The bubbles of Canada

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THE

BUBBLES

Letter X

Abandonment of grievances and demand of constitutional changes — Specification of changes required, and separate consideration of each. — 1st. That the Legislative Council should be elective. — 2d. That the Executive Council should be responsible to the House of Assembly. — 3d. That the Tenures Act and Land Company Act should be repealed. —

4th. That the crown revenues should be surrendered unconditionally.— 5th. That the management of the waste lands should be given up to them 247

Letter XI

Resolutions introduced by Lord John Russell — Right of Parliament to interfere considered — Conduct of Assembly — Revolt — Conduct of Catholic clergy, and reflections thereon — -Mitigating circumstances attending the rebellion — Mission of Lord Durham, dangerous schemes proposed by him, bad effect of his proceedings on the other colonies — General review of the topics embraced in this work — Importance of the crisis, and effect of Canadian independence on the colonial possessions of Great Britain 297

THE

BUBBLES OF CANADA.

Letter 1, My Dear Haliburton

As the people of this country know but little of the dissensions in Canada, they very wisely coniine their observations to the dissensions of those who govern it. This is a more intelligible as well as a more amusing subject. Every body talks of Lord Brougham and Lord Durham, but nobody speaks of Canada. Instead, therefore, of inquiring what is to become of that valuable colony, what measures are, or ought, to be adopted, to ensure its tranquillity, and to protect British subjects and British property there, people very properly limit their attention to the more interesting question what will the Governor- General do when Parliament meets ? To inquire whether the Eng-

B lish or the French population of Canada is in the right, requires some investigation to ascertain facts, and some constitutional knowledge to judge of those facts when collected. It is, at best, but a dry subject. But to decide whether Lord Brougham or Lord Durham has the best of the dispute is a matter so well suited for easy conversation, and humorous argument, that it is no wronder it has more attractions than the other. Such, however, is the acerbity of politics in this country, that even this affair is made a party question, and the worst motives are imputed for everything that is said or done by either. There are not wanting those who gravely assert, that while Lord Brougham was affecting to brush off the flies from the heels of an old rival, he intentionally switched him so hard as to arouse his temper and induce him to kick. They maintain that there are two sorts of tickling, one that is so delicate as to produce laughter and pleasurable sensations, and another that irritates both the skin and the temper by the coarseness of its application. They say that his lordship is much addicted to the latter species, and applies it equally to both friends and foes ; in short, that his play is too rough to be agreeable. While, on the other hand, there are some who are so unkind as to

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insinuate that Lord Durham was very willing to take offence, and to shelter himself under it. That he felt he had voluntarily undertaken a load which he was unable to draw, and that knowing greater expectations had been formed of him than he could ever realise, had no objection to kick himself out of harness, and extricate himself by overthrowing friend or foe, so long as the public were willing to believe the fault to be that of the teems ter, and not of the steed.

Be that as it may, the exhibition has been an entertaining one, and they deserve some credit for having afforded amusement and occupation to the public at this dull season of the year. There they are, the crowd has gathered round them, the idle and the vulgar stand gaping, and each one looks anxiously for what is to follow. What can be more agreeable to a British mob, a people essentially fond of the prize fight, than the contest of these two champions, men who have always courted their applause, and valued their noisy demonstrations of pleasure higher than the quiet respect of those of more taste and more refinement ? It affords, however, no pleasure to the colonist. He regards one as a man of splendid talents and no conduct, and the other

b 2 as a man who, without the possession of either, has advanced to his present high station merely by the force of extreme opinions. He has no sympathy with either. The one is too much actuated by his implacable hatred, the other by his inordinate pride. The former is dangerous from his disposition to do mischief, and the latter unsafe, from his utter inability to effect any good.

After all the addresses that have been presented by the Canadians, this language may possibly appear strange and strong ; but addresses afford no proof. They are cheap commodities everywhere. Place-hunters may flatter, and vulgar men may fawn, and office-holders tremble and obey, but the truth must still be told. A governor is the representative of royalty, and colonists have been taught to venerate the office, whatever they may think of the man. At the present crisis it is the test of loyalty. You will search in vain among those addresses for the names of the disaffected ; and if those who signed them have expressed themselves strongly, they felt it was no time to measure words, when hesitation bears so strong a resemblance to a repugnance springing from a different cause. But even among these customary offerings of official respect, you will

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find several exhibiting a choice of expression that bespeak a desire to separate the approbation of measures from the usual deference to rank and station, and others marking the distinction in explicit terms. The colonist by no means regrets his resignation, because he has shewn from his irritable temper, inconsiderate conduct, and crude and dangerous schemes, that, of all men, he was the most unfit depository for the extraordinary powers that were entrusted to him ; but he does regret that public attention should be diverted from so important a subject as our Canadian affairs, to so unimportant a matter as my Lord Durham’s private quarrels.

