Читать книгу Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of Elgin - Earl of James Bruce Elgin - Страница 32

[Sidenote: Commercial depression.]

The winter of 1848 passed quietly; but the commercial depression, which was then everywhere prevalent, weighed heavily on Canada, more especially on the Upper Province. In one of his letters Lord Elgin caught himself, so to speak, using the words, 'the downward progress of events.' He proceeds:—

The downward progress of events! These are ominous words. But look at the facts. Property in most of the Canadian towns, and more especially in the capital, has fallen fifty per cent. in value within the last three years. Three-fourths of the commercial men are bankrupt, owing to Free-trade; a large proportion of the exportable produce of Canada is obliged to seek a market in the States. It pays a duty of twenty per cent. on the frontier. How long can such a state of things be expected to endure?

Depend upon it, our commercial embarrassments are our real difficulty. Political discontent, properly so called, there is none. I really believe no country in the world is more free from it. We have, indeed, national antipathies hearty and earnest enough. We suffer, too, from the inconvenience of having to work a system which is not yet thoroughly in gear. Reckless and unprincipled men take advantage of these circumstances to work into a fever every transient heat that affects the public mind. Nevertheless, I am confident I could carry Canada unscathed through all these evils of transition, and place the connection on a surer foundation than ever, if I could only tell the people of the province that as regards the conditions of material prosperity, they would be raised to a level with their neighbours. But if this be not achieved, if free navigation and reciprocal trade with the Union be not secured for us, the worst, I fear, will come, and that at no distant day.

[Sidenote: Political discontent.]

Unfortunately, powerful interests in the one case, indifference and apathy in the other, prevented these indispensable measures, as he always maintained them to be, from being carried for many years; and in the meantime a most serious fever of political discontent was in effect worked up, out of a heat which ought to have been as transient as the cause of it was intrinsically unimportant.

[Sidenote: Rebellion Losses Bill.]

Irritated by loss of office, groaning under the ruin of their trade, outraged moreover (for so they represented it to themselves) in their best and most patriotic feelings by seeing 'Rebels' in the seat of power, the Ex-ministerial party were in a mood to resent every measure of the Government, and especially every act of the Governor-General. When Parliament met on January 18, he took advantage of the repeal of the law restricting the use of the French language, to deliver his speech in French as well as in English: even this they turned to his reproach. But their wrath rose to fury on the introduction of a Bill 'to provide for the indemnification of parties in Lower Canada whose property was destroyed during the Rebellion in 1837 and 1838:' a 'questionable measure,' to use Lord Elgin's own words in first mentioning it, 'but one which the preceding administration had rendered almost inevitable by certain proceedings adopted by them' in Lord Metcalfe's time. As the justification of the measure is thus rested on its previous history, a brief retrospect is necessary before proceeding with the account of transactions which formed an epoch in the history of the colony, as well as in the life of the Governor.

[Sidenote: History of the measure.]

Within a very short time after the close of the Rebellion of 1837 and 1838, the attention of both sections of the colony was directed to compensating those who had suffered by it. First came the case of the primary sufferers, if so they may be called; that is, the Loyalists, whose property had been destroyed by Rebels. Measures were at once taken to indemnify all such persons—in Upper Canada, by an Act passed in the last session of its separate Parliament; in Lower Canada, by an ordinance of the 'Special Council' under which it was at that time administered. But it was felt that this was not enough; that where property had been wantonly and unnecessarily destroyed, even though it were by persons acting in support of authority, some compensation ought to be given; and the Upper Canada Act above mentioned was amended next year, in the first session of the United Parliament, so as to extend to all losses occasioned by violence on the part of persons acting or assuming to act on Her Majesty's behalf. Nothing was done at this time about Lower Canada; but it was obviously inevitable that the treatment applied to the one province should be extended to the other. Accordingly, in 1845, during Lord Metcalfe's Government, and under a Conservative Administration, an Address was adopted unanimously by the Assembly, praying His Excellency to cause proper measures to be taken 'in order to insure to the inhabitants of that portion of the province, formerly Lower Canada, indemnity for just losses by them sustained during the Rebellion of 1837 and 1838.'

In pursuance of this address, a Commission was appointed to inquire into the claims of persons whose property had been destroyed in the rebellion; the Commissioners receiving instructions to distinguish the cases of those persons who had joined, aided, or abetted in the said rebellion, from the case of those who had not. On inquiring how they were to distinguish, they were officially answered that in making out the classification 'it was not His Excellency's intention that they should be guided by any other description of evidence than that furnished by the sentences of the Courts of Law.' It was also intimated to them that they were only intended to form a 'general estimate' of the rebellion losses, 'the particulars of which must form the subject of more minute inquiry hereafter under legislative authority.'

