■t7l rj^?^ i ' ~> I A HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE BRITISH COLONIES VOL. V ^CANADA— PART II HISTORICAL BY HUGH E. EGERTON, M.A. u FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE BEIT PROFESSOR OF COLONIAL HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD WITH MAPS OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS MDCCCCVIII HENRY FROWDE, M.A. I'L'ULISIIER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD LONDON, EDINBURGH NEW YORK ANt) TORONTO PREFACE When Sir Charles Lucas came to the conclusion, from which others as well as myself vainly en- deavoured to dissuade him, that he was unable him- self to finish his series of volumes on ' the Historical Geography of the British Colonies', he asked me to undertake the volume dealing with Canada under British rule. Whatever be meant by historical geography — and I should myself describe the series as histories, laying especial stress on geographical considerations — the practice has been in some, at least, of the previous volumes to separate the purely historical from the geographical portions of the work. In these circumstances I undertook the historical portion, leaving to the competent hands of Mr, J. D. Rogers the task of dealing with the geography. An English writer cannot but approach with diffidence ground which could better be covered by many of the distinguished living Canadian historians. No country perhaps gives its own history more systematic and organized treatment than does Canada. The work of the Dominion Archivist, Mr. A. G. Doughty, C.M.G., and the annual Reviezv of Historical Publications relatifig to Cajiada, edited by Professor Wrong and Mr. H. H. Langton, are conspicuous proofs of what is being accomplished. In spite, however, of the numerous histories of Canada, there is no book, I IV PREFACE think, which deals with the subject from quite the same point of view as is here attempted ; and in one or two cases recent research has thrown light on questions, which has not been hitherto made use of in popular histories. It must be remembered that this series is intended primarily for the advanced classes of secondary schools ; but, so far as possible, recourse has been had to first-hand authorities. I have to express my most hearty thanks to my colleague, Mr. \V. L. Grant, who has read my manuscript and proofs, and assisted me with valuable suggestions and advice. I have also to express my thanks to the librarian of the Ro}'al Colonial Institute for the loan of books from that invaluable library. HUGH E. EGERTON. Oxford, May, 1908. CONTENTS BOOK I THE SEPARATE PROVINCES PAGE Chap. I. British Rule to the Quebec Act . . i II. The American Invasion and Boundary Question 19 III. The Constitutional Act of 1791 . . 42 IV. Lower Canada between 1792 and 1812 . 57 V. Upper Canada to the War of 1812 . . 73 VI. The Beginning of Manitoba . . • 79 VII. TheWar OF 1812 86 VIII. The Lower Canadian Assembly and the British Government . . . .102 IX. The Eve of the Crisis . . . .113 }C Upper Canada from 181 5 to 1837 . . 124 Xl\ The Rebellion of 1837 . . . -137 XII. ^ Lord Durham's Report . . . .145 XIII. The Maritime Provinces . . . .154 BOOK II THE UNION Chap. I. The Passing of the Union Act . . . 163 II. Responsible Government in the Mari- time Provinces 186 III. Lord Elgin's Administration . . .191 IV. The Advent of Liberal-Conservatism . 205 Y. The Breakdown of Party Government . 213 vi CONTENTS PAGE Chap. VI. Federation 227 VII. The Development of the West . 249 BOOK III THE DOMINION Chap. I. Relations with United States . . 275 II. The Canadian Pacific Railway . . 286 III. Internal Politics 298 IV. Struggle^between Central and Provin- cial Authorities 314 V. The Dominion of To-day . . . .328 APPENDIX British Governors of Canada 344 Lieutenant-Governors of Upper Canada . . 344 Governors-General of the Dominion of Canada . 345 Premiers since Confederation 345 Leading Dates in Canadian History subsequent to British Conquest 345 INDEX 347 LIST OF MAPS PAGE 1. Canada under the Proclamation of 1763 ... 5 2. Canada under the Quebec Act 14 3. The Maine Boundary 33 4. Upper and Lower Canada under Constitutional Act . 5 1 5. Map to illustrate the War of 1812 • • • 93 6. Map to illustrate the War of 18 12 . . . 97 7. The Oregon Boundary and Western Development . 251 8. The Dominion of Canada 326 9. Railways in 1887 and 1907 327 10. The Alaska Boundary 337 HISTORY OF CANADA PART II Book I THE SEPARATE PROVINCES CHAPTER I BRITISH RULE TO THE QUEBEC ACT In the preceding volume of this history the close connexion injlucnccof between the history and the geography of French Canada has S^°S'yP"y been emphasized. The St. Lawrence was the dominant factor modified by in its economic and social development. The Mississippi 'i'-^'o'^!^''^^^ '^ , ,^ oj science. had formed the channel by which Canada and Louisiana could meet. Through the Hudson and Lake Champlain the way had been opened between Canada and the English colonies. With the advance of civilization, however, man learns how to resist and finally control the natural forces which have hitherto governed him. The effects of distance are minimized by means of railroads and steamboats, moun- tains are tunnelled, river courses are deepened, and canals avoid the risks of rapids. By these means vast tracts of territory can be held together under a common government, and disintegrating forces, which a hundred years ago would have worked unchecked, are successfully arrested. In this state of things geography plays a less commanding part in the making of history. The expansion of British North America presents points both of resemblance to, and of contrast with, that of its great southern neighbour. In both cases the expansion has been VOL. V. I'l. 11 B (V HISTORY OF CANADA Iccstm- from the east to the west. Natue ami ^jj^^ed the balance previously prevailing. Just as the northern (outrast between British In both, new communities have ' prevailing. Just as the northern and southern states find themselves outnumbered by new states, utd Amai- '^^'^'ch have arisen in the west, so the two Canadas and the an expan- maritime provinces have to recognize that the pivot of power "^"' w ill, as the years pass by, be more and more found in the new western provinces whose population is so rapidly advancing. Between the expansion, however, of the United States and that of British North America, there is this distinction, that whereas the United States, from whatever sources its units may have been derived, present, as a whole, the front of a homogeneous English-speaking community, except so far as the large negro settlement in the south complicates the question, in British North America there has been little blending of the separate channels of race, and French Canada remains for all purposes, except those of political allegiance, as distinct from the British provinces as it was at the date of the conquest. At the time of the conquest by Great Britain, Canada, it must be remembered, consisted, so far as population was concerned, of only a small portion of the present province of Quebec. A few forts were held beyond to preserve the communication with the west, but there was practically no French population west of the Ottawa river. After the conquest. General Amhe rst was the nominal Governor-in-Chief, but the government was administered by three Lieutenant-Governors, Murray, Gag e, and Burton, at Quebec. Montreal, and Three Rivers. French-Canadian historians in the first half of the nineteenth century sought to find proofs of injustice in the annals of this [)eriod of arbitrary rule, but impartial inquirers have recognized the justice of the claim advanced by Gage in a letter to Amherst , in 1762.' 'I feel the highest satisfaction that I am able to inform you that during my command in this Government I have made it my constant care and attention that the * Report of March ao. Period of military rule. BRITISH RULE TO THE QUEBEC ACT 3 Canadians should be treated agreeable to his Majesty's kind and humane intentions. No invasion on their properties or insult on their persons have gone unpunished ; all reproaches on their subjection by the fate of arms, revilings on their customs or country, and all reflections on their religion have been discountenanced and forbid. No distinction has been made betwixt the Briton and Canadian, but equally regarded as subjects of the same prince. The soldiers live peaceably with the inhabitants, and they reciprocally acquire an affection for each other.' The Canadian people, some sixty-five thousand in num- Character ber, made a very favourable impression on their first English ''J P^''P'^- rulers. They were a frugal, industrious, and moral ra.ce, _, jealous_of their religion. They were, however, very ignorant ; it had been the policy of the French Government to keep them so. Very few could read, and there had been no printing press in Canada before the British occupation. The gentry were for the most part poor and somewhat vain, holding trade in contempt. The common people stood in the relation of tenants to the seigniors, whom they were accustomed to respect and obey. Although the tenants did not hold by military service, their lords could call upon them for such in case of need. Thus lord and tenant had shared in common the dangers of the field, and the general calamities of their country had but served to increase their mutual affection. The influence of the clergy was still great, though after the conquest there appeared a tendency to avoid the payment of tithes. Writing some years later, a traveller described the common people as indolent and attached to ancient prejudices. Limiting their exertions to an acquisition of the necessaries of life, they neglected its conveniences. Indolence kept them poor, but, as their wants were few, they remained happy. He noted that their address to strangers was more polite and unembarrassed than that of any other peasantry in the world.' ' Travels through the Canadas, by G. Heriot. London, 1807. B 2 HISTORY OF CANADA Military rule and thcEuglish population. Treaty of Paris. Froilauit, tioM of Octohtr 7, Such being the material to deal with, the military rule which prevailed from the conquest till 1764 proved successful. The personal relations between rulers and ruled were very friendly, and the law administered was, in the main, the French Civil Law, In addition, however, to the French inhabitants there was a small English population which proved a continual thorn in the side of the British Governors. According to !\Iurra\- most of them were followers of the army, of mean education, or soldiers disbanded at the reduction of the troops. ' All have their fortunes to make, and, I fear, few of them are solicitous about the means when the end can be obtained.' By the Treaty of Paris, signed February 10, 1763, France, besides renouncing all pretensions to Nova Scotia or Acadia, ceded and guaranteed to Great Britain Canada with all its dependencies, including Cape Breton. The liberty of the Catholic religion was guaranteed to the people of Canada ; the undertaking being made that the most effectual orders would be given to secure to the new Roman Catholic subjects the exercise of their religion as far as the laws of Great Britain allowed. (It was afterwards pointed out by the shrewd Masere^ how equivocal was the above language.) It was held by some that the retention of Canada after the peace was from one point of view a mistake, in that it removed the one check to American aspirations after independence. But, unless the spirit of the British rule had been radically altered, it is very doubtful how long, even though Canada had remained French ihe permanence of British ascendancy over the American colonies could have been secured. It is possible that as these colonies grew in strength and population they might them- selves have conquered French Canada. The old colonial empire need not have been rendered much more permanent by a short-sighted policy which should have preferred Guade- loupe to Canada. The first act of the British Government after the peace was to issue a Proclamati o n, on October 'L, _i763. dividing the new BRITISH RULE TO THE QUEBEC ACT m u> f* < u. a < c o X z < 31 (0 E n o z o u 6 IIISTORY OF CANADA American acquisitions into four separate and distinct provinces, Quebec, East Florida, West Florida, and, in the West Indies, Grenada. The province of Quebec was bounded on the Labrador coast by the river St. John. From thence the boundary ran from a line drawn from the head of that river through Lake St. John to the south end of Lake Nipissing. The boundary from this point, crossing the river St. Lawrence and the Lake Champlain in forty- five degrees of north latitude, passed along the high lands which divided the rivers that fell into the St. Lawrence from those that fell into the sea. Thence it passed along the north coast of the Bay des Chaleurs and the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Cape Rosiers. From thence it crossed to the north side of the river St. Lawrence by the west end of the island of Anticosti and again met the river St. John. Already at this ti me t he Secretary of State, Lord Egremont, was in favour of including within the li^ itp ^f Tnnadn \hp Tridj^n reserves to the wes t o j the American provinces, but the Board of Trade, under Lord Hillsborough, made strong objections, and Egremont's successor, Lord Halifax, deferred to their representations. Questicti of The Governors of the new colonies were given power and Asu'iu/>lv t^irection, as soon as circumstances would admit, to summon General Assemblies similar to those existing in the American colonies. Meanwhile all persons dwelling in or resorting to the new colonies were promised the enjoyment of the benefit of the laws of England. The promise was made of the establishment of regular Courts of Judicature, in which causes both civil and criminal might be determined according to law and equity, and, so far as possible, to the laws of England. The announcement of the intention to call a Gene ral Assem bly wa s exp ressly m ade on the ground that if wnn id give confidence and encouragement to people to settlg in C anada^ But the task of giving effect to such promise proved very difficult. Murray, who had been left in command of Quebec after its surrender, was formally appointed BRITISH RULE TO THE QUEBEC ACT 7 Governor of the new pronnce in November 1 763. Murray, Murray's as has been shown, was verv hostile 10 ihe Bridsh settlers. '^p"'f!'/'f ^Magistrates, he complained, had to be appointed and juries settlers. ^^^i^abe composed 'from four hundred and fifty contemptible swlers and traders'.^ Nothing, he asserted, would content the i Miceniious fanatics " trading in Canada but the expulsion of ,the Canadians.- Such men were little calculated to make the . new subjects enamoured with English laws, religion, or customs, much less to be raised to the position of rulers. The Canadian noblesse, Murray asserted, were hated because their birth and behaviour entitled them to respect, and the peasants were abhorred because they had been saved from the oppression they had been threatened with. Murray, against whom complaints had been made to the home Government by the British section of the population, gloried in having been accused of warmth and firmness in protecting the Crown's Canadian subjects, and in doing the utmost in his power to gain to the King the affections of that brave and hardy people.^ ^Murray was further troubled by the conduct of his subor- Murray s dinate Burton, who, on Ga^e becoming Commander-in-Chief at '-^'" ''If ' = ° ana recoil. New York, had been moved to Montreal, and, on the ground -i__ of his mihtary rank, questioned Murray's authority. Disputes between the soldiers and the English residents at Montreal were fermented by one Walker, whom Benjamin Franklin some years later recognized as having, along with his wife, an ex- cellent talent in making themselves enemies, ' . . . live where they will, they will never be long without them.' The treatment of Walker by some of the ofiicers and the subsequent legal proceedings bulk large in the ofiRcial records; undoubtedly they caused much worry to the British Governor. Murray, who rightly or wrongly had given great offence to the English, was recalled in 1766; but fortunately his successor. Guy Carleton, proved equally acceptable to the French inhabitants. ^ Letter to Lord Shelbnme , of August 20, 1766. * Report to Board of Trade, of October 29. 1764. ^ Letter of August 20, 1 766. 8 HISTORY OF CANADA Uncer- tain fy of siluatio.t. Slat IIS of Roman Catholic Chiit(h. Excellent as had been botli the intentions and the practice of the British administrators, a note of uncertainty still prevailed with regard to the future of Canada. Apart from the question of the establishment of a popular Assembly, which remained in abeyance in spite of the opinion of the Board of Trade in 1765 (September 2) that such an Assembly might be con- stituted, the electors to be Roman Catholics and the repre- sentatives Protestants, two questions above all called for settlement; the question of the future status in the colony of the Catholic Church, and that of the law which should be administered. With regard to the first, the liberty to practise their religion had been given to the Canadians both at the time of the capitulations of Quebec and Montreal, and again by the final treaty of peace. Nothing, however, had been said with regard to what provision would be made for the Roman Catholic religion in the future. Would the English tolerate the institution of a Catholic bishop, and if not, how was the continuity of the priesthood to be secured } The British Government was unwilling to have the matter discussed in Parliament, and preferred to give an informal recognition to IMonscigneur Briand, who had been consecrated Bishop of Quebec in Paris in March, 1766. The position of the Roman Catholic Church was not settled till the Quebec Act, under which the clergy of that Church were to hold, receive, and enjoy their accustomed dues and rights, exemption being given from such payments to those who were not Roman Catholics. of The question of the form of law to be administered in Canada was one of great diflkulty. Three courses were possible. The English law might have been substituted in its entirely for the French. The French law might have been restored throughout ; or, lastly, a fusion might have been made of all that was best in either system. At first the inte ntion appeared to be to adopt iht;' first rnnr t;p.' The Pro- ' O r.linnncc of Sc-ptoml.cr^j^i 76 4. Cv^.^Jc>\l^ \j^ BRITISH RULE TO THE QUEBEC ACT g clamation of 1763 gpgrnpfj ^I\Ioreover, the ii tention had been to secure by this means atr Tmmigration of ' Kcpoil of June 10, 17O9. BRITISH RULE TO THE QUEBEC ACT II English settlers from England and the American provinces; but such immigration showed no signs of taking place. In any case the difficulties in the way were great^)To_pui_Roman Catholics and Protest ants on an equal footing w as to run c ounte r to the religious pre judices of two cen turies. But \{ Attitude of the English Acts against Catholics were to apply, the result jni^ority. would ensure that a minority of some four hundred would lord it over a population of some seventy thousand. The En glish settlers, accustomed to the view that Irish Catholics st ood on the footing of negroes, had at first no misgivings. Th p petition, whi ch demanded Murray's recall, claimed the establishment of an Assembly 'as in the other provinces^ th ere b eing a number more than sufficient of loyal and well-aflferfe d Protestants ... to form the House '. Wi th grea t condescen- sionj he new subjects were to be allowed to eJ ectJProtpsfantg ' without binTlpning_ Lhpm vt^iih such oaths as in their prese nt mode of ^thi nking they cannot conscientiously tak e '. The popularity of Carleton for a time kept in check the demand for an Assembly, but, in 1773, when he was in England, the question again came to the fore. This time an attempt was made to secure the adhesion to the movement of the French Canadians. In consequence the Protestant character of the Assembly was no longer insisted upon. The vague demand was made that the Assembly should be constituted ' as to your majesty in your royal wisdom shall seem best adapted to secure its peace, welfare, and good government'. The French Canadians, however, were distrustful of their new friends, and, with few exceptions, stood aloof from the movement. Carleton, who distrusted the English settlers and desired Coimcil that the French Canadians should be dealt with according to ^plJ^ecAct. their own notions, brought the weight of his influence to bear in favour of the solution given by the Quebec Act. Under this, it being ' at present inexpedient to call an Assembly ', a Council was constituted for the affairs of the province, to la HISTORY OF CAXADA consist of not more than twenty-tjire e nor les^jha n seven teen members; such Council to have the power to make ordinances for the province. This power, however, di djiot extend to the levying of taxes or duties, except of such joca[ rates as were required for~purely local purposes. No ordinance touching religion, or which constituted a greater punislmicnt than fine or three months' imprisonment, might take effect until it had received the sanction of the home authorities. Case for The provisions of the Quebec Act were considered in the Quebec Act. \,;,-)(.rican colonies to be part of a deep-laid scheme against popular liberties, and this view has received some counten- ance from later American historians. It must be confessed that in 1774 the British Government did not regard with much favour popular Assemblies ; and there was a natural inclination to prefer the simple, primitive, new subjects to the self-assertive and critical colonials. Still, there is ample evidence to show that the Act was really considered from the point of view of Canadian interests, nor from such stand- point should it be harshly criticized. It was indeed after- wards maintained that the Act was a political mistake in that it stereotyped the French nationality. It is possible that at this early date something might have been done in the way of anglicizing the people by means of free education taught by English Roman Catholics. But with the experience of the past behind us we may say that attempts at eradicating the French nationality would probably have failed, in which case the political disaffection of subsequent years would have taken a more dangerous character and caused the estrangement of the clergy and the upper classes no less than of the common people. Be t his as it may, the numornu t; Hrafu: of the B ill wh jch have come down to us show that its clauses were th e su bject of anxious consideration and t hought. Ol'jef- firantcd that prima facie representative government is Assembly. ^ blessing, politicarphiTosophy has taught us that institutions BRITISH RULE TO THE QUEBEC JCT 1 3 are not good or bad in the abstract, but that their goodness or badness depends upon, and can only be judged by, the circumstances in which they are found. Ajo;called^_popular- Assembl y in 177 4 would either have supplied an exaggerated edition of the state of things which came about after more than twenty years' apprenticeship in the art of government, or else it would have meant the dominance of a narrow, Protestant minority, as hostile to the real interests of their fellow subjects as they were prejudiced against the British Government. Upon another ground, however, the provisions of the Act were open to serious criticism. In spite of the protest of Lord Hillsborough, who took up the same line which he had successfully adopted when President of the Board of Trade, the British Ministry determined to include within the limits of Quebec the whole country to the west- ward. The original intention had been to place the whole western country under one general control and government by Act of Parliament ; but nothing had been done in this direction. It was affirmed that the trade and prosperity of Quebec had suflfered from the separation of the upper Indian trading-posts, which were a survival of the French regime, of Lake Champlain and the coast of Labrador from Canada. American In the Quebec Act the whole derelict country to the west was included placed under the government of Quebec with the avowed in Quebec purpose of excluding all further settlement there, and of establishing uniform regulations for the Indian trade. Under the Proclamation of 1763 an honest attempt had been made to safeguard the interests of the Indians. Stricter regulations were made to secure to them their reserves. Not only was settlement therein strictly forbidden, but all persons who had, wilfully or inadvertently, seated themselves in such reserves were required forthwith to depart. The prohibited country included all lands beyond the heads or sources of any of the rivers which fell into the Atlantic Ocean, from the west or north-west. No purchase of lands from Indians would be 14 ni STORY OF CANADA BRITISH RULE TO THE QUEBEC ACT 15 recognized unless made by the provincial Governor himself at a public assembly of the Indians. The terms of the Pro- clamation only carried out undertakings which had been made with the Indians by the Treaty of Easton in i758j_ujider which Great Britain engaged^ that rib settlements should be made in the lands beyond the Alleghany IMountains. On moral and legal grounds, then, the policy might be defended, but it was one impossible to enforce. Already there was beginning that natural expansion which in time was to people the continent as far as the Pacific. The _decision to depri ve the col onies of their natural hinterlands and to confine the m w ithin definite boundaries called fnrlh a Inrrenl nf indio natinn , The boundary of Quebec, as defined by the Act, ran along jsr^.^ the eastern and south-eastern bank of Lake Erie. It followed boundary this bank to a point where it should be intersected by the northern boundary granted by the Charter of Pennsylvania. From thence it followed this northern and north-western boundary till it struck the river Ohio. In case such inter- section was found not to take place, then the boundary followed the bank already mentioned till it arrived at the point which should be nearest to the north-west angle of the province of Pennsylvania. Having reached this point the boundary ran by a direct line to this angle, and thence along the western boundary of Pennsylvania till it struck the Ohio. Thence it ran along the bank of the Ohio westward to the Mississippi, and northward to the southern boundary of the territory of the Hudson's Bay Company. LabradaLii'^ —at the same time reunited to Canada. The mother-country had poured forth blood and treasure in the winning of the new territory, and so far as the Indian war of Pontiac (1763-5) was concerned, the co-operation of the colonists had been of little value. A new English province might have been carved out in the west without giving much ground, for moral objection, though the practical difficulties in the way would almost certainly have proved insuperable. The attempt, 1 6 HISTORY OF CANADA however, to close the natural expansion'ground of the old colonies by attaching it to a province, which was both French and Roman Catholic, was practically just as hopeless, while on sentimental grounds it was much more objectionable. Character ]\Ioreover the Government of Quebec had enough to do ^/^.^'/'■^^' in minding its own business. Painstaking and deliberate as officials. ° ° had been\ upon the whole, the action of the British home Government, it was not sufficiently careful in choosing the instruments of authority. Murray complained bitterly to Shelburne, in August, 1766, of the character of the officials sent out. According to him, the judge pitched upon to conciliate the minds of seventy-five thousand foreigners to the laws and government of Great Britain had just emerged from a debtors' prison. He was entirely ignorant of the civil law and of the French language. Important offices were freely granted to men of influence in England, who let them out to the best bidders, regardless of the fact whether or not they knew a word of French. As no salary was annexed to these offices their value depended on fees, the amount of which was regu- lated by those prevailing in the richest colonies. It would certainly seem that grave abuses in the administration of the law arose from the conduct of the English magistrates. It had become the practice for blank forms signed by magis- trates to be placed in the hands of bailiffs to be filled up as occasion might require. The Bench was largely made up of men who had failed in business and who repaired their broken fortunes at the expense of the people. To remedy this grievance Carleton enacted an ordinance in 1770 which took a wa^ the power of the magistrates in cases^affecting propen^ Suits for small sums were from this time heard in the Court of Common Pleas, and an independent Court was set on foot at Mo ntrea l. This measure was greatly resented"by those whom "Carleton described as 'cantonning upon the country and riding ihe people with despotic sway '. These men turned to iheir own profit the fines which they imposed, and in a BRITISH RULE TO THE QUEBEC ACT 1 7 manner looked upon themselves as the legislators of the province. Again and again Carleton warned the home Carietojis Government of the perilous nature of the situation. Why, he '^^''"''^.'^^ '^ ■'to Brtlts/i asked bitterly, in November, 1767, should the French seigniors Govern- be ' active in the defence of a people that has deprived them ^"^'^^■ of their honours, privileges, profits, and laws, and in their stead have introduced much expense, chichanery and confusion, with a deluge of new laws unknown and unpublished '. ' We have done nothing,' he wrote in the following year, ' to gain one man in the province by making it his private interest to remain the King's subject.' The Secretary of State recognized ' both the propriety and necessity of extending to that brave and faithful people a reasonable participation in those establishments which are to form the basis of the future government of Quebec ', but English prejudice forbade that the most practical of Carleton's suggestions should be followed and commissions in the army be given to the French Canadians. The Quebec Act remedied certain religious and legal grievances, but it by no means supplied a solution to all the problems of government. Authorities The State Papers between 1761 and 1790 are calendared in Brymner's Canadian Report on the Canadiati Archives, 1889. Archives. Documents relating to the Constitutional History of Canada, I759~ 91, edited by A. Shortt and A. G. Doughty, the Dominion Archivist, 1907, form an invaluable collection of historical material admirably edited. Murray's Report of August 20, 1766, is set out in Kingsford's History of Canada, vol. v, p. 188. The best authority on the period of military rule is R^gne militaire au Canada . . . dn 8 septembre 1760 an 10 aoht 1764. Mhnoire de la Soci^td historiqnc dn Monti-^al, Montreal, 1872. On the views of the English minority consult the works of F. Maseres. Among them are : Account of the Proceedings of the British and other Protestant In- habitants of the Province of Quebec . . . in order to obtain a House of Assembly. London, 1775. VOL. V. PT. II C 1 8 HISTORY OF CANADA Additional Papers concerning . . . Quebec. London, 1776. Canadian Freeholder ; . . . Dialogues beliveen an Englishman and a Frenclmian. London, 1777-79. 3 vols. On the \\'.ilker affair, General Murray's recall, and French noblesse in Canada after 1 760, consult the Report concerning Canadian Archives for 18SS. The Quebec Act is juinted with notes in Doctimcnts illustrative of the Canadian Constitution, edited by W. Houston. Toronto, 1891. Sir II. Cavendisli's Debates of the House of Commons on Bill for making more effectual Provision for the Government of Quebec, London, 1839, '^ ^ scarce book, but extracts are given in Canadian Constitutional Development, edited by H. E. Egerton and \V. L. Grant. London, 1907, The introductory chapter of Christie's History of Loiver Canada from 1792 to the Union has extracts from opinions of Thurlow and ^^'edder- burn, which were not found elsewhere till reprinted by Shortt and Douglity, op. cit. The original reports are missing. Cienerally for this and the following chapters till the Union Kingsford's elaborate History of Canada, in 10 vols., of which more than five are taken up with the English rt^gime, contains a mass of information, not very clearly arranged, and sometimes not altogether accurate in matters of detail. Histoire du Canada, par F. X. (iarneau, Montreal, 1882, vol. iii, Book xi, ch. i, deals with the subject of this chapter. Gameau is eloquent and trustworthy as to facts, but writes with strong anti-English bias. CHAPTER II THE AMEKICAN INVASION AND BOUNDARY QUESTION Before the Quebec Act could be given a fair trial, and American when Carleton was hardly again in touch with Canadian ^"^^"^" °-' affairs after his long stay in England, the crisis occurred which strained to the breaking-point the colonial connexion. The American colonists were naturally anxious that the Canadian people should throw in their lot with the other colonists, and with this object an address was sent in October, 1774, from the_General Co ngress at Philadelphia fo^ the inhabitants of Quebec. Although in its elaborate references" to Beccaria and INIontesquieu, this document seems hardly suited to the taste of the illiterate French Canadians, it is reported to have created no little impression. It must be remembered that, inasmuch as the English minority were for the most part in sympathy with the Americans, Congress was kept fully informed concerning Canadian affairs. Carleton was in no fool's paradise, but he was helpless to mend matters. As early as 1767 he had urged that Jiconderoga, C rown Point, a nd Fort Geor ge on Lake Champlain should be held by adequat e forces, but his advice "Hiad been disregarded. Thus when Tico nderoga and Crowq Point were attacked in May, 1 775, they fell an easy p rey to _ Vermont irregula rs unde r Et han Allen. _ On hearing the Truwb Carneton "atonce dispatched all the available troops to St. John's, which stood on the Richelieu above Lake Champlain. The French Canadians, with the exception of the nobility, who both fought for the government and endeavoured to influence their tenants, showed great reluc- c 2 20 HISTORY OF CANADA tance to take up arms. When Carleton issued a Proclama- tion requiring the seigniors to enroll their dependants into companies the seigniors readily obeyed, but the habitants refused to budge. They alleged that their obligation to do military service had ceased with the cession of the colony. It_appea*s4]iatnotmore than a few hundred militia men were enrolled in all the seigniories. ~^Buf while the Canadians generally rerused~TO""^upport fHe Government, Desperate some joined the ranks of the enemy. With no British troops Ca7-Uton! available, unable to count upon the Canadian Militia, the Governor's position was indeed desperate. None the less he wrote home cheerfully that the importance of the province would make him obstinate in its defence. Canada was an excellent basis for operations, and reinforcements of some ten thousand men collected there in the spring might be a decisive factor in the issue of events. Meanwhile, not content with leaving Canada defenceless, the home authorities were enjoining Carleton to raise three thousand men to act in support of General Gage, the British Commander-in-Chief; and a litUe later the number had risen to six thousand. Carle- ton in his need applied to Gage for two regiments. Gage was willing to send them, but Admiral Graves refused the necessary transport on the ground thai the passage from Boston to Quebec was too dangerous to be attempted in October, The Covti- The Continental Congress had been in doubt how to deal jtattal ^^.j^j^ Canada. General Philip Schuyler, one of the delegates Congress r ^ ' o and from New York, was directed, on June 27, 1775, to repair Canada. ^^ Ticonderoga and Crown Point to obtain intelligence of the disposition of the Canadians. If he found it practicable, and that it would not be disagreeable to the Canadians, he was instructed to take possession of St. John's, Montreal, and any other part of the country. It was generally recognized that if the Canadians were averse to the expedition, and unwilling to co-operate, there was little chance of success. Washington wrote to Arnold that in no circumstances were AMERICAN INVASION AND BOUNDARY QUESTION 21 the Canadians to be irritated. At worst they were now Ameiuan neutral; they might be made hostile. The news from Canada ^"^^■^""'• appearing favourable, it was decided to advance against Montreal and Quebec. The invasion was made from two points. The main body under General Montgomery, who took the command upon the illness of Schuyler, advanced up Lake Champlain and the course of the Richelieu river. The second force under Arnold, whose subsequent treachery is familiar, moved up the Kennebec from Connecticut. The Americans had greatly underrated the resisting power of St. John's. The siege by Montgomery's forces lasted from September 8 to November 3, and very probably, but for the surrender o f Chambly, IVIajor Preston, who was in com- mand, would have held out till the winter weather caused the abandonment of the siege. Captain Stopford at Chambly omitted to throw his guns and ammunition into the rapids above the fort before surrendering; and on the obtaining by the Americans of these guns and ammunition, further resistance at St. John's became hopeless. The surrender of this fort opened the road to Montreal. There were no British troops there, and the Militia had been sent home. The loyalists felt the disgrace of yielding without resistance, but with numbers of the inhabitants disaffected resistance was out of the question. The Congress troops took possession of Montreal on November 13, Montgomery making it his head quarters till the end of the month. Meanwhile Arnold had advanced from Connecticut along the track made in 1761 by a British officer. Starting from Cambridge on September 1 1 he ascended the Kennebec and its tributary, the Dead River. Having crossed the highlands, he passed through Lake Megantic and along the Chaudiere river, and on November 8 arrived at Point Levi opposite Quebec. Carleton arrived at Quebec on November 19, after running great risks of being taken, and decided to defend it to the last. Pie immediately removed from the city the 22 HISTORY OF CANADA Siege of sympathizers with the invaders whose views were known. ^ '• Montgomery's army arrived at Ste. Foy on December 5, when they were joined by Arnold's contingent. The Americans were deficient in artillery, so that it was necessary to take the town by assault; but, considering the weakness of the garrison, this seemed no very difficult task. The night of December 31 was fixed upon for a simultaneous attack by Montgomery's and Arnold's forces. The attack was made, but at the very beginning of the operations Montgomery was shot dead. In spite of their leader, Arnold, being wounded, the second division carried the first barricade at Sault-au- Matelot, but on attempting the second found themselves outnumbered, and were compelled to surrender. The com- plete failure of the combined attack made the Congress troops unwilling to attempt another assault, and from this time the siege resolved itself into a wearisome blockade. Carleton was blamed for his caution in not attempting reprisals, but the forces at his command were wholly insuffi- cient for offensive operations. He knew that time was on his side, and that, with the coming of spring, relief would arrive from England. Early in May the long-expected reinforce- ments arrived, and the Congress troops under General \\'ooster, who had succeeded Montgomery, retired in such confusion as to leave behind their cannon, ammunition, Offciishc stores, baggage and papers. Even when Carleton had Carleton. i^ufficient troops to assume the offensive, he was hindered by the absence of the means of transport. The Americans had cither taken or burned the boats at St. John's and Chambly, and Carleton was without the means of descending Lake Champlain. Boats had, therefore, to be hastily built. By the beginning of October this work was finished, and the American fleet was attacked and practically annihilated. Crown Point was occupied by the British, but afterwards abandoned as the lateness of the season prevented further operations againtt Ticondcroga. The Secretary of State for AMERICAN INVASION AND BOUNDARY QUESTION 23 American Affairs, Lord George Germaine, who was Carleton's Gamaiue and Ca> leloii. enemy, blamed him for not pushing forward against Ticon deroga, and sought to saddle him with the consequences of the subsequent defeat, on IMarch 26, 1777, of the German auxiliary troops at Trenton upon the Delaware, three hundred miles to the south. Germaine appointed to the command of the expedition which was directed to operate from the north against the American colonies General Burgoyne, a clever politician and liltdrateur, but who, whether or not a capable general, was unable to accomplish the impossible. Carleton was directed to confine himself strictly to Canadian affairs. He wrote back a dignified protest, but did not finally send in his resignation till the following June. It is unnecessary in a history of Canada to dwell upon the dreary page which closed with the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga on Ortoher t6, T777- The gallantry and superficial brilliance of Burgoyne could not redeem the fundamental error of the whole expedition. Carleton and Burgoyne also, had originally contemplated an advance upon Connecticut. The expedition down the Hudson required for its success the co-operation of an army from the south. At the critical moment Howe was occupied elsewhere, Germaine having failed to bring home to him the urgent necessity of such co-operation. Germaine, as though another Pitt, presumed to dictate the strategy of distant campaigns, but he was without either the genius or the industry which alone could justify such presumption. But though the full measure of Germaine's failure as Colonial Secretary does not directly concern Canadian history, his treatment of Carleton was not without its sinister influence. Throughout the last years of the war Canada must have shown herself defenceless against an American invasion. Happily for Great Britain, the jealousy entertained by the Americans of their French allies caused them to leave Canada alone. They did not desire to end Britibh rule in North America only to call into 24 HISTORY OF CANADA fresh life the power from which in the past they had suffered so severely. The failure of Burgoyne's expedition involved the retirement from Lake Champlain, and Ticonderoga, which had been again occupied in the spring of 1777, was abandoned. While foreign affairs were thus unfortunate, the Governor found himself thwarted in the management of domestic con- cerns. The Quebec Act revoked all commissions to judges and other officials. The intention had been merely to give the Government power to deal with the case of absentees. Carleton himself treated no place as vacant * except when the former occupier did not think it worth his w^hile to remain in the province to attend to his duty '. The letter of the clause, however, was made the means by which capable officials were superseded by nominees of the home Govein- ment. Lord George Germaine was able at the same time to gratify his jobbing instincts and his keen dislike of the Governor. Carleton fiercely resented this behaviour. ' I am at a loss to know ', he wrote, on hearing that the acting Attorney- General and Judge of the Common Pleas at Montreal had been superseded, 'after the fate of these gentlemen, how I can even talk of rewarding those who have preserved their loyalty, without the appearance of mockery.' The appointment of one Livius as Chief jubtice, in 1776, who, according to Carleton, understood neither the laws, manners, customs, nor the language of the Canadian people, evoked from him an indignant protest. On June 26, 1777, he sent in his resignation on the ground that Germaine and he could not act together, and that it was not right that the private enmity of the King's servants should add to the disturbance of his reign. In the circumstances of the province it was necessary that the Governor should remain on the spot till the arrival of his successor, and it was not till the June of the following year that Carleton took his departure. He and Livius were soon in hot contention. AMERICAN LXyASION AND BOUNDARY QUESTION 25 The salaries of the judges had been materially increased in Attitude of 1770 so as to check the abuse of high fees. At the same C^>'^^^°^'- time no regulations had been made, and the judges were a law to themselves. An ordinance prepared by Carleton to remedy this evil was opposed by Livius and other members of the Council. The Chief Justice appeared to the Governor ' greedy of power and miore greedy of gain, . . . learned in the ways and eloquence of the New England Provinces, valuing himself on his knowledge how to manage Governors '. The Governor, having no hope that the proposed measure would be carried, prorogued the Council and dismissed Livius, thereby intimidating his associates on the Council. Carleton believed that with his departure Lord George Germaine might adopt a different policy. Otherwise, if the power of the Crown within the province were to be trampled down to exalt the sway of inferior servants and scribblers ; if, in neglect of old and faithful servants, all places were to be at the disposition, like so much private property, of the Minister's friends and followers ; if the rapine and dirt of office were to find no restraint, — then there would soon appear among both troops and people faction and sedition, instead of obedience and tranquillity, and Canada would run head- long into the same disorders as its neighbours had ex- perienced, with no less hurt to the interests of Great Britain. Although Germaine had prevailed so far as to oust Carle- ton, the latter still stood high in the King's favour. He had been made a K.B. in 1776, and now received a sinecure appointment. Livius had also returned to England to appeal Appeal by to the Privy Council against his dismissal from the Council. '^*^"<-^' Carleton refused to give evidence and merely referred to his dispatches, so that the judgement went not unnaturally in favour of Livius. There did not appear to be good or sufficient cause for his removal. On a second point the Privy Council gave a decision which was unfortunate for the future of Canada. Carleton had claimed to consult an 26 HISTORY OF CANADA Refusal of inner circle of the Council, thus, in cfiect, obtaining the f/i'vy advantage of a coherent Cabinet: the Privy Co uncil n ow Council , ». r to recognize decided that all members of the Executive Coun cil stood on a Cabinet. aTooTIri5:-t»f-equaliTyrand that all the business of the Council sKoul3"'^'execufed^by tKaFbody as a whole. l'his~waslhe slovenly and inefficient system, whiclTTeceived, fifty years later, the scathing condemnation of Lord Durham. Livius remained in England, receiving for another eight years the salary of Chief Justice. When asked to resume his duties, the astute patriot replied in 1782 that perhaps it was safer for the Government that he was away, as, if he were present in Canada, his duty would compel him to oppose Haldi- mand's arbitrary proceedings. The art of the patriot and the blackmailer could not be more happily blended ! The narrow but honest and kindly character of the new Governor, Sir Frederick Haldimand, who arrived at Quebec in June, 1778, is well known from the pages of the Diary Fosiiion of of his last }-ears which has been preserved. Throughout he mami ^^ ^^^" '^^ conscicntious and scrupulous, but jealous and narrow-minded. Haldimand was a Swiss Protestant who had done good service in the British army. At his coming the times were difficult, as another invasion appeared prob- able. Haldimand recognized to the full the weakness of his position and the slender trust that could be placed in the Canadian subjects. He has been accused of harshness in imprisoning suspected persons, but the publication of the Canadian archives has thrown such doubts on the assertions of his chief accuser, one Du Calvet, that these accusations may now be disregarded. It must be remembered that a new dan ger had arisen from the co-operatloTTofTlie FrencTi with the American coloincs. ^TrrTTTTT^i'-' clergy'^had re- irmly Icjyal aruTliad exerted their powerful influence mamc'c in support of Great Britain, but in 1781 we find Haldimand writing that many of the priests had changed their opinions and could no longer be counted upon to support the Government. AMERICAN INVASION AND BOUNDARY QUESTION 27 Such danger was short-lived, and the surrender of Corn- Injluence wallis at Yorktown in 1781 marked the virtual closins? q[°'^C^"(^'^,'^ ' _ ° of Anieri- the struggle between Great Britain and the American colonies, can inde- The birth of a great world-state upon her borders was -** '^"^'■' an event which influenced profoundly the whole future of British Canada. It decided for many generations, at least, the whole course of Canadian history. With the United States at hand ready to absorb her, Canada was compelled either to yield to that influence or to throw in her lot whole- heartedly with that empire which alone for the time could supply her with a counteracting force. Moreover, the rise of the United States directly caused the setdement of Upper Canada, thus securing a new starting-point for British energies, whence in the fullness of time a new British America should develop, more powerful than were the American Provinces for many years after the gaining of independence. Henceforth, now by attraction, and now by repulsion, the fortunes of Canada and the United States were closely inter- laced, and every student of Canadian history should make himself also familiar with the history of the great Republic. Assuming a knowledge of the general history, it is only Peace of necessary to lay stress here on the points of the Peace of ^fo '■*' Paris which affected Canada. It must be confessed that neither Lord Shelburne nor his creature, Oswald, in the first negotiations for peace showed much concern for the interests of Canada. Moreover, in the apparent overthrow of her continental colonial empire, Great Britain may be pardoned if, at the moment, she paid little heed to the rift in the black clouds, which in time was to bring the promise and the fulfilment of a better day. Fortunately there were stouter statesmen and negotiators Defini- than Shelburne and Oswald, and under the treaty, when finally ^'"/^^^^j,./^^ signed, Canada remained British. The attempt to define its boundaries became the prolific cause of future controversies. The starling-point of the northern boundary line was 28 HISTORY OF CANADA est ' the north-west angle of Nova Scotia ', and this angle was arrived at by drawing a line due north of the source of the St. Croix river to the highlands. The boundary ran along these highlands, which divided the rivers that emptied them- selves into the St. Lawrence from those which fell into the Atlantic Ocean, as far as the north-westernmost head of the Connecticut river. The eastern boundary was a line to be drawn along the middle of the St. Croix river from its mouth in the Bay of Fundy to its source, and from its source directly north to the aforesaid highlands. In the absence of accurate geographical knowledge, it was most dangerous to attempt such elaborate description. The maps of the time were extremely incorrect, so that, when it became necessary to mark out on the spot, the lines traced by treaty-makers on maps, hopeless confusion resulted. In the old days when France had been in possession of Acadia, it had proved impossible to agree upon the boundary between the French and British possessions, and when the country became wholly British, the exact limits of the different provinces were a matter of no great urgency. The problem of more than a hundred years had now to be solved in a hurry and in a foreign city. Is it wonderful that the result was con- fusion.'' In the first place, what was meant by the St. Croix river? It was common ground that the St. Croix had been recognized as the boundary as early as the grant to Sir \\'illiuni Alexander in 1621, and in 1763 the commission of the Governor of Nova Scotia placed the boundary at that river. But, this being granted, three rivers at least which fell into Passamaquoddy Bay claimed to be the St. Croix of history. Under Jay's treaty of 1794 the decision of the question was left lo a joint British and American Commission, the members of which arrived in 1798 at the unanimous conclusion that the river intended must be that which was at the time known as the Scoodic, but which they identified with the St. Croix of Champlain. The Scoodic, however, had two branches, the AMERICAN INVASION AND BOUNDARY QUESTION 29 western, known as the Scoodic, and the eastern, known as Eastern the Chiputneticook. At first the majority of the ^ova- '[^'"J^jIc"^ missioners were in favour of choosing the western branch, but differed as to what constituted its source. In this state of things a compromise was arrived at, under which the eastern branch was chosen to its extreme source. It has been contended by a writer who has devoted great learning and abiHty to the subject that the conclusion arrived at was right. Both on historical grounds, from the wording of the ancient grants, and on grounds of convenience the Chiput- neticook appears best to answer the requirements. The object appeared to be to obtain a river boundary running as far inland and northward towards the St. Lawrence or its watershed as possible. So much was settled, but difficult questions still remained for solution. The source of the St. Croix being found, the boundary ran due north and then along the highlands to the north-westernmost head of the Connecticut river. Great confusion arose with GeograpM- regard to ' the north-west angle ' as defined above. In ifg/^""^"' fact, a line drawn due north from the source of the St. Croix does not reach any highlands dividing rivers which flow into the St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic, unless by Atlantic be meant the Bay of Chaleurs. A refer- ence to Mitchell's map of 1755 will show that it was faulty geography which caused the confusion. In this geographical chaos we cannot reject the clues which the old history affords. The intention, however mistaken and lamentable in its re- sults, would seem to have been to define the already existing boundary between Nova Scotia and Massachusetts. It must have been by design that the description of the highlands followed the exact wording of both the Proclamation of 1763 and the Quebec Act of 1774. The treaty of 1783 deliber- ately used the previous definitions of the western boundary of Nova Scotia and the southern boundary of Quebec. None the less were the consequences disastrous to British interests. 30 HISTORY OF CANADA According lo this view a portion of New England protruded, by which means Quebec and New Brunswick were cut asunder. So long as all the colonies were British, the Boundaries question of boundaries, from an imperial point of view, "colonies mattered little ; but, with the separation of the United States, it was a grave danger that the only practicable road from Nova Scotia to Quebec during the winter months (viz. that by the rivers St. John and Madawaska and Lake Temis- couata) should pass through foreign territory. We find Colonel Mann, an Engineer officer, writing in 1802 that, unless some arrangement could be made, the line to be run from the St. Croix to the highlands would cut off the direct communication between Canada and New Brunswick. Amongst a mass of evidence tending to show that the inconvenience of the boundary as defined in 1783 was long recognized by the British authorities, may be cited the resolu- tion of the New Brunswick Assembly in 1814, urging that the boundary should be readjusted, ' so that the important line of communication between this and the neighbouring province of Lower Canada by the river Si. John may not be interrupted.' The first advocate of the view that the highlands meant were the hills to the south known as INLars Hill was Carleton, who had now become Lord Dorchester. ' I understand,' he wrote on January 3, 1787, 'that the high land which runs to the great rapids (i.e. the Grand Falls) on the river St. John is the boundary, and separates Canada from New Brunswick and the New England provinces.' It is true that the immediate subject was the boundary between Canada and New Brunswick, but, as Dorchester recognized, ' the United States will naturally look upon the termination of our boundary as the commencement of theirs.' Under the Treaty of Ghent in 1814 it was provided that a Commission should be appointed to determine what was meant by ' the north-west angle ' of Nova Scotia. It was before this Commission that AMERICAN INVASION AND BOUNDARY QUESTION 31 the British contention with regard to the Mars Hill high land was first seriously put forward. No place literally fulfilled the conditions of the treaty. Hence the latter must be interpreted B>iiish by its intention. But the intention could not have been to ^S"^'^"^ • cut in twain two British colonies. Relying on this argument, the British Commissioner held that the point should be fixed at or near Mars Hill, at some 40 miles' distance from the source of the river St. Croix, and about 37 miles south of the river St. John. The American Commissioner, on the other hand, fixed the point at a place about 144 miles due north of the source of the St. Croix, and about 66 miles due north of the St. John ; so that agreement was further off than ever. Meanw^hile the necessity for some settlement was AWessHyof becoming increasingly urgent. Maine had taken a separate -' place as one of the United States in 1820, and henceforth put forward extreme pretensions with great vigour. The inhabitants of the Madawaska settlement, part of the territory in dispute, were included in the American official census. New Brunswick retaliated by vindicating its claims to the territory, including the Aroostook Valley. Much friction and collisions were the inevitable consequence. In 1827 the arrest of a Madawaska inhabitant by the New Brunswick authorities at one moment threatened war between the two nations. The question at issue was referred to the arbitration of the King of the Netherlands; but his decision, published in January, Decision of 1831, was held by the Americans to be outside the scope '^^ '!'/ '^"ff-^ the reference, and therefore invalid. He held that it was lands. impossible to give literal meaning to the language of the 1783 treaty, but that an equitable boundary would be a line drawn due north from the source of the St. Croix to a point where it intersected the middle of the channel of the St. John. From this point the boundary should follow the channel of the St. John till the point where the St. Francis fell into it. It should then follow the St. Francis till it reached the source of its south-westernmost branch. From this point the line 32 HISTORY OF CANADA should be drawn due west, till it united with the line claimed by the United States. Following this the point would be reached where the British and American lines coincided. The British Government was willing to accept the decision of the King of the Netherlands, but the Americans would have none of it. In 1833 a proposal made by the American Government that a new commission of survey should be set on foot freed from the restriction of following the line due north mentioned in the treaty, was rejected by Lord Palmer- ston on the ground that there was no evidence that the American Government was possessed of the necessary powers to carry the arrangement into effect. At length, in 1841, the American Secretary of State, Daniel Webster, proposed the settlement of the question by direct negotiation. Lord Ashhur/oj! Ashburton accordingly was sent out, and on August 9, 1842, jg^^-'' the signing of the Ashburton Treaty at last concluded the matter. Under this the line beginning at the source of the St. Croix river ran due north to its intersection with the St. John. Thence it ran up the main channel of that river to the mouth of the St. Francis. Following the middle of the channel of the St. Francis and of the lakes through which that river flows, it reached the outlet of the Lake Pohena- gamook, whence it ran south-west to the dividing highlands and the head of the Connecticut river to the 45° of north latitude. The Ashburton Treaty has been, and still is, severely criticized by Canadian writers, nor need we share the strong optimism of the writer of the article on INIaine in the Encyclopaedia Britannica of that day that the result was a British triumph. It was truly a lamentable conclusion that the Madawaska settlement should have to be cut asunder, so that a homogeneous population was divided between two rival Governments. At the same time, setting aside the gossip with regard to maps, it seems impossible to study carefully the evidence without arriving at the conclusion that the cause of trouble lay much further back than in any 34 HISTORY OF CANADA Apportion viettt of islands under treaty. Western boundary. weakness displayed by Lord Ashburton. Under the peculiar circumstances of the case it may well be contended that that settlement was at least as favourable to Great Britain as could have been expected. It is assuredly a suggestive fact that under the treaty Great Britain received territory to which neither Canada nor New Brunswick appeared able to put forward a valid claim. It was the good fortune, not the merit, of Great Britain that the intention to describe the old boun- daries between the old English colonies and the old French possessions was carried out in so clumsy and ambiguous a fashion as almost to necessitate a new conventional bourt- dary. At the time of the treaty of 1783 the United States would have stoutly refused to abandon anything which had ever belonged to INIassachusetts ; but if the territory was British, it must, unless it was included in Nova Scotia or Canada, have been at some time part of Massachusetts. In the apportionment of the Passamaquoddy Islands Great Britain was still more fortunate. Under the treaty of 1783 all islands within twenty leagues of any part of the shores of the United States were to belong to the States unless they were at the time, or had heretofore been, within the limits of Nova Scotia. The arbitrators under the Treaty of Ghent were on this branch of their work of one mind. Three islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy, Moose Island, Dudley Island, and Frederick Island, were assigned to the United States ; ahd the remaining islands in the Bay, to- gether with the island of Manan, which lay further out in the Bay of Fundy, were allotted to Great Britain. The result was that Great Britain lost three small islands to which her legal right seemed strong, and in return obtained Great Manan, her rights to which were doubtful. The boundary under the treaty of 1783 to the west beyond the north-westernmost head of Connecticut river ran along the middle of that river to the forty-fifth degree of north latitude until it struck the river Iroquois or Cataraqui. It AMERICA N INVA SION A ND BO UN DA R Y O UES 7 ION 35 ran thence along the middle of tliat river to Lake Ontario. Thence it passed through the middle of that lake till it struck the conimunication by water between Lakes Ontario and Erie. It followed this into Lake Erie and ran through the middle of that lake till it struck the water communi- cation between it and Lake Huron. Following this, it ran through the middle of Lake Huron till it reached the water communication between it and Lake Superior. Pass- ing this it ran through Lake Superior northward of the isles Royal and Philipeaux to the Long Lake. Passing through the middle of this lake it reached the water communication between it and the Lake of the Woods. Thence it ran through the latter to its most north-westernmost point, whence it took a due west course to the river Mississippi. It will be observed that under these provisions Great Britain had abandoned all claims to the western hinterlands of the American colonies which the Quebec Act had declared part of Canada. This decision was doubtless Vv'ise. This western territory was the natural ground for the expansion of the American States, and Great Britain had neither the population nor the force requisite to keep it British. An unfortunate attempt in 1780 to secure Vincennes, a post of importance on the river Wabash, for Great Britain showed the difficulties in the way of the assertion of British supremacy. Although the terms of the treaty did not, on this point, lead to dispute, none the less they dis- played the faulty geographical knowledge of the time. There is no one lake known as Long Lake; instead we find a suc- cession of small lakes between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods. Neither does a line drawn due west of the Lake of the Woods touch the river Mississippi, that river rising some way to the south. The mistake was soon after- wards discovered, and after some abortive negotiations it was at last agreed in 181 8 that a line drawn from the most north-western point of the Lake of the Woods along the forty- D 2 36 HISTORY OF CANADA ninth parallel of north latitude, or, if the said j)oint should not be in the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, then that a line drawn from the said point due north or south, as the case might be, until the said line should intersect the said parallel of north latitude, and from the point of such intersection due west along such parallel should be the boundary line between the two Powers from the Lake of the Woods to the Stoney Mountains. (At the time of the 1783 treaty the existence of the Rocky Mountains was only known by vague report.) The effect of making the north-west corner of the Lake of the Woods the starting-point was to wedge in a small portion of American Boundary territory between what was on both sides British. In the accepted by necrotiations at Paris Oswald had been willing to agree to Osivald. " .. c^ ^ . ,oT , a hue runnmg from St. Regis on the St. Lawrence to the south of Lake Nipissing and thence due west. Had this been fixed upon, the most valuable j)ortion of the future province of Ontario would have belonged to the United States. The future importance of this side of the country was at the time realized by no one, and the United Slates Commissioners did not insist upon the sacrifice. /■ishijig Under the Treaty of Paris the people of the United Slates rigJits were given equal right of fishing in British waters, though tieaty. they were not allowed to dry or cure their fish on New- foundland. Although the affairs of Newfoundland do not belong to this volume, mention may be made of the provision of the treaty with France relating to the Newfoundland fisheries. The French renounced the right of fishing and of drying their fish on the east coast between Cape Bona- vista and Cape St. John, and in return obtained these rights between Point Riche and Cape Ray in 47° 50' latitude, retaining their rights between Cape St. John and Point Riche. An undertaking, most prolific of future trouble and discontent, was given that no fixed settlements should be made by the inhabitants along this coast. This disability was not removed till ihe signing of the Anglo-French Agreement in 1904. AMERICAN INFASION AND BOUNDARY QUESTION 37 Under the treaty between Great Britain and the United Proz'isions States, creditors on either side were to meet with no lawful ^^ " r ' recovery of impediment to the recovery of their full value in sterling debfs under money of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted (Article IV) j ^It^^ and no future confiscations were to be made, nor any pro- secutions commenced against any one for the part he might have taken in the war. No person was to suffer any future loss or damage in person, liberty, or property for such conduct (Article VI). The language of these clauses is express, and contrasts with the language of Article V, which contents itself with undertaking that Congress should earnestly recommend to the local legislature the restitution of con- fiscated estates. In practice, however, Articles IV and VI remained as inoperaUve as Article V, and no attempt was made to conciliate the American loyalists. This harsh attitude on the part of the American people American was not without important results to Canada. An emigra- ^■^'^ ' tion of loyalists from the United States took place, which, while it added greatly to the power of Great Britain in America, also deprived the United States of a valuable conser- vative element, the lack of which was perhaps sometimes felt in the doings of the young republic. Socially and morally the emigrants were for the most part picked men, the choicest material with which to lay the foundations of a new people. At first the greater number of these American loyalists sought refuge in Nova Scotia. Over twenty-eight thousand had gone thither by 1784, causing the creation of the separate province of New Brunswick. Over three thousand went to Cape Breton Island, while about ten thousand went to Canada. Of these some thirteen hundred settled at Kingston, on the site of Fort Frontenac, founded by La Salle in 1673, forming the nucleus of the British province of Upper Canada. At first there existed two main drawbacks to Canada from the point of view of the American loyalists. Jean's, 38 HISTORY OF CANADA The French feudal system of land tenure, which was held to prevail throughout Canada, was altogether contrary to P2nglish notions on the subject. Moreover, the absence of popular government was resented by those who had been accustomed lo the full freedom of democratic popular as- semblies. A remedy would have to be found for these drawbacks if American immigration was to build up a new British Empire. T/ie There were other interests besides those of Great f, '"^"fi Britain and the United States which were concerned J'lraiy of with the terms of the Peace of 1783. The Indians bitterly resented the terms of the treaty. They had fought bravely by the side of the English, and felt natural resentment that no mention of them was made in the Peace. They claimed to have fought as allies and not subjects, and now they saw their lands coolly alienated. Apart from feelings of justice, the British authorities were anxious to retain the friendship of the Indians, who were still a power to be reckoned with. At the same time nothing could be done except to offer a new home in Canada to such of the Indians as might be willing to move. Under this arrangement the Mohawks under Joseph Brant (Thayendonegea) obtained a grant of about seven hundred thousand acres, along the Grand River which flows into Lake Erie. Another body of Mohawks was settled in the Bay of Quint(i, west of Kingston. The position of Great Britain was further strengthened by the retention of the western posts on the ground that the United States had failed to fulfil their obliga- tions under the treaty towards the American loyalists. These U'csteni western posts were Detroit, in what is now the State of Michigan, Michillimackinac, at the junction of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, Fort Erie on Lake Erie, Niagara, Oswego on Lake Ontario, and Oswegatchie (now Ogdensburg) in the Stale of New York. In addition there were Pointc Au Fer and Dutchman's Point on Lake Champlain. So long Posts. AMERICAN INVASION AND BOUNDARY QUESTION 39 as Great Britain held these posts, which she did till 1796, a powerful hold remained over Indian affairs. Meanwhile the great body of the Indians, who had remained in the territory ceded to the United States, were filled with sullen resentment. It seemed as though, at any moment, an Indian war might break out, and the Indians naturally asked themselves what line Great Britain would take in such an event. The position of the British Government was thus very difficult. On the one hand they could give no definite promise of assistance, on the other they were anxious not to lose the traditional sympathy of the tribes. The most adroit diplomacy was required to find a modus vivendi between the sullen suspicions of the Indians and the careless, and often brutal, con- fidence of the American pioneer. It was impossible to arrest the inevitable expansion of the United States, and the settlement of the Ohio country was a natural move in that progress. A kiiid of informal war took place in the years, !/-'«>' 1788 tg_j7^i_between^_the_Indians7an^^ An Indian success in the latter year threatened to extend and the area of hostilities, but British influence was powerfully ^^'""'"■'^*'^' exerted in the interests of peace. The offer, however, to mediate between the two parties was rejected by the Americans. Direct negotiations in 1794 failed in their purpose, as the Americans were unable to assent to the claim that all the land lying to the north between the Ohio and the Mississippi should, remain an Indian reserve. The situation was serious to Great Britain, inasmuch as, in case of a conflict, the western posts would doubtless at once be attacked by the Americans. Distrust of Great Britain was the dominant feeling in the United States, and the failure of the negotiations with the Indians was put down to British intrigue. That peace continued between Great Britain and the United States was mainly due to the wisdom and the influ- ence of Washington. With regard to the Indians, the whole situation was altered by the successful campaign made in the 40 HISTORY OF CANADJ summer of 1794 by GeneialJWaxiie^Jhe commander of ihe American forces. The Indians retreated along tHe IMaumce river, and were in the end completely routed. The following year they submiited to terms, which left them only the lands south of Lake Erie, north of a line starting from the Ohio river nearly opposite the mouth of the Kentucky, along with the valley of the Maumee river and the Michigan peninsula. The country north of the Ohio which was to the south of the dividing line was expressly declared to be territory belonging to the United Slates. Although much was still heard of the Indians, and especially of their chief Brant, and although the Shawnee chief Tecumseh was one of the heroes of the war of 1812, already at the close of the eighteenth century the Indians were beginning to travel along that road of decline which has ended in the feeble position of to-day. Authorities Brymner, op. cit. i88y, for State Papers. Haldimand's Diary is in same volume. Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony, by Justice H. Smith, 1907, gives an exhaustive account of the American invasion of Canada. Original authorities are : Invasion of Canada iti 1775 : including fournal of Captain S. Tliayer. Edited by E. M. Stone. Rhode Island Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. vi. Providence, 1867. Journals of Arnold's Expedition to Quebec, by E. \Mld and H. Dearborn. Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, Ser. II, vol. ii. Invasion du Canada paries Ain^ricains, ed. by the Abbe Verrean, 1873. Journal during J'isit to Canada in 1776, by Charles Carroll, Mary- land Hist. Soc. Publications, Baltimore, 1S45. Dispatches from Carleton to the Secretary of State on the American invasion are in Shortt and Doughty, op. cit. 1907. Letters between Sir Guy Carleton and Lord George Germaine are in Brymner's Report cm the Canadian Archives, 1885. On Carleton's treatment of Chief Justice Livius see a note of Professor Shortt on p. 476 of Shortt and Doughty, op. cit. On the charges of Du Calvet see Brymner, op. cit. 1888. AHnioires de P. de Sale I.aterriere, Quebec, 1873, contain details as to period of Sir F. Haldimand. The literature on the Maine boundary question is too voluminous to mention. In the above account Mr. W. F. Ganong's learned monograph, The Evolution of the Boundaries of the Province of New Brunswick, Can. Royal Hist. .Soc. vol. vii, Section II, has been for the most part followed. The whole matter is exhaustively dealt with in History and Digest of the International Arbitrations to -which the United States has been a Party. Washington, 1898, vol. i, pp. 1-160. Edited by J. B. Moore. See also Pari. Papers 1837-8, vol. xxxix. The text of the Treaty of 1783 is in Houston, op. cit. Lord E. Fitzmaurice's Life of Lord Shelburne, three vols., 1875-6, and A. Gallatin's Writings, edited by H. Adams, three vols., 1879, should be consulted. For the Indian War see Life of Wayne, by J. Armstrong (Library of American Biography, vol. iv). Ed. by J. Sparks. New York. There are lives of Dorchester (Carleton) and Haldimand in the ' Makers of Canada ' series, by A. G. Bradley and J. Macllwraith. CHAPTER III THE CONSTITITTIONAIi ACT OF 1791 Kesigna- Ix treating of Indian aftairs we have anticipated the course Gcrmaiiic. ^^ events. With the resignation of Lord George Germaine in 1782 the opposition to Carleton in the royal councils ceased, and he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the forces in America. Haldimand was notified that, in case Carleton should visit Canada, he should withdraw from the government. Carleton, however, had no intention of inter- fering with Haldimand : he wrote that he had not quilted the government of Canada with a purpose in any event of returning thither. Haldimand returned to England in 1784, handing over the government to the Lieutenant-Governor, Henry Hamilton. The latter's sympathies were with the members of the Council who had opposed Haldimand, and his advocacy of the extension of British institutions in Canada was not to the mind of his superiors, so that he was superseded by Colonel Henry Hope. It was at first uncertain whether or Appoint- not Haldimand would return, but in January, 1786, Sir Guy Donhesier. ^^'"'elon, who was soon after made Lord Dorchester, was appointed Governor-General, his powers extending over Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, as well as Canada, New- Brunswick having been carved out of Nova Scotia in 1784. Dorchester arrived in Canada in October, 1786, and in the following year, by proclamation, Canada was divided into five new districts, in addition to the districts of Quebec and Montreal. These were Lunenburg, which extended from the Montreal border to the river Gananoqui ; Mecklenburg, which extended from the western limits of Lunenbure: to THE CONSTITUTIONAL ACT OF 1791 43 a line drawn north and souUi, intersecting the mouth of the A'c~iO IVes, Distria. river Trent where it fell into the Bay of Quinte ; Nassau, '^'^^^'■'"^ which extended west of Mecklenburg to a line drawn north and south, intersecting the extreme projection of Long Point into Lake Erie on the north side of that lake ; Hesse, which comprehended the rest of the western or inland portion of the province ; and lastly Gaspe, which included all the portion of Canada south of the St. Lawrence, to the east of a north and south line intersecting the north-easterly side of Cape Cat. This division of the western province did not remain in force after the passing of the Constitutional Act of 1791. Although, as we have seen, at first the bulk of the American loyalists went to No va Scotia, th e presence of several thousands of~~them"in Upper Canada necessitated the reconsideration of the question of the Constitution. It must be admitted that at the time of the Quebec Act the French Canadians v/ere singularly unfitted for the task of self-government. Two measures were urgently required before the introduction of popular government could prove a blessing. These were the establishment of a general system of education and of such municipal institutions as should give the people an apprenticeship in the art of govern- ment. And yet, in both directions, little was attempted, and nothing was achieved. There can be no question with regard to the entire ignorance prevailing among the French habitants. The women indeed were better educated, as the Necessity of nuns had established throughout the country excellent schools ''"'"^ ""'• for girls. The need of education was recognized, but attempts to provide it foundered on the rock of religious jealousies. Thus in 1790 a committee of the Council recommended the establishment of free parish schools for elementary education, and of free county schools for secon- dary education. The parishes should be assessed for the cost of the primary schools, and secondary education be estates. 