POLITICS IN QUEBEC
In September, 1808, Brock was superseded in his command at Montreal
by Major-General Drummond, and returned to Quebec. He did not like
being separated from the 49th, but, as he remarks, "soldiers must
accustom themselves to frequent movements, and as they have no choice
it often happens they are placed in situations little agreeing with
their inclinations." His appointment as brigadier was confirmed, but
he writes, "if the 49th are ordered away my rank will not be an
inducement to keep me in the Canadas." As to the embargo, he says,
"it has proved a famous harvest to merchants. It was evidently
adopted with the idea of pleasing France, but no half measures can
satisfy Napoleon, and this colony has been raised by it to a degree
of importance that ensures its future prosperity." Sir James Craig,
in his speech at the opening of parliament, referred to the embargo
as having had the effect of calling forth the energies of the
population of Canada, adding that it had made the country acquainted
with its resources.
It was in April, 1809, that the new House met, and the speaker was
again M. Panet, who, although defeated for Quebec, had been elected
{116} member for Huntingdon. Much to everybody's surprise, the
governor ratified the appointment. There were fourteen members of
British origin in the assembly, while thirty-six were French
Canadians, and again the question of judges and Jews having seats in
the assembly was discussed with much warmth. In the midst of the
debate, when a resolution had been passed excluding Jews, and a bill
for the disqualification of judges had been read a first time, the
governor suddenly appeared upon the scene, and stated his intention
of proroguing and dissolving the House. He reproved the members for
having wasted their time in frivolous debates, and while reproving
them he took occasion to thank the legislative council for their zeal
and unanimity. The session had lasted just thirty-six days.
[Sidenote: The Quebec Assembly]
The governor afterwards visited several of the principal places in
the province, where he was received with effusion by the
anti-Canadian party. The Quebec _Mercury_, alluding to the conduct
of the assembly in persisting in its action against the judges, said:
"The conduct of a conquered people, lifted by their victors from the
depths of misery to the height of prosperity, and to whom has been
extended every species of indulgence, is not such as might have been
expected at their hands." _Le Canadien_ naturally justified the
opinion of the majority of the House, and quoted Blackstone, Locke,
and other British authorities as to the rights {117} of parliament.
The editor of the _Journal_ wrote: "The king's representative has
power by law to dissolve the House when he thinks fit to do so, but
he has no right whatever to make abusive remarks such as his harangue
contained upon the action of the legislature--a body which is
absolutely independent of his authority." So the little rift grew
wider every day. The governor fondly hoped that the new elections
would give a different complexion to the House, but in this he was
disappointed. It was even more strongly opposed to his party than
the former one, and included among the new members M. Louis-Joseph
Papineau, then a student of twenty, who, in after years, was destined
to take a very prominent part in the long struggle between the
assembly and the legislative council.
In the meantime, before the new House met, the British ministry had
sent instructions to Sir James Craig as to the ineligibility of
judges to sit in parliament, and directed him to sanction the bill
excluding them.
The year 1809 saw Napoleon's waning star once more in the ascendant.
Austria had risen against him, only to be defeated, and on May 10th
the victor had entered Vienna in triumph. Then followed the battle
of Wagram on July 6th, which was a crushing blow to the Austrian army
under the command of the Archduke Charles. An armistice was signed
on the 12th, and on October 24th, by a treaty of peace, Austria ceded
all her sea-coast to {118} France. The news of Napoleon's successes
aroused England to fresh exertions. Canning, the war minister,
increased the army to five hundred thousand men. The regulars were
fed by volunteers from the militia. The militia was kept up by
voluntary recruiting and by ballot. Sir Arthur Wellesley, who had
returned to England after Cintra, was again sent out after the death
of Moore at Corunna, at the head of a much better army than he had
had the year before, to match his strength against Generals Soult and
Massena. There was a scarcity, though, of transport, supplies, and
specie. England was drained of gold to supply the needs of her army
in the Peninsula, and to assist the Spanish patriots in their
struggle against France.