In obedience to these instructions, the Commissioners made their investigations, and reported that they had recognised, as worthy of further inquiry, claims representing a sum total of 241,965_l_. 10_s_. 5_d_., but they added an expression of opinion that the losses suffered would be found, on closer examination, not to exceed the value of 100,000_l_.

This Report was rendered in April 1846; but though Lord Metcalfe's Ministry which had issued the Commission, avowedly as preliminary to a subsequent and more minute inquiry, remained in office for nearly two years longer, they took no steps towards carrying out their declared intentions.

So the matter stood in March 1848, when, as has been already stated, a new administration was formed, consisting mainly of persons whose political sympathies were with Lower Canada. It was natural that they should take up the work left half done by their predecessors; and early in 1849 they introduced a Bill which was destined to become notorious under the name of the 'Rebellion Losses Bill.' The preamble of it declared that in order to redeem the pledge already given to parties in Lower Canada, it was necessary and just that the particulars of such losses as were not yet satisfied, should form the subject of more minute inquiry under legislative authority; and that the same, so far only as they might have arisen from the 'total or partial unjust or wanton destruction' of property, should be paid and satisfied. A proviso was added that no person who had been convicted, or pleaded guilty, of treason during the rebellion should be entitled to any indemnity for losses sustained in connection with it. The Bill itself authorised the appointment of Commissioners for the purpose of the Act, and the appropriation of 90,000_l_. to the payment of claims that might arise under it; following in this respect the opinion expressed by Lord Metcalfe's preliminary Commission of enquiry.

[Sidenote: Excitement respecting it.]

Such was the measure—so clearly inevitable in its direction, so modest in its proportions—which, falling on an inflamed state of the public mind in Canada, and misunderstood in England, was the occasion of riot and nearly of rebellion in the Province, and exposed the Governor-General, who sanctioned it, to severe censure on the part of many whose opinion he most valued at home. His own feelings on its introduction, his opinion of its merits, and his reasons for the course which he pursued in dealing with it, cannot be better stated than in his own words. Writing to Lord Grey on March 1, he says:—

A good deal of excitement and bad feeling has been stirred in the province by the introduction of a measure by the Ministry for the payment of certain rebellion losses in Lower Canada. I trust that it will soon subside, and that no enduring mischief will ensue from it, but the Opposition leaders have taken advantage of the circumstances to work upon the feelings of old Loyalists as opposed to Rebels, of British as opposed to French, and of Upper Canadians as opposed to Lower; and thus to provoke from various parts of the province the expression of not very temperate or measured discontent. I am occasionally rated in not very courteous language, and peremptorily required to dissolve the Parliament which was elected only one year ago, under the auspices of this same clamorous Opposition, who were then in power. The measure itself is not indeed altogether free from objection, and I very much regret that an addition should be made to our debt for such an object at this time. Nevertheless, I must say I do not see how my present Government could have taken any other course in this matter than that which they have followed. Their predecessors had already gone more than half-way in the same direction, though they had stopped short, and now tell us that they never intended to go farther. If the Ministry had failed to complete the work of alleged justice to Lower Canada which had been commenced by the former Administration, M. Papineau would most assuredly have availed himself of the plea to undermine their influence in this section of the province. The debates in Parliament on this question have been acrimonious and lengthy, but M. Lafontaine's resolutions were finally passed by a majority of fifty to twenty-two.

Dissensions of this class place in strong relief the passions and tendencies which render the endurance of the political system which we have established here, and of the connection with the mother-country, uncertain and precarious. They elicit a manifestation of antipathy between races and of jealousy between the recently united provinces, which is much to be regretted. This measure of indemnity to Lower Canada is, however, the last of the kind, and if it be once settled satisfactorily, a formidable stumblingblock will have been removed from my path.

A fortnight later he adds:—

The Tory party are doing what they can by menace, intimidation, and appeals to passion to drive me to a coup d'État. And yet the very measure which is at this moment the occasion of so loud an outcry, is nothing more than a strict logical following out of their own acts. It is difficult to conceive what the address on the subject of rebellion losses in Lower Canada, unanimously voted by the House of Assembly while Lord Metcalfe was governor and Mr. Draper minister, and the proceedings of the Administration upon that address could have been meant to lead to, if not to such a measure as the present Government have introduced.

