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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droita, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. rata telure. Id 3 32X 1 2 3 i % : 2 3 r 4 5 6 :i:\.x:^r- -^ .^xir^'n^jj" .:'^,.m.M ^^.-r^i' ■ -'. y-' , ' "" - • ''i MmMii. T # i* Hf" > SSB i?Ti« ■ I ses 99 ii WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH CANADA ? ,. A FORMIDABLE insurrcctioM in Lower Canada presents to this country the afflictive prospect of another war with its Colonies. The principal facts of the in- surrection, and of the deplorable bloodshed which has already taken place, and the important debate on the subject in the House of Commons, on Friday, December 22, will be found reported at considerable length in the newspapers. We request the calm and thoughtful attention of our readers to the facts we shall state, and the considerations we shall present to them, on this deeply important and difficult subject. The mention of a rebellion in any part of her Majesty's dominions, suggests im- mediately to loyal Englishmen the idea that it must be put down by force. Such is evidently the intention of her Majesty's Ministers ; and, ^ far as we can perceive, such is the impulse of both Whigs and Tories in Parliament, — of most of the news- papers representing those parties, and of a considerable and influential portion of the public. Not a doubt seems to be expressed in many quarters, that the " insulted majesty" of the country must be vindicated, and the troublesome and violent Cana- dians coerced by the sword. If the American revolution had never occurred, our feelings and opinions might possibly have been the same. But with the terrible lesson presented by that shameful portion of our history strongly before us, we feel that the determination to subdue Canada ought not to be taken without the gravest deliberation. We need not inform our readers that we supported the resolutions proposed by Ministers in the early part of the present year, refusing the demands of the Cana- dian House of Assembly, for such a change in their Constitution as would have clearly amounted to independence ; and authorising the Government to take out of the Canadian Exchequer the sums requisite to pay the judicial and other officers of Government, from whom the House of Assembly had withheld their salaries for more than three years. Whether we were right or wrong in supporting this course, is of little consequence. If wrong, we should not hesitate for a moment to acknowledge it. We acted under the impression, that the demand of an elective council (or Upper Fjuse of Legislature) in Canada, was a disguised demand of in- dependence : that it would have deprived her Majesty of all real power and sup- port in that country ; and we thought then, and think still, that it would be far better to release the Canadians entirely from our dominion, than to keep the name and the expense of sovereignty without the substance. But as independence was not then asked for, we thought the demand of an elective council fraudulent, and that it ought to be resisted. That resistance, however, and the seizing of the public reve- nues of the Canadians without the sanction of the House of Assembly (which sanction is required by^he Canadian Constitution, given by I'arliament in 1791), have led the people of Lower Canada to take up arms, and to fight openly for independence, as the only safeguard of their liberties. Thus the question is changed- the mask is dropped — the Canadians now demand openly what before they demanded only in disguise ; and the question is put fairly and broadly before the British Parliament and people — Sliall Great Britain consttU to llie independence of Canada * To this question we are not prepared to give a negative. We doubt the right of Kngland to coerce the Canadians. VVe doubt her power to do it. We more than doubt the advantage of holding Canada under military sub- jugation. Let us briefly sketch the history of Canada. It was settled as a French colony in the year 160t, and continued for nearly a century and a half annexed to France. In 1759, during the Seven Years War, England gained possession of z:3:i!-rrzs32E5ES3CZZ32Iz: 31EZI T 2 Quebec; and in 17(),'J, tlic wliole province of Canada was ceded to this country Till the year nTi, the colony was governed without a (institution ; in that year a very iniperiect ( onstitution was given ; consisting of a Legislative Council of twenty-tliree iiienihers, to he appointed by the Crown. Dnt in 1791 a much freer Constitution was granted by Parliament; the proprietors of the soil were allowed to clioose representatives, eighty-three in number, who were to form the House of Assembly (or Canadian House of Commons), and to act in a legislative capacity in conjun'^tion with an Ujjptr House, called the Legislative Council, originally com- posed of fifteen members, and now of nearly twice that number, nominaied "by the Crown. 