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ri
1838.1
The Canada Question.
.ill
LlBHm
205
Within an inner room hia couch they spread,
His funeral couch ; with mingled grief and love,
They laid a crcwn of roses on his head,
And murmured, "brighter is his crown above.*' .
They scattered round him, on his snowy sheet,
Laburnum's strings of sunny-colourcd gems,
Sad hyacinth and violet dim and sweet.
And orange blossoms on their dark green stems.
And now the hour is come,— the priest is there, —
Torches arc lit, — the bells are tolled, — they go,
With solemn rites of blessing and of prayer,
To lay those dear remains in earth below.
The door is opened— hark that .niick glad cry—
" Carlo has waked— has waked, and is at play !"
The little sisters leap and laugh, and try
To climb the couch on which the infant lay.
And there he sits, alive, and gaily shakes.
In his full hands, the blossoms blue and white.
And smiles with winking eyes, like one who wakes
From a deep slumber at the morning light.
THE CANADA QUESTION.
Civil war in the British North American Provinces ! This event
has come upon the people of the United States with something of
apparent suddenness and surprise ; and yet, to those who have at.
tentively observed the progress of opinion in the two Canadas, the
proceedings of the Assembly of Lower Canada, the discussions on
the subject in the British Parliament, and the agitation of the Cana-
dians themselves, the actual collision between the mother country
and her colonies has been a matter neither strange nor unexpected.
Indeed, if there be any thing remarkable in the fact, it has been,
that, situated as the British Provinces are, in close contiguity with
the United States, and exposed, as they thus have so long been, to
the salutary contagion of democratic institutions and democratic
principles, they have been content until this time to remain the
Bubject colonies of Great Britain.
While, however, it has been apparent, of late especially, that a
VOt. I. NO. II. i
306
The Canada Question,
[ Jannary,
change in the relations of Great Britain and her North American
Provinces was at hand, it is right to observe that actual hostiliticB
were precipitated by the violence of the royalist party in Lower
Canada. The Canadians were pursuing reform in constitutional
modes. Their House of Assembly had again and again presented
the grievances of the colony to the notice of the motlier country.
Tliey had refused, as they lawfully and constitutionally might, to
make appropriations for the salaries of the officers of the Crown, un-
less the reforms, municipal and constitutional, which they deemed es-
sential to the colony, were conceded by Great Britain. They were
peacefully organizing themselves, as they had a right to do, for effec-
tive resistance, — forcible or not, as the case might require, — to any at*
tempt of the Crown to coerce them into an abandonment of the objects
of reform which the good of the colony demanded. They were dis-
cussing these objects in public meetings and in public journals, as
they had full right to do. They were preparing to maintain their rights
by force if assailed by force. But they did not strike the first blow.
They did not explode the train of revolution. This was done by
tlie persons and the party attached to the mother country, who as-
saulted individuals of an association called ' Sons of Liberty,* — mob-
bed tlie printing office, and destroyed the printing materials, of the
principal journal of the Canadians, a paper conducted with great
spirit and ability, the Vindicator — arrested and imprisoned many of
tlieir number on charges of sedition or treason, and thus drove the
Canadians to take up arms, and kindled the flame of civil war in the
Province.
There can, we are inclined to think, be little doubt, that it was the
purpose of the violent loyalists of Montreal, in those steps, to pre-
cipitate the outbreak, the near approach of which was self-evident,—
in the belief that the rapidity of action, bravery, and discipline of
the regular troops, would probably be able to crush at once the first
insurrectionary gatherings, before the depth of the winter should open
tlie communication across the St. Lawrence by means of the ice.
Matters had, by this time, proceeded so far, the mutual feelings of the
two parties had reached such a point of exasperation, and the organi-
zation of the Canadians, emanating from the central association of the
'Sons of Liberty,' in Montreal, was progressing so rapidly, that, in
truth, the course adopted seemed the only one that afforded a chance
of nipping flie embryo revolution in the bud. By driving out into
overt treason all the leaders,— whose designs were already scarce half
concealed, while they puruied them so skilfully as to keep within
the line of personal safety, — il was doubtless supposed that the result
would either place their persons within the power of Government,
as prisoners, or get rid of them as fugitive exiles.
The immediate crisis was brought on by measures of the British
government, adopted in the aim to compel the Canadians to submit
/
I '
/
1838.]
The Canada Question,
SOT
■^
I '
themselves to the will of the mother country, in respect of the ques-
tions of rijrht raised by the House of Assembly of Lower Canada.
To 'understand this point, however, and the merits of the controversy
generally, it is necessary to ^o back to the former early liistory of
the colony, and trace events down to the present day.
Canada, originally a French colony, it is known, came into the
possession of Great Britain by conqaesf, beinir assured to her by
treaty in 1763, just at the beginning of the controversy between her
and the colonics now constituting the United States. Tlie province
contained at that time a small population, less than a hundred thou-
sand souls. Being exclusively French, and having for many years
been at war, more or less, with the old British Colonies in America,
the Canadians did not, at the epoch of the Revolution, sympathize in
feeling with the latter ; and, unwilling, perhaps, to incur anew so soon
the horrors of war, remained passively submissive to the authority
of Great Britain,— governed, without institutions of their own, as a
conquered colony.
But when the French revolution not long afterwards ensued,— -an
event, by wliich, from their French origin and language, tlie Cana-
dians were likely to be more sensibly affected than by a revolution
in the British colonies, though on the same continent, — the British
government felt the necessity of anticipating any discontent in Can-
ada by the voluntary concession of institutions, and by other mea-
sures which might conspire to secure their allegiance.
Accordingly, in 1791, an act of Parliament was introduced and
passed by Mr. Pitt, which is commonly called the ' Constitutional
Act;' and by which the colony was divided into two governments,
Upper and Lower Canada. The idea was, to organize each after the
model of the constitution of Great Britain itself: answering to the
King, a Governor,-— for the Cabinet, an Executive Council,— -for the
House of Lords, a Legislative Council, — for the House of Commons,
a Representative Assembly. The colony was divided, in order to
have that part of it called Upper Canada peopled by emigrants from
Great Britain, so as to balance the French colony of Lower Canada.