44 HISTORY OF CANADA provided from the public revenue. A small undenominational college was to complete the educational system, provision for which might be made from the confiscated estates of the Jesuits, and by grants of waste lands. These proposals of the Council remained without result. The Roman Catholic clergy looked with suspicion on any measure which would tend to weaken their authority, and the Canadian people were at that time wholly disinclined to tax themselves for the sake of education. We know by experience how little among the English of to-day education is really valued, and it was not likely that the Canadians would lead the way along a road which the English have so recently and reluctantly travelled. Jesuits The Councils proposals, however, served to stir up the vexed question of the Jesuits' estates. Soon after the conquest, George III, on this occasion aluiii pro/usus, had jiromised these as a gift to General Amherst. No one in England knew what was the value of these estates, and no attempt was made to make good the grant. The Jesuits remained in possession, the surplus of their revenue going to supply the needs of the seminary at Quebec. In 1786 Amherst renewed his claim, and a commission was appointed to report upon the value and extent of the property. It was found to consist of over 600,000 acres, situated for the most part in the district of Three Rivers. The whole population of Canada was agreed in resisting Amherst's claim. It was generally recognized that the lands given to the Jesuits had been earmarked for the purposes of education, and that the Jesuits had stood in the position of trustees. Nevertheless, it was not till many years later that the question was satisfac- torily settled. In 1832, the Jesuits' estates were placed under the control of the Assembly for the purposes of education, and in 1867, at the time of Confederation, they were allotted to the province of Quebec. At a still later date, in 1888, an ultramontane Quebec Government gave to the Jesuits their money equivalent. THE COySTITCTIONAL ACT OF 1791 45 It was then, in the absence of any system of education Question 0/ or of local self-government, that the question of extending •^■^"^'^J". British institutions to Canada had to be faced. So far as the French Canadians were concerned, the prevailing temper was one of apathy. The words written of them by Carleton remained true for long after : ' There is nothing to fear from the Canadians so long as things are in a state of prosperity; there is nothing to hope for from them when things are in distress.' In 1785 Lieutenant-Governor Hope reported that the noblesse, landed proprietors, and secular clergy were in favour of the maintenance of the existing system. Already, however, Hope recognized that ' the desire of the loyalists settled between Cataraqui (Kingston) and Montreal for a system of government different from that in other parts may lead to embarrassment, but does not require immediate settlement '. Eighteen months later Dorchester wrote that the English party had gained strength by the arrival of loyalists, and the desire for a House of Assembly would no doubt increase. He was very conscious of the risks attending such an assembly in a country where nine- tenths of the people were in utter ignorance of popular government. He confessed himself at a loss for any plan likely to give satisfaction all round. Meanwhile a change in the system of granting lands was more pressing. It was indispensable to recognize the English tenure in free and common socage amongst the British settlers, and to restrict individual grants to the limit of 1,000 acres. (June 13, 1787.) Again, in the following year, he wrote that the introduction of an assembly was chiefly promoted by the commercial com- munity in Quebec and Montreal. The Canadian habitants, having litde or no education, would follow in the direction in which those in whom they confided might lead them. The clergy seemed indifferent, but the Canadian gentlemen were in general opposed to the measure. They objected to the introduction of strange laws, of whose purport they were 46 HISTORY OF CANADA ignorant. They were afraid of the resuhs which might ensue from the introduction of popular government amongst an ignorant peasantry. The fear of taxation was no doubt a powerful influence in favour of leaving things as they were. While pointing out the difficulties in the way of having a representative assembly for an extent of country stretching Dorclm- 1,100 miles, Dorchester maintained that a division of the tropomh pro^'ifce was neither in the interests of the old nor of the new subjects. The western settlements were, as yet, unpre- pared for any organization higher than that of a county, according to the plan lately introduced. Though he held a division of the province to be, as yet, inexpedient, he advised that a separate Lieutenant-Governor should at once be ap- pointed for the four western districts. If, however, a division of the province was determined upon, there was no reason why the inhabitants of those western districts should not have an assembly as soon as it might be organized without detriment to their private affairs ; nor why they should not enjoy so much of the English system of laws as might suit their local situation and condition. (November 8, 1788.) Proposals Nevertheless, after much hesitation and pondering, it had vi/lJ"' '-'^'^'^ decided at home to divide the province, and to estab- lish in both the new provinces a popular assembly. A draft of the i)roposed measure was forwarded by the Secretary of State, William Grenville, to Dorchester for his observa- tions. Grenville wrote that the sound plan was to assimilate the new Constitution to that of Great Britain as nearly as the difference arising from the manners of the people and the existing state of the provinces would admit. A consider- able degree of attention was due to the prejudices and customs of the French Canadians, and great caution should be used to continue to them the enjoyment of those civil and religious rights which were secured to them by the capitulation and had since been freely recognized. The division into two separate provinces was justified on the THE CONSTITUTIONAL ACT OF 1 79 1 47 ground that the great preponderance possessed in the upper districts by the English, and in the lower by the French, should have its effect and operation in separate legislatures rather than that these two bodies of people should be blended together in the first formation of the new Constitution, and before sufficient time had been allowed for the removal of ancient prejudices by the habit of obedience to the same government and by the sense of a common interest. (October 20, 1789.) It must be admitted that Dorchester seems to have under- T/ie estimated the demand for popular government in Western jj^^ "'''* Canada. It is significant that immigration from the United popular States greatly increased after the passing of the Constitutional ^°^"J'' Act. Since the earliest times of English colonization, Eng- lishmen abroad had claimed the right of popular institutions, and especially in English America men had received such training in self-government as has seldom been known else- where. But if a popular assembly was a measure of necessity for the British settlers, it was held, rightly or wrongly, by British statesmen that it was impossible not to give to the French Canadians what was granted to the British. It is true that the former were distrustful of, rather than grateful for, the promised boon, and that they were wholly without the training which the English had enjoyed ; still they might soon have resented being placed upon a footing of inequality. In his dispatch of October 20 Grenville explained that it Legislative was intended to separate the Legislative from the Executive °""" ' Council, and to give to the members of the former a right to hold their seats during their life and good behaviour. Some mark of honour would be conferred on the members of the Legislative Council, such as a provincial baronetage. A great accession of wealth to the province might probably induce the King in the future to raise the most considerable of these members to a higher degree of honour, but this could not as yet be attempted. The object of these regulations was both 48 HISTORY or CANADA to give to the upper branch of the Legislature a greater degree of weight and consequence than had been possessed by the councils of the old colonial governments, and to estab- lish in the provinces a body of men having that motive of attachment to the existing form of government which arises from the possession of personal or hereditary distinction. In returning, with corrections, the draft of the proposed measure, Dorchester enclosed, with an expression of strong approval, a plan drawn up by Chief justice Smith, an old New York loyalist, for the establishment of a general govern- ment for British America. (February 8, 1790.) P/an of Smith believed that the main cause of the American Revo- tkc Smith 'ul^^on had been the particularism engendered by the separate interests of the separate assemblies. The country had out- grown its government, and there had been no general body directing to a common object the energies of the separate provinces. He therefore recommended the establishment of a general legislature for the whole of British Nordi America. The members of the Legislative Council should be appointed for life, and the Assembly be composed of such persons as might be elected by the majority of the House of Assembly of the province for which they served. The General Asseml)ly should meet at least once in ever}- two years. The suggestion was in some ways an anticipation of what has come to pass under Confederation ; but it is doubtful whether in 1 790 the establishment of such a General Assembly would have prevented racial and economic jealousies. More- over, without responsible government, the General Assembly would almost certainly have been in constant opposition ; but such opposition would have been far more dangerous when coming from a general body. The feature of the scheme, which no doubt commended itself to Dorchester, was the appointment of a Governor-General. He was opposed to the division of the province, because he was afraid that it would tend to weaken the hands of the Governor. Nor THE CONSTI'IUTIONAL ACT OF 179 1 49 were his fears without reason. When once Upper Canada became a separate province, even a strong man hke Dorchester could retain Httle control over its affairs; and, after his time, the authority of the Governor in Upper Canada became more and more nominal. Such questions, how- ever, did not disturb the British Government, and they refused to be drawn into a discussion of Smith's suggestions. Under the Constitutional Act of 1791 Canada was divided CmsUtu- into Upper and Lower Canada, and separate legislatures were of x^iqi. established for the two provinces. By these means French laws and customs, apart from matters relating to criminal law, were retained in Lower Canada, whilst the benefit of English lav/s was given to Upper Canada. The Act left to the Canadian authorities the settlement of the boundary line between the two provinces. In Lower Canada the Legislative Council was to consist of not less than fifteen members, and in Upper Canada of not less than seven. In Lower Canada the Assembly was to consist of fifty members, and in Upper Canada of sixteen. The Legislature was to be called together once in every twelve months ; and the duration of the Assembly was not to exceed four years. The Governor or Lieutenant- Governor might give or withhold his assent to bills, or reserve them for the pleasure of the Crown. After the assent of the Governor bills might still be disallowed within two years of their receipt in England. The Act, which had passed in 1778, renouncing the right of taxation in the American colonies, was explained not to apply to duties for the regu- lation of navigation and commerce ; but, in the case of such duties being enforced, the proceeds were to be exclusively applied to the use of the respective provinces. The Constitutional Act attempted further to supply the Religious needs of religion. The provisions of the Quebec Act were '^^^"^^ ' re-enacted, and the Governor was authorized, in making allot- ments of land, to set aside for the support of a Protestant clergy such allotment and appropriation as should be, as nearly VOL. V. PI. 11 50 HISTORY OF CANADA as the circumstances would admit, of the like quality as the lands otherwise allotted, and as nearly as possible equal in value to the seventh part of such lands. Power was also given to erect parsonages, and to present incumbents to them ; but such provision might be varied or repealed by the Canadian Legislatures subject to the consent of the home Parliament. For the future all lands in Upper Canada were lo be granted in free and common socage, and in Lower Canada also where the grantee so desired. Legislative With regard to the Legislative Council, effect was given to Grenville's remarks already quoted. The mistake made by the British authorities was not in proposing to strengthen the Legislative Councils, but in the feeble manner in which they carried out their intention. In spite of these professions we find that the new Legislative Council in Lower Canada consisted for the most part of the old members. In the first Council under the Act the proportion of French members was greater than it was afterwards. Opposition The chief opposition to the Constitutional Act came from /., t'I-!,!!. the British population of Lower Canada. Their case was III i^oMcy ^ ^ Canada. very ably put before the House of Commons by a Quebec merchant, Mr. Lymburner. At this time the proportion of British to French in what was to become Lower Canada was about one in fifteen. In the country districts it w^as not higher than one in forty ; but in the mercantile towns of (Quebec and Montreal the proportion rose nearly to one in two. For many years the population of Upper Canada was small compared with that of Lower Canada, so that, unless dispro- portionate representation had been given to the towns, the eficct of granting an Assembly to the undivided province must have been to secure French ascendancy. At the same time the Act might have secured better terms to the English minority in Lower Canada. The suffrage was rightly extended so as to give voles to the Canadian habitants, but the electoral arrangements were, otherwise, left to the local authorities. 52 HISTORY OF CANADA Seats were distributed according to the existing poiailalion and no attempt was made to make provision for future needs. At that time the agricuhural population was almost entirely confined to the French seigniories along the St. Law- rence, and, the number of members remaining the same, the English townships, as they developed, were left practically without representation. I\Ir. Lymburner's proposal that the town populations should receive half the total representa- tion of the province was not acceptable to the home Govern- ment; and thus no attempt was made to counteract the predominance of the French in the Lower Canadian Assembly. Electoral The Act was put in force by the Lieutenant-Governor, mcnt!' ' ^^^ Alured Clarke, who divided the province into twenty-one counties. Each county returned two members, except the three least populous, which each returned one. The cities of Quebec and Montreal were allotted four members each ; the town of Three Rivers received two, and that of William Henry (Sorel) one member. A total of frfty members was thus ob- tained, of whom about sixteen appear to have been of British origin, a proportion which was never afterwards exceeded. The first Assembly met on December 17, 1792, and ]\L Panet, a lawyer of distinction, was elected Speaker. It was decided that the French and English languages should stand on a footing of complete equality. Every member had the right to introduce any bill in his own language ; then the bill was translated, and that text held to be official which was in the language of the law to which the bill had reference. The Roman In this State of things, when democracy was beginning in Cliurdi Canada, it was greatly to the advantage of the British Govern- aiid the ment that their relations were, upon the whole, friendly with the Roman Catholic Church. The instruction to the Governor that no priest was to receive holy orders or have the care of souls until he had obtained a licence from the Governor had been tacitly ignored ; and the whole patronage of the Church remained in the hands of the Roman Catholic bishop. (iovcrn mcnt THE CONSTITUTIONAL ACT OF 179 r 53 Although, on the face of it, a mere toleration had been granted to the Church of Rome, and the powers and privi- leges of an established Church had been expressly refused, and although the Crown had expressly forbidden the exercise of any episcopal or vicarial power, except such as was indispensably necessary for the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion, nevertheless ' the superintendent of the Church of Rome ', as the Anglican bishop informs us he should be termed, was ' in the actual enjoyment of all the powers and privileges of the most plenary episcopal authority'. Fortunate indeed was it for the permanence of British rule that this was so ; for, had it been otherwise, and the strong sword of the Church been thrown into the scale of its adversaries, it is difficult to see how, amidst the internal and external troubles of the years between 1790 and 1840, the main- tenance of British rule could have been preserved without greater efforts than the then temper of British statesmen w^ould have sanctioned. INIoreover, while the spiritual power of the bishop w^as great, he was dependent for his living upon the Government. It appears that his relative financial posi- tion contrasted very unfavourably with that of the country clergy, who received a twenty-sixth of all the grain, the total sum allotted to them amounting to about £26,000 a year. The bishop of the Anglican Church was somewhat Position of hostile; but he was in the unfortunate position of ^^^^'^Z church" a shepherd without a flock, as the French Canadians were, of course, Catholics, and the English in the towns were, for the most part. Dissenters. In 1 793, when a bishop was appointed, there wei"e only six Church of England clergymen in the pro- vince, and not a single Anglican church in the city of Quebec, the English service being read in the Roman Catholic churches before or after their services. If the energies of the English Church had been concentrated upon Upper Canada, where, amidst a strongly Protestant community, there was no English church and only three clergymen, its future influence 54 irrsTORY of Canada might have been greater. Instead, it aimed at the questionable form of an English establishment in Lower Canada. Accord- ing to the notions of the time the Anglican bishop was made a member of the Executive Council. Dorchester thereupon recommended that the Roman Catholic bishop should receive equal treatment. ' Such royal favours,' he wrote, ' should come spontaneously, and not as the result of noise and tumult.' The home authorities w-ere less wise, and nothing was done in the matter till a much later date. Still, through- out the whole period, the officials of the Roman Catholic Church, with very few exceptions, remained faithful to the British Connexion ; and the priest was a conservative force which counteracted the influence of the radical avocat and notary. The French Canadians were pre-eminently a religious people, and in the war which broke out between Great Britain and France their sympathies, which would otherwise have been with the land of their origin, were alienated from a mother-country which had become atheistic and republican. Conserva- Apart from religious considerations, there was little temp- *Fr\u} tation to the habitants to venture upon the stormy seas of Caimdiatis. revolution. Although the feudal system still existed in fact as well as in name, the lot of the tenants was by no means a hard one. They lived in very much the same style as did the seigniors, who were diminished in number and importance. The habitants were the sole occupiers of nearly all the culti- vated land in the province, the seigniors and ecclesiastical bodies, to whom the lands were granted, having conceded the greater part of them, with little or no reserve, to the cultivators in small parcels of from one to one hundred acres. In almost every case the holdings were of an oblong shape, ranging in width of river frontage from one to five lineal arpents ' and in depth from ten to eighty arpents. Each habitant cultivated as much land as he could manage with the help of liis own family, and as was necessary for its ' A line.nl nrpenl eqiinlled 192 English feet. THE CONSTITUTIONAL ACT OF l^jg-i 55 support. Having within themselves from year to year all Seigniorial the necessaries of life, the Canadians were wholly indepen- J^^JJ" "-^ dent, and in no part of the world was equality of situation tenure. more nearly attained. The obligations of the habitants were by no means heavy. They had to pay the annual ce?i<; et rentes. The former was a moderate annual tax imposed in recognition of the seignior's direct authority. The latter was a rent payable sometimes in kind, sometimes in money, and sometimes in both. The amount of the cens et re7ites varied in different seigniories, but it was not high. In addition, the tenant paid a fine upon any change of ownership, whether by sale, gift, or inheritance other than in direct descent. This fine, termed lods et rentes, was fixed in Canada at one-twelfth, of which the seignior usually remitted one- third. To prevent fraudulent transfers, the seignior had the right of buying the tenant's interest at the alleged price at any time within forty days from receiving notice of sale. In addition there was the ' banal ' right of the lord that all grain grown by the tenant must be ground at the seigniorial mill. (On the other hand it must be remembered that there was the onerous obligation on the seignior of having a w^ell-equipped mill ready for grain which might never come.) Although the actual amount of the rent which the tenant paid for the land was a matter of private agreement, the usual payment was about two sous for every arpent.' The effect of this system of land tenure was well described at a later date in Lord Durham's Report. The habitant 'obtained his land on a tenure singularly calculated to promote his immediate comfort and to check his desire to better his condition. He was placed at once in a life of constant and unvarying labour, of great material comfort and feudal dependence. . . . Under such circumstances a race of men habituated to the incessant labour of a rude and unskilled agriculture, and habitually fond of social enjoyments, congregated together in rural ' An arcent w.is a little less than an acre. 56 HISTORY OF CANADA communities ', remaining always the same • uninstructed, inactive, unprogressive people '. ' Along the alluvial banks of the St. Lawrence and its tributaries they cleared two or three strips of land, cultivated them in the worst method of small farming, and established a series of continuous villages, which gave the country the appearance of a never-ending street.' In this state of things ' the mass of the community exhibited in the new world the characteristics of the peasantry of Europe. Society was dense ', and the evils resulting from density of population were not wholly unknown. The Canadian habitants were kindly, frugal, industrious, and honest, very sociable, cheerful, and hospitable, and dis- tinguished for a courtesy and real politeness which pervaded every class of society. In all essentials they were still French, but French in important respects dissimilar to those of contemporary France. They resembled rather the French of the provinces under the old regime. Authorities Shortt and Doughty, ^/. cii., contains the correspondence relating to the introduction of the Constitutional Act. The Act is printed in Houston, op. cit. Mr. Lymburner's speech at the Bar of the House of Commons against the bill is summarized in Christie, op. cit. vol. i, ch. iii. The leading authority on the French seigniorial system is The Seigniorial System in Canada, by W. B, Munro (Harvard Historical Studies, vol. xiii). New York, 1907. There is an elaborate study of the French-Canadian habitant, The Habitant of St. Justin, by Leon Gerin, in the Proceedings and Trans- actions of the Royal Society of Canada, vol. iv, new series. CHAPTER IV LOWER CANADA BETWEEN 1792 AND 1812 Such being the character of the people, it offered un- situation congenial soil for the seed of the revolutionary agitator. "' Lowe7' But though this was the case, the presence in Canada of French emissaries sent by the French minister to the United States, and American dislike of Great Britain, had some disturbing effect upon Canadian affairs. Dorchester landed at Quebec in September, 1793, and in the following year issued a Proclamation requiring magistrates and officers of militia to take rigorous measures against these emissaries. An attempt to embody one thousand of the militia met with complete failure, so far as the French Canadians were concerned. There was doubtless exaggeration in the account given by an English official that the people were generally refractory and disobedient and had set their curds at de- fiance ; but on the other hand there was almost universal apathy and great reluctance to embark in war on Great Britain's account. The ground-swell of republicanism was felt enough in Canada to produce a crazy attempt at an insurrection, and to cause the promotion of Constitu- tional Associations at Quebec and Montreal which were joined by the leading men of both nationalities. An alien Act strengthening the hands of the Government against suspicious strangers was passed in 1794; and the tone of the popular Assembly remained thoroughly loyal. While Dorchester was harassed by troubles within Lower Canada, he also found himself at issue with the new Lieutenant- 58 HISTORY OF CANADA Dorchester Governor of Upper Canada, Colonel John Graves Simcoe. andStnuoe. sj^ficoe had done good service in the American War. He was a capable administrator, very zealous in the interests of his province ; but he had aspired to an independent command, and was not well suited to the position of a subordinate. His habit of sending vohmiinous dispatches direct to the home authorities angered the Governor- General. Simcoe had many of the good qualities of the officials of ancient Rome, and his work in road-making caused his memory to be cherished as one of the chief builders of Upper Canada ; but he was unable to realize that his province was only one of the British interests in North America. Hence his elaborate schemes for the defence of Upper Canada were unworkable in jiractice. There were no troops to spare for the defence of that province, and Simcoe's favourite plan of forming the nucleus of settlements by means of soldiers, as in the Roman Empire, did not commend itself to Dorchester. The work of colonization, he pointed out, had gone on successfully in the past without extraordinary expenses being incurred or troops being employed for civil purposes. Simcoe, who had independent means, and only cared for place so long as he could effect his purposes, applied for leave in the December of 1795, asking, if leave were impossible, that his resignation should be accepted. We may not agree with the theory that the quartering of troops in the embryo of a town was the best foundation for future prosperity ; but we must admire the honesty and energy which has caused Simcoe's name to be held in lasting honour in the province, over the beginnings of which he watched so jealously. Qiie'stiovof Dorchester himself proffered his resignation in 1794. Avr. There was much in the situation of affairs to disgust him. Xo man of his time had a more unsullied record wiili regard to money matters, since his first accession to power, when he had refused lo avail himself of the usual fees taken LOIVER CANADA BETWEEN 1792 AND 1812 59 by Governors. The fees for liquor licences he considered Dorchester should be increased, not diminished ; Init the money should °svsfa>'i^"^ be appropriated to the public benefit. Haldimand had also recognized that the fees were in general far too high, and more than the people could bear. Dorchester found himself powerless to check a vicious system. In reporting, in 1795, on the faulty mode employed by the collector of customs, he added the significant words : ' The loss is not the only evil ; the power of discriminating between right and wrong becomes weakened by custom, and perquisites are seized with avidity by influential servants of the Crown and extended in every direction, affording materials to leaders of sedition.' This dishonest system he elsewhere said had been coeval with the British colonies and the cause of their destruction. In the same gloomy spirit Dorchester wrote, in August, 1795, that he trusted his successor would arrive with sufficient authority to restore order. The Governor had been thwarted by his Council, and bitterly recommended the recall either of the two Chief Justices, or of himself, or of all three. By these means the political undercurrent which had formerly destroyed the foundation of government in the American Colonies might be traced to its source. Again, in July, 1 796, Dorchester wrote : ' The great ends of govern- ment cannot be attained if the local administration be warped or made subservient to fees, profits, perquisites, and all their dirty train ; the splendour of the Crown is sullied and the national interests sacrificed . . . practices are introduced which, besides enervating the King's authority, must infallibly alienate the affections of the people from the British Govern- ment.' The subject of dead jobs is an unsavoury one, around which the historian has been reluctant to linger. Nevertheless the state of things revealed, or half-revealed, in the official papers should be noted as one cause, and a most active cause, of that dissatisfaction which afterwards culminated in a demand for a revolution in the government, 6o HISTORY OF CANADA Although, for the time, Dorchester did not persist in his resignation, his grounds of objection to the policy of the home Government were by no means removed. The affairs of Upper Canada, as we have seen, were not enough within his individual control. He resented the terms of a letter, written by the Secretary of State, Dundas, in 1795, which seemed to recognize Nova Scotia as a wholly independent command. In November of the same year he urged the Duke of Portland that order could only be restored by the arrival of a successor; and again in the following May he lamented ' this natural disorder of a political constitution, which alienates every servant of the Crown from whoever administers the King's government, leaving only an alternative, still more dangerous, that of offending the mass of the people '. Of course, in all this there was a note of exaggeration. Dorchester was essentially a soldier, and, like many strong men, was doubtless somewhat of an autocrat. As old age was approach- ing, he became very quick to take offence. Nevertheless, had the home Government taken to heart his warnings, the future relations of Great Britain and Canada might have been much earlier placed on a sound basis. For it was precisely the weakness of the Central Executive, and the consequent strengthening of the sinister influences of self-interest and jobbery among the surrounding officials, which did, in time, « offend the mass of the people ', and thereby brought about a state of things which threatened to end, in failure and shame, the remnants of the British Empire in America. It is too gener- ally taken for granted that all along there were but two alter- native methods of colonial government, that which prevailed under the old system, and the full res})onsible government which finally developed. But resj^onsible government was beyond the ken of the Canadians in the beginning of the nineteenth century; a more primitive system, lo}ally worked, would for many years have contented them. Ordinary men care little fur abstract rights, and it is the sense of i)ractical grievance LOWER CANADA BETWEEN 1 792 AND 1812 61 which gives strength to movements towards democracy. If it be true that the lords of song Are cradled into poetry by wrong, it is even yet more actually true that the demagogue of to-morrow is the man with the grievance of to-day. It was because those who spoke in the name of Great Britain forgot the meaning of the words noblesse oblige that the Canadian people entered blindly on the thorny track of sullen obstruc- tion which threatened to land all government in a squalid and inglorious impasse. Further chapters will afford matter for this text ; it remains here to form an imperfect estimate of the great Governor whose rule ended in 1796. The friend Character and comrade of Wolfe, who chose him for his executor, % ..r , Carleton's name is indissolubly associated with the first years of British Canada. He was Lieutenant-Governor or Governor of Quebec from 1766 to 1778 ; and again Governor, first of Quebec, and then of British North America, from 1786 to 1796. It is true that he was in England in the years 1770 to 1774, and again from 1791 to 1793; but during the first period he was busily engaged over Canadian business, and even when absent his influence dominated the Canadian stage. No Englishman was ever more respected by the French-Canadian people. When, in the full frenzy of anti- British prejudice, the names of the counties were afterwards abolished, the name of Dorchester was alone preserved, and in the indignant indictment of British government which the brilliant historian, F. X. Garneau, drew up, writing under the sting of the union of the Canadas, the note of hostility is hushed before the honoured name of Carleton. Although assuredly no democrat, Carleton from the first recognized that it would be impossible permanently to retain Canada without the cordial goodwill of its inhabitants. Such measures as were at the time possible, the selection of French Canadians to be members of the Council, the raising 62 HISTORY OF CANADA Prescott's dispute with Council. of a Canadian corps to be officered by their own countrymen, the full recognition of the legitimate rights of the Roman Catholic Church — these he advocated with all his strength. Above all, he set the example of keeping the scutcheon of British honour unsullied, and of waging relentless war against anything in the nature of a job. Almost alone amongst his contemporaries, his reputation emerged undiminished and increased from the American War of Independence. In the bidding-prayer of the British Empire the name of Carleton must always be remembered. Although after his death his private correspondence was destroyed, enough is known of him from his public acts and dispatches for us to recognize — This was the noblest Roman of them all, . the elements So mixed in him that nature might stand up And say to all the world, ' This was a man.' The significance of Dorchester's complaints comes home to us when we consider the case of his successor, General Prescott. Almost from the first he became embroiled with his Executive over the question of the disposal of the public lands. It is unnecessary now to enter upon this dead con- troversy. The contention of the Council was that the Governor would have admitted undesirable settlers, that of the Governor that the members of the Council were them- selves dealing with the land to their own profit. It is at least significant that Christie, the historian of Lower Canada, who was a boy at the time, and had afterwards excellent means of forming a just opinion, wrote that it was generally believed that the members of the Executive Council were not altogether disinterested.^ Prescott, according to him, ' was universally deemed an upright and honourable man, much respected by all classes, and popular as a Governor.' Whoever was right in the controversy, it is clear that the Secretary of State was in the \\ rong. His decision was to hush the whole matter up, ' Christie, op. cit, vol. i, pp. JO2-3. LOIVER CANADA BETWEEN 1792 AND 1812 63 and, while recalling Prescott, to allow him to retain the position and emoluments of Governor. A new Governor was not appointed till 1807. It would seem that the influence of the Chief Justice, Neglect of Osgoode, who opposed both Dorchester and Prescott, was '^°"^^ , , .... , , . , aiUhonties, great at home, and no mvestigation took place mto the matter. A more lamentable object lesson in the weak side of the old system of colonial government could not be given. Governments meant well, but there was no effort to pluck up weeds, and thus it was not wonderful that the crops were poor. Twelve hundred acres had been fixed as the maximum jand amount in grants of land ; but in practice this provision was ^y^iein. freely evaded. A system was established under which bogus applications were made by persons who handed over their concessions to some one individual, it being notorious and within the knowledge of members of the Executive Council that the intention was to evade the law. It was in this way that the settlement of the townships of Lower Canada began. These townships, separated from Montreal and Quebec by a wilderness, through which there was hardly a practicable foot- path, lying to the south near the river St. Francis, gradually obtained a considerable English and American population. The strength of French nationality is well shown by the fact that in the fullness of time it absorbed even this English- speaking district. The Lieutenant-Governor, Milnes, arrived in Canada in Adminis- June, 1799. He is now best remembered by a report which ^'^^^j"*^"/ gives a lively picture of the condition of things prevailing. His scheme of raising a revenue from the public lands met with no success ; nor was the burden thrown upon the mother-country to be thus provided for. But Milnes was doubtless right in some of his political forecasts. After recognizing, in 1803, that the French Canadians were much more reconciled to the British Government than at any previous period, he added that from their want of education 64 HISTORY OF CANADA Advice as and extreme simplicity they were liable to be misled by /o traiih (jgsiffnino; and artful men. An Englishman accustomed to Canadians, 00 ^ o an aristocratic regime at home might well be startled at the social, if not political, democracy which here prevailed. 'Were they once made sensible of their own independence the worst consequences might ensue.' INIilnes urged that the organiza- tion of boih the Roman Catholic Church and of the militia might be enlisted on behalf of the British Connexion. Under the French regime the captain of militia had been employed to issue and enforce the public ordinances. Under a con- stitutional system such powers could not. of course, continue ; but considerable consequence still attached to the position, and the captains still performed various unpaid services. There were two hundred and ninety of them, and if, by means of honorary and pecuniary rewards, they could be directly attached to the Crown, their influence, being widely diffused over the whole province, would tend to keep alive among the people that spirit of loyalty to monarchical institutions which was natural to the Canadian people, but which from special circumstances was in danger of becoming extinct. INIilnes only gave new form to advice already off'ered by Murray and Dorchester. The consequences of a conflict between an Executive out of touch with the people and an Assembly with no sense of responsibility were already dimly foreseen. It was the jioverty of Canada alone which prevented the full logical development. While a preponderance on the side of Government, Milnes wrote, was so manifestly wanting in the Assembly, well-wishers of Government thought it a fortunate circumstance that the revenue was not equal to the expenditure. This condition of things should be preserved, in appearance at least, because, if the province was once induced to tax iiself to the extent of its expenditure, the Assembly would claim the right of regulation and control; from which time the Executive Government would become dependent upon the will of a popular Assembly. LOWER CANADA BETWEEN 1792 AND 1812 65 At this time the revenue of Lower Canada was about Revenue. £13,000, of which some £1,500 was received from the casual and territorial revenues of the Crown, along with fines, and the rest from the proceeds of the Customs duties. The expenditure was about £25,000, so that there was a large deficit which was made up by the British Government. In 1801 a further attempt was made to settle the education Education. question. The Anglican bishop of Quebec had proposed the establishment in the cities and large villages of free schools, where English might be taught. English members in the Assembly were unintelligible, speaking in their own language ; and the bishop's proposals were heartily approved by the Governor and Council, and were embodied in a bill, which passed the Legislature. This remained, however, a dead letter, and no lands were appropriated for such schools. Had their establishment been attempted, they would have met with determined resistance from both the Roman Catholic hierarchy and the politicians, who had no intention that their countrymen should be Anglicized. The Roman Catholic clergy would never tolerate that the manage- ment of the schools should be handed over to a 'royal institution for the advancement of learning'. The lamentable results of such jealousies were seen at a later date. In 1823 it was found by a committee of the Assembly that in many parishes not more than five or six persons could write, and that not more than one-fourth of the entire population of the province could read, or more than one-tenth write, and that, for the most part, very imperfectly. Throughout these years war was in the air. There was the Prospect of existing war between Great Britain and France ; and the con- ^ '„^y^^ stantly increasing danger of war between Great Britain and the States. United States. Governors anxiously asked themselves what line the Canadians would take, in the event of war approaching their borders. We have seen that no great sympathy was shown in Canada with the beginnings of the French Revolution. The VOL, V. pr. II F 66 HISTORY OF CANADA wild enterprise of one INIcLane, who attempted unsupported an invasion of Canada (1797), was a mere act of midsummer madness, and he might well have escaped execution on the ground of insanity. The authorities were in a state of nervous tension ; but they remembered how small was the force of regular troops in the country. In 1799 a public subscription was opened on behalf of the British Government and received generous support. IMilnes reported that the militia were not only willing to come forward in the numbers required, but volunteered to increase their numbers if neces- sary. A new ]\Iiliiia Act, in 1803, allowed the Governor to spend upon it an annual sum of £2,500. It was recognized that in a war with the United States the fidelity of the Canadians might be trusted; though the case might be different in the event of a French invasion. Hitherto there had been little racial animosity ; but in 1806 the train was laid which was to bring about a conflagration. In the previous year a question had arisen in the Assembly which sharply divided the agricultural and French interests from the mercantile and English. New prisons were required, and the minority, who paid the whole taxation of the country by means of Customs duties, demanded that the majority should contribute something in the form of a land tax. The majority, not content with gaining the day, proceeded to arrest a newspaper editor Mho had sharply criticized their actions. In this state of things a French-Canadian newspaper was for the first time started. Avowedly founded on the excellent pretext of preventing the real feelings of the Canadian people from suff"ering misrepresentation, and starting with expressions of sincere loyalty, in effect it became the organ of a crusade against the English element in the country, who were described as aliens and intruders. Admitiis- It was when this fresh development was in its beginnings nation oj ^^^^ ^ j^g^^ Governor, Sir Tames Craig, arrived upon the scene. A soldier, appointed because of the military situation, LOWER CANADA BETWEEN \']g2. AND l8l2 67 he judged all questions from the soldier's standpoint. Before he started from England he had formed the most gloomy conclusions with reference to the province's power of defence in case of attack. He was, moreover, the victim of an incurable malady, and surrounded by councillors who in- stilled distrust of the Canadian people. The consequences were such as might have been expected. We are told by the impassioned Garneau that Craig's period of rule was known as that of the reign of terror. No better case could be made for the general lenity of British government than that the indiscretions of this honest, though perhaps not very wise, soldier should be the worst instance of tyranny. Craig suppressed the Canadien newspaper, and imprisoned its six proprietors on a vague suspicion of treason. His action was almost certainly illegal, and undoubtedly unwise ; but it must be remembered that suspicion was in the air, and that many of the doings of the Government in England at the time seem startling enough to the present generation. IM. Bedard, the most eminent of these prisoners, deserves a place in Canadian history in that he seems to have been the first to throw out First sug- the suggestion of the need for a responsible ministry. There f^^X'/j^^/^ were, he said, ministers in fact if not in name, who advised govern- the Governor, A ministry was a necessary wheel in the machinery of government. When it became necessary to drive these ministers out from the shade in which they lurked, the Assembly would find a way. The time had been even in England when ministers occupied a very different place. Had this clue been followed up at a later date, the be- wildering maze of the subsequent history might have been more easily traversed. Hitherto the relations between the various branches of the Opposition Legislature had been fairly satisfactory ; but Craig's manage- ^^j^^^^^/ , ment of affairs aroused a spirit in the Assembly which could not afterwards be appeased. His one remedy was a dis- solution, to which he resorted after scolding the Assembly as F 2 68 HISTORY OF CANADA though they were naughty children. The new Assembly offered a surprise by undertaking to provide the funds for the full payment of the civil list. The English officials, who had no mind to come under the tender mercies of a popular Assembly, were aghast at the proposal ; and Craig rejected it on the ground that it had not received the concurrence of the Legislative Council. Govern- We have seen that Dorchester foresaw the evils of a system "h"l ^ which would create an imperium in imperio in the shape of an oligarchy, official class. It is impossible to describe that system better than in the words of the historian Christie, who was himself the victim of the French-Canadian majority, and not likely to be prejudiced against its opponents. The affairs of the colony, he writes, were ' guided or misguided by a few rapacious, overbearing, and irresponsible officials, without stake or other connexion with the counti-y than their interests. . . . Servants of the Government, they seemed to imagine themselves princes among the natives . . . upon whom they affected to look down ; estranging them as far as they could from all direct intercourse or intimacy with the Governor, whose confidence, no less than the treasury, it was their policy to monopolize. . . . They saw with dread, as a prelude to the downfall of their power, the offer of the Assembly to defray the necessary expenses of the civil government, which, of course, would carry the right of controlling those expenses, and necessarily divest the officials of the possession of the treasury, which constituted their greatness. . . . They wielded the powers and dispensed the patronage of Government without any of its responsibility, which rested entirely upon the Governor, while the country had no real or efficient check either upon him or them. In fine, the Governor, however unconscious of it he may have been, was really in the hands of, and ruled by, a clique of officials rioting on the means of the country . . . who, however obsequious to him in appearance, were nevertheless his masters. The Government LOWER CANADA BETWEEN 1792 AND i8t2 69 was in fact a bureaucracy, and the Governor little better than a hostage, and the people looked upon and treated as serfs and vassals by their official lords.' ^ The Assembly was no doubt very inexperienced in politics, Action of and, when they had a good case, was apt to fail to make the """ ^' best use of it. Thus nothing could have been more reason- able than the desire to restrict the judges to their judicial duties. Some of them had seats in the Assembly and some in the Legislative Council, so that the desire to exclude them was natural enough. Unhappily, the Assembly was inclined to assert a power of expulsion which was absolutely illegal. It exercised such power in the case of a Jew, who had been duly elected, and when a bill to disqualify the judges, which had been approved by the home Government, was amended by the Council so far as to restrict its operation to future legislatures, it promptly expelled by resolution of the House a judge, named de Bonne, who was a member of the Assembly. Angry and harassed, Craig sought to cut Craig's the Gordian knot which he could not unravel. In a long "PP^<^' '" home dispatch to Lord Liverpool (May 10, 1810) he poured Govern- forth his troubles. At the same time his private secretary, "'^"^^ Mr. George Ryland, was sent to England to induce ministers to accept his proposals. The Canadians, being completely French in language, religion, manners, and attachment, viewed the English, Craig wrote, with mistrust, amounting to hatred. Common intercourse scarcely existed between the two races. The democratic character of the Assembly appalled Craig. What could be expected of a body com- posed of lawyers, shopkeepers, and farmers, some of whom could neither read nor write? How could Government obtain an influence over blacksmiths and millers .'* The first and obvious remedy was to suspend the Constitution. An eminent Churchman was reported to have said in 1791 : * You do not know my countrymen. . . . Once let the rein ' Christie, op. cit. vol. i, pp. 347-50. 70 HISTORY OF CANADA Assembly. Fyhind's mission. Democratic loose, and be assured they will never know how to stop.' f a;ar er y^^ ^j^^ interests of no inconsiderable portion of the concerns of the British Empire were in the hands of six petty shop- keepers, twelve lawyers, fifteen ignorant peasants, a black- smith, a miller, a doctor, an apothecary, together with four so far respectable people that they did not keep shops. But such, apart from the English members, was the constitution of the Assembly, Craig advised that, if the drastic measure of ending the Assembly were rejected, a high property quali- fication for membership should be imposed. At the same time he urged that the right of Church patronage which had been reserved in theory, but in practice had been allowed to the Roman Catholic bishop, should be exercised by the Crown. In addition to these two measures, Ryland, who arrived in England in July, 1810, urged that the Executive Government should be made independent of the people by the appropria- tion to its support of the revenue of the Sulpicians and of the Jesuits. The story of Ryland's fruitless endeavours to make busy officials keenly alive to the Canadian Government's grievances is even now entertaining reading. There was from the first no hope that ministers would accept Craig's simple method of solving constitutional difficulties. A reunion of the two Canadas was within the range of practical politics, but beyond this the Government was not likely to go ; though Ryland might gird at the ' namby-pamby system of concilia- tion', and ' that desperate line of policy, which would make it necessary for a firm and dignified representative of his Majesty to apologise to a band of contemptible demagogues for having frustrated them '. It would seem that the draft of a dispatch claiming the right of the Crown to the Sulpician estates, as well as to the patronage of the Roman Catholic Church, was approved by the Government, but was at the last not sent owing to the scruples of the Lord Chancellor, Lord Eldon. LOWER CANADA BETWEEN 1792 AND l8l2 71 But while Ryland was busy at work, his chief, ierritusfatis, had already resigned his command. No situation could be more pathetic than that of a soldier obliged to leave his government because of the imminence of war, the state of his health forbidding active service. Craig's successor, Sir George Prevost, came out in 1 8 n with the determination Sir G. to introduce a new policy. Ryland's own position was a ^^giJ^-ylf somewhat ludicrous one — suspended in mid-air as the agent condlia- of a principal whose political existence was finished, and '^'" compelled by private considerations to accept office under a chief whose political professions he cordially loathed. The British Government, with the prospect before them of war with the United States, was naturally inclined to look with favour upon Prevost's policy of conciliation. There was force in the new Governor's contention that the political altercations, which had hitherto been carried on by the Governor in person, should be transferred to the Legislative Council. A strong Upper House, possessed of the considera- tion of the country from the fact that a majority of its members was independent of the Government, would act as a buffer to the Governor. Such reasoning was not to the taste of Mr. Ryland. He looked with distrust on the new members added to the Council, and noted with rage that the arch sedition -monger, M. Bedard, had been rewarded by a judgeship ! It remains a doubtful question how far Prevost's well- meant efforts at conciliation might have been rewarded with permanent success. Not very long after his arrival the long-threatened war broke out with the United States, and thenceforth for the next two years the contests of the toga were, for the most part, forgotten in the clash of arms. 72 HISTORY OF CA.\'ADA Authorities On French republican designs on Canada, see Brymner, op. cit. 1891. Life and Times of Goz'ernor Simcoe, by D. H/Read, Q.C. The life of Simcoe as well as that of Dorchester has been written in the ' Makers of Canada Series '. It is by D. C. Scott, 1905. Christie, op. cit. vol. i, deals with period in question ; vol. v, pp. 391- 41S, gives Craig's dispatch to Lord Liverpool of May i, 1810; vol. vi, pp. 117-344, relates to the Ryland Mission. The dispatch from Milnes mentioned is set out in Brymner, op. cit. 1 89 2, Note B, and in Egerton and Grant, op. cit. A letter from the Anglican Bishop of Quebec to the Lieutenant-Governor on ecclesiastical affairs is printed in the same volume of Brymner, Note C. The State Papers between 1792 and 1800 are calendared in Brymner, op. cit. 1891, those between 1801 and 1807 in the volume for 1892, and those between 180S and 181 3 in that for 1893. Travels through the Cavadas, by G. Heriot, London, 1807, gives a lively account of the then state of things. CHAPTER V UPPER CANADA TO THE WAR OP 1812 When the great bulk of the American loyalists were going The Settle- to Nova Scotia, Haldimand caused new townships to be ^'j"'!^ °f surveyed at Cataraqui (Kingston), and along the bay oi Canada. Quinld on Lake Ontario, at which were established disbanded troops and their families. The haste to get the land sur- veyed led to grave mistakes in the execution of the work. The loyalists and soldiers that settled in Western Canada in the years 1783-5 were estimated to be some ten thousand. From these beginnings arose the future province of Upper Canada. The land was virgin soil, having no French popula- tion except a few on the Canadian side of the Detroit river. iwas at first almost a wilderness covered by thick woods ; but as time went on the forest became more and more interspersed with detached settlements formed by the American loyalists. Under an Order in Council of November, 1789, the children of loyalists received each a grant of two hundred acres of land ; the sons on reaching twenty-one, the daughters on their marriage. All American loyalists who had joined their fortunes to Great Britain before the Treaty of 1783, and their children, were to be distinguished by the letters U. E, (United Empire). This distinction, greatly cherished, formed its holders into a kind of informal aristocracy. At first the French system of land-tenure and the absence Success of of any kind of popular government deterred Americans, f^JI^^J '^]( accustomed to a vigorous political life, from making Western Canada their home. It was, as we have seen, to remedy this that the Constitutional Act of 1791 was 74 HISTORY OF CANADA passed. Whatever its merits in other respects, that Act was at least successful in promoting emigration to Upper Canada. The Constitution may not have been, in Simcoe's words, in opening the first legislature on September i8, 1792, 'the very image and transcript of the Constitution of Great Britain ' ; but it contained within it that power of development which is the peculiar merit of EngHsh institutions. System of Reference has already been made to Simcoe's work as a road-maker. The communication between Lake Ontario and Lake Huron was improved by making a road thirty miles long from York to Lake Simcoe. A grand military road from one end of the province to the other was surveyed and named Dundas Street, and a small portion of it was constructed. Some pioneers even settled along the proposed road, but, when the guiding hand of Simcoe was removed, the project was allowed to lapse. We have seen that Simcoe was a thorn in the side to Dorchester, and that, in his zeal for his own particular province, he was unable to take just views of the interests of Canada as a whole. Even when Upper Canada was alone concerned, his artificial scheme of military setdements was probably unwise. Still, whatever his failings, Upper Canada has reason to remember kindly the active Lieutenant-Governor, whose worst faults were due to his zeal for her interests. Toronto. At first Newark, by the river Niagara on Lake Ontario, had been the chief town of the district, but when Upper Canada was constituted a separate province, the old French trading post of Toronto, which was christened York by Simcoe, became (in 1794) the capital. The position of Toronto was stronger than that of Newark. It was flanked by the Don and the Humber, had a good harbour, and was further removed than was Newark from the American border. At the time there was not a little grumbling over the choice. The town, wrote the Chief Justice in 1797, was nearl}- forty miles beyond the most remote of the UPPER CANADA TO THE WAR OF 1812 75 settlements at the head of the lake, and the road to it lay through a tract of country in the possession of Indians. The accommodation was so poor that the greater part of those whose business or destiny called them thither must either remain in the open air or be herded together in huts or tents. A lady described it in 1798 as a 'dreary, dismal place, not even possessing the characteristics of a village '. There was no church, no school-house, nor any of the ordinary signs of civilization. For years York remained a very small place, and as late as 1804 there was a complete absence of public offices. The Executive Council itself met in a small room in the clerk's private house, where i^proh pridor !) their private discussions might be overheard. It might be expected that a province peopled by the Amcricau most faithful of loyalists would not prove difficult material ""^'^fij^j^ for their English governors ; but, side by side with the rmmigm- immigration of loyalists, there followed, on the granting ^°"' of the Constitution, a considerable influx of Americans, who came, as Americans are coming to-day into the western provinces, simply with the purpose of bettering their fortunes. These men were by no means of necessity disaffected to the British Government, but they found themselves in natural opposition to the high Tories in office. Further, from 1798 onwards, a stream of emigrants began to flow from the British Isles, for the most part from the Scottish Highlands. The circumstances of the country were such as in any case to level social distinctions. Simcoe reported, before any Americans had arrived in the province who were not loyalists, that the general spirit of the country was against the election to the Assembly of half-pay officers, and in favour of men who dined in common with their servants. ' Improper or futile ' measures were already, according to the Lieutenant-Governor, freely advocated. Almost the first act of the Upper Canadian Legislature Upper had naturally been to abrogate the old French law and /^^^/^/J'/,. 76 HISTORY OF CANADA establish the English sj-stem. But the English law was by no means always well suited to the needs of a province in its making. Thus the English law as to marriage was difficult to put in force, where clergymen of the Church of England were very few and scattered. The Assembly sought to recognize as legal irregular marriages which had been caused by the difficulties in the way of legal marriage, a rough and ready method of going to work, which shocked the English notions of the time. But little is known of the history of Upper Canada in the years which immediately followed Simcoe's resignation. Until the arrival of a new Lieutenant-Governor the senior member of the Executive Council, Peter Russell, acted as administrator, and there was a widespread opinion that he knew how to feather his own nest in the matter of land grants. When the Lieutenant-Governor, General Hunter, arrived in 1799, he found that Russell would have granted lands to the devil and all his friends (as good loyalists), provided they could have paid the fees. Upper Canada, having no seaboard, could only receive goods from Great Britain which had passed through Lower Canada. It was therefore essen- tial that an arrangement should be arrived at with regard to the proceeds of the duties imposed by the Lower Province. At first the proportion assigned to LTpper Canada from the amount raised by duties upon goods thus imported was one- eighth. There was besides a small revenue from local taxes and duties. AUhough the total expenditure of the province was more than could be met from the local revenues, the Assembly possessed the right to appropriate the revenue raised by taxa- tion or received from Lower Canada. In 1803 and 1804, however. Hunter, without consulting the Legislature, charged certain disbursements against this revenue. Notice of this was not taken till after Hunter's death in 1805, when the temporary administrator of the government, who had neither the tact to conciliate nor the strength to overawe the UPPER CANADA TO THE WAR OF l8l2 77 Assembly, was the recipient of an indignant protest, which ushered in the contests of a later time. The guiding hand in the agitation seems to have been that of an Irish adven- turer, Thomas Thorpe, who had been appointed to a judge- ship in Upper Canada, and from his arrival in 1806 threw himself eagerly into the game of politics. Thorpe had private friends amongst the London officials, and his character may be gauged from his correspondence with these. He accused Hunter of having nearly ruined the Conduct of province. There were no roads, bad water communication, ^'"^^' no ports, no religion, no morals, no education, no trade, no agriculture. Thorpe emphasized his own capacities for making smooth the path of government, the condition being hinted that he should be made Chief Justice. He secured his own political position by making his charges to the grand jury party manifestoes. His next step was to become a member of the Assembly; but his professions of radicalism were in that body before their time. The new Lieutenant-Governor, Francis Gore, who arrived in 1806, was a narrow-minded official of the old school, and saw in Thorpe a dangerous firebrand. On his complaint Thorpe was suspended from office, and a successor appointed. He received an appointment in Sierra Leone, so that his game of blackmail had hardly proved profitable. In fairness to the provincial authorities it must be remem- Danger bered that during these years events were moving in the ^Jl"^,.i.^n direction of war. It was a disquieting thought that large immi- portions of the province were occupied by men who might S''^"*^- be enemies in the event of that war breaking out. The United Empire loyalists held the ground from Kingston to Lower Canada and about Niagara and Long Point, but, except the Glengarry Scottish Highland immigrants, who were loyal to the Crown, the rest of the population came for the most part from the United States. Before the war itinerant preachers, enthusiastic in political as well as religious 78 HISTORY OF CANADA matters, were in the habit of entering Upper Canada from the States, and, in the absence of a clergy, received a cordial welcome. These men were accused of diffusing republican opinions. Natural Moreover, it should be remembered that the natural hm of channel of trade for Upper Canada was rather with Albany trade to the ^^ , . south. and the American towns rismg up along Lake Lne, of which Buffalo was the chief, than with Montreal or Quebec. Many of the United Empire loyalists had entered the province by way of Albany and western New York while the obstructions caused by the rapids along the St. Lawrence rendered trade with Lower Canada precarious and diflficult. In this state of things the position of Great Britain was in many ways more vulnerable in Upper than in Lower Canada, and the determination to make it the first point of attack in the war of 1812 may be justified on political grounds. It is difficult now to realize the greatness of the danger, because it was warded off by the genius and energy of Brock. Authorities The official correspondence between 1792 and 1800 is calendared in Brymner, op. cit. 1891 ; between 1801 and 1807 in volume for 1892, and between 1808 and 1813 in that for 1893. Brymner, op. cit., on 'Marriage Law in Upper Canada', 1891 ; on ' Political State of Upper Canada, 1806-7 ', 1892. History of the Settlement of Upper Canada, by W. Canniff, Toronto, 1869, deals with the beginnings of that province. See Kingsford, op. cit. vol. vii, pp. 511-26. rieriot, G., op. cit. CHAPTER VI THE BEGINNING OF MANITOBA Canadian expansion is like the experience of a traveller Western who, as he pursues his course, finds new vistas opening to the ^-v''^"-*^'"'' view. In spite of the adventurous spirit of the fur traders and the existence of certain posts in the western country, French Canada had, as we have seen, been circumscribed within the limits of only a portion of the present province of Quebec. The settlement of Upper Canada naturally extended the horizon. The future had in store the colonization of the great area extending to the Pacific, and the first efforts, however feeble, in this direction belong to our present period. In 1789 Alexander Mackenzie, a vigorous Scotchman, who Journeys oj was in command of the Athabasca district under the North- West Company of Fur Traders, starting from Lake Athabasca, went down two hundred miles along the rapid Great Slave River in a light canoe till he reached the Great Slave Lake. From this he went down the great river which afterwards received his name till he came to the ocean. Within three months of his departure he was back at Lake Athabasca, having discovered one of the four largest rivers of America, and begun the opening out of new regions for the enterprise of Great Britain. In the spring of 1793 Mackenzie set out on a yet more adventurous journey. He had determined to reach the Pacific by crossing the Rocky IMountains. He was with- out a guide and accompanied only by six Canadian voyageurs and two Indian interpreters. Ascending the Peace River westward to its source, he at first descended a river to the bouih-west, but afterwards struck north-west by land, reaching trade. 80 HISTORY OF CANADA the Pacific somewhere about the mouth of Simpson's River. He took possession of the country in the name of Canada, inscribing upon the cliffs of the coast the date July 22, 1793. Great as was the future importance of these discoveries, since the Rocky Mountains had never before been crossed South of Mexico, it was not for many long years that their consequences were realized. In his own time Mackenzie was The fur best known for his connexion with the fur trade. For some years after the Seven Years' War this trade had languished, but by 1766 English adventurers began to follow along the French route, which passed by Michillimackinac, at the junction of Lakes Huron and Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie to the Grand Portage on the north-west side of Lake Superior. The fur trade with the upper country had always been the staple trade of Canada, and by 1780 it produced an average annual return of about two hundred thousand pounds in furs to Great Britain, and no less than a hundred canoes were employed in it. An outbreak of small-pox among the Assiniboine Indians stopped the trade for two years ; but in 1783-4 the merchants engaged in the fur trade, tired of constant conflicts, formed a partnership, which became the famous North-West Company. It was determined at once to proceed to the north, and to erect forts there, so as to divert the trade of the Hudson's Bay Company, Not all the traders, however, had joined the North-West Company, and it was not till after the carrying on of a kind of private war that, in 1787, the rival interests at last came to terms. Forts were erected at regular distances along the route from the Grand Portage to the Great Slave Lake, with the intention of ruining the fur trade of the Hudson's Bay Company. There can be no question that contact with the servants of the North-West Company was the cause of great demoralization among the Indians. In these remote districts men of naturally wild disposition, released from the trammels of civilization, acted with no fear of God or man before their THE BEGINNING OF MANITOBA 8 1 eyes. After eleven years of peace, rivalry again broke out, and in 1805 an offshoot of the Company known as the X.Y. Company entered the lists. It was into this den of lawlessness and private war that Selkirk's Lord Selkirk, a Scottish landowner who sympathized with ^^j^gj^^ the sufferings of Scottish crofters, ventured to thrust a party of peaceful colonists ; and from these difificult beginnings was to spring the future province of Manitoba. As early as 1802 he had predicted the future of the country. 'At the western extremity of Canada,' he wrote to Lord Pelham, ' upon the waters which fall into Lake Winnipeg ... is a country which the Indian traders represent as fertile and of a climate far more temperate than the shores of the Atlantic under the same parallel' Having failed in his efforts to interest the British Government in his scheme for colonizing the north-west, Selkirk next sought to effect his purpose by means of the Hudson's Bay Company. A legal opinion was obtained from Romilly and other eminent counsel, which advised that the Hudson's Bay Company could confer rights of ownership on holders of lands acquired from them. The next step was to secure a large amount of stock in the Hudson's Bay Company ; and, although friends of the North-West Company sought to defeat his object by adopting similar methods, Selkirk succeeded in obtaining from the Hudson's Bay Company the grant of some hundred thousand acres, on the condition that he should undertake the whole cost of the proceedings in the way of transport, settlement, and government, and of negotiations with the Indians. The district was named Assiniboia, and included the valley of the Red River and of the Assiniboine. . The first party, consisting of some ninety, for the most part Arrival of Scottish Highlanders, arrived at York Factory on Hudson's -^'^'^^^^^.