I enclose a letter which has been published in the newspapers by A. M. Masson, one of the Bermuda exiles,[1] who was appointed to an office by the late Government. This person will be excluded from compensation by the Bill of the present Government, and he positively asserts that Lord Metcalfe and some of his Ministers assured him that he would be included by them.

I certainly regret that this agitation should have been stirred, and that any portion of the funds of the province should be diverted now from much more useful purposes to make good losses sustained by individuals in the rebellion. But I have no doubt whatsoever that a great deal of property was wantonly and cruelly destroyed at that time in Lower Canada. Nor do I think that this Government, after what their predecessors had done, and with Papineau in the rear, could have helped taking up this question. Neither do I think that their measure would have been less objectionable, but very much the reverse, if, after the lapse of eleven years, and the proclamation of a general amnesty, it had been so framed as to attach the stigma of Rebellion to others than those regularly convicted before the Courts. Any kind of extra-judicial inquisition conducted at this time of day by Commissioners appointed by the Government, with the view of ascertaining what part this or that claimant for indemnity may have taken in 1837 and 1838, would have been attended by consequences much to be regretted, and have opened the door to an infinite amount of jobbing, false swearing, and detraction.

[Sidenote: Petitions against it.]

[Sidenote: Neutrality of the Governor.]

Petitions against the measure were got up by the Tories in all parts of the province; but these, instead of being sent to the Assembly, or to the Legislative Council, or to the Home Government, were almost all addressed to Lord Elgin personally; obviously with the design of producing a collision between him and his Parliament. They generally prayed either that Parliament might be dissolved, or that the Bill, if it passed, might be reserved for the royal sanction. All such addresses, and the remonstrances brought to him by deputations of malcontents, he received with civility, promising to bestow on them his best consideration, but studiously avoiding the expression of any opinion on the points in controversy. By thus maintaining a strictly constitutional position, he foiled that section of the agitators who calculated on his being frightened or made angry, while he left a door open for any who might have candour enough to admit that after all he was only carrying out fairly the principle of responsible government.

In pursuance of this policy he put off to the latest moment any decision as to the course which he should take with respect to the Bill when it came up to him for his sanction. As regards a dissolution, indeed, he felt from the beginning that it would be sheer folly, attended by no small risk. Was he to have recourse to this ultima ratio, merely because a parliament elected a year before, under the auspices of the party now in opposition, had passed, by a majority of nearly two to one, a measure introduced by the present Government, in pursuance of the acts of a former one?

If I had dissolved Parliament, I might have produced a rebellion, but most assuredly I should not have procured a change of Ministry. The leaders of the party know that as well as I do, and were it possible to play tricks in such grave concerns, it would have been easy to throw them into utter confusion by merely calling upon them to form a Government. They were aware, however, that I could not for the sake of discomfiting them hazard so desperate a policy: so they have played out their game of faction and violence without fear of consequences.

The other course urged upon him by the Opposition, namely, that of reserving the Bill for the consideration of the Home Government, may appear to have been open to no such objections, and to have been in fact the wisest course which he could pursue, in circumstances of so much delicacy. And this seems to have been the opinion of many in England, who were disposed to approve of his general policy; but it may be doubted whether they had weighed all the considerations which presented themselves to the mind of the Governor on the spot, and which he stated to Lord Grey as follows:—

There are objections, too, to reserving the Bill which I think I shall consider insurmountable, whatever obloquy I may for the time entail on myself by declining to lend myself even to this extent to the plans of those who wish to bring about a change of administration.

In the first place the Bill for the relief of a corresponding class of persons in Upper Canada, which was couched in terms very nearly similar, was not reserved, and it is difficult to discover a sufficient reason, in so far as the representative of the Crown is concerned, for dealing with the one measure differently from the other. And in the second place, by reserving the Bill I should only throw upon Her Majesty's Government, or (as it would appear to the popular eye here) on Her Majesty herself, a responsibility which rests, and ought, I think, to rest, on my own shoulders. If I pass the Bill, whatever mischief ensues may probably be repaired, if the worst comes to the worst, by the sacrifice of me. Whereas, if the case be referred to England, it is not impossible that Her Majesty may only have before her the alternative of provoking a rebellion in Lower Canada, by refusing her assent to a measure chiefly affecting the interest of the habitans, and thus throwing the whole population into Papineau's hands, or of wounding the susceptibilities of some of the best subjects she has in the province. For among the objectors to this Bill are undoubtedly to be found not a few who belong to this class; men who are worked upon by others more selfish and designing, to whom the principles of constitutional Government are unfathomable mysteries, and who still regard the representative of royalty, and in a more remote sense the Crown and Government of England, if not as the objects of a very romantic loyalty (for that, I fear, is fast waning), at least as the butts of a most intense and unrelenting: indignation, if political affairs be not administered in entire accordance with their sense of what is right.

