4 ;* CAN ADA DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA A HISTORICAL REVIEW ILLUSTRATED By J. G. BOURINOT, C.M.G., LL.D., D.C.L., Lit.D. (Laval) Author of "The Story of Canada' (Nations' Series), "• How Canada is Governed," " Parliaiiientary Procedure and Government in Canada." etc., and other books on the History and Constitution of the Dominion From ihf Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Second Series, 1897-98, Volume III., Section II, FOR 8 ALE BT J. DURIE & SOX, OTTAWA; THK COPP CLARK CO., TORONTO BERNARD QUARITCH, LONDON, ENGLAND 1897 » CI) Skction II., 1897. [ 3 ] Trans. R. S. C. I,. — Canada during the Victorian Era : A Historical Review. Illustrated. By J. G. BouaiNOT, C.M.G., LL.D., D.C.L., Lit.D, (Laval). (Read June 23rd, 18B7.) The reigne of three English Sovereigns, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Anne and Queen Victoria — especially that of Her Most Gracious Majesty, whose diamond jubilee is arousing so joyous an acclaim throughout the Empire — will be always memorable for some of the most famous events in the history of maritime enterprise and colonial expansion. It was in "the golden days of good Queen Bess" that Englishmen made those ventures on the seas, which, in later times, led to such remarkable results and placed Engl md in a foremost ])08ition among nations. Sixty years before her accession to the throne, an English ship was the first to touch the coasts of the North American continent, and give to I'-ngland a claim to American territory which the colonizing spirit ol' her sons made good in the seventeenth century. After the discoveries by John Cabot in 1497 and 1498, the pai*simonious, though discreet, King Henry VII., who then ruled England, took no official measures to occupy and colonize the " new-founde-lands " which were then opened up to English enter- prise. No such glamour was thrown around the shores of Cabots Prima Vista as was then seen about the rich lands of the South, from which the Spaniards were yearly gathering so rich a product of gold and silver. However, a few brave tishcrmen from the west country' of England ventured from very early times in the sixteenth century upon the waters of the new lands of Cabot, and brought home valuable cargoes of codrish which previously they had sought in the Icelandic tisheries. But, soon after Queen Elizabeth succeeded to the throne, Englishmen cimiiieted successfully in large numbei-s with French, Portuguese and Spanish tish- ermen on the banks of Newfoundland, which was now known to be an island on the confines of a continental region beyond which, it was believed, lay somewhere a northwestern passage to the rich countries of Asia. Frobisher, who is considered to be '• among the famouaest men of his age for counsel and glory gotten at sea," sailed into Arctic waters and brought home some glittering sand which, he believed, contained particles of gold. Forty yeai-s before the daring, though ruinous, voy- ages of the brave sailor of Yorkshire, Jacques Cartier, of the Breton sea- port of St. Malo, had discovered the valley of the St. Lawrence, and thought he had found in the translucent quartz rocks of Cape Diamond specimens of gold which would reward him and his companions for all the toil and difficulty they had met in their efforts to win a colonial 4 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA empire for France. While religious and civil strife prevented France- from making an effort to derive some advantage from Cartier's dis- coveries during the latter half of the sixteenth century, England, under the influence of that new spirit of maritime enterprise which developed itself in the reign of Elizabeth, sent Sir Humphrey Gilbert to Newfound- land and Sir Bichard Grenville to Albemarle Sound in North Carolina — then a part of Virginia — to spread the dominion of the Queen and make the beginning of colonial settlement. Sir Humphrey Gilbert's expedition had no other results than a barren ceremony of sovereignty on a hill overlooking St. John's harbour, while Ralegh's little colony, which wa» placed on Roanoke Island, disappeared in some mysterious way from human ken. In the same reign the great Armada was scattered by the storms of heaven, and by the indomitable pluck and superior seamanship of the men who manned the little fleet, which won for itself so high a place in English historic annals and was the beginning of that noble nav)- which, in later centuries, made England Mistress of the Seas. Drake not only robbed Spaniards on the Spanish Main and brought back rich treasures in which even " Good Queen Bess " shared with- out a blush, but was the first Englishman to sail around the globe by Magellan's route and give to England a claim to possessions on the Pacific coast of North America, which received the name of New Albion on maps of the day. It is true that Ralegh .^ailed in his schemo of establishing colonies in the beautiful land of Virginia, of which glowi.ig accounts were brought home by English adventurei-s, and it was in the reigns of James the first and Charles, his son, that the English actually founded permanent settle- ments on the Atlantic shore of North America. But the germs of Virginia and New England were planted by Ralegh, and the colonial and maritime enterprise of England was stimulated by such successes as were won by Howard, Grenville, Hawkins and Drake wherever they met the Spaniards who, until their day. were considered invincible at sea and allowed to have a monopoly of the land discovered by Columbus and his successors. Englishmen at last commenced to recognize the fact that their mission was on the ocean and that they could advantageously enter the field of colonial enterprise in the new world, which ottered) such enormous possibilities to courageous pioneers and explorers. Nor must we forget to record among the memorable events of the same reign the formation of a famous Company which entered into com- petition for the rich trade of the East Indies, where, in later times, one of its servants, Robert Clive, won an Empire for England, and gave the right to Queen Victoria to be crowned its Empress. In the seventeenth century English colonists took possession of a fringe of territory on the Atlantic coast, France occupied the shores of fBOUBDiOT] CANADA DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA 8 Acadie and the valley of the St. Lawrence, and the Spaniards confined themselves to the Antilles, Florida, Mexico, Peru and other rich jjinds of the tropics. By the beginning of the eighteenth centurj' France had twenty thousand people on the banks of the St. Lawrence and its tribu- tary rivers, and her adventurous explorers had passed from th« basin of the great lakes i"to the valley of the Mississippi and had given to France a right to a v»' . region which extended to the Gulf of Mexico, The English colonitb were then hemmed in between the Atlantic coast and the Appalachian ridges, beyond which none of their most daring pio- neers had passed when La Salle linked his name to all time with the mighty river near which he met a melancholy death at the hands of treacherous companions. France had now established a valid claim to dominions whose possibilities of greatness were never understood by the King and his Ministers, engrossed in the affairs of Europe. The end of the war of the Spanish succession which brought such humiliation to Louis Quatorze, and won so much fame for Marlborough, had very significant results for France and England in North America. These results have been most intelligently stated by an English writer who has reviewed the various phases of English colonial expansion from the voy- ages of the Cabots until the reign of Queen Victoria, who is Queen of an Empire which would never have been born had not a spirit of maritime enterprise and colonization been stimulated in the days of the Virgin Queen. One hundred and ten years after the death of Elizabeth, when another woman sat on the throne, France suffered a serious blow in America, by the treaty of peace which Louis was forced to accept as a result of the famous victories of Blenheim, Ramillies, Malplaquet and Oudenarde. " At the time of the Armada," says Professor Seeley, " we " saw England entering the race for the first time ; at Utrecht, f]ngland " winr the race. . . . Her positive gains were Acadie or Nova Scotia " and Newfoundland, surrendered by France and the Assiento compact " granted by ^rance. In other words the first step was taken towards " the destruction of greater France by depriving her of one of her three " settlements of Acadie, Canaila and Louisiana in North America. . . . " The decisive event of it is the Seven Years' War, and the new position " given to England by the treaty of Paris in 1763."' The remarkable expansion of the colonial dependencies of England during the Victorian ei-a may be then fairly considered as an evolution of a series of events in the history of the empire. From the days of Ralegh and other worthies of Elizabeth's day down to Pitt, Wolfe and Clive, there is a steady succession of events which eventually placed England in the van of colonial enterprise and maritime endeavour, but it was not until three-quarters of a century 1 lad passed after the treaty of Paris — » "Expansion of England," p. 132. 6 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA aptly stated by Professor Seeley to be "the culminating point of Flnglish " power in the eighteenth century " — and the present Queen ascended the throne, that Canada and other dejiendencies of the Crown may be said to have made the beginnings of that remarkable development, which is one of the most interesting and imjjortant features of the century and of the Queen's reign and has been, in a measure, some com- pensation for the loss of the old Thirteen Colonies through the fatuity of English statesmen in the s'^cond half of the eighteenth century. II. I purpose to give in the present paper a brief historic retrospect of the position Canada occupied at the time when Her Majesty ascended the Throne and to compare it with that the Dominion now holds aa a federa- tion of seven provinces and organized territories extending from the Atlantic to the Pucitic ocean. No one will gainsay Canada's pre-eminence among the dei^endencies when we consider how much she has done in si.cty years, despite the enormous difficulties that have stood in the way of her progress on account of the rivalry of a great republican Power on her b<5rder8 for three thousand miles, which has drawn away from her the wealth and population of Europe, and also a large number of Canadians from year to year up to a veiy recent period. Jn this review it is necessary to refer briefly to some leading features of Canadian history. In these days, when Englishmen have learned at last to take an interest in colonial questions — to recognize the fact that lessons may be learned from even colonial history and colonial statesmanship, we feel no apology need be made even to my English readers ' if I ask them to give their attention for a few minutes to a short account of