To this organization of the Canadas very serious objections were
made at the time ; which objections have, in the progress of events,
been fully verified. First, it was objected that, by the separation,
Upper Canada would be insulated in the interior of the continent,
being accessible to maritime commerce only through Lower Canada,
or through the United States. Then, it was objected that the theory
of the * Constitutional Act ' was radically defective, inasmuch as
Canada had not, and no American colony could have, an hereditary
aristocracy of sufficient number and weight to correspond to the
peerage of Great Britain ; and therefore the Legislative Council
would either be nugatory, if it did not exercise its functions inde-
pendently of the Assembly, or on the other hand, if it did, would
I
The Canada Question.
[ January^
/
become odious to the colony, as the mere instrument of the Crown,
by whom its members were appointed.
Out of this inherent vice of the * Constitutional Act ' a multitude of
evils have flowed. As the Canadians f?rew in numbers and intclll-
gcnce, they naturallv desired to meliorate the condition of their
country, in confunnity with the spirit of the age. But the Legisla-
tive Council proved to he a perpetual drawback on all reform,— a
standinjrcon^icrvator of every abuse. , ,t . j
Thus matters went on, until the war of 1813, between the United
States and Great IJritain, at which time, as before in 1774 and 1791i,
the government of Great Britain took pains, by politic conciliations,
of one sort or another, to enlist the Canadas on their side, and
against the natural allv of the Canadians.
Since that period, however, the discontents of the Canadians have
been gradually growing to a head; until, in 1833, the supply bill,
passed by the Assembly, was coupled with conditions of the reform
of various gross abuses of the colonial administration ; which the
Government not consenting to reform, the supply bill was lost.
This event was the beginning of the end ; for tlie next year the
House of Assembly set forth solemnly the grievances of the colony,
in the celebrated " Ninelvtwo Resolutions." This document has
not, that we are aware, been published in the United States; and its
great importance at the present time, as a formal exhibition of the
claims of the Canadians to redress, will justify us in transferring some
of the more material parts of it to our pages.
Resolutions of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, dated
Quebec, Friday, list Fcbruanj, 1834.
I. Resolved, That Ills Majesty's loy^U Subjects, the People of the Province of
Lower Canada, have shewn the strongest attachment to the British Empire, of which
they arc a portion; that they have repeatedly defended it with courage, .n Umc of
war, that at the period which preceded tlielndependence of the late British Col^
nies on tins Continent, ihey resisted the appeal made to them by those Colonics to
ioin their confederation. - , • t» .• — k.o
^ 4 liesolved, That this House, as representing; the People of this Province, has
shewn an earnest zeal to advance the general prosperity of the Comitry, by securing
the peace and content of all classes of its Inhabitants, without any «if '"^ '«"J«
origin or creed, and upon the solid and durable basis of unity of interest, and equal
confidence in the protection of the Mother Country. ^ . „ , <« „ •„ p,^^.
6 molm!, That in the year 1827, the great majority of the People of this Prov-
ince complained, in Petitions signed by 87,060 persons of serious «"d numnrouB
abuses which then prevailed, many of which had 0-n existed for a great number of
vears, and of which the greater part still exist without correction or mitigation.^
7. Resolved, That the complaints aforesaid, and the grievances which gave rise to
them,being submitted to the consideration of the Parliament of the United Kingdom,
occasioned the appointment of aCommittee of the House of C'ommons, "f ^hi^h the
Honorable Edward Geoffrey Stanley, now His Majesty's Principal Secretary of
State for the Colonial Department, and several others who are now Members of H s
Majesty's Government, formed parti and that after a careful mvcstigation, and due
r
I
S
if
il
a
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to
n,
he
of
[is
ue
1638.]
I%e Canada Question,
209
deliberation, the said Coramittcc, on the 18th July, iB2B, cama to the following very
J"fX"'"Thrrth^. embarrassments nnd discontents that had long frovM i„ the
Canada^. h'\ nmm iron, serious J.focts in the system of Laws and the Constuu-
tiftnH <-stabUsUcd in those Culoniis." ., . . .t.
Slir''That tlu-sc end,avmss,nents were in great tnr.surcto be attributed to the
manner in which th'.- cxlstin- system had been administrred. '
3dly "Tl.at tUeykul a complKc conviction, that neuher th. su-e.t,nns wlu h
.l.eyL made, nor any other improv.-mnntH in th. Laws anJ Const.uuousof the
Conn las will he attcn.Ld wit!, th. dosirad elVect, unless au .npamal cou.Mhal.ng, and
con'stitutional system of Government wore observed in these loyal and tmportant
^tl^lv.1, Tl,at since the period aforesaid, the Constitution of thi* Province, with
its Serious d.f^^cts, ha. continued to be admhilstered in a manner caleuhit.d to mult.-
r l" cmbarras;»,ents and diseontents wiu.h have lun^ prevadcd j and tha the re-
commendation, of the Committee of the House of Comn.ons have not been followed
bv effective measures of a nature to produce the desired t ilcct.
Q lillmi, That the most serious defect in tl>e Constitutional Act,-Us radical
(huit.-the most active principlcof evil and discontent inthc Pv.»vmcc,the most pow-
erful and most frequent cause of abuses of power,-<.f the infractions of the Laws,-
of the waste of the public revenue and property, aceoinpanud by mipuu.ty to ihe
r^verninij party, and the oppression and conseciuent resentment of taei^-overnod -is
t.t injudicious Imactment. the fatal results of which wuy foretol hy the ^^A^}\^^^
Charles Jumcs Fox. at the time of its adoption, wloeh lov.^sts the Ci>>wn w.tli tUa
exorbitant power, (incompatible with any Goveinur.ent duly balanced and founded
on Law and Justice, and not on force and coercion) of selecting and eomposuv.. wuh-
out any mle or limitation, or any predetermined nuulificaliou, an entire branch o the
Lf.nsJature, supposed from the nature of its attributions to be md.pendent, but intu-
♦ablvthe servile tool of the authority which creates, composes and decomposes it,
and can any day modify it to suit the interests or the passions of the moment. _
10 lirJrat, T\nxi with the possession of a power so unlimited, the abuse of it ,»
inseparably cx.nnected, and that it has always been so exercised m the s(;lecticm of
the Members of the Legislative Council of this Province, as to favor the spirit of mo-
nopoly and despotism in the executive, judicial, and administrative departments of
Government, and never in favor of the public interest.