In solving these knotty problems, and choosing his course of action, the necessities of the situation required that he should be guided by his own unaided judgment, and act entirely on his own responsibility. For although, throughout all his difficulties, in the midst of the reproaches with which he was assailed both in the colony and in England, he had the great satisfaction of knowing that his conduct was entirely approved by Lord Grey, to whom he opened all his mind in private letters, the official communications which passed between them were necessarily very reserved. The following extract illustrates well this peculiarity in the position of a British Colonial Governor, who has two popular Assemblies and two public presses to consider:—

Perhaps you may have been annoyed by my not writing officially to you ere this so as to give you communications to send to Parliament. All that I can say on that point is, that I have got through this disagreeable affair as well as I have done only by maintaining my constitutional position, listening civilly to all representations addressed to me against the measure, and adhering to a strict reserve as to the course which I might deem it proper eventually to pursue. By following this course I have avoided any act or expression which might have added fuel to the flame; and although I have been plentifully abused, because it has been the policy of the Opposition to drag me into the strife, no one can say that I have said or done anything to justify the abuse. And the natural effect of such patient endurance is now beginning to show itself in the moderated tone of the organs of the Opposition press. You will perceive, however, that I could not possibly have maintained this position here, if despatches from me indicating the Ministerial policy had been submitted to the House of Commons. They would have found their way out here at once. Every statement and opinion would have formed the subject of discussion, and I should have found myself in the midst of the mêlée a partisan.

To counteract the violent and reckless efforts of the Opposition, Lord Elgin trusted partly to the obvious reasonableness of the proposal under discussion, but more to the growth of a patriotic spirit which should lead the minority to prefer the rule of a majority within the province to the coercion of a power from without. Something also he hoped from the effect of the many excellent measures brought in about the same time by his new Ministry, 'the first really efficient and working Government that Canada had had since the Union.' Nor were these hopes altogether disappointed. Writing on April 12 he observed, that a marked change had taken place within the last few weeks in the tone both of the press[2] and of the leaders of the party, some of whom had given him to understand, through different channels, that they regretted things had gone so far. 'But,' he adds, 'whether the gales from England will stir the tempest again or not remains to be seen.'

[Sidenote: Opinions in England.]

And, in effect, the next post from England came laden with speeches and newspaper articles, denouncing, in no measured terms, the 'suicidal folly of rewarding rebels for rebellion.' A London journal of influence, speaking of the British population as affected by the measure in question, said:—'They are tolerably able to take care of themselves, and we very much misconstrue the tone adopted by the English press and the English public in the province, if they do not find some means of resisting the heavy blow and great discouragement which is aimed at them.' Such passages were read with avidity in the colony, and construed to mean that sympathy would be extended from influential quarters at home to those who sought to annul the obnoxious decision of the local Legislature, whatever might be the means to which they resorted for the attainment of that end. It may be doubted, however, whether any extraneous disturbance of this kind had much to do with the volcanic outburst of local passions which ensued, and which is now to be related.

[Sidenote: The Bill is passed,]

The Bill was passed in the Assembly by forty-seven votes to eighteen. On analysing the votes, it was found that out of thirty-one members from Upper Canada who voted on the occasion, seventeen supported and fourteen opposed it; and that of ten members for Lower Canada, of British descent, six supported and four opposed it.

These facts (wrote Lord Elgin) seemed altogether irreconcilable with the allegation that the question was one on which the two races were arrayed against each other throughout the province generally. I considered, therefore, that by reserving the Bill, I should only cast on Her Majesty and Her Majesty's advisers a responsibility which ought, in the first instance at least, to rest on my own shoulders, and that I should awaken in the minds of the people at large, even of those who were indifferent or hostile to the Bill, doubts as to the sincerity with which it was intended that constitutional Government should be carried on in Canada; doubts which it is my firm conviction, if they were to obtain generally, would be fatal to the connection.

[Sidenote: and receives the Royal Assent.]

