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1
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1
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6
REJ
THREE YEARS'
RESIDENCE IN CANADA,
IROM
1837 to 1839.
n
Mi
THEEE YEARS'
RESIDENCE IN CANADA,
IROM
1837 to 1839.
U'lTII XOTES OF A WINTER VOYAGK TO XEW YORK, AND
JOURNEY THENCE TO THE BRITISH POSSESSIONS :
i'O WHll'H IS ADOKDi
A REVIEW OF THE CONDITION
OK THK
CANADIAN PEOPLE,
BY
T. R. PRESTON,
t.ATK OC THE GOVERNMENT SKRVK'E AT TORONTO.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
Duiltsficr in ©rlrmars to f^tr ittajestj?.
1840.
I
I
Printed ty J, I . Cos and Sons, 75, Orcat Queen Street,
Li. ;coIn's-Tnn Fields.
?vP
"U
PC
pi
ir.i
PKEFACE.
The powerful interest respecting the affairs
of Canada, that has been lately re-awakened in
the mind of the intelligent portion of the com-
nnmity, as much by the revival of animated
parliamentary discussions in relation thereto, as
by the character of the dispute now pending
between England and the United States, ha's
induced me to give publicity to the followin.»
pages, as a trifling contribution to the very
scanty stock of accessible materials serving to
elucidate the general subject-matter of the two-
fold case at issue.
Impressed with the conviction, that the results
of long personal experience and observation in
VI
I'RKFACE.
tile Canadian provinces, must prove a not un-
welujine offbrino- to the British public at the
pi-csent iuonicnt, let them originate in wj,at
source they may, I have not hesitated to incur
the risks and ,)erils of authorship; while, in-
<l'-"od, I cannot but consider, that, in many re-
spects, I have only acquitted myself of a public
•ii'ty, in placing on record much of that which
will be found narrated in these pages.
It should seem obvious that the nmre varied
and multiplied works upon Canada become, the
more forcibly and steadily will the public mind
eontinue to be directed to a consideration of the
state, with a view to the j)romotion of the
welfare of that country, which presents a vast
Held for inquiry, even now but partially ex-
plored, to all who may be disposed to aid in
bringing- it under progressive cultivation.
Disastrous as in themselves have proved the
events which have marked the history of Canada
during the last few year?, they have had at least
the good effect of diverting public attention
PREFACE. ^1
towards a too-lon^r neglected channel ; and it is
to be hoped, that the feeling now manifested
by the British jjeople in relation generally to
tlic subject of Canadian aflkirs, nmy i)rove the
more lasting from having been so tardily
aroused.
Tile period which the following reminiscences
embrace, extends over the interesting interval
from the beginning of 1837 to the end of 1839 ;
and in the course of that interval, I possessed
many favourable opportunities of investigating-
with what success it remains for others to deter-
mine— the various subjects upon which I have
ventured to deliver an opinion.
The chief circumstances incident to the pro-
ceedings of the Canadian insurgents and their
American confederates, I have endeavoured to
bring before the reader in a succinct shape. In
tracing my impressions of the various objects
that I have imperfectly passed in review, I have
also sought to pursue a strictly impartial course;
to praise or censure according as justice seemed
vin
PREFACE.
to dictate; to place in prominent relief the most
interesting facts; and, finally, to blend the ma-
terial substance with such incidental matter,
whether as regards personal adventu.e, descrip.
tive relati(m, or mere anecdote, as should serve
to relieve the more serious portions of the work,
at the same time that it should contribute t<!
the anmsement of the reader In the general
arrangement of the miscellany thus projected,
it has been more my ob,ect to connect events
and subjects having affinity with each other,
Jimn to adhere to a strictly chronological order
of narration in respect of them.
Desirous to depend exclusively upon n.y own
means of information, and upon n.y own experi»
ence, I have purposely abstained, sin(;e my re-
turn to England, fron; consulting any recent
i)ublications whatsoever that have reference to
Canada; nor have I sought to ascertain how
far my sentiments might chance to correspond
with, or differ from, those entertained by other
writers who have treated upon the subject.
I
f the most
1(1 the ma-
ll matter,
S clescrip-
luld serve
the work,
ribiite to
:> general
)rojecte(l,
^t events
h other,
al order
my own
experi-
my re-
recent
?nce to
n how
espond
/ other
PREFACE.
IX
Unbiassed by party f'eelin/r, or by party views,
I have been actuated by the desire alone to ex-
hibit to the best of my ability, and according to
my conscientious belief, the wants of Canada in
their real ligjit, and whilst tracing admitted evils
to their primitive sources, to point out what
have seemed to me the legitimate remedies for
their radical cure ; endjivourir-'. moreover, to
bear out by some practical illustration, the re-
spective arguments adduced.
As regards, generally, the political opinions,
to which, whether relating to Canada or to the
United Stater,, I have given utterawce, it is
proper to state that, erroneous or correct, they
are the result entirely of my past local expe-
rience; in affirmation of which I may add that
uiey substantially correspond with the sentiments
recorded in a series of articles that I contributed,
under a feigned signature, to one of the Canadian
Journals, about eighteen months ao-o.
The desire to give early publicity to this
vvork —while serving to preclude the degree of
^ PREFACE.
revision that I could have • ished, as regards its
«tyle and coiTiposition,^has also compelled me
to omit the discussion in it of some further
points of interest than those actually brought
under consideration ; but should circumstanls
favour the design, I may possibly resume at a
future opportunity, the task I have thus far
performed.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
CHAPTER I.
Memorable Trans-Atlantio ^oyage.-Tncidents and
penis thereof—American Pilot-boat.-Ameri-
can Landlord
• • • •
CHAPTER If.
Journey from Ne^v York to Canada.-U'inter
Travelling Adventures by the way.-American
Coachmanship.-Aspect of Lower Canada
CHAPTER III.
(Comparison of Montreal and Quebec-Quebec
Ca hedral.-General Description of Lower Ca
n;tda._State of Soeiety.-Freneh Canadians.-
/":" ^"'^f^'--^' P'>P"'^tion.-I„surrections of
IH37 and 1838.-Infl,.ence of the Priesthood _
Anu.s.n. Anecdote of a Parish Pastor.-Political
Ketiections
CHAPTER IV.
K'inp... , Mackenzie's Outbreak. - Repeated
false Alarms-Series of Invasions.-Affair of
Hickory Island.-Consternation of the Kings
ton.ans thereat.-Conversation with an old In-
d.unW arrior.-Destruction of the British steam-
Page
29
52
Xll
CONTENTis.
Page
boat &r Robert P../.-F.rthcr Irruptions into
the Province—Mission of the Earl of Durham.
-American Conspiracy against Canada—Hun-
ters' Association— Invasions at Prescott and
V> indsor— Result thereof.-Final Disposal of
the Prisoners— Remarkable Events of 1839 . . 125
CHAPTER V.
General Review of the Conduct of the American
Authorities throughout the pro^-eedings herein-
before narrated— Development of the Designs
of the Republic on British North America-
Insidious Policy practised— Identific. tion of the
Maine and Canada Questions, viev/ed in con-
junction—Revelations regarding Implied In-
trigues of Russia, in fomenting disturbances in
Canada
CHAPTER VI.
Tlie Englishman's Political Reverie from the
summit of Cape Diamond— Original Errors
committed by British Statesmen i„ regard to
Canada.— Restitution of Canadian Civil Law—
Impolitic Division of the Province of Quebec
into Upper and Louer Canada— Perversion of
Elective System in the latter.-Character of
Feudal Tenure— Legislative Union of the Pro-
vinces.— Conclusions relative thereto . .
198
Page
ns into
urham.
-Hun-
tt and
)sal of
!39 .. 125
THREE YEARS'
RESIDENCE IN CANADA,
erican
erein-
esigns
ica. —
of the
con-
1 In-
?es in
ERRATA.
Vol. I. page 135, line 12, for induced rcnrf introduced.
Vol. II. — 196, — 22, for 1833 read 1825.
— 24'2, — 15, for for read from.
198
the
Tors
i to
iV. —
shec
n of
• of
Vo-
245
engaged my passage on boara a ^onuuu ..«
New York liner, and sailed from Portsmouth
towards the end of the uninviting month of
November.
Had the occurrences which marked my voyage
across the broad bosom of the Atlan.i; bee,, of
the usual ordinary character, I sl,o„ld abstain
"■""' "■^" "" '-J'-i™ '" tlH-n, ; but, peculiar as
vol. ,. _
Xll
CONTENTS.
hoatS^moben Peel.-.Fnrthcr Irruptions into
the Province—Mission of the Earl of Durham.
-American Conspiracy against Canada.-Hun-
ters' Association—Invasions at Prescott and
^^ indsor.-Result thereof.-Final Disposal of
Page
The Ji.ngiisnman s runuva.
summit of Cape Diamond— Original" Errors
committed by British Statesmen in regard to
Canada.-Reslitution of Canadian Civil Lau —
impolitic Division of the Province of Quebec
into Upper and Louer Canada— Perversion of
Elective System in the latter— Character of
Feudal Tenure— Legislative Union of the Pro-
vinces.— Conclusions relative thereto
245
ns into
jrham.
-Hun-
t and
sal of
Page
THREE YEARS'
RESIDENCE IN CANADA,
(1837—39.)
rors
I to
V, —
ibec
lof
of
ro-
245
CHAPTER I.
Me,„orable Trans-Atlantic voyage.-Ineidentsand perils
the. eof.-A,nerican Pilot-boat.-Ameriean LandLd
In the winter of 183G, circumstances havin..
required that I should proceed to Canada I
engaged my passage on board a London and
New York liner, and sailed from Portsmouth
towards the end of the uninviting month of
November.
Had the occurrences wl)ich marked my voyage
across the broad bosom of the Atlanti^ been of
ti^e usual ordinary character, I should abstain
^-- even an allusion to them; but, peculiar as
VOL. ,. . ^
2 PERILOUS VOVAGK.
they were, i cannot resist the opportunity of
narrating them ; and their indelible impression
on my memory ensures their being rendered
with at least fidelity.
The ship in which I embarked seemed to have
been singled out by the elements, from the very
liour of her departure, as a special object of
assault : peradventure, in derision of the war-
like appellation which graced her bows, or be-
cause she appeared an antagonist worthy of their
strife. If the latter were the cause of joining
issue, correct judgment on the part of the ele-
ments must certainly be recorded, for never did
assailed vessel sustain her ordeal better; though
many were the occasions during the progress ''of
the voyage, when even her experienced captain,
revealed by his demeanour, to a watchful eye,
his secret apprehension that the unequal contest
must eventually prove fatal both to her and her
living cargo, numbering altogether about one
Imndred persons, of whom rather less than a
fifth part were cabin passengers.
After the prelude of much rough skirmishing,
during which Nature failed not to exact her usual
TEMPEST. g
trib,„o n-om most on boar<l, the full „eigl„ of
Nove„, er, when wc were causi,,, whik i„ ,|,e
Channel, by the frightful hurrieane of that
"■gl.t, which, swc*ph,g the Atlantic from west t„
east cause..!, as we subse,,ue„tl,- ascertained, the
w- West devastation, both on sea and shore, in
either Iieniispliere.
This storm, striking the ship when least ex-
pected, all but drove her beneath the water •
she recovered, however, from the shock, but -tiU
t.-embling beneath it, could keep no course, and
for a considerable time was perfectly unmanage.
able. No longer could she boast of "walkL
.. e waters hke a thing of life; ..„,d if i,,, ere her
de,neanour that had "dared the elements to
«nfe," most bitter cause had we to repent her
temerity.
The tempest, which raged in its utmost fury
throughout the night, so„,ewha. abated toward,
—nmg. When daylight dawned, we found
ourselves in the dangerous vicinity of the Scillv
«ocks borne on a raging sea, while, staggeri„;
t-ards us, was seen a dismasted vessel. It „.:
L 2
TKMIMvST.
thus evidont, that our (liui<rer in the darkness
liad hern of a triple character, tll()u^h we had
liapjHiv heen uneonscious of the presence of two
of its component elements.
As it was— rollin^r without a stitch of canvas
set, in the dwp troufrji of tlie sea— we had the
utmost difliculty in avoidin^r the approaching
vessel, which, at one time, was sei)arated from
us only by a single swell ; and had this taken
her as all supposed it would do, it nuist have
hurled her right athwart us amidships.
Dismasted and helpless, however, as she was,
she managed to pass round our stern, and the
antici{)ated crash, involving the destruction of
lH)th ships, was thereby happily avoided.
The sea, at this time, presented a sublime,
though an appalling spectacle, and, shrouded in
the moruing mist which the sun had not yet
penetrated, bore the appearance of a wall of
dark-iron grey, up the almost perpendicular
side of which we were slowly creeping ; until
having gained the streak of white foam which
fringed the sunnnit, the delusion ceased, and we
plunged again headlong into a sinn'lar abyss to
ACCIDKNT ,o JJIK CAPTAIN. 5
that thmi which we had j„st cnuTged. Hut
sm..s hke thi.s <lofv an ,uK..,uatc. clc-scription fron,
even the ...ost skilful haml ; they nu.sf, he wit-
nesmi, and, once hei.eld, enn never he f„r.
gotten.
To add to our nn-.sf,.rtnnc.s, during the event-
ful night through which we had so wonderfully
struggled, our captain had |,een incapacitated
fvorn further duty, and now lay prostrate in his
berth fron. the effects of a severe injury of the
s})ine, occasioned by a heavy fall on deck. 'I'he
ship was, however, skilfully handled by the chief
'"ate, who, though coarse and brutal in his
conduct towards the seamen, was a first-rate
sador. On the day previous, the ship's baron.e-
tcr accidentally got broken; and. as sailors are
always superstitious, this was looked upon as a
bad omen for the voyage.
The horrors of our situation during the hours
of darkness, had been necessarily nn^h increased
l>y our ignorance of our precise position ; for
although we knew we were in the « whereabout"
of the chops of the Channel, when the tempest
niet us, the compass alone did not enable us to
i
6
TKMPK.ST.
!K
a.«crtai„ tho exact point towrds which we had
since been driven.
The fierce howling of the wind, coming, as
't did, net in gusts, but in one dense body, as
though compressed into solidity, before it burst
upon us; tiiebreakingof thegiantwav:.a,a;nst
the quivering stern posts of the ship -, the rush
<>f water through the companion and the hatch-
way, or, as it rolled to and fro, knee-d^p upon
the deck, staving in the bulwarks; the horrid
creakmg of the masts, as though in very agony •
the souna of the captain's and the mate's voices'
which, deadened by the blast, came wafted to
our ears like whispers of the unblest; the
dreadful pitch and rolling of the ship; the
sFctacle of the uncontrollable fear of some ; the
silent agony of others, and the despair depicted
upon every countenance ; formed a combination
of terrors well-calculated .o unstring the stout-
est heart, and to fill the sternest mind with deso-
lation.
The utter nothingness of man, and the awful
power of his Creator were here, side by side
apparent. Internal prayer was the only refuge •
I'aoilUtTKD VOVAGE. 7
'";""= ""«= (I »l-«l"'y."y own) were ,„„
l"gh-wrought to find ve„. in „„rd„ „„j „,^
alone appreciable by a. nutual glance of ,l,e eye
or pre^ure of .he han.l, „„ Jifc, ,„, ,^ ^„^_
".on«.o„fc„,f„,j„,^_^^^^^
'"""^'■•""W.'lin.ly-ligb.ed cabin!
The reader ,ray gather some fain, idea of the
■"""nence of our peril, from the observation
maJe .0 us by the captain when we could talk
over the occurrence, that during .he long perio<l
of th,rty years that he had been a sailor, the
«orm we had wea.here,! had no parallel in the
annals of his experience, and that nothing short
of h.s own evidence would have convinced him
that ana ship could have outlived it.
After escaping fron, the mighty danger I have
so n^perfectly described, we experienced the re.
currence„fa..™.ofgales,mi„o,„„, i„„_^,
comparison, which protracted our stay in .he
Channel or its vicinity to full three weeks ; drove
"3 .0 every point „f ,he compass, and, in alter-
n»'. succession, to the coasts of England, rre-
and France, exposed to the constant chance
ihipwreck upon one or other of them
nate
land
of
8
SHORTNMSS OF PUGVISION'S.
Incredible n» it iDay appear to s3ome, the ves-
sel rode throuc^Ii these severe ordeals without the
loss of any thin., beyond a sail or two being blown
from the yards before they could be furled. The
masts, which had threatened several times to go
by the board, remained standing, and not a
spar was injured. Surprise will, however, cease
when it is considered that the vessel and her
equipments were entirely new, and made of the
very best materials; besides, the real danger
after all consisted, next to foundering, less in
being dismasted than driven on a lee-shore, or on
the Scilly Rocks.
Becoming now seriously apprehensive, and
more particularly so from certain incipient
•symptoms which already began to manifest them-
selves, that our stock of provisions woidd fall
short before the expiration of the voyage, we
entreated the captain (who had in some measure
recovered from his injury) to put back, and pro-
cure a fresh supply; but this he declined to do,
though promising (no doubt to quiet us> to mn.h
at the Azores for that purpose. He, however,
either could not, or would not make those islands,
SMORTNUSS OV PROVISION*. B
"'"''"'''"*"■""'■'-"'""""« to |„.c.vail, it ..,„..,,
■>» tl,o„sl, „.,. ,„i^,|„ ,K,»sil,iy have to suffer »„„.
tl.",«w„«ti,a »l.il.wr„.k,„n.ltlK.(i,h«,„i«l„
'"" ''" ""• ""'y Vnnk; ,ii,u|,,.,i„t„l „f thoh- prcv
■"«ed foci. Such a c,„,ti„(,.„ey „, dyi„,, „,•
»'arv„ti„„ on board a New V.,,k pacUt-shi,,
«as, like the crime of parriei.lc a. A.hen, i„ ,]„.
palmy day, of Solon, a .hin.^ nnheard of, and
moH certainly not ,„r,„i,ed by any one of n,
when we paid the sun, „f thirty-live guineas for
'""• '"'™' "■■■'' '"'Si'-S. whilst in a state of tran-
situ between the two hemispheres !
The fact of the matter was, that, fro.n some
cause unoKplaine,!, the ship had |„,„ i„„,,^
<|l.ately victualled for a voyage even of the ave-
rage duration; hence it resulted, that before the
expiration of a n.onth from the day of saih-ng, we
«re gra,lual!y ,n.,t, „ necessitate, u,„„ short
allowance; being, .thermore, curtailed of one
iHcal altogether.
I^>>t if tl,e condition of the ca!,in denizens
proved such, how infinitely n.ore deplorable was
tl^at of th. steerage passe.o,., J Many of these
Ji3
II
10 DISTRESS IN THE STEERAGE,
poor people (in so far emulating the captain, or
his steward) had laid in a stock of provisions
scarcely sufficient for a month^s consumption,
and were now, consequently, in a very distressed
state; while others, miscalculating the chances
of the voyage, had been at first too lavish of
their edible store, and were constrained not only
to economize the scanty remnant thereof, but to
share it with their destitute companions, from
whom, in some instances, they exacted a pecuniary
consideration in return. Potatoes, haviug held
out the longest, were at a premium that would
)iave made an Irishman's heart ache, to say
nothing of the scarcity.
But this arrangement also had its term ; the
common stock itself was soon exhausted, and dur-
ing the last fortnight of the voyage, the steerage
passengers might literally be said to have been
without the means of sustenance. The ship's stock
of ^^ ater too was beginning to run very low.
In this state of things, these poor people,
driven to their last resource, sent a deputation
to the captain, t!ie members of which, with
\GE.
e captain, or
>f provisions
consumption,
ry distressed
the chances
oo lavisli of
led not only
?reof, but to
mions, from
a pecuniary
having held
that would
'he, to say
term ; the
d, and dur-
:he steeraffe
have been
ship's stock
■y low.
'or people,
deputation
liich, with
DKPUTATIO^f. J J
K'gard countenances and .ears Standing i„,h,i,,
r "' "" '"^ ^"P-"'" -l>-l. they e„o.
eousi, supposed .o be se. apar, t„ J ,^,,_
passengers.
He e hi„,, „ ,,^^_ ,^^^ ^,_^ .^ ^^^^^
»te.e of the eabm larder effectually precluded
acon,pliance.ltl..beirre,ues..bu.:jdedi
h.s was a fact which transpired, b, the way for
' e firs. .™e), .ha. .here was a s.all ,uan ^
:!7:""-'''f-™"«P-of.hecrg„
"h.c they ,„i,h. have recourse, provided, hey
could ra,se the wherewithal .o indemnify hi,n
": ; " ^"'"'^^"™ "f what their necessities
might require.
All, though equally willing, „ere „„. „,,■,..
''''""'7'''-''"'""l™-„di,io„, „hiehou,d,.
r ' T '"' ™"^'- "" '■- circumstances to
ave been exacted. The cabin passengers were
- appealed .0, and willingly can,e forward
-">"-,r subscriptions, repeating the™ as „„,,.
-'"needed, to supply, he deficily
They had shortly to p„r,„l<e of the .same fare
'hemselves, b„. did no. of course pay for U.
f
12
YANKEE COW.
The com underwent a sort of rough grinding
and winnowing, l)y a variety of ingenious con-
trivances, and was then converted into various
coarse preparations.
I must not omit to mention that, in the height
of these privations, we were about to make a
most ungratefid return (though this need not
surprise, since man is ever selfish) to our poor
cow for the milk wherewith she had till now
plentifully supplied us, by slaying her for the
sake of her flesh. But she was a Yankee cow, and,
with true Yankee sagacity, fell, or shammed
sick, at this critical juncture of her fate, thereby
saving her life and our reputation!
The terrific weatlier we at first encountered
had finally determined the captain to steer a
southern, in preference to a northern passage,
though, as it afterwards appeared, we should, in
all probability, have been gainers had he adhered
to his original intention.
Be this as it may, southward we went, but,
what with light head-winds, tedious calms, and
contrary gales, in alternate succession, we were
kept hovering on the edge of the gulf-stream,
AGROUND.
13
without the power to cross it, for the space of a
whole fortnight. At length, one Sunday morn-
ing, a favourable breeze springing up, carried us
before it at a dashing rate to the opposite side in
the course of a few hours, somewhere about the
latitude of Norfolk on the coast of Virginia.
Here, as we met for a day or two after with
mild pleasant weather, and, falling in with some
coastuig craft, obtained from them a small sup-
ply of provisions, we began to indulge a hope
that our troubles were at an end ; but the result
proved the truth of the old maxim that "I'Homme
propose, et Dieu dispose;" for on the evening
of the second day, owing to the influence of an
in-shore current, so slight that it had been dis-
regarded, and to carelessness in sounding, we
suddenly struck, and found ourselves flounder-
ing on the point of a shoal which stretched far
into the bosom of the sea.
Here, tlien, was a new scene of trouble and
anxiety, which we certainly had no right to anti-
cipate. We had struck very lightly it is true,
being at the time in comparatively still water.
i
^1
J4
AGROUND.
and having very little wind, but we were not
the less firmly fixed ; and our utmost efforts to
get ofT, by the usual expedient of backing sails,
proved wiiolly unavailing, the only effect pro-
duced thereby being the heaving of the ship
in a way to add very greatly to our apprehensions
and discomfort.
The captain, though he said but little, was
deeply mortified. To allay the general disquie-
tude evinced, he affected to believe that we were
in deeper water than we really were; but one of
our companions, a nautical man, having judged
for himself, by a cast of the lead, privately told
us that we had barely four fathoms!
By one of those miracles which seemed to
have attended us throughout, it proved, upon
investigation, to have been low-water when we
struck, so that a chance remained of our getting
off* when the tide should rise.
Cheered by this reflection, we hoisted and
fired signals of distress ; and these, being seen
or heard by one of the coasting schooners already
mentioned, she bore up to us, affording such
AGAIN AFLOAT.
15
assistance as was in her po ver. She furnished us
witli a small kedge-anehor, which, being carried
out with a rope attached to it, we were enabled,
by working the latter manfully at the capstan, in
relief gangs, to aid very materially the efforts
of the rising tide, and had the unspeakable satis-
faction, at the expiration of several hours^ hard
labour, to get the vessel off.
During these proceedings, tiie scene, both
above and below deck, was most distressing,
though not without touches of the ludicrous.
Men halloing and swearing; women and chil-
dren crying and lamenting; some arraying
themselves in their best garments, in the hope
of escaping to the shore in the friendly schooner ;
others selecting the effects they were most
anxious to preserve ; the deck strewed with
scattered cordage, interspersed with boxes, bed-
ding, and various other articles; the sails Hap-
ping against the masts; formed a combination
of circumstances calculated to fill the mind with
strange emotions, coupled with ever varying
speculations as to the result.
" S'il y a de la poesie dans un naufra^
■'oM
"I.
16
SANDV FIOOK.
It'
({uaintly observes some French writer, " ce n'ei^t
pas celiii qui se tioie qui aura le loisir d\n pro-
filer ;" and the truth of the remark came across
me with peculiar force on this occasion, antici-
pating as I (lid its speedy illustration.
Once more, then, we found ourselves afloat,
and time it was we were so, for, shortly after
our release, a furious gale, accompanied by a
snow storm, sprang up from the north-east, the
effects of which must have inevitably proved
fatal to us, had we been compelled to await
them in our former position.
The night proved dark and boisterous, in-
flicting on us an intensity of suffering, both
mental ar.d bodily ; and when morning dawned,
it was found that we had overshot Sandy Hook,
and were running at a slant towards the point
of land at the extremity of Long Island Sound.
The captain, therefore, tacked and stood in for
the Hook; but, no pilot making his appearance,
he was compelled to proceed at his own risk, as
the vehemence of the gale, hourly increasin.r.
admitted on our part of no delay. The morning
was, however, so hazy that the captain became
ROCKAWAV SHORE. I7
bewildered, and .s(, confounded hk land-niarks
as to mistake the.n altogether. Hence, while
proceeding i„ full career, as we thought, in a
right direction, the awful sound of breakers
a-head came suddenly upon our sfartled ears,
and presently the dim outline of the fearful
Kockaway shore, on which (as we had already
learned from a newspaj.er obtained on board the
schooner) the unfortunate ship Afe.vico had re-
cently been cast away, appeared frowning darkly
at us through the mist in which it was enve-
loped. A moment's hesitation on the part of
the captain, and all had been lost ; this was, in-
deed, the crisis of our fate, and well we knew
it as, rushing to the deck, we gazed alter-
nately at each other and the appalling scene be-
fore us.
The captain nobly redeemed his nearly fatal,
however involuntary, error. For the first time
diu'ing the voyage, he was now seen in a state
of intense excitement. Himself, springing to the
wheel, « 'Bout ship, my lads," he shouted; "haul
away for your lives ! if she misses stays, we are
1:
I
.1
1^ I'F.IULOUS SITUATION,
'ost." ]}ut the ^rallant sliip, thou^rl, sl,c had
often before missed stays, did not do so now |
As if sensil,le of her (hinder, she answered
pn.inptly to the hehn, hounded, Hke a deer
^'ouhh-n.iron its course, on the opposite tack, and
we were saved I At this wholly unlo(,ked.for
deliverance, our long pent-up emotions found
vent in three thrilling cheers, and, uncovering
cur heads, we returned to the great Giver of all
good the silent tribute of our thanks, which, I
doubt not, were heartfelt on the part of all, for
the infinite mercy he had shewn us. A brig,
evidently as much bewildered as ourselves, l.rd
been following in our wake, profiting by our
leadership; but on seeing us suddenly tack,
became alarmed, tacked also, and thus avoided
the fate to which we were alike blindly rushing.
We now rapidly neared the light-house, and
here, though with great difficulty, from stress of
weather, took in a pilot, who ought long since
to have made his appearance. The ship, how-
ever, could proceed no further, as the gale, which
had gradually been veering to the westward,
*•'
DISTIIKSS OF PASSKNUKlltj. jy
'>levv by this ti.,.c directly d.m^ the hay, and it
was therefore resolve.! to ca.t anchor, until a
steam-boat should arrive to tow her up.
This happened on the 23d of January iSJi?
bein^. the sixty-third day of the voya^r., I{.,th'
the passen^rers aud crew exhibited a very dif.
ferent appearance at the beginning and at the
end of it, as n,ay very readily be iumgined.
An.ong the steerage-i,as,sengers, in particular,
bodily privation and mental anxiety had effec-
tually <lone their work, and when I last saw
then, emerge from their imhealthy domicile,
they seemed but the shadows (,f their former
selves, being pale, haggard, and attenuated to
the last degree.
From harsh treatment, by the first mate, hard
service, and short all<,wances, the crew had shewn
frecpient symptoms of dissatisfaction, and on one
critical occasion, as regarded weather, fairly mu-
tinied, being with very great difficulty induced
to resume their duty.
During this long and memorable voyage, it is
scarcely to be supposed, particularly ''a's we
steered a southern course, that we were without
i^
20 NAUTICAL " GAZETTE."
snatches of fmo, agreeable weather. On such
occasions we had recourse to various expedients
to relieve the tedium of our position, and keep
alive our spirits; but none proved so effectual
a means to the end proposed, as the appearance
of a diurnal paper that was started, compla-
cently termed a « Gazette," and to which all
more or less contributed. It lived about a week;
and. by way of curiosity, as a sj)ecimen of editor-
ship afloat, under hUious influences, I subjoin
somedoggrel (whereof I procured a copy), forn,-
ing the concluding part of the editorial address.
Ecce signum.
Amid the din of elemental strife,
Despite the enmii of a ship-board life,
The muse asserts her beneflcial sway
To cheer the wand'rer o'er this trackless way.
• • * * •
Thoujrh prudence wills the hoarding- of ou'- store.
To keep, at last, the lean wolf from the door ;
What ! tliough pro\ isions (not we) run a-ground,
If mental fare among us doth abound !
So long as there be wherewithal to dine,
At hardest fare 'twere folly to repine.
And who, when others' only food is air,
V\^ould not forego some portion of his share 'f
EDITORIAL ADDRESS.
21
Besides, why fear an iiniiiipuasinf,' meal-
Is there not left some tender, choice* biill-vealP
To ei<e out which, will not our host provide
The corn in car^n), till that source he dried?
Let all, then, zealously their wits comhine,
And yield due homage to the sacred Nine.
Let each contrihute to the common weal,
Anmse his thou«rhts and write as he may feel.
For whilst fair (Jazollea on our efforts smile.
It us behoves their lone hours to beguile.
* . * • • *
May winds, propitious to our wishes, urge
(Jur {raliant \es.sel through the foaming surge;
And no fresh mishaps further tend to baulk
Our hopes of landing in far-famed New York !
Naturally feeling anxious to quit the ship
the moment I was able, I gladly accepted, in
conjunction with several of my companions, the
offer made to us by the pilot, to convey us to
New York on board his schooner, lie himself,
however, of co-rse remaining with the i>acket.
But so far from gaining by our impatience, we
had well nigh paid dear for it ; and it was quite
evident, that our old element was unwilling to
* In u facetious assimilation of the inmates of the cabin
drns, as they were termed, to the animals of a wandering
menagerie, one gentlcmun, from his peculiar aj.pearance'',
bad been designated the " bull-calf." The appellation
given to the ladies was that of the " Gazelles."'
^rt
n
22
I'lLOr UOAJ.
!(
part with us on tlu> easy terms we had pro-
posed.
By incessant tacking, and keeping close in-
shore, Ave contrived to make some little jiro-
gress; hut a sea at length struck our fragile
craft, which made her quiver to her very cen-
tre, half filled her with water, blew her every
sail to ribands, and hurled the helmsman from
his post. Her flush-deck, carrying it off" quickly,
alone saved her from sinking beneath the weight
of water with which she was oppressed. We
were at this time about ten miles below the
city.
" Gentlemen," said the skipper, looking down
into the confined space where w? were huddled
like so many half-drowned rats, " 1 guess this
won't answer ; I can't attempt to proceed fur-
ther, and must lie to; but if, instead of remain-
ing on board for an uncertain period, you like to
try the chmice of gettmg ashore in the yawl, I
will have it launched."
Bad as was the alternative, we unanimously
assented to the proposal, and the first boat-
load dejiarted through a raging surf, for the
fi
CETTLVG ASHORE. 23
"••ly {.racticahle plm-c of la.uling, wl.ich was a
wcKHlon jetty, projectin^r .H„ne distance into the
^'"y ; the si .e itself l,ei„g too ice-bound to ad-
"Jit ofalK)at approaching it.
The rest followed in parties of two and three
scrand,ling with difficulty along the narrow'
jetty, the surface of which was covered with a
coat of ice, and over this tlie waves were inces-
santly breaking; but we all ultin.ately gained
the land in uifety.
"uffetted by a pitiless hail-storm, and wad-
ing through the deep sr.ow which lay upon the
.-ound, we n,ade for, and successively read .d
a house of entertainment about half-a-n,ile dis^
tant. The vanguard had already secured some
rough means of conveyance to New York, whi
ther the whole party forthwith proceeded, with
the exception of one individual, an intelligent
respectable An,erican gentleman, and myself,
»>-th of us preferring to remain for the present
where we were.
Inquiring for the landlord, we were ushered
'nto the presence of a middle-aged, beetle-browed
man, who was pac'.g up and down the room in
I,
24 MKRCAN'JILE INQUIRY.
which we found him, and who, immediately on
hearing we were from the packet-ship below,
without in the least heeding our request to be
provided with accommodation, abruptly accosted
me with the unlocked for question—
" Pray now, what's the price of cotton ?"
" Cotton ! " I replied, somewhat annoyed at
the man's utter disregard of our pitiable condi-
tion, but amused withal at the strangeness of the
association;— "all, my friend, that I know about
cotton is, that I have not a dry thread of it upon
me, and if you will have the goodness to sell
me a pair of stockings of that, or any other tex-
ture, I shall be very much obliged to you."
My interlocutor regarded me with a look of un-
feigned astonishment at the profoundity of my
ignorance, and the presumption of my request ;
resumed his former promenade, and left us, with
the utmost nonchalance, to shift for ourselves.
" Pleasant landlord," whispered I to my com-
panion.
" Very," replied he.
" I hope," I said, " he does not present a fair-
specimen of the Bonifaces of your countrv.^ "
liately on
ip below,
est to be
' accosted
n ?"
noyed at
•le condi-
ess of the
ow about
f it uj)on
5S to sell
ther tex-
you."—
jk of 11 n-
:y of my
request ;
us, with
•selves,
my coni-
t a fair
rv:
25
NKGOCIATION FOR A BED.
"By no n,eans," was the rejoinder; "you will
find theni very different at New York: but leave
-e to deal with him; we must humour bin., or
sliall get iiothinfT."
By a brief recital of our n.isfortunes, my com.
I>anio„ .o far thawed our host's inhumanity, a.
"' ."duce him to have set before „s « comfort-
"We substantial „,eal, to which, having first
''•■"-■A our saturated garments, it may readiiy W
•■"agine.1 that we di.l an.ple justice, after our
;""f *''"^"« f™" ""y thing like whoIeso,„e
rood.
The next point was to get to rest, but here
another contest arose; the landlord, to save him-
-If trouble, though fully i„,,„di„g ,„
- the highest prices, signifying his intention to
q>.arter us not only in the same dormitory, but
al« in the same bed, a practice by no means un-
common in the States.
This we both stoutly resisted, declaring our
intention to adopt in preference, the alternative
of passing the night by the stove; so that, find,
ing us inflexible, he at length agreed, though
^v>th a very ill grace, to accommodate us with
VOL. I. J,
26
CONTRAST OF SITUATIONS.
iii
separate rooms. It wus not, however, to his
after sense of propriety that we were indebted
for this assent, but to his American pride^, my
companion having hazarded the observation that
I was a stranger^ unaccustomed to the usages of
the country.