21 mdccd, Tliat .lie Lej;islative Council of this Province, has never been any
tlnn''t!sM,ut an impotem screen between the Governor and the people, which, by
cnabhn-'the one to maintain a conflict with the other, has served to perpetuate a sys-
tern of discord and contention; that it has unceasingly acted with avowed hostility
to the sentiments of the people as constitmionally expressed by the House of Assem-
blv that it is not right, under the name of a Legislative Councd, to impose an aris-
tocraey on a country which eomains no natural materials for ihecompos.tion of such
a boilv • that the Parlimnent of the United Kingdom, in granting to His Majesty*
Canadian Subjoct. the power of revising the Constitution under which they hold
their dearest rights, would adopt a liberal policy, free from all considerations of for-
mer interests and of existing prejudices; and that by this measure, equally consist-
cnt with a wise and sound policy and whh the most libera and extended views, the
Parr-miem of the United Kingdom would enter into a noble rivalry with the United
States of America, would prevent His Majesty's subjects from seeing any thin?
to envy there, and would preserve a friendly intercourse between Great Britain rJid
this Province, as her Colony, so long as the tie between us shall continue, and «s lier
Allv whenever the course of events may change our relative position, ^
37 Ii,v,haf That the political world in Europe is at this moment agitated by two
(Treat parties, who in dltferent countries appear under the several names of Servilos,
Rovalists. Tories, and Conservatives, on the one side, and of Liberals, Constitutioo-
alslBepublicans, Whigs, Reformers, Radicals, and similar appellations ou the other;
II
810
Vie Canada Question,
I January^
that the former party in, on this continent, without any wriirht or influence, except
what it dtrive» from its European suiiportfrs, and' from a trifliiKj nmnbcr of persons
who iKCcnnethcif deiH-jititnls for the sak« of pcrstmal Rnin, and of others who from
ogeor habit din? to opinions wliich arc not partaken l)y nny nuni» rous cluss; whilo
the second party overspreads all Amrrica; and thiu tht* Colonial Secretary is mistak-
en, if he btlicvcs that live exclusion of a few salaried Officers from thfi Lfqislative
Conncil could suffice toniab^ it hanuoniw with the Mauts, wisli«'«, and opinions of
the people, as Ion? as the Colonial Gtivtrnors retain the power of preserving in it a
nwjority of MeniinTS rendered 8»'rvili' by thiir nntipottiy to every liberal idia.
41. A'cWm/, Thcitllis MajrMty'aSecr*::aryofStatef(.irtl)f Coh.nial Department
has ackiiowledfred in his De^^palchcs, that it has ficqurntly been admitted that the
People of Canada on-ht to see nothinj: in thn Instifuiions of the Juiijhbnrinj; States
which they could reg:ard with envy, and that he has yet to Uarn that any such feel-
ing now rxists amon^ His Mnjesty's subjects in Canada: to which this House an-
swfvs, that the neii^'libourijii; States have a form of Government very fit to prevent
abuses of power, and very etVective in repressiii? tlitm: tiiat the reverse of this* order
of thiuu'shas always prevailed in Canada uuder the present fonnof Government: that
tlx're exists in the nei,;hbouiinj,' States a strcn^i^er and nioic general attachtnent to the
national institutions, than in nny otlwr country ; and tluit there exists also, in those
States a guarantee for the progressive advance of their political institutions towards
perfection, in the revision of the same at sliovt and determinate intervals-, by cou?-
»entions of the Peoj)le, in order lliat ihcy may, without any shock or violence, bo
adapted to the actual state of things,
41. Ifesolrcd, That the unanimous consent with which all the American Suites
hare adopted and extended the Elective system, shews that it is adapted to the wishes
manners and social state of the Inhabitants of this Continent; lluvt this system pro-
saiU among those of British and those of Spanish origin, altliongh the latter, during
the continuance of their Colonial stale, had oeen under tlie calamitous yoke of igno-
rance and al isolutism ; and tliat we do jiot he ?itate to ask from a Prince of tlie House
of Brunsv.-ick, and a reformed Parliament, all the freedom and political powers
which the Princes of the House of Stuart and their Parliaments granted to the most
favored of the Plantations formed at a period when such grants, must have been less
favorably regarded than they would now be.
47. Ii(:xoh\u!, That the fidelity of the People and the protection of the Government
are correlative obligations, of which the ono cannot long subsist withovU the other;
tJjat, by reason of the defects which exist in the Laws and Constitution of this Prov-
ince, and of the manner in which those Laws and that Constitution have been ad-
ministered, the People of this Province are not sufficiently protected in their lives,
their property and tiieir honor; and the long aeries of acts of injustice and oppres-
sion of which they have to complain, have increased with alanviing rapidity in vio-
1 :nc» and in number, under the present Administration.
73, Resolved, That it was anciently the practice of the Housft of Commons, to
whiihold Sui>pUes until grievances were redressed; and that in following this course
in the present conjuncture, we arc warranted in our proceeding;-!, as well by the most
approved precedents as by the spirit of the Constitution itself.
