REACTION.
The closing weeks of the summer and a part of the early autumn were
spent by the Lieutenant-Governor in an informal tour through some of the
most interesting and picturesque districts of the Province. A great part
of the tour, which occupied in all about two months, was performed on
horseback, and with only two attendants. A pleasantly-written account of
some of the experiences encountered during this invigorating holiday may
be found in "The Emigrant," a light, sketchy, and most readable little
volume put forth by Sir Francis ten years afterwards. Soon after his
return to the Seat of Government his self-complacency received a check
in the form of a despatch from the Colonial Office, enclosing copies of
instructions which had been sent to Sir Archibald Campbell,
Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. It appeared that the strenuous
exertions of the Reformers of that Province had been crowned with
success. Sir Archibald had been directed to surrender to the Assembly
the casual and territorial revenues of the Crown, and to concede a
responsible Executive. This was not all. Sir Francis was himself
distinctly informed that what had been conceded in one British North
American Province could not be withheld from the rest. Scarcely had this
piece of intelligence been chewed and digested ere he received another
despatch which added to his discomfiture by confirming the previous one,
and by seating the obnoxious doctrine at his very door. He was
instructed that the Executive Councils in the various North American
colonies were thenceforward to be composed of individuals possessing the
confidence of the people. This, though not altogether unexpected, was
almost past bearing. He saw the house of cards which he had constructed
with such pains about to crumble before him. If this course were
persisted in, all his efforts to pack a House of Assembly would erelong
prove to have been made in vain; for no Assembly would permanently
uphold a clique of Councillors in whose appointment they themselves had
had no voice, and in whose principles they had no confidence. Sir
Archibald Campbell and he were entirely of one mind as to the vexed
question at issue, and they were both firmly determined to resist such a
policy to the last ditch. Of Sir Archibald's proceedings it is
unnecessary for this work to present any detailed account. It will be
sufficient to say that he preferred to resign his office rather than
obey the instructions he had received, and that he carried out this
resolve during the following year, when he was succeeded by Sir John
Harvey. Sir Francis Head meanwhile contented himself as best he could
with vehement protests addressed to the Home Office. "The more seriously
I contemplate the political tranquillity of this Province," he
wrote,[262] "the more steadfastly am I confirmed in my opinion that cool,
stern, decisive, un-conciliating measures form the most popular
description of government that can be exercised towards the free and
high-minded inhabitants of the Canadas." The style of his despatches did
not improve with time. It was wordy, bombastic and slangy. The
despatches themselves were largely made up of inflated, impertinent
phraseology, and quotations from the light literature of the period.
Lord Glenelg, however, had become accustomed to the unconventional
methods of his protege, and was by no means disposed to judge him with
severity. On the 8th of September he wrote to him to the effect that his
"foresight, energy and moral courage" had been approved of by the King.
"It is peculiarly gratifying to me," wrote his Lordship, "to be the
channel of conveying to you this high and honourable testimony of His
Majesty's favourable acceptance of your services." From all which it is
sufficiently apparent that the real state of Upper Canadian affairs was
not much more clearly understood by the Colonial Office than by Sir
Francis Head.
The new Parliament was assembled on the 8th of November. Archibald
McLean, of Stormont, was elected Speaker by a majority of fifteen, the
vote standing thirty-six to twenty-one. This vote did not by any means
indicate the full strength of the Government, which was simply
irresistible. The power of the Compact was not only completely restored,
but increased. Never had its ascendency been so great. It was absolute,
overwhelming; and any opposition to it was a bootless kicking against
the pricks. In the Speech from the Throne his Excellency congratulated
the Houses on the loyal feeling pervading the Province, and on the
stillness and serenity of the public mind. He drew attention to "the
conspicuous tranquillity of the country," and briefly referred to the
legislation contemplated by the Government, which, as thus indicated,
was of an exceedingly practical character. The Speech concluded with a
declaration of his Excellency's intention "to maintain the happy
constitution of this Province inviolate." If the Speech, as a whole,
contained a faithful reflex of the official mind, it indicated that the
Government greatly misjudged the state of opinion in the country. True,
there was little conspicuous agitation, for the Reform party had
sustained so signal a defeat that they for the time felt powerless. But
they were feverishly sensible of the crushing blow that had been dealt
them, and reeled from it in a spirit which was far removed from
"serenity." Scores of them despaired of the future, sold out their
belongings, and removed to the United States. During the months of
September and October there had been a considerable emigration of
farmers from the western part of the Province to Michigan. Such was the
"tranquillity" upon which Sir Francis plumed himself, and upon which he
continued to dilate at recurring intervals until he was roused from his
slumbers by the intelligence that "the rebels" were at Montgomery's.