^_ Bay in the autumn of 181 1, and reached the Red River in the following year. Very few colonists were sent out in 181 2, but in 1 81 3 another party consisting of about one VOL. V. PT. II G 82 HISTORY OF CANADA Action of North- West Company, Outbreak of hostilities. hundred arrived at Churchill, reaching Red River in the following June. Meanwhile the North-West Company had not been unobservant. Such a settlement, it was recog- nized, struck at the root of its monopoly, and was in- tended as a menace to its interests. At first the relations of the colonists with the half-breeds who were in the country were very friendly. The Governor, Miles MacDonell, a Scotch Catholic, sent a number of colonists, during the first and second winters, down to Pembina, some seventy miles south of Fort Douglas ; where they lived on excellent terms with Canadians, half-breeds, and Indians. A Proclamation, issued by MacDonell in January, 1814, gave the excuse for active opposition. By this he forbade the export of any provisions from the district claimed in the name of Lord Selkirk, under pain of the forfeiture of such pro- visions. At first an arrangement was made under which the agents of the North-West Company were allowed to export provisions on the undertaking that they would supply equal quantities at a later date, if necessary ; but this arrangement was not sanctioned by the Company. The plan had been formed to inveigle away as many of the Red River settlers as possible, and then to hound the Indians against the weakened settlers. When MacDonell found that, through the action of the North-West Company, his Proclamation remained without effect, he entered upon a policy of reprisals, sending an expedition to take by force the provisions stored at Fort La Souris, about one hundred and fifty miles from Fort Douglas, on the Souris River. The North-West Company determined upon revenge. Fort Gibraltar, in the neighbour- hood of Fort Douglas, was occupied by Duncan Cameron, a confidential servant of the Company. Alexander Mac- Donell, who was in charge of Fort Qu'Appelle, wrote in August 1814, 'you see me and our mutual friend Cameron about to commence open warfare with the Red River enemy. . . . There are those who will only be satisfied with THE BEGINNING OF MANITOBA 83 the complete ruin of the colony, no matter by what means, which is much to be desired if it can be effected. So I am working for it with all my heart.' About three-fourths of the colonists were artfully per- Destruc- suaded to leave the country, while force was employed against '^°'^ °f the remainder. Driven from their homes, they were on the road to Hudson's Bay, when they met an agent of Lord Selkirk, who induced them to return. A considerable influx of settlers in the following autumn did not avail to make the colonists a match for their enemies, and in June, 181 6, they were again fugitives from Fort Douglas. Governor Semple and twenty- one others were killed in the attack made by the North-West Company's men. Meanwhile Lord Selkirk, who landed in New York on Selkirk's November 15, when he heard of the first destruction of his "■'^^°"' colony, hastened to Montreal, and applied for assistance from the Government. The influence, however, of the North-West Company was great, and his request was refused. Selkirk proceeded to engage " one hundred discharged soldiers as settlers, with whom he proceeded to the Red River. At Sault Ste. Marie he heard of the disaster of June 19. He wrote at once to the Governor, Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, that he should exert his powers as a magistrate in dealing with the offence. Hastening to Fort William, he at once issued warrants of arrest against several members of the North- West Company. The fort was seized and the members of the North- West Company made prisoners and sent to Upper Canada. In January, 18 17, Selkirk for the first time visited the site of his colony. A remnant of the settlers was restored to their homes, and a treaty was made with the Indians, who by no means shared the animosity of the North- West Company. The battle was now transferred to the law courts, where the Case in influence of the North-West Company was very great. ^^,^^^^ Several of its partners were members of the Executive Coun- cil, and were related by marriage or otherwise to occupants G 2 84 HISTORY OF CANADA Infliienie of North - 'West Compa>iy. Report of cotnm js- sioner. Profits of Company. of the judicial bench. Lord Selkirk was, in fact, tilting against the powerful interests which formed ' the family compact '. The Church militant was to the fore in the shape of Dr. Strachan, a vigorous Churchman and politician, who left deep marks upon the history of Upper Canada. A warrant was obtained for Selkirk's arrest, but he ignored it on the ground that the process was irregular and surrepti- tious. This act of contumacy provoked both Sir John Sherbrooke and the Secretary of State, Lord Bathurst. The latter threatened to invoke the aid of Parliament. It was admitted by the Governors of both the Canadas that it was impossible to obtain two impartial commissioners from either province to inquire into the whole matter. Nevertheless the report of one of the commissioners appointed by no means acquitted the North- West Company. The foundation of the whole evil, it was said, was to be traced to that violent spirit which was nurtured by the species of monopoly that the North- West Company had established and continued to main- tain in the Indian territories by physical power rather than by fair advantage derived from capital or connexion. The various illegal measures taken to crush adventurers who attempted to oppose this monopoly were notorious, whilst the bad effect of such monopoly on the character of individuals had been glaringly exhibited by the late events. The profits which the North-West Company was deter- mined to keep to itself were in truth no small ones. Exclusive of the large sums made by agents, an annual profit of forty thousand pounds was made on the share capital. The Norih-West Company was the most powerful of Canadian institutions, whereas the Hudson's Bay Company was regarded askance, as representing English and alien interests ; so that, when the struggle came within the purlieus of the Canadian Courts, it was not difficult to predict the issue. Apart from this, the appointment of Miles MacDonell as Governor had never been approved by the King, as was required by THE BEGINNING OF MANITOBA 85 Statute, nor had he ever taken the due oaths of office. Selkirk Outcome of was convicted at York of resistance to lawful arrest ; while one of the partners of the North-West Company obtained a verdict against him for false imprisonment. Of the forty or fifty persons, against whom true bills were found in the assault upon Fort Douglas, not more than nine could be brought to trial, and these were the least guilty. Selkirk was contending not only against a powerful association, but > against the Government itself. The unequal contest may have hastened his death, but some of his colonists still remained in the country, and if, in other causes besides religion, the sacrifice of martyrs is not made in vain, the rich harvests of Manitoba will always recall the memory of its first pioneers. Authorities Voyages from Montreal through the Coitvient of North America^ 17S9 and 1793, by A. Mackenzie. London, iSoi. Les Bourgeois de la Conipagnie du Nord-Ouest, par L. F. R. Masson. Quebec, 1889-90. The Canadian West, translated from the French of Abbe G. Diigas. Montreal, 1905. Narrative of Occurrences . . . since the Connexion of the Earl of Selkirk with the Hudson's Bay Company. London, 181 7. Manitoba, by G. Bryce. London, 18S2. Parliamentary Papers, 1819, 'Red River Settlement.' See also Brymner, op. cit. 1S97, Note D. CHAPTER VII THE WAR OF 1812 The war of 1812 marks a turning-point in Canadian history. Hitherto the hfe of these provinces had been a somewhat inglorious one. Governor after Governor had confessed that they existed through the sufferance of their southern neighbour. Lord Dorchester, who had tried to fan into a flame a spirit of imperial patriotism amongst the French Canadians, had found his efforts unavailing in the damping atmosphere of English prejudice and jobbery. In Upper Canada, indeed, the United Empire loyalists were strong in their devotion to Great Britain, but they were few in number and surrounded by American newcomers. Craig had arrived at the conclusion that Quebec was the only place in Canada which could be defended. Even if reliance could be placed on the militia, military stores were wofully deficient. Brock, who was in command in Upper Canada, wrote to Prevost, in February, 1812, that there was not a single position in Upper Canada which could be considered a safe ddpot ; and the general impression had been that in case of war no opposi- tion to an invasion by the Americans was intended. The appointment to the post of Administrator and Acting-Governor of Upper Canada of a strong man like Isaac Brock, and the active preparations which followed, put a new spirit into the population. Brock w-as very anxious with regard to American influence in the Assembly and elsewhere, but recognized that the best policy was to act as if no mistrust existed. Unless the inhabitants gave an active and efficient aid, it would be impossible for the regular troops to preserve the province. THE WAR OF l8l2 87 The actual issue of events was very different from that issue of which had been expected. At sea the power of the British ""^'' navy was never adequately brought to bear, except by sweep- ing the rising commerce of the United States from the seas, and isolated actions of single ships appeared to leave the honours of war rather with the Americans. On land, on the other hand, the splendid services of the British troops, largely con- sisting of militia, in both provinces, were such as to make the war of 1 8 1 2 a glorious memory to patriotic Canadians, the blood-pledge of the birth of a nation. At the same time, the political circumstances of its origin and its inglorious conclusion, so far as British leadership was concerned, have made it for Englishmen a somewhat painful episode to be explained away. The two ostensible causes of the war of 181 2 were the Orders in Council directed against neutral commerce and the impfessment of British subjects on board American vessels. The Orders in Council of 1807 were the British counterblast to Napoleon's Berlin decree of 1806. Under the latter, the British Isles were declared to be in a state of blockade, and all correspondence and commerce with them was prohibited. By the Order in Council of January, 1807, neutrals were forbidden to make use of any port which did not allow British trade thereat. A further Order in Council of the same year declared all such ports to be subject to blockade. Confronted with this state of things, Thomas Jefferson, the President of the United States, forced through Congress an embargo bill, under which American ships were detained at home-. The embargo, however, was difficult to enforce, in the face of the active hostility of a large section of the people, and some other remedy had to be found. An unauthorized and premature withdrawal of the Orders in Council made (in 1809) by the British Minister at Washington, I\Ir. Erskine, and promptly disowned by the home authorities, did not mend matters; and his successor was on such bad terms with the Washington 88 HISTORY OF CA.XADA Government as to be dismissed. In 1809 the area over which the blockade held good was greatly restricted, and in 18 10 it seemed as though the tension would be relieved, Napoleon undertaking to revoke the Berlin and Milan decrees if the Orders in Coimcil were withdrawn. Fedingin iNIeamvhile, however, in the United States the feeling l^ntted a^inst Great Britain was gatherinof strength. It is true that States. ° 000 the people of New England were generally of opinion that a war with Great Britain would be both unnecessary and unjust, and that a powerful minority in most of the States were in favour of peace. But it cannot be denied that the conduct of Great Britain was high-handed and galling to a proud and sensitive people, and that the claim to impress British subjects in American ships was one which, though probably necessary, was certain to lead to trouble. It seems clear that the announcement of the French revocation was purposely delayed so as to drive the Americans into war. The moment was Critical assuredly a critical one for Great Britain. Napoleon's Russian ""'"'^''''"^expedition was on the point of starting, the event of which Britain, would probably decide the fate of the world. The issue of the Peninsular War was still in doubt, and British statesmen may well have argued that, if things went wrong in Europe, a little more or less disaster would hardly count in the general downfall ; while, if Napoleon were conquered, it would be no difficult matter to recover ground lost in America. Whatever be the reason, at the time of the breaking out of the war, the regular troops in Canada consisted of some four thousand five hundred men, of whom only fifteen hundred were stationed above Montreal. As some compensation, the unpopularity of the war with great sections of the people paralysed the arm of the United States. Party divisions re- newed themselves in the councils of generals and amongst the common soldiers. Massachusetts refused to furnish its militia, and many of the men who came from other States refused to cross into Canada, and deserted the ranks. Brock himself THE WAR OF l8 12 89 bore witness, in a letter to his brother (dated September 18, 181 2), that his attempts at defence would be unavailing if the Americans were of one mind. With justice he hoped that their divisions would be the safety of Upper Canada. War was declared by the United States on June 18, 1.812, Dedara- and the news arrived in both Lower and Upper Canada on ^^°*^ ^ the 24th. In Lower Canada, Prevost, by obtaining the assent of the Legislature to the issuing of army bills payable in Government bills of exchange on London, greatly relieved the financial situation. The Assembly cheerfully granted the sum of fifteei* thousand pounds annually for five years to pay the interest on these bills, which were authorized to the extent of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. Had Upper Canada waited for the official announcement of the war, the news would have come in the shape of actual invasion, but an agent of the North- West Company brought the tidings. Early in July an army of about tw'o thousand men under the American general, Hull, marched to Detroit. A detachment Invasion crossed the Canadian frontier and occupied Sandwich on "-^ Canada. July 12, the British retreating to Amherstburg on the Detroit river at the north-west end of Lake Erie. In a magniloquent Proclamation Hull denounced the employment of Indians, and posed as the rescuer of the Upper Canadians from British tyranny. In this attitude Hull was no doubt perfectly honest. The knowledge that Upper Canada contained many Americans, and the strong prejudice which then prevailed in the United States against monarchical institutions, caused the Americans to regard themselves in the light of deliverers. They resembled the French republicans who marched ready to embrace subject peoples, and shoot down such as would not be embraced. We know from Brock's letters how serious he thought the situation throughout July. In his bitterness he wrote that the population was essentially bad. Legislators, magistrates, and military officers were all possessed by a feeling of 90 HISTORY OF CANADA sluggish despair. He complained that the Assembly thwarted his measures and wasted lime in idle controversy. He reported to the Council that insubordination had broken out among the militia, and that some had shown a treasonable spirit of neutrality or disaffection. He found himself com- pelled to prorogue the Assembly and to proclaim martial law. Fortunately, at this critical moment Brock's genius grasped the fact that only by a bold offensive movement could the British forces make good their inferiority in numbers. Political considerations forbade offensive action on a large scale, but the American Fort Michillimackinac was surprised on July 1 7 ; and a little later Hull's communi- cations by land and water were interrupted and he was for the time isolated at Detroit. Desperate measures necessitating desperate remedies, Brock determined at once to attack Detroit. With about 700 troops and 600 Indians. Brock, ' without the sacrifice of a drop of British blood,' obtained the surrender of a town held by 2,500 men with 25 pieces of ordnance. Diplomacy But while in the west the war was begun with success to oj tcvoi . gj-ifjgj^ arms, diplomacy was strengthening the hands of the United States. The position of Prevost was difficult. He deplored ' the infatuation ' of ministers upon American affairs, and complained that he was left entirely to his own resources. Accordingly he considered it necessary to restrict, as far as possible, the area of operations. His eye was fixed upon the situation in the United States, and he carefully refrained from any act which might make the northern States hostile to Great Britain. The Orders in Council had been the avowed cause of the war. When, therefore, the news of their suspension reached Canada in August, it seemed reasonable to propose an armistice, pending peace. None the less, the armistice worked in favour of the United States by giving the Americans time to regain confidence, and to organize a naval force upon the lakes. THE WAR OF 1812 91 It had been recognized on both sides that the key of the N'aval situation in Upper Canada lay in obtaining ascendancy upon -^^^^'^ "" the Lakes Ontario and Erie ; but neither Power had as yet taken the necessary measures. The interval of the armistice was employed by the Americans in pushing up stores and troops to Niagara, and converting their boats at Sackett's Harbour on Lake Ontario into ships of war. The armistice came to an end on September 8, and on October 13 a determined attack was made by the United States forces upon Queenston, situated on the Niagara river some eight miles from Lake Ontario. The news of the intended attack had leaked out, and the British were prepared. The enemy Atiack on landed about daybreak, and were successfully resisted, but, iJlif""' on the troops who had been stationed on the hilltop descend- ing to prevent the Americans from landing, the heights were occupied by an American force, which may have landed while it was dark and remained hidden behind the rocks. It was in endeavouring to dislodge these that Brock lost his life. The small British forces were hard pressed, but the arrival of reinforcements under Major-General Sheaffe, the second in command, decided the issue of the battle. Many of the American militia refused to cross the river in support, so that the American troops were obliged to surrender. But the victory was dearly purchased by the loss of the leader, whose presence was worth many battalions. After another armistice, a third invasion of Canada by a new general proved as abortive as its predecessors. The year 181^ opened auspiciously to the British. In Operations ..,...,• r V. ■ h rrodcr. January an American division, advancing irom the river Raisin upon Sandwich, was attacked by Colonel Procter at Frenchtown, and compelled to surrender. Procter attempted to pursue his advantage by attacking General Harrison, who was entrenched at Fort Meigs on the Maumee, about twelve miles from its mouth. The attempt ended in failure, and Procter withdrew to Amherstburg in May. In the preceding 92 HISTORY OF CANADA February a daring attack by the British upon Ogdensburg, across the frozen St. Lawrence, met with complete success. But with the opening of navigation the naval preparations made by the American Commodore, Isaac Chauncey, soon altered the complexion of affairs. It had been intended to attack Kingston, the main British depot, and, though this was abandoned, an expedition sailed in April against York, which was practically unfortified. General Sheaffe retired in Capture of hot haste, and York was surrendered. The massing of some 7,000 American troops at Niagara compelled the abandon- ment of Fort George and Fort Erie, and secured to the Americans the mastery of the Niagara border from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. Prevost had repeatedly called the attention of the home authorities to the necessity of holding the supremacy on the lakes, and a very able officer. Commodore James Yeo, arrived in the spring to command the British forces. He found the Americans, already superior, gaining in strength, so he determined to risk a battle. Before, however, he could act, the joint naval and military operations of the Americans had necessitated the abandonment of the British Failure of forts. An attack upon Sackett's Harbour in the absence of TaTir/t'^""^ the American fleet only just failed (INIay 28), partly owing Harbour, to ill luck and partly, as was alleged, to the want of vigour on the part of Sir George Prevost, who was in command. In the beginning of June an American force left Niagara to drive the British from their encampment at Burlington Heights, on the south-west of Lake Ontario, whither they had retreated from Fort George. The gallant Colonel Harvey, who afterwards proved himself, in the INIaritime Provinces, one of the wisest of colonial Governors, recognized that now should be put in practice his advice to Prevost, that only by a series of bold, offensive operations could inferiority of numbers be made good. He obtained from the General in command consent to a night attack on the enemy at THE WAR OF 1812 93 94 HISTORY OF CANADA a place named Stoney Creek, about seven miles from the British camp. The attack (June 5) was brilliantly success- ful, the enemy being completely surprised and driven from their camp. This success restored the 7noraI of the British troops, and proved the turning-point of affairs on the Niagara frontier. The British were now able to advance so as to be at hand to support Yeo and his fleet. Harvey, at least, clearly recognized that without that fleet the British position was untenable. In the west, in the same way, the issue of events depended upon the mastery of Lake Erie. As the American force grew in strength, Procter recognized the weakness of his position. Captain Robert Barclay, who was in command of the British fleet, although he knew his inferiority, risked a battle (Septem- ber 9), which ended in the annihilation of the British fleet. The battle of Lake Erie compelled Procter's retreat from Amherstburg. After a delay of ten days he retreated along the road which ran due north along the Detroit river to Sandwich, then eastward along the southern shore of Lake St. Clair to the mouth of the river Thames, and afterwards along the course of that river. The Americans in pursuit came up with Procter, at Moraviantown, on the Thames, on October 5. The contest was soon over, the British troops being obliged to surrender. Among the other losses of this disastrous day was the death of Tecumseh, the brilliant Shawnee chief, whose chivalry and skill made him the finest soldier whom the Indian tribes have ever produced. Procter, who had never reached the front, escaped ' by the fleetness of his horse ' ; but the large amount of private baggage was a juster ground of condemnation. The court martial, which afterwards considered the case, found Procter guilty of having neglected the necessary measures for the retreat. He was sentenced to be publicly reprimanded, and to be suspended from rank and pay for six months. The Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief, took a yet more serious THE WAR OF l8l2 95 view of Procter's conduct, and expressed his extreme dis- approbation. INIeanwhile a new American general, Wilkinson, took up p/an of the command at Sackett's Harbour in August, with the de- <^atnpaign 11 11 -, r . aminst termmation to carry through an elaborate plan of campaign Montreal against Montreal. Kingston was the real objective; but \i'^'[[^ 1 1 J 1 1 • 1 111 .1 , , ■ Kingston. was held that this place could be more easily reduced by first attacking Montreal and cutting communication between the two places. Accordingly a combined expedition was planned from Lake Ontario and Lake Champlain. Wilkinson, however, and General Wade Hampton, who commanded at Lake Champlain, were on bad terms, so that the first requisite for a combined movement was lacking. The intention was that the armies should meet at the moulh of the river Chateauguay, and then descend upon Montreal by Lachine. Wilkinson's force began the descent of the St. Lawrence on November 5, its course being harassed by British gunboats and troops. A small British column under Colonel Morrison defeated the rearguard of the enemy at Chrystler's Farm, on the north bank of the St. Lawrence Chrystler's (November 11). ^^''>"- Meanwhile a more serious check had been received by General Hampton's forces. They had entered Canada on September 20, advancing from Plattsburg to the Chateauguay river, whence they intended to proceed to Lake St. Louis. Colonel de Salaberry, in command of some three hundred French-Canadian militia, took up his position on the Chateau- Battle of guay, near its junction with the Outard river, where, on ^ October 25, he was reinforced by Colonel jNIacdonell, the captor of Ogdensburg. The American general was aware of the presence of the Canadians and sent a force to circumvent them. Meanwhile the main body attacked in front and were at first successful. They were, however, checked by suddenly coming upon the second line under Macdonell. The occasion was used by de Salaberry to rally his men, who drove back Chateau- sue cesses. 96 HISTORY OF CANDIDA the Americans under a murderous fire. The other American force, surprised by IMacdonell's men as they approached the ford of the Chateauguay, panic-stricken by the yells of the Indians and the presence of an unknown enemy, beat a hasty retreat. The battle of Chateauguay, won by some nine hun- dred French Canadians with about fifty Indians against over- whelming odds, was perhaps the most brilliant exploit of the war. It was further strategically of great importance, as it was the direct cause of the abandonment for the year of the expedition against Montreal. Moreover, its political bearings cannot be exaggerated as causing the French Canadians to take pride in a national war, British In the western district, also, the close of the year brought British successes. The Americans had weakened their garri- sons, so as to strengthen Wilkinson's army, and on the approach of the British their forces evacuated Fort George, which was occupied by the British on December 12. On their retreat the Americans burnt the unfortified town of Newark, an act of barbarism which called forth afterwards terrible reprisals. The new Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, General Gordon Drummond, a brilliant soldier, who had been born in Canada, arrived at the front on December 15. Fort Niagara was taken on the 19th, and on the approach of the British the Americans evacuated Lewiston. The settlements of Black Rock and Buffalo were destroyed, having been abandoned by their population. Drummond recognized that the command of Lake Ontario was the principal hinge on which the safety of Upper Canada depended, and strained every nerve to place the fleet in a position to meet the enemy. In April, 18 14, he proposed in vain to Prevost a plan of attack upon Sackett's Harbour. The destruction of the enemy's stores at Oswego helped to reduce the American ascendancy, and Yeo for some time maintained a successful blockade of Sackett's Harbour. But the loss of a portion of his fleet compelled him to retire to Kingston. VOL. V. PT. II 98 HISTORY OF CANADA Liindy's Larie. The strengthening of the American forces in the spring caused Drummond to expect a renewed attack upon Upper Canada. He held that the preparations M'hich were being made on Lake Champlain and the operations about Plattsburg were merely for the purpose of deceiving Prevost. The Governor, however, was too careful of the interests of Lower Canada to accede to this view. This being so, the British forces on the Niagara frontier remained few and divided ; and, when the Americans again crossed the frontier, Fort Erie was soon compelled to surrender. A determined resistance made by the British at Chippawa (May 5) ended in the loss of one- third of their forces and the abandonment of that fort. Queenston was also evacuated, Fort George being made the British head quarters. The American general, Jacob Brown, had intended, after capturing the British forts, to co-operate with Commodore Chauncey on Lake Ontario; but Chauncey was unable or unwilling to help, and remained cooped up in Sackett's Harbour till after the battle of Lundy's Lane. Disappointed in his first plan of campaign. Brown determined by a rapid march to surprise the British forces stationed at Burlington Heights, The vanguard of the British forces advanced on July 25 to Lundy's Lane, near the Niagara Falls. On July 24 Drummond had arrived at Fort Niagara. Ad- vancing to the front, he countermanded the retreat, which had been ordered from Lundy's Lane, and determined to hold that position against the advancing Americans. The battle of Lundy's Lane was the most fiercely contested of the war, and was claimed by both sides as a victory. Inasmuch, how- ever, as the Americans abandoned their camp and retreated in some disorder, the battle can rightly be claimed a British victory. None the less the American naval superiority on Lakes Ontario and Champlain enabled their forces to perform in two days what the British took from sixteen to twenty days in doing by marches from Kingston. More- THE WAR OF i8t2 99 over there was a serious risk of deficiency of supplies for Upper Canada. Its resources were exhausted, and there was need of large imports from abroad before the closing of navigation. Two-thirds of the meat supplied came JVant of from the United States ; and at any moment Congress ^"PP^^^^- might close this channel. Sickness, want of provisions, and the increasing strength of the enemy were producing their inevitable results. Drummond was unable to induce the militia or the Indians to come forw'ard, and he regarded his prospects with some apprehension. Two regiments, as reinforcements, might save the situation, but Prevost would not, or could not, assist. On the other hand, the command of Lake Ontario was again passing into the hands of the British, and the appearance at INIontreal in July and August of the Peninsular veterans, who had been sent to Canada, prevented active measures from being taken by the Ameri- cans. Fort Erie was evacuated by them in the beginning of November, and the campaign of 181 4 in Upper Canada closed without any operations of a decisive character. A successful expedition from Nova Scotia against the coast Expedition of Maine was made in the same year. In Lower Canada, '^pjattlburg a large force having now been got together, offensive opera- tions were necessary. The British army advanced upon Plattsburg, situated on the western side of Lake Champlain, the Americans retiring before them. Prevost, deeming the co-operation of the fleet on Lake Champlain necessary for success, made no attempt in the absence of the vessels to overpower the weak American force under General Macomb. A brave sailor, Captain Downie, was in command of the British flotilla. He had only recently taken the command, and the ships were by no means ready for action ; but pressed by Prevost he attacked the American ships on September 11. His death and the misbehaviour of the militia on board the gunboats decided the fate of the day. Prevost maintained that with the defeat of the fleet the further H 2 TOO HISTORY OF CANADA Rcsfonsj- bility of FreTost. Treaty of Ghent. prosecution of the enterprise became impossible. Conse- quently the British troops made an inglorious retreat, and the only attempt during the Canadian War at handling a con- siderable body of troops ended in a miserable fiasco. The indignation amongst the British was great, and there was general sympathy with Yeo, who pressed forward the charges against the Governor. A furious controversy has raged round his reputation. He died before full investigation could be made of the facts by a court martial ; nor is it fair that he should be condemned by the findings of a naval court martial to which he was no party. His reputation was vindicated by the Duke of Wellington, who wrote to Sir George Murray (December 24): 'Whether Sir George Prevost was right or wrong in his decision at Lake Champlain is more than I can tell ; though of this I am certain — he must equally have retreated . . . after his fleet was beaten, and I am inclined to think he was right. I have told the ministers repeatedly that a military superiority on the lakes is a sine qua non of success in war on the frontier of Canada.' ' None the less, the conclusion cannot be resisted that Prevost was wholly without that singleness of aim by which alone great things can be accomplished. The French Canadians have taken a natural pride in shielding the reputa- tion of the Governor, who was their best friend till the advent of Lord Elgin ; but the verdict of history can hardly assign Prevost a place among the heroes of the war of 1812. It is unnecessary here to note the doings on sea and on American soil, which belong to a general history of the war; but by this time there was a general desire for peace on both sides of the Atlantic, and the Treaty of Ghent, signed on December 24, 1814, and ratified on February 18, 1815, at Washington, was welcomed by both combatants. By ' Duke of Wellington to Sir George Murray, December 22, 18 14, Dispatches, ed. by Col, Gurwood, vol. xii, p. 244. THE WAR OF l8l2 loi this treaty the slaius quo ante bellion was restored. The Orders in Council ah^eady belonged to past history, and nothing was said with respect to the thorny questions of impressment and desertion. Both sides began with ex- travagant demands, but neither side was in earnest, and both recognized that the game had been drawn. The Americans so far carried off the honours that their victories of Lake Erie and Lake Champlain seemed to show that naval superiority which the Duke of Wellington affirmed to be the condition ■ precedent of success. From the point of view of military character science the war had been of little importance. On the "f'^'^^*'' American side, especially, its history could not be regarded with much satisfaction. With leaders who, for the most part, were unable lo lead, and with followers, who were often unwilling lo follow, great results were not to be expected. The British, on the other hand, were, till near the end of the war, paralysed by an inferiority of numbers ; and though men such as Brock, Harvey, de Salaberry, and Drummond, and engagements such as Queenston, Chrystler's Farm, Chateauguay, and Lundy's Lane, invested the story with a halo of romance, the general results of the war to Great Britain were somewhat disappointing. Hence both the United States and Great Britain have shown unwonted readiness to ignore its details. In Canada alone, as we have seen, have its memories been rightly prized. Authorities The Canadian JFar of 1S12, by C. 1'. Lucas, C.B. Oxford, 15^6. DoiHinentary History of the Campaign upon the Niagara frontier, collected and edited for the Lundy's Lane Historical Society, by Lt.-Col. E. Cruikshank. Brymner, op. cit. 2893 and 1896. Official Letters of the Military and Naval Officers of the United States during the War -ivith Great Britain, 1812-1815, edited by J. Brannan. Washington, 1823. Christie, op. cit. vol. ii. Kiiigsfoid, op. cit. vol. viii, i-p. 115-598. CHAPTER VIII THE LOWER CANADIAN ASSEMBLY AND THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT Position of H^j) politicians known the ways belonging to their peace Canadians, the closc of the war might have meant the beginning of happier relations between the French and English in Upper Canada. Political controversy had been by no means altogether ended during it ; but the general loyalty of the French Canadians had come out well from the ordeal. In this state of things they complained with some reason that they were treated as foreigners, and that the Government was entirely composed of English oflicials, whohe aim was to set the Governor against the French Canadian majority. A suggestion was made in an address to the Prince Regent, dated November 18, 18 14, that appointments to the Executive Council should be made from the most influential members of the Assembly ; by which means the two parties would be united and national animosities would cease. It was pointed out that the French Canadians were far more interested in the maintenance of the Bridsh connexion than were the English in the province, who had the same language, religion, and manners as their American neighbours. In the same spirit the Assembly asserted its imperial patriotism and extolled Prevost, who had known how to find in the devotion of a brave and faithful people, unjustly calumniated, sufficient resources to baffle the plans of a numerous and confident enemy. The blood of the children of Canada had flowed, mingled with that of the brave soldiers sent to help them. Between the departure of Prevost and the arrival of Sir THE LOWER CANADIAN ASSEMBLY 103 John Coape Sherbrooke, who did not come till July, 1816, Drummond was Acting-Governor. He was perhaps more at home in the field of battle than in a civil capacity ; but he tried to improve the economic circumstances of the province Adminis- by allowing for a time the free importation of certain ^ffj^^^^. °L. necessary articles from America. Sherbrooke, on his arrival, dealt with the same evil by advancing from the Crown stores provisions to the inhabitants of the parishes which were threatened with famine. Sherbrooke in every way sought to continue the conciliatory policy of Prevost. He renewed the proposal that the Roman Catholic bishop should be made a member of the Executive Council, ' a measure which would give confidence to the Canadians.' The home authorities agreed, and the bishop became a member of the Council in 18 18. Sherbrooke also sought to make the Legislative Council a real counterpoise to the House of Assembly, which involved its enlargement. He advised that the claim of the Assembly to have an agent in London should be allowed. He rightly believed that the able Scottish lawyer, Stuart, who was then in active opposition, might be attached to the Government. He further recommended that the Speaker of the Assembly should be made a Councillor ; by which means the deep distrust of the Council held by the Canadian people might be removed. \\\ 1818 it was decided that henceforth the previous offer Acceptance of the Canadian Assembly should be accepted, and that the yissemblys colonial revenue should provide for the ordinary expenditure, offer to pay ... . J for civil There had been grave irregularities owing to the war, and ^^-^^^ the illegal practice had grown up of expending the provincial revenue on services for which the Legislature had not pro- vided. It was decided to ignore the past, but for the future to be more careful. The Secretary of State, Lord Bathurst, warned Sherbrooke of the necessity of withstanding any claim by the Assembly to dispose of public moneys without the concurrence of the other branch of the Legislature. Such I04 HISTORY OF CANADA necessity nas almost the only substantial check upon the proceedings of the Assembly. Just when the new departure of 1818 required the exercise of the greatest tact and sagacity on the part of Government Sherbrooke was obliged to resign owing to ill health. Since Dorchester, no Governor had understood so well how to reconcile opposing interests. He had known how to carry on Prevost's work in conciliating the French without exciting the British opposition which dogged Prevost's footsteps. By habit and reputation the most downright of soldiers, he had trained himself to be a master of discretion. Great as were his merits, they shone with added light from the indiscretions of his successor, the Duke of Richmond, who arrived in Admiiiis- 1819. He had held the Irish Viceroyalty with credit; but ^'r^']"" '^ ii^ Canada his method of government was to imitate the Richmond, blustering and verbose style of Sir James Craig. From this time dates the beginning of that dreary impasse from which escape was not made till after the abortive rebellion of 1837-8. The Duke of Richmond began by asking for a much increased civil list. The Assembly retaliated by threatening to reduce those sinecures and pensions which had always been the reward of iniquities and the encourage- ment of vice ; which in the mother-country were the subject of complaint, and which in Canada would lead to corruption. So far from being willing to vote a permanent civil list, it claimed in its annual grants to specify the particular items of each salary. In giving the Assembly control of the ordinary revenue the British Government had reserved the proceeds from certain duties and from the Crown rights, but the Assembly claimed that these also must be subject to their apportionment. The Legislative Council lefused to pass the revenue bills in the form sent up to them ; and the short and stormy period of Richmond's government was arrested by his sudden death from hydrophobia. His successor, Lord Dalhousic, who arrived in 1820, was THE LOIVER CANADIAN ASSEMBLY 105 an able and upright soldier, and proved in many ways his Ad/ninis- care for Canadian interests. But his position was an almost ^^^^^^°"' °f impossible one. He was bound to insist upon the enactment Daihotisie. of a permanent revenue, or at least of one for a time long enough to give confidence to the public servants. The Assembly, on the other hand, were in no yielding mood. They indeed voted the supply, with some reductions ; but the bill was not in such a form as could be accepted by the Council, and Dalhousie expressed in 1821 his disap- pointment and disgust at the Assembly's conduct. He openly asserted that the Government was, in a manner, palsied and powerless. The members of the Assembly, thus reminded of their importance, were only made the more obstinate ; and it became clear that some other means must be found to solve the difficulty. Moreover, it was not merely the interests of Lower Canada Position of which were at stake. Upper Canada was also intimately Canada as concerned with the question. All goods from England and io goods the rest of Europe entered the Upper Province by the //^^'_5y "^ St. Lawrence, and that province was therefore entitled to Lawrence some proportion of the duties levied in Lower Canada. During the war the two provinces had worked in harmony, but after the peace disputes arose. In 181 7 an agreement was arrived at, under which Upper Canada received one-fifth of the proceeds of the duties levied at Quebec, less the expenses of collection. This agreement came to an end in 1819, and, though commissioners were appointed to make a fresh agreement, their attempts ended in failure, and the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, Sir Peregrine Mait- land, reported that there was no prospect of any agreement. In this state of things the Upper Canadians demanded that the Imperial Parliament should assume the entire and exclusive control of all imports and exports at Quebec ; and, whatever be thought of this suggestion, some legislation was evidently necessary to protect the interests of Upper Canada. lo6 HISTORY OF CANADA Question of Meanwhile the larger question was being asked, whether nion. ^^ j-j^g j^^^ ^^^ come when the two Canadas might be merged in a single province. The history of French Canada seemed to give force to the arguments which had been adduced at the time against the Constitutional Act. Private influence was at work in the same direction. An influential member of the British Parliament, Mr. Edward Ellice, who owned one of the seigniories, was desirous that English law should prevail there, and he doubtless used his influence in this direction. The Union was therefore decided upon, and a bill with this object was in 1822 introduced into the House of Commons. The opinion, however, of those best qualified to speak was Attitude ^doubtful as to the advantages of Union. Sir John Sherbrooke Sherbrooke expressed distrust of the American tendencies of Upper Robinson. Canada, and the dread which the French Canadians felt of being swallowed up by the United States. John Beverley Robinson, the Attorney-General of Upper Canada, hit the nail on the head when he said that the financial difficulties were not due to racial conflicts but to the desire which all popular Assemblies showed to assert and exercise to the utmost, and even to extend, any powers which the Constitu- tion gave them. Democracy, not racial antipathy, was the trouble, and men of English, Scottish, or Irish extraction would show the same inclination when given the chance. Unpopu- The proposed Union excited the fierce hostility of the ^tr^t' al ^''■^"ch Canadians, while it was not generally desired in Upper Canada. Its chief advocates were the British inhabi- tants of Lower Canada. The position of these was in some ways a hard one. They resented the conservative apathy which stood in the way of the St. Lawrence receiving the improvements which the enterprise and energy of the Ameri- cans were applying to the water-communications of New York. They complained that, while the Assembly was busy over personal wranglings, the interests of trade, agriculture, THE LOWER CANADIAN ASSEMBLY 107 and education were wholly neglected. There was no law for the registry of lands or mortgages, and no Insolvent Debtors Act. The inhabitants of the eastern townships had just cause for complaint. These townships comprehended the settled portion of the province, except the narrow strip of land on each side of the St. Lawrence, varying from ten to forty miles in breadth, which was occupied by the French seigniories. They w'ere already peopled by a population of Position of some forty thousand, consisting wholly of persons of British l',i„",.]iy or American descent. Yet they remained without any proper representation in the Assembly, and were obliged to use French law and resort to French courts at Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers. In the face of strong opposition, the Whig party being for the most part enlisted on the side of the French Canadians, the Government determined to withdraw the bill proposing the Union. The clauses relating to the trade relations of the Cancu/a two Canadas were passed as a separate Act, known as ^''^"^ ^''• the Canada Trade Act, 1822. Under this all the duties which were payable under Acts of the Legislature of Lower Canada at the time of the expiration of the last agreement were continued and made permanent. The imposition of new duties on articles imported by sea was forbidden, unless the sanction of the Legislature of Upper Canada had been previously obtained. The proportion of duties to be assigned to the respective provinces was made the subject of arbitration. Time brought no remedy to Dalhousie's difficulties. The Polity of defalcations of an imperial officer gave the Canadians a just cause of grievance. As the fray thickened Dalhousie became more inclined to severe measures. He had at first recognized the necessity of conciliating the Roman Catholic Church, and had advocated the establishment of a Catholic institution for the management of Catholic schools. In 1824 he urged that the authority of the Crown should be actively asserted over the Roman Catholic Church. The Government should resutric lo8 HISTORY OF CANADA the powers which were the prerogative of the Crown by the laws of France, and which had, in fact, been ahvays exercised during the French regime. Bishop Plessis had received from Rome in 1820 the title of Archbishop, when two additional bishops in pariibus infidelium were sanctioned by the British authorities ; but he did not assume the title, nor was he officially recognized as Archbishop. During the session of 1822-3 there had been a lull in the storm. The Speaker, Papineau, who was the virtual leader of the Opposition to the Government, was away in Europe, and in his absence the F^stimates had been voted in the form proposed by the Government, and useful measures been passed on behalf of the townships and of the agriculture and water- communication of the province. But the truce was short-lived, and in the next year Dalhousie was confronted by a deadlock, which caused much mischief to those who found themselves without their salaries. Still, the general life of the province went on undisturbed, and the Governor could report that Canada, in spite of it all, was steadily advancing. Dalhousie started for England in June, 1824, the Government being assumed by the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Francis Bur- ton, who had been an absentee for many years, but whom the complaints of the Assembly had recalled to Canada. A modus vivcndt, which he arranged with the Assembly, received the disapproval of the home Government. The consequence of his action would be that the control of the permanent revenue would rest with the Assembly and not with the Crown ; by which means the Crown would be deprived of the power of making the payments it deemed necessary. Lord Balhurst was willing that the appropriation of the per- manent revenue should be laid as a document before the Assembly for their information ; but further he would not go. Dalhousie returned to Canada in time for the opening of Parliament in 1826, and the weary contest went on. As was natural, the pretensions of the Assembly tended steadily to THE LOWER CANADIAN ASSEMBLY 1 09 increase. Like the Assemblies in the old American colonies, Pretensiom they encroached upon the Executive; but they met their "^ match in the fearless Dalhousie. The session of 1826 was brought to a close with a rebuke from the Governor. A practical result of the deadlock, which continued through 1826 and 1827, was that the Militia Act, which had been passed for a term of years, expired without renewal. Accord- ingly, the old Militia law of 1787 and 1789, which had never been repealed, came into force. Dalhousie's reading of the law was fiercely resented by the French Canadian politicians. In spite of such opposition, the musters of the Militia were well attended, although some officers actively opposed the carrying out of the law. It was considered impossible to overlook the conduct of officers who had openly counselled disobedience, and a certain number, including the chief leaders of the Opposition in the Assembly, were promptly cashiered. According to Dalhousie, the time for compromise was past. Proposed Only by urging matters to an issue could the Canadians be ^"^'^^"'^^• brought to realize the true nature of the situation. Such remedial measures as he could suggest were but echoes of the policy vainly urged in the past by Dorchester and Milnes. The weakness of Government lay in the absence of influential men in the country districts to defend it against the false charges of the French press. Accordingly, Dalhousie recom- mended that a new commission of the peace should be issued, and that a custos rotulonini should be appointed in each district, with whom the British Executive might corre- spond. A lieutenant should also be appointed in each county over the Militia. By such means a body of steady and respectable supporters of Government might be obtained. In the temper of the people a dissolution could profit nothing, and in the new Assembly elected in 1827 the Government supporters could be counted on one hand. As invariably happens when political passion is once excited, the more no HISTORY OF CANADA violent section of the party carried the day. The Opposition under Papineau resorted efi f/iasse to Quebec in a French steamboat. On Papineau's re-election to the Speakership, Dalhousie refused his sanction, on the ground of the French leader's violent incentives to outbreaks, and of his unfitness for a position requiring impartiality. How far the discontent was deep-seated it is difficult to say. Perhaps the most ominous feature of the situation was that Dalhousie appears to have alienated the sympathies of the Roman Catholic Church. Meanwhile in England the affairs of Canada were engaging the serious attention of politicians. In 1827 the long rule of the Tory Bathurst had come to an end, and colonial admini- stration had been entrusted first to Lord Goderich and then to IMr. Huskisson. The latter referred the subject of Canada to a Select Committee of the House of Commons, which sat in 1828. The hopeless character of the situation was shown by its Report. That the Committee were by no means biased in favour of the British authorities was shown by the manner in which the charges made against Dalhousie were virtually accepted as true. But neither in the Report nor in the evidence submitted is to be found a single word suggesting responsible government as a remedy. The Report recom- mended placing the receipts and expenditure of the whole public revenue under the control of the Assembly. At the same time the Governor, the members of the Executive Council, and the judges should be made independent of the annual votes of the House of Assembly for their salaries. The union of the two Canadas appeared under present circumstances undesirable, but some satisfactory arrangement should 1)6 made between the two provinces with regard to the imposition and distribution of the customs collected in Lower Canada.^ It was undoubtedly true that if the Legis- ' By the award of the Commissioners imder the Canada Trade Act, dated July 23, 1825, it was determined that Upper Canada should have one-fourth of the duties on goods entering Canada by sea for four years from July i, 1824. THE LOWER CANADIAN ASSEMBLY iii lative Assemblies and the Executive Government could be put on a light footing, means would be found within the province of remedying all minor grievances ; but the difficulty was to put these authorities on a right footing, and the well- meaning platitudes of the Committee counted for little in the final evolution of events. Dalhousie, who had been made Commander-in-Chief in India, was anxious to vindicate himself in the Flouse of Lords, but had not the opportunity. He left Canada in 1828. Departure His period of government was a stormy one; but no one f.^n^'^ ■ ever more honestly tried to do his duty, and by founding ' the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec ' he started the province in a direction in which it has already attained marked distinction. Although, on the surface of things, these last years had Economic seemed merely a time of barren political strife, the economic ^^""^^^P- development of the country was progressing steadily. In 1 821 a canal was begun between Lachine and Montreal, so as to avoid the Lachine Rapids, and by 1825 connexion was completed between the two points of the St. Lawrence. A steady stream of emigration was all this time pouring into Canada. Over 68,000 emigrants are said to have come into the country between 1819 and 1825, of whom about one- third remained in the lower province. A military settlement started between Ottawa and Kingston having proved very successful, Dalhousie recommended that a settlement on these lines should be formed in Gaspd. On the land question his views were enlightened ; and he recommended the establishment of a Court of Escheats, as in Nova Scotia, to deal with the resumption of lands which had not been occupied. Dalhousie was very popular with the English population, and the monument which he raised to Montcalm and Wolfe showed the sincerity of his goodwill towards the French Canadians. That he failed as a Governor is hardly to his discredit, in that his successors, trying to be concilia- 112 HISTORY OF CANADA tory, failed yet more disastrously. The path of safety was not again to be reached till the Union and responsible government had completely changed the character of the situation. Authorities The official correspondence between 1818 and 1823 is calendared in Brymner, op. cit. 1897 ; between 1824 and 1828, in volume for 1898. The Dalhousie papers, which will be published in the course of the next few years, should throw much light on the period. Meanwhile there is much material in : Christie, op. cit. vol. ii, pp. 250-395 and vol. iii, pp. 1-203. On proposed union of Upper and Lower Canada, 1822, see Brymner, op. cit. 1897, Note A, and Egerton and Grant, op. cit. The Evidence before the House of Commons Committee of 1828 is of great value. Ciarneau, op. cit. CHAPTER IX THE EVE OP THE CRISIS Sir James Kempt, who took over the government on the departure of Dalhousie, described himself as seated on a barrel of gunpowder, not knowing how soon it would explode. Endeavouring to conciliate both parties, he was successful with neither. He was haunted with the idea that the Assembly would succeed in its aim, which was to grasp all power in its own hands. It recognized from the Report of the 1828 Committee the way in which the wind was blowing in England, and was determined to enforce its full claims. The conciliatory character of Kempt kept strife Pretensions in abeyance, but nothing was settled, and the elements of ^ discord remained, ready to burst at any moment into a flame. A premium was set on disaffection by large sums being voted by the Assembly for the payment of witnesses who should give evidence as to grievances. Mr. Robert Christie, the member for Gaspe, had, as Chairman of Quarter Sessions, become unpopular by advising as to the appoint- ment of magistrates; he was promptly expelled the House, the Assembly seriously maintaining that it had a super- intending control over the character of its members, thus claiming the rights of the constituent body. Still, in some ways progress was made, and a needed Reform measure of electoral reform was passed in 1829. Under this Act a new division of the counties was made, and their total number was raised to forty. By these means the popu- \0L. V, PT. It I 114 HISTORY OF CANADA lation of the eastern townships at last received representa- tion ; and the establishment of registry offices for land transfers in the following year remedied another grievance. frisk tm- Apart from political troubles, Lower Canada at this time migi-ation . suffered from a serious evil. During 1830 and 1831 there was a great influx of emigrants, mainly from Ireland. But these people did not come to stay, merely passing through the province, leaving its inhabitants to provide for their sick and disabled, and to bury the dead. The absence of proper regulations on board ship caused the lot of the emigrants to be one of extreme misery. There were numerous deaths on the voyage and on arrival; and children were left without protection, and wholly dependent on the casual charity of the people of Quebec. In this stale of things it was no matter for wonder that cholera was introduced in 183 1, an imperial boon which added greatly to the natural bitterness of the French Canadians. It was, however, political more than economic grievances which figured in the complaints of the Assembly. Kempt had, in 1830, been succeeded by Lord Aylmer, an enthusiastic advocate of conciliation. He believed that the fault lay with the British, who were aiming at the subversion of the French laws and institutions. The Assembly undoubtedly had just grounds for complaint. The towns and parishes suffered from the absence of local self-government ; judges were con- nected with politics and took part in public affairs ; the Executive was growing less and less representative of public opinion, and greater responsibility and accountability was sorely needed for public officials. It was vainly sought to strengthen the Executive Council. In 1830 it consisted of nine members, of whom only two were French Canadians and only one a Roman Catholic. Lord Aylmer s method of mending matters was to pitchfork into it, without power or responsibility, the most prominent members of the Opposition. He opposed the view thai the members of the Executive THE EVE OF THE CRISIS 11$ Council were the natural advisers of the Governor. He maintained that, being himself above parties, he should look only to the home Government for support. Secure of that, he was confident that all would go well. The home authorities were in the same conciliatory mood. Condlia- Quebec and Montreal were granted municipal government, ^^Xwc*"" and Lord Goderich promised his assent to any measure Govem- putting an end to the doubt and confusion which prevailed '""' ' as to the law. Parliament was prepared to leave to the Canadian Legislature the enactment of laws relating to real property. An Act removing the judges from the Legislature had already received the sanction of the Crown. Little now remained for debate, and that little, Lord Goderich was convinced, would be discussed with feelings of mutual kind- ness and goodwill. In 1831 the Crown divested itself of the permanent revenue of the province, without securing a permanent provision for the Governor or judges ; while at the same time in Canada Aylmer was trying the effect of copious doses of blarney. But neither acts nor words availed to propitiate the Obstiuaiy Assembly. The Governor's flattery fell on deaf ears, and ^j.j^,^,^/y the only reply to the Colonial Secretary was the contemptuous ignoring of his request for a permanent Civil List. In the next session the attempt was made to tack on to the bill providing for the year's salary of the judges the provision that they should hold office during good behaviour. Goderich's patience was at the straining point; after all his efforts for conciliation he found himself m.et by nev.- pretensions, urged in a form both unparliamentary and disrespectful. Meanwhile the ascendancy of a few violent men was Power of making the political danger serious. The keynote to'^^'^*^' Lower Canadian history at this time lies in the power wielded by the lawyers and doctors, who were the kith and kin of the simple habitants. Never were circumstances more favourable to the influence of demagogues; the leaders of I 2 ri6 HISTORY OF CANADA Character tlie people issuing from them and being part and parcel of °f . themselves. Of these men, Papineau was the chief. A Paptneau. r r • ^ , master of fervid eloquence, of a rare personal charm, absolutely honest, he yet must be described as a demagogue ; because he lived in a world not of facts but of words. Having raised the storm he proved wholly unable to control it ; and when the crisis came found refuge in somewhat inglorious flight. The extreme party, however, had not things all their own way. A vigorous Scottish newspaper proprietor, Mr. Neilson of Quebec, who had previously been one of the leading reformers, now, with others, broke from the majority ; but to no purpose. Claims of The loss of life at an election riot at Montreal in 1832 Assembly, ^dded fuel to the flames. The provisions of the Constitu- tional Act with regard to the constitution of the Legislative Council were declared to be incompatible with the principles of free government. A National Convention was demanded, which should consider and propose amendments to the con- stitution. Violence begets violence, and, in the face of such utterances, it was not strange to find the Legislative Council asserting that the effect of an elective Legislative Council would be to bring into collision the people of Upper and Lower Canada, and to drench the country with blood. Upper Canada would never quietly allow the interposition of a French Republic between it and the United States. Position of Aylmer"s position had become impossible. He had begun Aylmer. ^y throwing the blame on the British, but the attitude of the Assembly could not but alienate him more and more. He attempted to draw distinctions between the people and the leaders, and to show that the very violence of the latter was due to their waning power. Late in the day the Government had set on foot the excellent plan of having its measures brought forward in the Assembly by a member who was made an Executive Councillor for this purpose. On the THE F.VE OF THE CRISIS T17 first holder of the office becoming a judge he was succeeded by a young French Canadian, M. Mondelet. Though no salary attached to the office the majority declared his seat vacant ; so that even measures meant to be conciliatory ended in quarrels. Aylmer was unable to suggest a remedy. On the one hand the British party, grown bolder, showed a deter- mination no longer to submit to the French party; on the other the unbounded pretensions of the Assembly had al- ready deranged, and promised to destroy, the balance of the Constitution. The home authorities were at a loss. The elective Altitude of principle, with regard to the Legislative Council, could not^^'''''_ be conceded ; and conciliation had only aroused new pre- ment. tensions. Another House of Commons Committee, which sat in 1834, threw no light on affairs. But the Canadian Assembly was in no mood to listen with deference to anything proceeding from British authorities ; and already, in February, had been formulated the ninety-two resolutions which were the French Canadian declaration of rights. In these they The declared their attachment to the elective principle, pointing ""'fij^dl^^^ to the United States as the political model. They reminded Parliament of the consequences of its efforts to overrule the wishes of the American colonies, whose population, at the time of the Declaration of Independence, was not much greater than that of Canada in 1834. With an amazing disregard of facts it was asserted that the great majority of the inhabitants of British origin were heartily in accord with the French Canadians ; while at the same time the number of the British was ludicrously understated. The legality of ' tacking ' was curtly maintained, on the simple ground that grants of supply should depend upon the redress of grievances. The Assembly claimed all the powers, privi- leges, and immunities enjoyed by the British House of Commons. Responsible government was not demanded, except so far as it might come under the complaint of the ii8 HISTORY OF CANADA Racial contest. Appoinl- tiient of Royal Commis- sion. vicious composition and irresponsibility of the Executive Council, whose members formed the Court of Appeal, with secrecy, not merely as to its numbers but even as to the names of its members. In an elaborate analysis of the ninety-two resolutions Aylmer maintained that eleven of them represented the truth ; six contained truth mixed with falsehood; sixteen were wholly false; seventeen were doubt- ful ; twelve were ridiculous ; seven repetitions ; fourteen con- sisted of abuse, and four were both false and seditious ; the remaining five were indifferent. The Assembly proceeded to demand the impeachment of the Governor, Lord Aylmer. The passing of the ninety-two resolutions served to open the eyes of the British population. Constitutional Associations were established in Quebec and INIontreal. The British and Irish population found themselves united for self-preservation, and in the General Election of 1834 a racial character was given to the elections, such as had before not been known. In this contest victory naturally went to the big battalions. The majority returned determined to assume control of every individual in the province. The Collector of Customs was imprisoned for an alleged violation of the rights of the Assembly, The ninety-two resolutions were again passed, with some others yet more ' pungent '. It ap- peared hopeless to summon again the Assembly, and Aylmer began to think that, unless Parliament interfered, the English- speaking population might take the law into their own hands. Aylmer himself was wearying of his thankless task. He suggested the appointment of a Royal Commission to ascertain the state of the province. He recognized that a change of Governor was desirable owing to the personal hostility shown by the Assembly. His suggestion was taken, and a Com- mission was sent out in 1835 to devise a remedy. LordGos- ford was appointed chief Commissioner and Governor, and witli him went Sir George Gipps and Sir Charles Grey. THE EVE OE THE CRISIS riQ Some obscurity hangs over the choice of Gosfoid. The office was first offered to Lord Amherst, and Lord Canterbury, who, as Speaker of the House of Commons, liad won general approval, was afterwards mentioned for the post ; but his family relations were supposed to stand in the way. Lord CharaiUr- Gosford was an Irish peer who emerged from obscurity [qO/Co'>i»us- return to it again. He had in his favour a pleasant manner and good intentions; but the leaders of the revolutionary party had gone too far to be cajoled into line with the Government by the flatteries of a faux bonhojiune, and the new Governor was without the moral or the intellectual backbone necessary to confront a situation of grave difficulty. Sir George Gipps was a Whig soldier, who afterwards did good service as Governor of New South Wales. Sir Charles Grey was an ex-Indian judge, whose appointment was insisted upon by the King. It would seem that the question of allowing the Legislative Council to become elective had been seriously considered by the British Government ; but William IV stood in the way. He was determined never to permit the concession of an Elective Council to be made in any of the colonies, and Sir Charles Grey was expressly told by the King that his duty was to maintain the Crown's prerogative which persons who ought to have known better had denied. The person who ought to have known better was the King's own Secretary of State, Lord Glenelg.^ The recall of Aylmer aroused considerable feeling among the British population ; while it failed to conciliate the French. An Elective Legislative Council was as distant as ever, A Suggcuiou plan appears to have been adumbrated of having three or five , T Ju salaried councillors to be chosen from the leading men of the govem- colony, with seats in the Legislature. These representatives "'^"'' would have been bound to obtain supplies or vacate their posts. Papineau was reported to have said that, though he was not himself enamoured of the plan, it would probably be popular ' The Grei'iUe Memoirs^ part T, vol. iii, pp. 271, 276. I20 HISTORY OF CANADA in Lower Canada, as it would certainly be in Upper. It would seem that to Lord Howick, who, as Lord Grey, was to be intimately connected with colonial history, belongs the credit of this suggestion, which foreshadowed responsible government. But whatever may have been at the time intended, nothing was done in the matter. Although his reception by the French Canadians was far from cordial, at first the full force Attitude ^of Gosford's criticisms was reserved for the loyalist minority. Gosford. -wj^gj^ j|. ^yjjs proposed to raise loyalist volunteers, he refused to allow legal recognition to the movement. The feelings of the British became naturally bitter. They threatened that their case might become as hard to deal with as that of the French, who, after receiving concession after concession, now claimed that the whole government should lie w-ith that part of the Legislature in which the Anglo-Canadians were practically unrepresented. No doubt the behaviour of the English was often provoking. An Englishman who had spent some time in Lower Canada shipbuilding wrote ' that the British were too apt to treat the French as if they M-ere blacks ; and the British also were mighty talkers, who in their way were no less dangerous than Papineau '. Faihire of In spite, however, of such failings, and in spile of Gosford's sion""^ prejudices, the trend of events steadily drove the British Govern- ment into the arms of those who supported British interests. In February, 1836, the Assembly, after directly claiming responsible government, refused to grant more than six months' supply till there had been a redress of grievances. In the following September they definitely refused to vote supplies. It was generally recognized that the Commission had been a failure, and the home Government directed that its proceedings should be brought promptly to a close. Little light or leading is to be derived from the series of Reports issued by the Commission. Sir Charles Grey acted his part of drag on the wheel and generally appended THE EVE OE THE CRISIS 121 dissents or doubts to his colleagues' opinions. On the main Report of points, however, they were tolerably unanimous. They were ^^""""- f ' ^ J J J sioners. opposed to making the Legislative Council elective, on the just ground that, whatever might be said as to the merits of an Elective Council in the abstract, in Lower Canada the interests of the British minority forbade that they should be handed over to the tender mercies of a Legislature consisting wholly of French Canadians. Responsible government was impossible, because responsibility must lie with the Governor. To make the Council responsible would be to take away part of the Governor's powers, and thus to abridge the efficiency of the one officer on whom reliance had to be placed for retaining the allegiance of the colony. There was pathetic irony in the fact that the single practical suggestion made by a Commission which had started with the anxious desire to restore peace and goodwill was that the imperial statute should be repealed under which the Crown revenues had been granted unconditionally to the Colonial Legislature. Whatever the future might have in store, it had been shown that government by a popular Assembly, as it was understood in Lower Canada, had become an impossibility. There was a short, resultless session in the autumn of 1836; and the House met in August, 1837, only to be prorogued within two Last meet- days. Colonial government, as meaning an irresponsible "'-^^ Executive and a Jiberiim veto allowed to a popular Assembly Canadian puffed up by ignorance and vanity, had been tried and found '''^^^^'"''h'- wanting. Some other means must be devised, or the whole system of government would fail to the ground from its obvious inefficiency. While political wrangling went on, it must be confessed that, tried by the standard of practical utility, the French- Canadian Assembly was found very lacking. Attention has already been called in the case of the IMilitia to the incon- venience occasioned by temporary laws. The absence of municipal government compelled the central Legislature to 122 HISTORY OF CANADA Local deal with petty details and minute regulations which should gffvern- h^ve been entrusted to local bodies. The chimneys of 7H€)lt . Montreal were swept one year under an Act of William IV ; in the next, through its expiration, under a revised ordinance of George III ; and through a similar omission the wharfage dues of Montreal Harbour could not be claimed for a whole year. Road- In an undeveloped country nothing is of greater import- system. ^j^^^ ^j^^j^ ^^ efficient system of roads ; but, in the absence of local government, the road-system of Lower Canada was notoriously bad. Local rating being unknown for the pur- pose, large sums were voted by the provincial treasury for the development of internal communications. The disburse- ment of these was entrusted to unpaid, but not always disinterested, commissioners nominated by the Governor- General, for the most part on the recommendation of members of the Legislature. Thus the heavy expenditure on roads produced small results. In 1838 there was not a single good road in the province. Charges of jobbery were freely made ; and no doubt political motives often influenced grants. Enemies of the majority found their constituents generally left in the cold. The management of the roads was vested in the grand voyer and his deputy in the districts of Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers. Under these were subordinate officials. The grand voyer was a survival from French times, but the smallness of his salary and the clumsy provisions of the law caused his duties generally to be performed in a perfunctory fashion. Qtialifica- The condition of local government had been made worse ma^rhtrates^y ^ ^^^^ which restricted the office of magistrate to those 'possessing land. The practical effect of this was to disqualify many of the most competent British magistrates ; while those who remained, disgusted with some of their colleagues, grew remiss in attendance. It was, however, the condition of I he towns wh'cli most THE EVE OE THE CRISIS 123 showed the need of local government. Quebec had narrow Condition and ill-paved streets; huge wooden steps projected, in con- "£'] '^ tempt of the law, across the broken footpath. The water Montreal. was unwholesome, hawked by carters from the St. Lawrence. There was no system of lighting the streets, and passengers carried their own lanterns. The condition of Montreal was rather better, but it remained in total darkness during the winter months, at a time when military guards were placed in almost every street, and there was a general fear of insurrection. Quebec and Montreal had been watched and lighted after a fashion under a temporary Act down to 1836; but the condition of things had been little better, and there was no proper police force until one was organized during Lord Durham's administration. Bad as was the condition of the towns, the state of things in the country was worse; and here the evil was the greater, because the situation of the seigniories stretching almost in a continuous village would have rendered easy the assembly of local boards. In no respect, perhaps, does the action both of the French Assembly and of the British Government stand more self-condemned than in this neglect to set on foot a system of local government. Authorities The official correspondence between 1829 and 1831 is calendared in Brymner, op.cii. 1899; between 1832 and 1835 in volume for 1900; and between 1836 and 1837 in that for 1901. Christie, op. cit., vols, iii and iv; are especially valuable as repre- senting views of British minority. Garneau, op. cit. Life of Papineau in ' Makers of Canada ' Series, by A. D. De Celles, Toronto, 1904. Parliamentary Papers, Reports of Gosford Commission, 1837. Letters to H. Taylor, October 24 and November 4, of Mr. Elliot, 1835, in Brymner, op. cit. 1883, Note A. Appendix C to Lord Durham's Report on ' Municipal Institutions '. CHAPTER X UPPER CANADA FROM 1815 TO 1837 Upper Canada after the war. Clergy reserves. Some account has been given of affairs in Upper Canada before the outbreak of the war of 1 812. The effect of that war was to instil into the mind of the Upper Canadians a feeling of self-confidence hitherto unknown. It had been an imperial question, and yet such success as had been gained had been largely due to the Canadians themselves. With this new temper prevalent considerable tact was ne- cessary on the part of Government if disputes were to be avoided ; but such tact was, nearly always, absent. With the departure of Drummond the melancholy tale of blunder and failure began. There was inexcusable delay in settling the claims of the Militia to their pay, and the land-grants allotted caused disappointment. It was natural that the Government should endeavour to restrict the immigration of Americans ; but such measures were unpopular, as they tended to lower the value of land. A further subject of controversy played a great part in Upper Canadian politics. We have seen that under the Constitutional Act reserves of land were made for a ' Protestant clergy'. It would seem from the wording of the Act that some distinction was in- tended between the words ' Church of England ' used in one .section and ' Protestant clergy ' used in another ; and there is authority for the statement that Grenville in 1791 had intended the latter words to be of wide application. The English law officers, however, were of opinion that such clergy must belong to a Church established by the law of the UPPER CANADA FROM 18x5 TO 1837 125 land, so that all Protestants other than members of the Churches of England and Scotland were excluded from the benefits of the provision. In a country where the great majority of the population belonged to dissenting sects such a distinction was both impolitic and galling; and the dis- content caused tended to drive the people more and more into the arms of the Radical party, which denounced the doings of the Government. A shrill voice was given to Upper Canadian grievances Persecution by Robert Gourlay, a Scotchman who had arrived in Canada "-' °"'^ '^^' in 181 7. He was a man of undoubted abilities, but of no common sense. A note of hysteria runs through his criticisms. ' Corruption,' he wrote, ' has reached such a height . . . that no other part of the British Empire witnesses the like.' Upper Canada was pining in premature decay, and discontent and poverty were experienced in a land blessed with the gifts of nature. Language of this sort might well be left to itself, but the Government took the foolish and unjust step of making Gourlay a martyr. The arrival of Sir Peregrine ]\Iaitland, as Lieutenant-Governor, in i8i8, placed a willing tool in the hands of the reactionary party. Maitland was a brave soldier and a friend of the Duke of Wellington ; but he had all the prejudices, without the bonhomie, of his father-in-law, the Duke of Richmond. Advantage was taken of a clause in an Act directed against suspicious foreigners who had not taken the oath of allegiance to imprison a British subject, who, as such, did not need to take the oath. Gourlay's main cause of offence had been that he had issued a circular to correspondents asking what in their opinion retarded the development of their townships and of the province in general, and had invited a convention of dele- gates to consider the terms of a petition to the Govern- ment. Tried for sedition, he was acquitted, but was then proceeded against under the Alien Act mentioned above. Gourlay was ordered to leave the province within ten days, 126 HISTORY OF CANADA and, on refusal, was thrown inlo prison, a writ of habeas corpus being for months denied him. In 1820 he left Canada broken down in health and mind; but afterwards in great measure recovered, and lived to the age of eighty- five. INIore dangerous antagonists to the Government were the Bidwells, father and son. Barnabas Bidwell was an American lawyer, who had fled from the United States to avoid a charge of misappropriation of public funds brought by his political enemies. Elected to the Upper Canadian Assembly, he was excluded on the ground that he had taken the American oath of citizenship ; and an Act was passed in 182 1 making all Americans ineligible for a seat in the Assembly. This Act was subsequently modified so that Americans who had resided seven years in Canada and taken the oath of alle- giance, might become members. His son, Marshall Spring, was elected in the place of Barnabas Bidwell ; but he also was excluded as an alien, having been born in Massachusetts, though before the Treaty of Paris. With the modification of the law the younger Bidwell became eligible, and he was returned to the new House of Assembly which met in 1825. The intolerance of the Goverment party brought about its natural consequences, and the Liberals obtained a small majority. The younger Bidwell was a man of great ability, and afterwards became Speaker, though his extreme nervousness unfitted him for the rough and tumble of political life. Another of the party was of a yet more puzzling character. Had Dr. Rolph been as honest as he was able, he must have reached the highest step in the ladder of political life ; but there was something furtive and sinister in his actions which stood in the way of his advancement. The treatment of a half-pay officer, Captain Matthews, who had ventured to profess Radical opinions, showed the nature of the Government. That a British ofiicer bliould embark u])on the stormy waters UPPER CANADA FROM 1815 TO 1837 I27 of political agitation was intolerable to the notions of the day, and Matthews was made the victim of a petty persecu- tion which ended in his ruin. It was at this time that a far more formidable antagonist W.L.Mac- first appeared upon the scene. William Lyon Mackenzie ^"^"^* was a Scottish immigrant of good family and indifferent means, who started a newspaper in 1824, the Colonial Advocate, to attack the Governor and his connexions. In spite of the violent character of its writings and the ex- aggerated importance attached to it by the fussy Lieutenant- Governor, the newspaper proved a failure, and might have died a natural death, but for the proceedings of its enemies. The wrecking of its office and type by young men in close relations with the Government officials gave it a new life, by securing for it the sinews of war in the shape of heavy damages, and by enlisting on its behalf the sympathies of moderate men. A feeling of dissatisfaction everywhere prevailed. The Political Government was narrow-minded and tyrannical. With regard '^"•^^'«^^'"- to the settlement of aliens, political and economic interests seemed hard to reconcile, while the inaction of Lower Canada, which neglected the improvement of the St. Lawrence between Lakes St. Louis and St. Francis, added greatly to the diffi- culties of the colony. In this state of things a political firebrand might well find his opportunity. It is difficult to take very seriously Judge Willis, who appeared upon the scene in 1827. Had he succeeded in his ambition to preside over a court of equity we should probably have heard nothing of his constitutional agitation. A judge can hardly be in the right in encouraging attacks upon his brother judges and the law officers of the Crown ; nor is it necessary to feel much interest in the social squabbles between Lady Mary Willis and the Lieutenant-Governor's wife. Willis's removal was then natural enough ; but more difficult to justify was the heavy punishment inflicted on a newspaper writer, 128 HISTORY OF C AX AD A Francis Collins, for having accused, no doubt in a Pickwickian sense, the Attorney-General of ' palpable falsehood ' and 'native malignancy'. Maitland was recalled in 1828, and Sir John Colborne, a distinguished Peninsular veteran and a singularly upright man, entered upon what at the time could not but be a damnosa haereditas. Political The elections of 1828 had resulted in the triumph of the sttuaiton. Radical party. Mackenzie had been returned for York, and Bidwell was elected Speaker by a small majority. The Assembly, with practical unanimity, claimed that its position should be recognized as the responsible adnser of the Crown. Colborne saw that much of the discontent arose from the popular jealousy of those holding the chief official situations. He could not indeed approve a state of things under which the Legislative Council followed in every case blindly the lead of those of its members who belonged to the Executive Council ; yet it was difficult to suggest a remedy. Still, in spite of the weakness of the Constitution and of the opposi- tion, which was due to the naturalization question and that of the clergy reserves, discontent in Upper Canada was not Change of very deep-seated ; and the General Election, necessitated by fie mg. ^j^g death of George IV, took the power from the hands of the extreme party. A steady flow of immigrants was now pouring into the colony, and these new-comers, as yet, cared little for the political shibboleths of the reform party, while their prejudices could easily be aroused against any course which seemed to suggest truckUng to the United States. In this state of feeling a statesman of tact and discretion might have done much. But though Colborne possessed these qualities he could not act without his advisers, and they stood rooted to a political creed which was fast becoming obsolete. Amongst these advisers the figxire stands out prominent of the strong and capable Archdeacon Strachan, recalling the combination of Churchman and statesman common in the Middle Ages. Strachan lived and worked, UPPER CANADA FROM 1 815 TO 1S37 129 not for himself, bul for his Church ; but probably his political Posin'on of partisanship did more to weaken the hold of the English cfiurch "^' Church on the affections of the people than could a whole regiment of political dissenters. Colborne himself recognized that Strachan's pohtical course had destroyed his clerical influence, and that much of the bitterness of the dissenters towards the Established Church was really directed against its truculent champion. Colborne had old-f^ishioned views on Church questions ; but we find him suggesting that the whole of the clergy reserves should be placed at the disposal of the Crown, to make a provision both for the Episcopal clergy and for the support of other Protestant churches. More advanced views, however, were already making way. A petition in 1831 advanced the view that the clergy reserves should be appropriated to the purposes of general education and internal improvement. It was at the same time affirmed that all political distinctions on account of religious belief ought to be removed. But while Radicalism was leavening public opinion, the party of reaction in the Assembly, under the blustering and incapable leadership of the Attorney-General, Henry Boulton, held full sway. The repeated expulsions of ^Mackenzie from the Assembly, on the Expulsion mos't flimsy pretext, were disapproved of by Colborne, and jy^,^^.