They alone who have been in situations such
as I have described, can appreciate the feeling
of exquisite delight which is experienced on
again reposing in a bed on shore; but, for my
own part, I would not willingly incur the long
privation for the sake of contrasting it with the
after enjoyment.
Throughout the night in question and the
whole of the day following, which chanced to be
Sunday, the storm raged with unabated fury,
causing my companion and myself to feel the
most intense anxiety for the fate of the ship and
tliose we had left on board her : nor was that
anxiety relieved until late on the succeeding
Monday, when, on reaching New York, we
found her in port, where she had but just ar-
rived in tow of a steamer.
We then learned that, in fulfilment of our
■r, to his
indebted
3ride<, my
ation that
usages of
;ions such
le feehng
lenced on
, for my
the long
with the
and the
iced to be
ted fury,
feel the
ship and
was that
icceeding
ork, we
t just ar-
t of our
STEAM-SHIP. 27
apprehensions, the ship had been in the most
--inent peril, having dragged her anchors
"early three miles, and narrowly escaped being
''"ven out to sea, with only one meal's prov,^
sion on board, wliich 1><,A i
' ""''' ''"'I teen supplied by the
-boone.. before we left. Her owners and .be
Ne»Yorl<p„bb-ebadgive„berupf„r,os,.,,e
more particularly as one or two packet ship,,,
"'""'"'^'"^England full a. „o„,h after h!r
had reached their destination so„e days before'
she made her appearance.
Hail „,ori„„, „^,„^ , ^1^^ ^^^^^,^
wl..ch thou bast already wrought in ,rans-At-
lanttc „avig.,tio„ entitles thee to universal reve
-nee. Would that, in „, ,„,,g, „„. ^ ^^^
met, as I chanced to do a few m„„t,„ „•„,,
wbenh e„,rd-bou„d,o„coftheI.evia,ha„s
"■^ucb thou now propellest across that wide waste
of waters, I would have betaken n,e to thy
embrace anddonetheeever after homage for
hyfrnely presence; but thou wer. tli „n.
Inown to wanderers oer the Atlantic's space
beuceforth thine own domain !
On the occasion of the meeting to which I
c ^
p;
28
STEAM-SHIP.
have alluded, it was beautiful to see the majestic
steani-shij) overhaul us at pleasure, in a light
wind, and the nicety of her movements as she
gradually narrowed the distance between us.
The whole scene was singularly impressive.
The day was fine, the water not too rouo-h; a
brig which we had overhauled was sailing along-
side in company, when presently up came the
snorting steam-ship, which, in glorious indepen-
dence both of wind and tide, ran close to either
vessel in rapid succession, and, having briefly inter-
changed communications with each, finally shot
across our bows, and, at the expiration of an
hour, was lost to sight ; the long streak of her
smoke on the verge of the horizon, now seen as
nnich a-head of us as an hour before it had ap-
fK'ared astern, alone revealing that in the middle
of the Atlantic science reigned triumphant.
With reference to what precedes this episode,
should any of my old fellow-passengers chance
to see my feeble attempt to portray our adven-
tures, they will recognize the picture as a faithful
one, however they may deem it in other respects
susceptible of improvement.
29
lie majestic
in a light
nts as she
Ben us,
mpressive.
rough ; a
ing along-
came the
s indepen-
; to either
iefly inter-
nally shot
tion of an
'ak of her
iw seen as
t had ap-
lie middle
lant.
i episode,
•s chance
ir adven-
a faithful
r respects
CHAPTER II.
Journey fron, NewYork to Canada.«Winter Travelling
-Adventures by the way.-An,erican Coaehn^ansh p
-Aspect of Lo«'er Canada. ^anship.
After remaining in New York a sufficient
time to recruit and transact some necessary
busmess, I started, about the middle of February
on my way to Montreal, in company with an'
Enghsh party bound for the same destination,
t-o of which consisted of a young newly-married
couple.
And here, let me premise that winter travel,
l-ng in North America is „„ pastime, as your
lK>nes will surely testify after you have journeyed
some fifty miles • nnr ;= ,•<• vl .
y "iiies , nor is it without its share of
perils.
It took us on this occasion, full ten days to
reach Montreal, though the distance from Ne^
Vork thence is something under four hundre.1
miles.
The journey to Poughkeepsie, or " Kipsy,"
30
YANKKE ENTERPRISE.
as the Americans call it, by way of elision, a
small neat town, situated mid-way between New
York and Albany, was performed on wheels,
and we sleighed thence up the frozen Hudson to
the latter city, agai- - r -Vrcing north-wester,
which both driver an ..„es had the utmost
difficulty in stennning. So regular a road had
Ix^en formed along the ice, that at various places
we found, much to our satisfaction, a hut erected,
the interior thereof being Avell heated by means
of a stove, and exhibiting an array of bottles,
containing wherewithal to warm also the stomach
of the traveller. This was a striking illustration
of Yankee enterprise that could not fail to rivet
one's attention.
From New York to Poughkeepsie a conside-
rable portion of the road winds over the Fish-kill
Mountains, forming a series of alternate ascents
and declivities, and frequently overhanging pre-
cipices, the space between the edges of which
and the wheels of the vehicle is sometimes barely
a foot wide. Such roads, though bud enough
at all times, are rendered next to impassable
during the winter months, by floods and other
elision, a
ween New
n wheels,
ludson to
th- wester,
le utmost
road had
us places
t erected,
)y means
bottles,
stomach
-istration
to rivet
conside-
^ish-kill
ascents
ng pre-
f which
s barely
enough
lassable
1 other
RECKLKSS DHIVIAG. 31
casualties wMethe evil is increased by an „,.„
•i-egard to the improvement „f their co„.liti„„
-.ngt„,l,eHudson.rvi„gas the great northern
l"Slnvay for travelling during three-fourths of the
year.
Down ,„ch declivities as I have mentioned
rather than describe, the horses of our con-
veyance would be propelled at the top of their
»peed, with the usual reckless daring of Yankee
dnvers, as though to compensate for the delav
of the previous wearisome ascent; but in many
cases because, paradoxical as it may seem, a
slow descent would have been far less safe. 1,
was surprising ,o see the skill with which the
animals were guided, when the least diverging
«.her of them or the vehicle, to the right o'r
eft of t e crumbling narrow road-way, would
have hurled us to destruction. Being seated on
the box, which station I selected to obtain an
unobstructed view of the magnificent wintry
-ene exhibited around me, now catchin!
gltmpses of the partially ice-bound Hudson^
now lo.ng all traces of its track, I had ample
opportunities of judging for myself of the pro-
32 SMART JEHU.
ceedings of those to whom our safety was en-
trusted.
One of these knights of the whip, a smart,
(lashing person, wlio proved to be the owner of
the team of fine white horses he was driving,
exhibited such consummate coachmanship, at a
very dangerous and intricate pass, that I could
not help complimenting him on his dexterity,
assuring him of my conscientious belief that no
coachman in my country would dare attempt a
feat similar to that he had achieved.
This effectually wound me into his o-ood
graces ; but I Jiad some reason to repent my
candour, since, whenever afterwards he had
the opportunity of proving himself, as he con-
jectured, worthy of my commendation, he would
give each of his horses a knowing touch, grasp
his reins with a steadier hand, compress his lips,
plant himself firmly in liis seat, and hurry on his
former wild career ; eyeing me askance, with a
smile of humour upon his countenance, at the
conclusion of every such performance, as much
as to say, " There, stranger, what do you think
of that ?"
fl
ACCIDENT. 33
I dill not care to tell him what I thought ;
but if truth must be revealed, he was fast bring!
ing me to the conclusion, that I had escaped
from Scylla only to full into Cliarybdis ; and
was inducing me to draw involuntary comparisons
between tlie wide sea-room of the Atlantic Ocean,
(bad as I thought the situation at the time) and
the narrow space of my present « whereabout,"
very much to the disparagement of the latter.
We resumed sleighing from Albany, but, the
roads not being at all times adapted to it, we
proceeded very slowly, suffering much from cold,
and the violent jerking induced by the inec,uali'
ties of the track.
At day-break one bleak morning, the vehicle
suddenly stopped in the midst of a wild desolate-
looking country, and the driver, opening the
door, " guessed " that some one must come to his
assistance, as one of his horses had dropped upo,.
the road, and he could neither raise nor disen-
tangle him.
I immediately volunteered my services, and,
on alighting, found the poor animal in its last
agonies, evidently the effect of being over-dri ven :
c 3
ail
'i s
34
DEAD HORSE.
|('1I
a result at which but littli" surprise need be felt,
considering that he had completed a stage of
about twenty-four miles. The driver, however,
thought differently ; railed at the defunct, as a
a lazy « crittur,'' and declared, that there was
never any work to be got out of hini.
I reminded hi)n that, however this might have
been, his working days were now clearly over,
and that judging by appearances, the remain-
ing trio were not very far distant from the same
goal; thus effectually refuting the imputation
cast upon their fallen companion.
To this there was n( answer, and his sophism
was apparent to himself. The dead horse being,
alter some difficulty, disentangled, was left upon
the road, and the other jaded creatures had vet
to drag us nearly four niiles before they could
be relieved ; but there was no help for it, and
they were goaded forward. Getting into conver-
sation with the driver (by whose side I had
seated myself, in anticipation of a further de-
mand for my services, but which did not, happily,
occur), I represented to him the inhumanity of
driving horses with such a h,^>ivv draught so
111
I
SLEIGH CAPSIZED.
36
long a distance, and suggested, that it would l,e
greater economy in the end t<, work theni less
at a stretch, us their hves would be prolonged : a
^vas well aware, that any argun.ent involving a
question of gain, was the best to use with an
American.
He pondered son.e time, and at length quaintly
demanded, "Who's fault's that, ^,-.^,. ,. the
owner's or the driver's?"
" Oh ! the owner's, of course," I rejoined.
" Well, stranger," he said, « I gu'ess you're
n^l.t; we do drive 'em tarnation inhuman
that's a fact."
On the evening of the fifth day we reached
the neat, quiet town of Burlington, the capital of
the state of Vermont, and situated at the head
of Lake Champlam, then completely fro>^en
over. Here we Imlted for the night; starting at
'Jay-break the next morning, in the course of
winch we met with two adventures, which are
well worthy of relation.
The snow had fallen heavily during the nio-ht
S(^ that our driver, who proved besides to be a
•lovice, after proceeding a few miles, became
36
JIF.UOINES.
I>ewildere(l, wniulerod from tlic main road, and
'inally up.st't tlio vehicle, lieavily laden with
passennrers and lu/r-rafre, dow,, the side of a
sUvp dedivity, where it lay flat npon its side;
but the dead- wei/rht had the good eflect of bring-
ing the horscr to a stand still.
We escaped with a few severe bruises, with the
t'X(e|)tion of an American lady, who, being on
the leeward side, had her face severely cut,
tiiough what concerned her most was the destruc-
tion of a new bonnet of some gay colour, which,
for greater security forsooth, she had been oar-
rying on her lap. She cried and lamented bit-
terly ; not so our little countrywoman, who be-
haved like a heroine; and wlien her first natural
alarm for her own and her husband's safety had
subsided, laughed heartily at our misadventure.
Being uppermost, I had the advantage of the
party, and having crept through the open space
above me, I perched myself astride it, and j-
ceeded to assist my companions. The first IJished
up was the English lady, who emerged from her
prison-house shoeless, so that, before I could aid
the rest, I had to devise the m^ns of disposino-
i
SI.EK/U HKIIITED.
37
"f '■"r. To this c.,ul, ,liscnla„gli„H » c„u,,It. of
'""■'''<• '"'K..„i,spr<.a,li„K one of ,|,o,„ on ,1,.
"'"""' ' '''"^l I"--- "P"" it, an,l onvc.|o,x,l her i„
"-'".cr. Thus ,q„„,,c.,|, ,,,„ rcemblod (wUh
tl.e exception of her vk,«o) ,n, I.;s,,nin,„„x, o,. the
""'"""" ""■' '-'"'■»■"«•■ when he i, ropr,,en,e<l hy
yueve,lo, „s place,! h, a .ittin^ po,e„re between
•wo bnckler.,, with hf, head only ,«,rins forth,
hkc- that of a tortoise from l,et,»i,xt its shells.
Hy disencun.berinn; it „f (j,, |„„„„^,^^' ,|^^_
•-Ic.gh was once n.ore righted, after an hour's
labour; but before restuning our journey, the
perpetrator of the n,ischief, who had s,.»„,al,K,f
''""""""' P™«'li"gscan,e forward, an,l statine
w.th ntuch coolness ,:.„ „,, „„, „.^„^,_^^^^
to dr,vn,g (an unnecessary acknowledgment, by
tl'e way), requested that some one a,nons us
would take the reins for hi„. Whereupon, a
volunteer came forwirrl ..,,-i i
lorward, and drove us very well
the remainder of the sta^e.
The second disaster we experienced, occurred
a few hours afterwards, and liad well nigh been
attended with serious consequences to the ladies
of the party and myself The American drivers
:«!
ii;
38
RUNAWAY HORSES.
•J*
; i:;
have a very reprehensible habit of leaving their
horses' heads unleashed when they stop to bait
or change teams, and in the States there are no
such persons as ostlers to stand sentry over them.
On one of the latter occasions, we had all alighted
with the exception of the two ladies, and were
awaiting in the porch the exit of the driver from
the house. The horses, which had just been
put to and were very fresh (by no means a corol-
lary in the States), finding themselves at liberty,
became impatient, and presently bolted with the
vehicle. Alarmed for the safety of the two
females, and yielding to a natural impulse, I
sprang forward, and by a great effort reached
the near wheeler (if I may so designate a sle?</h-
horse), whose check-rein I seized just as the
four animals were breaking into a gallop. Him,
I speedily mastered, but, as ill-luck would have
it, the drivi.ig-rems had been cast on the opposite
side, and I found it impossible to gain either
them or the near leader's head ; so that after
running till I was fairly spent, I was reluctantly
compelled to cast myself off, and, seizing a
favourable moment, tlirew myself into the deep
)!i
I
■ ■.»
FEMALE COURAGE. 39
snow beyond the track, i„ order to avoid a salu-
tation from the sharp runners of the vehicle,
leaving the horses to continue their rapid fli<xht'
increased too as it had been by my abortive
attempts to check them.
The behaviour of my countrywoman on this,
as on the former occasion, was most praiseworthy'
and the courage she displayed rendered still
more conspicuous the want of it in the fair
American.
So long as there remained a chance of my suc-
ceeding in my efforts, she retained her seat with
the greatest coolness and self-possession, and I
J^eard her encouraging her companion to do the
same; butwhen,onfinding that the case was
hopeless, I exhorted her to spring into the deep
snow, she at once boldly acted on my suggestion,
and was speedily followed by the American, im-
pelled by the example set her and the increased
terror which came upon her at finding herself
alone ,n such a situation. Both, fortunately,
escaped without .naterial injury, as did also th
sle-gh and horses, winch were stopped, after a
run of two miles, by some labourers who chanced
:H:
'''I
1 1
w
m
I
40 INDIFFERENCE TO DANGER.
to be working on the road; and our effects were
restored to us in safety.
When I got back to the inn, the driver, in-
stead of thanking me for my exertions (fruitless
though they had been) to repair the effects of
his carelessness, contented himself with remark-
ing : " I guess, mister, if youM been more
smart, youM ha^ jumped a top o' that ere ani-
mal " (the horses were only at the top of their
speed, and I, heavily clad, floundering in the
deep snow). " I gucss,^' I replied, " you had
better have tried tliat experiment yourself, since
you think it so easy." In fact, it is to be doubted
if even Ducrow himself could have performed
such a feat of agility.
But upsets and runaways are too common in
the States, to be associated in the minds of the
people with ideas of danger, and the accidents
arising from them are treated with much
levity.
The Canadians are not much better; and I
remember being told of a case of negligence
which once occurred somewhere on the road be-
tween Montreal and Kingston, whereby the lives
STEAM-BOATS.
41
ves
of nine or ten stage passengers were all but sacri-
ficed. The horses had been left, as usual, un-
leashed at some halting place, had started off,
run a considerable distance, and the passengers,
unaware of their danger (the leathern curtains
of the sleigh being closely drawn to keep out
the cold), were only awakened to a sense of it, by
•suddenly hearing the crashing of ice, and finding
themselves floundering in deep water. They
escaped with the utmost difficulty, and the
horses, I believe, were drowned.
I mention these occurrences less from any in-
terest now attaching to them, than that they
may serve to put upon their guard those of my
fellow-countrymen who may have occasion to
travel through the northern parts of the North
American Continent in the winter season. When
the navigation is open the case is different, and
there are no greater dangers to be encountered
than elsewhere.
The Canadian steam-boats are, however, much
more pleasant and commodious than those of
the States; the latter, besides, being generally
crowded to excess, and though presenting a very
'I
42
FAINTING LADY.
animated scene, nevertheless, a scrambling one
by no means pleasant.
I must narrate a little incident which I once
chanced to witness on board an American steam-
boat. We were just sitting down to a repast when
a lady, exhausted by the combined effects of
the jostling and scrambling incident to the occa-
sion, and the heat of the weather, uttered a loud
scream, and forthwith fainted away. All was
again confusion, in the midst of which up step-
ped a young interesting-looking American fe-
male to direct operations, claiming a right to do
so, on the ground that she herself very often
fainted, and knew the proper remedies. Atten-
tion being diverted to her by this public an-
nouncement, she seemed about to enter on a
learned disquisition respecting the philosophy
of syncope, accompanied by illustrations in her
own person, when her design was frustrated by
some one suggesting that the patient had better
be carried up stairs into the fresh air, a simple
and effectual remedy which the fair lecturess
seemed to have entirely overlooked. It is so
unusual for American ladies to put themselves
f
NATIONAL PROPENSITY. 43
thus prominently forward, that one could not
help being struck with the love of display con-
spicuously manifested on this occasion. The
lady in question had already been holding forth
on deck, with much apparent eloquence, on vari-
ous erudite subjects, and cleariy belonged to the
sisterhood of blues.
But to conclude my journey. At one part of
It, we had taken up, as a transient passenger,
a young American woman of the middling class,
who after she had sat some time in silence, eyeing
our party with much apparent curiosity, sud-
denly accosted one of them with the observa-
tion —
"I guess, stranger, that's a very nice shawl
youVe got," (meaning a large merino travelling
shawl which he wore.)
"I am glad you like it. Miss," was the an-
swer; "your judgment proves my taste."
" Would you let me look at it ? "
« Certainly." Whereupon, the party disen-
tangling it from his neck, placed it in the fair
one's hands.
Having spread it, and satisfied her curiosity
li.'
m
44
MAIL-BAG.
as to its quality and texture, she observed, that
it was very much like one belonging to iier
mother !
The owner of course expressed himself as
much honoured by the coincidence.
" You wouldn't'like to part with it now, would
ye ? " was the next inquiry.
" I guess not ; I am going to Canada, and
should feel the want of it."
" Well, now, what are you going to that cold
place for? you^d better stay in our fine coun-
try, that's a fact."
The gentleman availed himself of this op.
portune turn in the conversation to divert the
attack upon his shawl, which might otherwise
have ended in the usual proposal to barter, so
pleasantly illustrated by Captain Marryatt.
It is startling to one accustomed to the sort of
religious reverence with which the mail-bao- is
regarded throughout England, to witness the
utter disrespect with which it is treated in Ame-
rica, being there a sort of foot-ball both for pas-
sengers and drivers, and never allowed to inter-
fere with their convenience.
MAIL- BAG. 45
If there be a mail-bag to deliver of which the
place of consignment chance to lie a little out of
the line of route, the driver will content himself,
in nine cases out of ten, with depositing it by
the way-side, and, winding his horn to signify his
having done so, proceed on his journey, without
troul)ling himself any furtlier about the matter.
I have myself seen this; while, on one occa-
sion, I remember, the driver, suddenly discover-
ing that one of his mail-bags was missing,
"guessed" that the -tarnation bag" must have
been dropped on the way, and "calculated" he
must have the trouble of going back to look for
It. For a wonder he did so, and sure enough,
after retracing our steps about a mile, there lay
the cause of his retrogradation.
Generally speaking, I thir^k that there exists
in the States less desire to pilfer than in most
other countries; partly, no doubt, because there
IS less general want on the part of the connnu-
nity, and, consequently, less temptation to be dis-
bonest, and partly because there prevails amongst
them a greater degree of pride and self-respe^'ct.
A striking illustration of this remark came
■il
i
i
I
!' ■'
iiii.
til
t
46
TRAIT OF JIONFSIT.
witliin my own experience. I had dropped, un-
conseionsly, in a vehicle, in the process of light-
ing from it, my pocket-book containing a con-
siderable sum of money. Whilst the passengers
were seated at dinner, the driver appeared with
the pocket-book in his hand, and inquired if any
one of us owned it. My right to it was soon
established, and the finder, of course, rewarded
for his conduct, though I had great difficulty in
inducing him to accept anything. Had he chosen,
as he might readily have done without the fear
of detection, to appropriate the money to his
own use, my embarrassment would have been
great in the extreme; for, until I could have
obtained a remittance from my friends, I should
have been left wholly without the means to pro-
secute my journey.
Traits of this character deserve to be recorded
whensoever they present themselves, since, un-
fortunately, they are of very rare occurrence.
About the eighth day of our journey, we
entered Lower Canada, reaching the village of
St. John's at midnight, all but frozen.
After leaving Albany, the traveller is gradually
If!!
CANADIAN COSI UMK. 47
n.acle sc-nsible of hk ..pproacl. to the regior.s of
tHe north, by the increasing chiHiness of the
atmosphere around in'm, as it becomes n.ore rari-
hed; and is right glad to aid his natural caloric
hy addn,g to his already warm ch>thing.
We Imd long passed the in.aginary boundary,
line, ostensibly separating the two countries,
before we ascertained that we were on Canadian
«o.I, being first enlightened to the fact by the
novel sound of the French language, and a dif-
ference of appearance in our driver, who was now
-lad m the not unpicturesque Canadian costume,
-n.s,stingof a grey great-coat, with a sharp-
ponued hood thrown over the head, trousers of
tl^e san,e n.aterial, a crin.son sash round the
waist, stocking-boots with red turn-over tops,
and, finally, ^ pair of fur gloves.
This is the genera] dress of the nude peasantry,
'"■ ^'"^'''""' '' they are termed, though thJir
appearance is in general much less gay than that
of the class of persons of whom our Jehu was
a specimen.
The dotl, wl,c.,c.„f their outer garments are
made, is for ,|,e ,„„st part horae-spu,,, a„d is.
ill
I (
48
FIRST IMI'nESSIONS.
in such cases, held in high estimation hy the
wearers.
The garb of the female peasantry has nothing
characteristic about it, with tlie exception of the
fur bonnet, but exhibits tl,e same tastelessness
as the attire of corresponding classes in England.
The permanent impressions, of whatsoever ten-
dency, which are left upon the mind on our first
visiting a foreign land, are not unfrequently in-
fluenced, though, perhaps insensibly to ourselves,
by the time and circumstances under which
that visit may be made. For these reasons, I
would counsel, on the strength of my own ex-
l)erience, all those who, unaccpiainted with
Clnnada, may design to visit it, not to do so in
the winter season if they can possibly avoid it.
A snow-storm in the wilds of Canada, can
alone find a parallel for the intensity of its deso-
lation in a winter hurricane on the Atlantic, or
a whirlwind, with its accompanying sand-drift,
on the great des.rt of Zahara, and equally with
them is it to be dreaded.
We were weather-bound at St. John's duriivr
the next twenty-four hours, a beaw fall of snow
1
J
SNOW DRIFT.
49
Having succoedod the fine clear weatl.er whid,
l.ad preceded our urrivd. Our impatience to
got forward induced us to n,ake several at-
tc-M.pts to penetrate to Laprairie, distant some
twenty niles, but ti.ey proved unavailing; and
H-e were fain to retrace our steps, after being
twjce or thrice dug out from a deep drift, in
"'"^•1' sleigh, passengers, and horses were nearly
buried. "^
On the ensuing day, a road having been
formed, we again started, and were this time
n.ore fortunate; reaching without accident,
though tardily, the banks of the St. Lawrence
;vi"ch now lay before us in all the desolation of
Its wintry grandeur.
Viewed from Laprairie, you have son.e dif-
ficulty ,n conceiving tliat water rolls beneath
the noble river's white expanse, and still less
that w-aterever held, orcould hold, the place of
that snow-covered domain. In this respect, you
""ght indeed almost be pardoned for indulo-in..-
m the scepticism of the Turk or the Hindoo (I
fojtofwhichthestoryis told), who had equal
difficulty in understanding that ice could be
VOL. I. ^
'm
• !
1
1:1
i
^^^1
m
Ill
r,o
VIKW OFMONTllKAL
formod out of water, t'vin tlu)ii<,'h tlio fact was
illiistrutpd to liiin by artificial means.
The width of the an<?lc which intervenes he-
twtvn Laprairie and Montreal, is between seven
and eight niile?;. Seen in the <h\stanco, with the
sun shininpj brij^rhtly on its tin roofs, Montreal
has a pleasin^r appearance, and at the season of
which I now speak, it fairly i,ore to ww the
Minblaacc of an Oa^is in the desert.
To one unaccustomed to the performance, it
is a somewhat ncrvouj o|XTation to cross in a
vehicle on the ice, so wide an expanse as the
St. Lawrence; particularly when, aitaining mid-
way, you regard the space, whethtr before or
behind you, which separates you from the land,
and hear the rinijing, if not cracking, beneath
the horses' feet, of the frozen surfjice you are
traversing, long-reverberated, too, as is the hol-
low sound in the distance.
On the occasion of wliich I speak, our cross-
ing was rendered more than usually tedious and
painful by the combiiied influence of bad horses,
and the inequalities of the track, which, from
the lateness of the season, had l>ecn worn down
Hi
m
i
f
JHt; ST. LAVVivKNCE.
61
-'>at the French Cannclians tenn caAo/., a.ul
c-ans,n^r our vehiV-k- co rebo.n.d from one alter-
"ate eonvex point to the other, with an effect
"I»>" us so.„ewhat resen.hhr.^r that produced by
tl'^' passage of a vessel through a rough short
sea.
The sleigh, with its entire cargo, must have
contamed a burden ofnot much less than a ton
"• weight, and was drawn by a trio of horses
driven tandem- fashion, tne leader of whieh
would frequently turn short round, causing a
ireneral entanglement, and look us ruefully in
the face, as though in tacit reprouch of our ob-
stinacy in urging bin, forward on a road-way so
precarious.
Nevertheless, we reached the northern bank
>n safety, despite of even the driver's expecta-
tion, and were at length, to my extreme satis-
faction, comfortably housed in Montreal
h
o
•■|u!i
ll
) ' '\
62
M
I
CHAPTER III.
Comparison of Montreal and Quebec— Quebec Cathe-
dral.— General Description of Lower Canada.— State
of Society.— Fren^jh Canadians.— Town and Rural
Population— Insurrections of 1837 and 1838.— In-
fluence of the Priesthood.— Amusing Anecdote of a
Parish Pastor.— Political Reflections.
Montreal and Quebec have been too often
and too well described to require further illus-
tration; nevertheless, a passing observation in
regard to them may not here be out of place.
The more ancient parts of either city much
resemble many of the old provincial towns of
France; the modern parts, on the contrary,
partaking more of an English style and charac-
ter, in the greater width and cleanliness of the
streets, and better construction as well as more
comfortable aspect of the houses.
The majority of the streets, however, as well
of Montreal as of Quebec, are dark, gloomy,
and narrow ; nmch of their sombre effect arising
n
: m
TIN ROOFS— FIRES.
t:i
53
from tlie dark-grey stone whereof the l,ou.es
and edifices are built. The glittering tin roofs
by uhich these are surmounted, afFord some little
relief to tlie general monotony ; but the effect
which they produce upon the eye when the sun is
shining brightly on them, is very distressing, and
when thereto is added the reflexion of the solar
rays from the snow, the sight ha« to undergo a
trying ordeal.
A very scenic effect is produced by the agency
of these tin roofs, if a fire (as is frequently tiie^case)
ohance to take place at night in the winter season.
Their glitter, in combination with the lurid
glare of the flames, relieved by the surrounding
snow, and a clear blue moon-lit sky, completes
a tableau perfectly unique, such as it is well
worth your while, how cold soever may be the
temperature, to start from your bed to witness.
But, in Montreal, there are two special prac-
tices, which serve to disturb you in your bed
without offering you any inducement to quit it,
and break your rest for nothino-.
The first is the incessant clamour of a bell,
swinging in an old isolated turret, near the Ca'
^11
i'
• «
'h
mil
!'f*li' I
.'!
I
54
CHARIVARI.
tholic cathedral, the nugce canorce, of which,
while serving to summon the faithful to their
devotions, inflict a purgatorial punishment on
all other hearers.
The second practice is incident to the occa-
sion of a, widow or widower being rash enough
to re-enter the state of matrimony. When the
fact becomes known, the young men of the town,
disguising themselves in masks and the most
grotesque attire, proceed on horseback, in large
parties, to the dwelling of the happy couple,
which they encompass, and forthwith greet its
inmates and the whole neighbourhood with the
most hideous noises produced by the agency of
all sorts of instruments of discord.
This superior sort of marrow-bones-and-clea-
ver performance is termed a charivari, and
takes place at all hours of the night. It has for
Its object the levying of a pecuniary tax on the
victims it selects, to be applied to some cha-
ritable purpose. If the parties come forward
voluntarily and liberally they are exempt from
further annoyance, brt otherwise they are sub-
jected to an indefinite repetition of the serenade,
w
QUEBEC AND MONTREAL.
OJ
at the will of their tormentors, who eventually
succeed, in nine cases out of ten, in exacting the
required tribute. Serious rows have sometimes
resulted from these nocturnal celebrations, and
the interposition of the authorities has occa-
sionally been necessary.
The practice, I believe, is a corruption of an
old French local custom, on the occasion of
second marriages, when (as I have understood)
the bride and bridegroom were compelled to
keep open house for a certain number of days,
and to feast, ad libitum, all comers of their own
sphere of life.
Tlie signs of progression and of stationary
habits are no where more strikingly conspicuous
than at Quebec and Montreal ; and no where,
perhaps, are domestic contrasts of almost every
kind exhibited in more varied shapes.
Side by side are seen the modern commercial
store and the ancient secluded convent. Here
appears the harbour enlivened by an array of Bri-
tish shipping; there, the lingering remnants of
primitive inactive life. Jostling each other on the
narrow causeway, or grouped in the wider square
!|M
II
iiiii
ffl
i
linn
: I
ill
56
DOMESTIC COiNTRASTS.
or market-place are the red-coated soldier of
England and the cowled priest of France ; the
antiquated hahiiant of the country in his home-
spun suit of grey, and the spruce denizen of the
town attired in the latest European fashion ; the
swarthy Aborigine of the soil, enveloped in his
blanket, with his squaw c arrying her papoose at
her back (the little creature not always exhibit-
ing in lineament a purity of race), and the British
artisan or labourer in his peculiar garb ; while,
to crown the whole, the alternate sound of two
conflicting languages, breaking on your ear at
every step you take, leaves you momentarily
undecided as to whether you be not in some pro-
vincial town of France or England; the first
impression, moreover, being strengthened by the
general appearance of the streets and houses ; and
the last, by the British designation of many of
the thoroughfares and the preponderance of Bri-
tish names along their line of frontage.
Upon the whole, and notwithstanding the
greater severity of climate, I should give the
preference to Quebec, over Montreal, as a place
of fixed residence ; though, in a positive sense,
I ill
• the
' the
jiace
enso.
TONE OF SOCIETY. .37
neither city holds out any allurements to a person
who has been accustomed to a metropolitan life
in Europe ; and as to means of intellectual en-
joyment, there are few or none.
The general tone of society is decidedly
liigher at Queljec than at Montreal: a fact
which may probably be accounted for, by the
former having been so long the seat of govern-
ment, and the great military station ; as also,
perhaps, in some measure, by the circumstance
that a more remote position has caused the habi.s
and manners of the people to be less imbued
with the characteristic roughness of the neigh-
bouring Republicans.
This taint becomes, indeed, more sensibly ap-
parent in proportion as you advance up the
country from Montreal; and by the time you
reach Upper Canada, you may not, in respect
of language and behaviour, unaptly fancy your-
self as being within the confines of the States.
Let any one, for instance, who has had the mis-
fortune to sojourn for a day at Cornwall, or
at Prescott, say if I be not borne out in this con-
clusion; while in various parts of the country
1)3
m%
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I
M
i
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■I
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M
58
QUEBEC CATHEDRAL.
you hear just as much "guessing," "calcu-
lating," and " howing," (the execrable interro-
gation for what) and encounter just as much ex-
pectoration, and other repulsive habits, as you
can possibly meet with in the New England
States themselves.
Next to the Cape and Citadel, the object at
Quebec which most fixed my attention was the
Catholic Cathedral on the market-place, or
rather I should say the interior of it ; the com-
pactness and style of which I thought infinitely
superior to its more aspiring rival at Montreal.
The gilded roof and ornaments within the
Quebec Cathedral, combined with the general
antique appearance which pervades the whole
interior, imparted to the scene when I visited it,
towards the close of a fine autumnal day, an
effect which an artist would have been delighted
to reproduce on canvas. There was about the
place a refinement, an unpretending sanctity, a
subdued tone of piety, forming a combination,
though wholly undefinable, yet appealing at
once to the feelings and inducing involuntary me-
ditation. On the occasion mentioned, propriety
NATURAL SCENERY.
59
or
was not outraged by extortionate (lem-nds for
the privilege of seeing what every one possesses
an inherent right to see, the enforcement of which
tribute at the shrine of niannnon forms, in
exclusive England, a feature of such hideous
prominence; but ingress to the Cathedral was
quite as free and unimpeded as at any of tlie
sacred edifices of continental Europe.
For some miles bekw Quebec the country is
extremely picturesque, but further on, it be-
comes, though majestically grand, lude, wild,
and barren; exhibiting a seri, s of bold precipi-
tons rocks, rapid torrents, and uncultivated
plains ; and offering, in fact, few or no attractions
to the settler, or even to the tourist. The beau-
tiful Falls of Montmorenci, about nine miles
below the city, are a constant object of attrac-
tion to the inhabitants of Quebec ; pic-nic par-
ties in the summer, and sleighing parties in
the winter, being frequently formed to visit
them.
Between Quebec and Montreal, the scenery
itself along both lines of parallel, exhibits no-
thing of a particular character, the country beintr
almost one continuous flat, the general mono'^
•i|
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' iy
( -' ' i
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i!
A I I
'i'
60 CANADIAN VILLAGKS.
tony whereof is reliovod only at wide intervals
on the south shore, by the outlines of a few
widely scattered mountains seen dimly in the
distance. Nevertheless, the almost unbroken
line of villages fringing either side of the St.
Lawrence, almost down to the water's edge, is
not without its charm, and lends a grace to the
noble stream, fully equal in its kind to that im-
parted to the Rhine by :is castellated towers ;
to the Thames by the sweet domesticity of its
scenery and villas; or to the Hudson by its ma-
jestic highlands-its gorgeous array of wooded
banks and variegated foliage.