The Legislature at once proceeded to pass a Bill to provide for the
support of the Civil Government for the current year, a circumstance of
which the Lieutenant-Governor hastened to apprise Lord Glenelg. Various
matters of importance occupied the attention of Parliament during the
session. Among other questions which came up for discussion was the
long-standing grievance of the Clergy Reserves. On Thursday, the 8th of
December, a Bill was introduced into the Assembly by Hiram Norton,
member for Grenville, having for its object the disposal of the Reserves
for purposes of general education. It passed the second reading on the
13th of the same month, whereupon the House, in Committee of the Whole,
after several days consideration and discussion, reported a resolution
in favour of appropriating the Clergy Reserves lands and the proceeds
arising from the sales thereof to the religious and moral instruction of
the people. This gave rise to a motion of amendment by Dr. Rolph, "That
it is expedient to provide for the sale of the Clergy Reserves, and the
application of the proceeds to the purposes of general education, as one
of the most legitimate ways of giving free scope to the progress of
religious truth in the community." In support of this amendment the
Doctor made what was unquestionably the most noteworthy speech of his
life--a speech which a well-known writer[263] has pronounced to be
without a parallel in the annals of Canadian Parliamentary debate. Its
copiousness and felicity of illustration, its fluent and harmonious
elegance of diction, could not have failed to stamp it as a great effort
if it had been delivered before any audience in the world. No higher
praise can be awarded to it than to record the simple fact that it added
to the Doctor's already high reputation as an orator, and that it evoked
the admiration of many persons who could not subscribe to the doctrines
and arguments it contained. But no oratory and no arguments would have
availed with that House. The amendment was lost, and on Friday, the
16th, the original resolution was carried by a vote of thirty-five to
twenty-one. The matter was then referred to the Upper House for its
concurrence. As the measure fell through during the session, and
ultimately came to nothing, it seems unnecessary to follow its fortunes
any farther.
[Sidenote: 1837.]
Dr. Rolph made another powerful speech during the session; a speech
which would of itself have entitled him to a high place as a
Parliamentary orator, and which was inferior in vigour only to the one
on the Clergy Reserves. It arose out of Dr. Duncombe's charges against
the Lieutenant-Governor. Having received from the Colonial Secretary a
copy of the complaint which had been submitted to the House of Commons,
his Excellency, who was of course able to rely implicitly upon the
Assembly as then constituted, handed it over to that body to be dealt
with. The result fully justified his confidence. A partisan Committee
was appointed, by whom the question was approached in a spirit very far
removed from judicial fairness. How the inquiry was conducted has
already been recorded.[264] Dr. Duncombe had made certain charges, some
of which were easily susceptible of positive proof, while others were
from their nature of a kind which admitted of nothing stronger than
indirect evidence. With regard to one or two damnatory charges, he
implicitly believed them to be true, but he failed to secure any
substantial proof whatever. He presented himself once before the
Committee, only to find, as he had expected, that he must not look to
obtain a fair or patient hearing. Under these circumstances he felt that
nothing was to be gained by any further attempt to establish the truth
of his allegations, and permitted the case to go by default. The
Committee accordingly proceeded to take evidence on their own
responsibility. The verdict arrived at was such as might easily have
been foreseen. Every charge and insinuation made against his Excellency
was declared to be "wholly and utterly destitute of truth." Not only was
his conduct vindicated in this comprehensive manner, but he was referred
to as one to whom the Province owed a large debt of gratitude. In due
course the report came before the Assembly on a motion for its adoption.
The proceeding had from the first been of the nature of a practical
impeachment of the Lieutenant-Governor, a matter which was really beyond
the jurisdiction of any Canadian tribunal. It afforded to Dr. Rolph an
opportunity for addressing the House at considerable length, and in a
speech which, as remarked by Mr. Mackenzie's biographer, "will ever be
memorable in Canadian history."[265] It was delivered on the 30th of
January, 1837. It dealt in most trenchant fashion with the various
abuses which had been practised during the elections. The serio-comic
tone which pervaded a great part of it evoked roars of laughter, while
its more earnest passages aroused the most conflicting feelings in the
minds of the auditors. True oratory is never altogether fruitless, and
it would seem as if this powerful speech must have given the spur to
feelings which, sooner or later, were bound to produce specific results.
So far, however, as any immediate effects upon the action of the House
were concerned, it might as well have remained unuttered. The report was
adopted by a vote of more than two-thirds of the members present, and
the Lieutenant-Governor stood officially exonerated from blame.
