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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sjtbrarji KINGSTON, ONTARIO THK Political State and Condition Of ER MAJESTY'S PROTESTANT SUBJECTS ix THE PROVINCE OE QUEBEC. (SINCK CONFEDERATION.) BY HAMPDEN. "Boinc villa^rc Ham]Hlcii, that with dnuntlesH breaNt The little tyrant of his fields withstood, Some unite inglorious Milton here may rest ; Sonio Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood." TORONTO : THE CANADIAN NEWS AND IMRLISHINt; CO. 1871. A I i t fDlTION f :ts, ;e bec, ;^:7^^^ >■' ■mvawMwr j -*-!| THK POLITICAI. STATE AND CONDinON OF HER MAJESTY'S SUBJKCrs, « IN rHE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC, (Since CoNKEDERAXiON.) THE Political State and Condition Of fER MAJESTY'S PROTESTANT SUBJECTS IN THE PROVINCE OE QUEBEC. (SINCE OONFEDRKATION.) BY HAMPDEN -*%*- Thn iffi l'*^*^ HanuHlen, that with dauntless broiwt The little tyrant of his fields withstood, ^ bo nc nute inKlorious Milton here may rest • Some Cromwell, jruiltless of his eountr/s blood." (irtxfa Elegy. TORONTO : THE CANADIAN NEWS AND PUBLISHING CO. 1871. tl THE POLITICAJ. STATE mtt flnjests's HubjccU in i\^t ^rovimr off flnebit. (SINCE CONFEDERATION.) HEN the Edict of Nantes, which had been granted to the Huguenots by Henry IV., of France in 1598, was )ked by l^ouis XIV. in 1685, the reformed or Calvin- Protestants of that country abandoned their posses- is, to seek in foreign lands that peace and contentment they ted for in vain in their own native homes. When they ^hed the mountains of the yura in Switzerland, they threw iselves down on their knees and thanked God he had saved from* persecution and misery. Such will inevitably be I fate of the Protestants of the Province of Quebec, if they lot at once and forever stem the tide of intolerance and >try, which has been setting in for some time past and will itually lead to the same sufferings and exile their ancestors ired in Calvinistic France. The F'rench Canadians have iea of the V)lessings of religious tolerance ; they cannot ^eciate the world-wide benefits which accrue to all classes from a participation in equal rights, and socizil and reli- 1 20;i:)3 6 assed umula burn at th gioiis liberty. Neither their moral nor intellectual educatioy^^Po' permits them to see the conse(iuenccs of a blind bigotry, whiclp ^ gri must re-act against themselves, and from the effects of whicw^"^^ ^ they alone will be the sufferers, for they form a minority eva|t^> it i on that narrow strip oT land, which constitutes the northew' *^ pi portion of the Dominion on the banks of the St. Lawrence, lithe co It is hardly necessary to revert to the pages of Canadi history to prove, that ever since the conquest of Canada by t British arms, the battle of life, liberty, and happiness has be& fought between the conquerors and the conquered. 'I English residents of Canada, who were once in a minoriAnd of treated their French Canadian fellow-countrymen with kiiwroache ness, courtesy, and affability. From the administration iny favc General Murray in 1760 down to that of Lord Gosford in iSAld we they were the objects of the warmest solicitude and generosiiMch wa and the recipients of the most distinguished favors both on tjfcnists part of the British Government and their fellow-colonists *| 774, v Canada. In political government they shared the honors a)|| exercij responsibilities of office ; in their educational and industi|jfe. C pursuits they were fostered and encouraged ; and in their socifthe Br intercourse with their fellow-citizens they were on a footing Bn at th equality, — what more could they have desired ? The counifc their at that period was sparsely populated ; the blessings of eduwr have tion were not so widespread as they arc at present, andlfch the) comparison with the number of their educated and distinguislwm the men, they shared ec^ually \vith their E^nglish speaking fell#e swar colonists in the honors and emoluments of office. It is ti5J|ed me there were favorites of the home authorities in those days, mi were < a ( of Canadi Canada by t ess has be uered. Tl { a minori il educatioft^^P^^^^'^^ ^^^ largest share of colonial emoluments, but this igotrv whicW* ^ grievance which was equally felt by the English and the ^cts of whiJN'^^^ Canadian. If the experience of history teacheth the minority evel|^^» ^^ ^^Y ^^^ safely asserted (for the assertion is truthful), the northeA*^ ^" proportion to the number of offices which was conferred ^awrence. **h^ colony on native born colonists, the PYench Canadian assed his fellow-colonist of native Knghsh origm in the umulation of the favors of (/overnment. Did not Adam burner and several of his fellow-colonists of British extrac- at the period of the American Revolution, repair to the nd of Orleans and raise the standard of revolt, because they ;n with kinBroached the British Oovernment with having conferred too linistration iny favors on their French Canadian fellow-countrymen? It sford in i83Pild well repay the student of history to refer to the petition id generosillch was addressed to ,King Oeorge III., by the English s both on tM)nists of that day, against the passing of the Imperial Statute vv-colonists 't 7 74, which guaranteed to the inhabitants of New France e honors aii^ exercise of their religion and the use of their language and and industilCK. Canada was not then, nor has it ever since been, treated in their socf the British Ciovernment as a conquered country. Look a footing iin at the pages of hist(jry and see how other nations have The counfc their conquered or ceded territory, and to what j)urp(jses ngs of edu||r have applied it ; they constituted it into penal colonies to resent, andiBch they condemned the vilest criminals and ruffians, with distinguisliim the conquered people would have to nax and associate )eaking felloe swamps and torrid heat of Cayenne br hrench ( iuiana e. It is tflaled men from the prisons of France to the hardshii)s of life, ose days, vi| were sent there to be a terror and a curse to the people ? SB i lectoi eferre uebe iLi elite imits ( ive A; cmbe (1 th. as be .ieuter And how has England been repaid for the benefits she h conferred on her French Canadian subjects in the Province Quebec? By their rising in open rebelUon in 1837 and 183! against her rightful power and authority ; by their massacre Lieutenant Weir of Her Majesty's 32nd Regiment, and the attempted massacre of every man, woman, and child of Britisl" ^"^ origin in the Province ; by their impotent threats of rebellio* ^ if the union of the Provinces were not abolished and a lo Parliament given to them ; and finally by the Jesuitry tht* employed in making British statesmen believe, that by the co federation of the Provinces, the Protestant minority in t Province of Quebec would be guaranteed in the preservati of their rights, liberties, and properties. It is this last pha» ^ ^' of their Machiavelian policy, which will be considered, a**"^^"'^ justly so, by posterity as the crowning act of their insincerii and hypocrisy in all their negotiations with the British Gover#^''^^^^~ ment. When they sought a federal and not a legislative uni' »^^"^ of the P.ovinces; when their representatives at the Westminstf|titiiciic Hotel so beguiled the emissaries from this and other ProvincM^y Mc as to induce them to yield to their solicitations, they contelfr^"<^^d, plated and projected the utter subserviency, not to say slavewthabas of over three hundred thousand Protestant and English CaMthis, th dian colonists to nearly a million Roman Catholic and Eren» ^vere • Canadian inhabitants of the Province of Quebec. Under tlfcsed, tc cover of an assumed liberality, they caused to be introducedJlder th( the " British North America Act, 1867," the following sectic^rgy, th — " The Legislative Assembly of Quebec shall be composed*iishes ti " sixty-five members to be elected to represent the sixty-f veiy few 9 'fits she h^^^^^^'*^^ divisions or districts of Lower Canada in this Act Pro ince M"cferred to, subject to alteration thereof by the Legislature of J o MQuebec, provided that it shall not be lawful to present to the ■■Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec for assent any bill altering the iTiassacre 'ih J ,v JBimits of any of the electoral divisions or districts mentioned 1r1 f Rriti*" *^^ second schedule of this Act, unless the second and f h U'o*^^*^^ readings of such Bill have been passed in the Legisla- , lorM^^^ Assembly with the concurrence of the majority of the embers re])resenting all those electoral divisions or districts, d the assent will not be given to such l)ill imless an address as been presented by the Legislative Assembly to the .ieutenant-Ciovernor, stating that it has been so passed/' The electoral divisions or districts mentioned in the second edule to the Act of Confederation are the followinc^ — ontiac — Ottawa — Argenteuil —Huntingdon — Missisquoi — rome — Shefford — Stanstead — Compton — Wolfe and Rich- ond — Megantic and the Town of Sherbrooke, twelve con- Westminsr*t't'^^^"cies in all." It may here be very approjiriately asked, ler Provinc^^y Montreal Centre, as well as Montreal West, was hey contc*^-^*^'^^^' '^"^^ ^^'^^Y ^^^ united Counties of Drummond and o say slavew^habaska were left out of the category ? The plain answer nglish Cai*!^^^i^» that many of the counties indicated in the second sched" : and Fren% ^^'^re supposed, at the time confederation was being dis- Under t^^<-'d, to be rapidly filling up with French Canadians, and that ntroducecmifl^'" the influence and direction of the Roman Catholic wing secti&»rgy, there was an extensive emigration from the Canadian composed><|ishes to those counties, and that the probability was, that in the sixty-fefer)' few years, French Canadian representatives would ont- jesuitry tht^ It by the co lority in t preservati lis last ph isidered, ai ir insince ritish Gove islative unif 10 i 1 ■«i number those of English extraction, and so attain the object J they had in view, viz., the disfranchisement of the English and | Protestant community in the Province of Quebec. It required only seven French Canadians, to change the limits of those counties and incorporate them in other constituencies favorable to their political and religious views. Already under the 'beneficent working of the provisions of the Act, two out of the seven have been aiMjuired by the domi- nant clergy — Jac(jues Picard, M. P.P. for Richmond and Wolfe, and Michel A. Bessette for Shefford, and how many others will follow the future will determine. To elucidate the mode in which they desire to speedily carry out the above recited provision of the Confederation Act, by which the Protestant element in the Legislative Assembly is to be virtually annihilated, it is barely neces.sary to allude to the result of the first election after Confederation for Richmond and Wolfe, at which Mr. Picard was elected by a scanty major- ity over his opponent, Mr. W. E. Jones, editor and proprietor of the Richmond (iuardian. Justly fearing diat Mr. Jones would be successful in the last election over his opponent Mr. Picard, the Government nominated the former a few months before the election as Emigration Agent to Eurojie, with instruc- tions not to return until the month of August, which was after the election, so that in the interval his former opponent might be elected by acclamation ! — and so he was 1 and so will others be, until the number of seven delegates be returned to Parliament from the counties nam'^^^' m the second schedule of the- Con- federation Act, and disfranchisement of Protestants be '"•^^■" the object! '^' ^^^gnsh and *^'-'- ^f required ^'""'^^ of those -"^'es favorable '"^y under die ' ^^^^ dom/. ^'I'nond and fm/ne. -^^ ^y carry out Pt, by vvbfch 'r is to be de to the '^'c^iniond 'fyjnajor- 'roprietor Jones em Mr. months instruc- ^ after ghthe rs be, ment Con- be 11 mccessfully, carried out under the auspices of the Roman Catho- lic Clergy in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of [Quebec. And how has the Go'ernment of the Province of Quebec, selected its members of the Legislative Council of Quebec, under the provisions of the seventy-second section of the Act of Confederation ? It reads thus :— "The Legislative Council " of Quebec shall be comi)osed of twenty-four members, to be "appointed by the Lieutenant-( Governor in the Queen's name, "by instrument under the great seal of Quebec, one being "appointed to represent each of the twenty-four electoral di- " visions of Lower Canada in this Act referred to, and eac/i ''' holdifig office, for the term of his life, wvXe^'i^ the Legislature of "Quebec othenvise provides under the provisions of this Act." Of the twenty-four members of the Legislative Council, four only are Protestants, while in proportion to the probable popu- lation at the time of confederation, eight at least ought to have been chosen as the objects of the benevolence of Her Majesty through the intercession and recommendation of the Honorable Sir Narcisse Fortunat Belleau, Knight, Lieutenant-Ciovernor of the Province of Quebec. Of fourteen officers of the Legislative Council, two alone are Protestants, and ot thirty-six officers of the T^egislative Assembly, there are but three who belong to that faith. It is immaterial whether the ])atronage rests with Mr. George Manly Muir, Clerk of the House, on whom Pope Pius IX. conferred the Order of St. Gregory, or on the dominant party in the Assembly, the fact remains the same, that of the officers, both of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assem- 12 I bly, one-third at least ought to profess the Protestant faith, as aj measure of common honesty and justice towards, not the least respectable portion of Her Majesty's subjects in this part of her] Dominion. And w\at has been the distribution of the Queen's favors to other persons since confederation ? While the noble, high- minded English speaking subject of Her Majesty is toiling with his usual perseverance and industry to add to his own means of living, and thereby increase the national capital and wealth of the country, the lazy, indolent, and impassive French Canadian jogs along in his usual way, hoping and trusting that by means of legislation, or the patronage of the Local Govern- ment, he may be enabled to obtain some lucrative office or employment, and thereby obtain a fancied position of superi- ority over 'his fellow-colonist of another origin. While since confederation the English speaking inhabitants of the Province of Quebec are entitled in foirness and justice to one-third of the honors and offices of (lovernment, they are