7.'>, /.VWrf.v/, That the number of the Inhabitants of the country being about
600,(XX), those of Fr?nch origin arc atmut 5-2:>,(K>0, and those of British or other origin
75,000; and that the cstaljlisluuent of the Civil Government of Lower Caniida, for
the year 183-J, according to the yearly Returns mi(de by the Provincial Administror
lion, for the information of the Briti J» Parliament, contained tlie names of 157 Offi-
cers and others receiving Salaries, wlio are apparently of British or Foreign origin,
and the names of 47 who are, a]iparcntly, natives of the country, of French origin;
that this statement docs not exhibit the whole disproportion which exists in the di.stvi-
butioti of the public money and power, the latter class being, for the most part, ap-
pointed to the inferior and less lucrati^' ■ offices, and most frecjuently only obtaining
even them, by becoming the dependents, of those who hold the higher and the more
1
1839.)
JUe Canada Question*
by the law. «m l.y «"J l^'l^'^iXw ■ .h.Ma«commU.io«of thef. .ccU>u'd
^'fir^i,'!;';;"j Tlvvt Ucsldo. the (?rlcvanrc» and al^usrs btTor«a«r.t5o..rd, tl«Tc exist
nHt^I^l^^-^<'^-^^^^^ p.rt of which c.lst..d)K.fove t . co.j.
„,c«c.u«m «^<^ "• J^' ' '^';i,,;,,,,,,^ U.i« House nsrrv,,, to its.lf th.
Sn?'S n- ^-'^ -I'-^i""' '^"'^ ^^"^ .-^- of which IH u.
^!illwoSrbei«,cnu»KraUdhcrc: that this House po.nt.out as mnong
^^ttSri'Ic intorrucddllnj; of mcm)>cr3 of the Lr^ishuivc Council in the r.l..>ctlan,
«f tt'^^^.m onuai^sof th« r^''l>l^. i'^'f "'« imrp.>se of inn«cnri.„' and conuoUmij
In bvCr anTth ll-ctL fr;.iu.m n..d.uf raurnln, olHors fur the jnuTu*
S s ourin-M 'e Z.. pam.l and corrupt ends ;-thc int..f vencc of the pns.nt Gov-
1^ r^;; f hims.lf in the said elections; hi« approved of the '"'-"-^'f '^'^^^*
TaW Le^iskuivc councillors \u ih. said election* ; th« partuvU-y wUh win. h. c^-
!. « 1 ;n,l.pJudl.-id i.ror.->cdin.>s connm.d wiih the said eliTtions, for the purpose
«n" u^^^^^^ th. indepe uhnco of the Judicial Power; and the "Il'l'^"!'-^'!";! ' «'
: Smnul r of tile foLs, he bestowed upon the suu^^uinary cuculiun of the cuucns
'';>;h;^' m^'hucrf-r.nen of th. annod mlUt.ry n,rcc at such f ^tion, thrnu^
w . tln-ec peaccabl. citir.on., whose exertions were necessary to 'l-.supp.vr of tlu.r
f m il^s and who were stran.;ers to the ngitati.-n of the eleetion, were saot de.^1 m
S^;t.\sh! applause hestowed by the Governor-in-chief and connnander of the
?oro ,«•:•" tors of this sanguinary military execution (who h.d not b.en ac
quSed by u petty jury) fortJ^c firmness and diseiplinc disph.ycd by them on U»at
occasion. r v
We have selected only a part of these Resolutions, because of the
great number and length of the whole ; but what we have gtven will
sumcivntly illustrate the nature of the grievances of «'hich the Lana-
dians complained. . . „„,„
In consequence of these and other proceedings, commissioners
were sent from Great Britain to investigate the affairs of Canada on
the snot; which commissioners at length made report, m accord,
ance, of course, with the instructions and wishes of the Government
by which thcv were empl(.yed,-thc Canadian House of Assembly
continuin<r to'refusc the supplies,— and on the Gib of March, 1837,
Lord John Russell introduced into the House of Commons the foW
lowing resolutions, by way of answer to, and decision upon, the
complaints of the colony.
« 1. That since the 31st day of Oetohor, in the year 183-2, no provision has been
made by the Lci^islemre of the Province of Lower Canada for defruyms the charges
Of the administration of justice, and for the support of the civ; S«^-"^"^«"^' ^J^^'^
the said Province; and that there will, on the 10th day of Aprd now next et^mng,
be r.cptired for defraying i.i full the charges aforesaid lothat day, the sumof 1».,100/.
"'V'That at a session of the Le^^islaturc of Lower Canada, holdei* at the cUy
of auebec, in the said Province, in the months of September and October. 183fl,
the Governor of the said Province, in compliance with las Majesty's commamb.
I
an
J%e Canada Question,
[Januaiy,
\t
fccommended to the attention of tho House of Assembly thereof, the estimates for the
current year, and aJstj the occounts, sliowinj* tixt. amount due in respect of the civil
government, and sii^nificd to the said House his Mftj» sty's i onfid»;i.ce that they woulc!
accede to th« application which lie liad hern commantlfd to socure, for tho payment
of the arroar9du!;on aitcount of the public service, and for the funds necessary to
carry on the civil t,'ovovnmf*nt of the Province.
'3. That the sitid ll<msc of ARscmhIy, on t!ic 3d day of October, IR.'Mi, by an ad>
dross to the Governor of the said Province, declined to vntc a supply for the purposes
aforesaid, and by the said adilr*>sf», atttr referring to a former address of tho said
House to the Governor of the said Province, declared that the said House ptrsiatwi,
amoni^.st other thin^, in the dtiniind of on elctivc Lr.,'islntivc C<'uncil, and in do-
mandins; the repeal of o certain Act, passed by tho Pariiamrni of the United King-
dom, in favor of tho North American Land Company ; and, by the said address, th*
said HoHse of Assombly furtlier adverti:d to the demand made by tliat Hguse of ths
free exercise of its control over all tho branched of the Ext^utivc Government; and
by the said addrc.o.i the said House of Assembly further declared, that it was incum-
bent on them, in the present eonjimcture, to adjourn their dclilwrations until his
Majesty's Government sliould, by its acts, especially by rendcrjnj; the second branch
of liie Lfijisluturc conformable to the wishes and Wants of the people, have commenced
Ujc great work of justice and reform, aitd created a confidence, which alone could
crown it with success,
•4. That in tl»c existing; state of Lower Canada, it is unadvisablc to make the
Le;i:is!ative Council of th:\t Province an elective body; but that it inexpedient that
measures be adopted for securing to that branch of the Legislature a greater dcgrw
of public confidence.