Accordingly, when, on April 25, 1849, circumstances made it necessary for him to proceed to Parliament in order to give the Royal Assent to a Customs Bill which had that day passed the Legislative Council, he considered that, as this necessity had arisen, it would not be expedient to keep the public mind in suspense by omitting to dispose, at the same time, of the other Acts which still awaited his decision, among which was the 'Act to provide for the indemnification of parties in Lower Canada whose property was destroyed during the Rebellion in 1837 and 1838.' What followed is thus described in an official despatch written within a few days after the event:—

[Sidenote: Riots.]

When I left the House of Parliament I was received with mingled cheers and hootings by a crowd by no means numerous which surrounded the entrance to the building. A small knot of individuals, consisting, it has since been ascertained, of persons of a respectable class in society, pelted the carriage with missiles which they must have brought with them for the purpose. Within an hour after this occurrence a notice, of which I enclose a copy, issued from one of the newspaper offices, calling a meeting in the open air. At the meeting inflammatory speeches were made. On a sudden, whether under the effect of momentary excitement, or in pursuance of a plan arranged beforehand, the mob proceeded to the House of Parliament, where the members were still sitting, and breaking the windows, set fire to the building and burned it to the ground. By this wanton act public property of considerable value, including two excellent libraries, has been utterly destroyed. Having achieved their object the crowd dispersed, apparently satisfied with what they had done. The members were permitted to retire unmolested, and no resistance was offered to the military who appeared on the ground after a brief interval, to restore order, and aid in extinguishing the flames. During the two following days a good deal of excitement prevailed in the streets, and some further acts of incendiarism were perpetrated. Since then the military force has been increased, and the leaders of the disaffected party have shown a disposition to restrain their followers, and to direct their energies towards the more constitutional object of petitioning the Queen for my recall, and the disallowance of the obnoxious Bill. The proceedings of the House of Assembly will also tend to awe the turbulent. I trust, therefore, that the peace of the city will not be again disturbed.

The Ministry are blamed for not having made adequate provision against these disasters. That they by no means expected that the hostility to the Rebellion Losses Bill would have displayed itself in the outrages which have been perpetrated during the last few days is certain.[3] Perhaps sufficient attention was not paid by them to the menaces of the Opposition press. It must be admitted, however, that their position was one of considerable difficulty. The civil force of Montreal—a city containing about 50,000 inhabitants of different races, with secret societies and other agencies of mischief in constant activity—consists of two policemen under the authority of the Government, and seventy appointed by the Corporation. To oppose, therefore, effectual resistance to any considerable mob, recourse must be had in all cases either to the military or to a force of civilians enrolled for the occasion. Grave objections, however, presented themselves in the present instance to the adoption of either of these courses until the disposition to tumult on the part of the populace unhappily manifested itself in overt acts. More especially was it of importance to avoid any measure which might have had a tendency to produce a collision between parties on a question on which their feelings were so strongly excited. The result of the course pursued is, that there has been no bloodshed, and, except in the case of some of the Ministers themselves, no destruction of private property.

The passions, however, which appeared to have calmed down, burst out with fresh fury the very day on which these sentences were penned. The House of Assembly had voted, by a majority of thirty-six to sixteen, an address to the Governor-General, expressive of abhorrence at the outrages which had taken place, of loyalty to the Queen, and approval of his just and impartial administration of the Government, with his late as well as with his present advisers. It was arranged that Lord Elgin should receive this Address at the Government House instead of at Monklands. Accordingly, on April 30, he drove into the city, escorted by a troop of volunteer dragoons, and accompanied by several of his suite. On his way through the streets he was greeted with showers of stones, and with difficulty preserved his face from being injured.[4] On his return he endeavoured to avoid all occasion of conflict by going back by a different route; but the mob, discovering his purpose, rushed in pursuit, and again assailed his carriage with various missiles, and it was only by rapid driving that he escaped unhurt.[5]

None but those who were in constant intercourse with him can know what Lord Elgin went through during the period of excitement which followed these gross outrages. The people of Montreal seemed to have lost their reason. The houses of some of the Ministers and of their supporters were attacked by mobs at night, and it was not safe for them to appear in the streets. A hostile visit was threatened to the house in which the Governor-General resided at a short distance from the city; all necessary preparation was made to defend it, and his family were kept for some time in a state of anxiety and suspense.[6]

For some weeks he himself did not go into the town of Montreal, but kept entirely within the bounds of his country seat at Monklands, determined that no act of his should offer occasion or excuse to the mob for fresh outrage.[7] He knew, of course, that the whole of French Lower Canada was ready at any moment to rise, as one man, in support of the Government; but his great object was to keep them quiet, and 'to prevent collision between the races.'