To a stranger unacquainted with the sta-
tionary, unimproving iiabits of the French Ca-
nadian peasantry, the appearance of these neat
looking villages would indicate a much more
advanced stage of progress tlmn in reality exists-
while the fact is that, for the most part, they are
but the screen to a comparatively enipty space
beyond, extending as they do only a very little
way inland. This is especially the case on both
shores upwards, as far as the confluence on the
southern side, of the . iers of the Richelieu
witn those of the St. Lawrence; when the two
I
KICHRLIEU DISTRICT.
t, ,
61
.strean,s, diverging from each other, in the san.e
manner that water is seen to separate when
striking on a point, leave between then, a
gradually increasing triar.gular space of very
considerable dimensions at the base, which is
probably the best cultivated part of Lower
Canada, and forms indeed its granary. Almost
every village, or settlement, within this district
bears a saintly appellation ; but the patrons or
patronesses seemingly exercise, i„ one sense, but
little salutary influence over the n.inds of their
devotees, who are as notoriously fertile of dis
affection as is of grain (despite of a barbarous
mode of husbandry) the soil they cultivate
North of Montreal, and extending to the lake
o. the twomountains, the country is tolerably
well cultivated, as it is also from Montreal up-
--Is to the borders of Upper Canada; and
the scenery, when divested of its wintry dress
(which qualification must be considered as of
general application to any descriptions I may
•-itten.pt), is in some parts very striking and pic
turesque, thotigh quite dissimilar in character to
the European style.
'r!
i J]'
i
'in
^2 l"ODES OF lUSBANDIlV.
ScattcrcH throughout the s..ttl«l ^Mhs, are
'"""7 "' ^""■»'' -S".. »l.o have ,,™,h,„„„
'"tr,Kluce,l the most ■,„pr„ve,l method, of cult,,
vatmjt their hmds, whieh may at once h<. rea,lilv
Astinguished from ,ho« of their Kreneh Cana-
<Jm.. brethren by their very ,„,K.rior degree uf
fert,h-ty and general condition. I„ some f,.»
cases the French Canadian, have followed the
Soo,l exa„,ple set then,, hut they are too much
tl.e slave, of prejudice and habit to ,«rsevere
■n s..ch inntations. Formerly, I „m ,old, the
iTe..ch Canadian fanners were in the habit of
'"■"Wing the <lu„g yielded by their cattle into
.he river, instead of using it as manure, and many
"f then, continue the practice to the present
day.
The country surrounding Montreal, and ex-
tendutg far beyond the confines of the islan.l
when seen on a fine day from the s.nnmit of
the h,gh mountain just behind the city, and
from which the latter takes its name, presents
a lablr„u which would l« u„sur,Msse,l, both
m loveliness and grandeur, were it „„|y diver
s.fied by hill and mountain, of both of which
I
VIKW FROM illOMKEAI.. ^3
it i» wholly d™,i,l. Here, you ..^ .he „„l,le
.""■ ^''"™"' "'""!'•"« majestically „,„i,|„
Its numerous, ,leo,,-wo,«l„| i. ,„d»; there ,t,
worthy trihutary, the Otta« !.,lf.e„cirdi„K
m .ts e„ hraee the fair island, on whose highest
P'mt you „„nd; heneath you, th- pap,.,„u, ,.;,„
;■'""""'" '•°"''' Sli't'^'-ing in the su„ ; hewre
"*'"'"'• ""'' ■"™°'i y"'< as far as the eye can
reaeh, hVlds teeming with venture and vegetable
I'fc, the wh„le agreeably interspersed w,.', rural
villages an. 1 hamlets.
^" ' ^"'''y '"" 'hi* smiling pie,„„. „f
peaee and ph„ bee,, marred on two ...casion,
1-y the headstrong folly and perversio,, „f those
;'"' """■ "■""^■'"<' '" «l- manifold blessings
tl.cy were in effect enjoying. Free from taxL
""."• ""'^'"'••'«' '■""■* religious worship; de-
VOHI of thos.. care,, .nd ..nxieties which weigh
rfowntneEu^pean peasant; and reaping, in
flne,thefullf,uitoftheiH„dustry;.„.i;U
extent the antiquated laws of their blind .•,,..
"try wdl permit.
I know of no condition of life, „|,ere mere ani.
mal comfor. constitutes the deside,a.u„. more en-
I *!
1 1
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64
STATE OF SOCIETY.
II)
■'III
lu •
«i:
viable than that uniformly enjoyed by the French
Canadian peasantry until they nii:,took their posi-
tion and gave ihe rein to the latent passions which
had been insidiously awakened in them ; and a
close observer of their condition would at once
have been struck with the conviction, that if they
lacked any portion of happiness or prosperity, the
cause lay entirely in their own want of energy,
and not in any oppressio!i practised towards
them by their rulers.
Arriving in Canada with only the average
stock of knowledge in mgard to the country and
its inhabitants, which the generality of English-
men possess, I had much to learn before I could
attempt to form judgments upon points that in-
vited my attention. I was aware that dissensions
of some standing among its inhabitants had had
the effect of arresting its prosperity, by impe-
ding the development of its natural resources ;
but I had yet to discover the jrrecise nature of
those dissensions; their proximate or remote
causes, and the incentives or secondary causes
which contributed to perpetuate their existence.
The result of my inquiry, undertaken from
,'IJ<
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CAUSES OF DISSKNSION.
65
a spirit of curiosity and a iiabit of investigation,
rather than iron) any specially defined object at the
time, was to trace, ai " VLuy early period, the dis-
cord which I witn<« ed to . single source; that
source being no otlic-. tL„ -, what a far abler pen
than mine has empliut caily dtscrilied it, the
collision of two distinctive races of people.
This discovery filled me with the greater re-
gret, because on a pmnd facie view, it seemed
to preclude the expectation that the evil, after so
long a growth, could be remedied otherwise than
by measures of coercion, which, however Justi-
fiable they might be, would not the less bear
the outward semblance of oppression. I soon
further ascertained, that the line of demarcation
which separated the British and French portions
of the population, was not merely political in its
character, but that it involved as complete a
severment of all social relations between the two
parties as could possibly be defined.
I was grieved at the last consideration on my
own accou\it; for having passed some years of
my life in France, and imbibed a sort of predi-
lection for good French society, I had antici-
1}
1 1
I;-
1
ji Ifi
i
66
TOVVx\ POPULATION.
1! I .,ii
1^ i. -li
pated much pleasure from again mixing in it,
even at second-hand ; conceiving, as I did, and
not -illy, that the better classes of the
Fren. iadians, however they might lack the
polish and refinement of European members of
their race, would be at least free from many of
their prevailing vices, and would exhibit, as a
consequence of a more primitive condition, some
of the better qualities which characterized the
French of the olden time.
I found, however, that the French Canadian
inhabitants of the towns, taken as a body, were
very far from answering to my bea?^ id6al. It
was not difficult to see that the minds of far too
many of them, the rising male generation in par-
ticular, were impregnated with the most vicious
principles, unredeemed by such virtues as could
alone counteract their effects, nor to perceive
that these were daily acquiring strength.
Though the cause at first appeared ambiguous,
this circumstance was in a great measure satis-
factorily explained to my mind, when I learned
that the majority of the young men, designed by
their parents for professions, were sent to France
VICIOUS EDUCATION. 67
to complete their education ; and that the study
of English, as compared with French literature,
occupied but a very slender portion either of
Mieir time or their attention. I should be sorry
to be understood as reflecting, by implication,
in the foregoing remarks, on the seminary at
Montreal, since I believe that institution to be,
though susceptible of much beneficial remodel-
ling, a very commendable one; and I have wit-
nessed examinations within its walls which would
have done credit to many European establish-
ments of a higher standing.
Had proper measures been taken at the con-
quest of the colony, to insure in it the supre-
macy of the English language— a measure which
would have been rendered justifiable, by the fact
of the French inhabitants becoming thenceforth
British subjects— the result, we may be well
assured, would have been widely different.
The influence of language upon mind— of
mind upon habit— of habit upon conduct— needs
no illustration. A variety of harmless means
might have been devised for disseminating the
use of the English tongue among the great body
iM!
hfe
1 h
^A
ui'
ill
'I
68
ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
r'
of the people, so as to cause it imperceptibly,
but surely, to supersede in time the prevailin.^
Idiom. But what do we see at the expiration o"f
eighty years' occupancy of the country ? A par-
tial knowledge of the English language, confined
almost exclusively to the French Canadians of
the towns, and the great mass of the habltans
unable, in nine cases out of ten, to understand
you if you address them in it !
The employment of the Engli.si, language in
all judicial, legislative, and executive proceed-
ings, and in all public records; the establishment
of schools, elementary and normal, wherein it
•should be taught to tb. rising generatio-.i ; the
gratuitous distribution of Englisli elementary
books; the frequent introduction of Wiihh
Catholics among the priesthood ; and, in fine,
the institution of premiums for proficiency
wotdd have formed, conjointly, a combination of
means highly conducive to the attainment of the
end in question.
^^'llo that is alike conversant with the two
idion.s, will venture to gainsay the assertion, that
since the period of the first French Revolution,
I
I
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE. 69
the literature of England, defective though in
many respects it be, is immeasurably superior to
the contemporaneous literature of France, not
only in its degree, variety, and general merits,
hut, above all. in point of moral tone, correct
sentiment, and genui.ieness of feeling ?
Let us suppose then, as the result of the course
of proceeding herein-before suggested, the French
Canadian population to have been imbued during
the last fifty years with such a literature as tha't
just mentioned, in lieu of the one, its very
opposite, they have in effect cherished: is it ha-
zarding too much to say, that we should have
found them in regard to moral culture, and hence
in regard to a sense of moral duty, as affecting
attachment to British institutions, a very diffe''.
rent race of people? or that the substitution of
the one course of study for the other, would
ha^e given insemihly to the general current of
their thoughts an entirely new direction? In-
stead of seeing, as now, the mass of the French
Canadian youth perusing with avidity the level-
ling doctrines, the false sentiment, the revolting
depravity, the gross obscenity, which collectively
V i"'
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4
it
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70
NEGLECT OF EDUCATION.
■Il !
stain tlie pages of so much of the French litera-
ture of the age, we should have found tliem pos-
■sessed of a taste for the more moral productions
of the English school, and cultivating that taste
with a similar degree of assiduity to that they
now display in a less ennobling pursuit.
In this lamentable state of things, in a colony
nominally British, but virtually the converse, we
have another glaring instance of the general cul-
pable neglect of England, in all that relates to
the monientous question of popular education;
a neglect which dims the lustre of her otherwise
untarnished grandeur, and renders her almost
a by-word among nations.
Were it not that neglect in this respect consti-
tutes too general a feature in her conduct, we
might not unnaturally conclude that the exhibi-
tion of it in Canada formed part and parcel
of the short-sighted policy with which she has
throughout acted towards that country; as
though, in very truth, 'Iritish statesmen, recoil-
ing at tlie prospect of a remote democracy, should
Canada contain an united people of British
growth and origin, revelled in the hope of being
FALSE POLICY.
71
able to rear and to perpetuate, by the unnatural
means employed, an effectual barrier to its pro-
gress !
The success of any well-digested scheme to
Anglicise fundamentally the character of the
French Canadians, had the attempt been made
at an early period, when the materials to work
upon were comparatively of a pliant nature,
cannot now, with propriety, be doubted; how
far, in the present desperate state of the case,
any tardy endeavour to rectify the flagrant error
that has been committed, and to regain lost
vantage-ground, can prove effectual, is quite
another question; but the attempt, at any rate,
is still wei: worth making.
In all times and ages it has been the judicious
policy of nations that have acquired fresh terri-
tory by conquost, to assimilate as much as pos-
sible to their own condition, the people whom
they subjugated. By England alone, in the case
of Lower Canada, Jias this wise precaution, of
adopting, by degrees, a transferred race to their
altered circumstances, been lost sight of; and
the consequences are now beginning to be felt.
f\
nU
ii
I
)!
70
I Am0
AMBIGUOUS TENURE.
If'
II hi
From the effects, either of the folly or the
recklessness of British statesmen tlurini.' a lon^r
series of years, the present tenure of Lower
Canada admits of comparison with nothino- else
than the armed possession by England in former
days, (if one of her old hereditary provinces in
France; a tenure which exposed her sons to
indiscriminate slaughter and expulsion, whenso-
ever the subjugated native should have the o])j)or-
tunity of rising against them, taught as he had
sedulously been, from his earliest years, to regard
them not as fellow-subjects, but as the rank usur-
pers of his birthright, and his oppressors.
There was only this difference between the
respective cases, that in France, neither from
local circumstances nor by moral means, could
any permanent amalgamation of the two races
possibly be effected ; whereas, in Lower Canada,
there was no such impediment to contend with,
until England voluntarily placed herself in a
false position, when she might have shaped at
will the key-stone of a long-enduring arch of
safety.
As regards the French Canadian rural popu-
1 .1
.■■'il
'I
RURAL POPULATION. 73
Jation frenerally, I would say, as tlie result of
close personal observation of their character,
that, apart from the working of the inherited
feeling of national animosity to the British race,
which rankles more or less deeply in the breasts
of all, in common with their brethren of the
towns, and which is hidden or betrayed, but
never slumbers, just in proportion as it is acted
upon by casual events, they are, in the main, an
orderly, quiet, inoffensive set of people, who
would not of themselves resort to violence, unless
under circumstances of very extreme provoca-
tion; nor rush intomischief without very strong
appeals being made to their latent prejudices
and passions.
Though lamenting the degrading bigotry and
superstition, inseparable from their state of igno-
ranee, I have not been the less gratified at ob-
serving, in connection therewith, the extreme
propriety of conduct and demeaisiiur which
characterizes them when congregated in their
places of religious worship. I have, however,
occasionally been much aniused by the oddities
of some of their rural pastors when holding forth
VOL. I.
£
m
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11
74
RURAL PASTOR.
mSm
'\l
1:^
to them, in the vernacular, from the pulpit; and
who, in their familiarity of style and diction,
could not have been surpassed by any corres-
pondino; iiropounders of Catholicity to rural ears
in even good old Ireland.
I remember, on one very hot Sunday after-
noon, strolling into a village church, when tlie
predivuteur, a little short jiunchy man, whose
rubicund countenance, just peering from above
the pulpit, exhibited every symptom of an in-
Iierent aversion to Lent, was holding forth with
great vehemence and gesticulation, the perspi-
ration running the while copioroly down his
cheeks.
Having concluded a long peroration, he was
beginning a new sentence, commencing, " Jhu
Chreer (Jesus Christ), " mes enfans, votw
mvex;'' when observing the church-door to be
open, which, besides admitting air, also admitted
the noise of some urchins from without, he suil-
denly vociferated, ''Fermez cette parte la, f/ue—''
From his manner I really apprehended he was
going to add "diable;' but he left the sentence
inifinished, and resumed his discourse with " Vous
1>H0LL SCKNF.
75
mvcz, mes enfans, que Jrsm Christ a voulu—
a voulu, je vous dis^ He had now, however,
either from the intern.ption or the heat, or fro,,.'
the eo.nbination of both cause., quite lost the
tlireacl of his (h'scourse, and could evidently ,„„.
ceed no further; wliercupon, far from I,ein«
abashed, he took out J,is snuff-box, still pn"
nouncing, with a pause between almost everv
letter, the words "/c<,s7. C/m'e,-" i,elped hiniself
to a lengthened pinch; deliberately raised hi.
small black tons(,r; wiped his reverend face an.l
forehead, and exclaimed witb the utmost sin.pli-
cityof manner, looking very complacently around
linn, " // fait hien chaud, mes enfansr The
whole scene was inexpressibly ludicrous. The
perfect ease and none/w/atwe of the preacher;
liis strange appearance; the mixture of tiie holy
with the profane ; the singular conclusion; but,
above all, the reiteration of the Saviour^s name in
association with tbe snuff-box, so played in con,-
J>ination upon my risible propensities,' that I was
con.pelled, in the excess of my heresy, abruptly
to quit the church, convulsed with inward laugh'-
ter; though, to their credit, and to my shame,"be
E O
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76 SKNTIMEMS 01 IIAHITANS.
it said, not a smile moved tlie muscles of ti, ' fea-
tures of a single member of the Catholic auditory,
besides iudulging in the practice of seeing
them at their devotions, I have mixed familiarly
with them in their domiciles, and, being able to
converse with them in their own language, was
soon upon the l)est jwssible footing with them.
I am satisfied, from the experience both of others
and myself, that had my countrymen in general,
in former times, been more unbending in their
demeanour towards them, and made them feel
less sensitively their inferiority of condition, their
asperities at the present day would have been
at least softened towards us, ihough, certainly,
nothing short of their complete amalqamntinn
with the British race could have removed their
inherent antipathies. In proof of the deep-seated
nature of those antipathies, I only need record the
fie(]uent candid avowal of those who entertain
them: ^^nous vous aimerio7is, pc.ut-etre, a hi dis-
tance, vovs mitres; mats nous ne vovs nimons
point deprcs:'' As they had been left the free use
of their own idiom, it was always a point of feel-
ing with me (apart from the necessity of doing so,
i^n
1^»^ f-^#
INDIFFERENCE TO FRANCE.
77
f'roui their general ignorance of English), to ad-
dress them in it, even ,, I would the poor de-
graded Indian, " I ki w hi jruc; and I have
uniformly remarkid, ,m\v all the difl'er-
encein their reception ui j ,, whether you ad-
dressed the howsoever courteously in Eno-lisli or
familiarly m French. In my conversations with
the peasantry of whom I speak, I was at first sur-
prised at the want of interest they evinced in re-
gard to the land of th " ancestors; but their
indifference may be aceuunted for by the lon«'
period which has elapsed since the sevormcnt of
their political connection with that couutrv.
As the qualification of much that I have said
of their social condition generally, it is right to
observe, that many shades of difference exist be-
twixt the various local communities, and that
the leaven of present and future discord has
been gradually instilling itself into the system
of the primeval state of liarmony, heretofore pe-
culiarly their own, by the dissemination amongst
them of new tenets and fallacious doctrines bv
young medical practitioners, notaries, and law-
yers, who settle in their villages and hamlets,
after completing, as I have already stated, their
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78
SHADES OF DIFFERENCE,
studies in France ; or, as is also very frequently
the case, in the United States.
Allowance being made for some exceptions,
the worst portion of the French Canadian pea-
santry is decidedly to be found along the south
shore of the St. Lawrence, from Beauhamois
downwards to Sorel, and between such length
of shore and the south-east borders of the United
States. Next in degree come those inhabiting
the country within a deep semi-circle, encom-
passing three sides of Montreal. Lastly, be-
tween Montreal and Quebec, and below the
latter city, are probably to be found the least
contaminated of the French Canadian peasan-
try, an impression which is confirn.ed by the
manner in which they conducted themselves
throughout the respective insurrections; though,
on the other hand, it cou!d not be doubted,^' if
appearances might be taken as an index, that
liad success on either occasion dawned upon
the efforts of their brethren in arms, they would
have thrown off the mask, and risen almost en
masse.
With respect to the British part of the po-
pulation of Lower Canada, it is of a very mixed
BRITISH POPULA'JION.
79
character, the prominent portion of it, however,
being composed of persons who are engaged in
commercial or tradmg pursuits ; the agricul-
turists of British race are comparatively few,
and are thinly scattered throughout the settled
districts; hence their ecctreme danger in times
of popular commotion arising out of national
dissensions. The Eastern Townships, as they
are termed, contain a population essentially
British, though interspersed with some Ame-
rican settlers, who have been attracted thither
by the superior fertility of the soil, and the im-
proved mode of culture generally practised.
Much of the beef consumed in Montreal is sup-
plied from these Townships, and the adjacent
State of Vermont, and it is of a far superior
quality to that brought to market by the French
Canadian farmers, who, in general, give them-
selves very little trouble about grazing, or im-
proving their breed of cattle. Corn is the
staple, to the raising of which they devote the
greatest share of their attention, and Jean Bap-
tiste* is always well-content when (first amply
• The sobriquet given to the Frencli Canadians.
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JEAN BAPnSTE.
supplying his domestic wants) he can exchange
it for Pargent sonnant, as he terms silver
coin, large quantities of which (as paper money
is his aversion), are annually suhstracted by
him from circulation, to be hoarded as a heir-
loom, in old stockings, night-caps, or such-like
purses, within the privacy of his dwelling.
The British population, with a few individual
exceptions, necessarily pull together, because of
their intuitive sense of a common danger, from
their being environed by a foreign race, whose
hostility to them is felt to be in grain, and
who, on their part, are influenced by a some-
what similar feeling, though certainly without
an equal cause of apprehension. But for these
fears, inducing as they do a mutual repulsion of
the respective bodies, and closely cementing in
themselves the component elements of each, it
is perhaps questionable whether the British po-
pulation would not be divided into the same
minute particles of party-difference that cha-
racterize their more wrangling brethren in the
Mpper Province. In their religious sectarian-
ism, they are already pretty much alike, and
'm^
MONETARY CRISIS.
81
are equally prone to polemic strife on points of
religious difference.
The first ev.nt worthy of notice that hap-
pened in Lower Canada after my arrival, was
the suspension of specie payments by the banks,
at the request of the community, in conse-
quence of a similar general suspension through-
out the United States, induced by the great
commercial crisis which had taken place there.
This measure, which circumstances rendered un-
avoidable, and which the necessity fully justi-
fied, being timely resorted to, proved, *;^. a
pecuniary sense, the salvation of the province,
inasmuch as it enabled the banks to support the
commercial community at .'. moment when they
peculiarly stood in need of such assistance.
As I propose, however, to devote specially a
few pages to the subject of banking in Canada,
I shall reserve any further remarks upon it for
a future chapter.
Throughout the summer and autumn of this
eventful year, the public mind had been kept
in an almost constant state of agitation and
alarm, by the proceedings of the leaders of the
£3
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82
INCIPIENT SEDITION.
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French Canadian party i„ various parts of the
country, and an apprehension of imminent but
indefinable danger, was b<.ginning to be univer-
«ally entertained. Impunity begetting confi-
dence, meetings of the most treasonable cha-
racter, which had been at first held secretly at
"'Klnight, were now held unconcealedly in open
day. Public drills, in large bodies, uext suc-
^•eeded ; and these were followed by weekly re-
views, which generally took place on the morn-
ing of the Sabbath, after the hour of mass.
Throughout Lower Canada the Sabbath is
indeed the grand day, even in peaceful times
with the French Canadians for the transaction of
business of a public nature; and strange ex hi-
iHtions take place at the church-door, where, as
the congregations issue from the edifice, they are
addressed by individuals charged with the duty
of expounding to them the merits of sheriffs'
sales, and public announcements of evei v k' 1.
The agitators of the period availed themselves
of this ancient usage to address their willing audi-
tories on the palatable topics of virulent abuse of
the British government and people; praise of
DRILL SCENES. 33
the patriotism and disinterestedness of the im-
mortal Papineau ; plans for the advancement in
all earthly prosperity of the incipient « Grande
Nation Canadienne;-' whereof the attentive
listeners were represented as choice specimens;
fierce denunciations against red-coats, accom-
panied with insinuations of their wearers find-
ing ere long free quarters without rations in the
St. Lawrence ; the whole string of invectives
being wound up with three cheers in favour of
that very public, yet practically unknown per-
sonage—Dame Liberty.
Curiosity induced me frequently to visit the
scenes as well of this peculiar oratory as of the
. drills, because at both strong points of national
character were constantly elicited. Though the
whole matter was becoming somewhat too serious
to be made^a source of amusement, I am bound
to confess, that much of what I witnessed was of
that ludicrous character to make me almost for-
get, at the moment, the danger which lurked be-
neath it.
Some of the drill scenes, in particular, the
marshalling and arraying of the recruits, and
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the manoeuvres practised, were mighty rich ; but
't was not the Jess evident that the performers
were becoming at eadi rehearsal more proficient
m their new vocation, and might soon be con-
verted into formidable opponents.
All these proceedings,. it was obvious, must
end m something more than child^s play; and a
doubt naturally suggested itself to the minds of
"'any, considering the great numerical dispro-
rx)rtion between the two respective races, and
the mere handful of troops then in the country
whether the approaching torrent could be
stemmed.
The British inhabitants, however, far from
giving way to despondency, began to see that
their main reliance must be upon themselves, if
they would avoid the dreadful calamity which
their being found unprepared, would entail upon
them and their families.
For a long time, fruitless applications were
made to Lord Gosford, or, as the French Ca-
nadians termed him, " Milord Goose-fort," to
sanction the formation of tiie loyal inhabitants
into corps; nor was it until the eleventh hour
£(
H
PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES. 85
that his lordship could be brought to under-
stand the real nature of the danger, or to free
entirely Sir John Colborne* from the shackles
in which his relative subordination placed bin).
When carte blanche was at length given to Sir
John to act as circumstances might require, he
immediately adopted the most vigorous mea-
sures, and the alacrity with which those mea-
sures were seconded by the gallant race of men
interested in their promotion, proved how well
they were aware of the difference between the
ostensible and the real objects of the hostile
party.
As a measure of precaution, the different banks
of Montreal sent down about this time their
specie to Quebec, for safe-keeping in the citadel.
In the midst of all this incertitude and con-
sternation, not the least expectation either of
American interference in behalf of the insurgents,
or of a simultaneous rising in Upper Canada,
appeared to obtain. If any looked to these con-
tingencies, they wisely preserved silence; for the
promulgation of any fears of this kind— particu-
* Now Lord Scaton.
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86 CONDUCT OF PRIESTHOOD,
larly on the latter point, as the people confi-
dently looked for aid from the aister province-
would, probably, have l^en attended, from the
greater degree of depression it would not have
failed to create, with the most fatal conse-
quences.
One palpable sign of the times, not to be mis-
taken, during the progress of the insurrection,
was the waning influence of the Catholic priest-
hood over the minds of their hitherto docile
flocks. Not only did the insurgents treat with
contumely the remonstrances of the pastors to
whose injunctions they had before been blindly
subser/ient, but intimated to them, in many
cases, that their interference might be attended
with peril to themselves. This, however, so far
from acting d^terringly on the clergy, stimulated
them to renewed exertion ; for they knew and
felt their interest as a body to be identified with
the maintenance of British authority, which
alone secured them in their possessions ; while,
on the other hand, they were no less sensible
that were the chain of their moral influence once
broken, the success of their countrymen must
W
!;■'
TIIKIH POSITION'. 87
entail upon thcui the same ruin and devastation
that overwhelmed the clergy in France during
the first revolution there. Just in proportion
therefore, as they became sensible of the real
nature of their position, so did they direct their
efforts to check the progress of the insurrection;
and upon the whole they succeeded marvellously,
considering the powerful reaction with which
they had to contend.
There were, nevertheless, many cases of defec-
tion in their own ranks, as was strikingly exem-
plified in the respective instances of the parish
priests, who were found combating on the side of
the insurgents at St. Charles and St. Eustache;
but, taken as a body, the French Canadian
Catholic clergy remained ostensibly faithful
to their allegiance; and, under such circum-
stances, it is scarcely worth while to inquire how
far their national sympathies might have been
enlisted on the other side, had not their personal
interests been at stake.
It would be, at best, a doubtful advantage to
the French Canadians to emancipate themselves
by forcible means from their present religious
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thraldom, without being hVst i)rc.,,aro(l for the
rational enjoyment of such freedom, by an en-
lightened course of education.
An incidental occurrence, which tool- place on
the 6th of November, brought pren.aturely to a
crisis the disease I have been describing, and
precipitated the designs of the French Canadiar.
party, who had intended to defer their execution
until the navigation of the St. Lawre.-ce should
be fairly closed.
The day in (luestion had been fixed upon by
the rival parties ear', to assemble, and afterwards
towalk in procession through the streets; of course
v/ith the object of a mutual exhibition of nume-
rical strength.
Justly apprehen(h-ng that the peace of the
city would be endangered by such a proceeding,
the local magistracy issued a proclamation, warn-
ing the inhabitants generally to remain at home,
and exacted privately from the leaders of either
party a promise that they would exercise their
influence to prevent the proposed assemblage.
This promise, the British, on their part, faith-
fully adhered to, and then- efforts were successful;
f!i'
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IIOSTILK ATTITUDES.
80
but the French Canadians either violated theirs,
or were ill-obeyed ; since, in the course of the
afterncxm, a body of alxMit two hundred of the'V
partizans, mostly carrying sticks, converged,
from various quarters of tiie town, towards a
tavern, hifuuted between St. Paul's and Saint
James's Streets, which run parallel, ami having
in its rear a la.ge stable-yard with gates opening
on the latter thorouglifure, t ,e best ..id widest
in Montreal.
In this yard they congregated, and, accordintr
to the reports of strangers who got amongst them,
harangues, surpassing all former treasonable
displays, were uttered, and a resort to violence,
though not (m that occasion, more strongly than
ever reconmiended.
Whilst this was going on, some members of
Ihc British party, incensetl at the violation of
the pledge given in the morning, planted them-
selves in front and rear of the meeting-|)lace,
and parading the Union-jack, with jeers and
shouts, defied the would-be Romans to issue
forth. This, the latter abstained for a lono- time
from doing, as the number of their besiegers
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90
STREET ROW.
rthough not exceeding at the utmost fifty men
and boys,) had been so magnUed, that they
v-ere filled with a very terror; and, according
to all accounts, so far were they from manifest-
ing anything like warlike ardour, that their only
anxiety was to get safe home.
The house in which I resided nearly faced
the entrance to the stable-yard, so that I could
WM.essin safety all that was passing; hence,
^ -^g struck with the extreme folly of our people
who were by no means justified in interfering'
and who, even otherwise, were too feeble ^o
resist should they I)e assailed, I remarked to a
friend who was standing at the window with me,
that they would surely have cause to repent their
temerity.
I had scarcely uttered the words, when a loud
shout was raised, and presently, uttering hide-
ous yells, out-rushed the besieged, who had now
learned how few were their challengers, into the
open space before me, which they cleared in a
twinkling, striking right and left with their
sticks.
By this time, my friend and I had gone down
U I I
CONFLICT.
91
to secure the street-door, but before doing so,
we half-opened it, whereupon admittance was
implored by several of the fugitives, and of
course granted to them, one of the individuals
so sheltered just escaping a blow aimed at him
with a heavy bludgeon, by one of his pursuers.
On resuming my station at the window, I
found that the assailants had made a halt, and
were conferring as to their further proceedings,
sentries being placed at the corners of the cross
streets, branching right and left, and hurling
down them an incessant shower of stones.
Never did I gaze on such an infuriated band
of ruffians, and, making allowance for the diffe-
rence of attire, their whole appearance and de-
meanour might not unaptly realize our concep-
tion of what must have been in reality the scenic-
represented followers of Masaniello. Never-
theless, it was quite evident that, although elate
with their pe«:ty triumph, they were very uneasy
at the positio:, in which they had placed them-
selves, and I am quite satisfied from the blended
expression of their countenances, betraying as
they did both fierceness and anxiety, that they
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found it necessary to lash themselves into a state
of furious excitement, in order to subdue their
fears, and would have been right glad to escape
without doing further battle.
That they had anticipated the possibility of
having at least to act upon the defensive, was
apparent in the first instance, from the majority
of them being armed with sticks, and had any
doubt remained on this point, it would now have
l^en removed, as weapons of a more deadly cha-
racter began to display themselve, , and I
observed, in particular, one ferocious-looking
fellow to draw from a side-pocket a most formid-
able two-edged knife, full twelve or fifteen inches
long.
Their chief leader was a very fine young man,
. named Desrivieres, a clerk in the Banque du
Peuple, who deported himself in a manner that
would have graced a nobler cause, and whose
example certainly went far to inspire his com-
rades with a temporary confidence. From their
excited state, it required the utmost efforts, both
of himself and others, to marshal them in any-
thing like order.
RENEWED CONFLICT.
93
After much wavering and indecision as to
whether they should keep together or scatter,
they at length decided on the fo;-mer course, and,
screwing their courage once more to the sticking
place, raised another shout, and rushed tumul-
tuously up the street towards the Place d'Armes,
clearing all before them, and hurling destruc-
tive missiles at the windows of obnoxious indi-
viduals.
On reaching the Place, they were encountered
by a reinforcement of the British party, which,
on the first defeat, had been sunmioned to the
rescue, and a general made ensued, during
which much severe punishment was inflicted on
both sides, though happily no lives were lost.
Both parties claimed the victory on this occasion,
and perhaps with equal justice: the Frer..:i
Canadians succeeding in getting home in small
parties down the numerous cross streets, not-
withstanding the attempt to intercept them; and
the British remaining in possession of the scene
of conflict, which it was evidently not the object
of their opponents to retain.
The self-styled « Doric Club," an unautho-
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94
GOOD OUT OF EVIL.
rized association, whose acts were sometimes
intemperate, claimed to itself the whole merit
attacliing to f his ambiguous, and at best ignoble,
triumph, with no greater justice, that I could
ever learn, than that a few of its members
chanced to be present.
I must not be understood as seeking, in these
remarks, to extenuate in any way the conduct
of the French Canadian party. On the contrary
I consider it to have been highly culpable;
though that of their opponents was, in the first
instance, assuredly no less so.
From never having seen a faithful version of
this affair, T have been induced to be thus par-
ticular in my account of it ; and as I was a
passive spectator of the whole of the proceedings
from first to last (having followed the rush
which took place up the street), I trust that
my statement may be at least considered an im-
partial one.
Viewed in the light, that out of evil frequently
comes good, the occurrence in question cannot
certainly be regretted, inasmuch as it hastened,
by effect, the advent of an impending n.ischief
PRINTING PRESS DESTROVF.D. 95
whilst there existed greater raeans of counteract-
mg It.
After the dispersion of the insurgents to their
homes, some companies of the Royals, which had
been called out in anticipation of further distur
bances, were distributed in various parts of the
town, and remained picquetted throughout the
night; but their more active services were hap-
pily not needed. Prior to their appearance, the
British party, elate with the result of the past
contest, had proceeded to the printing-office of
the « Vindicator- newspaper, a most seditious
journal, edited by the notorious Dr. O'Callaghan,
where they destroyed the whole of the type and
printing apparatus ; the building itself narrowly
escaping demolition.
The troops, however, prevented the commis-
sion of further mischief of this nature, and saved
M. Papineau's house from destruction, towards
which the British were hurrying, when they met
the soldiers advancing in double-quick time.
They immediately greeted them with enthu-
siastic cheers, and accompanied them quietly in
their perambulations through the town.
! Hn
1/ ^
96 TROPIIIKS.
In the course of the evening, the houses of
several suspicious diaractcrs were searched, and
in one of them was found a seven -barrelled gun,
together with a flag inscribed with a treasonable
device, both oj' which " signs of the times,"
were of course carried off a.s trophies.
The news of this day's; proceedings spread
like lightning through the country, and the
emeutey being magnified by report into a mighty
battle wherein the French Canadians came off
victors, was received with acclamation by the
credulous deluded peasantry, who forthwith pro-
ceeded to acts of open vioL^nce against the scat-
tered British population dwelling on the south
side of the St. Lawrence, and in the country to
the rear of Montreal.
On the other hand, constant arrests were
made by the authorities, both in Montreal and
elsewhere, though in some places it Mas per-
fectly useless to attempt enforcing warrants that
were issued.
A few days after the riot in Montreal, a small
party of volunteer cavalry, whilst escorting from
St. John's a noted rebel who had been captured
DARING RESCUE.
97
there, was daringly attacked within a short dis-
tance of Vaudreuil, on the St. Lawrence, by a
considerable body of armed insurgents, who
were lying in ambush in a wood, bordering
the road. The- horsemen, being far outnum-
bered, were compelled to abandon their pri-
soner and retreat ; making, indeed, their escape
with difficulty over the open country, there
closely intersected with barbarous fences.
