IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V. ^ ^ ^ f/ / .<» .vJ" \ 4^ I narts of Europe, and other parts of the globe a e afflicted . r he Liserie! of war, his faithful subjects inthrs province .. are enabled to enjoy with confidence the tats of therr " industry, and to meet in tranquiUity to consult for the pub- " ^rThSosptty of our mother country, on which our own " depends, must ever give us great sat.sfact.on, f"! Ihe .. general n-odiocrity of the fortunes of his Majesty's subject I . i'n th s province being well known, we flatter ourselves o,. \ « "jliy corUrMion., though small, w.U be favourably ' "T2rj»ua..y, 1801. To His Excelleney Sir Robt. Shore "^Z^tX^'^^^^r.^ care, and the activity of "hi, fleefs and armies, his faithftJ subjects m th.s colony " have been protected from the violence of open aggress.on, .. it is our peculiar duty by the steadiness of our principles to " guard offainst the delmions of secret artifice. i With the most lively gratitude we learn that h.3 Ma- " iestv, in his paternal attention to the wants of l..s subjects, "however remote, has not only seen the necess.ty, but .n " his royal munificence has provided the means ot early " education for our children. , ,- „ " Your Excellency may depend on our zealous and active " eo-oporation for the prosperity of the province, and by our " loval and unanimous exertions for the preservation of that " most excellent constitution and gover.nuct under wh.ch we " have the happhless to live." ,.., l,.,m,v Again, 12th January, 18(t2. " We consider as .. happ) a circumstance the apprehensions ivhich were for a moment raised in the public mind by a society of lawless adventurers, as they only served to brinnr additional proofs of the perfect harmony which subsists amoug all ranks of his Majesty's subjects in this part of his dominions. '' AH classes of his Majesty's subjects entertain the highest sense of his Majesty's paternal goodness, which has given to them the blessing of an excellent constitution,^ and se- cured to them all the advantages that flow from it" These, Sir, are a few extracts from the Journals of the Asse .y, as they happen to be within my reach. To proceed—" The House of Assembly claims aright to ap- » propriate to the public service according to its own discretion, » the whole of the revenues of the crown accruing within the » province, including those produced by the sale of timber and - waste lands, all tines and forfeitures, and the income from " seignorial rights." And I would ask, under what act ot Par- liament, by what law, or even custom of this country to her colonies they make those claims? which, if granted, would be an abandonment of the colony by the Crown. The ri<'-hts of the Crown of France were, at the conquest, ceded to the Crown of Great Britain, and among those rights are all those named by you. ^ , ^ ., ir How can England exercise a sovereignty, if the Crown itseli is despoiled of her rights ? When and where are the waste lands of a colony considered the sole property of a few na- i, tives, a few earlier settlers, or the conquered inhabitants resi- dent at any particular period claimed by the parties themselves ? To ar-ue this question with a look of seriousness, would, I take it, lead some to suppose that the " head was not ah rio-ht ;" because if granted, they would have left the Queen no po'lvcr in the province but to appoint a Governor, and to main- tain and pay the troops. And, to show that there was no mis- take inl833 " the House of Assembly exercised their cojistitw ' tiLalpoioer of stopping the supplies, declaring that they would grant no more money until an elective CouncU was conceded to them, and the executive Council made responsible s iC «( ii 8 " to the legUlature. From thut time forv.ard the House of " Assembly has acted upon this determination : no money has - b.cn -ranied; and the judges and olHoers of Government - have been for more than four years without their salaries A «' m.vernment commission of three individuals, with Lord Oos- " ford at its head, was sent out in 1835 to in(iuire into the com- « plaints of the Canadians ; but the Assembly denounced it as «' mi unconstitutional interference. The grant of lands by the " British Parliament to the Canadian Company and the North «' American Land Company was also complained of by the « Assembly ' as an unnecesary interference with the authority " of the local legislature over the internal attairs of the pro- " vince.' " However " some reforms were made 1,^ the composi- » tion of the Council, but they were quite unsatisfactory to « the Canadians, who continued to refuse the supplies. This « state of things led he British Parliament t pass an Act last session, empowering the Government to take money out ' of the colonial exchequer for paying the salaries, without - the sanction of the House of Assembly. And this Act has " so alarmed and provoked the Canadians, that they have " now organized, armed, and disciplined themselves- -have " assembled over the whole country and declared their - independence,-and are now in general revolt agamst the ♦' Government." . , -r^ ,. . t Now, Sir, as a Member of the Imperia Parliament I would ask, do you consider that Parliament has no v^ Ie./islate for her colonies under any circumstances ? Do you consider that a colony has a right to starve the officers ot the Crown? Do you consider that the Crown has no right to the wast'; lands of her