'I'hc Lxecutive Covernment consisted of the (Governor and an J'.xecutive Council, both appointed by the ( rown— the Executive Council answering to our Privy Council. Such continues to be the form of government to the present time. The ( atholic religion, being that of the inhabitants of French descent, is esta- blished in Canada by Act of Parliament. Since the colony came under the British dominion, a considerable number of English, Scotch, and Irish have settled in Lower Canada, and a greater number in Upper Canada; but in the Lower province the French population still forms a great majority. Mr. M'Gregor, in his work on British North America, estimates the population of Lower Canada at .580,000 in is;i2 : it must now exceed G00,000 ; and of these 4jO,0()0 are French, and lj0,00{) British and Irish; the proportion of Catholics is about four-fifths of the whole population. On the same authority, the population cf Upper Canada, is stated at '10,000 in 18,32: it may now amount to 400,000, nearly the whole of whom are British and Irish.* Of the British inhabi- tants of Lower Canada, a. considerable number live in the cities of Quebec and Montreal, and these are either connected with the government, or are merchants and tradesmen : the emigrants arc scattered about the country. A mere glance at the form of government in Canada will show an extraordinary anomaly. A high degrc" of constitutional liberty is given by the enjoyment of representation on a wide basis, with elections every four years: but one branch of the legislature and the whole of the executive are in the hands of the British mino- rity, who have no sympathy Avith the bulk of the population, or with the House of Assembly. Nothing can be more naturp^ than that the government, with a view to strengthen the British interest in the co" 'y, should appoint nearly all the members of the Legislative and Executive Councils from among the British ; and, alas I nothing can be more natural than that all the patronage of the colony should be distributed by the home and the colonial governments on a system of favouritism, and that this should lead to the :nost improper appointments, to much jobbing, and to the formation of a British faction, hating and bared by the French Canadians. The House of Assembly, on the other hand, is almost exclusively composed of the popular or French Canadian party. Thus the legislature is divided betwixt the majority and the minority of the population, — betwixt French and Jiritish, — betwixt C^atholic and Protestant. One branch is half-popular, the other anti- popular; but the r.xccative ig quite irresponsible, and exclusive in its character. Here are the most discordant materials of government put together. The natural consequence is dissension ; and this has been realized to the largest extent. Thf system produces haughtiness, corruption, and indifference in the officials ; anu these excite the liveliest discontent in the members of the representative body, who have the utmost libertt/ of discussion, but no power to do an>/ thinff without the Council. AV'hen we add to the above causes of dissension the difference in race, in language, and in religion, and whe.i we remember the close contiguity of the 4^ yo I 4 4^ f * Tlie population of all the British Provinces in North America is thus given by Mr. ftPGrcgor: — Lower Canada 580,000 Upper Canada 310,000 New nrunswick 110,(100 Kova Scotia 19(),000 Prince Edward's Island 34,000 Newfoundland and Labrador 76',0OO Total 1,307,000 f \ 1 "^"'^^-" r '^ " '-"'""■ "^ ^g^^ggi t «? r 3 Canadians with that p;rcat repiihhc, whose population sliook off our yoke, and now enjoy a liij^li degree of liberty and prosperity, we shall hardly be surprised if the French Canadians have become disgusted with Jiritish domination, and arc longing to form an independent republic. The dissentions between the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council in Lower Canada be'j;an about the year 1820. The Canadians soon after sent a great number of Petitions to the British Parliament, complaining of grievances and praying redress ; and in 1828 a Committee of the House of Commons was ap- pointed, whose report showed that many of the complaints were Avell founded. Attempts were made to redress the grievances, but witli the feebleness and ineffi- ciency which generally characterise the efforts of a government at home to reform the administration of a distant colony. The House of Assembly, under the violent guidance of M Papineau and others, became impatient of the continual thwarting