[Sidenote: Firmness of the Governor.]

[Sidenote: Refuses either to use force,]

'Throughout the whole of this most trying time,' writes Major Campbell,[8] 'Lord Elgin remained perfectly calm and cool; never for a moment losing his self-possession, nor failing to exercise that clear foresight and sound judgment for which he was so remarkable. It came to the knowledge of his Ministers that, if he went into the city again, his life would be in great danger; and they advised that a commission should issue to appoint a Deputy-Governor for the purpose of proroguing Parliament. He was urged by irresponsible advisers to make use of the military forces at his command, to protect his person in an official visit to the city; but he declined to do so, and thus avoided what these infatuated rioters seemed determined to bring on—the shedding of blood. "I am prepared," he said, "to bear any amount of obloquy that may be cast upon me, but, if I can possibly prevent it, no stain of blood shall rest upon my name."'

As might have been expected, the Montreal press attributed this wise and magnanimous self-restraint to fear for his own safety. But he was not to be moved from his resolve by the paltry imputation; nor did he even care that his friends should resent or refute it on his behalf.

So little was he affected by it that on finding, some years afterwards, that Lord Grey proposed to introduce some expression of indignation on the subject in his work on the colonies, he dissuaded him from doing so. 'I do not believe,' he said, 'that these imputations were hazarded in any respectable quarter, or that they are entitled to the dignity of a place in your narrative.'

[Sidenote: or to yield to violence.]

But if neither the entreaties of 'irresponsible advisers,' nor the taunts of foes, could move him to the use of force, he was equally firm in his determination to concede nothing to the clamour and violence of the mob. Writing officially to Lord Grey on the 30th of April, when the fury of the populace was at its height, he said:—

It is my firm conviction that if this dictation be submitted to, the government of this province by constitutional means will be impossible, and that the struggle between overbearing minorities, backed by force, and majorities resting on legality and established forms, which has so long proved the bane of Canada, driving capital from the province, and producing a state of chronic discontent, will be perpetuated.

[Sidenote: Tenders resignation.]

At the same time, he thought it his duty to suggest, that 'if he should be unable to recover that position of dignified neutrality between contending parties which it had been his unremitting study to maintain,' it might be a question whether it would not be for the interests of Her Majesty's service that he should be removed, to make way for some one 'who should have the advantage of being personally unobnoxious to any section of Her Majesty's subjects within the province.'

[Sidenote: Approval of Home Government.]

The reply to this letter assured him, in emphatic terms, of the cordial approval and support of the Home Government. 'I appreciate,' wrote Lord Grey, 'the motives which have induced your Lordship to offer the suggestion with which your despatch concludes, but I should most earnestly deprecate the change it contemplates in the government of Canada. Your Lordship's relinquishment of that office, which, under any circumstances, would be a most serious loss to Her Majesty's service, and to the province, could not fail, in the present state of affairs, to be most injurious to the public welfare, from the encouragement which it would give to those who have been concerned in the violent and illegal opposition which has been offered to your Government. I also feel no doubt that when the present excitement shall have subsided, you will succeed in regaining that position of "dignified neutrality" becoming your office, which, as you justly observe, it has hitherto been your study to maintain, and from which, even those who are at present most opposed to you, will, on reflection, perceive that you have been driven, by no fault on your part, but by their own unreasoning violence.

Relying, therefore, upon your devotion to the interests of Canada, I feel assured that you will not be induced by the unfortunate occurrences which have taken place, to retire from the high office which the Queen has been pleased to entrust to you, and which, from the value she puts upon your past services, it is Her Majesty's anxious wish that you should retain.'

[Sidenote: Support in the colony.]

While awaiting, in his retreat at Monklands, the contrecoup from the mother-country of the storm which had burst over the colony, Lord Elgin found a great source of consolation in the numerous sympathetic addresses which poured in from every part of the province: fortifying him in the conviction that the heart of the colony was with him, and that the bitter opposition at Montreal was chiefly due to local causes; especially 'to commercial distress, acting on religious bigotry and national hatred.' One of these addresses, coming from the county of Glengarry, an ancient settlement of Scottish loyalists, appears to have touched the Scotsman's heart within the statesman's. In reply to it he said:—

Men of Glengarry—My heart warms within me when I listen to your manly and patriotic address.

I recognise in it evidence of that vigorous understanding which enables men of the stock to which you belong to prize, as they ought to be prized, the blessings of well-ordered freedom, and of that keen sense of principle which prompts them to recoil from no sacrifice which duty enjoins.