He is desirous that the questions at issue between the people of Canada and Great Britain should be understood, and he doubts not that the good sense and good feeling of this country will apply the proper remedies. In compiling a statement of these grievances, pretensions, or claims (or by whatever other name you may choose to designate them), I shall hope to contribute towards this desirable object. I feel, however, my dear friend, that before 1 enter upon the subject, I ought to apologise to you for the bulk of this work. Indeed, when you told me at Melrose that you had been in Egypt during nearly the whole period of these Canadian disputes, and therefore wished to have a history of them, I had not the slightest idea that in undertaking to give you one, I was going to write a book. But, though I will fulfil my promise, I will not exceed it. I shall confine myself to a sketch of the origin, progress, and present state of agitation in Lower Canada. I will shew you the pretensions that have been put forth, the concessions that have been made, and the open questions that now remain ; you will then be able to judge whether these grievances have led to disaffection, or disaffection has given rise to grievances, and in either case will be able to perceive what ought to be the remedy. Facts and not theories are wanted ; you must know the cause and nature of a disease before you can prescribe for it.

If ever you had the misfortune to have had the tooth-ache, you have doubtless found that every one of your friends had an infallible remedy, each of which eventually proved, upon trial, to be nothing more than a palliative, a nostrum that soothed the anguish for a time, by conciliating the nerve ; but that the pain returned, with every change of atmosphere, with increased power, while the sedative application became less and less efficacious the oftener it was repeated. You have also found, as others have

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experienced before you, that while you were thus temporising with an evil which required more prompt and skilful treatment, you had lost the opportunity of filling the cavity and preserving the tooth, by suffering decay to proceed too far to admit of the operation, and, aftei* years of suffering, had to submit at last to cold iron, the ultima ratio of dentists. Whether the system of palliatives and concessions, that has been resorted to in Canada, is a wise and proper one, I shall not presume to say ; but all men must agree that it at least has the merit of displaying an amiable inclination to avoid giving pain. Whatever doubts may arise as to the conciliatory measures of past years, there can be none whatever entertained that they cannot be persisted in any longer with advantage. I shall content myself, however, with merely presenting you with a statement of the case, and you shall decide for yourself whether stopping , or forcible extraction , be now the proper remedy.

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Letter II

After the late unhappy and wicked rebellion in Canada was suppressed, it was found necessary to punish with death a few of the most conspicuous traitors, for the atrocious murders they had committed. In the colonies, although the justice of this act was fully admitted, the necessity that existed for it was generally deplored. So much blood had been shed in the held, and so much misery entailed upon the country, by that rash and unprovoked revolt, that the people would gladly have been spared the spectacle of a further sacrifice of human life, if the outraged laws of the country had not imperatively called for retribution. They felt, too, that although nothing could justify their having desolated the country with fire and sword, in support of mere speculative points of government, some pity was due to deluded men, who had been seduced from their allegiance by promises of support, and direct encouragement to revolt, by people of influence and standing in the mother country ; but although they knew that mischievous counsels had been given, they certainly were not pre-

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pared to hear similar sentiments publicly avowed in the parliament of the nation. It was, therefore, not without mingled feelings of surprise and sorrow that they heard one honourable member invoke defeat and disgrace upon Her Majesty’s troops, whose service was already sufficiently painful without this aggravation ; and a noble lord, in another branch of the legislature, denounce, with indignant elocpience, the juries who had tried and the judges that had sentenced these convicted criminals. They ought, however, to have known, and certainly a little reflection would have suggested, that the instinctive horror of those distinguished men at such an event was quite natural, and that they who advocate revolutionary doctrines must necessarily shudder at the untimely fate of those who have dared to act upon them. It was a warning not to be disregarded, a consummation that might be their own, and a lesson fraught with a most salutary moral. As their perceptions were acute enough to make the application, it is to be hoped their prudence will be sufficient to avoid a similar result. Nor is the language held by my Lord Durham, in his recent valedictory proclamation, less surprising. He has thought proper, in that extraordinary document, to give the sanction of his high station to the popular error that the Canadas have been misgoverned , and thereby expressed a deliberate censure upon the conduct of abler and better men than himself who have preceded him. Now, there are various kinds of misgovernment, which may be effected by acts of commission or omission, or of both, for a defective form of government and misgovernment are widely different. If his lordship meant to use the word in either of those senses, and considered the French Canadians as the subjects of it, then I beg leave most respectfully to state, that he was not warranted by facts in saying so, and that it is an additional proof, if any were wanting, that he knew as little of the affairs of the colony at his departure from thence, as he admits that he did on his arrival there. If, on the other hand, he used it as a cant term to adorn a rhetorical flourish, we shall accept the explanation, and consider it as such, classing it with promises profusely made on his acceptance of office which he has not performed, and similar ones ostentatiously offered on his resignation which he is equally unable to fulfil.