scarcely recognized in the distribution of (iovcrnmental patronage, and are, in fact, what the French Canadian father inculcates on the mind of his children, viz., strangers in their own countr}' ! As will bereen hereafter, this is not only a paternal, but a sacerdotal admoni- tion which the i)riest as well as the parent impresses on the attention of his flock. In educational and industrial pursuits the same rule is observed. If a law be passed respecting schools or agricultural societies, if any money is to be raised for the joint benefit of both Roman Catholic and Protestant, the superiority of the one, ''''''^^^ part of her •''favors to ^' "°^^e, high. '^^^ ^^Pitnl and ^i^a-ssfve French ''^^•^^ ('Oven,. '^'^^ «^ce or '^" «'■ -superi- ^^'•^e since ^^^ ^'•ov/nce '■f^'>d of the ^<^cognf2ed "^^•^^ m /act, ^ind of his '■^^bereen ^dnioni- ''■ on the rule is •I'/turai 'efit of le one. ind the inferiority of the other, seems to be the guiding rule of iction. Thus an amendment to the school laws was passed, :onferring the i)ower to tax corjjorate bodies for school pur- 'poses, according to the respective sects and denominations tp which the shareholders may belong, dreat care was taken to place the distribution of the monies in the hands of the Roman Catholic School Commissioners, to whom the Protestants were to api)ly for their //ro rata of the contribution coming to them. Again, if the Dissentient wishes to pay his school taxes for the suj^port of Dissentient Schools, he is obliged to notify the Roman Catholic School Commissioners that such is his inten- tion, and so the cases, wherein the rule of superiority prevails, might be multiplied ad infinitum^ showing the spirit of French Canadian legislation \\\ a country, which in name alone is a British colony. And if the place of a high officer of Government should become vacant, who is chosen to fill it ? Not the moral, reli- gious Protestant, who fears God and honors the Queen, and who believes his whole duty to consist in conscientiously per- forming his duty to his fellow-men, but the renegade and the convert, or one whose brother is in Holy Orders in the Roman Catholic Church. It is sufficient as a mere semblance of jus- tice that he be a Protestant in name, although he be really a Ron"* m Catholic in heart. Late appointments to some of the highest ofiices in the Province of Quebec afford striking proof of the truth of this remark. The preamble to the British North America Act, 1867, federally uniting the Provinces into one Dominion, reading m u thus, " VVhereas • h !''^-o-»o.ofCo„fc.dera.,onaLi! . ""''"''"' "''" ^' l'^' "«ln.s, in,.a.,.s, an,l even I , '■''""' '""''""^ ' "'^' '- -paced and .,,,,,,, ^ 7'<"'^'- "^""noritie.s would required, i. would be enacted to T'"""" '''^'"'''"" "^^^ "0 one could complain : and tha, M, " "'"'''"''' '■''""■ *«' ■'-o"--^-Pec,i.orna:t /''^^^^^^ ^'^^'i-e is a nnnlin • "'^'^'•"^ or creed ;-"'^ -'^" I'-n .0 .pudia. a ; r: ''^"'^- '*--■ >""^H "y over any das., and ,l,us we I, '"'""'""■°" "^■•"""or- -"y complaints on the part oUI t """' '"''^ '■"'«' '" °^^-ve ""'- a«ain. the actiL; 1^;™^ ^'-'">"-^- -"ont, i„ ---..KpiscopacyandCletg ;,r:::r''--- 'n- Pro- -'f-rcspect and too n,u.:„ J J f / ™""'^"-' "'^^ '- --h 7" '" ".ink for a mon,ent 7^^-"''"!'" '"'^ ^i-l right. -"S.OU.S rights ol- the. Ronnn C ^ ' "'" ''''^''^''^^ -ci -»^'-.P'n close arhnitv.:!:^^::/.'^^-'''-- «- and *«»es and denomination; the, '''"'^ "'"' P"-"^ of all -"■>--h ehcir numbers might' ;:,"" ^^°"' '° '^'^^' advantage -n, \fhich • >^author- i observe lority in ''le Pro- ^o much ^^ rights cal and ni and s of all mintage weak highly ^y to bee? ?der- lion Act of 1 84 1. Such was the vacillation and time serving policy of every successive ministry ; such was the desire of both the ministerialist and the oppositionist to gain Ihe political aid of the French Canadian party, as it was called, that the social and general interests of the I''.nglish minority in Lower Canada were neglected, if not contemned. The Israelites of Kgypt never had harder taskmaster's in tiie persons of the IMiaroahs, than had the English Canadians at the hands of the (llergy, at whose beck and nod the l-Yench Canadian jjortion of the Min- istry of the day would jjass any law, heedless of its conse- quences to British interests or British feeling. But they never went so far as they have done si/ur Confederation ; the wounds they then mflicted could be cauterized ; they entered the body, not the soul,— they never advocated a state (;f moral degrada- tion cQmparati\ely with which the condition of the slave of the South was to be envied. They did not suggest the total pro- hibition of the Protestant to exercise the rights of suffrage ; they did not exclude him from taking part in the work of legis- lation ; they did not consider hinl like the Pariah of old, as a sore and a leper in society ; finally, they did not arrogate to themselves the right of intertering in the domestic affairs of the family circle, controlling, if not destroying, the happiness of the home. It is not inopportune here to remark, that nearly one half of the business in our Legislative Assembly consists, in the passing of laws affecting Roman Catholic interests or incorporating religious and eleemosynary institutions. In every city, town, village, or hamlet, in the Province of Quebec, the most valu- 16 able property is placed in mortmain by Act of Parliament, and held untaxed ; not content with this they repeat the history of Naboth and his vineyard. Lest the reader of this pamphlet may not l)c well versed in Scrijiturai lore, its transcription in language easy to i)e comprehended may not be misplaced. It is taken from the ist Kings xxi. Closely adjoining Ahab's palace in Israel was a beautiful vineyard, l)elonging to a man of the name of Naboth. This property was coveted by the King, who sent for Naboth and said to him, "(iive me thy vineyard.^that 1 may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near my house, and I will give thee for it a better vineyard; or, if it seems good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money." But Naboth would not surrender the ground ; it was dear to him because he had inherited it from his father, and he refused all offers however tempting. Then Ahab went into his house dejected and dis- pleased. He, the great monarch, had been baulked of his desire by one of his subjects ; so " he lay upon his bed and turned away his face and would not eat." Not long afterwards came Jezebel, fierce and malignant as ever. She pressed Ahab to tell her what troubled him. and when she heard his com- plaint, she exclaimed indignantly, " Uost thou not govern the Kingdom of Israel ? Arise and eat bread and let thy heart be merry. I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. Then Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and sent them herself to the elders and nobles of the city. She commanded their chiefs to proclaim a fast, to set Naboth high among the people, and to bring forward two men ^^arJiament, and -^t the history ^'I's pamphlet ranscription in ^iJspJaced. ft ' a Jjeautiful aboth. This ^aboth and dve it for ^ J I will give J to thc'C, i L>oth would ^U'it.' he had however and dis- bed and ^terwards l^d Ahab is com- ern the |eart be 'eeJite. them >ies of oset men * to testify that he liad uttered l)lasphcmies against God and the King ; and then upon their accusations to stone liim to death. 'I'lie elders obediently executed the commands of the ruthless queen. 'I'wo wicked men were easily found to bear flilse wit- ness against Naboth. He was declared guilty, and stoned to death before the gates of the city. When this foul deed was accomplished, Je/ebel went triumphantly to her husband and bade him arise and take possession of the vineyard which he had desired, and which Naboth would not sell him for money. The weak monarch arose from his couch and went forth into his ill-gotten vineyard. There he was confronted by that well known form shrouded in a rough hairy mantle, and lie heard again the voice of Klijah the Tishbite : " Hast thou killed also and taken possession ? 'I'hus says the F-ord, in the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth sliall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.'' Then Ahab exclaimed in fear, "Hast thou found me, O my enemy ?" The answer of Elijah conveyed to the terrified monarch the awful doom which awaited his entire house : " The dogs shall eat Jezebel liy the wall of Jezreel; him that dies of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat ; and him that dies in the field the fowls of the air shall eat." Ahab, alarmed by these words, was struck with remorse and contri- tion ; he rent his clothes and put sackcloth on his body. *' And the word of the Lord came to I'ilijah tiie Tishbite, say- ing, seest thou how Ahab humoles himself before Me? because he humbles himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days ; but in his son's days will I l)ring the evil ui)on his house." 18 III considering tlie actual state and condition of the Prote | tants in the Province of (^)uebec, arising out of the anomalo position which was ijnposed ui)on them for State purposes i the cf^nlcderation of the North American Colonies, it wi hardly be necessary to revert to those general principles anj ordinary maxims, which are firmly fixed in the mind of ever] enlightened person. Charity and benevolence towards all, o] in other words, '• Peace on earth and good will to all men, are the maxims wJiich, in every country and in every age, havcl distinguished the tolerant and the just. Pocke, in his admira' blc I'ssays concernir.g the human understanding, ])uts this sen- timent in such strong language, that its repetition will be excused! In sj^eaking of mutual charity and forbearance, he says (volume 2nd, ])age 279, chapter 16, section 4, on Degrees of Assent)- " It is unavoidable to the greatest part of men, if- not all, toj have several opinions, without certain and indubitable proofs of their truths ; and it carries too great an imputation of igno- rance, lightness and folly, for men to cjuit and renounce their former tenets presently u])on the offer of an argument which they cannot inmiediately answer and show the insufficiency of It would, we think, become all men to maintain /m^e- «//<-/ f/ir common oj/ices of humanity and friendship' in the diversity of opinions, since we cannot reasonably expect that any one should readily and obse(iuiously cjuit his own opinion and embrace ours, with a blind resignation to an authority, which the under- standing of men acknowledges not. For, however, it mav often mistake, it can own no other guide but reason, nor lilindly submit to the will and dictates of another." And ^'■f^" of tlic Prote! "^ the anomaici '"^^'•te purposes ( oJoiiies, it ^vj| ^' Pnnciplcs anj 'it-' niincl of ever] ^^ towards all, of ^^'•J' to all men. ' *-^v^ry age, hay, ^' 'n his adniim i S^ puts this seni willbeexcused.i '"^ ^^ys (voiuinci ■•'^ of Assent)— ^■^'"otaJJ, to I ''citable proofs] ation of igno. •noimce their ^>ment which Ufficiciicy of diversity of one should id embrace the under- ^^> '^t may ?ason, nor r-" And 19 asks, with an air of triumph worthy of the great pliiloso- icr and profound thinker, " Where is the man tliat has incon- lestahle evidence of the truth of all that he holds, or of the ilschood of all he condemns ; or can say that he has examined [() the bottom all his own or other men's opinions ?'' The reader will very naturally in(|uire for the proofs of the denunciations against the Roman Catholic Clergy, and of their hostility to the cause of Protestantism in (Quebec. Kvery man lis a witness of the acts which foil under his own observation, [and no one will gainsay anything that has been advanced, who has in his own person suffered the unlirt[iely interference of the ])riesthood in matters of concern to himself alone. Nor are there many who have the courage and determination to dare confront those who, in the height of their power and influence, have interfered in their domestic affairs or thwarted their efforts to gain a livelihood for themselves or their families. But for- tunately the proofs are at hand, and it will not require much research to establish the fact that, in the late elections for mem- bers to represent the constituencies in the Legislative Assembly, they have shown the cloven foot and evinced their deep-seated hostility to every one who is a Protestant in the Province of (Quebec. The following is a correct translation of the Roman Catholic Programme, which was extensively circulated through- out the Province of Quebec during the late elections : — 20 ^ CATHOLIC PROGRAMME. ! h': ■it- '■ THE APPROACHIXG KLECTIONS. " Our country, submitted to a constitutional rule, will, in a short time, liave to choose its representatives. This simple fact necessarily raises a question, which our duty obliges us to settle, and this question should be put as follows : What should be the course pursued by Catholic electors in the controversy, which is about taking place, and what should be their line of conduct in the choice of candidates, who will solicit their suffrages ? We believe we can answer this question in a satisfactory manner by affording some development to the ideas expressed by his Grace, the Lord Bishop of Three Rivers in his last Pastoral letter. Here are the words which we find therein : — ' - f 9 " T/ie men whom you send to represent you in the Legislature are required to protect and defend your religious interests, accord- ing to the spirit of the Church, as zvell as to promote and protect your temporal interests, for uvil laivs are necessarily in relation on the Catholic candidate. It is the safest criterion of whici they can avail themselves to judge of men and things. \Vt understand there can be no ([uestion here of Protestants t( whom we leave the same liberty which we claim for ourselves These premises being established, it is easy to deduce the? consequences, which will serve as a guide to the electors. Bui| in order to establish practical rules, the application of which j will be easy, we must take into account the particular circum- stances, in which our country is placed, the political parties which are formed therein and their antecedents. We belong in principle to the conservative party ; that is to I say, to that which constituted itself the defender of social authority. It is sufficient to say, that by the conservative! party, we do not mean every set of men who have no other tie than that of personal interest and ambition ; but a group of men sincerely professing the same principles of religion and nationality, preserving in their integrity the traditions of the old conservative party, which may be summed up in an inviola- ble attachment to Catholic doctrines, and an absolute devotion to the national interests of Lower Canada. In the political situation of our country, the conservative party being the only one which offers serious guarantees to religious interests, we regard it as a duty to honestly support 1 the m(?n placed at its head. ♦ But this loyal support must Iw subordinate to rdigious interests which 7UC ought na>er to tose sight of. If, therefore, there exist 23 ^on of whic- ») our laws any defect, ambiguities, or provisions whicli place a things, U't 4» peril the interests of Catholics, we should exact a formal "fotestants ti engagement from c • candidates to work, in order to cause tliese defects in our Legislation to disappear. For instance, the religious ])ress complains, with reason, that our laws on marriage, education, the erection of parishes, and registers of the civil status, are defective, inasmuch as they injure the rights of the Church, restrain its liberty, trammel its administration, or may lead to hostile interpretations. This state of things imposes on Catholic members the duty of I changing and modifying them, as, our Holinesses the IJishops i of the Province may demand, in order to put them in har- ,; mony with the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. \ Therefore, that members may acquit themselves more dili- gently of this duty, the electors should make it a condition of their support. It is the duty of the electors not to give their suffrages but to those who will entirely conform to the instruc- tions of the Church in these matters. n for ourselves to deduce the! ^^ectors. iiu( ation of ,vh/cfii '•ticular circuni. oJitical parties ^y ■> that is xo P^^ of social conservative ^ no other t\c ^t a group of ^e^Jgion and ifions of the " an inviola- te devotion ^nservative '^antees to ^y sup])ort J' ifiterests ere exist Let us, therefore, conclude to adoj)t certain general rules in certain given cases. 