the political evolution of the Canadian federation, which has already passed bejond the first quarter of a century of its existence. In this record we shall see what elements of stability this federation possesses, even when com- pared with that great Power to the south, whose remarkable develop- ment has been among the most interesting features of the century now so near its close. Both England and France entered about the same time on a career of colonization in North America. Champlaia was already encamped with his little band of settlers on the picturesque heights of Quebec* when the Pilgrim Fathers landed on the rock-bound coast of New England. Then, for a century and a half, the colonies of England and France struggled for mastery. The sturdy independence of the English colonists, accustomed to think and act for themselves, left as a rule to ' This special reference to " English readers " originates from the fact that a part of this monograph first appeared as a leading article in the Edinburgh Review, and I have allowed it to remain, though the text has been revised and enlarged. " Champlain arrived at Quebec (Stadacona) on .Tuly 3rd, 1608, and laid the founda- tions of the picturesque town. [BOURiNOTj CANADA DURINU THE VICTORIAN ERA 7 govern themselves in accordancf with the free instincts of Englishmen, was in decided contrast with the subserviency of the French colonista, kept constantly in trammels by the King and his ministers who were always opponed to the merest semblance of local self-government. Under the influence of the freedom they enjoyed, and of the energy and enter- prise peculiar to a commercial and maritime people, the English colonists, who inhabited a relatively narrow strip of territory from Maine to Carolina, soon outnumbered the population of the struggling community on the banks of the St. Lawrence. In the hiscory of the French Canadian there is much to interest ufl. His patient endurance, his fidelity to his country, his a West affords scenes for poetry, history, aud romance. The struggles of Champlain, the adventures of La Salle in the valley of the Mississippi, the exploits of the coureurs de bois and gentlemen-adventurers on the rivers and among the forests, the efforts of Frontenac and other F"rench governors to found a New France on the continent, have already found in Francis Parkman an eloquent and faithlul historian. Fi-ance di-eametl once of founding a mighty empire which should stretch from the Island of Cape Breton or lie Royale through the valleyh of the St. Lawrence, the Ohio, and the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico and of eventually having the supremacy in North America ; but the genius of Pitt relieved the English colonists of the fears they entertained with reason when they saw a cordon of forts stretching from Louisbourg to the heights of Quebec. Lake Champlain, Niagara and the forks of the Ohio. With the fall of Quebec and Mon- treal in 1759-60, France left the New World to England, and of all her former possessions she now retains only some insignificant islands off the southern coast of Newfoundland, where her fishermen continue to prose- cute the fisheries as they did centuries ago before a European bad- founded a settlement in Canada. The conflict w^ith France had done much to restrain the .spirit of self-assertion among the English colonists, and to keep them dependent ujx)n England ; but at the same time it had shown thorn their power and taught them to have much more confidence in their own resources as a people. The capture of the formidable fort- ress of Louisbourg, one of the triumphs of Vauban's engineering skill, by the New England volunteers under Pepperi-ell and the fleet under Warren, was the principal incident in their history, which showed the people their strength and nerved them to enter into what must have seemed to many a hopeless struggle with England. The fall of Quebec may be considered the first step in the direction of the independence of the old English colonists. ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA in. When the war of independence was over Canada was only a sparsely settled country in which the French Canadians were very largely in the majority. In Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island there was a small English population, chiefly composed of United Empire Loyalists.* A considerable number of the same class came oveT from the United States and settled in the eastern townships of French oi" Lower Canada — now Quebec — and in the province of Upper or Western Canada, now Ontario. Few facts of modem times have had a greater influence on the destinies of a country than this immigration of sturdy, resolute and intelligent men, united by high principles and the most unselfish motives. 'Ihey laid the foundations of the provinces now known as New Brunswick and Ontario, and settled a considerable portion of Nova Scotia. From the day of their settlement on the banks of the St. John, Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers, and in the vicinity of Lakes Ontario and Erie, they have exercised by themselves and their descendants a powerful influence on the institutions of Canada, not unlike that exercised by the descendants of the New England pioneers . throughout the American Union ; and it is to them we owe much of that spirit and devotion to England which has always distinguished the Canadian people and aided to keep them, even in critical periods of their history, within the empire. During the war of independence the leading French Canadians resisted all attempts that were made to induce them to unite their for- tunes with the revolted colonists. The British Government and Parlia- ment had seen the necessity of conciliating the conquered people, and had passed in 1774 what is known as the Quebec Act,* which gave additional guarantees to that nationality for the security of their prop- erty and the preservation of their language, religion and institutions. Owing in a great measure to this conciliatory policy, and to the eflbrts of the priests, who have always been firm friends of British rule, the French people of Lower Canada were kept faithful to the King of England, and the history of those times records the death of Genei-al Montgomery and the defeat of his troops, who invaded Canada and besieged Quebec under the delusion that the province would be an easy conquest as soon as the invaders set foot within its limits. With the settlement of Upper Canada by the Loyalists and the English population that subsequently flowed into the country, it was 1 In 1784 there were in Canada 10,000 United Empire Loyalists ; in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick upwards of 30,000 In 1790 the population of old Canada was 161,311, of whom 120,000 were French. « Imperial Statute, 14 George III., c. 83. IBOCBINOT] CANADA DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA 9 thought advisable to establish two provinces in which the French and English elements would be kept separate and distinct.' "With the light that experience has given us in these later times, it was a great mistake, in the opinion of many statesmen, to have isolated the races, and by hedging in the French at the very commencement of their historj'. to havt; prevented the gradual absorption of all nationalities into one great Engli8h-s])eaking people. Parliament formed a legis- lature for each province, and wished the people of Canada '' God speed " in the new exi)erime'.it of government on which they were entering. No doubt can exist as to the sincerity and good wishes of the English states- men of those daj ut it cannot be said that they always built with wisdom. In the first place they erected a structure of provincial govern- ment which was defective at its very foundation. There was an entire absence of institutions of local government in French Canada— of that system which from the earliest period in the history of the old English colonies, enabled tltem to manage their local aitairs. May it not be said with truth that England herself has received no more valuable heritage than that system of local self-government which, cumbrous and defective as it may have become in the course of centuries, can be traced back to those free institutions in which lay the germs of English liberty and parliamentarj' government ? But in Canada there was no semblance of township or parish gov- ernment as in New England or even in Virginia. The people of Canada were called upon to manage the affaii-s of a State before they had learned those elements of government which necessarily exist in the local aflairs of everj'- community, whether it be town, township or village. It was, indeed, surprising tb:it a people like the French Cana- dians, unaccustomed to parliamenvarj- institutions or local self-govern- ment in its most elementarj- form, should in the early stages of their legislative history have shown so much discretion. As a matter of fact they discharged their functions for a while with prudence and set to work to understand the principles on which their system of government rested. For some years the machinery of government worked fairly enough, and the public men of both provinces passed much useful legis- lation. The war of 1812-15, in which Canada performed her part with credit, in a measure prevented any outbreak of political conflict, since all classes of people recognized the necessity of uniting, at such a crisis, to defend their homes and countrj'. But when peace was proclaimed and che legislatures were relieved from the pressure that the war had brought upon them, the politicians again got the upper hand. The machinerj' of government became clogged, and political strife convulsed the country from one end to the other. An '• irrepressible conflict " arose between • Constitutional Act, 1791, or 31 Geo. III., c. 31. lO ROYAL SOCIETY OF CA>'ADA the government and the governed classes, especialh' in Lower Canada. The people, who in the days of the French regime were without in- fluence and iH>wer, had learned under their new system, defective as it was in essential respects, to get an insight into the operation of I'epre- sentalive government, as understood in England. They found they were governed, not by men responsible to the legislature and the people, btit by governors and oflicials who controlled both the executive and the legislative councils. If there had always been wise and patient governors at the head of allairs, or if the Imperial authorities could always have been made aware of the importance of the grievances laid before them, or had understood their exact character, the ditference between the government and the majority of the people's representatives might have been arranged satisfactorily. But unhappily military governors like Sir James Craig onlj- aggravated the dangers of the situation, and gave demagogues new opportunities for exciting the people. The Imperial authorities, as a rule, were sincerely desirous of meeting the wishes of the people in a reasonable and fair spirit, but, unfortunately for the country, they were