of the Governor and the Council. The Canadians were not oppressed ; they paid no taxes ; tliev enjoyed civil and religious liberty ; they had almost the monopoly of the liritish market for their timber. But they were governed by those who had no synipathy with them : they were tantalized by having a House of Assembly, with free discussion, but without power: tlu-y complained that improper and cor- rupt persons were appointed judges : tlie House of Assembly claimed a right te api)ropriate to the public service, according to its own discretion, the whole of the revenues of the crown accruing within the province, inchiding those produced by the sale of timber and waste lands, all fines and forfeitiu'cs, and the income from seignorial rights ; and the resistance of these claims by the Council irritated the House of Assembly and their constituents. The grunt of laiuls by the British I'arliament to the Canadian Company and the North American Land Company was also complained of by the Assembly, "as an unnecessary interference with the authority of the local legislature over the internal affairs of the province.'' At length, &till advancing in their claims as they experienced opposition, the House of Assembly petitioned the British Parliament for a great change in the constitution, by which the Legislative Council should be made elective, like the Senate of the tJnited States, and the Executive Coimcil should be made responsible to the Legislature. Tliis, as we have before said, was equivalent to a elaim of independence, as it would have left the Queen no power in the province , but to appoint a Governor, and to maintain and pay the troops ; and it is certain that if the mother country had consented to this mere nominal sovereignty, involving a heavy expense without power or profit, the Colonists would soon themselves have snap])ed the slender thread of connexion. AV^hether the House of Assembly contemplated independence in this clahn we know not; it is clear they wanted the power oi'si/f'-f/ovemnttnl ; and so determined were they to have it, that in 183,3 they exercised their constitutional power of stop- ping the npplies, declaring that they would grant no more money until an Klective Council was conceded to them. From thai ime forward tlie House of Assembly lias acted upon this determination : no money has been granted ; and the jiulges and officers of Government have been for more than four years without their salaries.' A government commission of three individuals, with Lord Gosford at its head, was sent out in 1S3j to inquire into the complaints of the Canadians ; but the Assembly denounced it as an unconstitutional interfere), .'e, and the reports and recommendations of the Commissioners difPered from each other widely, ^>ome rcl'orms were made in the composition of the Council, but th"y were (juite unsatis- factory to the Canadians, who ccutinued to refuse the supplies. This state of of things led the British Parliament to pass an Act last session empo'vering the Govermnent to take money out of the colonial exchequer for paying the salaries, without the sanction of the House of Assembly. And this Act has so alarmed and provoked the Canadians, that they have now organized, armed, and disciplined themselves, — have assembled over the whole country and declared their independ- ence — and are now in general revolt against the Government. If asked whether we think the grievances of the Canadians are real, we reply that we think some of them are real, — and that we consider the Government there is not, and never can be made satisfactory to the Canadians, without destroying all real controul on the part of the Mother Country. But the practical and important ■■).■'■• •|ili [ fi liiiiii ri T question is, not what any one thinks on this siue of the Atlantic, but what the people of Canada think, feel, and resolve. At the outbreak of the American War of Independence, Mr. Burke, in one of his immortal speeches, exclaimed with con- summate wisdom — " Reflect how ynu are to govern a people, who think they our/ht to be free, and think they are not." The question with us, therefore, is, not what is abstractly reasonable and right, or what is so in the eyes of Englishmen, but what the parties most interested think right and just for their interests, and whether their convictions are such that they will haxard their lives to realize them. It seems to us that there is sufficient evidence to prove that a great majority of the population of Lower Canada are determined to be independent. Many of the English papers speak of them with contempt, as an " ignorant French peasantry." Now we observe, by the way, that a "peasantry" are of all people the most obstinate in their prejudices, and the most difficult to