1. If the contestation should take place between two con- servatives, there can be no {question that we should support the one who will accept the programme which we have just traced out. 2. If, on the contrary, it should take place between a con- servative of any color, and an adejjt of the /ilxra/ school, our active sympathies should be for the former. 24 3- If the only candidates who offer themselves for our suffrages in a constituency are all liberals or oppositionists, we should choose him who will subscribe to our conditions. \\ 4. Finally, in a case where the contestation occurs between a conservative rejecting our programme and an opposition- ist, even should he accept it, the case will be more delicate. To vote for the first will be to place us in opposition with the doctrine which we have just now exposed. To vote for the second would be to place the conservative party in danger, which we desire to see powerful. What part should we take between these two dangers ? We should then advise the with- drawal of Catholic electors. It must be, nevertheless, understood that these rules which are laid down leave to the electors a certain liberty of action, which will depend on the particular circumstances of each con- stituency, and the antecedents of each candidate. Besides, 7ve have only tried to shoiu the religious convictions and qualifications 7vhich the electors ou^^ht to exact from those luho solicit their suf- frages. It is right to add, that to make their religious convic- tions pre\ail, it is necessary the members should be learned and intelligent. After being certain of the religious principles of the candidates, it is in the second place necessary there should be the largest i)ossible amount of learning and intelligence in the House. We should, therefore, disapprove of every Ministerial Act which would tend to exclude from the Parliamentary arena, 25 "selves for len who are capable of rendering service to the Catholic and National cause, under the pretext that they would restrain cer- lin ambitions ! To constitute the representation of manageable and power- less ciphers would be certainly a great evil, which it would be necessary to avoid. In two words, we wish to protect at the same time the [honor of the country and the liberty of the Church, and all our programme may be summed up in this motto, " Religion and Country." On the 6th June last, the Bishop of Montreal formally approved of the programme in the following words : — " The present is to certify to him who wishes to hear it, that I approve of the Catholic Prop'ammc on every point, and that there is nothing in this programme, which, in my opinion, is worthy of blame, even on the score of its timeliness. I add that I con-- sider this programme as the strongest protection of the true Conservative i)arty and the firmest supi>ort of the good ])rinci- ples which should govern a Christian society. 1 attach myself to this principle, for I see in it the safety of my dear countr}-, which will not be truly free unless the liberty of the Church shall be respected with all the rights which shall be assured and guaranteed to it. (Signed), "Jg. Ev de Montreak." i.!. If '■ li I ill 26 The Bishop of 'i'hrce Rivers approved of it on the following day in these words :- " You ask me if my last circular letter contains an approbation of the Catholic Programme. As 1 spoke to be understood, I believe that no one can be mistaken, and that )'ou see therein my approbation. I approved of it because I found the object of it to be good and legitnnate, and that the means proposed to attain that object are just and honest. (Signed), " L. F. Ev. de Trois Rivieres." It was on the 20th April last that the Programme was first published, and it was afterwards very widely circulated in hand- bills throughout the Province. On the 21st it was published in the Ordrc and the Nouvcau MofiJe, and on the 23rd in the Courier dn Canada, all of them organs of the Catholic Church. On the 24th April the Archbishop of Quebec issued a circular letter to his Clergy, in which, without disapproving of it, he said, " I believe it my duty to inform you that this programme only became known to me through the medium of the press, and that conseciuently it has the grievous inconvenience of having been drawn up without the participation of the P:pisco- pacy. •' The Bishops of St. Hyacinthe and Rimouski aho faintly disapproved of it. Hence arose a dispute between certain journals, whether the Laity could arrogate to themselves powers which could only be exercised by the l^:piscopacy. In fact, the \r^hbii;hcp and his co-adjutors the Bishops of St. Hyacint)-,e and Rimouski saw the bad consequences of its pub- lication in tht journals at that i)articular time, and apparmtly mm ' °" ^^le following '^ cfrcuJar letter >grainnie. As I =an be mistaken, approved of it ' ^^SitimatG, and ^ ^^^' just and ^me was first ^^ted in hand- ^s published 23rd in the °^'c Church. ^^ ^ Circular S of it, he ^'"ogi-amme ^^^e ])ress, ^nieiice of <^ f^pisco- ■ certain inseJves 9'- In > of St. its pub- 27 blamed the two recalcitant Bishops, viz., of Montreal and Three Rivers, for countenancing it. It is, however, very clear that tlie doctrines contained therein had been previously ])romulgated among the faithful, although they had not obtained such a wide circulation as that which i§ afforded through the columns of public journals. The organs of the Church did not venture to say that any of the Bishops disapi)roved of it, but merely confined themselves to the asser- tion, that its publication, coming from the Laity, was unauthor- ized. In fact, the same doctrines had been promulgated as far back as 1866, while Confederation was being mooted, and probably earlier — a fact which was cognizant to all the Bishops and Clergy in the Province, although the Bishop of Montreal may have no doubt regarding its timeliness, and the Arch- bishop of Quebec and his colleagues of St. Hyacinthe and Rimouski, may regret its unwise and untimely publication. Here it may be advisable to make a short digression, and inquire into the state and condition of the English speaking portion of the population of the Province of Quebec, most of whom are Protestants, although they vary in their nationality, origin, and creed. Thus, there arc English, Irish, and Scotch Protestants. The empires and kingdoms of Europe yield their contingent, and the French Canadian also (although few in number), combine to make up a solid and comi)act body, scattered in every part of the Province, but all animated by a common spirit, and working for a common cause : they are remarkable for their high intelligence, unswerving integrity, unceasing perseverance, and indomitable courage. The French 28 Canadian and Roman Catholic boasts of over two hundred and fifty years national existence in Lower Canada ; the British Protestant of not much more than half that period, durinif which he has abided here as a colonist, amidst all the toils and troubles, injuries, and persecutions incidental to living among French Canadians, who are numerically stronger ; and yet, speaking in general terms, what is their position comparatively, as regards commercial wealth and industrial enterprise? To say the least, two-thirds of the cai)ital of Canada are furnished by the Protestant community, and are embarked in national enterprises, both on sea and land, the benefits of which are equally shared by the Catholic and Protestant. While the French Canadian is building churches and monasteries, the English Canadian is constructing ships and warehouses, not that he neglects the former, although he gives his attention to the latter. The munificent donations which have been made by Protestants for charitable and educational objects, vie with, if they do not greatly surpass, the amount of hard earned money of the poor, which has been wrested from them in the shape of tithes for purposes of a similar nature. ''Nil sine magna vita labore dcdit mortalihusy — ITorace Satires, Book 1st, 9th In a political and social point of view, how different their condition, how debased !— how vile !— The French Canadian looks upon them as intruders on their national inheritance ; they would, if they could, spurn them from the soil, and if in the display of an honorable ambition, they seek for nomination 29 3 hundred and ; the British >criod, during ' the toils and iving among er ; and yet, niparatively, rprise ? To re furnished in national ■which are While the ^teries, the ouses, not tention to een made vie with, -d money shape of 1st, 9th t their uadian ance ; if in nation to office under the Crown, their claim is looked upon as pre- sumi)tuous and unreasonable. Tlierc have been instances (few and fiir between), since Confederation, where Protestants have l)ccn named to minor offices under the ( Government ; but for one who has received a mark of favor, how many others of the other nationality and religion have been the recipients of the honors and favors of (lovernment? - • • 'i'o resume the discussion of the political and religious prin- ciples, which were at work in the preparation of the Programme of the Catholic Church. To do this satisfactorily, it is necessary to thoroughly com- prehend the peculiar opinions of the Clergy and Laity of the Romish Church in Canada, on matters of nationality, religion, politics, and social economy. This is only to be derived from die study of the incipient literature of the country, and the opinions expressed by the well-educated class, who reside in the cities. There is a vagueness and want of uniformity in their ideas, which paralyze any deep inquiry into the subject. They have no well defined notions either on civil government or social economy. Their whole creed consists in the supposed connection between Church and State, without having any fixed idea of the line of demarcation which should exist l)etween them. The works of Garneau, Ferland, Faillon, Bibaud, and others inculcate the belief that they have a divine mission to accomplish, that of founding and establisliing a nation on the l)anks of the St. La>vrence, a belief which is re-echoed in the pulpit, in their literary associations, and at their public meetings. They never fail to impress on the minds of their hearers that they 30 arc a nation within a nation ; that is to say, they were sent as the emissaries of Providence to estabHsh their rehgion, laws, ami insti- tutions in this country,un(ler the protection of the French (Govern- ment, with the ultimate view of founding a nation in America. They say, " We have, as a nation, a mission to fulfil, and, as a l)eoi)le, an end to attain ; for there is no blank in the works of (iod. Each individual in the family, each family in the nation, each nation among men, have a ])Ost assign^'d to them before- hand. Let each one reach it by the ways which Providence has laid ojien to him, and this under the penalty of the most terrible punishments in case of prcNarication, under pain of extermination and death for the individual, the family or the nation, who will obstinately refuse to march towards the end which he should attain, and accomplish his mission ?" What is, therefore, the mission of the Canadian people ? They answer, the mission imposed on our fathers was the conversion and civilization of the savages of this country ; and the end which Divine Providence assigned to them was nothing less than the establishment of a ^^o^At profoundly Catholic in this land, which 7vas given to them as ati inheritance.'