The men of Glengarry need not recapitulate their services. He must be ignorant indeed of the history of Canada who does not know how much they have done and suffered for their Sovereign and their country.

You inhabit here a goodly land. A land full of promise, where your children have room enough to increase and to multiply, and to become, with God's blessing, greater and more prosperous than yourselves. But I am confident that no spell less potent than the gentle and benignant control of those liberal institutions which it is Britain's pride and privilege to bestow on her children, will insure the peaceful development of its unrivalled resources, or knit together into one happy and united family the various races of which this community is composed.

On this conviction I have acted, in labouring to secure for you, during the whole course of my administration the full benefit of constitutional government. It is truly gratifying to me to learn that you appreciate my exertions. Depend upon it, they will not be relaxed. I claim to have something of your own spirit: devotion to a cause which I believe to be a just one—courage to confront, if need be, danger and even obloquy in its pursuit—and an undying faith that God protects the right.

[Sidenote: Debates in the British Parliament.]

In the meantime the unhappy Bill, which had caused such an explosion in the colony, was running the gantlet of the British Parliament. On June 14 it was vehemently attacked in the House of Commons by Mr. Gladstone, as being a measure for the rewarding of Rebels.[9] He, indeed, contented himself with 'calling the attention of the House to certain parts' of the Bill in question; but Mr. Herries, following out the same views to their legitimate conclusion, moved an Address to Her Majesty to disallow the Act of the Colonial Legislature. The debate was sustained with great Vigour for two nights; in the course of which the Act was defended not only by Lord John Russell as leader of the Government, but also, with even more force, by his great opponent Sir Robert Peel. Speaking with all the weight of an impartial observer, he showed that it was not the intention of the measure, and would not be its effect, to give compensation to anyone who could be proved to have been a rebel; that it was only an inevitable sequel to other measures which had been passed without opposition; and, further, that its rejection at this stage would be resisted by all parties in the colony alike, as an arbitrary interference with their right of self-government. On a division the amendment of Mr. Herries was thrown out by a majority of 141. And though, a few nights later, a resolution somewhat in the same sense, moved by Lord Brougham in the Upper House, was only negatived, with the aid of proxies, by three votes, the large majority in the House of Commons, and the firm attitude of the Government on the subject, did much to quiet the excitement in the colony.

The news from England (wrote Lord Elgin) has produced a marked, and, so far as it goes, a satisfactory change in the tone of the Press; in proof of which I send you the leading articles of the Tory papers of Saturday. … The party, it would appear, is now split into three; but on one point all are agreed. We must have done, they say, with this habit of abusing the French; we must live with them on terms of amity and affection. Such is the first fruit of the policy which was to bring about, we were assured, a war of races.

This satisfactory result was also due in part to the wise measures adopted by the Ministry, under direction of the Governor-General, for giving effect to the provisions of the much-disputed Bill.

We are taking steps (he wrote on June 17) to carry out the Rebellion Losses Bill. Having adopted the measure of the late Conservative Government, we are proceeding to reappoint their own Commissioners; and, not content with that, we are furnishing them with instructions which place upon the Act the most restricted and loyalist construction of which the terms are susceptible. Truly, if ever rebellion stood upon a rickety pretence, it is the Canadian Tory Rebellion of 1849.

[Sidenote: Fresh riots.]

Unhappily the flames, which at this time had nearly died out, were re- kindled two months later on occasion of the arrest of certain persons concerned in the former riots; and though this fresh outbreak lasted but a few days, it was attended in one case with fatal consequences.[10] Writing on August 20, Lord Elgin says:—

We are again in some excitement here. M. Lafontaine's house was attacked by a mob (for the second time) two nights ago. Some persons within fired, and one of the assailants was killed. The violent Clubbists are trying to excite the passions of the multitude, alleging that this is Anglo-Saxon blood shed by a Frenchman.

The immediate cause of this excitement is the arrest of certain persons who were implicated in the destruction of the Parliament buildings in April last. I was desirous, for the sake of peace, that these parties should not be arrested until indictments had been laid before the grand jury, and true bills found against them. Unfortunately, in consequence of the cholera, the requisite number of jurors to form a court was not forthcoming for the August term. The Government thought that they could not, without impropriety, put off taking any steps against these persons till November. They were, therefore, arrested last week; all except one, who was committed for arson, were at once bailed by the magistrates; and he too was bailed the day after his committal by one of the judges of the Supreme Court.