[Sidenote: Walcheren, Talavera]
There was little chance for Canada's needs to be attended to in this
great crisis. Sir James Craig in February asked the home government
for a reinforcement of twelve thousand troops, with the necessary
camp equipage, two thousand to be stationed in the citadel at Quebec,
two thousand in Upper Canada, and eight thousand for an active field
force. This was his estimate of what he considered necessary for the
proper defence of the country. His request arrived at a time when
the cabinet was rent asunder by dissensions. The Duke of Portland,
the nominal leader, was powerless. Castlereagh and Canning were at
war. Both hated Perceval. Castlereagh was bent on sending troops to
the Scheldt to take Flushing and Antwerp, {119} where Napoleon was
building a fleet. Canning wanted troops only for the Peninsula. The
former had his way, and the ill-fated Walcheren expedition was
undertaken. Forty thousand troops were sent against Antwerp, with
thirty-three sail of the line, besides frigates. Flushing was
besieged, but Antwerp, being reinforced and strengthened, was
impregnable. Disputes arose between Lord Chatham, who was the
commander-in-chief, and Admiral Sir Richard Strachan. By September
the siege was given up, and fifteen thousand men were sent to the
island of Walcheren. A plague of fever attacked them there, and the
whole expedition turned out a failure. The result was the breaking
up of the Portland ministry, and the retirement of Castlereagh under
a cloud. No wonder was it under these circumstances that Sir James
Craig's request was ignored, and no troops were available for Canada.
Sir Arthur Wellesley alone was holding up abroad the honour and fame
of England. He drove Marshal Soult out of Portugal, marched up the
valley of the Tagus, caused Joseph Bonaparte to fly a second time
from Madrid, and, on July 28th, 1809, fought and won the desperate
battle of Talavera. For these services the brilliant soldier was
rewarded by the title of Viscount Wellington of Talavera.
Public opinion in England was so occupied with affairs in the
Peninsula and political dissensions at home that it did not concern
itself with distant Canada, or even with the standing quarrel with
the {120} United States. The new president, James Madison, while
removing the embargo, still held to non-intercourse with France and
England, their colonies or dependencies. The Non-Intercourse Bill,
brought in by the committee on foreign relations and passed by
congress, excluded all public and private vessels of France and
England from American waters, and forbade, under severe penalties,
the importation of British or French goods. It was at this time that
one John Henry, was sent by Ryland, on behalf of the governor-general
of Canada, into the New England States to report on the state of
public opinion there with regard to internal politics and the
probability of war. It was supposed then that the Federalists of
Massachusetts, rather than submit to the difficulties they were
subjected to, would bring about a separation from the union. Henry's
letters, unimportant in themselves, afterwards came into the
possession of the government of the United States, and were made use
of to foment the war feeling of 1812.
[Sidenote: New order-in-council]
Early in 1809 Canning had sent instructions to the British minister
in Washington, Mr. Erskine, to offer to withdraw the
orders-in-council on certain conditions. The minister exceeded his
instructions, and announced in April that the orders of 1807 would be
withdrawn, in respect to the United States, on June 10th. There was
universal joy and satisfaction throughout that country at the
resumption of trade. A thousand ships {121} hurried out of the
harbours laden with merchandise for British ports. The French
minister at Washington remonstrated at the hasty belief in promises,
and it was soon found that the announcement was premature. The
conditions attached to the withdrawal had not been insisted upon by
the English envoy, and on the very day, June 10th, that the
revocation of the order was arranged for, it was learned in America
that on April 26th another order-in-council had been passed by
England establishing a strict blockade of the ports of Holland,
France, and Italy.[1] British merchants, frightened at the prospect
of free entrance of American ships to the Baltic, had crowded the
board of trade protesting that if American vessels with cheaper
sugar, cotton, and coffee were allowed into Amsterdam and Antwerp,
British trade was at an end. Their warehouses were stuffed full, and
they could not stand American competition and the resulting fall in
prices. Relations with the United States were more strained than
ever. Smuggling during these years of restriction seems to have
flourished everywhere, and the island of Heligoland was the chief
depot for English traders in the Baltic.
Much as they hated the English orders-in-council, Americans, on the
other hand, were awaking to the knowledge that Napoleon's friendship
{122} was a hollow mockery. He was no longer the champion of
republics, for he was an emperor surrounded by an aristocracy on whom
he had conferred hereditary titles. He had seized American ships on
the high seas on the pretext that they had British merchandise on
board. By his Bayonne decree, he had sequestered all American
vessels arriving in France, or in any port within the military
contest, subsequent to the embargo, as British property or under
British protection. When Louis of Holland refused to seize American
ships at Amsterdam, Napoleon came to the conclusion that the former
must abdicate and Holland be annexed to France. It was calculated
that by the seizures in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Spain, France, Denmark,
Hamburg, Italy and Naples, more than ten millions of dollars had been
added to the revenues of France. Twenty years afterwards the United
States received five million dollars as indemnity.