colonies ? I feci persuaded that your own reply will save me tr.e neces- sity of making one. U. +l,o T,rn As to the state into whicl> the revolt has brought t^^e yv^ vince, and by wliat means it lias been brought mo ,t, he hist Iknlwell enough, and of the seeond I have termed rather strong opinions, not required here. It may be a. well, however, to ask you for what reason, and on what' grounds either they of the lower province, or yourself, a (( \ coinplaiii of the Canada CompaH,/, whi(;li belongs to the Uf>pcr province ; which has been converting the forest into gle))e, and in a few years doubled, aye, trebled the population •' If we are to mix up the two Provinces, {m in my opmion ought to be), what then would become of that majority which you are so strongly the champion of? tor I womd then boldly ask you " what the People of Canada thmk, teel, *' and resolve." The People of Canada ! i. e. of the two Provinces, I estimate at 580,000 of British, and 420,000 of French origln-thus, then, what do the :>80,000 demand? 1 answer fearlessly, without the possibility of a doubt, that they demand a close, an i.itimate, and an endearing connexion with the mother country. Yet, Sir, laro-e as is this numerical majority, it is nothing as t mipared to the majority in wealth, in intelligence, ana in moral as well as physical courage; and ^.ere it not that your article is so long and so studied, and reiiuired more attention, here >v »uld 1 rest ray case for my oppressed Brethren. I would say, shall we, by a misapplication of what is termed UberaVtu, legislate for the dominance of 420,000 ignorant and deluded men. to the expulsion of the 580,000 men, m every way their superiors -men who have in great part either received the land which they cultivate as the reward of years of labour in the service of their country, or who have been led to purchase that land from the Government to whom they have sworn fealty, and to which Government they look tor quiet possession ? , , , , r .i. But I must proceed. You say-" The whole body of the " French Canadians, the old proprietors of tiie country, ot " all ranks, from the magistrate to the labourer, are umted - in their opposition to the Government. A striking proof u of this is found in the fact, that of 78 members who voted in the House of Assembly a few months since, 70 were for the rejection of the measure of the British Parliament, " and only 8 for." Without some explanation this is a niost ensnaring paragraph, and I shicerely hope that yourself. Sir, have not been cauglit by au ignorance of tacts. (( (( 10 Will it be believed that this i)itiful minority in the House of iVsseniVly composed either absolutely ail, or within three or four of all those Members of British origin who have seats ! The House consists of 88 Members, but the districts for representatives are so cut out that the French Catholic constituencies return for certai 72 of them, there being no opportunity for more than 16 English Protestants to get into the Assembly : and to render even that small number at all times ineffec tive, the House declares 40 to be a quorum for business. Hear this, ye liberals ! As to the Magistrates, it is well known that under the ' amciUation' system, numbers have been put into the com- mission whose circumstances in society, whose positive i^^norance, as well as suspected characters, ought to have driven them to a distance. It is now very clear, that instead of 00, nearly double the number should have sent in their resignation, or have been dismissed long since. Many both of the Magistrates and Members of the Assembly are the greatest traitors. '"It is " also stated that not a few of the British and Irish, in the '« country districts, sympathise with the French." This, Sir, I deny : if any British and Irish do sympathise with the rebels, they are indeed " a few." I have it from good authority that the Irish Catholics are among the fore- most in the ranks of the volunteers both in Quebec and Mon- treal ; and that in both cities there are only about 150 who have declined joining those corps. When, Sir, you ask about a moral right, we must wait the millenium ere the question can be properly answered. It is with me sufficient that Great Britain has, in one sense, a moral right, as I trust she has the physical power, to pre- serve the lives and properties of 580,000 of our brethren, whenever and wherever they arc endangered. It appears to mo. Sir, that the magnitude of our interests is so large, as by many to be misunderstood— this I mean on the score of humanity ; for we nuist not suppose that if Crovernmi-ut .6 K 11 should leave tbincrs as they arc,-tluit they do not interfere, hut withdraw their troops,— that the question is settled ; and that henceforth there will he " on earth peace and good wdl" as to the Canadas. Oh no ! Sir, far otherwise; the popula- tion of British origin, which has hy the supineness of a Government heen compelled to renounce their peaceful avoca- tions and take up arms in self-defence, will commence a war of extirpation from which nothing can save the French population. I say nothing, for the Roebucks and Chapmans, as well as some of our M.P.'s, ask for a repetition of the Texas affair ; they will be disappointed ;— and as to the « savage bands' so ready to come from the " far west," such things are mere figures of speech. But it does behove the Government, on the score of humanity alone, to adopt the most