Lord Elgin | Page 6

into the high qualifications which he brought to the conduct of
public affairs in the Canadas.

CHAPTER II

POLITICAL CONDITION IN CANADA
To understand clearly the political state of Canada at the time Lord
Elgin was appointed governor-general, it is necessary to go back for a
number of years. The unfortunate rebellions which were precipitated by
Louis Joseph Papineau and William Lyon Mackenzie during 1837 in
the two Canadas were the results of racial and political difficulties
which had gradually arisen since the organization of the two provinces
of Upper and Lower Canada under the Constitutional Act of 1791. In
the French section, the French and English Canadians--the latter always
an insignificant minority as respects number--had in the course of time
formed distinct parties. As in the courts of law and in the legislature, so
it was in social and everyday life, the French Canadian was in direct
antagonism to the English Canadian. Many members of the official and
governing class, composed almost exclusively of English, were still too
ready to consider French Canadians as inferior beings, and not entitled
to the same rights and privileges in the government of the country. It
was a time of passion and declamation, when men of fervent eloquence,
like Papineau, might have aroused the French as one man, and brought
about a general rebellion had they not been ultimately thwarted by the
efforts of the moderate leaders of public opinion, especially of the
priests who, in all national crises in Canada, have happily intervened on
the side of reason and moderation, and in the interests of British
connection, which they have always felt to be favourable to the
continuance and security of their religious institutions. Lord Durham,
in his memorable report on the condition of Canada, has summed up

very expressively the nature of the conflict in the French province. "I
expected," he said, "to find a contest between a government and a
people; I found two nations warring in the bosom of a single state; I
found a struggle, not of principles, but of races."
While racial antagonisms intensified the difficulties in French Canada,
there existed in all the provinces political conditions which arose from
the imperfect nature of the constitutional system conceded by England
in 1791, and which kept the country in a constant ferment. It was a
mockery to tell British subjects conversant with British institutions, as
Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe told the Upper Canadians in 1792, that
their new system of government was "an image and transcript of the
British constitution." While it gave to the people representative
institutions, it left out the very principle which was necessary to make
them work harmoniously--a government responsible to the legislature,
and to the people in the last resort, for the conduct of legislation and the
administration of affairs. In consequence of the absence of this vital
principle, the machinery of government became clogged, and political
strife convulsed the country from one end to the other. An
"irrepressible conflict" arose between the government and the governed
classes, especially in Lower Canada. The people who in the days of the
French régime were without influence and power, had gained under
their new system, defective as it was in essential respects, an insight
into the operation of representative government, as understood in
England. They found they were governed, not by men responsible to
the legislature and the people, but by governors and officials who
controlled both the executive and legislative councils. If there had
always been wise and patient governors at the head of affairs, or if the
imperial authorities could always have been made aware of the
importance of the grievances laid before them, or had understood their
exact character, the differences between the government and the
majority of the people's representatives might have been arranged
satisfactorily. But, unhappily, military governors like Sir James Craig
only aggravated the dangers of the situation, and gave demagogues new
opportunities for exciting the people. The imperial authorities, as a rule,
were sincerely desirous of meeting the wishes of the people in a
reasonable and fair spirit, but unfortunately for the country, they were
too often ill-advised and ill-informed in those days of slow

communication, and the fire of public discontent was allowed to
smoulder until it burst forth in a dangerous form.
In all the provinces, but especially in Lower Canada, the people saw
their representatives practically ignored by the governing body, their
money expended without the authority of the legislature, and the
country governed by irresponsible officials. A system which gave little
or no weight to public opinion as represented in the House of Assembly,
was necessarily imperfect and unstable, and the natural result was a
deadlock between the legislative council, controlled by the official and
governing class, and the house elected by the people. The governors