conquer. But the fact is— it is culpable and fooliih to conceal it — that the whole body of the French Canadians, the old proprietors of the country, of all ranks, from the magistrate to the labourer, are united in their opposition to the Governmentc A striking proof of this is found in the fact, that of 78 members who voted in the House of Assembly a few months since, 70 were for the rejection of the measure of the British Parliament, and only 8 for concurring in it ! Another proof is, that many magistrates joined in the meet- ings held during the autumn to organize the effort for independence, and that when Lord Gosford dismissed them from the Commission for the act, the population cried aloud for all the magistrates to throw up their commissions, and a very great number did so, no less -han 60 l,eing sent in in one day. Another proof of the general disposition of ihe French Canadians is, the wonderful energy with which they have flown to arms: in the district within a few miles round Montreal, Col. Gore, who commanded the unfortunate expedition to St. Dennis, tells us, in his despatch — " It is evident that the vjhole country was ill arms ! He found full 1500 men defending St. Dennis— report said, nearer 3,000 ! " Col. Wetherall found about the same number at St. Charles. The whole march of both these commanders was perilled by bands of armed men, boldly presenting themselves ever and anon, hanging on the flanks of the royal troops, and firing at them from behind walls and barricades. Sir John Colborne, the Governor pro tempore, succeeding Lord Gosford tells us — " The troops who have had to act in the disturbed districts, and to put down this sud- den and extensively combined revolt, have had to contend with great difficulties — their communications with head quarters having been completely interrupted by the armed peasantry assembled on the line of the jnarcii." We never read accounts of any civil war which more clearly proved the whole population to be in arms. The expeditions to St. Dennis and St. Charles bear a wonderfully close resemblance to the affair at Lexington^ near Boston, where the first blood was shed in the American War of Independence in 1775 ; and the resemblance is a fearful omen. Col. Gore saved his party from the most immir.oni peril by a hasty flight. Col. Wetherall gained a bloody success, but his march back to Montreal seems to indicate apprehension of being cut off from it. The steam-boat on the St. Lawrence was attacked by 200 armed peasantry. The American Papers of both parties state that the French Canadians are united to a man. It is also stated, that not a few of the British and Irish, in the country districts, sympathise with the French. Do we rejoice in disaster to the Queen's arms .'' O no — we mourn it as a great calamity. But it would be an infinitely greater calamity to proceed in the contest, if it should be one-tenth part as bloody, as costly, or as disgraceful as the War of the American Revolution. If we have snown the French Canadians, who constitute so great o. majority of the population — the old population, the landed proprietors of Canada — to be ear- nestly and perseveringly bent on self-government and independence, then we appeal to the liberty-loving people of England — " Have you a moral right to force a yoke which they detest, and which they deem a foreign tyranny, on another nation, or to hunt them iown with fire and sword in a desolating war, for their spirit of inde- pendence ? Would you submit to the same treatment yourselves ? Is it consistent with English notions of freedom and justice ?" We ask further — " Are you sure you have the power to subdue these hardy woodsmen, accustomed to lives of peril, habituated to the use of arms among their native woods, inured to the rigour of a seven months' winter, and familiar with every defile and morass of their savage h i- f <> 1 '" ' ^ n ^""^■' '■ i .1,1 flAliJIB^BB I' I land?"— And further still we ask — " If you should succeed, at great cost of money and human life, in establishing the dominion of the sword over this population, what advantage will it yield to Great Britain ?" Let us view the question on both sides, and under the three several views of right, power, and advantage. The Ministers, and the advocates of coercion, view the matter as follows : Here, they say, is a refractory and insolent body of French Canadians, not taxed, not oppressed, and having great constitutional and commercial privileges, first making encroachments on the rights of the Crown, then demanding virtual independence, and lastly breaking out in an unprovoked rebellion. They resist the laws, and shed the blood of the Queen's troops. Their country is ours by right of conquest, and by the undisputed possession