My Lord Brougham has expressed more fully and intelligibly the same opinion in the House of Lords, and has since been at great pains to republish it, first, in the pamphlet form, to cir-

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culate as a cheap commodity ; and, secondly, in a collection of his speeches, to be impressed by his friend the schoolmaster, as a specimen of eloquence, on the minds of village Bampdens. Although this statesman is followed by few, and attached to none, he is too eloquent and too powerful not to command the attention of all, and presents the singular anomaly of being unable to add weight or influence to any party to which he may lend his support, and yet being the most fearful opponent in the Bouse to those whom it may be his pleasure to attack. With respect to Canada, he was pleased to say, 44 Another rule prevails — 4 Refuse all they ask ; 44 turn a deaf ear to every complaint ; mock them “ with hopes never to be realized ; insult them 44 with rights which when they dare to use shall 44 be rudely torn from them ; and for abiding by 44 the law, in seeking redress of their wrongs? 44 punish them by the infliction of a dictator and 44 a despotism.’ ” Truisms are seldom repeated ; they require but to be enounced, to be assented to. Paradoxes are more fortunate ; they startle and perplex, and he who cannot originate can at least copy. I was, therefore, not surprised at hearing an humble imitation of this diatribe at a meeting of the lower orders of Edinburgh at Carlton Bill. That the audience might find time to attend, the assembly was held by torchlight, a fitting emblem for incendiary doctrines. Tories and Whigs were alike reprobated by an orator, who, when he had exhausted the topics of domestic misrule, deplored in most pathetic terms the lot “ of our oppressed and enslaved brethren in Canada.” If this be true of them, it is an appeal to humanity, and when in Britain was that appeal made in vain ? It is, however, the character of humanity to be credulous. The mendicant impostor, aware of the fact, profits by the knowledge of it, and weaves a tale of misfortune or oppression to excite pity and extort money ; the political juggler, in like manner, draws upon his imagination for facts, and having established a grievance, makes a tender of his services as a reformer.

As this charge of misgovernment has been often made of late, it is probable it will be repeated, and as it must materially modify the opinion we are to form, both of the revolt, and of the measures to be adopted hereafter in consequence thereof, I shall now proceed to controvert this assertion ; but before I enter upon it, permit me to say, that 1 shall not treat this as a party question. As a colonist, at once a native and a resident of a distant part of the empire, I am not only unconnected with, but

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perfectly independent of either of the great parties of this country, of Tories or Whigs or Radicals ; nor do 1 consider this as a subject at all involving the principles for which they severally contend. The question is one wholly between the people of this country and the colonists, and must be considered as such ; and so far from my Lord Durham’s assertion being true, that there has been misgovernment, I am prepared to show, that every administration in this country, without exception, from the conquest of Canada to the present time, whether Tory or Whig, or mixed, or by whatever name they may be designated, have been actuated but by one feeling, an earnest desire to cultivate a good understanding with their new subjects of French extraction, and on one principle, a principle of concession. Canada has had more privileges and indulgences granted to it than any other of our American colonies : unpopular officers have been removed ; obnoxious governors have been recalled ; constitutional points abandoned to them ; all reasonable changes made (or, as they would express it, grievances redressed); and the interests of commerce and of persons of British origin postponed to suit their convenience, or accommodate their prejudices ; in short, everything has been done, and everything conceded to conciliate them, that ingenuity could devise or unbounded liberality grant, and no sacrifice has been considered too great to purchase their affections, short of yielding up the colony to their entire control ; and for all this forbearance and liberality they have been met with ingratitude, abuse, and rebellion. For the truth of this assertion, I call upon France and the United States to bear me testimony. Hear the Duke de la Rochfoucault Liancourt : “No Canadian has just grounds of complaint against the British Government ; the inhabitants of Canada acknowledge unanimously that they are better treated than under the ancient French government ; but they love the French, forget them not, long after them, hope for their arrival, will always love them, and betray these feelings too frequently, and in too frank a manner, not to incur the displeasure of the English, who, even in Europe, have not made an equal progress with us in discarding the absurd prejudices of one people against another.