On learning tliis occurrence, and that the
vvliule district of the Richelieu was in a state of
open insurrection, Sir John Colborne determined
to strike a decisive blow, by transporting the
hulk of the small military force at his disposal
into the very heart of the rebellious country,
before the contagion should spread to other
quarters; and he trusted to the great moral
effect to be anticipated from a signal victory, as
a powerful after-auxiliary to his means of pre-
serving order.
Hence, he concerted the plan of operations
wliich terminated in the respective actions of St-
Denis and St. Cliarlcs, although intended to
centre in a combined attack upon the latter place.
VOL I. p
:|s!il
08
MILITARY OPERATIOXS.
Owing as much to gross mismanagement as
to the inclemency of the weather and the bad
state of the roads, the detaclmient under Colonel
Gore, which, proceeding upwards from Sorel,
was to have effected a junction with the detacli-
nient under Colonel Wetherall, coming from
Chambly, was, as it is well-known, miserably
repulsed with severe loss, and compelled to re-
treat, leaving Colonel Wetherall to do the best
Jie could, single-handed. How well the latter
succeeded in tlie object of his enterprise, as also
in extricating his gallant followers from the
perilous situation in which they found themselves
placed, from the failure of the proposed junction,
is likewise too much a matter of history to re-
(juire that I should enlarge upon it here.
The circumstances which marked the return
of the two detachments to Montreal, where they
arrived witinn a few days' interval of each other,
exhibited a very striking contrast; and never,
perhaps, was defeat or victory more forcibly per-
sonified than in these respective cases.
The detacbment from St. Denis landed almost
stealti)ily at night; its men torn, maimed, suffer-
DEFEAT AND VICTORY. 99
ing, and dejected, dragging their weary, be-
"umbed limbs to the solitude of their barrack,
and seeking to avoid the gaze of even the few
spectators who had assembled on the wharf to
greet them. The detachment from St. Charles,
on the contrary, landed in tne full blaze of day,'
amid all the pomp and majesty of triumph;
marching through the town with colours flying,
preceded by its band, and accompanied by "a'
long string of prisoners that had been taken.
Vet were the officers and men of either corps
all equally brave and gallant soldiers. Their re-
pulse and their success respectively, were mainly
the result of the imprudence and the foresight
of their two commanders; and no better troops
ever went into action than those who stormed
and carried the Stockade at St. Charles, or those
wlio dauntlessly, but fruitlessly, assaulted the
stone walls of St. Denis, when worn with the
toil of a long night-march, through terrific wea-
ther, half-frozen, and in a state of inanition.
The lights and shades of the two events them-
selves, being of this nature, it may readily be
conceived that the moral effect which they in
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100
COMRASTS OF DEMK ANOUR.
turn produced on the minds of the mutually
hostile portions of the community, were quite in
character and keeping.
On the first occasion, for example, dismay was
depicted on the countenances of the Ijniisl) in-
hal)itants— silent joy and incipient triumj)!) on
those of the French Canadians. On the .second,
these symptoms were reversed, the parties chang-
ing places ; while the French Canadians who had
not the same control as the British over their
emotions or their passions, might now be seen, in
groups or singly, scowling hatred and defiance,
shedding tears and wringing their hands, as
though in bitter anguish, or muttering impreca-
tions as they went. The women, in particular,
I observed to be deeply afflicted, in consequence,
as I presumed, of their having heard of the loss
of some relative or friend in the action, since
many French Canadians of IViontreal were known
to have crossed the St. Lawrence for the purpose
of joining tiie insurgents on the southern side.
During the absence of the troojis from Mon-
treal, on the desperate service in which they had
been engaged, every possible precaution for in-
MEASURES OF DEFENCE. IQI
suring the safety of the city had l)een taken.
Volunteers performed the whole garrison duty,
maintained an efficient night watch in every
direction, both stationary and by means of
small parties of armed horsemen, v/ho patrolled
the streets at regular intervals. At all the chief
outlets, strong barricades were raised and heavy
ordnance mounted, so as to command the road
leading to the open country, and pieces of light
artillery were kept in readiness, to be served at
any point required at a moment's notice.
In the interregnum between the affairs of
St. Denis and St. Charles, a sort of lull pre-
vailed, betokening, in effect, how great was the
hidden danger ; for it was well-known that the
French Canadians in Montreal, in conjunction
with their friends in the vicinity of St. Eustache,
were only awaiting favourable tidings for their
cause from St. Charles, and which to the very
latest moment they confidently expected, to
assault the British inhabitants of the city: a
contingency for which every man among the
latter felt it necessary to prepare himself, and
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102 "OPES AND FEi»RS.
Winch, he was fully sensible, must involve the
c'xternnnation of the one party or the other.
For severaldays succeeding the disastrous
business at St. Denis, the supremacy of the in-
surgents was so far insured as effectually to cut
off' any intercourse between the authorities in
Montreal and Colonel Wetherall. Hence, the
anxiety of the British population for the fate
of the gallant band unde • his comn.and, was, for
«ome days, painfully intense, and this tortured
state of feeling was augmented by the reports
constantly promulgated by the opposite party,
that the whole detachment had been slain, cap-
tured, or dispersed.
The impression was now beginning to be very
generally entertained, that, even if this small force
should escape annihilation by retreating on
Montreal, the -.vhole of the south shores of the
St. Lawrence must be abandoned to the will
of the insurgents, and that the troops with
the British population must shut themselves up
in Quebec and Montreal until reinforcements
should arrive. Nor was this an irrational con-
nAlTLE OF ST. CHARLES. 103
elusion, c'onsiderin^r that a small force of less
than three i jiidred eff'ertive men was encom-
passed on all .si(, s by thousands of a hostile
peasantry, imbued with feelings somewhat sinu"-
lar to those which animated the Spanish rural
population against the soldiery of Napoleon:
that is, feelings of the most deadly national ani-
mosity, rendered, in this case, the more violent
from having been so long latent and subdued.
But discipline and valour signally overcame
the fearful odds that were opposed to them; and,
by common assent, the invincibility of British
troops, which had Lean for a moment doubted,
was again fully established.
The decisive business at St. Charles imme-
diately re-opened the connnunication with Mon-
treal, and the arrival of the messenger who
brought the intelligence, was hailed by tlie Bri-
tish population w ' feelings such as I should
vainly endeavour to describe, but which may
be readily imagined when it is stated, that had
the result been diHerent, Montreal would have
been attacked in force that very night.
The day happened to be Sunday, and at
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NEWS OF VICTORY.
the moment when the steam-boat, Jiaving on
board the messenger, reached the wharf,"" the
different edifices of public worship were pouring
forth then- congregations. The animated scene
which ensued, all parties being alike eager, I
have still vividly before me. A general rush
was made down the narrow streets which lead
from the Rue Notre Dame and the Place d'Armes
to the wharf, but long before the fact itself was
generally pron.ulgated, loud and long-repeated
cheers from the British had announced to the
panic-stricken French Canadians the destruction
of their hopes and expectations.
As shewing the nature of the feeling which
prevailed among the better class of tiiat party, I
will relate part of a conversation which I chancld
to overhear, on my way home from the wharf,
on the day in question, between an elderly lady
and gentleman, the former of whom was standino-
at an open window, eagerly interrogating the
latter as to the nature of the news.
" Et les troupes sont done victorieuses.?" said
the querist.
"Helasloui," replied her companion.
CONVERSATION FRANCAISE. 106
" St. Charles pris, dites vous ?"
"Non seulement pris, a ce qu'on pretend, mais
bru' ';— detruit, enfin!"
' Que sont devenus nos gens ?"
"La plupart tuee ou prisonniere— le reste
epars et en fuite!"
"Dieu de dieu ! " exclaimed the old lady, wrina-
ing her hands ; "quelles horreurs que vous me
racontez la! que ferons-nous? que deviendrons
nous ? "
"Faut esperer," replied her companion, shrug-
ging his shoulders, and looking as resigned as he
could; which expression, with its significant
enforcement, I readily interpreted to imply,
" better luck next time ! "
The splendid achievement of Colonel Wether-
all had for the time so effectually broken the
spirits of the French Canadians throughout the
Richelieu district, that Colonel Gore, at the
head of a second detachment, was placed in a
condi ion to traverne it, not only without en-
countering the least resistance, but receivin.--
every where the unqualified submission of tlie
habitans.
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In the cour.scM,fthis expedition, the body of
the unfortunate Lieutenant Weir was discovered
whose eruei nunder, as „,, readers will reme.nber,'
formed a striking episode of the previous can.
P"'«n. It was conveyed to Montreal for inter-
nment, the ceremony of which was rendered n.ost
nnposing hy the presence, as n.ourncrs, not only
"f almost all the troops in garrison, but of the
majority of the ward an<l volunteer con.panies,
all carrying their arms, and forn.ing a gran<l
funeral procession of several thomand n.en
amongst wlunn I enrolled n,yself, a lunnble unit -
though t],e cold was so intense that I could with'
'iKhculty hold n,y musket, and felt fairly ten.pted
a« did many others their's, to cast it away
It was a truly affecting spectacle to see almost
the entire n.ale Jiritish population, of every
rank and age, thus voluntarily turning out to
pay the last tribute of respect to the unfortunate
young officer then borne before them to his last
vesting-place. The scene, too, was interesting
from its novelty and the peculiarity of the asso.
nations connected with it. The burial-place lay
"1 the Quebec suburb, extending towards the
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MlLITAIiy FUNERAL.
107
open country. Fa.u-y, then, the appearance,
towards the twih^ht of a Canadian winter's day,
when all was hu.hed around you, save the solemn
military requiem, of a body of men four deep,
and several thousand in number, brought out ij
strong dark relief against the pure white surface
they were traversing in solemn funeral proces-
sion, with arms reversed! Embody in your
mind a picture of this kind, and you will have
some faint outline of the appearance of the throng
which followed to the grave the remains of poor
Lieutenant Weir, whose savage murderer, though
long in custody, has not expiated his offence.
I have no doubt that the sight I have at-
tempted to describe, protluced upon such of the
French Canadians as witnessed it,— and there
were many present,— a very sensible effect ; since,
being themselves great respecters of religious ob-
servances, they must have been dce])ly impressed
with the solemnity of this; while, on the other
liand, the formidable array of armed men must
have exercised on them a salutary influence not
easily to be shaken off*.
The subsequent expedition of Sir John Col-
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108 MACKENZIE'S OUTBREAK.
borne, against St.Eustache, which proved in all
respects successful, completed the subjugation
of the insurgents, so auspiciously begun by Col.
Wetherall, and effectually removed all present
ground of apprehension on the part of the loyal
population. For a short account of that expe-
tion, I cannot, perhaps, do better than refer my
readers to the first part of Captain Marryatt's
lately published « Diary in America," as em-
bodying, in relation to it, the leading points of
interest.
At this period, I chanced to be on my way to
the Upper Province, and, simultaneously with
the news of the signal victory which had been
gained, I heard, not, I must own, without sur-
prise, of a partial insurrection, which had well-
nigh proved successful, having broken out in the
environs of Toronto, and that the situation of
the country rendered further travelling unsafe.
Inured, however, by this time, to perils similar
to those predicted, I was not to be deterred from
the prosecution of my journey; and, accordingly,
first procuring weapons of defence, I proceeded
onward, reaching Kingston without further
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IMMERSION.
109
disaster than that of an immersion through the
ice at St. Ann's, after a successful attempt to res-
cue my luggage, which had preceded me in essay-
ing the temperature of the water.
Though all was saved, everything, even to
my papers, was completely saturated, and then
frozen on exposure to the air; while I, also a
frozen mass, was constrained to return to the
little village I had lately quitted, where, on
seeking refuge in the inn which gave me wel-
come, I of course became once more a drip-
ping body pending the operations of thawing
before the fire and disrobing, which last I did
not unnecessarily delay. Discomforts such as
these, however, are trifles light as air, viewed in
comparison with the greater mishaps one gene-
rally encounters in the progress of a Canadian
long winter journey ; particularly at the com-
mencement, or at the close of the season, when
the roads are adapted neither for wl.eeling nor
sleighing, and the ice is as about as treacherous
as the smiles of a coquette.
But a more dangerous period still for travers-
ing the St. Lawrence, is when the ice, fairly
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PEHILOUS NAVIGATION.
broken up, is floating down it, frequently i„
large fields, and u.ostiy in fragn.ents very dan-
gerous to the navigator.
On sueh occasions, the passage is performed
in canoes, worked with paddles, and at the bot-
tom of which you are often constrained to pros,
trate yourself in order to avoid capsi.ino, or
sometimes to incur the risk of leaping from the
canoe upon a piece of floating ice, (to the con-
sternation of a cluster of wild-ducks which you
thence dislodge), and trusting to the chance of
your after salvation.
Having once an urgent necessity to traverse
the stream at this particular period, I embarked
m one of the frail conveyances I have mentioned ;
but I had well nigh paid dearly for my temerity'
and received a lesson which, while it would deter
me from repeating the experiment, warrants me
m recommending no one to hazard it who sets
any value on his life.
As regards the second insurrection, that of
November 1838, which broke out in Lower Ca-
nada, I need only observe tiiat, varying locali-
ties and dates, it resembled in its leading features
m
SECOND INSURRECTION. HI
that wliich had preceded it ; excepting only that
the rising was on a somewhat hirger scale, the
plan of operations more matured, though equally
defective, and the means of aggression more for-
midable, but productive on both sides of less
loss of life.
The insurgents, after committing many acts
of wanton cruelty and destruction on the per-
sons and property of the isolated British inhabi-
tants, during tlie brief interval they were enabled
to maintain themselves in arms, were, at first,
repulsed at all points, by the gallant conduct of
the volunteers and regular troops; being finally
dispersed at Stanstead, their head-quarters,
where they had assembled in considerable num-
bers, by the mere approach of Sir John Col-
borne at the head of his disposable force.
This second rising had been confidently pre-
dicted, long before its actual occurrence, by all
who were impressed with the conviction that
deep-seated incurable national animosity, rather
than mere political grievance, was the sole origi,
nating cause of the first outbreak. Of this num-
ber I was always one, and I saw and heard
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INCIDENTAL REFLEXIONS.
enough on re- visiting Lower Canada for a short
space, in the course of the summer, to convince
me, that on the approach of winter, the scenes of
tlie former one would be fully re-enacted.
A few reflexions here naturally suggest them-
selves as to the causes, proximate or remote, of
the lamentable state of things I have been en-
deavouring to portray.
It has been the lot of the French Canadian
peasantry to be made the fulcrum of a lever
poised for their own ambitious but short-sighted
views by a few designing, unprincipled indivi-
duals, possessing local influence, and supported
by the countenance given to their proceedings by
a set of men in England, to whose opinions an
undue importance was attached, but who either
did not understand the merits of the cause they
advocated, or wilfully distorted its every feature
for mere party purposes. The ready handle to
this lever has been alone, the latent national ani-
mosities of an otherwise inert mass of human
beings, whose anti-British prejudices and feelings,
unable to withstand the violent inflammatory ap-
peals made to them, have been roused for the time
A
INCIDENTAL REFLEXIONS.
113
into a state of dangerous activity, and left with a
susceptibility whose keenness cannot be allayed
either by mildness or coercion, and which can
only be gradually obliterated by the physical
preponderance of a British population, in a ratio
similar to that of a moral character at present so
strongly marked between the two races.
The doctrine that power rests of right with the
majority is a rule which, however arbitrary in
its general application, yet admits of marked
exceptions; and in no case, perhaps, that the
records of history might furnish, has the neces-
sity of acting on the exception rather than the
rule, been more strikingly exemplified than it has
in the case of Lower Canada.
It is only on an hypothesis which the modern
great human family repudiates, namely, the subjec-
tion of the moral to the physical, that the preten-
sions of the French Canadians to unqualified su-
j)remacy in Lower Canada can be at all establish-
ed. Their mere numerical superiority does not in-
vest them, as t.hey have been taught to believe,
with the supremacy they claim; because, in
effect, it is unaccompanied by a corresponding
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114 INCIDKNTAL nr.FLFAIONS.
or oven a pr«,,,(,rti,„uite do^ivo „f nw.ral cxtvL
lencc, wl.ich c.uld al„ne exalt th. social condi-
tion; and still less by accun.ulated wealth, su
mdispensable an elen.ent of progressive improve-
ment.
The real question to be considered has always
appeared tometoreston this simple issue: either
threat Kritain is the rightful j.ossessor of Lower
Canada or she is not. That she is «,, cannot be
disputed so long as the tenure of conquest, con-
firn>e(J by treaty, continue to be recognized by
nations as a legal title of investiture. Hence, it
must be obvious, th.t so long as the nritlsh part
of the population be desirom to preserve the ex-
isting corniexion with England, or so long as, by
mutual assent, the maintenance of IJritish supre-
macy be requisite for the attainnient of a con.-
mon end, namely,— the perpetuation of Ikitish
institutions,-whatsoever in the colony is, per
se, anti-British, is of necessity inimical to its in-
terests; because such causes act as direct im,,e-
diments to the promotion of its prosperity, by
retarding the development of its resources.
Let me not be understood by these remarks as
INCIDENTAL HK FLUXIONS,
116
arguin^r, by implication, the removal of „l,staclt"s
of this nature hy coercive measures. 'J'lie remedy
I would suggest is the gradual adaptation of a
hostile race of men to the altered state of things
around them ; the primary element of which
change must he (if not too late for the experi-
ment to succeed) an extensive immigration.
If we come to the al)stract (luestit'ii of the rioht
of occupancy, founded on priority of claim, we
shall find tliat tlie French Ciinadians themselves
are just as much usurpers as those whom they
are desirous to expel ; and that, on this ground
of argument, the territory must reveit to the
aborigines, or poor despoiled Indians.
The insurrection that has twice broken out in
Lower Canada, and been twice timely sup-
pressed, is too strongly marked with a distinc-
tive character to adrr)it of doubt, that it has its
origin in the germ of national antipathy, which,
sown at the conquest, has acquired strength,
vigour, and intensity in its growth, just in pro-
portion as it has been acted on by outward in-
fluences, and that (in the words of Lord Dur-
ham) as regards the present generation, it ab-
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116
INCIDENTAL 1U.FLEXI0NS.
sorbs every better feeling, and i.s wl.oll y irrailica-
l)le. If at all justiHahle, the insurrection of the
French Canadians would liave been as much so
ai any given period within the last eighty years
as it is now, or would probably be eighty years
henceforward !
The question may perhaps be asked, why if
nationality, and not mere incidental dissatisfac-
tion arising from pohtical causes, were the main-
spring of action of the French Canadians, they
never before attempted to achieve tiieir inde-
pendence ? The answer to such inquiry is a
ready one. Before their minds were so strongly
impregnated with the pernicious doctrmes incuL
cated by those whom of late years they liave
recogniTCd as their legitimate leaders, as to in-
duce them to indulge their present day-dream,
that they possess the wherewithal to '^ set up for
themselves " as an independent people, they /e//
that their alternatives lay between remaining
under the dominion of Great Britain, or be-
coming incorporated with the United States;
and they have preferred the former as the lesser
evil, if for no better reason than tliat they were
INCIDI-MAL IIKFLKXIONS. 117
already accustomed to the one, and knew nothiiu)-
practically of t>i other. Hence, they remained
passive, and this interested passivencss has been
unstaken for loyalty by those whose knowledjTe
of human nature should have taught them better
tliin(rs. Ajrain, the danger of their Ix-ing dis-
placed, as the aborigines had been by them, by
a succeeding race, if apparent to them, was yet
not imminent ; or, it might be, that, estimating
the progress of others by their own, they conceiv-
ed, having the start, that they should be always
able to maintain the preponderance in point of
numlx^rs, which with them was, and still is, every
tiling. Latterly, however, this fancied security
gave way to fear ; the hated Saxon population,
despite of every attempt to check it, was fast
treading on their heels, and must in time over-
take them ; while this powerful incentive beino-
applied to the already kindled flame of their
Ingram filing of hostility, served but to spread
the conflagration.
Their error has consisted in arroffatino- to
themselves a right "'hich they do not possess,
founded on the abstract question of their distinc-
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INCIDENTAL IICFLFAIONS.
t. ve race and orio.i„, and i„ b.Hevin. that nume-
neal SLperiority was, of itself ,nore than an
equivalent for the want of n,oral strength.
To .suppose that they could maintain them-
selves as a people, independent either of Great
Britain or the United States, has been the
8-eatestofallthen-delusions, except the belief
that ti.e American citizens would help them in
tile furtherance of their immediate objects from
<iismterested n.otives. Their separation from
I'^n.land would, in fact, only acccJer,t, the period
-lien they should I^conu. merged in the great
Saxon fann-ly, and be, politically speaking, alto-
gether lost siglu of as a distinctive race of people •
whereas, the continuance of their connexion with
iM.gland for a further series of years would en-
able them to adapt themselves and their posterity
to tins their unalterable destiny. Prior to the
closmg scene of their political existence, Yankee
sympathy would have dealt strangely with their
pnvdeges; their possessions would have passed
into other hands, and they would luave become
I.terally « hewers of wood, and drawers of water.'^
The bondage imposed by the Egyptian would
have been light to theirs.
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INCIDENTAL REFLEXIONS.
119
III the intensity of their desire to gratify the
feeling of Imtred which animates them against
the British name and race, tlicy strangely lose
sight of the evil consequences which their very
success would entail upon them. That such
should, however, be the case, is scarcely sur-
prising, considering the nature of the all-ab-
sorbing feeling in which they allow themselves to
indulge; as also the truth, which experience
teaches, that communities, like indivi(hials, are
but too apt to forego a prospective good for the
gratification of a present desire, involvino- a
mingled feeling of hatred and revenge.
Yet, for these desolating consequences as of
late exhibited in Lower Canada, is the British
nation itself far more to blame than are the
French Canadians.
They have been left a nationality, quite dis-
tinctive from that imposed by their change of
condition, and this has been fostered, with a
degree of infatuation almost incredible, by the
very parties who now express surprise and com-
plaint that it should have a tendency to produce
the effects we witness. Inconsistency carried to
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INCIDKNTAL REFLEXIONS.
such a IctifTth amounts to positive cruelty, and
would justly recoil upon its promoters were it
not that the question at issue now involves the
interests of third parties, who are wholly guilt-
less. Viewin..- the matter, as for reason\s sake
we are bound to view it, in this light, we have,
strictly speaking, no right to accuse the French
Canadians of disloyalty^ since we have neg-
lected to ])lant in them the seed which should
produce the conver.se feeling. The French
Canadian argues thus:—" My allegiance," he
says, "being a forced one, I owe you no feaitv,
and hold myself justified in seeking to throw off
youi- dominion, whensoever I may see an oppor-
tunity of succeeding in my object. If you crm
keep me down, I cannot of course help myself,
and must submit ; but be assured, that th? Ita-t
laxity on your part will be the signal for my
rising against you.'' Hence it follows, that
resistance to Uritish rule assumes in his eves tiie
character of a virtue, and not a crime. ^Ve ir.av
accuse them of ingratitude, but that is all: wo
cannot rationally hope to see them what our
safety requires tiiat they should be, unless we
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INCIDENTAL REFLEXIONS. 121
sedulously ingraft upon their nature the elements
of conversion :_we cannot otherwise do justice
either to them, or to ourselves.
Let, then, even at this eleventh hour, the task
be undertaken. Let it be considered that, apart
from political objects, the exclusive claims of the
French Canadians are powerfidly counterbalanced
by the claims of the British portion of the popu-
lation to be insured a permanent position on the
soil of their birth, or which they have adopted
as their country, on the strength of the belief the v
have been allowed to entertain during three"-
fourths of a century, that they planted them-
selves and their posterity, not in a foreign land,
of which they might one day be dispossessed
by its natives, but on a part of the British terri-
tory.
Without the entire sacrifice of this part of
the population, forming, as it does, nearly one-
third part of the whole in point of numbers, and
a vast majority in point of moral capacity and
wealth, the control of the affairs of Lower
Canada could not be conceded to the French
Canadians any more than it could be to the
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INCIDENTAL REFLKXIONS.
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Native Indifins, if those were to prefer a claim
similar in effect.
I» a word, the intoffrity of the nation, no less
tlian the welfare and safety of the British inha-
bitants, and of the French Canadians them-
selves, imperatively requires that, without the
exercise of the least cruelty or oppression, the
latter shoidd be kept under (speaking in a
political sense) until, by means of innnigrati.m,
all numerical disparity between the two races
shall have ceased, and, further resistance l)eing
thence hopeless, a gradual amalgamation shall
be effected between them by the all-powerful
medium of education.
The object to be attained is not a temporary,
but a permanent one; it is nothing less than the
perpetuation of the British race existing on that
section of the North American Continent, where
it is vitally essential, as I shall endeavour here-
after to show, to the welfare of Great Britain
herself, to consolidate British institutions; or,
rather, perhaps, the spirit which animates them,'
and operates as a means of improving the con-
dition of the whole human race.
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INCIDENTAL REFLEXIONS. 123
In comparison with such an object, the extinc-
tion c,n Uritish soil, of a state of things repre-
senting the senn-.harharism which existed in the
provinces of France a century ago, cannot surely
be a cause of regret ; or the prej udices of a peo-
ple bent on preserving an obsolete nationality
repudiated by the si>irit of the age, and by the
spread of enlightenment around them, be allowed,
in the estimation of any reflecting person, tc!
weigh as a feather against the argument of adap-
tation hereinbefore advocated.
Independent of the other primary means su..-
ffested, namely, immigration and education,
tor operating this important change, the aboli-
tion on equitable terms of the feudal tenure
(of which, more hereafter,) and the train of in'
eongruities it involves, is a most essc^ntial aux-
•l'«ry, and, even as an abstract measure, would be
imperatively called for.
To amclude, the French Canadians having,
by their late recourse to violence, justly for-
feited every title to a continuance of the exclu-
sive privileges, which, whether by a false rea-
soning, a false humanity, or a false policy, they
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124 INCIDENTAL REFLEXIONS.
have been heretofore considered to possess, have
themselves offered to the British Nation the
opportunity of doing with them that which
should have been done when they first became
British subjects— adapt ■; ir condition to
our own; and we may be . - -ed that the last
and only chance of repairing tne original error
has now presented itself.
I propose to offer a few concluding remarks on
this interesting and important subject, in a future
chapter, embodying some reflexions on the ques-
tion of the Legislative Union, and other matters
therewith connected.
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CHAPTER IV.
Kingston. — Mackenzie's Outbreak. — Repeated false
Alarms.— Series of Invasions.— Affair of Hickory
Island.- Consternation of the Kingstonians thereat.
Conversation with an old Indian Warrior. — Destruc-
tion of the British steam-boat Sir Robert Peel.— Fur-
ther Irruptions into the Province.— Mission of the
Earl of Durham. — American Conspiracy against Ca-
nada. — Hunters' Association. — Invasions at Prescott
and Windsor.— Result thereof.— Final Disposal of the
Prisoners.— Remarkable Events of 1839.
Kingston, the chief naval depot of Upper
Canada, is a pleasantly situated little town of
some four or five thousand inhabitants, and pos-
sesses, in point of locality, many natural advan-
tages. The social attractions of the place itself
are pretty much upon a par with those of To-
ronto, hereafter to be described ; but its habits
are essentially of the unprogressive order, and it
reposes somewhat too complacently on its assumed
dignity to be otherwise than stationary.
Upon an eminence across the bay stands Fort
Henry, which commands the approaches by the
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KINGSTON.
nvcr,and also the town itself, in every direction.
As a military station, Kingston is one of some
importance, and I,y further artificial me-ns might
readily he converted into a very strong position,
being in a great measure the key to Lake On-
tario. It is nearly equi-distant from Ton.nto
and Montreal, or ahout one hundred and eighty
miles from either. In its general appearance it
much resembles a large English village, hut is
somewhat stragglingly built, though possessing
m its fashionable parts some very substantia^!
houses.
It is in the neighbourhood of Kingston that
the Provincial Penitentiary has been erected ; an
establishment which, generally pretty well stocked
with inmates, is conducted on much the same
principle as the state prison at Auburn, in the
United States ; that is, the prisoners are allowed
to work in each other's company, but not to con-
verse together.
Among the minor characteristics of Kingston,
I must not omit to mention the endless out-door
squabbles of its pigs and dogs, both of which
domestic animals infest the streets in shoals; and
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PIGS AND DOGS.
127
are as great a nuisance as clogs alone arc said to
be at Constantinople. A ruthless war is waged
by the canine ujjon the swinish multitude, and,
as these have a peculiar way of acknowledging
such courtesies, the effect of the din of voices in
discordant eloquence, may readily be conceived.
In Toronto, the case is merely varied ; there,
dogs and cows, in lieu of dogs and pigs, are
seen in deadly contest; the tortured cows being
driven about the streets in every direction by
their tormentors.
On reaching Kingston, about the middle of
December 1837, I found the inhabitants labor r-
ing, as might naturally have been expected, un-
der the greatest degree of excitement and alarm
at the political events which had taken place;
the usually quiet, sanctimonious little town ap-
pearing, in effect, to be completely shaken out
of its propriety.
Men, arming hastily, were enrolling them-
selves in corps to meet they knew not what: a
danger menaced them which they could not
grapple, because of their inability to define it:
almost every one regarded his neighbour, or the
I
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J28 MACKENZIE'S OUTBREAK,
comrade ut his side, with a feeling of distrust, as
though he were a rebel in disguise, and more
■eady to turn his weapon against him, should
<Jccasion ofler, than to wield it in his defence.
The general Zealand alacrity displayed were
praiseworthy in the extren,e, but the false alarms
were endless, producing sometimes very ludi-
crous effects upon the minds and actions of dif-
ferent individuals.
It is, and ever must be, a very questionable
matter, whether even the success which crowned
the tardy effort to ar est Mackenzie's treason-
able proceedings, justified the extreme hazard of
.illowing them to terminate in open insurrec
tion.
The real peril incurred by this result, was the
exhibition to the American citizens of a state of
things which sound policy would have stu-
diously laboured to withhold from them ; for, if
the portal admitting a pretext for their interfe-
rence were once opened, there was no foretelling
how long it might be kept ajar.
Looking, therefore, beyond mere local cir-
••umstances, the experiment of invoki;.g a dan-
THOUGHTS THEREON. 129
ger by tolerating it, for the s^ke of proving that
it could be repelled, was somewhat an unneces-
sarily gratuitous one ; nor did there apparently
exist any greater cause in the then condition of
Upper Canada than there exists at the present
moment, to warrant the conclusion that it needed
the very searching test of loyalty applied to it.
If, as appears to have been the case, a settled
conviction were felt by the Executive, that the
province was sound at heart, the reduction of
such conviction to a physical illustration, was
clearly a work of supererogation ; and, if a con-
trary opinion were entertained, the issue should
have been equally avoided, for reasons too palpa-
ble to require explanation.
The true course of action seemed to lie in the
suppression of sedition or treason, wheresoex <r
tangible, before either should have time to ma-
nifest itself in acts of open violence, which could
only be quelled at the price of popular com-
motion for the time being, with the contingent
remainder of still more serious evils.
The elements of civil strife in Upper Canada,
as compared with those of the Lower Province'
g3
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130 MACKENZIE'S OUTBREAK.
lay (and still lie) loss at the core than at the
surface ; and not partaking of the national in-
veteracy with which these were surcharged, were
not likely of themselves alone to lead to similar
results.
Excrescences, heretofore apparent upon the
social system of the province, still disfigure it ;
but honesty of purpose would not seek to lop
them with the knife of insurrection, when their
removal, as is obvious, might be efl'ected by the
persevering employment of milder means.
For these reasons, and considering the com-
paratively few who participated in it, it is diffi-
cult to identify Mackenzie's outbreak with the
people's cause. Its object could not have been
what it professed to be, the redress of grievances,
or it must have proved more popular. It can
only, therefore, be regarded as part and parcel
of the one great political design since gradu.
developed, and yet in progress of development,
for subverting British institutions on the North
American continent, and whereof the secret rami-
fications doubtless extend far beyond the confines
of Canada.
I!:
THOUGHTS TIIEPEON.
131
As qualifying, however, in some degree, the
opinion thus recorded, that the outbreak of
December 1837 was essentially the offspring of
political machinations, rather than of irradicable
intestine venom, I must also express my convic-
tion, founded on close personal observation on
the spot, that there existed and exists, on the
part of all moderate men, in the province, an
extreme sensitiveness in regard to many long-
controverted points of domestic policy, out of
which the semblance of insurrection, ostensibly
to effect their solution, may at any time be
created by designing individuals intent on the
promotion of their own .s. Hence, then,
the extreme danger of not at once foreclosing all
outstanding questions at issue: in regard to
which, I have uo hesitation in declaring as my
conscientious belief that, if there be one string
of the whole instrument more susceptible than
another of being attuned to the note of mischief,
a partial, or an indefinitely deferred settlement
of the clergy reserves' difficulty, will prove such.
Incidental references to this latter subject will
be found in other parts of the present work.
H
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MACKENZIE'S OUTBREAK.
But, though seeking an opportunity to raise
the standard of rebellion, Avhereof the ready
handle should be the redress of grievances, it
admits of very serious question, whether the re-
volutionary faction, headed by Mackenzie, could
have found one, had a preventive and precau-
tionary, rather than a chastening, course of
policy been pursued by the government. At
all events, a very strong impression pervades
many well-informed minds in Canada, that Mac-
kenzie and his followers would not have hazarded
the hostilities they commenced, desirous as they
were to create events which should invite co-
operation from without, had not the defenceless
condition of Toronto, on which they had not
calculated, stimulated them to immediate action.
It is admitted on all hands, that had Macken-
zie displayed the same degree of courage in con-
ducting, as he had shewn boldness in conceiving
the enterprise on which he entered, Toronto
must inevitably have fallen into his hands, and
the province, consequently, have submitted to
his dictation ; because all after-opposition would
liave been over-awed by the hordes of Ameri-
THOUGHTS THEREON.
133
cans who, in this case, would have assuredly
rushed to his support.
On this hypothesis, a false appearance would
have been given to the outbreak, baffling all
attempts to define its real character ; since, in
addition to the whole body of the provincial mal-
contents themselves, numbers, howsoever adverse
to the new state of things, would have neverthe-
less adhered to the triumphant party, under the
influence either of timidity or interest. In a
word, the whole destinies of Upper Canada would
have been reversed by the capture of Toronto ;
and, avowedly^ it was the result of the merest
chance, and not of tact or foresight, on the part
of the Executive, that a catastrophe was averted,
which need never have been risked.
After fortunately losing, by vacillation and
delay, the advantages which, unfortunately, they
might easily have acquired by vigour, the in-
surgents became at once panic-stricken and dis-
pirited ; scattering, like sheep, after a brief show
of resistance, on the approach of their antago-
nists, or yielding themselves passively into their
hands.
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134
HARD TIMES.
Yet it was by such men that the lasting mis-
chief, before adverted to, might readily have
been committed !
I have been told by eye-witnesses that the
battle of Gallows' Hill, as the running fight on
Youge Street is termed, combined in an emi-
nent degree the painful with the ludicrous, and
was replete with associations of the most anoma-
lous description.
Pending these occurrences, extending over
some continuous days, Toronto is said to have
been subjected to the greatest privations for the
want of general provisions, the country people
being deterred from bringing their produce to
market, in their uncertainty as to whether it
were safe to do so. Tea appears to have been
the chief sustenance of the inhabitants in this
emergency; and those families which were known
to have by them small edible stores, were im-
portuned by others, less fortunate, for a share of
them. An acquaintance of my own informed
me that, by dint of hard begging, he obtained
from one party a joint of meat, from another
a loaf of bread, and from a third some other
'■*!
MACKENZIE'S OBJECTS. 135
article ; which several contributions to his ne-
cessities he could not, after all, entirely mono,
polize.
