=Source.=--Lord Durham's _Report_. Lucas. Vol. II.
It is not by weakening, but strengthening the influence of the
people on its Government; by confining within much narrower
bounds than those hitherto allotted to it, and not by extending
the interference of the imperial authorities in the details of
colonial affairs; that I believe that harmony is to be restored,
where dissension has so long prevailed, and a regularity and vigour
hitherto unknown, introduced into the administration of these
Provinces. It needs no change in the principles of government, no
invention of a new constitutional theory, to supply the remedy
which would, in my opinion, completely remove the existing
political disorders. It needs but to follow out consistently the
principles of the British constitution, and introduce into the
Government of these great Colonies those wise provisions, by which
alone the working of the representative system can in any country
be rendered harmonious and efficient. We are not now to consider
the policy of establishing representative government in the
North American Colonies. That has been irrevocably done; and the
experiment of depriving the people of their present constitutional
power, is not to be thought of. To conduct their government
harmoniously, in accordance with its established principles, is
now the business of its rulers; and I know not how it is possible
to secure that harmony in any other way than by administering the
Government on those principles which have been found perfectly
efficacious in Great Britain. I would not impair a single
prerogative of the Crown; on the contrary, I believe that the
interests of the people of these colonies require the protection
of prerogatives, which have not hitherto been exercised. But the
Crown must, on the other hand, submit to the necessary consequences
of representative institutions; and, if it has to carry on the
Government in unison with a representative body, it must consent to
carry it on by means of those in whom that representative body has
confidence....
These general principles apply, however, only to those changes in
the system of government which are required in order to rectify
disorders common to all the North American Colonies; but they do
not in any degree go to remove those evils in the present state
of Lower Canada which require the most immediate remedy. The
fatal feud of origin, which is the cause of the most extensive
mischief, would be aggravated at the present moment by any
change, which should give the majority more power than they have
hitherto possessed. A plan by which it is proposed to ensure the
tranquil government of Lower Canada, must include in itself the
means of putting an end to the agitation of national disputes in
the legislature, by settling, at once and for ever, the national
character of the Province. I entertain no doubts as to the national
character which must be given to Lower Canada; it must be that
of the British Empire; that of the majority of the population of
British America; that of the great race which must, in the lapse
of no long period of time, be predominant over the whole North
American Continent. Without effecting the change so rapidly or
so roughly as to shock the feelings and trample on the welfare
of the existing generation, it must henceforth be the first and
steady purpose of the British Government to establish an English
population, with English laws and language, in this Province,
and to trust its government to none but a decidedly English
legislature....
It is only ... by a popular government, in which an English
majority shall permanently predominate, that Lower Canada, if a
remedy for its disorders be not too long delayed, can be tranquilly
ruled.
On these grounds, I believe that no permanent or efficient remedy
can be devised for the disorders of Lower Canada, except a fusion
of the Government in that of one or more of the surrounding
Provinces; and, as I am of opinion that the full establishment of
responsible government can only be permanently secured by giving
these Colonies an increased importance in the politics of the
Empire, I find in union the only means of remedying at once and
completely the two prominent causes of their present unsatisfactory
condition.