into it, at the time alluded to. 
 
 The Bill having passed through all its provincial 
 stages, the scene of action is now changed from 
 Montreal to London. Will the Colonial Depart- 
 ment support Lord Elgin ? Has it in reality any 
 alternative ? We have heard much of the insult 
 which the Bill heaps on the Crown, of the dangers 
 to which it exposes the empire, and of the risks to 
 which it subjects the repose of the Province. It 
 requires, however, but little reflection to see that 
 the honour of the Crown, the integrity of the em- 
 pire, and the repose of Canada demand the ready 
 sanction of the measure by the Imperial Govern- 
 ment. 
 
68 
 
 y 
 
 It can add neither to the honor nor the dij^^nity of 
 the Crown to draw a line of groundless distinction 
 between different classes of its subjects. The 
 French-Canadian and the Anglo-Canadian are 
 equally its subjects. From both it exacts the same 
 allegiance — and both it professes at least to treat 
 alike. It has now a noble opportunity of showing 
 that it will deal, with even-handed justice, between 
 the two. It cannot, with either decency or justice, 
 refuse that to its French subjects which it has 
 already done for its subjects of English extraction, 
 even though the whole of the latter were opposed 
 to its so doing, much less can it do so at the bidding 
 of a mere minority of them. 
 
 It is equally evident that considerations connected 
 with the integrity of the empire call for the allow- 
 rmce of the Bill. Responsible Government has at 
 length been conceded to Canada. If that concession 
 mean anything, it means this, — that in all local 
 matters the Canadian people are to be left entirely 
 to themselves. In other words, local affairs in 
 Canada are henceforth to be regulated by local 
 Parliamentary majorities. I have already shown 
 that the Ilebellion Losses Bill is a local measure. 
 The people of Canada have emphatically pro- 
 nounced in its favour, and the Colonial Department 
 cannot disallow it, without virtually abrogating 
 responsible Government in the province. Judging 
 from his whole conduct with respect to Canada 
 since he came into office, Earl Grey is not the 
 minister to propose or even contemplate such a 
 
()4 
 
 course. In Mr. Haives, too, as responsible Under 
 Secretary, we have an additional guarantee tliat 
 none such will be adopted. To disidlow the Bill 
 would be to revert to the old system of governing 
 the province — a system which palliated, if it did 
 not wholly justify, the rebellion. Can any states- 
 man be found in England who, at this time of day, 
 will propose to support in power, by extraneous 
 aid, a faction in the province, in direct opposition 
 to the will of the great body of tlie people I Yet 
 this is what the provincial opposition are bent on 
 achieving. Let them neither be encouraged nor 
 deceived. Let them be given to understand that 
 if they would return to power, they must make 
 themselves acceptable to their countrymen — that 
 the source cf their authority must be the popular 
 suffrages — and not the mere countenance of any 
 department of the Imperial Government. It is 
 because they fear that they will be thus perpetually 
 condemned to compete witli their political opponents 
 for popular support, that they have lately raised 
 the treasonable cry of " annexation." We have 
 heard much of late of the loyalty of Ulster being 
 a sixpenny loyalty ; but that of Canadian Toryism 
 has proved itself to be so. The whole moral of 
 the Tory cry is that if the Home Ciovernmcnt will 
 not keep them in power in opposition to the people, 
 they cannot remain loyal subjects of the Crown. 
 Yet such is the party whom the Chronicle 
 sustains, to whom Mr. Gladstone, despite his con- 
 victions, appears to incline, whom Lord Stanley 
 
65 
 
 icle 
 on- 
 ley 
 
 favours, and whom Lord Brougham, with his new- 
 born zeal for Imperial Toryism seems disposed to 
 take into his patronage. But like the Papineau 
 party of 1837, the Tory party of 1849 is now de- 
 funct. It sacrificed itself for the good of its 
 country, amid the fires which it kindled in Mon- 
 treal. Another consideration which should induce 
 English Statesmen to let the principle of respon- 
 sible government have its full sway in Canada, is 
 the danger to which the Empire is exposed, by 
 mixing up the Imperial Government in the local 
 party broils of the province. As regards local 
 matters, policy suggests that its weight should be 
 felt in neither scale, for nothing could serve more 
 speedily or more completely to alienate from the 
 Mother Country the affections of the Canadian 
 people, than for either party to find, on questions 
 of purely provincial import, the Imperial Govern- 
 ment the ally of its antagonist. It was this fatal 
 policy which well nigh brought about a dismem- 
 berment of the Empire about twelve years ago. 
 To revert to it now would be but to precipitate 
 another successful revolution in America. 
 
 We are told from many quarters that the recent 
 disturbances of the public peace in Canada should 
 have been foreseen, and indeed w^ere foretold, as 
 the necessary result of the sanctioning by the 
 Governor-General of the bill. But that is not the 
 light through which to view the matter. The 
 question is what would have been the present con- 
 dition of the Province had the bill been rejected ^ 
 
66 
 
 The ministry would have retired, and a sanguinary 
 election would have ensued, out of which the 
 popular party would have again come triumphant. 
 The Cabinet would then be reinstated, and the bill 
 reintroduced, and again forced upon the government. 
 But, at the same time, the confidence of four-fifths 
 of the Canadian people in the honesty of the impe- 
 rial government would have been shaken, and 
 their views would be directed to a new state of 
 political existence. If annexation is ever to be 
 brought about, it will not be by the miserable frac- 
 tion of a party wrapped in the mantle of the rampant 
 Toryism of former days, bi.it by the great body of 
 an alienated and oftended people. Let the Indem- 
 nity Bill be allowed, and let responsible govern- 
 ment have fair play in the Province, and Canada 
 will long remain the most prosperous, the most 
 peaceable, and the most respectable dependency 
 of the Empire. 
 
 I now bring this examination to a close, having, 
 I think, fulfilled the pledge given at its commence- 
 ment, that I should show this Bill, both as regarded 
 its own intrinsic merits and the relation of parties 
 t^ it, to be an unexceptionable measure. I have shown 
 it to be in strict conformity with the measure passed 
 for Upper Canada by the Tories, a measure against 
 which not a voice was raised, either in the Province 
 or the Mother Country. I have also shown it to 
 be but the completion of a measure initiated by the 
 same Tories for Lower Canada, in conformity with 
 their own precedent for the Upper Province — in 
 
67 
 
 other words, that the Liberals have only done that 
 which the Tories intended to do. I have shown, 
 therefore, that, even were the measure in itself 
 objectionable, it is not for the opposition in Canada, 
 or their abettors at home, to take exception to it. 
 But as the measure is not in itself objectionable, 
 they stand accused of resisting a measure, unexcep- 
 tionable in itself, and which is not only of their 
 own originating, but is in strict accordance with an 
 unexceptionable precedent established by them- 
 sehes. I have also shown that it has excited no 
 war of races, but that its disallowance would give 
 rise to such a contest, that it is entirely a local 
 matter, and that it should, therefore, be left to the 
 exclusive arbitrament of the Canadian people, and 
 that the honour of the Crown, the integrity of the 
 Empire, and the repose of the Province, would be 
 alike compromised by its rejection. Having shown 
 this, I leave the matter in the hands of the depart- 
 ment, convinced that Lord Grey will justify the 
 confidence reposed in him by the Canadian people, 
 by sustaining in this case, the firm, the manly, 
 and the noble conduct of the Governor-General. 
 
 FIMS. 
 
 n 
 
 LONDON : 
 rniNTED BY T. liRETTELL, KUmRT STREET, HAVMAR^ET.