Though foiled in his immediate object, Mac-
kenzie effectually attained his ulterior one, by
inducing an aspect of affairs, which, while creat-
ing a false sympathy on the part of the Ameri-
can citizens at large, furnished a reckless portion
of them with a specious pretext for hastening
to the relief of an apparently oppressed people,
amongst whom an openly precarious and un-
settled state of things was now induced.
The shock imparted to the whole social fabric
in Upper Canada, by Mackenzie's outbreak, had
not subsided when the aid of the loyal inhabi-
tants was invoked to repel the foreign invasions
it had engendered. How nobly they responded
to the call, and how well they performed their
duty, are too much matters of history to require
that I should do more than advert to them as
connecting links in my narrative.
It is difficult to conceive that the majority of
the people believed that the economical reforms
they needed and desired, were unattainable, save
n
136
NAVY ISLAND.
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through the process of a change of political
institutions, when on two several occasions
they are seen voluntarily strangling the oppor-
tunities incidently afforded them of remodel-
ling their condition according to their alleged
wishes.
The invasion of Navy Island by a body
of men, chiefly American citizens, armed and
equiped in the United States, followed by the
cutting out and destruction of the American
steam-boat "Caroline," and the wanton attack
made on the little town of Amherstburg by the
notorious Theller, which ended in the capture of
himself and his vessel, formed the next series of
exciting political occurrences that happened, and
that while producing the greatest irritation along
the two opposite lines of frontier, laid the founda-
tion of the harassing system of border outrage
by Americans, which has since been periodically
pursued.
During the occupancy of the island by the
invaders, the usual monotony of Kingston was
somewhat enlivened by the passage through it
of such troops as could now be spared from
it
I'll '.
SERIES OF ATTACKS.
137
Lower Canada, to assist in the operations going
on at Chippewa, for the dislodgment of the
enemy from his position.
This consummdtion, however, when effected
left but little respite or repose, since, towards
the end of February and beginning of March, a
series of invasions took place, on various parts of
the whole hne of frontier, extending from Michi-
gan to Vermont. These invasions intended,
but failing to be simultaneously operative on the
22d of February, in commemoration of the
birth-day of Washington, who, had he been
alive, must have blushed for such a mode of
celebration, commenced prematurely at Potton
and other places on the frontiers of the eastern
townships in Lower Canada, and were continued
on the day in question, at Hickory Island, a
few miles below Kingston; at Point Abino,
near Fort Erie and the western locks of the
Welland canal, a few days afterwards; at Fight-
ing, or Turkey Island, a narrow slip of land
between Sandwich and Amherstburg, on the 25th
of February ; and at Point-au-Pele Island, in
Lake Erie, on the 2d of INIarch.
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138 THIRTY-SECOND REGIMENT,
The whole of these nefarious enterprises were
successfully repelled; but, unfortunately, on
the last occasion, not without a lamentable
sacrifice on the part of the British, no less
than thirty, out of about one hundred men,
of the gallant 32d Regiment, who charjred
and defeated about five times their number,
being put hors de combat by a murderous fire
of riflery from their antagonists, who were shel-
tered behind a breast-work, formed of accumu-
lated snow and ice.
To the credit of the Upper Canadians be it
said, a liberal subscription was got up at To-
ronto for the wounded soldiers who survived
this disaster, and the majority of whom were
maimed for life.
I shall not easily forget the dismay which pre-
vailed amongst the Kingstonians, when news
arrived that a body of from four hundred to five
hundred marauders had encamped on Hickory
Island, nearly opposite Gananoque, and were to
march that night on Kingston, where they ex-
pected to be joined by a body of malcontents,
from the heart of a partially disaffected township,
DEFENCE OF KINGSTON. I39
a few miles off; and that, in the event of suc-
cess crowning the undertaking, the town was to
be given up to plunder, and every enormity
committed.
Plate, money, jewels, and other valuables,
together with the specie belonging to the local
bank, were hastily collected, and lodged, for
greater security, in the fort. A town-guard,
embodying every man capable of bearing arms
(as far as the supply of the latter would admit)^
was hastily enrolled ; the little garrison of the
fort reinforced; the town barrack, wherein some
militia were quartered, doubly guarded; and,
in fine, every precaution taken that the shortness
of the time rendered practicable ; succour being
furthermore solicited from the environs.
As night approached, the general anxiety be-
came very great, and anticipation was excited to
the uttermost by the propagation of surmises
and reports, regarding the progress of the enemy's
movements.
Comparing small things with great, the scene
and preparation might possibly have borne some
analogy with what is represented to have taken
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140
LENGTHENED VISAGES.
VI
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place at Bruxelles on the eve of the battle of
Waterloo, when the French were reported to be
within a few hours' march.
To know friends from enemies in the confusion
of a nocturnal conflict, the defenders of the town
were enjoined to bind round their caps, as a
badge of recognition, a strip of white linen.
Candour compels me to add, without the least
disparagement to the valour of any, that in
many cases the adornment appeared to be super-
fluous ; since the paleness of the lengthened vi-
sages beneath it would have fairly borne the palm
from the whitest linen that was ever bleached.
I know not how far this remark might have
been exemplified in my own individuality, but
I had at least a sort of right to look woe-begone,
inasmuch as my only weapon of defence or of-
fence was a half-rusty sabre, alike guiltless of
edge, point, or sheath (I believe it had a han-
dle), which was all I had been able to secure in
the general scramble which took place for arms.
Perambulating the town in the course of the
evening, I fell in with a gentleman of my ac-
quaintance, who, armed to the teeth, was hurry-
EXPECTATION.
141
ing to his quarters to prepare, he said, for action,
since positive information had just been received
l)y the commandant, that the redoubted enemy
was actually on his march, and would reach
Kingston by eleven o'clock at latest.
This was sufficiently precise, even for a non-
alarmist, which I professed to be; so, leaving
the streets to their solitude, I returned to my
abode, there to await patiently the issue of events.
Eleven o'clock came— twelve—one— but still
no enemy made his appearance; whereupon,
becoming drowsy, I gave up watching, and,
I'egardless of what might happen, lay down to
rest, though without disrobing, or parting with
my trusty sword.
My readers will here naturally conclude that
my repose was of short duration, and that I
have yet in store for them the description of a
stirring scene of strife. But no such thing.
Unbroken were my slumbers throughout the
night; and on awaking the next morning it was
to learn, not that an attack had been made and
foiled, but that the enemy had effectually belied
the reports of the previous evening, by decamp-
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142
IVIISCIIIEP AVERTED.
ing from Hickory Island without even attempting
an invasion of the main-land, on ascertaining the
measures which had heen taken to give him a
warm reception, as well at Gananociue as at
Kingston.
That mischief was averted by the show of
preparation made, cannot reasonably be doubted;
hut it is no less certain that the means of aggres-
sion of the marauders had been greatly exagge-
rated, though it was satisfactorily established
that they had confederates within the town,
which had, furthermore, recently been entered by
Frsons from the back country, under very sus-
picious circumstances.
It is probable that the enemy calculated on
surprising and firing the town, with the view to
plunder it ; in which case, in the midst of the
confusion, he might have succeeded in carrying
off his lK)oty. But he could have scarcely hoped
to maintain himself in his position without first
making himself master of Fort Henry, a task of
no slight difficulty. It was, indeed, said that
defection reigned among its garrison consisting
chiefly of militia; but this, ,p. , .,,g - ^est
BRIGAND CHIEF. I43
rather on surmise than proof, obtained but little
credit.
A few s*-atrglers, together with some travellers
who had been detained by the marauders, when
on their way across the ice, were found upon the
island by a detachment sent from Gananoque to
explore it at break of day ; and a very amusing
account of the incidents attending their captivity,
was given by one of the travellers in question, a
gentleman of much intelligence and respectability.
It appeared from his statement, that the effec-
tive force at the disposal of General Van Ran-
selaaer, who commanded the party, had been at
first tolerably respectable in point of numbers,
but that his men, over whom he had no control,
gradually dwindled off as the time for active
operations approached, leaving him, at last, with
barely a hundred followers.
He observed that Van Ranselaaer's arms and
accoutrements were very rich, and that he played
the general to perfection. Both he and his com-
panions were very civilly treated by their cap-
tors, whose sole object in detaining them was to
prevent their giving information.
^ Ilif
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144
I^'D^A^f warrior.
In the course of the day, a host of hardy
fellows pjured into Kingston from the surround-
ing country, offering their services as volunteers
to defend the place; but their aid being now
unnecessary, they returned to their homes after
being regaled by the townspeople.
Among them were some Indians, not, how-
ever, such as my readers may imagine, with
tomahawk in hand, half-'iaked bedaubed bodies,
and painted faces, but armed with rifles, com-
fortably clad, and as orderly in their demeanour
and appearance as any of their white comrades.
One grey-haired old warrior, with whom I
broached a conversation, shrewdly remarked:
"White man fall out— then send for poor Indian,
whom he call dog, to help him ! What for you
fight.? Why you not agree and be friend?"
I could not but feel the keen reproach conveyed
in the first part of his speech, but explained to
him, with reference to the latter, that his old
enemies, the Long knives,* wished to get posses-
sion of the country, and had therefore leagued
• The designation given by the Indian^ to the Ameri-
cans.
Alii
■ 'V' I
INDIAN WARRIOR. I45
with the disaffected in it to overturn the govern-
ment; and that, as in the event of their success,
the condition of his own people would Ix' much
impaired, he Had a more direct interest than ho
seemed to imagine in coming forward in the wav
he had.
He said he had not before thought of that,
but would consider my "words," and it was
quite evident from his manner, that he now viewed
the matter in a new light. We parted tlie l)est
friends imaginable, but he could with difficulty
be induced to accept the piece of silver coin
which T proffered to him in testimony of my
regard.
The summary herein-before given of the nota-
ble Hickory Island affair, will s.^ve as a striking
specimen of the very harassing life to which the
border Canadians have been subjected for a
lengthened period, and it is this consideration
which has mainly induced me to pla.e on record
the minute details of the occurrence.
Subsequently thereto, nothing further (except-
ing the assumption of the government, by Sir
George Arthur, and the departure of Sir Francis
VOL. I. H
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146
FLAGRANT OUTRAGE.
Head, on the 23d of March,) of a political na-
ture transpired during the winter, and on the
opening of the navigation towards the middle of
April, the danger was no longer imminent, as
the facilities for crossing v/ere diminished, though
threats of further aggression continued to be held
out : nor were they uttered in vain.
On the night of the 30th of May, a body of
armed ruffians, from the American shore, forcibly
seized and burned to the water's edge, the British
steam-boat Sir Robert Peel, whilst that vessel
was taking in fuel at an island of the St. Law-
rence, lying within the jurisdiction of the Re-
public. Before consummating their outrage*
they well pillaged both the boat and passengers,
subjecting the latter, among whom were several
highly respectable females, to the most cruel
treatment, by leaving them exposed to the keen
night air, with scarcely any covering or shelter,
on the barren island where they were turned
adrift. Fortunately for them, they were rescued
from their painful situation early the next morn-
ing, by an American steamer, whose captain kindly
diverged from his course to carry them over to
Kingston.
CLAIMS FOR REDRESS.
147
For this wanton outrage, committed avowedly
in a spirit of revenge for the destruction of the
steam-boat Caroline, and forming, assuredly,
part and parcel of a systematic crusade by Ame-
rican citizens against the peace and liberties of
Canada, no redress, as far as I am aware, has
yet been afforded to the sufferers by the Ame-
rican government, or demanded of it on their
behalf, by the Government cf Great Britain,
notwithstanding their repeated urgent solicita-
tions to the latter to such effect.
This just and reasonable demand for repara-
tion has hitherto been met by the British Go-
vernment with the evasion, that the aggressors
must first be sued in the courts of the United
States by the parties interested; and a demand
made upon the United States' government, in the
event only of justice being by this means unob-
tainable.
The farce of the mode of procedure suggested
is so palpable, that the applicants will not adopt
it; for well they know the impossibility of
insuring the identification of the marauders (all
of whom wore masks on the occasion) ; while
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148
INVASIONS.
they arc no less sensible that, even were they
identified, no practical result could follow, so
long as the synipatliies of American judges, law-
yers, and jurors, be enlisted, as notoriously they
are, witli the popular will, against the least repara-
tion being made for losses sustained by the Cana-
dians in presuming to resist its practical operation.
Towards the end of 1839, when I left Canada,
this matter remained unadjusted ; and there
seemed but little prospect of any efficient mea-
sures being taken to ensure redress. The delay
bears heavily on the sufferers, whose united claims
are said to amount to upwards of d£'17,000;
whereof about three-fourths would accrue to the
owners of the vessel and the remainder to the
passengers.
This occurrence preceded, only by a few days,
a fresh invasion of the province, as well on the
Niagara as on the extreme Western frontier op-
posite to Detroit; the former being known as
the affair of the Short Hills, from a ridge of sand-
banks so called situate in the Niagara district.
At first, this invasion threatened to prove
formidable ; less, however, as usual, from the
\'\k[
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EXECUTION. 149
number of the invaders than because of a tran-
sient success which they obtained in capturing
a small body of provincial cavalry, which they
surprised in quarters, and compelled to surrender
by firing the building.
But, fortunately, before they had time to profit
by the panic they had created, so as to gather
round their standard any considerable number
of recruits — the only thing which can render
invasions of this sort truly formidable— they
were themselves surprised and dispersed into
the surrounding swamps by a small detachment
of troops hastily collected. Several, among
whom was Moreau, or Morow, their leader, were
subsequently tracked and brought in by the
Indians of the neighbourhood, who needed but
little incitement to undertake the duty.
Morow was tried and executed shortly after-
wards; the sheriff of the district being within an
ace of having personallj to perform, if not ac-
tually performing, the loathsome duties of an exe-
cutioner,*
* I speak from memory alone as to the precise result ;
but at any rate, the utmost difficulty was experienced in
procuring' a hangman.
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150 SUMMARY OF CONVICTIONS.
The lives of the remaining culprits were
spared; the worst amongst them undergoing the
commuted punishment of transportation.
According to official statements, the aggregate
number of persons accused of participation in
the insurrection, or of treasonable offences, be-
tween the 5th of December 1837 and the 1st of
November 1838, was 885; of whom 824 were
arrested, and 61 absconded.
The number of individuals convicted by the
tribunals amounted to 216, whose after position
was as under: —
Pardoned, on furnishing security for future
good behaviour j^q
Confined in the Provincial Penitentiary .... 14
Banished from the provinces jg
Sentenced to transportation 27
Escaped from confinement 14
Executed* , 3
Total 216
Late in May, the Eari of Durham arrived
at Quebec, to assume the arduous duties of the
mission he had undertaken ; and the occurrences
herein-before detailed Avere not, certainly, of a
* Lount, Mathews, Morow.
EARL OF DURHAM.
151
140
14
18
27
14
3
21G
nature calculated to impress his Lordship with
the notion that his path would be a smooth one.
Early in July, he proceeded on a tour of in-
spection to the Upper Province, where he was
received with every outward demonstration of
honour and respect by all classes of the com-
munity, whose conjoint homage was influenced
by as many different motives as there were points
of party difference betwixt them; and thus, whilst
there was much seeming unanimity displayed,
there existed, in effect, but little real concord.
But one good end, at least, was answered; that
in speculations for the future, party differences
were for the moment laid aside, to be revived
with increased bitterness, or permanently allayed,
in proportion to the wisdom of the after mea-
sures that should be adopted.
Passing over the brief interval of Lord Dur-
ham's administration of the general government,
I come to the period when the abrupt termina-
tion of his Lordship's mission, resulting from
the factious proceedings which took place in the
British Parliament, respecting his ordinances,
occasioned a general consternation in the public
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152
EARL OF DURHAM.
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mind, serving as the reaction of the hopes and
expectations which had previously been raised.
To this was speedily superadded a vague
and undefinable apprehension of impending dan-
ger, springing from the promulgation of reports
that a most extensive conspiracy for a fresh in-
vasion of Canada had long been secretly matur-
ing in the United States, and was now about to
exhibit itself in its effects.
I do not say, because I do not believe, that
the abrupt termination of the Earl of Durham's
administration was the cause, (beyond, perhaps,
somewhat precipitating them,) of the melancholy
events which so soon followed it; but I can
state, from positive knowledge, that the general
depression which took place at this critical junc-
ture, consequent on Lord Durham's virtual re-
call, amounting, in fact, to a sort of stupor, and
hopelessness of further effort at resistance, was
produced as much, nay more, by the obvious
sacrifice of Canadian interests to mere party-
feeling in England, as by the contemplation of
the threatened perils themselves.
An association of evils, part known, part sur-
GENERAL DESPONDENCY. ] 53
mised, weighed down the mind of the co-imu-
nity at large, and inspired it temporarily with
a doubt of the efficiency of the means available
to meet the crisis, or to repel aggression ; while
the very character of the terror, which seemed to
have stricken all indisc'iminately, added greatly
to its effect.
There was, besides, a general feeling of dis-
satisfaction prevailing n the part of the pro-
vincial militia, in consequence of the difficulty
they had experienced, during the previous trou-
bles, in procuring an adjustment of their claims
upon the Government; mainly from the circum-
stance of no deviation being ; .lowed from rules
adapted only to an ordinary state of things, in
the conduct of the business of the pubhc service,
when the peculiar emergence imperatively re-
quired that special arrangements should be made
to meet it.
This dissatisfaction of the militia, which ex-
hibited itself in a sort of sullen apathy, was pro-
ductive at one time of much serious apprehension,
less, however, because it was believed that they
would shrink from the threatened danger when it
h3
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154
PARTIAL REACTION.
should positively face them, than that their appa-
rent lukewarmness might cause them to betaken
unawares, and so entail upon the country the
most serious consequences, if the hostile hordes,
who threatened it from without, could any where
make a stand for a sufficient period to rally
round them the provincial n: ilcontents.
But, fortunately, between the utterance and
the execution of the threat of invasion, a suffi-
cient interval elapsed to admit of reflection;
and when it was rightly understood that a gra-
tuitous invasion of the province, resulting from
no insurrection in it, concealed an indiscriminate
crusade against life and property, despondency
gave way to indignation on the part of all, save
those who were incurably disaffected towards
British connexion, or who ix)ssessed nothing
whereof to be despoiled.
The test now applied was of a personal rather
than, as before, of a political kind, since, under
the plausible pretext of the regeneration of Ca-
nada, it was apparent t'l-t an indiscriminate
plunder of Canadians was contemplated; and in
cases where the feeling of loyalty was doubtful,
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HUNTERS' ASSOCIATION.
155
it needed a no less powerful incentive than self-
interest to rouse to action men who were labour-
ing under a sense of real or imaginary griev-
ances, as regarded points of local controversy,
and who might, therefore, have remained pas-
sively indifferent, had they not been at length
fairly awakened to the real designs of their rapa-
cious neighbours.
Though much mystification prevailed regard-
ing the conspiracy against Canada, termed the
Hunters' Association, sufficient of it was known,
through the voluntary depositions of individuals,
and through the emissaries employed by the
Canadian government, to satisfy the most incre-
dulous, that its ramifications were very tortuous
and extensive, that its resources were very great,
and that it enrolled amongst its members many
influential and official persons in the republic.
It was even asserted, that military officers high
in command in the United States' army, sta-
tioned on the northern frontier, were something
more than friendly to the « patriot" cause, and,
while seeking to preserve appearances, were de-
sirous to make their construction of their public
i i
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156
AMERICAN OFFICERS.
duty dovetail as much as possible with their
secret views. Of one, it was reported to have
been declared at a " Hunters' Meetint'," held at
Lockport, that he was not to be feared by the
" patriots,"" who, if they had no greater enemy
than he, would get on well enough ; while, of
another, it was confidently stated, that he had
offered to take the command of the " patriot"
force, and march with it into Canada, provided
that he were first assured of the services of a
certain number of men, on whom he might rely
at the fitting moment, and of a certain amount
in money. I was ' yself assured, by more than
one individual of respectability, while travelling
in the summer of last year through the state of
New York, that no moral doubt existed in the
minds of the border community, that Avhat is
above stated respecting the two officers in ques-
tion, was substantially correct; my informants
themselves fairly ridiculing the credulity of those
who might think otherwise.
Affirmations were made on oath by various
parties, that the whole number of American
citizens enrolled in this unholy league amounted
- >>i
EXTENSIVE CONSPIRACY. 157
to no less than 200,000, of vvhoi=. from 25,000
to 40,000 effective men, including n corps of
GOO Kentucky riflemen, and a l)ody of In-
dians, had pledged themselves to mnrch upon
the province, when never required. Buf, jud^^*
ing by results, allowance must be made for
error oi exaggerations ia this statement, since
in no case of actual invasion did the ascer* lined
number of in(Hviduals exceed 400 or 500 .,ien;
though, on t he other hanil, it must be considered
that these were sent for ird as a sort of advanced
guard,, lo try what number of Canadian ould
be disposed to join them when once landed m the
province, antl that thousands were in readiness
on the opposite shore, to follow them across the
river, should success attend their first efforts.
By the majo ity of those concerned in it, there
can be no doubi that this scheme of wholesale
invasion, was held to be infallible ; while I , ge
sums having been actually embarked in it, . a
profitable investment, the result was watched
with intense anxiety, such only as Americans
intent on g dn are capable of feelino-.
From facts which afterward, transpired, s..
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158
VIEWS OF CONSPIRATORS.
sanguine would many seem to have been ui a
favourable issue to the enterprise, that the father
of one man who had enlisted as a recruit, but
was afterwards prevented, by illness or some
other cause, from marching when required, ac-
tually took his place, rather than his son should
forego the advantages anticipated to accrue to
him from the expedition. That much delusion
was practised on the credulous and inexperienced ;
thai many plunged iete haissee into the scheme
without the least reflection, or misled by a false
enthusiasm; and that the confederates in the
States and the disaffected in Canada were un-
consciously deceiving one another, by erroneous
estimates and misplaced reliances, as the time of
action approached, cannot very well be doubted,
even if proof had not been afforded that, to an
extent, such was in reality the case.
Among the more prominent measures of the
conspirators, were the formal appointment of
officers to command their army ; the nomination
of a president and a vice-president for the pro-
posed Canadian epublic ; and the promulgation
of the prospectus of an embryo bank, the pro-
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PROJECTED BANK.
169
jected capital whereof, hxi ' ^t 7,500,000 dollars,
or £1,687,500 sterlini:. w, to he exclusively
employed in effecti..^ h. nquest of Canada,
and reimbursed by u)o • ..ocation of Canadian
lands, tlie holder of so much stock, being enti-
tled to its estimated equivalent in land.
The general proceedings of the association
were not conducted with so much secrecy, not-
withstanding an affectation of masonic mystifica-
tion, but that they occasionally transpired ; and
the following sketch, derived from authentic
sources, will serve to show the mode of initiating
persons to the different degrees of membership
of the lodges, into which, as in masonry, the as-
sociation was divided, and also the nature of the
so-admitted Hunter's obligation.
Persons about to be initiated as members were
introduced into the lodge blind-folded ; on which
the following oath was administered to them :—
" You swear, in the presence of Almighty God,
that you will not reveal the secret sign of the
snow-shoe to any, not even to the members of the
society. You will nbt write, print, mark, en-
grave, scratch, chalk, or in any conceivable man-
^ll\
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160
HUNTERS' OATH.
ner whatsoevf^r, make the shape or sign of the
snow-sh y living being, not even to the
members :his society. You, furthermore,
solemnly swear that you will not reveal any of
the secrets of this society, which may come to
your knowledge, through the president, vice-
president, or his cabinet. You, furthermore,
solemnly swear that you will give timely notice
to any member or brother, if you know of any
evil, plot, or design, that has been carried on
against him or the society. You, furthermore,
solemnly swear that you will render all assistance
in your power, without injuring yourself or
family, to any brother or member of this society,
who shall at any time make the sign of distress
to you. You, furtiiermore, solemnly swear that
you will attend every meeting of your lodge, if
you can do so without injury to yourself or fa-
mily. This you swear, as you shall answer to
God."
The first degree was called the " Snow-shoe"
degree, and had four signs. The test made use of,
upon which most reliance was placed, in case a
stranger should become acquainted with any of
SNOW-SHOE DEGREE.
161
the signs, was that of membership, or the snow-
shoe. Should all other questions have been satis-
factorily answered, the person under examina-
tion was asked if he had ever seen a snow-shoe,
and required to make such sign upon paper. If
he attempted to make any representation of it,
he was immediately known not to be a member ;
since, as above stated, all were sworn not to
make that sign.
The first of the signs used in communication,
was to lay the palm of the left hand over the
back of the right, with the fingers of both hands
extended and apart from each other, and then to
let both hands fallcarelessly in front of the body.
The second sign ii the snow-shoe degree was
used in shaking hands, when the parties took
the cuff of each other's coat between the finger
and thumb. The third sign consisted in the in-
quiry— "Are you a Hunter?" The answer was
the name of the day succeeding the day of tiie
week on which the question might be asked. The
fourth sign was lifting the right-hand to the ear,
with the palm in front, and pressing the ear
slightly forward
I ('
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162
BEAVER DEGREE.
The signs were answered by tiic same sign, or
by any of the signs,
Tlie second degree was called the " Beaver"
degree; th.}oath pertaining thereto being — "You
swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that you
will not reveal the sign of the beaver degree to
any one who is not a member of the same degree
witi) yourself." The sign of this degree was as
follows : " Do you know the beaver to be an in-
dustrious animal ?" No answer was made ver-
bally, but the left hand was lifted to the mouth
— the palm nearest the face; the fingeni were
bent, t!ie fore-finger l)eing placed under the chin,
and the nail of the thumb between tlie front
teetli, which were closed upon it, to imitate the
action of a beaver gnawing a tree.
The third degree was called the "Master Hun-
ter's" degree : tlie oath belonging to it was simi-
lar to that last-mentioned. The sign was the
interrogation ~ « Trouble ? " and the answer
thereto, " Calm :" the right-hand being at the
same time moved from the right to the left side
of the body, the back of the hand upwards, and
the fingers and hand horizontal.
OTHER DEGREES.
163
The fourth degree was called the " Patriot
Hunter" degree : the oath was similar to that
preceding. There were three signs Iwlonging to
it ; the first of which was comprised in the ques-
tion — " Do you snuff* and chew ?" The answer
was — " I do."*' At the same time, if the party
questioned had a snuft'-box about him, he took it
out, and made upon it three scratches with his
nail ; but if he had no such article, he j)ut the
thumb of his left-hand into the left pocket of his
waistcoat, and made three scratches with the fin-
ger-nail upon the waistcoat. The second sign
was — " Have you any news for me ?" Answer
— " Some." The third sign of this degree was
the sign of distress. The left-hand was raised,
with the palm forward ; the fingers extended,
but not apart ; the thumb pointing to the coat-
collar.
There w«i a method of gaining admission to
the lodge, exclusive of all these signs. You went
to the door and gave two raps on the outside,
which were answered by two on the inside. You
then gave one rap on the outside, which was an-
I
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164
01UECT8 OF CONSPIRACY.
swored hy one on the inside. Vou then made
tliree seratehcs on the outside, and were there-
upon a(hnitted.
Tlie first,or "Snow-shoe" d<>«rree, was intended
to be universal in the « army'' of the self-styled
'' patriots :" the privates took this degree ; the
ooninn'ssioned officers, two degrees; the field-
offieers, three degrees ; the eonnjiandirs-in-chief,
four or more degrtvs. The members of the so-
eiety, whether enlisted or not, always took four
degrees; but they were only to use the first de-
gree in the army, if they enlisted.
The object of the society was stated ;d"ter tlie
party initiated had taken the fourth degnv, as
also some of the plans and operations; but the
whole was not communicated except to the grand
masters, conmianders-in-chief, and others, in
whom implicit confidence was reposed. The
general object of tlie society or association was
stated to l)e, " the emancipation of the Ibitish
colonies from British thraldom."
The llimters' signs, as above described, haviptf
l)cen more or less divulged during the winter of
CHANGE OF SIGNS,
165
f 1
1838, underwent some changes in the course of
the year following, when a fresh invasion of Ca-
nada was in agitation.
The sign of recognition in the States was now
stated to be, the moving of the index-finger of
the right-hand with a circular motion, acknow-
ledged by waving the left-hand. In Canad.i, the
isame object was effected by < ne party jjutting
either of his hands into his picket., taking there-
from some change, and saying, « times are easier;"
the answer l)eing, " truly."
In 1839, when o person was initiated into a
lodge, he beheld, after the removal of the ban-
dage from his oyes, a man, having before him
on a table, either a dagger or a pistol, and was
told that such weapon was intended to remind
him of the inanner of his death, should he reveal
any secret to the injury of the cause he liad
esjjoused, or of a brother. In 1838, the same
weapons were also laid upon the table, on similar
occasions; but nothing was then said respecting
them, unless the party was initiated as a "Patriot
Mason," or " Heaver Hunter."
It was indeed said, that several persons had
i
5
166
INVASION AT PIlESrOTT.
.) I I !'
l)coii six'iTtly disposed of, for iliviil^inii; iho secrets
of the asHociation, or giving information rcsjx'ct-
ing its proci'i'dings.
Tlu' ju(li<'ions military arrangements made
hy the high military authorities, nnist alone be
considered, luinianly sjH>aking, as having saved
Canada at this crisis of its fate. Public confi-
dence, before so completely shaken, as to the effi-
cacy of the utmost means of resistance available,
was thenceforth in some liegriH' ri'stored; and the
general gl(M)ni which had thiiatened to ivsolve
itself ii:to a settled despondency, was gratlually
dispelled.
It would be no easy task to describe the sen-
siUiou produced throughout the province, but
more especially at Toronto (whoi-e I was then
residing), by the news of the descent made near
Prescott by a body of armed Americans on the
IStli of November. Indiguation, however, was
the dominant feeling on the part of all, save
the incurably disall'ected, and these were deterred
from any open manifestation of their satisfaction,
by the uncertainty if they yet j)ossessed suffi-
cient cause for rejoicing.
fill
|i
llEIM/LSI.: OF INVADERS.
167
With the niiliJary promMlinj^s incident to this
invasion, I do not projwsc to detain my readers,
further, than to „hserve, that the victory of the
IJritish over their opponents, was pnrehased, con-
siderin^r the nnniericul superiority of the former,
at a very undue rate, tin total loss in killed and
woundiHl amountin^r to „,) less than four olliccrs,
andaluHit forty- five rank and file.
The whole number of invaders did not proha-
biy exceed at the utn.ost iirA) men, of whom, ac-
conlin^r toollicial statements, 157 were captured,
and about fifty-six killed; the remainder being
unaccounted for, and having.- probably contrived
to rccross the river before the means of retreat
were entirely cut off.
As shewing the spirit by which, in despite of
their still lingering discontent, the Canadian
militia engaged on this occasion were animated,
I may state, on the authority of an officer who
was present, that one man, rushing from the
ranks, and singling out an mitagonist, plunged
his bayonet into him, exclaiming, as he did so,
" Yi)u scoundrel, you wanted to rob
me of my farm, did you ? There ; take that in-
stead."
i •
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51; 4
i'
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168
EXASPERATION OF MILITIA.
So great, indeed, was the exasperation of the
militia, that it is averred they were with diffi-
culty induced to make any prisoners at all; while
it is possible, that, but for the example of for-
bearance set them by the regulars, who bad not
the same cause of provocation as themselves,
much after trouble would have been saved to
the provincial executive.
While the contest was going on, repeated at-
tempts were made to throw over reinforcements
from the American side, but the presence of an
armed British steam-boat in the rive- frustrated
every attempt of this kind, and compelled the
adventurers to retreat with loss.
The American authoritcs made, as usual, when
too late to be of service, a show of active inter-
ference to thwart tlie operations of the invaders,
and of course effected nothing; while the popu-
lace of Ogdensburg, lining the shore, rent the
air with their shouts and acclamations of encou-
ragement to the unhappy beings who had periled
their lives in this desperate undertaking, and who
would doubtless not have ventured on it, had
they supposed they should be left unsup})orted.
36i
M.
RAGE AT OGDENSBURG.
1()9
Waggon-loads of men who were ready to take-
part in the affray, came pouring into Ogdensburg
from all parts of the adjacent country, and these
individuals were frantic with rage, in common
with the townspeople at large, at the obstacles
wliich prevented them from affording succour to
their countrymen.
Very different, it is obvious, must have been
the result of this expedition but for tiie oppor-
tune intervention of the steam-boat in question.
From the uncertainty which at first prevailed
respecting the projected movements of the enemy,
this boat did not arrive at the scene of action in
sufficient time to prevent the landing; but it
effectually neutralized the after-plan of opera-
tions, and may justly be considered as the
mainspring of the successful defensive measures
that were taken.
Had a larger body of Americans reached the
Canada shore, they must have overpowered the
small militia force that merely sufficed to keep in
check the actual invaders, until the arrival of
detachments of regular troops from Kingston,
and would in this case have probably succeeded
in effecting a junction with the provincial mal-
VOL. I. I
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II'
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170
CAPTURE OF IxVVADERS.
contents in the neighbourhood, who were deterred
from coming forward under tlie actual circum-
stances.
As it was, the enemy made a stout and bold
resistance, worthy, according to all accounts, of a
better cause, though disgracing himself in other
res})ccts by some revolting acts of cruelty, and he
was only dislodged from the strong stone-mill and
houses in which he had taken up his position, by
the play of some heavy pieces of ordnance ; after
a few salutations from which he was forced to
surrender at discretion.
The public mind had not had time to recover
from the excitement which this event produced,
when it was further agitated by a fresh invasion
which took place at Moy, near Windsor, on the
western frontier, on the 4tli December follow-
ing.
The well-affected part of the community were
beginning however, by this time, to have the
fullest confidence in themselves and their re-
sources; and, inspired with the late success at
Prescott, they did not doubt a similar result at
Windsor.
AFFAIR AT WINDSOR. I7]
On this occasion the invaders were encoun-
tered by the mi.itia no. lispersed after a
running fight, in wh, m, sustained a heavy,
and their pursuers a trivial, loss in killed and
wounded. iibsequently, about fifty prisoners
fell into the hands of tlie victors, who in the
excitement of the moment, shot four or five of
them on the spot. Nor was this extraordinary,
however contrary to th. ages of civilized war-
fare and the dictates ot humanity, consir'-ring
the extreme degree of resentment kind' >d in the
militia by the enormities which had signalized
the landing of the marauders. They com-
menced operations by setting fire to a steam-boat,
and to a guard-house, in which a small jMcquet
which they surprised was stationed, burning in
it one or two of its defenders; murdered, without
the slightest cause or provocation, a staff surgeon
of the regular forces, afterwards mutilating his
body in a way too horrible to mention ; and
slew an inoffensive coloured man, simply because
he (declined to join them. A claim of 4,500/.
has been made as indemnity for the destruction
of the steam-boat above alluded to, but the case
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172
ENTHUSIASM AT DETROIT.
has apparently been left in the same position as
that of the Sir Robert Peel.
The number of the invading force was esti-
mated at about four hundred men, the greater
part of whom having the means of conveyance
at their disposal, succeeded, after their dispersion,
in making good their retreat into the United
States' territory ; their egress from which had, as
at Prescott, either been connived at or ineffec-
tually resisted. It is but justice, however, to
state, that the American military officer com-
manding on the station prevented, at the risk of
his popularity, reinforcements from being thrown
across, by cruizing between the two shores in an
armed steam-boat.
The same enthusiasm for the success of the
hostile incursion that had been manifested at
Ogdensburg, also displayed itself at Detroit,
where thousands were assembled to cheer on the
adventurers.