All this is simple enough, and augurs no very vindictive spirit in the authorities. Nevertheless it affords the occasion for a fresh exhibition of the recklessness of the Montreal mob, and the demoralisation of other classes in the community.

Again on the 27th he writes:—

We have had a fortnight of crisis consequent on the arrests which I reported to you last week; which may perhaps be the prelude (though I do not like to be too sanguine) to better times. A most violent excitement was got up by the Press against M. Lafontaine more especially, as the instigator of the arrests and the cause of the death of the young man who was shot in the attack on his house. A vast number of men, wearing red scarfs and ribands, attended the funeral of the youth. The shops were shut on the line of the procession; fires occurred during several successive nights in different parts of the town, under circumstances warranting the suspicion of incendiarism.

Upon this the stipendiary magistrates, charged by the Government with the preservation of the peace of the city, represented officially to the Governor that nothing could save it but the proclamation of Martial Law. But he told his Council that he 'would neither consent to Martial Law, nor to any measures of increased vigour whatsoever, until a further appeal had been made to the Mayor and Corporation of the city.'

[Sidenote: Quiet restored.]

This appeal was successful. A proclamation, issued by the Mayor, was responded to by the respectable citizens of all parties; and a large number of special constables turned out to patrol the streets and keep the peace. Meanwhile the coroner's jury, after a very rigorous investigation, agreed unanimously to a verdict acquitting M. Lafontaine of all blame, and finding fault with the civic authorities for their remissness. This verdict was important, for two of the jury were Orangemen, who had marched in the procession at the funeral of the young man who was shot. The public acknowledged its importance, and two of the most violent Tory newspapers had articles apologising to Lafontaine for having so unfairly judged him beforehand. 'From, these and other indications (wrote Lord Elgin) I begin to hope that there may be some return to common sense in Montreal.'

[Removal of Government from Montreal.]

My advisers, however (he proceeds), now protest that it will be impossible to maintain the seat of Government here. We had a long discussion on this point yesterday. All seem to be agreed, that if a removal from this town takes place, it must be on the condition prescribed in the address of the Assembly presented to me last Session, viz. that there shall henceforward be Parliaments held alternately in the Upper and Lower Provinces. A removal from this to any other fixed point would be the certain ruin of the party making it. Therefore removal from Montreal implies the adoption of the system (which, although it has a good deal to recommend it, is certainly open to great objections) of alternating Parliaments. But this is not the only difficulty. The French members of the Administration … are willing to go to Toronto for four years at the close of the present Parliament, but they give many reasons, which appear to have in a great measure satisfied their Upper Canada colleagues, for insisting on Quebec as the first point to be made. Now I have great objection to going to Quebec at present. I fear it would be considered, both here and in England, as an admission that the Government is under French- Canadian influence, and that it cannot maintain itself in Upper Canada. I, therefore, concluded in favour of a few days more being given in order to see whether or not the movement now in progress in Montreal may be so directed as to render it possible to retain the seat of Government there.

This hope was disappointed, and he was obliged to admit the necessity of removal. On September 3 he wrote again:—

We have had, since I last wrote, a week of unusual tranquillity. … but I regret to say that I discover as yet nothing to warrant the belief that the seat of Government can properly remain at Montreal.

The existence of a perfect understanding between the more outrageous and the more respectable fractions of the Tory party in the town, is rendered even more manifest by the readiness with which the former, through their organs, have yielded to the latter when they preached moderation in good earnest. Additional proof is thus furnished of the extent to which the blame of the disgraceful transactions of the past four months falls on all. All attempts, and several have been made, to induce the Conservatives to unite in an address, inviting me to return to the town, have failed; which is the more significant, because it is well known that the removal of the seat of Government is under consideration, and that I have deprecated the abandonment of Montreal.

The existence of a party, animated by such sentiments, powerful in numbers and organisation, and in the station of some who more or less openly join it—owning a qualified allegiance to the constitution of the province—professing to regard the Parliament and the Government as nuisances to be tolerated within certain limits only—raising itself whenever the fancy seizes it, or the crisis in its judgment demands it, into an 'imperium in imperio,'—renders it, I fear, extremely doubtful whether the functions of Legislation or of Government can be carried on to advantage in this city. 'Show vigour and put it down,' say some. You may and must put down those who resist the law when overt acts are committed. But the party is unfortunately a national as well as a political one; after each defeat it resumes its attitude of defiance; and, whenever it comes into collision with the authorities, there is the risk of a frightful race feud being provoked. All these dangers are vastly increased by Montreal's being the seat of Government.