'THE REIGN OF TERROR'
During the session of 1805 the Assembly was confronted with the
apparently innocent problem of building prisons. Yet out of the debate
on this subject sprang the most serious racial conflict which had yet
occurred in the province. There were two ways proposed for raising the
necessary money. One, advocated by the English members, was to levy a
direct tax on land; the other, proposed by the French members, was to
impose extra customs duties. The English proposal was opposed by the
French, for the simple reason that the interests of the French were in
the main agrarian; and the French proposal was opposed by the English,
because the interests of the English were on the whole commercial. The
English pointed out that, as merchants, they had borne the brunt of
such taxation as had already been imposed, and that it was the turn of
the French farmers to bear their {14} share. The French, on the other
hand, pointed out, with some justice, that indirect taxation was borne,
not only by the importer, but also partly by the consumer, and that
indirect taxation was therefore more equitable than a tax on the
land-owners alone. There was, moreover, another consideration. 'The
_Habitants_,' writes the political annalist already quoted, 'consider
themselves sufficiently taxed by the French law of the land, in being
obliged to pay rents and other feudal burthens to the Seigneur, and
tythes to the Priest; and if you were to ask any of them to contribute
two bushels of Wheat, or two Dollars, for the support of Government, he
would give you the equivocal French sign of inability or unwillingness,
by shrugging up his shoulders.'
As usual, the French-Canadian majority carried their point. Thereupon,
the indignation of the English minority flared forth in a very emphatic
manner. They accused the French Canadians of foisting upon them the
whole burden of taxation, and they declared that an end must be put to
French-Canadian domination over English Canadians. 'This province,'
asserted the Quebec _Mercury_, 'is already too French for a British
colony.... Whether we be in peace or at war, it is essential {15} that
we should make every effort, by every means available, to oppose the
growth of the French and their influence.'
The answer of the French Canadians to this language was the
establishment in 1806 of a newspaper, _Le Canadien_, in which the point
of view of the majority in the House might be presented. The official
editor of the paper was Jean Antoine Bouthillier, but the conspicuous
figure on the staff was Pierre Bedard, one of the members of the House
of Assembly. The tone of the paper was generally moderate, though
militant. Its policy was essentially to defend the French against the
ceaseless aspersions of the _Mercury_ and other enemies. It never
attacked the British government, but only the provincial authorities.
Its motto, '_Notre langue, nos institutions et nos lois_,' went far to
explain its views and objects.
No serious trouble resulted, however, from the policy of _Le Canadien_
until after the arrival of Sir James Craig in Canada, and the
inauguration of what some historians have named 'the Reign of Terror.'
Sir James Craig, who became governor of Canada in 1807, was a
distinguished soldier. He had seen service in the American
Revolutionary {16} War, in South Africa, and in India. He was,
however, inexperienced in civil government and apt to carry his ideas
of military discipline into the conduct of civil affairs. Moreover, he
was prejudiced against the inhabitants and had doubts of their loyalty.
In Canada he surrounded himself with such men as Herman W. Ryland, the
governor's secretary, and John Sewell, the attorney-general, men who
were actually in favour of repressing the French Canadians and of
crushing the power of their Church. 'I have long since laid it down as
a principle (which in my judgment no Governor of this Province ought to
lose sight of for a moment),' wrote Ryland in 1804, 'by every possible
means which prudence can suggest, gradually to undermine the authority
and influence of the Roman Catholic Priest.' 'The Province must be
converted into an English Colony,' declared Sewell, 'or it will
ultimately be lost to England.' The opinion these men held of the
French Canadians was most uncomplimentary. 'In the ministerial
dictionary,' complained _Le Canadien_, 'a bad fellow,
anti-ministerialist, democrat, _sans culotte_, and damned Canadian,
mean the same thing.'
[Illustration: Sir James Craig. From a portrait in the Dominion
Archives.]
Surrounded by such advisers, it is not {17} surprising that Sir James
Craig soon took umbrage at the language and policy of _Le Canadien_.
At first he made his displeasure felt in a somewhat roundabout way. In
the summer of 1808 he dismissed from the militia five officers who were
reputed to have a connection with that newspaper, on the ground that
they were helping a 'seditious and defamatory journal.' One of these
officers was Colonel Panet, who had fought in the defence of Quebec in
1775 and had been speaker of the House of Assembly since 1792; another
was Pierre Bedard. This action did not, however, curb the temper of
the paper; and a year or more later Craig went further. In May 1810 he
took the extreme step of suppressing _Le Canadien_, and arresting the
printer and three of the proprietors, Taschereau, Blanchet, and Bedard.
The ostensible pretext for this measure was the publication in the
paper of some notes of a somewhat academic character with regard to the
conflict which had arisen between the governor and the House of
Assembly in Jamaica; the real reason, of course, went deeper.
Craig afterwards asserted that the arrest of Bedard and his associates
was 'a measure of precaution, not of punishment.' There is no {18}
doubt that he actually feared a rising of the French Canadians. To his
mind a rebellion was imminent. The event showed that his suspicions
were ill-founded; but in justice to him it must be remembered that he
was governor of Canada at a dangerous time, when Napoleon was at the
zenith of his power and when agents of this arch-enemy of England were
supposed to be active in Canada. Moreover, the blame for Craig's
action during this period must be partly borne by the 'Bureaucrats' who
surrounded him. There is no absolute proof, but there is at least a
presumption, that some of these men actually wished to precipitate a
disturbance, in order that the constitution of Lower Canada might be
suspended and a new order of things inaugurated.
Soon after Bedard's arrest his friends applied for a writ of habeas
corpus; but, owing to the opposition of Craig, this was refused. In
July two of Bedard's companions were released, on the ground of ill
health. They both, however, expressed regret at the tone which _Le
Canadien_ had adopted. In August the printer was discharged. Bedard
himself declined to accept his release until he had been brought to
trial and acquitted {19} of the charge preferred against him. Craig,
however, did not dare to bring him to trial, for no jury would have
convicted him. Ultimately, since Bedard refused to leave the prison,
he was ejected at the point of the bayonet. The situation was full of
humour. Bedard was an excellent mathematician, and was in the habit of
whiling away the hours of his imprisonment by solving mathematical
problems. When the guard came to turn him out, he was in the midst of
a geometrical problem. 'At least,' he begged, 'let me finish my
problem.' The request was granted; an hour later the problem was
solved, and Bedard was thrust forth from the jail.
Sir James Craig was a man of good heart and of the best intentions; but
his course throughout this episode was most unfortunate. Not only did
he fail to suppress the opposition to his government, but he did much
to embitter the relations between the two races. Craig himself seems
to have realized, even before he left Canada, that his policy had been
a mistake; for he is reported on good authority to have said 'that he
had been basely deceived, and that if it had been given to him to begin
his administration over again, he would have acted differently.' It is
{20} significant, too, that Craig's successor, Sir George Prevost,
completely reversed his policy. He laid himself out to conciliate the
French Canadians in every way possible; and he made amends to Bedard
for the injustice which he had suffered by restoring him to his rank in
the militia and by making him a judge. As a result, the bitterness of
racial feeling abated; and when the War of 1812 broke out, there proved
to be less disloyalty in Lower Canada than in Upper Canada. But, as
the events of Craig's administration had clearly shown, a good deal of
combustible and dangerous material lay about.
{21}