This was the last enterprize of the kind at-
tempted ; its failure following so close upon the
defeat at Prescott, and combined with appre-
hensions respecting the fate of the prisoners
jsition as
was esti-
3 greater
nveyance
ispersion,
e United
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r inefFec-
vever, to
cer com-
le risk of
g thrown
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ss of the
fested at
Detroit,
er on the
kind at-
upon the
h appre-
prisoners
TRIALS AND EXECUTIONS.
173
taken on both occasions, sufficed to suspend fur-
ther hostile demonstrations on the part of the
conspirators in the States, who now accused the
partizans in Canada, on whose co-operation they
had relied, of pusillanimity, and an abject sub-
mission to the yoke from which they professed a
desire to free themselves.
The trials of the captives were the all-absorb-
ing topic which engaged public attention for
some time afterwards. The majority were con-
demned to death by the militia ger.eral courts-
martial, before which they were arraigned ; such
sentence being carried into effect in the cases of
seventeen individuals ; eleven of whom were the
leading actors in the affair at Prescott, and six
in that at Windsor.
These executions, though unquestionably both
necessary and justifiable, were considered by
many to have been far too long protracted ; the
first, that of Von Schoultz, having taken place
on the 8th of December, and the last not before
the close of February. The end contemplated,
of striking a timely salutary teiror, would pro-
i. :
?•
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I
174
JUDICIOUS CLEMENCY.
bably have been more effectually attained, had
the infliction of the punishment more quickly
followed the commission of the offence; by which
means also, the indefinite repetition of a revolting
spectacle would have been avoided.
The convicts whose lives were spared were not
finally disposed of until some time afterwards.
A considerable number of those, whose youth
and inexperience pleaded in extenuation of their
guilt, were pardoned, and set at liberty on the
United States' territory in the course of the
ensuing summer. Though much objected to in
Canada, their liberation gave rise to considera-
ble satisfaction in :ae United States ; but despite
of the assurances of gratitude put forth, it
seemed after all to be there viewed, save by the
parties themselves, and the respectable portion
of the press, less as a boon than as a right which
had been conceded. Nevertheless, the measure
must be considered a very judicious one, and to
have been dictated by a sound policy.
The remaining prisoners who could prefer no
claim to similar clemency, had their original sen-
l|' ;f!
SUMMARY OF CAPTIVES. 175
tences commuted to transportation, and were
conveyed to Van Diemen's Land direct from
Quebec, in company with a batch of convicts
fror Lower Canada, on board the Queen's ship
BtiffhlOi in the month of October last.
The subjoined statement, compiled from offi-
cial documents, shews the whole number of in-
dividuals captured in the various attempts to
invade Upper Canada, during the winters of
1837-38, and 1838-33, together with the manner
of their disposal : —
Acquitted by the several Courts* 6
Pardoned on various grounds PO
Discharged from various causes 21
Died in the Hospital 2
Executed 17
Transported 1%
Remained in confinement towards the end of 1839 6
Total 220
The year 1839, though not marked, as had
been the two preceding years, by any actual in-
vasion of the Canadian provinces, was never-
theless fertile as well of political agitation, as of
* Including the self-styled General Sutherland, whose
conviction was held to be invalid by the law officers of
the Crown in England.
1
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176 BORDER OUTRAGES.
indications that the least relaxation of precau-
tionary defensive measures on the part of the
Canadian authorities and people, would entail at
any moment upon the country a renewal of past
calamities. Indeed, such was the feverish state
of anxiety which general appearances induced
during the greater part of the year, that the
anticipation of some hidden danger being on the
eve of explosion was continually uppermost.
Awaiting time and opportunity for attempting
greater undertakings, the executive of the Hun-
ters' Association would seem to have decreed a
systematic crusade against life and property,
wheresoever these might be assailable with im-
punity along the Canadian line of frontier. On
the Niagara frontier in particular, this spe-
cies of molestation was carried to the greatest
excess, midnight incendiaribm, robbery, and
attempts to murder, being there of constant oc
currence.
In the early part of the preceding winter, a
gentleman named Usher, living in that district,
was barbarously assassinated in his own house,
under very atrocious circumstances. An Ameri-
.M
COBOURG CONSPIRACY.
177
' 1
can citizen, named Lett, has publicly avowed
himself in various of the American border towns
to be the perpetrator of the deed; boasting of it
as a meritorious act, and declaring that he re-
ceived for it a pecuniary consideration. No steps,
however, to arrest this ruffian were taken by the
United States' authorities, who uniformly turned
a deaf ear to the applications made to them by
the provincial government, to cause him to be
brought to justice either in the one country or the
other.
Lett further stands accused of leading parti-
cipation in the conspiracy discovered at Cobourg
in August last, the object of which was the mur-
der of a selected number of individuals, and the
plunder of the local bank. The majority of the
desperadoes implicated proved to be American
citizens, who had lately crossed over from t^f
United States, for the express purpose of acting
in this atrocious business. The existence of the
plot was revealed by one of their number, a man
named Moon, just on the eve of its explosion,
and most of the miscreants were, on his evidence,
secured; ample proofs of their premeditated
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TIMELY DISCOVERy.
guilt being, besides, found upon them, or in the
house where they were captured. Lett, however,
having his suspicions of Moon's sincerity, had
effected his escape, and being in disguise, got
hack to the States in safety.
Many curious revelations are said to have been
made by the prisoners, respecting the designs of
the Canadian malcontents and their partisans in
the States; revelations tending to criminate many
notable persons in both countries, who had not
before been even suspected of favouring the
" patriot cause."
Earlier in the season, a trooper in a corps of
local cavalry stationed at Toronto, was arrested
oij the strength of some papers accidentally found
in his possession, proving him to be an emissary
from the American side, and revealing a design
on his part to take the life of the Lieutenant Go-
vernor for the sake of a pecuniary reward. It was
remembered, that on various occasions he had en-
deavoured to get himself placed on duty as an
orderly at the Government-House, and had been
very particular in his inquiries as to the where-
about of the Governor's sleeping-room. To com-
SIR GEORGE ARTHUR.
179
plete the chain of evidence against him, there
was found in his possession a minute sectional
plan of the Government-House, and also of the
fort and garrison at the western extremity of the
town.
This worthy, as also those first mentioned,
were tried and sentenced to various terms of im-
prisonment.
On a previous occasion, Sir George Arthur's
life would seem to have been placed in jeopardy
through similar agency, if a deposition may be
relied on to the effect that his Excellency was
aimed at with a rifle, while passing near Cobourg,
on his way from the Lower Province, in October
1838, and only escaped by the weapon missing
fire.
In May of this year, a very daring act was
perpetrated by some marauders from the United
States, in the robbery of the Upper Canada mail,
between Kingston and Gananoque; the plun-
derers retreating with their booty, which com-
prised a considerable sum of money, into the
territory from whence they had issued. A small
portion of the money was accidentally recovered,
m
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180 PROFESSIONS AND PRACTICES.
but rttlrcss for the injury, though the parties
were well known, was unattainable ; tlie Ameri-
can authorities, as in the case of Lett, not daring,
or not desiring, to interfere wiih the working of
the popular feeling against Canada.
Soon after the re-establishnient of the naval
command on the Lakes, which has its head-
(juarters at Kingston, an agreement had been
entered into between the naval authorities and
one of the American military officers stationed
on the frontier, for the purpose of undertaking
in concert such measures as should insure the
preservation of neutrality. The moment, how-
ever, that any fruits were likely to result from
this arrangement, the American officer was seen
to back out of it, by alleging that public excite-
ment respecting the object to which it had refe-
rence, ran too high to admit of it being opera-
tive.
In like manner, on the occasion of the mail
robbery just mentioned, a similar sort of under-
standing having been come to between the naval
authorities and another United States' officer,
went on well enough, until a practical benefit
«
UNTOWARD OCCURRENCK. 181
was likely to accrue from it, when its letter in
lieu of its spirit was regarded, and it became a
nullity.
Regarding the case of the notorious Macken-
zie, wc may be assured from every concurrent
testimony, that his imprisonment at Rochester
was the result rather of his having rendered him-
self personally obnoxious to various persons in the
States, and of the Americans having fairly be-
come tired of him, than of a real desire on their
part to evince abhorrence of the manifold crimes
wherewith he had stained himself.
But an event, originating on the British side,
of a nature far more calculated to precipitate
immediate hostilities between the two countries
than any I have yet narrated, occurred in the
course of the summer. This was the seizure at
Brockville by the collector of customs, on his
own authority, of the American schooner G. S.
Weeks, which, being on her way from Oswego
to Ogdensburg, had stopped at Brockville to
discharge a portion of her cargo intended for that
place. The ground of the seizure was, an al-
leged irregularity in the papers of the schooner.
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POPULAR EXCITEMENT.
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respecting a piece of ordnance which appeared
upon her deck, and formed part of the cargo in
transitu for Oswego. By a rigorous interpreta-
tion of the provincial law, prohibiting the en-
trance into Canadian ports of foreign vessels,
with arms or munitions of war on board, this
seizure might have been justifiable ; but under
all the circujistances, and considering the tick-
lish state of the political relations of the two
countries, it was, to say the least of it, neither
a necessary nor prudent proceeding.
On the other hand, the exhibition of the gun
on deck was extremely reprehensible on the part of
the captain of the vessel, as tending to inflame,
which, in effect, it did in the highest degree, the
passions of the populace, who were still labour-
ing under a keen sense of the nefarious invasions
of the province during the preceding winter.
The result was as might have been anticipated :
on the collector deciding to make the seizure,
the people, being now in the wildest state of ex-
citement, boarded the vessel, forcibly possessed
themselves of the gun, and paraded it with
shouts of triumph througii the town. The whole
]
COLONEL WORTH.
183
difficulty might readily have been obviated in the
first instance, without the slightest sacrifice of
principle or honour, had the vessel been required
to leave the port forthwith, with an injunction
not to return to it, unless the obnoxious gun
should be first left at its place of destination ;
whereas, the [)roceedings taken torminated in an
abandonment of the seizure under extremely
humiliating circumstances.
On learning what had occurred, ^ jlonel
Worth, of the United States' army, repaired from
Oswego to Brockville, in an armed steamer, filled
\vith soldiers, and imperatively demanded the re-
stitution both of the vessel and the gun; intimat-
ing,— as his presence in such array sufficiently
indicated, — that in case of refusal, hostilities on
his part would ensue.
In this dilemma, the collector held a consulta-
tion will, the civil authorities, when it appearing
upon an inspection of some furth ?r papers, tardily
produced by the master of the schooner, that
the seizure was not so sustainable as ut first
appeared; while, at all events, the physical
means of resistance available were inadequate to
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184 COiMPROMISE.
the emergency, the resolution was adopted of
acceding to Colonel Worth's demand.
To avoid the appearance of a surrender on
compulsion, it was stipulated on the one hand,
and subscribed to on the other, that the schooner
and the gun should not be given up until the
armed steam-boat had withdrawn from the Bri-
tish waters.
At this stage of the proceedings, a British
stea ')oat, also armed, and with troops on
board, arrived from Kingston. Had it made its
appearance sooner, there can be little doubt that
lamentable consequences would have ensued, as
the naval commander would have felt himself
bound to enforce Colonel Worth's departure ere
any terms of adjustment could be listened to,
and to deny his right to interfere in a matter
purely of a civil nature, without trenching c. the
question as towhetherthe seizurewere legal or not.
The original agreement was happily adhered
to ; but it required the aid of a military force
on shore to preserve order during the transit of
the gun to the Avharf, and its replacement on
board the schooner.
AMERICAN EFFRONTERY. l85
It is obvious in this affair, that if, as must be
perhaps, admitted, the detention of the schooner
and the gun were an uncalled-for act, well de-
serving censure, the conduct of Colonel Worth,
in attempting to enforce their restitution by an
armed demonstration, was to the last degree un-
warrantable; clearly depriving the United States'
government of any after right of civil reclama-
tion, even assuming it in the first instance to have
possessed one.
Nevertheless it is averred, and the report rests
on very good authority, that the Federal execu-
tive has had the unparalleled effrontery, as in
the case of the Caroline^ to make a formal
demand for indemnity on the Government of
Great Britain in relation to this matter !
But 1 should fill a volume were I to attempt
to narrate in chronological order of detail the
variou" border occurrences, more particularly
those emanating from the American side, out of
whitth national strife might at any moment have
arisen. Apart from the Brockville affair, truth
compels me to add that a few isolated acts of
trivial aggression against American citizens were
h
.
186
FOURTH OF JULY.
committed by the Canadians, under momentarily
excited feelings, or while inebriated; but in
every case, where requisite, ample apology or
reparation was made by the provincial authori-
ties ; while, to the lasting credit of the people in
general, be it said, such was their forbearance,
that no positive retaliation was attempted for the
bitter wrongs they had themselves sustained and
were continually sustaining.
The dreaded 4th of July, the day on which,
according to secret communications and general
report, another formidable irruption was lo take
place, passed off without any thing serious oc-
curring; though it was pretty well established
that the state of preparation exhibited by the
two provinces, rather than any voluntary for-
bearance on the part of those who meditated
aggression, was the substantial cause of the pre-
servation of order and tranquillity. A few ebul-
litions of anti-British feelings displayed them-
selves in various parts of the country, chiefly
populated with American settlers, (noted for
previous disaffection,) in the exhibition of repub-
lican banners bearing treasonable devices, and
HOSTILE SYMPTOMS.
187
either hoisted upon poles or carried in proces-
sion; but such attempts to excite commotion
were rendered innoxious through their prompt
suppression by peaceful means, and the actors in
them were, for the most part, fain to indemnify
themselves for their disappointment in a tavern
carouse.
It was pretty generally known that, up to this
period, cases of musket-barrels were constantly
being sent from New York via the Hudson, their
ostensible destination being principally Roches-
ter. One such cargo was seen to go off in the
care of a notorious French-Canadian rebel, dwel-
ling on the confines of Vermont, who was in the
habit of issuing from thence inflammatory pub-
lications, in the French language, for circulation
among his deluded countrymen.
Later in the season it transpired, through an
authentic source, that an extensive purchase of
ammunition for the patriot service had just been
effected in the city of New York, and transmitted
to the frontier, to be there in readiness for use
on the first occasion. Lastly, as shewing how
unchanged remained the views of at least a por-
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CONFLAGRATION.
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tion of the American citizens in regard to the
affairs of Canada, so late as the end of August
183G, I subjoin, in the Appendix, a copy I pro-
cured of a very curious document, emanating
from an executive committee, forming a rami-
fication of the Honourable the Association of
Hunters, while assembled in one of the towns
of the State of New York.
As regards the chief events of domestic policy
or import, of which the year 1839 was pregnant,
the same were ushered in with the destruction
by fire, on the 6th of January, of the episcopal
church at Toronto ; originating, as it seemed on
an investigation of the circumstances, in accident
rather than design. A very valuable organ, the
gift, I believe, of a private individual, was de-
stroyed in the conflagration, which raged so
fiercely as to leave nothing but the bare walls of
the building standing. On the score of archi-
terture there was little to regret in the disaster,
but very serious inconvenience was occasioned to
a part of the community by its occurrence. A
new edifice, raised on the old foundation, has
since been built by means of the joint agencies of
CHURCHES IN CANADA.
189
credit and voluntary contributions, and towards
the close of the year the outer structure was well
nigh completed.
The only difference between the external ap-
pearance of the old building and the new was
the addition to the latter of a light steeple,
which, owing to the ingenious combination of
sliape, a tin covering, and a crooked cross sur-
mounting the apex, looked for all the world like
a well-polished extinguisher, whereof the handle
had chosen to assert its independence by forsak-
ing its usual place.
Nevertheless, the steeple, such as it is, im-
parts a degree of finish to the edifice, that gives
it an advantage over the episcopal church at
Kingston, and the Catholic cathedral at Mont-
real ; both of those places of worship appearing,
from the absence of a spire, as though they had
been decapitated.
During the early part of the year, the public
mind was rife with agitation and excitement on
the subject of the Clergy Reserves' question ;
discussions respecting which had been revived,
and conducted with their usual acrimonv in the
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190
CLKllGV RKSKRVES.
House of Assembly. So imdecided appeared to
be the views and principles of the whole body
of provincial le^nslators as to the mode of eflect-
ing an adjustment of the difllculty their col-
lective wisdom was reipiired to solve, and so
strangely blended wea- individual religious feel-
ing and political bias, that parties themselves
were split into minute j)articles, and no two
members seemetl to entertain for four-and-twenty
hours together the siune set of opinions. It was
at once both distressing and anuising to witness
the inconsistency which prevailed in the debates,
and to compare, as I afterwards took the trouble
from curiosity to do (though I will not detain
my readers with the results), the x arious schemes
successively proposed and abandoned, revived
and abandoned again, with variations od infini-
tum, for unravelling this skein, needlessly ren-
dered an intricate one. At the very heel of the
session a Government measure was introduced
providing for the realisation of the Reserves, and
leaving the after distnbuti(m of tlu proceeds to
the British Tarliament; the same being finally
carried in the Assembly by a majority of 07ie!
CLERGY RESERVES,
191
The Bill, which was necessarily a reserved one,
never became an Act; since the British Go-
vernment declined to reconnnend its confirmation,
on the ostensible ground of some infornudity in
passing it.
Had those persons in England who, either
from the institution of false analogies, or from
ignorance of the peculiar local circumstances of
the case at issue, are so clamorous in their t)utcry
against the alienation of any porticm of the Re-
serves in question from a jjurely episcopal clergy,
been resident in Upper Canada at the jjeriod to
which I allude, they must have been convinced
of the fallacy of the arguments they adduce in
support of their premises ; and may even now
become enlightened on reference to the records
of the provincial legislature inciilent to the occa-
sion, and, al)ove all, to the tone and spirit of the
colonial press.
To agitation on the Clergy Reserves' question,
succeeded an all-absorbing interest created by
the appearance of the Earl of Durham's Report
on the affairs of Canada. It was, of course,
favourably or unfavourably received by different
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192
LORD DURHAM'S REPORT.
'•^ :S
parties, according to the various degrees of their
peculiar bias, self-interest, or prejudice; but, on
the whole, the document in its general tenor
must be said to have been one of great popu-
larity with all, save a very exclusive class of
persons.
The proceedings which took place in the pro-
vincial legislature in regard to this publication,
offer a very limited criterion whereby to estimate
the sentiments of the community at large ; nor
do they in the least militate against the fore-
going conclusions, which relate exclusively to
the generality of the various constituencies, and
not to their representatives.
The summer and autumn were signalized
by meetings in various parts of the country, for
the discussion of the subject of what was termed
responsible government, and a very large pro-
portion of its advocates included men whose at-
tachment to British connection was undoubted,
and who had already made every effort to pre-
serve it. It may be assumed, therefore, that
they would not have supported the responsible
system but for the sake of carrying out, by its
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RESPOxVSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 193
agency those economical reforms on which they
felt the future prosperity of the country to
depend.
These meetings, for the most part, went oft"
quietly, ending in the passing of resolutions
only, and would have done so in every case
had not adverse feeling induced a few attempts
to put them down. At an assemblage of this
nature, on the Yonge Street Road, in October,
the partizanship of the sheriff of the district
occasioned a serious disturbance, in the confusion
of which a man accidentally lost his life by
falling from his waggon, the wheels of which
passed over his body. Both parties, however,
were to blame, but most so the « Anti-respon-
sibles," since they went from Toronto avowedly
for the purpose of driving their opponents from
the ground.
It must be obvious, that, as a representative
form of government has been given to the Cana-
dian people, a system of responsible government,
limited in its operation to purely domestic
affairs, is both necessary and expedient under
existing circumstances; while a disposition to
VOL. I. V
194
RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT.
;'
concede this privilege to an extent, has already
been evinced by the home Government, as shewn
by Lord John RusselPs recent despatch, autho-
rizing the remo"al of public functionaries in
cases where their views or conduct may prove
obstacles in the way of the well-working of i>\e
government.
But, apart from the consideration of the al)-
stract question of a prescriptive right, it must
be remembered that, unless the affections of the
people be secured, Canada cannot be retained ;
and that, therefore, whatever the majority of
the British population may consider conducive
to their good, must, from the very necessity of
the case, be yielded to them. If they be reck-
less, and evince a desire to sever prematurely
the state of colonial connexion with England,
they must, from the circumstances of their geo-
graphical position, attain their object ; but if,
as now, they evince a disposition to draw closer
the bonds of such connexion, contingent on their
reasonable demands being complied with, it is
surely something worse than folly to trifle with
their expressed wishes.
A --i I
DOUBTFUL POLICy.
195
i already
as shewn
1, autho
naries in
ay prove
ig of i>>e
f the ab-
, it must
ns of the
retained ;
jority of
onducive
:essity of
r be reck-
maturely
England,
heir geo-
; but if,
aw closer
t on their
ith, it is
rifle with
By the timely employment of judicious means,
Great Britain may retain, for an indefinite
period, her North American provinces, in de-
spite of the machinations of the neighbouring
Republic ; but she cannot hope to tlo so if their
British inhabitants will it otherwise ; and their
attachment being thus her mainstay, it behoves
her rightly to appreciate 'ts value.
In conclusion, it may not be irrelevant to the
subject-matter to observe, that it is, perhaps,
after all, a very questionable point, whether,
in regard to the Canadian provinces, a repre-
sentative form of government should not have
been withheld, until the country were qualified,
C(Bteris paribus, for a supreme local executive,
when both might have been accorded with
greater advantage than the first alone ; which,
practically, so far from having proved a means
of promoting the qualification needed, has, in
effect, by its evil working, hitherto served to
thwart it.
But the gift having been conferred, cannot
with safety or propriety be resumed ; though as
a g-.neral principle, we may be assured, that its
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196
DOUBTFUL POLICY.
A I'
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premature possession by small communities, only
Nerves to set tliem by the ears, by creating in them
undue pretensions to the substance of that whereof
they have the shadow : for the very essence of a
representative form of government l)eing inde-
pendence, is in itself virtttally at issue with
colonial relations ; and hence, inherently possess-
ing a corrosive tendency, must inevitably, unless
surrounded by efficient safeguards, precipitate
separation ; whicli, to prove salutary, should
result alone from the natural maturity of the
weaker party, attained through the protective
medium of the strong : since, otherwise, the
former, overshooting the mark, would find itself
in a position which, neither morally nor physi-
cally, it would be able to maintain.
My narrative of the chain of occurrences,
political or domestic, which have the most
strongly marked the history of Canada within
the last few years, here terminates. I am unable
to extend the record to a later period, since
I left Toronto, on my return to England, very
early in December ; the last event of public in-
terest I had an opportunity of witnessing benig
MR. POULETT THOMSON.
197
the opening of the Provincial Legislature on the
3d of that month, by the Riglu Hon. C. Poulett
Thomson, who had just before arrived from the
Lower Province, to as' Mme the local govern-
ment.
1 (
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198
CHAPTER V.
General Review of the Conduct of the American Autho-
rities throug:hout the proceedings herein-before nar-
rated. — Development of the Desig-ns of the Republic
on British North America — Insidious Policy prac-
tised. — Identification of the Maine and Canada Ques-
tions, viewed in conjunction. — Revelations regarding
Implied Intrigues of Russia, in fomenting distur-
bances in Canada.
How great soever, as in the abstract they may
be, it is after all far less inward elements of dis-
cord that England has to fear in respect of her
North American possessions, than outward ele-
ments of aggression^ whose moral influence and
physical weight, by their susceptibility of being
brought at any time to bear upon the first,
impart to them a quality of inherent strength
which they would not otherwise possess. It is
doubtful if the annals of history could furnish a
parallel to the moral turpitude and the positive
guilt which have marked the conduct of no in-
considerable portion of the American citizens.
CAUSES AND EFFECTS.
199
in the prosecution, for a long time past, of
their nefarious designs against a neighbouring
people, with whom they are nominally at peace,
who hav done them no wrong, and whose sole
offence has consisted in the rightful occupancy
of a territory the possession of which is eagerly
coveted by their assailants.
It matters little to those who suffer by their
effects to what primary cause such measures
may be ascribable, — whether they originate in
political institutions of a defective character, —
in unsound laws, — in a laxity of moral feeling,
— ^in the sheer depravity of human nature, — or
in all these things combined: it is not for them
to care about the investigation of their nature,
seeing that no remedial measures admitting of
application are vested in their keeping; but it is
of the utmost importance to them to be pre-
served from the periodical recurrence of the
evils flowing from them, and not to be sub-
jected, as in effect they are, to the extreme hard-
ship of being continually in arms, for the de-
fence of their lives, their property, and the
sacredness of their homes.
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FALLACIOUS ARGUMENTS.
To say that this relative position is a conse-
quence of a state of colonial dependence, con-
veys no satisfactory answer to the coniphiint
preferred ; because, it must be first established
that the bulk of the complainants, if deprived
in their present weak condition by a severment
of connection, of such protection as England is
able to afford them, would not, in reality, he
more exposed to the assaults of lawless rapacity
than heretofore, and be equally liable to the
spoliation which has already been attempted.
But, in conjunction with this view of the case,
remains also to be considered the momentous
question of England's impaired vitality; first,
by the prostration of her dependencies by hostile
hands; and, secondly, by the future strength o^
those dependencies developed by such hands,
and not, as they should be, by her own, being
turned against herself.
Regarding, with relation to the affairs of Bri-
tish North America, executive government and
authority, as constituted, or, rather as practi-
cally understood in the United States, we have
only to take a brief retrospect of the past to ar-
HYPOTHETICAL CONCLUSIONS. 201
rive at the conclusion, that the conduct of the-
official functionaries representing such govern-
ment and authority, from tiie affair of Navy Is-
land to the present time, has been based on one
of two latent springs of action — insincerity or
impotence ; if not, indeed, on an union of botli.
On the first of these hypotheses, — judging
by the contrast of professions with results, — the
constituted authorities of the Union, whilst claim-
ing credit for the actual employment of vigorous
preventive measures, would have been through-
out desirous to let the reiterated experiment of
invading Canada by American citizens go on,
for the purpose of insidiously effecting, without
any apparent participation of their own, at a
price less costly than that of war, the acquisition
of an extensive territory, long forming a pri-
mary coveted object of the national ambition.
On the second hypothesis, assuming them to
have been actuated by sincerity of motive, their
moral power being a nullity> they would have
shrunk intuitively from bringing into direct
collision with the popular will, on whose breath
their official existence depended, the means of
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AMERICAN GOVERNMENT.
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resistance nominally at their disposal, to con-
trol its excesses, from a conviction that the
consequences would recoil very fearfully upon
themselves.
Hence, the means of preventing aggression by
native citizens on a friendly, unoffending power,
ai"e in reality at their disposal, or they are not.
If they be, the result has shewn* during the
period mentioned, that they have not efficiently
employed them; while, otherwise, they have
professed to exercise a power which they did not
possess ; and in either case must stand convicted
of duplicity at the bar of nations desirous to
retain the appellation of civilized communities.
In a word, we have seen the American go-
vernment favouring Great Britain with the ex-
pression of its best wishes, for the preserva-
tion of neutrality, but remaining perfectly in-
competent or unwilling to enforce even the sem-
blance of such neutrality, on the part of its bor-
der citizens.
By a further parity of reasoning, the conclu-
sion follows, that under existing circumstances,
the American citizens are unsafe neighbours ;
, to con-
that the
illy upon
ession by
ig power,
y are not.
ir'mg the
efficiently
bey have
y did not
convicted
isirous to
unities,
rican go-
i the ex-
preserva-
'ectly in-
the senri-
f its bor-
e conclu-
nstances,
jhbours ;
PRETEXT FOR INTERFERENCE.
203
but it does not equally follow that those who
have the misfortune to dwell in their vicinity
are, therefore, to insure the preservation of their
lives by the abandonment of their possessions, at
the requisition of lawless rapacity and tyranny ;
for the admission of such a doctrine, whether as
regards nations or individuals, would be at once
subversive of the fundamental laws of social life.
So long as a plan for actively interfering in
Canadian affairs was wanting, the citizens of the
Union could not very well create one ; but when
from incidental circumstances — hastened, perad-
venture, by their own wily machinations — it is
offered to them, they are seen to cling to it with
a degree of tenacity which sufficiently reveals
not only the pre-existence of a cherished purpose,
but a feeling of deep-seated enmity to the race
from which they sprung, as ungenerous as it is
certainly unnatural.
The pretext eagerly sought for beino- fur-
nished by the events which took place in Canada
in the winter of 1837, it has been ever since the
endeavour of the American citizens to keep the
question ojjen, and the public mind excited.
I
I
Ilk.'
M
11
1 1 ';
I'll
■
i J-
IP
' ;!
/'I !
I ! I 11
kli^ I
204
AFTER MEASURES.
from a perception that it would be a task of less
difficulty to preserve in being than to resuscitate,
the demon of mischief, created opportunely for
their purpose.
Failing, therefore, to carry into immediate effect
their design of overrunning Canada, their next
great object preparatory to the renewal of such
a measure, would be, as in effect it has been, to
prevent the country from settling down to a state
of permanent tranquillity, with a view to check,
save by themselves, that development of its great
natural resources, by the united means of capi-
tal and labour, which, if accomplished, would
prove so formidable a barrier to the accom-
plishment of their ambitious schemes.
After the summary suppression of the fi.st
Canadian insurrection, and the manifested at-
tachment of the bulk of the entire British popu-
lation of the two provinces to British institu-
tions, it is not perhaps hazarding too great an
assumption, that no further attempts to disturb
the public peace would have been made by the
disaffected within the country, had not their
expiring hopes been revived by extensive aid,
VIEWS OF THE DISAFFECTED.
205
' m
promised or expected, on the part of American
citizens : while here, a practical illustration is at
once afforded of my preliminary remark respect-
ing the bearing of outward influences on internal
elements of discord.
In both provinces, the objects immediate and
prospective of the disaffected were identical, and
in both the same means to the attainment of
a common end were put in requisition; but,
apart from their criminality, it must be obvious,
that the real motives of action of the respective
parties were as dissimilar as were their creeds
and their capacities.
It has been shewn that the disaffected consti-
tute in the Lower Province the majority, and
i»j the Upper Province the minority, of the po-
pulation. The first are disaffected by nature,
from habit, from ignorance, and from feeling;
the latter from principle, association, and rest-
lessness for change : but the result has proved
that either body, from the superior moral ener-
gies of its counterpoise, will become positively
dangerous or formidable in proportion only as it
may be acted on by the influence of outward
agents.
! li
w
u
\f.
ij'i' '\:t
•
I
II
i;
I: If
206
MAINE BOUNDARY.
Reviewing, with reference to what precedes,
the past relations of the United States with Ca-
nada, in connexiofi with subsequent occurrences,
on the Maine and New Brunswick frontier, —
with tlie spirit of the debates which have en-
sued ♦hereon in Congress, — with the measures
in relation thereto, that have been taken by the
nominal executive, — with the ^o«e pervading the
American press, and, above all, with the feeling
which seems to animate the great bulk of the
community, constituting, in fact, the real go-
vernment — no other conclusion can be formed
in the mind of the least biassed observer, even if
doubt before existed, that it is the settled pur-
pose of the Republic to sweep, if possible, of
all jurisdiction but its own, the entire continent
of North America ; and that the attempt having
been begun, as one means fails others will con-
tinue to be successively resorted to, either until
success shall be the crowning result, or constant
disaster and defeat shall prove success to be
hopeless.
But let not the period when, nor the circum-
stances under which, the American citizens seek
m<
I V:
III
UNDUE ADVANTAGES.
207
go-
to carry out this one great design, be over-
looked.
They see, from the lowering aspect of affairs
in other quarters, that England is in a fair way
of being embroiled with one or other of her in-
sidious enemies ; they are aware that the state of
European politics is such, that a spark applied
at almost any point would kindle a general con-
flagration ; and thus availing themselves of what
they consider a favourable opportunity, when
England is likely to have her hands full, they
seek tacitly to coerce her into compliance with
the most preposterous demands. In fine, just
as the slippery game of European politics may
fluctuate to the weal or woe of England, so will
the plans of the United States in regard io her
North American possessions be retarded or ac-
celerated. They will acquire those possessions,
if possible, without war ; but, otherwise, will
avert the period of such war until they can un-
dertake it with a probability of success.
It must have been painfully obvious to every
person anxious to see peace preserved between
the two countries, that it was seriously en-
'",
nr
m
r.i
I 'f
208
EARLY INDICATIONS.
I I'
i^i !
<\angcrei\ from the motnent when the Republicans
received with honour and distinction, amountinL'
to acclamation, the first rebel fugitives from Ca-
nada ; for the application of this touchstone
revealed a general state of morbid feeling most
startling to behold.
The occurrences which had caused the fliirht
of the individuals in question, were too strictly
in unison with the secret views and wishes of
their entertainers, for them not to determine that
the ball which had been so opportunely set in
motion, should be kept thenceforward rolling.
No sense of honour, no sense of justice, no sense
of duty towards England, would have been al-
lowed to operate against their own interests and
inclinations could they, without danger to them-
selves, have then thrown openly their balance
as a nation into the scale.
But short of this they were prepared to go ;
and if, whilst amusing England with professions
of good faith and moderate desires, they could
only attain their cherished object by insidious
means, they need care but little for the after-
consequences, seeing that they would have been
CHANGF, OF AlKASURES. 209
well indemnified beforehand for tlie retribution
they would have provoked.
Let any one who has pondered over late events,
deny, if conscientiously he can, the reasonable-
ness of these conclusions. Time gives to col-
lective data an increased value to that they may
|)ossess, if considered singly at the moment of
the occurrences to which they bear reference : if
circumstantial evidence be sometimes permitted
to hang an individual, of whose guilt no moral
doubt remains, it may surely suffice to convict a
community.
The attempt to win Canada by a coup de
main, that is by revolutionizing it, through
the medium of domestic malcontents, and then
overrunning it by predatory hordes, having met
with the signal discomfiture that it merited, the
aggressors had to devise a fresh plan of opera-
tions in order to preserve their cause from
languishing. Hence, such was the quickened
state of the public pulse, such the morbid nature
of the virus, that the contagion, raging thereto-
fore in Ohio and Michigan, was seen at once to
l. 1!
i
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. i.
n
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210
MEANS AND KNDS.
transfer itself to distant Maine as though by u
galvanic stroke !
Let it l)c borne in mind — for the fact is an
important one — that the present clamour res-
pecting the disputed territory, did not fairly
commence until after the winter of 1838, when
a second attempt to wrest Canada from Great
Britain, by means other than open warfare, had
been made and frustrated !
It was clearly only with reference to the mode
of acquiring Canada that the Republicans dif-
fered ; the majority of them agreed in the de-
sirability, and unitetl in the wish, but it required
that previous endeavours should have failed, to
wairant the general determination now evinced,
that the broad mantle of Maine should cover the
next co7ip d'essai.
In a word, it was not thought wortli while to
risk hostilities on the North Eastern boundary
case, so long as it remained unproveu that Ca-
nada could be won by the means actually em-
ployed.
This open question, being a peg whereon
111
II
UNJUST DKMANDS.
211
to hang, at any convenient period, a quarrel
covering a latent design, was too invaluable to
be closed by an equitable adjustment Thus
the unanimous voice of the llepublie demands
from England thu almost unqualified cession of
a tract of territory tlie possession of which would
virtually throw Canada into her lap, and inti-
mates that the alter ative of non-compliance
with this exorbitant requisition shall be war !
Making tliis the apparent ground of quarrel,
the real object to foreign eyes is less apparent,
and a show of self-j ustice is made, to sanctify an
act which in effect is one of monstrous political
depravity.
The very anxiety of the Republic on this
point, at a junction like the present, should alone
enlighten England as to the true state of the
question, and teach her the real value to herself
of a portion of the disputed territory, even if its
geographical position did not sufficiently point
it out.