^ To reach this conclusion, they indulge in the wildest vagaries, in the most pellucid hallucinations. No chimera of the human mind was ever so absurd as the idea they entertain on this sub- ject. There is a similarity between the fanaticism .of the Mor- mon and the French Canadian on this point, which would strike the most careless observer. One of their most able writers, a Bishop in the Church, has lately published a work, wherein, without speaking metaphorically, he pertinaciously 31 holic in this insists that Jacriues Cartier was sent by the Ahiiighty, as Abra- ham was sent from' Mesopotamia, to point out to tliem the promised land, which was the Valley of the St. Lawrence I He profanely asserts that almost every incident in llie lives of the Patriarchs, from the departure of Abraham from his country to the exodus from Egypt, and the arrival in the [iromised land, has been repeated, under Divine sanction, in the life of Jacques Cartier, Chdmplain, and others. What a vile profiination ! what an unhallowed use of God's Holy Word ! The antithesis in the narrative seems to be that, Abraham, full of faith and obedience, prepared to leave his country — whither, he knew not — it was enough for him that he left a land of superstition and idolatry to seek a new country, wherein he could worship the true God ; while Jaccjues Cartier left a land of learning and piety, and a people of fame and culture (for Calvinism prevailed in France at that day), to found a colony on the banks of the St. Lawrence, where superstition and ignorance prevail to an extent unequalled in any other part of the world. The only hiatus in the learned Bishop's argument in favor of the Divine mission seems to consist of this : that when Jaccjues Cartier was unable to procure recruits to follow him in his expedition to Canada, he applied to P>ancis I., who told him he might take the prisoners who were condemned to death in the prisons of France, but he would not permit any more of his subjects to leave the country. There are some historians who are malevolent enough to insinuate that Jacques Cartier acceded to the King's proposition, and brought out with him several of these malefoctors, who remained in Canada, and 32 |jermanciuly scttlyd here. Anollier interposition of Divine Providence in favor of the Holy Mission of Jac()ues Cartier was the not less singular idea wliich entered the head of Henry IV., or rather of Henry of Navarre, as he was called, to entrust the care and execution of the plan of founding a colony in Canada to Chauvin the C'alvinist, which, as he says, pnn'iden- fially failed ! 'I'he love of country is the noblest feeling in the human breast. The wildest Arab who wanders over the deserts of Arabia, or the savage in our western forests, would not, for all the world, leave his tent in the wilderness to enter the boun- daries of civilization, nor would, he exchange the habits to which he has been enured from youth for those of civilized life. Denizens of the plain and the forest, they have an abiding sense of the charms of their own native wilds — the one takes as much delight in the chase of the lion and the tiger, as the other does in that of the moose and the bear — the arid sands of the desert, and the lakes and rivers of the forest, are the attractions to which Nature has allured them. Man, also, in a state of civilization, has a natural desire to al)ide in or return to the home of his birth ; the love of country is implanted in his breast, as it is in all others, and leads him to perform the most brilliant actions in war, and the greatest achievements in science and arts in peace. This is the strong- est l)ond of nationality— it is the tie which keeps nations together. Ikit what nation, Asiatic, pAiropean, or American, would desire to confine the blessings they enjoy to themselves alone ? to practice that egotism and selfishness which would ^st, are the incline them to exchide others from the benefits they enjoy. The Frencli Canadian is alone in his desire for isolation and retirement. He says if you arc not with us you are against us, you must assist us in carrying out tlie ends of the Divine Mission — that is to say, to estal)lish our religion, our laws, and institutions in this our promised land, or otherwise we shall blot you out and persecute you, as our forefathers in France did your ancestors of old. And what of the Flag of England, with its bright and glorious aureole surrounding and emblazoning it ? Did it twice wave for nothing on the hills of Cape Diamond in 1628, and 1759 ? Was the blood which was spilt in those memorable years, and which soddened the graves of as brave a set of men as ever carried arms, shed for nothing ? Or was it spent to found a nation in Canada, who never cease vituperating and cursing the name of England ? In their writings, in their daily inter- course, the French Canadian never ceases to hurl defiance at the conqueror who prevented them from accomplishing the Divine Mission — at that period — which they seek to do at the present day. Hear them speak of England's conduct towards Ireland. One of their eminent men and celebrated writers says, " Even the most powerful empires have rarely succeeded in completely denationalizing the unfortunate people with whom they are incorporated. Nevertheless, their annals have en- registered the most crying injustice and' atrocious persecution, vainly exercised, to attain that object. These efforts nearly always frustrated themselves against the force of resistance, while unity of faith and of language conferred on these unfortu- 1 ^4^5i'!i,'!5{. I ! ; 34 nate populations. It is everl a sight which has been given us to contemplate in the days in which Providence has placed our existence. Contemporary history daily narrates the revolting conduct of England to anglify and protestantize faithful Ireland, and the sanguinary barbarism of Russia to denationalize and decatholocize i-eroic Poland." * * * j^ speaking of the immorality and frightful consequences of a policy founded on any other basis than justice and equity, he continues his diatribes against England and Protestantism in the following words : — " But should heroic Poland or faithful Ireland ever so much desire to alleviate the weight of the yoke which burdens them, without, however, the aid of revolution and denouncing all solidarity with those cosmopolites without faith nor law, they would treat the most courageous of their children as rebels, or send them to expiate the crime of having wished to restore liberty to their dear country, on the gallows; or confine them in dark dungeons ; or subject them to the torments of an exile worse even than death itself" And this is the language of a spiritual pastor of the Roman Catholic Church, the warm supporter and friend erf the Minister of Militia and his followers in the House of Commons of this Dominion ; and of a pastor who has unbounded influence on the minds of thousands and tens of thousands of his French Canadian fellow countrymen ! As these lines are being written (the 12 th July — an ominous day !) news is conveyed over the telegraph wires that in the electoral contest for the representation of the united Counties of Drummond and Arthabaska in the Legislative Assembly, 35 Edward I. Hemming, Esq., the late representative, has been defeated by Wilfred Laurier, Esq., by the overwhelming majority of nearly a thousand votes. What brought this about ? Mr. Hemming was a devoted adherent of the Provincial Minis- try, supported them in all their measures, and did as much as he could consistently do, to further the views of the dominant party. Whence, therefore, the cause? It is the most striking proof that can be afforded of the efficacy of the Programme as far as nationality is concerned. Mr. Hemming is a Protestant and his adversary a Catholic. Having disposed of the question of nationality ; that is to say, having shown that if the French Cana-^ians are not in the eyes of the world a separate and distinct nation, they consider themselves so, it will be necessary to look at the expression of the political views of the authors of th^ Programi?ie. It is an incontestable fact, that the foundation stone of their national edifice reposes on a belief in Church and State. To bonow again from the works of the distinguished prelate, to whom allusion has already been made, he says : " To icatck and control legislative action in the enactment of all necessary laws for the good government of the people ; to 7i>afch and control (the italics are his own) all the acts of Governmental administration ; here are certainly very great privileges and very serious rights ; but for those who enjoy these privileges and ex- ercise these rights the responsibility is very heavy, I might almost say fearful for him who understands^all their weight and extent." To watch and control all the acts of Governmental adminis- 36 tration would imply that this could not be legitimately done by the legislator ; if so, it must be done very indirectly by means of his votes in Parliament. The impression would be convey- ed and certain fp.cts bear out its truth, that it is the Church, either directly or through the Legislator, that controls the ad- ministrative acts of Government. During the Quebec Conference, before Confederation, the question of divorce was raised. It was very naturally a sub- ject of inquiry, whether the concession of this right to the Fede- ral Parliament would not militate against the rights of the Church. The Catholic members at the Conference, knowing the power which Confederation would confer on the Church in the Province of Quebec, and foreseeing the humiliation, not to say destruction, of the Protestant element in the population of the Province, seemed readily to consent to the proposition ; nevertheless, they had certain doubts on the point, and the pre- sent Archbishop of Quebec, who was then Rector of the Laval University, either proceeded to Rome or communicated with the Papal authorities on the subject. He asked them if a Cath- olic could conscientiously, under the circumstances in which the French Canadians then found themselves in Canada, or a Catholic member of Parliament, sustain by his vote the project of Confederation, such as it had emanated from the Quebec Conference ? All the high officers of the Church were consulted ; the Col- lege of Cardinals, the members of the Propaganda, the Pope himself for aught that is known, and the answer, strange to say, was in the affirmative. They were willing to sacrifice all their 37 preconceived ideas on the sanctity of the marriage tie, of its being a sacrament wliich nothing could destroy, in order to ob- tain political pje-eminence over the English Canadian and the Protestant in the Province of Quebec. The prize was too great to be jeopardized and possibly lost by a blind adherence to a doctrine, which for ages had been a fundamental one in the Church of Rome. Secrets, communicated confidentially, alone interpose a barrier against revealing other acts of the .nembers, both of the Federal and Local Governments of Que- bec, wherein they were counselled by the clergy as to the line of action they should follow in the administrative departments of their respective Governments. The Progra7?ime says : " It is impossible to deny that poli- tics are closely bound up with religion, and that the separation of the Church and the State is an absurd and impious doctrine. This is particularly true of our Constitutional Government, which, attributing to Parliament all power of legislation, places in the hands of those who compose it a double-edged weapon, which might become terrible." , What do the authors of the Prog7-amme mean ? Do they in- sinuate that, not content with depriving the Protestant of the right to Interfere in the business of legislation, they would intro- duce into the Province of Quebec the institution ^f Loyola, or the Monita Secreta of Laynez or Aquaviva ? What is that double-edged weapon which is to become so terrible ? Will it affect the soul or the bpdy ? Is the thumb-screw to be applied mentally or physically ? When a considerable class in enlightened England doubt the ■mM'^m.- 38 • propriety and expediency of a connection between Church and State, when they would desire to see the spiritual heads of the Church removed from their seats in the Housf of Lords, it is rather strange that in free America any body of men should be found, who would assert that the separation of the Church and State was an absurd and impious doctrine. It is true, that since the union of the Provinces in 1841, the period when res- ponsible Government was introduced, it has been well known that the Church in the Province of Quebec has exeitised an unwise influence in matters of a temporal nature, yet it is only lately they have become so outspoken on the subject ; they now openly declare that religion being intimately connected with politics, it behoves them to assert the doctrine as being an in- tegral part of their religious and political faith. They go far- ther, and in both their writings and conversation insinuate that none but Catholics '^oxA.^l participate in the business of govern- ment or legislation in the Province. It is true that in a very few instances Protestants have succeeded in bein;_^ elected in Roman Catholic constituencies, but under such terms and con- ditions that they forfeit their own self-respect and the respect and consideration of their co-religionists. In some cases they have been compelled to make concessions on matters of faith, humiliating to their consciences and detrimental to the position in which they would desire to be held by their English-speaking fellow-countrymen. No consideration ot superior ability to discharge legislative functions, no idea of liberality or justice towards him whom they admit to be better qualified than them- selves to perform them, would induce the French Canadian to ■■■■I 39 swerve from the objects he has in view, that of founding agieat Catholic nation in the Valley of the St. Lawrence. One of their writers says : " We conclude from the legislative action of Protestants in matters of divorce, common schools, usury and intemperance, that it is the duty of every Catholic elector to be assured that the man whom he votes for will always act in his capacity as the representative of a Catholic constituency, and will vote conformably to the pri?idples of the Catholic Church. Any candidate who will not accept such a condition ought to frankly declare it to his electors, if he be honest, and not accept an office which would not have been conferred upon him, ex- cepting on that condition. * * * He adds, for the French Canadian elector, whom we know to be a Catholic above all, the candidate of his choice should be one, who would offer the greatest guarantee for the protection and defence of his faith, his language and national institutions." He cites the seven- teenth chapter of Deuteronomy, 14th and 15th verses : "When thou art come unto the land, which the Lord thy Ood giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, ' I will set a King over me, like as all the nations that are about me.^ Thou shalt in any wise set him King over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose ; one from amoni:^ thy breth- ren shalt thou set King over thee ; thou may est not set a stran- ger over thee., who is not thy brother.^' In matters of social economy, the Programme would imply that the rights, immunities and privileges of the Roman Church are not sufficiently protected by existing laws. It says, " That the religious presis complains v.