Читать книгу The Mac's of '37 A Story of The Canadian Rebellion - John Price-Brown - Страница 9
ОглавлениеTHE DELIBERATIONS OF THE MALCONTENTS.
During the same afternoon that Sir Francis Head was consulting with the members of his Council in the saloon of the Transit, another meeting was held in the city by a far different set of men. It was summoned by William Lyon MacKenzie, the man who had been elected many times by his constituents in York to represent them in Parliament; and who had been as frequently expelled from his seat by the vote of the dominant party.
From the period of his arrival in the country, Mr. MacKenzie had been a leader in the advocacy of liberal and progressive ideas, promulgating them through the columns of the Advocate, a weekly paper of which he was both founder and proprietor. In the early issues of this paper, his demands for reform were tempered by expressions of loyalty, although full of indignant protest against what he deemed to be injustices practised upon the people. From the first he was far ahead of his fellows in the views he advocated; and knowing this, the Governor-in-Council persistently rejected every proposition he advanced, whether in the glowing language of a weekly editorial, or still more eloquently on the floor of Parliament.
Possibly, if a more moderate man had been selected from among his confreres as leader, a more satisfactory result might have been the outcome. But MacKenzie could not and would not be restrained. Each expulsion from the House rendered him more bitter and more daring; while at the same time he still retained the leadership of his party.
The calling of this particular meeting had a special object in view. It was for the revision of a declaratory address which had been drafted by himself and accepted by his supporters during the previous year. Five men were gathered together in that little room, each one a study in himself, as with closed doors and grave faces they lent themselves to their work.
MacKenzie, slight in build, with massive head; keen, twinkling eyes and diminutive person, but endowed with resistless energy, was evidently the leader of that little band of men, as he laid down the law before them.
"You remember the first two principles of our declaration," he commenced, looking piercingly into each face in succession, after they had gathered round the table: "1st. That we should sustain the British Constitution in its purity; and 2nd, that we should also continue our connection with the parent state. This was but a reasonable preamble, gentlemen; and one that we were all ready to endorse, other things being equal; but it is impossible to continue to endorse it, for the reason that the Family Compact, the oligarchy that rules our Province, has got us by the throat, and not one atom of mercy will they show. They rule us with a rod of iron, trample upon our rights, tax us for their own gain, and deprive us of the common privileges which everywhere else are enjoyed by peoples that are free. What we have asked for, year after year in the House of Assembly, are only matters of simple justice. All could be summed up in a single paragraph; yet not one of these demands has been granted, or even seriously considered by the tyrants, who have flung them back into our faces. I say emphatically that the time has come for a change. We must stand firmly shoulder to shoulder and face the foe; for any Government is a foe to the people when it deliberately and persistently tramples upon their legitimate rights."
MacKenzie had spoken while sitting, with head thrown forward and hands clenched upon the table.
But Mr. Morrison's tall figure rose to its full height as he immediately followed him. His eyes flashed, but with a strong effort he controlled himself.
"You are carrying things too far, Mr. MacKenzie," he commenced, impressively; "such language is treason; and much as we have suffered, we are not going to be rebels yet. Let us place our case more strongly than ever before the Home Government; and I am convinced that in return for our very persistency, if from no higher motive, some measure of redress will be granted."
"I fail to see the force of your reasoning," harshly returned MacKenzie, who could not bear to be rebuked even by one of his staunchest friends; "the petition that I personally presented in London to the Colonial Secretary, bearing twenty-five thousand signatures from the small population of this Colony, was practically ignored, and the promise to investigate our claims unfulfilled; for the moment a counter-petition from the Council was entered, our case was dropped, and our oppressors were bidden to make no change whatever in the Government of the Colony."
"Read out the main clauses in our petition, and then we shall know better where we stand," said Dr. Rolph, who was more closely associated with Mr. MacKenzie than any other of his colleagues.
"Well, here they are:
1. Responsible advisers to the Government.
2. Equal rights to all men, whether Protestant or Catholic; Churchmen or Dissenters.
3. The disposal of all revenues of the Province for the benefit of its inhabitants.
4. The reformation of the Legislative Council and the Land Granting Department.
5. The redress of all known grievances.
"Instead of acquiescing in these just demands," continued MacKenzie, in a tone of intense earnestness, "the appointed members of the Council have asked and the English Government have proclaimed that in Canada:
No Elective Council shall be tolerated; that Ministerial responsibility is inadmissible; that the expenditure of public money collected from the people may be without the sanction of their representatives; and to crown all, that coercion should be resorted to, if the Assembly elected by the people should refuse to submit.
"Could anything be more unjust? Could there be a greater travesty of righteousness, or law, or order, imposed upon any people, than to allow them to elect members of Parliament, and then to deprive these members of the rights and privileges, for the exercise of which they were elected? Even to go so far as to nullify their power of voting. It is time, I say, that we rose like men and demanded our rights, even at the point of the bayonet."
"MacKenzie is right!" exclaimed Captain Lount; "neither the Government nor the Council have any intention of yielding one jot to appease the popular demand. They have all the revenue and all the officials under their thumb—a dog in the manger act—and nothing but actual revolt will change their attitude."
"That is my contention," re-affirmed MacKenzie. "To arms, to arms, must be our watchword. Once let the people know that we are determined, then they will valiantly rally round our standard."
"Notwithstanding all that has been said," reiterated Mr. Morrison, indignantly, "I maintain, that in our present unorganized condition, revolt would be worse than disastrous, it would be suicidal. As reformers, we want no more than we ask; and as British freemen, we will be satisfied with no less. But I maintain that it is too soon to resort to arms. Constant and determined pressure of our claims upon the Government should in time force them to grant what we want. Our effort must be continuous, but along peaceful lines, at least, until in justice to ourselves we are prepared for more positive measures. What is our position to-day? We have no arms, our men are untrained. What is more than all, they are not sufficiently impressed with the enormity of the existing evils to persistently and valiantly fight for their removal."
"Again you are wrong," cried MacKenzie, with unusual asperity; "the people are alive to their wrongs. Once let the torch of insurrection be applied and the whole country will be ablaze. There are arms at the city arsenal that can be seized, and we have valiant men among us who are ready to seize them. All we want is unanimity among ourselves, then the success of our efforts will be assured."
"You can have no unanimity if you leave out the element of reason," said Morrison, doggedly; "I insist that direct action must be postponed; and if actual rebellion is to be the outcome, you must first systematically drill your men."
"Morrison is right," said Mr. Anderson, a large man with a reflective face. "The country is not prepared for revolt, and it is absurd to say it is. Here MacKenzie and I, and several others among our supporters, were defeated at the recent elections; and the Family Compact was sustained by an increased majority. These men were elected by the people; and no matter how much influence the Government brought to bear upon the electors, they could not have turned the tables upon us so completely, if our cause had the support throughout the Province which Mr. MacKenzie believes to be the case."
"Well, what do you suggest?" muttered MacKenzie between compressed lips.
"Make our central committee stronger. Establish sub-committees everywhere. Keep our actions secret from all but the initiated; and regularly drill our friends."
"Until when?"
"Until summer is over, the harvest housed, and the people's barns are full."
"Anderson has struck the nail on the head," said Dr. Rolph. "A man fights best when his stomach is full and his rations sure."
"I protest against delay," said MacKenzie, "but even granting that there may be reason, however small, we have no time to lose. So we will dissolve ourselves at once into a committee of ways and means."
"With yourself still in the chair, sir."
So they entered into the work of detail, wilily listened to by an unseen ear, which for hours had been glued to a knot-hole in the pine floor above them.