^„.,-^, censured by the home Government. On Boulton and his colleague, the Solicitor-General, setting at defiance the official censure they were dismissed from office. As members of the Government, they were bound to support the measures which were enjoined by the British authorities, though, as private members of the legislature, they could of course express what opinions they pleased. The language in which Boulton's dismissal was commented on in the news- paper which he directed proved how much official loyalty was dependent on favourable circumstances. Fortunately for these men there were other political bunglers besides themselves. Mackenzie took the opportunity to publish a letter I30 Mrs TORY OF CANADA Joseph Hume's letter. from Joseph Hume, the well-known economist and Radical, which declared a crisis to be fast approaching in the affairs of Canada, which would terminate in independence and freedom from the baneful domination of the mother-country and the tyrannical conduct of a small and despicable faction in the colony. Unwise as was the publication of such a letter on the eve of a general election, when appeal had to be made to a people, the great majority of whom were still inflexibly loyal to the British connexion, disgust with the majority was strong enough to give the opposition a small majority in the elections of 1834. Nevertheless, the alienation of Egerton Ryerson, the most influential member of the Methodist body, from JNIackenzie's party, tended greatly to weaken its influence. Meanwhile the home authorities were most anxious to conciliate the people. The full control of the whole revenue had been already granted in 1831 ; the Assembly on its side undertaking to vote a permanent civil list for the Governor and judges. As a further measure of conciliation it was now decided to recall Colborne, in the hopes that a more pliable governor would mend matters. Colborne himself was con- vinced that all attempts to win over Mackenzie and his party by concessions would fail. His own remedy was to fill- up the waste lands of the province with a British population with as much speed as possible. He noted with some bitterness the attentions paid in London to a demagogue like Mackenzie. Two of the most respectable persons had been sent to England to urge payment of the war losses, but without any effect. But as soon as ' a persevering impostor ' like Mackenzie gave his version, the claims were at once /iVj/o«nV'/^ considered. From about 1828 the demand for responsible government became articulate in Upper Canada ; and while the Lower Canadian Assembly was wasting its energies in the pursuit of an elective Legislative Council, the eyes of Upper Canadian reformers were fixed in the direction from Recall of Colborne. govern- mint. UPPER CAN. -IDA FROM i8r5 TO 1 83 7 131 whence came final safety. In ilie report of grievances drafted by Mackenzie, of which two thousand copies were distributed, put forward by the Assembly, the responsibility of officials to the majority of the colony was expressly demanded, though coupled with the claim for an elective Legislative Council. Colborne, although a soldier, saw clearly the great im- FJucatiou. portance of education. When Lieutenant-Governor of Guernsey he had set on foot Elizabeth's College ; and in 1829 he founded Upper Canada College at York. In the matter of education the record of the colony stood high, common schools having been supported out of the public funds as early as 18 16. Colborne's dispatches show him to have been constandy preoccupied with the question of the proper co-ordination of education. His natural sympathies no doubt caused him to overrate the position of the Church of England in a province where its members were a small minority of the population. His plan for the government of Upper Canada College gave more power to the Church of England than in the circumstances could be justified ; but it must be remembered that Archdeacon Strachan was actively at work furthering the interests of his Church, and that he was desirous of going to still greater lengths than Colborne was willing to approve. None the less was it true that the extreme pretensions of the Church of England threw the sober-minded, cautious, dissenting community into the arms of the reform party. Sir John Colborne's last act in Upper Canada in establishing Estahlish- forty-four rectories has been severely blamed. But he could "'^"' "f rectories. call in aid the words of the Secretary of State, Lord Goderich, written in April 1832 : 'I quite concur with you in thinking that the greatest benefit to the Church of England would be derived from applying a portion at least of the funds under the control of the local government to the building of rectories and churches.' Considerable delay occurred, K 2 132 HISTORY OF CANADA to prevent interference wiih existing riglits, and owing to differences of opinion regarding the form of the legal instru- ments ; but the signature of Colborne only put the finishing- touch to a plan which had been long settled. It may well Dislike of be that the policy was unwise. Indeed, it is hardly possible Esiabhshed ^Q doubt it, considering that nine-tentiis of the population appear to have been opposed to the existence of an Estab- lished Church, and that the close neighbourhood of the United States made invidious distinctions in favour of one denomination appear very different from what they appeared amidst the traditions and circumstances of England. But it is not fair to Colborne to blame him for prejudices which he shared with the great majority of Englishmen of his time. Entering upon the scene at an unfortunate moment, and confronted with a demagogue of the ability and honesty of Mackenzie, he was not, it is true, able to give constitutional peace to Upper Canada; but w-hatever scruj)ulous fairness and the honour of a chivalrous soldier could achieve was accomplished by him. The story of the government of his successor, Sir Francis Bond Head, will be best told in the chapter which treats of the insurrection. Rideauand While Upper Canada was entering upon a career of Canah political strife, its economic position was steadily advancing. To these years belong the making of the Rideau and Welland Canals, which were of great importance to Upper Canada's economic development. The Rideau Canal, which was first proposed during the war of 181 2 as a military measure to provide an alternative route to the St. Lawrence between the west and Montreal, was begun in 1825 and finished in 1832. Its route followed, from Ottawa, the river Rideau to the Rideau lake, and was carried from thence along the Cataraqui river to Kingston. The total length was about 126 miles. Of more importance was the Welland Canal, which con- nected Lakes Erie and Ontario. There were great difficulties with regard to finance ; but in 1829 the works were so far UPPER CANADA FROM 1815 TO 1837 133 finished that vessels were able to pass between Lakes Ontario and Erie, the length of the new canal being about sixteen miles. Its final completion belongs to later history ; indeed it was again deepened some twenty years ago. Before success could be achieved it had to be taken over by the province as a public work. Nevertheless its first beginnings were an important event in the history of the province. In 1824, on the advice of John Gait, the celebrated Scottish novelist, who had acted as agent in the matter of claims made by Upper Canadians for losses suffered during the American invasion, the Canada Company was formed, Canada under which a great tract of land on Lake Huron was °"'P'^")- thrown open to colonization — the company receiving eleven hundred thousand acres in one block. Gait's Autobiography throws strange light on the ways of colonial governors at that time, and especially of Sir Peregrine Maitland ; nor does the reputation of Dr. Rolph emerge the clearer from his statements. Such personal matters, however, belong to a dead past ; Gait's work as a colonizer is of permanent interest. The town of Guelph was founded in 1827, situated in the centre of the tableland which separates Lakes Ontario, Simcoe, Huron, and Erie. A road was made through the forest of the Huron tract, establishing land com- munication between Lakes Huron and Ontario, a distance of some hundred miles. For years ihe company suffered from lack of funds, and their relations with their agent Gait were unsatisfactory ; but the colonization of the Huron country was successfully accomplished, and by 1833 Lord Dalhousie was able to congratulate Gait on the success of the com- pany's perseverance. ' Experience in setUing the Canadas,' he wrote (August 31), 'has long proved that to give free grants is not the wisest system for advancement either of the emigrant or of the province.' Sir Richard Bonnycaslle. in 1841, was much struck by the success of the Canada Company's operations. It had 134 HISTORY OF CANADA purchased over 2,200,000 acres of land, and wiihin ten years had planted some hundred thousand with bona fide settlers. It had made a hundred miles of road, and spent large sums on public buildings, bridges, &c. Goderich, one hundred and fifty miles from Toronto, was in 1829 a wilder- ness inhabited by four families; by 1838 it had a population of five thousand, and returned a member to the legislature. The success of the Canada Land Company caused similar methods to be adopted in Lower Canada, a course which led to considerable complaint from the Assembly of the province. The laud Among the most practical grievances in Upper Canada Yier"v "^ ^""^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ connected with the land system. The in- rescrves. efificiency of the surveying department caused great insecurity in the title to land. Useless formalities and consequent delay often occasioned hardships. The want of roads was as serious in L'pper Canada as in the Lower Province. Mention has been already made of the clergy reserves in their political aspect, as creating a jealousy of the English Church, but their economic consequences were no less lamentable. A township contained eight thousand acres, and besides the clergy reserves there was an equal amount reserved for the Crown. Moreover, a large portion of the remaining land was taken up by grants to united empire loyalists, militiamen, and others, who left their lands in an unimproved condition. These waste lands, wedged in on all sides of the bona fide settler, placed him in a most hopeless position. They prevented the development of a population sufficiently dense to maintain mills, schools, post offices, shops, and churches, and the other signs of a growing community. Education. In the matter of education Upper Canada, as we have seen, was on a more satisfactory footing. The early efforts of Simcoe and President Russell to support it by setting apart a vast tract for the establishment of a Univcisity and UPPER CANADA FROM 1815 ^<^ ^^37 ^35 four Grammar Schools, were indeed foredoomed to failure, because they began at the wrong end ; but from an early date common schools were set on foot by the voluntary efforts of the people. These common schools received the sanction of the legislature in 181 6, when power was given to the people to elect trustees for their management, and grants in aid were allotted by the legislature to the several districts. A Board of Education was established in the different districts, with whom lay the apportionment of the public grant. Unhappily religious controversy soon be- came a disturbing element. The powerful influence which Dr. Strachan secured for the Church of England was shown by the establishment of a Central Board of Education, practically directed by that Church, and in other ways. To the same influence must be ascribed the commanding Church of position of the Church of England under the charter o{ England ^ ° . ascendancy. 1827, which established a new University. It proved im- possible, however, in the face of a hostile public opinion, to give effect to the provisions of the charter ; and the House of Commons Committee of 1828 recommended essential changes in it so as to prevent a suspicion and jealousy of religious interference in a country where only a small proportion of the inhabitants belonged to the Church of England. In consequence, the proposed University dwindled to the proportions of a Church of England College established in 1829. A rival Methodist College, known as the Upper Canada Academy, was started in 1836, upon which also university powers were conferred in 1841, under the name of Victoria College. Denominational colleges were also established by the Roman Catholics and by the Presbyterians. The policy of linking education with de- nominationalism left abiding marks on the character of the Upper Canadian people. Travellers even to this day record the difference between the treatment of Sunday in British Canada and in the Western States of America. The 136 HISTORY OF CANADA permanence of traditions and ways, which otherwise might have been lost, was largely due to associations formed in early years, when the character is most open to influence. Authorities The official correspondence is calendared in Brymner, op. cit. 1896- 1901. Life and Times of IVilliani Lyon Mackenzie, by C. Lindsey. 2 vols. Toronto, 1862. Kingsford, op. cit. vol. ix, pp. 193-251, and vol. x, pp. 213-339. Autobiography of John Gait. 2 vols. 1833. Brymner, op. cit. 1898, on 'Land Companies of Canada ' and ' Naturali- zation question', and 1899 on ' Clergy reserves ' and 'Education, 1818'. Appendix B to Lord Durham's Report; on 'Crown Lands.' Life of Lord Seaton, by G. C. Smith. 1903. Memoir of Rev. J. Strachan, by A. N. Bethune. Toronto, 1870. The Canadas in 1S41, by Sir R. ISonnycastle. 2 vols. 1 841. Statistical Account of Upper Canada, by R. Gourley. 2 vols. 1S22. The Life of Sir J. Beverley Robinson, by Major-Gen. C, Robinson. 1904. CHAPTER XI THE BEBELLION OP 1837 We have traced the history of the two Canadas down to the eve of the rebellion. On leaving Upper Canada Colborne was given the military command in British North America, an appointment which proved a tower of strength to British interests. Gosford was inclined to complain of Aitiijide of Colborne's action. He still did not believe in the possibility " ' of serious commotion, though he recognized that Papineau was determined to split from Great Britain. At the same time he had come to recognize that it might be necessary to suspend the Constitution. Until Papineau's power was nulli- fied there could be no hope of better things. The situation was indeed becoming serious. Meetings were being held at which the severance of the connexion with Great Britain was openly advocated, as well as the smuggling of goods so as to starve the revenue. According to Gosford, the great majority of the people were in their hearts disinclined to the agitation, but were intimidated by the revolutionary party. Nightly parades took place in Montreal by organized bands, and loyal parishes were Serious severely boycotted. The system of trial by jury had broken ^^^^^^^^°"- down, so that offenders were sure of immunity. Large bodies were drilling every Sunday, and no attempt was made by the civil authorities to interfere, while several P'rench officers had been secretly introduced from the United States to give military drill and instruction. The magistrates and officers of IMiliiia were being compelled to resign, and many land- 138 HISTORY OF CANADA Roman Catholic Church. Position of Owners had fled from their properties to the towns or to the Gosford. United States. Even Gosford recognized the need for more troops, and applied for extraordinary powers to suspend the Habeas Corpus Act and to establish martial law. The loj-alists were also arming, and the hapless Governor described himself as between Scylla and Charybs (!), with Papineau's destruc- tives on the one side and the British party on the other. Attitude of In this crisis a powerful ally took the list on the side of law and order. The Roman Catholic bishop of Montreal issued a Mandement to be read in all the churches condemn- ing, in clear language, the proposed rebellion, and telling the people to reflect upon the horrors of civil war. On Novem- ber 6, 1837, a riot occurred in JMontreal, occasioned by a conflict between a procession of ' sons of freedom ' and members of the loyalist Doric Club. During this the oflice of the Vindicator newspaper, which had been conspicuous for the violence of its revolutionary language, was wrecked. Face to face with rebellion, Gosford asked to be relieved of his command. He was a victim to gout, and if strong measures were to be taken he urged that it would be expedient that they should be directed by some one less pledged to a mild line of policy. At last more effectual means were being taken for the preservation of order. The strong hand of Colborne was at work ; and in November warrants were issued for the arrest of Papineau and twenty- five others. Nine of them were lodged in gaol, but Papineau, his ally Dr. O'Callaghan, an Irish Radical, who afterwards did good work as state archivist in New York, and the others with two exceptions, succeeded in escaping. The rescue of these two, who had actually been taken, marked the beginning of the insurrection. Large numbers of insur- gents were collected at St. Denis and at St. Charles on the Richelieu river ; and troops were sent to disperse them and to arrest the leaders. An advance was accordingly made from St. (Aub upon St. Deni^, where the rebels, under Oittl'icah of insur- rection. THE REBELLION OF 1 837 139 a Dr. VVolfied Nelson, who had been one of the leading Radicals, made a successful resistance. Papineau had been at Nelson's house the same morning, but had made his escape, with a view to taking refuge in the United States. The repulse of the British troops gave much encouragement to the rebels, though the cold-blooded murder of Lieutenant Weir, when trying to escape (November 23), could not serve to advance their cause among the kindly French Canadians. Another expedition, which proceeded from Chambly against Collapse of St. Charles, met with greater success. The rebels were de- ii^,^^ feated with serious loss, and thereupon the insurgents at St. Denis also dispersed, Nelson himself being taken prisoner on December 4. The rebellion in the north-east was thus quashed; but in the county of the Two Mountains to the north-west of Montreal disaffection had taken stronger hold. Here the malcontents were gathered at St. Eustache under Dr. Chenier, one of the few French Canadians of good birth and character who took part in the rebellion. The half- armed peasants showed a pathetic confidence in their capacity to resist regular troops ; but when an advance was made by an army of two thousand men under the commander-in-chief, the resistance attempted was in the nature of things very slight (December 13). The fall of St. Eustache necessitated the collapse of the rebellion in the district of Two Moun- tains, and the troops returned to Montreal with some hundred prisoners. The insurrection for the time was at an end ; but it remained for British statesmen to read the lesson of its origin. We have seen that in Upper Canada the new Lieutenant- Situation Governor, Sir Francis Bond Head, found a situation of no '^4«jX!' small difficulty. The reform party was becoming soured, and Mackenzie openly affirmed that all British administra- tions were alike, and that it mattered nothing to the colonies whether a Castlereagh or a Glenelg was Secretary of State, the results were in either case the same. Head came out 140 HISTORY OF CANADA with the reputation of being a Liberal, and his first measures were conciUatory. He sought to strengthen the Executive Council by placing on it some members of the opposition. Among others who were induced to serve was Robert Baldwin, the future Prime Minister, whose name was to be so closely associated with the history of United Canada. It was never intended, however, that these new councillors should have a voice in the direction of policy, and in consequence they soon retired in disgust, after holding office for twenty-two days. Head and From this time Head and the Assembly were at war; but Asseiublv ^^^ Speaker, Bidwell, played into the hands of Government by publishing a letter from Papineau, which could be read as an invitation to treason. The majority, however, were not shocked by the disclosure, and, for the first time in its history, the Upper Canadian Assembly refused supplies. But a nemesis was awaiting them ; and in the general election of 1834 they were completely routed. The Lieutenant-Governor considered that he was engaged in a life and death struggle with republicanism, and threw his whole official influence and authority on the side of the Tory party. The overwhelming character of their defeat took the reformers by surprise ; and it is slated that Mackenzie never recovered from the effects of losing his seat at Toronto. Hitherto, in spite of his violent utterances, he had been cheery and genial in private life ; henceforth he was morose and depressed. No less unfortu- nate in their way were the results upon Head of his signal triumph. It impressed Lord Glenelg, so that he suffered meekly the inflated bombast in which Head explained his general policy. The apostle of conciliation could not, of course, hear without a mild protest Head's blood and thunder sentiments; but men are judged by results, and the results of Head's proceedings seemed eminently satisfactory. At the same time, it was impossible to pass over his disregard of orders. A district judge had been dismissed on the ground that he was a member of the Constitutional Reform Society, THE REBELLION OF 1837 I41 and an order for his reinstatement was openly disobeyed. J^esipia- Again, Marshal Bidwell had been passed over and inferior ^^" y^ lawyers appointed to the bench ; Glenelg remonstrated, upon which the Lieutenant-Governor replied that he had determined to take the serious responsibility of non-compliance with the Secretary of State's orders. In these circumstances he tendered his resignation, which even the long - suffering Glenelg was obliged to accept. At the same time he bore witness to the ' advantage to the public service ' which had followed Head's exertions (November 24, 1837). It was precisely at this time that the full extent of this False ' advantage ' was to be made manifest. The result of the ^/^^' ^ "-^ general election had been to throw discontent beneath the surface, and to cause the extreme party to gain in bitterness what it lost in numbers. A wise governor would have taken good care not to be caught unprepared ; but Head, wrapped in his own self-sufficiency, approved of the removal of the British troops from the province. Throughout the summer of 1837 an agitation went on, which the great majority of those who took part in it intended to keep within constitutional lines; though Mackenzie, it would seem, was already contemplating armed resistance. A convention was decided upon for the spring of 1838, the Revolu- objects of which were to be supported by a great demonstra- X/^«j' tion. In the event of the Lieutenant-Governor and his council resisting the will of the people, their forced detention was intended. A provisional government should then be estab- lished, with Dr. Rolph at its head, if he was willing. It has never been cleared up how far Dr. Rolph was implicated in such designs; but the attempt to draw Bidwell into the revolutionary net met with complete failure, and called forth the announcement that he intended to withdraw altogether from political life. To give force to the demonstration, a system of secret training and drill was carefully organized throughout the townships. Some rifles and ammunition were 142 HISTORY OF CANADA Prepara- smuggled in from the United States, and the manufacture of tion of j.y^]g pii^e-heads was begun. That these preparations were lusurgenls. ^ ° a- 1 1 carried on under the very nose of the Government marks the infatuation of Head's behaviour, Mackenzie proposed in October a raid upon Government House and the capture ot the Lieutenant-Governor. At first the project was scouted ; but it may well have been feasible, mainly because of Head's over-confidence. It was in vain that Colonel FitzGibbon, who had done good service in the war of 1812, sought to Infatna- instil his fears into the Lieutenant-Governor. Head's vanity mad. ""^'^s concerned, as he was determined to preserve Upper Canada ' without a single soldier or a step being taken to guard against or to prevent disturbance'. At length, how- ever, in deference to others, he condescended to sanction the arrest of Mackenzie and the embodiment of two regiments of the Militia, and FitzGibbon was at the same time appointed acting adjutant-general. Outbreak of The news of these preparations was sent to Mackenzie by rebelhoji. Rojph^ xh^^ he might, if possible, enter Toronto on the 4th and forestall them. The attack was not made till the 5th, when a rabble of some five hundred men marched upon Toronto. The first blood of the rebellion had been already shed, a British officer, Colonel INIoodie, having been shot dead on the night of the 4th when reconnoitring. The news of the rebellion was brought to Toronto by a loyalist, who, after being captured, had effected his escape. Head, who had paid little heed to FitzGibbon's warnings, was at last con- vinced. FitzGibbon was anxious to attack the insurgents, knowing that they were a rabble half-armed and without leaders or discipline ; but Head barred the way, saying that he would not fight them on their ground ; they must fight him on his. His confidence had now apparently given place to alarm. He refused to allow FitzGibbon to send out a picket ; and parleying was entered into with the rebels, so as to give lime for the arrival of the Militia. The story of THE REBELLION OF 1837 143 this proceeding is not pleasant reading. Robert Baldwin, indeed, went as the Governor's messenger in singleness of heart to warn the insurgents of their danger ; but his com- Conduct of panion, Dr. Rolph, was in secret correspondence with the V/ y rebels, and his behaviour at the interview was more than equivocal. Upon the other hand, the refusal of Head to put in writing terms which he had offered by word of mouth has an ugly look, and it would seem that the arrival of volunteers, and more accurate accounts of the strength of the rebel forces, had quieted the Governor's fears, and caused him no longer to hold out hopes of amnesty. Meanwhile, according to the subsequent testimony of his own followers, Mackenzie's behaviour was that of a lunatic. He gratuitously outraged the feelings of the more respectable among his followers by wantonly burning private houses, and his actions can only be explained by the fact that his nerves were completely overstrained. An abortive attack Aftack upon Toronto was made on the evening of December 5, '^"/^^^^ and when it was renewed on the 7th it w^as wholly desperate, reinforcements having poured into the city throughout the preceding day. The rebellion was put down with very little loss of life. Mackenzie succeeded in escaping to the United States ; but his second-in-command, Samuel Lount, was cap- tured, and, in spite of strong petitions in his favour, was afterwards hung. Discreditable as had been to most concerned the events of Head's the Upper Canadian rebellion, the events which followed its d^^^y^l" suppression were as bad. Bidwell was an advanced Radical BidweU. by conviction, but physically and intellectually he was the last man likely to be drawn into revolutionary courses, and it seems clear that, by working on the weak side of his character, Head succeeded in causing him to pronounce upon himself a verdict of banishment. But whatever our opinion may be of Sir Francis Head, it is undoubted that he had the confidence of the Upper 144 HISTORY OF CANADA Pof'ularity Canadian legislature. When lie announced his approaching "-' ^'^ ■ departure, owing to a difference of opinion between him and the home Government, the Assembly declared that if any- thing could shake their attachment to the throne, it was the exhibition of ungenerous distrust towards an officer who had done such service as he had done. Be this as it may, it was time that, in the clearer atmosphere of a wider political union, the disgraceful page of Upper Canadian history which tells of the rebellion of 1837 should be recognized as belonging to an obsolete past. Authorities The Dispatches are calendared in Brymner, op. cit. 1902. The Canadian Rebellion in 1837. ^X ^' ^' Read. Toronto, 1896. Kingsford, o/>. cit. vol. x, pp. 1-104 and pp. 343-417. Gameau, op. cit. Christie, op. cit. La rebellion de 1837 ^ Saint Enstac/ie. Quebec, 18S3 (contains an account, day by day, of what happened for twenty days, by the vicar of the parish). Lindsey, op. cit. The Story of the Upper Canadian Rebellion. By J. C. Dent. Toronto, 18S5. A narrative (of his administration of Upper Canada). By Sir Francis Bond Head. 1839. CHAPTER XII LOKD DURHAM'S REPORT Face to face with the situation in Lower Canada, the Mission of home Government took the wisest course that was possible ^f''^, . Durham. m the circumstances. The Constitution was suspended for three years, and Lord Durham was sent out as special commissioner with very full powers. No better choice could have been made. Durham was an advanced Radical, who ' saw with regret every hour that passed over recognized and unreformed abuses ' ; but he was also a fervid imperialist, the first British statesman, since Chatham, who recognized the possibilities latent within the Empire. The very quaUties which made him an impossible colleague were of service for the special mission on which he was employed. The curse of colonial administration had been the timid shrinking from responsibility; but here was a governor who was not afraid to act regardless of others. He refused to avail himself of the special council, which had been set on foot by Sir John Colborne, during the short time in which he administered the government, from the departure of Gosford to the coming of Durham. The members of it could not but be tarred by the brush of political controversy; and Durham was determined that his administration should be free from all suspicion of poHtical influence or party feeling, and that it should rest on his own individual responsibility. A condition precedent, however, to the success of such a procedure was that it should have the loyal support of the home Government. VOL. V. I'T. II I, 146 HISTORY OF CANADA His staff. Durham arrived in Quebec towards the end of May, accompanied by a numerous staff. His chief secretary was Carlyle's pupil, the brilliant and capable Charles BuUer, whose premature death some years later proved a severe blow to liberal imperialism. Considerable outcry had been raised in England over the appointment to Durham's staff of Thomas Turton, who had figured in the divorce court. Durham had intended to give an official position to Gibbon Wakefield, the inspirer of the policy of systematic coloniza- tion ; but Wakefield's past stood in his way, and the Secretary of State refused his sanction. Wakefield, however, ac- companied the mission in a private capacity. His recep- Lord Durham had no reason to complain of his reception. tion. rpj^^ French were for the moment disillusioned by the complete failure of the 1837 insurrection. Moreover, Mr. Roebuck, the English agent of Lower Canada in London, had been already approached on the question whether some form of federation would be acceptable. The British, on the other hand, who might naturally be expected to regard with suspicion a governor, who was a persona grala to the French, had suffered too much from weak rulers not to give a respectful greeting to one who was at least a strong man. Treatment The first question requiring settlement was the treatment oj ^1" 'y- ^Q jjg accorded to the guilty, which had been postponed for the decision of Lord Durham. Three hundred and forty of the prisoners had been liberated, but one hundred and seventy-four were still detained. Durham proclaimed a comprehensive amnesty, which included the whole popula- tion, with the exception of eight prisoners, who, on pleading guilty, were, by a special ordinance, banished to the Bermudas, without formal trial, and of a further sixteen, who, having absconded from justice, were held liable to the death penalty, were they to re-enier the province; among these sixteen were included the names of Papineau and Kelson. However wide were Durham's powers, and ihcy had been somewhat LORD DURHAM'S REPORT 147 abridged by amendments to the measure appointing him, it was obvious that they did not include the power of banishment to the Bermudas; and there were thus good technical grounds for the criticisms which were directed against the ordinance in Parliament. But throughout Canada there was a general consensus of opinion that Durham had wisely tempered justice with mercy ; and it was to the credit of all concerned that the rebellion of 1837 should have ended without the judicial shedding of any blood. Unhappily, when the news of the ordinance reached England, Lord Critichm Brougham, who had a personal grudge against Durham, ffj^i'^^jand appeared as the champion of outraged law ; and the Duke of Wellington, for once allowing party interests to warp his judgement, joined in the hue and cry. The defence of their agent by the Government in the House of Lords was of so tepid and feeble a character as to seem to endorse his condemnation. The Ministry assented to a Bill, intro- duced by Brougham, indemnifying those who had acted under the ordinance; and they formally disallowed the ordinance itself The alarm which the action of the House of Lords caused to the English merchants trading with Canada was a striking comment on its folly. It was not the first nor the last time on which English party politics had cast a malignant shadow over the affairs of the colonies. Durham first knew of the debate in the House of Lords from an American newspaper. He had already noted liie ominous silence with which the Prime Minister had received the Duke of Wellington's statement on July 4, that he had no powers beyond those of an ordinary governor. On recog- nizing his virtual abandonment by the home Government, Durham rightly concluded that the necessary condition for the success of his mission was not being fulfilled, and at Durham once decided on resignation. He was at the time suffering \':!^-^" '° from illness; but iiis action was not due to this cause. So L 2 148 HISTORY OF CANADA Action not far from resigning under the influence of personal pique, sonal pique. ^^ continued in tiie Government until he had received the results of the inquiries which he had instituted. He believed that he might do good on his return by using his experience ' to check the prevailing disposition of Parliament to decide on the vital interests of that distant community, according to the principles of a constitution and the feelings of a state of society the least analogous to those which prevailed in Canada '. Had the subject of Durham's ordinance first been dealt with in the House of Commons, his resignation might not have been necessary — as he afterwards acknowledged that from Lord John Russell alone of the Ministry he had always received cordial support. Visit to Little expecting what was shortly to happen at home, Canada. Durham in July had paid a visit to Upper Canada — when the need of further developing the Welland Canal was forcibly brought home to him. In August he sent home a memorable dispatch wherein he described vividly the general situation in Lower Canada, and anticipated many of the conclusions of his subsequent report. At this time, however, he was still in favour of a confederation of the British North American provinces. It was not till he came in personal contact with representatives from the maritime provinces that he realized how strong were the objections at this time to confederation. (It was during the visit of those delegates that the news arrived which brought about his resignation.) Exicp- In judging Lord Durham's position we must remember character ^"^^ ^^ whole matter was of an exceptional nature. He of situation, admitted that his acts had been despotic, because his dele- gated authority had been despotic. ' Until I learn,' he wrote, ' from some one better versed in the English language that despotism means anything but such an aggregation of the supreme executive and legislative authority in a single head, as was deliberately made by Parliament in the Act which constituted my powers, I shall not blush to hear LORD DURHAM'S REPORT 1 49 that I have exercised a despotism ; I shall feel anxious only to know how well and wisely I have used, or rather ex- hibited an intention of using, my great powers.' In the same proud spirit of driving matters to their logical con- clusion, he refused, when once the ordinance was disallowed, to follow Glenelg's suggestions as to attempting to qualify the complete amnesty which was the result of the dis- allowance of the ordinance. In October Durham took the unusual and, in the ordinary Af>pca! to circumstances, unconstitutional course of issuing a proclama- 5'^'!^ " tion, in which he explained the reasons of his resignation, and in effect appealed from the action of the home Govern- ment to Canadian public opinion. The wisdom of this proclamation has been vigorously defended by Charles Buller. The general unpopularity of the British Government, he explains, was such that a little more or less could not affect it, whereas it was a matter of vital importance that the angry and suspicious colonists should find one British statesman with whom they could agree. It is certain that an ominous disposition was beginning to show itself among the British population. The possibility of separation from the Empire was openly discussed. It had been one of the merits of Durham's conduct of affairs that he had placed British relations with the United States on a more satisfactory footing. The sending of his brother-in-law. Colonel Grey, on a special mission to Washington was attended by ex- cellent results ; and the more friendly disposition of the American Government prevented incidents such as the burn- ing of a Canadian steamer, the Sir Robert Peel, by American filibusters and the subsequent raids against Upper Canada from possessing political importance. Durham's stay in Canada only lasted for five months, from May 27 to November i; and his judgements, so far as they were personal, were therefore of necessity formed on a \ery cursory observation. He may thus have been sometimes 150 HISTORY OF C.-JXADA misled ; whilst ihe extreme pomp and parade which he kept up may have occasionally sened to screen from him the real facts. He perhaps exaggerated the racial antagonism be- tween the French and English populations, and most cer- tainly his forecasts with regard to the future extinction of ^'p*-y^ ^f the French nationality have proved wholly wrong. In one sense his mission was a failure, in that it failed to conciliate the French or to win the approval of the home Govern- ment. It was. moreover, a source of much annoyance and disappointment to himself, and probably shortened his life. Nevertheless, we all now recognize that his very failure carried within it the seeds of a far wider triumph. Without the com- bative attitude, which had been forced on him, the language of his epoch-making report would have been couched in less trenchant terms, and the interest which it aroused would have been far more ephemeral. From the time of the publication of that report it became impossible for statesmen to continue to tread with smug self-saiisfaction the same weary path which led to the alternative quagmires of anarchy or coercion; although it was not for some years that its full lessons were applied. Authorship It is characteristic of the ill-luck which dogged Lord ^ ' Durham that he should have been denied the credit which attached to the writing of this report. The gossip of the clubs, first started by Brougham, set the ball rolling, and sober historj- has taken the gossip very seriously. The late Dr. Garnett, assuming the truth of the tradition, sought by internal eridence to show how much of the report was due to Durham himself, how much to Charles BuUer, and how much to Gibbon Wakefield. Of course, in a sense, the report was largely the work of others. There are always workers behind the scenes, to whom, if we but knew, much of the credit of the public performance is really due. No doubt some laborious treasury oflBcial might have claimed to have been in some sort joint-author of one of Mr. Glad- LORD DURHAM'S REPORT 151 Stone's great Budget speeches ; but is it likely that Durham in a white-heat of indignation and in no wise deficient in confidence in his own powers, should have left the whole burden of his defence in other hands? Charles Buller wrote of the report as Durham's own handiwork, and Lady Durham bore witness to his toil at it. Its style is very characteristic of the combination of the fastidious aristocrat and convinced reformer, which made up Lord Durham, In these circum- stances, it seems idle to go behind the stated fact. Neither Durham nor Buller nor Wakefield were, of course, the first to advocate res ponsible government. N one the less will Durham be remembered as its successful evangelist. The main conclusions of the report are the necessity o^ (Conclusion • 11 • r 1 ' • cf report. responsible government, i.e. of government by an executive in sympathy with the majority of the legislature, and of a Union of the two Canadas, so as to give the experiment a fair chance. Incidentally the report brings out Durham's own position. He had gone out as a Liberal, believing that the cause of the French Canadians was that of liberalism. When he found them stationary and stagnant, his enthusiasm cooled, and the direction of his mind turned to other measures, which should in time undermine their nationality. The British population, on the other hand — whom he had confused with the narrow oligarchy at their head — he found * a very independent, not very manageable, and sometimes a rather turbulent democracy '. He was struck by the prob- ability that the British, out of disgust with the Government, might be driven into the arms of the United States. Under a surface of hostility he could detect a strong undercurrent of an exactly contrary feeling. Such, then, were the reasons — first, the illiberal character of the French Canadians; secondly, the necessity on imperial grounds for conciliating the British — which led to the conclusion that henceforth the first and steady purpose of the British Government must be to establish an English population with English laws and 152 HISTORY OF CANADA language in the province, and to trust its government to none but a decidedly English legislature. In his argument Durham no doubt treated with unnecessary contempt the traditions and ideals of the more literary French Canadians. His dislike of arbitrary government or of artificial checks led him to hasten to the path of safety promised by an English L'?tion as majority. He had at first preferred a general scheme of con- agatnst federation to a surer union of the two Canadas : but such a confedera- tion, scheme required time, whereas the work in hand had to be done quickly. Moreover the difficulty of intercommunication made such a federation at the time impossible. A wilderness of several hundred miles lay between the Maritime Provinces and Quebec. The task was wholly diff"erenl from that which had been achieved by the United States. A more general union was indeed advisable, so that a citizen of British North America might feel himself of importance beside one of the United States; but the union of the two Canadas would prepare the way for such a consummation. In a pregnant sentence, which was not laid to heart by those who after- wards drafted the Union Act, Durham wrote that electoral arrangements founded on the present provincial divisions would tend to defeat the purposes of union and perpetuate the idea of disunion. He believed that the British population of Lower Canada, along with that of Upper Canada, which was growing rapidly, would be able to hold its own in fair rivalry with the French. Sithjects of While proposing to entrust to the Colonial Executive the I'oireyn ^"^^ management of all local concerns, Durham recognized that there were certain subjects which were the peculiar pro- vince of the British Government. The constitution of the form of government, the regulation of foreign relations, and of trade with the mother-country, the other British colonies, and foreign nations, together with the disposal of the public lands, seemed the only questions which should remain within the control of the molher-counlry. concern. LORD DURHAM'S RFPORT 153 The language of the report is now very familiar, and it is difficult to realize the revolution which its acceptance im- plied. It was the great good fortune of Great Britain that, when her whole system of colonial government had to be altered root and branch, the course to be followed was pointed out by a statesman at once so possessed with the idea of British Empire and so staunch to the traditions of British liberties as was this Elisha to the principles of Chatham. The coincidence of the hour and the man perhaps decided for centuries the future of Greater Britain. Authorities Lord Durham's Report was reprinted in 1902 by Messrs. Methuen. Life and Letters of the first Earl of Durham. 2 vols. By .Stuart J. Reid. 1906. Vol. ii draws upon a very valuable unpublished account of the mission by Charles Buller. Some of the more important dispatches of Lord Durham are printed in Egerton and Grant, op. cit. Self-govermnent in Canada. By F. Bradshaw, 1903. Contains a full account of Durham's stay in Canada, and an admirable analysis of the report. 7ytyCA^/^^<-^ CHAPTER XIII THE MARITIME PBOVINCES In the previous volume of this history the affairs of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton played a prominent part ; but they played it in connexion with the war between France and Great Britain, and it is difficult within a short compass to bring out the internal development of small communities, yA'ova Nova Scotia remained unshaken by the example of the md the Southern colonies ; but the results of the American War American greatly affected it by causing a numerous immigration of Wqt American loyalists, no less than thirteen thousand arriving at Halifax, Annapolis, and other places within a few months. In consequence of the accession of population in the southern portion of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick was in 1784 consti- tuted a separate colony. Nova Scotia was for many years a preparatory school, where governors of Lower Canada passed a period of apprenticeship. Sir George Prevost, Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, Lord Dalhousie, and Sir James Kempt were all moved to Quebec from Halifax. Sir Peregrine JVIaitland, on the other hand, went from Upper Canada to Nova Scotia. Internal The public life of the colony was for years very_peac.efuU. reforvis. jj^g governors being^abTe to confine their attention, for the most part, to the subjects of agriculturCj ediicatiorij and road making. Lord Dalhousie was very active in the encourage- ment of the two former. Grammar schools had been estab- lished in many places as early as 181 1, but to Dalho.usie^vas owing the establishment of Dalhousie College ( 1 84 1 ), founded THE MARITIME PROVINCES 155 on the undenominational basis prevailing in tlie Scottish universities. The eight years of Sir James Kempt's adminis- tration (1820-8) were chiefly remarkable for the great im- provements effected in the public roads. Th e question of Q uestion quit rents came to the fore in 1829 and 1830. In 1759 rents. Governor Lawrence had announced that the public lands granted would be subject to a quit rent of one shilling a year for every fifty acres, but the collection of this rent was suspended indefinitely. In i8ri an attempt was made to collect it, and in 1827 all arrears were~remltted, and the collection ordered to be for the future enforced. In reply to a remonstrance from the colony, the Secretary of State professed willingness to agree to a commutation of these rents. The colonial Assembly, however, wished neither to commute nor to pay, and declared that the relinquishment of the claim would give general satisfaction, as its long suspension had induced the belief that it would never be insisted upon, and transfers of land had, almost invariably, been made under this impression. It was not till 1830, Beginning under the government of the incapable Maitland, that con- fj^,"/^! stitutional questions began to agitate the colony. In that dispute. year a contest between the Assembly and the Legislative Council over the amendment by the latter of a revenue bill was a foretaste of what was to follow. Economic distress and an outbreak of cholera, which ensued in 1834, were not calculated to allay any feeling of unrest, and when voice was given to vague dissatisfaction by the appearance upon the political stage in 1835 of Joseph Howe, the most powerful political speaker and writer whom British North America had yet produced, the way was made clear for a new direction to be given to public life. It must be remembered that the first years of the century had been in Nova Scotia, upon the whole, marked, by grea L-prospen ty. During the war with France money was spent by the British Government in the purchase of 156 HISTORY OF CANADA goods ; and the sale of ships and cargoes brought in by British cruisers was a cause of riches to the colony. The ships of war. which lay in the harbours and the dockyard, created a great demand for all sorts of produce, and high prices were obtained by the occupiers of land for what they Effect of brought to market. B ut with thp rnmjpg^nf peace the ^^'' sources of this artificial prosperity were dried. Real estate fell in price almost immediately ; trade decTmed, and a general gloom settled over the province. Valuable coal mines had indeed been discovered in 1798 in Pictou County, but it was not till a later date that the industry became of im- portance. Lumbering was the main business of the people of Pictou, who \vereTor the most part Scottish Highlanders, to whom the wild life in the forest was congenial, \yith the failure of the timber trade after the war, more serious attention was given to agriculture, though wooden ship- building remained a most important industry in Nova Scotia. Positioti of As was the case in Upper Canada, one of the first serious Church of ^ ,. . , .. - , - , Ev^latnf. causes of political strife arose out of the attempts of the Churcii-of-E«glan4-tcrasstime, under wholly different condi- tions, the position which it occupied in the mother-country. Thus the Pictou Academy, started in 181 6, with the object of providing for dissenters the opportunities which were given by King's College, Windsor, for members of the Church of England, was wrecked on the reefs of religious bigotr)'. Neither the economic nor political circumstances had been such as to give leisure for political theorizing ; but the system of government which held the field was bound, sooner or later, to cause the same agitation which distracted Dominant the Other colonies. There were a few individuals in Halifax, oligarchy, representi ng the socia l and business _iifie_of-4he Colony, who were able to direct public opinion, and not only to influence, but to control, air "public rrieasures. Seated in the capital, they governed the movements of all the different parts ; as they touched the spring the wires moved throughout the THE MARITIME PROVINCES 157 different counties and towns. N owhere was the dnminant oligarchy more firmly entrenched. Although the great majority of the population were not members of the Church of England, two-thirds at least of the Council belonged to that Church. The English bishop was a member of Council, while the Roman Catholic bishop and clergymen of all other denominations were excluded. The Assembly for years asserted their right to control the casual and territorial revenues of the country, but the Commissioner for Lands, who was a leading member of the Council, was interested in the maintenance of the old system, and the efforts of the Assembly were for long unavailing. T here was the same Council for legislative and executive purposes, and it sat with closed doors. Against the serried ranks of the ' C ounci l of T\yelve ' the assaults of the popular Assembly for some time broke in vain. The story of the full accomplishment of responsible govern- Movement ment in Nova Scotia belongs to a later period, but we may responsible note the different results which followed from Lord John govem- Russell's dispatch of 1839, notifying that henceforth officials "^^"' ' in the colonies could not count on a permanent tenure in Nova Scotia and in New Brunswick. In the latter the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Harvey, warmly welcomed the proposed change, while in the former Sir Colin Campbell did all he could to preserve the old system. In some respects the struggle for self-government was more difficult in Nova Scotia than in the other colonies. In Lower Canada the movement had behind it the force of racial patriotism, and both Upper Canada and New Brunswick were essentially democratic. But in Nova Scotia there was a stronghold of aristocratic prejudices such as existed in no other colony. Halifax has been described as not the capital of the province so much as the province itself. The harbour was open all the Position of year round ; and it was within much easier communication ^^^^f^^- with Great Britain than was any other British possession in HISTORY OF CANADA North America. It had a large garrison, and was the summer head quarters of the British North Atlantic squadron. In these circumstances it became a desirable residence for retired soldiers and sailors and other British gentlemen. A conservative upper class thus came into being, from which the members of the Council were for the most part chosen. Social distinctions were jealously maintained ; and we are told that ' in no German capital were the lines drawn nioje rigidly. The Bench and the Bar, the Church, the College, the city, the banking and great mercantile interests, the influences of the army and navy, all contributed to form and strengthen the edifice ',' while at the same time the system was administered both honestly and efficiently. Yet it was this stately edifice which the genius and energy of a single man, Joseph Howe, succeeded in overthrowing. The time- spirit was, of course, in his favour, and in any case it must have been impossible permanently to maintain in the new world a replica of a system which was becoming obsolete in the old ; none the less was Howe's achievement remarkable. In New Brunswick, which was made a separate province in 1784, there was from the first much discontent. The locking up of large areas of the best land in the province, as reserve grounds for the production of masts for the royal navy, was a grievance widely felt. The whole management of the public lands was open to grave criticism. Large sums were exacted for licences to cut timber on Crown lands; and the Assembly was without any kind of control over the Commissioner of Lands, who received a very high salary. The revenue frorn the Crown lands being sufficient to pay the civil list, there was no check upon the Executjve. The Assembly was willing, in return for the control of the public lands, to undertake to vote a permanent civil list, but for years it proved impossible for the home Government and the Colonial Legislature to come to terms. The pres- ^ Joseph Howe. JJy G. M. Giant. Halifax, 1904. THE MARITIME PROVINCES 159 ence of a Lieutenant-Governor from 1831 to 1837 who, though honest and well-meaning, was singularly narrow and short-sighted, served to make things more difficult. Sir Archibald Campbell, the predecessor of the more liberal Sir John Harvey, did all in his power to prevent the settlement finally arrived at, and preferred to resign rather than to carry through the new policy. In New Brunswick the old causes of quarrel over the position of the English Established Church and education were found in an extreme form. In the struggle for reforms Lemuel Allan Wilmot played, on a less interesting stage, and with less originality of genius, the part played in Nova Scotia by Joseph Howe. Although in both these provinces there was much Loyalty of grumbling, the quarrel was with the Colonial Executive '^^''^'""^' and not with the British connexion. When in 1839 the Governor of Maine took possession of the Aroostook Valley, which was claimed by Great Britain, the reformers in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick showed the utmost zeal to oppose the United States. The evils, though real, required a simple remedy, and with the granting of responsible government the troubles ceased. St. John's Island and Cape Breton were, after the Peace Cape of 1763, at first attached to Nova Scotia, but afterwards ^*'^^°^'- (in 1770 and 1784) they were placed under separate govern- ments. After the conquest immigration into Cape Breton was discouraged. Inasmuch as the working of the coal deposits of Cape Breton was forbidden, it would seem that the intention was to prevent the encouragement of manu- factures, which might compete with those of the mother- country. In 1827 all the ..mines of Cape Breton . and -^ Nova Scotia were handed over to the Duke of York, who transferred them to his creditors. Some of these formed a company known as the General IMining Association, which from 1827 to 1857 controlled the mines of Nova Scotia. This company played for many years a leading part in l6o HISTORY OF CANADA the social and political, no less than in the economic, life of Nova Scotia. The population of Cape Breton remaining small, even after the prohibition against settling there had been removed in 1784, it proved impracticable to set on foot an Assembly; but in its absence the members of the Council proceeded to fight amongst themselves. A new Lieutenant-Governor, who arrived in 181 3, found the Chief Justice suspended and the most violent animosities prevailing among both the Government ofiicials and the principal inhabitants. The magistrates had been suspended for some months past, on the ground that they had not been duly qualified. The finances were reduced to the lowest ebb, and the coal mines, which were now being feebly worked, were in a state of bankruptcy. It was in keeping with all this that it was found in 1817 that the Governor and Council had for years been violating the law by imposing duties or taxes, such power being expressly excepted by the King's commission and instructions. In this state of things, inasmuch as, in spite of the large immigration which had taken place, an Assembly was not deemed desirable, the only course open was to re-annex the island to Nova Scotia, which, was done in 1820 by Lord Dalhousie, with the general approval of the inhabitants. Prince Prince Edward Island, known as St. John's till it was renamed in 1798 after the Duke of Kent, the father of Queen Victoria, was, after it became British, at first attached to Nova Scotia. On the petition, however, of a majority of the proprietors of the island, it was made^ a .separate government in 1770. Prince Edward Island was a standing example of the old system of colonial government. Nearjjj the whole island was alienated in one day, in 1767, by the Crown in very large grants, chiefly to absentees, and upon conditions of settlement which were wholly disregarded. Writing in_i8^j. Lord DurhaiiL affirmed that -thcgieaL hulk luhuard Island. THE MARITIME PROVINCES l6l of the island was still held by absentees, who held it as a sort of reversionary interest, which required no present attendon. The absent proprietors neither improved the land themselves nor allowed others to improve it. Notwithstanding that the population remained very small, a representative Assembly was estabhshed in 1773. The history of the colony is to a \Qry great extent the history of the struggle between the proprietors and the representatives of the people over the land question. In i860 a Commission was ap- pointed to inquire into the existing relations of landlord and tenant, and to arrange terms for enabling the tenants to convert their leaseholds into freeholds. The legislation fol- lowing on the report of the Commissioners was, however, disallowed by the home Government, and it was not till 1864 that an act was passed for settling the differences between landlord and tenant, and to enable the tenants in certain townships to purchase the fee simple of their farms on payment of fifteen years' rent. The tendency of small communities, deeply interested in Sieain their own local concerns and hearing little from the outside ^ ''PP"'S , vvorld, is to become isolated and to lead a life wholly distinct catiomvith from that of their mother-country. If this tendency is to be ^^yfl-i^^ arrested, it must be by the influence of scientific discovery, bridging time and space, rather than by sentimental con- siderations. In this connexion the establishment of the Cunard Steamship Company in 1839 was an event of capital importance in the history of the British Empire. The steamers began to sail between Liverpool and Halifax and Boston in 1840, so that just when a new scene was opening, in which British North America might consider that its own concerns were enough to occupy its undivided attention, science was forging links which, aided by deep-seated associa- tions and the pieties of a people essentially conservative even in their love of change, were to become grappling chains on behalf of the cause of a world-wide patriotism. VOL. \. I'l. II JJ l62 HISTORY OF CANADA As was his wont, Joseph Howe had been among the first to see the full significance of the new movement. ' If Great Britain is to maintain her footing upon the North American Continent,' he wrote to Lord Glenelg, on August 24, 1838, '. . . she must at any hazard of even increased expenditure for a time establish such a line of rapid communication by steam as will ensure the speedy transmission of public despatches, commercial correspondence, and general informa- tion, through channels exclusively British and inferior to none in security and expedition. If this is not done, the British population on both sides of the Atlantic are left to receive through foreign channels intelligence of much that occurs in the mother-country and the colonies, with at least ten days, in most cases, for erroneous impressions to circulate before they can be corrected. . . . The pride as well as the interests of the British people would seem to require means of communication with each other second to none which are enjoyed by other states.' * ' Letters and Speeches of /oseph Howe. Edited by \V. Annand, vol. i, p. 182. Boston, 1859. Authorities Nova Scotia. By D. Campbell. Montreal, 1873. History of Pic ton Coioity. By \\'. Paterson. History of New Brunswick. By J. Hannay. History of the Island of Cape B7-eton. By R. Brown. London, 1869. One section of Sir J. Bourinot's Historical and Descriptive Account of the Island of Cafe Breton, Montreal, 1892, deals with its history as an J'^nglish possession. Jlistory of Prince Edward Island, by D. Campbell. Charlottetown, J 875. Howe, op. cit. Joseph Howe. By J. W. Longley (in 'Makers of Canada' Series). Toronto, 1904. Joseph Howe. By G. M. Grant. Halifax, 1904. IVilmot and Tilley, By J. Hannay (in ' Makers of Canada' Series). Toronto, 1907. Book II THE UNION CHAPTER I THE PASSING OF THE UNION ACT Lord Durham's report had sketched in bold outlines the Measures measures necessary for the future of the Canadas, but there ^^^,^7/"' remained the difficult question of filling in the outlines oimeut. the picture. The Imperial Government decided at once upon the reunion of the two provinces, and a bill to this effect was introduced in the Session of 1839. In view, however, of the strong protest of the Legislature of Upper Canada, it was decided to postpone its passage through Parliament till the details of the subject had been reported upon by the new Governor-General. Mr. Charles Poulett Thomson was appointed to the post, and landed in Quebec in October, 1839. A better choice could hardly have been made to meet the difficulties incident to a period of transition. Poulett Thomson was a strong Liberal, anxious to govern according to the wishes of the people ; and he was also an indefatigable worker, capable of every exertion to bring the people to accept his own point of view. Lord Althorp had described the appointment as the finest field for doing good which a statesman could desire ; and it was in this high spirit that Pouleil—Thomson entered upon his work. He had further the inestimable benefit of receiving the loyal support of the Secretary of State, Lor,d_John Russell : in his last message to him the dying Durham contrasted the differences of their two cases. Glenelg, who had been Durham's chief, had been forced by his colleagues to resign early in 1839, and, after Lord Normanby had held the Colonial office for a few weeks, Lord John succeeded him. M 2 164 HISTORY OF CANADA roiiUtt Thomson and the Union. Upper Canada. The new Governor-General had been a business mgLn concerned with the trade to Russia, so that he was well fitted to deal with the financial questions which awaited settle- ment, and his appointment was a cause for congratulation to the mercantile community of Canada. On his arrival at Montreal, on October 22, the Governor-General summoned the Special Council, which had acted during the time of Colbome's dictatorship. It was a curious beginning to popular government that the opinion of the French Canadians was to be given by a Council which in no way represented them ; but in the circumstances of the case there was no alternative course. Moreover, it was assuredly true that men of all shades of opinion were dissatisfied with things as they were. The great body of the French population remained sullen and aloof; and, though they were certainly not converted to the union, their state appeared too desperate for them to resist its coming into force. On the other hand the British felt deeply the indignity of being deprived of representative government. It was naturally a foregone conclusion that the Council should be in favour of the Governor-General's proposals ; though Mr. Neilson, who was one of its members, made a valiant losing fight. It was agreed that the united province should take over the public debt of Upper Canada, and that the details of the Union bill should be settled by the Imperial Legislature. A per- manent Civil List was also promised to the Crown. The Governor, in forwarding these resolutions, laid great stress on the need of a speedy settlement. But Upper Canada had first to be converted, and herePoulett Thomson's task was by no means so easy. In this p rovince, imperial interests, and their own, were jealously watched by~cerfaTn bulwarks of law and order, known by their opponents as the ' family compact ' ; though Lord Durham, a most hostile critic, had to confess that there was very little of family connexion in their undoubted cohesion. THE PASSING OF THE UNION ACT 165 Like other associations of men, their component parts differed in character. Some were good and some perhaps were bad. The Chief Justice, John Beverley Robinson, was a man of whom any country might be proud, and Strachan, now a bishop, with all his faults, was not guided by low motives. Considering the special circumstances of Upper Canada, where a British remnant was in constant danger of being swamped by American invasion, it was not unnatural that the pecuHar guardians of British interests should have grown tetchy and suspicious. Certain it is that the sway of the ' family compact ' was no government of fools. In its nervous vigour the reply of the Upper Canada Council to Lord Durham's report provides, even at the present day, admirable reading. It was, then, this powerful and interested junto, which found itself asked by Great Britain to pronounce its own doom. Moreover, great numbers of the loyalist majority of the people had been embittered by Lord Durham's refusal to allow Sir George Arthur, the Lieutenant-Governor, to gratify their desire for vengeance upon the partakers of the rebellion. In this state of things, as late as March, 1839, the Upper Canadian Assembly declared themselves opposed to union, unless certain impossible conditions were fulfilled. Thus it was declared indispensable that Lower Canada should have only fifty representatives in the united Legislature, against sixty-two to be returned by the Upper Province. In the same spirit it was claimed that after 1845 the elective franchise should be confined to those holding land in free and common socage; the effect of which would have been wholly to disfranchise the French habitants. The English language was to hold the field in the Legislature, the law- courts, and all public proceedings. Poulett Thomson assumed the government at Toronto on The November 22, and was at once made aware, by an address from (^''^''""f- the Corporation of Toronto, of the prevailing temper. The on the ascendancy of the loyal portion of the inhabitants was declared ^''"^^"'"- 1 66 HISTORY OF CANADA to be essential to any legislative union. It seemed intoler- able that those who, from education, habits, and prejudices, were aliens to British institutions, many of whom, moreover, had been engaged in open rebellion, should receive the same rights and privileges as the loyal inhabitants. Poulett Thomson was not a little disturbed at the state of things he found prevailing. It was far worse than he had expected. The country was split into factions animated with the most deadly hatred to each other. The people had got so much into the habit of talking of separation that they had got to believe in it. Poulett Thomson found the constitutional party as bad as or worse than the other, in spite of its professions of loyalty. The Upper Canada Legislature was opened on December 3, and a few days later the question of the union was brought before it by message. ' Within this province,' the Governor wrote, ' the finances are deranged ; public improvements are suspended; private enterprise is checked ; the tide of immigration, so essential to the prosperity of the country and to the British connexion, has ceased to flow ; while by many the general system of government is declared to be unsatisfactory.' For these evils union seemed the only remedy; but it must Condiiions be union under just conditions. The Assembly was invited oj iiinon. jQ agree to the principle of the equal representation of each ■» province in the united Legislature. Such a principle was at the time undoubtedly unfavourable to Lower Canada, but it was expected, as afterwards happened, that with the increasing population which would result from immigration, the in- equality would soon right itself. INIoreover, the agricultural and commercial enterprise of the people demanded that they should not be placed on a footing of inferiority. In passing, we may note that the union, as proposed and carried, was no thorough fusion of the rival interests and races of Canada such as that shadowed forth by Lord Durham. The two streams met indeed but to run side by side in parallel channels, until the one threatened to overleap its neighbour's THE PASSllSG OF THE UNION ACT 167 banks, and they both found an outlet in the waters of federation. The experience of the past made the provision of a Civil Service list a necessary condition of the settlement ; while the provision that so much of the public debt of Upper Canada as had been contracted for public works of a general character should, after the union, be charged to the joint revenue of the united province, was all in favour of Upper Canada ; though, considering that such public works were to the general advantage, it was clearly right that obligations with regard to them should be a public charge. It was this last provision which doubtless brought many converts to the proposals. The financial position was serious. The deficit amounted to some £75,000 a year, and equalled the revenue; so that, although the province possessed vast undeveloped resources, the immediate outlook was gloomy enough. With this lever in his hands, Poulett Thomson Conditions succeeded in carrying the resolutions through the Assembly ^'^''^"^^ •' fiscal enough. Under the policy of colonial preference, which had policy. held the field in Great Britain since the reforms effected by Huskisson, the Canadian Corn Act had been passed in 1843, which gave not only Canadian wheat, but flour also, a substantial preference in the British market. In this state of things American wheat was imported into Canada, so as to obtain the preference, when exported as flour, and a large amount of capital was therefore invested in flour- mills and machinery in Canada to meet this demand. But almost before the new arrangements were finished and the mills at work, the British Government suddenly reversed its policy, and the Act of 1846 swept away colonial preference, alongjwith-ihe other bulwarks of protection, bringing upon Canada, in Lord Grey's own words, who was pars magna in the new policy, 'a frightful amount of loss to individuals and a great derangement of the colonial finances.' Property in fact became unsaleable, and not a shilling could be raised on the credit of the province. The Govern- ment was under the disagreeable necessity of paying all public officers, from the Governor-General downwards, in debentures, which were not exchangeable at par. What made the situation more serious was that, while Canada was thus suff"ering, the United States were enjoying great pros- perity. Elgin, who refused to be dragged into the fiscal controversy, pointed out that the one thing the plain man would understand was that Great Britain was kinder to the children who deserted her than to those who remained faithful. It was the inconsistency of the imperial policy, rather 196 HISTORY OF CANADA than the policy itself, which was the bane of colonial prosperity. It was a matter for serious thought that the commercial classes of Canada were at the time, almost to a man, convinced that annexation to the United States would be in their private interests, financially. In the cir- cumstances of the time the peaceful condition of the pro- vince was a matter of wonder to the Governor-General. Moreover, having adopted Free Trade, the home Govern- ment did not at once give the colonies the benefits which such adoption involved; and it was not till 1849 that the Navi- gation Acts were repealed, and the trade of the St. Lawrence thrown open to the ships of the world. Elgin urged the repeal of the Navigation Acts and the negotiation of a reci- procity treaj;y with the United States, as the only available remedies for the present situation. The outlook was indeed dismal. The mercantile and commercial classes were thoroughly disgusted and becoming lukewarm in their alle- giance, three-fourths of the business men being bankrupt through the consequences of the change in the law. Wjthin the three years 1845 to 1848 property fell fifty per cent, in value, and, in spite of an import duty of twenty per cent., Canadian exports were obliged to find a market in the United States, or none at all. ' How long,' Elgin wrote, ' can such a state of things be expected to endure ? ' It was when the natural upholders of the British connexion were in this condition and temj^er that the measure was brought forward ' to provide for the indemnification of parties in Lower Canada whose properly was destroyed during the rebellion of 1837 and 1838'. Few questions have excited fiercer controversy than the Rebellion Losses Bill of 1849, and even now it is diflicult to penetrate through the smoke of contending factions. It may fairly be contended that the measure was but the elaboration of a bill brought forward by the Conservatives in 1845, and that it followed on the lines of an Act already pasbcd lor Upper Canada. But it was LORD ELGIN'S ADMINISTRATION 197 pointed out that the instructions to the Commissioners in 1845 limited their inquiries to losses sustained by loyal sub- jects, and that positive declarations had been made by members of the Government that none should participate in the proposed indemnity who had borne arms against the Crown. Granted that under the Rebellion Losses Bill no person who had been convicted or pleaded guilty of treason during the rebellion might be entitled to any indemnity for losses sustained in connexion with it, still the fact remained that not one-tenth of those implicated in the rebellion had been arrested; and of those arrested only a small number had been brought to trial ; so that, whether right or wrong, the measure might not unfairly be described as one for the indemnification of rebels. It seems probable, however, that in 1845, when the prospect of a coalition with the French Canadians was still in the air, the Conservative Ministry may have held out hopes which were promptly disavowed when such coalition was out of the question. In any case the question was one requiring settlement, and, although it was clear what form such settlement would take when made by a INIinistry of which La Fontaine was a leading member, Lord Elgin considered that its disposal must be left to his responsible advisers. After the introduction of the bill, petitions were at once Elgin s brought to the Governor, urging that Parliament should be "'f'^"^^^- dissolved, or the bill be reserved for the sanction of the Crown. Elgin considered a dissolution impossible, for the simple reason that there was no evidence of any change of opinion in the people since the recent election. Neither was he inclined to reserve the bill. In the first place he con- sidered that it was on all fours with the Act regarding Upper Canada, which had received the royal assent ; though it could, of course, be argued that the prevalence of disaflfection in the Lower Province made the situations wholly different. Apart from this, he chivalrously refused to shift his own 198 HISTORY OF CANADA responsibilit}' on to the shoulders of the home Government. At the worst he could be made a scapegoat, whereas, if the Crown was implicated in the matter, the feeling might find vent against the British connexion. The bill passed the Assembly by a majority of twenty-nine, a majority even of the Upper Canadian representatives voting in its favour. On the principle that if it was to be done it were well done quickly, Lord Elgin took occasion of having to agree to a Customs bill, which it was necessary to bring into imme- diate operation, to give his assent also to the Rebellion Losses Act. The scenes which followed covered those concerned in them with disgrace. On leaving the Parlia- ment House, the Governor-General was received with ironical cheers and hootings, and the carriage was pelted by young Rials at men belonging to the respectable classes. The Parliament building was set on fire by the mob, valuable books and manuscripts being thus destroyed, and La Fontaine's private house was attacked. A few days later the Governor-General narrow^ly escaped personal violence. Neither the Govern- ment nor the Opposition were prepared for such scenes of violence, and the forces of law and order in Montreal at the time consisted of two policemen under the authority of the Government and seventy appointed by the Cor- poration. They were naturally powerless, and there were serious objections both to the calling out of the military and to the employment of special constables. Elgin, throughout a most trying time, behaved with great forbearance. He carefully avoided giving occasion for riot by confining him- self within his own grounds ; though his only reward was to be dubbed a coward. He was prepared, he said, to bear any amount of obloquy; but, so far as he could prevent it, no stain of blood should rest upon his name. Such violence led to inevitable reaction. After La Fon- taine's house had again been attacked, one of the assailants being shot from within, a Proclamation by the Mayor, LORD ELGIN'S ADMINISTRATION 199 ordering the citizens to rally to the side of law and order, received a ready response, and a coroner's jury acquitted La Fontaine of all blame in the matter of the man shot. The most abiding consequence of the riots was the decision arrived at to remove the seat of government from Montreal. Seat of It was determined that henceforth the Legislature should ^^^'7^' meet at Toronto and Quebec alternately, Toronto being the removed first to be visited. This arrangement proved unsatisfactory ',^"^1 ! and in 1857 ^^^ address was passed by the Legislature asking the Crown to select a permanent capital. Ottawa, which had been before By town, was the place chosen by the Queen, as being on the frontiers of the two divisions, and though the decision gave rise to considerable dissatisfaction, it was finally acquiesced in by the Canadian Parliament. Another consequence of ' commercial distress acting on Aiuuxa- religious bigotry and national hatred ' was the Annexation 'f^" ., , '^ <=> J _ Mamfesto. Manifesto of 1849. This document, which received the signa- tures of several hundreds of the leading citizens of Montreal, advocated a peaceable and friendly separation from connexion with Great Britain, as a prelude to union with the United States. That the manifesto represented the real feelings of the majority who signed is more than doubtful. It was, in the language of Sir John Abbott, who was himself one of the signers, an outburst of petulance. With the exception of a few Americans, he declared, there was not a man who signed the manifesto who had any more serious idea of seeking annexation with the United States than a petulant child who strikes his nurse has of deliberately murdering her. But whatever might afterwards be thought of the Annexa- tion Manifesto, at the time it seemed serious enough, and demanded the prompt attention of Lord Elgin. A circular was addressed to all persons who had signed it, asking if their names had been attached with their consent, and all who admitted the genuineness of their signatures, or refused to disavow them, were forthwith removed from office. Still 200 HISTORY OF CANADA Elgin recognized that, whatever form the disaffection took, the real grounds of it were economic. Political discontent there might be, both classes and indi- viduals being dissatisfied with the state of things prevailing, but considering the heavy price the colonists were paying for their fidelity to the British connexion, the wonder was that the cry for annexation had not taken deeper root. Elgin's conviction was that questions of self-interest of a very gross and palpable description were suggesting treasonable courses to the Canadians, and that it was a political sentiment — a feeling of gratitude for what had been done and suffered that year in the cause of Canadian self-government — which was neutralizing these suggestions. After all the pother which had been produced by the Rebellion Losses Bill, it is curious to note that the Com- missioners who were appointed under the Act were the same who had acted for the Conservative Government, and that in fact compensation was refused to many claimants on the ground of their having been implicated in the rebellion, although never convicted by any court. The Rebellion Losses Act takes an unfair place in the records of the La Fontaine- Baldwin Ministry; there were other measures passed of a more practical and less controversial character. The handing over the control of the post office to the local Government by the imperial authorities, enabled ihe postage of letters and newspapers to be gready cheapened and their circulation enormously increased. The custom of primo- geniture with respect to real estate was abolished in Upper Canada, and in other ways the land laws were amended and the administration improved. Local government, both in Lower and Upper Canada, in 1845 and 1849, was put on a thoroughly representative basis, so that Baldwin along with Sydenham is remembered as the founder of Canadian muni- cipal self-government. In 1849 a general amnesty was issued to all persons who had taken pan in the rebellion. LORD ELGIN'S ADMINISTRATION 20T which enabled William Lyon Mackenzie to return to Canada ; who proved as incapable of reading the lessons of the altered condition of affairs as was Papineau, The La Fontaine-Baldwin Ministry, which came to an end in 1851, was able to complete the system of internal improvements which had been set on foot by the energy of Lord Sydenham. The Beauharnois canal had been com- inteinal pleted in 1845, which gave a continuous river navigation \'"f'ff^' between Montreal and the west, and the channel of Lake St. Peter, between Montreal and Quebec, was deepened and improved. The policy of railway development, which was associated with the later government of Mr. Francis Hincks, had been already started in the time of his predecessors. In spite, however, of the strength of the La Fontaine- Clergy Baldwin Ministry, there were two questions which baffled ^^^^^~"^^- them, that of the clergy reserves and that of the abolition of the seigniorial system. We have seen that the vigorous personality of Sydenham had been able to bring about a settlement of the clergy reserves question, which he vainly believed would be for all time. It was soon proved, however, that the demand for their complete secularization had been merely postponed and not squashed ; and with the coming of the Liberals into power that demand was bound to gain in force. But the state of things in the Canadian Parliament rendered a settlement of the question peculiarly difficult. After the resignation of the Draper Conservative Ministry it became an unwritten understanding that a Government should, as a general rule, and especially in matters which Double were of special concern to one or other of the United "'^^""-i^ Provinces, depend upon a majority which consisted of a majority of the representatives from each of the divisions of the province. Thus the Liberal majority was com- posed both of French Canadians and of Upper Canada reformers. But, as was noted by Lord Durham, the dominant majority from the Lower Division was really by no means in 202 HISTORY OF CANADA Constitu- tion of parties. Division in Alittislry regarding; clergy reserves question. sympathy with the Radicals from Upper Canada, so that a Liberal Government was sure to disappoint one or other section of its followers. The number of parties in the Parliament made in any case the path of Government difficult. Upper Canada was represented by the Liberal majority, a moderate Conservative party, of which in time much more would be heard, by a small body of extreme Tories — survivals of the ' family compact ' days — and lastly by an independent Radical party, who from their hatred of compromise became afterwards known as ' the clear grits '. Lower Canada was represented by a Ministerial majority, Liberal in name, but orthodox in religion, and assuredly most discreet in its liberalism, and by a small party of advanced reformers known as the Reds, who had drunk deep of the well of modern liberalism, and were in many cases, theoretically at least, republicans. Some of the Reds were men of great ability and character. Mr. Antoine Dorion especially was one of the best men and ablest politicians whom Canadian public hfe has produced, and from this ce'jiacle came the future Dominion Prime Minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, whose political beliefs, as he has often explained, were based on English, not continental precedents. It was the want of sympathy between the Liberals of Upper and Lower Canada which after- wards enabled John A. Macdonald to sweep into the Liberal- Conservative net so many French Canadians, and thus to form the party which for so long dominated Canadian public life. In 1850, however, the time for this had not come, and La Fontaine, a Conservative in all but name, found himself confronted with a difficult situation. By the imperial Act of 1840 the subject of the clergy reserves had been removed from the jurisdiction of the Canadian Parliament, and La Fon- taine's strong inclination was to let sleeping dogs lie. His hands, however, were forced by members of his own Ministry, his Commissioner for Crown Lands moving a series of resolu- tions, one of which proposed tliat the Imperial Parliament LORD ELGIN'S ADMINISTRATION 203 should hand over the decision of the question to the Canadian Legislature, with the view of the reserves being secularized. In the debate which followed the Ministry presented a sorry spectacle of divided counsels, and in the most important of the divisions on the resolutions La Fontaine and Baldwin were found voting in opposite lobbies. Meanwhile, in the Toronto Globe, Mr. George Brown, who had started that newspaper in 1844, was urging the necessity of a clear and decided policy, and launched threats against a Ministry which should continue to remain without one. On the question of the seigniorial tenure the INIinistry Qttestionof spoke with the same uncertain voice The rents under that ]"^^"fl.