“ They pay no taxes, live well, at an easy rate, and in plenty ; within the compass of their comprehensions they cannot wish for any other good. They are so little acquainted with the principles of liberty, that it has cost a great

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deal of trouble to establish juries in theii country ; they oppose the introduction of the trial by jury ; in civil cases these are not yet in use. But they love F ranee, this beloved country engages still their affections. In their estimation a Frenchman is a being far superior to an Englishman.”

“ The farmers are a frugal set of people, but ignorant and lazy. In order to succeed in enlarging and improving agriculture in this province, the English Government must proceed with great prudence and perseverance ; for in addition to the unhappy prejudices which the inhabitants of Canada entertain in common with the farmers of all other countries, they also foster a strong mistrust against every thing which they receive from the English ; and this mistrust is grounded on the idea that the English are their conquerors, and the French their brethren. There are some exceptions from this bad agricultural system, but they are few. The best cultivators are always landholders arrived from England.”

“ Upon the whole, the work of education in Lower Canada is greatly neglected. At Sorel and Three Rivers are a few schools, kept by the nuns ; in other places men or women instruct children. But the number of schools is, upon the whole, so very small, anti the mode of instruction so defective, that a Canadian who can read is a sort of phenomenon. From the major part of these schools being governed by nuns and other women, the number of the latter who can read is, contrary to the custom of other countries, much greater in Lower Canada than that of men.

“ The English Government is charged with designedly keeping the people of Lower Canada in ignorance ; but were it sincerely desirous of producing an advantageous change in this respect, it would have as great obstacles to surmount on this head as in regard to agricultural improvements.”

Hear also Professor Silliman, a distinguished American scholar:

“ It is questionable whether any conquered country was ever better treated by its conquerors than Canada ; the people were left in complete possession of their religion, and revenues to support it— of their property, laws, customs, and manners ; and even the defence of their country is without expense to them ; and it is a curious fact, that (unless by the great counterbalancing advantages it produces), so far from being a source of revenue, it is a charge on the treasury of the empire. It would seem

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as if the trouble and expense of government was taken off their hands, and as if they were left to enjoy their own domestic comforts without a drawback. Such is certainly the appearance of the population ; and it is doubtful whether our own favoured communities are politically more happy ; — they are not exposed in a similar manner to poverty and the danger of starvation, which so often invade the English manufacturer, and which, aided by their demagogues, goad them on to every thing but open rebellion. Lower Canada is a fine country, and will hereafter become populous and powerful, especially as the British and Anglo- American population shall flow in more extensively, and impart more vigour and activity to the community. The climate, notwithstanding its severity, is a good one, and very healthy and favourable to the freshness and beauty of the human constitution. All the most important comforts of life are easily and abundantly obtained.”

This, you will observe, is but the evidence of opinion; produce your facts. Agreed. To the facts then let us proceed.

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Letter III

By the treaty of peace in the year 1763, Canada, the conquest of which had been achieved on the plains of Abraham, by General Wolfe, was ceded, in full sovereignty and right, to his Britannic Majesty by the King of France, and the French inhabitants who chose to remain in the country became subjects of Great Britain, and were secured in the enjoyment of their property and possessions, and the free exercise of their religion. Thus terminated the power of France in that portion of North America ; and here it may be useful to pause and consider, with this vast addition of territory, how extensive and important are our transatlantic possessions.

They may be computed, in round numbers, to comprise upwards of four millions of geographical square miles, extending across the whole Continent, from the Atlantic in the east, to the shores of the North Pacific Ocean on the west ; on the parallel of the 49° of north latitude their extreme breadth is about 3,066 geographical miles, and their greatest depth from the most southern point of Upper Canada in

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Lake Erie, to Smith’s Sound in the Polar regions, rather more than 2,150, thus embracing a large portion of the Arctic Seas, and of the Atlantic and Pacific.

The population of this country may be estimated at little short of two millions ; while the export trade to it exceeds that to Russia, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and France collectively, and nearly equals that to the United States, the most commercial country in the world next to Great Britain. These exports have increased above 40 per cent, in three years.

In carrying on this trade, about seven thousand British vessels are employed ; the tonnage of those inwards and outwards being each way nearly 1,000,000 tons annually, either to Great Britain or her other colonies, all of them, be it remembered, navigated by her own seamen, and employing British capital ; and seveneighths of the whole produce so transported being paid for in labour to her own people, and all the profits, agencies, and brokerages of this enormous trade divided among her own subjects. Can the possible loss of such a trade be contemplated, without apprehending consequences serious to the manufacturing interests, and prejudicial to national prosperity?