•5, That while it is expedient to improve tho composition of the Executive Coun-
cil in Lower Canada, it is unadvisablc to subject it to tho responsibility demanded
by the House of Assembly of thai Province.
•6. That the le^al title of the North American Land Company to the land holden
by the said compaay by virtue of a grant from his Majesty, under tho public seal
of the said Province, and to the privileges confcri'ed on the said company by the act
fi)r that purpose made, in the fourth year of his Majesty's rci^n, ou^ht to be main-
tained inviolate.
«7. (Relates to ' The Canada Tenure Act,' and ' The Canada Trades Act.'J
•8. Tliat for defrayin;j the arrears due on account of the cstablislied and customary
diarrcs of the .ndmiiiistration of justice, and of the civil govurnmenf of the said Pro-
vince, it is expedient, that, afti;r applyin:» for that puqiose such balance ns shall, OQ
the said lOthday of April, l8o7, be in iu the hands of the Receiver General of the said
Province, arising from his Majesty's hereditary, territorial and casuiU revemie, tho
Governor of the said Province l>e empowered to issue from and out of ai»y other p trt
of his Majesty's revem.'?, in tlie hands of the Receiver General of the said Province,
aich further sums as shall be necessary to effect the payment of the bcfltre-mentioncd
sum of I-i-^.lGOi. Mi. 6d.
*9. That it is expedient that his Majesty be authorized to place otthc disposal of
the Legislature of tlia said Province, the nett proceeds of his Majesty's hereditary,
tfnitoiial and casual revenue arising witliin the same, in ease the said Legislature
ahall see fit to grant to his Majesty a civil list for defraying the necessary charges of
tlie administration of justice, and for the maintenance and unavoidable expenses of
certain of the principal officers of the civil government of the said Province.
* 10. (Relates to the trade between Lower Canada and Upper Canada.)
These resolutions, were introduced by Lord John Russell, in a
upccch which betrays throughout a halting between two opinions;
a reluctance to drive things in Canada to the last resort, and a con-
viction that still matters were evidently and irresistibly tending^
tiuiher. Indeed, Lord Stanley, in the subsequent debates, very
nsft]
7^ Canada Question,
213
justly characterized the resolution* as ioo weak for coercion, and too
■trong for conciliation. The Ministcvs were warned by the opposi-
tion that this was the old question between the tliirleen colonies and
the mother country ; tliat tliinK» had been going on in the same train
In Lower Canada now, as in Massachusetts Bay formerly; tliat Ca-
nada had precedents to refer to, and act by, in the history of the
tliirteen colonics, for any puWic contingency of her own case;
that, in general, a populous and powerful colony could not be re-
tained by Great Britain, without the consent of the colotiy itselfj
that esppciuUy the Canadas could not, being in tlie vicinity of the
United States, imbued with democratic opinions by contact with n
democratic people, and sure of being able to draw resources tiuuH
and find refuge in, the American republic ; and that the Mmistere
had but one course to pursue,— to grant at once the reforms prayed
for by the House of A«scmbly of Lower Canada. Accordmgly, Mr.
Leader moved, as a test iiucslion, by way of amendment of Lord
Johu llusscirs motion,—* that it is advisable to make the Legislative
Council of that Province an cleciive council.' The main position
upon which Lord John Hussidl rested the resolutions, was, that
the ministers of Great Britain could not conduct the affairs of
Lower Canada if the Lcgisl ilive Council was elective. Which sim-
ply means, of course, that an elective legishtlivc council would, na-
turally, be in the interests of the colony,— while the Legislative Coun-
cil, as at present constituted, of nominees of the Crown, was sub-
servient to the interests of Great Britain, as adversary to those of
the colony. Indeed, ho expressly says :—♦ I do not suppose that
these colonies will persist in their demands; but, if they do still
hold out, wc have not the means of carrying on the government of
them here, in continual resistance to their assemblies.' Mr. O'Con-
nell, Mr. Leader, Mr. Roebuck, and others, very justly replied:—
• You cannot hold the Canadas at any rate, if you adopt and act upon
tlicse resolutions,- perhaps you may, if you grant their demands;
but to undertake to coerce them is, of itself, to make sure of their
separation from the mother country.' However, the Ministers per-
sisted, and the resolutions were, from time to time, after more or
less of debate upon the more important of them, passed in the House
of Commons, by decisive majorities,— being finally disposed of In
that body on the 2 Ith of April.
On the 9th day of May, the resolutions were taken up m tt»
House of Lords, discuss'ed and passed,— being opposed only by
Lord Brougham, who, in addition to speaking against them, entered
the following protest on the journal of the Lords.
Dissentient, —
1 Efca»9« these resolutions, cmbradn- a gr^t vamxy of important subjects, uptm
which different opinions nwy be entertained by the same persons, were all passed fl»
ZZtln once, i^n a House of not a tenth part of the members that frequeml/ attend
When questions affecting iV^ interests of political panics or even liidiviuuais stead
for discussion.
I
214
1%e Canada Question.
[Jaiiuaiyt
2. Because, though some of these resolutions are justifiabl<?, there arc others, and
especially the eighth, which set all considerations of sound policy, of <jeiHTOsity, and
justice, at defiance, and will most likely be regarded as indicating a design to crush
whatever spirit of opposition to the Executive Government may at any lime and fbt
any cause show itself i.i any portion of North American provinces. ^
3. Because it is the fundamental principle of the British Constitution which wafl
intended to be established in Canada by the aci of lTa»,— and was finally promuJp
gated in 1831, that no part of the taxes levied upon the people shall be applied to any
purpose whatever without the consent of tlicir Representatives in Parliament ; and
this control ought in ai. especial manner to be vested in the people of the Colonics,
seeing that it never can give them the same unlimited influence which it confers on
the people ot the parent Slate; for, if supplies arc withheld by the Commons of Eng-
land on account of grievance, the Crown has no other resource, and the grievance
must hercdr.ssed; whereas, if the Commons withhold supplies for the like reasons, the
Crown cannot by this proceeding be obliged to redress the grievance as long as the
Parliament of the mother country is willing to fur ■ sh the funds required.