too often ill-advised and ill- informed in those days of slow commxinication, and public discontent was allowed lo seethe until it burst forth in a dangerous form. In all the provinces, but esjx?cially in Lower Canada, the people saw their representatives practically ignored by the governing body, their money expended without the authorit}"^ of the legislature, and the country governed by irrespon.sible officials. A 8} -tem which gave little or no weight to public opinion, as represented in the House elected by the people, was necessarily imperfect and unstable ; and the natural result was a deadlock between the Legislative Council, controlled by the official and governing class, and the House elected by the people. The governoi-s necessarily took the side of the men whom they had them- selves appointed, and with whom they were acting. In the maritime provinces, in the coui-se of time, the governoi-s made an attempt to con- ciliate the popular element Iw bringing in men who had influence in the Assembly, but this was a matter entirely within their own discretion. This system of government was generally worked in direct contraven- tion to the principle of responsibility to the majority in the popular House. Political agitators had abundant opportunities for exciting popular pession. In Lower Canada, Papineau — an eloquent but im- pulsive man, having rather the qualities of an agitator than those of a statesman — led the majority of his compatriots. For years he contended for a legislative council elected by the people, for it is curious to note that none of the men who were at the head of the popular party in Lower Canada ever recognized the fact, as did their contemporaries in Upper Canada, that the difficulty would be best solved, not by electing an Upper House, but by obtaining an executive which would only hold [bourinot] CANADA DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA 11 office while supported by a majority of the representatives in the people's House. In Upper Canada the Radical section of the Liberal party was led by Mr. "W. Lyon Mackenzie, who fought vigorously against what was generally known as the •' Family Com])act'", which occupied all the public offices and controlled the government. In the two provinces these two men at last precipitated a rebellion, in which blood was shed and much property was destroyed, but which never reached any very extensive proportions. In the maritime prov- inces, however, where the public grievances were of less magnitude, the people showed no sjmpathy with the rebellious elements of the upi)er provinces. The agitation for responsible government in those colonies was led by Mr. Joseph Howe, who in the course of his public life was always animated by truly loyal Brit'sh feelirgrs, and was never influenced by passion to step beyond the limits of legitimate constitutional agitation. IV. Such was the political situation in Canada when Queen Victoria ascended the throne on June 20. 1837. If we survey the general condi- tion of things in those troublous times, the prospect was not encouraging. The total population of the provinces did not exceed 1,350,000 souls, of whom nearly one-half were French Canadians. Trade and commerce were quite paralyzed by the political discontent which had existed for years, and had already broken out into rebellion. The value ot the whole trade of British North America — that is of the imports and exports in the aggregate — was about $25,000,000. The principal trade was in fish and lumber for the export of which a considerable number of vessels were yearly built in the maritime provinces. Xot moi-e than four or five banks existed, and none of them had a large capital except the old bank of Montreal, which has always been the most important mone- tary institution of this continent. The total revenue at this time did not exceed $7,000,000, and in more than one province the revenue was insufficient to meet the legitimate expenses required for public works and other necessary improvements. In Upper Canada the situation was extremel}" serious. In consequence of the construction of ])ublic works, commenced in the infancy of the colony, a debt of $5,000,000 had been accumulated when the whole revenue did not reach $300,000, and was inadequate to pay the interest. A financial crisis in the United States had led the banks to suspend specie payments, and aggravated the difficulties of the commercial situation in Canada. The banks of Lower Canada found it necessary to follow the example of similar institutions in the American republic; though those in the upper province, to their credit, successfully tided over the crisis, -!• ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA And materially lessened the weight of financial embarraasraent. The total production of wheat was not beyond 5,000,000 bushels, of which nearly four-fifths, at that time, was raised in French Canada. The French habitants carried on their agricultural operations with little energy or skill, and from their ignorance of the system of the rotation of crops and of tht true principles of farming were rapidly impoverishing the soil, so that in the course of a few years their wheat crop diminished and its quality became more inferior. Their farms w^re oi: the banks of the St. Lawrence, deep, narrow stnps, and their houses were crowded as near the river as possible, as aft'ording the most satisfactory means of com- munication in early times between the settlements. The most noteworthy buildings were those belonging to the Boman Catholic Church, which then, as now, dominated the province. The system of land tenure in French Canada was one not calculated to stimulate industry and develop the country. In early days the seigniorial tenure, established by Richelieu with the idea of founding a Canadian noblesse and encouraging settlement, had had some advantages. It was a feudal system modified to suit the circumstances of a new country. It made the seigneur and the habitant, or censitaire, equally interested in the cultivation of the soil. The dues and obligations under which the censitaire held his land were in early times by no means oneixjus. The seigneur was obliged to cultivate and settle certain portions of his land at the risk of losing it within a fixed period ; a penalty frequently enacted under the French regime. He was expected to erect a mill for the grinding of grain raised in the district, but only in very rare cases was he able to afford the expense of what must have been a great convenience to the early settlers. But the system grew to be burdensome as the country became more populous. The seigniorial exactions were found troublesome, and the difficulties that arose in connection with the disposal of lands in the numerous seigniories gradually I'etarded settlement and enterprise in the province. In fact, the system under which lands were granted through- out Canada was not adapted to the encouragement of settlement. With the view, probably, of establishing a state church, the Imperial Govern- ment had by the Act of 1791 granted large reserves, which were in the hands of the Church of England, and much discontent had consequently arisen among other Protestant denominations. Large tracts had also been set apart for loyalists and military men in difterent parts of the province. The natural consequence of this extravagance was that some of the most valuable districts of Upper Canada were kept idle and profit- less for many years. The little island of Prince Edward had been nearly all granted away by ballot to a few landlords in a single day, and until very recent times its progress was retarded by a land question which always created much discontent and prevented settlement. The means of communication in each province were very inferior, in the absence of [bocrinot] CANADA DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA 1» any liberal system of municipal institutions, and in consequence of the large districts owned by absentee proprietors or by the church. If » road or bridge was required in Lower Canada it was necessary to apply to the legislature. Things were a little better in Upper Canada, where there was a system of local taxation which, imperfect as it was, enabled the people in a county to make minor improvements. Montreal, Quebec, Halifax, St. John, and Toronto were the only towns of importance, and the population of the first — then, as now, the commercial metropolis of British North America — did not exceed 40,000 ; while their aggregate population was 120,000 souls. The streets of all of them were either ill- lighted or left in darkness, and without pavements. The public build- ings, as a rule, had no architectural pretensions. A few colleges and grammar schools had been established where the sons of the well-to-do classes could obtain an excellent classical and English education for those times. The religious communities of Lower Canada at an early period in the history of the country- had established institutions where the youth of both sexes could receive certain educational and religious advantages. But the Stjite had not in any degree intervened successfully in the estab- ishment of a system of popular education. The whole public expenditure for common and district schools in Upper Canada was a little above $40,000 r* year, and these schools were verj' inferior in everj^ respect. The masters in many cases in this province, to which I refer especially, since now it stands unsurpassed in the character of its educational progress, were ill-paid, ill-educated men who, having failed in other pursuits, resorted to teaching as their last hope ; many of them were illiterate citizens of the United States, who brought anti-British ideas into the country, and taught their pupils out of American text- books, in which, of course, prominence was given to American history and institutions. In 1838-39 there were in all the public and private schools of British North America only some 1)2,000 young people out of a total population of 1,440,000 souls, or about one in tifteen, Tlie administration of justice in all the provinces except in Lower Canada was, on the whole, satisfactory for a new country, where the highest judicial talent was not always available. In the French section there was a lamentable want of efficiency in the courts, and an absence of confidence in the mode in which the law was administered. At times there was a decided failure of justice in criminal cases, owing to the complexion of the juries. In certain cases, where political or national feeling was aroused, a jury was not likel}' to convict even in the face of the clearest evidence of crime. English and French Canadians divided in the jury box according to their nationalit- s. While the judges of the highest (.ourts were generally distinguished for learning and fairness, the justice,-< of peace wei-e chosen without any regard to their character or ability to try the ordinary petty causes which fell within their jurisdic- 14 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA tion. In all the cities and towns the police