speedy and energetic measures to put down rebellion, and to upliold the Colonial Government in power, to keep in check all parties, and ensure obedience to law— of some sort— to bving about confidence therein, that men may no longer be interrupted or intimidated in their ordinary pursuits of life. Alas ! Sir, much do I fear that this rebellion will have interfered greatly with the moral and social condition of the Canadian haMtans,—ii class of men for quiet behaviour, decent exterior, and domestic enjoyments, that, in my various travels, I have never seen equalled. Agitators, ye have much to answer for. Last year I travelled through Ncrmandy and Brittany, from whence the ancestors of the present Canadian's emi- irrated ; and though I saw the same shape of men, the same customs, * and the same dress, I found nothing for the ])resent race of Canadians to regret in the land of their origin. As to their bravery, their morasses, their skilfulness in the use of the rifle, and their seignories being one of the most defensible countries in the world— he who asserts these things, has never been there. The extent of their forests and paiK^^ity of habitations I grant ; but there is nothing to lead to ., c;unnosition that they are invincible ; they are not the active 12 stirring people of the Backwoods of the United States or the Upper Province. Allow me to say, that you have mistaken the feelings of our brethren in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia — as the late meetings in those countries show. Where has loyalty been more apparent, and where have the " secret dispatches" of Roebuck or Chapman been more exposed than in New Brunswick, where Mr. Howe read extracts from Chapman, the ' agent' of Papineau, asking him, as a leading opposition Member of the Assembly, to join in a traitorous corres- pondence ? Allow me to state that your observations on Col. Sir George Arthur as the — " severe head gaoler of Van Diemen's Land," are as much below your usual style of writing as they are out of good taste. The sending such a character with a Governor is not fair-play ; the less so, as it is universally agreed that the Colony has progressed at an extraordinary rate under his Gow rnment, and that his con- duct has been so highly approved by men best able to judge correctly, that those connected with the Colony have presented him with a service of plate costing £1500. As to '' the population, hating every thing British, will " refuse to consume our goods, and will do all they can to " annoy us,"— this, Sir is true ; but has reference to the French Canadians, the rebels, only. Papineau hai de- nounced those who shall use imported goods, this, too, at the recommendation of Roebuck. Of the million and half of British manufactures imported into Canada, it would surprise your manufiicturing readers to learn how small a proportion is consumed by the French Canadians ; their own home-spun made from wool in its natural colour, their own cottons and linsey woolseys spun and woven at home, their own shoes made out of half-tanned cow hides, their sugar procured from the maple tree — all this, without Papineau's ordinance, will show that but a small proportion in bulk, and less in value, of imported goods is consumed by them. No, Sir, it is the British population brought up in luxury as to dress, and in luxury also a^i to variety of wants, that 'J 13 consumes our nauuiactures, and the produce of our other Colonies ; and it is, moreover, our 2^ per cent, duty on certain articles taxed from 30 to 75 per cent, by the United States, that induces a certain portion of the Americans on the boun- daries to supply themselves from the Canadian markets. Your quotations from Sir H. Parnell and M'Culloch are, I know well enough, great authorities with a certain set of commercial politicians : they have often been refuted ; but as names go far with some folks, I will begin by quoting the trite exclamation of Buonaparte: " Ships, colonies, and com- " merce ;" and a sentence from Talleyrand—" bodies politic " ought to reserve to themselves the means of placing to •' advantage at a distance a superabundance of citizens, who *' may from time to time threaten their tranquillity." But what is more to our purpose, the writings of Brougham, who says, " Each nation derives greater benefit from having " an increasing market in one of its own Provinces, than in " a foreign Country. " The colonial trade is always increasing and capable of " indefinite augmentation ; every operation of colonial traffic " replaces two capitals, the employment and distribution of *♦ which puts in motion and supports the labour of the dif- *' ferent members of the same state. " The increasing wealth of Russia, Prussia, or Denmark, " can never benefit Great Britain unless by the increasing ♦' demand for British produce which it may occasion. It may, *' and often is, on the contrary, turned against her wealth *' and power ; whilst the ricl;es of colonies have a certain " tendency to widen the market for British produce, and can •' never injure the wealth or power of the mother country. " The possession of remote territories is the only thing " which can secure to the population of a country those " advantages derived from an easy outlet, or prospect of " outlet, to those persons who may be ill provided for at home. " It is absurd to represent the defences and government of « colonies as a burden. It is ridiculous for