4. Because the taking possession of the money placed by the British Parliament at
tlie disposal of the Colonial Councils, with, ut their consent, is wholly subversive of
the above-named fundamental principle, and directly contrary to the wise and salu-
tary provisions of the act passed in 1831 ;— nor does it at all signify that this is said
only to be done upon the present oc.-.asion, and that the rights of the Colonial Parlia-
ment are represented as left unimpaired.
Tlie precedent of 1837 will ever after be cited in support of such oppressive^ pro-
ceedings as often as the Commons of any Colony may withhold supplies; how justi-
fiable soever their refusal may be, or in whatever designs the Executive Government
may be engaged.
5. Because the constitution of the Council, having been tried for nearly half a CMV-
tury, has not only failed to produce the advantages expected from it, but, after occa-
Bioning the most serious evils, has ended iu bringing the Legislative operations of ll«
Colonial Parliament to a close ; and there seems good ground to hope the evils now
complained of may be remedied by introducing the elective principle into the consti-
tution oftliis body, under due modifications. But the -Ith resolution seems to piedg«
Parliament against ever introducing that principle, since it is not posrsible to conceive
any circumstance justifying its introduction if the existing state of things does not.
G. Because the spirit in whie.h these proceedings were conceived is avowedly ad-
vci-sc t(. the opinions and desires of a vast majority of the inhabitants of Lower Ca-
nada, aad the no less plainly avowed object iu bringing them forward is, by tl»8
authoritative df^fl -ration of Parliament to put down the principles and thwart the
inclination so generally prevailing among the people of that Province.
7. Because these proceedings, so closely resembling th' fatal measures that severed
Uie United Slates from Great Britain, have their origin iu principles, and derive their
support fi'om reasonings, which form a prodigious contrast to the wliolc grounds, and
the only defence, of the policy during later years so justly and so wisely sanctioned
by the Imperial Parliament, in administering the iiffairs of the mother country. Nor
is it easy to imagine, that the mhabilants of cither the American or the European
branches of the Empire should contemplate so strange a contrast wit'nout drawin?
inferences thereform discreditable to the character of the Legislature, and injurious to
the future welfare of the State, when tiiey mark with what di(Te(-ent measures we
mete to 000,000 inhabitants of a remote province unrepresented inPtu-liament, and to
6,000,000 of our fellow-citizens nearer home, and making themselves heard by their
Representatives, the reflection will surely arise in Canada, and may possil^ly find its
way into Ireland, that the sacred rules of justice, the most worthy feelings of national
generosity, and the soundest .principles of enlightened policy may be appealed to in
vain, if the demand of the suitor be not also supported by personal interests and party
view's, and political fears among tlirsc whose aid he seeks, while all men, perceiv-
ing that many persons have found themselves at liberty to hold a course towards an
important but remote rrovince, wliich tiicir constituents never would suffer to be
1838.]
The Canada Question.
1215
mirsucd tow.ird3 the most inconsiderable boroush of the United Kinsdom an «..
session will be inevitably propagated most dangerous to the mamtenance of ColonisJ
dominion, that the people can never safely entrust the powers of Govcrmnent to uny
EDpfcmc authority not residing amongst themselves. BaoOGHAM.
Our readers can now judge for themselves what arc the merits of
diU ffrcat controversy between Great Britain and the Canadas. Wc
gay the Canadas, because, though Lower Canada has bceti foremost
m the dispute, and though it was upon the resolutions of the Assera.
bly of Lower Canada that parliament acted, and though the Bntish
party is much stronger in Upper than in Lower Canada, yet the pub-
lie question is the same in both, and the one must follow tne fate of
the other, so far as regards their ultimate relation to Great Britain.
Our readers, wc repeat, can judge for themselves, as to the merits
of the question,— but vhcrc arc two or three points m it, which we
desire to present in relief from the others.
First, it must be admitted, that the Canadians have had ampte
cause of comjdaint; grievances enough to justify them in demand.
\m redress, and in persisting until they should obtain it. The min-
ist'ers of the Crown confessed this in the very resolutions tney
olTercd; Parliament confessed it; and it is a fact undemable upon
Uie record; proved by authentic state papers, of which wc have
given some idea in the preceding pages. ^
Secondly, those grievances were of a kind which seem to be of
Uie very essence of a colonial government. The remoteness of an
American colony from its European metropolis; the diverse and
conlrariant interest wliich of necessity grew up in such a case ; the
fact of bein.r governed by olFicers, civil and military, sent trom a
forei<ni couutvy-thesc, and a multitude of other considerations,
which the colonial history of the United States renders familiar to
all, tend to show that a colony on this continent, when it arrives at
maturity, and acquires the feelings of self-respect belonging to ma-
turitv, cannot be satisfoctorily governed, or well governed, by a Co-
lonial Secretary in Europe. Lord John Russell might well say,
tliai he and his colleagues could not govern Lower Canada, withoui
reprcssin.^ the demands of its House of Assembly. Certainly he
could not'rovern it under such circumstances, without the perfornv-
auco of ac^ts, which, as propev.y averred by Lord Brougham, if ap
plied to the internal administration of England itself, would be de-
nounced and resisted, as tyrannical in principle and insupportable m
fact.
Thirdly, it is the right of every people, which possesses the itt-
cll« ation and phvsical power, to remodel and reform its institutions
at will. This is\he fundamental principle of the institutions of the
United States, and cannot be denied or controverted, without im-
peachment of the wisdom and virtue of our fathers of the Revolor
Uon, nor without the renunciation of every thing which is peculiar or
216
The Canada Question.