arrangements were notoriously defective. Immigration was rapidly falling off owing principally to the distracted state oi" the country , but also to the mode of transportation. Those were days when the vessels that made voyages to Canada were literally laden with disease and misery. In the over-crowded, ili-venti- lated, and ill-equipped vessels that annually sailed up the St Lawrence death was ever stalking among the half-starved, unhappy people who had left their wretched homes in the Old World to incur the horrors of the holds of the pest-ship, from which for many years had been ascending to heaven the cries of the martyred emigrant. No feature of the aspect of things in Canada gave greater reason for anxiety than the attitude of the French and English peoples towards each other. The very children in the streets were formed into French and Knglish parties. As in the courts of law and in the legislature, so it was in social and every -day life — the French Canadian in direct antagonism to the English Canadian. Many persons among the official and govern- ing class, composed almost exclusively of English, were still too ready to consider French Canadians as inferior beings, and not entitled to the same rights and privileges in the government of the country, it was a time of passion and declamation, when men of fervent eloquence, like Papineau, could have aroused the French like one man, if they had had a little more patience and judgment and had not been ultimately thwarted, mainly by the efforts of the priests who, in all national crises, have intei'vened on the side of reason and moderation, and in the interests of British connec- tion, which they have always felt has been favourable to the continuance and security of their religious institutions. Lord Durham, in his mem- orable report on the condition of Canada, has summed up very express- ivel}- the nature of the conflict in the French province. '• I expected," he said, " to find a contest between a government and a people ; I found " two nations warnng in the bosom ol" a single state ; I found a struggle, " not of principles, but of races." Amid the gloom that overhung Canada in those times there was one gleam of sunshine for England. Although discontent and dissatisfaction generally prevailed among the people on account of the manner in which the government was administered and of the attempts of the minority to engross all power and influence, yet there was still a sentiment in favour of British connection, and the annexationists were relativelj- few in number. Even Sir Francis Bond Head — in no respect a man of sagacity — understood this well when he depended on the militia to crush the outbreak in the upper province, and Joseph Howe, the eminent leader of the popular party, uniformly asserted that the people of Nova Scotia were determined to preserve the integrity of the Empire at all hazards. As a matter of fact, the majority of the leading men, outside of the minority led by Papineau, Nelson and Mackenzie, had a conviction that [■oiPiNOT] CANADA DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA 10 England was animated by a desire to act considerately with the prov- ina-, and that little good would come from precipitating a confliit. which would only add to the public misfortunes, and that the true i-emedv was to be found in constitutional methods of redress for the poJiUcal griev- ances which undoubtedly existed throughout British North America. I have endeavoured to summarize above as briefly as possible the actual state of affairs in the tirst years of the Queen's reign. It was a most critical time in the career of the Canadian provinces Had the British Government been prepared to act with haste or temper, the consequences would have been fatal to the provinces ; but they acted throughout on the whole with much discretion and recognized the fact at the outset that mistakes had been made in the past, and that it was quite clear that the people of Canada would not be satisfied with a mere semblance of a representative government. The mission of Lord Durham, who came to Canada as governor-general in 1838, was a turning-jxtint in the political and social development of the Biitish North American colonies. VV liatever may be the opinion held as to the legality of the coui*se he pursued with respeci *'^ '^he rebels — a number of whom he banished from the countrj' without even a form of trial — there can be no doubt as to the discretion and wisdom embodied in his Report, of which Mr. Charles Buller, his able secretary, is generally considered to have been the writer. The statesmen of all parties io England, but especiallj' Lord John Russell, aided in moulding a new policy towards the Canadas. This new j)olicy of which the reunion of the two provinces under one government was the foundation, was in the direction of entrusting a larger measure of seli-government to the people — of giving them as com- plete control of their internal aflairs as was compatible with the security and integrit}' of the empire. The union of the Canalasin 1841, when the French and English sections were equally represented in one legislature, was the tirst im- portant step in the movement that has been steadily going on for many years in the direction of the unity and security as well as of the social and political development of the provinces of British North America, ihen followed between 1841 and 1849 the concession of responsible government in the fullest sense of the term, and the handing over to Canada of the control of her public revenues and taxes, to be expended in accordance with the wishes of the majoiity in the popular House. At the same time came the re;)eal of the navigation laws which had fettered colonial trade since the days of Cromwell. The post olfice was given to the Canadian government, and in fact all matters that could be con- le ROYAL BCCIFTY OF CANADA sidered to appertain lu their provincial and local interests were placed under their immediate legislative jurisdiction. The Canadian legislature, r.nder the new impulse cf a relatively unfettered action, v/ent vigorously to work to lay the foundations of a municipal system as indi<>pensable to the operations of local self-government. The troublesome land question, involved in the seigniorial tenure, was settled, after much agitation, on terms favourable to vested interests, while the clergy reserves were also arranged so as no longer to favour one church at the expense of others, or to impede the progress of settlement and cultivation. The union of the Canadas lasted until 1867, when it had outgrown its usefulness, and the provinces found it necessarj' to enter into a federation, which had been foreshadowed by Lord Durham and advocated by mauy eminent men even before his time. VI. Of all the conspicuous figures of those memorable times of political struggles, which already seem so far away from Canadians, who now possess so many politicil rights, there are three which stand out more prominently than all others and represent the two distinct types of politicians who influenced the public mind during the first part of this century. These are Papineau, Baldwin, and Howe. Around the figure of the first there has always been a sort of glamour which has helped to conceal his vanity, his rashness, and his want of political sagacity, which would have, under any circumstances, prevented his success as a safe statesman, capable of guiding a people through a trying ordeal. His eloquence was fervid and had much influence over his impulsive country- men^ his sincerity was undoubted, and in all likelihood his very indis- cretions made more palpable the defects of the political system against which he so persistently and so often justly declaimed. He lived to see his countrymen enjoy power and influence under the very union which they resented, and find himself no longer a leader among men, but iso- lated from a great majority of his own people, and representing a past whose methods were antagonistic to the new regime that had grown up since 1838. It would have been well for his reputation had he remained in obscurity on return from exile, and never .stood on the floor of a united parliament, since he could only prove in those later times that he had never understood the true working of responsible government. The days of reckless agitation had passed, and the time for astute and calm statesmanship had come. Lafontaine and Morin were now safer political guides for his countrymen. He soon disappeared entirely from public view, and in the solitude of his picturesque chateau amid the groves that overhang the Ottawa Eiver, only visited from time to time by a few [bockinot] CANADA DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA 17 staunch friends, or by curious tourists who found their way to that quiet spot, he passed the remainder of his days with a tranquillity in wondrous contrast to the stormy and eventful drama of his life. The writer of this paper has often seen his noble, dignitied figure — even erect in age — pass- ing unnoticed on the streets of Ottawa, when perhaps at the same time there were strangers walking through the lobbies of the parliament house and asking to see his portrait. One of the most admirable figures in the political historj- of the Dominion was undoubtedly Robert Baldwin. Compared with other popular leaders of his generation, he was calm in counsel, unselfi-sh in motive, and moderate in opinion. If there is .some significance in the political phrase, '• Liberal-Conservative," it could be applied with justice to him. The " great ministry " of which he and Louis Hypix)iite Lafon- taine — afterwards a baronet and chief justice — were the leaders, left behind it many monuments of broad statesmanship, and made a deep impress on the institutions of the country. Mr. Baldwin, too, lived t r years aft.3r his retirement from political life, almost forgotten by the people for whom he worked so fearlessly and sincerely. Joseph Howe, too, died about the same time a.s Papineau — after the establishment ot the federal union ; but unlike the majority of his com- peers who struggled for popular rights, he was a prominent figure in public life until the very close of his career. All his days — even when his spirit was sorely tried by the obstinacy and indift'ei-ence of some English ministers, he loved England, for he knew, after all, it was in her institutions his countrj- could best find prosperity and happiness, and it is an interesting fact, that among the many able essays and addresses which the question of Imperial Federation has drawn forth, none in its eloquence, breadth, and fervour can equal his great speech on the Consoli- dation of the Empire. The printer, poet and politician died at IsLct at Halifax the lieutenant-governor of his native province in the famous old government house, admittance to which had been denied him in the stormy times of Lord Falkland. A logical ending assui-edly to the life of a statesman who, with eloquent pen and voice, in the days when the opinions he held were unpopular in the homes of governors and social leaders, ever urged the claims of hh countrymen to exercise that direct control over the government of their country which should be theirs by tirth, interest and merit. In New Brunswick the triumph of responsible government must always be associated with the name of Lemuel A. Wilmot, the descendant of a, famous U. E. Loyalist stock, afterwards a judge and a lieutenant- governor of his native province. He was in some respects the most notable figure, after Joseph Howe and J. W. Johnston, the leaders of the Liberal and Conservative parties in Nova Scotia, in that famous body of public men, who so long brightened the political I'fe of the maritime Sec. n., 1897. 