of nearly eighty years. Many British settlers have established themselves there, under the confidence that they would be pro- tected by their own government, have acquired lands and property, and have formed mercantile connexions. The French Catholics of that country hate them, and, if they had the power, would oppress and plunder them. It is true, the French are the m.ijority in Lower Cana '.a : but take Upper Canada, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland into account, and there the British have the preponderance. The inhabitants of these provinces are attached to o-t govern- ment, and wish for the advantage of our connexion. Under these circumstances, the British government cannot for a moment listen to the demand of Lower Canada for independence. It must avenge its insulted honour ; it must wash out the stain of rebellion in the blood of the rebels ; it must protect the British Canadians : it cannot abandon the loyal provinces, who pant to chastise the French rebels. Otherwise, every other colony would act with similar insolence, and assert its inde- Eendence. No one can doubt the power of this great nation to subdue less than alf a million of •• ignorant peasants" scattered over a large tract of country. The British volunteers in the North American ccdonies would alone do it. To yield to rebels with arms in their hands would be pusillanimous indeed, — an indelible stp.in upon our honour, a violation of our fidelity to our fellow-countrymen settled in Canada, sacrificing a bright jewel of her Majesty's crown, and annihilating an extensive trade and much British property. On the other side it may be said, that this arrogant and vaunting declaration is full of fallacies. Let us coolly examine — 1st. The Right. If there is any general principle of human right and liberty on which Englishmen are agreed, it is this — that a nation has a right to choose its own government. We claim that right in England ; and we have acted upon it in regard to France, Spain, Greece, Belgium, and the Spanish and Portuguese Colonies. If the right of conquest is opposed to this right of liberty, it may be replied — then you appeal to the law of force, and the Canadians may appeal to that law as well as you ; they are, at least, as much justified in breaking a foreign yoke, as you are in imposing it. If the equity and mildness of our rule be alleged, the Canadians (who /eel it) answer, that they think it inequitable, partial, corrupt, insulting, grievous j and they prove their sincerity, by hazarding their lives and property to cast it off. They say we have flagrantly violated their Constitution,' by taking their money with- out the consent of their representatives— the identical ground on which Flampden resisted in England, and Washington and Franklin in the United States. They say that the ancient inhabitants and proprietors of the soil are a majority of at least three-fourths, and perhaps four-fifths, of the entire population ; and that their rights are not to be sacrificed to the interests of a favour ;d minority. 2d. The Power. Suppose England, at an enormous expense, should send 20,000 troops to Canada, could they subdue it and keep it in subjection ? If we have rightly conjectured as to the unanimity and determination of the French Canadians, we are persuaded such a force could not subdue them. The Canadians are a bold, enterprising, hardy peasantry, expert woodsmen, familiar with the use of the rifle, accustomed to danger and fatigue, and inhabiting tracts intersected and skirted by eternal forests, vast morasses, and rivers which often overflow, sealed up with frost and snow during five or six months of the year — in short, one of the most defensible countries in the world. Half a million of men used to those forests would be more difficult to subdue than ten times the number in a country like England. Lower ic" rf.vn.-rKTavrrn-iai'u m'^ttm ' i fitniimaiiimJiiiijmmmm 6 Canada is a rountry larger than France: a few of its towns may be held by large garrisons, but how can the roiui/ri/ hv subdued and jj;overned, when *' an i^TDoraut peasantry," as they are called, defend every villa,:;e, hamlet, and wood? Have we iorf,'otten the horrors of (Jeneral IJur^oyne's expedition, and the shame of his ca- pitulation ? Or is Lord C'ornwallis's surrender ol)literated i'rom history ? IJesides, the Canadians are sure to receive eager aid from the frontier i)oi)ulation of the United States — enterprisino; woodsmen and fierce rei)ublicans. Is u certain that the contest near that yet disputed boundary mi;j;ht not involve us in a wi-r wiUi the go- vernment of the United States, cspceiidly if we addressed angry remonstrances on the interference of their ])()pulation ? Is it quite certain that the people of France might not insist on aiding their own fellow-ountrymen against their old enemy ? Js the conduct of La Fayette and of Louis XVI. forgotten by us? — or are (Quebec and Waterloo forgotten by the French?