[ January,
valuable in the constitutions, whether of the United States, or of the
indivitlual States. It is a right, which belongs to every people ; and
it belongs to a European colony in America, not less, but more,
than to any other description of people. The Canadians have all
these groimds of right to reform their government, and to institute a
new one, in such form as may best promote their own happiness ; and
lliey have another, which is equally sacred,— they are a conquered
people. Great Britain acquired her dominion over them by force ,•
they do not owe allegiance to her as an original colony of hers ; and
sorely, if there be any case in which a people may of right throw off
the authority of those who govern them, it is when these last are
foreign conquerors ; and which is the precise relation of Great
Britain to the Canada?.
We do not propose to look at this question in any bearings which
it may be presumed to have upon supposed interests of our own. Our
aim has rather been to consider it as a question of political right.
Wc look with solicitude, personally, to the issue of the event, be-
cause the triumph of the people will be a triumph of liberty
—of democr'itic principle — of the right of self-government ; but
at all events, it must be the duty, and of course the detcrmimilioa
and the endeavour, of the United States, to avoid any compromise
of its neutrality, by taking sides either with the colonics against
Great Britain, or of Great Britain against the colonics.
On a calm view of the whole subject, no one can, it appears to us,
entertain the preposterous idea of the possibility of the continuance
of the colonial relation between the Canadas and Great Britain. It
is utterly contrary to the spirit of the age. Thank God, the period
of force, of armed violence, is passing away from the world, at
least, from those countries enlightened and liberalized, — as England
ha3 been preeminently,— by the influ^ace of the genius of Com-
merce. The idea of an armed struggle for dominion over a power-
ful colony, by England, at this day, is too absurd. A large propor-
tion of the party now in the ascendency in that country, has long
been utterly opposed to the whole system of foreign and colonial
policy, maintained by England under the auspices of those anti-libo-
ral principles which are now fast passing away in the mother coun-
try itself. A majority of the people of the Canadas desire to be free, —
to govern themselves on the pure representative principles of which
they have so glorious a model perpetually before thrfir eyes ; and
they are so unreasonable as not to feel contented to go down to the
sea shore* to greet rulers sent to them from across an ocean three
thousand miles wide I It is enough. They must become free when-
ever they will it.
The question is of no importance to us. There is nothing to be
desired by us in the prospective annexation of the Canadas to our
Union. That event mav happen, — or those provinces may maintain
• Paine.
1838.]
The Canadft Question,
217
a friendly independence. Wc have no material objection to the
English neighbourhood. Any serious disturbance of friendly rela-
Uons between the two commercial sister countries, Great Britain and
our Union, is an event not less impossible, now, or hereafter, than
it would be to roll back the lapse of time, and resuscitate the passed
end buried centuries. Nor is there any thing to be cither desired or
deprecated in the proximity of a kindred republic on the banks of
the St. Lawrence. !t could not inlluencc, in the slightest degree,
either our safety or prosperity. Nor would there be any benefit to
them in a participation in our federal union,— at least no greater be-
Defit than would attend a sovereign independence, provided they
should follow, which would doubtless be the case, our great princi-
pies of republican freedom at home, and peaceful commerce abroad.
And yet we are not haunted with that idea, which wc hear so fre-
quently expressed, of » the danger of extending our already over-
grown territorial limits.' This is one of those false ideas which
has been bequeathed to us by the Past,— that Past which was termi-
nated when the American experiment first dawned upon the worid as
the commencement of a new era. That idea is evidently correla-
tive to the one of strong central governmental action. A strong
central government cannot, indeed, maintain the cohesion of extended
territories, of diversified peculiar interests, beyond certain limits.
They follow the mathematical law of all radiating forces— the strength
of their action diminishes in inverse proportion to the square of the
distance ; beyond a certain circular limit it must be inoperative, ex-
cept by such convulsive effort as must derange and disorganize the
whole system. Such a territorial dominion, is then ' overgrown 'and
unmanageable. But those terms can have no proper applicability
to a federal republican system, on the principle of diffusion of power
on which ours is based. The peculiar characteristic of our system,
—the distinctive evidence of its divine origin (that is to say, its
foundation on those original principles of natural right and truth,
implanted by the Creator, as the first moral elements of human na-
ture )— is, that it may, if its theory is maintained pure in practice,
be extended, with equal safety and cfhciency, over any indefinite
number of millions of population and territory. In such a federa-
tive system,— in which every individual portion is left free to its
own self-government, and to the cultivation of its own peculiar in-
terests, with the sole restriction, of respect for the equal rights of
other portions, and under the protection of a federal union, of
strictly defined powers, to give some degree of uniform national or-
ganization to the whole mass, in its relations with foreign powers,—
every part has an equal interest in the maintainance of the system,
and its great principles. The vitality is not forcibly propelled from
the centre to the extremities, but is diffused equally throughout all
the parts ; and it is only necessary for the latter to contribute a suf-
!n8
The Canada Question.
[January,
ficient degree of the vital energy toipards the centre to keep alive
the general unity of the national body. Such a system is, from its
nature,— if its great principles arc only preserved sound and pure,—
as applicable on a large scale as on a small one ; and we can see no
reason why, at some future day, our » experiment' should not be in
successful operation over the whole North American continent, from
the isthmus to the pole.
Yet in this supposed gradual extension of the federal union,— if
such should be the tendency of future events,— the benefit of every
successive accession enures not to the main body, but to the new
member added ; the former has no interest in it. 'xhe natural dis-
trust of the future and tlie unknown, however clear probabilities
may seem, might mako it rather the part of prudence to decline the
accession which cannut add any material benefit, and may, possi-
bly, do harm. In discussing freely, therefore, the question of the
relations between the Canadag and the mother country, we shall not
be suspected of a hankering after an extension of our own territory.
We look upon the subject only in the liglit of general principles,—
and may, without impropriety, and without violating the spirit of
perfect neutrality, express ourselves with entire freedom upon it.