2. 18 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA provinces. But neither thoM) two leailcra nor their tlirttinguished com- peer», Jume8 Hoyle Uniacke, William Young. John Hamilton (rray and Charles Fisher — all iiamen familiar to students of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick history — surpassed Mr. VVilmot in that magnetic eloquence which carries an audience oil' its feet, in versatility of knowledge, in humoroii^ sarcasm, and in conversational gifts which made him a most interesting personality in social life. He impressed his strong individu- ality upon his countrymen until the latest houn: of his useful career. " A life in civic action wami ; A soul on highest niixsion s«nt ; A potent voice in prrlianient ; A pillar steadfast in the storm." VII. The results of the development of Canada since 1841 may be divided, for the jmrposes of this review, into the follo.ving phases : Territorial Expansion. Increase of Population and Wealth. Political Development. Social and Intellectual Progress. National Unity. VIII. From 1841 to 1867 the provinces of Briti.xh North America remained isolated from each other as distinct i)olitical entities, only united by the tie of a common allegiance to one Sovereign. Their ])olitical organiza- tion was confined to the countrj" extending from the head of Lake Superior to ♦he countries watered by the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean. Of these provinces Ontario was the nn>st populous and the richest in agricultural wealth, although it has not as great an area as the province of Quebec, where .h more rigorous climate and large mountainous tracts — the hills of the Laurentides — have rendered the country less favourable for extensive and productive farming operations. A verj'^ considerable portion of Ontario, even in those days, was a wilder- ness, and the principal cultivated tracts extended for a few miles from the St. Lawrence, and the most populous settlements lay between Lakes Ontario, Erie, and Huron. The confederation of 1867 brought four provinces into one territorial organization for general or Dominion pur- poses : Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick — and it was not until 1873 that little Prince Edward Island, the garden of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, united its political fortunes with those of the young [BoCRisor] CANADA DURING THE VKTOKIAN ERA 19 coiifeduralion. Etforto were made to bring in Newfoundland, but purely Heltish lo<-al considerations prevailed in that island over the national sentiment; though the unwisdom of the course pursued by the island politicians has become evident according as the rishery question with the United States comes ujt from time to time, and it is now quite clear that this large colony, which has been placed as u sentinel at the |)ortals of Canada, must, ere ong, fall into line with its sister colonies in North America. One of the most important n>sults of confederation in its early days was the unnexati*m by the Dominion of that vast tract of country which, up to that time, had l)een alnu>st excliLsively in the pos- session of the Indians and the traders of the Hudson Hay (-ompany — that region well descritted by (leneral Butler as • the lone land.'" over whose titickless wastes French adventurers had been the first to j)ass — a region of prairies, watered by great rivers and lakes, above whose western limits tower the lofty pictui-esque ranges of the Rockies. Next came into confederation the jtrovincc of British Columbia, which e.Ktends from the Rockies to the watei-s of the Pacific Ocean — a country with a genial climate, with rapid rivers teeming with tish. with treasures of coal and gold, with sublime scenery only rivalled by California. A new province was formed in the Northwest, watered by the Red ami the Assiniboine Kivors and temtorial districts, a.«> large as Kuropean st;ites. arranged for purposes ot government out of the vast region that now, with the sanction of the Imperial authorities, has been brought under the Jurisdiction of the government of Canada. Within a |>eriod of thirty yeai-s Canada has stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and the territory now under her control is very little infei-ior in extent to that of the great Republic to the south, and contains within itself all the elements of a prospertnis future. It is. unhappily, true that this result Was not achieved until bloi»d had been shed and much money expended in cinishing the rebellious half-breeds led by the reckless Kiel ; but, apart from this sad feature of Canadian histor}', this important acquisi- tion of territorj-, the tirst step in the formation of an empire in the west, has been attained under circumstances highly advantageous to the Dominion. Canada now possesses an immense territory of varied re- sources — the maritime provinces with their coal, tish and shipping, to- gether with a valuable, if limited, agricultural area, not yet fully developed ; the large province of Quebec, with ranges of mountains on whose slopes, when denuded of their rich timber, may graze thousands .of cattle and sheep, with valuable tracts of meadow lands, capable of raising the best cereals, and already supporting some of the finest cattle of the continent ; the rich province of Ontario, which continues to be the chief agricultural section of the Dominion, and whose cities and towns are full of busy industries ; the vast Northwest region still in the very infancy of its development, destined to give the confederation sev- 20 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA eral provinces outside of Manitoba, as large and productive as Minnesotar and to be the principal wheat-growing district of Canada ; and, finally, the gold-producing pi-ovince of British Columbia, whose mountains are rich with undeveloped treasures, and whose mild climate invites a. considerable industrious population to cultivate its slopes and plateaus, and collect the riches of its river and deep-sea fisheries. Even that inhospitable Arctic region of the far north-west of Canada through whicb the Yukon and its tributaries flow appears to be rich with untold treasures of gold and other minerals, and promises to be a source of wealth to a country which is still in the infancy of its material develop- ment.' IX. The population, which owns this vast territory, is confined chiefly at present to the countries by the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean. A considerable number of people has within a few years flowed into the Northwest, where the province of Manitoba is exhibiting all the signs of a prosperous agricultural country, and its capital, Winnipeg, has grown up in the course of sixteen years into a city of nearly 30,000 souls. The population of the whole Dominion may now be estimated at about 5,200.000 souls, and has increased four times since 1837. Of this population more than a million and a quarter are the descendants of 70,000 or 65,000 people who were probably living in the French province at the time of the conquest (1759-60). The re- mainder of the population is made up of English, Scotch, and Irish. The immigration of late years has been insignificant compared with that which ha*j come into the United States, and consequently at present the natural born population amounts to about 85*09 per cent of the whole. The people of Canada have already won for themselves a large amount of wealth from the riches of the land, forest, and seas. The total value of the imports is now about $110,000,000 and of exports at least $120,- 000,000, or an aggregate of $230,000,000 a year, an increase of $175,000,- 000 within half a century. Of this large export trade at least $50,000,000 represent the products of the farms. The province of Ontario now raises over 28,000,000 bushels of wheat alone, or an increase of over 19,000,000 since 1837. The Northwest and Manitoba raise upwards of 50,000,000 bushels, or an increase of 20,000,000 in ten years. The people have now deposited in government savings-banks, leaving out of the calcula- tion the ordinary monetary institutions of the country, about $60,000,000, 1 As I read the proof of the text the world of enterprise and adventure is startled by the reports of the wealth of the region of the Thron-Diuck (corrupted to- Klondike), one of the tributaries of the Yukon in Canadian territory. [bourinot] CANADA DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA 21 made up of about 176,000 depositors, mechanics, farmei-s. and people of limited meaus. For years the only industries of imjKJrtance were the building of ships, the cutting of timber, and a few ill-sui^ported manu- factures of iron and various hard and soft wares. Xow there is upwards of $360,000,000 invested in manufactures, chiefly cotton and woollen goods, of which the coarser fabrics compete successfully with English goods in the Canadian market, even crowding out certain classes entirely. Some fourteen lines of ocean steamers call at the port of Montreal, which has now a population of over 350,000. Toronto comes next in popu- lation, about 194,000, whilst the other cities, like Halifax, St. John, Quebec, Ottawa, Brantford, Gruelph, St. Catharines, Fredericton, Hamil- ton. London, range from 60,000 to 8,000. The aggregate of the popu- lation of the cities and towns with over 10.000 population amounts to some 1,000.000 souls, or the total population of Canada in 1837. The urban population of Canada increased in 1801 to 1,390,910. compared with 912,934 in 1881, or an increase of 2877 \>eY cent in ten yeai-s, illustrating that there has been going on the same movement that has prevailed in the United States. The total revenue of the Dominion, apart from the local and provincial revenues, is about $37,000,000 a year, raised mainly from customs and excise duties, which are high, owing to a largely protective policy, although much lower than those on similar goods in the United States. If the expenditures of Canada of late years have been very large, they have been mainly caused by the development of the country, and by the necessity of providing rapid means of intercommunication for trade and population in a countrj- ex- tending between two oceans. Canals, lighthouses, railways, the acquisi- tion and opening up of the Northwest, and government buildings, have absorbed at least $200,000,000 since 1867, and it is not remarkable, under these circumstances, that