the United ** Kingdom to complain, that slie is at the expense of govcrn- " ing and defending her colonial territories," 14 To corroborate these opinions, I will just stato that the official value of exports from the United Kingdom into our North American Colonies exceeds that of our exports to Russia, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and France collectwclif. Wo may look in vain for such a market when once lost ; and wc may look in vain for it when its own rough produce shall he either prohibited by any alteration of duties that may throw the supply entirely into the hands of foreign- ers, or when the French Canadians shall have got rid of Mr. Hume's " baneful domination" Much has been said of the increase of our trade with the United States. This increase has arisen entirely from the astonishing increase of its population ; but I believe that the last year's returns will show that the trade of our own Ame- ricari colonial population, consisting of about two millions, is very nearly equal to that with the United States, consisting of nearly thirteen millions. The imports of British manufac- tures into our own North American Colonies has increased above 40 per cent, in three years. In carrying on this trade, about seven thousand British vessels are employed ; the ton- nage of those inwards and outwards being each way nearly 1,000,000 tons annually, either to Great Britain or her other Colonies, all of them, be it remembered, navigated by our own seamen, and employing British capital ; and seven-eighths of the whole produce so transported being paid for in labour to our own countrymen^ and all the profit, agencies, and broker- ages of this enormous trade divided among our own subjects. Can the possible loss of such a trade be contemplated, with- out apprehending consequences serious to national prosperity or to our manufacturing interests ? In four years not less than £300,000 has been paid by emigrants as passage-money to our ship-owners ; and if out of the number of 170,000 who emigrated during that period, only 20,000 had become burdensome at home, and had cost their parishes only £4 per head per annum, the expenses to the community (which have been saved) would have been £320,000. One word on " military siibjuyation." The expression, if . 1 15 taken in its extreme extent, is what no man can wish to see Canada subject to ; but to a certain extent every colony, every city, every country is so kept. How is Ireland— how are our East India possessions — how the Cape— how the insignificant Fernando Po— and how even England itself kept ? Without a sufficient military force the scourings of society would at all times cause outbreakings dangerous to the existence of the present state of society, and interfering with the honest and industrious occupations of the public. Are we not obliged in England to have a large and powerful police force in addition to our military ? and even in your own neighbourhood have not both been recently employed ? It is impossible to read without horror tho ?avage murder- ings and burnings in the United States under " Lijiich Law^' which, had that country a sufficient military force, would not take place. One word on your expression of " coercing a nation." Such is not the case ; it is legislating for a Province or a Colony, and not coercing a nation— in the one instance called for by above one-fourth of the population, in the other by a majority ; and it is the minority in the Canadas that desire to be considered la nation Canadienne, and for which they, and they only, are in arms. I trust, Sir, that in these observations I have given some substantial reasons for hoping that the majority of the country will be vindicated, and that Great Britain will not consent to the independence of Canada, called for by less than half her population ; also for asserting the right of England to coerce the Canadians, (such part as are rebellious); that she has the power, and that it will be to her advantage to do so. When, Sir, the Canadas in their proper sense, viz. the 580,000 persons of British origin, in both provinces, shall call for a separation at the same time as the 420,000 of French origin, then, but not till then, will my opinion be changed. : think I have given reasons also against the making the Legislative and Executive Councils elective ; indeed, it is clear to demonstration, that the Legislative Council was intended I 16 register to be a check upon the Assembly, and not a mere office for its deeds. I trust that I have shewn that the French Canadians have in times pa'^t, and before they had found the British Govern- ment a " squeezable commodity," declared themselves happy under her " domination," and that it is the fault of listening to a few ambitious demagogues that they are not so now : also that the loss of such a colonial trade as now carried on with Canada is not likely to be made up by any concessions <8rf^ ^ our Baltic friends ; and moreover that it is not the French Canadians to whon\ your mpiiufacturers are obliged for it. Trusting and believing, as I do, that the rebellion will have been put down before even the advance of our troops get out, and hoping for a calm settling of the question in a manner that may ensure tranquillity for half a century at least. I am. Sir, . Yours obediently, A CANADIAN MERCHANT. January 8th, 1838. ♦*»>*># ^^^#*^'*#A»*»» »» ^»y * r.DWARI) BATNES AND SONS, rHtNTKHN, t EFHi