In four years not less than £300,000 has c 2 been paid by emigrants as passage-money to her ship-owners ; and if ont of the number of 170,000 who emigrated during that period, only 20,000* had become burdensome at home, and had cost their parishes only £4 per head per annum, the expenses to the community (which have been saved) would have been £320,000.

Such are the interests now at stake, and which you are called upon to surrender. My Lord Brougham, the advocate “ for the diffusion of useful knowledge,” thus sanctions the doctrine that colonies though large are unwieldy, and though possessing intrinsic value, cost more for their support and protection, than counterbalances any advantage to be derived from them. “ I have always held (he observed on the 2d of February last, when speaking on the Canada question), the severance of a colony to be a benefit and no loss, provided it can be effected in peace, and leave only feelings of kindness on either side.” At the same time he “ hurled defiance (I use his own words) at the head of the premier,” to point out where he had ever changed his principles. The noble viscount was silent, the challenge was not accepted, and his consistency remained unimpeached. I am more interested in colonial

* See Letter to E. Baines, Esq., M.P.

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prosperity than either of them, having no desire to be handed over to the tender mercies of republicans, and will take the liberty to refer to that instance that was so triumphantly demanded. I allude to a more deliberate opinion, the result of study and reflection, emanating not from the excitement of debate and the conflict of party spirit, but from the retirement of his closet. On a former occasion he thus expressed himself on this subject : —

“ Each nation derives greater benefit from having an increasing market in one of its own provinces, than in a foreign country.

“ The colonial trade is always increasing and capable of indefinite augmentation ; every operation of colonial traffic replaces two capitals, the employment and distribution of which puts in motion and supports the labour of the different members of the same state.

“ The increasing wealth of Russia, Prussia, or Denmark, can never benefit Great Britain unless by the increasing demand for British produce which it may occasion. It may, and often is, on the contrary, turned against her wealth and power ; whilst the riches of colonies have a certain tendency to widen the market for British produce, and can never injure the wealth or power of the mother country.

“ The possession of remote territories is the only thing which can secure to the population of a country those advantages derived from an easy outlet, or prospect of outlet, to those persons who may be ill provided for at home.

“ It is absurd to represent the defences and government of colonies as a burden. It is ridiculous for the United Kingdom to complain, that she is at the expense of governing and defending her colonial territories.”

Among the benefits to be derived from the u diffusion of useful knowledge,” it is certainly not the least that we are enabled to compare the professions of public men with their acts, and the actors with each other. My Lords Brougham and Durham have both travelled the same road — selected similar topics — supported them by the same arguments— and aimed at one conclusion ; and yet, strange to say, they stand opposed to each other. Coming from a small province, and a very limited sphere of action, I may be allowed the privilege of a stranger, and be permitted to express my surprise. I had read in the speech to which 1 have referred, of certain commissioners of in_ quiry who were placed in an extraordinary situation, “ where each one generally differed from his colleague in the views he took of the

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argument, and frequently also from himself; but both agreeing in the conclusions at which they arrived, by the course of reasoning one way, and deciding another.” It is an awkward position for men to be found in ; but little did I anticipate finding the noble author illustrating, in his own person, the case he has described with such pointed and bitter irony. But this is a digression, and I must return to my subject.

Whether a country extending over such an immense space, containing such a great and growing population, and affording such an extensive and profitable trade, has been misgoverned, is therefore a question of the first importance. The affirmative of this proposition which the governor-general has advanced, has inspired the rebels with new hopes ; and forms, no doubt, a principal ingredient of that satisfaction which he says his adminstration has given to the inhabitants of the neighbouring republic. It is a charge, however, in which the honour of the nation is deeply concerned, and should neither be flippantly made nor easily credited.

In the month of October following the treaty, His Majesty published his proclamation, under the great seal of Great Britain, for erectmg four new civil governments, to wit, those of Quebec, East Florida, West Florida, and Granada, in the countries and islands in America, which had been ceded to the Crown by the definitive treaty. In this proclamation the King exhorted his subjects as well of his kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, as of his colonies in America, to avail themselves, with all convenient speed, of the great benefits and advantages that would accrue, from the great and valuable acquisitions ceded to his Majesty in America, to their commerce, manufactures, and navigation. As an encouragement to them to do so, he informed them that in the commissions he had given to the civil governors of the said four new provinces, he had given express power and directions that, so soon as the state and circumstances of the said colonies would admit thereof, they should, with the advice and consent of the members of his Majesty’s councils in the said provinces, summon and call general assemblies of the people within the said governments, in such manner as was used in those colonies and provinces in America which were under his Majesty’s immediate government; and that in the meantime, and until such assemblies could be called, all persons inhabiting, in, or resorting to his Majesty’s said colonies.