a gross debt has been accumulated within half a century of over $325,000,000. against which must be set valuable a.sset8 in the shape of buildings and public works necessary to the progress of a new country. The public buildings, churches, and univemties display within a quarter of a century a great improvement in architectural beauty, whilst the homes of the people show, both in the interior and exterior, decided evidences of comfort, convenience and culture. Instead of the fourteen miles of railway which existed in 1837, there are now over 16,000 miles in actual operation, atfording facilities for trade and commerce not exceeded by any countrj' in the world. One of these rail- ways, the Canadian Pacific, which reaches from Quebec to Vancouver, on the Pacific Ocean, is the most remarkable illustration of railway enterprise ever shown by any country ; certainly without a parallel for rapidity of construction, even in the United States, with all its wealth, population, and commercial energy. These railways represent an invest- ment of nearly $1,000,000,000 in the shape of capital stock, municipal 22 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA and goveriimeui bonuses. The interprovincial trade — a direct result of the federation — is at least $120,000,000 a year. These are some of the most remarkable evidences of matei-ial development which Canada has exhibited within tifty years. All those who wish to pursue the subject further need only refer to the official publications ' of the government to see that the fisheries, the timber trade, and the agricultural products of Canada have all increast^d in the same ratio, notwithstanding commercial crises, bad harvests, and depression produced in certain branches of in- dustry by the policy pursued by the United States for some years towards the Canadian Dominion. When we consider that the United States has received the great bulk of immigration for half a century, and that it is only quite recently that a deep interest has been taken in the development of the Dominion by the people of Europe, it is remarkable that in every branch of trade and industiy so steady a progress h&n been made during the reign. X. In a new country like Canada one cannot look for the high culture and intellectual standard of the old communities of Europe. But there is even now in Canada an intellectual activity which, if it has not yet pro- «'aced a distinct literature, has assumed a practical and useful form, and must, sooner or later, with the increase of wealth and leisure, take a higher range, and display more of the beauty and grace of literary productions of world-wide interest and fame. The mental outfit of the people compares favourably with that of older countries. The universities of Canada — McGill, in Montreal, Laval, in Quebec, Queen's, in Kingston, Dalhous'.o, in Halifax, and Trinity and Toronto Univei-sities in Toronto — stand deservedly high in the opinion of men of learning in the Old World and the United States, whilst the grammar and common school system in the English-speaking provinces is creditable to the keen sagacity and public spirit of the people, who are not behind their cousins of New England in this particular. We have already seen the low con- dition of education sixty years ago — only one in fifteen at school ; but now there are almost a million of pupils in the educational institutions of the country, or one in five, at a cost to the people of upwards of $10,000,- 000, contributed for the most part by the taxpayers of the difi'erent municip£.litiee in connection with which the educational system is worked out. In Ontario the class of schoolhouses is exceptionally good, and the apparatus excellent, and the extent to which the j)eople tax themselves may be ascertained from the fact that the government only contributes annually some $1,512,000 out of a total expenditure of about $4,200,000. 1 Especially The Statistical Year Book, ably compiled by Mr. Johnson, the Dominion statistician. [bourinot] CANADA DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA 23 In French Canada th(;re is an essentially literary activity, which ha» produced poets and historians whose works have naturally attracted attention in Frame, where the people are still deeply interested in the material and intellectual developing ut of their old colony. The names of Crarneau, Ferland. Frechette and Casgrain, especially, are recognized in France, though they will be unfamiliar to most Englishmen, and even to the majority of Americans, who ai"e yet quite ignorant of the high attain- ments of Fi-ench Canadians, of whom Lord Durham wrote, in 1839, " They are a people without a histoiy. and without a litei'ature,' a state- ment well disproved in these later times by the works of Parkman, and the triumphs of French Canadians in Paris itself. The intellectual work of the English-speaking people has been chiefly in the direction of scien- tific, constitutional and historical literature, in which departments they have shown an amount of knowledge and research which has won for many of them laurels outside of their own country. In the infancy of the United States, works like '• The Federalist," with its wealth of con- stitutional and historical lore, naturally emanated from the brains of publicists and statesmen. In laying the foundation of a great nation the learning and wisdom of the best intellects were evoked, and it has been so in a measure in Canada, where the working out of a system of govern- ment adapted to the necessities of countries with distinct interests and nationalities has developed a class of statesmen and writers with broad national views and a large breadth of knowledge. On all occasions when men have arisen beyond the passion and narrowness of party, the debates of the legislature have been distinguished by a keenness of argument and by a grace of oratory — especially in the case of some FVench Canadians like Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the present premier, and Sir Adolphe Chapleau, lieutenant-governor of Quebec — which would be creditable to the United States in its palmy days. Any one who reviews the fourteen volumes already published bj"^ the Royal Society of Canada — one of the most useful results of Lord Lome's administration — will see how much scholarship and ability the writers of Canada bring to the study of scientific, antiquarian, and historical subjects. In science, the names of Sir William Dawson, of his equally gifted son, Dr. G. M. Dawson, as well as of many others are well known in the parent state and wherever science has its votaries. In poetry we have the names of Frederick G. Scott, Pauline Johnson, Roberts, Bliss Carman, Archbishop O'Brien, Speaker Edgar, Ethelwyn Wetherald, Lampman and Wilfred Campbell, who merit a high place among their famous contemporaries. The his- torical novels of Major Richardson, William Kirby, Gilbert Parker, — notably "The Seats of the Mighty" and other works of the latter,— show the rich materials our past annals otter for romance. " Sam Slick the Clockmaker " and other books by Judge Haliburton, a Nova Scotian by birth and education, are still the only noteworthy evidences we have of -*;-.5* ■ 24 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA the existence of humour among a practical people, and his " Wise Saws" and " Sayings " were uttered fully half a century ago. In art we have L. R. O'lBi-ien, George Reid, Bell Smyth, Robert Harris, J. W. L. Forster, W. Brymner, and Miss Bell, who have done much meritorious work. Yet, on the whole, if great works are wanting nowadays, the intellectual movement is in the right direction, and according as the intellectual soil of Canada becomes enriched with the progress of culture we may eventually look for a more generous fruition. The example of the United States, which has produced Poe, Longfellow, Irving, Hawthorne, Howells, Parkman. Lowell, Holmes, and many others, famous as poets, historians, and novelists the world over, should encourage Canadians to hope that in the later stages of its development the Canadian people, composed of two distinct nationalities, will prove that they inherit those literar}' instincts which naturally belong to the races from which they have sprung. XL The political syst-.m under which the provinces are now governed is •eminently adapted to the circumstances of the whole country-. In the working out of responsible government, won for Canada during the Queen's beneficent reign, there stand out, clear and well- defined, certain facts and principles which are at once a guarantee of efficient home government and of a harmonious cooperation between the dependency and the central authority of the empire. 1. The misunderstandings that so constantly occurred when the ■Queen ascended the throne, between the legislative bodies and the im- perial authorities, and caused so much discontent throughout the prov- inces on account of the constant interference of the latter in matters which should have been left exclusively to the control of the peo])Ie directly interested, have been entirely removed in conformity with tue wise policy of making Canada a self-governed countrj' in the full sense of the phrase. These provinces are, as a consequence, no longer a source of irritation and danger to the parent state, but, possessing full inde- pendence in ail matters of local concern, are now among the chief glories of England and sources of her pride and greatness. 