-ith reason, that our laws on marriage i'^mm- 40 education, the erection of parishes, and registers of civil sfalus, are defective, inasmuch as they injure the rights of the Church, restrain its Hberty, trammel its administration, and may lead to hostile interpretations." As regards marriage, it has been a matter of complaint that several articles were irEjrted in the Civil Code of Lower Canada, authorizing the nullity of the marriage tie in certain specified cases and that they militate against the right of the ecclesiastical authorities to exerclsf exclusive jurisdiction over such matters according to the carc^ o^ their Church. Should the law be altered the greatest evils mighi tollovv. For instance, many marriages are conirpcted ';: the Pr(^l ice of Quebec be- tween Protestants and Roman Catholics, wnicli arj solemnized by a minister of the former or a priest of the latter faith. The Civil Code regards marriage more in the light of a civil con- tract than a religious one. In the eyes of the Church, it is a sacrament which no rule (Tan effect nor no law abrogate. Yet it is contended by some persons, and they are not a few, that such marriages, when celebrated by a Protestant minister, are illegal and are not binding on the CathoHc husband or wife, as the case may be. Now, if the Church had the power, which it arrogates to itself, to declare such marriages illegal by virtue of their ecclesiastical laws, the children of such marriages (if the laws were altered) would be illegitimate, and consequently deprived of their right of inheritance. There are other cases enumerated in the Civil Code, wherein the marriage tie might be dissolved by the tribunals, which would impair the rights of the Church. It is for this they seek the abrogation of these 41 laws, it behoves the Protestant community, within the Province of Quebec, to watch with jealousy any innovation which might tend to impair the security they now enjoy, or to affect the in- terests of families which to them may be so much at heart. With unwearied vigilance and unceasing appeals to the common sense of the more liberal among the French Canadian repre- sentatives they may avert evils, the consequences of which would be experienced not alone by themselves but by their children after them. With respect to the national reforms they seek to enact, sure- ly the present laws on the subject afford them every protection and safeguard they require. The numerical majority the French Canadians possess in the Legislature of the Province enables them to make any alterations they may desire in the existing regulations, provided these do not affect the rights of the Dissentients, for if they did, the 93rd section of the British North American Act fully protects the latter against any inno- vations. What, then, do they require to make these defects in their educational institutions the subject of remonstrances in their religious journals ? Do they wish to pass laws in defiance of guaranteed rights and well-established privileges, or do they think that the appeal mentioned in that section of the Act must be exercised by the Parliament, over which they have exclusive and paramount control ? They hold that the parent must yield to the clergy in the supervision of the education of his child ; that family interests must yield to secular ones ; and that the Cliurch alone possesses the right to control popular educa- tion. 42 Not only the religious, but the liberal Conservative press of the Province join in the outcry, that their rights have been in- vaded by recent legislation. In what respect, then ? Surely, it must have been by Imperial legislation, for the end and ob- ject, the Parliament of the Province of Quebec seems to have in view, is the consolidation of clerical powers over all the social institutions in the Province, and the establishment of what they are pleased to term their national faith over the ruin of every other. In corroboration of the remarks already made, that all the Bishops in the Province, the Clergy and laity fully concurred in the obnoxious principles laid down in the Programme, but merely differed as to how the refomis based on them should originate, it is sufficient to refer to the columns of the Minert'e, the organ of the Liberal Conservative party, of the Government of Quebec, and the French Canadian representation in the Dominion Parliament. " The Minervc promises, in the name of the Conservative party, to grant to the bishops the alterations they may desire in some of our civil laws." * '^ '" •'" On the 30th May, 1870, it said : " All concessions which the religious authorities will demand from the laity they will not fail to receive with good graces, because they will demand them with good graces. It is against unauthorized demands of concessions made by an unauthorized authority, against which wc protest." On the 15th June last, it said : " We are sufficiently acquainted with our legislators to know that the part of the law which relates to Catholics will be promptly corrected when the Court of Rome mm 43 will have made known its will." On the 2Sth April last, it said : " The Programme in itself has nothing unusual or extra- ordinary; it has always entered into the ideas and spirit of the Conservative party to submit to the wishes of our bishops, and what is better, whenever they have asked for reforms the Con- servative party has heartily accorded them." On the 12th May the following remarks occur : " The Programme has nothing unusual in itself, inasmuch as it tends to confirm our respect for the will of the Episcopacy. It is only its time/ifiess, .as well as the character and intention of those who projected it." It will thus be seen that the Programme, against which the English-speaking people of the Province of Quebec justly took offence, met with the approval, not alone of the Bishops, but of the whole Conservative party in that Province. Three of the Bishops and several organs of the Conservate party merely objected to its timeliness ; that is to say, the times were not propitious for the arrogance and impertinence of the authorities of the Church of Rome. That they contemplated the utter prostration of Protestant power and authority in the Province ; that they connived at the flagrant spoliation of whatever rights were left to them ; and that they foresaw the estal)lishment of a great Catholic nation in this country they were willing to admit and approve ; but they alone questioned the expediency of making known at present what they seriously and advisedly thought of and projected for the future. , What influence is otherwise to be drawn from the desire so fully expressed by a certain party in the Church to promulgate the doctrines contained in this Programme, and of another 44 party to conceal them y6>r ///^//TN^;// ? Whence the necessity of concealment, if the design were not seriously entertained ? Treason generally hides itself in a multitude of guises ; the worst to be dreaded, for it is the most dangerous, is that which is hedged in by the power of the Papacy, and the watchfulness and precautions of its secret agents ! The reader will very naturally inquire, whether this state of hostility between the Catholics and Protestants arises from re- ligious causes alone. If it were so, possibly the asperities and animosities between rival sects might be assuaged in the course of time, and the evils arising therefrom be alleviated by the re- turning good sense and moderation of the people. But unfor- tunately the evil has a deeper root ; it may be traced to differ- ences in nationality as well as religion. It has been already stated, that notwithstanding the kind offices of the English population of Lower Canada toward the French Canadians, and the benevolent intentions of the British Government, re- specting them, they had, ever since the Conquest, been a dis- contented people. They looked upon their fellow colonists of the other extraction, not only as rivals, but as conquerors, and the thirst for revenge dried up and extinguished every good feeling of which they might have been possessed. The spirit of discontent broke out in the war of the American Revolution; it was partially manifested in the war of 1812, and finally cu' minated in the rebellion of 1837 and 1838. It is unnecessary to dwell upon that long course of factious and turbulent oppo- sition,which the House of Assembly of the Province of Lower Xanada supported, on all occasions, by the unswerving suffra- 45 ges of its constituents of French origin, had manifested to\vard the Government and institutions of Great Britain, although it was from that Government and those institutions, that the As- sembly derived its existence and authority, as a constituent part of the Legislature of Lower Canada. It will be sufficient to observe that, no opportunity was ever lost sight of by that body, for arrogating to itself powers and privileges, which were never intended to be conferred upon it by the Constitution of the Province; that every exertion was made to subvert that con- stitution in its fundamental principles ; and that, ultimately, the legitimate control of the mother country itself was scorn- fully set at naught. The redress of grievances was the osten- sible cause assigned, for the unnatural opposition of the French Canadians. But it was evident to those, who took the pains to scrutinize their conduct, that without descending into particu- lar details, no redress of grievances, however ample or com- plete, could ever conciliate into a proper line of duty, a body of men whose only aims and objects were to conjure up new grievances the moment an attempt was made on the part of the Imperial Government to alleviate the old ones; thus laying the foundation of endless variance between England and its colo- ny. But this was a state of things which could not be long endured without imminent danger to the integrity of the Em- pire, and the peace and happiness of one of its most important provinces. Accordingly, a check was attempted to be placed on the revolutionary progress of the House of Assembly, and upon the application of Government, the Imperial Parliament did not hesitate to vindicate its own authority for the purpose 46 -I m of preventing a dissolution of civil society in Lower Canada. This determination served to unmask the whole of the projects of the Assembly and its partisans. Thwarted in their legisla- tive capacity, and finding that they could no longer impose up- on the credulity of the liritish Government or Parliament, they had recourse, for the furtherance of their revolutionary designs, to plebeian patronage and popular agitation. They broke out into open rebellion against the Queen's authority in Canada, and that feeling of hostility against the British Crown, which they had nurtured in their bosoms since the Conquest, which they had manifested during the stormy administrations of Sir James Henry Craig and Lord Dalhousie, and which they have shown ever since, became clear and apparent to the most careless ob- server. It was not a rebellion a;gainst the British Government, for infringing on any abstract principal of human rights, it was not a war, which was waged for the redress of what might be considered any real oppression or grievance ; it was a war of races, begun and carried on for supremacy over their rivals. In its incipient stages, it was marked by a degree of ferocity and blood-thirstiness, which never even characterized the wars of England between the rival factions of York and Lancaster. No sooner had the "sons of Liberty," as the French Canadian rebels called Ihemsel ves, assembled in the early part of Octo- ber, 1837, than they hoisted the tri-colored flag and issued an "address to the young men of the North American Colonies," containing sentiments well calculated to arouse the fears of every peaceful subject in the Province; and it was the con- stant endeavour of the whole of these illegal associations to 47 promulgate doctrines of the most dangerous tendency to the peace of society. Young and old were taught to entertain sen- timents at variance witli the moral and i>olitical obligations of British subjects, and adverse to the supremacy of the mother country.- Partial 1 corrupt writers among French Canadians and others, mi*^ affirm that the rebellion of 1837 and 1838 was un- dertaken for the redress of grievances, and point to the efforts of Lord Durham and others as the authors of responsible gov- ernment, what they thought was to be the panacea forall the evils under which the French Canadians fancied that they labored. In answer, it may be said, that the true history of the Cana- dian Rebellion has never been written ; that it originated in a deep-seated hatred against the English race in Canada ; that it was fost*^ d and encouraged by an insane desire to see the Crown a athority of France supersede that of England in this country ; and that they, even at that early period, contem- plated eventually the formation*of a Roman Catholic nation on the shores of the St. Lawrence. The murder of Lieutenant Weir, of the 32nd Regiment, has been already mentioned, and the contemplated assassination of several leading citizens of Montreal, a list of whom was found on the person of John Mc- Donell, Advocate, ot that city, who was taken prisoner in the early part of the rebellion, detract greatly from that plausible idea so generally inculcated by the advocates of the French Canadian rebel, that the rebellion was undertaken for the re- dress of grievances which they suffered under British rule. No, it was a war of races, projected and attempted to be carried 48 '8i fi: ■ ) ■ t ' out for the extermination of British subjects from one of tjie colonies of England ; and even assassination was not a means to be deprecated provided their ends could be carried out. They failed, for Providence* was in favor of liberty and the right. And what is to become of this embryo Trench Canadian and Catholic nation on the shores of the St Lawrence ? That it will ever arrive at maturity or reach anything like colossal pro- proportions is too absurd to be believed. The logic of events points to the predominance of several great powers on the North American continent ; i leir form of government and social and political institutions may, and probably will, differ, but v ""y will owe their origin to the Anglo-Saxons. Long after the : une of New France shall be forgotten in the Province of Quebec, the story of its conquest by the British arms will be recited to listening ears, and the language of Chaucer and of Di^ den will never fail to make them remember the glorious achievements of their ancestors. ' It will be interesting to enquire what are the views of the French Canadians respecting annexation ? Whenever trade becomes depressed, and they lack energy to embark in indus- trial