°' '" system were upon the whole equitable enough, though un- doubtedly under the English regime, when the system was no longer mitigated by the equitable interference of the government, it worked in a manner less favourable to the tenant ; but the fines on alienation were found to be more and more troublesome, as land was more and more dealt with as a commercial commodity. La Fontaine, however, was too deeply attached to the old institutions of French Canada to be willing to introduce a measure for the total abolition of the seigniorial tenure. In this state of things the government became an extinct volcano. The dissatis- faction among the Upper Canada reformers found vent in a vote directed against the Upper Canadian Court of Chancery, which had been Baldwin's special creation. He treated the vote as one of want of cohfidence from his own portion of the province, though the motion had been lost in the house as a Avhole, and resigned ; his resignation Resigna- being quickly followed by his retirement from public life. ^^^'^V/-^ La Fontaine had doubtless been for some time tired o^ am/ office, and Baldwin's resignation was quickly followed by ^^'"''"''• his own. The La Fontaine- Baldwin administration had done its work, and more material and commercial questions required ministers of a less fine and more practical fibre. The 204 in STORY OF CANADA immediate work to be taken in hand was that of railway expansion, and for this purpose Mr. Francis Hincks was a more suitable man than the two great idealists who presided with such dignity and grace over the beginnings of responsible government. That Baldwin, though a strong Liberal, was deeply attached to the British connexion we know from the evidence of Lord Elgin. When Lord John Russell had expressed, at the close of his great speech in 185c on the Australian Government Bill, the opinion that in time the colonies would set up as separate states, Baldwin was deeply indignant and hurt. ' For myself,' he told Elgin, ' if the anticipations therein expressed prove to be well founded, my interest in public affairs is gone for ever.' It was not by language such as that of Lord John that the links of Empire were to be strengthened and made secure. Authorities Letters andjotirnah of Lord Elgin. Edited by T. Walrond, 1872. There are also lives of him by Sir George Bourinot in the ' Makers of Canada ' Series, and by Professor George M. Wrong of Toronto. Egerton and Grant, op. cit., contains some of his more important letters and dispatches. The Colonial Policy of Lord J. RusselPs Administ}-ation, by Lord Grey, London, 1852, contains a good deal on Canada and the trade question. Dent, op. cit. vol. ii, pp. 81-244. Turcotte, op. cit. Leacock, op. cit. Life of Sir fo/m Macdonald. By J. Pope. London, 1894. Vol. i, chap, iv, deals with the .Rebellion Losses Bill and the annexation manifesto of 1849. CHAPTER IV THE ADVENT OF LIBERAL-CONSERVATISM The new Ministry, which took office in October, 1851, was presided over by I\Ir. Hincks and by Mr. Morin, who had been Speaker of the Assembly, and represented the French Canadians. An attempt was made to conciliate the ' clear grits ' by including Dr. Rolph, who had returned to public life, in the ministry ; but the radical distrust of Hincks was too great to be thus propitiated. In the elections which ensued the Government attained a majority; but of more importance than mere numbers were the individual states- men who now took a prominent part. John A. Macdonald John A. had been a member of the Assembly since 1844; but ^^^^<^''^°"°-'-''- first he had contented himself with making good his ground, and took very little part in the public debates. He had, however, been a member of the Draper Conservative Ministry, and had begun to obtain that extraordinary influ- ence over others which was his peculiar strength. At the time of the annexation manifesto he had kept his head, and had advocated in its stead the formation of a British- American league, the object of which should be the federation of the British North American provinces under the British flag. Most wary and cool as a politician, in his private life he was guilty of faults and breaches of decorum, for which only his singular charm and genuine kindness of nature could have won forgiveness. Such was the man who from this time forward became, till his death, identified with the history of Canada. At the same time there appeared upon the stage of Parliament a foeman worthy of his steel. Men- 2o6 HISTORY OF CANADA George Brown. Question of clergy reserves. tion has already been made of Mr. George Brown and of his newspaper the Toronto Globe, which soon became a great power in the country. A big, gaunt Scotchman, Brown had both the strong and the weak points of his forbears developed to an exaggerated degree. He presented that combination of fiery enthusiasm, under an icy exterior, which make the doings of the Scottish covenanters even now something of a puzzle. There was in him assuredly nothing of the oppor- tunism of his great adversary ; but perhaps all the more on this account he excited a passion of devotion among the Presbyterians and Methodists of Upper Canada, to which the amused admiration of the Conservatives for their brilliant leader was hardly a parallel. In some ways, and of course longo intervallo, these two statesmen may be compared to Disraeli and Gladstone. There was in both that difference on fundamentals which is the secret of political hatreds. To English observers the vigour with which Brown threw himself into an anti-Catholic crusade requires explanation. In this country we see the Roman Catholic Church at its best, and we are familiar with the evils of religious intolerance ; but it must be remembered that in Lower Canada at least the Church of Rome has become something very different from that august and dethroned figure with which the writings of Newman have made us familiar. There she has seemed to wield mediaeval powers with mediaeval methods, and even in Presbyterian Kingston a Catholic archbishop has been known publicly to threaten denial of the rites of the Church to those who should vote for a particular candidate, though it is fair to add that such interference led to the candidate's triumphant return. The question of the clergy reserves still menaced the Ministry. In January, 1851, a dispatch from Lord Grey had been received by the late Government, in which, while depre- cating a disturbance of the existing arrangements, which had secured a certain portion of the public lands of Canada for THE ADVENT OF LIBERAL-CONSERVATISM 207 the purpose of creating a fund for religious instruction, he yet recognized that the question was one so exclusively affecting the people of Canada that its decision ought not to be withdrawn from the Canadian legislature. Nothing, however, had been done in the matter by Parliament before the Whigs left office, and when in 1852 they were replaced by the Conservatives, the new Colonial Secretary, Sir John Pakington, had strong conscientious objections to the course sanctioned by his predecessor. But while the home Govern- ment were in this mood, the Canadian Ministry, while express- ing pious opinions in favour of secularization, proved no more anxious to settle the question than had been La Fontaine and Baldwin ; and even when Lord Aberdeen's government in 1853 announced their readiness to pass a bill authorizing the Canadian Parliament to deal with the clergy reserves in their own way, subject to the preservation of existing rights, no steps were taken to show that the Canadian Ministry was in earnest. The indignatioiL-ofl the.. Radicals was great, and, in the circumstances, natural. When Parliament met in June, 1854, an amendment to the speech from the throne expressing regret that a measure had not been promised for the imme- diate settlement of the clergy reserves, was carried against the Government by a coalition of Conservatives and Radicals ; and in the general election which followed the opposition was triumphant. In 1853 the number of members of the Assembly had been raised from eighty-four to one hundred and thirty, thus diminishing the importance of each individual vote, a change which was warmly welcomed by Lord Elgin. At this time a question came to the front which was hence- forth till Confederation to be a continuous cause of trouble in Canada. It has been already mentioned that at the time of the Union, Upper Canada, though containing not more than about two-thirds of the population of the lower division, received equal representalion. The effect of the steady immi- 208 HISTORY OF CANADA Represen- tation of fo/nlation gration into the upper portion of the province was that, by the census of 1852, Upper Canada had a population more than sixty thousand greater than that of Lower Canada. The Upper Canada reformers now protested vehemently against a provision which had originally been in their favour, and George Brown proposed that representation should be by population with no regard to the limits of the two divisions. Such a change would assuredly have been regarded by Lower Canada as a distinct breach of a compact, and must have led to great bitterness. There is no reason, therefore, to regret its defeat. During the same session, an address was passed by the Assembly asking for power to be given to the local Legislature to alter the constitution of the legislative council, so as to make it elective. Though the Radicals played a leading part in the discomfi- ture of the Hincks-!Morin ^Ministry, it was not by them that the spoils of office were won. The prescient mind of John A. Macdonald, w'ho was already the virtual leader of the Conserva- tive parly, though he loyally acknowledged as titular head the veteran Sir Allan McNab, had for some time recognized that the future lay with the party which should rally to itself the moderate men of both divisions. ' Our aim should be,' he had tive Party, written,' to enlarge the bonds of our party so as to embrace every person desirous of being counted as a progressive Conserva- tive.' In accordance with this policy a coalition was effected between the Upper Canada Conservatives, the French Canadian followers of INIr. IMorin, and the followers of Mr. Hincks from Upper Canada. Thus arose the Liberal-Conservative party, which for so long dominated Canadian politics, and gave its quietus to the 'family compact' party of reaction. Hincks did not himself join the Ministry, but promised his support on the understanding that two of his friends should receive places. It suggests reflections on the unreal character of colonial party politics, that the work of the new Ministry was to carry through the neglected programme of their The Liberal- Conserva THE ADVENT OF LIBERAL-CONSERVATISM 209 predecessors, viz. the secularization of the clergy reserves ; SeWement the abolition of the seiafniorial tenure: and, lastly, the in- ^ -^-^ o , J . J reset ves troduction of the elective principle into the constitution of quesiiou. the legislative council. The bill, which at last settled the vexata qiiaestio of the clergy reserves, provided that in future the moneys arising from them should form a separate fund to be called the Upper Canada Municipalities' Fund, and the Lower Canada Municipalities' Fund. The annual sti- pends, which had been allotted to the clergy of the various denominations under the Act of 1840, remained a first charge upon those funds during the lives or the incumbencies of the persons receiving such stipends; and provision was made for an optional commutation of the value of the annual allowances. Subject to these charges, the whole of the proceeds of the reserves were to be divided equally among the several counties and cities in proportion to their popula- tion. The final settlement was made easier by the generous temper shown by the different churches and clergy. Attention has been already called to the mischief caused Abolition to the free circulation of landed property by the tax of one- ^^. ^^.^ .^^ twelfth of the purchase money on every alienation, and by termre. the right of pre-emption within forty days possessed by the seignior. Attempts to encourage the optional commutation of the feudal tenure had failed, through the inducement held out to the seigniors being insufficient ; and a radical change was now effected. Th e govern ment measures abolished all feudal rights and duties in Lower Canada, whether affecting the censitaire or the seignior, and provided for the appoint- ment of a Royal Commission to inquire into the financial value of the rights affected. Questions of law were to be decided by a special court of fifteen judges constituted for this purpose; and the schedule of fixed rents, which was drawn up and put in force, was based upon the opinions of the majority of this court. The work of arriving at a con- clusion was necessarily one which took time, and it was not VOL. V. PT. II P 2 TO HISTORY OF CANADA till 1859 that the Canadian Parliament appropriated the funds for the indemnification of the seigniors and completed the work of commutation. Tlie alteration in the law involved an expenditure of not less than ten million dollars; inas- much as an equal amount to that allotted to Lower Canada under the settlement had to be given to the upper division, so as to secure equality of treatment to the two sections. Reciprocity The Other chief measure of the session of 1854, a bill Treaty. Jqj. giving effect on the part of Canada to the reciprocity treaty between Great Britain and the United States, was made necessary by the successful exertions of Lord Elgin. We have already seen that in the circumstances of Canada reciprocity with the United States seemed to him a matter of urgency; but negotiations for a reciprocity treaty between the United States and Canada had dragged on without result for six years; and session after session the bill relating to it had been shelved by Congress. At last, in 1854, Elgin himself went to Washington in the forlorn hope of proving more successful. Laurence Oliphant, Elgin's brilliant and eccentric private secretary, has given a very lively picture of this mission. If the treaty was not floated in on champagne, still the personal equation counted for much in the settlement of this difficult matter. Under the treaty certain products which Mere common to both countries were made exempt from customs duties on both sides of the line. The principal of these were grain, flour, breadstuffs, animals, meat, fish, timber of all kinds, poultry, cotton, wool, hides, ores of metal, pitch, tar, ashes, flax, hemp, rice, and unmanufactured tobacco. The people of the United States and of the British provinces were to possess equal rights to navigate the St. Lawrence, the Canadian canals, and Lake Michigan. Americans obtained the right to take fish of any kind, except shellfish, on the sea- coasts and shores and in the bays, harbours,"and creeks of any British province, without any restriction as to distance, and might land on these coasts for the purpose of drying THE ADVENT OF LIBERAL-CONSERVATISM 211 iheir nets and curing their fish. Equal privileges were given to British citizens on the American Eastern Coast, north of the thirty-sixth degree of north latitude ; but such privileges were worth very little. The duration of the treaty was fixed at ten years; after which it might be abrogated by either party at one year's notice. Under the treaty of 1854 trade between the United States and Canada advanced by leaps and bounds ; but at the end of the ten years the United States declined to renew it, partly because of a hostile feeling towards Great Britain and her colonies which had been caused by British sympathies with the Confederate cause during the Civil War, and partly because powerful vested interests were opposed to the renewal of the treaty. This refusal was not an unmi.xed evil for Canada, as it compelled her to assume a more independent attitude with regard to trade, and to develop that export trade to Great Britain and the Continent of Europe which has assumed such large proportions. The obtaining of the reciprocity treaty with the United States was the last work achieved by Elgin on behalf of Canada. We have already noticed the peculiar significance of his period of office, during which responsible government for the first time came into full play. A history of Canada is only indirectly concerned with the passing phases of British public opinion ; but it is necessary to point out, in even the most summary treatment of Lord Elgin's views, Elghi's that he at least did not welcome responsible government as ^'^"'^• a half-way house to separation. ' You must remove the habit,' he wrote, ' of telling the colonies that the colonial is a pro- visional existence ; you must allow them to believe that, without severing the bonds which unite them to Great Britain, they may attain the degree of perfection, and of social and political development, to which organized com- munities of free men have a right to aspire.' Again : ' Is not the question at issue a most momentous one ? Is the Queen of England to be the sovereign of an Empire growing, expand- p 2 212 HISTORY OF CANADA ing, strengthening itself from age to age, striking its roots deep into fresh earth, and drawing new supplies of vitality from virgin soils? or is she to be for all essential purposes of might and power, monarch of Great Britain and Ireland merely — her place and that of her line in the world's history determined by the productiveness of twelve thousand square miles of a coal formation, which is being rapidly exhausted, and the duration of the social and political organization over which she presides dependent on the annual expatriation with a view to its eventual alienization of the surplus swarms of her born subjects ? ' Still more emphatically he wrote in a letter to an intimate friend : ' I have been possessed (I use the word advisedly, for I find that most persons in England still consider it a case of possession) with the idea that it is possible to maintain on this soil of North America, and in the face of Republican America, British connexion and British institutions, if you give the latter freely and trusdngly. Faith, w^hen it is sincere, is always catching ; and I have imparted this faith more or less thoroughly to all Canadian statesmen with w horn I have been in official relationship since 1848, and to all intelligent Englishmen with whom I have come in contact since 1850.' Authorities Pope, op. cit. vol. i. Walrond, op. cit. Egerton and Grant, op. cit. Life of George Brown. By Alexander Mackenzie, and by J. Lewis in ' Makers of Canada ' Series. Dent, J. C, op. cit. vol. ii, pp. 245-316. Remifiiscences. By Sir F. liincks. MoHtreal, 1884. The History and J'resent Position of the Clergy Reserves, By C. Lindsey. Toronto, 1851. Selected Speeches of Sir IFilliam Molesworth, 1903, edited by H. E. Egerton ; speech of March 5, 1853, contains a good account of the Clergy Reserves Question from the liberal point of view. On the settlement of the Seigniorial Rights, see Munro, op. cit, cliap. xii. On the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854. Laurence 01i])hant's Episodes in a Life of Adventure, 1887. CHAPTER V THE BREAKDOWN OP PARTY GOVERNMENT But while in the field of thought and political action the riddle of Colonial government was finding solution, a peace- ful material revolution was supplying the means, without which the ideals of statesmen might have remained a counsel of perfection. Against the disintegrating forces of distance and Railway isolation, science has supplied connecting-links which bridge ;;;^^/ oceans and draw together continents. Steamboats, railways, and cheap postal and telegraph rates are in these latter days the most powerful missioners of union. It was in keeping with this truth that the first colonial statesman w'ho took up the work of railway development was also the strongest in his utterances on behalf of imperial unity. In 1849 Joseph Howe took a leading part in the movement to build a railway from Halifax to the St. Lawrence, which had been proposed as early as 1845. A joint survey was made in 1847 by the governments of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick ; and so powerful was Howe's enthusiasm that he succeeded in persuading Lord Grey, the strictest of laissez aller free traders, of the advantage of an imperial guarantee to a line of railway from Halifax to Quebec or Montreal through British territory. The undertaking, however, fell through because the imperial authorities objected to the proposed route, on the ground that it ran too near to the frontier of the United States. Mean- while, in Canada, railway development was being seriously entered upon. Modest attempts at railways had been for some time begun, but it was not till 1851 that a measure was passed which provided for the building of a great trunk 214 HISTORY OF CANADA line to connect INIontieal with Toronto. Quebec and Montreal were already connected by rail, and it was intended that the new line should be a continuation of the military line proposed between Halifax and Quebec; by which means an intercolonial railroad would connect the Atlantic seaboard and the great lakes. As an example of the revolution effected by railways we may note that it took John A. Macdonald's father three weeks to make the journey by boat from Montreal to King- ston. As we have seen, the combined scheme failed, because the imperial authorities, on military grounds, would only sanc- tion a road which ran greatly to the north of the one chosen by the colonies; but Mr. Hincks was none the less deter- mined to go on with the westward branch of the scheme. Grand The Grand Trunk Railway finally surmounted all obstacles, Railivay. ^^o^S^ '^ot without great expense to the Canadian exchequer and great loss to the British investor. By i860 the railway was completed from Rivicre-du-loup on the Lower St. Law- rence as far as Sarnia and Windsor on the western lakes. It has been calculated that from first to last the Grand Trunk Railway must have cost the Canadian exchequer over sixteen million dollars ; but in the long run the province received value for its money. Liberal grants were also made to the Great Western Railway, which ran from the Niagara River to Hamilton, London, and Windsor, and to the Northern Railway which ran from Toronto due north. During the Hincks-Morin ministry the first step was taken to encourage intercourse with Europe by the offer of a considerable subsidy for the carriage of mails between Canada and Great Britain. Seamy side Nova Scotia had here also taken the lead, as such sub- lij),^ sidies were given there as early as 1840. The Allan Line, which has played so great a part in bridging the Atlantic, began its operations in 1852. The steamers taken off during the Crimean War have run fortnightly with the mail between England and Canada since 1856. There was, it is true, another side of the shield in this outgrowth of material THE BREAKDOWN OF PARTY GOVERNMENT 215 development. It was inevitable that when business played so great a part in politics jobbing and the advancement of personal interests should take closer grip of political life. Moreover this evil was intensified by the jealousy which prevailed between Upper and Lower Canada. In a private letter written to John A. Macdonald by his colleague, Mr. John Ross, in September, 1855, we find him saying: * There is nothing that will so surely break down the Union as the leeching process going on towards Upper Canada. If they will insist on throwing away, year by year, large sums of money which bring no return, and are productive of no good to the country, the Union cannot be preserved ; and although W, Lyon Mackenzie has failed for the present, some younger and stronger man will arise and agitate with more success. The money we vote for education in Lower Canada produces no corresponding results, as the priests for the most part pocket the cash.' It was an admitted evil that ' if a sum was properly demanded for some legitimate local purpose in one section, an equivalent sum had to be provided for the other as an offset, thereby entailing prodigal expenditure and unnecessarily increasing the public debt'.^ This state of things gave continual occasion for friction and jealousy. Lord Elgin's successor was Sir Edmund Head, who arrived I/ecul at the end of 1854. He had examined Elgin for a Merton %^^'/^"°f' fellowship, and carried on his work as governor with success. Most fortunately he T^vo\Qd persona grata to John A. Macdonald, who, from his accession to power in 1854 till his death, was the dominating force in Canadian public life. Macdonald had been prejudiced against Lord Elgin on account of his action regarding the Rebellion Losses Bill ; and the short period during which he served under him as Minister did not avail to remove such prejudices. INIr. Morin retired in the beginning ^ Pope, op. lit. vol. i, p. 150. 2l6 HISTORY OF CANADA of 1855, and the French Canadian portion of the Ministry was reorganized under Dr. Tach^ ; and in 1856 a ministerial crisis was threatened by the resignation of the Upper Canada Liberal Ministry, who resented the nominal leadership of Sir Allan McNab. The difficulty was for the time averted, but the Conservatives, no less than the Liberal members of the Govern- ment, were dissatisfied with their inefficient and gouty leader ; and when a majority of the Upper Canadian representatives voted against the Ministry on the question of the site of the new capital, opportunity was taken of the defeat to force his resignation. The old Ministry, minus Sir Allan, returned to office ; Macdonald, along with Tach^, being now the nominalj as well as real, head. In 1856 the Legislative Council was made elective in the case of future members ; the term of office being fixed at eight years. Each section of the province received twenty-four members, and elections were to be held every two years, twelve members being returned at a time. In the next year Tach^ retired from public life, and his place as French leader was taken by INIr. George Etienne Carlier, with whom Macdonald was on terms of cordial intimacy. Cartier ranks with IMacdonald amongst the makers of Canada. In early life a follower of Papineau, he had fought in the abortive rebellion of 1837. Elected to Parliament in 1848, he followed Mr. Morin in his alliance with the Conservatives, and from 1855 till his death in 1873 occupied the same position among the French Canadian Liberal- Conservatives as was occupied by Macdonald among the English. Bad limes. The time was one of stress and difficulty, as Canada, after a bad harvest, was passing through a period of severe depression. The great sums expended from 1854 to 1857 on railways, and the artificial prosperity thereby brought about, led to inevitable reaction. The general election which took place in the winter of 1857 did not serve to clear the political THE BREAKDOWN OF PARTY GOVERNMENT 217 atmosphere. In Upper Canada the opposition went to the polls with the cry of representation by population and the abolition of ' separate ' or denominational schools, and they secured a majority in that section of the province. The French Canadians, however, regarded this programme with horror, and in the result I\Ir. Cartier returned to Parliament with almost the entire representation of Lower Canada pledged to support him. No subject indeed presented greater difficulty to govern- Education. ments dependent upon majorities, approaching public questions from a widely different standpoint, than that of Education. The Roman Catholics of Lower Canada were necessarily pledged to support denominational schools, whereas thjs Liberals, and not a few of the Conservatives, of Upper Canada, in their dislike of Roman Catholicism, were moving in the direction of secular education. 'Separate' schools, i. e. schools in a similar position to the non-provided English schools of to-day, were recognized in 1841, when the first at- tempt was made at a general system of public schools. The ' separate ' schools were almost entirely Roman Catholic, and even many Catholics were content with the religious teaching given in the public schools; but an unsuccessful measure, introduced in 1849, which threatened to abolish 'separate' schools and make a secular system universal, alarmed the friends of denominational education and caused them to assume a more militant attitude. In Upper Canada the separate schools received their share of the public grant and of the county school rate, but the municipal school rate was devoted wholly to the common schools. By an Act, however, of 1855 all who contributed to the support of separate schools were exempt from the payment of this municipal rate. The attempt to abolish separate schools by Parliament merely served as a spur to their establishment, and in 1863 the dispute was terminated by the final victory of the Roman Catholic Church. Moreover, had not there been separate schools for Protestants 2l8 III STORY OF CANADA in Lower Canada, Protestant children must have been edu- cated by Catholic teachers and in a Cathohc atmosphere. There at least separate schools seemed inevitable, and there the whole municipal machinery was employed in the collec- tion of the rate which maintained the separate schools. IMeanwhile the general standard of education was being raised by less controversial measures. By the Acts of 1841 and 1843 public money to the amount of twenty thousand pounds annually supplemented the sums contributed locally, and in 1846 the educational system was greatly strengthened by the establishment of a strong superintending department, which acted through inspectors, who were able by making grants conditional on the observance of the law to secure its enforcement. The system was further improved in 1850; I power being given under an Act of that year to the rate- payers of any school district to make education free; by I which means the check caused to attendance by the enforce- ment of substantial fees ceased to operate. The effect of this measure in educating public opinion was immense. In ! 1858 forty-five per cent, of the schools were free, and about seventy-four per cent, of the children of school age were in attendance; in 1865 eighty-three per cent, of the schools were free, and nearly eighty-five per cent, of the children of school age were attending school. In this state mf things the transition was easy to the enactment of free / [education in 187 1, when education was made compulsory for a period of four months in the year. At the same time it should be noted that, up to quite recent times, the quality of the education given in Lower Canada was the cause of grave complaint. University We have noticed the attempt made before the Union to Ediualion. ... , . nr-r.,1. -i. promote higher education. IMr. Baldwin tried in 1843 to move the existing denominational colleges to Toronto and merge them in a degree-giving University ; but the attempt ended in failure. Nor were subsequent attempts to settle the THE BREAKDOWN OF PARTY GOVERNMENT 219 question, in 1846 and 1847, "lore successful. A Radical measure was at last passed in 1849 by Mr. Baldwin, the object of which was the complete separation of the provincial University from all denominational influences and control. The sectarian colleges were to be wiped out as educational institutions and to become mere theological schools. This measure met with the determined opposition of the religious bodies throughout the province. None the less, the principles advocated by Baldwin prevailed, though Bishop Strachan, hitherto head of the University of Toronto, ' sailed off in a cockboat of his own,' and collected in England sufficient funds to found a new University under Anglican influence. This institution, known as Trinity University, was in 1906 federated with the provincial University. Considering the importance which had been attached to iVea/auss obtaining a majority from both sections of the province, the "-z " •' •' r ) successive position of the Macdonald-Cartier Government was a very minis- delicate one. They decided, however, to meet Parliament, '''"^^• and, if they were willing to depend upon Lower Canadian votes for a majority, their position appeared fairly safe. The vexed question of the site of the new capital gave the Opposi- tion their opportunity. The selection of a site having been left to the Queen, on the advice of Sir Edmund Head, she chose Ottawa, a choice which was naturally resented by Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, and other places which aspired to the honour. A motion to the effect that Ottawa ought not to be the permanent seat of government was carried in the House of Commons against the Ministry, who thereupon re- signed. George Brown was now the leader of 'the clear grits', who had been the mainstay of the Opposition ; he was therefore invited to form a Government. On the expectation that he would be allowed to dissolve Parliament he accepted. But as Mr. Dorion was in favour of a confederation of the two provinces rather than of representation by population, and as a majority of his colleagues were Roman Catholic, the diffi- 220 HISTORY OF CANADA culty in Brown's way would in any case have been great. Sir Edmund Head refused to grant a dissolution, on the ground that a general election had been held too recently, and that, if the result had been due to corrupt practices, there was no certainty, in the absence of fresh legislation, that the next election might not be equally tainted. Mr. Brown's Government failing to secure the confidence of Parliament after a government lasting four days, a new shuffling of the cards took place, under which Mr. Carlier became the nominal First Minister; Macdonald, as Attorney-General West,' continuing his leadership of the Upper Canadian section. Two questions now rose to the front which were to become of paramount importance. Mr. Alexander Gait, the son of John Gait, the Scottish__author and Federation, colonizer, who now joined the JMinistry, had for some time advocated a federal union of the British North American provinces, and made its support a condition precedent to his joining the Government. The proposal was, of course, no new one; but it had nqyiilherto beenjaken up seriously by any Ministry. Three members of the Government proceeded to England in the autumn of 1858 to sound the views of the Home Government in the matter, and to propose the holding of a meeting of delegates from the various colonies, which should discuss the expediency and conditions of such a union. The British Government at the time threw cold water on the proposal. No colony except Canada, they pointed out, had shown any inclination towards a federal union, and in this state of opinion the holding of a conference, such as was proposed, appeared premature. I'he time was hardly ripe; but later events were to vindicate the wisdom of Gait's policy. rrotcction. The Other question on which the Cartier-Macdonald adminis- tration took a new departure was that of the tariff. Here, ' The Attorney-Generals for Lower and Upper Canada were described as Attorney-Generals East and West. THE BREAKDOWN OF PARTY GOVERNMENT 221 again, the inspiration came from Gait, though John A. Mac- donald had as early as 1846 professed himself in favour of the protection of native industry, and Gait's policy had to some extent been anticipated by his predecessor as Inspector- General, Mr. W. Cayley. The general policy was to retain taxation on luxuries and on the importation of such articles as could be manufactured in Canada, while diminishing it on such articles of prime necessity as were the raw material of manufactures. The Budget of 1859 showing clear evidence of this policy, it was natural that the British Government should view with grave concern a movement which was both opposed to the theories dominant in England, and fraught with practical bad consequences to British trade. Colonial re- formers, such as Lord Durham and Charles Buller, no less than Whig statesmen of the type of Lord Grey, had always recog- nized the regulation of colonial trade with the mother-country and with foreign countries as one of the questions on which Great Britain should have the last word : and as late as 1839 Joseph Howe, in his letters to Lord John Russell, had admitted the right of the home Government to control the Nova Scotian tariff; Lord Grey himself had expressly affirmed that the com- mercial policy of the empire should be the same throughout its numerous dependencies, and that the principle was no less important, when British policy was directed to the removal of artificial restrictions upon trade, than it had been in the days when that policy had been directed to their maintenance. But the home Government was powerless against the fixed purpose of the colony. Bounties had indeed been forbidden in New Brunswick, but when a feeble remonstrance was sent to Canada at the instance of the Sheffield manufacturers, the Canadian reply clinched the question, and led to a complete abandonment of the British claim. ' Self-government,' wrote Gait, ' would be utterly annihilated, if the views of the Imperial Government were to be preferred to those of the people of Canada. It is therefore the duty of the present 222 HISTORY OF CANADA Government distinctly to afllrm the right of the Canadian Legislature to adjust the taxation of the people in the way they deem best, even if it should unfortunately happen to meet the disapproval of the Imperial INIinistry. Her Majesty cannot be advised to disavow such acts unless her advisers are prepared to assume the administration of the affairs of the colony irrespective of the views of its inhabi- tants.' Although, however, the tariff was to some extent based on Protectionist lines, the days of the ' national policy ' were not yet. In truth it was difficult to find ques- tions on which a plain issue could be joined on party lines. The Ministry were dependent upon a majority formed from Lower Canadian representatives, and though George Brown's views made him impossible as a leader in a coalition Govern- ment representing both sections of the province, the charges which, through his newspaper, he unceasingly brought against the INIinistry of sacrificing Upper Canadian interests to those of Lower Canada, succeeded in rendering the union most Difficulties unpopular in the western portion of the province. Even_ "' ^^'^ f amongst Macdonald's followers from Upper Canada the 'uay oj ° '^ ' govern- demand arose^for representation by population, and it metiL became necessary to leave it an open question even in the case of members of the Government. Nor were the Opposi- tion more united among themselves. An attempt had been made in 1859 to rally the Reform party in favour of a plat- form which should include the repeal of the union and the setting up in its stead of two or more local governments, to deal with matters of local concern, together with a joint authority, which should have the control of all such affairs as were common to both sections of the province. But the new programme was far from uniting the party; Mr.John Sandfield Macdonald,an eccentric Scot, of sharp tongue and considerable ability, especially opposing it. The movement, moreover, made little way with the French Canadian Radicals; and the position of the Opposition was hardly improved. It must THE BREAKDOWN OE PARTY GOVERNMENT 223 be confessed that, with a weak Government, and with a yet weaker Opposition, with each section of the province arrayed against the other, and the prejudices of rehgion and of race finding each day more violent expression, the union might well be considered to be upon its trial. It may be that, according to the language of Sir Edmund Head, it justified itself as a training ground for the virtues which are required in the component parts of a nation. ' If,* he wrote, ' it is, difficult for any statesmen to steer their way amid the mingled interests and conflicting opinions of Catholic and Protestant, Upper and Lower Canadian, French and English, Scotch and Irish, constantly crossing and thwarting one another, it is probably to the action of these very cross-interests and these conflicting opinions that the whole province will, under Providence, owe its Liberal policy and its final success.' Still it must be admitted that the final gain was at the cost of very much. In the general election of 1861 the same results followed; Defeat of a majority of French Canadians making up for the Govern- Mimstry. ment their weakness in the upper section. It was from Lower Canada, however, that the bolt fell which put an end to their existence. The imminence of war with the United States, caused by the Trent affair, brought home to the Canadian authorities their unpreparedness in the event of attack. A bill for the better organization of the militia, which proposed an establishment of fifty thousand men for active service and of the same number of reserves, was brought forward in 1862. It was defeated owing to the defection of the French Canadian supporters of the Ministry, there being a majority of seven for the bill among the Upper Canadian members. Whether the reason be that they were sickened of war during the long years in which France and England fought for the hegemony of North America, nothing is more remarkable in the character of the French Canadians than their dislike of everything in the nature of militarism. 224 HISTORY OF CANADA Lord Monck Governor- General. Even so powerful a Minister as Sir Wilfrid Laurier has had to reckon with this feeling. Thus the defeat of the Cartier- Macdonald Government was due to no anti-British feeling, but simply to dislike of war and of war preparations. How far the avoidance of preparations is the best way of averting war itself is another question, on which we have not here to express an opinion. Sir Edmund Head left Canada in 1861 and was succeeded by Lord Monck. Sir Edmund seems to have suffered some- what in popularity by his proneness to direct methods, but, as we have seen, he had the full confidence and respect of John A. Macdonald. Difficult as had been the political situation it became yet more difficult in the years which immediately preceded Confederation. By way of change, Lord Monck, in 1862, applied to John Sandfield Macdonald, who, being a strong opponent of representation by population, could hardly claim to reflect the views becoming dominant in Upper Canada. He succeeded, however, in forming a Ministry with the help of the French Canadian Radicals under Mr. Louis Sicotte, a lawyer, who afterwards became a judge. The new Government was at first bitterly opposed by Brown, who was willing to ally himself with the Conservatives to effect their defeat, and their position was at best a slippery one. They were pledged to the recognition of the rule that the Government majority should be composed of a majority from both sections of the province, and yet they were obliged, on pain of losing their Lower Canada supporters, to counte- nance a measure favourable to separate schools, which was very distasteful to the majority of their Upper Canada followers. Nor did such inconsistency avail them ; a vote of want of confidence, moved by John A. IMacdonald, was carried by a majority of five. In the shuffle of places which ensued, a new Ministry was evolved more to the mind of George Brown, who afterwards asserted that the Prime Minister, John Sandfield IMacdonald, had promised him THE BREAKDOWN OF PARTY GOVERNMENT 225 that, in the event of a general election, he would change both the policy and the personnel of his Cabinet to bring both into accord with the views of the people of Upper Canada. The result of the general election, which took place in the summer of 1S63, was in the nature qfji_jleadlock. The Ministry gained some seats in Upper Canada but lost in the lower division, so that it became impossible to insist upon the principle of a double majority. An amendment to the Address, moved by Mr. Sicotte, who had been ousted from the French leadership to make room for Mr. Antoine Dorion, was only lost by a majority of three. Mr. Sicotte having been got out of the way by his appoint- ment to a judgeship, a motion condemning such appointment as calculated to prejudice, if not to destroy, the independence of Parliament, was only defeated by two votes. In December the failure of the newly appointed Solicitor-General for Canada West to secure his re-election rendered inevitable the fall of the Ministry, and in the following March, without wait- ing for a formal vote of want of confidence, they resigned. The Governor appealed to Sir Etienne Tachd, who had been knighted in 1857, to return to public life and form a Ministry, and, with the help of John A. Macdonald, a new Government was formed, though with no better fortunes than those of its predecessor, the fatal number by which it was defeated being again a majority of two. In three years four ministries had been defeated and two general elections had given merely uncertain results. Party government means government by a majority, but if the representatives are in turn so jealous of each succeeding Ministry that none can obtain a working majority, how, under that system, can government be carried on? This was the problem which confronted Canadian statesmen, and happily it admitted of a solution, which widened the horizon of Canadian politics. VOL. V. PI. II 226 HISTORY OF CANADA Authorities Pope, J., op. cii. vol. i, pp. 105-257. Mackenzie, op. cit. Hincks, op. cit. Dent, J. C., op. cit. vol. ii, pp. 317-436. An exhaustive Documentary History of Education in Upper Canada from . . . 1 791 to . . . 1876 is being published by Dr. J. George Hodgins. The i8th volume, published in 1907, brings the subject down to 1863. E. Ryerson. By N. Burwash in the ' Makers of Canada' Series, 1905. CHAPTER VI FEDERATION The. impasse ^X.J^h\ch Canadian politics had arrived was largely due lo the sense of wrong felt by Upper Canada, on account of its inadequate representation in Parliament. The Census of 1 86 1 showed that the population exceeded that of Lower Canada by some 300,000; and yet, under the Union, Upper Canada seemed condemned to increase and develop merely in the interests of the lower section. No one had interven- done more, by writings and speeches, to encourage this feeling ^^"'g^\ , of indignation and discontent than had George Brown. It was, therefore, fitting that his should be the voice to point out a new modus Vivendi. In private conversation with followers of the Conservative Government he urged that the present ministerial crisis gave the opportunity to settle for ever the constitutional difficulties between Upper and Lower Canada. He expressed his own willingness to co-operate with the existing or any other administration which should deal with the question as a whole. A Parliamentary Cx)mmilieej._p_f which Brown was chairman, appointed to consider the con- stitutional question, had reported ' in favour of chafigg^TTrthe direction of a federative system '. At that time John A. Mac- donald did not support this recommendation, but it is obvious how much, apart from finding a remedy for existing evils, the imperial aspect of federation must have appealed to him when he gave thought to the subject. In any case a ground of compromise had now been arrived at, and, after conferences between Brown and members of the Ministry, a memorandum was drawn up, which received the assent of both parties. In this the Government y 2 228 HISTORY OF CANADA Agreement undertook, immediately after the prorogation, to address ■ themselves, in the most earnest manner, to the negotiation of a confederation of the British North American provinces. Failing a successful issue to such negotiations, they were prepared to pledge themselves, during the next session of Parliament, to apply a remedy to existing difficulties by introducing a measure for establishing the federal principle in Canada alone, coupled with such provisions as would permit the IMaritime Provinces and the North-West Territory to be afterwards incorporated into the Canadian system. The Government — apart from pledging themselves to bring in a bill in the next session for the introduction of the federal principle into Canada — further undertook to send repre- sentatives to the Lower Provinces and to England, with the view of securing the assent of those interests, which were beyond the control of the Canadian Legislature, to a measure of more general federation. As, however, the advantage of any plan depended much upon its details. Brown reason- ably insisted upon the introduction into the Cabinet of a fair representation of the Opposition. He was himself averse to becoming a colleague of Macdonald ; but finally yielded, and entered the Government along with Mr. Oliver Mowat, a leading Liberal, who afterwards became very prominent in the public life of Ontario, and Mr. William McDougall, a journalist and politician, who had for years advocated the development of the North-West Territories. Undoubtedly the sacrifice made by Brown, in joining the Macdonald Ministry, was great. He wrecked a political party which had looked to him for light and leading, and entered upon untrodden paths with colleagues whom he distrusted, the most powerful of whom, by his strong points no less than by his failings, was a constant thorn in his side. If patriotism means the sacrifice of personal ends to the public good, then Brown well earned the title of patriot at this critical moment of Canadian history. For although the coalition was no FEDERA TION '■^1^ doubt the only way out of a blind dilch, it none the less Coalition puzzled plain men. Loyal Tories were scandalized at being dona/'d'and asked to vote for lifelong opponents, and Mr. M^Dougall, on Brown. seeking re-election, was defeated by Tory votes, notwithstand- ing the strongly-expressed wishes of the Conservative Prime Minister. The reformers in Upper Canada were rent in two, some following Brown and some maintaining their old opposition. The small party of French Canadian Radicals, who would not have objected to confederation had it been confined to Canada, regarded with distrust a wider measure for fear that it should imperil the persistence of French nationality. The artificial and difficult nature of the whole situation was well brought out in the relations between Macdonald and Brown. As has been said, they had been bitter personal enemies, and were soon again to become so ; but, while colleagues, in Macdonald's words, ' they acted together, dined at public places together, played euchre in crossing the Adantic, and went into society in England together ' ; and yet, on the day after Brown's resignation, Macdonald adds : ' We resumed our old positions and ceased to speak.' ' But, whatever their own feelings, the Ministry, as a whole, Situa- worked loyally for confederation. Moreover, events in the '/f",!j'lj„,^. Maritime Provinces were moving in the same direction. In Provinces. Nova Scotia the new leader of the Conservative party, Dr. Charles Tupper, who afterwards played so great a pari in Dominion politics, was strongly in favour of a union between the Maritime Provinces; and for this object a meet- ing of delegates from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island was arranged at Charloltetown, in Prince Edward Island, for the autumn of 1864. Joseph Howe, owing to his work as Fisheries Commissioner, was unable to attend this meeting; an accident which was of ill fortune to the cause of Confederation in Nova Scotia for '^^Pope, J., op. cit. vol. i, p. 265. 230 HISTORY OF CANADA many years. The delegates found agreement by no means easy ; and, while they were still at their work, they were interrupted by the appearance of eight Canadian Ministers, who invoked their co-operation in a larger scheme of federal union. In these circumstances the members of the Conference of the Maritime Provinces decided to adjourn further pro- ceedings, and to attend a Conference at Quebec, on the subject of a federal union of all the British North American provinces. It is impossible not to compare the hurried manner in which the Canadian federation was decided upon with the voluminous discussions and proceedings which issued in the birth of the Australian Commonwealth. Quebec The British North America Act of 1867 in substance ^O^XZT''' embodies the results of the Quebec Conference ; but that 1S64. Conference, dealing with the question de novo, only lasted from the loth to the 28th of October. It sat, moreover, with closed doors, and our accounts of its proceedings are still very imperfect. The Conference came to the unanimous opinion that the best interests and present and future pros- perity of British North America would be promoted by a federal union under the Crown of Great Britain, provided that such union could be effected on principles just to the several provinces. In moving this resolution, INIacdonald laid stress on the extreme importance of seizing the present opportunity. The situation in Canada had become intoler- able ; and unless a prompt decision could be arrived at the Canadians would perforce be obliged to find their own remedy ; in which case it might be difficult to move hereafter in the direction of the wider measure. There were urgent reasons why British North America should take a more commanding position, not only in the eyes of England but in the eyes of foreign countries, and especially of the United States. ' For the sake of securing peace to ourselves and to our posterity we must make ourselves powerful. The great security for peace is to convince the world of our FEDERATION 231 Strength by being united.' In framing the Constitution, IVIacdonald insisted, care should be taken to avoid the mistakes and weaknesses of the United States system, the primary error of which was the reservation to the different states of all powers not delegated to the central government. This process should be reversed, by the establishment of a strong central government to which should belong all powers not specially conferred on the pro- vinces. 'Canada,' he affirmed, 'in my opinion is better off ruiou or as she stands than she would be as a member of a con--'' '■"^ ''"'■ federacy composed of five sovereign states, which would be the result if the powers of the local governments were not defined. A strong central government is indispensable to the success of the experiment we are trying.' ' It should be remembered that Macdonald was not in favour of the prin- ciple of federation as such. He would have preferred by far a complete legislative union ; but, inasmuch as this was out of the question, considering the strong local feeling in Lower Canada and elsewhere, he preferred a federal union to no union at all. A plan of federation had this in its favour, that it gave Details 0/ room for the free recognition of the principle of representation proposals. by population, so far as the popular Assembly was concerned. By it the grievance of Upper Canada would be remedied without Lower Canada considering that it had received a wrong. The Upper House, after the example of the Ameri- can Senate, gave opportunity to embody the principle of provincial equality. It is perhaps in this respect that the scheme of confederation proved the weakest. Successive Ministries have perhaps not risen above the temptation of regarding the Senate from the point of view of party interests, and thus it has never been able to take that independent and leading line which a system of federation would seem to facilitate. Although, he admitted, the elective principle had ' Pope, J., op. (it. vol. i, p. 269. 232 . HISTORY OF CANADA since 1856 worked well in the constitution of the Canadian Legislative Council, INIacdonald was in favour of returning to the old system of members nominated by the Crown; so as to make the Canadian Constitution, in the words of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe, ' an image and transcript of the British'. But it may be doubted whether the present Canadian Senate is, in spirit or character, much more like the British House of Lords than was the former Legislative Council. Though there was agreement on the general principle of federation, the task of setding details was by no means easy. The main lions in the path were the apportionment of financial liabilities between the different provinces, and the distribution of their respective powers between the central and the local Legislatures. At last, however, agreement was arrived at, and the conclusions of the Quebec Conference were embodied in seventy-two resolutions, which were adopted unanimously. Approval The resolutions of the Quebec Conference were forwarded \aiid.'^' ^o London by the Governor-General, and Brown visited England to sound the Imperial Government on the scheme of confederation. The British Government and public had been not a little displeased at the rejection by the Canadian. Parliament of the Militia Bill of 1862, Great Britain having in North America responsibilities which it neither desired to repudiate nor to incur great expenditure in fulfilling. The federation of the British North American provinces pointed a way by which in the fullness of time, when its wealth and population had sufficiently increased, British America might be sufficient for its own defence. With this feeling in the air. Brown was naturally able to report that the scheme gave ' prodigious satisfaction '. ' The Ministry, the Conservatives, and the Mancliester men are all delighted with iL, and every- thing Canadian has gone up in public estimation immensely.' At the same time. Brown, who was as strong an imperialist as he was a Radical, regrcifully noted that ' there is a manifest FEDERA TION 233 desire in almost every quarter that ere long the British Ameri- can colonies should shift for themselves, and in some quarters evident regret that we did not declare at once for indepen- dence'. He added, however, his conviction that the feeling arose from the fear of invasion of Canada by the United States, and that it would soon pass away with the cause that excited it.^ On February 6, 1865, Macdonald moved in the Canadian Confedera- Assembly an address praying for a union under the terms 'i^'f adopted at the Quebec Conference. The resolutions were treated as in the nature of a treaty, and had to be swallowed in their entirety or not at all. In moving them, Macdonald again emphasized his preference for a legislative union, but both Lower Canada and the Maritime Provinces stood in the way. He was therefore forced to the conclusion that ' we must either abandon the idea of union altogether or devise a system of union in which the separate provincial organiza- tions would be in some degree preserved '. With regard to the number of representatives in the House of Commons, Macdonald would have preferred a more numerous body, but the majority of the delegates had decided to begin with the number agreed upon, viz. 194. True to his respect for British precedents, Macdonald had been in favour of a septen- nial parliament; but here again he was overruled in favour of the New Zealand precedent of a five years' term. Not a single member of the Conference, either from Canada or from the Maritime Provinces, or belonging to the Government or to the Opposition side of the House, IMacdonald explained exultingly, had been in favour of universal suffrage. Every one was agreed that in this respect the British Constitution should be carried out, and that classes and property should be represented, as well as numbers. The laws affecting the qualification of members and of voters prevailing in the different provinces were to remain in force till the Parliament ' Letter of December 22, 1864. Pope, J., op. cit. vol. i, p. 273. 234 firs TORY OF CANADA of ihe Con federal ion, as one of its first duties, had considered and settled by an Act of its own the quahfications for the elec- tive franchise which would apply to the whole Confederation. ' If we wish,' he said, ' to be a great people ; if we wish to form ... a great nationality, commanding the respect of the world, able to hold our own against all opponents, and to defend those institutions we prize ; if we wish to have one system of government, and to establish a commercial union with unrestricted free trade between people of the five provinces, belonging, as they do, to the same nation, obeying the same sovereign, owning the same allegiance, and being, for the most part, of the same blood and lineage ; if we wish to be able to afford to each other the means of mutual defence and support against aggression and attack — this can only be obtained by a union of some kind between the weak and scattered boundaries composing the British North Ameri- can provinces.' ^ Opposition The main burden of opposing confederation fell on Mr. to measure. Christopher Dunkin^ and Mr. A. A. Dorion. The former, dis- claiming cheap and easy generalities, applied himself to the manner in which the plan would probably work. Professing himself a Unionist, who did not desire to see Upper and Lower Canada disunited, he opposed the measure as one leading to a not distant disunion of those provinces from the British Empire. He disclaimed all fancy for republican forms or institutions, or indeed for revolutionary or political novel- lies of any sort. IMr. Dunkin urged with some reason that the question had been sprung upon the country in the nature of a surprise. In 1859 the child had been stillborn, and no one had troubled himself about its want of baptism. Whether for good or evil, whether wisely or unwisely, the fact was that the public mind had not been occupied in the least with the ' Confederation Debates, Quebec, 1865, pp. 27-8. * Mr. Dunkin's speech occupied two days, and will be found at pp. 482-512 and 512-44 of Confederation Deflates. FEDERA TION ' 235 question of confederation. In so saying it would seem that Mr. Dunkin was in the right, and that the prevailing feeling on the question in the country was one of apathy. Sir Richard Cartwright, who, as a young man, took part in the confedera- tion debates, said in his old age that the only thing about which his constituents were at all interested was the amount of the salary to be received by the Governor-General. Certain it is that the old parliamentary hands, who were pushing through confederation, did not care to have the question submitted to the arbitrament of a popular election. Another point, which undoubtedly told, was that the so-called treaty was made by parties who were never authorized to make any treaty at all. The scheme was everything for everybody. The Governor-General would hold his Court and Parliament at Ottawa ; but a handsome sop was thrown to Quebec and Toronto also. They, too, were each to have a Provincial Court and Legislature and governmental departments. Dunkin paid a just tribute to the great men who had governed Canada in the past — Durham, Sydenham, Metcalfe, and Elgin — and doubted whether even a confederacy would be able to produce men of much higher mark. While recognizing freely that time has proved the falsity of INIr. Dunkin's general in- dictment of the policy of confederation, we must none the less allow that the ' pleasant ambiguities ' which he criticized with so much force have made the British North American Act a fertile field for the labours of lawyers. But assuredly the case for confederation was much more Urgency of urgent than was admitted by its adversaries. Canadian 5 per cent, stock stood at 75 per hundred, and there were annual deficits in the revenue. The Grand Trunk railway, which had absorbed so much of the country's money, was in a desperate condition, and it seemed doubtful whether it might not have to be abandoned. The two sections of Canada were in practical isolation, and Upper Canada had little communication with the outside world, except measure. 236 ' HISTORY OF CANADA Necessity ihrough the United Stales. It is difficult indeed to imagine tiou. ^^"^' ^^^^ '^^ ultimate absorption of Upper Canada into the United States could have been avoided but for confederation. Moreover, there was nothing to be gained by waiting. ' The longer the colonies keep separate,' wrote George Monro Grant, a distinguished Nova Scotian, ' the greater will be the diffi- culties in arranging a union. The longer any state exists, the more do officials multiply, salaries increase, and bad feelings intensify. ... It was the stern pressure of war that forced the States of America together. Cannot we profit by their experience and that of the whole past to effect a sounder union, when undistracted by oppression or war ? Each year that passes by will make the task more difficult, and failure now, when the auguries are all bright, will make the boldest hereafter hesitate before trying against increased opposition.' ^ Set-hack in The Quebec resolutions were passed by the Canadian Legislature, after exhaustive debates, by large majorities, the figures in the House of Assembly being ninety-one against thirty-three. A check, however, was given to the movement by the result of the general election in New Brunswick, by which the Government, which had favoured confederation, was placed in a minority. In spite of this set-back, the Canadian Government determined to send a mission to England to discuss the question of confederation, defence, and other subjects, such as commercial relations with the United States, and the settlement of the territories belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company. Meanwhile, as was natural, the success of the opponents of federation in New Brunswick gave encouragement to the opposition in the other Maritime Provinces. In Nova Scotia the great influence of Joseph Howe was thrown into the scale against the measure, and the Government, recognizing that it had become unpopular, ' Life of G. M. Grant, by W. I,. Grant and F. Hamilton (1905). pp. 96-7. Maritime Provinces. FEDERA TION 237 owing to its action in introducing a system of rating for education purposes, was inclined to revert to the more modest scheme of a union confined to the Maritime Provinces. The Prince Edward Island Legislature openly repudiated the action of their delegates at the Quebec Conference ; while Newfoundland at once took up the position of complete isolation, which it has since for the most j)art maintained. In 1868, indeed, the Government of the Colony submitted the question to the electors, but w^re crushingly defeated. In 1895 Newfoundland, under the pressure of bad times and bank failures, applied to join the Dominion, but Sir Mackenzie Bowell's administration, which was then in a moribund condition, squabbled over the amount of the debt which they would take over, and the opportunity was lost. But though in the Maritime Provinces the opposition was still strong, the Canadian delegates, Macdonald, Cartier, Brown, and Gait, received an undertaking from the home Government that every legitimate means would be taken to secure to the scheme the early assent of these Provinces, which was fulfilled by the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Arthur Gordon, almost straining the Constitution to secure the agreement of New Brunswick. They also obtained a renewal of the promise of an imperial guarantee of a loan for the construction of the inter-colonial railway, the making of which appeared, in the eyes of many, one of the most important of the results which could follow confederation, and satisfactory assurances respecting the acquisition of the North-West Territories. The death of the Prime Minister, Sir Etienne Tachd, Diffi- in July, 1865, added to the complication of affairs, Brown '^Canadfan being naturally unwilling to serve under Macdonald or Ministry. Cartier. A compromise was arrived at by the appointment of Sir Narcisse Belleau; but the relations between Brown and Macdonald became more and more difficult, and the former resigned in the following December. Confederation, 238 HISTORY OF CANADA Change of feeling in Maritime Provinces. Anxiety of Governor- General. Proceed- ings in London. we have seen, was the raison d'etre of the coalition, but confederation was hung up by the action of the INIaritime Provinces. At last the Nova Scotian Prime Minister, Dr. Charles Tapper, induced, in April, 1866, the majorit}- of the House of Assembly to agree to the appointment of delegates to arrange with the Imperial Government a satisfactory scheme of union ; and the New Brunswick Ministry resigned, having come to loggerheads with the Lieutenant-Governor. On a dissolution, Mr. S. L. Tilley, the chief supporter of confederation, obtained a large majority, and a resolution was carried in the Legislature similar to that adopted in Nova Scotia, making, however, the immediate construction of the inter-colonial railway a condition precedent to agreeing to any scheme. Already the delay in the Canadian Parha- ment was seriously exercising the Governor-General. Unless matters were hurried, he threatened to resign. Macdonald replied that, with respect to the best mode of dealing with the question, he must be allowed to judge. The delegates from the Maritime Provinces, who were on their way to England, were now also urging haste ; but before they had started, a change of ministry in England caused a fresh delay. They none the less persisted in going, and were annoyed when their Canadian colleagues did not arrive. INIacdonald, however, knew his own game. ' The measure,' he wrote, ' must be carried per salhim, and no echo of it must reverberate through the British provinces until it becomes law. . . . There will be few important clauses that will not offend some interest or individual, and its publication will excite a new and fierce agitation on this side of the Atlantic. . . . The Act once passed and without remedy, the people would soon learn to be reconciled to il.' ' On November 7, 1866, the Canadian delegates, consisting of Macdonald, Cartier, Howland, M^'Dougall, Langevin, and Gait, sailed for England, and between the 4lh and 24Lh of ' Letter to Mr. Tilley of October 8. 1S66, Pope, op. cit. vol. i, p. 308. FEDERA TION 239 December continuous sittings were held of the British North American delegates, in which resolutions were passed based on those of the Quebec Conference, and the subsequent action of the different Legislatures. These resolutions, being agreed upon, were transmitted to the Secretary of State. No minutes of the discussions were taken, but from memoranda in the possession of Macdonald's biographer and secretary, it would seem that there were seven successive drafts of the bill, drawn up by the members of the Conference and the imperial law officers.^ Lord Blachford, the permanent Under- Secretary for the Colonies, who was no imperialist, and believed that the ultimate destiny of Canada was separation, bore witness to the extraordinary power of management and adroitness displayed by John A. Macdonald in the negotia- tions in London which preceded confederation. The French delegates were keenly on the watch for anything which weakened their securities, while those from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were very jealous of any concessions to the French, but the genius and tact of Macdonald carried all before it.'^ Although the delegates were in no way thwarted or Macdonald opposed by the home Government, Macdonald was dis- "'' f'-ng^ish , apathy. appointed at the want of interest taken in their proceedings. He held that a great opportunity was lost at the time of confederation. The Union was treated by the Duke of Buckingham, who succeeded Lord Carnarvon at the Colonial Office, and by Lord Monck, the Governor-General, ' as if the British North America Act were a private bill uniting two or three English parishes. Had a different course been pursued — for instance, had United Canada been declared to be an auxiliary kingdom, as it was in the Canadian draft of the bill — I feel sure, almost, that the Australian colonies ' These drafts are published in Coujedcration Documents^ by J. Pope, Toronto, 1895. ^ Letters of Lord Blachford. Edited by G. E. Marindin. London, 1S96, p. 301. 240 HISTORY OF CANADA would, ere this, have been applying to be placed in the same rank as "the kingdom of Canada".'^ In any case Enactment the British Government had no desire to make changes in 0/ British ^ measure on which the colonies were agreed. The bill Aorlh ° America was finally enacted, and July i, 1867, was proclaimed as ^'''•. the day for its coming into force. In accordance with the And ^ ° imperial Stipulation of New Brunswick, a bill guaranteeing £3,000.000 guarantee fQj. ^i^g inter-colonial railway was also passed by the British railways. Parliament. Constitii- Confederation being at last achieved, it remains to con- lon tin cr gj jgj. shortly the nature of the constitution thus set up. In the first place, it must be noted that the Canadian, like the Australian, Constitution is an amalgam of two very diff"erent systems. So far as it is a properly federal constitution, it is of necessity written, but so far as it aims at following the British precedent, it consists largely of unwritten con- ventions. Thus while the respective functions of the Dominion and Provincial Legislatures are set out in great minuteness, no attempt is made to crystallize by statutory enactment the flexible system of precedents and conventions, which make up the customary law of the British Constitution. No attempt is made to set forth the rules and maxims which govern the Cabinet. There is merely the underlying assump- tion that the Privy Council mentioned in the Act follows on the lines of our British Ministry. Neither with regard to the Dominion nor with regard to the provinces does the statute explain or justify responsible government. It starts from British precedents as the model, and only stereotypes the changes from such precedents, which were the inevitable outcome of different conditions. The position of the provinces under the Act differs in important respects from that of the states under the American Union, and that of the states under the Australian Common- wealth. In the Confederation the provincial Governors are ' Memoirs of Sir John A. Maedonald, by J. Pope, vol. i, pp. 312-13. FEDERATION 24! local officials appointed by the Dominion Ministry, and the Dominion Government has a power of disallowing provincial measures, which might involve a serious encroachment upon provincial rights as understood by the federal principle. The matter was made the more difficult by full responsible government, with all its concomitants, being set up in all the provinces. With regard to the provincial constitutions, Effect of the general conclusion appears to be that, so far as possible, ^ ' the working principle of earlier separate constitutions was intended to be continued in the constitution of the separate provinces. Between the Canadian Constitution and that of the United Conirast States and of Australia there is on the surface the broad jmeruan distinction that in the American and Australian constitutions «'"'' the power of the Central Government is strictly limited to cons/im- a specified list of subjects, the State Legislatures retaining the Hons. power over all other matters. But, though in the Canadian Constitution the Central Legislature was given more wide and general powers, it would seem that, whereas in the United States the tendency of late years has been for the central authority to gain in influence, in the Dominion, on the con- trary, the trend both of public opinion and of recent decisions has been in favour of provincial claims. It must be remem- bered that in the Dominion each separate province forms a much greater proportion of the whole than can be the case among the forty-five United States. Further, the system of responsible government seem.s to give a driving force to political conviction, such as is seldom present where the executive and legislative powers are divided, and the office-holder in any case lives out the full term of office. INIoreover, for many years the cause of provincial rights was stoutly maintained by the Liberal party, who were in a minority in the Dominion Legislature. Not content with enumerating the subjects of which the Provincial Legi'^latures were to have the control, the Act, VOL. V. PT. II K 242 HISTORY OF CANADA after giving the Dominion Parliament power over all matters Powers of relating to ' the peace, order, and good government of Canada ' and ^^ ^°^ expressly assigned to the Provincial Legislatures, adopts Frovmcial the extraordinary course of setting out categorically, 'for iiire^ ' greater certainty,' but not ' so as to restrict the generality of the foregoing terms ', twenty-nine subjects on which the Dominion Parliament has exclusive powers. These are followed by sixteen others, over which the Provincial Legislatures are given authority. Unfortunately obscurity is occasioned by these subjects tending to overlap. The general intention appears to be, as interpreted by the Privy Council, that subjects which, from their nature, affect the interests of the whole Dominion, are assigned to the Dominion Parliament, while all matters of a local nature, affecting but one of the provinces, or a portion of a province, are within the con- trol of the Provincial Legislature, unless excepted from this general rule by a special enactment. Within its own area the local legislature is supreme, and has the same authority as the Imperial Parliament or the Parliament of the Dominion. Notwithstanding the endeavour to give pre-eminence to the Dominion Parliament in case of a conflict of powers, it is obvious that in some instances, where this apparent conflict exists, the Legislature could not have intended that the powers exclusively assigned to the Provincial Legislature should be absorbed in those given to the Dominion Parliament.^ Li this slate of things, in particular cases the Act has proved most difficult of interpretation, and the judges have shown reluctance to go beyond the particular facts before them. Provisions Of Special difficulty are the provisions with regard to '^taxation taxation. On the one hand, the Dominion has exclusive legislative power over ' the raising of money by any system of taxation '. On the other, the provinces have exclusive ' See Citizens and Qjieen Ins. Cos. v. Parsons, Cartwright ; cases under the B. N. A. Act, vol. i, ]). 