Mr. Erskine, after his indiscreet proclamation, had been recalled
from Washington, and Mr. Francis Jackson had been sent there instead,
but was but coolly received in Washington. In England this year,
chaos reigned in politics. Mr. Perceval had succeeded the Duke of
Portland, while Canning's place at the foreign office had been taken
by the Marquis of Wellesley, who was scarcely on speaking terms with
the first minister. Lords Liverpool, Bathurst, and Eldon were the
other prominent members of the cabinet, and the young Viscount {123}
Palmerston became secretary of war. News from the Peninsula was not
encouraging. Napoleon's armies were subduing Spain, while Wellington
had retreated into Portugal. With defeat abroad and ruin at home,
the prospects of England were extremely dark.
[Sidenote: Dull days]
To return to Canada and General Brock--the letters of 1808-9 that
have been preserved show his intense longing for service in Europe.
His younger brother, Savery, had been with Moore in Spain, and his
letters from there were eagerly looked forward to by his brother
Isaac, who could scarcely bear in patience the inactive life he was
forced to lead. He was ill and out of sorts. He writes of bad
weather and heavy gales, that the frigate _Iphigenie_ could scarcely
have cleared the land, and that there were apprehensions for her
safety. Her commander, Captain Lambert, had been in Quebec, and
Brock writes: "I found him an exceedingly good fellow, and I have
reason to think he is well satisfied with the attention he received
from me." This was the Captain Lambert who was mortally wounded in
December, 1812, while in command of the _Java_ when it was captured
by the American frigate _Constitution_.
Colonel Baron de Rottenburg, of the 60th, was now expected in Canada
as a brigadier, and Brock thought his appointment would mean a change
for him, as one or the other would have to go to the Upper Province,
and de Rottenburg, being the senior, {124} would have the choice.
There seemed but little chance for Brock, much as he wished it, to
return to Europe, while affairs with the United States were so
unsettled. In his letter to his brother, he says: "I rejoice Savery
has begun to exert himself to get me appointed to a more active
situation. I must see service, or I may as well, or indeed much
better, quit the army at once, for not one advantage can I reasonably
look for hereafter if I remain buried in this inactive remote corner.
Should Sir James Saumarez return from the Baltic crowned with
success, he could, I should think, say a good word for me to some
purpose." Sir Thomas Saumarez, a brother of Sir James (Admiral Lord
de Saumarez), had, in 1787, married Harriet, daughter of William
Brock of Guernsey. One of Brock's _confrères_ is mentioned in this
letter as having just recovered from a severe illness. This was
Colonel Vincent of the 49th, a soldier who was destined to take a
very active part in the coming war. Vincent entered the army in
1781, served like Brock in the West Indies, and was also with him in
the expedition to Copenhagen under Sir Hyde Parker.
In December, 1809, Brock writes to his brother William of the
imminence of the war with the United States, and says: "Whatever
steps England may adopt, I think she cannot in prudence avoid sending
a strong military force to these provinces, as they are now become of
infinite importance to her. You cannot conceive the quantities of
timber {125} and spars of all kinds which are lying on the beach
ready for shipment to England in the spring. Four hundred vessels
would not be sufficient to take all away. Whence will England be
supplied with these essential articles but from the Canadas?"
[Sidenote: Progress of Canada]
Brock had now been seven years in Canada, and had had an opportunity
of witnessing the wonderful progress the country had made during
those years. Formerly lumber for the use of the province had come
chiefly from Vermont, but from 1806 the lumber trade in Canada had
immensely increased, and attention was being given to its
development. The condition of the Baltic had stopped supplies being
sent from there, and had given an impetus to the trade in Canada. No
one realized then the dimensions to which it was to grow.
Shipbuilding, too, had increased. Hitherto the fur trade with the
Indians had been the principal source of wealth in Canada, but now
its illimitable forests were to be utilized. One evidence of its
prosperity was the increased importation of British manufactures.
Comforts and luxuries were finding their way into the homes of the
settlers. Roads were being built in all directions, and Sir James
Craig made use of military labour in their construction. By the
building of these roads provisions in the towns became more plentiful
and cheaper.
As to the French question in Canada, which was just then troubling
the minds of the governor and his council, Brock believed that
Napoleon coveted {126} the ancient possessions of France, and that he
could, with a small French force of four or five thousand men, with
plenty of muskets, conquer the province. He thought the French
Canadians would join them almost to a man, and he believed that if
Englishmen were placed in the same situation they would show even
more impatience to escape from French rule. He wrote in December:
"The idea prevails that Napoleon must succeed, and ultimately get
possession of these provinces. The bold and violent are becoming
more audacious. The timid think it prudent to withdraw from the
society of the English. Little intercourse exists between the two
races. The governor, next month, will have a difficult card to play
with the assembly, which is really getting too daring and arrogant."