pursuits, they imagine a change of Government would im- prove their material condition, and see in the magnified advan- tages of annexation a panacea for all the evils they endure. This remark applies to the discontented only, for idleness and its consequent evils engender a spirit of discontentment ; but the feelings of the French Canadian generally are enlisted % 49 against annexation, as will be seen by the following paragraphs from a late work : — " It is this fidelity of our fathers to their new mother coun- try which preserved us in 1775 '^^^ 1S12 from being swallow- ed up in the great American Republic, and, consequently, from all the misfor<^^unes and ruin which accumulated on this people during the four years of civil war, which has just terminated, and the possible consequences of which at present alarm their most enlightened statesmen. What would have become of us if the religion and patriotism of our fathers had not preserved us, a small Canadian people, from annexation with the United States ? If we wish to know it, we have but to visit the old French establishments of Louisiana, Missouri, and Illinois, and we shall there see but a very small number of them speaking French, the language of our fathers ; for in all these old French colonies, the French language is nothing but a foreign language. Alas ! we shall see a very large number who have lost the Catholic faith and have shamefully apostatized, and that it was necessary for all of them to adopt Republican manners and customs, so little in harmony with the proverbial urbanity and politenes of Old France, from which we have descended. In one word, we convince ourselves that it became necessary to pass through the folly and humiliation of a complete national transformation, which is far from being brilliant." * * * In another part, he says, " Follow them on Sundays you will see that a certain number of them do not frequent any church ; that many, accompanied by their children are attendants at the Methodist and Presbyterian congregations. In visiting at their '%^l»B«-iwi»ir'- 50 n llj'i! houses, yon will not fail to become convinced, that they have yielded to American ideas, morals, and usages. Wherefore, T ask you, to what nationality does a French Canadian family belong, who do not speak the French language, who are no longer Catholics, and who have adopted the morals and cus- toms of Americans ? What remains to them of the nationality of their ancestors ? Nothing. They are Americans and no longer Canadians These explanations of the sense in which we consider the word ' nationality,' will enable us to discover who are our real friends in this point of view and who are the men, who have really at heart our national interests ? " Herein we have the distinct avowals which parenthetically need correction. The author, a distinguished writer, says, " that in 1775 ^^"^^ 1812, they were preserved by the fidelity of " their foreflithers from being engulphed by the great Ameri- " can Republic." History ; the grim pages of truthful history, totally belie this assertion. It was the valour and the undaunted bravery of British soldiers, who, ])0th in 1775 and 1812, saved this coun- try to the. British Crown. In the war of the Revolution, it was the heroic Carleton, who, escaping from Montreal, which Montgomery (ingloriously for the boasting and vaunting French Canadians,) triumphantly entered, descended the St, Lawrence in a canoe to Quebec, and there, with the aid 'of a handful of British trooi)s, kept Montgomery at bay, until the rigour of the climate and the vicissitudes of a long winter's cam- paign forced his military successors to evacuate the country. And what of Chateauguay in 181 2? Phillip Aubert de 51 (laspe, a favorite historian of the French Canadians, whose memoirs have lately been published, says distinctly, that grave doubts existed at the time, whether the French Canadians, who never claimed anything but a stratagem in the battle of that name, did not claim more than they deserved, as the Fen- cibles, a military corps in the pay of the British Government, really out-numbered the few French Canadians, who were pre- sent on the occasion. In other words, he, a distinguished • author, and very veracious writer, throws doubts on the valour of his fellow-countrymen, whose' descendants never cease to talk of the heroic ( ? ) actions of their ancestors on that mem- orable battle-field. The truthfulness of these lemarks will l)e apparent from well- established historical reminiscences, fn 1775, but one year previously, the so-called "Quebec Act'' had been passed by the Imperial Parliament, guaranteeing to the French Canadians, the exercise of their religion, and the use of their language and their laws. They had hitlierto been a discontented and un- happy people ; they thought that they writhed under the iron heel of a rapacious comiueror, and notwithstanding the passing of the (2uebec Act, (of the provisions of which they were then scarcely cognizant,) the}' remained with a \'ery few exceptions, passive and indifferent, and as a peojjle, took no part what- ever in rej)elling the invaders from their soil. In the war of 181 2 and 18 14, they had been too recently (as they thought,) the victims of persecution under the admin- istration of Sir James Henry Craig, even to enter into the de- fence of any of His Majesty's possessions in America. The 52 ( imprisonment of their political chiefs and the suppression of their press by that worthy Governor, a very few years before the war, were sufficient causes for their indifference, if not their apathy and neutrality. The parathcosis being thus concluded, the question must very naturally be recoursed to, what is to become of this em- bryo French Canadian and Catholic nation on the shores of the St. Lawrence ? To put it in their own words, (for logically it is tried to be shown, that the French Canadians desire to found a Nation ( ! ) in this country,) — "Our mission as a peo- " pie has an essentially religious character. Our national hap- " piness, as well as our eternal happiness, depends upon our " attachment to the f£yth of our fathers. As long as we are " faithful in walking in their ways, Heaven will prosper us, as " it blessed them ; we shall advance with a firm and sure pace " towards the accomplishment of our destinies, which are with- " out doubt, the formation of a Great Catholic Nation in the " rich and fertile valley of the St. Lawrence. (The italics are the " learned and distinguished authors.) This truth being under- " stood, clearly shows us the road to follow, even in the most " difficult times, such as those we are now passing through, " (in 1866,) It will sustain our courage, even when every- " thing seems desperate. Let us, therefore, frankly and sin- " cerely be always Catholics, and regard the future with a full " and entire confidence." • , And what is to tnakc of the French Canadians, a great and powerful Catholic ( ! ) Nation on the banks of the St. Law- rence ? »Sa»::T»!!P-- 53 ;ssion of irs before :e, if not ion must this em- shores of logically desire to as a peo- onal hap- upon our 1 we are )er us, as lure pace are with- in;/ in the s are the ig under- he most through, n every- md sin- ith a full reat and St. Law- They have not a single element of greatness or power among them. They are an indolent, idle and effeminate people ; they lack the great purposes and energies of commerce ; neither by their moral or intellectual training, are they fit for those con- tests, in which men come out the victors, through their superior intelligence and unswerving integrity. In the arts and scien- ces, with very few exceptions, and those hardly worth men- tioning, their intellect is dwarfed, their force deteriorated, and their energy impaired. In the palmy days of Dalhousie and Kempt, when centralization was one of the principles in the social economy of the people, there were men, such as the Bedards, Vallieres de St. Real, Papineau and others, who dis- tinguished themselves at the Bar and in the Senate. There were a few eminent doctors, but there were neither sculptors nor painters, authors nor historians. Of late years, Garneau and the Jesuits of the Laval University have contributed some works to the historical literature of the country, but these are so redolent of French authority and anti-British sentiment, that they can hardly be received as the faithful exponents of the truths of Colonial history. Their colleges annually turn out young men, who are pretty well versed in classical literature, mathematics and rhetoric, but what do they do ? They either immediately embark in the pursuits of the learned profession, already too overcrowded, or, yielding to their natural love of indolence, beguile their time away, uselessly, either to them- selves or their country. In industrial or agricultural pursuits, they borrow from every one and invent nothing. Witli very, very few exceptions, their farmers remain cultivating the same ^■■iil 54 soil their ancestors did years before them, without thinking for a moment of enriching or manuring it, or without adopting any of the modern appliances for its improvement or cultiva- tion. In politics they profess to be something, and in religion everything. More than one-fifth part of the working days of the year, are totally absorbed in religious observances, national holidays and festive occasions. They beat the Tyrolese in their love of display, and the Spaniards and Mexicans in their outward show of empty religious ceremonies. The census of 1 86 r states that they then numbered nearly a million, (943,253,) of whom it may be safely computed, nearly one-third have emigaated from Canada to the States. Of these, forty thousand w^ere volunteers in the late civil war, of whom about fifteen thousand where killed. Taking into con- sideration this large emigration, which is constantly increasing, and the ratio of increase of population comparatively with deaths, it may be presumed, that if correct information be af- forded from the decennial census now being made, the French Canadian population will remain pretty much the same as it was in 1861, and possibly not quite so much. Their material resources, comparatively with those of their English-speaking fellow-colonists have already been alluded to. How then can they dream of founding a nation without moral energy, intellectual culture or material wealth ? Even if the great Anglo-Saxon family to the South and West of them pla- cidly looked on and witnessed the experiment, time would dis- sipate their delusion, and they would only afford further living evidence of the fallacy of the idea, that a nation can be built wr 56 up without those attributes of the human character, which im. part strength and solidity, or without those moral qualities, which elevate and adorn men. In a work entitled "New France," which was published by M. Prevost Paradol, and which excited a great deal of atten- tion at the time throughout Europe, he attributed the loss of France's Empire in the Indies and America, not so much to the want of enterprise and energy among his countrymen, as to the superior intelligence and commercial activity of the Anglo-Saxon race. The French Canadian in wishing to im])ose a heavy yoke on his Anglo-Saxon countryman with a view to establish a an- tionality in the Province of Quebec, does not a})pear to be guided by the counsels of history or the experience of the past. What has become of the French Empire in India which was establislied at the sacrifice of so much money and blood by Dupleix? What has become ot the French Empire in Ameri- ca, which owed its formation to the truly magnificent designs of Colbert ? Look at all the colonies of France, with the ex- ception, possibly, of Algeria, and what is their present stat^ and condition ? There is not a single sign of material pro- gress or development among them ; they remain in the same stagnant state in which they existed at the period of their for- mation, without a ray of sunshine to brlgliten them, or even without a gleam of hope for the future. And what, it may be askedjhas become of France itself? A prey to intestine feuds which partly owe their origin to religion, and partly to the pas- sions of the people ; a country, ernst the pride of the civilized 56 world, the seat of the arts and sciences ; the nucleus around which the Savans of the world assembled, to draw inspiration and learning from its academies and social gatherings. Is it at this moment, when she lies prostrate at the feet of her proud conqueror, that her children in America should seek to trans- plant on their own soil, the seed which has borne such fniit on the land of their ancestors ? How much did the sacred name of religion, perverted to the base purpose of pandering to hu- man passions and prejudice, enter into the views of those, who sought to establish a republic on the ruins of monarchy ? And in treating of the social state and condition of the Protestant in the Province of Quebec, has it not been conclu- sively shown, that under the sacred guise of religion, the French Canadian wishes to acquire political power and prestige? What arm do they use among the ignorant and uneducated to prejudice them against the English in Quebec, to deprive them of their rights and immunities ? Do they appeal to their reason or judgment, or to their intolerance or fanaticism? Do they say that their institutions are threatened, or that their religion is assailed ? No, they wish to create a war ot races in the Province of Quebec ; and by the annihilation of the Briton, and the destruction of his most cherished interests, pave the way for the establishment of La grande natiou Canadierine on the shores of the St. Lawrence, with the Roman Catholic religion for its basis, and the Court of Rome for its preceptor and teacher. It is impossible that the present state and condition of the Protestant in the Province of Quebec can continue for any 57 length of time : the most trifling incident, the most insignifi- cant circumstance may awaken a spirit of revenge, which it might be difficult to overcome. If once a war of races, or what is worse, a religious war, were inaugurated, a flame would arise compared with which the fires of Smithfield, or the massacre of St. Bartholomew, would be trifling. It might s])read and encompass the new world in scenes of devastation and ruin. How, then, is the evil to be alleviated or the apprehension of evil to be calmed ? Sensible and judicious men would answer by moderate counsels, urtswerving impartiality, and strict jus- tice to all classes, irrespective of creed, in the government of the Province of Quebec. But many will