271, and Hodge v. TVie Queen, 9 Appeal Cases, p. 117. FEDERA TION 243 power regarding direcl taxation within the province for the raising of a provincial revenue. It would have been easier and more intelligible to say that the Dominion Parliament could tax for general purposes, and that the Provincial Legislatures could tax for provincial purposes ; but that they could not interfere with the prerogative of the Dominion Parliament to impose customs duties. By these means the legal subtleties which envelop the sections would have been avoided. Power was given to the Dominion Parliament to provide Suproue for the establishment of a general Court of Appeal for ^r^j'*!"' Canada, an institution which seemed the natural corollar}- of an Act setting up a federal constitution of a very com- plicated character, and w^hich the high character and distin- guished ability of the Canadian judges made easy to set on foot. It was not, however, till 1875 that such a Court of Appeal was established. It is a curious instance of the fallibility of human judgements that the authors of the British North America Act appear to have believed that the extreme particularity with which they had set out the respec- tive functions of the Dominion and Provincial Legislatures would obviate the need of resort to legal tribunals. At first sight, in the neglect to supply a federal court to deal with federal matters, the Canadian Constitution seemed to com- pare unfavourably with the American ; but it must be remembered that the Dominion was not an independent nation, and that the Privy Council in London fulfilled the functions of the United States Supreme Court. When the legal history of the Dominion is written, it will perhaps be found that Lord Watson played in the interpretation of the Canadian Constitution, to some extent, the part played in the United States by Chief Justice Marshall. It has been already explained that the scheme of con- Represen- federation proposed representation by population so far as the ^jj[!^"/' House of Commons was concerned. The manner in which in House of Commons. R 2 244 HISTORY OF CANADA Constitu- tion of Senate. tliis object was attained was by making sixl3'-rive the fixed number of representatives for the province of Quebec, and varying the number assigned to the other provinces according to the proportion in which their population should stand to that of Quebec at each decennial census. In the first Parlia- ment Ontario had eighty-two members, Nova Scotia nineteen, and New Brunswick fifteen. At the time of the census of iS^i the population of Ontario was 1,620,851, that of Quebec 1,191,516, that of Nova Scotia 387,800, and that of New Brunswick 285,594. The Senate was to consist of seventy -two members — twenty-four for Quebec, twenty- four for Ontario, and twenty-four for the INIaritime Provinces. Power was given to admit Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and British Columbia into the Union, and also Rupert's Land and the North-West Territory. In case of the admission of Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, they should be entitled to four senators each ; but those assigned to Prince Edward Island were to be taken from the number assigned to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. But though the British North America Act had been passed and the action of the proposers of confederation endorsed at a general election by the people of Canada and New Brunswick, the ship of confederation was not yet Opposition out of rough waters. In Nova Scotia the result of the 'eration%n election was the tiiumph of its opponents, only one member who was in favour of confederation being returned out of nineteen. An agitation was set on foot to obtain the repeal of the Act, and a delegation was sent to England, of which Joseph Howe was the most distinguished member. Confederation seemed hostile to the interests of the powerful mercantile community of Halifax, and therefore it was opposed by many who were generally on the side of the British connexion. Howe was not against union, as such, but he held that the British North America Act sacrificed the interests of Nova Scotia, and he was indignant at its jYoi'a Scoti, FEDERA TION 245 enactment without the people having been first consulted. He ridiculed the notion of Canadian patriotism. London he held to be the natural home of Colonial affections. ' With such a capital as this we need not seek for another in the backwoods of Canada, and we may be pardoned if we prefer London under the dominion of John Bull to Ottawa under the dominion of Jack Frost.' In spite of feeling in Nova Scotia, Howe soon recognized that nothing was to be done with the home authorities ; though he received the support of John Bright, Liberals and Conservatives in England were alike in favour of confederation, and were naturally not inclined to allo^y Nova Scotia to dismember a union into which she had so recently entered. Meanwhile the material interests of the province were suffering from the attitude of isolation taken up by its representatives in the Dominion House of Commons and by their consequent exclusion from all share in the Central Government. The violence of language of the extreme party in Nova Scotia was increasing, and men openly spoke of exchanging British for American allegiance. The repealers were becom- ing annexationists. Men seriously doubted whether there was enough public spirit in the new Dominion to make such sacrifices as would encourage and develop provincial resources and foster inter-provincial trade, and the temptation of the huge rich American market was hard to resist. But, though some taint of egoism may have entered into Howe's opposition to confederation, where loyalty to British con- nexion was involved, his reputation at least stood clear. When the ' much-devising ' Canadian Prime Minister recog- nized that the moment had come to detach Howe from the Opposition, the latter was persuaded to enter into negotiations with the Dominion Government, thereby obtaining better financial terms for Nova Scotia. INIatters being thus settled, Howe became a member of the Dominion Ministry in January, 1S69, to ihc disgust of his old associates, but to the advan- 246 HISTORY OF CANADA I 'tiiUd Stales. tage of the British Empire. The remaining Maritime Printe Province, Prince Edward Island, did not follow the example Island' ^^ ''•^ neighbours until 1873, when financial considerations Joins Con- comf)elled it to join the Confederation. The realization of federation, ^j^^ ^^^j^^^. ^^^^^ aimed at by the framers of the Act of 1867, viz. the entrance by Canada upon the heritage of the West, belongs to another chapter, though we may here note that confederation was the si7ie qua non to its accomplishment. Question of The question of confederation has been dealt with as far as ^wUh""^^ the inclusion of the old separate provinces, but in following its course some other events have been omitted. Lord Elgin's reciprocity treaty expired in i866,^and the Canadian Government were anxious to find out what chance there was of its renewal by the United States. At the suggestion of the Colonial Secretary, a body, termed the Confederate Council of the British North America Colonies, met at Quebec, in September 1865, for the consideration of the question of commercial treaties. This Council w'as of opinion that the existing treaty with the United States was accept- able, and that its renewal would be for the advantage of the respective provinces. In the event of the Americans refusing to renew the treaty, the Council urged that all the British colonies should combine cordially together in commercial matters, and adopt such a common commercial policy as would best advance the interests of the whole. Efforts at negotiations were made by Canadian ministers at Washington, but they proved unsuccessful; the United States finally denounced the Reciprocity Treaty, and abortive attacks by Fenians upon the Canadian frontier, in the spring of 1866 did not serve to make easier the relations between the two countries. The end of the American Civil War had caused the disbandment of a number of Irish adventurers, and these sought an outlet for their energies in an invasion of Canada. At the close of May, 1866, about 1,500 Fenians crossed the Niagara river by Buffalo from the State of New Yoik, and Icnian raid. FEDERATION 247 landed at the site of Fort Erie. The indiscretion of a mihtia colonel gave thern some short-lived success, but upon the approach of a British battalion they sought refuge on an American gunboat ; and the establishment of a camp in the Niagara peninsula prevented any renewal of such attacks. It has been seen that the making of the inter-colonial Iitier- railway was one of the main motives at work urging men '^^y^„"^y_ to accept confederation. The negotiations with regard to the line betw-een Halifax and Quebec had broken down in 1863, though the importance of railway communication was generally recognized. As long before as 1851, Howe had said, 'God has planted your country in the front of this boundless region ; see that you comprehend its destiny and resources — see that you discharge with energy and elevation of soul the duties which devolve upon you in virtue of your position. ... I am neither a prophet nor a son of a prophet, but yet I will venture to predict that in five years we shall make the journey hence to Quebec and Montreal and hence through Portland and St. John by rail ; and I believe that many in this room will live to hear the whistle of the steam-engine in the passes of the Rocky Mountains and to make the journey from Halifax to the Pacific in five or six days.' ^ A further scheme in 1862 to carry postal and telegraphic Scheme for communication across the continent fell through, the Canadian [i^'^l'J^^f Government considering that the work w-as of such special post and imperial importance as to require an imperial subsidy ^^^^ ^.^^^Xlf' guarantee, while the British authorities maintained that the proposed line would be of comparatively small value to the Imperial Government, in the absence of a transatlantic submarine telegraph. From every side it was apparent that it was necessary British North America should be united, before she could obtain the development of her vast resources. * Letters and Speeches, vol. ii, pp. 58-77. 248 HISTORY OF CANADA Authorities For the text of the British North America Act, 1867, and the Quebec Conference Resolutions, 1864, ^^^ Houston, op. cit. The resolutions of the London Conference, 1866, are in Pope, op, cit. vol. i, Appendix xiv. The ministerial explanations of June 22, 1864, are set out in same volume, Appendix v. Chapters xiii and xiv deal with 'the Coalition of 1864' and ' Confederation'. See also Mackenzie, op. cit. Confederation of Canada. By J. H. Gray (one of the delegates) (only the first volume was completed). Toronto, 1872. Confederation Debates. Quebec, 1865. Confederation Documents. By J. Pope. Toronto, 1895. Parliamentary Procedure and Practice. By J. G. Bourinot. Second Ed., Introd. 1892. Law of Legislative Power in Canada, By A. H. F. Lefroy. Toronto, 1897-8. Cases on the British North America Act. By J. R. Cartwright. 4 vols. Toronto, 1882-92. Memories of Confederation. By Sir R. Cartwright. 1906. CHAPTER VII THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WEST We have traced the history of Canada till the time was The ripe for it to enter into the full heritage of British North ,^^'^fj^/n^^^ America; but we have yet to explain briefly the steps by jVorth- which such a development became possible. The beginnings r^^f.Z''\ of IManitoba have been already noted, and the rough and tion. ready methods employed by the North-West Company to prevent further trespass upon its valuable fur trade. The Red River Settlement did not entirely perish ; but, after Lord Selkirk's interests had been acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1834, that company was hardly administered in such a fashion as to encourage further colonization. At the same time, as Lord Strathcona has pointed out, ' the acquisition and development of the Hudson's Bay territory was impossible prior to the confederation of the Dominion. No less a body than United Canada could have acquired and administered so large a domain, or have undertaken the construction of railways, without which its development could only have been slow and uncertain '.' But in other ways the whole question of the western territories was coming to the fore. We have seen the manner in which the boundary question was dealt with under the London Convention of 181 8 up to the Rocky Mountains. There still, however, remained the question of the vast tract beyond those mountains. This was known at the time .' Preface by Lord Strathcona to The Selkirk Settlers in Real Life. By R. G. Macbeth. 250 HISTORY OF CANADA Dispute as the Oregon territory, and comprised what is now British 'cviih Columbia, and the American Stales of Washington, Oregon, regard to ' • j 1 j Oregon and Idaho ; its area being in all some six hundred thousand territory, gq^are miles. The whole of this territory, lying between 42° parallel of north latitude on the south and 54° 40" on the north, was claimed by the United States. This claim was based partly on Spanish rights, to which the Americans had succeeded, partly on the Louisiana pur- chase, and partly on the fact of prior discovery. But the claim to take under the Louisiana purchase has been abandoned by the best American authorities, while the recognition by Spain in 1790 of British rights at Nootka Sound made it difficult to maintain the American contention merely on the ground of succession to Spanish rights. The British claim was based on the explorations made by Cook in his third voyage to the Pacific, of which the settlement at Nootka Sound, begun in 1788, was the direct consequence. But from this date the explorations of the two Powers went ovl pari passu. In 1792 an American, Captain Robert Gray, entered and explored the great river which he named the Columbia; while in the following year explorations along the coast were carried on by Vancouver in the British interest ; and, as we have seen, Alexander Mackenzie crossed the continent from the east, exploring the country to the north of the Columbia river. But the Americans were not to be left behind, and the subject of western development appeared so important to the President, Thomas Jefferson, that he employed Lewis and Clark on their memorable expedition of 1804, in which, having traversed the country west of the IMississippi, they finally entered the main branch of the Columbia, and descended the river to its mouth. In 181 1, an American, J. J. Astor, formed a fur-trading settle- ment at Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia river, which was afterward purchased by the North- West Company, so thai the British were in control of the avenues of trade 252 HISTORY OF CANADA between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific. The amalga- mation of the North- West and Hudson's Bay companies, in 1 82 1, gave the opportunity for a forward policy, and new head quarters were established in 1825 at Fort Vancouver. Dr. John MacLoughlin, who remained in charge of the fort for twenty-two years, made it a business centre of some importance. As many as thirty thousand beaver skins, valued at some two hundred and fifi}' thousand dollars, were received at Fort Vancouver during a single year. The monopoly secured by the Hudson's Bay Company had soon, however, to meet a formidable competitor. The Americans still claimed the country as of right and by virtue of prior discovery ; and the British so far allowed the contention as to permit the American flag to be run up at Astoria in 1818. In the negotiations of that year, the Americans proposed that the boundary line of 49^ should be extended to the Pacific Ocean. The British Commissioners objected to this, and finally a provision was accepted by both parties for the joint occupation of the Oregon country for a term of ten years. After the treaty with Spain of 1819, the tendency was for the United States to become more exacting in their demands, although at any time a distinct oflfer to recognize 49° as the boundary would probably have been accepted by them. Negotiations with a view to a settlement came to nothing ; but a Convention was concluded in 1827, which indefinitely extended the joint occupation, subject to its termination by twelve months' notice on either side. So difficult was the question that the Ashburton Treaty of 1842 did not at- tempt to deal with it. Negotiations in 1844 were not more successful, and the Americans refused to submit the question to arbitration. In 1843 3. great influx of Americans into the country altered entirely the complexion of affairs. A provisional government was established 'until such time as the United Stales of America exert their jurisdiction over us '. R}' the THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WEST 253 end of 1845 the population was about 6,000, settled in six Americai/ counties, of which all but one were in the Willamette Valley. "-^"-''■ The sixth county was situate north of the Columbia river on Puget Sound. In this state of things the sympathies of the American people were inevitably enlisted on behalf of their western kinsfolk. It was proposed in Congress to enact a territorial government, without defining the extent of such territory. As early as 1844 the democratic convention had adopted a declaration popularly understood as meaning ' fifty- four forty' (i.e. the boundary of the Russian possessions) 'or fight '. The title of the United States to the whole of the ■ territory of Oregon was declared to be clear and unquestion- able. In spite, however, of strong words, used by the party and their President, Polk, the democrats were not desirous of war with England, and were not very keen on behalf of the organization of a territory which might strengthen the hands of the Anti-Slavery party. Accordingly, President Polk, in deference to the action of his predecessors regarding the parallel of forty-nine degrees, made yet another attempt at settlement. Mr. Buchanan, however, the American Secretary of State, and Mr. Pakenham, the British INIinister, were unable to come to terms in 1845, and in December Polk recommended that the notice required by the Treaty of 1827 for the termination of the joint agreement should be given ; after which time it would be necessary to decide whether the national rights in Oregon were to be abandoned or firmly maintained. 'That they cannot be abandoned,' he added, ' without a sacrifice both of national honour and interest is too clear to admit of doubt.' At the same time neither power really wanted war, and when the choice at last seemed to be between war and a setdement, a basis of agreement was arrived at. By the Washington Treaty q{ Sdtlaneut June 15, 1846, the boundary line was continued westward "-^ ' "■^" '^^ along the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver 254 HISTORY OF CANADA Island, and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel and of Fuca's Straits to the Pacific Ocean. The navigation of the channels and straits south of the forty-ninth parallel was left free and open to both nations, and the navigation of the Columbia river from the point where the forty-ninth parallel intersects the great northern branch was left open to the Hudson's Bay Company and all British subjects trading with it. By this treaty Great Britain abandoned its claim to the line of the Columbia river, and the United States modified its proposal of the forty-ninth parallel so far as to bring the whole of Vancouver Island within the British possessions. The provisions contained within them a plenteous store of misunderstanding with regard to the exact line of the water boundary ; but they settled the main subject in question by apportioning to Great Britain the territory which became British Columbia and Vancouver Island, and to the United States the future states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Vancouver Island was granted to the Pludson's Bay Com- pany in 1848; but though it possessed an admirable climate and was well adapted to agricultural settlement, it made for years slow progress. It must be admitted that the Hudson's Bay Company, however much its dealings with the Indians are worthy of praise, was not in favour of promot- ing colonization. It knew very well that before the advance of man the wild game, which were the source of its profits, would die out, and it was natural enough that it should prefer its own interests rather than those of the country at large. Moreover the few colonists in Vancouver Island were in a slate of grumbling discontent, and it was alleged that the judge, who should have protected their interests, was a mere creature of the company, without legal knowledge, and occupying the position of a retired linendraper. The unsatisfactory character of the situation was freely admitted by Mr. Edward Ellice (' Bear ' Ellice, one of the pillars of THE DEVELOPMENT OE THE WEST 255 the Company, whom in different connexions we often encounter Eliice on in the pages of Canadian history). The home Government '^'f/"^"^''^ '^ ° ■' ' of the had enforced the rule that land must be sold at twenty shillings Island. an acre, and had decided that, inasmuch as some kind of taxation was necessary, an elected legislature must be set on foot. In this state of things Eliice told the House of Commons Committee, which dealt in 1857 with the affairs of the Hudson's Bay Company, that an assembly representa- tive of the colonists would inevitably find itself at issue with the monopoly enjoyed by the Hudson's Bay Company. He admitted that Vancouver Island had been a failure in the hands of the Company, for the reason that there had been no means to apply to its development. Even as things were, some £80,000 had been spent in sending out settlers and miners to work the coal mines. Everything hitherto had been outlay, and there had been no return; the limit had now been reached, and it was necessary that the whole subject of Vancouver Island should be considered from the public point of view. Eliice added that, ' in all the accounts we hear of it, it is a kind of England attached to the Con- tinent of America.' But while there was a consensus of opinion as to the possibilities of Vancouver Island, deep darkness still hung over the future of the great western territories of the con- tinent. Up to the year 1857 the Red River Settlement remained the only colony west of Upper Canada in some measure independent of the fur trade ; and though that settlement continued to exist, it remained stagnant, and showed no signs of its great future. In 1857 the popu- lation was a little over 6,000, composed as to its larger Position of half of French Canadians and half-breeds, the children '?''f ,'^'^'''' . ' Settlement. of French Canadians by Indian mothers, the rest being descendants of Selkirk's pioneers, along with some English half-breeds. The evidence before the 1857 Committee, with regard to the capacities of the soil, though there were even 256 HISTORY or CANADA then some of clearer vision, was upon the whole a remark- able instance of the fallibility of human judgement. Sir George Simpson, the illustrious Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, who left so lasting a mark on that Company's history, did not consider that any part of its vast territories was well adapted for settlement ; the crops everywhere were very uncertain, and the coast opposite Vancouver Island was wholly unfit for colonization. Very seldom had the Com- pany been able to raise wheat in the Saskatchewan district. It is true that the value of Simpson's evidence was somewhat discounted by his having expressed directly opposite views in a published book. In the same spirit a scientific soldier, Colonel Lefroy, hazarded the confident opinion that ' agri- cultural settlement can make but very slender progress in any portion of that region ', and Ellice was no less confident in the same sense. On the other hand, there was much evidence to the effect that what was at fault was not the soil, but the system under which men worked. A petition from the inhabitants declared that the lands were fertile and easy to cultivate, but that the exclusive system of the Hudson's Bay Company effectually prevented the tiller of the soil, as well as the adventurer in any other industrial pursuit, from devoting his energies to those labours which contributed both to the private and to the public advantage. There had been great excitement in 1849 owing to the prevalence of illicit trading, and the steps taken by the Company to put an end to it ; and though matters had improved, there was still throughout the settlement mutual suspicion and distrust, and it would have been no easy matter to find men willing to give evidence on behalf of the Company against the interests of their neighbours. At the same time, though it was the holder of a monopoly which was a grievance to all, the position of the Company was not really strong. It had no armed forces to protect its interests, and sundry attempts made to introduce militar}- pensioners as colonists for (he purpose had mt-t THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WEST 257 with very trifling success. The primitive mode of adminih- tering justice which was in force was singularly unsuited to the needs of a civilized community. Colonel Caldwell, who had acted for some years as Governor of Assiniboia, the name given to the settlement, showed by his evidence that he had the haziest notion of the respective positions of the Governor and of the Recorder in legal matters. When the Recorder was removed, with the object of conciliating the settlers, he was still retained as Clerk of the Court, from which point of vantage he emerged to act as judge in a par- ticular case in which the Hudson's Bay Company was especi- ally interested. There was without doubt some ground for censorial critics, such as the sharp-tongued Mr. John Roebuck. There was another danger in the present situation, apart from any wrongs suffered by the colonists at the hands of the Company. It was not improbable that at any moment American immigration from Minnesota might precipitate a crisis, when a republic might be proclaimed, which would then attach itself to the United States. On several grounds the question of these western terri- tories was of importance to Canada. It was in the first place beginning to be recognized that an outlet for surplus population would be some day desirable, though the circum- stances of Upper Canada were such as to make the question as yet of a more or less remote interest. Still on political grounds it was already recognized that it would be a great misfortune to Canada if new American western states should stifle its expansion towards the Pacific. The more prescient were beginning to see that British North America, for its full development, must extend from ocean to ocean. ' I hope you will not laugh at me as a visionary,' said Chief Justice Draper, who attended the 1857 Committee on behalf of Canadian interests, ' but I hope to see the lime, or that my children may live to see the time, when there is a railway going all across the country and ending at the Pacific' But 258 HISTORY OF CANADA if these hopes were to be realized, it was necessary that no Position^ of excuse should be given to foreign trespassers. The general Bay Com- opinion in Canada was that the monopoly exercised by the /•iuiy. Hudson's Bay Company was illegal and ought to be repu- diated. It was practically impossible, however, after the position of the Company had been repeatedly sanctioned by Acts of the Crown and of Parliament for nearly two hundred years, suddenly to turn round and deny its rights ; and the English law officers gave strongly expressed opinions to this effect. But there was the further question, which was of much more doubtful character, what were the exact boundaries between Canada and the Hudson's Bay Company .? and it was suggested that this question might be referred to the Privy Council. On the one hand there had always been shadowy claims to the west made on behalf of the French Crown, and French hunters and explorers had often penetrated beyond the limits of what afterwards became Upper Canada. Never- theless, no definition of Canada, by treaty or otherwise, had included within it the western lands, and the greater portion of them, at any rate, seemed to fall within the terms of the grant to the Hudson's Bay Company. Moreover, the validity of the grant made by the Company to Selkirk had never been questioned, and value had been received by Selkirk's heirs, on the repurchase of the settlement by the Hudson's Bay Company. The matter never came to a legal decision ; but it seems likely that, in such an event, the contention of the Hudson's Bay Compan}- would have been upheld by the Privy Council. Recom- The general conclusion of the 1857 Committee steered '''5^'^^'""', clear of these pitfalls, and suggested a friendly arrangement. Commons the report contenting itself with the opinion that the districts ^'^"'""J^^^ on the Red and Saskatchewan rivers were among those oj i8=;7. ° likely to be required for early settlement, and the pious hope that there would be no difficulty in affecting an arrangement between the Crown and the Hudson's Bay Company by which THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE IVEST 259 those districts might be ceded to Canada on equitable prin- ciples. An amendment proposed by Mr. Gladstone, to deal with the Company in a more summary fashion, by demarcating at once and freeing from its control the lands suitable for settlement, was only lost by the casting vote of the chairman. The report further recommended the termina- tion of the connexion of Vancouver Island with the Hudson's Bay Company, and that means should also be taken for the ultimate extension of the colony over any portions of the adjacent continent to the west of the Rocky Mountains on which permanent settlements might be found pracdcable. But while the Committee was sitting, events were moving rapidly in what was afterwards named British Columbia.^ Gold was discovered in the bed of the Fraser river in 1856, and from the time of that discovery for some years there was a constant stream of immigration. The Hudson's Bay British Company had taken a lease of the lands west of the Rocky "'" ''"' Mountains, which was still in force, and their chief factor, Mr. James Douglas, who was also Go\'ernor of Vancouver Island, became responsible for the peace of the district. Fortunately, in a position of great difficulty, he exercised his double functions with singular discretion and wisdom. Still it was generally recognized that in the changed circum- stances it was impossible that the monopoly of the Hudson's Bay Company should continue, or that the administration either of Vancouver Island or of the mainland opposite should remain in the hands of an employe of the Company. i\Ir. Douglas was appointed to the post of Governor for the Crown, on condition that he severed his connexion with the Company. Sir Edward Buhver Lytton, the Colonial Secretary, whose mind naturally delighted in so romantic a situation, wrote on July 31, 1858, that Bridsh Columbia stood on a different footing from most other colonial possessions. It ' The name was suggested by Queen Victoria — see letter of July J4, JS5S — The Letters of Queen Victoria, vol. iii, p. 376. S 2 26o HISTORY OF CANADA combined ' in a remarkable degree the advantage of fertile lands, fine timber, adjacent harbours and rivers, together with rich mineral products. These last, which have led to the large immigration of which all accounts speak, furnish Liberal the Government with the means of raising a revenue which measures, ^^jj) ^^ oxid^ defray the expense of an establishment.' Douglas was enjoined to seek by all legitimate means to secure the confidence and goodwill of the immigrants, and to exhibit no jealousy of Americans or other foreigners who might enter the country. He was to remember that the colony was destined for free institutions at the earliest possible moment, and a council of advice might at once be formed from amongst the immigrants, both British and foreign. As soon as a permanent population, however small, was estab- lished on the soil, an assembly should be organized ; mean- while some kind of temporary council might be devised. The Governor was given a free hand in the disposal of land for agricultural settlement, and foreigners were allowed to take up land and secure a good title to il by being naturalized within three years. Douglas proved an admirable instru- ment for the liberal and wise policy of the home Government ; and by his behaviour towards the gold-miners, won their respect and confidence. The commission formally appoint- ing him as Lieutenant-Governor arrived in November, 1858, and Briiish Columbia started on its life as a Crown colony. Diversity A legislature had been already set on foot in Vancouver o/vancon- island in 1856, and though the qualification for voters was ver Island high and the number of possible candidates was small, still a ^^^^^ J^^-^'^ ' start was made upon the road of self-government. It was unfortunate that the interests of Vancouver Island and of British Columbia seemed so diverse as for the time to bar their being joined under one government. The interests of Vancouver Island were in the direction of free trade. The development of the natural advantages of Victoria, its chief town, by making it a free port for the trade of the country THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WEST 261 round, appeared the path of wisdom ; and with this end in view the public revenue was almost wholly derived from taxes levied directly on persons, professions, trades, and real estate. The position of British Columbia was altogether different. There the miners would never tolerate high direct taxation ; but, by means of duties on imports, a substantial revenue might be obtained, by which means the great internal re- sources of the country would be developed. There was no other way of obtaining the roads, which were necessary, if the country was to be opened up. In spite of the good sense and w-isdom displayed by Demand Douglas, it was inevitable, where Englishmen foregathered, t^l'^y]" ^' that a demand for popular government should arise, and as mcnt. early as 1861 an agitation began with this object. That the Governor resided in Vancouver Island was a matter of com- plaint, and that island was generally viewed with great jealousy. British Columbia had been administered under a temporary Act, which expired in 1863. It was proposed to continue it for another year and to issue an Order in Council constituting a Legislative Council. By these means the way might be prepared for the introduction of the representative system. The Colonial Secretary, the Duke of Newcastle, had himself been strongly in favour of uniting British Columbia and Vancouver Island, but he recognized that the prevailing feeling was for the present strongly opposed to such union, and, in deference to that feeling, he agreed that the two colonies should be under different governors. The difficulties in the way of the introduction of full representative govern- ment into British Columbia appeared still to be great. The fixed population was not yet large enough to form a sufficient and sound basis of representation, the migratory element far exceeding the permanent white residents, and the Indians far outnumbering both combined. Gold was still the only product of the colony, extracted, to a great extent, by an annual influx of foreigners. There were scarcely any landed 262 HISTORY or CANADA proprietors and not many tradesmen ; and of these the great majority had no leisure to give to politics, and were scattered at a distance from the centre of government and from each other. In these circumstances representative government would either mean government by a small oligarchy — naturally occupied with their own personal, local, or class interests — or else government by a body of transient foreigners, who had no permanent interest in the prosperity of the colony. At the same time a system of virtual, though imperfect, representation was to be at once introduced, which might enable the Government to find out the wants and disposition of the community with a view to the more formal and complete establishment of a representative system when- ever circumstances might make it possible. The decision still further to keep separate the two colonies had hardly been taken when a serious movement in favour of union began in both. The Vancouver Legislative Assembly pronounced in the beginning of 1865 in favour of uncon- ditional union; and though the new Governor of British Columbia was opposed to it, there was in the colony a con- siderable body of opinion favourable to such union, as an indispensable requisite for the progress and prosperity of both colonies; the colonies were therefore united by an Imperial Act in 1866. It was this more enlightened and wider outlook which brought about the new departure which ended in the consolidation of the Dominion. Meanwhile, returning to the country immediately within the control of the Hudson's Bay Company, we may note that although the scheme for a transcontinental telegraph came to nothing for the time in 1863, the negotiations with regard to it were of importance as leading to the sale by the old Hudson's Bay Company of all their rights to a new company, which looked with a more favourable eye on colonization and settlement. The price paid was £1,500,000, and the new Governor was Sir Edmund Head, whose recent connexion THE DEVELOPMENT OE THE IVEST 263 with the Government of Canada emphasized the imperial aspect of the new poHcy. An active railway director, Mr. Edward Watkin, whose connexion with the South-Eastern and Metropolitan railways made his name at a later date a household word among Englishmen, was invited in 1863 to proceed to the Red River Settlement for the purpose of reporting on its state and condition, and on that of the adjoining territory, the prospect of settlement therein, and the possibility of starting a telegraph line across the southern portion of Rupert's Land. Mr. Watkin found that, although the government of the Red River Settlement had had few faults and many excellencies, and had been marked by a generous policy, it had been, and was still, in many instances, open to suspicion because of the double character held by the Hudson's Bay Company. The same power which acted Anomalous as merchant, store-dealer, carrier, and universal provider, "^"^^ jjujson( appointed the Governor and assistants, selected magistrates. Bay Com- placed judges on the bench, and administered the law, even -^^ "-^ ' in cases where its own interests and those of rival trade com- petitors were concerned. Such a state of things was on principle unsound, and should in any case be only temporary till something better could be devised. Nor could it con- tinue when once the country was thrown open to setdement, unless the Government was furnished with a military force to protect its interests. Government of Indians was one thing ; government of a large and expanding colony of free white men was quite another. If the Hudson's Bay Company was relieved of the administration, the alternatives were either to annex the country to Canada or else to set up a new Crown colony. Or, again, a middle course might be taken and the district be separately administered by the Crown, while for certain purposes it became federated with Canada — e. g. a customs union might in any case be established between them. At the time it seemed doubtful how far Canada was able or willing to assume responsibility for the North- 264 HISTORY OF CANADA West. Mr. Waikin recognized that at some period, near or distant, the British North America provinces between the Adantic and the Pacific might be united in a federal or legislative union and thus become too great and strong for attack; but if this were so, it was most desirable that any arrangements made with regard to the North-West should facilitate and promote such a union, and not stand in its way. Thus disputes about customs duties should, if possible, be avoided by anticipation, and the constitution and powers of the new colony should foreshadow its connexion with the country to the east and to the west. Future isolation should Mr. Wat- be forbidden, while present autonomy was secured. INIr. /.■/I! srecom- Watkin considered that the best course available for the VI eud III I oil. present was to erect a new Crown colony, partly federated with Canada, but not so as to affect the political balance of Upper and Lower Canada, and having a customs union with that colony. The prejudices of the past were now forgotten, and Governor Dallas, of the Hudson's Bay Company, admitted that a great portion of the territory west of Fort Garry (Winnipeg) was admirably adapted for settlement ; but con- federation had to come about before such development could take place. The Hudson's Bay Company was in no such hurry as was their active envoy, and his disappointment was great when he found that it was decided to postpone even the establishment of telegraphic and postal communication, Situaiion Meanwhile, in the Red River Settlement, matters were at at Red ^ deadlock. Prisoners were forcibly rescued from gaol and Settlement, remained at large, defying the authorities. The magistrates were with difficulty prevailed upon to continue to act. The Governor found himself in an impossible position, with all the responsibility and the semblance of authority, but un- supported, if not ignored, by the Crown. Dallas claimed, apparently with reason, that the unpopularity of the Company arose entirely from the system of government, and not from the personnel of its administralois. Ii is w(jrlh noting that THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE IVEST 265 he predicted in 1863 thai there might be serious trouble hereafter with the Indians and half-breeds. We have already noted the movement for union between Vancouver Island and British Columbia, and its accomplish- British ment, but the question of a more far-reaching union was „°„'(i"(-g,'^, coming to the front. The Dominion had been born in 1Z6'], federation. and British Columbia was quick to recognize that only by becoming a member of the Canadian Confederation could it accomplish its destiny. In January, 1868, an unofficial memorial was presented to the Dominion Government which gave expression to the views dominant in both colonies. The terms of admission which, it was stated, would be acceptable, included the taking over by the Dominion of the provincial public debt, full provision for the cost of federal officers and services, the granting of favourable terms in the matter of finance, adequate representation in the Canadian Parliament, along with a provincial responsible government. The con- struction of a transcontinental waggon-road from Lake Superior to the point on the Lower Fraser river whence it was navigable, within a period of two years after joining the Confederation, was also made an essential condition. The Dominion Government, receiving no official communi- cation from British Columbia with regard to confederation, forwarded the memorial and accompanying resolutions to the Secretary of State, asking him to instruct the provincial governor to move his legislature to further action. Mean- while the Canadian Government was prepared to submit to Parliament a- proposal for the admission of British Columbia into the Union, in the expectation that the Imperial Govern- ment would lose no time in transferring the intervening North-West Territory to the jurisdiction of the Canadian Government. The main obstacle to confederation had been the obstinate attitude of the Governor of British Columbia. His death in June, 1869, cleared the way to a settlement, his successor throwino^ his influence into the scale in favour 266 HISTORY OF CANADA of union. Resolutions having been carried in the British Columbia Legislature in favour of confederation, delegates were sent to Ottawa to arrange the terms on which British Columbia should enter the Dominion. An important condition precedent to such union had now been fulfilled. Canada was at last master in her own house, and the future of the vast Western Territories secured for her own. We have seen the natural apprehensions which were aroused in Canada lest the great No Man's Land to the west should excite the cupidity of the United States. Hudson s Thus we find John A. Macdonald writing in 1865, ' If Canada Bay^ Tern- jg ^^ remain a country separate from the United States, it is of great importance that they should not get behind us by right or by force and intercept the route to the Pacific' It is true that, as things were then, he considered that the country would be of no practical value to Canada. ' We have unoccupied land enough,' he said, ' to absorb the immigration for many years, and the opening up of the Saskatchewan would do to Canada what the prairie lands of Illinois are doing now — drain away our youth and strength.'' The question had, indeed, long engaged the attention of Canadian statesmen. George Brown especially, for many years, by tongue and by pen, had powerfully advocated westward exten- sion through the acquisition of the Hudson's Bay Territories ; but Lower Canada was for the most part either indifferent or hostile ; indifferent as not seeking this outlet for her surplus population, or hostile as opposed to any encroachment upon the Roman Catholic half-breeds who formed the majority of the population of the Territory. As time went on the question became more pressing. ' The Hudson's Bay ques- tion/ Macdonald wrote in October, 1867, 'must soon be settled. The rapid march of events and the increase of population on this continent will compel England and Canada to come to some arrangement respecting this ' Pope, J., op. dl. vol. ii, p. 43. THE DEVELOPMENT OE THE WEST 267 immense country.'' The influence of Ontario in the Dominion Cabinet was strong enough to secure the intro- duction of resolutions into the Canadian House of Commons, in December, 1867, urging the Crown to unite Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory with Canada. These The Hud- resolutions were moved by Mr. McDougall, whose reputa- ^xerntoiy tion was to suffer some shipwreck in the carrying out of his and the own policy. By this time Sir John Macdonald had come to ^f^dl realize the full meaning of events. The Western country could only remain British by being included within the Dominion. To do nothing would mean that sooner or later a foreign power would appear to the west of Canada. If the country were offered as a free gift, who would hesitate to accept it ? But why, then, should they be deterred by the Hudson's Bay bugbear of a claim, which, even if well- founded, might be disposed of for a moderate amount. If offered to the United States (who had recently purchased Alaska from Russia") they would be ready to pay for it an amount equal to four times the whole public debt of Canada. It was only the accident of the American Civil War that had given the Dominion the time to forestall its neighbour. On the resolutions being sent to England, the law officers advised that the claims of the Hudson's Bay Company were good in law, and that an imperial Act would be necessary to secure possession for Canada. To allow of such an Act, Pinrhase a private arrangement was necessary between Canada and /, (^^mda. the Hudson's Bay Company. With this object Sir George Cartier and Mr. ]\IcDougall visited England in 1868, an imperial statute having been passed authorizing such agree- ment as might be arrived at. Although, as we have seen, the Hudson's Bay Company no longer took up an obstructive attitude, it proved by no means easy to effect a setdement. The Duke of Buckingham had been succeeded at the Colonial Office by Lord Granville, to whose tact and diplomacy the ' Ibid. 268 HISTORY OF CANADA final agreement was largely due. He brought the representa- tives of the rival interests to the Colonial Office, saw each in different rooms, going from one to the other, and finally succeeded in effecting a settlement of the question. Lord Kimberley had been the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, and on the very day that an agreement was arrived at he expressed his opinion to Lord Granville that there was very little chance of success.' The terms were that under this settlement the Hudson's Bay Company, in con- sideration of the sum of £300,000, should surrender their territorial interests in the North- West to the Crown, with the reservation of one-twentieth of the fertile belt bounded on the south by the United States boundary, on the west by the Rocky Mountains, on the north by the northern branch of the Saskatchewan river, and on the east by Lake Winnipeg, the Lake of the Woods and the waters connecting them. The Company was also to receive 45.,ooo acres adjacent to each of their trading posts. The agreement was accepted by the Canadian Parliament in June, 1869, and in November a deed of surrender to the Crown was duly signed by the Hudson's Bay Company. The Canadian Legislature had already passed an Act providing for the temporary government of Rupert's Land and the North- West Territories, when united with Canada, and INIr. McDougall had been appointed Lieutenant-Governor. Stibsequevt It was unfortunate that, at the time of the transfer, the t ijfKu lies. QQye,.j-)Qj. under the Hudson's Bay Company, McTavish, was seriously ill, and the Roman Catholic bishop, Tach^, was at Rome. These two officials would have spoken with authority, whereas the minor employes of the Company and the rank and file of the Roman Catholic clergy were hostile to the change, and the Company had done nothing in England to prepare the minds of the people for what was coming. Added to these causes of diflicully were American intrigues, directed by interested persons, so that the risks of future trouble were ' .See note of .Sir R. Meade in Lord Granville's Life, vol. ii, p. 25. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WEST 269 great. In this state of feeling the folly of the Canadian officials set the match to the bonfire. The Canadian surveyors, \\ho were at work during the summer of 1869, displayed little tact in running their lines through the lands of the half- breeds. The history of Selkirk's colony showed the lawless nature of these people, and time had made little change in their character. It was determined to resist annexation, and a council of defence was organized under the leadership of Louis Riel and two others ; arms and ammunition were taken by force from the Company's stores, and a force of some five or six hundred half-breeds was hastily collected. Riel, though born and bred in the settlement, seems to have had no Indian blood, though he had many relatives amongst the half-breeds and secured over them a great influence. Sir John Macdonald had realized from the first the seriousness Ma,- of the situation. He had warned M°Dougall in November Donald's ° ivaniiiigs, that he was entering a foreign country under the government of the Hudson's Bay Company, and that the onus of protect- ing him should be thrown on that Company. He advised McDougall to find out from M^Tavish the two leading half- breeds in the Territory, and put them on his Council. Riel he recognized as the moving spirit, a clever fellow, who should be retained as an officer in the future police. By acting promptly the Lieutenant-Governor would show that he was not going to leave the half-breeds outside the law.' The Prime Minister also urged that McDougall should refuse to assume the government until he was able to enforce his authority. It would be most impolitic prematurely to relieve the Hudson's Bay Company of its responsibilities. The Com- pany was responsible for the peace and good government of the country, and ought to be held to that responsibility until it was in a position to give quiet possession. A Proclamation which was not obeyed would only give occasion for laughter ; while, by solemnly notifying the termination of the Company's ' Pope, J., op. cit. vol. ii, p. 53. 270 HISTORY OF CANADA Views of Dominion Govern- ineuL Action of M' Don- rule, it would, in the ensuing anarchy, give excuse to the inhabitants to form a de facto government, ' which might be very convenient for the United States.' ^ Both the Colonial Office and the Company were, it is true, desirous of shifting all further responsibility on to Canada; but Macdonald was shrewd enough to see that by positively declining such responsibility and holding out for peaceable possession, Canada would be able to compel the active co-operation of both the imperial authorities and the Company in the work of pacification. A minute of Council dated December 16, 1869, placed on record the views of the Dominion Government. A hasty attempt to coerce the insurgents would probably end in armed resistance and bloodshed. If life was once lost in an encounter between a Canadian force and the inhabitants, the seeds of hostility to Canada and Canadian rule would be sown, and might produce an ineradicable hatred to the union of the countries, and thus mar the future of British North America. Once hostilities had begun, the wild Indian tribes and the restless American adventurers would inevitably be drawn into the fray ; while the Fenians would see in it their opportunity. On these grounds, and not from any desire to repudiate or postpone the performance of any of their engagements, the Canadian Government urged a temporary delay of the transfer. Even were the £300,000 paid over, the impolicy of putting an end to the only constituted authority existing in the country, and compelling Canada to assert her title by force, would remain. It was better to have the semblance of a government in the country than none at all. Whatever the wisdom of such counsels, they were in effect nullified by the hasty action of McDougall,who,on December i, issued a Proclamation formally annexing to the Dominion Rupert's Land and the North-West Territory. But the new ' Pope, J., op. cit. vol. ii, p. 54. THE ,DEVELOrMENT OF THE WEST 271 Governor's position at Pembina was rendered so precarious by Kiel's taking possession of a post some two miles distant, with the view of starving him out, that he retired further south to St. Paul. He thus contrived to humiliate himself and Canada, to arouse the hopes and pretensions of the insurgents, and to leave them in undisputed possession till the next spring. The I\Iinistry were the more indignant as they had hoped great things from a special mission which was to arrive at Pembina about Christmas. This mission consisted of a French Canadian missionary, who was respected by the people, of Colonel de Salaberry, the son of the hero of Chateauguay, and of Mr. Donald Smith, now Lord Strathcona, representing the Hudson's Bay Company, who proved himself a very useful negotiator. Bishop Tache was also recalled in hot haste from Rome, and sent to Fort Garry with assurances that it was the intention of the Government to give the people of the North-West the same free institutions which the people of Canada enjoyed. But while these measures were being taken, the English Pi-occed- loyalists, resenting the action of the rebels, advanced from ^''£/ the Portage ^ to overthrow the provisional government. Kiel, thus driven to extremities, set up a dictatorship, imprisoned the members of the special mission, overcame the loyalist attack, and put to death, with circumstances of great brutality, one of them, by name Thomas Scott. Scott was an ardent Orangeman from Ontario, and his murder, for the absence of the accused made the pretence of legal proceedings a mere mockery, aroused great indignation in that province. The Dominion Government was bitterly blamed for consenting to receive a deputation of Kiel's supporters, and indignation became further aroused on the report that an amnesty had been promised for Kiel both to Bishop Tache and to the delegates. The Canadian INIinistry was doubtless anxious to give no ' Now Portage la jrairie. 272 HISTORY OF CANADA Kcd River oflfence to their French supporters, but they had no intention txpedi- qJ renouncing the vindication of their rights in the western territory. In May, 1870, a combined British and Canadian force, under Colonel, now Lord Wolseley, advanced to Fort Garry, starting from Thunder Bay, on the western shore of Lake Superior. The distance thence to Fort Garry was, by the course travelled, six hundred and sixty miles, of which all but the first forty-eight were traversed by water. Although from a military point of view the expedition was simple enough, the numerous ' portages ' ^ along the route made it very troublesome, and the excellence of the arrangements reflected no little credit on Colonel Wolseley. The forces started from Lake Shebandowa on July 16, the brigade covering a distance of one hundred and fifty miles from front to rear. Fort Garry was reached on August 24, when it was found that Riel had made good his escape. A bill had been introduced in the preceding March providing for the establishment of a provincial instead of a territorial government, and the province of ]Manitoba was Manitoba, thereby created, Mr. A. G. Archibald, a prominent Nova Scotian, being appointed Lieutenant-Governor. In June an Order in Council formally transferred Rupert's Land and the North- West Territories to the Dominion of Canada, the £300,000 having been paid over in the preceding month. It was when the Dominion had already assumed the govern- ment of INIanitoba that the j)roposals of British Columbia for union were considered. They were held to be reasonable, and were in the main accepted, an agreement being arrived at in July. A transcontinental railway having now been decided upon, it was considered unnecessary to make also a great main road. The wording of the provision as to the making of a railway was as follows : ' The Government of the Dominion Urilish (. ohiDihla. ' 'Portage' means a break in the chain of water over which all canoes or boats have to be hauled or carried, and their contents trans- ported. THE DEVELOPMENr OE THE WEST 273 undertakes to secure the commencement simultaneously, within two years from the date of the union, of the construc- tion of the railway from the Pacific towards the Rocky Mountains, and from such point as may be selected east of the Rocky Mountains towards the Pacific, to connect the seaboard of British Columbia with the railway system of Canada ; and further to secure the completion of such rail- way within ten years from the date of such union.' We have seen that an imperial Act had been passed in 1866 altering the Constitution of British Columbia, so that the new Legislative Council represented both that colony and Van- couver Island. That body addressed the home authorities, praying to be admitted into the Dominion on the basis of the terms and conditions which had been agreed upon ; and in July, 1 87 1, British Columbia became part of the Dominion of Canada. We have chosen this date rather than that of the passing Theaccovi- of the British North America Act for the coming into being J)'ill'"' of the new nation because, till it stretched from ocean to Dominion. ocean, Canada was still in the making. From this time its material future was assured. To make use of Brown's words,^ used at the time in prophecy, a great and powerful people had grown up in these lands — boundless forests were giving way to smiling fields and thriving towns — one united govern- ment under the British flag had extended from shore to shore. All that henceforth was needed was that the spirit of the people should rise to the occasion and make worthy use of the great opportunities thus presented. Under the trend of advancing civilization the glamour and the mystery of the West tend to disappear, but it will be long before they are wholly a thing of the past, and meanwhile it is a matter for sober thanksgiving that in its dealings with the Indians British North America has set an example which it would have been well if other nations could have followed. ' In Confederation Debates, p. 115. VOL. V. PT. II X 274 HISTORY OF CANADA Authorities On Oregon Boundary Question : — History and Digest of the International Arbitrations to which the United States has been a Party. 6 vols. Washington, 1898. Vol. i, chapter vii. A History of the Pacific A^orth-West, by J. Schafer (New York: 1905), gives a clear account of the Oregon question from an American point of view. History of the North-West, Toronto, 1894-5, ^^^ History of British Columbia. By A. Begg. Toronto, 1894. Manitoba and The Hudson's Bay Company. By G. Bryce. 1882 and 1900. Among Parliamentary Papers the evidence before the House of Commons Committee of 1857 on the Hudson's Bay Company is especially valuable. Canada and the States: Recollections, 1 851 -1886. By Sir Edward Watkin. 1887. The Story of a Soldier'' s Life. By Lord Wolseley. 2 vols. 1903. Vol. i. The Red River Expedition, By Captain G. L. Huyshe. London, 1871. Sir Wilfrid Lanrier and the Liberal Party. By J. S. Willison. London, 1903. Vol. i, chapter vii, on the Red River troubles, and Pope J., op. cit. vol. ii, chapter xviii, on the acquisition of the North-West. Book III THE DOMINION CHAPTER I RELATIONS WITH UNITED STATES We have traced the history down to 1871, so far as to include within our last Book the accomplishment of the Dominion, but it is necessary to take up the political narrative from the time of the passing of the British North America Act of 1867, When the Dominion came into being, on July i, 1867, a preliminary difficulty had to be surmounted. It was impossible to find out, in the ordinary constitutional manner, the statesman who possessed the confidence of a Parliament which did not yet exist, but Macdonald, who had been made a K.C.B. on the birthday MdcdonaU of the Dominion, had been the chosen chairman and spokes- //i",'j^^f^,. man of the delegates to England from all the provinces, and seemed the natural Prime Minister of the new Dominion. Lord Monck took the opportunity of his appointment to express his strong opinion that for the future there should be a distinct understanding that henceforth the position of First Minister should be held by one person, who should be responsible to the Governor-General for the selection of the other Ministers, and that the system of Cabinets with dual control should come to an end. In any case the situation was difficult enough, because it was necessary that each division T 2 276 HISTORY OF CANADA Coustitit- fioii of Afinis(>y Kesiilts of General Elertioii. of the Dominion should have its share of representation in the INIinistry. It was agreed that the new Privy Council should consist of thirteen members, five from Ontario, four from Quebec, and two each from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. A further difficulty arose from the necessity for providing that in Ontario each party to the coalition should have its fair share. Cartier, to whose influence over the French Canadians it was largely owing that confederation had been accepted by them, had been made a baronet, and, as Minister of Defence, he continued to work hand and glove with his old colleague. Gait, who had been made a K.C.M.G., was Finance INIinister, and Mr. S. L. Tilley Minister of Customs. Dr., now Sir Charles, Tupper, after Howe the most distinguished public man in Nova Scotia, for the time refused office, so as to facilitate the task of satisfying rival claims. In the general election which ensued, the cause of con- federation triumphed in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, but, as has already been noticed, in Nova Scotia the Opposi- tion obtained a sweeping victory. We have also seen how the great leader of the Opposition, Joseph Howe, found himself unable to turn the tide of history, and was compelled either to come to terms with the Dominion or else be swept along a current leading to annexation to the United States, a course to which his whole past stood opposed. In this dilemma, when urged to take office in the Dominion Govern- ment, he was doubtful how to act. He knew that in the excited state of feeling which prevailed in Nova Scotia such a step would alienate from him the sympathies of the people. Already there was much jealousy between the representatives in the Dominion Parliament and those in the Provincial Legislature. The Provincial Ministry had come into office on the repeal cry, and depended on its continuance for their existence. Sir John Macdonald, who visited Halifax in August, 1868. laid gicat stress on the manner in which RELATIONS WITH UNITED STATES 277 Nova Scotia was suffering from her interests being un- JToiue and represented in the Government, and from the position of ,„^^^^_ isolation taken up by her representatives in Parliament. He was not able to convince the Nova Scotians, but the local Legislature, which had threatened to adjourn as a protest against the Constitution, was induced to proceed with the public business. It was arranged that Howe and his asso- ciates should be considered by the Canadian Government as ' friends ', and receive a fair share of influence in recom- mending local appointments, but that, for the present, the more important of such appointments should be kept open until the state of public feeling allowed Howe and his friends to come to the aid of the Government. At length, in great measure owing to the influence of Howe, more moderate views prevailed. In January, 1869, he was able to report that victory was in sight, though the battle had been a hard one, and there was a good deal of sullen resistance yet to be overcome. INIacdonald was quite willing that the financial settlement should be readjusted on terms more satisfactory to Nova Scotia, and by these means the way was made clear for the entry into the Canadian Government of Howe, as President of the Privy Council, on January 30, 1869. But the great Nova Scotian had nearly run his course, and though he returned to his native province as Lieutenant-Governor in 1872, he returned as one under sentence of death. The action of the Nova Scotian people was the more Inter. unfortunate as one of the first measures to engage the ).^J/^",^ , attention of the Dominion Parliament was closely connected with their interests. It empowered the Government to raise, by way of loan, the sum of four million pounds sterling for the making of the intercolonial railway. The interest of three millions of this sum was guaranteed by the Imperial Government, on condition that the Parliament of Canada l)assed. within two years of the coming into being of the 278 HISTORY OF CANADA Dominion, an Act providing thai the route should be subject to the approval of the home Government. The selection of the route for this railway was one of difficully. The termini were, it is true, fixed, by the Act providing the imperial guarantee, at Truro, in Nova Scotia, and Riviere-du-Ioup, in the province of Quebec, but several routes were advocated within these points. The imperial authorities were opposed to the route by the valley of the St. John river, on the ground that it approached too near to the United States ; so that the choice lay between a northern route by the Bay des Chaleurs, and a more central route through New Brunswick. The northern route, which was advocated by Lower Canada, had also the support of the imperial military advisers. On receiving the approval of the Government Engineer, Mr., now Sir Sandford, Fleming, it was therefore determined upon. Meanwhile the Dominion Ministry were in command of a large majority ; though they were taken aback by a vote of the House of Commons reducing the salary of the Governor-General from £10,000 to £6,500 per annum. It seemed that the careful Ontario farmers could not imagine how one man could want so much money; and members were afraid of their constituents. Moreover, Lord Monck appears to have been personally unpopular, though he had the cordial esteem of the Prime Minister. The measure was disallowed by the home Government, but it had the effect of losing for Canada the services of Lord INIayo, who with- drew his acceptance of the office of Governor-General, on the ground that the reduction of the salary lessened the Lord prestige and dignity of the post. Lord Monck was suc- ^"■^'T . ceeded by Sir John Young, afterwards Lord Lisgar, who Genera/, became Governor-General in February, 1869. The expiration in 1866 of the Reciprocity Treaty with the United States restored the state of things with regard to the fisheries which had prevailed under the treaty of iSiS. Under this treaty, as we have seen, the Americans possessed RELATIONS WITH UNITED STATES 279 certain strictly defined rights to fish in British waters and to American frequent British coasts. It proved, however, a difficult matter {'f'/^^l^^^ to keep the Americans within the lines marked out ; and in 1852 the imperial authorities had been obliged to dispatch a small naval force to enforce the observance of the i8i8 Convention. The duration of the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 gave a welcome interval of peace, but, on the abrogation of that treaty, the trouble again came to the fore. An attempted solution, by which the Americans were given leave to fish on the payment of a licence duty, proved a failure ; the Americans being unwilling to pay the duty, while the number of those fishing without any licence continued to increase. The system of licences was therefore discontinued, and a small fleet of cruisers was equipped in 1870 to protect the Canadian fisheries. This attempted enforcement of the law led to much irritation and quarrelling, and it was generally recognized that advantage should be taken of the agreement of 187 1 between Great Britain and the United States to refer all matters in dispute between them for the consideration of a joint High Commission, to endeavour to come to some agreement. An attentive study of Sir John Macdonald's account of iVas/iin-- the doings of the joint High Commission at Washington y/-il"^'^,^^_ will serve well to bring home the difficulties connected with m/ss/on. the statesmanship of a world-empire. It was very necessary for Great Britain to come to terms with the United States concerning the claims arising out of the action of the Alabama ; and the American Commissioners were singularly astute in their endeavours to separate the interests of the British Commissioners from those of their Canadian col- league. Great Britain refused to support the claims made by the Canadians against the United States for damages in connexion with the Fenian raid. Canada had been invaded by an armed force from American territory in a time of peace, and the Slate authorities of New York had done 28o HISTORY OF CylNADA The joint High Com mission and Mac- donaU. nothing to prevent it. Yet for this no satisfaction was ever given. The temper at tlie time prevalent in the United States may be gauged by a memorandum of Mr. Sumner, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, dated January 17, 1871, which said; ' The greatest trouble, if not peril ... is from Fenianism, whicli is excited by the proximity of the British flag in Canada. Therefore the withdrawal of the British flag cannot be abandoned as a condition or preliminary of such a settlement as is now proposed.' According to C. F. Adams, an eminent mem- ber of an eminent family, Sir Edward Thornton, the English Minister, when the American Secretary of State had urged on him in 1869 and 1870 the withdrawal of Great Britain from Canada, had replied : ' It is impossible for Great Britain to inaugurate a separation. They are willing and even desirous to have one.' Lowell, the far-seeing American author and minister, wrote in 1869: 'I doubt if we should get by war what will fall to us by natural gravitation if we wait.' ^ Macdonald had accepted the post of Commis- sioner with no little misgivings. He knew that unpopularity might be incurred. On the other hand, ' if Canada allowed the matter to go by default and left its interests to be adjudicated upon by a Commission composed exclusively of Americans having an adverse interest, and Englishmen having little or no interest in Canada, the Government would be very much censured if the result was a sacrifice of the rights of the Dominion.' If anything went wrong he knew that he should be made the scapegoat ; but thought that after all that Canada had done for him he should not shirk the responsibility. The other British Commissioners were Lord de Grey (the present Lord Ripon), Sir Stafford Northcote, the English INIinister at Washington, Sir Edward Thornton, and a distinguished jurist, Sir IMountaguc Bernard. A suggestion was made that the right ' Rhodes' Ilisloiy of the United Slates, vol. vi, i'. 355. • REL.ITIONS IV I Til UNITED STATES 281 to the inshore fisheries should be secured to the United States by purchase. This suggestion did not commend itself to Macdonald and revealed a somewhat contradictory attitude between the British Foreign and Colonial Offices ; Lord Kimberley, the Colonial Secretary, having telegraphed that the Government had never had any intention of selling the inshore fisheries of Canada without her consent ; while Lord Granville had authorized the Commission generally to discuss the question of sale. The final conclusion was that negotia- tions for the settlement of the fisheries should be proceeded with, but that a clause should be inserted in the treaty making its provisions subject to ratification by the Canadian Parliament. The position of the Canadian Commissioner w^as most difficult. If the majority of his colleagues accepted terms to which he could not agree, he must either protest and withdraw, or else remain on the Commission trusting to the non-ratification of the treaty by the Canadian Parliament. If he took the first course, he would be playing the game of the Americans, whose main object was to sow discord between the British and Canadian representatives, and of the men in England who looked upon the colonies as an expensive burden.' If, on the other hand, he remained a member of the Commission, he would be attacked for having sacrificed Canadian interests, and might find himself under the necessity of voting in Parliament against a treaty to which he had appeared to be a consenting party. Macdonald was willing to abandon the exclusive right to the fisheries in return for certain concessions with regard to customs duties. The Americans refused the terms suggested, but agreed to the free admission of coal and salt, as well as mackerel, herrings, and cod ; and to remove the duty on timber from July I, 1874. As in any case the duties on coal and salt ^ It is stated on good authority that shortly before Lord Dufferin went out as Governor-General in 1872 Robert Lowe came up to him in a London club and said, 'Now you ought to make it \our business to get rid of the Dominion.' 282 HISTORY OF CANADA were about to be removed, and as the Americans were firm in refusing to make a money payment, the terms were not tempting. There was a further question in dispute with reference to water communication. The Americans main- tained that the free navigation of Lakes Michigan and Champlain, together with the use of the canals at Sault Ste INIarie and the St. Clair Flats, would be an equivalent for the use of the St. Law'rence and the Canadian Canals. Mac- donald demurred to this, and no agreement was arrived at. Throughout the negotiations the Americans w'ere always urging the British Commissioners to bring pressure to bear upon their Canadian colleague, by arousing their fears of losing the whole treaty. In the bitterness of his heart, Macdonald wrote of the British Commissioners : ' They seem to have only one thing in their minds — that is, to go home to England with a treaty in their pockets settling everything, no matter at what cost to Canada.'' It is only fair to add that, contrary to ^lacdonald's expectations, the IVashin^^- fishing articles of the Washington Treaty proved acceptable on leay. ^^ ^^^ majority of the Nova Scotia fishermen. Under the i8th article of that treaty it was provided that the Americans should, in addition to the rights secured by the 18 1 8 Convention, enjoy for twelve years the right to take fish of all kinds, except shell-fish, on the sea-coast and shores, and in the bays, harbours, and creeks of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, without being restricted to any distance from the shore, and with permission to land for the purpose of drying their nets and curing their fish, provided that in so doing they did not interfere with the rights of private property or with British fishermen. It should be noted that these rights only applied to the sea-fishery. Under Article 21, fish of all kinds, except ' It is only fair to remember that tlie desire of the British envoys to secure a treaty was in great mcaMirc based on the uniirolected state of Canada, on which the brunt of war would have fallen. RELATIONS WITH UNITED STATES 283 fresh-water fish or fish preserved in oil, could be admitted into either country from the other for a period of twelve years free of duty. The treaty was made, so far as Canada was concerned, subject to its ratification by the Canadian Parlia- ment, and the Prime Minister was at first opposed to such ratification. He afterwards, however, changed his mind, and in July, 1873, induced the Dominion Parliament to agree to the treaty. It being asserted by Great Britain, though not admitted Fisheries by the United States, that the privileges obtained by American f^^J^'^^^'"' citizens were greater than those obtained by British subjects, Treaty. it was provided by the 22nd article of the treaty that com- missioners should be appointed to determine the amount of any compensation which, in their opinion, ought to be paid by the United States in return for the privileges accorded. Some difficulty occurred in forming this commission ; but it met at Halifax in June, 1877. The Canadian representative was Sir Alexander Gait and the American Mr. Kellog, with the Belgian Minister at Washington as an independent third commissioner. The majority, to the surprise and disgust of their American colleague, awarded to Great Britain the sum of $5,500,000. The American Secretary of Stale, Mr. Evarts, endeavoured, in corresponding with Lord Salisbury, to impugn the award ; but the latter took the simple ground of res jiidicala, and in November, 1878, the money was duly paid. On another point, which was settled by the joint High Commission of 1871, the decision v.'as less satisfactory to the Dominion. It has been previously noted that, while the main question at issue with regard to the Oregon boundary was settled in 1846, the exact water boundary remained far from clear. The question was, what was the middle of the San Juan Gulf of Georgia between the southern end of Vancouver n^Z/J^'^^^',/ Island and the North American coast ? — the main question at issue being the ownership of the island of San Juan. The British contention was that the boundarv ran lo the eastward 284 HISTORY OF CANADA of the island, down what was known as the Rosario Straits, The argument maintained that there was but one navigable channel between the continent and Vancouver Island at the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, viz. the Gulf of Georgia, and that the boundary must start in its waters. Carrying this line to the south to about 48° 45' the waters were studded with islands, through which there were two navigable passages. According to the wording of the treaty, the channel forming the boundary must separate the continent from Vancouver Island, admit of the line being carried through it in a southerly direction, and lasdy be a navigable channel. Rosario Strait answered these conditions, whereas the Canal de Haro, or Haro Channel, which the Americans contended formed the boundary, did not meet the first two requirements. The Americans, on the other hand, argued that the pre-eminence in depth, width, and volume of the Canal de Haro made it the natural boundary. No settlement was arrived at, and the outbreak of a dispute on San Juan Island between the agent of the Hudson's Bay Company and an American settler led to an agreement under which the islands were held by both Powers under a joint military occupation. Negotations were again set on foot; but with no results. The American Minister in England, I\Ir. Reverdy Johnson, and Lord Clarendon, the British Foreign Secretary, agreed in 1869 to refer the question to the arbitration of the President of the Swiss Republic ; but the Senate of the United States shelved the treaty. At last, however, the question was settled through being referred, under the Washington Treaty of 187 1, to the arbitration of the German Emperor, who was by the terms of the reference bound to decide in favour of one or the other part}-, and not to propose a compromise. The German Emperor held that the boundary line through the Haro Channel was ' most in accordance with the true interpretation of the treaty concluded in 1846'. The ground of the decision was probably that the ' radical principle ' of RELATIONS WITH UNITED STATES 285 the boundary was the forty-ninth degree of latitude, and that, inasmuch as the only reason for departing from it was to assign the whole of Vancouver Island to the Power entitled under that condition to the greater share of it, the deflection from that line should be limited, as far as possible, to the fulfil- ment of that object. The award was made on October 21, 1872, and was promptly and fully accepted by the British Government, which at once put an end to the joint occupa- tion of San Juan. In his message to Congress of December, 1872, President Grant rejoiced that at last all boundary questions between the United States and Great Britain had come to an end. He could not at the lime foresee that the future had yet another boundary question in store arising out of the purchase by the United States of Alaska in 1867. Authorities Memoirs of ike Life of Sir John Macdonald. By Joseph Pope. London,. 