[Sidenote: A wrathful governor]
It was in January, 1810, that the new House met, and the governor
opened it with a long address, referring to European affairs, to the
capture of Martinique, in which Sir George Prevost had taken part,
and to the threatened war with the United States. He also announced
that he was ready by His Majesty's pleasure to give his assent to the
bill as to the inelegibility of judges having seats in the assembly.
At that time Judge de Bonne was the member for the Upper Town of
Quebec. The assembly brought in the bill, but it was amended by the
Upper House by a clause that it should only come into effect at the
end of the session. The assembly was defiant, and passed a {127}
resolution that de Bonne, being a judge, should not vote. This was
carried. The governor, accustomed to camps and ready obedience to
his orders, could not brook the insubordination of his members, and
with soldier-like promptness came down and prorogued the House, and
told the members he meant to appeal to the people and have a new
election. In dismissing them Sir James Craig lamented the measure
that excluded men from the House who were so eminently fitted for it
as were the judges. The governor was well received at his entrance
and departure from the council chamber, and addresses of approval
were sent him from many places. It was thought that the assembly was
trying to assume too much power.
If Sir James Craig had done no more than this, the flame that he had
kindled among the French Canadians might soon have been extinguished.
He, however, proceeded to stronger measures. Because _Le Canadien_
continued to publish what he considered inflammatory articles,
criticizing his conduct and that of the executive, he sent, on March
17th, a party of troops with a magistrate and two constables to its
office, seized the press, and committed the printers to gaol. The
city was then put under military patrol, as if a rising were
contemplated. After an examination of the papers found on the
premises, Messrs. Bédard, Blanchet, and Taschereau were arrested on a
warrant under the act for the better preservation of His Majesty's
{128} government. There were three other arrests made in the
Montreal district--Laforce, Pierre Papineau (of Chambly), and
Corbeil. Then the governor issued a long proclamation, which ended
with a caution not to listen to the artful suggestions of designing
and wicked men, who, by the spreading of false reports and by
seditious and traitorous writing, ascribed to His Majesty's
government evil and malicious purposes. There was a pathetic touch
given to this proclamation by its closing words: "Is it for myself,
then, I should oppress you? For what should I oppress you? Is it
from ambition? What can you give me? Alas! my good friends, with a
life ebbing not slowly to its close, under the pressure of disease
acquired in the service of my country, I look only to pass what it
may please God to suffer to remain of it, in the comfort of
retirement among my friends. I remain amongst you only in obedience
to the command of my king."
Blanchet and Taschereau were discharged from prison in July, as they
pleaded ill-health. The printer was also discharged, and the men
from Montreal, but Bédard, an influential and eloquent member of the
assembly, declined to be liberated without having been brought to
trial. He said that he had done nothing wrong, that he did not care
how long he was kept in prison, and applied for a writ of _habeas
corpus_. This was all very embarrassing to the government, who would
have much preferred to release him. Many petitions were sent {129}
in on his behalf, and the governor at last sent for Bédard's brother,
a priest, saying that he would consent to his being set free if he
would not resume his attempts to disturb public tranquillity. Bédard
sent his thanks, and said that if any man could convince him that he
had been at fault it was the governor, but as that conviction must
arise in his own mind he must be content to submit to his fate. So
he remained in gaol.
[Sidenote: Le Canadien]
Sir James Craig now determined to send an agent to London to propose
certain changes in the constitution by which the power of the Crown
would be increased. He also wished to obtain the approval of the
home government as to the suppression of _Le Canadien_, and the
arrest of the members of its staff. Mr. Ryland was selected as the
messenger. He arrived in London in August, 1810.
In the previous May the governor, in his despatch to the home
government, said that the French and the English did not hold any
intercourse; that among the Canadian community the name of Britain
was held in contempt; that the Canadians were sunk in gross
ignorance; that they were drunken, saucy to their betters, and
cowards in battle; and as for their religion, the Catholic clergy
ought to be put under the Anglican hierarchy; their peculiar faith
made them enemies of Britain and friendly to France--yes, even to
Bonaparte himself, since the Concordat. Sir James then {130} praised
his legislative council, whom he described as composed of the most
respectable personages in the colony, while, on the contrary, the
assembly was made up of very ignorant individuals, incapable of
discussing rationally a subject of any import. He also informed the
government that the anti-British party was becoming more audacious in
consequence of Napoleon's successes in Europe, and that its members
were doing all they could to bring about the loss of Canada to Great
Britain.
[1] An order-in-council was, however, passed, protecting for a
limited time those United States vessels which had sailed, believing
the orders were rescinded.
{131}