be found who will cavil at the idea of the possibility of s.ch sentiments entering into the views of the Quebec government. What then ? Is it by annexation, absorption, or a strong centralized govern- ment, that all classes can be protected in their rights and the cause of law and order be preserved ? • . Annexation, which is another word for absorption in the political dictionary, has its attendant advantages and disadvan- tages. To sum them up cursorily. In a moral and political point of view, Canada would be in a worse position than she is at the present day ; commercially she would be the gainer ; but ia an ethnological sense she would derive incalculable benefits. The last stronghold which France had in America yielded to the persevering spirit of the Anglo Saxon race, and under the same law of social ethics, in which the weaker yields to the stronger, the French Canadian would lose his autonomy and become incorporated into the greater number of the ruling ■ji^^lMMIMIMMIi 58 race. Annexation, absorption and affiliation are synonymous terms, or at least, if they do not mean so, (in the case of the French Canadians), they inculcate the same idea. Logically speaking, annexation, with all the burdens it would entail upon us, would be a peaceable means of attaining the same object, for which all the wars the world ever saw, were conceived and accomplished. Mr. Thcophilc Gau/icr^ one of the ablest modern writers France has produced, says " that slavery and war — it is shameful to say so for the sake of humanity — are instruments of education ; they violently mix up people who would never otherwise have seen each other ; and the con- quered learns the science of the conquerors. Inferior species improve themselves by these forced cross-breeds ; in playing with his barbarous concubine, the wliite man creates a superior being, v>'ho will avenge liis mother in the future." ]]ut to the loyal l^riton annexation has another meaning, which jars very inharmoniously on his ears. Is it for the sake of improving the condition of eight or nine hundred thousand French Canadians, that the memories and traditions of the past, which are treasured in the hearts of millions of people, are to be forever obliterated and buried ? Is it to quiet their animosities, to pro[)itiate their self-love, and to enable them to indulge in their imaginary idea of founding a nation, that we should resort to a remedy which might possibly be worse than the evil, and which might impair that natural feeling of love for his fatherland, which is paramount in the heart of every Briton ? Besides, it may be asked at what period would it be likely 59 that annexation would cure the evil ? Undoubtedly it would do so in time, but when would that time arrive? State governments would be established and state rights maintained. Every public officer would be elected, and the French Cana- dians being in a majority, they would ])redominate at all elec- tions. But this would not last forever. Take Louisiana for instance. It was settled by Louis XIV. in 1718. It was ceded to Spain when the F^ast of the Mississijjpi was given to England in 1763, and restored to France in i8or. The Americans purchased it in 1803, and it became a State in 1812. It will thus be seen that for nearly a century it was the home of the Latin race ; and that for nearly seventy year;, belong-^ ing to the Americans, it is only at the lapse of that i)eriod, it has ceased to be French, and has become American. It requires time to destroy the roots of a well settled nationality ; nations, like individuals, have their peculiar idiosyncracies ; and one of them, the strongest it may l)e, is to cling with tenacity to the manners and customs, and the laws and usages of their ancestors. The transition in case of annexation might be more pro^ gressive in Canada. There are many wortliy Anglo-Saxons in this country who, entertaining a deep-rooted feeling of aftec- tion for the land of their forefathers, would willingly encourage annexation, trom the belief that its benefits in this direction would be immediate ; that the French Canadians would yield at once before the progressive spirit of the Aiiierican people, and shake off the apathy and stolidity for which they are remarkable. This may be true to a certain extent. The case 60 of Louisiana is not strictly analogous to that of Que- bec. Physiologically, the natives of the Northern States of America are a liardier race than those of the South. Their climate has enured them to all the hardships and vicissitudes of commercial and industrial life. It has made them n strong, hardy, and energetic people, while, on the other hand, the native of the vSouth suffers all the lassitude and weakness inci- dent to their tropical region. The woods and forests, and lakes and streams of Canada would allure them from their homes in the Northern States to share in the wealth which would be derived from their perseverance and hard labor. It would not by any means take as long as it did in Louisiana to fill up the Province of Quebec with the courageous and hard* working denizens of the North, who would immigrate into the country with their axe and their ploughshare, to become rich with the fruits of their labor in the forest and the field. Here it will very naturally be asked, what impediment exists to the ingress of Americans into Canada at the present day and their participation in the trade and commerce of the coun try ? The experience of the last quarter of a century readily fur- nishes an answer to this question. History csiablisJus this fact, that a station ivi/l not, to any great extetit, trade unth the colony of a foreign nation. The American who comes into the Province of Quebec complains of the peculiarities of the laws, and the want of assimilation be. tween the manners and customs of the people. There are many very worthy men, who have embarked in trade, who arrived 61 in Canada with their families and numerous dependents, and who, after having remained here a while and acquired some wealth, returned to the States, there to spend it. But few have remained in the Province of Quebec, at least, and of those all their i)redilections, habits, and tastes, are utterly estranged from those among whom they dwell. To resume, the more correct belief is, that while the Province of Quebec would be greatly ameliorated by the presence of Americans, it would not be in this generation that the Protes- tants would benefit from the effects of annexation. In the course of time their condition, both political and social, would no doubt be gready removed, but its effects would not be so immediate q,s its advocates pretend. In the meantime, ''''hope deferred maketh the heart sick" and is it to be expected that over a quarter of a million of British born subjects of Her Majesty will bide the course of time, and calm- ly and quietly put up with the " stings and arrows of an out" rageous fortune,' which may be daily and hourly hurled at them at the hands of an ignorant and bigoted people ? History, which as Lord Bolingbroke said, is philosophy teaching by example, proves [the contrary. The spirit, which was evoked during the Rebellion, and which culminated in the burning of the Parliament House in 1849, '^^^ ^^e sudden, but very 1' aiauer in which the Gavazzi riots were quelled t)\ oi^ nts of Montreal, and which for ever should iimori .ze tiie heroes of Beaver Hall, has not been quenched yet. ' t may slumber, and for the sake of humanity, it is to be hoped that there will lever again be an occasion for its C>2 V. I manifestation ; but the truth must be told, the spirit exists, and cannot be rebuked by the force of numbers, or the aid of any mihtary body in support of those numbers. It thus behoves the true lover of peace to devise some means or mode of action when.'by this anomalous state of things, in so far as the Protestant is concerned, should at once and for ever cease to exist. If the evils be of long continuance, the wounds will sink more deeply into the heart of every Briton in Canada, and it will take a long time to eradicate the memory of them. It has been shown from the bare recital of facts in these pages, that the Roman Catholic Progminnie of the Elpiscopacy of the Province of Quebec was intended as an insult to the intelligence and love of constitutional lil^erty of Her Majesty's Protestant subjects in that province. That such was the intention is manifest from the whole context of circumstances under which it was written and promulgated. When learned men, like the Bishops of the Province of Quebec agree in its sentiments, but differ only as to the expediency and timeliness of its publication, it is aj)parent that they themselves con- sideied it to be an insult to their fellow-countrymen of a different creed from their own, who were living in the Province. It may by some be considered as a very harmless production, and reflecting and sensible men may possibly agree in that construction of it ; but the danger consists in the effect it might have on the masses, who do not arrive at conclusions by any slow process of reasoning. Once their passions are e.xcited, it is difficult to allay them ; and what security is there mamaaas: irit exists, the aid of :vise some s state of lid at once )ntinuance, t of every adicate the ts in these Kpiscopacy isult to the r Majesty's h was tlie umstances n learned l^vcc m lis fiiiuiificss ."Ives con- Inicn of a Province, iroduction. je in that effect it )nclusions ssions are \y is there 63 that other and more dangerous pubHcations emanating from the same source may not influence them to such an extent, that t'ley might become perfectly uncontrollable. Besides, the Pro- testants are a sensitive and high-minded people : ';low to offer offence, they are quick at resenting it, and when they make the effort, it generally proves to be sure and effectual. To avoid this evil, the Roman Catholic ecclesiastical authorities, from whom better things should be expected, should them- selves set the example of mutual forbearance and good-will. They should avoid creating strife among the different classes of the people, but when we find them, as we have done on this occasion, spreading a firebrand among them, it is high time they should be rebuked and made to appreciate the fact that the Protestants in Uie Province of Quebec, though nu- merically their inferior, arc in point of wealth, intelligence and social position eminently their superiors. The idea of consolidating the British North American Pro- vinces into a great power on this continent was remarkable for the grandeur of its conception ; as a counterpoise to the spread of democratic principles, it cannot fail to attain its end, and in order that it should become an accomplished fact, il needs a fair trial, without any clog to impede the working of the system. Besides the manifest advantages it will confer on British subjects in Canada, it will be the means of holding in c'.eck the tendency of republicans to launch forth into that licentiousness, which is the usual concomitant of democratic institutions. As a refuge for political offenders, it has already, in the case of the Southern refugees, been proved eflicacious ; ■'^■'S£» f ; .: liJ' 64 and the occasion may again and again arise, when an asylum might be required in either country to protect men from real or fancied grievances they may suffer in their own. But there are several provisions in the British North America Act of 1867, which militate against the rights and liberties of the English speaking subjects of Her Majesty in the Pro- vince of Quebec. There does not appear to have been that calmness and deliberation displayed in the preparation of the Act, which its importance deserved, and its future consequences on the different classes of the population called for. It was intended to estabish a form of government which was to subsist for ages, for whether it would merge into a viceroyaity under the protection of England or into a limited monarchy, its character for permanence and durability was essentially con- templated. Before continuing the subject, it may be advisable to pass in review the proceedings by which the Union Act came into operation. At the Charlottetown Conference, which was held in September, 1864, the subject of a legislative union of the Provinces being mooted, the Lower Canadian delegates declared that not being authorized to consider the question of a legislative union, they could only be informally present. The conference was then adjourned to the loth (3ctober to meet in Quebec. It sat some eighteen days, and the result of their deliberations were the famous " Seventy-two resolutions " the Address to the Crown on which was sanctioned by the following vote in the Legislative Assembly, on the loth March, 1865. The resolu- tions were carried by a vote of 91 to ^^. Of the 91 who supported the resoi.. ons, there were 54 from Upper Canada, and 37 from Lower Canada; while 25 from Lower Canada, and 8 only from Upper Canada, made up the ;^^ who opposed them. They again met in England, when Lower Canada was represented by the Hon. G. E. Cartier, A. T. Gait, and H. L. Langevin. Of these, the former and the latter are Roman Catholics, while Mr. Gait being a Pro- testant, it may fairly be cjuestioned whether he was a fitting representative of the Protestant section of the community in Lower Canada. That both the delegates in Quebec and those in London exercised a most powerful influence in favour of Roman Catholic interests, without much counteracting weight on the side of the Protestants, seems to be apparent from the carelessness with which the interests of the latter were regarded by the delegates. It has already been shown, how eager the Roman Catholic clergy were in Lower Canada to establish the federal union, and that after having consulted the Roman authorities, how readily they gave their adhesion to the doctrine of ceding the right of making laws on the subject of divorce to the Federal Parliament. They yielded this point solely for the purpose, (as has been before remarked), of establishing a power in the Province of Quebec, by means of which they could obtain the ascendancy over the Protestant element in that Province. Of course, the two Catholic delegates at the Westminster Hotel impressed on the minds of the statesmen of England, that the measure* was popular amongst all classes in Lower Canada, a statement in which • !