* W Ould nut ilussia, Prussia, and Sweden, give at least secret assistance to sever Canada from (ireat iiritain, seeing that that ■would open the Ihitish market to IJaltic tiird).'r ? As to the expected help to (Jovernment from the other jjrovinces of Uritish America, our hope of it is exceed- ingly small. The scattered population of those vast regions CDuld yield but few fighting ir.en to leave their homes ; and it remains to be prov.'d that they would be Avilling to fight for the Jiritish (.Jovernment and af/niiist independence.. They are denizens of Canada, jealinis of their rights and liberties, and feel more as ( ana- dians than as ISritons. Fvery one of the British provinces has its own list of grievances. It is true that Fpper Canada has now a House of Assembly favourable to the British (Jovernment ; but for several years back it has had a House which lias })rerLrred a longer catalogue of constitutional grievances than Lower Canada, and nearly the same demands, including an eli'Ctive Council. Jt will not be propi- tiated by the choice of its new(Jovernor, ( olonel Arthur, the severe head gai ler of A an Diemen's Land. Nova Scotia and I'rince I'.dward Island have declared in favour of an elective Council, which, as we have shown, means nothing but inde- pendence; and the House of Assembly of Newfoundland has stopped the supplies. J'iVcn in New J5runswick there have been difterences between the (Jovernment and the Assembly, though they are now allaye 1. But the population of all these colo- nies, scattered over a territory almost a thousand miles in length, scarcely exceeds that of Lower ( anada ; so that there is no hope of material assistance to the Go- vernment from them. Again, it is a fact which it were folly to conceal (though it may have been paraded by some of the speakers in the House of Commons in an offensive manner), that desertion among the British troops in C^anada is very consi- derable, and that there are great temptations to it. Looking at all the difficulties and dangers of the contest, we think they are such as "ven a great nation, and with a clearer right than ours, might prudently decline to encounter. 3d. 'i'/ic Adraiitiif/c. Aye, let us come to that. Let us suppose that fire and sword have desolated Canada, that those inhabitants who esca])e the horrors of war arc coerced into submission, Lngland will then have to pay the cost of victory. How many millions that may add to the debt and taxes of the country, cannot of course be foreseen. The American War of Independence cost us a hundred millions, and the French M^ars a thousand millions. AVTiatevcr the (Canadian Win- may cost us, will be a fresh tax on the industry and capital of England. And all for what ? To retain a colony that is « heavi/ burden upon, us even, in. times of pence, and of active trade, — and to retain it by a greatly increased military and naval force, — when the jjopulation, hating every thing British, will refuse to consume our goods, and will do all they can to annoy us. The people of I'.ngland are for the most part ignorant of the handsome sum they are paying yearly for the honour of having extensive colonies. We shall therefore quote the statements and opinions of some high authorities on the cost of Canada. Sir Henry I'arnell, v\ his well-known and able "work on " linancial Reform,^' says — " With respect to Canada (including- our other possessions on the continent of North America) no case can be made out to show that we should not have every commercial * The Bon Sens (a Paris Journal) of December 26, speaks of a volunteer auxiliary legion of Frenchmen, about to embark for the service of their Brother Frenchmen of Lower Canada. T •r ^9^ SBBE Jul ,fULi!11i,B ■TT t \ adfantaqe we arc siipposrd now to bavr, if it were made an indvpoidrnt sinie. Noitlirr t)iii' iniiiiiil;utiii'"<, tV»r»'iaii ( < unrrcc, nor shippiiis', MduM !•»■ injured Ity mkIi a nuaMire. On llu' lit her hand, what has liic nation h)>t l»y Canada "r l-'iflij or si.rlii millions have uii'fudy l)t'«'n rsprndrd ; the annual I'liar^r on tiic Uiitish tiTas\u'y '\< full .t'til* i,(MtO i'd. ^(lt only are v.e s»il)jeet<'il, as in the case of tiiiilwr, to oppressive di>criniinatin(.'' iluti<'s on Ibreitrn artic U's, that similar arlii les from the cidonies nia\ enjoy the :nono|ioly of our markets, Imt we have to defray a very lartrt- sum on account of f hiir n'lilitai y and niual cx|icnditure. There are no nutans by \iliicli to estini.ite the precise amount of this expense: lint it is, notuilhstandin,>-, abundantly