1894. Chapters xvi, xvii, and xix deal with the first years of the Dominion. The correspondence re the Treaty of Washington in chapters xx and xxi is of especial value. For the opposite point of view see Life, LMters and Diaries of Sir S. N'orthcote, by A. Lang. 2 vols. 1S90. An account of the articles relating to the Fisheries in tlie Treaty of Washington will be found in History and Digest of the Lnternatio^ial Arbitrations to which the United States has been a party (in 6 vols. Washington, 1898), vol. i, pp. 702-53. For the history of San Juan water boundary question, see the same volume, pp. 212-36. CHAPTER II THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY Negotia- We have seen that the construction of a transcontinental Hons 'cvit I raiiwai' was a material part of the ao:reement under which regard to ■' r o rail-way. British Columbia entered the Dominion. At first it was intended to build the railway as a public work, but the fear of the cost was such that the Government was induced to hand it over to a company of capitalists, aided by subsidies in land and money. It was, however, by no means easy to find the necessary enterprise and capital. American capitalists might have been w-illing to undertake the task, but the Government was rightly determined that, if it was necessary that there should be a company, it should at least be Canadian. At the time millionaires were not common in Canada, but Sir Hugh Allan, the chairman of the shipping line of that name, and INIr. D. L. Macpherson, a railway magnate, were approached by members of the Government. These two represented rival interests, the inhabitants of Quebec championing the one, those of Ontario the other. The latter province was afraid lest the construction of a rail- way direct from Montreal to Manitoba should divert the western trade of Toronto. Both rivals came to ParUament with railway bills, being incorporated under the titles of ' The Canada Pacific Railway Company ' and ' The Interoceanic Company '. The Government remained neutral between the rival companies, it being provided that the construction of the railway might be entrusted to either of them, or to an amalgamated company composed of the two, or, if it seemed THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY 287 advisable, to another and distinct company. In any case, a subsidy was to be provided of $30,000,000 and a grant of 50,000,000 acres to the company which should obtain the contract. Although the intention was that American in- fluence should be excluded, it became known that Sir Hugh Allan was largely depending upon American capital, on which ground Mr. Macpherson refused amalgamation when pro- posed to him. Sir Hugh Allan had pledged himself both to the Government and to Parliament that he had severed all connexion with the Americans; but Mr, Macpherson did not believe him, and subsequent revelations proved that his suspicions were justified. On the Grand Trunk Railway threatening to interfere with Allan's control of the shipping trade to Europe, he embarked vigorously in schemes of rail- way development which, while aimed at the Grand Trunk, had the further effect of benefiting the province of Quebec. The position, then, was in this unsatisfactory state when the general election of 1872 took place. Amalgamation having hitherto proved impossible. Sir John The Macdonald, in the thick of the election, telegraphed to Sir S^"^'y^ George Cartier that he should assure Allan that the influence atid the of the Government would be exercised to secure for him the ^'^''"'^^y- position of president of the new company, ' the whole matter to be kept quiet till after the election.' Sir George Cartier went much further, and promised Allan that, if the attempts at amalgamation failed, the construction of the railway should be given to his company; but this promise was promptly repudiated by Sir John when he heard of it. Still it was clear that a Government, which was accepting (as was admitted by Macdonald) large grants of money to their election funds from a capitalist, who was known as not too open-handed, and whose motto might well have been the do ui des of Bismarck, at the very time when delicate negotia- tions were on foot in which he was closely interested, was ignoring the ordinary rules of public morality. Macdonald's 288 HISTORY OF CANADA explanation to the Governor-General, Lord Dufferin, was in substance that the Provincial Liberal Government of Ontario was making such use of local and country patronage that extraordinary efforts were necessary to counteract them ; but this does not meet the question whether such extraordinary eflforts were honest. A more reasonable line of defence arises from the fact that after the failure to effect an amalgamation the construction of the railway was not given to the Canada Pacific Company, but to a new company, the preponderance of interest in which was given to the Province of Ontario in proportion to its population ; and that of the thirteen share- holders and directors of this company only one was the nominee of Sir Hugh Allan. It should be noted, moreover, that the charter was carefully drawn with the object of pre- venting the clandestine admission of American capitalists as shareholders. Still, when all was said and done, there remained enough, when brought to light, to justify the sweep- ing condemnation by the Canadian electorate of the whole transaction. Sir John Macdonald no doubt honestly believed that the future of the railway, and therefore of the Dominion, lay with the triumph of his party at the general election ; but it is well that politicians should from time to time be taught the lesson that the great body of moderate sensible opinion in a country does not accept the maxim qui vent la fin, veut les moyens. A theft of papers disclosed the arrangements for the election funds; and Mr. Huntington, an active and bitter member of the Opposition, moved, in April, 1873, for a select committee to inquire into the circumstances connected with the negotiations for the construction of the Pacific rail- way. Besides asserting the payment of the moneys by Sir Hugh Allan, it was sought to bring home to the Government the knowledge of Allan's dependence on American capitalists, and to show that the sums paid by Allan were largely contributed from American sources. Mr. Huntington's THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY 289 motion was rejected on a strict parly vote, but the feeling aroused was too strong to ignore, and the Prime Minister himself proposed a select committee to inquire into the charges. Unless evidence could be given on oath such a committee would be useless ; but unfortunately a bill giving the committee this power was disallowed in England on the opinion of the English law officers that it was ultra vires under the British North America Act. An offer of the Government to constitute the members of the committee a Royal Commission was rejected, through not receiving the unanimous acceptance of the members of the committee. The House of Commons had been adjourned to August 13, so as to prevent the lapsing of the committee through pro- rogation; but, in the belief that the proceedings would at that date be merely formal, members from the distant provinces did not attend. The Opposition, however, whose strength lay in Ontario, mustered in full force, in the hope of carrying a vote of want of confidence. But Parliament was forthwith prorogued, and a Royal Commission, consisting of three Foyal judges, was appointed to investigate and report upon the J^"l"J'f' evidence. A new cause of quarrel now arose, in that Mr, Canadian Huntington refused to recognize the Commission, holding s"andal that it infringed the rights of the House of Commons. It was not intended that the Commission should itself pronounce judgement, and Parliament was summoned in October to consider its report. A vote of censure on the Ministry was moved by Mr. Mackenzie, the leader of the Opposition, and, in spite of the exertions of the Prime Minister, defections from the ranks of the majority rendered the result a foregone conclusion, so that the Ministry resigned without waiting for the verdict of the House. Whatever may be thought of these transactions, there are few now who will question Macdonald's boast that he had fought the batde of confederation, the battle of union, the battle of the Dominion of Canada. 'I can see past the decision of the House either for or VOL. V. I'T. II U 290 HISTORY OF CANADA against me ; but whether it be for or against me I know . . . that there does not exist in the country a man who has given more of his time, more of his heart, more of his wealth, and more of his intellect and power, such as they may be, for the good of this Dominion of Canada.' ^ Difficulties Meanwhile the Canadian Pacific railway was not advancing. TaUway ^^ ^^^ beginning of 1873 the new Canadian Pacific Rail- w-ay Company, to whom the charter had been granted, found itself unable to find the money necessary for the construction of the railway, and therefore surrendered its charter. The country having pronounced with no uncertain voice against the Conservative Government, it fell to the Liberal leader, Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, to form a IMinistry. The alterna- tive railway policy put forward involved such a modification of the terms made with British Columbia as to secure its final completion 'without too largely increasing the burden of taxation on the people '. At this time it was intended to utilize the enormous stretches of water communication which extended between a point not far from the Rocky Mountains and Fort Garry, and between Lake Superior and French Railway river on the Georgian bay. By these means the construction Mackenzie's °^ some thirteen hundred miles of railway would be saved. Govern- The supporters of the new Government were able to boast that it was the reform party which had first advocated the annexation of the North-West Territory, as well as British Columbia, and that amongst its members were some of the most enthusiastic supporters of the Pacific railway; so that the people of British Columbia had no cause to regret the advent of the reform party to power. In 1874 the Mackenzie Government obtained authority from Parliament to construct the railway as a public work, if it should so decide, in four separate sections. The first section would run from Lake Nipissing to the west end of Lake Superior; the second from Lake Superior to Red ' Memoirs of Sir John A. MacdonalJ, by J. Pope, vol. ii, p. 193. THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY 291 river ; the third from Red river to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and the fourth from the foot of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast. In the event of the con- struction being given to contractors, they were to receive a subsidy of ten thousand dollars and twenty thousand acres of land per mile, with four per cent, interest for twenty- five years on a sum to be stated in the contract. These terms, however, did not induce capitalists to come forward ; and it became necessary to carry out the railway to Winnipeg as a public work. Telegraphic communication was also established between the Red river and Edmonton. Meanwhile, in British Columbia, as time went on, and the Dissatis- Pacific railway was still in the future, dissatisfaction became -^'^.f/^l^ '" great. It had indeed at first been admitted that the engage- Columbia. ment with regard to the Pacific railway was not a ' cast-iron contract ', to be carried out in such a way as to do violence to the interests of the Dominion as a whole ; and it is clear that the delay was not mainly due to the neglect of the Canadian Government. The natural difficulties proved far greater than had been foreseen, and the work of surveying proved very arduous. Two distinct conditions had to be fulfilled. It was necessary to find the place where the great mountain chain might be most easily pierced, and it was also necessary to find a terminus on the sea-board to which large vessels could approach. The feasibility of the route through the Yellowhead Pass to Kamloops was soon established, but there was for a long time doubt between three competing routes to the Pacific. British Columbia, however, soon became restive, and the Lieutenant-Governor, in opening the Legislature in December, 1873, announced that he had protested on behalf of the province against the infraction by the Dominion Government of the terms of the Union. A solemn protest, made on behalf of the Legislature and people, in February, 1874, called atten- tion to the fact that the two years referred to in the u 2 terms. 292 HISTORY OF CANADA agreement had expired in the preceding July ; and yet that .the construction of the railway had not begun. Attempts by the Dominion Government to negotiate for an extension of time proved unsuccessful, and an envoy was sent from the province to appeal to the home Government. The distrust felt by British Columbia was probably intensified by the strong line taken by Mr. Edward Blake, one of the most distinguished and respected of Canadian Liberals, who spoke of the railway as a burden too heavy to be borne, and was prepared to face the secession of British Columbia rather than persevere with the task. He compared that country to a sea of mountains, and the Toronto Globe confidently affirmed that the railroad would never ' pay for its own axle-grease'. Carnarvon Lord Carnarvon, the Colonial Secretary, was willing to act as friendly arbitrator between the Dominion and British Columbia ; and his offer was accepted by both parties. Under the Carnarvon terms, a railway was to be forthwith made between Nanaimo and Esquimault on Vancouver Island; a sum of not less than two million dollars was to be expended annually on the construction of the Pacific railway until it was finished, and the work was to be completed by the year 1890. A bill giving effect to this compromise was passed in 1875 by the Canadian House of Commons, but was unfortunately rejected by the Senate. Mr. Blake opposed the Carnarvon terms with all his ability on the ground that they in effect involved a reversal of the resolution relating to taxation which had previously been agreed to by Parliament. When, therefore, he shortly after entered the Ministry, the prospects of a friendly settlement did not appear very bright. In 1876 the Governor-General, Lord Dufferin, went to British Columbia on a mission of conciliation. According to Mr. Willison, a very trustworthy authority, Lord DufTerin had ' sought to wrest from his advisers a right of independent THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY 293 initiative in the adjustment of relations between the province and the Dominion. This demand Mr. Mackenzie strenuously and successfully resisted.' ^ Traces of this discussion do not appear in Mr. Mackenzie's biography; still it is probably true that an • ' acute, able, and resourceful diplomat found it hard to accommodate himself to the limitations which surround the office of governor in a self-governing common- wealth '. In any case Lord Dufferin behaved with scrupulous Lord loyalty to his Prime Minister. He declared his belief that ^andTfr the Pacific railway had no better friend than Mr. Mackenzie, Mackenzie. and that he was only opposed to the time-terms in the bargain because he believed them to be impossible of accomplishment, and that a conscientious effort to fulfil them would increase the expenditure of the country to an unnecessary and ruinous extent. Lord Dufferin added that in both these opinions Mackenzie was without doubt in the right. The Governor-General refused to pass an arch decor- ated with the motto ' Carnarvon terms or separation ', or to receive an address dealing with controversial questions. But while he refused to deal directly with politics, his visit was not without excellent political results. His evident belief in the future of the province, and the genuine eloquence in which that belief found expression, restored confidence to British Columbia in its own future; while his personal tact and bonhomie diffused an atmosphere of geniality and good humour, in which provincial grievances took a less ugly shape. Whatever may have been the facts, there can be no ques- Liberai- tion that the people of British Columbia believed that their ^^"J"'^^' interests were more secure in the hands of Sir John Mac- Mmistry donald than in those of his political adversaries. They^'^'^^' therefore welcomed with hope the success of the Conserva- tives at the General Election of 1878. The policy of the new Government was announced by Sir Charles Tupper in May, 1879. It was proposed that one hundred million acres ' Sir Wilfrid Lauricr and the Liberal Party y vol. i, p. 380. 294 HISTORY OF CANADA Royal Cotiitnis- sion on sysiefH of public con- s/ruction. Constitu- tion of Canadian Pacific Railway Company. of land, including the minerals within them, should be vested in commissioners for the purposes of construction. An imperial guarantee was sought ; but, on the British Govern- ment refusing, it was decided to proceed without that assist- ance. The decision which had been arrived . at to make Burrard Inlet the terminus was condemned as premature ; but in order that British Columbia might not be disappointed, it was determined that 125 miles of railway should be placed under contract in that province, without further sanction of Parliament. But the plan of public construction involved enormous liabilities, such as seemed at the time hardly to be borne. The original scheme had been formed with the hope of an imperial guarantee, and the refusal of such a guarantee greatly increased difficulties. Apart from financial risks, the danger from the corrupting influence of public contracts was great. A scathing condemnation of the system was furnished by the report of the Canadian Pacific Railway Commission, which was issued in 1882, after two years' labour. The Commissioners found that the construction of the railway, as a public work, had been carried on at a sacrifice of money, time, and efficiency ; that numbers of persons had been employed as Government officials on party grounds who had proved very inefficient. The waiting for moneys to be appropriated by Parliament had further caused expensive delays ; while the system of surveys had been very inadequate. Resort was therefore again made to a private company, and in September, 1881, it was announced that a contract, subject to the ratification of Parliament, had been made with capitalists representing London, Paris, and American interests for the construction of the railway. Under the terms of the agreement the Syndicate were to receive twenty-five millions of dollars in money, and twenty-five million acres of land. The grant of land was to be made in sections, consisting each of 640 acres alternating with sections THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY 295 reserved, such sections extending back twenty-four miles deep on each side of the railway. Other privileges were given, amongst which was the undertaking that Parliament would not allow, for twenty years, the competition of any other railway south of the main line of the new company ; and that, in the event of new provinces being formed, such undertaking should apply to them for the same period of time. All station-grounds, workshops, &.C., were always to retain freedom from taxation, national or local ; and the lands of the company in the Territories, until either sold or occupied, were to remain free from all taxation for twenty years from the date of the Crown grant. The portion of the western section of the railway from Kamloops to Yale was to be completed by the end of June, 1885, and the remaining portion of the western section between Yale and Port Moody by May i, 1891. The tolls of the company were not to be reduced till the net profits exceeded 10 per cent, on the capital actually expended on the construction of the railway. Moreover, the Dominion not only gave the money and lands already mentioned, but handed over to the company the sections already built, comprising some of the most difficult portions of the route. Even then the work could not have been accomplished had not the Government more than once come to the rescue between 1881 and 1885. That success was finally achieved was in large measure due to the buoyant Completion courage of Sir John Macdonald and Sir Charles Tupper, -^ who withstood the doubts and hesitations of their colleagues, and to the wise daring of Mr. Donald Smith, the present Lord Strathcona, who risked every penny that he possessed, including what he had laid aside for his wife's old age, rather than allow himself to be defeated in his great work. With the transfer of the undertaking to the new company the construction of the railway was carried on with great vigour, in spite of the enormous difficulties which stood in the way. In some places the cost per mile was about two 296 HISTORY OF CANADA hundred thousand dollars ; within a section of nineteen miles, thirteen separate tunnels had to be bored, and in one portion near the sea coast, apart from tunnels, nearly eleven million cubic yards of earth and rock were removed by pick, powder, and nitro-glycerine. The sacrifice of life was considerable, and the construction of the western portion of the Canadian Pacific railway stands out as one of the most splendid achievements in the history of engineering. But its consequences were such as to draw away attention from the engineering importance of the work. When, in November, 1885, the task of connecting the eastern with the western branch was accomplished, and the last spike was driven home by Mr. Donald SmJth, something more had been done than the mere building of a difficult railway. If ever the stock saying Tatitae molis erat Romanam condere geniem applied, it applied to the building of the Canadian Pacific railway. I\Iistakes may have been made, and it may have sometimes seemed that great areas of the choicest lands were falling into the hands of middlemen ; but it was not without some sacrifice that this great link between east and west could be accomplished, without which the Dominion must have re- mained a mere geographical description, each portion leading an isolated life, without the arteries of common life blood. If the natural tendencies have been permanently broken which seemed to connect Western Canada with its southern neighbour rather than with the Eastern provinces, and other lines of railway are now following the course of the Canadian Pacific, the credit is due to the pioneers, who ventured to build a railway through a country which, for almost two thousand miles, was nearly uninhabited. Among the builders of the empire few have such good title to the name as the veteran Scottish gentleman who now, in an honourable old age, jealously watches in London over the interests of the Dominion, in the fashioning of which he has played so leading a part. THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY 297 Authorities The Canadian Pacific Scandal is dealt with in Pari. J'apers, 1S74, vol. xlv, pp. 1-266. Sir John Macdonald's version of the case is set forth in a letter, dated October 9, 1873, addressed to Lord Dufferin; Pope, op. cit. vol. ii, pp. 174-1S9. For events during Mackenzie administration, see Life and Tifues of (he Hon. A. Mackenzie, by W. Buckingham and G. W. Ross. Lord Dufferin's Speeches and Addresses. 1882. The history of the building of the Canadian Pacific railway is told in The History of the North-West, by A. Begg (3 vols. Toronto, 1894-5) ; and there is an excellent chapter on it in Sir Wilfrid Latirier and the Liberal Party. (2 vols. London, 1903), vol. i, pp. 369-409. See also Ocean to Oceati, hy G. M. Grant, 1873. For Carnarvon terms see Pari. Papers, 1875, vol. Hi, pp. 1-104. The Report of the Commission on the Canadian Pacific Railway ques- tion in 1882 is summarized in Morgan's Annual Register. CHAPTER III INTERNAL POLITICS treatment. In treating of the Canadian Pacific railway, we have reached as far as 1885; it remains to deal with some other events of an earlier period. The Red river rebellion was mentioned in the last book, so far as it related to the annexation KieTs of Manitoba by the Dominion. The question of Riel's treatment proved one of considerable difficulty ; the provinces of Quebec and Ontario being at issue on the question. The French Canadians felt great sympathy for their compatriot, even when they disapproved his proceedings, while, so fierce was the feeling against Riel in Ontario, that the Legislature, at the request of the provincial Prime Minister, Mr. Edward Blake, offered a reward of $5,000 for his apprehension. Meanwhile the matter had become further complicated by the action of the Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, Mr. Archibald, who, in consideration of services rendered by Riel in 1871, when there was a prospect of a Fenian invasion, gave what was afterwards construed as a promise of indemnity for the offences committed during the Red river rebellion. At the general election of 1874, Riel was returned to the Dominion Parliament, and though he was under in- dictment in Manitoba for the murder of Scott, attended at Ottawa, and subscribed the oath. But although the Con- servative Government had no intention of proceeding against him, it was impossible to tolerate his presence in Parliament. A motion was agreed to ordering him to attend in his place on the next day, and on his failure to appear he was sum- INTERNAL POLITICS 299 marily expelled. Whatever the exact terms of the promises made him, it would seem that their meaning was rightly interpreted by Lord Carnarvon, who wrote to Lord Duffeiin that there could not be the slightest doubt that the impression left upon the mind both of Archbishop Tach^ and of the delegates of the Provisional Government was that a full and unconditional amnesty would be granted to the rebels if they recognized the authority of the Dominion. He further pointed out that, while a murder such as that of Scott could not be allowed to go unpunished on the ground that it was connected with political disturbance, yet, in so far as it did result from political circumstances, those who were guilty of it might be deemed to have earned a merciful considera- tion through their subsequent good services to the State ; and that for these services their lives should be spared. It was finally decided, in 1875, to give a full amnesty to all connected with the rebellion with the exception of Riel and two others. One of these had been the author of the Fenian rising already mentioned, and for him no measure of leniency was proposed ; but Riel and the other rebel, named Lepine, were sentenced to five years banishment. Lepine had been already arrested and, having been convicted of complicity in the murder of Scott, had been sentenced to death ; but Lord Duflferin, on his own initiative and responsibility, had remitted the death penalty, substituting a two years' imprisonment and forfeiture of political rights. The royal instructions, at the time, told the Governor- General to decide in the case of pardons after consulting his Ministers, but at the instance of the Canadian Govern- ment they were afterwards amended; and in 1878 Lord Lome was instructed not to give pardons or reprieves without receiving, in capital cases, the advice of the Dominion Privy Council, and, in other cases, the advice of one at least of his Ministers. The Mackenzie Government, which came into power upon the defeat of Sir John Macdonald in November. 300 HISTORY OF CANADA 1873, fell upon evil days, their period of office being a time of bad harvests and trade depression. The sterling worth of the Prime Minister greatly impressed Lord Dufterin, who bore witness to his strict integrity, his pure patriotism, his indefatigable industry, and noble aspirations; but he was without the art of managing men, which was the special gift of his great opponent. Neither was he quick to read the signs of the times, which to others portended defeat. In the case of a young and growing community questions of trade and material development mainly occupy the attention of men, and it was on an issue relating to trade that the cloud gathered which was to burst upon the heads of the Government party. We have already noticed that, in spite of the protest of those best qualified to give an opinion, the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 came to an end in 1866. The energies of Canada had been for twelve years largely directed to the supply of the American market, and the repeal of the treaty made it imperative to find new customers. We have seen that the intercolonial railway was at once undertaken at a cost of over twenty million dollars to secure direct communication with Europe. Commissioners were dispatched to the West Indies and to South America to promote the extension of direct trade. Existing canals were enlarged, and the navigation of the lakes and of the St. Lawrence was improved ; the Bay Verte Canal, to connect the waters of the Bay of Fundy with the St. Lawrence, was constructed ; ocean and river steamship lines were subsidized, and the shipbuilding and fishing interests were actively encouraged. Nevertheless, the loss of the American market was felt for years as a severe blow, and continuous, though ineffectual, attempts were made by Canada to renew the treaty. In 1874, after the accession of the Liberals to office, George Brown was appointed plenipotentiary to act along with the Britisli INIinister, Sir Edw.ird Thornton, in the negotiation INTERNAL POLITICS 301 of a new treaty. The Canadian Government was willing to grant unlimited reciprocity in natural products and a limited reciprocity in manufactures. But the schedule NegoHa- of manufactures was only to include ' articles not produced j^y^^f^^ in or exported from Great Britain to Canada, together with such other articles as the Imperial and Dominion Governments may eventually agree upon, or as may, by mutual arrangement, be entered at a fixed duty to be specified in the treaty '. Brown proposed that Americans should have the free use of the fisheries for twenty-one years, and that the fisheries arbitration under the Treaty of Washington should be abandoned; that the coasting trade should be thrown open to the shipping of either country, that the Welland and St. Lawrence canals should be enlarged, and that the Canadian and American canals, about which there had been question, should be thrown open to both nations. Vessels built in either country should be entitled to the advantages of registry in the other; and joint commissions were to be appointed with regard to the Hghling of inland waters and the protection of the fisheries. Duties on manufactures, which were eventually to be admitted free, were to be reduced under a sliding scale of one-third each year until complete abolition. A draft treaty for twenty-one years was at last, upon these terms, agreed upon by the negotiators; but it never even reached the stage of being openly discussed by the American Senate. President Grant's message when forwarding it was not very hopeful. He contented himself with the expression of a pious wish that the Senate might be able to agree to a treaty either in the form proposed or in such other form as might seem more acceptable. The Senate was about to adjourn when the draft treaty reached it. It was, however, taken up in secret session, and the curt answer was returned that it was inexpedient to proceed with its consideration. What might have been the fiscal future of the Dominion 302 HISTORY OF CANADA The Con- servalivcs and reciprocity The National Policy. had its overtures been met with more favour it is impossible to say. Sir John I\Iacdonald and the Conservative leaders knew the advantage of American reciprocity to the Canadian producer. Indeed, one of the alleged advantages of a policy of protection was that ' moving, as it ought to do, in the direction of reciprocity of tariff with our neighbours, so far as the varied interests of Canada may demand, it will greatly tend to procure for this country eventually reciprocity of trade '. But, for the time being, the failure of the attempt to come to terms with the United States naturally led to the demand for a fiscal system which should make Canada more indepen- dent of its difficult neighbour. There is some conflict of evidence as to the manner in which Sir John Macdonald became identified with the policy of protection for national industries. Expressions in his early speeches can be quoted foreshadowing such a policy ; while, on the other hand, he is represented as late as 1878 as saying : ' You need not fear that I am going into that hole.' Macdonald, no doubt, was first and foremost a ver)- keen and skilled politician, as well as an ardent patriot on behalf both of Canada and of the Empire, and economic questions probably interested him only in so far as they aided his main objects. But since 1876 he had been steadily advocating some form of protection, and in March, 1878, he moved the memorable resolution, which ran as follows : — ' That this House is of opinion that the welfare of Canada requires the adoption of a National Policy which, by a judi- cious readjustment of the tariff, will benefit and foster the agricultural, the mining, the manufacturing, and other interests of the Dominion ; that such a policy will retain in Canada thousands of our fellow-countrymen now obliged to expatriate themselves in search of the employment denied them at home ; will restore prosperity to our struggling industries, now so sadly depressed ; will prevent Canada from being INTERNAL POLITICS 303 a sacrifice-market ; will encourage and develop an active interprovincial trade ' ; the last sentence relating to reciprocity has already been quoted. Hitherto political parties had not been divided on the tariff issue. The Protectionists were found mainly in the ranks of the manufacturers, and included Liberals as well as Con- servatives. Mr. Willison has reminded us that 'in 1874, when the duties were raised from 15 to 17^ per cent, by the Mackenzie Government, the increase was attacked by the Conservative Opposition in Parliament as the thin edge of the wedge of Protection '} It is quite possible that had the Mackenzie Government increased the tariff from i7-| to 20 per cent., the ground would have been cut from the feet of ' the National Policy '. But the Liberal leader was confident that any increase of duties would be most unpopular, especially in the Maritime Provinces, and the tariff became the main issue in Canadian party politics. In the general election of 1878 the people declared with no uncertain voice in favour of the ' National Policy '. In every province except New Brunswick the Conservatives were in a majority ; the Liberal members mustering only sixty in a House of two hundred and six. Even at this time the attitude taken up by many Liberals gave ground for future compromise. Mr. Laurier, the future Prime Minister, was already recognized as one of the ablest and most trustworthy of the Liberal leaders, and in 1876 he had described himself as ' a moderate Protectionist '. ' If the view of the subject be taken,' he said, 'that Free Trade must be the ultimate policy of any nation, it yet cannot be denied that Protection is a matter of necessity for a young nation, in order that it may attain the full development of its own resources. . . . The most obstinate Conservative must admit that freedom is the natural condition of trade, and the most obstinate Liberal ' Life of Sir Wiljyid Laurier, vol. i, p. 213. 304 HISTORY OF CANADA must also allow that, though it would never do to build a Chinese wall around the country in order to cut us off from the outside world, yet sometimes it is both wise and prudent to establish on our frontiers a few detached forts to protect our territory against foreign invasion.' With Mackenzie, however, the defence of Free Trade doctrines was much more a matter of principle. After the election was over he wrote, on October 9, 1878, to Lord Dufferin that they had resisted a policy which would be deeply injurious to the masses, and that the masses had turned and rent them. He added : ' Any action which will to any extent assimilate the commercial system of Canada to that of the United States will, to that extent, weaken the ties which bind her to the Empire, and which it was the aim of my administration to strengthen and perpetuate. We already find that the advocates of a customs union, or zollverein, with the United States— which system really means a political alliance with that country — are greatly encouraged by the results of the election.' The general election of 1878, as does not always happen in Canadian, or indeed British, politics, was taken on a simple and single issue — aye or no, were the electors in favour of protection for native industry .? Hitherto, such protection as had been obtained had at least worn the guise of being the indirect result of taxation for revenue purposes. Now for the first time the ' National Policy ' boldly proclaimed that the national market was the province of the Canadian manufac- turer and farmer. Nor with the complete triumph of their parly did the Protectionists show themselves wanting in the courage of their convictions. It is impossible to summarize in a few lines the contents of a tariff which occupied thirteen pages of Hansard. Specific duties were so far as possible substituted for ad valorem, and Mr. Tilley, who had again become Minister for Finance, explained that the intention was to make them high enough to prevent Canada from INTERNAL POLITICS 305 remaining a 'slaughter market' for American manufacturers. The Two millions of dollars additional revenue were expected ''^^f*'°l^c^ ^ Foiuy . from customs duties ; but, so far as possible, these were to be obtained from goods coming from foreign countries and not from Great Britain. The general policy was to select for a high rate of duty those articles which were manufac- tured or could be manufactured in Canada, and to leave without additional duties such articles as were neither made nor likely to be made by home manufacturers. The policy thus formulated has become the settled policy of the Canadian people, and there seems little prospect of its being reversed. This ' National Policy ', however, had another side to it than the desire of manufacturers and workmen to grow rich by the exclusion of the foreigner. It represented in its way the feeling after national unity which was the goal aimed at by confederation. As early as 1869 the ' Canada ' Ca;/^?^'^ first ' group had been formed, the objects of which included ^"'^^ ^ the absorption of mere sectional and local prejudices in a larger national movement. The men who constituted this group could hardly be called a party, in that they differed from each other in opinion, and finally were found in very different camps ; but they had this in common, that they infused a new spirit into public life which was gradually to grow in influence. The beginnings of the movement were indeed connected with the somewhat squalid controversy over the question of Riel, the group deeply resenting the interference of Quebec politicians with the course of justice ; but its foundations rested on much deeper ground. The most active of the founders was Mr. W. A. Foster, a brilliant lawyer, who died young. In an address delivered in 1871, he said : ' Let but our statesmen do their duty with the consciousness that all the elements which constitute great- ness are now awaiting a closer combination ; that all the requirements of a higher national life are here available for use ; that nations do not spring Minerva-Hke into VOL. V. PT. n v; 3o6 HISTORY OF CANADA Imperial fcderalion. Cuslcms Union ivilh United Stales. existence ; that strengtli and weakness are relative terms, a few not being necessarily weak because they are few, nor a multitude necessarily strong because they are many ; that hesitating, doubting, fearing, whining over supposed or even actual weakness, and conjuring up possible dangers, is not the true way to strengthen the foundations of our Dominion or to give confidence in its continuance. Let each of us have faith in the rest, and cultivate a broad feeling of regard for mutual welfare, as becomes those who are building up a fabric that is destined to endure. Thus stimulated and thus strengthened by a common belief in a glorious future, and with a common watchword to give unity to thought and power to endeavour, we shall attain the fruition of our cherished hopes, and give our beloved country a proud position among the nations of the earth.' ^ A group which contained amongst its supporters Mr. Goldwin Smith and that most imperialist of Canadians, Colonel Denison, the chairman of the Canadian branch of the British Empire League, could not be considered a party ; all the greater was its influence in permeating the views of different parties. Already, in 1874, Mr. Edward Blake, who was amongst its members, spoke of the necessity of undertaking national responsibilities, if a national spirit was to be fostered. At the time he looked forward to imperial federation as the solution of the problem with regard to the four millions of Britons in Canada who were not free; by such reorganization of the empire a wider and higher destiny would be open to Canada as a member of the great British Empire. The growing-pains of nations are, however, sometimes hard to bear, and before the economic depression which was felt in Canada during the eighties the courage of many failed; so that it was felt that commercial union with the United States was the only line of safety. In 1887 this movement, ' Canada First, a memorial to the late W. Foster, Q.C., pp. 46-7. INTERNAL POLITICS 307 originally organized by IMr. Erastus Wiman, a Canadian by origin, who, without being naturalized, had become for all practical purposes, an American, obtained much support. The Americans, it was believed, were willing to treat Canada fairly. Should it be found necessary, in order to reach a settlement, still further to alter the relations between Canada and the mother-country — to demand the right, for instance, to let American goods in free, whilst maintaining high duties against Great Britain — the question would have to be boldly faced. Having ceased to protect Canada, it was said, England could not very well object to her protecting herself by the only means within her power. In any event the Canadian people should be allowed to express themselves on the offer. It was of no use continuing to boast of respon- sible government if their higher politics were to be regulated by a Board over which they had no control. The Toronto Globe maintained that a great service would be rendered to Great Britain by a trade arrangement that would remove all causes of dispute between Canada and the States. Closer trade relations with the United States could not occur with- out yielding new profits to Canadians, and to obtain larger profits under existing political institutions would tend to preserve them. The only temptation to annexation was that which arose from existing restraints upon reciprocal trade. Canada, united politically with Great Britain, and com- mercially with the United States, would be a living link of friendship between the two. But, however plausible such arguments might sound, there Opposition was a deep-seated conviction that such a commercial union *° ■^. ^ union. must end in political annexation to the United States. Moreover, the Canadian manufacturers were seriously alarmed at the prospect of the free importation of American goods. The Toronto Board of Trade passed resolutions refusing to entertain any proposal which would place Great Britain at a disadvantage compared with the United States, x 2 3o8 HISTORY OF CANADA or that would tend in any way to weaken the bonds holding Canada to the empire. Commercial union was repudiated on the ground that it could not be obtained without the abandonment of Canadian nationality. The In this state of things it was important to know what would Liberals |^g j|^g attitude of the Liberal party on the new issue. In commercial October, 1 88'/, Sir Richard Cartwright declared, in a qualified unwn. manner, for commercial union. He maintained that the refusal or failure to secure free trade with the United States was much more likely to bring about the danger of annexa- tion than even the very closest commercial connexion that could be conceived. On the other hand, Mr. Laurier had before, in August, expressed the opinion that a great deal of study and reflection were needed before commercial union could be advocated. He was more inclined to favour the idea of a commercial union among the nations recognizing the sovereignty of Great Britain. Meanwhile, an inter- provincial conference, which met at Quebec in 1887, declared that unrestricted reciprocity would be of advantage to all the provinces of the Dominion, and need not interfere with its loyalty. But the feeling against commercial union was strong amongst the Liberal rank and file. There were many who agreed with Mr. Chamberlain that commercial union with the United States meant political separation from Great Britain. A course was therefore advocated which, while putting aside commercial union, should advocate in its stead full and unrestricted reciprocity. It is diflEicult to see how, considering the complications of the case, absolute Reciprocity, reciprocity could be put in force without a common tariff. Still, in the then state of the Dominion, the need for reciprocity appeared so great that in 1891 the Conservative Government suddenly dissolved Parliament, and went to the country with a programme which included a renewal of the reciprocity treaty of 1854, with the modifications required by the altered circumstances of the time. But an indignant INTERNAL POLITICS 309 denial by Mr. Blaine, the American Secretary of State, that any negotiations were on foot for a reciprocity treaty with Canada, or that any scheme for reciprocity, confined to natural products, would have the slightest chance of accept- ance by the United States, led to a change of front ; and to a fierce attack by the Conservative leader upon a policy of disunion. In Sir John Macdonald's last address to the people of Canada, dated February 7, 1 891, he declared that Mac- the policy of his Government remained what it had been for ^'^"^^'^^ '^ ■' address to thirteen years, that of fostering and developing the varied people of resources of the Dominion by every means within their ^''■"''"^• power, consistent with Canada's position as an integral por- tion of the empire. After a glowing eulogy of the ' National Policy ', he asked what had been the attitude of their oppo- nents. Consistent at least in this, they had opposed with craven fears every measure of improvement. Disappointed with the failure of all their predictions, the reform party had now taken a new departure and had announced a policy of unrestricted reciprocity with the American republic. Such a policy would inevitably result in the annexation of Canada to the United States; and would necessitate the imposition of direct taxation amounting to not less than fourteen millions of dollars annually upon the people. But the material objec- tions did not stand alone. The question to be answered was this : Should they endanger their possession of the great heritage of British citizenship bequeathed to them by their fathers? IMacdonald's confidence was unclouded that they would proclaim to the world their resolve to show themselves not unworthy of the proud distinction that they enjoyed, of being numbered amongst the most dutiful and loyal subjects of the Queen. ' As for myself,' he concluded, ' my course is clear. A British subject I was born, a British subject I will die. With my utmost effort, with my latest breath, .will I oppose the veiled treason which attempts, by sordid means and mercenary proffers, to lure our people from their allegi- 3iO HISTORY OF CANADA ance. During my long public life of nearly half a century I have been true to my country and its best interests, and I appeal with equal confidence to the men who have trusted me in the past and the young hope of the country, with whom rest its destinies for the future, to give me their united and strenuous aid in this my last effort for the unity of the empire and the preservation of political and commercial freedom.' ' Reply by Viewed in the light of subsequent history, and the pre- Mowat ference granted by a Liberal Government to Great Britain, the note of this address may seem exaggerated and unfair. j\Ir. Oliver INIowat, the Ontario Liberal leader, repudiated the charge of ' veiled treason '. There w^as, he declared, but a fragment of the people, either Conservatives or Reformers, who did not love the British connexion. He had lived a British subject for more than threescore years, and hoped to live and die a British subject still. The sentiment of the country was far stronger than their opponents pretended. Their opponents were afraid of being Yankeefied if they got unrestricted reciprocity. He w'as not afraid of being Yan- keefied by any such thing. For those who were jealous for British interests, it was well that this was so ; because the result of the election was considerably to diminish the ministerial majority. In spite of the appeal to British patriotism, the Government were beaten in Ontario no less than in Quebec, the majority being obtained from the other provinces. But the policy of the Liberal leaders had not Mr. Blake s won the approval of Mr. Edward Blake, the leader of the letter. pj^^ty from 1881 to 1887, who was now in retirement and had refused to be nominated again in his old constituency. About the close of the election he issued a letter, in which, after expressing ajiproval of a limited reciprocity, which was no longer obtainable, and denouncing the * National Policy ', 'which has left us with a small population, a scanty immigration, and a Norlh-West empty still ; w-ith ' Trintcd in Tope, ].-,op. cit. vol. ii, App. xxviii. INTERNAL POLITICS 311 enormous additions to our public debt and yearly charges, an extravagant system of expenditure, and an unjust and oppressive tariff . . . with lowered standards of public virtue and a death-like apathy in public opinion . . . with a sub- servient Parliament, an autocratic Executive, debauched con- stituencies, and corrupted and corrupting classes ' — he went on to explain that unrestricted free trade with the United States would give the three blessings of men, money, and markets; but any feasible plan of unrestricted reciprocity involved differential duties ; and also involved the substantial assimilation of the tariff of the two countries. This being so, it appeared impossible to distinguish between unre- stricted reciprocity and commercial union. But were free trade with the States secured to Canada, high duties being maintained against Great Britain, the inevitable tendency would be towards political union between Canada and the United States. The subject was, then, one of great moment, towards the practical settlement of which no step should be taken without reflection, or in ignorance. If commercial union was to come about, it ought to come as an incident, or, at any rate, as a well-understood precursor, of political union, for which indeed Canada would be able to make better terms before than after the surrender of her commercial indepen- dence. Believing that the decision of the trade question involved that of the constitutional issue, for which the country was wholly unprepared, and with which it did not even conceive itself to be dealing, he was unable at the present time to recommend commercial union. Asked further to explain these disquieting statements, Mr. Blake declared that • political union with the States, though becoming more probable, is by no means an ideal, or as yet our inevitable future'. * The arguments of the letter certainly went to justify Sir John Macdonald's indictment, and in bye-elections in 1892 ' Williaon, op. cit. vol. ii, pp. 17J-S. 312 HISTORY OF CANADA Subsequent the Liberals lost ground. Moreover, it soon became yet more events. apparent that the Americans were determined to give no reciprocity which did not include an agreed list of manu- factured goods, and which did not compel Canada to give preferential treatment to the United States as against Great Britain. The McKinley tariff, which imposed high duties on Canadian raw products, further tended to alienate the two nations, and in 1893 the Liberal National Convention contented themselves with emphasizing the advantages of a reciprocity treaty and the impossibility of obtaining one from a Government controlled by monopolies and combines. The Liberal parly was prepared to enter into negotiations with a view to such a treaty, including a well-considered list of manufactured articles, and was satisfied that any treaty so arranged would receive the assent of the British Govern- ment, without whose approval no treaty could be made. Joint High When the Liberals came to power, in 1896, an attempt sion. ' ^^'^5 made to give effect to this policy. The joint High Commission, which met in 1898, considered, among various other questions, the trade relations between the two countries. Whatever chance there was of agreement was wrecked in the failure to come to any settlement of the Alaska boundary question. But, in any case, the temper at the time of the American Republican party was not such as to make the pros- pects of any settlement bright, and, further, the rule of the American Constitution, requiring treaties to have the assent of a two-thirds majority in the Senate, is at all times an obstacle to their ratification. In this state of things the Govern- ment of Sir Wilfrid Lauricr was able to gain general ajjproval by a new departure in fiscal policy. As we have seen, he had always described himself as a moderate Pro- tectionist, and it was not likely that a moderate statesman of his type would attempt ruthlessly to attack the vested interests which had grown up under the tariff. The new tariff introduced by the Finance Minister, Mr. Fielding, in Internal pourics 313 Aprilj 1897, did, however, in several directions, modify the Preference protective duties in force ; and on that ground won the j^yi^^tn approval of that strict Free Trader, Lord Farrer. The feature, however, which most attracted attention in the new tariff was the preference given to British goods. This pre- ference began at \2\ per cent, and was to be raised to 25 per cent, on July i, 1898. In 1900 the duties on British goods were further reduced to 33^ per cent, below the duties im- posed under the general tariff. In 1897 the matter was com- plicated by the provisions of treaties of Great Britain with Belgium and Germany, giving to the imports from these coun- tries 'the most-favoured-nation treatment '. It was sought, but without success, to meet this difificulty by providing that the minimum tariff should apply to any country which gave Canadian goods equally favourable treatment. These treaties were, however, denounced by the British Government in 1897, and the preference was afterwards openly given to Great Britain. Under the tariff of 1907 the details of preference have undergone some modification, but the principle, except so far as modified by the intermediate tariff offered to foreign nations, still holds the field. It has not only arrested the decrease of British exports to the Dominion, but has apparently greatly stimulated Canadian export trade to the United Kingdom. Authorities On Tariff question, T. S. Willison, op. cit. vol. ii, chapters xix- xxiii and xxvi. Ross and Buckingham, op. cit. Life of George Brown. By Alexander Mackenzie. J. Pope, op. cit. vol. ii, chapter xxiv. Appendix xxviii contains Macdonald's last address to the people of Canada. On Kiel, see Willison, op. cit. vol. ii, chapters vii and viii, and The Remarkable History of the Hudson^ s Bay Company. By Dr. George Bryce. Canada under Lord Bufferings Administration. By Dr. George Stewart. Houston, op. cit., sets out new instructions to Lord Lome. Canada and the Canadian Question. By Goldwin Smith. Toronto and London. 1801. CHAPTER IV STRUGGLE BETWEEN CENTRAL AND PROVINCIAL AUTHORITIES Constitu- The tariff issue once raised is an Aaron's rod, which tional swallows up other questions, inasmuch as it appeals to the views of 1 ~l ' r X- Alacdonald. private interests of men. Nevertheless, behind the clash of the tariff controversy other tendencies were at work. It has already been noticed that Sir John Macdonald was in favour of a legislative rather than a federal union, but that he had to yield to the will of the majority. It is therefore not surprising that in the years during which he was the powerful Prime INIinister we find a tendency to exalt the powers of the Central Government as against the provincial authorities. Canadian political history in the years following confederation will perhaps be best understood by grouping together some examples of this struggle between the central and provincial powers. Dismissal We have already noted that the relations between the ^■f y^'- Dominion and provincial governments required the exercise of tact and of restraint. Towards the close of the Mackenzie administration Mr, Letellier de St. Just, the Lieutenant- Governor of Quebec, summarily dismissed his Conservative Ministry, practically for the reason that he did not like them. His action was generally recognized as arbitrary and unfair; but it was so far endorsed by the people of the province that they gave the new INIinistry a majority of one at the next election. The Liberal Dominion Government had refused to interfere on the broad ground that it was a matter exclusively relating to provincial tonsliluiional rights. When, however, CENTRAL AND PROVINCIAL AUTHORITIES 315 Sir John Macdonald again became Prime Minister, under strong pressure from his French Canadian supporters, he recommended to Lord Lome, the Governor-General, that Mr. Letellier de St. Just should be removed from office. The question seemed a difficult one, and, with the approval of his Ministers, Lord Lome sought the advice of the Colonial Office. In reply it was pointed out that a provincial Lieutenant-Governor had an indisputable right to dismiss his Ministers if from any cause he felt it incumbent upon him so to do. At the same time he was bound to maintain impartiality, and was directly responsible for any action he might take to the Governor-General. But the latter could only act * by and with the advice of his Ministers ', so that the conclusion was reached that there was practically no appeal from the verdict of a hostile Federal Ministry. At the same time the home Government suggested that the Dominion Ministry should reconsider their decision. The latter, however, persisted in the dismissal. Though apparently within the law, the dismissal of Mr. Letellier de St. Just was a high-handed proceeding, little to be expected from a statesman of the type of Macdonald. It is, moreover, noteworthy that the episode is not mentioned in Sir John Macdonald's authoritative ' Life.' The same tendency to exercise from Ottawa a super- Kedistri- intending jurisdiction over provincial affairs was shown in the Redistribution Act of 1882. The representation of Ontario, by the result of the Census, had to be increased from eighty-eight to ninety-two, and opportunity was taken of this to alter entirely the character of the constituencies. The measure ignored the principle of representation by counties and their subdivisions, which Macdonald himself in 1872 had declared to be most valuable. It was, he had said, a grand principle that the people of Canada should have the oppor- tunity of choosing for political promotion the men in whom they had the most confidence. All that advantage was lost by cutting oft" a portion of two separate counties and adding 31 6 FI I STORY OF CANADA them together for electoral purposes only. Such a system tended towards the introduction of the American system of caucuses and wirepullers. When the representation was increased it should be by subdividing counties into ridings. Nevertheless, the very method of procedure which he had previously condemned was the one now adopted. It was openly boasted of as an ingenious method of ' hiving the grits ', and the Prime Minister made merry over the Reformers not liking each others company. Reform The Reform Bill of 1885 was, so far as it merely claimed ^'^^- to deal with the Dominion as a whole, little open to objection. The British North America Act of 1867 had expressly contem- plated that the suffrages in use for the election of the several Provincial Legislatures should only be employed for elections to the Dominion Parliament till that body had dealt with the subject. It was, therefore, not on the face of it unreasonable that Parliament should, nearly twenty years after the date of confederation, claim to exercise its legal rights. There was, however, practical force in the contention that each province was best fitted to determine the franchise suited to its con- ditions. Thus, if Prince Edward Island preferred manhood suffrage and Quebec one more restricted, it seemed unreason- able that either should be dictated to by an outside authority. IMoreover, the bill was open to the grave objection that the preparation of the lists of voters was placed in the hands of federal revising barristers, with great powers, who in some cases exercised such powers in the interests of the party appointing them. The principle of uniformity of franchise for all the provinces was abandoned during the passage of the measure, and a right of appeal secured to the courts from the revising barristers. Even so, the measure proved unpopular in its working, and was afterwards repealed in 1898 when the Liberals succeeded to power. As an illustration of the extreme difficulty which attends the assignment of their respective functions to the central CENTRAL AND PROVINCIAL AUTHORITIES 317 and provincial authorities under the Canadian Consliiuiion, Law as to may be cited the case of the law relating to licences. Under ^^^""^• the British North America Act the regulation of saloons and taverns rested wholly with the provincial authorities. At the same time the Dominion Parliament had power to make laws ' for the peace, order, and good government ' of the country as a whole. Under these provisions it was held ^ that a provincial Act passed by the Legislature of Ontario in 1874, which re- quired a licence to be obtained before selling spirituous liquors wholesale, was beyond its jurisdiction. Such a licence was not an exercise of municipal or police power, but a restraint and regulation of trade, and not direct taxation in order to raise a provincial revenue. In 1878 a Temperance Act passed by the Dominion Parliament, which gave power under certain conditions to the majority of the inhabitants of towns and parishes to regulate the sale of liquor, was held by the Privy Council to be an Act not dealing with matters of purely local concern, but one relating to the peace, order, and good government of Canada. Laws, it was explained, which were designed for the promotion of public order, safety, or morals, and which subjected those who contravened them to criminal procedure and punishment, belonged to the category of public wrongs rather than to that of civil rights. They fell within the general authority of Parliament, and had direct relation to criminal law, which was one of the enumerated classes of subjects assigned exclusively to it. In 1883 the Dominion Government, on the ground that it was desirable that there should be uniformity of law on the subject throughout Canada, and that provision should be made for the preservation of law and order, passed an Act which in effect prescribed in detail the methods of the sale of liquor on licensed premises. Meanwhile an Ontario statute of 1877, dealing with the management of public-houses, was declared ^ In Severn v. The Queen, Can. Sup. Court R., vol. ii, pp. 70-T42. - In C, Riissellv. The Queen, 7 App. Cas., p. 829. 3l8 HISTORY OF CANADA by the Priv)- Council to be within the powers of the Provincial Legislature, and an Act was therefore passed by the Dominion Parliament in 1884 referring the. question of the constitu- tionality of the Dominion Liquor Licence Act of 1883 to the Supreme Court of Canada, which held (and their decision was confirmed on appeal) that the Act, so far as it interfered with provincial rights as to the details of management, was ulira vires} Ontario A further bone of contention between the Dominion and question, provincial authorities appeared in the case of the Ontario boundary question. When Manitoba was acquired by the Dominion it became necessary to know the exact boundaries between that province and Ontario, which had never been exactly defined. In 1878 three arbitrators chosen by the Dominion and Ontario Governments considered the question. They consisted of an Ontario Chief Justice, Sir Francis Hincks, for the Dominion, and Sir Edward Thornton, the British Minister at Washington, chosen as an independent third. They arrived at a unanimous decision under which Ontario extended north to Albany river and as far west as the Lake of the Woods. The Ontario Legislature accepted the award and gave legislative effect to it so far as was possible ; but the Dominion took no action upon it. In 1881 an Act was passed declaring the eastern boundary of Manitoba to be ' a line drawn due north from where the westerly boundary of the province of Ontario intersects the international boundary line dividing Canada from the United States of America'. By these means Manitoba was drawn into the fray, and there were rival attempts of the officers of the two provinces to exercise authority in the lands in question. The simple question at issue was, whether or not the award was binding. The question was of importance, as it involved the ownership of a vast tract of land, which if it was part of Manitoba would belong to the Central Government ; ' See Bourinot, op, cit., pp. 107-14. CENTRAL AND rROVINCIAL AUTHORITIES 319 while if it was part of Ontario that province would have the benefit of it. Sir John Macdonald declared the award to be waste paper, while in Ontario feeling ran very high in its favour, and it was stoutly defended by Sir Oliver IMowat, the Provincial Premier. At last, in 1884, a case was arranged for reference to the Privy Council for their decision. The Dominion Government withdrew from the suit, but the case was argued for Ontario and Manitoba. The Court held that the award was not binding, inasmuch as legislation had not been passed by Parliament to give effect to it, but that ihi.' lioundary lines laid down by that award between Ontario and IManitoba were substantially correct. In 1889 the Imperial Parliament, in accordance with an address from the Canadians, passed an Act declaring the western, northern, and eastern boundaries of Ontario. The question above all others, in a country where different Educaiioti. provinces hold different religions, which might be expected to trouble the Central Parliament, was that of religious educa- tion. The clause in the British North America Act relating to education had been carefully drawn with a view to protecting existing rights. Although the Provincial Legislatures were given power to legislate on the subject, such legislation was subject to certain provisions. Nothing in any such law should prejudicially affect any right or privilege with respect to denominational schools which any class of persons had by law in the province at the union. It was further enacted that all the powers, privileges, and duties, conferred and imposed at the union in Upper Canada on Roman Catholic separate schools and trustees, should be extended to the dissentient schools, Protestant and other, in Quebec. The effect of this legislation was to secure denominational schools where they previously existed, but to give no undertaking regarding the future where they were not already in being. There is no reason to question Macdonald's statement, made in introducing a measure relating to separate schools in 320 HISTORY OF CANADA 1855, that if he could have had his own way there would have been no separate schools ; but the call for respecting the consciences of others was as strong in 1867 as it had been twelve years earlier. Accordingly when it was sought to embroil the Dominion Government with the New Bruns- wick Legislature, which had passed a measure in 1871 estab- lishing a general system of secular education, Macdonald refused to interfere on the ground that the denominational system hitherto in force had been a matter of private arrange- ment and was not sanctioned by law. Education In 1 87 1 a system of denominational education was question in established in Manitoba, and under the INIanitoba Act of Mamtoha. ' 1870 the provisions of the British North America Act respecting laws passed for the protection of minorities in educational matters were made applicable to Manitoba and could not be changed. Macdonald therefore honestly be- lieved that the separate school system in Manitoba was beyond the reach of either the Provincial Legislature or the Dominion Parliament. In 1890, however, a new Act was passed by the Provincial Legislature, indirectly destroying the denominational schools, by establishing universal secular education. According to the original intention of the Dominion Government, such action w^as beyond their powers, but the wording of the Manitoba Act had been to the effect that no legislation might be passed which prejudicially affected any right or privilege with respect to denominational schools which any class of persons had by law or practice at the union. On this language it was held by the Privy Council that the only privilege which Roman Catholics enjoyed at the union was the right or privilege of establishing such schools as they preferred and of maintaining these by their own contributions ; and of this right or privilege they were not deprived by having to pay rates for undenominational schools. It was in vain that Sir George Cartier had added the words 'schools existing by practice' as well as 'by law' CENTRAL AND PROVINCIAL AUTHORITIES 321 before the union, so as to secure their continued existence and maintenance from the public funds. A further point was taken under another section of the Manitoba Act, which provided that an appeal should lie to the Governor-General in Council from any act or decision of the province affecting any right or privilege of the Roman Catholic or Protestant minority relating to education. The Privy Council held that the Dominion Government could interfere under this section. It was certainly not essential, they explained, that the statutes repealed by the Act of 1890 should be re-enacted, or that the precise provisions of those statutes should again become law. As the system of educa- tion embodied in the Act of 1890 no doubt was approved by the majority of the inhabitants, all legitimate grounds of complaint would be removed if that system were supple- mented by provisions which would take away the grievances upon which the appeal was founded. It must be remembered that Sir John Macdonald died in 1 891, and though his successor. Sir John Thompson, was in many ways well adapted to deal with a dififtcult situation, as a Roman Catholic convert from Methodism, he would have been confronted with special dangers. In any case, he also was removed by death, in December, 1894, and the Con- servative Ministry, under INIr. Mackenzie Bowell, behaved in such a way as inevitably to aggravate the original ground of quarrel. The situation at best was most difficult. There was in Quebec the solid Catholic vote which required satisfaction in return for its support, while in Ontario there were many strong Conservatives who were bitterly opposed to Roman Catholicism. A Protestant Protection Association, a secret society introduced from the United States, made religion the test question in politics. INI. D' Alton McCarthy, a member of Parliament, who distinguished himself by his attacks upon the French Canadians and their language, had gained a con- siderable following in Ontario, so that there was every need for 322 HISTORY OF CANADA cool and deliberate counsels. But the Dominion Government, instead of seeking by negotiations to find a basis of com- promise, proceeded to a formal investigation, followed by a decision, without any inquiry upon the spot or attempts to come to terms. A peremptory order declared that it seemed requisite that the new system of education should be supple- mented by a provincial Act which would restore to the Roman Catholic minority the rights and privileges of which they had been deprived. The Provincial Legislature was threatened that Parliament might be compelled to give the relief of which under the Constitution the Provincial Legis- lature was the proper and primary source. The order com- manded the provincial authorities to restore to the Roman Catholics the rights of which they had been deprived, and to modify their legislation accordingly. Attempts at a settle- ment came to nothing, the INIanitoba Legislature being in no yielding mood. A memorial was drawn up embodying the Manitoba case. It set out the defects of the system of education which the Statute of 1890 had been intended to abolish, and the great expense to the people which that system entailed. It insisted that the order had been made without obtaining the knowledge of local conditions which was necessary for a right decision of the case. In return, the Manitoba Government was informed that, unless they made a settlement of the question which should be reason- ably satisfactory to the Roman Catholic minority, the Dominion Parliament would be summoned in the begin- ning of 1896 and the necessary legislation pressed forward. Dissensions Meanwhile, dissension was rife in the Dominion Ministry. ^". ., In January, 1896, during the debate on the address, Sir Mackenzie Bowell was deserted by six of his colleagues, on the ground of his avowed incapacity. After unsatis- factory attempts to reconstruct his Cabinet, Bowell resigned in April, and Sir Charles Tupper, who was recalled from the High Commissionership in England, was brought into CENTRAL AND PROVINCIAL AUTHORITIES 323 the breach to revive by his vigour and adroitness the waning fortunes of his party, but though Sir Charles fought magnificently the situation was beyond remedy. The Manitoba Government offered to remedy every well- founded grievance and to remove any injustice that might be proved. In this way the true interests of the minority would be better secured than by means of coercive legis- lation. A dissolution of the Manitoba Assembly showed that the great majority of the province was in favour of the Provincial Government's policy. An attempt to settle matters by negotiations between Federal Commissioners and the provincial authorities was made too late for any good results to follow, and a remedial measure was introduced into the Dominion Parliament. It would seem that the whole course of the Conservative Government was a series of blunders. To begin with, the Act was of a very drastic character, giving effect to the extreme demands of the Roman Catholic Church. Moreover, it was not introduced at the opening of the session, and as Parliament would be dissolved by effluxion of time on April 24, the opportunities for obstruction were great. The bill was read a second time by a majority much reduced from that on which the Government could generally count, and within a week of the end of the session Sir Charles was obliged to confess himself beaten and the bill was abandoned. In the general election which followed the Liberals Settlement were victorious, so that it devolved upon them to settle "* ^"" ""'■ the Manitoba school question. In February, 1897, the Lieutenant-Governor of that province was able to announce that the question whether the public school system of the province should be superseded by federal legislation, and that existing before the passing of the Act of 1890 be reimposed, had been settled by a harmonious conference between the federal and provincial Ministers. Under this settlement religious teaching was allowed in the schools Y 2 324 HISTORY OF CANADA during certain hours, when authorized by the majority of the trustees of the district in which the school was situate, or upon a petition presented by the parents or guardians of ten children attending a rural school, or of twenty-five attending a city, town, or village school. In the schools of cities where the average attendance of Roman Catholic children was forty or upwards, and in those of villages and rural districts where the average attendance of such children was twenty-five or upwards, the trustees should, if required by the parents or guardians of such numbers of Roman Catholic children respectively, employ at least one duly certificated Roman Catholic teacher, the same privilege being secured to Protestant minorities. In the case of ten children in any school speaking French or another language as their native tongue, the teaching should be conducted in French or that other language and English, on the bilingual system. The settlement was very favourably received in Manitoba and throughout the Dominion ; but it was deeply resented by the Roman Catholic bishops, and, so far as it lay in their power, the bed of the Roman Catholic French Cana- dian Prime Minister was made no bed of roses. Dispute As a further instance of the power of a province to obtain regard to ^^^ °^^'^ ^^'^J' ^^'hen thoroughly in earnest, may be noted the railways, case of the quarrel between the Dominion and INIanitoba regarding the extension of railways in that province. We have seen that the Dominion Government covenanted with the Canadian Pacific Railway that no competition should be allowed for twenty years to the south of its main route. Manitoba proceeded as if the agreement had never been made ; and, after much remonstrance and controversy, it became necessary, in 1888, to buy out the exclusive rights of the Canadian Pacific Railway. How far disputes between the central and provincial authorities were in the nature of things inevitable, and how far they have been the outcome of faulty drafting of the Act CENTRAL AND PROVINCIAL AUTHORITIES 325 of 1867, it is impossible lo say. Every one, however, wiio has read Canadian history will allow that in the case of a federation the immediate cause of which was the failure of union, and not aspirations after closer connexion, difficulties and friction were inevitable. Still, upon the whole, we can happily distinguish centripetal tendencies, making for material unity, which in the long run must prevail over provincial prejudice. In this connexion it has been fortunate that for the last ten years the Prime IMinister of the Dominion has been one who has been, in a singular and conspicuous fashion, able to reconcile the triune patriotisms of province, country, and empire. Authorities The main authority for the subject here dealt with are Cases in the Privy Council. See Cartwright, op. cit. Law Reports, Appeal Cases. Lefroy, op. cit., and Bourinot, op. cit, Willison, op. cit., contains much on the subject here dealt with. On Letellier's dismissal see Todd's Parliamentary Government in the British Colonies, pp. 405-28. Sir Oliver Aloivat, by C. R. W. Biggar. Toronto, 1905. 2 vols. Sir John Thompson, by J. C. Hopkins. Toronto, 1894. 1^^ ^"^^"^^ c^ CHAPTER V THE DOMINION OF TO-DAY I.ordLoine There remain to note some later events of Canada which Governor- jj^^g jjqj. ah-eadv found mention. Sir John IMacdonald, we General. \ ■' have seen, was in favour of converting Canada into a sub- ordinate kingdom. The change seemed too great for British statesmen to accept; but Lord Beaconsfield, to whom such an idea would have been very attractive, chose as a successor to Lord Dufferin the son-in-law of Queen Victoria. In spite of their loyalty, Canadians of the severe type of Alexander Mackenzie had looked forward with apprehension to the new departure, fearing that the pomp of a court might injuriously affect the frugal simplicity of Canadian social life. It proved that the ordinary mode of life of Princess Louise and Lord Lome was less ceremonious than that of their distinguished predecessors, and such fears were soon forgotten in cordial icspect and affection. It has already been noted that the Governors of Canada under the union were, without exception, men of great ability, and though the first Governors after confederation, Lord IMonck and Lord Lisgar, were no less cai)ablc than their successors, more recent Governors have known how to evoke a somewhat different feeling, due to changed conditions. The task of the Governor-General is A'li/e of to present the imperial idea under its most attractive form, General ' '^'^"-^ bom this point of view Lord Dufferin, Lord Lornc, Lord Lansdowne, Lord Stanley, Lord Aberdeen, Lord Minto, and Lord Grey have each in their several ways done good service to the British connexion. Wiih the coin])]ele fulfil- THE DOMINION OF TO-DAY 329 ment of responsible government, ihe name of the Governor- General may occur less frequently upon the page of history ; none the less, as the lives of statesmen testify, their influence may be just as great, although it is not seen upon the surface. In the general election of 1882 the Conservatives xQinxwQA railiaiin-ni to power, though with reduced strength. The chief task "J ^^ -• which fell upon them was that of maintaining the contract before mentioned for the construction of the Canadian Pacific railway, and more than once it was only the strong hand of Wacdonald which held his colleagues firm before the fierce attack of the Opposition. Another question of much less importance caused even greater difficulty, and aroused all the feelings of racial and sectarian antagonism by which Canada is from time to time convulsed. The name of Riel was destined to be one of ill-omen for Kiel. the rulers of Canada. After the expiration of his period of banishment he was living as an American citizen in IMontana, when the wrongs of the half-breeds in the North-West Terri- tories brought him again upon the stage of Canadian politics. There can be no question that these half-breeds had been badly treated. Those born in Manitoba before July i, 1870, received each 240 acres of land in compensation for the loss of their former rights ; but no similar provision was made for the half-breeds in the Territories. Their claims were strongly pressed by the Council appointed for the North- West Territories, by Archbishop Tache, and by the officer whom Sir John Macdonald selected to report upon the matter. An Act was therefore passed in 1879 giving the Government the power to make such arrangements as seemed expedient. But then, unfortunately, the whole matter was allowed to lie dormant. The negligence of the officials appears to have been gross and inexcusable, and to have largely contributed to the subsequent insurrection, while, as in Blanitoba, the action of the Government surveyors greatly added to the fears and discontent of the half-breeds. 