Among other matters presented for the consideration of the Assembly was
a petition from Mr. Mackenzie. Ever since the election, he had publicly
announced his determination to petition against the return in the Second
Riding of York. He was prevented by illness from filing his memorial
within the prescribed period, and an extension of time was obtained on
his behalf. He got together a great mass of evidence, some portions of
which the Government would certainly have found it hard to answer to the
public satisfaction. He was jubilant, and openly boasted that he would
expose such a mass of corruption as would make the country stare aghast.
He was however so intent on collecting evidence and on discounting his
contemplated triumph over his enemies that he failed to enter into the
necessary recognizance until the allotted period for doing so had
elapsed. The statute governing the case required that the petitioner
should enter into recognizance within fourteen days from the
presentation of the petition. In this case the petition was presented on
the 20th of December, 1836, so that the fourteen days expired on the 3rd
of January, 1837. "If at the expiration of the said fourteen days"--so
ran the statute--"such recognizance shall not have been entered into,
the Speaker shall report the same to the House, and the order for
taking such petition into consideration shall thereupon be discharged;
unless, upon matter specially stated and verified to the satisfaction of
the House, the House shall see cause to enlarge the time for entering
into such recognizance." Accordingly, on the opening of the House on
Wednesday, the 4th of January, Mr. Speaker McLean announced that the
time limited for W. L. Mackenzie, the petitioning candidate for the
representation of the Second Riding of York, to proceed upon his
petition, had expired. Mr. Boulton, one of the members for Durham, then
moved that the further consideration of the petition be discharged. Dr.
Morrison sought to obtain additional time for the furnishing of the
statutory recognizance, but the House was under no obligation to grant
any indulgence, and after a long debate declined to do so. Mr. Boulton's
motion was carried; whereupon Dr. Morrison moved that Mr. Mackenzie have
leave to present a new petition. The House negatived this motion, and
Mr. Thomson was confirmed in his seat. The matter was again brought
before the notice of the House a few days afterwards by Dr. Morrison,
who moved that Mr. Mackenzie be allowed further time to enter into the
requisite security. The motion was made in order to give Dr. Rolph--who
had not been present during the former discussion--an opportunity of
speaking on the subject. The member for Norfolk delivered himself of a
vigorous and subtle argument, in the course of which he reviewed the
English practice, as well as the practice which had generally prevailed
in similar cases in Upper Canada. The fourteen days, he argued, should
be computed from the time when the petition was read to the House, not
from the date when it was handed in. The presentation referred to in the
statute, he alleged, was not complete until the reading of the petition,
which could not take place until it had lain on the table two days.
Still further, the petitioner's delay had been in part due to the Clerk
of the House, who had led Mr. Mackenzie to believe that the fourteen
days would not begin to run against him until two days after the
delivery of the petition. The argument throughout was plausible and
powerful, but it shared the fate of many other powerful appeals in those
days. The motion was lost. There seems to have been a strong
determination on the part of the Government to burke the investigation.
This was suggestive of a fear of the result, and was so regarded by
many wholly disinterested persons. Some of the charges were of the
gravest nature, and, if the Government had felt that their skirts were
clean, it is incomprehensible that they should not have availed
themselves of such an opportunity of establishing the fact by official
record. There seems but too good reason to believe that, if the inquiry
had been proceeded with, Mackenzie would have made good his boast, and
that a disgraceful exposure of Executive corruption would have been
made.
One of the significant measures of the session was an Act to prevent the
dissolution of the Provincial Parliament upon the demise of the Crown.
The desire of the Executive for such an enactment arose in this manner.