Maine is made to interpret as it suits her
purpose the treaty of 1783, and suddenly to
enforce her views by an armed demonstration of
Ij
I I
212
PARALLEL CASES.
II
a nature to invite collision. She rejects con-
tumaciously the award made by a disinterested
third party, notwithstanding that it gives her
very great advantages ; demands more than she
ever before presumed to ask ; and declares that
she wiil submit to no adjustment other than she
dictates, the terms of which she knows to be
inadmissible, unless upon compulsion.
Maine is, in fact, put forward to play, as
though her own, the game of the whole Union,
whose representative, knowing that he is utter-
ing the sentiments of the masses which control
him, exclaims, with assumed coyness, " I cannot
coerce Maine from acting in her individuality if
she see fit ; but I am constitutionally bound to
afford Maine the benefit of the federal aid if
she involve herself in hostilities with a foreign
power; and therefore she must be allowed to
act with impunity, if peace be coveted ! " Such
is practically the language now held by the
United States of North America towards Great
Britain.
The self-same farce was enacted throughout
the Canada troubles, fomented by American
i\Mf
MOB LAW.
213
agency, and maintained by American inter-
ference.
The state arsenals were pillaged — recruits
raised — the Canadas invaded — without any real
effort on the part of the American authorities to
prevent either the one or the other act. But im-
mediately those who were suffering from the ex-
cesses committed, asserted their right to retaliate
upon their aggressors, they were warned " off
the premises,'' and reminded of the obligation of
the federal executive, to protect and defend un-
der all and any circumstances, the citizens whom
it had before been impotent to restrain. In other
words, the executive could shield them from the
penalty of their transgressions, because they
willed that it sh.ould do so ; but it could not
prevent their misconduct, because they forbade
its interference !
I rail not at Republicanism in the abstract
l)ecause of its evil working in the United States,
but I regard it as I there see it brought to bear
(m the welfare and interests of another people,
and as prejudicially affecting that welfare and
those interests from the want of a regulating
I!
In
)/ w
I'A
.^»i«.^'
214
PSEUDO GOVERNMENT.
i'. ! *"
principle, which, by causing it to harmonize, as
well with social as with national obligations,
should ensure permanent good relations, amity,
and peace.
The arguments deducible from the foregoing
premises, lead to the conclusion that the Ameri-
can democracy being virtually the government,
it is with that democracy that England has in
reality to deal, and not, as is apparently the
case, with a government properly so called,
capable and willing of itself to act upon a fixed
rule of conduct, based on principle and ju ice.
In ponsidering the past and present aspect of
affairs on the North American continent, there
remains another cause to be adverted to, as
having exercised— and as still exercising— apart
from mere political considerations, a decided
influence on the conduct of American citizens in
regard to Canada.
I allude to a subject which I have not before
seen mooted, but which very forcibly impressed
itself upon my mind during my residence in
Canada, and frequent intercourse with American
citizens.
DISRUPTION OF SOCIETY.
215
It may be admitted as an axiom, that when a
nation is prospering, and its inhabitants in gene-
ral are individually well to do, there is but
little fear of their neglecting their own concerns
to interfere with those of other people. But
when the converse is the case, when distress or
discontent prevails, and when the public mind is
left, as it were, to prey upon itself,— then is an
inclination engendered on the part of the restless
and enterprising spirits of a community to ex-
cite, or, if already excited, to participate in
commotions elsewhere, which shall serve to dis-
tract their attention from the contemplation of
the disordered state of affairs in their native
land, or enable them to enforce particular doc-
trines on which before they have only had leisure
to theorize. The peculiarity of this state of
things consists in the anomaly, that with nations,
as with individuals, there is a disposition to ima-
gine others wrong, for the purpose of setting
them to rights, according to self-conceived no-
tions, in Jieu of first performing that friendly
office for themselves.
It is by no means necessary to cross the Atlan-
:nil
N
:-i' il
itf^
til'.
J i
rf ■
\m
5 .
If 'M ill
■ I
216 DISRUPTION OF SOCIETY.
tic for illustrations of this remark ; but on the
continent of North America the theory pro-
pounded has been more strikingly exemplified
than in other quarters. But to the point. The
disruption of social order (never effectually re-
paired), which took place in the United States,
consequent on the great commercial and mone-
tary crisis of the spring of 1837, threw into
dangerous activity a mass of mind, theretofore
absorbed in pursuits of gain, and, in like man-
ner, threw into dangeruos inactivity a very laro-e
amount of bodily labour.
Both had, therefore, to seek fresh channels of
employment ; the vast prairies of the west took
off a large portion of the better quality of each,
but far too much of the refuse remained behind ;
and hence, when the insurrection broke out in
Canada a few months afterwards, an accumula-
tion of inflammable material was at hand to fan
the flame of the conflagration kindled.
By depriving them of their accustomed em-
ployments, the first occurrence laid the founda-
tion of a sort of erratic vagabondage on the part
of those who were equally devoid of fixed prin-
1 }•
AMERICAN SYMPATHY. 217
ciples and fixed means of subsistence ; while the
second, by arousing their natural cupidity for
the possessions of their foreign neighbours, at
the same time with the latent desire of national
aggrandizement animating the great mass of the
community, held forth temptations which the
general low tone of moral feeling in respect of
national as well as social obligations was in-
sufficient to overcome.
It is an error to suppose, that the liberation
of Canada from British rule was a cherished
object only with the northern and north-wes-
tern border population of the Union. That
population, from the circumstance of contiguity
to the scene of action, and of actual participa-
tion in what took place, stood more prominently
forward than the rest ; but, with the exception
of those classes of the community immediately
interested in the preservation of peaceful rela-
tions with England, the sympathies and good
wishes of the whole American people may, with-
out exaggeration, be said to have been more or
less strongly enlisted in the success of a cause
TOL. I. t
: H
■ 1
218
f:XTENT OF SYMPATHY,
l.iy;j
M :>
.( (:
which they considered as promotin<]f, by indirect
means, an object of tlieir national solicitude.
It is not by what was said or done in the
Atlantic cities of the Union, — in this town or in
that, — with the view to p**" ::-»'€ appearances,
that we must judge of the ^ state of feel-
ing in this matter. The only moans of appre-
ciating it rightly, was and is to traverse the
different States, more especially t lose bounding
the British provinces, converse indiscriminately
with the inhabitants, and compare the notes of
observa.tion so collected. They who have done
this have been startled at the result of their in-
([uiries, — at the extent of the deep-seated animo-
sity rankling in the American breast against
the British name and people, — and have been
convinced that nothing but a salutary fear,
(now daily waning,) of England's power, can
counteract the 'propensity to aggression insepar-
able from such a morbid state of feeling
To the partially influencing cause which
I iiave mentioned, must be superadded the dan-
gerous contemplation of the successful issue of
the nefarious attempt on Texas ; the institution
^
liVCENTIVES.
219
of a false parallel,— since no analogy existed,
between the case of the Canadian insurgents
and that of the old American revolutionists ; a
notion, founded on appearances, that the sever-
ment of the colonial connexion was secretly
desired by the British ministry ;* and, lastly, a
recklessness of consequences, an inordinate self-
vanity, and an indifference to means so that ends
were answered — all peculiar features in the
American character.
To believe that mere passing incident, rather
than premeditated design, has worked out these
results, would be almost a perversion of intel-
lect. Time and opportunity serving, America
commenced the game which she had to play;
and though hitherto foiled in two successive
bouts, is following it up with a degree of perti-
nacity commensurate with the importance of the
object which she hopes to accomplish.
But, as resulting from this line of conduct,
there is a further point to be adverted to. Them-
selves the aggressors, the American citizens are
seeking to reverse the appearance of the fact, so
* fide Appendix.
J
Jl 1
220
ARTFUL POLICY.
I
that a colouring of justincation may be given to
their after measures in petto : while, in antici-
pation of the claims which it is felt that England
has a right to make upon them for the positive
injuries which she has sustained by their re-
peated violations of her territory, they seem-
ingly contemplate the balancing of all accounts
by the application of a sponge to the sum total
of the score, in order at once to escape from a
present dilemma, or, in their own phraseology
" an awkward fix," and to hasten the denouement
of the plot thus far unravelled.
Hence their c nstant harping on the perfectly
justifiable, howsoever impolitic, transaction of
the steam-boat C'aro/iwe,' as also their demand for
indemnity for the destruction of that vessel, and
for the detention, under the circumstances al-
ready narrated, of the schooner G. S. Weeks, at
the port of Brockville. Hence their affecting
to feel alarmed at the amount of the armed
force which, in consequence solely of their ma-
chinations, England is compelled, at a ruinous
expense, to keep on foot within her North Ame-
rican provinces. Hence, in fine, their past and
DIIPUTED TERRITORY.
221
given to
in antici-
England
f positive
their rc-
ey seem-
accounts
ium total
e from a
aseology
ouement
perfectly
iction of
tnand for
ssel, and
mces al-
^eekSi at
affecting
e armed
beir ma-
ruinous
th Ame-
)ast and
present clamour respecting the disputed territory
lying between the borders of New Brunswick
and Maine !
If this territory, on tlie exclusive possession
or on the equitable division of which, appears to
hinge the momentous question of peace or war
between England and the United States, in-
volved, de factOy no other consideration than
that of its abstract worth, it need perhaps recpiire
but a stretch of generosity on the part of the
former to yield it to the latter as a boon— even
as an indulgent parent gives to a petted, pout-
ing child, a worthless bauble wherewith to stay
the clamour of its discontent: albeit a rod
might prove the more fitting remedy.
But considering the question at issue by its
own merits, it is obvious that the claims pre^
ferred by the Republic strike, as it is intended
that they should do, at the vitality of British
interests ; since, by acceding to them, England
must depend for access to Canada, during nearly
one moiety of the year, upon the sufferance of the
Republic ; and thus a persistence by the latter
in claims involving such undue sacrifices, would
.1
I
222
FUTILITY OF CONCESSION.
leave England no alternative but the resistance
of a fratricidal war, or the commission of an act
having a suicidal tendency ! Without caring to
enter, under these circumstances, into a nice
disquisition on intersectional lines, it is sufficient
to advert to the matter of discussion on its broad
principles; and to disclaim generally, — whilst
-advocating from a love of peace and justice, a
fair adjustment of the difficulty,— against any
concessions being made to clamour, that would
bring to within a span of the waters of the St.
Lawrence, the banner of the United States.
But let it not be suppos* ] that by deferring
even thus far, from false notions of expediency,
to the views of the Republic, future peace and
tranquillity would be insured : far from it. The
elements of discord would be as great, if not
greater than at present ; and nothing beyond a
brief respite would have been gained.
The boundary of the United States extending
to the point designated, the free navigation of
the St. Lawrence is speedily demanded. Would
it be conceded ? Possibly it might, on the same
plea of expediency as before. Bi-t otherwise,
iB
ULTERIOR CONSEQUENCES.
223
what is the consequence ? War ; an assault on
the I3ritish provinces with the whole energies of
the Union ; and, considering the impoverished
means of resistance they would then possess,
their complete subjugation in detail.
Is it asked what object the American citizens
have to gain by the expulsion of Great Britain
from the North American continent ? The reply
is — " All, and every thing."
In the first place, they would become perfectly
invulnerable by land. Secondly, they would be
relieved of their anxiety respecting an indefen-
sible line of inland frontier, fifteen hundred miles
in extent, and would practically reduce such ex-
tended line to the mere breadth of the St. Law-
rence just below Quebec, where a boom thrown
across the river, would, in any emergency, insure
them from assault. Thirdly, they would acquire
a port on the Atlantic (now wanting to them), ca-
pable of fostering any number of vessels. Lastly,
they would be able to devote their whole energies
without the slightest fear of interruption from
any foreign foe, to those great objects of their
ambition, the unlimited increase of their navy,
u
I
' ,'ll
|!'!f
224
VIEW TO HE TAKEN.
>*
I .
and the rapid oxtcnsion of thci. inunufuctures of
all kinds; so ns, in the one case, to be in a con-
dition to dispute, at no distant poricHJ, the supre-
macy of En/rland on her own element, and con-
sequently, to threaten her security ; and, in the
other, to enter into a successful rivalry with her
in every forei/ri, market.
It is from this enlar^rod jH)int of view that we
should accustom ourselves to consider the idterior
const>quences of the annexation of the Hritish
North American possessions to the preat Re-
public. Kven assuming that fH)litical disunion
should, as is probable, at some time or another,
cause the motto of that Republic to be reversal,
in what would such circumstance militate against
the conclusions here drawn, if unity of mind and
purpose in regard to objects not of a domestic
nature, be preserved inviolate ?
For the reasons stated, we may rest assured
that, notwithstanding so many rife caust^s of
domestic discord within it, there will W no fall-
ing to pieces of the American Union— that
flattering unction which so many lay prema-
turely to their souls— so long as there remain on
NATIONAL FEKLIXG.
225
ufuctures of
)e in a con-
t the supre-
it, and con-
and, in tlie
ry with her
cw that we
the ulterior
he Hritish
great Ra-
il disunion
ur anotlier,
e reverseil,
ttte against
' mind and
I domestic
St assured
causes of
l)e no fall-
on — that
-y prenia-
'eniain on
the North American continent a great European
fH)wer; whose presence, while creating a fi-eiing
of bitterness diflieult to describe, is |H'rliaps
the very luM)p which binds toprotluT the staves
of the ill-constructed cask that is sei-n inces-
santly whirling in the eddy of conflicting tii-
ments.
The Americans lM)th feel and know that they
cannot afford to plunge into anarchy Of this
kind under existing circuujstances : what they
might <lo were they free from the observance of
their IJritish neighbours is another (juestion.
But, even then, of this we may be certain, that
in all matters tejiding in the least to affect them
in their foreign relations, they will always be ani-
mated as now, hij the utrmigei- ■■, ne feeling
of nationolity., in its most rigorous seme, and
capable of uniting their mean- and energies, in
the promotion of any measure involving objects
either of a connnon aggression or defence.
Considering, therefore, all these things ; con-
sidering that the political aggrandizement of
America can only be effectal at the expense of
England, in the western hemisphere; consider-
l3
m
■ f
■'■ ill
1 I!
I
m i
;|
'*•;
•■til
i
liii
i.i
226 VALUE OF CANADA.
ing further, that the point at issue is purely a
matter of degree ; let us examine into the means
at England's disposal for averting the evil where-
with she is imminently threatened.
Instead, then, of looking on her North Ame-
rican provinces, as mere colonies, and instead of
seeking to retain them as such for an indefinite
period, England should regard them as parts of
a future nation, and, treating them accordingly,
should qualify them to become such. The rule
of generalization she has adopted with regard to
all her colonies indiscriminately, without sufficient
reference to the peculiar local circumstances of
each, has constituted the great evil of her system
of Colonial Government.
What is suited to detached islands is un-
suited to continents, or sections thereof, nor
could any thing prove more fatal, in the case of
Canada, than continuing to act on a contrary
belief
In her past treatment of that country, Eng-
land has practically borne out the remark of
Bentham,* who says, in speaking of colonists,
• Rationale of Reward. B. 4, Chap. 14.
MEANS TO ENDS.
227
i
purely a
the means
/il where-
rth Aine-
instead of
indefinite
i parts of
ordingly,
The rule
regard to
sufficient
tances of
T system
s is un-
eof, nor
' case of
contrary
y, Eng-
nark of
ilonists,
" little is cared for their affection, nothing is
feared from their resentment, and their despair
is contemned." Let it be hoped that her future
policy will be of a different character.
Inasmuch as, for the reasons stated, it will be
henceforth the endeavour of the American citi-
zens (if present war be averted) to retard or
stunt the growth of the Canadas, so long as they
remain British Colonies, so should it be the en-
deavour of England to counteract those machina-
tions, by working steadily towards the end of
raising Canada to a condition admitting alike of
self-government and self-defence; transferring,
at a ripe maturity, a present weak dependence
into a strong independent power, which, from
the triple bond of feeling, interest, and similarity
of institutions, should possess a natural leaning
towards herself, and become an efficient local
counterpoise to the ambition or hostility of the
United States.
Before this consummation can be effected,
much will of course require to be done ; and
while raising up Canada with one hand, England
will require to ward off the United States with
h^-
W:
II liS
t
■ "228
IMMIGRATION.
the other — her power to do so being gradually
strengthened in the progress of the work, by the
iidoption of judicious measures in the outset.
A marked repugnance to amalgamate with the
United States has been manifested, in a way not
to be mistaken, by the bulk of the British popu-
lation of Canada, and all, consequently, that is
now demanded, is to turn such feeling to a lasting
profitable account.
To this end, in lieu of frittering away inva-
luable time in profitless legislation, for a weak,
scanty population, it is of paramount necessity
to increase forthwith the physical strength of the
country, through the medium of immigration,
whereby alone can present precarious tenure be
converted into future security of })ossession, or
any durable superstructure raised.
1 have elsewhere adverted to the obstacles in
the way of such an immigration as is needed ; but
tliey will not be found insuperable, if the reme-
dies suited for them be timely applied.
To conclude. If England effectually sustains
her North-American provinces now, they will
prove a shield to her hereafter ; whereas, if she
;;'
RUSSIAN INTRIGUES.
229
loses them prematurely,— that is, before they are
sufficiently qualified to stand alone, — their future
strength will be turned against her.
The great object of colonization of the ancients
was this ; and while taking care to do their duty
towards the distant communities they had plan-
ted, so long as they needed their assistance and
protection, they insured from them in return,
both gratitude and attachment.
Among the many strongly-marked features of"
the Canadian drama enacted during the memo-
rable period to which these reminiscences refer,
was that of a belief, amounting indeed to a
strong moral conviction, on the part of numerous
intelligent individuals in the British provinces,
in the agency of the Russian Government having
been secretly employed to foment the troubles
which took place ; as also in tlie existence of a
secret good understanding on Canadian matters,
between that government and the government of
the United States.
It would be but little flatterinj; to the usual
sagacity of Russian diplomacy to suppose that
Russia aims at supplanting England in the pon-
'■III
I II
r I
230
RUSSIAN INTIIIGUES.
•\\l
i
ill ;
session of her North- American provinces, because
It IS sufficiently apparent that America would to-
lerate the presence of no otjier European power
in her vicinity were England thence expelled ;
but it would be still less flattering to Russian
diplomacy to ascribe to it a want of perception
that ]lussian, as op,x,sed to British interests,
might be materially' promoted by successful re-
bellion in England's dependencies, or a want of
inclhiation to act in consonance with such view,
when and wheresoever a favourable opportunity
of doing so might present itself, whether by ac-
cident or desiirn.
Throughout the occurrences which, within the
period mentioned, have disturbed the ])eace of
Canada, and indeed tlown to the period of my
quitting it, various suspicious circumstances
transpired, calculated to leave but little moral
doubt-positive proof being, of course, in such
eases almost impossible-of Russia having indi-
rectly lent herself to aid the schemes of^' those
who uere plotting and endeavouring to urest
the Canadian provinces from British sway.
In corroboration of such view, may be ad-
RUSSIAN INTRIGUES.
231
;s, because
would to-
3an power
expelled ;
I Kussian
ierception
interests,
3ssful re-
i want of
icli view,
lortunity
^r by ac-
ithin the
)eace of
I of niy
istances
i moral
in such
ig indi-
f those
► wrest
be ad-
duced the following points of collective evi-
dence, which rest on the recorded testimony of
individuals whose means of acquiring accurate
information were said to be undoubted, and
who had no necessary connexion with each
other.
I know not how far it may be generally known,
neither am I aware if the real facts of the case
have hitherto in any way transpired, but in
the winter of 1838, a Russian diplomatic func-
tionary from the United States visited Lower Ca-
nada, and when in Montreal, had, it seems, his
travelling equipage seized and examined bv the
local authorities. It is true that nothing impli-
cating him was discovered on an examination of
his effects, but he was informed that the step had
been taken on the strength of adequate testi-
mony against him ; wliile, shortly after the event,
It was said to have been declared by a competent
authority, that conclusive proofs of the Rus-
sian's criminality resting on legal evidence and
sworn depositions of facts, had been adduced in
the first instance, and that, judging by all the
circumstances, no moral doubt whatever could
i':
; ill.
i I
4^
232
RUSSIAN IMIUGUES.
kii
in]-}
!'.4
be reasonably entertained of the efforts of Rus-
sian emissaries in America lK>ing directed to in-
cite disaffection in the Canaiias.
On a subsequent occasion, a Canadian poli-
tical refugei% of sonic eminence, residing in
the United States, is stated to have said, in
alluding to the object of M. Papineau's visit
to Paris, that it was not from the French, but
from the Ilmdan Government, that he expected
succour in the execution of his plans for the de-
liverance of Canada from British rule : further
remarking that there had always existed between
the Russian Government and the " Patriots,"' a
very deep sympathy ; while he had good reaM)n
to believe, that upon the occasion of the first
outbreak of the French Canadians, in 1837, a
person connected with the Russian mission in
Paris, caused an intimation to be made to some
one in that capital, of the gcxnl wishes of the Rus-
sian Government for the success of the " patriot"'
cause, and of its desire to afford thereto if pos-
sible substantial assistance. As a conspicuous
adherent of M. Papineau chanced to be in Paris
about the time specified, the belief prevailed that
RUSSIAN INTRIGUKS.
233
pos-
it was to him, or to some member of tlic Ame-
rican embassy there, that the foregoing alleged
information was imparted.
Another Canadian, residing in New York, who,
without himself being an actual partisan, was un-
derstood to be connected by parentage with some
members of the " patriot" party, and was known
to be on terms of the most confidential intimacy
with many of its active emissaries, was also said
to have made disclosures implicating certain
Russian officials in the States, and tending ma-
terially to confirm the allegations hereinbefore
mentioned. He is, moreover, reported to have
stated, as the result of special incpiiry, that there
existed a strict alliance between the rel)el Papi-
neau and the Russian Government ; that from
the latter, lilK'ral assistance was to be furnished
for the support of the "patriot'' cause; that
Papineau was gone to Paris for the express pur-
pose of negociating more conveniently with the
Russian Government ; and that arrangements
even had bt^n made to admit of his iK'injr con-
veyed from thence, in a quiet way, to St. Peters-
burg, to confer personally with the Emperor.
I
234
RUSSIAN INTRIGUES.
>i: \
|:£!i
( i'l]
'$
To the latter part of the story, in particu-
lar, the individual alluded to is said to have
adhered with the greatest pertinacity; and, as
shewing the general degree of weight attaching
to his testimony, it was averred that he had
forewarned the General Government of Canada
of what was about to happen, long prior to each
of the two successive insurrections which took
place, and that subsequent events fully con-
firmed, even to minute details, all that he had
predicted, both as to the means and ends, as
well as to the deliberations and movements of
the leading actors : mention being m?.de, among
other things, of an extensive supply of arms
from New York that was in effect furnished.
According to this man's alleged further state-
ment, it would seem to have been generally
understood amongst those with wliom he asso-
ciated, that, in 1838, money was paid by a
Russian agent for the purchase of arms for the
"patriot" service; and that such money passed
through the handsof a Frenchman in New York,
whose name assimilated precisely with that of a
second Frenchman, engaged in extensive mer-
\ii
RUSSIAN INTRIGUES.
235
V!'
cantile transactions in tlie same city, who was
known to be a prominent member of a secret
club there, termed " Societo de Bienveillance,"
devoted to the interests of the " patriots ;"" was
in strict intimacy with many of the leading rebels
in Lower Canada, and also discovered to be in di-
rect communication with M. Papineau, at Paris.
It was furthermore represented, that through
this channel, proof sheets of Papineau's inflam-
matory writings, published in the French capital,
were constantly transmitted by the French pac-
kets, in order to be reprinted in the States, the
copies being sent from thence to Lower Canada,
for the purpose of circulation among the haUtans.
Another Frenchman, zealous in the patriot
i. 'rest, whose means of subsistence were a mys-
tery, and who lived at the Cafe Fran9ais in New
York, a notorious place of resort for obscure
foreigners, and French Canadian political refu-
gees,claimed, it is averred, as his particular friend,
a Russian diplomatic functionary in the United
States, whom he represented as being warmly en-
listed in the "patriot " cause ; adducing, in sup-
port of this allegation, the still more extraordi-
i
M
236
KUSSIAN INTRIGUES.
;/
nary one, that both Ilindelang and Von Schoultz
had conferred personally with the functionary in
question before they proceetled to the northern
frontier, in the winter cf 1838, to engage in the
expedition against Canada, which, as regarded
themselves, terminated, as may be remembered, in
the forfeiture of their lives upon the scaffold.
According to all accounts, an intimate ac-
quaintance and a constant associate of the same
functionary, was an American of disreputable
character, who was represented as having been
living for many years by swindling practices;
had been publicly accused, without, on his part,
any attempt at refutation, of effecting the ruin
of some respectable individuals by fraudulent
transactions; was a close ally of the notorious
William Lyon Mackenzie, an abettor of his
proceedings, and also one of that worthy's bail
on the occasion of his mock arrest by the Ame-
rican authorities, shortly after his return from
Navy Island.
Nor was the alleged connection of the Rus-
sian official with this very reputable character
confined to mere intercourse, if reliance may be
^m il
RUSSIAN INTillGUES.
237
placed on the asseverations of third parties pro-
fessing to have cognizance of the transaction,
that bills of exchange to some amount drawn by
the' former on St. Petersburg, were given by him
to the latter, for the purpose of being discounted.
How the proceeds were applied did not certainly
transpire, unless they may be associated with the
purchase of arms effected through tlie French-
man already mentioned.
Another grave circumstance of at least sus-
picion against the Russian, was the alleged fact
of his sudden return to New York a few days
previous tc the 4th of July last, for the express
purpose, as it was positively stated, of forwarding
a series of renewed attacks on Canada, which,
according to every concurrent testimony, were to
take place on that anniversary of the declaration
of American independence. That such measures
of aggression were seriously projected, cannot
with propriety be doubted ; while it is probable
that their execution was alone averted, either by
the conspirators being overawed by the state of
watchful preparation in which they found their
adversaries, or by their own arrangements not
!1
I
' N
238
RUSSIAN INTRIGUES.
r'l'
' f I
I
hvintr sufficiently mntuml to mln.it of oxcction
at the time appointed. As regards the Hussian
hinisc'lf, it was said to have hmi ascertained by
twsons who professed to keep an eye upon his
I. vements, that for some time after his arrival in
New York, he was in the habit of retiring t(,
his ajmrtments, after dark, with various niyste-
rious foreigners, inelnding the Frenchman who
»>')astal (.f his intimacy with him, and of there
remaining in snch company m.til the night was
very far advanced, sometimes, indeed, trenching
u])on day-light.
Of the proceedings of this secret conclave, no-
thing appears to have transpired beyond the fact
tlmt writing implements were nnich in recpn'sition
among the party. As social intercourse with
persons of the character and deseri,,tion of those
in question would seem to be at variance with the
station and habits of a person answering to the
des(iription given of the Russian, there can be
but one conclusion left regarding the nature of
the connection he had formed, and that needs no
explanati(m.
He was further represented to have returned
RUSSIAN IXTIIIGIII.S. 239
from IhiHIilo (v Awr he had boon for soini. im-
known ohji'ct), in company witli a Uussian coloiu'l
of en^rinoers and the American worthy enframed
m the hill-disconntinrr transaction. This colonel
wa.; / eputed to have been on active service in Cir-
aissia, and to have proceeded from thence direct
to America by nnkr of the Imperial ^.overn-
'JH'iit. Ik' this as it may, it was at least main-
taineii that he had travelled alonp; the whole
Canadian frontier, as had also two other officers
"f the Russian encrineer corps, one of whom
reached New York, on his return from Lover
Canada, with a companion, who proved to be no
other than an active intelligent French Canadian
rel)el, who had just exchanged a state of mural
incarceration for one of s-lf-exije from his native
land.
Lastly, towards the end of 1839, a Ilussian
naval officer was represented to have made his
appearance on the scene; his arrival being viewed
with great complacency by those whose^'views it
was his supposed object to promote.
On a point involving so much obscurity as
m
I
;;;
Irl
..I
ii
m
I <
ji':
tf
!'f
240 RUSSIAN INTRIGUES.
would naturally attach to the still more serious
question of a secret good understanding between
Russia and the United States, in a matter of this
nature, but little beyond surmise can of course
be hazarded* It is said to be the generally en-
tertained opinion of many eminent American
diplomatists and statesmen that the diplomatic
intercourse of the two countries in question
should be placed on a footing of the closest inti-
macy, because of the presumed congeniality of
their respective interests^ as opposed to those of
England ; while in consonance with such view,
we find that> in effect, it has been the practice for
some years past, in the public messages of the
President to Congress, to advert, whensoever
there was an opportunity, in more flattering
terms to Russia than to any other nation.
One, in particular, of the distinguished indi-
viduals referred to, who is peculiarly qualified,
from past avocations and great political know-
ledge, to deduce correct conclusions from a poli-
tical chain of argument, is stated to have ex-
pressed his belief, when speaking, in the course
RUSSIAN INTRIGUES.
241
of general conversation, on the subject of ('ana-
dian troubles, that it was highly probable the
Russian government would seek, by indirect
means, to promote disaffection and disturbances
in Canada ; not, however, that he was aware of
any specific facts to warrant such opinion, but
because he conceived it to be the line of policy
which a power so "artful, active, and intriguing
as Russia,"" would be likely to pursue.
Such is the collective testimony which, being
more or less known in Canada, created a strong
impression in the minds of many intelligent
persons there, that Russian as well as Ame-
rican agency was at work in fomenting the
aggravating occurrences which have marred the
peace and happiness of that country for so long
a period.
If it be, in reality, as sustainable as the
general consonance of its different components,
springing from sources wholly independent of
each other, would seem naturally to imply, it
presents a curious specimen of the diplomatic
usages of modern days.
VOL.. I. ic
1 , I,
H|l
I''
"' I
SI
(II
1
242
RUSSIAN INTRIGUES.
Should this probable picture of the past, por-
tray alone the possible shadow of the future, my
end in attempting the delineation will have been
effectually attained ; for, although, in a retro-
spective sense, but little advantage can accrue
from a knowledge of what is stated, still, in a
prospective one, in such a matter, " fore-warned,
fore-armed," is a good old maxim deserving of
re<rard.
With reference to the general substance of
wliat precedes, on a dispassionate review of all
the circumstances, and arguing by the somewhat
analogous case of Russia's alleged intrigues in
Kritish India, a strong degree of plausibility, to
say the least of it, must be considered as attach-
ing to the actual prevalence of similar alleged
intrigues in British America.
In former times (one cannot say the [^ood old
times), nations seeking to gratify their animositv
or ambition at one another's expense, were wont to
have at once recourse to the wor J-and-a-blow, or
rather the blow-and-a-word system (the frequent
inversion of the order of precedence, rendering
CASE OF CANADA.
243
the exception in effect the rule) ; but -the mode
of procedure is now altered, and in lieu of im-
mediate fisty-cuffs, the mutual weapons of attack
and defence resorted to by hostile governments,
are found to consist in fomenting discord and
rebellion, each among the people subject to the
other's dominion.
How far, after all, the ultima ratio between
them may be by such means averted, is a ques-
tion remaining to be solved, and at any rate
irrelevant to the present matter.
The case of Canada being a peculiar one,
elicits particular inquiry into every contingent
means whereby the welfare of that country may
be dangerously afPected, in order, that bein.«^
known, they may serve at least to dispel in.Uil-
gence in a sense of false security^ ov( a if they
cannot be effectually guarded against ; and
therefore it is that T have considered it expe-
dient to vluce exclusively, in juxta-position in
the same chapter, tV'o two special subjects seem-
ing to have affinity with each other, that have
led to these concluding remarks.
I may have over-rated the prospective danger,
M
o
244
PROBLEM UNSOLVED.
f
! : I
to the seeming advent of which I have wished
to aid in awakening public attention, and I mav
also possibly be labouring, in respect of it, under
entirely erroneous views; but I shall be well
content to be convicted as a false prophet by the
issue of events ; nor, judging by present indica-
tions, can such issue be very far remote.
in
246
CHAPTER VI.
The Englishman's Political Reverie from the summit of
Cape Diamond.— Original Errors committed by British
Statesmen in regard to Canada.— Restitution of Cana-
dian Civil Law — Impolitic Division of the Province
of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada. — Perversion
of Elective System in the latter.- Character of Feudal
Tenure.— Legislative Union of the Provinces.— Con-
clusions relative thereto.
It is a pleasant thing for an Englishman, who
may be even moderately imbued with a sense
of his country's past and present greatness, and
with patriotic feelings, to take his stand, on a fine
summer's evening, upon the summit of Cape
Diamond, at Quebec, and there, communing with
himself, to review in memory the leading inci-
dents connected with the history of the vast con-
tinent whose gigantic arms encircle him on every
side.
Towards which point soever of the horizon the
vision of his thoughts may be directed, it is met
illl:
246
ENGLISHMAN'S REVERIE.
alike by monuments commemorative of British
valour, enterprise, and skill.
Does he face the North, he views the records
of his countrymen's scientific labours, implanted
amidst the accumulated snow and ice of ao-es.
Does he turn to the south, he beholds a nation
mighty in its infancy, — the offspring of his own,
and reared by its hands, whether for future good
or evil, — developing its energies, displaying its
resources, and revelling in its freedom, attained
through the resistless vigour imparted by an
innate cons', iousness of maturity. Does he revert
towards the east or towards the west, he discerns
the embryo of a second nation engendered of the
same parent stock as the first, and requiring only
fostering care, and timely prudent cultivation,
to become, at no distant period, its contemporary
as well as counterpoise, in wealth, strength, and
prosperity.
Eastward, also, he recognizes the wide waste
of waters, forming his country's particular do-
main, teeming with her commerce, and exhibit-
ing indisputable evidences of the fertile genius
of her sons, in improving the modern means of
navigation.
I
ENGLISHMAN'S REVERIE.
247
At the base of the rock he paces, he sees
stretched out before him the memorable plains,
whereon the power, in the western hemisphere,
of a formidable rival European nation was
finally extinguished by his country's prowess.
He looks down upon that scene of former strife
with melancholy interest, rejoicing at the resplen-
dent victory there won, as n iich, because it ter-
minated the cruel and disastrous wars which had
theretofore been mutually waged by eitlier party,
as that it added another brillr it leaf to his coun-
try's laurel wreath.
Amid the busy sounds proceeding from below,
he misses the harrowing war-cry of tlu> fierce
Algonquin,* or of the equally fierce Iroquois,-)-
formerly arrayed in deadly strife against each
other by the corrupting influence of European
gold.
That cry, smiting with greater terror those
who heard it, than even the uplifted tomahawk
itself, is for ever hushed, it may be hoped,
* This tribe is almost extinct.
t Now known as the Six Nations" Indians: they are
very diminished in number.
I
248
ENfiUSH.MAN'S RKVKRIE.
within the sphero uhore formerly it resounded,
and is tliere succeedetl by the notes of busy in-
(histry.
Pursuing; the eontrasts he is thus fonnin^. be-
tween the present and the past, the mental soli-
loquist goes back to the time when the sur-
rounding vast inland waters, now ploughed by
busy steam-boats, were navigated alone by the
Indian canoe or the cumbersome hatmu, and
associates the widely-extended local connnerce of
the present day with the insignificant though
profitable traftic carried on by the Canadian
voyageur, or thinks of the comparatively recent
days when naked savages brought down their
peltries to barter in JVIojitreal.
But after all, there is hero, as in most other
works of human undertaking, a dark side to the
picture; and this is speedily exhibited to the
meditative beholder.