>».. --^ 'w Mr. Gait, with his characteristic politeness and urbanity may have concurred ; yet it may be faithfully asserted, that there were a few far seeing statesmen in England, who not only doubted the policy of the measure but actually foresaw its disastrous results to Anglo-Saxon and Protestant interests in the Province of Quebec. That their views were correct, and that their worst apprehensions may be possibly realized, is apparent from the actual state of affairs in the Province. It is true, as a well known author has asserted, that " party government had at that period (i864) become well nigh im- possible in United Canada, and ministry after ministry had to retire from the seemingly hopeless attempt at carrying on the government, when on the defeat of the Tache-Macdonald ministry, in June 1864, overtures were made by the leaders of the Reform party to the Hon. John A. Macdonald, with a view to the settlement of the sectional difficulties by the adoption of a federative system, applying either to Canada or to all the British North American Provinces. These over- tures were cordially received, and the result was the formation of a coalition government, pledged to the introduction of the federal system." It will thus be seen that the Delegates at Charlottetcwn could not contemplate for a moment the estaWishment of a Legislative Union — Lower Canada had too recently emerged from a controversy, which had been carried on or years with the advocates of Representation by Population, to],entertain for a moment the idea of a still larger union than that which had existed between Upper and Lower Canada. The French &l Canadians feared the ascendancy of the Anglo-Saxon element in an assembly constituted for Legislative purposes, which might interfere with their cherished ideas respecting their lan- guage, religion, and laws. Consequently, a Federal Govern- ment was established, and their very first act carried through by their representatives in the Ministry at Ottawa, was to name a French Canadian Lieutenant Governor for the Province of Quebec, who was remarkable only for his steadfastness to the cause of the Roman Catholic Clergy ; for his extreme views in favor of the nationality of his fellow-countrymen ; and, it may be added, for his intolerance and bigotry. Neither intellectti- ally, morally, nor socially, was he qualified to fill the first posi- tion in a British Colony, under the domination of the British Crown. Besides the manifest injustice to Protestant interests in ex- cluding other constituencies from the second schedule men- tioned in the 8oth section of the Act, to which allusion has already been made, its framers took especial care to comprise within the exclusive powers of the Provincial Legislatures, the right to legislate respecting the " solemnization of marriage in the Province," and " property and civil rights in the Province.'* Under these powers, as has before been observed, the foulest wrongs may be perpetrated, for when the right is conferred, it is only a question of expediency with them, when it should be exercised. There is nothin<^ which is held so sacred in the eyes of all civilized communities as the r ght and liberty to govern their own nrarriage ceremonies, and to estal)- lish the personal status of their meml^ers. This has 68 been rendered liable to be abused through the intol- erant spirit of an adverse religious majority, whose decision would be final, there being no appeal from the action of the Legislature. It is on this account that the Roman Catholic Clergy are now making urgent de- mands on their mandataries both in the Ministry and Parlia- ment, to alter the laws relating to the solemnization of the mar- riage ceremony, and to make other changes in the civil regis- ters of the Province. What may be the effect of these altera- tions in the existing law of the Province on the interest of the Protestant section of the community, remains to be determined. The Delegates both to the Charlottetown Conference and that which was held at Quebec, insisted on the use of the French language in the debates of the houses of the Parliament of Canada and of the houses of the Legislature of Quebec, and under the operation of the 133d section of the L'nion Act, both those languages shall be used in the respective records and journals of those houses ; and either of those languages may be used by any person or in any pleading or process in or issuing from any Court in Canada, and in or from all or any of the Courts of Quebec." Under the operation of this section, French interests have been so far protected by the Delegates, that, at an enormous expense to the Dominion, and to gratify the vanity and self- love of the French Canadians, the French language has been placed on the same footing in a British Colony, as the language of our forefiithers. On no consideration of principle or social economy ought this to have been tolerated, in so for as the kimuMmi ;he intol- ', whose from the :)unt that rgent de- Liid Parlia- of the mar- :ivil regis- ese altera- •est of the etermined. :rence and use of the Parliament uebec, and Act, both Icords and es may be lor issiung [ny of the rests have I enormous and self- has been language or social hir as the 69 Legislature of the Dominion of Canada .was concerned. Not alone by ministering to the arrogance and ignorance of the population of Quebec, but by imbuing their minds with an idea of equality of rights between the English and French, is this measure to be deprecated and to be considered both impolitic and unwise. It is unjust also, for should other nationalities obtain a social position in Canada, equal in point of number and strength to the French Canadians, they also would be en- titled to the use of their languages in the Parliament, and to have their records and journals written in the idioms most familiar to them. The views of the Delegates would have been quite sufficiently cosmopolitan in restricting all nationalities to the use of the English language, which should be spoken by every man who claims to be intelligent, no matter in what quarter of the world he may abide. The only remedy for the evils which may befal the Protestants of Quebec would be the repeal of the British North America Act, in so far as their rights and interests may be affected, and ^/le abolition of the use of the French language in the Parliaments of the Dofninion. If this colony remain a dependency of the British Crown, its form of Government should be assimilated to that of England as much as possible. The power of appointment to all offices in the Dominion should be vested in the Governor-General, instead of the Local Governor, who (as in the case of Quebec) may use it for the purpose of rewarding political supporters Mong- ing to his nation^ and not according to the true intent and spirit of the Imperial Act which conferred it upon him. Surely if the Queen of England has the right of nominating to office -•m-jnoL 70 in the British Isles, and in many other portions of her Domin- ion, there are additional reasons why that right should in this country be conferred solely on the Governor-General. Cen- tralization of power and authority is more required in a sparsely populated country such as Canada, than it is in England where it is more difficult to perform acts of administration among the millions, who constitute its population. We have thus far pointed out the present attitude ol the French Canadian and Roman Catholic towards his fellow countryman of Britibh and Protestant extraction. We have shown that in their design to establish /a grande Nation Cana- dimne^ on the banks of the St. Lawrence, they heed not the ft rights or liberties of any other class of the people ; that from their self-sufficiency and arrogance they would spurn every English speaking colonist, who would dare to interfere with their purposes to re-establish an effete and extinguished nation- ality in Canada. We have signalized their weak and covert attempts to try and triumph for a moment over a brave and generous people, who have sustained a multitude of wrongs at their hands, without a word of complaint or remonstrance. We have shown how the English colonist in the Province of Quebec, while peaceably pursuing his duties, both as a citizen and a man, has had his prospects injured and thwarted, and his happiness even destroyed through religious intolerance and bigotry ! And we have barely hinted at the remedy. In con- clusion, we shall now take a glance (imperfect though it may be) at the improbability of the French race ever again holding a political position in any part of the Continent of America. n The day of their supremacy has passed, never again to return I And what are the causes of this loss of power and prestigel Look at a map of the western world and compare it with one that may have been published before the battle of I.ouisburg. What do you find ? The whole of the North American Conti- nent, with the exception of a very few British and Dutch colonies, in the hands of the French, yielding allegiance to the French Crown, and with the fieur de luys, emblazoning their national flag. What do you now find ? Nearly the whole of that large space of the earth's possessions, containing a homo- geneous people, boasting of their Anglo-Saxon ancestry, speaking their language, obeying their laws, and loving the old manners, traditions, and customs of their forefathers ! St. George and the Dragon of England, with the stars o^ the Republic, have replaced the boasted y?^«r de luys of France ! Again, what is the cause ? One of the most accomplished French writers (Prevost Paradol of the French Academy) gives it in a few words, — " Even at the present day, a book written in the English language, is read by an infinitely larger number of human beings, than if it had been written in our o\vn language, and it is in English that the mariner is saluted at every point of the habitable globe." In other words, litera- ture and commeice have been the great civilizing agents, which Providence has placed in the hands of the Anglo-Saxon race to conquer and subdue the world. With the Bible in the one hand, and the compass in the other, the Anglo-Saxon has per- formed and is performing the Divine mission of enlightening and civilizing the whole human race ! 72 Another cause of French humiliation in the world of com- merce are their constant wars and revolutions. To this may be added, their addiction to the higher branches of science ; their academies are resplendent with men of genius and learn- ing ; their schools abound with savans, from whom the English have borrowed, and delight to borrow, but their love of isola- tion, and their ignorance of the outer world, of its languages and its customs, have interposed an impenetrable barrier against any great progress in either navigation or commerce. How rapidly has been the transition ! From being the fore- most nation of Europe in national and commercial enterprises, they have descended to such an inferior scale in the commerce of the world, that their flag is now comparatively unnoticed in any part of it. Their former military and naval superiority over their rival Latin races has been overshadowed by equally great triumphs in the realms of science and of art. For nearly two centuries France maintained its authority in San Domingo, one of the finest islands in the Caribean Sea, and now we find the Anglo-Saxon race wishing to pur- chase, if they cannot conquer it. In Mexico it emitted its last expiring throe for the re-establishment of its empire in America, and what has been the result ? The misfqrtunes of Maximilian and Carlotta, over whom history will never cease to throw a shade of romance, are there, as an appalling proof of the des- tiny (which Divine Providence seems to have ordained) of the French race on the continent. The small island of Martin- ique and French Guiana are all that is left of that proud 78 empire, which the great Colbert, the minister of Louis XVI, predicted would overshadow the new world. It is ai)parcnt to every historian that the progress of the Anglo-Saxon race on this continent especially, has kept pace with the decadence of the Latin race — with the exception of the • Spaniards in South America and Cuba, whose energies both mental and physical, seem to be waning, and who can hardly be regarded witii the same pride as their ancestors of old. No pAiropean race seems to prosper on this continent, but those who are descended from the Saxon and the Celt. And what a proud position the Dominion of Canada will sustain in its rivalry with the United States of America for the commerce of a great part of the world ? With their compe- ting railways, they will stretch out their arms and grasp the wealth of a prosperous trade with India and China, and the Australian colonies and the islands of the Southern Ocean. There will be no bounds to their material progress and pros- perity, but those which they themselves will create. There will be no limit to their ambition, as far as space is concerned. The wealth of the Indies and the " road to China," for which statesmen and navigators of every country in the world sighed in vain, will lie at their feet ; and besides wealth, their children and their children's children will look wtih honor and with pride on the efforts of their forefithers to obtain the prize, the fruits of which they will enjoy. And shall this proud future be marred by the efforts of any dass or section of Canadians, who would deprive us of that unity, so essential to the happiness of individuals as of nations? 74 Shall religious jars and national feuds be suffered to impair that noble spirit of enterprise and commercial activity, which bids fair to invest us with all the elements of a nation's growth and prosperity ? Let the French Canadians sink the ideas of nationality and religion in an earnest and well-felt desire to out- rival and surpass their fellow-countrymen of other origins, in the sciences and the arts of peace and commerce ; and here- after in the national greatness and glory, which may be expected to await our newly established Dominion, they will take equal pride with men of every other country and creed in the Province. I?!' r i to impair :ivity, which ion's growth the ideas of lesire to out- r origins, in ; and here- :h may be n, they will nd creed in m mn 1 if" ik Y ii? M^' OHH 11 I i fi a flMS 'NF.W 73()OKS. SONGS OF THK SIERRAS, by Joaquin Miller. Cloth, $i.oo; Paper, 6oc. THE FALL OF MAN ; or, L(Wi:s of the Gorillas, bv A Learned Gorilla. 1 1 comic illustrations. Price, 25 cents. JOSH BLLLINGS' FARMER'S ALLMINAX for 1872. Price 15 cents. JOSH BH^LINGS' SCRAP BOOK. 26 Illustra- tions by Thos. Nast. 25 cents. (/;/ Press.) NASTS ILLU.^TRATED ALMANAC for 187J '30 Illustrations. Price 25 cents. (/;/ l^rrss.) THE CANADIAN NEWS & PUBLISHING CO., TOIROliTTO. 4a I Gorillas, llustrations. LLMINAX W' ^■ifei^' !:*r,