No American, sincerely and understandingly imbued with American
principles, can refrain from feeling a deep sympathy in a cause so
closely analogous with that of our own Revolution ;— and feeling,
there can exist no consideration to chock the free expression of it.
At the same time, we hold all actua, participation in the contest,
whether by individuals or bodies of men, to be highly improper, and
equally a violation of our national neutrality (which the individual
citizen is as much bound to hold sacred as the organized govern-
ment) and inconsistent with a philosophical view of the principles
involved. If the Canadian people will to be free from their de-
pendence on a foreign country, they have but to arise in their strength
of mass and say so ; — they need no assistance of money or volun-
teers from us. If it is not the will of the people,— or if that will is
not sufficiently strong to carry them through the ordeal of revolu-
tion,— we ought not yet to desire it. In neither case ought we to
exert any other interference, than that moral influence of sympathy
and approbation, of which no human power can rightfully restrain
the expression. This has been freely done on many former occa-
sions—witness the struggles for freedom of the Greeks, the Poles,
or, still more applicably, of the several Republics which have suc-
cessively risen to independence in the New World. We shall not, of
course, be understood as comparing the British dominion over the
Canadian colonies, to the illiberal and brutal tyranny against which
the rights of man were struggling for emancipation ir. those cases }
yet that does not touch the question. If freedom is the best of
satioaal blessings, If seif-governmeat U the first of national rights,
t
\
1839.]
The Canada Question,
219
/ V
and if the » fostering protection* of a * paternal government* is In
reality the worst of national evils — in a word, if all our American
ideas and feelings, so aidcntly cherished and proudly maintained,
are not worse than a delusion and a mockery — then arc we bound
to sympathize with the cause of the '""nnadian rebellion, with the
most earnest hope that success may, with as little effusion of blood
as possible — why should it ll<-w ! — crown it as a Revolution. What
may be the immediate issue of the contest, none can presume to
prophecy. Dut even though the present unprepared rising should be
crushed, it is evident that the liat of separation has gone forth be-
yond recall. The breach already existing, and stretching wider
every day, can never again be closed and cemented. Least of all
can it be rationally expected, that the fire and sword, as they are
reported (we hope without truth) to have been tried at St. Charles,
can effect that object. The end is at hand ; and it would far better
become the noble nation which would itself be the first to dare and
sacrifice all in such a struggle, to resign at once, with magnani-
mity and mercy, an unnatural dominion which it will cost seas of
human blood to attempt to retain. In fiict, we look with not less
deep interest to the news from England, than to the events of the
contest in the Provinces. May she be true to her own best interests
and highest glory !
But one more remark in connection with this subject. One of the
♦signs of the times,' which must strike foreigners, and even liberal
members of the anti-popular party among ourselves with surprise, is
the disposition which is manifested by many citizens, and not a few
respectable presses, of the United States, to frown upon the infant
revolution — to disparage the efforts of the Canadians, and the
character and principles of the able and respectable men, who, like
tlie Otises, the Adams, the Henrys, and the Franklins of our own
Revolution, happen to be placed, by their patriotism, and the confi-
dence of their countrymen, in the front of affairs, as the auspicious
champions of the cause of liberty and independence, — and this in
tlie United States, — a government four) Vd on colonial revolution,
and of which the vital principle is, the rigat of every people to have
such form of government, and such governors, as it may in its
supreme discretion choose! But there is nothing in it that cx^^ites
our surprise. There has always existed among us a party, respect-
able in numbers as well as in wealth and education, entertaining an
inveterate distrust of, and dislike to, the people and popular princi-
ples. And here recurs the broad line of demarcation between our
parties, which we can trace on every question that arises. We
might point to several leading Whig papers, whose sympathies in
every case arising, involving a collision between popular and anti-
popular principles, in the affairs of foreign nations, flow, invari-
ably because naturally, in behalf of the latter. It is in fact one of
the best tests to apply to the professed republicanism of Americans,—
I
I
220
Sonnet*
(January,
to ascertain whether it is a sound and pure principle, understand-
ingly believed, and feelingly cherished,— to put them on foreign
ground, and observe the side, in the struggles of the two causes
there perpetually in progress, their sympathies incline to. This is
a test which does not often fail. We by no means intend to apply
Uiis reproach to the whole Whig party, or its entire Press. Far
from it. There arc many variations in degree in the anti-popular
bias of sentiment which is, as a whole, their general characteristic ;
and a large proportion of them are soundly democratic at heart, if
Uiey but\ncw it, and are only excited to oppose a democratic Ad-
ministration from adventitious causes, and by deceptive appeals to
the very principles which ought to make them its earnest supporters.
With respect to the Canadians, we are glad to say, that the num-
ber of tlie papers from which they have to experience this illiberality,
is comparatively small. As a whole the people of the Union mani-
fest a warm interest in their cause. We are bound, morally bound,
to sympathize, in this, as in every other question, with that party
which has the weight of natural justice on its side. And as Amen-
cans, as the citizens of a country elevated to greatness by virtue of
the very claims to self-government which the Canadians assert, U is
impossible to repress the emotion of candid good will towards them,
and of ardent aspirations for the honorable success of this new family
of worshippers at the holy Shrine of Liberty.
SONNET.
Written after reading the translation, from the Greek Anthology, of Meleagcr's
epitapL on his young daughter, published in the United States Magazine and
DeinocraUc Review, for October, 1837.
And was this all, fond sire, thy faith could say,
O'er the sweet flowret torn from thy embrace,
»* Yield, mother mild, a soft and kindly place,
And gently lie upon her mouldering clay !"
Cold, joyless creed ! Oh how beyond compare,
Our heav'n-taught hope excels thy utmost art,
To fill with balmy peace the broken heart,
And cheer the soul, by calm, confiding pray'r !
"The precious dust we give, in tears, to thee.
Earth, safely keep," the Christian parent cries,
»• Till the glad hour when all the dead shall nse ;
And, FATHEn, grant, that then my lot may be,
To join my lov'd one in her native skies,
And there forever dwell with her and Thee I" ^