During the brief election campaign of the preceding summer the most
tempting promises had been made to the electors on behalf of the
Government. This had been done with the full knowledge and consent--nay,
probably at the instigation--of the members of the Government
themselves. The fulfilment of some of the promises would have been
feasible enough. Others had been as absurdly impossible of fulfilment as
were Jack Cade's pledges that seven halfpenny loaves should be sold for
a penny, and that the three-hooped pot should have ten hoops. The
Government now realized that their performances were far from being
commensurate with the promises so lavishly made. In the event of a new
election taking place within the next few months it would be easy for
the Reformers to make out a strong case, and it would be hard for the
Government party to reply thereto with effect. It seemed not improbable
that a new election might erelong become necessary, for King William the
Fourth was more than three score and ten years old, and was known to be
in a state of health which rendered it unlikely that he would live much
longer. Now, his death, in the ordinary course of things, would bring
about a dissolution and a general election, and this was the contingency
against which it was thought desirable to guard. A measure was
accordingly passed whereby it was enacted "That the Parliament of this
Province shall not in any case be deemed to be determined or dissolved
by the death or demise of His Majesty, his heirs or successors; nor
shall any session of the Parliament of this Province be deemed to be
determined, or the proceedings therein pending in any manner abated,
interrupted or affected by the demise of His Majesty, his heirs or
successors; but notwithstanding such death or demise the Parliament of
this Province shall continue, and, if sitting, shall proceed to act
until dissolved or prorogued in the usual manner, or until the legal
expiration of the term of such Parliament." The Reformers fought this
Bill inch by inch on its way through the Assembly, but in vain. Upon its
coming up for its third reading, Norton, of Grenville, moved its
recommittal, and, upon the defeat of his motion, he made a final effort
by moving "That the Act shall not go into operation before the
expiration of the present Parliament." This, too, was defeated, and the
Bill was finally passed by a vote of twenty-six to eighteen. The measure
is suggestive of the English Act passed by the Long Parliament during
the reign of Charles the First, which enacted that Parliament should not
be dissolved by the King without its own consent.
There was a good deal of extravagant legislation during the session.
Large sums were voted for the construction and improvement of Provincial
highways, for surveys of the Ottawa River and the territory contiguous
thereto, for the improvement of the navigation of the Trent and Grand
Rivers, for the completion of the Welland Canal, and for the
construction of various other canals, harbours, and lighthouses.
Provision was also made for loans to several railway and other
companies. Most, perhaps of all these, were enterprises deserving of aid
and encouragement, but the aggregate sum of the moneys voted was nearly
four millions of dollars, being considerably more than the condition of
the Province and the circumstances of the people justified. This
exceeding liberality was probably to some extent due to a wish to
respond to the popular demand for the expenditure of money on public
improvements. It was during this session that an Act was passed
providing for the establishment of a Provincial Court of Chancery. Mr.
Jameson was soon after appointed Vice Chancellor, the Chancellorship
being vested in the Crown.
The session terminated on Saturday, the 4th of March, and its
termination was attended by a scene of "most admired disorder" in the
Assembly. The project of uniting the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada
had occupied a certain amount of attention on the part of both Houses,
and had been on the order of the day throughout the greater part of the
session. When the final day of deliberation arrived, the Legislative
Council sent down to the Lower House an Address embodying certain
resolutions against the proposed union. The Address was accompanied by a
request that the Assembly would concur therein, after which it was to be
despatched to the King. It reached the hands of the Clerk of the Lower
House about noon, and was at once submitted in the form of a motion of
concurrence. This was not relished by the Reformers, who were strongly
disposed in favour of an equitable union of the two Provinces, a step
which, as they believed, would go far to adjust the balance of parties.
A considerable number of the members had already left for their homes,
and Dr. Rolph took advantage of this circumstance as a plea for
postponing the further consideration of the matter until the next
session. He moved an amendment to that effect, and said a few words in
support of his motion. Dr. Morrison and Thomas Parke[266] took up the
argument, and spoke for some minutes. They were subjected to frequent
interruptions from the supporters of the Government, who were evidently
anxious to prevent discussion. Dr. Rolph then rose to speak to the
question of order, upon which the interruptions were renewed. Frequent
appeals were made to the Speaker, who soon found himself involved in an
animated discussion with Dr. Rolph. Nearly all the prominent members of
the House erelong became participants, and the situation became
critical. Hard words were freely bandied about, amid the greatest
confusion and disorder. An eye-witness compares the scene to a wasp's
nest disturbed.[267] The Speaker finally put a stop to the ebullitions
of temper, and brought the scene to a close by announcing that the time
had arrived for waiting on the Lieutenant-Governor with certain
addresses. There was no opportunity of renewing the discussion, and at
half-past three o'clock Black Rod summoned the House to the bar of the
Legislative Council. In proroguing Parliament the Lieutenant-Governor
referred in complacent terms to the legislation of the session, and
applauded the harmony which had prevailed between the two branches of
the Legislature.
By this time it began to be apparent to discerning persons that Sir
Francis's success as an Administrator had been rather apparent than
real. All through the election campaign, as well as for some time before
and after, the Tory party had sounded his praises with stentorian lungs.