2. The governor-general, instead of being constantly brought into •conflict with the political parties of the country and made immediately responsible for the continuance of public grievances, has gained in dignity and influence since he has been removed from the arena of public controversy. He now occupies a position in harmony with the principles that have given additional strength and prestige to the throne itself. As the legally accredited representative of the sovereign, as the recognized Jiead of society, he represents what Bagehot has aptly styled the dignified tBouiuNOT] CANADA DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA part of our constitution, which has much value in a country like ours, where we fortunately retain the permanent form of monarchy in harmony with the democratic machinery of our government. It would be a great mistake to suppose that the governor-general is a mere roi fainSant, a merely ornamental portion of our political system, to be set to work and kept in motion by the premier and his council. His influence, however, as Lord Elgin has shown, is wholly moral, an influence of suasion, sympathy, and moderation, which softens the temper while it elevates the aims of local politics. If the governor-general is a man of parliamentary experience and constitutional knowledge, possessing tact and judgment, and imbued with the true spirit of his high vocation — and these functionaries have been notablj' so since the commencement of confederation — they can sensibly influence the course of administration and benefit the country at critical periods of its history. Standing above all pai-ty, having the unity of the empire at heart, a governor-general at times can soothe the public mind and give additional confidence to the country when it is threatened with some national calamity or there is distrust abroad as to the future. As an imperial officer he has large responsibilities, of which the general public have naturally no verj' clear idea, and if it were possible to obtain access to the confidential and secret despatches which seldom see the light except in the colonial office, it would be seen how much for a quarter of a century past the colonial department has gained by having had in the Dominion men, no longer acting under the influence of personal feeling through being made personally responsible for the conduct of public afl'aii-s, but actuated simply by a desire to benefit the country over which they preside and to bring Canadian interests into unison with those of the ompire itself Self-government now exists in the full sense of the term. At the base of the political structure lie those municipal institutions which, for comj)leteness, are not excelled in any other countrj'. It is in the enter- prising province of Ontario that the system has .ttained its greatest development. Every village, township, town, city, and county has its council composed of reeves or mayors and councillors or aldermen elected by the people, and having jurisdiction over all matters of local taxation and local improvement, in accordance with statutory enactments. Under the operation of these little local parliaments —the modern form taken by the folkmote of old English times — every community, regularly organized under the law, is able to build )ts roads and bridges, light the streets, effect sanitaiy arrangements, and even initiate bonuses for the encouragement of lines of railway. The machinery of these municipalities is made to aasist in raising the taxes necessary for the support of public schools. Free libraries are provided for in every municipality whenever the people choose — as in the cities of Toronto, Hamilton, Guelph, and other places— to tax themselves 26 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA for the supi>ort of these necessary institutions. In tlie other provinces the system is less symmetrical than in Ontario, but even in the French section, and in the maritime provinces, where these institutions have been more recently adopted the people have within their power to manage all these minor local ati'airs which are necessary for the comfort, security, and convenience of the local divisions into which each province is divided for such ])urposes. Then we go up highei" to the provincial organizations governed by a lieutenant-governor, nominated and removable by the government of the Dominion, and advised by a council res]X)nsible to the people's repi-esentativos, with a legislature composed, in only two of the provinces of two houses — a council appointed by the Crown and an elective assembly ; in all the other provinces there is simply an assembly chosen by the people either by universal suffrage or on a %'ery liberal franchise. The fundamental law known as the British ^«'orth America Act, which was passed by the Imj>erial Parliament in 1867, gives jurisdiction to the provincial governments over education, provincial works, hospitals, asylums, and jails, administration of justice (except in criminal mattei's), municipal and all other purely local affairs. In the Territories not yet caration of national, provincial and municipal politics at such elections — a separa- tion now advocated in many states and adopted by the revised New York constitution, in the case of municipal elections, especially in the cities, where the running of municipal officers on a federal or state ticket has led to gross corruption and abuse by the political machine and its professional politicians. 8. The trial by judges of all cases of bribery and corruption in municipal as well as legislative elections, a system not yet adopted by the States, and necessarily of doubtful application in a country where so many judges are elective. No doubt there are difficulties constantly occurring in the working -of the Canadian federal constitution, arising from conflicts of juris- diction between the Dominion and the Provinces, despite the careful enumeration of powei-s in the fundamental law, or British North America Act of 1867 ; but these doubts are gradually being removed by the wise practice which places the interpretation of all written legal instruments in the courts. Here also the wisdom and learning of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of England and of the Canadian judiciarj' are to a large extent nullifying the contentions of politicians and bringing about a solution of difficulties which, in a country divided between distinct nationalities, might cause serious complications if not settled on sound jirinciples of law which all can accept. [boubinot] CANADA DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA XIII. Odc of the most encouraging results of this political system has been not merely the material development of the country but the crea- tion of that national sentiment which muHt lie at the basis of any political structure, if it is to withstand the storm of passion and faction which from time to time will beat against its walls. The government of an im- mense country like Canada is surrounded by man}- difficulties which an Englishman or an American not thoroughly conversant with its history and conditions can hardly realize. The great extent of territory and the diverse interests of the populations that inhabit it from the Atlantic to the Pacitic shoi-es require that there should be much wisdom and patience used in the exercise of the large responsibility which these circum-stances throw upon the government. If we look at the map, we see lying on the Atlantic seaboard three provinces whose industries are chieny mari- time, and whose propinquity to the Uniteil States naturally gives great importance to the commercial arrangements which may exist with that country. These provinces are separated by many hundreds of miles from the populous, prolific province of Ontario, and all commercial intercourse must be by means of railroads, or by the long and expensive navigation of the St. Lawrence. To encourage interprovincial trade under these circumstances, and make the jjeople see that their true interests should not lie in dependence upon the United States, or on any single country, but on opening up new avenues of commerce wherever practicable, has been the natural policy of the governments since 1867. The result has been on the whole moderately .successful, considering that the fight has not been merely against geographical obstacles but also against the antagonism exhibited by American politicians, ever since the repeal of the reciprocity treaty of 1854. The tinnness with which the government has adhered to the rights it possesses in the fisheries, and the liberality with which it has promoted maritime interests by the construction of lailways and other public works necessary to the material development of the country, have succeeded in restraining the clamour that was raised for some years in the maritime provinces against the operation of the union. The situation has still its difficulties ; bui there is every reason to believe that the national sentiment is largely predominant, and that the mass of the people clearly see that by strengthening the confederation they ai-e assuring their true happiness and prosperity in the end, and that to weaken or destroy it by the withdrawal of any single province would mean the destruction of British interests on the continent and the annexation of Canada eventually to the United States. Then, leaving that branch of the subject, if we look at the distinct national elements 80 ROYAL SOCIETY OF C*.N%DA that exist throughout Canada we have furtlier evidence of the difficulties with which a government has to contend in .striving to achieve the unity and sei'urity of this widely extended confederation. When the Canadian provinces were united, in Ifi-tO. the French Canadians were restive and uncertain of their future. The Act of Union was considered by many of them as an attempt to make them subservient to British influences. The elimination of their language from legislative records was to them a great grievance, because it was in their opinion, a clear evidence of the spirit which lay at the basis of the union. As a matter of fact, however, the Union Act was a measure which, from the very outset, gave to Lower Canada a political su|)eriority in the government of the whole country. The representation of the two provinces was equal in ihe Assembly, but the greater unity that distinguished the French Canadians in all matters that might atfect their political |K)wer. or their provincial interests, natur- ally enabled them to dominate the Knglish parties, divided among them- s< :<7e8 on no many jwlitical issues. The French language was soon restored to its old place and step by step all the principles that the popu- lar party of Lower Canada had been fighting for previous to 1840 were granted — even an elective legislative council — under the new regime. The consequence was that French Canada eventually recognized its power, and its people forgot their old grievances and svere ready to sus- tain the Union into which they had entered with doubt and apprehen- sion. It vvas the English speaking people of the West that now rai.sed the clamour against French domination, when the representation granted in 1840 did not do justice to the increase of population in Upper Canada, where, since that year, the progress had been more rapid than in the French section. The consequence was that the two provinces, united in law, were pi-actically divided on the floor of parliament and govern- ment, at last, liecame almost impossible from the division of parties and the controlling influence of French Canada, always determined to yield nothing to the cry fi"om the u[)per province that would destroy the equality of representation. The solution of the difficulties, arising, it will be seen, from national antagonism, was found in a federal union, under which Lower Canada obtained a supreme control over the provincial matters in which she has an immediate interest and at the same time has been able to exercise great influence in national affairs by means of her large representation in the Dominion parliament. The results of the political changes, which have occurred since the days of Lord Durham, have been very different from what he hoped would be the case when he wrote his famous report, throughout which there is a strong desire to diminish French Canadian influence and gradually absorb the French Canadian nationality in an English speaking people. In Lord Durham's opinion, " the first and steady purpose of the British Government should " be to establish an English population, with English laws and language, [BoiTRiNor] CANADA DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA SI " in this pi-ovince, and to tru!eople