330 HISTORY OF CANADA In vain the Government was warned by those who knew the temper of the people of the certainty of rebellion if no remedies were applied. ]\Ir. Willison quotes from Colonel G. Denison's Soldiering iti Canada the trenchant criticisms of that very independent witness. ' The whole dispute was over some forty or fifty thousand acres of land in a wilderness of tens of millions of acres, for which the Government were longing for settlers. It cost Canada the lives of two hundred of her people, the wounding of many others, the expenditure of about six million dollars in cash, and the losses of time and business that cannot be estimated.' ' The half-breeds, weary with waiting, sent a deputation to INIontana, 700 miles on foot, to invite Riel to become their leader in the enforcement of their claims. A bill of rights, which combined demands which were reasonable w-ith others of a most extravagant character, remained without answer, and in March, 1885, the North- West rebellion broke out. A'orth- A Provisional Government was proclaimed, with Riel as rebellion. President ; a post containing all the Government and Indian supplies was taken, and a detachment of police and volun- teers, who attempted to recover it, were beaten back with the loss of twelve lives. Behind the danger from the half- breeds, who were not numerous, there was the danger of an Indian rising, which was not yet a thing of the past. Prompt and vigorous measures were therefore taken for the suppression, volunteers coming forward in great numbers. The dealings of the Federal Government with the Indians had on the whole been fair and humane, and though individual ' braves ' went on the war-path, most of the bands remained quiet. The half-breeds were finally defeated in May, and Riel, having been captured and indicted for high treason, was tried at Regina and found guilty. Much controversy took place upon the question whether or not he had become insane. The jury, however, found that he was responsible for his actions, and ' Willison, op. cil. vol. i, p. 435. HIE DOMINION OF TO-DAY 331 he was found guilty and afterwards hanged. Kiel nia}' have been no common criminal ; there was indeed in him a vein of religious mysticism which raised him above such, and he had behaved well at the time of the threats of a Fenian rising ; but he assuredly did not deserve that the fate of Governments should hang in the balance concerning him, or to be the appointed minister to fan into a flame the never quite quenched embers of racial hatred. Upon the whole, this melancholy and somewhat discredit- Position of able affair seems to have worked politically in the interests ^'"'^^^'7- of the ]\Iacdonald administration. The voters of Ontario had neither forgotten nor forgiven the murder of Scott, and were ready to overlook the blunders which had rendered possible the new insurrection in their satisfaction that the guilty had at last paid the penalty. In Quebec the execu- tion of Riel may have lost some votes. On the eve of the general election of 1887, the issue of which he thought very doubtful, Macdonald remarked that they were going to the country for its verdict upon their policy and general adminis- tration of the public affairs of Canada ; yet they stood to be defeated, not by reason of anything that they had done or left undone, but in Quebec because in the ordinary course of justice a rebel had suffered death for his crimes, and in Ontario because Lord Salisbury would not grant Home Rule to Ireland. (The manner in which Sir John Macdonald, in 1882, 1886, and 1887, managed to edit the Home Rule motions in the Dominion Parliament so as to avoid offend- ing either the Canadians or opinion in Great Britain was a remarkable specimen of his parliamentary tact.) In the new Parliament of 1887, INIr. Blake, who had been Mr. the leader of the Liberal Opposition since the retirement of Q^^^^^f^^,^ Mackenzie in 1881, resigned that post owing to bad health, /easier. and was succeeded, after an interregnum caused by his own reluctance, by Mr. Laurier. The times were especially difUcult for a Roman Catholic. 332 HISTORY OF CANADA Jesuits in ]Mr. JMerciei", the Piime INIinister of the Quebec Govern- (^ue>cc. nignt^ brought forward in 1888 a measure which gave the Jesuits a large money compensation in lieu of their lands which had been confiscated at the time of the British conquest. This bill excited the most bitter indignation among the Protestant population. It was urged that it ought to be disallowed by the Dominion Government in that it endowed from public funds a religious organization, recognized the right of the Pope to mterfere in a matter of purely Canadian concern, and endorsed the Society of Jesus, which history had proved to be the enemy of every civil government. Neither the Dominion Government nor the leader of the Opposition approved of the measure, but both were agreed that its subject-matter was one of provincial concern only, having relation to a fiscal matter entirely within the control of the Legislature of Quebec. With their leaders remaining firm, the great majority of the members of the Dominion House of Commons kept cool, and a motion demanding the disallowance of the Act received only thirteen votes. Dcaih of We have already seen that the death of Sir John Macdonald Macdonald. q,^ j^j^^ g^ 1 89 1, involved the eventual collapse of his Govern- ment. It was fitting that a splendid tribute to him whom Mr. Laurier called ' Canada's foremost citizen and statesman ' should have been made by Canada's greatest orator. ' The fact,' lie said, ' that he could congregate together elements the most heterogeneous and blend them into one compact party, and to the end of his life keep them steadily under his hand, is perhaps altogether unprecedented.' His statesman- ship was written in the history of Canada. His life from the time of entering Parliament was the history of Canada. INIr. Laurier on this occasion sank all differences and remembered only the great services Macdonald had performed, that his actions always displayed great originality of view, unbounded fertility of resource; a high level of intellectual conception, and THE DOMINION OF TODAY 333 above all a far-reaching vision beyond the event of the day, and still higher, permeating the whole, a broad patriotism, a devotion to Canada's welfare, Canada's advancement, and Canada's glory. He concluded : * It may indeed happen that when the Canadian people see the ranks thus gradually reduced and thinned of those upon whom they have been in the habit of relying for guidance, a feeling of apprehension will creep into their heart, lest perhaps the institutions of Canada may be imperilled. Before the grave of him who, above all, was the father of confederation, let not grief be barren grief; but let grief be coupled with the resolution, the determination, that the work in which Liberals and Con- servatives, Brown and Macdonald, united, shall not perish, but that, though United Canada may be deprived of the services of her greatest men, still Canada shall and will live.' As we have seen on more than one occasion, the special Position of work of Mr. Laurier, in promoting this Canadian unity, had ^"^^"^ • been, by boldly withstanding the hierarchy of his own Church, gradually to wear down the falsehood of extremes. The battle against Liberal Catholicism has been in Quebec often very fierce, but for the present it w^ould seem that the view of Rome is accepted that the Liberal Catholicism, which is anathema, is Catholicism which meddles with Liberal theology, and that in the field of politics a man may remain a good Catholic, although he votes with the Liberal party. We saw that after the San Juan boundary award it was Alaska thought that questions of disputed boundary between the ^""^^"Jjf United States and Great Britain had at last come to an end, under the impression that all that was needed in the case of Alaska was the actual delimitation of a boundary line which was certain. The boundary line between the Russian and British possessions in North America had been drawn in 1825. It started from the southernmost point of Prince of Wales Island, and ran thence to the north along; 334 HISTORY OF CANADA Portland Channel, up to that point of the continent where it intersected the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude. From this point it followed the summit of the mountains parallel to the coast until it intersected the 141st degree of west longitude, and was carried along that meridian to the Arctic Ocean. The whole of Prince of Wales Island was assigned to Russia, and wherever the summit of the mountains above described proved to be at a distance of more than ten marine leagues from the ocean, the line should be drawn parallel to the windings of the coast at a distance from it never exceeding ten marine leagues. Free navigation of the rivers which flowed into the Pacific Ocean was conceded to British subjects, and by the Treaty of Washington the navigation of the rivers Yukon, Porcupine, and Slikine was for ever to remain free and open to both British and American citizens. Although some futile attempts were made to arrive at a settlement, the boundary question seemed of small importance until the discovery of the Klondyke goldfields, in what is now the Yukon district of the North- West Territories, completely changed the aspect of affairs. A great influx of miners found the most ready means of entering the country to be the passes beyond the head of the Lynn Canal inlet, which lay within the American line of coast. Negotiations in 1898 and 1899 to arrive at some settlement led to nothing, and after the United States had definitely declined an arbitration treaty on the lines of the Venezuela Boundary Convention, it was at last agreed, in 1903, that a joint commission of six impartial jurists of repute should be constituted, three of whom were to be appointed by the United States and three by the British Government. The difiiculty of finding absolutely impartial jurists was great, and of the American members of the Commission the opinions of two were well known. The British representatives were the Lord Chief Justice of England, the Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec, and a distinguished Canadian King's Council. THE DOMINION OF TO-DAY 335 The points at issue were what was the point at which the boundary line began ; which channel was the Porlland Channel ; how the line should be drawn from its beginning to the entrance to the Portland Channel ; to what point on the 56th parallel and by what course it should be drawn from the head of the Portland Channel ; what was meant by the provision that the line should follow the crest of the moun- tains running parallel to the coast at a distance nowhere exceeding ten marine leagues from the ocean ; and what were the mountains meant by the treaty. The main practical question involved was whether the ten leagues should be measured from the open sea or from the head of the inlets, some of which ran far into the land. The result of the latter contention holding good would be to give to the United States control of the main lines of communica- tion with the Klondyke mining district. The Court was agreed in deciding that the boundary line began at Cape Muzon, the southernmost point of Dull Island on the western side of Prince of Wales Island; and that the Portland Channel was the channel which ran from about 55° 56' and passed seawards to the north of Pearse and Wales islands ; but on the more important questions at issue there was difference of opinion, the three Americans being on one side and the two Canadians on the other, while the English Chief Justice supported the contention of the foriner. Thus by a majority of four to two it was decided that the outlet of Portland Channel to the sea was the strait known as Tongas Channel, and that the boundary should run along that channel and pass to the south of two islands known as Sitklan and Khannaghunut, giving the ownership of these islands to the United States ; it was further decided that the line from the 56th parallel of north latitude to the point of intersection with the i4rst degree of west longitude should run round the heads of the inlets and not cross them. This meant the success of the main American claim, because it gave to the United 336 HISTORY OF CANADA States the command of tlie sea approaches to the Klondyke mining districts, and included within American territory two islands lying near to the future terminus of a new trans- Canadian railway. The result of the findings was received with very different feelings in the United States and in Canada. President Roosevelt telegraphed from Washington congratulating ' the impartial jurists of repute ' on the greatest diplomatic victory of the century, while in Canada strong language was used against the English Chief Justice, and even the cautious Prime Minister threatened that it might be necessary for the Dominion to take its own diplomatic work into its own hands. It may be hoped, however, that, so far as boundary questions are concerned, the end has been reached of con- troversies which have added little to the reputation of any of those who had been concerned in them. But while the political life of the country has gone on during the last few years on much the old lines, by far the most important event of recent history has been the wonderful material development which is taking place in Western Canada. Amongst those of little faith there had been great disappointment that the building of the Canadian Pacific railway had not been followed by more immediate results. In the striking letter of Mr. Blake addressed to the West Durham electors, in March, 1890, which has been already mentioned, the North- West was spoken of as ' empty still '. It is true that, before the construction of the railway, there had been a certain amount of immigration to the North-West by Scottish farmers, but even after the railway was opened the Canadian North-West had a formidable com- petitor in the Western States of America, the Dakotas, Ne- braska, and Iowa, as well as Northern Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin. Moreover, such emigration as there was to Western Canada consisted to a considerable degree of foreigners, Galicians, Russians Doukhobors (Christians of the Universal From a mnp In Parliamentary Papers (United States No. 2, 1904), THE ALASKA BOUNDARY The shading /n&/'c3tes approatimAtely f^nd over 3,000 feet in height « CvrSgxVgtU--*, 0«V»^. <<(^ West ' was very difficult of access, and indeed could only be ^^^ -western approached with any comfort, and not much of that, through devdop- the United States, or by canoes by the Ottawa river. Lake Huron, Lake Superior, and the rivers and lakes, with portages between, through what were then the wilds of Rupert's Land on to Lake Winnipeg. At that time Winnipeg did not exist. Between Fort Garry and the Rocky IMountains there was no settlement on the great prairies, except here and there some Hudson Bay's post or an Indian encamp- ment. In those days the buffalo still roamed over the plains, though in decreasing numbers . . . The position of Western Canada to-day is very different. Now there are railways in every direction, and further lines are being built each year to accommodate those who are making their homes on the prairies. . . . The population is rapidly increasing, but only the fringes of the fertile plains are occupied, and there are still less than a million people between the great lakes and the Rocky IMountains . . . There is no reason why Western Canada should not become as important and as well-popu- lated as the western territories of the United States. And the fact that people are flocking across the boundary from the latter country is evidence of the advantages which are offered under the British flag.' This exodus of the American farmer to the Canadian American west has been one of the most striking features of the new 1-^,^ ^ development. The pressure of population has raised the value of land in the American States, thus making it difficult for the settler without capital to prosper, and offering temptations to the pioneer farmers to dispose of their lands to immigrants from the Eastern States, and to embark upon new virgin soil in Canada. A great number of these Americans are described as Canadians, who are returning to their native country, and immigrants of foreign origin, very largely Germans. But the American new element is 340 HISTORY OF CANADA sufficiently strong to make men ask, what significance has the movement upon the future of the Dominion as a portion of the British Empire ? It is satisfactory to be told by shrewd observers that the Americans in Western Canada are perfectly content with the political institutions which they find in their new home, and are in no wise inclined to work for annexation to the United States. During the last few years, moreover, the proportion of British to foreign immigra- tion has somewhat increased, and though it might be un- reasonable to expect in these western districts the passionate imperial patriotism which is still felt in the old provinces by descendants of British Empire loyalists, there is no valid ground for apprehending any immediate danger to British connexion from the new population. Imperial At the Same time, the same observers, whose accounts are, sentimeni. ^^ ^^ whole, reassuring, warn us of the necessity of culti- vating by all means possible communication and intercourse between Great Britain and these new communities. The recent cheapening of the carriage of newspapers, in 1907, should do much to this end, and in this connexion it would be idle, whatever may be our views on tariff questions, to ignore the warnings addressed to us by loyal subjects of the King in the eastern provinces, who say that by a small preference on Canadian wheat the material advantages of British citizenship might be brought home to men, whose present attitude is one tending towards indifference. Kailtvay To those who have followed, however cursorily, the diffi- ^meiu^' ^^^'^ beginnings of the Canadian Pacific railway, the present situation of railway development will seem startling ; and yet that such development should go on at a quickened rate appears the main present economic need of the country. Besides the Canadian Pacific railway, the Canadian Northern and the Grand Trunk Pacific will furnish other transcon- tinental lines from cast to west, and there is the possibility of a fourth line to connect with the Great Northern syblem of national THE DOMINION OF TO-DAY 34 1 the United States. The great cause of delay in the building of railways is the scarcity of labour ; but with the demand will in time follow the supply. But it is not right that a history of British Canada, how- A^ew ever imperfect, should close with the statement of mere ^ ^ ^ ' type material development. Man does not live by bread alone, and the more important question must ever be — What kind of national type are these great material advantages bringing into life ? To no single country have perhaps upon the whole more talents been given. From none, then, can more be reasonably required. Starting as a stronghold of some of the best features of old French life in a new continent, main- taining that respect for God and for the family which are the corner-stones of national permanence, French Canada was conquered, though not absorbed, by a race which could claim parallel virtues. By the side of the French Canadian, the Scottish element in Upper Canada and Nova Scotia presents features of a no less persistent type. How great has been that influence is well shown by the number of Canadian statesmen who have been of Scottish origin. Sir John Macdonald, George Brown, Alexander Mackenzie are the most conspicuous names in a list which would run to great length. In Canada nature is so far reluctant that her gifts cannot be obtained without effort, and the difficulties in the way make men rise to the occasion, without exposing them to the danger of useless sacrifice. The existence of difterent provinces and different districts of the same province has prevented the agglomeration of population in large centres, one of the most disquieting features of modern civilization. As we meet it in England, the new national type which is arising is in some ways a blend of the American and the British types. That American civilization has invaded, and will increasingly invade, Canada cannot be denied, and the national character has already much of the quickness, the 342 HISTORY OF CANADA absence of f/iauvaise /lOfi/e, the adaptability, which we think of as pecuharly American. Still, the fundamental qualities of the Canadians revert to British and French ancestors, and there is no broadly marked distinction in their case, as in the United States, between the nervous dyspeptic business man of the eastern cities and the hardy western farmer. In spite of our boasted civilization and Christianity, behaviour in war is still, perhaps, the ultimate test of the virtue of nations ; and tried by that standard the experience of the South African War would seem to show that the Canadian would not be wanting. What the political future may be we cannot tell, but though the wonderful growth of this already great nation must bring in its train new political problems for Canada and for the Empire to solve, it may safely be said that the prospects of the maintenance of the British connexion are far brighter than they w^ere forty years ago, when the Dominion first came into being. The Imperial Conference held at Ottawa in 1894 struck a new note in Canadian public life which must grow in volume ; and the establishment of an imperial penny postal system is a power- ful missionary of the British connexion. IMeanwhile, under the scheme founded by I\Ir. Rhodes, many of the leading Canadian public men will carry with them throughout life traditions and beliefs learned at Oxford. To those brought up under old traditions the chief danger threatening Canada would seem to arise from its own too great prosperity. The Greek and the Jew agreed that it was an ominous sign for a man when all things went smooth to him. The idea that those whom God loveth He chasteneth,and that only from the furnaces of trial and affliction can come out the wrought-iron of chosen men and peoples, has sunk deep into our convictions, and fmds apparent justification in the facts of history. Perhaps the true moral may be the same as in the case of the rich man of the Gospel. Prosperity no more than riches is a bar to the attainment of the highest ; THE DOMINION OF TODAY 343 it only makes that attainment more difficult and more a matter of wonder. The ring of Polycrates, which will not return upon the hands of those sacrificing it, is the cultivation on a large scale of the kindly charities of social life, which were easier in darker days to the choice spirits among those who were linked by common misery or by common wrong. Authorities On the North-West rebellion, see Willison, op. cit. vol. i, chapter xvi, and Soldiering in Canada, by G. T. Denison. Toronto, 1901. Mr. Laurier's speech on the occasion of Sir John Macdonald's death is set out in Pope, op. cit. vol. ii, appendix xxx. On Sir Wilfrid Laurier's relations with the Roman Catholic Church, see the very interesting chapters in Willison, op. cit. On the material development, apart from newspapers, &c., use has been made of N'eio Canada and the New Canadians, By Howard Angus Kennedy. London, 1907. There is a valuable report to the Board of Trade on the North-West of Canada, drawn up in 1904 by James Mavor, Professor of Political Economy in the University of Toronto. See also Problems of Greater Britain by Sir Charles W. Dilke, 2nd ed. 1890, vol. i, part i ; Canada in the Twentieth Century, by A. G. Bradley, 1906 ; and Le Canada, les deux races, par Andr^ Siegfried, Paris, 1906 (an English translation of which was published in 1907). (D h4 o pe APPENDIX BRITISH GOVERNORS OF CANADA. Murray, James . . 1 763-1 766 Carleton, Guy 1766-1778 ^Jlaldimand, Frederick ....... 1778-1784 ^''^orchester, Lord (Carleton) 17S6-1796 Prescolt, Robert (not resident after 1799) .... 1797-1807 Milnes, Robert, Sir, Lieutenant-Governor . . . . 1799-1805 Dunn, Thomas (Acting) ....... 1805-1 S07 Craig, James, Sir ........ 1807-181 1 Prevost, George, Sir 1812-1S15 Dnimmond, Gordon, Sir (Acting^ ..... 1815-1816 .Sherbrooke, John Coape, Sir ..... . 1816-1818 Richmond, Duke of 181S-1819 Dalhousie, Earl of 1S20-1828 Kempt, James, Sir 1828-1830 Aylmer, Lord 1830-1835 Gosford, Earl of 1835-1838 Colborne, John, Sir (Acting) . Feb. 1838-May 1838, and Nov. 1S38- Oct. 1839 Durham, Karl of May 183S-N0V. 1838 Thomson, Charles Poulett (afterwards Lord Sydenham^ . 1839-1841 Bagot, Charles, Sir 1842-1843 Metcalfe, Charles, Sir (afterwards Lord Metcalfe) . . 1843-1845 Cathcart, Karl of 1846-1847 Klgiii, Karl of ........ . 1 847-1 S54 Head, Kdmund, Sir . . . . . . . . 1S54-1861 Monck, Lord 1861-1867 LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORS OF UPPER CANADA. Simcoe, John Graves Russell, Peter (Acting) Hunter, Major-Cieneral Gore, Francis . Maitland, Peregrine, Sir Co. borne, John, Sir . Head, Francis P., Sir ArlJiur, George, .Sir . 1792-1796 I 796-1 799 1799-1805 180O-1817 1818-1828 1828-1836 1 836-1 838 1838-1841 APPENDIX 345 GOVERNORS-GENERAL OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA. Monck, Lord 1867-186S Young, John, Sir (afterwards Lord Lisgar) . . . 1868-187 2 Dufferin, Earl of 1872-1878 Lome, Marquis of 1 878-1 883 Lansdowne, Marquis of 1 883-1 888 Stanley, of Preston, Lord 1888-1893 Aberdeen, Earl of 1893-1898 Minto, Earl of 1898-1904 Grey, Earl 1904- PREMIERS SINCE CONFEDERATION. Macdonald, John, Sir . 1867-187^ Mackenzie, Alexander . 1873-1878 Macdonald, John, Sir . 1878-1891 Abbott, John, Sir . 1891-1892 Thompson, John, Sir . 1892-1894 Bowell, Mackenzie, Sir . I 894-1 896 Tupper, Charles, Sir . April 1896-July 1896 Lauiier, Wilfrid, Sir . 1896- LEADING DATES IN CANADIAN HISTORY SUBSEQUENT TO BRITISH CONQUEST. 763 Proclamation of October 10. 774 Quebec Act 775-6 Invasion of Canada by Americans. Siege of Quebec. 783 Treaty of Versailles. 784 United Empire loyalists settle in Nova Scotia and Upper Canada. 784 New Brunswick carved out of Nova Scotia. 791 Constitutional Act. 794 Jay's Treaty. 796 Restoration of Western Posts. 806 Eirst French newspaper. 812 War with United States; battle of Queenston. 813 Battles of Lake Erie, Chateauguay and Chrystler's Farm. 814 Battle of Lundy's Lane. 814 Treaty of Ghent. 81 8 Acceptance by Britisli Government of undertaking by Losver Canadian Assembly to provide full payment of supplies. S25 Opening of Lachine Canal. 828 House of Commons Committee on Canada. 829 Opening of Welland Canal. 830 Foundation of Upper Canada College, "i'oronto. 832 Opening of Kideau Canal. 346 HISTORY OF CANADA 1834 Passing of ' 92 Resolutions *. 1837 Insurrection in Canada. 1S38 Lord Durham's Mission. 1839 Publication of Lord Durham's Report. 1839 First Canadian railway. 1840 Act of Union. 1840 Establishment of regular ocean steamship service between Canada and Great Britain. 1841 Local government established in Upper Canada. 1842 Ashburton Boundary Treaty. 1842 Responsible government recognized. 1843 Opening of McGill University, Montreal, and of King's College, Toronto. 184-; Local government established in Lower Canada. 1846 Settlement of Oregon Boundary (Question. 1848 Responsible government established in Maritime Provinces. 1S49 Local government in Upper Canada made completely representa- tive. 1849 University of Toronto established. 1 854 Secularization of Clergy Reserves and abolition of Feudal Tenures. 1854 Reciprocity Treaty with United States. 1S56 Legislative Council made elective. 1S58 Selection of Ottawa as seat of government. 1864 Quebec Conference. 1 866 First meeting of Canadian Parliament at Ottawa. 1 866 Expiration of Reciprocity Treaty. 1867 British North America Act (confederation of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick). 1869 Negotiations with regard to purchase of Hudson's Bay Terri- tories. Red River Insurrection. 1870 Manitoba becomes Province of the Dominion. 1 87 1 Treaty of Washington. 1 87 1 British Columbia enters Dominion. 1873 Prince Edward Island enters Dominion, 1876 Intercolonial Railway opened. 1878 Triumph of ' National ' Policy. 1885 North-West Rebellion. 1886 Canadian Pacific Railway opened for general traffic. 1894 Imperial Conference at Ottawa. 1897 Preferential treatment accorded to British goods by Canadian Parliament. 1903 Settlement of Alaska Boundary Question. 1905 Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta made members of Dominion. INDEX Abbott, Sir John, 199. Aberdeen, Lord, 207, 328. Acadia, or Nova Scotia, 4, 28. Adams, C. F., 280. Alabama, the, 279. Alaska boundary question, 285, 312, 333-6. Albany, River, 318. — town, 78. Alberta, 338. Alexander, Sir William, 28. Allan, Sir Hugh, 2S6, 287, 288. Allan Steamship Line, began opera- tions in 1852, 214. Alleghany Mountains, 15. Allen, Ethan, captures Ticonderoga and Crown Point, 19. Althorp, Lord, 163. American fleet on Lake Champlain, practicallyannihilated by British, 22. — independence, its influence on Canada, 27. — invasion of Canada, 19-22. — loyalists, exodus of, 37, 38, 73, 154; United States fails to fulfil obligations to, 38 ; their presence raises question of the Constitution, 43, 45 ; their demand for popular govern- ment, 47 ; grant of land to, 73 ; called United Empire loyalists, 73, 78, 86, 134, 340. Amherst, General 'afterwards Lord), Governor-in-Chief, 2, 119; is promised Jesuit's estates by George III, 44 ; his claim resisted, 44. Amherstburg, 89, 91, 94, 176. Anglican Church, position of in 1791, 53, 54; reser\-es of land made for clergy of, 124, 128, 129, 134, 169; position of in 1828, 129; disliked by nine- tenths of population, 132 ; as- cendancy of on Board of Educa- tion, 135 ; establishment of College by, 135 ; its position in the Maritime Provinces, 156, 157. 159- Anglo-French Agreement of 1904, 36. Annapolis, 154. Annexation Manifesto of 1849, 199. Anticosti, Island of, 6. Archibald, A. G., Lieutenant- Governor of Manitoba, 272, 298. Arnold, Benedict, 20 ; in command of American force, 21 ; joins Montgomer)''s army at Ste. Foy, 2 2 ; wounded at siege of Quebec, 22. Aroostook Valley, 31, 159. Arthur, Sir George, Lieutenant- Governor of Upper Canada, 165. Ashburton, Lord, 32, 33. — Treaty (1842), boundaries of Canada under, 32, 34. Assembly, Lower Canadian, ques- tion of, 6 ; scheme of Board of Trade for. 8, 10; reasons for refusing, 10 ; attitude of English minority to, 11 ; objections to, 12, 13 ; formation and numbers of, 49 ; offers to pay for Civil List, 68 ; its opposition to Sir James Craig, 67, 68 ; its illegal actions, 69 ; democratic char- acter of, 69 ; grants money for war of 1 81 2, 89 ; offer to pay for Civil List accepted, 103 ; its Speaker made a Councillor, 103 ; refuses application for much in- creased Civil List. 104, 105 ; its disputes %vith Lord Dalhousie, 348 INDEX 107-11; Reform Bill of 1829, 1 13 ; just grounds for complaint, 114; conciliatory action of Home Government, 115; obstinacy of Assembly, ii-i; demands a National Convention, 116 ; un- bounded pretensions of threaten to destroy balance of Constitution, 117 ; attitude of Home Govern- ment towards, 117; the ninety- two resolutions of, 1 1 7 ; demands impeachment of Lord Aylmer, 118; racial contest in General Election of 1S34, "^5 Royal Commission appointed to con- sider demands of, 118; failure of Commission, 120; report of Commission, 121 ; last meeting of, 121. Assembly, Upper Canadian, de- mand of American loyalists for, 47 ; formation of by Act of 1791, 49; character of, 75; prorogued by Brock, 90 ; atti- tude of, 126-31, 140; demands responsible government, 130 ; refuses supplies, 140 ; attach- ment of to Sir F. Head, 143-4; opposed to Union, 165 ; accepts conditions of Union, 167. — of Maritime Provinces, con- stitutional disputes in, 155; controlled by a dominant oli- garchy, 156; efforts to control revenues long unavailing, 157, 158; representative Assembly established in Prince Edward Island, 161 ; responsible govern- ment granted to, 186-90. — under Union Act, 171; atti- tude of, 173 ; English not to be sole official language in, 193, 194 ; meets at Toronto and Quebec alternately, 199 ; the double majority principle in, 201, 225 ; constitution of parties, 202 ; its numbers increased, 207 ; proposal that representation should be by population, 208, 217, 222; weakness of succes- sive ministries in, 219-25; de- bates on federation in, 233. Assiniboia, 81, 257. Assiniboine Indians, 80. — River, 81. Astor, J. J., American fur-trader, 250. Astoria, 250, 252. Athabasca, district, 79. — Lake, 79. Australian and Canadian con- stitutions compared, 240, 241. Aylmer, Lord, Governor, 114; his position with regard to Assem- bly, 116; his impeachment demanded by Assembly, 118; his recall, 119. Bagot, Sir Charles, Governor, 178, 179, iSo, 183. Baldwin, Robert,Attorney-General (afterwards Prime Minister), 140. I43> 17-'. 174. 178, 181, 1S3, 192, 193, 200, 203, 204, 207, 218, 219. Barclay, Captain Robert, com- mands British fleet at battle of Lake Erie, 94. Bathurst, Lord, Secretary of State, 84, 103, 108. Bay Verte Canal, 300. Beauharnois Canal, 201. Bedard, M., 67, 71. Belleau, Sir Narcisse, Prime Min- ister, 237. Bermudas, 146, 147. Bernard, Sir Mountaguc, 280. Bidwell, Barnabas, 126. — Marshall Sjiring, Speaker of Assembly, 126, 128, 140, 141, 143- Blachford, Lord, Under-Secretary of State, 239. Black Rock, 96. lilaine, Mr., American Secretary of State, 309. Blake, Edward, Canadian States- man, 292, 298, 306, 331, 336; his letter on the commercial Union with United Slates, 310- II. Board of Trade, 6, 8, 10. Works, 175. Bonavista, Cape, 36. INDEX 349 Bonne, de, Judge, 69. Bonnycastle, Sir Richard, 133. Boston, 161. Boulton, Henry, Attorney-General, 129. Boundaries of Canada, under Pro- clamation of 1763, 6; under Quebec Act (1774), '5; under Treaty of Paris (1783), 27-30, 34-6 ; under Treaty of Ghent (1S14), 30, 31, 34 ; under arbi- tration of King of the Nether- lands (1831), 31, 32; under Ashburton Treaty (1842), 32, 34; under agreement of 1S18, 35 ; the Oregon boundary ques- tion, 191, 250, 252-4, 283; San Juan boundary question, 283, 333 ; Alaska boundary question, 285, 312, 333-6. Bovvell, Sir Mackenzie, Prime Min- ister, 237, 321, 322. Brant, Joseph (Thayendonegea), Mohawk Chief, 38, 40. Breton, Cape, 4, 154, 159, 160. Briand, Monseigneur, Bishop of Quebec, 8. Bright, John, 245. British and American expansion, resemblance and contrast be- tween, I, 2. British Columbia, 244, 250, 259, 260, 261, 272, 273, 290, 291, 338. . — Empire League, 306. — North America Act, 1867, 230, 235> 239> 240-44, 246, 273, 274, 289, 316, 317, 319, 325. — officials, character of, 16. Brock, Isaac, Administrator and Acting Governor of Upper ■ Canada, 78, 88, 89, loi ; com- plains of attitude of Assembly and closes the session, 90 ; Gene- ral Hull surrenders to at De- troit, 90; killedat Queenston, 91. Brougham, Lord, criticizes Lord Durham's actions, 147 ; denies Lord Durham's authorship of Report, 150. Brown, George, 222, 224, 229, 273, 341 ; attacks ministry in Toronto Globe, 203-, Presbyterians and Methodists devoted to, 206 ; proposes that representation should be by population, 208 ; Radical leader, 219; invited to form Government but fails to secure confidence of Parliament, 220; intervenes in federation question, 227 ; his sacrifice in joining Macdonald Ministry, 228 ; visits England on behalf of federation, 232 ; relations with Macdonald become diffi- cult and he resigns, 237; advocated expansion westward, 266 ; assists in negotiating new reciprocity treaty with United States, 300-301. — Jacob, American General, 98. Buchanan, American Secretary of State, 253. Buckingham, Duke of, Secretary of State, 239, 267. Buffalo, 78, 96, 246. BuUer, Charles, 146, 149, 150, 151, 221. Burgoyne, General, 23, 24. Burlington Heights, 92, 98. Burrard Inlet, 294. Burton,Colonel, Lieutenant-Gover- nor at Three Rivers, 2 ; moved to Montreal, 7 ; his disputes with Murray, 7. — Sir Francis, Lieutenant-Gover- nor of Lower Canada, his com- promise with Assembly, loS. Bytown (Ottawa), 199. Caldwell, Colonel, Governor of Assiniboia, 257. Calvet, du, 26. Cambridge, 21. Cameron, Duncan, 82. Campbell, Sir Archibald, Lieuten- ant-Governor of New Brunswick, 159- — Sir Colin, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, 157, 1S6. Canada Company formed, 133; its methods adopted in Lower Canada, 134. 350 INDEX 'Canada first' group, 305. — Trade Act, 1822, 107. Canadian Corn Act (1S43), 195. — Northern Railway, 340. — Pacific Railway, 272-3, 286-96, 2(>8,324, 329/336, 34°- Canal de Haro (or liaro Channel), 284. Canterbury, Lord, suggested as Governor, 1 19. Cape Breton Island, 37. Carleton, Guy (afterwards Lord Dorchester), appointed Gover- nor, 7 ; confirms French laws and customs, 9 ; takes part in nego- tiations for Quebec Act of 1774, 10; distrusts English settlers, 1 1 ; enacts ordinance limiting power of magistrates, 16; warns Home Government of perilous nature of situation, 1 7 ; his advice disregarded at outbreak of Ame- rican war, 1 9 ; issues Proclama- tion requiring seigniors to enroll their dependants into companies, 20 ; desperate position of, 20 ; enjoined by Home Government to raise 6,000 men, 20 ; applies to General Gage for two regi- ments, 20 ; arrives at Quebec and decides to defend it to the last; repels American assault, 22; blamed for not attempting reprisals, 22 ; assumes the offen- sive, 22 ; Lord G. Germaine seeks to saddle with conse- quences of the defeat at Trenton, 23 ; directed to confine himself to Canadian affairs, 23 ; fiercely resents behaviour of Germaine, 24 ; his resignation and departure from Canada, 24 ; his attitude in the attempt to check abuse of higli fees, 25 ; is made K.l!., 25 ; dispute with Livius,C. J., 25, 26; his letter (as Lord Dorchester) on the boundary between Canada and the United States, 30 ; returns to Canada as (lovernor- General, 42 ; o])inion as to Popular Assembly, 46, 47; aji- proves Chief Justice Smith's plan, 48 ; recommends equal treatment of Roman and Angli- can Churches, 54 ; Proclamation against French revolutionary emissaries, 57 ; his dispute with Colonel Simcoe, 58 ; proffers his resignation, 58; his remarks on the jobbing system, 59 ; objects to system of independent governments, 60 ; his forebodings on future relations of Canada and Great Britain, 60; summary of his character, 61, 62. Carlyle, Thomas, 146. Carnarvon, Lord, Secretary of State, 239, 292, 299. Cartier, Sir George Etienne, French Canadian statesman, 216, 217, 220, 237, 238, 267, 276, 2S7, 320. Cartwright, Sir Richard, Canadian statesman, 235, 308. Castlereagh, Lord, Secretary of State, 139. Cat, Cape, 43. Cataraqui (Kingston), 45, 73. — (or Iroquois), River, 34, 132. Cathcart, Lord, Governor, 191. Cayley, \V., Inspector - General, 221. Chaleurs, Bay of, 6, 29, 27S. Chamberlain, Mr. Joseph, 308. Chambly, Canal, 176. — Fort, 21, 22, 139. Champlain, Lake, i, 6, 13, 19, 21, 22, 24, 38, 95, 98, 99, loi, 282. Battle of, 99, 106. — Samuel, 28. Charlottctown, 229. Chatcauguay, Battle of, 95, )oi, 271. — River, 95. Chatham, Lord, 153. Chaudicre, River, 21. Cbauncey, Isaac, American Com- modore, 92, 98. Chenier, Dr., Canadian rebel, 139. Chippawa, battle at, 98. Chiputncticook, River, 29. (..'lirislie, Robert, historian, 62, 68; expelled from House of Assem- bly, 113. INDEX 351 Chrystler's Farm, battle at, 95, lOI. Churchill, Fort, S2. Clarendon, Lord, Secretary of State, 284. Clark, G. R., American explorer, 250. Clarke, Sir Alured, Lieutenant- Governor of Lower Canada, 52. 'Clear Grits,' the, 202, 205, 219. Clergy Reserves, 124, 128, 129, 134, 169, 201, 202, 206, 207, 209. Cobourg, 183. Colborne, Sir John, Lieutenant- Governor of Upper Canada, 1 28- 32, 146 ; set on foot Elizabeth's College, Guernsey, and founded Upper Canada College, York, 131 ; establishes 44 rectories, 131 ; military commander in British North America, 136 ; his action in Rebellion of 1837, ^S^- Colebrooke, Sir William, Lieuten- ant-Governor of New Bruns- wick, 188. Collins, Francis, journalist, 128. Columbia, River, 250, 253, 254. Confederate Council of the British North American Colonies, 246. Connecticut, River, 28, 29, 32, 34. — State of, 21, 23. Constitutional Act of 1791, the, 42-56. — Reform .Society, 140. Continental Congress, the, and Canada, 20. Convention with United Stales (1818), 252, 278, 279, 282. (1827), 252, 253. Cook, Captain, 250. Cornwallis, General, 27. Court of Appeal, 243. Craig, Sir James, Governor, at- titude of, 67 ; opposition of General Assembly to, 67 ; his appeal to the Home Govern- ment, 69; his resignation, 71. Crown Point, 19, 20, 22. Cunard Steamship Company es- tablished in 1839, 161. Cuvillier, Mr., Speaker of first United Assembly, 173. Dakotas, the, 336. Dalhousie, Lord, Governor, 104, '33) ^54' 160; disappointed and disgusted at Assembly's conduct, 105; his policy and difficulties, 107; confronted by deadlock, 108 ; conflict with French Canadians over Militia Act, 109; refuses sanction to Papineau's re-election as Speaker of Assembly, no; alienates sympathies of Roman Catholic Church, no; charges against in House of Commons Com- mittee, 1828, no; departure from Canada and appointment as Commander-in-Chief in India, in; founded ' Literary and Historical Society of Canada ', III; established Dalhousie Col- lege, Nova Scotia, 154. Dallas, Governor of Hudson's Bay Company, 264. Daly, Dominick, official, 182. Dead River, 21. Delaware, River, 23. Denison, Colonel G., 306, 330. Detroit, River, 73, 89, 94. — town, 38, 89. Disraeli, Benjamin, 206, 328. Dominion Liquor Licence Act of 1883,318. Don, River, 74. Dorchester, Lord, see Carleton. Dorion, Antoine, French-Canadian statesman, 202, 219, 225, 234. Doughty, A. G., Dominion arch- ivist, 179^'. Douglas, Fort, 82, 83, 85. — James, Governor of Vancouver Island (afterwards Lieutenant- Governor of British Columbia), 259, 260. Doukhobors, 336. Downie, Captain, killed in battle on Lake Champlain, 99. Draper, William, Attorney-Gene- ral, 171, 182, 191, 257. Drummond, General Gordon, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, 96, 99, loi, 124; com- mands Canadian forces, 96 ; 352 INDEX fights battle of Lundy's Lane, 9S ; Acting-Governor of Lower Canada in iSiC, 103. Dudley Island, 34. Dufferin, Lord, Governor-General, 281 71., 2S8, 300, 304, 328; his attitude on the Canadian Pacific Railway question, 292-3; re- mits sentence of death on Le- pine, 299. Dull Island, 335. Dundas, Lord, Secretary of State, 60. Dunkin, Christopher, Lower Cana- dian statesman, 234, 235. Durham, Lady, 151. — Lord, 26, 163, 164, 166, 177, 1S3, 191, 192, 201, 221, 235 ; on land tenure, 55 ; special com- missioner with full powers, 1 45 ; his Report, 145-53, 160, 163, 165, 167, 168, 171, 191 ; his treatment of prisoners of Rebel- lion of 1837, I46; resolves to resign, 147 ; Proclamation on reasons for resignation, 149 ; lesults of his mission, 150 ; con- clusions of his Report, 151 ; character of, 153. Dutchman's Point, 38. Easton, Treaty of, in 1758, 15. Edmonton, 291, 33S. Education, condition of in Lower Canada in 1790, 43; and in 1801,65; early efforts of Colonel Simcoc and President Russell on behalf of in Upper Canada, 1 34 ; Board of Education estab- lished there, 135 ; ascendancy of Church of England in con- nexion with, 135; colleges estab- lished by Church of England, Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, and Methodists, 135; jjosilion of in Maritime Provinces, 159 ; Education Actof 1841, 175, 218; ' separate ' schools, 217; the county and municipal school rates, 217-8; general standard of raised, 218; Education Acts of 1843, 1850, and 1S71, 218; enactment of compulsory free education, 218; University education, 218-9; separation of provincial Universities from denominational influences and control, 219 ; Trinity University founded, 219; the question of religious education, 319-20; system of secular education established in New Brunswick, 320 ; denominational education established in Manitoba, 320; changed for a secular system, 320 ; controversy with Roman Catholics on religious teaching in schools, 320-5, Egremont, Lord, Secretary of State, 6. Eldon, Lord, Lord Chancellor, 70. Elgin, Lord, Governor-General, 100, 188, 207, 215, 235, 246; his political attitude, 191, 192; difficulties of his position, 193 ; his letter on French-Canadian loyalty, 194; his attitude on land settlement of French Cana- dians, 194 ; urges repeal of Navigation Acts, 196 ; gives assent to Rebellion Losses Bill, 197, 198 ; narrowly escapes personal violence, 198 ; his atti- tude on the Annexation Mani- festo, 199 ; successfully negoti- ates Reciprocity Treaty with United States, 210; his views on responsible government, 211. Ellicc, Edward ^'Bear' Ellice), 106, 254, 255, 256. luiglish settlers in Canada, Mur- ray's opinion of, 7. Erie, Fort, 38, 92, 98, 99, 247. — Lake, 15, 35, 38, 40, 43, 78, 89, 91, 92, loi, 132, 133, 176. Battle of, 94, loi. Erskine, Mr., l'>iitish Minister at Washington, 87. Esc]uiniault, 292. Evarts, Mr., American Secretary of State, 2S3. Executive Council in Lower and Upper Canada, 26, 47, 54, 62, ^J3» 6.f, 75, 103, 109, 114, 118, INDEX 353 121, 128, 140, 168, 174, 177, 183, 190. Executive Council of Maritime Provinces, 157, 158, 186, 187, 188, 189. Falkland, Lord, Lieutenant-Gover- nor of Nova Scotia, 186, 187. ' Family compact,' the, 164, 165, 167, 173, 202. Farrer, Lord, 313. Federation, question of, 220; inter- vention of G. Brown, 227; agree- ment arrived at, 2 28 ; coalition of Macdonald and Brown, 229; the situation in the Maritime Provinces, 229-30; conclusions of Quebec Conference, 230 ; union or federation, 231 ; details of proposals, 231 ; approval in England, 232 ; confederation debates, 233-5 > opposition to measure, 234 ; urgency of mea- sure, 235 ; its necessity, 236 ; Quebec resolutions passed by Canadian legislature, 236; set- back in Maritime Provinces, 236 ; change of feeling in Maritime Provinces, 238; anxiety of Governor-General, 238 ; pro- ceedings in London, 238 ; apathy to in England, 239; enactment of British N. America Act and imperial guarantee for railways, 240 ; the constitution under federation Act, 240-4; opposi- tion to federation in Nova Scotia, 244,276; Prince Edward Island joins Confederation, 246; British Columbia joins Confederation, 265, 272, 273; Rupert's Land and North-Westem Territory federated to Canada, 267, 272 ; Imperial federation, 306. Fenian raid, 1866, 246, 279-80, 298, 299. Fielding, Mr., Finance Minister, 312. Fisher, Mr., Minister of Agricul- ture, 338. Fishing rights under Treaty of Paris, 36 ; under Anglo-French Agreement of 1904, 36; under Reciprocity Treaty of 1854, 210, 278-9; under Washington Treaty (1871), 280-3. FitzGibbon, Colonel, 142, 184. Fleming, Sir Sandford, Civil En- gineer, 278. Foster, W. A., one of 'Canada first ' group, 305. Franklin, Benjamin, 7. Eraser, River, 259, 265. Frederick Island, 34. French River, 290, French Canadians, character of, 3 ; unfitted for self-government, 43 ; attitude of on question of popular Assembly, 45 ; their customs and prejudices considered under Constitutional Act, 46,47 ; their conservatism, 54 ; their reluct- ance to serve in Militia, 57 ; their great respect for Lord Dorchester, 61 ; Lieut. -Governor Milnes's advice as to, 64 ; win battle of Chateauguay, 95, 96; position of at close of war, 102 ; hostility of to union of Upper and Lower Canada, 106 ; their attitude in Assembly, 102-23; few of good standing join Rebel- lion of 1837, 139; Lord Dur- ham's Report on, 151, 152; stand aloof from Union of Upper and Lower Canada, 164 ; unite in opposition to Union, 172 ; Speaker of United Assembly chosen from, 1 73 ; their advent to power, 1 78, 1 79 ; Lord Elgin's conclusions as to, 192, 194 ; their immigration into manu- facturing towns of New England, 194; French Canadian Ministers reorganized under Dr. Tache, 216; their dislike of militarism, 223; regard with distrust pro- posals for federation, 229; ac- cept federation through Cartier's influence, 276 ; their sympathy with Riel, 298. Frenchtown, 91. Frontenac, Fort, 37. Fuca's Straits, 254. A a 354 INDEX Fund)-, Bay of, 28, 34, 300. Fur trade, the, 80. Gage, General, Lieutenant-Gover- nor at Montreal, 2 ; his letter to Amherst in 1762, 2; becomes Commander-in-Chief at New York, 7. Gait, Sir Alexander, Finance Min- ister, 220, 221, 237, 238, 276, 283. — John, Scottish novelist, 220 ; his work as a colonizer, 133. Gananoqui, River, 42. Garneau, F. X., historian, 61, 67. Garnett, Dr., 150. Garry, Fort (Winnipeg), 264, 271, 272, 290, 339, Gaspe, district, 43, iii, 113. General Mining Association, 159. Geography, its influence on history modified by discoveries of science, i. George III, 122 ; promises Jesuits' estates to General Amherst, 44. — IV, 128. — Fort, 19, 92, 96, 98. Georgia, Gulf of, 283, 2S4, 290. Germaine, Lord George, Secretary of State, 23 ; an enemy of Carle- ton, 23 ; blames Carleton for the defeat at Trenton, 23 ; ajipoints General Burgoyne to command expedition against American colonies, 23 ; dictates strategy of distant campaigns, 23 ; his failure as Colonial Secretary, 23 ; gratifies his jobbing instincts, 24 ; causes Carleton's resigna- tion, 24, 25; his resignation in 1782, 42. German Emperor, arbitrates in San Juan Island dispute, 284. Ghent, Treaty of (1814), 30, 100; allotment of islands to Canada under, 34. Gibraltar, Fort, 82. Gipps, Sir George, Governor of New South Wales, 1 18. Gladstone, W. E., 150, 206, 259. Glenelg, Lord, Secretary of State, 1 19, 139, 140, 141, 149, 162, 163. Cioderich, Lord, Secretary of State, "5, 131- — town, 134. Gordon, Sir Arthur, Lieutenant- (iovernor of New Brunswick, 237. Gore, Francis, Lieutenant-Gover- nor of Upper Canada, 77. Gosford, Lord, Governor, 118,1 19, 145 ; his criticism of loyalist minority, 120; his attitude to- wards the insurrectionary move- ment, 137 ; resignation, 138. Gourlay, Robert, journalist, per- secution of, 125, 126. Grand Portage, 80. — River, 38. Grand Trunk Railway, the, 214, 236> 287- Pacific Railway, 340. Grant, George Monro, 236. — President United States, 285, 301. Granville, Lord, Secretary of State, 267, 268, 281. Graves, Admiral, 20. Gray, Captain Robert, American explorer, 250. Great Slave Lake, 79, 80. Grenville, William, Secretary of State, 1 24 ; his proposals for a Popular Assembly, 46, 47. Grey, Colonel, 149. — Lord i^Lord Ilowick), Secretary of State, 120, 172, 1S9, 190, 193, 195, 206, 213, 221, 328. — Lord de (afterwards Lord Ripon), 280. — Sir Charles, ex-Indian judge, 118, 120. Guadeloupe, 4. Guelph, 133. Haldimand, Sir Frederick, Gover- nor, 26, 42, 59, 73. Halifax, 154, 156, 157, 161, 168, 213, 214, 244, 247, 283. — Lord, Secretary of State, 6. Hamilton, Henry, Lieutenant- Governor of Lower Canada, 42. — town, 214. Hampton, Wade, American General, 95. INDEX 355 Harrison, American General, 91. Harvey, Colonel, Sir John, 92, loi ; defeats American force at Stoney Creek, 94 ; Lieutenant- Governor of New Brunswick, 157, 159; of Nova Scotia, 187-S. Head, Sir Edmund, Governor, 215, 219, 220, 223, 224; Governor of Hudson's Bay Company, 262. — Sir Francis Bond, Lieutenant- Governor of Upper Canada, 132, 1 39 ; quarrels with Assembly, 140 ; his false security, 141 ; his conduct during Rebellion of 1837, ^42-4; his popularity, 144. Hesse, district, 43, Hillsborough, Lord, President of Board of Trade, 6, 13. Hincks, Sir Francis, Canadian statesman, 175, 178, 201, 204, 208, 214, 318. Hope, Colonel Henry, Lieutenant- Governor of Lower Canada, 42 ; his reports on question of Popular Assembly, 45. House of Commons Committee of 1828, no, 135; and of 1834, 117. Howe, General, 23. — Joseph, Nova Scotian states- man, 155, 158, 188, 221, 229; his letter on necessity for rapid communication between Canada and Britain, 162 ; his letters on responsible government, 186 ; his quarrel with Lord Falkland, 187 ; his enthusiasm for railway construction, 213, 247 ; his op- position to federation, 236, 244-5 » becomes a member of Dominion ministry, 245, 276; President of Privy Council, 277; Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, 277. Howland, W. P., Canadian states- man, 238. Hudson's Bay Company, 15, 84, 236, 284 ; attempt to divert its trade, 80; grants land to Lord Selkirk for colony, 8r ; acquire Lord Selkirk's interests, 249 ; North- West Company amalga- mated with, 252 ; grant of Van- couver Island to, 254; House of Commons Committee on affairs of, 255 ; complaints of its monopoly and exclusive system, 256-8; recommendations of House of Commons Com- mittee on, 258-9; its reorganiza- tion, 262 ; its anomalous posi- tion, 263 ; suggested acquisition of its territories, 266-7 ; danger of U.S. acquiring, 267 ; its ter- ritories purchased by Canada, 267-8 ; opposition of half-breeds to annexation, 269-72. Hudson River, i, 23. Hull, American General, com- mands American forces in invasion of Canada, 89 ; his magniloquent Proclamation, 89; surrenders to Brock at Detroit, 90. H umber. River, 74. Hume, Joseph, 130. Hunter, General, Lieutenant- Governor of Upper Canada, 76. Huntington, Mr., Canadian politi- cian, 288, 289. Huron, Lake, 35, 38, 74, 80, 133, 176, 339- Huskisson, W., 195. Idaho, 250. Illinois, 266. Immigration, III ; of American loyalists, 38 ; American and Scottish emigrants, 75; of Scot- tish Highlanders, 81 ; from Ireland, 1 14 ; attempt to restrict American, 124; steady flow of, 128; rapid increase of after Union Act, 173; arrival of more than 100,000 Irish, 193 ; to British Columbia, 259, 260 ; arrival of emigrants in large numbers, 338 ; from the Ameri- can States, 339-40. Indians, Proclamation of 1763 safeguards interests of, 13, 15; 356 /.XDEX Treaty of Easton with (1758), 15 ; their position after the Treaty of Paris, 38 ; informal war in 1788-91 with Americans, 39 ; decisively beaten in 1 794 and submit to terms, 40 ; their decline, 40 ; British N. America sets an example in its dealings with, 273. Inter-Colonial Railway, 213, 237, 238, 240, 247, 277, 300. Iowa, 336. Iroquois (or Cataraqui), River, 34. Jamaica, 179. Jay's Treaty of 1794, 28. Jefferson, Thomas, President of United States, 87, 250. Jesuits, the, their estates claimed by General Amherst, 44 ; taken over for purposes of education, 44 ; receive large money com- pensation for confiscation of their lands, 332. Johnson, Reverdy, 284. Johnston, J. W., Nova Scotian statesman, 188. Kamloops, 291, 295. Keewatin, 338. Kellog, Mr., American Commis- sioner, 283. Kempt, Sir James, Covernor, 1 13. '54. 155- Kennebec, River, 21. Kennedy, Howard Angus, author, 338. Kent, Duke of, 160. Kentucky, River, 40. Khannaghunut, Island, 335. Kimberley, Lord, ex-Governor of Hudson's Bay Company, 268 ; Secretary of State, 281. King's College, Toronto (Angli- can), 183. Kingston (Cataraqui), 37, 38, 45, 73. 77. 92, 95.96,98,111, 132, 176, 214. Klondyke, 334, 335, 33G. Labrador, 6, 13; reunited to Canada, i;. Lachine, 95, iii. — Rapids, :ir. La Fontaine, Louis, French- Canadian statesman, 178, 181, 182, 183, 193, 197, 198, 199, 202, 203, 207. Land tenure, seigniorial system of, 55 ; effects of, 56 ; unwilling- ness of La Fontaine to abolish, 203 ; its abolition, 209. Langevin, Mr., Canadian states- man, 238. Lansdowne, Lord, 328. La Salle, 37. La Souris, Fort, 82. Laurier, Sir Wilfrid, Prime Minis- ter, 202, 224, 331; a moderate Protectionist, 303 ; his opinion on a commercial union with United States, 308 ; his new fiscal policy, 312 ; his panegyric on Sir J. A. Macdonald, 332-3 ; his position, 333. Law, question of form of, 8 ; differ- ent opinions on form of, 9 ; criminal, 9 ; Supreme Court of Appeal established, 1875, 243, 318; law as to licences, 317. Lawrence, Charles, Governor of Nova Scotia, 155. Lefroy, Colonel, 256. Legislative Council, proposals with regard to, 47 ; its formation and numbei"s, 49, 50 ; Sherbrooke advises its enlargement. 103 ; disputes with Assembly, 104; its assertion on effect of elective Legislative Council, 116; Wil- liam IV's opposition to elective Legislative Council, 119; Report of Commissioners on, 121 ; fol- lows lead of Executive Council, 1 2 8 ; claim for an elective Legisla- tive Council, 131 ; contest be- tween Assembly and Legislative Council in Nova Scotia, 155-7; Canadian Assembly asks for power to be given to local Legislature to alter Legislative Council so as to make it elective, 208; made elective in 1856, jiC); constitution of as Senate INDEX 357 under British N. America Act, 244. l.epine, a leader in the Red River Rebellion, 299. Lewis, M., Captain, American explorer, 250. Lewiston, 96. Lisgar, Lord (Sir J. Young). See Sir J. Young. Liverpool, Lord, 69. — town, 161. Livius, Chief Justice, 24 ; Carle- ton's opinion of, 24 ; dismissed by Carleton, 25 ; appeals to Privy Council, decision in his favour, 25; receives salary of Chief Justice for eight years in Eng- land, 26 ; his astute 1 eply when asked to resume his duties, 26. Local Government, absence of, 122 ; condition of Quebec and Montreal under, 123; measure of passed by Lord Sydenham, 171 ; Local Government Act of 1841, 175 ; control of post office handed over to, 200 ; Baldwin, with Sydenham, the founder of Canadian municipal self-government, 200. Long Lake, 35. Long Point, 43, 77. London (Upper Canada), 214. — Convention of 18 18, 249. Lome, Lord, Governor-General, 299. 315. 328. Louise, Princess, 328, Louisiana, i, 250. Lount, Samuel, Upper Canadian rebel, 143. Lowe, Robert, 281 tt. Lowell, J. R., 280. Lower Canada Municipalities' Fund, 209. Lundy's Lane, Battle of, 98, loi. Lunenburg, district, 42, Lymburner, Mr., Quebec merchant, Lynn Canal inlet, 334. Lytton, Sir Edward Hulwcr, Secre- tary of State, 259. Macdonald. Sir John A., Prime Minister, 202, 205, 208, 214, 215, 222, 224, 225, 228, 267, 270, 276, 277, 299, 302, 31 ), 314, 328, 329, 331, 332, 341 ; prejudiced against Lord Elgin, 215; becomes real head of Ministry, 216 ; 'appointed At- torney-General West, 220; in favour of protective tariff, 221; does not at first support federa- tion movement, 227 ; his coali- tion with Brown, 229; moves resolution in favour of federal union at Quebec Conference, 2 30- 31 ; moves address in Assembly praying for union, 233; relations with Brown become difficult, 237 ; declares that federation bill must be cunied /er sa//u//i, 2 38 ; his extraordinary power of man- agement and adroitness, 239 ; his remarks on English apathy, 239; on importance of keeping open route to Pacific, 226 ; realizes seriousness of Riel's rebellion. 269 ; made K.C.I!, and Prime Minister of Dominion, 275; his attitude on the Wash- ington joint High Commission, 279-82, 2S3 ; his opinion of British Commissioners, 282 ; his connexion with the Canadian Pacific Railway, 287-9, 293, 295 ; becomes identified with Protection, 302 ; his last address to the people of Canada, 309 ; his dismissal of Mr. Letellier de St. Just, 314-15 ; on the Ontario boundary question, 319 ; on the question of religious education, 319-20; death of, 321, 332 ; eulogy of by Laurier, 332-3. — John Sandfield, Prime Minister, 222, 224. Macdonell, Colonel, at battle of Chateauguay, 95. MacDonell, Alexander, employe of North-West Company, 82. — Miles, Governor of Red Rivci Settlement, his connexion with Lord Selkirk's colonization scheme, 82, S3, 84. 358 INDEX Mackenzie, Sir Alexander, iiis journeys and discoveries, 79, 80, 250. — Alexander, Prime Minister, 2S9, 299, 328, 331, 341 ; Lord DufTerin's remarks on, 293, 300 ; his defence of Free Trade, 304. — William Lyon, demagogue, 127, 12S, 129, 130, 132, 139, 215 ; takes part in Rebellion of 1837, 142; escapes to United States, 143 ; returns to Canada, 201. MacLoughlin, Dr. John, 232. Macomb, American General, 99. Macpherson, D. L., railway mag- nate, 286, 287. Madawaska, River, 30, 31. — settlement, 31. 32. Magistrates, qualification of in Lower Canada, 122. Maine, 31, 32, 99, 159. Maitland, Sir Peregrine, Lieuten- ant-Governor of Upper Canada, 105, 125, 12S, 133, 154, 155. Manan Island, 34. ^Lanitoba, 286, 298, 329, 338 ; first settlements in, 79-85, 249; creation of province, 272 ; con- troversy between Ontario and Manitoba over boundary of, 318- 19 ; question of religious educa- tion in, 320-4. Mann, Colonel, 30. Mars Hill, 30, 31. Marshall, Chief Justice U. S., 243- Maseres, Attorney-General under Carleton, 4, 10. Massachusetts, 29, 34, 126. Matthews, Captain, 126. Mauniee, River, 40, 91. Mayo, Lord, 278. McCarthy, M. D'Alton, 321. McDougall, William, Lieutenant- Governor of Rupert's Land, 228, 229, 238, 2r)7, 268, 269, 270. McLane, D., attempts an invasion of Canada 1796^ 66. McNab, Sir Allan, Upper Canadian Conservative, 208, 216. McTavish, William, Governor of Hudson's Bay Company's terri- tory, 268, 269. Mecklenburg, district, 42, 43. Megantic, Lake, 21, Meigs, Fort, 91. Mercier, Mr., 332. Metcalfe, Sir Charles (afterwards Lord), Governor, 179, 188, 191, 193, 235 ; difficulties of, 1 80 ; disputes with Ministers, 181 ; they resign, 181; his re- signation. 184; his character, 184. Mexico, 80. Michigan, Lake. 38, 80, 210, 282. — .State, 38, 336. Michillimackinac, 38, 80, 90. Militia Act (1803), 66. — Bill of 1862, rejected by As- sembly, 232. Military rule in Canada, 2 ; atti- tude of English population towards, 4. Milnes, Sir R., Lieutenant-Gover- nor of Lower Canada, 63-6. Minnesota, 257, 336. Minto, Lord, Governor-General, .^28. Mississippi, River,i, 15,35, 39, 250. Mitchell's map of 1755, 29. Mohawks, the, 38. Monck, Lord, Governor, after- wards Governor-General, 224, 2.^9. 274, 27''5, .^29. Mondelet, ^L, Executive Council- lor, 117. Montana, 329. Montcalm, ill. Montgomery, General, commands main body in American invasion, 21 ; capturesChambly, St. John's, and Montreal, 2 1 ; killed at siege of Quebec, 22. Montreal, district, 42, 122, 286. — town of, 2, 7, 8, 16, 20, 21, 45, 63, 78. ''^.3. 88, 95, 96, 99, 107, III, 116, 123, 132, 137,138, 139, 164, 172, 176,198, 199, 201, 213, 214, 219, 247; captured by General Montgomery, 21. Moodie, Colonel, 142. Moose Island, 34. INDEX 359 Moravianlown, battle at, 94. Moiin, Mr., French-Canadian statesman, 205, 208, 215, 216. Morrison, Colonel, 95. Movvat, Oliver, Canadian states- man, 228, 319 ; his reply to Macdonald on question of com- mercial union with U. S. , 310. Murray, General, Lieutenant- Governor at Quebec, 2 ; appoint- ed Governor, 6 ; his hostility to British settlers, 7 ; his difficul- ties and recall, 7, 11 ; his com- plaints to Shelburne, 16. — Sir George, Secretary of State, 100. Muzon, Cape, 335. Nanaimo, 292. Napoleon, Berlin decree of 1807, 87, 88 ; Milan decree of, 88 ; Russian expedition of, 88. Nassau, district, 43. ' National Policy,' the, 302-5, 309, 310. Nebraska, 336. Neilson, Mr., Canadian journalist and politician, 116, 164. Nelson, Dr. Wolfred, a leader in Rebellion of 1837, 139, 146. Netherlands, King of, his decision in the Canadian and American boundary dispute, 31, 32. Newark, 74, 96. New Brunswick, 30, 31, 34, 37, 43, 154. 157, 15^) i59> i87> 1S8, 189, 190.. 213, 221, 229, 236, 237, 238, 239, 244, 276, 278, 282, 303, 320. Newcastle, Duke of. Secretary of State, 261. Newfoundland, 36, 237, 244. New York, State, 38, 78, 106, 246. — town, 7, 20, 138. New Zealand, 233. Niagara Falls, 98. — River, 74, 91, 214, 246. — town, 38, 77, 91, 92, 96, 98. Nipissing, Lake, 6, 36, 290. Nootka Sound, 250. Normanby, Lord, Secretary of State, 163. Northcote, Sir Stafford, 280. 'North -West angle of Nova Scotia,' 28, 30. North-West Company of P"ur Tra- ders, 79, 80, 249, 250 ; engage in conflict with Lord Selkirk's colonists, 82-4, 247 ; amalga- mated with Hudson's Bay Com- pany, 252. North-West Rebellion, 330, 331. Territory, 244, 249, 268, 270, 272, 290, 329, 334, 336, 338. Nova Scotia, 4, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 37,42,43,60, 73, 99,111, 154- 60, 186, 188, 189, 213, 214, 221, 229, 236, 238, 239, 244, 245, 276, 277, 278, 282, 341. O'Callaghan, Dr., a leader in Canadian Rebellion, 138. Ogdensburg, Battle of, 92, 95. Ohio, River, 15, 39, 40. — State, 39. Oliphant, Laurence, 210. Ontario, Lake, 34, 35, 38, 73, 74, 91, 92,95,96,98, 99, 132, 133. — province of, 36, 244, 267, 271, 276, 278, 286, 288, 289, 298, 310,315. 317, 318, 3i9>32i,33r- Oregon, 250, 253, 283. Osgoode, Chief Justice, 63. Oswald, R., negotiations of, 27 ; agrees to boundary as defined by Treaty of Paris, 36. Oswegatchie (now Ogdensburg), 38. Oswego, 38, 96. Ottawa, River, 2, 339. — (Bytowny, town, in, 132, 176, 199, 219, 235, 245, 266, 298. Outard, River, 95. Pakenham, Mr., British Minister at Washington, 253. Pakington, Sir John, Secretary of State, 207. Palmerston, Lord, 193; rejects proposal of American Govern- ment for a new survey of Cana- dian boundary, 32. 360 INDEX I'anet, M., Speaker of first Lower Canadian Assembly, 52. Papiueau, L., Speaker of House of Assembly, 108, 119, 120, 140, J73> ir^j 201, 216; Lord Dal- housie refuses to sanction his re-election, iio; character of, 116; his party determined to split from Great Britain, 137; his arrest ordered, 138 ; his escape, 139; sentence on, 146; his return to Canada, 194. Paris, Treaty of (1763), 4. (1783), 27, 126; allotment of Islands to Great Britain under, 34; fishing rights under, 36 ; provisions as to recovery of debts under, 37. Passamaquoddy Bay, 28, 34. — Islands, 34. Peace, River, 79. Pearse, Island, 335, Peel, Sir Robert, 1 78. Pelham, Lord, Secretary of State, 81. Pembina. 82, 271. Peninsular \Var, 88. Pennsylvania, Charter of, 15. — province of, 15. Philadelphia, General Congress at, sends address to inhabitants of Quebec, October 1774, 19. Philipeaux Island, 35. Pictou County, 156. Plattsburg, 95, 98, 99. Plessis, Bishop of Quebec, receives title of Archbishop, but not officially recognized, 108. Pohenagamook, Lake, 32. Point Levis, 21. Pointe Au Fer, 38. Polk, American President, 253. Pontiac, Indian war of (1763-5), Porcupine, River, 334. Portage la j^rairie, 271. Portland, 247. — Channel, 334, 335. — Duke of, Secretary of Slate, 60. Port Moody, 295. Port Sarnia, 176, 214. Postal and telegraphic communica- tion, 247, 262, 263. Presbyterian Church, college established by, 135. Prescott, General, Governor, quarrel with Executive Coimcil by, 62-3. Preston, Major, defence of St. John's by, 21. Prevost, Sir George, Governor, 7 1 , 89, 98, 99, 102, 104, 154; his diplomacy, 90 ; in command at attack on Sackett's Harbour, 92 ; opposes second attack on Sackett's Harbour, 96 ; com- mands expedition against Platts- burg, 99 ; his responsibility for its failure, 100; vindicated by Dukeof Wellington, 100; popu- lar with French Canadians, 100; his departure from Canada and death, 100. Prince Edward Island (St. John's), J 60, 229, 237, 244, 246, 282, 316. Prince of Wales Island, 333, 334, 335- Privy Council (British), decisions of, 317. 3i8> 319. 320, 321. (Canadian) constitution of, 276. Proclamation of October 7, 1763, 4. 9' i3> 29. Proctor, Colonel, compels sur- render of American force at Frenchtown, 91 ; fails in attack on Fort Meigs, 91 ; defeated at Moraviantown, 94 ; court-martial on and publicly reprimanded, 94. Protection, question of, 220-2, 302-5, 307. Puget Sound, 253. Quebec, Anglican Bishop of, 65. — province of, 2, 6, 42, 44, 61, 79, 122, 244, 276, 278, 282, 286, 287, 298, 310, 314, 316, 319, 321, 331, 332; its boundaries, 6, 15, 28-33. — city of, 2, 6, 8, 21, 26, 44, 45, .S7, 63, 78, 86, 105, 107, 123, 146, 154, 1^13, 172, 176, 199, INDEX 361 201, 213, 214, 219, 235, 246, 247, 308 ; siege of, 22. Quebec Act (1774), remedied certain religious and legal grievances, 8, 10, 17; Council under, 11, 12; the case for the Act, 12 ; whole of American West included in Government of Quebec by, 1 3 ; new boundary of Quebec fixed by, 15, 35 ; revoked commissions to judges and other officials, 24 ; its provisions as to religion re- enacted in the Constitutional Act of I7tji, 49. — Conference, 1864, 230, 232, 233, 237' 239- (Queen's College, Kingston (Presby- terian), 183. Queenston, 98; battle at, 91, loi. Qu'Appelle, Fort, 82. Qiiinte, Bay of, 38, 43, 73. Railway development, 213, 214, 235> 237, -'38, 240, 247, 272-3, 286-96, 340. Raisin, River, 91. Ray, Cape, 36. Rebellion Losses Bill (1849), 196- 8, 200, 215. Rebellionof 1837, the, 137-44, 200. Reciprocity Treaty with United States (1854), 210, 246, 278, 279, 300. proposal for nev.' (1874), 301 ; (1891), 308. Red River, 81,82,83,258, 290,291. Expedition, 272, 298. Settlement, 81-85, 249, 255, 263, 264. Redistribution Act of 1S82, 315. ' Reds,' the, 202. Reform Bill of 1829, 113 ; of 1885, 316. Regina, 330, 338. Responsible government, first sug- gestions of, 67 ; further sugges- tions of, 119-20; opinion of Gosford Commission on, 121; demand for in Upper Canada, 130 ; Lord Durham's Report on, 151 ; movement towards in INIari- time Provinces, 157, 159; ques- tion of at passing of Union Acl , 167, 168 ; attitijde concerning. I 74 ; resolutions of Canadian Parliament regarding, I74~5 ! triumph of in Maritime Pro- vinces, 186-90; Lord Elgin's views on, 2IJ. Revenue of Canada in 1799,63, 65. Riche, Point, 36. RichelieU; River, 19, 21, 138, 176. Richmond, Duke 'of, Governor, 104, 125; imitates blustering and verbose style of Sir J. Craig, 104; asks Assembly for much increased Civil List, 1 04 ; sudden death from hydrophobia, 104. Rideau Canal, the, 132. — Lake, 132. — River, 132. Riel, Louis, 305 ; leads half-breeds in resisting transfer of Hudson's Bay Company's territory, 269 ; attempts to starve out M'-Dougall at Pembina, 271 ; sets up dicta- torship, 271 ; puts to death Thomas Scott, 271 ; Red River Expedition sent against, 272 ; his escape, 272 ; reward offered for his apprehension, 298 ; re- turned as member of Parliament, but expelled, 298 ; banished for five years, 299 ; invited by half- breeds to champion their claims, 329-30; defeated and captured, 330; hanged, 331. Riviere-du-loup, 214, 278. Road-system of Canada, 122. Robinson, John Beverley, Attorney- General of Upper Canada, after- wards Chief Justice, 106, 165. Rocky Mountains, 36, 79, 80, 247, 249, 252, 259, 268, 273, 290, 29i> 339- Roebuck, John, 146, 257. Rolph, Dr., a leader in Canadian rebellion, 126, 133, 141, 142, 143, 205. Roman Catholic Church, liberty of doctrines guaranteed by Treaty of Paris, 4 ; status of, 8 ; position of under Constitutional Act ol 1 791, 52-4 ; question of right of 362 INDEX patronage in, 70 ; policy of Lord Dalhousie concerning, 107 ; col- lege established by, 13-; ; its attitude towards rebellion of '837,138; supports Lord Elgin's policy of land settlement, 194; its power in Lower Canada, 206 ; hostile to transfer of Hudson's Bay Company's territory, 268; powers and privileges imder education acts in Quebec and Manitoba, 319-24. Romilly, S., legal opinion of, 81. Roosevelt, President, 336. Rosario Straits, 284. Rosiers, Cape, 6. Ross, John, Canadian statesman, 215. Royal Island, 35. Rupert's Land, 244, 263, 268, 270, 272, 339- Russell, Lord John, Secretary of State, 163, 176, 188, 221 ; atti- tude of regarding responsible government, 157, 167, 168 and «., 186; speech on Australian Government Bill, 204. — Peter, Acting Governor of Upper Canada, 76. Ryerson, Egerton, a leadingMetho- dist, 130. Ryland, George, Secretary to Governor, 69 ; his mission in England, 70, 7:. Sackett's Harbour, 91, 92, 96, 98. Sagucnay, River, 194. Salaberry, de. Colonel, commands French Canadians at battle of Chatcaugiiay, 95, loi. — Colonel son of above\ 271. Salisbury, Lord, 283, 331. San Juan, Island, 283. Sandwich, 89, 91, 94. Saratoga, 23. Saskatchewan, district, 256, 258, 266, 338. — River, 25S, 268. Sault-au-Matelot, 22. Sault Ste. Marie, 80, S3, 2S2. Schuyler, General Philip, 20, 21. Scoodic, River, 28, 29. Scott, Thomas, put to death by Reil in Red River Rebellion, 271 , 298, 299, 331. Selkirk, Lord, 258; his coloniza- tion scheme, Si ; arrival of first settlers of, 81 ; action of North- West Company towards, 82 ; destruction of settlement of, 83 ; his action and visit to site of colony, S3 ; the case in the law courts, 83 ; ignores warrant for his arrest, 84 ; outcome of the contest, 85 ; his interests acquir- ed by Hudson's Bay Company, 249. Semple, Governor of Fort Douglas, 83. Seven \ ears' \\ ar, 80. Shcaffe, Major-Gcneral, 91, 92. Shebandowa, Lake, 272. Shelbume, Lord, Secretary of State, 27. Sherbrooke, Sir John Coape, Go- vernor, 83, 84, 154; continues conciliatory policy of Prevost, 103 ; resigns at critical time, 104 ; his attitude on question of L^nion of Upper and Lower Canada, 106. Sicotte, Louis, politician, after- wards judge, 224, 225. Sierra Leone, 77. Sifton,Clifford, Minister of Interior, 338. Simcoe, Colonel John Graves, Lieutenant-Governor of U])pcr Canada, 58 ; his dispute with Lord Dorchester, 58, 74 ; a great road-builder, 58, 74 ; his efforts on behalf of Education, 134. — Lake, 74, 133. Simpson, Sir George, Governor of Hudson's Bay Company, 256. Simpson's River, 80. Sitklan, Island, 335. Smith, Chief Justice, his plan for a General Assembly, 48. — Donald (now Lord Strathcona), 271, 295, 296. — Goldwin, 306. .Souris, River, 82. South African War, 342. INDEX 363 Spain, Treaty between United States and (1819), 252. Stanley, Lord, Secretary of State, 179, 183, 191, 328. St. Charles, 138, 139. St. Clair Flats, 282. Lake, 94. River, 1 76. St. Croix, River, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32. St. Denis, 138, 139. St. Eustache, 139. Ste. Foy, 22. St. Francis, Lake, 127. — — River, 31, 32, 63. Stikine, River, 334. St. John, Cape, 36. Lake, 6. River, 6, 30, 3i)32, 278. St. John's, town of, 19, 20, 22; cap- tured by General Montgomery, 21. Island (Prince Edward Is- land), 159, 160. St. Just, Letellier de, Lieutenant- Governor of Quebec, 314, 315. St. Lawrence Canal, 301. Gulf of, 6. River, 1 , 6, 28, 29, 36, 43, 56, 78,92,95, 105, 106, 107, III, 127, 132, 173, 176, 210, 213, 214, 282, 300. vSt. Louis, Lake, 95, 127. St. Maurice, River, 194. Stoney Creek, battle at, 94. Stopford, Captain, capitulates at Chambly, 21. St. Ours, 138. St. Paul, 271. St. Peter, Lake, 176, 201. Strachan, Dr. (Archdeacon, after- wards Bishop), 84, 128, 131, 13.5, 165, 169, 219. Strathcona, Lord, 249, 296 ; re- marks on Western development, 339. See Smith, Donald. St. Regis, 36. Stuart, Scottish lawyer, afterwards Chief Justice, 103. Sumner, Mr., American statesman, 280. Superior, Lake, 35, 80, 265, 272, 290: 339- Swiss Republic, President of, 2 84. Sydenham, Lord. See Thomson, Charles Poulett. Tache, Roman Catholic Bishop (afterwards Archbishop), 268, 271) 299, 329. — Dr. (afterwards Sir) Etiemie, Prime Minister, 216, 225, 237. Tecumseh, Shawnee Chief, 40 ; killed at Moraviantown, 94. Temiscouata, Lake, 30. Thames, River, 94. Thompson, Sir John, Prime Minister, 321. Thomson, Charles Poulett (after- wards Lord Sydenham), Go- vernor, 163, 172, 173, 178, 183, 1S6, 201, 235 ; summons Special Council, 164; on the situation at passing of Union Act, 166 ; his opinion on the question of responsible govern- ment, 168 ; his activity, 169 ; difficulties in way of, 1 70 ; passes measure of local govern- ment, 171 ; resolutions drafted by regarding responsible govern- ment, 174-5; his confidence, 176; death of, 177. Thornton, Sir Edward, minister at Washington, 280, 300, 318, Thorpe, Thomas, Upper Canadian judge, 77. Three Rivers, district, 44, 122. town, 2, 52, 107. Thunder Bay, 272. Ticonderoga, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24. Tilley, S. L., New Brunswick statesman, 238, 276, 304. Tongas Channel, 335. Toronto (York),7, 475, 134,142, 143, 165, 176,199, 214, 219, 235, 2S6. Treaties — Alaska Boundary Commission (1903). 334-6- Anglo-French Agreement(i 904) , 36. Ashburton (1842), 32, 252. Convention with U.S. (1818), 249, 252, 278, 279, 282. (1827), 252, 253. 3^4 I.XDEX Treaties [loiU.) — Easton (1758), 15. Jay's (1794), 28. Ghent (1S14), 30, 100. Paris (1763), 4, 159. — (1783;, 27-30, 54-6, 126. Reciprocit)' Treaty with United States (1854), 210, 246, 278, 279) 300, 308. Spain, with United States (1819), 252. Washington (1846), 253. _ 1871}, 279-85, 301,334. Trent, River, 43. Trent, the, 223. Trenton, Battle of, 23. Trinity University (Anglican), 219. Truro, 278. Tupper, Dr. (afterwards Sir) Charles, Prime Minister, 229, _ 238, i',6, 293, 295, 322, 323. Turton, Thomas, member of Lord Durham's staff, 146. Two Mountains, county of the, 139. Union Act (1840), 163-84. Union of Upper and Lower Canada, question of, 106, 107, 112; union as against confederation, 152; Union Act of 1840, 163- 84 ; number of representatives in united Legislature, 165 ; con- ditions of, 166 ; acceptance of conditions, 167; Act of Union passed by Imperial Parliament, 1 70 ; first Ministry under Union, 171. United Empire Loyalists, 73, 78, 86, 134, 340. United States, 2, 137. 195, 233,236, 266, 268, 270, 278, 302, 304, 7,11, 318, 321, 339, 341, 342; boundary questions between Canada ancl, 27-36; fishing rights of under Treaty of Paris, 36 ; i)rovisions as to recovery of debts under Treaty of 1783, 37; emigration of loyalists from, 37 ; fails to fulfil obligations towards American loyalists, 38; war between Indians and, 39, 40 ; prosjiccts of war between Great Britain and, 65, 66, 71 ; war with in 1812, 71 ; emigrants from, 75 ; danger to Canada of emigrants fiom, 77; causes and issue of the war with Great Britain, 87; invasion of Canada by, 89, 91 ; troops of surrender at Detroit, 90 ; Prevost ananges armistice with, 90 ; naval power of on Lakes, 91, 92, 94, 98; defeat of at (^ueenston, 91 ; invade Canada for third time, 91 ; battles with at Frenchtown, Fort Meigs, Ogdensburg, Sack- ett's Harbour, Stoney Creek, Lake Erie, Moraviantown, Chrystler's Farm, River Cha- teauguay. Fort Niagara, Fort Erie, Ciiippawa, Lundy's Lane, and Plattsburg, 91-100; Treaty of Client witii. 100; character of war with, 100; filibusteis from burn Canadian steamer and make raids on Upper Canada, 149 ; fear of war with over Oregon boundary question, 191 ; suggestions of annexation to, 196, 199, 276 ; Reciprocity Treaty with Canada, 210; im- minence of war with over afl'air of Trent, 223 ; would have absorbed Upper Canada but for Confederation, 236; American and AustralianConstitulions com- pared with Canadian, 241 ; refuses to renew Reciprocity Treaty, 246; Fenian raid from, 246; dispute witii in regard to Oregon territory, 250, 252-4; possibility of purchasing Hudson's Bay Company's territory, 267 ; pur- chases Alaska from Russia, 267; fisheries question dispute, 279, 282-3; Wasliiiigton Joint High Commission, 2 79 -85 ; refuses to indemnify Canada for Fenian raid, 279-80; fisheriesarbitration under \Vashington Treaty, 283 ; dispute over San Juan Island, 283-5 ; lefuses to accept new Reciprocity Treaty, 301 ; move- ment for commercial union with, INDEX 36= 306-8 ; probable political results of commercial union with, 309; Mr. E. Blake on commercial imion with, 311 ; McKinley tariff of, 312 ; dispute with over Alaska boundary, 333-6 ; emi- gration from into Canada, 339- 40. Upper Canada Academy (Victoria College) established, 135. Upper Canada Municipalities' Fund, 209. Vancouver, explorer, 250. — Fort, 252. — Island, 253, 254-6, 259, 260, 261, 283-5, 292. Venezuela Boundary Convention, .334-. Victoria, Queen, 160, 191, 219,329. — College (Upper Canada Aca- demy) established (Methodist), .135, 183. Viger, D. B., Lower Canadian statesman, 182. Vincennes, 35. Wabash, River, 35. Wakefield, Gibbon, 146, 150, 151. Walker, T., disputes fermented by,_7- Washington, George, cautious atti- tude of towards Canadians, 20. — city, 149, 336. — Joint High Commission, 279- 85. 301, 312. — State, 250. — Treaty (1846), 253. (1871), 279-85, 301, 334. Watkin, Edward (afterward Sir), railway promoter, 263, 264. Watson, Lord, 243. Wayne, General, commands American forces in Indian war of 1794, 40. Webster, Daniel, American Secre- tary of State, 32. Weir, Lieutenant, murder of, 139. Welland Canal, the, 132, 148, 176, 301. Wellington, Duke of, 125, 182 ; on Prevost's failure, 100, loi ; on Lord Durham, 147; objec- tions of to union, 170;/. West Durham, 336. West Indies, 300. Wilkinson, American General, 95. Willamette Valley, 253. William IV, 122 ; his opposition to elective Legislative Council, 119. William, Fort, 83. William Henry (Sorel), 52. Willis, Judge, 127. — Lady Mary, 127. Willison, Mr., author, 292, 303, .?30- Wilmott, Lemuel Allan, New Brunswick statesman, 159, 189. Wiman, Erastus, Canadian advo- cate of union with States, 307. Windsor, 214. Winnipeg (Fort Garry), 264, 291, 338. 339- — Lake, 81, 26S, 339. Wisconsin, 336. Wolfe, General, 61, iii. Wolseley, Colonel (now Lord), commands Red River Expedi- tion, 272. Woods, Lake of the, 35, 36, 268, 3'8. Wooster, General, succeeds Mont- gomery in command of American forces, 22 ; retires from siege of Quebec, 22. X. Y. Company, the, 81. Yale, 295. Yellowhead Pass, 291. Yeo, James, British Commodore, 92, 94, 96. York (Toronto), 75, 85, 92. — Duke of, Commander-in-Chief, 94> 159- York Factory, 81. Yorktown, 27. Young, Sir John (afterwards Lord Lisgar), Governor- General, 278, 328. Yukon, 334. OXFORD PRINTED AT IHE CLARENDON PRESS BY HORACE HART, M.A. PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. Series 9482 3 1205 02529 6672 AA 000 879 231 9