He had to a large extent been accepted by the country at their
valuation. But sufficient time had now elapsed to enable the people to
judge for themselves, and it was shrewdly suspected that the current
estimate of him had been too high. He had triumphed at the elections,
and had managed to pack the Assembly with an overwhelming majority of
members pledged to support his policy; but he now began to discover that
he had raised a spirit which he could not control. Neither the majority
in the Assembly nor the members of the Legislative Council were prepared
to slavishly accept his dictation, or to follow him blindfold
whithersoever he might choose to lead them. Some of the official
utterances of these bodies during the session had been as strongly
assertive of their own dignity and independence as the deliverances of
the former Assembly had ever been. Even the Executive Council had begun
to exhibit an impatience of being indirectly dictated to by unsworn
advisers who were permitted by the Lieutenant-Governor to usurp the
functions peculiarly belonging to themselves. His Excellency's
popularity was evidently waning throughout the land. There was a decided
reaction against him, and thousands of Reformers who had voted for
Government candidates at the election were now animated by a strong
sentiment of opposition. The Lieutenant-Governor was also at issue with
the Colonial Office on several matters of importance. To the
recommendations of the Lower Canada Commissioners, as previously
mentioned, he had strenuously opposed himself. He had failed to carry
out the direction of Lord Glenelg to restore Mr. Ridout to the offices
from which that gentleman had been dismissed. He now displayed further
insubordination by neglecting to obey several minor injunctions received
from headquarters, by which course of procedure he involved himself in
much disputatious correspondence. His anxieties were increased by a
commercial crisis which set in about this time in the United States.
There had been an era of seeming prosperity but real inflation in that
favoured land, of which the present crisis was the legitimate
consequence. Specie payments were suspended, and business was all but
paralyzed. This disheartening state of things was speedily reflected in
Canada, which was ill qualified to bear such an infliction. The banks
and the mercantile community generally became alarmed. In the Lower
Province the banks suspended specie payments, and our own were much
disposed to follow the example. The directors of some of our leading
financial institutions applied to the Lieutenant-Governor for advice and
direction. As all these matters, however, belong rather to the
mercantile history of the country than to the story of the Rebellion,
there is no need to go into them with minuteness. Suffice it to say that
Sir Francis Head deemed it proper in this emergency to convene an extra
session of the Legislature, which met accordingly on Monday, the 19th of
June. As Mr. McLean had accepted a seat on the bench since the close of
the preceding session, it was necessary that a new Speaker should be
elected, and A. N. MacNab was chosen as his successor.[268] The session
lasted only three weeks, and terminated on Tuesday, the 11th of July. It
was purely a session of emergency, and the legislation was confined to
relieving the banks from certain penalties which the crisis had
threatened to impose upon them.
FOOTNOTES:
[262] See despatch of 30th December, 1836, in _Narrative_, chap. vii.
[263] Mr. Charles Lindsey, in his pamphlet on "_The Clergy Reserves:
their History and Present Position_;" appendix, p. i. He adds: "The
clear, pointed, classical diction of the speaker; the learning and
historical research he displayed; the beauty and appositeness of his
illustrations; the breadth and depth and immovable basis of his
arguments; the clearness, the syllogistic accuracy and force of his
logic, and the impressive eloquence of his delivery produced an effect
upon those who heard the speech never to be forgotten. Its publication
in the newspapers of the day aroused the people. It convinced them (for,
strange as it may seem now, there were many who needed to be convinced)
of the unscriptural, immoral and unjust character of a State religion;
while it confirmed them in their determination to rest not until they
had exterminated the curse from Canadian soil.... This noble effort of
an able, learned, bold and patriotic defender of the cause of the people
against their corrupt, unscrupulous and then powerful enemies, ought to
be printed in letters of gold, and preserved for the instruction and
warning of all future generations of Canadian freemen." This was written
in 1851, when the Clergy Reserves question yet remained unsettled, and
while it still continued to agitate the public mind almost to the
exclusion of other matters. Now that the subject has ceased to be a
practical one, the encomiums so lavishly bestowed upon Dr. Rolph's
famous speech will perhaps seem a little over-strained; but it was most
unquestionably a great oratorical and intellectual effort, such as had
never before been heard within the walls of the Provincial Legislature.
Even at this distance of time, when all interest in the subject has died
out, the speech cannot be read without arousing a feeling of admiration
for the orator.
[264] _Ante_, p. 330.
[265] Lindsey's _Life of Mackenzie_, vol. i., p. 392.
[266] Member for Middlesex.
[267] See the report in the number of _The Correspondent and Advocate_
for Wednesday, March 15th.
[268] Forty-two members were present at the vote on the Speakership, all
of whom voted for Mr. McNab with the exception of David Gibson, of the
First Riding of York, who recorded his solitary vote in the negative.