and statesmen — and practical results of great signilicance must be evolved ere long.' ' Since this paper was read before tlie Royal Society of Canada, tlie Diamond Jubilee, which showed so powerful sentiment of attachment to the Crown and Empire, has already brought forth a practical result by the "denunciation" of the imperial treaties with Germany and Belgium, which for some years past have evoked the hostility of the Canadian government and parliament as entirely at var- iance with the commercial freedom of the Dominion and her rights, expressed or implied by the British No-'th America Act of Union, and as interposing serious obstacles to more intimate commercial relations with the parent state. This action on the part of the imperial government, in response to the bold and decisive tariff [bocbikot] CANADA DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA 87 XVI. Only a few words in conclusion. Looking at the history- of the Canadian dependency for sixty years, one can see in all the phases of its political development there has ever run "an increasing purpose." The statesmen of England and her colonies have, perhaps, builded better than they knew. The destiny that shapes our ends, " rough-hew them how we will," has been carrying the empire in a direction beyond the ken and conception of probably the most sanguine and practical minds. When we consider that the union of the two Canadas was followed in about a quarter of a century by the federation of all the provinces, and that this great measure has been also supplemented, after a lapse of thirty years, by a conference of delegates from the most distant colonial possessions, we may well believe that the thoughts of men are indeed widened throughout England and her dependencies " by the process of the suns," and that powerful current of human thought and progress which is everywhere making itself felt is carrs'ing forward the Empire, not into an unknown sea of doubt and peril, where it may split into many fragments, but into a haven where it may rest in the tranquil waters of peace and security. As long as the respective members of the Federation observe faith- fully the principles on which it necessaril}" rests — perfect equality among all its sections, a due consideration for local rights, a deep Imperial as well as Canadian sentiment whenever the interests of the whole Federa- tion is at stake — the people of this Dominion need not fear failure in their efforts to accomplish the great work in which they have been so long engaged. Full of that confidence that the historj^ of the past should give them, and of that energy and courage which are their natural heritage, and which have already achieved the most satisfactory results in the face of difficulties which, sixty years ago, would have seemed insurmountable ; stimulated by their close neighbourhood to a nation with whom they have always shown a desire to cultivate such relations as are compatible with their dignity, their security, and their self-interest as a separate and distinct community ; adhering closely to those principles of govern- ment which are best calculated to give moral as well as political strength ; policy of the present Canadian ministry, is not merely another step in that evolution of events which have placed Canada in the position of a semi-independent power in the course of thirty years ; but, judged by the spirit that has animated both Can- adian and English statesmen in bringing it about, it is a part of tbat movement which seems irresistibly forcing the parent state and her greatest dependency to a closer alliance, eommtrcial and defensive, that will make the empire impregnable. It is a forerunner, many Canadians hope, of a scheme of imperial federation which not long since seemed chimerical to those who cannot look beyond the interests of mere sections of the empire. Mr. Chamberlain has certainly not disappointed his friends who have always believed that he would make his position of administrator of colonial alTairs a position of value to the empire at large. 38 KOYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA determined to put down corruption in whatever form it may show itself, and to cultivate a sound public opinion, Canadians may tranquil ly^ patiently, and determinedly face the problem of the future. When Canadians review the trials and struggles of the past in the interesting storj' of their countiy, they may well gain fro?Ti them lessons of confidence for the future, and cannot forget to pay a tribute to the men who laid the foundations of these communities, still on the threshold of their development, and on whom the great burden fell ; to the P'rench Canadians who, amid toil and privation, amid war and famine, built up a province which they had made their own by their patience and industry, and who should, differ as we may from them, evoke our respect for their fidelity to the institutions of their origin, and for their apprecia- tion of the advantages of English self-government, and for their coopera- tion in all great measures essential to the unity of the Federation ; to the Loyalists of last ceniuiy who left their homes for the sake of •' king and country " and laid the foundations of prosperous and loyal English communities by the sea and by the great lakes, and whose descendants have ever stood true to the principles of the institutions which have made England free and great ; to the unknown body of Pioneers, some of whose names. ])erhaps, still linger on a headland or river, or on a neglected gravestone, who brought the sunlight year by year to the dense forests, and built up by their industry the large and thriving provinces of the Dominion ; to the Statesmen who laid deep and firm, beneath the political structure of this Federation, those principles of self-government which give harmony to the constitutional system and bring out the best quali- ties of an intelligent people. And above all, let Canadians of all classes and nationalities unite with heart and soul, in this remarkable month of this remarkable year, to pay a just tribute to the Great Queen, during whose beneficent reign Canadians have received such large political privileges, and whose virtues as a woman and sovereign have placed her in the estimation of her subjects in every part of the J'>mpire. on an eminence of love and respect which none of her royal predecessoi-s. not even "Good Queen Bess," have ever been able to reach in the brightest eras of English history. [bochxnot] CANADA DURING THE VICl'ORI/ N ERA ILLUSTRATIONS AT END OF TEXT. PAQ£. 1. Montretil In ld3!J 4S 2-3. Place d'Anues, Montreal, with views of Parish Church of Notre Dame, 1837- 1897 46 4-6. St. John's Gates, Quebec, 1837-1»97 47 6. View of Rideau Canal and Parliament Hill, Ottawa, 1837 40 7. Halifax in 1837 4tf 8. Montreal Churches in 1838 51 «. Ibid, 1897 SS 10. Country School House, 1837 56 11. Hamilton Public School, 1897 56 12. Some Makers of Canada, 1S37-1891 ; Lord Elgin, Robert Baldwin, Joseph Howe, L. A. Wilniot, George Brown, Sir Georgt E. Cartier, Sir J. A. Macdonald 57 13. Some Canadian Litterateurs, 1837-1897: "Sam Slick'" (Judge HaJiburton), O. Cr^mazie, F.-X. Garneau, Sir J. W. Dawson 59 14. Parliament House of Lower Canada, 1837 gl 15. Parliament House of Upper Canada, 1837 gj 16. Government Buildings, Fredericton, N.B., 1837 83 17. Province House, Halifax, 1837-1897 ^ 18. Government Building, Fredericton, 1897 gg 19. Go\ ernmenl Building. Winn ipeg, 1897 gg 20. Government Building, Quebec, 1897 ^n 21. Government Building, Toronto, 1897 ffj 22. Government Building, Charlottetown. P.E.I., 1897 gg 23. Government Building, Victoria, B.C., 1897 00 24. Toronto University, 1897 Yj 2&. Parliament House, Ottawa, 1897 71 26. Kent Gate, Quebec n« 27. Government Building, Regina, N. W.T., 1897 73 28 29. London, Ontario, 18431897 75 30. Winnipeg in 1870. .' jj 31. View in Winnipeg, 1897 77 32. Some Canadian Litterateurs, 1807 : Gill>ert Parker. L. Frechette, A. Lamp- man, Professor Roberts, p:thelwyn Wetherald, Pauline Johnson, D. C. Scott, Bli-s CarTiian, W. W. Campbell 79 33. Some Canadian Statesmen of 1897 : Sir W. Laurier, Sir C. Tupper, Sir O. Mowat, Sir R. Cartwright 81 34. Map of the Dominion of Canada gg 1fe« t lLi:UST [RATIONS CANADA. 18:57-1897 43 I I'l.Ai i; 1) .\ifMi> ANK Niiiiu: iiA.Mi: ( ii; liCH. M(imi;i;ai.. i- /•'/..))! /;...v ICO )■'/<'» //"c/it/.'i/d /(.(II. '.1. ;i. 1'1,A( I-: llAlfMl> MHNTliKAI.. 1^ 45 M 1 I f -^ 4. (>1,I) ST. .I(I11.N> (iXl'E.— h'inin //.in/. /ill's l'irtiti;s uf l,>ii,hee, l^;;4. r>. ST. .KtilNS GATK. (ilKIiEl , l-:iT. 47 (! M M viKW 111 I.N I i;an( i; -:;7 — ^')•"l)l ilnrihit^ Ihili^h \urth Aimiir 49 ■i I t —/■■,■,,„. /;„.s«mc^/,-.s- /f ../,.'...;„ Uriu.i.i. 81 I !'- rt i.SKMK M(lM'lii:AI. t'HllUllKS, 1> 33 '> i r It ft ; 10. ClirXTHY SC'IIIIIII. HorSK IN 1>:;7. — /■')■..». h'.iqhtii Years l'i-n,iri":s uf U. S. .\ . Tnmtito, l«fi3. 11. HAMILTON (Ont.) PUBLIC SCHOOL, 1897.— From Buidinof's " Hoic Canaiia 13 Governed." SB :-|i I If IKI.N". (I. IIHOWX. IK IX. K. HAl.DW.X. Slii (i. K. CAIiTli:!!. l.iilUl i:i,(ilX. Ill IX. I,. A. WILMOT, 57 J IKiX. .1. IKiWr. SIU .1, A. MACUdNAIJI. I O. CKKMAZIE F-X.(iAKXi;.VU. blU J. \V. DAWbUX. JUDGE HALIBURTOX. 39 ti, > B ■ J I I I I 1. 1-|» f ; 1 1 1 nidi i: I 1 riipl U. PAIM.IA.MKXT llolM; lU' l.oWKIi CANAHA, l>:i'i.— ^V..m //.("/.,„>> l-i'hi,,-^ ../ V"'''«c 1.'). I'Aia.iA.MKNT norsi; of ii'1'i:i! canaka, i> 61 jlij ii.. (invi:i;NMi:\r i;ri i.iiiN'iis, riii;i)i;ifi( ■i<>n. i--,:.— /■•,•.„» n,i „iii ,,riiif. 17. I'UilVl.Ml-; HOlSi:, MALIKAX, l^:;7-l^!lT. — /■■/•...» .!/.(,' r,;/.,-.s Itillixl, America, \s.;\N. i^mt I'l. MANlldliA linVKIiNMlM' 111 li.lUM.. WlNNIl'KC I^"t7 65 y [* "^IKliEC (■(IVKHXMKNl' liL'lLDI N(f, 1MI7. ^: ^ iMaiftrtliiMhiiiMiiiMiiT rtiti tr iiiitf I 21. (INTAltlO lidVJiltNMKNr III I LDlNli, TORllXTU, lbU7. 67 22. riilNCK KIAVAIll) ISl.ANH (,(>V]:iiNM]:NT liril.IiIXdS, l^'lr. 23. BKITISH COLLMBIA GOVEKXMEXT bllLlllXUS AT VICTdKIA. I>!i7. 69 ;S K- 25. PAKLJAMf:XT H( HSK ( (K lAXADA AT Ol TAWA. 71 ■2H. KENT f;AT]-, (in-lSKr. J-RECTKl) DURlXfJ THK REIGX OF THK (^rKi:\. i-. X- use n»* l.:»ri"Hi|i « •»' ■ iTi'.-* I 27. GOVERNMENT BUILDING, RKGINA, N.W.T. 73 --. i.iiMiiiN, ri'i'i;ii i.WAHA, 1M-. —/•/■■". ,w. .,(, • I.Wr.nl, 3(1. WIXXIPEG IX lS7(]. — f' /■..,« .1. J. lOitiseir^ }{,idsnns Haij an,l SAV.T. 31. VIEW OF MAIX STUEET IX WLXXII'EU, 1S'J7. 77 l)i;.N()N. i;tiii:i,\vvn wkiukiiai.k. i'i((H'i:sMiit itiPi!i;iiTs. 79 A. I, AM I'M AN. <.ii.i!i;nT rAitKKii. \V. W. CAMI'IiKI-L. mBi^Bmsmmmmsmm 33. SIR 0. MOW AT. stu \v. i..\ri!ii:i!. SlU C. TirPKU. 81 SlI! I{. CAIilWlUdHT 4gr B0° OS" 80° 76° TO" eo' 80" ^ I' 40 ' \ Xongltudc 'We*! froni ' '\ \ COCB ^ r$ T -»»'' it* \ vi) V i^ V •oi ;/ 10%' .^4 ?5V-^\ '"^, *^'!, » >•• .-"B'"' Bill Al <^o .♦*' >..»-^ »^>^ \ .♦« ,-»?«»»" 4- '■''i ■'/?,. 1/ 1 1 »»«• '«-i ec»?<' -x^ :♦•*' ,l!»»V \ B**"' :>^.-^ 00^ .*^. ,Cl«"' ■«iol«''J •*-:^«i4°')r lot* ■% B0° ■'j;ali«-' ,,ifl>' .Uh a;-'!'"" ta»'SS/ ,V.*« ,i?' '^•^ \ fo^*^ i,ilcV««' ^' mr^ I c»«°' V**!! ri»' f •-•o,^ a«-* «*^ BO* 85" 80" 78 TO' •latatc I » » 10 lOD «8° \ 40 80° ^1 ma^