In the midst of the pleasurable emotions ex-
cited in him by the contemplation of his country's
abstract grandeur, as reflected in the remote re-
gion of her renown where now he finds himself,
and by the evidences carrying conviction to hil
m
INGLISIIMAN'S REVEUIK.
249
mind, that while civilization has efftrtfJuUy
supplanted there the desolation of savage life,
British enlightenment has no less released from
hereditary thraldom a race of foreign l>ondsmen
(how ungratefully soever these may have re-
ceived the boon), he is saddened by the thought
that much of what was requisite at the hands of
prudence to render durable the social structure,
wliich valour founded and enterprize partially
upraised, had been neglected ; and though the
legitimate means, still admitting of adoption ft)r
the t.irdy reparation of original error, readily
suggest themselves to his imagination, an in-
voluntary doubt shoots across his mind, as to
whether even the immediate application of those
means can render them efficacious to the full
extent needed.
In the foreground of the reversed picture now
bifore him, he at once detects the primary cause
of the whole train of local evils, whose practical
effects have been exhibited within the period t)f
his own recollection. The living proof of a two-
fold error of commission and omission, are there
M 3
ail
250
ENGLISHMAN'^ RKVF.UIF..
})ulpal)ly ilopicted : the first consisting in tlie
non-assiniilafion o^ a torpid race of men, there-
tofore the twcluHivn occupants of a land in-
adequately peopled, with the state of things
peculiar to a new era in their existence ; the
second, in the total neglect of their mental cul-
ture, as a preparatory means of imbuing them
with notions which should prove alike condu-
cive to their own futu> «' happiness^ and to the
common safety of the community whereof they
now formed a part.
Looking to a later period, he is made sensible
that, notwithstanding unity of interests on the
continent he surveys, hp<l ceased, by the secession
of <me great body of its population from the
common system, no pains were taken to preserve,
prospectively, the still adhering fragments from
the encroachments or aggressions of the more
compact detached mass; or, in other words, that
no adequate means were devised, calculated to im-
part to the first that degree of physical and moral
strength which could alone enable them to keep
a relatively equal pace with the progress of the
KNGLISHMAN'S REVERIE.
251
last ; or to qualify themselves for an after state
of independence similar to that which, n the
one case, had already been achieved.
Attendant upon this, as also upon the lute-
tine elements of danger first adverted to. the
contingency of conflicting constitutional print i
pies needlessly brought into collision, through
the obstacles impeding steady progressive im-
migration, is also apparent on tlie darl<ened
canvas, and serve^ more strongly to reflect its
otlver gloomy objects.
It is time however, lo quit Cape Diamond.
A cloud long hovering there, portinding tl
discharge of wrath, which, unless prepared for,
shall rive the rock to its foundation, warns the
loiterer to depart; and, descending from his
post, he hurries to 'he sohtude t T his chamber,
in order to pursue on 'laper the train of thought
awakened by his past reverie.
On an impartial retrospect of the past, it will
be found that the first great political error com-
mitted in Canada by British statesmen, subse-
quently to that juntry becoming a dependence
of the British crown, v is the restitution of thf
iiHi
m
im,
•25'2 OLD FRKNCII LAW.
('anmlian civil law, toiindnl on tin- (Wulal aiiti-
aminuTcial " Coufi},ur de Park;' jiIut tho pro-
vincial population had luvn for some ^cars living
siihinissivclv under I'^n^rlish laws, and accustom-
ed to J-:nglisli rules of civil procedure.
This measure, efl'ected by the (^nel)oc Act,
passed hastily in 1774, would seem to have been
intended as a kind of political experiment, forin-
iiig [)art of a series of harsji decrees, directed
airainst the old revolted colonies, ami if at all
defensible, can alone be held so for the time it
served (if indeed, it did so) the temporary pur-
pose' for which it was Hppan<ntly designed.
Its after iinitility to this special end should,
obviously, have ensured its repeal at the earliest
opportunity; the more especially as the whole
body of Ihitish settlers in the province, already
ileling it to be ilinmetrically at variance with
their interests, were strenuously opposed to its
continued operation, and earnestly petitioned the
BritTsh Parliament, on various occasions, to be
relif/ed from the disabilities which it virtually
imposed upon them. One of these petitions,
bearing date tlie 2kh of November 1784, is
ii
ANOMAI.IIS.
263
said to bo notubU' n:v tlif luciil oxpoHition it con-
tained. 'I'lu' nrgfnt rcprosiiuiill H\y A' the Hritisli
inhabitants wore, liowcvcr viiMby 'isrt'^ardod ;
and in 1791, the l^ntisb Pa-lianif^H consinnniatoil
its fonnor folly and injustice by j».'u.sing the Con-
stitutional Act of 1791, wJK'reby, as every one
knows, the province of Quebec was divided into
the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada ; the
obnoxious ('anadian civil law bein<^ still K-ft to
work its niiscbief in tiie latter. Now, no two
•rreatcr jinonialies could, perhaps, huM? beiii
brou<;ht into juxta-position than the law in
»]uesti()n, and the rej)resentative form of govern-
ment that was thus ostentatiously accorded to
the French Canadians ; who, imbued with the
most inveterate prejudices, besottedly ignorant
and blindly passive, were in no respect pre-cpia-
lified to wield, with advantage either to them-
selves or others, the instrument of power placed
so inopportunely in their hands.
It was some time before the majority of them
could be made to c()m})rehend the naticre of the
gift ; many, indeed, itupiiring, in their sim-
plicity, as I have been assured on the most ere-
i t
li !
«!
! '
•■ 'f
' ' set a-going?
etrated was very greatly
254 REPRESENTATIVE SYSTEM.
(iible testimony, if it were not a niacliine, and,
if so, how it w
The mischi(
augmented by ,i injudicious division of the
Lower province into counties, without sufficient
regard to territorial extent, or the formation of
new settlements : for, the representation granted
was regulated in accordance with the wants of a
stationary, instead of a progressive, population,
and confined to the seigneuries, or lands held
under the feudal tenure.
Until within the last fourteen or h'fteen years,
when a slight modification of the original system
was effected, the holders of freehold tenures, and
consequently the English population of the ni<j-
dern townships, Avere precluded from returning a
single member; while, after all, even by the
tardy change in question, territorial extent,
diversity of tenure, and connnercial as well as
general interests, remained virtually as much
unrepresented for any practical results, as they
had been absolutely so in the first instance.
The almost universal suffrage established by
the Constitutional Act, combined with the ab-
f I
ITS PERVERSION.
255
sence of any restrictive qualification, either as to
property or education, in the candidates for
election to the Assembly, destroyed every expec-
tation of seeing intelligent and liberal-minded
representatives returned by constituencies almost
entirely consisting of a class of persons resem-
bling the peasantry of France a century ago.
For some time, inu ^ed, after this act of pseudo-
designation came into operation, a few members
friendly to commercial and British interests,
were returned, mainly by the influence of
wealth and commercial favours being brought
to bear upon portions of a population for the
most part poor, by a few sanguine enter-
prizing British capitalists. But, in proportion
as it became apparent to French Canadian dema-
gogues, that the constitution their countrymen
had received admitted of perversion fi'om its
legitimate, to the promotion of their own exclu-
sive objects, a corresponding handle was shaped,
and fitted by them to the instrument ; the pliant
materials thereof being the slumbering pre-
judices and national antipathies of an anti-
I!
1 * ■ I
ll:'
I
256
Britis
UxNEQUAL STllUGGLES.
1 1!
ritish people, whose minds, at first gradually
awakened by insidious arts to the contemplation
of an eventual ascendancy of numbers, were
afterwards kept steadily directed to that point
by appeals of an inflammatory nature, varying
in force just as proximate or contingent causes
of popular excitement chanced to preponderate.
Hence, though the numbers and the wealth of
the British population had an innate tendency
to increase, in a greater proportional ratio tfian
those of their French Canadian brethren, the
power and pretensions of the latter gradually
augmented beyond all safe or justifiable limits.
But the very tendency in question on the one
part, also stimulated on the other the desire to
check it ; and as ample means o^ doing so had
unfortunately been furnished, there needed but
a determination to employ them.
Notwithstanding the most vigorous efforts,
renewed at intervals, to acquire an equal foot-
ing, tlie British commercial minority gradually
dwindled into insignificancy ; so much so, that
one session of the provincial legislature exhibited
111^7.:
■M
FRENCH DOMINION. 257
the extraordinary spectacle of the local executive
being unable to carry a single measure necessary
for its beneficial working or existence.
But endless embarrassment to the executive
was not the only evil resulting from the original
error in the composition of the government.
The House of Assembly, having practically
become the organ of the most ignorant and pre-
judiced part of the foreign population, incurred
as a body the positive contempt and hatred of
the entire British population, who naturally re-
coiled from submitting to the yoke of a French
antiquated oligarchy, and felt an insuperable re-
pugnance to appeal, in almost any case, to a
Ixxly so incompetent and prejudging.
Tbf French dominant faction resolved itself,
in effect, by its neutralizing power, into the sole
government of the country. Nationality was
the test whereby alone the merit of every sug-
gested measure of improvement, whether of a
special or general nature, was measured, and
lience the utmost opposition or the utmost fa-
vouritism in reference to such measure prevailed.
As showing how little the dominant anti -British
f'
Ml
II
258
BURDENS ON COMMERCE.
i!'
I
1 '
1
ll
w%
1 "■
1
: 1,
_
'1
II
i I
}
party was animated by a desire to co-operate in
any modification of the old Canadian laws, so
as to alleviate the burdens it imposed on com-
mercial interests, it need only be mentioned, that,
on one occasion, a bold attempt was made by the
House of Assembly to extend the application of
the feudal tenure (hereafter to be analyzed) to a
considerable portion of the ungranted lands of
the crown, establishing tlore as elsewhere, accord-
ing to the Quebec Act < ( 1774, already adverted
to, the Canadian civil laws, with all their train
of humiliating consequences.
During a long series of years, commercial men
were engaged in unavailing efforts to obtain from
this anti-commercial branch of the legislature,
measures essentially requisite for improving the
domestic economy of the province, so as to render
it an eligible field for British commercial enter-
prise.
In short, all propositions for laws tending to
effect assimilation, to encourage immigration,
to facilitate and render secure transfers of pro-
perty, to bestow a just participation in common
rights of every kind, were almost uniformly re-
FEUDAL SYSTEM.
259
jected; not, indeed, from a want of perception
of the general advantage of such measures, but
because their adoption would augment English
settlements, and thereby lessen the local influence
of tiivjse who had been allowed to monopolize all
representative power.
It is truly painful to reflect how a small popu-
lation which, at the period of the conquest,
would have passively received from the con-
queror's hand the shape most conducive to sub-
serve British interests, was permitted, through
a false system of indulgence and a meagre
policy, to grow into hideous deformity, and to
become so self-willed and untractable, through
distorted views, arising from the want of proper
education, as to consider in the light of posi-
tively oppressive measures, those progressive
changes of social improvement which the people
of other countries regard and are wont to solicit
as boons of the highest value.
Foremost among the burdens peculiar to the
feudal system, that have been and continue to
be experienced as the most oppressive, not only
to commerce, but also to every sort of industry
ik
.!
260
MUTATION FINES.
ilr
Pit
IS,
and improvement, is the seigneurial claim of
hdsetventes, or mutation fines; being an im-
position of eight per centum, or nearly one-
twelfth pa.-t, upon the purchase-money or ex-
negotiable value of all lands and houses, rigidly
enforced upon every transfer, hov/soever fre-
quent, except that of inheritance or testamentary
bequest. Until the seigneuries themselves shall
be held in free and common soccage, in lieu, as
now, of mortmain, this evil system must be
expected to exist. Ne::t in degree is the droit
des retraits, or right of pre-emption, enjoyed by
the seigneur over all such property as his tenant,
or censiiaire, may dispose of, with the above
exceptions.
The Canadian law allows to the seigneur forty
days after the presentation of the deed of transfer,
to decide as to accepting the mutation fine, and
granting possession of the property to the pro-
posed transferrer or resuming it 3.t the price
stipulated between the contracting parties !
Another invidious right of the Canadian seig-
neur minor only in the comparison, is that of
monopolizing all the mill seats within the limits of
I.
SEIGNEURIAL RIGHTS.
261
his seigneurie, and of obliging all his tenants to
have their corn- ground at his mills, which, in
addition to being often out of repair, are fre-
quently inconveniently situated ; and he exacts
for the service, a toll or moulture of one-four-
teenth part; an allowance that, in a state of
free competition, would encourage the establish-
ment of excellent mills, in central situations,
with good roads made at the miller's expense.
It is notorious that this seigneurial right has
been exercised in the province, to the serious
detriment of the export trade in flour, which
requires an improved manufacture.
The feudal right of hds et ventes, weighing
heavily as it does upon general industry through-
out the province, is a formidable bar, not only
to local improvement, but to that ready circu-
lation of property which the interest of com-
merce imperatively requires; and, in the present
state of Canadian law, the seigneur, even if will-
ing, cannot, by any act of his, render binding on
his heirs and successors the commutation of any
feudal privilege, for what consideration soever.
Lands held under the seigneurial tenure, as well
ill
262
MORTGAGES.
mn
as buildings erected on them, are rendered, by
the operation of this Jaw, so onerous and pre-
carious, that a merchant, when obliged, as is
frequently the ease, to purchase them from per-
sons indebted to him, is quickly driven to sell
them again at a great sacrifice ; and consequently
two payments of mutation fine on the same pro-
perty may take place within a few weeks or
rnontiis. Sometimes, indeed, these mutation fines
are purposely left to accumulate; and as they
constitute a privileged mortgage above all other
mortgages, they may sweep away the whole sum
realized at the latest sale of the property.
In addition to the exclusive privileges alrear>y
mentioned as preying on the very vitals of the
province, allusion must be made to the burthens
incident to mortgage, which, in tlie present state
of Canadian law, no human foresight can enable
a contracting party always to evade. In Lower
Canada, fixed property, or real estate, can k^
secretly mortgaged for its full estimated value,
without a surrender of the title deeds, to different
individuals, as often as the necessities or the
temerity of the proprietor may prompt him to
P
.1>^ii i=
NOTARIES,
263
such courses; which, however fraudulent they
be, the laws now in force do not recognize as
criminal. These mortgages affect not only pre-
sent, but also prospective property. The owner
has only to go from one to another paire Jidele
of French- Canadian notaries,* (who claim ex-
emption from answering inquisitorial questions
as to the state of the case, on the plea of their
official oath,) in oi Jer to mortgage his estate ad
hifinitum; such mortgages, when brought to
light, being entitled to precedence as securities
over all other claims, according to seniority of
date, and preserving a hold upon the property
for the space of thirty years.
The non-existence of an office of registration
or, in its absence, of any law or statute com-
pelling the notarial corps to deposit, for public
information, with the provincial authorities,
copies of their acts or instruments burthening
fixed property or real estate, induces, in all tran-
sactions for the transfer of such possessions, a
• According to the Quebec Almanac, the number of
notaries in the province, in 1837, was .'38(1 ; of whom 340'
or about nine-tenths, bore a French designation.
! I
I ,
^1?
I
26*1 IMPEDDIKNTS TO COMMERCE.
feeling of suspicion and distrust, from which, in
order to relieve the mind of u purchaser, the
most honourable proprietor can alone exempt
himself by the no less humiliating than expen-
sive means of a friendly suit, terminating in
the sale of the property by the district sheriff,
and this is after all a very precarious socurity.
Apart from their obstinate adherence to the
antiquated laws tolerating these abuses, a review
of the journals of the provincial assembly will
furnish ample proof of the anti-commercial, un-
improving spirit displayed from first to last by
the French Canadian members of that body.
The inadequate progress made by agriculture,
the imperfect cultivation of the soil, and the
tardy improvement of the channels of internal
communication, all resulting from the inauspici-
ous train of circumstances hereinbefore described,
have hitherto prevented the merchants of Lower
Canada from furnishing to the British West-
India islands, that abundant supply of pro-
visions which, with the aid of the supply derived
from Upper Canada and Nova Scotia, would
have rendered them less dependent on the
^Hnk
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which, in
laser, the
B exempt
an ex pen -
lating in
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curity.
;e to the
1 a review
ibly will
cial, un-
> last by
x)dy.
iculture,
and the
internal
nauspici-
escribed,
>f Lower
h West-
of pro-
derived
, would
on the
COLLATERAT, EVIDENCE. 265
United S' s' mnrkets, at the same time that
it wo. ve onriched Ihnhh sn],iects in lieu of
Amerit si citizens.
As cu.,/irniatory of many ( r- f j,g^g
ex, ressrd in this, and in n preNu^us chapter, rc-
si)ecting the state of T.owct Canada, I subjoin a
few extracts, from a ,es of articles from the pen
of an able writer on the affairs of that country,
which were published in one of the Montreal
newspapers five or six years ago. Their general
substance will also be found to espond with
tiiany of the opinions recorded by the Earl of
Durham, in his report.
" That the i)opulation," says the writer, " ig
generally uneducated, is obvious from the noto-
rious facts, that trustees of schools are specially
permitted by statute to affix their crosses* to their
scholastic reports, and that within the last two
years, in each of two grand juries of the Court
of King's Bench for the district of Montreal,
selected, under a provincial law, from amono- the
wealthiest inhabitants of the rural parishes, ^here
VOL. I.
* As a substitute for signatures.
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266
COLLATERAL EVIDENCE.
,
was found only one person competent to write his
name.
" For fifty years after the cession of the pro-
vince, the two races, if they did not harmonize in
social intercourse, were in some degree blended
on political occasions, and but for the haughty
domination of an official faction which indiscri-
minately oppressed Britons and Canadians, and
but for the selfish ambition of a few agitators,
who after humbling the common enemy, trans-
ferred their hatred from the British executive to
the British name, they might ere now have for-
gotten or neglected national distinctions.
" About twenty-five years ago,"' he continues,
" commenced a struggle between a knot of here-
ditary placemen and independent individuals,
of either origin — a struggle not for power, but
for liberty; a struggle which ended, as the bat-
tles of freedom generally do end, in the exposure
of official corruption, and in the prostration of
usurped power.
" Flushed with success, and unfettered by
honesty or policy, the Canadian agitators cruelly
COLLATERAL EVIDENCE. 267
deceived their uneducated constituents into a be-
lief, that the British inhabitants of the province
and Britons generally, were the bitter, persevering
enemies of Canadians ; and thus divided the pro-
vincial population into two distinct and irrecon-
cilable masses, the French majority and the
British minority.
*' To perpetuate this numerical supremacy,
the patriots have systematically attempted to de-
ter Britons from settling in Lower Canada.
" They have taxed British immigrants, and
British immigrants only, in defiance of consti-
tutional principles, in defiance of national grati-
tude, in defiance of common sense. They havn
met with silent conteinpt the Governor's repeated
and urgent request, that they would establish
an efficient quarantine for the benefit at once of
the immigrant and of the province.
" They have strained every nerve to ruin the
banks of the colony, and thus to strike with fatal
aim the very vitals of commerce. 1 hey cherish
Avith obstinate tenacity the most petty vexations
of the feudal tenure, not because such vexations
are profitable to any one, but because they pos-
N 2
n
i
I :'l
268
COLLATERAL EVIDENCE.
sess the recommendation of being hateful to
Britons."
The writer illustrates such vexations by ad-
ducing the seigneurial right of fishery and
chace, and of calling for the title-deeds of
every vassal.
He then goes on to say : " The patriots may,
on more intelligible grounds, defend the muta-
tion fine {lods et venfes), and the seigneur's ex-
clusive privilege of grinding the grain of the
seigneurie. It is not to be supposed that the
seigneurs will voluntarily relinquish lucrative
claims without being adequately remunerated by
law; but in the course of forty-two years of
industrious legislation, one might reasonably
have expected some attempt to remove or ameli-
orate so absurd, so galling, so impolitic burdens.
The evils that spring directly from the mutation
fine are three-fold. It prevents the free transfer
of property ; it gives the seigneur an interest in
driving an embarrassed vassal to a sale; and
being levied on all improvements, it is virtually
a tax on industry, and seriously diminishes the
demand for manual labour and mechanical
skUl.''
COLLATERAL EVIDENCE.
269
" In fine,'' he adds, " it checks the growth of
cities, thus crippLng at once commerce and aori-
culiure; it carries tlie immigrant, whether
labourer or mechanic, to a more open market,
and by damping the enterprise of capitalists,
depresses, below the just level, the vaiue of real
property. From feudal prejudices, our antago-
nists also oppose the registration of real pro-
perty, and thus strive to perpetuate a liost of
practical grievances of an intolerable character, —
secret and general mortgages ; forced sales, "om
the difficulty of borrowing money ; interminable
litigation ; and the expense, if not the impos-
sibility, of procuring an u lexcentionable title.
This last remark tends to explain the more intel-
ligible grounds of attachment to the feudal law.
The seigneur's motives are obvious and natural ;
and the legal circumstances alluded to, suffi-
ciently account for the feudal predilections of
lawyers and notaries of French extraction, who,
as they form a majority of the educated laymen,
have unbounded influence, as well in the country
as in the Assembly.
" Supposing," he argues, " a manufactory or
k , iiii
i I.'
270 COLLATERAL EVIDENCE.
building worth £12,00() to be erected upon a
lot not worth £100, if the proprietor has occa-
sion to sell, and could even find a purchaser
willing to give in all the sum paid by the pro-
prietor for tlie erection of the edifice, the pro-
prietor is nevertheless liable to lose £1,000 as a
pu7iishment for having had the industry, the
means, and the enterprize to build, because the
claim of the seigneur is not merely the twelfth
of the original value of the ground, but the
twelfth of the amount of the money and labour
of others laid out upon the building also.
" This, under the feudal system, becomes a
privileged debt to the seigneurs, who have not
expended a farthing. But this is not all. The
next, and the next vendor, ad infinitum, must
each in turn lose to the seigneurs a twelfth of
the purchase-money; so that if, by inevitable
misfortunes, the buildings should change hands
a certain number of times, the seigneurs will
benefit by these evils to the amount of the
£12,000, or full cost of the edifice, beins one
hundred and twenty times the value of the lot.
" But the seigneur's privilege does not even
COLLATERAL EVIDENCE.
271
end here; for when he has obtained for once
the £12,000 of the money of others, as in the
case supposed, his claims proceed again in the
same manner as before."
The following remarks, by tlie same writer, on
the subject of insecurity of title, and also on the
system of general mortgages, as aggravating the
evils of secret obligations, will more fully illus-
trate those evils than my own imperfect attempts
to do so.
He observes: "If a man take to himself a
wife, with or without a special contract, he
grants a mortgage to the amount of the lady''s
dower, over all the real property which he either
does then, or may thereafter possess." "JJut
this," he continues, " is a comparatively feeble
illustration, for a man can hardly take to him-
self a wife without a tolerably general notoriety
of the fact. The descendants of a dec(!ased wife
inherit all her claims, and may possibly exist
abroad, in the third or fourth generation, with-
out the knowledge or suspicion of a single inha-
bitant of the province. Such claim of dower is
neither dissipated nor weakened by time ; it i;s,
lii
272
COLLATERAL EVIDENCK.
in truth, practically strengthened hy the lapse
of years, for every year necessarily weakens the
evidence hy whicli the claim n)ight he defeated.
" Mortgages are created in various other ways
than hy marriage. When a rustic proj)rietor
owes money to his grocer, or his haker, or his
butcher, or haberdasher, he is generally com-
pelled to pay him by a notarial obligation on all
his real property, actual or contingent ; and he
sometimes grants a similar mortgage in favour of
some pettifogging French lawyer, in considera-
tion of the contingent costs of a newly begun
law-suit. Every judgment of court also operates
as c! mortgage. But the most cruelly opj)ressive
of all mortgages is the seigneur^s lods et ventes,
not considered merely as a fine, but with regard
to the accumulations of such fine, advisedly per-
mitted I y the seigneur.
« Not one mortgage in a hundred takes its
rise from the lending of money ; so that the
obstacles which the insecurity of titles throws
in the way of borrowing, hardiy tend, in any
degree, to diminish the number of mortffacres."
Again : « Where mortgages spring from such
ti-ww«;ji;3,-»-r:^v_
COLLATERAL EVIDENCE.
273
a variety of circumstances, theik' secrecy, oven if
they were special, would l)c sunicicntly ijorni-
cious ; but their generality engenders evils
absolutely intolerable and almost incredible.
I'hrough such generality of mortgages, a man
cannot hold real property for an hour, without
vitiating its title to the amount of all his pre-
viously granted notarial obligations. In this
way, a man may pollute* the title even of real
property that virtually never belonged to him.
He may have bought a farm or a house on
credit, may have been obliged from want of
funds to restore it to the seller, and may thus
have burdened it with a hundred previously
contracted debts of indefinite amount."
In li(,'u of adopting the natural and only
effectual measure of relief, — namely, the intro-
duction of public registers,— the Assembly m-xdi-
a show of remedying these grievances, bypassing
a practically unbenoHcial act for the ratification
of titles.
Of it, the writer already quoted, thus speaks :
" That act," he says, " is ruinously expcn-
* J. e. by mere temporary possession.
n3
274 COLLATEIIAL EVIDENCE.
sive, retrospectively imperfect, and prospectively
worthless.
" It is ruinously expensive, for the cost even
of the unsatisfactory ratification is about ten
pounds currency, being thirty or forty times as
much as the ordinary cost of registration, and
equal in amount on small properties to a second
mutation fine for the benefit of the lawyers and
the officers of Court.
" It is retrospectively imperfect, since it does
not relieve the property from a living wife's or
a minor's claim for dower.
" It is prospectively worthless, for the pro-
perty as soon as it passes into the hands of the
purchaser, under a comparatively pure title, is
potentially polluted by that purchaser's previous
notarial obligations.
" So slovenly and worthless an Act places the
self-styled reformers morally in a worse position
than that in which they previously stood. It
confesses the evil ; but so far from removing
that evil, it only tempts purchasers to squander
fees in the Court of King's Bench-fees, which,
like the mutation-fine ^tself, must be renewed on
every successive sale."
COLLATERAL EVIDENCE. 275
Some further idea of the sentiments animating
the French Canadian leaders, and of their en-
deavours to inflame the passions of the masses
whose interests they professed to advocate, may
be gathered from the following passages, selected
from a French pamphlet, published in Montreal,
under their auspices, a few years since, its cir-
culation being specially designed for the rural
population.
" A host of Uritons hastened to the shores of
the new British colony to avail themselves of its
advantages, in order to improve their own con-
dition.
" Owing to the facilities afforded by the ad-
ministration, for the establishment of JJritons
within our colony, the latter came in shoals to
our shores to push their fortunes at our expense.
" Many of them established themselves in our
cities, where they were encouraged by their
fellow-countrymen, and have succeeded in making
themselves masters of all the trade both foreiiin
and domestic.
" They have introduced a system of paper
money, based solely upon their own credit, and
276
CAUSES AND EPFKCTS.
havo i)orsuadc(l our hahitatis to commit the folly
of rec^ivinnr jt as ready money, although it is
not hard cash, current among all nations, hut,
on the contrary, is of no value, and would not
puss current beyond the limits of the province."
The whole of these extracts are sufh'cieiitly
indicative of intense national animosity, but the
last, in particular, exhibits a strange admi.ture
of ignorance, cunning, and anti-connnercial views.
Such, generally, was the calamitous state of
things which led, owing to the natural resistance
it provoked, to the passing of the celebrated
ninety-two resolutions of the French Canadian
Hou^c of Assembly, and brought about the sulv
sequent suspension of the constitution, in part
originating all the mischief, as also two succes-
sive insurrections— to be succeeded, i)erad ven-
ture, should further folly afford the opportunity,
by a third !
Labouring under the manifold grievances
that have here been exhibited, the IJritish po-
pulation of Lower Canada regarded with in-
tense anxiety the prospect of partial emancipa-
tion from them, held out to their hopes rather
CANADA COMMHTi;i;. 277
thpo to their expectation, in 1822, by the intro-
duction of a Bill into the British rarlianicnt for
effecting a Legislative Union of the Canailiaii
Provinces ; and were ther almost as unanimous
in their wish to see that object accomplished, as
they liuve shewn themselves to be on a late occa-
sion.
But party influence, distorted or interested
views, and short-sighted poiic), conspu.d to de-
fraud them of the coveted measure of relief;
while, a few years afterwards, they were plunged
into despair by the report (published in 1828)
of the Canada Committee of the House of Com-
mons, the suggestions contained in which I'or
effecting a few nominal Intiniovementsof a super-
ficial nature, were heavily counterbalanced by
the spirit of marked partiality evinced by the
Committee towards the French Canadians, as
manifested by their expressed desire to see pre-
served, and even extended, the means of per-
petuating the distinctive French nationality which
had so long been under the fostering care of the
British Government.
In the Appendix will be found some interest-
I ^
M
liiH
278
LEGISLATIVE UNION.
ing documents illustrative of the views and posi-
tion of the British inhabitants of Lom^... Canada
at a period ulterior to that just mentioned, and
also further explanatory of much that has been
stated in relation to the peculiarity of their pre-
vious condition.
The efficacy of the legislative union of the
Canadas, as an ingredient for restoring the supre-
macy of ciritish principles and institutions, on
that so .n of the North American Continent,
must obviously depend entirely upon the contin-
gency of it being, or not being associated with
other measures of a fundamental nature.
On the first hypothesis, permanent benefits may
be anticipated from its operation ; but on the
last, it can be productive of but little advantage
beyond the present relief of the Upper Province
from its pecuniary burdens, and may, nay, must,
prove a delusion.
The auxiliaries whose simultaneoi-s agencies
it requires are, primarily, immigration ; secondly^
preponderance of representation for the Upper,'
so long as the French Canadian population of the
Lower Province remain, as now, numerically
B~.. ...JIM I
fe
LEGISLATIVE UNION.
279
superior to the British inhabitants of the cities
and townships ; thirdly, the abolition of the anti-
commercial old French law of 1774, already ad-
verted to, and the substifi'tion in its place of
English civil law; and lastly, the introduction
of a system of popular education, whereby the
use of the English language should become dis-
seminated among the ignorant, misled habitans
of the rural districts.
It is assumed, of course, that the English lan-
guage should alone be tolerated as that of the
legislature, the executive, and the courts; its
gradual adoption in the last, in particular, being
imperatively enforced.
Surrounded by the safeguards indicated, the
measure of the Union, by at once identifying the
British population of Lower Canada with the
well affected portion of the inhabitants of the
Upper Province, world seem eminently calcu-
lated to insure to both greater protection against
revolutionarv mfluences than they have possessed
since 1791; nor would the unholy alhances, pre-
dicted by some as likely to ensue for subversive
purposes, between the ultra-radical members of
280
MUNICIPAL LVSTITUTIONS.
■ill
French or British origin, who might find seats in
the United Assembly, be likely to prove under
such circumstances very baneful in their effects.
As regards the establishment of municipal in-
stitutions in Canada, they must be viewed as ne-
cessary adjuncts to the well-working of the repre-
sentative system, if that itself be established on
a safe and proper basis. Being part and parcel
of a popular form of government, they could
not with propriety be withheld longer than the
time when their introduction might seem ben.fi-
ficial ; and such period would appear to have now
arrived.
The people of Toronto, and, in general, the
whole of the adherents of tlie petty oligarchy
notoriously existing in Upper Canada," have
always been as much opposed to the Legislative
Union, whensoever the subject has been mooted,
as the French Canadians themselves; and this
apparently for no better reason than that a few
local and private interests would be sacrificed to
the public good.
Ihaveften, with surprise, remarked, when
conversing on the subject with Upper Canadians
t ■ -i
1
STRANGE DELUSION.
281
generally
of the better class, how liti
ing, they appeared to be impressed with the
conviction, so strongly felt by strangers, that
the interests of the two provinces are, in all
respects identical ; and, also, how little they
seemed to imagine that the aflTairs of Lower
Canada, whether for good or for evil, were closely
blended with their own.
They felt sensibly the inconvenience of being
pent up, as in a prison-house, by the United
States on one side, and Lower Canada on theother,
without any egress to the ocean, but through
one or other of those countries; but then they
proposed, as the means of surmounting the diffi-
culty, not to make common cause, as bodies,
with their British brethren in the Lower Pro-
vince, against two common enemies, but to ap-
propriate to themselves the district and island of
Montreal, thereby leaving the British inhabitants
dwelling in other sections of the province more
exposed than ever, because of their circumscrip-
tion in such case within a narrower circle, to the
evils from which they had so long been strug-
gling to get free.
Vl
litJ
Ifj
f.jsi f!)
282 LEGISLATIVE UNION.
For these reasons, and considering the senti-
ments known to prevail upon the subject among
various influential persons, as inferred from the
debates of the previous session, it was seriously
apprehended by the advocates of the Union, at
the period when I left Toronto, that how much
soever opposed to the sense of the community at
large might be such conduct, a majority in the
Legislature would have, nevertheless, been found
of sufficiently biassed views and restricted notions,
to reject the bill about to be propounded to them,
for operating the Union, and that consequently
no alternative w^ould have remained to the Go-
vernor-general but that of a dissolution of the
Assembly, and an appeal to the constituencies.
The explanation of the apparently ready assent
which was given to the measure by both
branches of the legislature, in the face of former
expres=;ed grounds of objection, not removed, is
probably to be found in the fact, that while many
members of the Assembly shrank from the con-
tingency of a dissolution, all were alike sensible
that through the medium of the Union alone
could the impending bankruptcy of the Upper
LEGISLATIVE UNION.
283
senti-
imong
m the
tously
)n, at
much
ity at
n the
bund
tions,
hem,
ently
Go.
'the
ies.
5sent
both
rmer
I, is
lany
con-
iible
lone
•per
Province, resulting from causes hereafter to be
mentioned, be averted.
It is, however, scarcely worth while to inquire
by what process many inconsistent members of
the Provincial Assembly became all at once con-
sistent in this matter, seeing that, happily, the
principle contended for has been conceded ; but
it is much to be regretted that the legislature of
Upper Canada should not have exacted better
terms as the condition of their acquiescence, by
stipulating, that whatever might be the number
of representatives assigned to Lower Canada,
that number should be exceeded by at least one-
third in favour of the Upper Province, until
such time as there should be a sufficient influx
of British immigrants to render positively safe,
equality of representation for the two pro-
vinces.
Failing, as it must if an isolated measure, to
produce the early political advantages anticipated
from it, the legislature would be ill able to with-
stand the after pressure of events upon it ; and
we may be assured, in such case, that further
I
;5 i
284 GExXEUAL REMARKS.
opportunity of remodelling the fragments would
be sought in vain.
I have endeavoured to show, in a preceding
chapter, that -^present severment of the actual
political relations of England and Canada, s^i far
from conducing, as some suppose, to the future
welfare of each, would, on the contrary, prove
disastrous to both, by striking at the vitality
of the one, and crushing, while in embryo, the
reserved independence of the other.
But the strict logical sequence of this view,
from the train of reasoning adduced, points no
less forcibly to the mutual mivantages that nn'ght
be confidently expected to accrue when Canada
should have acquired the strength and means to
stand alone, from the exchange of the colonial
connexion for the bond of a national alliance,
cemented, as in such case it would be, by the
ties of a common interest, a common sympathy,
and, above all, by a common safety.
Entertaining very strongly this twofold con.
viction, which extensively obtains in Canada,
I should be indeed happy could I know that
II: 1<
GENERAL REMARKS.
285
I had succeeded in imparting it to any num-
ber of those who may chance to peruse these
pages, and should consider myself as well
repaid by such result for the task of their
compilation.
lU
END OF VOL. I.
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I' form of letters ;
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I